Siesta Key News

Siesta Key, near Sarasota on Florida's Gulf Coast, has powdery white quartz sand that stays cool even in the hottest summer weather.

Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 12:03 a.m. "No Trespassing" signs and other attempts to discourage the public from crossing or laying out on a particular stretch of sand would be more heavily regulated under a new law that goes before the public for the first time today.

We may not have a drag queen parade or a Hemingway look-alike contest, but for the next few days Sarasota County will have more liberal public drinking laws than Key West.

When the Sarasota County Commission holds a public hearing in early December on the topic of beach access, we expect a packed house.

Again . Except this time around, it's long-term. We move two weeks from today, and because of that things may be relatively silent around here for a little while.

Northern tourists, native beachgoers and snowy plovers will have to coexist on Siesta Key Beach.

Sarasota considers ordinance to guarantee public access to beaches. MIKE LANG SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNE Buy photo MARIANNE PAGE has erected "No Trespassing" signs along her property at Point of Rocks on Siesta Key.

A real estate auction held in downtown Sarasota on Tuesday confirmed what many in the region already knew: Residential properties at the lower end of the market are moving, but luxury real estate is sitting still.

Published: Monday, October 26, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, October 26, 2009 at 12:12 a.m. Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson will not go unchallenged in her bid for a fourth term.

HGTV "Design Star" finalist Jason Champion has Halloween decorations out at his Siesta Key home: a 1960s orange tree with black ornaments.

Siesta Key architect Mark Smith will challenge County Commissioner Nora Patterson in the 2010 Republican primary.

A lot of the folks who have to drive back and forth to the key on a daily basis must have done a happy dance last week, when the paving of Siesta Drive and Higel Avenue was completed.

Published: Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 7:32 p.m. As you are no doubt aware, it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and locals are coming out en masse to support the women in their lives through organized walks, runs and various events.

Published: Monday, October 12, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 7:26 p.m. State Sen.

Published: Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 12:01 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 6:32 p.m. The guys who started the Red Elephant chain in Tallahassee three years ago got it right.

The Broken Egg came recommended to my breakfast-deprived boyfriend and me upon our arrival at our Sarasota hotel after taking one of those ridiculously early LGA to TPA flights.

In a sign of the financial woes plaguing the banking industry, Superior Bank closed down its Carrabelle branch as of Sept.

A man driving a stolen vehicle caused chaos on Siesta Key Thursday. At one point, even crashing head-on into a captain with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

A man tried to pass a bad check at a bank, ran from police and was found hiding in the hull of a boat docked on Siesta Key Thursday afternoon, deputies say.

Both county commissioners up for re-election in 2010 have filed to run again. That means for the first time since 2004, there will be no open-seat battles for the county commission in Sarasota.