Sarasota Observer 3.18.21

SARASOTA

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Bow-wow at bazaar.

PAGE 18A

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

VOLUME 17, NO. 16

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Turning a new page School district prepares for $5 million textbook buy. PAGE 3A

Melody Ramos

Fair way to spruce up Bobby Jones Volunteers pitch in to tidy nature trails that wind around the city’s closed golf course. SEE PAGE 1B

Courtesy photos

Michelle Monasterios

National scholars

A pair of Riverview High School seniors have been selected as the 2021 Girls Inc. national scholars and have received Lucie Miller Wright scholarships.

Melody Ramos, a Girls Inc. member since first grade, tutors younger girls at Girls Inc. of Sarasota County, leads the Taking Action high school virtual advocacy program and was recently accepted into a quantum computing program with MIT & IBM. Michelle Monasterios also has been involved with Girls Inc. since first grade and was recognized with the Strong, Smart & Bold Leadership Award in 2019 for her participation in the State of Women White House Summit in Washington, D.C.

Motorcyclists ride for pets

The Humane Society of Sarasota County often has people and pets alike filling its halls. But for one day a year, there’s a different clientele: motorcycle clubs along with dogs dressed up in riding attire.

The Manasota Harley Owners Group organized the annual St. Patty’s Day Poker Run, which had various clubs meeting to benefit the Humane Society.

Hundreds of bikers registered at the Humane Society’s new center — and were able to meet some of the Humane Society’s resident pups dressed in motorcycle gear themselves — before hitting the road.

Harry Sayer

Drew and Tatum Temple-Gregory, who frequently walk at Bobby Jones Golf Club’s nature trails on weekends, pitch in March 13 to clean up the grounds of trash and downed palm fronds.

A+E

A NEW PATH City, school district work out ideas for a pedestrian, bike route.

SEE PAGE 6A

Unconventional theater.

PAGE 4B David Conway

WH AT’S H A PPENING

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

WEEK OF MARCH 18, 2021

Sarasota resets vaccine system

“I’m in favor of a vibrant downtown. I’m in favor of music in the air.”

At noon Monday, Sarasota County reopened its COVID-19 vaccine registration system to an expanded audience, following through on state guidelines lowering the minimum age for vaccination eligibility to 60.

Once signed up, eligible individuals will receive an account number and enter the queue for appointments. The county closed its system last week to prepare for the relaunch.

Under state criteria, the population eligible for the vaccine also includes K-12 school employees, first responders 50 and older, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, health care workers with direct patient contact and individuals deemed medically vulnerable.

The system allows all adults to sign up, regardless of eligibility.

Individuals who are over the age of 18 can register for an account and will be assigned an account number once they are part of an eligible population, the county said in a release.

In the meantime, the DOH will continue to administer vaccine to individuals older than 65, which comprises 37% of Sarasota’s population.

“We are committed to working through that population to ensure those who want to receive the vaccine are able to get it before we expand to other groups,” DOH Health Officer Chuck Henry said.

Henry said more than 115,000 individuals who are health care workers or are age 65 and older have received the vaccine. There are about 65,000 in those groups to still be vaccinated.

Mayor Hagen Brody READ MORE ON PAGE 14A

BY THE NUMBERS $30,000

Budget for a St. Armands Circle parklet project.

PAGE 5A

393

Maximum units proposed in a workforcehousing project at Lime and Fruitville.

PAGE 12A

375

Length in feet of a wall being built between county Fire Station 13 on Siesta Key and an adjoining condominium community.

PAGE 17A

CALENDAR n Sarasota County

Commission meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 23, Commission Chambers, County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd. n Sarasota County School Board meeting— 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, Board Chambers, Landings Administrative Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd.

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n February, passenger traffic at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport increased 26% over the previous month.

February passengers totaled 159,772 compared to 126,704 passengers in January, according to a news release. Compared to February 2020, passenger traffic was 69% of the 2020 level of 232,549.

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“It is great to see our passenger numbers starting to recover,” Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport President and CEO Rick Piccolo said in a statement.

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“With spring break now upon us, we expect to see upwards of 10,000-plus passengers per day traveling through our airport.”

There are 10 airlines serving 45 destinations from the airport.

Additional year-round and seasonal service is starting throughout March, April and May on Southwest and Allegiant.

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

3A

WHAT HAPPENS TO OLD BOOKS? Rob Manoogian, the director of instructional materials and library services, said the state provides the district three options for removing out-of-date instructional material: recycling, giving them away or selling them, or throwing them away.

Because the materials are 7 years old, Manoogian said the district is working with a company to recycle them.

File photos

BUY THE BOOK

The district is attempting to keep up with new state standards while considering what texts to purchase and dealing with lower state funding.

BY THE NUMBERS The last time the district updated English books was in 2014. Now district leaders anticipate a 69% cost increase for English language materials.

COSTS IN 2014 K-5 n Cost per student: $115 n Total: $2.09 million 6-8 n Cost per student: $66 n Total: $557,700 9-12 n Cost per student: $66 n Total: $755,040 OVERALL TOTAL $3.4 million ESTIMATED COSTS IN 2021 K-5 n Cost per student: $185 n Total: $3.33 million 6-8 n Cost per student: $122 n Total: $976,000 9-12 n Cost per student: $119 n Total: $1.43 million OVERALL TOTAL $5.73 million

Above: John Annis of the Barancik Foundation reads to two students at Fruitville Elementary.

Left: Book costs for the district’s youngest students are up $70 per pupil for 2021-22.

Below: Fruitville Elementary kindergarten and first graders read their new books with their teachers.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

E

ach year, there’s excitement in the air as students line up to purchase books of their choice at the Scholastic Book Fair. But when the district has to purchase new books, it becomes a far more costly and complicated process.

The district is preparing to purchase new English and language arts books for the 2021-22 school year at a total estimated cost of $5.7 million.

The district’s purchasing schedule follows the state’s adoption of textbooks, which follows a five-subject cycle, meaning each core subject typically gets updated every five years. The district does have some flexibility to postpone book adoptions to allow for the purchasing of books in other subject areas, such as music, physical education or arts.

However, the district is facing an urgent timeline with the English and language arts adoption because the state is changing its ELA standards. The new standards will need to begin implementation in the 2021-22 school year to prepare students for new state assessments in 2022-23.

“It’s imperative that our teaching practices change to be aligned with those standards, and we need those curricular resources to be able to teach the standards they are asking us to teach,” said Sue Meckler, the director of middle school and curriculum instruction.

The last time the district purchased new English books was in 2014 at a total cost of $3.4 million, so the estimated 2021 costs represents a 69% increase.

The new standards, Meckler said, are driving the steep cost increase because publishers had to work under a time crunch to produce new books that would fit the standards.

ELA also is the most expensive

adoption, Meckler said, because it requires ancillary materials to guide reading at various educational levels. It also requires a one-to-one adoption, meaning each student has a textbook to take home rather than just a

classroom or digital set.

Meckler said it is unlikely that the district would ever switch to an all-digital format because students need to be able to mark up their texts. Also, not all students have internet access at home.

Math is the second most expensive adoption, which will be the next up in the cycle. Early projections show the cost of an adoption at $4.91 million in 2022.

When the district chooses new books, it has a set of guidelines provided by the state, but it has discretion to choose its own publisher. To choose the best publisher for every grade level, the district puts together committees of teachers from each school to give input on the top district choices.

“The hope is that teachers don’t lose a sense of autonomy,” elementary curriculum specialist Holly Chesnoff said. “We want them to have the ability to make some of their own decisions about how best to help their students.”

After the teachers give their input, the district makes the final call. Rob Manoogian, the director of instructional materials and library services, said the main focus is on what is best for students, not cost.

“We have a tendency for good, I think, to go above and beyond what the state asks us to do,” Manoogian said.

The district this year received $3.4 million from the state for instructional materials, but money from those funds has to be directed to the district’s 12 charter schools for instructional materials. Additionally, money is allocated to each school based on student enrollment.

After factoring for those items, the district was left with $2.8 million. It also was able to roll over $1.39 million, bringing the total allocation to $4.1 million.

This means the total $5.7 million adoption cost is more than the district’s total allocation. It also has to find funds for workbooks, online licenses, dual enrollment and library books.

“Districts are really hurting because when you look at the allocation that we’re given by the state, it doesn’t give you enough money to do purchases like this, let alone pay for other expenditures on an annual basis,” Meckler said. “But you’re in a situation where you basically have to do it, or you’re not going to be in compliance.”

The district could defer its ELA purchases for a year, Manoogian said, but then it would be in deeper financial trouble when it has to adopt ELA and math books in the following year.

The district, like many others throughout Florida, has lobbyists who regularly talk to lawmakers about the impacts on schools.

Manoogian said state funding is down almost $100 million over the past 10 years for instructional materials.

“My father always told me, ‘If you get a nickel, it’s a nickel more than you had.’ So it’s great we get some funds, but you can see we’re underfunded, and it’s the same way for each and every district,” he said.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

EPA to revisit offshore fish farm permit The Environmental Appeals Board has requested the Environmental Protection Agency to provide a status report on the permit with guidance under the Biden administration.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

M

ore than a year into the process, environmental regulators are being asked to revisit a permit issued for an offshore fish farm in the Gulf of Mexico.

In response to actions under the Biden administration, the federal Environmental Appeals Board has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to provide a report on the permit it issued last year.

The farm, which would be operated by Hawaii-based company Ocean Era, would host 20,000 almaco jack in a pen suspended 45 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. It would be the first finfish project in the Gulf and the first in federal waters near the contiguous 48 states.

It would produce a maximum harvest of 88,000 pounds, and if approved, Mote Marine Lab & Aquarium would supply Ocean Era with fingerling almaco jack raised at its research park.

Ocean Era needs a water-discharge permit from the EPA and a construction permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The EPA held a hearing in January 2020 and approved a permit in October, but the Army Corps has

yet to do so.

The Biden administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to review actions taken during the past four years and consider suspending, revising or rescinding them, the appeals board order noted.

The order states that arguments raised against the farm present issues of national significance concerning the application of several federal laws, including the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. Speaking to the Siesta Key Condominium Council, Siesta resident Neal Schleifer, who has opposed the project since the beginning, said the review offers a renewed hope.

“The order should work in favor, we hope, for the people who oppose the fish farm,” Schleifer said.

During their public hearing periods, the Army Corps received more than 1,000 comments, and the EPA received more than 9,000, with the majority in opposition to the project.

Throughout the hearing process, many residents and business owners expressed concern that the pen would exacerbate the problems the Gulf ecosystem

Courtesy photo

has experienced, such as red tide and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Others worry that the farm will pave a trail for similar farms in the future.

“Fish eat, and fish produce waste, and that waste goes directly into the waterways,” Friends of the Earth member Hallie Templeton said during one hearing.

“There’s excess feed that can go into the waterway. There’s pharmaceutical residues and other toxins going into the Gulf, and this is a big red flag.”

As part of the EPA’s permit requirements, Ocean Era would have to monitor several factors, such as medicinal products used on the almaco jack and discharges of pollutants including chlorophyll, phosphorus, copper, sulfide and nitrogen.

Project Manager and Permit Coordinator Dennis Peters said Ocean Era selected the Sarasota site out of about 18 sites because it has the appropriate water, depth, substrate and temperature regimes to keep the project clean.

It also is away from sensitive reef habitats and endangered species, he said.

The EPA must now file a status report that will allow the appeals board to review the permit in light of the Biden executive order. The status report must be filed no later than March 31, and the board will then decide whether to proceed with deliberations, including setting a date for an oral argument.

Should the EPA permit stand, Ocean Era would still need a permit from the Army Corps.

If approved, the project would place 20,000 almaco jack in a pen suspended in the Gulf of Mexico.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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St. Armands landowners eye streetscape upgrades Circle stakeholders are considering refreshed landscaping, improved lighting and reworked signage as they pursue a plan for enhancing the area.

“It’ll get the momentum going,” Kauffman said.

BATHROOM UPDATE

DAVID CONWAY DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

The St. Armands Circle Business Improvement District has learned that the costs of building a public park can add up quickly, even if that park is small enough to fit in a median.

In October 2020, the board agreed to set aside up to $20,000 to build one or two parklets in the medians at St. Armands Circle, small amenity zones with such features as turf, overhead lighting, rocking chairs and an oversized chess board. In December, after refining plans and conducting more research, the BID revised its cost projections to just under $20,000 for a single parklet.

When the BID sought a quote for construction from a general contractor, it got back a price of nearly $100,000.

As a result, the BID is reconsidering its approach to making upgrades around the Circle — not only by scaling back plans for the parklet but also by expanding the scope of the initiatives the board is interested in undertaking. At a March 10 meeting, BID board members expressed

Courtesy rendering

After producing concept plans for a parklet, depicted in the rendering above, the St. Armands Business Improvement District received construction quotes that were more than four times over budget, so the group is scaling back.

a desire to take a broader look at the streetscapes on St. Armands by producing plans for updating landscaping, sidewalks, lighting and signage.

“We’re not going to spend a million dollars today to redo one median, but let’s have a longterm plan,” board member Geoffrey Michel said.

BID Operations Manager Brandy Smith said the group could save money on constructing the parklet if the BID procured individual aspects of the projects directly, rather than going through a general contractor. Board members also suggested eliminating some elements of the parklet, including a shade structure, indicating that more elements could be added

over time if the BID thought it was a good investment.

Although the board expressed some frustration about the ballooning price, it agreed to move forward with the parklet project and set a budget not to exceed $30,000.

“We’re right on the cusp of having something, I think, kind of cool and a little different to put there,” board member Mindy Kauffman said. “I don’t want to abandon the project.”

Looking beyond the parklet, Kauffman drew inspiration from the Downtown Improvement District, which recently budgeted money to produce conceptual plans for a Main Street streetscape project. Because board members

had expressed interest in refreshing and reinvigorating the Circle, Kauffman suggested a similar approach could help facilitate improvements on St. Armands.

The board agreed to solicit a proposal from a landscape architect focused on potential upgrades in one quadrant of the Circle. Board members expressed a particular interest in plotting out lighting improvements and establishing a design standard in the right of way from the curb to the front of buildings.

Kauffman was optimistic that a conceptual look at improvements in one portion of the Circle would help build to the implementation of improvements throughout the district.

The BID is moving toward signing a lease for commercial space at 21 Filmore Drive with the intent to establish a public restroom facility.

The board voted unanimously to authorize board member Gavin Meshad to negotiate a lease with the property owner. The BID began to consider leasing a storefront after the construction costs for building a free-standing public restroom facility exceeded original price estimates.

The group is evaluating its options for redesigning the interior of the commercial space. In addition to offering restrooms, the BID has indicated the property could serve as a welcome center and office space. The group has also suggested the storefront could be used to highlight businesses on the Circle. Meshad estimated the cost of overhauling the space at around $55,000.

Board members said they hoped the commercial space would be a more cost-effective option for addressing merchant and visitor demand for public restrooms.

“It solves a problem that has been around for a very long time,” board member Yvonne Schloss said.

The BID also intends to lease a portable trailer restroom facility for four months at an estimated cost around $20,000. The trailer is slated to be placed in St. Armands Circle Park near North Boulevard of the Presidents.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

City, school board discuss plans for US 41 trail

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When the city and school district first drew up plans for a multiuse recreational trail west of Sarasota High School, they intended to include a row of trees between the sidewalk and the roadway along U.S. 41. Despite the intended benefits — providing landscaping for the trail and shade for walkers — that plan was a problem for the Florida Department of Transportation, which cited conflict with underground infrastructure.

The proposed fix was simple: Move the trees to the other side of the sidewalk, farther from the roadway, and add some hedges to create a buffer between the trail and the vehicular travel lanes.

That was fine with FDOT, but it drew objections from Ringling College of Art and Design, operators of the nearby Sarasota Art Museum. Ringling worried the trees would block the facade of the refurbished art museum building and that the bushes would require the college to provide additional landscape maintenance.

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TRAIL ROUTE The proposed MURT west of Sarasota High is designed to provide an alternate route for pedestrians and cyclists following the closure of a segment of School Avenue.

mission to ask for guidance on a finalized design for the segment of the MURT along U.S. 41. In a 3-2 vote, the commission voted to keep the bushes but alter the landscape plan by removing three trees, a move made in response to Ringling’s concern about obstructing the view of the museum.

“That’s covering up a beautiful, beautiful building, and they did spend lots of money refurbishing it and saving it,” Mayor Hagen Brody said.

In a subsequent 5-0 vote, the commission directed the project team to find an alternate site along the MURT route to relo-

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

7A

David Conway

The city altered plans for a multiuse recreational trail along U.S. 41 in an effort to complement the nearby Sarasota Art Museum, the former Sarasota High School building.

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of extensive community input and a series of meetings before the School Avenue closure. She questioned the notion that the trees would obstruct the facade of the museum, and she said the city needed to prioritize making the trail an attractive and comfortable place to walk or ride.

“It is Florida, and one of the best ways we can get people out there is to provide shade for them,” Ahearn-Koch said. “People will be able to view the building. Trees have trunks, and then they have branches open up.”

One resident near the project site spoke at Monday’s meeting. Linda Kitch, who lives on Bay Street, said she appreciated Ahearn-Koch’s perspective. She said the original MURT plan was a compromise between residents and other stakeholders, and she was concerned about further altering the design in a way that could make the conditions on the trail less appealing.

“If we can improve 100 yards of the landscaping along 41, that counts,” Kitch said. “Little by little, it’ll all add up.”

Despite the concerns voiced at Monday’s meeting, a majority of the commission felt relocating a small number of trees would not negatively affect the MURT project while showcasing the Sarasota Art Museum.

“I’d like to see it being able to view it from the road,” Commissioner Kyle Battie said.

The school district is targeting a completion date of September 2022 for the MURT.

353627-1

cate the trees. The MURT will extend from Bahia Vista Street to Browning Street. One stretch of the 10-foot-wide trail will run directly alongside U.S. 41 where a sidewalk already exists, while other portions will be farther east.

The school district is obligated to construct the MURT as part of an agreement tied to the city’s street vacation of a segment of School Avenue through the Sarasota High campus. In neighborhoods surrounding the high school, the street closure drew opposition from residents upset about the loss of a portion of the city’s public road network.

In an effort to mitigate the effects of the closure, the school district agreed to spend up to $3 million on improvements on the east and west sides of Sarasota High.

The prospect of removing trees from the landscape plan on U.S. 41 divided the commission, with commissioners Erik Arroyo and Jen Ahearn-Koch voting against the proposal. Both commissioners expressed concerns about the process behind making such a revision, noting that the material for Monday’s agenda gave no indication the commission might remove or relocate trees.

“I don’t want to create any changes without public input, and I would not want to approve something without at least seeing a conceptual plan,” Arroyo said.

