The old carol sings of going “over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother’s house.” Here in Florida we have few hills but plenty of woods, and the grandmothers often do the traveling here.

What would happen if all the homeowners on Longboat Key formed a political pressure group? Let’s say we call it “Longboat Key Home Owners” or LKHO, which might be pronounced much like “loco,” the Spanish word for crazy. Perhaps it is an unusual notion. However, how would such an organization alter the political landscape on Longboat Key?

You are enjoying a beautiful day…

I had an abortion in my late teens. The timing was not right for me to become a mom, and certainly not a wife. A few years later, I met my husband and we’ve been married for more than 30 years, raised children, look forward to grandchildren, retirement, etc.

Playing Reverse Bergen raises a jump to three…

Each year’s end, Longboat Key News reviews the events that occurred during the year, particularly the issues that are shaping the town and its future. Many events are ongoing and have been debated and changed over several years and multiple commissions, such as the Vision Plan, the beach renourishment project and structural solutions to the North End beach erosion problem.

International tennis resort and landmark, The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, headed by owner and Chairman Dr. Murray ‘Murf’ Klauber, shut its doors in 2010 after more than 40 years of operation. The closing was forced by Judge Rodney May in the bankruptcy case of the Colony, after he ruled that Klauber’s attempt at a Chapter 7 reorganization plan was not viable and that continuing the operation of the Colony would further damage the interests of the unit owners.

In some ways, 2010 could be called the year of the pension. Pensions became a hot topic due to the mushrooming of unfunded liability in the town’s three defined benefit pension programs. That liability, which totals more than $25 million, represents an obligation on taxpayers.

A re-examination by subcommittee of the Vision Plan originally accepted in November 2007 began this year, and the outcome will ultimately determine the future of Longboat Key.

Commissioners decided in 2010 to move forward with the third major beach renourishment, as well as a structural solution to the North End erosion problem. The renourishment issue was debated in December and was nearly scrapped as a viable means to maintain the beach, with some commissioners arguing the economy precluded spending upward of $43 million on a beach renourishment project. Commissioner David Brenner in particular wanted to explore alternatives.