Lakewood, CA

A New York couple drawn to Longboat Key and the iconic Colony Beach & Tennis Resort can connect a lot of family history to the town and its once-thriving-but-now-absent landmark.The courts, the celebrities, the original Monkey Bar and other amenities are long gone, but George and Joyce Klett of Huntington, NY, spent a lot of time there and at its follow-on, the St. Regis Longboat Key.They honeymooned in one of the Colony condos in 2005 and saw their daughter marry at the St. Regis last Marc

Sarasota County will not be buying the colorful commercial condominiums at the gateway to Siesta Key after all.Sarasota County commissioners voted to terminate the county’s $18.1 million contract to buy the Boatyard property at 1500 Stickney Point Road at their Nov. 4 meeting, after discovering issues with the title to the property. The decision was 3-2, with commissioners Joe Neunder and Mark Smith dissenting.Commissioners initially authorized the Stickney Point property purchase in Febr

Longboat Key Town Manager George Landry had props at the Monday Town Commission meeting, one large and one small.The former was a $30,000 check to the town of Longboat Key for its performance in the “Putt for Dough” event held Oct. 28. A quorum of the Town Commission, Police Chief Russ Mager, Town Manager George Landry, Fire Chief Paul Dezz and Longboat Key Foundation President Susan Phillips all participated. Mayor Debra Williams can be credited for earning the check. She defeated

Panther Ridge’s Libby MacVicar was one of the first customers lined up before 8 a.m. Nov. 5 to shop at the new Whole Foods Market in The Marketplace at Heritage Harbour. “We just moved from Chicago, and we lived within walking distance from a Whole Foods,” she said. “It was like our favorite place, so we’re very excited.” The store is about a 15-minute drive for her now, but MacVicar is willing to “make the trek” to eat healthy. Mac

“What if?” became “what now?” for those holding the public purse strings in Sarasota County with the addition of Amendment 3 to the Florida Constitution.The measure, which loomed for months as a potential blow to government budgets, was aimed at easing residents’ non-school property-tax burden. It passed the 60% approval threshold Tuesday with just under 2 percentage points to spare.Only Alachua, Gadsden and Leon counties outright rejected the amendment, but not al

The Sarasota City Commission voted 4-1 on Monday to approve the first reading to update the Transportation Chapter of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which contained tweaks made by staff following a critique by the Florida Department of Commerce that several points were overly burdensome to developers.Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch cast the lone dissenting vote largely over concerns late changes to the language were not made public far enough in advance of Monday’s meeting.On Aug. 3, t

In only his fourth day on the job as the city’s new parking czar, Lt. Dwayne Shellhammer of the Sarasota Police Department sat before the Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors.The reason for the Tuesday meeting, he said, was to introduce himself to the leaders of the self-taxing district of commercial property owners and exchange a few ideas about parking enforcement going forward.The entirety of the city’s Parking Division was officially transitioned to the SPD on Oct. 2

Riding a wave of support from one end of Florida to the other, the state’s Amendment 3 was on its way toward approval Tuesday night, with more than 98% of the state’s precincts reporting.Sarasota and Manatee counties were among those supporting the measure aimed at reducing property-tax burdens driven by spiraling real estate values for homesteaded property owners.____________How we votedManatee(71 of 71 precincts)Yes | 114,438 votes | 65.6%No | 61,392 | 34.9%Sarasota(98 of 98 preci

A new election will bring new faces to elected bodies that impact residents of the city of Sarasota and those county-wide. With the vacation of one of two at-large seats held by Sarasota Mayor Debbie Trice and two-term incumbent Jen Ahearn-Koch holding a strong grip on the second, the turn of only one seat at the dais seemed likely. That one will be filled by neighborhood advocate Flo Entler, who comfortably finished second behind Ahearn-Koch over retired commercial real estate broker John

Heidi Brandt stepped up to the podium at The Ora at the Republican Party of Sarasota County's watch party on Tuesday night, with family members smiling around her, and her white campaign ball cap on her head. The announcement of her win came among several other announcements of races going to the Republican candidates on the ballot, from school boards to hospital boards.Supporters crowded the stage, holding up their phones to capture the moment.Brandt characterized her feelings immedia