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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – Mayor Judy Titsworth and city staff members toured the vacant Gloria Dei Lutheran Church building on April 8 as part of the city’s ongoing efforts the buy the church building and property for public use. The church held its “Holy Closure” service on Jan. 18 and the Florida-Bahamas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America is handling the sale of the church building and the 3-acre, three-parcel property at 6608 Marina Drive.
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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – Homeowners and city officials believe they have found a solution to the Key Royale Drive parking issues that will not require the clearing of city-owned right of ways or the relocation of an existing sidewalk.
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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – In honor of the city’s 75th anniversary, Mayor Judy Titsworth and Digital and Media Strategist Matt McDonough created the new sea turtle-themed city flag that now proudly flies over city hall. Assisted by Code Enforcement Chief James “JT” Thomas and Code Enforcement Officer Nate Brown, Titsworth and McDonough presented the flag prototype to city commissioners on April 8.
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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
ANNA MARIA – City commissioners rejected homeowner Dena Dalquist’s request to waive $1,614 in building permit fees that included a $1,076 triple penalty for home repairs made without a permit. A staff memo included in the city commission’s April 10 meeting packet said a stop work order was issued for Dalquist’s property at 137 Crescent Drive which resulted in a $1,076 fine, which equates to three times the normal permitting fee.
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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce recently presented $1,000 scholarships to three outstanding Manatee County students: Gracie Jean-Charles, Torianne Hurst and Callaway Johnson. The scholarships were presented during a March 27 AMI Chamber event held at the LaPensee Plumbing, Pools and Air headquarters in Holmes Beach and catered by The Feast restaurant.
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1 week ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – The Kiwanis Club of Anna Maria Island will celebrate its 60th annual Easter Sunrise Service on Sunday, April 20. The 6:30 a.m. service will be held at Manatee Beach, 4000 Gulf Drive. The annual Easter service attracts 1,000 to 2,000 worshipers. There will be ample parking in the beach parking lot, the free AMI Trolley will start running at 6 a.m. and the Anna Maria Beach Café will open at 6:30 a.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets.
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2 weeks ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – As residents continue to recover from 2024 Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers are predicting an above-average 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. In an April 3 report, CSU researchers forecast 17 named storms during the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season from June 1 to Nov. 30.
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2 weeks ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
BRADENTON BEACH – Emily Anne Smith, the architectural designer who helped transform Bridge Street into what it is today, has passed away. According to close friend and longtime office administrator Lea Ann Bessonette, Smith passed away on March 29 at the age of 83. She passed under the care of Hospice at the Lombardo House assisted living facility in west Bradenton. She was born in Atlanta on April 18, 1940. Bessonette, now 87, spent 40 years working with Smith.
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2 weeks ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
HOLMES BEACH – City and county officials hoped to use businessman Jake Spooner’s boat slip in the Waterline resort marina as a Gulf Islands Ferry stop, but the current county-owned pontoon boats are too large to safely navigate that limited space. To be used in conjunction with the Island Bazaar commercial building that Spooner is developing on the former Wells Fargo bank property nearby, Spooner’s boat slip is located in the far southwest corner of the boat basin.
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2 weeks ago | 
amisun.com | Joe Hendricks
BRADENTON BEACH – The Drift-In bar is open again after a prolonged, post-hurricane permitting dispute with the city. The historic Bridge Street bar once owned by baseball legend Babe Ruth reopened on April 4 at 7 a.m. with a short line of patrons waiting to enjoy their first drinks there since Hurricane Helene’s storm surge badly flooded the bar last September. Dobie Gray’s hit song “Drift Away” played over loudspeakers in the final minutes before the Drift-In reopened and again after it opened.
