- April 28, 2024
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Ambulance scofflaws. That’s how City Commissioner Susan Chapman titled her email to city administrators, complaining about the rescue vehicles using Orange Avenue as a return route to from Sarasota Memorial Hospital to Fire Station 1.
“Orange Avenue south of Mound is a residential street that restricts trucks,” Chapman wrote in regard to the ambulances. “I think it is time for these vehicles to be ticketed.”
Fueled by a local radio show and other media, scores of people were outraged. Soon, Chapman herself apologized.
“I shouldn’t have said it,” Chapman said. “I admit it.”
Chapman said she wasn’t being serious about ticketing ambulance drivers, but that she was troubled by the vehicles driving down Orange Avenue.
Ashley Murphy didn’t want to leave her children. Nor did she want to give up her fitness routine.
So Murphy set out to solve her own problem. That’s when Mama’s Got Groove — a dance fitness program for pregnant and baby-wearing moms — was conceived.
Like most wild ideas — Google, the personal computer, Mickey Mouse — Murphy nurtured her concept for a mommy-friendly aerobic business in a garage.
“I cannot go back to who I was (before I was pregnant),” she said. “I can become a better version of myself, and I think that’s even more important to aspire to.
City staff is working with Nancy Goodheart Matthews and artist Danielle Glaysher-Cobian to restore the artwork of the beloved mermaid fountain in Pineapple Park, which was renamed Paul Thorpe Park.
Beyond refreshing the paint and repairing the cracks in the concrete, Matthews said the overhaul will make it a more complete piece than it’s ever been.
“The water’s going to be working the way it once was,” Matthews said. “The lights in both domes — which have never been on — are going to be on.”
The city is investing $147,391 into the improvements: $101,700 for the artwork and $45,691 for the infrastructure repairs.
An on-demand transit system was approved for the city, which led to the operation of small, electric vehicles that shuttle around the downtown area.
In the two-year agreement, the city will pay up to $338,747.50 to subsidize the private operation, with the goal of making the service self-sustaining via advertising by the time the contract is up.
The Gotcha Group operates seven six-seat electric vehicles. The boundaries of the free service are 14th Street, School Avenue, Mound Street and the bayfront.
Barely 24 hours after watching five of his troupe members topple from more than 30 feet above ground — and he himself hanging from the wire with two others — Nik Wallenda again was performing on the wire at a Feb. 9 dress rehearsal for Circus Sarasota’s “Synergy.”
By opening night, Feb. 10, two of Wallenda’s teammates who had been involved in the fall, Zebulon Fricke and Alec Bryant, were performing alongside Wallenda. They both had been hospitalized but suffered the least serious injuries.
“It doesn’t make sense to other people,” said Wallenda. “I feel no greater peace than when I’m on that wire. It’s harder on the ground.”
More than 380 couples went to Siesta Key on Valentine’s Day to get married — again.
Twelfth Judicial Circuit Judge Debra Johnes Riva presided over the 25th annual “Say I Do Again” event at the Siesta Key Beach Pavilion.
It’s hardly news anymore.
TripAdvisor ranked Siesta Key Beach No. 1 in the country this year and No. 5 in the world. Siesta was on top of the travel site’s ranking of the best beaches in the U.S. in 2015, too. (The beach fell all the way to No. 3 in 2016.)
But for longtime Siesta Key residents, success comes at a price.
Crowds, traffic, parking difficulties.
Ed Sturm, a 25-year resident of Siesta, sums up his feelings about the No. 1 rankings bluntly.
“I wish Dr. Beach never heard of this place,” Sturm said.
Earlier upset about the cost of a special assessment to help finance a parking garage, St. Armands Circle merchants began coming around to the idea at a March workshop at which details of the proposal were rolled out.
“I think (former St. Armands Business Improvement District Chairman) Marty Rappaport and his team have done an amazing job in fighting for this,” said Geoffrey Michael, co-owner of The Met. “I think it’s time for St. Armands to be grown-up and be mature.”
The timeline for the $15.5 million, 500-space structure remains on track. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2018, with completion possible by December.
Eight candidates started the day in the running. Three finished the night still in the race. And weeks later, two assumed their seats on the Sarasota City Commission.
Jen Ahearn-Koch, Hagen Brody and Martin Hyde all collected enough votes in the first round of elections to force a runoff in May.
Voter turnout was 19.12%, slightly higher than the 2013 city elections.
After taking a night to celebrate Tuesday, all three candidates focused on the next step.
“You’ve got thousands of votes up for grabs,” Hyde said. “This is not even halftime. We start again, and we give everybody the opportunity to make a choice.”
Brody earned a vote from 74.6% of the 8,534 voters who participated in Tuesday’s election. Ahearn-Koch got 59.5% of the vote, and Hyde earned 36.5%. Voter turnout was 22.8%, nearly a 4% increase from the first election in March.
Meet the Filiatraults. They own a castle.
Martine and Pierre have wintered in Osprey for years, but their priorities changed in 2014 when Martine’s cousin in France died, leaving the couple wondering what to do with her estate.
In this case, a 24,000-square-foot 14th century castle — the Chateau de Gaujac.
After much discussion, they decided to pick up where Martine’s cousin left off.
They give tours for 5 euros — $5.35 in U.S. dollars — between the last week of June and the first week of September. They maintain the grounds, restoring windows and rebuilding towers made out of medieval brick.
“History belongs to everybody,” Martine Filiatrault said.
One didn't need to meet June LeBell to feel like she was a friend. In fact, many felt a connection to the music writer, radio personality and lecturer through her voice alone.
June LeBell died April 30, after a five-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was 73.
For those who knew her —and for many who didn’t — LeBell’s voice is the first thing to come to mind. For 30 years, it rang out across the airwaves in New York City to greet WQXR’s evening listeners.
Following 9/11, LeBell left New York City and moved to Sarasota, where she wrote for The Observer as music critic. Observer Media Group Vice President Lisa Walsh recalls the first time they spoke.
“She called me out of the blue and said she wanted to write reviews for The Observer,” says Walsh. “Of course, I knew who she was; I was taken aback at first. She had such a beautiful voice — as smooth as velvet. She had me at hello. She brought such a wealth of knowledge, which along with her great personality, added so much to our artistic community.”
LeBell wrote weekly music reviews and other columns for The Observer, where she fostered the growth of local musicians with both a critical ear and gracious writing.
Town leaders honored the legacy of Paul Thorpe, a man who helped create downtown institutions such as the Sarasota Farmers Market, the New Year’s Eve pineapple drop and the Downtown Sarasota Holiday Parade, by rededicating Pineapple Park, located at Lemon Avenue and Pineapple Avenue, as Paul N. Thorpe Jr. Park in July.
It was the end result of a push that began just weeks earlier at a packed City Commission meeting. Thorpe’s friend Barbara Strauss led the campaign.
“A lot of people credit Paul Thorpe for them becoming the person they became,” Strauss said. “This man has influenced so many people’s lives, and we love him for that.”
Thorpe died at the age of 91 in August.
From the Sarasota National Cemetery’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony to the annual Memorial Day Parade on Main Street, residents and visitors donned their best red, white and blue ensembles to honor the men and women who died serving in the U.S. military.
Monika White and Jules Farnsworth sat chatting by the pond in the middle of the Palmer Reserve subdivision, but the pair didn’t come to relax.
They were there to paint — rocks, specifically.
Farnsworth is the founder of Sarasota Rocks. She, along with the group’s more than 400 members, paint and hide rocks throughout the Sarasota area and beyond. The group also searches for their painted creations, posting their finds on the group’s Facebook page, Sarasota Rocks.
“I love doing art stuff with my kids. I always have,” Farnsworth said. “It’s kind of outside and you are enjoying getting out of the house and the kids love it, even the older kids.”
The city lost another giant when Alfred R. Goldstein died of lung cancer at 92.
His legacy casts a long shadow in the Sarasota community, touching institutions from Ringling College of Art and Design to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. In fact, it would be more difficult to name an organization that Goldstein did not influence since he retired to the area in 1986 after a successful career as a developer in New York.
Laurey Stryker, the head of fundraising for the Ann Goldstein Children’s Rainforest Garden, said Goldstein’s investment was deeper than his wallet. Even after the project was completed, Stryker would call Goldstein to thank him for his vision and relay how the children enjoyed the garden.
“He would say ‘Yeah I was there ... I went with my grandkids,’” Stryker said. “It was one of those relationships that was challenging but really beautiful.
Carefully washing away layer upon layer of paint, workers last summer revealed the original 100-year old features of the Sarasota County courthouse.
The changes to the exterior are the final leg of a more than $4 million investment by the county, spanning more than a decade.