Ahearn-Koch objected to the merits of removing trees from the U.S. 41 segment. She said the interlocal agreement with the school district was the product

8A

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

SARASOTA / SIESTA KEY

OPINION / OUR VIEW

The bill that can save the housing market Rising property insurance rates are on the verge of popping Florida’s housing bubble and the economy — all because of lawsuits. SB 76 can save the state.

O

f all the bills filed this spring in the Legislature, Senate Bill 76 is far and away the session’s most important legislation.

Filed by Bradenton Sen. Jim Boyd, SB 76 deals with the mundane subject of property insurance. Here’s the nub of it: If Boyd’s bill passes, it will save Florida’s housing market from collapse — and save Florida’s economy.

If it fails, Florida’s housing bubble will pop. The real estate sales markets for residential and commercial properties will come to a halt. And the ripple will spread harsh economic effects throughout all of Florida: n Property insurance rates — already rising 20%-50% in the past year — will double within three years. n Florida-based private property insurers will go bankrupt. n The national carriers won’t write insurance in the state. n Taxpayer-owned Citizens Property Insurance Co. will be the only source of property insurance, making every Florida taxpayer liable to cover billions of dollars of losses in the event of a major hurricane. n There will be no such thing as affordable housing. n Millions of Florida’s senior citizens will be unable to afford to stay in their homes.

“100% correct,” said Boyd, who has spent his professional life owning an insurance agency in Bradenton. “There will be tsunami effects.”

The tsunami has already started, according to Guy Fraker, a corporate strategist who spent six months in 2020 researching the condition of Florida’s property and casualty insurance market. “Florida’s P&C market is in a free-fall collapse,” he told us.

“This market is going to fail.”

“It’s going to be a nightmare,” said Gregory Holder, a recently retired circuit judge in Hillsborough County who presided over thousands of insurance cases in his 26 years on the bench. “It is a financial crisis for the citizens of this great state. Everyone is affected by this.”

Barry Gilway, the CEO of state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Co., is not as dire, but he agrees current conditions are unsustainable. “Absolutely,” he said.

Collapse? Free fall? Unsustainable? Nightmare?

What are they talking about?

If you’re a property owner, you’re seeing it. Your property insurance rates for 2021 have risen anywhere from 20% to 50% over 2020. “My rate on my house went up 40%,” Boyd said.

Michael Mailliard, the owner of Longboat Key-based MIC Insurance, told us that 25% of his clients have been unable to buy homeowner’s insurance from either Florida-based or national and international carriers. Either they can’t take on the risk finan-

cially, or they want to stay clear of Florida.

Citizens, the state’s insurer or last resort, has been taking on 4,000 new policies a week since June 2020, and Gilway doesn’t see that stopping. After shrinking its policyholders down to 420,000 in 2018, it now expects that number to reach 700,000 by the end of 2021.

All of this is not because of the risk of hurricanes. It’s because of insurance-claim lawsuits.

In particular, this insurance crisis is a result of the tsunami of lawsuits against insurers (primarily roof related) that has washed over the entire state in the wake of Hurricane Irma, the 2017 Category 5 storm that destroyed much of the Keys.

Take in these statistics: n Total damage-claim insurance lawsuits filed in Florida: 2013: 27,416 2014: 31,647 2015: 37,820 2016: 41,851 2017: 49,148 2018: 82,663 2019: 84,087 2020: 85,007 n Amounts paid out by insurance companies in Florida since 2013 to cover damages and legal fees related to these lawsuits: $15 billion.

Now here’s the kicker: n Of that $15 billion insurers paid out, 71% covered attorneys’ fees; 21% covered insurers’ defense fees; and only 8% went to property owners.

Put another way: Trial lawyers took in $10.65 billion while Florida citizens whose properties were damaged were paid only $1.2 billion. Or, to bring that differential into a more digestible comparison, Fraker’s report shows a lawsuit in which Security First Insurance Co. was ordered to pay a damage award of $142 to a homeowner and $31,140 in legal fees to the consumer’s lawyer — 21,041% more than the awarded damages.

Disparities like the one above are common. Fraker’s report shows another suit in which the insured received $41,000 in damages while the attorney

representing him received $1.2 million. The list goes on and on.

Boyd told us of one attorney who filed 1,234 lawsuits against insurers in three months. “That’s 13.4 a day,” he said.

Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month that the 13th Judicial Circuit “has several thousand of these cases with well over 500 cases filed by one law firm.

“Upon discovering this clearly unethical and arguably illegal conduct,” Holder wrote in a letter to Sen. Jeff Brandes, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “I conducted my own research compiling a list of more than 1,000 cases filed by just four attorneys in two separate firms.”

This onslaught of lawsuits has brought on the financial crisis that is about to blow up Florida’s property and casualty insurance industry and the companies that underwrite the insurance behind Florida’s 6.5 million properties.

After three profitable years, 2013-2015, Florida-based insurance companies have reported five consecutive years of underwriting and operating losses.

Last year, underwriting losses for all property insurers in Florida — what they paid out in claims after premiums — increased 120% to $1.58 billion compared to $725 million in 2019. Net losses — premium and investment income minus all expenses — mushroomed from $372 million to $747 million.

These losses have occurred even in the face of the state Office of Insurance Regulation approving rate increases of 10%, 14%, 20%, 25% and 52% over the past five years.

Fraker said he had his “aha moment” about the state of Florida’s insurance market after interviewing two C-suite executives of global reinsurance companies. One referred to Florida as “the highest risk zone in the world.” Another told him: “Hurricanes are not the biggest systemic threat. The lawsuits

2020 PROPERTY LAWSUITS All insurance companies: 85,007

represent such a high degree of uncertainty, we don’t know how to model Florida.”

Gilway of Citizens, who has spent nearly 50 years in the industry, including CEO Zurich of Canada, said there is no other insurance market in the U.S. close to Florida, and that is for two reasons: “the overall judiciary environment and the strength of the trial bar.”

Fraker said: “People think this is the insurance companies versus the lawyers. It’s actually the lawyers versus the consumers.

“Think of the litigation costs to insurers as ultimately a tax upon Florida’s property owners they don’t know exists.”

In 2019 alone, Fraker wrote, the costs allocated to insurance lawsuits totaled between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. He figured that every Florida family in 2020 paid a $651 annual hidden tax that no other state has — money that went “into a fund owned by fewer than 2,000 stakeholders [lawyers].”

How did this happen?

Gilway pegged it. The Florida trial bar has manhandled the Legislature for decades, crafting and shepherding legislation into law that tilts the legal system and incentives in its favor.

This is where insurance litigation becomes complicated.

There are formulae for attorney fees and contingencies that allow multipliers to be applied to attorney fees that drive up costs.

In addition, one of the drivers of the current crisis are the thousands of lawsuits related to roof replacements. Contractors go door to door through neighborhoods offering consumers vouchers for reporting even the tiniest leak, hoping to parlay the leak into a total roof replacement.

To address the crisis, Brandes convinced Senate President Wilton Simpson of the urgency for reforms — even if it means taking on the trial bar. Brandes, Boyd and Senate Insurance Committee staffers collaborated to craft SB 76 (see box).

Fraker, who is neither an insurer nor an attorney, said Boyd’s bill would be a major fix to the litigation issue and bring stability to the market. Gilway said it would be a good start. The two of them, along with Boyd and Brandes, say if it doesn’t pass, there will be nothing to stop the runaway litigation.

“Something has to give,” Gilway said.

Their fear: the trial bar’s grip on the House.

KEY PARTS OF SB 76

The guts of the bill would: n Award attorneys’ fees in line with the value of settlements, still allowing for higher amounts in rare and exceptional cases; n Require policyholders to provide a pre-lawsuit notice to the insurer that clearly sets forth the amount demanded and the basis of the dispute and give the insurer a specified time to inspect the property prior to a lawsuit being filed; n Reduce from three years and five years to two years the deadline to file property insurance claims; and n Allow property insurers to offer policies of actual cash value roof coverage for roofs older than 10 years rather than total roof replacement, except in the case of a total loss.

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”

Friedrich Hayek

“Road to Serfdom,” 1944

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

Eliminate parking on Main Street It seems that for the past seven years of being a Sarasota resident, the “makeover” of Main Street has been a nonstop topic of discussion, mainly revolving around parking. The obvious answer is to get rid of all parking on Main Street from Orange Avenue to Palm Avenue.

It should all be permanently transformed into a walking mall, all nicely bricked over with a lot of outside dining, beautifully landscaped, fountains and street entertainers. Think Quincy Market in Boston.

Build a separate convenient parking garage. Give the new mall a quirky name, and they will come.

NICHOLAS C. GALLINARO SARASOTA

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

9A

Save 10% On Your Baugh made vaccine political

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Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh is right. This “vaccine-gate” situation we find ourselves in is political — because she made it that way.

How? She bypassed the county procedure for vaccine distribution; she steamrolled over the other commissioners; and ultimately, she chose only her constituents to be able to access vaccines at the Lakewood Ranch pop-up site. That is political.

She stated in a now-published series of text messages that the Lakewood Ranch pop-up vaccine would be good exposure for Gov. Ron DeSantis given that 2022 is right around the corner.

That is political.

Her finger-pointing and claiming that others are trying to make this political is merely lazy, tired political posturing.

She insults the residents in our county if she thinks we don’t see right through her actions.

She says she “loves Manatee County.” Wow, I sure don’t want to see what her hate looks like.

She needs to resign now. That is what loving Manatee County would look like.

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rnie Ritz played a foundational role in the 2008 formation of the Downtown Improvement District, a self-taxing group of commercial property owners.

More than a decade later, a majority of the City Commission thinks it’s time for Ritz to step aside and let new stockholders have a seat.

