bserver O
SARASOTA Thursday, APRIL 14, 2011
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEWS
Residents air their traffic concerns at CONA meeting. PAGE 3A.
DIVERSIONS
SCHOOLS
Aspiring screenwriter Austin McKinley’s TV obsession pays off. INSIDE.
PAGE 5A.
ODA first-graders pair up for dog day of spring.
By Robin Roy | City Editor DID you hear? OUR TOWN
Taxing district may expand The Downtown Improvement District, which funded improvements to Selby Five Points Park, wants to extend its reach on Main Street to enhance parts of that commercial center.
Courtesy photos
+ String orchestra comes to life
Although the proposed expansion area is smaller in size than the current Downtown Improvement District area, it would nearly double the DID's tax revenue, because the tall office buildings in the expansion area have a much higher taxable value.
TAMIAMI TRAIL
CITY HALL
SELBY LIBRARY P PALM AVENUE
PA LM
OSPREY AVENUE
SECOND STREET
PARKING GARAGE
MAIN STREET
AV EN UE GL RIN
G IN
R EVA D L U BO
WASHINGTON AVENUE
FRUITVILLE ROAD
ORANGE AVENUE
On April 11, The Glenridge String Orchestra made its first appearance at The Glenridge Performing Arts Center. Last year, the Sarasota Orchestra stopped offering its adult student string class after eight years, and the students were without a place to practice and also minus a teacher. Nancy Streetman, a Glenridge resident and cello teacher, was heartbroken that her former students wouldn’t have a place to play, so she contacted The Glenridge. Afterward, Streetman contacted Sasha Von Dassow, a local cellist/conductor, to conduct the orchestra. The orchestra’s debut was deemed a success.
EXPANSION PLAN
POST OFFICE
MORRILL STREET
KEY Current boundary Proposed expansion
+ Youth group feeds the hungry The St. Thomas More Youth Group held its annual food drive last weekend. The group collected more than 13,900 pounds of food, which was a new record for the youth group. The group beat its previous record by 3,000 pounds. The youth group donated all of the food to Catholic Charities, in Arcadia. The All Faiths Food Bank assisted with the food drive. It shipped all of the food to Arcadia in two trucks. — Linnet Berna
The chairman of the Downtown Improvement District doesn’t like what he sees on mid-Main Street, from Orange Avenue to Links Avenue — and he’s got a plan to improve it. Ernie Ritz refers to the dog-bone effect when describing Main Street, meaning there’s a great deal of activity on both ends, but little in between. “If you’re a merchant in the 1600 block, you might as well hang it up,” he said. Ritz convinced his fellow board members to back an exploration of expanding the DID, which is a special taxing district that was created in 2008 to fund downtown improvements, such as landscaping, lighting and security. The tax, which would be a maximum of 2 mills, or $200 on $100,000 worth of property, is only levied on commercial properties roughly from Goodrich Avenue west to Gulfstream Avenue and
SEE DOWNTOWN / PAGE 2A
Rachel S. O’Hara
Ernie Ritz, DID chairman, would like to enhance mid-Main Street with bulbouts and landscaping, which he believes would make it more attractive for businesses and their customers.
INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds......... 15A
Cops Corner....... 11A Crossword.......... 14A
Letters..................7A Opinion.................6A
Real Estate........ 12A Weather............. 14A
Vol. 7, No. 23 | Two sections www.YourObserver.com