Robert Bendus, the county’s historical resources manager, called the building a “restored jewel.”
Tom Harmer accepted Longboat Key’s offer to become its town manager and told the County Commission “It’s been an extremely difficult decision for me.’’
In December, he assumed his new duties in the beach town, working alongside retiring Town Manager Dave Bullock for about five weeks.
The possibility of a new Siesta Key parking lot on the site of a sheriff’s department substation opened the grander topic of long-term solutions to one of the toughest places to park in Sarasota County.
County Commissioners acknowledged the need and began a comprehensive discussion in August, with no firm decisions yet made.
Among the ideas: More on-island parking, in the form of lots; more on-island parking, in the form of a garage; new off-island parking (with a shuttle); Paid parking.
Wary of making a quick decision that might not work, commissioners decided to move slowly before deciding on a set of solutions.
Seven young adults.
A beach community with lots of swimming pools, boats, alcohol and angst.
It’s MTV’s Siesta Key, produced in the same vein as the network’s early 2000 hits “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills.”
MTV said it was: a docuseries about seven young adults over the course of “the most epic summer of their lives,” as they “confront issues of love, heartbreak, betrayal, race, class and looming adulthood.”
Locals had a different take: “We will all look forward to this about as much as we look forward to RED TIDE...!”
Well, take heart. The series has been picked up for a second season, which starts in January.
Aerial rescues at the Vue Sarasota Bay and 624 Palm developments in June and July fueled an ongoing conversation among city officials about how to manage urban construction sites.
Residents have expressed concern about other incidents in which debris has fallen onto neighboring properties.
Even before the scaffolding failures generated headlines, the city was responding to those citizen concerns. In June, the City Commission asked staff to research possible new safety regulations for construction sites.
The City Commission split with City Manager Tom Barwin, voting unanimously to undertake a series of changes to the U.S. 41-Gulfstream-Fruitville road network.
Those changes include a third northbound lane on U.S. 41, a third left-turn lane from eastbound Gulfstream onto U.S. 41 and a signalized pedestrian crosswalk near First Street and Ritz-Carlton Drive on U.S. 41. The state would also reduce the speed limit along that segment of U.S. 41 from 40 mph to 35 mph.
Barwin had said he was sympathetic to barrier-island residents complaints of traffic backups, but that the city’s goal was enhancing pedestrian safety on the road.
“All of this angst is understandable, but it really amounts to about 5% of the time,” Barwin said. “You don’t, I think, dramatically change the character of an urbanized downtown and create really irresponsible pedestrian safety risks for 5% of the time.”
County Commissioners supported a plan to extend the Legacy Trail north from Culverhouse Park in two phases, but a portion of the funding balances on a fall 2018 referendum.
In Phase I, the county will purchase the railroad corridor between Culverhouse Park north to the intersection of Ashton Road for $7.9 million. During a March budget workshop, commissioners reallocated funds to pay for this approximately 2-mile stretch.
The second phase will involve the purchase of a segment of railroad corridor from the intersection of Ashton Road north to the intersection of Fruitville Road, which will cost $30.1 million.
Voters must approve funding for the purchase of this land and construction of the trail in a November 2018 referendum. If approved, the additional ad valorem tax, of 0.07 mills, or $14 for $200,000 of valuation per year for about 16 years, would generate about $65 million, the total estimated cost of the trail.
Long-lasting power outages and piles of debris that just wouldn’t go away were the lasting images for most Sarasota residents after Hurricane Irma. Other people experienced far worse effects for sure, but by and large, Irma was much less than we expected.
Still, nearly 19,000 evacuees filled 14 shelters throughout Sarasota.
About 210,000 Sarasota County residents lost power and 131 traffic lights were out, countywide.
More than 300,000 cubic yards of storm debris was estimated throughout the city and county, most of which was just recently picked up.
Debris and damage cleanup in the county has cost an estimated $8.2 million, although there was no significant property or infrastructure damage. The city has spent about $1.5 million on debris removal but is still in the process of estimating Irma's total cost.
Bill Wise was known by many titles — the “most handsomest man” in Sarasota, every “Sarasota lady’s favorite dinner partner,” a real Southern gentleman.
An active presence in Sarasota’s arts and philanthropic scene since he moved here in 1987 with his wife, Margaret, Wise died Sept. 12 at 92.
He was a man of well-educated conviction, but he was never obstinate, friends said.
“He did not have a closed mind,” Asolo Repertory Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Michael Donald Edwards said.