On March 1, the City Commission appointed five members to the Downtown Improvement District and St. Armands Business Improvement boards of directors. Three of the five members had not previously served on the advisory boards. Mark Kauffman, the sole returning director to the DID, was one vote away from being replaced, too.

Commissioners Hagen Brody, Erik Arroyo and Kyle Battie were clear that this was a deliberate change of direction. In the past, the city has generally given deference to experienced advisory board members seeking reappointment. Brody and Arroyo both offered praise for Ritz and Kauffman, but they said adding new members to the DID and BID boards presented an opportunity to explore new perspectives.

Chris Voelker (new)

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“We sort of created our own exclusive little club, and I think it’s time that we change that,” Arroyo said. “Yes, it’s not typical for the commission to do that, but this isn’t really a typical commission.”

Commissioners Jen AhearnKoch and Liz Alpert both said they were enthusiastic about reappointing Ritz and Kauffman to the DID board.

“When people step up and volunteer for these positions, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it — their time, their effort, their energy and their ideas,” AhearnKoch said. “First, I always go to reappoint the person who has

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served if they have done a great job.”

The commission also didn’t split evenly: Battie voted to replace Ritz but supported Kauffman’s reappointment.

Chris Voelker, the owner of State Street Eating House, is filling Ritz’s seat on the DID board.

Voelker said she’s always been on the periphery of downtown issues and paid attention to what’s going on in the heart of the city.

Voelker spoke positively about

the work the DID has done. She said the group has done both high-profile projects, such as installing flower baskets, and some infrastructure upgrades that might have gone under the radar for some people. She expressed a desire to assist with the ongoing streetscape improvement initiative the DID is undertaking, an idea Ritz brought to the board.

Voelker said she was particularly interested in working to improve the vibrancy of downtown.

“I always ask myself: Why would I go downtown?” Voelker said. “Right now, to me, the predominant answer is to go to a restaurant or bar. I think there has to be a bit more.”

The two new directors of the St. Armands BID, Yvonne Schloss and Tom Leonard, are filling new seats created after the board expanded from three to five members. The BID has a term limit of two consecutive four-year terms.

Leonard, the owner of Shore, did not respond to a request for comment.

Schloss, who owns Sunglass Express Optical, said she’s attended BID meetings for years.

Schloss said she wants to listen and learn while settling into her position and hoped adding a new voice would prove beneficial.

“I do believe that sometimes when you have a new energy, new ideas appear,” Schloss said.

At its March 2 meeting, the board agreed to pursue the creation of a plaque honoring Ritz.

“He’s a special guy,” board member Wayne Ruben said. “He did great things — he’s doing great things for our city. He’s still bushy tailed and right with us.”

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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lans to build a workforcehousing development near the intersection of Lime Avenue and Fruitville Road have been marked by starts and stops, but the team behind the proposal is again considering moving forward.

On Tuesday, the City Commission voted 4-1 to give representatives for Sarasota Station LLC a two-year extension on a landuse change tied to construction of that housing project. In 2016, the commission agreed to change the land-use designation for the 7.88-acre site at 2211 Fruitville Road to facilitate the construction of up to 393 residential units.

That approval required the developer to obtain a building permit by July 2021. After securing an extension Tuesday, Sarasota Station will have until July 2023 to get the city to approve a formal site plan.

Developer Harvey Vengroff, who died in October 2018, spearheaded plans for Sarasota Station in 2015. At several points during the development-review process, Vengroff announced his intent to abandon the project, citing city regulations or fees associated

with the proposal — only to return to the plans. Vengroff said he was walking away from the project in January 2018, but he rekindled his interest in September of that same year.

One month later, Vengroff’s death disrupted the Sarasota Station project. Joe Barnette, his former business partner, and Mark Vengroff, his son, said it took more than a year to decide to continue to pursue plans for the development. Although Barnette said the group still wasn’t certain it could feasibly build out the apartment complex, it wanted to at least take the time to advance into the site-planning process.

“We’re now ready to take a look at this project and would love to bring workforce housing into this community,” Mark Vengroff said.

Commissioner Jen AhearnKoch voted against the extension, stating she did not have enough information to determine whether the proposal would provide a public benefit.

The majority of the commissioners said they thought the extension request was reasonable and provided an opportunity for the developer to follow through on a project the city had shown some support for five years earlier.

“Clearly, the public benefit is an increased amount of affordable housing,” Mayor Hagen Brody said.

SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

13A

Commission moves to drop citizen-initiated reviews The current provision allows 20 or more registered voters to request a comprehensive plan amendment.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

Commissioners approved holding a public hearing aimed at eliminating a portion of the county code allowing a group of 20 or more registered voters to initiate a comprehensive plan amendment.

The decision came March 9 after a group of developers and development lawyers told commissioners that, if left unchecked, the citizen-initiated process could lead to a chaotic planning procedure.

Bo Medred, the president of Genesis Planning and Development, said that as a developer, he is required to submit an owner affidavit before any development moves forward. The citizen-initiative provision, however, does not require the affidavit, which Medred said could cause misuse and abuse to landowners because it essentially lets voters have a say on what landowners can or can’t do with their property.

“When I discovered this section would permit 20 registered voters to request a comprehensive plan amendment on land they didn’t own or even have an interest in, it caused me great pause, which led to great concern,” Medred said.

Under the current rules, commissioners can decide to move forward with any citizen-initiated change to any land development. If they choose to move forward, staff will run analysis and workshops on the proposed change before commissioners give a final vote.

Members of the Miakka Community Club in 2019 used the provision in an attempt to control density of future developments on about 6,000 acres of farmland, but commissioners ultimately rejected the proposal.

Although many spoke against the provision, a few residents argued that should it be taken away, public engagement in landuse issues would be impeded.

Without much discussion, commissioners agreed to schedule a hearing to modify the language around the citizen-initiated provision.

Michele Norton, the manager of planning and zoning, said staff reviewed other jurisdictional policies and did not find language

comparable to the county’s provision. The standard language, she said, is private requests remain a private issue, and future land-use amendments are relegated to the property owner or agent.

Commissioner Nancy Detert expressed concern that petitioners don’t have to be contiguous to the property, which means North Port residents could try to change the future use of land in Sarasota.

“I think most people would be shocked that 20 of their fellow citizens could rezone their

property without their permission,” Detert said. “It is kind of un-American.”

Commissioner Mike Moran agreed, stating the provision opens the door to property rights issues.

Although they unanimously voted to move the process forward, commissioners said they are not cutting off public input because residents can still voice their concerns at meetings and workshops throughout the planning process.

File photo

Commissioner Nancy Detert says the provision allows residents who don’t live near a property have a say on what will happen to it.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Main Street bar brokers liquor license compromise

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When Raffurty’s Bar and Grill sought city approval to use a liquor license that carried no food service requirements, it drew objections from neighbors about noise and other quality-of-life issues.

That’s a common pattern when a downtown business applies for a major conditional use to a 4COP liquor license, which the city classifies as a “nightclub“ use. But after the City Commission agreed in December to hold a public hearing on the Raffurty’s application, something unusual happened: The bar came to an agreement with its neighbors before the board could even discuss the proposal in earnest.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, representatives for the Rivo on Ringling condominium and a future Main Street mixed-

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use development encouraged the city to approve Raffurty’s application to use the 4COP license — as long as certain conditions are in place. Under a deal between Raffurty’s and its neighbors, the business agreed to place limits on the operations of the business.

The agreement includes prohibitions on outdoor amplified noise and a requirement to offer a full menu for all hours of operation.

The liquor license will not transfer if Raffurty’s changes ownership or if a new business moves into the property at 1888 Main St. Since opening in 2019, Raffurty’s has offered full-service liquor sales using an SRX license, which requires a business to derive more than half its income from

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SARASOTA OBSERVER

David Conway

Under the terms of a negotiated agreement with neighbors, noise violations at Raffurty’s could lead to the revocation of the business’s liquor license.

food sales. Representatives for Raffurty’s said the business has struggled to meet that threshold, which triggered the application to use a 4COP license. In October, the Planning Board voted 3-2 to recommend approval of the major conditional use application.

Raffurty’s representatives said operations would not change as a result of the liquor license switch, but residents at Rivo — located just more than 500 feet away — raised concerns about noise generated at the business. The conditions in the deal apply largely to

sound, including the removal of a performance stage on the second-floor patio and a provision that says the city may revoke the Raffurty’s liquor license for violations of the city’s noise ordinance.

Rob Robinson, an attorney representing Raffurty’s, said the business agreed to the conditions in the spirit of compromise and out of a desire to be a good neighbor. Rivo residents said the deal creates some assurance that the bar’s operations won’t negatively affect their quality of life.

“We think this sets a standard for negotiated settlements of such challenging situations,” said Dean Miller, the president of the Rivo on Ringling association.

Although the commission voted unanimously to approve Raffurty’s application with the negotiated conditions, one board member expressed reservations about setting a precedent for future proposals. Mayor Hagen Brody said he believed the commission needed to have a conversation about universal standards in an effort to ensure all downtown bars adhere to the same noise regulations.

Brody also pushed back against the notion that outdoor amplified noise should be heavily restricted.

“I, for one, am in favor of live music,” Brody said. “I’m in favor of a vibrant downtown. I’m in favor of music in the air. I think residents that move downtown need to understand they’re moving to an urban environment where that occurs.”

The rest of the commission offered praise for all parties involved in negotiating the agreement.

“You all are to be applauded on your efforts,” Ahearn-Koch said.

