News Briefs

+ Wallenda to speak at historical marker dedication
The Sarasota County Historical Commission is placing a historical marker at the Sarasota bayfront, and Nik Wallenda will be the guest speaker.

The new marker at Island Park Drive and Marina Plaza will highlight the history of the downtown bayfront.

Wallenda, Sarasota native and “King of the Highwire,” walked the wire across Bayfront Drive in 2013. He will be the featured speaker, along with county and city officials and Jeff Lahurd, county historian.

The bayfront marker commemoration ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Oct. 4., across from the

“Unconditional Surrender” statue at Island Park Drive and Marina Plaza.

+ P.J. O’Rourke to headline Tiger Bay Club event
Political satirist P.J. O’Rourke may get the chance to poke fun at the machinations of Sarasota government when he arrives for a Tiger Bay Club event Dec. 4, at Michael’s On East.

O’Rourke’s visit will include a speech, a question-and-answer session and a book signing. The program, which begins at 11:30 a.m., costs $70.

“He’ll talk books, politics and a little of everything,” said Sarasota Tiger Bay Club Executive Director Kim Noyes.

O’Rourke’s latest work, “The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way ... And It Wasn’t My Fault ... And I’ll Never Do It Again,” skewers the post-war generation. He spent two decades reporting for Rolling Stone and Atlantic Monthly, and served as editor-in-chief of the National Lampoon.

For more information about the event, contact Noyes at 925-2970 or through email at [email protected].

+ Mote reveals more details about bayfront plan
Next month, Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium leaders will appear before the City Commission to request a commitment to a vision that includes a new aquarium on five acres of city-owned bayfront land.

In the meantime, those leaders seek to coalesce community support behind that vision. On Tuesday, Mote President and CEO Michael Crosby spoke at an Argus Foundation meeting, publicly outlining the organization’s once-closely guarded vision for the future.

As part of its 2020 Vision and Strategic Plan, Mote wants to devote its City Island campus almost entirely to the laboratory and relocate its aquarium.

Following years of research and feasibility studies, Mote concluded that the optimal location for a new aquarium would be at what is currently the Van Wezel parking lot.

Crosby said Mote would seek a five-acre site from the city, and that consultants recommended a facility in the range of 70,000 to 90,000 square feet.

Meetings & agendas
Downtown Improvement District meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, SRQ Media Studio, City Hall, 1565 First St., Sarasota.

Sarasota County Commission and Sarasota County School Board joint meeting —  9 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 30, 3rd Floor Think Tank, Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota.