LONGBOAT
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 40, NO. 39
FREE
YOUR TOWN
Chamber cheers over milestone. PAGE 1B •
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018
Illuminating ideas Town begins considering what streetlights look best. PAGE 3A
Jamison Urch and Chase Bullock
Earning their rank Two firefighters got their official mark of duty May 2. Firefighters Chase Bullock and Jamison Urch received their badges for Longboat Key Fire Rescue after a year of required training. Longboat Key Fire Rescue Chief Paul Dezzi told the firefighters the badges are reminders of their duty. This is the second department both Urch and Bullock have been a part of. Previously, Urch was with Hardee County Fire Rescue and Bullock was with The Villages Public Safety Department.
MESHIN’ AROUND Learning about marine life was a net gain at Seagrass Festival. SEE PAGE 2B
Turtle Tracks The Longboat Key Turtle Watch spotted two turtle nests on April 27, four days before the official nesting season begins. Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 to Oct. 31. Until then, we will track the nesting numbers each week and compare them to numbers from 2017. THROUGH MAY 5: Nests False Crawls
2018 2017 3 1 1 0
YEAR TO DATE: 2018 2017 Nests 3 1 False Crawls 1 0 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory Data for Longboat Key
Shane Donglasan
Quinn Ott, Madison Wright and Hayden Wright learn more about Sarasota Bay sea life May 5 at the fourth annual Sarasota County Seagrass Survey and Festival.
A+E
Can you stop summer hunger? Here are the week’s donation totals for All Faiths Food Bank’s Campaign Against Summer Hunger, which runs through May 15. To donate, visit allfaithsfoodbank.org. Goal: $1.3 million matching challenge Amount raised to date: $1,118,808
Big Pass plan OK’d Hurdles remain for Lido Beach, though. SEE PAGE 4A
Timeless ‘Ragtime.’ INSIDE File photo