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BUYER’S REMORSE 9:17 p.m. — 2200 block of Ringling Boulevard Trespass: A customer at a pizza restaurant said she placed an order over the phone. Five minutes later, she realized her card was charged $120, so she tried to cancel the order. The customer said an employee rudely refused to cancel it. The customer then went to the restaurant to get her money back, but the owner refused to issue a refund saying the customer walked into the business and started an argument.

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BEAT THE CLOCK 6:05 p.m. — 0 block of Bayfront Drive Noise complaint: An anonymous caller made a noise complaint about a bar. Officers conducted a noise meter reading and found the sound exceeded the maximum level established in the city code. However, the city’s sound regulations were not in effect for another four hours.

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File photo

Construction on the new 10,500-square-foot fire station is expected to be complete by the end of summer.

Siesta fire station budget grows Two donations will fund gym equipment and a fence between the station and a neighboring condo.

BRYNN MECHEM STAFF WRITER

Thanks to new funding, Fire Station 13 on Siesta Key will receive new equipment and an enhanced design to keep separation from

neighboring properties.

The Sarasota County Commission unanimously voted to accept a total of $69,000 in donations from two sources.

The first, a $16,000 donation from the Siesta Key Fire Rescue

Advisory Council, will pay for gym equipment for the new fire station, according to county documents. A plaque will hang in the new station’s lobby recognizing SKFRAC’s contribution.

The second is an agreement with the Gulf and Bay Condominium Association totaling $53,000.

The two donations increased the project’s overall not-to-exceed limit from $5.92 million to $5.99 million.

The agreement with the condo association, which sits adjacent to the fire station, arose out of a problem in May 2020, when demolition on the old firehouse began.

When employees of Willis A. Smith Construction Inc. began site work May 14, 2020, they demolished the structure and began clearing out vegetation, so they could raise the elevation of the site.

A county memo submitted with the approval request stated that after the vegetation was removed, “It became apparent some sort of barrier would be necessary to maintain site security, limit trespassing and improve aesthetics.”

After several meetings, representatives from the county and the condo association agreed an 8-foot solid precast wall stretching along 375 feet of the southeast property line would be a sufficient barrier to replace the dense vegetation that was removed.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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The $53,000 donation will be used to construct the wall while the county will pay for redesign and permitting from its existing contingency. The agreement states the county will maintain both sides of the wall in the future.

Per the agreement, the county will paint the wall in its entirety every seven years as long as the property remains a fire station.

It also will replace the wall if it becomes damaged.

Construction of the wall will be rolled in with construction of the 10,500-square-foot facility, which is expected to be complete this summer.

The old station will be replaced by a two-story structure on the same lot at 1170 Beach Road. In the meantime, firefighters are being housed in a temporary facility at 5700 Midnight Pass Road.

The original station, built in 1973, was designed to accommodate two people. The new station will accommodate four to six personnel and will be able to withstand Category 4 hurricanes.

It will have a similar footprint to the original building, so it will not affect the nearby Siesta Key Beach parking.

The construction of Station 13 is part of a project to rebuild three county stations. A new station on Apex Road opened in September 2020, and another will be overhauled on Bee Ridge Road.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Pinecraft Days unites friends, vendors The annual festival featured homemade wares including crocheted towels and hand-painted shirts.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

S

Photos by Harry Sayer

Mary Bontrager works hard on her scrubbies, which sell faster than she can make them.

heri DiBello has had a festival routine for more than 30 years. The one-time owner of Good As New Consignment store hosts the Pinecraft Days Arts and Crafts Festival every spring. The organizer calls her list of vendors to invite them to showcase their homemade wares, prints signs, posts about 100 of them and sets up shop at Beneva Marketplace, at the corner of Beneva Road and Bahia Vista Street.

DiBello has made friends through it all. In establishing and hosting the festival, the longtime crafter has made decadeslong friendships.

It’s a bastion of camaraderie, friendship and artistic expression that’s helped DiBello immensely through the years. She said she

appreciates seeing these friends, a kind of stability that is good as time goes on. That stability was appreciated even more March 11-13 when DiBello again hosted the festival.

“I get to see my crafters once or twice a year,” DiBello said. “I get to see what they’ve done with their lives. We’ve become real friends now.”

DiBello started the fair with other businesses years ago when they wanted to host an event that would be attractive to the Mennonite community.

“We thought: ‘Let’s do a Mennonite craft fair. They’re so good with their hands,” DiBello said.

“For the first few years, there were only Mennonite crafters.”

More and more crafters outside the Mennonite community joined over the years, and DiBello said there have been some festivals that had more than 50 vendors.

Kerry Demboski has been with the fair for 29 years, selling cork artwork and hand-painted shirts and dresses.

“Sheri’s a joy to work with — a lot of the [craft fair planners] aren’t as organized as she is,” Demboski said. “We’ve had a friendship that has grown, and she’s easy to work with. There’s so many repeat vendors here. … It’s nice to see them in March and the holiday time.”

Eugene and Sharon Yancey brought their special frame work and wood cutouts to the show. It’s an easy craft for Eugene; he’s done carpentry work since he was 23.

The Yanceys met in church have started painting Bible verses on the frames.

“I use wood palettes [for the frames],” Eugene Yancey said.

“I tear them apart. I tell people if I had to buy my own wood, I wouldn’t do it.”

Mary Bontrager has been selling homemade potholders, crocheted towels and other gifts for around 20 years. She’s starting sewing together “scrubbies,”

which are mainly used for dishes but can also be used on windows and other surfaces.

She’s been selling them the past 10 years. Bontrager buys yards of netting fabric. She cuts it into 2-inch-wide strips and uses six strips to make one scrubby. Each scrubby takes 25 minutes to finish, and Bontrager makes dozens at a time. But even that isn’t enough sometimes — she said they sell out quickly.

“I’ve always loved sewing and crafting, and I’ve needed an outlet,” Bontrager said.

This year’s event had around 20 vendors, a step back due to the pandemic.

There have been upsides to that smaller roster — she’s appreciated not having spacing and arrangement headaches — but she’s excited for next winter’s festival where she hopes to see more people.

“I had a lot of vendors say they’re glad the festival is back, but they’re not ready,” DiBello said. “I think November will be a great show.”

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he past year has hardly been a stroll through the park. It’s quite difficult to grasp the many degrees of suffering that millions of people worldwide have experienced.

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My first stop in learning more about this quality was with Daniel Goleman, an author and sometimes professor who is perhaps best known for his breakthrough work on emotional intelligence back in the 1990s.

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MORE RESEARCH

On my quest for getting a handle on resilience, I spotted a webinar available through Stanford University. I signed up. And so did 3,000 other people, indicative of the high level of interest in this subject as our lecturer Antoine de Morrees, with a doctorate in neurological sciences at Stanford, told us in the introduction.

Morrees likened the capacity to recover from stressors as a sort of physical process, yet it’s a process that takes place in the brain, which the brain doesn’t normally do.

The pandemic has been a constant flow of stressful elements.

And no one really is taught how to deal with stress. In our mind, we end up ruminating about all of the stress, which prevents bouncing back or resilience.

Morrees also advocates a type of rewiring of the brain to enhance a quicker recovery and indeed create new neural pathways to help us restore balance.

He advocates disconnecting the rumination through a meditation practice that creates a comforting place in the brain.

The more you imagine or meditate to the comfort zone or happy place, the faster you create a neural pathway to disconnect the rumination that continues the stress and prevents resilience. In the webinar, all 3,000 of us were led to our happy place, and it was very comforting — and a lot healthier than a bag of chips.

Other research has examined mindfulness as a method to

23A

WELCOMES Nataly Bruk, MD Internal Medicine

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MINDFULNESS

rewire the brain and enhance resiliency. In a study supervised

by Jon Kabat-Zinn through the University of Massachusetts, employees at a biotech company that reported high levels of employee stress were taught mindfulness techniques and meditated using them 30 minutes a day for eight weeks. The stress levels of the employees dropped significantly, and they reported a high level of feeling resilient and in balance. Many even reported that they remembered what they originally loved about their work.

At the core of mindfulness is training the brain to register anything happening in the present moment without reacting to it. In other words, no hijacking, just an observation. Goleman offers these simple instructions: ■ Find a quiet, private place where you can be undistracted for a few minutes.

■ Sit comfortably, with your back straight, but relaxed.

■ Focus your awareness on your breath, staying attentive to the sensations of the inhalation and exhalation, and start again on the next breath.

■ Do not judge your breathing or try to change it in any way.

■ See anything else that comes to mind as a distraction — thoughts, sounds, whatever. Let them go, and return your attention to your breath.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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back — from this hijacking. It is all about retraining the brain.

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SUPREME COURT CERTIFIED MEDIATOR & CERTIFIED DIVORCE FINANCIAL ANALYST®

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There is usually not much issue with understanding that in the State of Florida assets acquired during the marriage are considered marital and therefore to be divided equitably. The question becomes: How does one determine the value?

Let’s face it, your business is the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs. If we consider cutting the goose in half, she will not produce the golden eggs anymore. Selling the business and dividing the profit eliminates future revenue streams. There are a lot of options, but few of them are very appealing. I am sure you are aware of this, but your spouse might not have the same perspective. Perspective has a lot to do with conflict resolution.

My job as a mediator is to help you both see what the other

person sees so you have a shared point of reference. You may not agree with what they see, or how they see it, but a shared under-standing of perspective gives us a starting point for discussion. We will gather all the information, business and personal financial data and line it up in a way that one can fairly assess what you have and what is a fair way to sort it all out.

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MARCH 18, 2021

— Riverview High’s Blake Quigley SEE PAGE 27A

HIGH

BULL’SEYE

5

1

Cardinal Mooney High girls lacrosse senior Chloe Webber had four goals and four assists March 16 in the Cougars’ 13-12 win against The Out-of-Door Academy.

