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Your Observer

    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 5, 2015
Sarasota Youth Sailing drops anchor

From June 4 to Aug. 7, hundreds of students enjoyed a week of sailing, sun and fun at the Sarasota Youth Sailing Program’s summer camps.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Amanda Sebastiano
  • August 5, 2015
Instructor studies international cuisine

USF chef Joe Askren visited Italy to brush up on agriculture practices.

  • East County
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Amanda Sebastiano
  • August 5, 2015
Teen satisfies sweet factor

Fiorella Paredes saved her Halloween loot to make Christmas sweeter for other children

  • East County
  • Neighbors
Sophia Lopez, a sophomore at Lakewood Ranch High School, has been collecting school supplies for in-need students for three years.
    By
  • Amanda Sebastiano
  • August 5, 2015
Lakewood Ranch student gives back(packs)

For the third year, Lakewood Ranch High School student Sophia Lopez is supplying local students with backpacks, notebooks and other school necessities.

  • East County
  • News
Photo by Gary Wong
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • August 5, 2015
Finding a Different View

Members of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Photography Club and their friends on July 31 wrapped up a yearlong quest to capture 52 weeks worth of themed images.

  • East County
  • Neighbors
Charles Preston Rawls submitted this sunrise photo, taken in east Sarasota.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
Sarasota photo contest winner: August 6

Charles Preston Rawls submitted this sunrise photo, taken in east Sarasota.

  • Sarasota
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • August 5, 2015
OUR VIEW | Meritocracy at town hall

Longboat Key Town Manager David Bullock is implementing a private-sector, pay-for-performance system at Town Hall. He’s proving once again he’s not your ordinary government guy.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
City pension reform can’t wait

You have seen many times in these pages that the city of Sarasota has more than $150 million in unfunded liabilities in the city-employee pension systems.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
Cops Corner: Sarasota 08.06.15

Enjoy this week's edition of Cops Corner.

  • Sarasota
  • Cops Corner
    By
  • Jessica Salmond
  • August 5, 2015
Marmosets move into new mansion at Big Cat Habitat

Thanks to a donation from a Siesta Key family, Big Cat Habitat was able to build a new home for its three marmosets and squirrel monkey.

  • East County
  • News
Steve Hall joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was assigned in Hawaii to Marine Air Group 21.
    By
  • Jessica Salmond
  • August 5, 2015
Conversation with Steve Hall

Steve Hall, senior benefits specialist with Alltrust Insurance, along with several other community members, started a fund with money out of his own pocket to help veterans with emergency needs.

  • East County
  • News
Some homeowners have planted a hedge to block out the preserve's growth, said Beth Bond, CDD supervisor.
    By
  • Jessica Salmond
  • August 5, 2015
Confusion stems from tree-trimming policy

Residents in the Tara Preserve question why their properties aren't being maintained as they have in years past.

  • East County
  • News
Fran Fougere preps John Holtzermann before a blood donation at Aging in Paradise's health fair on March 9, 2013.
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 5, 2015
New program offers masterful information on the aging process

The Aging in Paradise Resource Center was one of three institutions in Florida selected to offer an Aging Mastery Program, which will seniors age successfully.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
Jayna Perry and Lilliana Janneman at last year's scallop search.
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 5, 2015
Citizen scientists to go scallop searching

The Sarasota Bay Watch seeks volunteers for its eighth annual scallop search.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Adam Hughes
  • August 5, 2015
Three-bedroom Promenade condo sells for $1.95 million

The home at 1211 Gulf of Mexico Drive has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,273 square feet of living area.

  • Longboat Key
  • Real Estate
Jorge Fernandez at Harbour Square, the future headquarters of Havana Ferry Partners
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 5, 2015
Longboat resident helping to re-establish U.S.-Cuban relations

Jorge Fernandez has spent decades working to restore the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
Nick Kovalakides, founder of Mind Your Mind
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 5, 2015
Mind games

Mind Your Mind games are held on the third Thursday of every month.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
OBITUARY | George Rosskam

George Rosskam died July 24

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
OBITUARY | John Anderson

John Anderson died July 30.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • August 5, 2015
OBITUARY | Seymour Rudges

Seymour Rudges died Aug. 1.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Cops Corner: Longboat Key 8.06.15

Enjoy this week's edition of Longboat Key Cops Corner.

