- Named Best Florida Newspaper In Its Class -
VOL 24 No. 34
April 17, 2024
Locals join hands to fight big government
A crowd came out to Manatee Beach on April 13 to peacefully protest a state-led initiative to consolidate or eliminate the Island cities. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – A grassroots movement to bring awareness to Florida legisla-
tors’ efforts to consolidate or eliminate the three Anna Maria Island cities drew about 300 people to its first event, a peaceful protest on the sand. The crowd gathered just north of Manatee Beach on April 13 for a Hands Across the Sand event held by Save Florida Home Rule, a group of residents, vacationers and property owners who want to stop the overreach of state
government. Members of the group are vocally against the consolidation or elimination of the three Island cities as well as the construction of a parking garage at Manatee Beach. Joining hands, the group shouted, “Protect paradise” and “Keep your hands off our Island cities” as messages to Manatee County and Florida state lawmakers to stop governmental overreach and
allow local municipalities to govern their own cities. The parking garage bill passed the Legislature without protest in 2023. The bill allows for Manatee County commissioners to construct a garage at the beach property against city of Holmes Beach land development regulations and zoning codes. The garage bill was
SEE HANDS, PAGE 9
KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN
A crowd lined the sand at Manatee Beach for a Hands Across the Sand event peacefully protesting a measure being considered by state legislators to consolidate or eliminate the three Anna Maria Island cities.
State seeks contempt ruling in net camp case
FDEP is asking the court to find Raymond Guthrie in civil contempt and to impose sanctions that could include jail time for non-compliance with a 2019 judgment mandating the removal of the net camp. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
CORTEZ – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is continuing to tenaciously pursue the enforcement of a 2019 judgment against Raymond “Junior” Guthrie to remove his net camp off the coast of Cortez in Sarasota Bay. According to the judgment, the state of Florida owns the submerged land under the net camp. In a March 28 filing in the 12th
Judicial Circuit Court, FDEP Assistant General Counsel Cameron Polomski asked the court to find Guthrie in civil contempt of the court order and impose sanctions that could include incarceration. Guthrie had a deadline of March 5 to either remove the structure or show cause why the final judgment ordering its removal should not be enforced. According to court records, he has not done so. Polomski asked the court in his motion to “impose appropriate sanctions including, but not limited to the incarceration in the county jail for no more than six months or until defendant purges the contempt by completing the removal of the structure or any other remedy this court deems just and appropriate.”
SEE GUTHRIE, PAGE 26
Sea turtle nesting season begins Turtle Watch volunteers are beginning patrols and the Suzi L. Fox Adopt-a-Nest program is in place. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The traditional May 1 start of the sea turtle nesting season is now April 15, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, whose volunteers began monitoring the beaches this week for signs of nesting. Residents and beachgoers can help improve the chances of successful turtle nesting and hatching this season by turning off lights visible from the beach and closing blinds or drapes from sundown to sunrise. Lights confuse nesting sea turtles and may cause them to go back to sea and drop their eggs in the water,
SPRING into beach wedding season. 18-19
SEE TURTLES, PAGE 28
CBD, HEMP businesses may be
grandfathered in Anna Maria. 3
DEFENDANTS respond to charges in
lawsuit over pedestrian's death. 4
Page 25 Anna Maria Island, Florida
where they won’t hatch. Light can also attract hatchlings away from the water. Don’t use flashlights, lanterns or camera flashes on the beach at night; they can disorient turtles. Remove all beach chairs and other objects from the sand from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting, entrap them and disorient hatchlings. Fill in the holes you dig in the sand before leaving the beach. They can trap nesting and hatching sea turtles, which cannot live long out of the water. You might also accidentally dig into an unmarked nest. To report large holes or other turtle obstacles, call: • City of Anna Maria code enforcement - 941-708-6130, ext. 111; • City of Bradenton Beach code enforcement - 941-778-1005, ext. 227; • City of Holmes Beach code enforcement - 941-778-0331, ext. 260.
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