2

Riverview High softball senior pitcher Kassie Cross threw a complete game shutout with five strikeouts March 11 in the Rams’ 1-0 win against Charlotte High.

3

Cardinal Mooney High senior baseball player Aidan Troy went 3-4 with a triple, a double and an RBI on March 16 in the Cougars’ 7-2 win against Clewiston High. The game was part of the Blue Streak Invitational at Sebring High.

4

Sarasota sophomore baseball player Rex Smith had a home run and three RBIs March 9 in the Sailors’ 15-0 win against Lakewood Ranch High.

5

Sarasota High senior girls track and field runner Marissa Kempf finished third out of 41 runners in the 1,600-meter run (5:08.38) March 12 at the North Port Invitational at North Port High.

Courtesy photo

Sarasota’s Mary Tucker won two gold medals and a team title at the 2021 NCAA Rifle Championships in Columbus, Ohio.

Former Sarasota Military Academy rifle athlete Mary Tucker sweeps golds at NCAA Championships.

RYAN KOHN

MARY TUCKER

SPORTS REPORTER

F

ormer Sarasota Military Academy rifle athlete Mary Tucker was supposed to be an Olympian by now.

Tucker, a sophomore at University of Kentucky, qualified for the U.S. Olympic rifle team scheduled to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The coronavirus pandemic dashed those dreams, at least for a year; the Olympics are now scheduled to begin July 23.

But Tucker didn’t remain stagnant during the break. She continued to refine her craft, and it paid off with collegiate rifle’s biggest prizes.

Tucker led Kentucky to an NCAA Rifle National Championship win March 13 in Columbus,

■ High school: Sarasota Military Academy ■ College: University of Kentucky ■ Major: Equine science ■ Qualifications: 2020 (now 2021) Tokyo Olympics by finishing first in the U.S. Team Trials ■ Winnings: Small-bore and air rifle gold medals at the 2021 NCAA Rifle National Championships

Ohio. The Wildcats (4,731) held off second-place Texas Christian (4,722) to claim the third title in school history and also broke the record for the highest team score at the event. Tucker was a large

reason why: She scored 100 points with her final 10 shots. Kentucky Coach Harry Mullins said after the championships that the team has a sign that reads “Finish” on both sides of their practice range. Mullins said he was proud of Tucker and the other Wildcats for doing just that.

“This is a really big deal for this team,” Tucker said during a postwin news conference. “We have been going at it for two years now, and this was long overdue for us.”

Tucker said she usually finishes her allotment of shots before the rest of her team, which gives her a chance to watch everyone else. She was proud of the way her teammates overcame every obstacle they faced, she said.

For the final four shots of the competition, she rejoined her teammates on the shooting line.

That way, the Wildcats always finish as a team, she said.

Tucker wasn’t done winning after the team title, though. After the team competition, Tucker then won individual gold in both the small-bore and air rifle divisions, just the sixth shooter in the sport’s history to do so. She stamped her air rifle victory over Kentucky (and Olympic) teammate Will Shaner with a 10.9x shot — a direct bull’s-eye.

“We’re lucky that we’re on the same team,” Tucker said of Shaner. “Every Tuesday, we shoot a final just like that against each other.”

Sometimes Tucker wins, sometimes Shaner wins, she said, but it’s always close. That helped prepare her for the championships, where she entered her final shot down less than one point. She didn’t need the bull’s-eye, but she got one anyway.

Tucker was named the competition’s Most Outstanding Performer for her efforts.

Tucker did not get any rest after her win. The next day, she and Shaner flew to India to compete in the International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun World Cup in New Delhi, which runs March 19-29. In April, she’ll fly to Changwon, South Korea, for another World Cup event.

These competitions are fun, but soon enough, it will be time for the Olympic Games, and that is where the real competition will begin. The one Tucker has been waiting more than year to attend — and potentially win.

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SPORTS

“Some of my close friends still call me ‘gummy bear.’ I don’t love it, but I let them do it.”

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

PROSE AND KOHN

RYAN KOHN

IN BLOOM Underrated players of the spring sports season

T

he spring season always passes the quickest.

It’s not a phenomenon I understand, just one I experience. Somehow, we’re less than a month from lacrosse playoffs and track and field district meets. That’s the beginning of the end of the 2020-21 high school sports year.

Maybe it’s because we didn’t get much of a spring season in 2020, but this year’s has gone especially fast.

Before it ends, though, we have some business to work through, including the column on underrated players I write once each sports season.

Like always, this exercise isn’t exhaustive. There are players having great years whom I won’t have room to mention. And it’s not a list of “best” players, either, just players I feel have done cool things and deserve recognition.

Riverview High junior Pip Smalley leads the Rams’ regulars with a .424 batting average and a .513 on-base percentage.

He’s also turned his success at the plate into six runs scored, so he’s making his moments count.

Of course, someone has to drive

him and the rest of the Rams in, and so far, junior Chris Barr has been the best at that. Barr has 10 RBI through 11 games played, and six of his 13 hits have been for extra bases.

The 8-3 Rams have been on a hot streak, winning five of their past six. Thanks in large part to Smalley and Barr, Riverview has averaged 5.83 runs per game during that stretch.

Sarasota High senior Orlando Cicilioni is not just a crosscountry star. He’s a track and field star, too. Cicilioni holds the second-fastest boys 3,200-meter run time (9:21.88) in Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A, approximately 10 seconds behind Nease High senior Bradley Ball. That bodes well for his chances of

snagging a medal at the state championship meet (exact dates TBD, but they’ll be sometime in May). Cicilioni also holds the eighth-fastest 1,600-meter run time (4:28.22) in the class, so a shot at two individual medals is not impossible.

On the Booker High girls track and field team, two freshmen are making their marks.

Terrietta Smith is seventh in Class 2A in the 100-meter dash (12.47 seconds) and ninth in the 200-meter dash (25.98), while Jakai Peterson is eighth in the 400-meter run (59.90) and seventh in the long jump (16 feet, 8.75 inches).

While we’re here, a general shoutout is in order for the Cardinal Mooney High girls lacrosse team, which defeated its rival The Out-of-Door Academy for the first time in eight years on Tuesday, 14-13. The Cougars are 5-2 and have a balanced roster.

Against ODA, seniors Cameron Ward and Ansley Jackson both had three goals, while senior Chloe Webber had four.

Ryan Kohn is the sports writer for the Sarasota Observer. Contact him at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

File photos

Above: Riverview High baseball’s Pip Smalley is leading the team in onbase percentage.

Top left: Sarasota High’s Orlando Cicilioni has a chance at two individual track and field medals.

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body in there, to get the defender off their line. Then I can go and do an inside roll or pop out and look for an open guy [for a pass].

What is your favorite food?

I love gummy bears. I used to carry around a big bag of Haribo gummy bears with me everywhere. Some of my close friends still call me “gummy bear” because of it. I don’t love it, but I let them do it.

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Finish this sentence: “Blake Quigley is …”

A gentle giant.

348040-1

When did you start playing lacrosse?

I started the summer before I started seventh grade. I was playing baseball at the time. I had played my whole life, but it had started to bore me, having to watch everyone else on the field all the time. I was at Twin Lakes Park for a game, and I saw the Sarasota Seahawks lacrosse team having a practice. Right then I decided to put baseball away and start lacrosse.

27A

Photo: Cliff Roles

What is the appeal to you?

I like the pace of the game. We go really fast when we’re playing our game. We have a mindset where if we strike first, we can control the entire game. We like to move the ball. We like to go up and down the field. It’s also a game where — I’m a big guy (Quigley is 6-foot-7), but you don’t have to be a big guy to do well. It’s about the size of the fight in the dog, you know?

Photo: Matthew Holler Photo: Cliff Roles

What is your best skill?

I like to initiate contact.

I’m a bigger dude, so whenever I have the ball, I like to get my

Photo: Sorcha Augustine

The performing arts raise spirits, provide joy, and spark inspiration for many in our community.

We believe it is vital that the show go on, and that it does so as safely as possible.

February 1 – March 29

For the safety and confidence of our performers and those attending our venues, we are requiring masks and social distancing for all joining us for live performances.

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Thank you for supporting the arts. We hope to see you soon!

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Blake Quigley is a senior attacker on the Riverview High boys lacrosse team. Quigley had four goals and two assists March 12 in the Rams’ 12-2 against The Outof-Door Academy.

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

PEL HAS DONATED OVER $225,400 TO COMMUNITY YOUTH IN NEED.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Blake Quigley

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

ROGER SELLS LUXURY WATERFRONT PROPERTIES RECORD-BREAKING $175+ MILLION SOLD IN 2020

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MARCH 18, 2021

YOUR NEIGHBORS “We’re letting the city know we care about this property, and it’s very important to us.”

— Nancy Milholland, founder of Conserve Bobby Jones Now

Photos by Harry Sayer

Uzi Baram and Kathleen Callahan make the most out of their morning by cleaning up large fallen fronds and branches.

A new approach Volunteers spend a weekend morning cleaning the Bobby Jones Golf Club trail space.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

I

t’s been a long, hard year for many Sarasota locals, but many have found ways to make it better.

Sarasota residents Drew and Tatum Temple-Gregory were one such couple who found themselves with little to do at the start of the pandemic. A bike ride by chance, though, had them stumble upon the recently decommissioned Bobby Jones Golf Club.

They were struck by the wideopen space, its wildlife and its solitude. They hadn’t experienced anything like it. Not golfers, they lived near it but had never explored the site’s 36 holes.