It’s hard for him to imagine the Asolo without Bill Wise. He and Margaret Wise attended every opening night during Edwards’s 11-year tenure.
Bill Wise never lost sight of what makes Sarasota’s art community what it is — its people. As a philanthropist, he fostered relationships in a way that only he could.
Richard Mandell, hired in January to develop a master plan for improvements at Bobby Jones Golf Club, presented his finished report to the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection board.
In addition to detailing hole redesigns and drainage upgrades, Mandell also provided an estimate for the work needed to restore Bobby Jones to a high-quality public course.
The total price for a comprehensive renovation of Bobby Jones is $21.6 million, Mandell estimates. Recognizing the significance of that expense, he also shared a “less-involved” plan — with a price tag of $18.7 million.
The city commissioned Mandell’s report because of declining revenues and activity at Bobby Jones. In the budget for 2017-18, the municipal course will receive a $425,000 subsidy from the city’s general fund. Bobby Jones is supposed to be a self-sustaining operation, but after six consecutive years of losses, the facility’s reserve fund has run dry.
After 389 days overseas, Navy Cmdr. Joe Hembree expected something of a welcome party at the airport when he returned.
What he didn’t expect was more than 30 friends and family, all dressed in red, white and blue, at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, all orchestrated by Melissa Hembree. She had about 24 hours notice of her husband’s travel from the Horn of Africa.
And when Hembree appeared, the party began.
“I’m really proud of him,” Melissa Hembree said. “He did what he was called to do.”
Parking is among the top priorities of a site plan, submitted to the city on Sept. 22, detailing a multiphase renovation, which includes a five-story garage at Orange Avenue and Mound Street, a new welcome center and conservatory space.
Preliminary plans for the 80-foot parking structure, which includes a rooftop restaurant, indicate its capacity at 450 vehicles.
Proposed renovations will require a rezone and a comprehensive plan amendment, which require final approval from the City Commission.
Early projections estimate the project will cost $67 million. The first phase, estimated at $35 million, will include the parking structure, welcome center and collections area. Phase two will include the greenhouse followed by phase three — restoring historic buildings and rerouting the garden’s pathways.
On a special day at Southside Elementary, gold was the only color that mattered.
Gold is the signature color of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which took place throughout September.
It’s a month that has particular significance within the halls of Southside Elementary. Two students, organizer Laura Gilkey’s son, Benjamin, and fellow student Avery Rann, died of cancer in the spring.
“I think it just shows a camaraderie that is really what it’s all about in life,” said Southside Parent-Teacher Organization president Caprill Hembree. “I think a lot of times we forget and miss that mark. I hate that this is a situation that reminds us of it. I wish it were something happier, but I am thankful that our school has used this tragic situation to come together for these families.”
Yoga. With goats.
Judging by the rapidity of classes selling out at Fruitville Grove, goat yoga is catching on in Sarasota. And yes, it is what it sounds like. A yoga class with goats (in this case, Nigerian Dwarfs) milling about.
Instructor Michelle Leon thought the classes would be a perfect fit for the farm.
“It just kind of happened on a whim,” Leon said.
The trick, Leon said, is not to take it too seriously.
“Feel free to stop, drop and [take a] selfie if you are in a pose and a goat comes up to you,” she said. “We keep it very fun and light hearted.”
It took a 4-1 vote, then a failed move to upend the vote after Commissioner Willie Shaw asked Sarasota City Commission to reconsider, but the city has entered into a lease deal with Lido Beach Redevelopment Partners LLC, a group led by Daiquiri Deck co-owner Troy Syprett, permission to operate a 200-seat restaurant at the existing beachfront property.
The private group will operate the entire city-owned property and make a series of improvements that will add a splash pad, playground and Tiki bar to the pavilion area.
Pending site plan approval, the lease will begin in May 2018.
The Pinecraft district, located around the intersection of Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street, is at its busiest during the winter months, when members of northern Amish and Mennonite communities travel south to stay in Sarasota. Each year, thousands annually travel to Pinecraft by bus for the winter — a practice that started in the early 1900s.
More recently, in 2014, members of the community worked to publish a master plan for the neighborhood. It includes 25 proposals that act as a wish list of things community members would like to see.
Among them, improvements to pedestrian and cyclist routes; legalizing small home businesses; legalizing the use of electric golf carts on community streets and other developments.
The overlay district is in the final stages of approval.
