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Your Observer

Marine deputies issued seven warnings and three boating citations during the national boarting under the influence awareness campaign.
    By
  • Alex Mahadevan
  • July 2, 2013
Sheriff's Office targets boaters

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office conducts 23 vessel inspections from June 28, through June 30.

  • Siesta Key
  • News
Yvonne and Richard Crawford
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Two Longboat Key couples celebrate milestones

Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key President Richard Crawford and his wife, Yvonne, celebrated their 45-year anniversary June 15. Crawford's fellow Kiwanian, Longboat Key resident Weldon Frost and his wife, Brenda, celebrated their 45th anniversary June 28.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
...
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • July 2, 2013
Photo: SERVICE SALUTE

The Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key was able to give one of its longtime members the recognition he deserves at the club's June 27 meeting.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • July 2, 2013
Longboat Key puts stop to trolley service funding

Although the town does not have the poorest bus-ridership route in Manatee County, it's the only municipality being asked to pay for a portion of the trolley's operating cost.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Dr. Lou Newman photographed this river otter in 2011 on Longboat Key. Photo courtesy of Dr. Lou Newman.
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Bay Isles cygnets fall prey to river critter

Swan keeper David Novak believes that a river otter snatched three cygnets earlier this spring. The presence of the critter concerns some Longboat Key residents.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
Briefs 7.2.13

Town announces new flag program for water conditions; Manatee 100 Club honors Longboat Key police officer; Town Hall closes for holiday

  • Longboat Key
  • News
    By
  • Mallory Gnaegy
  • July 2, 2013
The Ringling Museum of Art adds playspace to its grounds

Longboat resident David F. Bolger donates $400,000 for The Ringling to install an innovative playspace.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
There was a 6-foot, long-toothed swimmer gliding through the Gulf, according to the July 8, 1982, issue of the Longboat Observer.
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Longboat Lore: Flies bugged residents on Fourth of July

A buzzing, rapidly multiplying fleet of flies pestered Longboat Key throughout the Fourth of July weekend in 2005. The flies swarmed Freedom Fest and also bugged guests at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort's Fourth of July celebration.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
Cops Corner: July 2

Cops Corner: July 2

  • Longboat Key
  • Cops Corner
Mary Lou Johnson's "Water: Above and Below" exhibit will be on display for the next year at the Longboat Key Club & Resort's Tennis Gardens facility.
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
YOUR NEIGHBOR | Mary Lou Johnson

Mary Lou Johnson's work is 100% photography. But taking the photo is just the beginning.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
OUR VIEW: The principles that guide us

We vow, as a nation, we will never forget 9/11. We vow we will never forget the Holocaust. We vow we will never forget our brothers and sisters who in all wars and conflicts gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country, for our liberty.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Linda Steffee
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Obituary: Linda Steffee

A memorial service for Linda Steffee, 52, of Houston, who died July 21, 2012, will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian, 6400 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
  • By Andrew Clayton
  • July 2, 2013
MY VIEW: I choose liberty; denounce surveillance

The NSA's surveillance of Americans is a breach of the Constitution. How would you like the government tracking who visits your home or how you spend your money.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Obituary: Elizabeth 'Lib' Smith

Elizabeth 'Lib' Smith, 100, of Longboat Key, died June 21.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Obituary: Cynthia Segrest Hamilton Dunn

Cynthia Segrest Hamilton Dunn, 80, of Charlotte, N.C., and formerly of Longboat Key and Punta Gorda, died June 24.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
A new fence was installed at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort to keep out unwanted visitors.
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Trespassing reported at Colony units

Police don't know who entered the former Michael Saunders & Co. office and Vagabond, Castaways and Beachcombers units this week.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Kimberly Morgan submitted this sunset photo, taken near Bradenton Beach.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
Weather photo: Longboat Key

Kimberly Morgan submitted this sunset photo, taken near Bradenton Beach.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • July 2, 2013
Town wary of Long Bar Pointe project

A large project that calls for more than 2,500 residences and a 300-berth marina has Longboat officials worried.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Dawn Hummell and Greg Smaltz married April 7, 2010, at the Longboat Island Chapel. Photo courtesy of Jack Elka.
    By
  • Robin Hartill
  • July 2, 2013
Longboat Key wedding professionals group bands together

Weddings are big business, but Longboat Key only gets a small sliver of the proverbial cake. A new group of wedding-business professionals hopes to change that.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
A twin-engine boat of more than 35 feet sitting on a trailer, wrapped in blue tarps, sits in the front of a Bayview Drive home 10 months out of the year. The boat is legal under town code.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • July 2, 2013
Subcommittee solidifies boat restrictions

A committee does not believe boats or trailers should be allowed to be parked in front yards.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Vanessa Baugh and her husband, Don, reflect on how political life has changed the dynamics of their store, Vanessa Fine Jewelry, on Lakewood Ranch Main Street.
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
People Pleaser: Vanessa Baugh

Six months into her packed first term as District 5 Manatee County commissioner, Vanessa Baugh maintains strength in the face of struggles.