“It’s a dream,” Tatum TempleGregory said. “The area is just a hidden gem.”

It’s a routine that has stayed with them almost every week

Nancy Milholland, the founder of Conserve Bobby Jones Now, helps out during the event.

since, and they’re not alone.

Upon its closing because of COVID-19 concerns in March 2020, the city-owned golf course stretches nearly 300 acres. Its golf cart paths have been converted into miles of nature trails.

Fast forward a year, and the golf course-turned-nature trail’s fate remains undecided. The city

has long considered a renovation of the golf course space, and COVID-19 moved the conversation along. City commissioners and locals have debated what to do with the space, with the current plans being a reduction of the golf course to 18 regulation holes, a nine-hole short course and 130 acres as public park.

The Sarasota Parks and Recreation Department with the help of local groups and neighborhood associations recently held a cleanup day. Volunteers arrived early March 13 and picked up the items for other volunteers to drive by in golf carts and collect.

About 40 volunteers participated throughout the day.

“We’re letting the city know we care about this property, and it’s very important to us,” said Nancy Milholland, the founder of Conserve Bobby Jones Now, an organization devoted to establishing Bobby Jones as a nature park area. “There’s not a lot of trash — it’s pretty pristine. It’s more of a typical cleanup of a park you’d see with the city.”

Uzi Baram heard about the event

and wanted to show his support.

Baram, a professor with New College of Florida, concedes he’s not a golfer but started walking the grounds with his children when it opened early into the pandemic.

“The size of this space really impressed me,” Baram said. “I didn’t understand how big this golf course really was and how you could walk for a good long time. The first time I walked here with my two kids, we saw two otters playing, and that just made it wonderful.”

Downtown Sarasota residents Michael and Debra Sherman hadn’t yet been to Bobby Jones since they moved to Sarasota in October 2020. But it’s been on their list, and they figured no better time to go than with a day helping the space — not to mention it being a pandemic-safe outdoors activity.

“Being a golfer, it’s sad to see a golf course overrun and dried out like it is,” Michael Sherman said.

“I know they’re planning on renovating it. It’ll be nice to see what it looks like when it’s done.”

Mary Fuerst, a member of the Sarasota Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Board, joined Parks and Recreation Director Jerry Fogle to clean up and drive out palm fronds from the sides of the sidewalk. Fuerst usually is up early swimming but traded that for helping out.

“If they want to get mowers in and do restoration, this stuff needs to get picked up,” Fuerst said. “Plus it’s a beautiful and sunny day. I could be up north freezing right now. … I’m pretending it’s exercise at the moment.”

Fogle, for his part, is excited to see the progression of the space becoming a more natural area.

“It’s going to be tranquil, peaceful, kind of unique,” Fogle said. “We have a couple parks similar to [this] but nothing quite this large. I think people are going to enjoy it.”

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

MUSIC

IN THE AIR Margaret Goreshnik has taught music at Allegro Academy in Sarasota for 25 years.

HARRY SAYER STAFF WRITER

M

argaret Goreshnik has her love — she’s had it for a quarter century and more.

Goreshnik, a native of Estonia and a Sarasota resident, loves music with every part of her being.

It’s what she grew up learning, when her mother introduced her to the piano and violin. It’s what she learned to love so much that she, upon moving to Florida, opened the Allegro Academy of Music, Etiquette and Dance in Sarasota.

Goreshnik’s music academy recently celebrated 25 years of activity, a quarter century of sharing musical knowledge, etiquette advice and dance craft with hundreds of students.

It’s a milestone that brings no small amount of pride to Goreshnik, who considers the endeavor more than just a business.

“I like to teach children music,” Goreshnik said. “Isn’t it beautiful? What can be better?”

Goreshnik started 30 years

ago in Manatee County, where she taught students from a church. In time, she opened her own academy.

The school teaches students how to play a number of musical instruments, including piano, keyboards, violin, viola, guitar, electric and acoustic bass, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, voice, saxophone, flute and clarinet. The school focuses on classical music but will dip into Christmas music during the season and more modern tunes if there’s interest. Some students take classes once a week while others visit every couple days or more.

“It’s not our obligation, but I feel that I have to give back to the community with all the love that they gave me,” she said.

“People have helped me, and I want to give back.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges and wrinkles to which her staff has had to adapt.

What was once Goreshnik and her staff working with 20 students in a classroom has now become a situation in which five or so students are learn-

IF YOU GO ALLEGRO ACADEMY OF MUSIC, ETIQUETTE AND DANCE When: Noon to 8 p.m.

Monday to Friday Where: 241 Whitfield Ave. Info: 358-8511 or AllegroMusicAcademy.com

ing music craft together while spaced apart. Other school instructors teach students virtually. It’s a necessary situation but one that Goreshnik said is still difficult.

Harry Sayer

Margaret Goreshnik specializes in the violin and piano.

All of the hard work and focus is in service to a series of performances Allegro students and staff put on in the community. The school used to produce monthly shows but has transitioned to quarterly events since the pandemic started. Students play a mix of music from South America, Russia, Thailand and other countries; Goreshnik said she feels it’s important to have students play music from across the world.

Beyond the musical craft and practice for each instrument,

OUTDOORS ON THE TERRACE STAGE

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Goreshnik said her school teaches students how to have faith — faith that with proper work and focus they can go on to play in orchestras and music groups across the country and the world.

That faith is needed now more than ever. Goreshnik said she’s just waiting for the day that the pandemic settles, and she and her students are able to put on even more shows for people in the community.

“I’m excited,” Goreshnik said.

“I love what I’m doing.”

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Timmy Collins takes a break from the hunt with a green lollipop.

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Nova Smith drops off her gold.

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Welcome to the Machine The dystopian future isn’t written in Brendan Ragan’s ‘Safe House’ at Urbanite Theatre.

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MARTY FUGATE THEATER CRITIC

I

f you need an escape from the dystopian reality of the present, Brendan Ragan’s immersive “Safe House” offers an interlude of dystopian fiction at Urbanite Theatre. It’s a 40-minute immersive play, limited to socially distanced audiences of four. There are no live actors, except for the audience.

You’re not passively watching this play; you’re in it. Ragan is both the director and playwright, and that’s the heart of his concept.

In the play’s conceit, you stumble into a “safe house” designed by a programmer who’s on the run from the clutches of the Quandry Corp.

This corporate behemoth shares a business model with Dave Eggers’ “The Circle” and, for that matter, 90% of the multinational entities in cyberpunk fiction. Its business model is a mashup of Facebook, Google

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and the phone company. It offers free service in exchange for mining your data and manipulating you (which realworld corporations do anyway).

Fletcher (Chris Hayhurst) is the play’s hero (or villain). He designed Quandry’s system architecture but crashed the system when a) the corporate overlords turned it to evil; or b) he fell into a paranoiac delusion.

Ava (Krystal Millie Valdes) is the play’s other hero (or villain).

Quandry possibly kidnapped her when it found out Ava was collaborating with Fletcher to unplug its corporate brain.

Either that or she’s helping the corporation find and neutralize Fletcher. Or all or none of the above.

To find out the truth, you navigate the twists and turns of the titular safe house. Fletcher has fled but pops up periodically on various screens to guide you.

Ava pops up, too.

Their contradictory advice helps you navigate the bread-

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crumbs of clues (or misinformation) they’ve left behind. But one or both might be unreliable narrators. Finding the truth is more than ratiocination; it’s really a question of character.

Who do you choose to believe — if anybody? Depending on your choice, there are two possible endings.

Hayhurst and Valdes put in nuanced performances. They’re hard to read by design. They don’t telegraph either heroism or villainy and keep you guessing until the end.

Shaun Greenspan’s video clips create a duality of bright corporate coldness and a fugitive’s dark, chaotic world. And they nicely hint at an unblinking eye of constant digital surveillance.

The “Safe House” environment has the look of a grungy warehouse space. Kudos to Ryan Finzelber for the claustrophobic, multilayered set design. Romantic, it’s not.

It’s dimly lit and packed with boxes of computer chips and hard drives. It looks like the castoffs of a dying civilization, not the shiny seeds of a bright future. Sean Ragan’s creepy sound design also adds to the miasmic milieu.

Brendan Ragan has written a tight script. The experience is fairly linear until the end. Then it’s all up to you. At the climax, you get the equivalent of doors No. 1 and 2. Video gamers will know the experience well. Conventional theatergoers? Not so much. My advice?

Stay alert, keep your head in the game, and take your time.

The clock isn’t really ticking.

The clues are hidden in plain sight if you patiently look for

IF YOU GO BRENDAN RAGAN’S ‘SAFE HOUSE’ When: Through April 4 Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487 Second St., Sarasota Tickets: $25 Info: Call 321-1397, or visit UrbaniteTheatre.com.

them. If you’re part of a group, even better. Four heads are better than one. But be warned.

“Safe House” is probably the most unconventional theater the Urbanite has ever staged. Agatha Christie it isn’t.

I knew that going in. Hell, I had even read the script. Back in the 1990s, I even did some voice-over work for a video game. (A very big part, but that’s a story for another day.) But I still wasn’t entirely prepared for the “Safe House” thrill ride.

So, confession time.

As a critic, I’m not used to the immersive experience. I’m engaged — both intellectually and emotionally. I’m thinking about plot, character arcs and motivation.

I care about the characters. But if Hamlet dies, it’s not my fault.

If Jimmy Stewart falls off Mount Rushmore, that’s on him. I’m just sitting back watching the stage or screen, taking notes and eating popcorn.

But in this immersive experience, the fate of the play’s characters does depend on me. If the wrong character dies, it is my fault. How do you deal with it?

