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Local Issues 2010
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No more Ungala Gala for the Ringling Museum. The Director says how can you trust something 30 years old? photo: Frank attilio
Yvette Robison, named OurTown Sarasota Person of the Week. She was named manager of the North Sarasota Library in June, and has spent a lot time making sure Newtown residents know how valuable the library is.
By the end of July, 53 children had participated in a summer literacy
program for elementary and middle school students that promotes reading,
writing and speaking skills enhanced by music and dance. Robison and the
North Sarasota Library staff are planning more activities to engage youth
and young adults in academic opportunities and to remind adults in the
community about numerous programs and services the library offers.
The library is one of the greatest resources we have because it has an
open door policy coupled with the desire of staff to assist anyone who
comes through our doors, Robison said.
Around 30
readers told us how they felt. You can also.
The new Sarasota County tax collector is going after Marina Jack's for
over one million in taxes. The City leases the land Marina Jack's in
return for 3% of the revenue. Other property's like O'Leary's pays
property taxes but not Marina Jack's. What do you think, tell us on our
page. So far we have had 36 reader responses to this.
Two local companies were spamming people with email, Hoveround
who makes those mobility carts and Macy's Pest Control. It
wouldn't be bad if they took you off the list when you requested
but, they didn't.
Editors
Note: Ironically we haven't gotten their spam since we posted
this commentary:)
Who was the winner of the worst company in America as voted on by
readers of The Consumerist for 2010, Comcast. The Consumerist is published
by Consumers Report ie Consumers Union. Obviously, Comcast irked enough
readers to capture the title over other nominees including Bank of America
and Ticket Master. The prominent objects of discontent seemed to be
Comcast's pricing and service. Thank goodness we have a choice of TV cable
companies in the Sarasota area. We lobbied for such back in 2005.
Relatives place a memorial to Petr Slabyhoudek along Beneva Road by Markridge. He died in 2007 and was 37.
* Sarasota County Schools third-graders performance slips on the 2010 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released Thursday, the percentage who scored at or above proficiency level slipped two percentage points in both reading and mathematics compared to 2009.
Of the 67 Florida school districts, Sarasota County ranked fifth in the
percentage of students who scored at the proficiency level in reading and
sixth in the percentage of students proficient in mathematics. Voters just
renewed a 1% sales tax to keep our schools ahead of the pack. Go figure.
* Sarasota County moves $3.6 million from housing fund to their Economic Developing Corp. to help bring jobs to the area. Seems like $3.6 mill would fund a lot of jobs.
Who will adopt the two cows in front of Sam Seltzer's now that they have closed?
This is the six foot robot Mote launched off of Venice to detect any oil spills. They will launch another one off of Key West Tuesday.
We love this lady who owns this van. She is the vocal minority, she speaks her mind and posts it on the back of her van. Broadcast baby, we love ya!
In their heyday dry marina storage was rare and hard to find. Now racks
go empty with a slow economy and high gas prices. Many marinas went to
boat condominiums. Hidden Harbor Marina has been closed for four
years and is in the process of a remodel.
Island Park is full of life with large art billboards mostly done by www.embraceourdifferences.org .Island Park is next to Marina Jack's.
A straggly hibiscus barely made it through the winter freezes we had. Only 7 flowers bloom.
Sarasota enacted designs to try and allow for rain run off during heavy rains. But, mother nature out does the plan with 2.5 inches of rain in a short period the other day.
Sarasota Square Mall has been fighting low attendance for decades. It's
in a prime area of town, what gives. Well for now it's a slow economy with
high end stores located at SouthGate Mall instead of SSM. A big boost to
the mall could be the planned Costco which may be locating in the old
Dillards area there. Tell us how you feel about Sarasota Square Mall at
our
page.
Hundreds gather from Gulf Gate area to discuss Sarasota County's proposal for a unique re-model of Gulf Gate library with retail and old world charm.
Pollen, pollen everywhere and nare a nasal spared is the word these days in Sarasota. High pollen counts have allergy suffers popping their allergy pills.
Seth Gardner is surprised by Lori White as she tells him he is nominated
for Teacher of the Year.
Venice spends $700,000 to downgrade the airport and keep jets out. It's a terrible place for an airport with so much residential around it. Why don't they spend their money more wisely and sell the airport and relocate to a place that will accommodate jets. This area has more private plane traffic then commercial jets. Venice is fighting the FAA and is bound to loose tons of taxpayer dollars on the battle itself. Photo: FDEM
They've arrived part of the 1,000,000 tourists that take in our winter sunshine. At least temps will be headed higher to the mid 70's .