  • East County
  • News
Benderson Development has begun vertical construction on a building for Fidelity Investments at The District at UTC. Plans for a new Panera Bread location, just south of Fidelity, are being completed.
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • July 2, 2013
Benderson secures additional tenants

Several new stores, including a Panera Bread, recently signed leases for retail locations Benderson Development owns.

  • East County
  • News
Steve Knopik honored his daughter’s giving spirit, as friends and family watched during a ceremony June 29.
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
Lakewood Ranch cancer center honors teen's legacy

A new observation walk and tower at the Center for Building Hope honors the life of a local girl and provides a place of solitude for cancer patients.

  • East County
  • News
Stephen Heese has been with Manatee County-based boat manufacturer Chris-Craft Corp. since 2001, when he and a fellow Harvard Business School classmate, Stephen Julius, bought the firm out of bankruptcy. Photo by Mark Wemple.
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 2, 2013
Chris-Craft focuses on high-end boat niche

Chris-Craft, the company that made boats for John F. Kennedy and Elvis Presley, has slowly sailed back to pre-downturn levels. One key lesson: Get expenses under control.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • July 2, 2013
Residents form turnover task force

Three men in Heritage Harbour's Stoneybrook Community are trying to create a task force to ensure Stoneybrook's homeowners association will become resident-controlled within a year.

  • East County
  • News
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
State approves Manatee's financial recovery plan

The Florida Department of Education approved a Manatee County School District plan to meet the state-required 3% fund balance by June 20, 2014 - a decision that prevents state takeover.

  • East County
  • News
Construction crews have begun work on a new Starbucks at the former site of a Shell gas station at the northwest corner of State Road 64 and 66th Street Court East.
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
Starbucks to open new East County location

The coffee giant will open a store with drive-thru service in August, at State Road 64 and 66th Street Court East.

  • East County
  • News
Evolucia, an LED lighting company, will move from an 18,000-square-foot home off Fruitville Road to the 61,000-square-foot former home of Gemesis in Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park.
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
High-efficiency lighting company to move to Lakewood Ranch

Evolucia, an LED-lighting company with global aspirations, has found new corporate headquarters in the East County after moving from Fruitville Road.

  • East County
  • News
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 2, 2013
Chris-Craft focuses on high-end boat niche

Chris-Craft, the company that made boats for John F. Kennedy and Elvis Presley, has slowly sailed back to pre-downturn levels. One key lesson: Get expenses under control.

  • Sarasota
  • News
Carol Sparrow and Randolph Locke teach performers from the comfort of their home, where they have two pianos and high ceilings. Exotic artifacts, from their time singing across the globe, decorate their walls.
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
East County singers turn home lessons into a voice academy

Longtime opera singers and vocal teachers Carol Sparrow and Randolph Locke have formed the Sarasota Voice Academy to give a formal name to their teaching services.

  • East County
  • News
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and the Sarasota Police Department conducted water rescue training June 28, at Nathan Benderson Park.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
News Briefs

Sarasota conducts water rescue training; Manatee School Board seeks volunteer CPAs

  • East County
  • News
    By
  • Mark Gordon
  • July 2, 2013
Chris-Craft focuses on high-end boat niche

Chris-Craft focuses on high-end boat niche

  • Sarasota
  • News
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • July 2, 2013
Destination: East County

Eastern Manatee County may not have beaches or famous museums, but it has plenty of local flavor, winding rivers and parks in which to relax with your family. Consider these options for spending your summer days and nights:

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
This home at 460 N. Washington Drive has three bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,096 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.65 million. Photo courtesy of Lynne Koy/Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate.
    By
  • Adam Hughes
  • July 2, 2013
Washington Drive home sells for $1.65 million

A home in John Ringling Estates tops all transactions in this week's real estate. Corinne Parsekian sold her home at 460 N. Washington Drive to Joern Sroka, of Sarasota, for $1.65 million.

  • Longboat Key
  • Real Estate
Read this week's Cops Corner.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • July 2, 2013
Cops Corner: East County

Enjoy this week's edition of Cops Corner.

  • East County
  • Cops Corner
    By
  • Josh Siegel
  • July 2, 2013
Gallen to run for re-election in Manatee

Michael Gallen, a Democrat, has filed documents with the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections to run for re-election.

  • East County
  • News
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Latest News

1
Letters to Santa carry Christmas wishes and love
  • December 21, 2025
Letters to Santa carry Christmas wishes and love
2
Sue Wertman has rung the bell outside the Publix on Longboat Key on behalf of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key since 2013.
  • December 21, 2025
Longest-serving Longboat bellringer attributes motivation to family
3
Sarasota Memorial Hospital's Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute.
  • December 21, 2025
SMH participates in global bladder cancer treatment clinical trial
4
Santa greets visitors from the window of 9605 Governor's Club Place in The River Club.
  • December 20, 2025
Christmas decorating isn't just for kids
5
The Family Church caroling crew from left to right is Melody Johnson, Laurie Houston, Nancy Pilato, Pastor Phil Derstine and Terrial Robinson.
  • December 20, 2025
East Manatee church members will go through bars to spread Christmas joy

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