VOL 17 No. 47
- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
September 6, 2017
Restaurants, charter captains provide hurricane relief The Swordfish Grill will host another donation drive on Sept. 16 and 17. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
CORTEZ – Last week the Swordfish Grill parking lot became the Cortez staging area for the relief efforts to assist Texans impacted by Hurricane Harvey. And the management and employees of Ed Chiles’ Sandbar, BeachHouse and Mar Vista restaurants on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key conducted a similar donation drive that filled the company’s box truck.
Swordfish takes action
On Monday, Aug. 28, Swordfish Grill manager Adam Sears and local charter captains John Leiter and Nate Weissman discussed a relief effort that would include supplies and local boats being trailered to Texas. “When Adam called, I said let’s do it. In a fishing village like this, people think about helping their neighbors and this is an extension of that,” General Manager Bob Slicker said. On Tuesday, Aug. 29, Slicker posted a video on Facebook asking folks to bring supplies to the Swordfish Grill parking lot. joe hendricks | SUN
Volunteers helped sort and organize the donated items later loaded onto trailers.
Crowd tells FDOT what it wants Citizens may add their views by sending them to Marlon Bizerra, Project Manager, Florida Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 1249,Bartow, FL 33831 or email marlon.bizerra @dot.state.fl.us by Sept. 12. BY TOM VAUGHT SUN STAFF WRITER |tvaught@amisun.com
BRADENTON – The meeting hall at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church was packed with about 170 people Thursday night as the public got its final say
INSIDE NEWS OPINION Sun survey sean murphy outdoors real estate crossword classifieds
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on the future of the Cortez Bridge. The current structure is a drawbridge with a 17.5-foot clearance and was built in 1956 along the route of an original wooden bridge to the Island. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has ruled the bridge is functionally obsolete because it only has two lanes and is made from materials not used in modern bridges. FDOT pared down a number of choices to three: a high-level, fixed span with a 65-foot high clearance; a mid-level drawbridge with a 35foot clearance; and a no-build repair see BRIDGE, page 35
Retired Holmes
Beach police officer Rob Velardi succumbs to cancer. 3
Anna Maria Island, Florida
see hurricane, page 32
Museum admits fault in Snooty’s death BY CINDY LANE SUN STAFF WRITER | clane@amisun.com
BRADENTON – Snooty the manatee drowned due to human error, including poor communication, deficient record keeping and lack of staff and volunteer training, South Florida Museum officials announced on Thursday. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that the board confirms that the findings show Snooty died as the result of a preventable accident,” John Quinlan, vice president of the museum’s board of trustees, told reporters Thursday.
Snooty drowned the night of July 22 or the morning of July 23 after his gala 69th birthday party, when he swam through a broken access panel leading to an underwater tunnel and became trapped, he said. After a museum-initiated investigation, “We came to understand that mistakes were made, specifically the aquarium staff were aware of the panel being askew or loose, or that it was missing screws as early as Sunday, July 16, a week prior to Snooty’s death,” said a tearful Brynne Anne see snooty, page 34
Hopefuls QUALIFY FOR HOLMES BEACH, BRADENTON BEACH ELECTIONS.
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BAYFEST celebration to remain
in Anna Maria. 12
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