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VOL 24 No. 42
June 12, 2024
Suspect charged in Sunny Shores shooting Gunfire in Cortez on Thursday night left two victims injured and one male suspect in custody, according to MCSO. BY JASON SCHAFFER SUN CORRESPONDENT | jschaffer@amisun.com
Bright outlook
RUSTY CHINNIS | SUN
A fishing guide approaches the Longboat Key town dock in Longboat Village at dawn to pick up his charter client for the day.
Four candidates qualify in Anna Maria The Anna Maria mayor’s race will include Brian Seymour and Mark Short. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – The first week of Anna Maria’s two-week candidate qualifying period saw city commission chair Mark Short and former city commissioner Brian Seymour qualify to face each other in the race to succeed departing Mayor Dan Murphy. Seymour is the business owner of the
CORTEZ - A suspect is in custody charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of battery after a shooting at the Sunny Shores Mobile Home Park the night of June 6. According to a Manatee County Armstrong Sheriff's Office press release, Kevin R. Armstrong allegedly confronted a 33-year-old female who arrived at a residence in the 3900 block of 116th Street West around 8:08 p.m. with two males on a golf cart to retrieve some personal items. Detectives said that Armstrong and the female victim had been in a domestic relationship, and
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE 23
Mayor accepts responsibility for misplacement of palms FDOT mandated the May 24 removal of 19 Gulf Drive trees due to safety concerns.
Arendt
McMullen
Anna Maria General Store on Pine Avenue and the co-owner/ operator of the City Pier Grill business that leases city-owned space on the Anna Maria City Pier. Incumbent Commissioner Gary McMullen qualified to run for a city commission seat, as did former charter review committee Chairperson Chris Arendt. McMullen
Seymour
Short
was appointed to the commission in January and now seeks election to a full two-year term. Arendt seeks his first city commission term. Short qualifying to run in the mayor’s race means he must vacate his current city commission seat, win or lose, after the general election in November.
SEE ANNA MARIA, PAGE 19
BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – At the June 5 Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting, Mayor John Chappie accepted responsibility for the Florida Department of Transportation-mandated removal of the newly-planted coconut palm trees on Gulf Drive. “I did make a mistake at the beginning when we had the 19 palms that were planted in the FDOT right-of-way and that’s all on me,” Chappie said. The trees were planted the week of April 24 on the Gulf Drive South
IT'S SUMMER, and time for a cool, fresh salad. See Food and Wine. 22 Page 25 Anna Maria Island, Florida
The Island’s award-winning weekly newspaper
roundabout and traffic islands as part of a CRA-approved project that included Bridge Street. The $50,000 coconut palm project is a publicprivate partnership between the city and developer Shawn Kaleta’s Beach to Bay Investments LLC. That portion of Gulf Drive South is a state road and falls under the jurisdiction of the FDOT. The city was notified by FDOT that coconut palm trees are not allowed on state roads due to safety concerns about visibility, along with falling fronds and coconuts. “Darryl (FDOT Scenic Highway Coordinator Darryl Richard) was very kind and very efficient with trying to get ahold of us,” Chappie said. “Once he got ahold of us I was out of town for a week at the
SEE PALMS, PAGE 21
MANATEE COUNTY DISTRICT 3
candidates speak. 4
TURTLES AND SHOREBIRDS are
nesting on Anna Maria Island beaches. 8-9 www.amisun.com