Anesthesiologists Trey Bernard, Tom Nutter and orthopedic surgeon Dr.
David Sugar, all from Sarasota head to Haiti to help trauma victims.
Dr. Sugar pic above.
Sarasota County looks to buy Warm Mineral Springs for $6.5 million. The water is 87 degrees, oh baby.
Cold water temperatures are affecting hundreds of animals statewide,
including sea turtles, and several have arrived at Mote Marine Laboratory
for treatment. Currently, Mote is treating four cold-stunned sea
turtles with another five expected to arrive later Monday evening. Mote
began recei
A new movie by the team that made "The Blind Side" are now making a movie about Winter a Dolphin in Clearwater who lost it's tale from a crab trap. A local Sarasota man Dan Strzempka shown above (tan shorts) helped develop the first full prosthetic for a dolphin in the world. Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick Jr., and Ashley Judd are in negotiations to star in 'Dolphin Tale.' We first broke the Dolphin story about three years ago. Filming is set to begin September 27th.
You may have read where a Myakka company got an $8 million dollar
Federal grant to put in high speed fiber optic Internet in the Myakka
area. We contacted the company that got the grant and they said they would
reach about 1700 homes at best. That comes to about $5000 per home. One of
the justifications is that students need high speed broadband, true, but
also figure that probably about 30% of the households don't have children
now the cost goes up to $6722 per home. What do you think?
We have had over 30 readers responses to this
To help make up for a projected $4 million deficit Sarasota County Fire Department to cut back to two man crews on some fire trucks according to Fire Chief Ellerbe.
We don't know if this is the same ambulance service that we saw years ago with a 'Restricted' license plate but here is at least one that is still driving sick people around. Ya think?
This is the site where the old Steak and Ale used to sit on S. Tamiami Trail in front of Best Buy in Sarasota. What new restaurant would you like to see there?
There was no shortage of people at Siesta Key Beach late Sunday.
Colleges may be finished for the year but high schools and the like are
still in session. The drummers once unique on Sunday evening were there
pushing out their obnoxious monotonous beat for over two hours. Maybe it's
time to rethink that group at Siesta Key?
Who laid these eggs? We wont' tell. But, we can say the architecture downtown Sarasota took a nice turn in many ways with restoring older buildings over the years. However, those who chose stark squares for buildings or Lloyd Wright type structures didn't get our vote.
* Sarasota looks to put tax exempt referendum on ballot this August so new or expanding manufacturers don't have to pay property taxes. The goal is to create more jobs in the area.
Baltimore Orioles rave about Sarasota and boast the highest pre-season attendance in their history, over 100,000 fans. Above is a rendering of the new planned stadium for the Orioles.
Sarasota vies for Google's attention to put a high speed Internet network in Sarasota by having Mayor Clapp swim with the Sharks at Mote Marine. Photo: Mote Marine
A yearly tally of state prison populations shows that, nationwide,
numbers are lower than the previous year for the first time since 1972 -
but not in Florida.
But, with an increase of 1,500 prisoners, Florida was second only to
Pennsylvania in the increased number of people behind bars. More than
100,000 inmates are serving time in Florida's prisons, and studies show
more than a quarter of those released each year are back behind bars
within three years. The study recommends investing more money in
rehabilitation to reverse that trend. Photo of Arcadia prison during
family visits.
An older retail building is torn down yesterday on S. Tamiami Trail. There
used to be a furniture and mattress store there before.
Sarasota ranked #2 place to retire out of 100 towns/cities by www.topretirements.com their survey is based on the frequency that online users click on/check out Sarasota. Photo: OTS
Toyota of Sarasota and Cramer Toyota of Venice virtually shut down
from selling Toyotas due to factory directives to all Toyota dealers due
to safety issues. The Japanese automaker says the sales suspension
includes the:
2009-2010 RAV4
2009-2010 Corolla
2009-2010 Matrix
2005-2010 Avalon
2007-2010 Camry
2010 Highlander
2007-2010 Tundra
2008-2010 Sequoia
The local auto dealership changes day by day, one by one. they close, move or consolidate.
Sarasota School district moves to build $13 million dollar performing arts center in Venice.
Sarasota Airport has more private plane flights then commercial flights. The airport recently put in place a free 20 minute short term parking while you pick up passengers.
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