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4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS

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SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

IN BRIEF

Three more dolphin calves born

The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program has discovered three new dolphin calves since they reported the birth of 15 new dolphin calves in area waters last month.

The 18 births are just shy of the record number of 21 births recorded in 2017. One calf was born in in April, six in May, five in June, three in July and three in August.

Program scientists report sighting all the previous newborns, too, indicating that they’re all doing well so far, despite four months of red tide.

They also spotted nine of the calves born in 2020 and six of the oldest dolphins tracked by the program, each more than 40 years old.

Be a T.V. extra at Mixon’s

The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce has announced a unique opportunity to be an extra on the T.V. show “Florida on a Tankful” as they visit Mixon Fruit Farms. They will be filming on Sept. 23 on the 11 a.m. tram tour. The ride will take about an hour and feature a newly-added snake exhibit. Forty free tickets are being offered. If interested, call 941-748-5829, ext. 239 to sign up.

County offers opioid addiction services

The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County is trying to raise awareness of the ongoing opioid crisis by launching a website listing available assistance to those who are suffering from or know someone with opioid addiction. The page, found online at www.manateecountyflorida.now.site/home, features assistance options for recovery, suicide prevention, mental health services, housing and nutrition services. Anyone who believes they’re experiencing an opioid overdose should dial 911 for emergency assistance.

Turtle Watch fundraiser approaching

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring will hold a fundraiser on Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 4-6 p.m. to raise money to fund scientific data collection on sea turtle nesting and protect nesting turtles on AMI beaches.

Loggerhead sea turtles, a threatened species, and green sea turtles, an endangered species, both nest on Island beaches.

The indoor/outdoor event will be hosted by Hurricane Hanks Bar & Grill, 5346 Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, where there is plenty of room for safe distancing. Newly-designed Turtle Watch masks will be available free to everyone who attends.

Mike Sales will provide musical entertainment, and a silent and live auction will be presided over by volunteer auctioneer Bob Slicker. A 50-50 donation raffle also will be up for grabs.

Sponsors are A Paradise Real Estate, Mike Sales Entertainment, J n’J Graphics, Florida Underwater Sports, CabanUp, Harbor Lane Court Vacation Rentals and The Anna Maria Island Sun.

John Cosby appointed acting police chief

Lt. John Cosby is succeeding Sam Speciale as the city’s chief of police.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

BRADENTON BEACH – Lt. John Cosby is now the acting chief of the Bradenton Beach Police Department.

The “acting” designation will be removed from Cosby’s title in early October when current Police Chief Sam Speciale’s 35 years of service come to an official end.

Cosby was appointed acting police chief during the Thursday, Sept. 2 city commission meeting. He now carries all duties, responsibilities and authority given to the city’s police chief. Cosby joined the police department in 1988 and has long served as Speciale’s second in command.

When Speciale tendered his resignation to the city commission last October, he said his final day would be Oct. 9, 2021 – a date that marks 35 years to the day since Speciale joined the department.

Because he accrued so much vacation time and other paid time off during his 3 1/2 decades with the city, Speciale recently decided he would discontinue his active police duties as he waits for his retirement to become official in October.

Earlier this year, Speciale sold his home in Bradenton Beach. He now lives in Bradenton and he and his wife, MaryAnn, now spend much of their free time at their cabin in Georgia.

When proposing Cosby’s appointment as acting chief, Mayor John Chappie suggested Cosby’s salary be immediately increased to the current salary earned by Speciale. According to City Treasurer Shayne Thompson, Speciale’s current annual salary is $109,054 and was to increase to $114,507 when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.

“He’s doing the work, he’s done the time, it’s only fair,” Chappie said, noting that he spoke to Speciale about the transition taking place.

Chappie also proposed giving Cosby a $2,500 bonus as compensation for the additional work he’s done during the transition period leading up to Speciale’s pending retirement. The rest of the commission supported the proposed salary increase and the bonus.

Cosby said he appreciated the immediate salary increase offer, but declined to take it because he does not want to impact the final remaining weeks of the police department’s current fiscal year budget. Cosby said he has some departmental expenditures he would rather spend that money on instead.

Cosby said he would accept the mayor and commission’s offer of a $2,500 bonus. Chappie then suggested, and the commission agreed, to increase the bonus by an additional $2,500 using Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds in appreciation of all the extra work Cosby has done regarding CRA projects and in the CRA district as a whole. The CRA portion of the $5,000 bonus is still contingent on final approval by the seven-member CRA board that includes all five city commission members.

The commission also approved Cosby’s request that he be allowed to reserve his right to work special duty shifts that include marine patrols of the anchorage south of the Bridge Street Pier and other policing duties. Cosby will also continue his long-held role as the city’s emergency operations manager.

Chappie and the commission praised Cosby and Speciale for their many years of service to the city.

“I’ve known the lieutenant and I’ve known the chief for a long, long time. I know that they work together as a team to make this place what we’ve got right now. I want to thank you and him (Speciale),” Commissioner Ralph Cole said.

“You look at our community and the amount of crime and they’ve done an excellent job. My dad was mayor when Chief Sam came in. A lot of good things happened. These guys put us where we’re at right now. They’ve done an extremely great job. John deserves everything that we can give him. I know how hard you work. I’ve watched you work over the years. You should get everything you deserve,” Cole said.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN Acting Police Chief John Cosby has developed strong working relationships with city officials, city residents, local business owners and his fellow officers since joining the police force in 1988.

Labor Day weekend packs the Island

BY JASON SCHAFFER

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jschaffer@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA ISLAND - Anna Maria Island's world-famous beaches have seen a record number of visitors this summer, and the Labor Day holiday was no exception.

With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in many northern states that were locked down in the spring season, summer statistics for the Island are rising, fueled by in-state visitors coming to the beach to escape the heat and out-ofstate tourists who couldn’t previously take a vacation.

According to data gathered from the Manatee County Tax Collector, the three cities that make up Anna Maria Island saw a combined average increase in tourist taxes of about 40% in July - the most recent month for which records are available - as compared to the same month in 2020, when the pandemic significantly slowed tourism.

Business owners and innkeepers were happy to see the traffic back up as thousands of visitors headed to the Island's two main beaches, Manatee and Coquina, to celebrate what’s become known as the unofficial end of summer.

As the red tide that has plagued the waters since April begins to wane, the COVID-19 spike remains a serious concern for Florida residents.

However, very few visitors appear to be letting these issues dampen their fun.

“We were concerned about red tide because we wanted to hit the beaches,” said Ken Barkoff, who was visiting for Labor Day weekend with his wife, Kim, and son. “Our son just moved here, and we wanted to see him. We’re vaccinated and took the precautions we needed to, in order to get here safely, so we’re not too worried about it,” Kim Barkoff added.

Other visitors shared the Barkoffs’ sentiment, seeming to be happy to visit and ready to enjoy a holiday with as little stress as possible.

“It’s easy to check on red tide online and I saw it was pretty much gone,” said Dixie Brooks, who was visiting the Island for the first time, making a quick, two-day trip from Missouri.

And while the official numbers on Labor Day visitors won’t be available for a few days, the endless stretch of beach umbrellas along the Gulf is a measure of the Island’s continued popularity, even with the spike in the COVID-19 Delta variant.

“The COVID situation is pretty much the same here as it is back home,” Brooks said, “so I’m not concerned.”

JASON SCHAFFER | SUN After a summer that has broken tourist visitation records, Labor Day weekend is no exception.