  • Longboat Key
  • Cops Corner
Longboat Key Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi discusses issues that affect his two fire houses with the Longboat Observer.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Paul Dezzi: Firehouse happenings

Longboat Key Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi discusses issues that affect his two fire houses with the Longboat Observer.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
said Longboat Pass Bridge, which was built in 1957, will have a study performed in 2020 to look at replacement options for the aging structure.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Town, FDOT spar over bridge construction costs

The town of Longboat Key denies that its contractor, TB Landmark Construction Inc., damaged the foundation of the Longboat Pass Bridge during an October 2014 project.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Owners of the former Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant seek to build a new restaurant that’s similar to The Shore Diner on St. Armands Circle.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Owners seek to Shore up 114 additional restaurant seats

One thing is sure as the new owners of the former Moore’s Stone Crab building seek 299 seats: Town Hall better add extra chairs.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Town Attorney Mooney-Portale notified the Longboat Key Town Commission in a July 16 e-mail that a Supreme Court ruling rendered on June 18 requires sign code changes to be made in municipalities all over the country.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Court ruling may relax sign code

Longboat Key’s stringent sign code restrictions could be loosened thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge. K Rodney May will review the bids 10 a.m. Sept. 8, when May will hold an all-day auction for Maloney’s judgment against unit owners and decide who is the winning bidder.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
$23 million Colony judgment attracts four bidders

The highest bidder for a $23 million Colony Beach & Tennis Resort judgment is a new player: Bluewater Oceanfront Investments LLC, a Windermere-based corporation formed in July.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Najee Rhodes was The Out-of-Door Academy's starting running back last season.
    By
  • Jen Blanco
  • August 5, 2015
Football Preview: The Out-of-Door Academy

After dropping down to Class 2A-District 5, The Out-of-Door Academy football team looks for a turnaround season.

  • East County
  • Sports
Clayton Rosaire, an animal trainer at Big Cat Habitat, hopes the marmosets' new living quarters will help them lead happier lives.
    By
  • Amanda Sebastiano
  • August 5, 2015
Monkey business in East County

Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary is unknowingly hosting a primates-only reality show since it recently opened Marmoset Mansion — a house for four monkeys.

  • East County
  • News
    By
  • Amanda Sebastiano
  • August 5, 2015
Calling all ghouls

face paint, costumes, props and scaring strangers on Halloween, The Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corp.

  • East County
  • Neighbors
This rendering shows the future project at State Road 64 and Heritage Green Way. Rendering courtesy of the Starling Group.
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • August 5, 2015
Shopping destinations on the horizon

Two commercial projects will bring fast food, retail and other neighborhood commercial uses to the East County community.

  • East County
  • News
River Club's Mona Jain is one of four Florida women to come up with the idea for the book.
    By
  • Pam Eubanks
  • August 5, 2015
East County woman spearheads women's book project

The author even features River Club's Mona Jain as a historical figure.

  • East County
  • News
Instructor Sandy Bellino leads the class for aqua tai chi at Sarasota Memorial Hospital's HeathFit. Photo by Amanda Morales
    By
  • Molly Schechter
  • August 5, 2015
News you can use from the fitness front

The latest fitness news offers an ever-increasing volume of support for Aerobic Grandma's mission to get readers to be more active.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force Vice Chair Tom Freiwald said the key to welcoming new visitors and residents to Longboat Key is continually updating the island’s infrastructure.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • August 5, 2015
Conversation with Tom Freiwald

Tom Freiwald, 69, stumbled into Longboat Key Town Hall politics by accident when he proposed his community, Spanish Main Yacht Club, could be a site for a cellular tower in 2010. Five years later, Freiwald is still busy doing town work behind the scenes a

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Freda Perrotta
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • August 4, 2015
Turtle Watch honors Freda Perrotta

Longboat Key Turtle Watch recognized founder Freda Perrotta on Aug. 1.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
Video footage from the Sarasota County jail showed the officer repeatedly throwing food at a handcuffed individual.
    By
  • David Conway
  • August 4, 2015
Following food-tossing incident, Sarasota officer resigns

The Sarasota Police Department announced today that Officer Andrew Halpin resigned 15 minutes prior to a scheduled interview with internal affairs.

  • Sarasota
  • News
Emma Rodman, 7, leads a skipping circle.
    By
  • Jessica Salmond
  • August 4, 2015
Disney divas waltz into dance

Jump Dance Company's dance camp featured fairytale princess stories.

  • East County
  • Neighbors
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The town of Longboat Key has installed new signage at beach access points on the island.
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Informational signs posted on Longboat beaches

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