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Longboat Key | Opinion

The Colony has been closed since August 2010.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • January 24, 2018
Colony conversation continues

Too big, too dense, just what the town needs. The opinions on the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort redevelopment are as varied as the neighborhoods on Longboat Key. This week, we publish letters in response to last week’s editorial, ‘Make Longboat Special.'

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 17, 2018
Make Longboat special

They’re back, and doing it again. Longboat Key’s ardent anti-development, anti-traffic forces are stoking their constituents to kill Unicorp National Development’s latest redevelopment proposal for the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort property.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Clockwise from top left: Gil Waters in victory after the opening of the new Ringling Bridge, August 2003. Waters and city engineer Alex Davis-Shaw. Waters and his wife, Elisabeth. “The Old Coots Lunch Bunch.”
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 10, 2018
Tribute to a visionary

For nearly 60 years, Gil Waters was a force in Sarasota. Thanks to his passion, vision and determination, we have the ‘Gil Waters Bridge,’ the Van Wezel and FCCI Insurance.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 3, 2018
THE WORD: 20-GREAT-TEEN!

Despite the World of Trump, Washington and the national media, we can continue to turn the tide with our own decorum and the push for economic freedom and prosperity.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • December 27, 2017
We’re Main Street; not ‘mainstream’

The national news media have smeared all of journalism, while the media tech giants admit they ‘are destroying how society works.’ Whom can you trust? Some of us still place a high value on credibility, reliability and trustworthiness.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • December 20, 2017
At the time of Christ’s birth

It's a story that crosses religions and faiths.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Eric Garwood rang the bell at Longboat Key's Publix for the first time this season.
    By
  • Eric Garwood
  • December 16, 2017
Ringing in the holiday spirit

A stint for the Kiwanis Club at the Salvation Army kettle puts a jingle in the season.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • December 13, 2017
Find a way to say yes

This time, the next step in the Colony saga is for real. As Longboat’s P&Z board weighs Unicorp’s plans, it also should consider the alternative: more of the same.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Longboaters having fun and supporting a cause at the Lawn Party
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • December 6, 2017
In the end, well worth it

Every year, the Lawn Party organizers fret and worry about how they’re going to pull it off. It’s a miracle — of American generosity, volunteerism and capitalism.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • December 6, 2017
Dec. 7, 1941

Longboat's Pearl Harbor hero

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • November 29, 2017
Unfair for 155 years

Sen. Bill Nelson laments how the Republicans’ proposed tax reform is unfair. Duh. The U.S. tax system has never been fair. But we’ll take the corporate tax cut over no cut.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • November 29, 2017
Make them pay — with their own money, boot them out

The rules need to be the same across the board.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • November 21, 2017
What drove the Pilgrims to America?

'Their desires were set on the ways of God and to enjoy his ordinances.'

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • November 21, 2017
The Bedrock of America

Thanksgiving is much more than being thankful and remembering the Pilgrims and Indians’ first feast. It reminds us why the Pilgrims came: for the freedom to worship.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • November 15, 2017
Start over on Lido Beach

All Lido Key residents wanted was an updated pavilion, restaurant and pool. But here it is six years later, and the city has faltered again. That seems to be a recurring theme.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
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Latest in Longboat Key

1
The southern end of Longboat Key feature many mid-rise condo buildings including the Beaches of Longboat Key (right, built in 1984), Regent Place of Longboat Key (middle two buildings, built in 1995) and Longboat Key Towers (left two buildings, built in 1970).
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Inspections show LBK condo buildings in sound shape but come at a cost
2
Garden Club President Melanie Dale helps lead efforts to beautify and support the Longboat Key community. Butterflies visit flowering plants cultivated to support pollinators, reflecting the club's focus on sustainable, Florida-friendly landscapes.
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Longboat Garden Club's efforts help beautify and nurture a community
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Harry's Continental Kitchens has been a local favorite for decades.
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A staple of Longboat Key for over 40 years, Harry's Continental Kitchens keeps it fresh
4
The home at 590 Birdie Lane sold for $5.5 million. Built in 2017, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,297 square feet of living area.
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Top residential real estate sales for March 16-20 in Longboat, Lido, St. Armands, Bird Key
5
Artist Darina Bratkova, originally from Ukraine, is the creator of thought-provoking, water-based scenes that many visitors to St. Armands Circle first view when coming to the business hub. She shared how she got her start as an artist and her hopes for educating others in the future.
  • April 1, 2026
St. Armands artist shares insight into thought-provoking art

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