Click here to create an Islander iPass account and view the the latest e-edition

Goofing around a pumpkin patch are the Hansen kids: Eli, 2 (left), Piper, 8 (center) and Maite (right), 5. Dad Ray Hansen runs a music studio in Holmes Beach and mom Diana Bogan is an Islander reporter.

Sandy Mattick, acting as vice chair of Anna Maria’s planning and zoning board, had a difficult time opening the board’s Oct. 19 meeting. She announced with emotion that board chair Randall Stover died the previous day. Mattick said Stover had met with county administrator Ed Hunzeker for about an hour Oct. ...

Six changes to the Florida Constitution and one non-binding resolution are on the ballot for voters on Nov. 2, and four of them have hit hot buttons: Amendments 5 and 6, which would require the Legislature to draw state and congressional district boundaries along logical boundaries; Amendment 4, which would ...

The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce is getting $10,000 in funding from the Manatee County Tourist Development Council for the 2011 wedding festival, but approval did not come without some hard work by chamber officials. At an Oct. 20 board meeting, chamber president Mary Ann Brockman credited Deb Wing, the ...

Bradenton Beach officials expect to see shoreline improvements begin in February at the bayfront Herb Dolan Park. The work likely will coincide with other stormwater improvements in the area, said city consultant Lynn Burnett of LTA Engineers. Burnett briefed city commissioners on the park project during a meeting Oct. 21 at city ...

New signs are up on Bridge Street, where the city has adjusted its parking restrictions. The Bradenton Beach City Commission unanimously voted last month to set a three-hour limit on public spaces on Bridge Street and put the enforcement period from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The prior limit was two ...

In the days before the Nov. 2 election for Anna Maria mayor, Sandra Mattick and Mike Selby expressed confidence they have the qualifications needed to perform the duties of the office and asked voters to elect them to the job. Selby said with his 30 years in business, he has the ...

Two Bradenton Beach residents are courting voters as they campaign for the Ward 4 commission seat in the southernmost Island city. The election will take place Nov. 2, with voters casting ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Tingley Memorial Library, 111 Second St. N. Results of the race, the only ...

Veteran officeholder Carol Whitmore faces a challenge from rookie campaigner Sundae Lynn Knight in the Nov. 2 race for at-large Manatee County commissioner. Whitmore, of Holmes Beach, has held the seat for nearly four years. Prior to her election to county office, she served as Holmes Beach mayor and city commissioner. “I ...