LONGBOAT
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
A lot to see in Durante Park. PAGE 14
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 42, NO. 50
FREE
Red light, green light
•
THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020
YOUR TOWN
Longboat leaders deliver objections to Sarasota’s master transportation plan by asking the city to focus on ending seasonal gridlock instead of other priorities. SEE PAGE 3 File photo
Litten and Dan Boxser
Literary Longboat
TROPICAL APPEAL As long as she has lived in her St. Armands Key house, Carolyn Michel has reaped the benefits of the mango trees out front. PAGE 13
Something else to add to your social distancing activities queue: Lockdown LitFest. It’s a list of lively literary lectures that have landed on Longboat Key from London by way of the Boxser Diversity Initiative. Longboat Key couple Dan and Litten Boxser, who head the initiative, were approached by the Hay Literary Festival, which had gone virtual. Interviews with Ladee Hubbard, Michael Jeffries and Timothy Patrick McCarthy can be seen on www. LockdownLitFest.com. “It’s nice that a local organization such as ourselves are able to get the word out on a larger stage,” Dan said. “Anybody that’s interested in what’s going on both locally and nationally and internationally should be interested.”
Longboat love
Nat Kaemmerer
Carolyn Michel said she doesn’t understand how or why her trees produce so many mangoes, but she’s happy to curate them.
Search begins for new chief of police Two internal candidates among those in running to succeed retiring Pete Cumming. SEE PAGE 2
Photos, recommendations, neighborly updates and current events. It’s the technologically advanced version of a neighborhood corkboard. The “I Love Longboat Key” Facebook group and its 5,000 members exist with one common denominator: the name of the group. A first-timer will post about their newfound love for Longboat Key, and the heart-eye emojis pour in. Thirty-plus comments pour in when restaurant recommendations are needed. It’s a sweet corner of the internet — most of the time. But if you don’t know the weird and beautiful flower in your yard, chances are a member might.
Turtle Tracks LONGBOAT July 12-18 2020 Nests 66 False Crawls 68
File photo
The deadline to apply for the town's police chief position is Aug. 31. Police Chief Pete Cumming plans to retire Oct. 1.
2019 68 56
Year to date 2020 2019 Nests 1,020 1,230 False Crawls 1,230 1,448 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory