by Joe Shea

BRADENTON, Fla., Sept. 6, 2011, 11:46am (Updated 1:34pm ET Sept. 7) -- The Manatee County Port Authority - meeting abruptly amid a county commission debate over the legality of doing so - decided Tuesday morning to ask the port's attorney whether they can add a last-minute applicant to the "B" list of three finalists for the post of Port Manatee executive director to replace outgoing port chief David McDonald.

by Joe Shea

BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 19, 2011 -- The Port of Manatee is broke - and that's not such a bad thing. And the AAA bonds of Manatee County have been downgraded - and that's not such a bad thing. Just ask the county comptroller or the port's director, who defended the pORT'S $1.5 "paper" deficit Thursday and sees a far brighter future ahead.

by Joe Shea

BRADENTON, Fla., Aug. 9, 2011, 3:13 p.m. ET (Updated 8:21 p.m. ET)-- Florida's chief financial officer Jeff Atwater, and perhaps the state's Attorney General, will launch a probe of a possible monopoly of the state's two existing natural gas pipelines that could occur if a pending buyout by the Williams Companies - which already owns one of the pipelines - is allowed to proceed, a source familiar with the inquiry told the Port Manatee News.

by Joe Shea

BRADENTON, Fla., June 2, 2011 -- For months now, two of the best-kept secrets in Manatee County government have been the secret site plans and planning staff reviews of code-named "Project Royal" and "Project Palm" in the county's new Port Manatee Encouragement Zone.