LONGBOAT
Observer Longboat Key’s weekly newspaper since 1978
A cut above.
PAGE 12
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 42, NO. 52
FREE
Drainage dispute lasts a decade
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
YOUR TOWN
Church’s drive to head off hunger is a big hit. SEE PAGE 15
Courtesy photo
Michael Jordan
Awards again
Local author Michael Jordan is hoping to nab the Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association. Jordan, a Longboat Key author with six literary awards already under his belt, is up to win the Royal Palm for his as-yet-unpublished thriller, “A Desperate Race.” Last year, he took home a Silver Royal Palm Literary Award for “The Company of Demons.” The winner will be announced in October; however, according to the author’s Facebook page, fans have to wait a year or two until the notable thriller is on the market.
Longboat Key man says dispute with church has ‘cost me my life savings.’ MARK BERGIN STAFF WRITER
R
oss Toussaint insists he wants to be a good neighbor. “I’ve been on the island 23 years,” Toussaint said. “I don’t have any enemies, and I don’t want any enemies.” Toussaint, who lives alongside Christ Church of Longboat Key on General Harris Street, has been in a legal dispute with the church for the past 10 years over drainage that he claims is damaging his property. It’s a dispute that he said has cost him thousands of dollars with no resolution in sight, though the Southwest Florida Water Management District is looking into how a so-called bioswale drainage feature between the two
Longboat lags in census
Nat Kaemmerer
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
Bonnie and Don Resler and Ann Walborn
Focus on new pipe Commissioners will likely hear details in September. SEE PAGE 2
Nationally, 62.9% of households have responded thus far to the U.S. Census. In Florida, that’s 59.9%. In Sarasota and Manatee counties, the rate is 62.8% and 56.6%. In Longboat Key? Not quite 37%. Now some of that is undoubtedly connected to the seasonal nature of Longboat, but it’s also worth noting that the previous census response rate was 43.7% in 2010. Visit www.2020Census. gov for information. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline to fill out a form is Oct. 31.
Turtle Tracks LONGBOAT July 26-Aug. 1 2020 2019 Nests 26 26 False Crawls 13 19
Mark Bergin
Station 92 started Town officially kicks off work on south-island firehouse. SEE PAGE 5
Total as of Aug. 1 2020 2019 Nests 1,104 1,324 False Crawls 1,290 1,508 Mark Bergin
Source: Mote Marine Laboratory