Red tide lingers longer

BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Respiratory irritation and fish kills were reported in Manatee County last week due to red tide.

Intense respiratory irritation was reported at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach and moderate respiratory irritation was reported at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach, with fish kills present, according to visitbeaches.org, the Mote Marine Laboratory reporting system.

According to the most recent Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) report last Friday, red tide levels were very low in water samples at Longboat Pass bridge in Bradenton Beach and the Rod and Reel Pier in Anna Maria, and low at the Palma Sola Bay bridge on the causeway, however, gusty winds arose that scattered the airborne toxin produced by red tide.

Red tide produces a neurotoxin called brevetoxin that can cause respiratory irritation, coughing, and more serious illness for people with severe or

SEE RED TIDE, PAGE 25

... while another threatens freedom of speech

Legislature is considering bills that would, in part, change defamation law to make it easier for elected officials and other public figures to sue news and social media producers.

SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com

TALLAHASSEE – As the Florida legislative session opens this week, lawmakers have two companion bills to consider that critics say would remove longstanding constitutional and judicial protections of freedom of speech and of the press.

If passed, Senate Bill 1220, “Defamation and Related Actions,” filed by

Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary), and House Bill 991, “Defamation, False Light, and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likenesses,” filed by Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola), will not only have a chilling effect on free speech in traditional news media outlets, but on people who publish their views in social media, according to Bobby Block, executive director of the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation.

“HB 991 is officially called the Defamation, False Light, and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likenesses Bill. But First Amendment activists like me who have read it call it the “Death to Public Discourse Bill,”

SEE BILLS, PAGE 25

ST. PATRICK’S DAY parade comes early on AMI. 8

AMOB staff rescues 80-year-old man who jumps off pier. 4

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