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VOL 24 No. 43
June 19, 2024
Another coconut palm falls on Bridge Street Mayor John Chappie said city workers re-staked the tree on Monday, which apparently fell during heavy rains on Sunday night. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
LESLIE LAKE | SUN
A large coconut palm tree that fell onto a Bridge Street sidewalk following heavy rains on Sunday night was re-staked on Monday. A newly-planted coconut palm tree (inset) was leaning into Bridge Street on June 14. Another palm fell across a sidewalk on May 15.
Holmes Beach election race begins
Candidates, start your engines. The race is on to the November elections.
race, the top two vote-getters will take the open seats. Commissioner Greg Kerchner opted not to run for re-election in November.
MAYORAL CANDIDATES MICHAEL ROTH
BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – Qualifying is over, and the race has officially begun for two city commission seats and the position of mayor. With challengers in each race, no incumbent is safe this year. Incumbent Mayor Judy Titsworth will face off with newcomer to the Anna Maria Island political scene, Michael John Roth. Current Commissioner Dan Diggins will oppose Steven Oelfke, Bill Romberger and former Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore for one of two open spots on the city commission dais. In the commission
Roth is a Tampa businessman and newcomer to Anna Maria Island politics. His political website, www. ILikeMikeForMayor.com, states that his attachment to Manatee County began with his family being members of the Bradenton Yacht Club since 1972. According to his website, he has been a property owner in Holmes Beach for over 20 years. Property records show that his property was homesteaded in 2021. Roth’s residential property in Tampa is listed as the address for his busi-
SEE HOLMES BEACH, PAGE 31
SEE TREES, PAGE 25
Coast Guard investigates tour boat striking bridge A tourist says a tour boat her family boarded at the Bradenton Beach Marina struck the Longboat Pass Bridge. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
LONGBOAT PASS – What began as a leisurely sunset boat ride turned into a frightening experience for a family of tourists on June 9. In a lengthy Facebook post, Georgia resident Stephanie Bridges wrote that she and her family went on a sunset dolphin cruise from Bradenton Beach Marina that evening on the Anna Maria Explorer and that the boat hit the Longboat Pass Bridge several times. “We were nearly at the end of our tour when the captain pointed
SUMMER BRIDES, grooms take to the beach. 16-17
our boat toward the Longboat Pass Bridge,” Bridges wrote. “One of my family members noted that we were traveling a bit too fast through the pillars when all of a sudden we crashed into the concrete bridge pylon – the one that supports the bridge. The captain began to try to get out of the pass, putting the boat into reverse and proceeded to crash into one of the pylons again.” Bridges wrote that everyone on board put on lifejackets. “We received zero instruction as to what was happening or how to put the life vests on. The captain and his first mate were silent,” she wrote. “The boat hit the concrete pylon again. Finally, the captain gets us out of the pass and away from the Gulf and back into the bay. He then asks if
SEE BOAT, PAGE 27
BOATING ACCIDENT results in
fatality. 3
GULF ISLAND FERRY adding a third
boat; requests tourism marketing funds. 8-9
Page 25 Anna Maria Island, Florida
BRADENTON BEACH - One of the recentlyplanted coconut palm trees on Bridge Street toppled over onto the sidewalk during heavy rains on Sunday evening and city workers attended to it on Monday morning, according to Mayor John Chappie. “The Chief (Interim Public Works Director and Police Chief John Cosby) has his guys out there this morning putting it back up and re-staking it,” Chappie told The Sun on Monday. “It had been staked but some of the stakes had disappeared.” The tree is one of about 60 palms planted the week of April 24 on and around Bridge Street at the suggestion of developer Shawn Kaleta, who is planning to build a restaurant, hotel and shopping complex at Bridge Street and Gulf Drive.
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