Merab-Michal Favorite

SIESTA KEY — It was an unusually cold Thursday on Jan. 7, 1921, the kind of day that made one’s extremities go numb. That morning Bert Lutzier and his son, Merle, discovered something far more chilling than the temperature—a man, soaking in a pool of blood, was lying in the middle of Beach Road. Bert…

SARASOTA — It’s almost impossible to mention Sarasota without naming its greatest advocate John Ringling. The circus tycoon is synonymous with the city’s development investing heavily in property and helping to shape the area, as we know it. However, Ringling had a female counterpart who is rarely mentioned by residents. While the name Bertha Palmer…

SARASOTA — Golf courses today speckle the state, expertly cut out of just about every possible Florida terrain one could imagine, but did you know one of the first courses in the U.S. was located right here in Sarasota? Built in 1886 on a 110-acre tract bordering Main Street, the nine-hole course was the start…

By Merab-Michal Favorite If you ask Tjet Martin why she’s running for office, you’ll get a response “I want to stir things up a bit.” The 52-year –old Chicago native did just that when she picked up a registration packet from the Bradenton Beach city clerk’s office May 30. Martin said she plans to run…

  By Merab-Michal Favorite Islander Reporter A Holmes Beach woman died after she shot herself in the chest June 6 while cleaning a revolver. Janice Louise Kartzert, 65, was found dead insider her home in the 300 block of 60th Street around 12:45 p.m., according to the report from the Holmes Beach Police Department. Kartzert’s…

  Originally run in the June 4, 2014 edition By Merab-Michal Favorite Imagine standing in the sand with small waves breaking at your ankles and looking up to see hundreds of flying luminaries drift slowly through the night sky. “It really is a beautiful scene,” said Christina Mathews, owner of Weddings by Christina, of Sun…

Published Sunday, April 27, 2014 12:05 am by Merab-Michal Favorite Remnants of Florida’s maritime history lie scattered along Florida’s coast, some of them untouched for thousands of years. Dugout canoes used by Native Americans to trade with other tribes await excavation. The skeletons of Spanish Galleons that arrived on Florida shores in search of gold…

By Merab-Michal Favorite, Islander Reporter Bradenton Beach city officials finally saw a step forward in the long — more than two-year — process to renovate the city pier. The good news? The project is fully funded. Proposals are in for the Historic Bridge Street Pier renovation and the lowest bid exceeds $1.2 million. The sealed…

By Merab-Michal Favorite, Islander Reporter An alleged security breach at Bradenton Beach City Hall was investigated, but the Bradenton Beach Police Department found no evidence to prompt charges. The BBPD was investigating a report of unauthorized sharing of city files after ELRA Inc. attorney Robert Lincoln sent an email to city attorney Ricinda Perry questioning…