LONGBOAT
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
Scholarship smiles.
PAGE 1B
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 40, NO. 52
FREE
•
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2018
YOUR TOWN
Katie Johns
St. Armands menu expands St. Armand Circle’s newest restaurant is open for business. On Thursday, Aug. 2, Speaks Clam Bar opened to the public. The new restaurant is the second location for Speaks. Another one is located in Lakewood Ranch. Both locations have the same menu and combine Italian fare with the energy of a speakeasy. The St. Armands location is located at 29 N. Blvd. of the Presidents and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Smith earns finance designation Sue Smith, Longboat Key’s finance director, recently earned the Certified Government Finance Officers designation from the Florida Government Finance Officers Association. Smith had to pass five exams regarding the major disciplines of public finance including accounting and financial reporting, municipal budgeting, treasury management, debt administration and financial administration. Smith will now have to maintain 40 credit hours of continuing education each year to keep the designation. She has been with the town since 2013.
Turtle Tracks JULY 29 TO AUG. 4: Nests False Crawls
2018 2017 28 24 12 21
YEAR TO DATE: 2018 2017 Nests 983 1,272 False Crawls 997 1,164 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory Data for Longboat Key
Bret Hauff
Town crews, including Town Manager Tom Harmer, farthest right, collected more than four tons of dead fish on Tuesday, Aug. 7.
BLOOMING R
BRET HAUFF AND KATIE JOHNS OBSERVER STAFF
MESS
SEE PAGE 3A
Town launches clean-up after red tide effects swirl into neighborhood canals.
Getting ready to vote
ed tide has arrived on Longboat Key, bringing piles of dead marine life and a strong odor to both the gulf and bay sides of the island. The smell of rotten fish has spread across the island as a bloom of Karenia brevis has been killing sea life across southwest Florida for weeks and moving up the coast. Public Works crews have spent the last few days surveying the island and found “mild to moderate” amounts of dead fish on the island’s beaches, said Isaac Brownman, public works director.
Candidates state their positions before primary. SEE PAGES 7-17A
SEE RED TIDE, PAGE 3A
A+E
The art of sound. INSIDE