They don’t teach you that in critic school.

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LOCALLY KNOWN. GLOBALLY CONNECTED. SINCE 1976.

SIESTA KEY 835 Norsota Way Michael Hays 941-376-1826 A4492001 $6,600,000

SARASOTA The Ritz Carlton Tower Residences, 1402 Beth Afflebach & Joan Dickinson 941-737-1756 A4460288 $3,350,000

SIESTA KEY 1281 Tree Bay Lane Kelly Quigley 941-356-9954 A4489273 $2,995,000

SARASOTA 2524 Pleasant Place Lenore Treiman 941-356-9642 A4490046 $2,850,000

SARASOTA 7727 Donald Ross Road W Stacy Hanan 941-266-0529 A4493537 $2,100,000

SIESTA KEY 8600 Midnight Pass Road 202 Kaitlin Kuhn 941-400-7861 A4430866 $1,800,000

SARASOTA 1335 2nd Street 4E Jonathan Abrams & Brian Loebker 941-232-2868 A4490030 $1,699,900

SIESTA KEY 5966 Midnight Pass Road G-115 Denise Mei & Nicole Mei 941-685-3198 A4488505 $1,299,000

NOKOMIS/NORTH VENICE 115 Sunset Drive Tina Von Kessel & Brigitte Von Kessel 941-266-2848 A4492715 $1,250,000

SIESTA KEY 5830 Midnight Pass Road 803 Karen Chandler 941-544-4919 A4493033 $1,200,000

SARASOTA 4131 Boca Pointe Drive Marianne Lebar 941-650-0337 A4475001 $1,190,000

SIESTA KEY 6140 Midnight Pass Road 208 Mina Johnson & Ethel Lovelace 941-404-9347 A4493412 $1,189,000

SIESTA KEY 6342 Midnight Pass Road 320 Rudy Dudon 941-234-3991 A4493229 $1,115,000

SARASOTA 7112 Prospect Road Peggy Wellman & Robert Moffatt 941-374-0811 A4489294 $975,000

SIESTA KEY 5750 Midnight Pass Road 403 Stephanie Kitsemble 941-313-0874 A4490659 $925,000

SIESTA KEY 5760 Midnight Pass Road 306 Suki Scollo 941-587-2289 A4482065 $799,000

SARASOTA 5450 Eagles Point Circle 102 Maureen Horn 941-539-3384 A4478724 $579,900

SARASOTA 642 Lafayette Court Barbara May 941-312-1302 A4490757 $559,000

SARASOTA 4642 Meadowview Circle Sonya Kis 941-228-1831 A4493185 $550,000

SARASOTA 3629 Almeria Avenue Marcia Salkin, PA 941-376-6121 A4482164 $549,000

VENICE 541 Warwick Lane Cindy Dillander 941-716-3203 N6114228 $489,900

VENICE 1319 Still River Drive Tracy Pierce & David Anthony 941-275-1570 N6114195 $469,500

LONGBOAT KEY 4960 Gulf Of Mexico Drive PH2 Bobbie Banan 941-356-2659 A4493763 $445,000

VENICE 335 Saint George Court 1 Robert Brooker 941-445-0861 N6114166 $410,000

NOKOMIS/NORTH VENICE 5780 Semolino Street Tony Boothby 941-799-1948 A4493700 $400,000

SARASOTA 7610 Fairway Woods Drive 205 Mackenzie Longueuil & Pat Mudgett 941-961-4023 A4492740 $345,000

SARASOTA 1443 15th Street W Valarie Wadsworth 941-780-3858 A4481261 $335,000

BRADENTON 4902 7th Avenue W Linda Dickson 941-224-1337 A4492742 $335,000

SARASOTA 1064 N Tamiami Trail 1404 Linda Thompson 941-400-0805 A4484752 $290,000

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SARASOTA 1300 Benjamin Franklin Drive 1208 Susan Fox & Jonathan Fox, PA 941-544-6648 A4492990 $3,900,000

SIESTA KEY 1291 Southport Drive Kim Ogilvie 941-376-1717 A4485002 $3,795,000

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Siesta Key home sells for $8 million

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7B

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

MARCH 1-5

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

A

home on Siesta Key tops all transactions in this week’s real estate.

Alok Sharma and Alisa Behne, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the home at 3500 Bayou Louise Lane to Jerald and Kathleen Anne Kamiel, of Alpine, N.J., for $8.05 million.

Built in 2002, it has five bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 5,656 square feet of living area. It sold for $4.25 million in 2003.

SARASOTA

THE JEWEL Steven and Barbara Garfinkle, trustees, of Boston, sold the Unit 802 condominium at 1301 Main St. to Scott and Rebecca Seger, of Jasper, Ind., for $2.3 million. Built in 2016, it has three bedrooms, three-and-ahalf baths and 2,129 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.64 million in 2016.

RIVERWOOD PARK P&H Scaffolding Designs Corp. sold two properties at 4805 Riverwood Ave. to Joseph and Maria Crouch, of Los Angeles, for $2.05 million. The first property was built in 1973; it has four bedrooms, four-and-two-half baths, a pool and 6,473 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1979; it has one bedroom, one bath and 850 square feet of living area. They sold for $1 million in 2012.

Other top sales by area SARASOTA

Whitaker’s Landing Richard and Caroline Ratner, of Sarasota, sold their home at 900 Whitakers Lane to Simone Norton and John Norton II, trustees, of Barrington, Ill., for $4.48 million.

Built in 1993, it has four bedrooms, six baths, a pool and 5,448 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.18 million in 2000.

Courtesy photo

PIRATES COVE Guenther Edelsbacher and Elke Hermine Edelsbacher sold their home at 7158 Captain Kidd Ave. to Michael McAlpine, of Sarasota, for $2.03 million. Built in 1955, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,870 square feet of living area. It sold for $790,000 in 2000.

VUE Margaret Musto, of Boston, sold her Unit 1604 condominium at 1155 N. Gulfstream Ave. to Steven and Belinda Kwapil, of Pewaukee, Wis., for $1.95 million. Built in 2017, it has two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,810 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.25 million in 2018.

PALMER RANCH

The Siesta Key home at 3500 Bayou Louise Lane was built in 2002.

It has five bedrooms, five baths, a pool and 5,656 square feet of living area.

Deer Creek James and Shannon Olson, of Sarasota, sold their home at 8446 Cypress Hollow Drive to Stewart and Victoria Wilson, of Sarasota, for $780,000. Built in 1990, it has three bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,683 square feet of living area. It sold for $282,000 in 1998.

OSPREY

Casey Key Fernando and Judith Piney, of Sarasota, sold their home at 140 N. Casey Key Road to Catherine Perich, of Venetia, Pa., for $2.25 million. Built in 1985, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,473 square feet of living area. It sold for $475,000 in 1995.

NOKOMIS

Blackburn Ridge Barbara and Charles Palmer, trustees, of Nokomis, sold the home at 4925 Topsail Drive to Noel Louis Bergeron and Melanie Lyn Bergeron, of Okemos, Mich., for $3.1 million. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, fourand-a-half baths, a pool and 4,937 square feet of living area.

In with the new

POINSETTIA PARK Antoine Cantin, of Sarasota, sold his home at 1847 Magnolia St. to John McFarland, trustee, of Lakewood Ranch, for $1.9 million. Built in 2019, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 3,819 square feet of living area.

SEE REAL ESTATE, PAGE 8B

SALES GALLERY OPEN

Longboat Key

These are the largest city of Sarasota and Sarasota County building permits issued for the week of March 1-5, in order of dollar amounts.

The Residences at the St. Regis | 941.213.3300 From the $2,000,000’s Call for appointment. SRResidencesLongboatKey.com

WATERFRONT HOMES & HOMESITES

Bradenton Riverfront Riverside Point | 941.201.8505 Home sites from $229,900 | Homes from the low $600,000s RiversidePointFlorida.com

C I T Y O F SA RAS O TA Address

Permit

1906 Orchid St.

Addition/Renovations Marc Bernstein

Applicant

$450,000

Amount

1753 North Drive

Renovations

David Buchanan

$275,000

350 Golden Gate Point #23

Renovations

Kevin O’Toole

$195,828

988 Boulevard of the Arts #411 Alterations

David Martin

$85,000

33 S. Gulfstream Ave. #801

Remodel

James Brearley

$56,900

1575 Siesta Drive

Solar System

Aaron Kastelik

$37,115

1550 Hillview Drive

Alterations

Braun Graham

$24,000

826 Windsor Drive

Windows

Douglas Chismar

$20,000

SA R A S O TA CO U N T Y Address

Permit Applicant Amount

104 Monte Drive

Solar System

Virginia Herring

$500,000

1631 Sweetland St.

Garage

Christopher Patek

$160,000

1624 N. Lake Shore Drive

Pool

Phillip Mihm

$100,482

3601 Casey Key Road

Solar System

Sean Murray

$94,152

5138 Cote Du Rhone Way

Pool/Deck/Cage

Stefan Carpenter

$62,000

5377 Davini St.

Electrical

Norma Lao

$60,000

136 Osprey Point Drive

Shutters

Charles Dhanraj

$59,000

276 Lookout Point Drive

Re-roof

Robert Linnell

$51,000

2507 Espanola Ave.

Pool/Deck

Tatiana Zucco

$50,000

Source: Sarasota County, city of Sarasota

MOVE-IN READY

Downtown Sarasota Risdon on 5th | 941.365.1414 From the high $300,000s RisdonOn5th.com

NOW SELLING NEW PHASE

Northwest Bradenton Palma Sola Bay Club | 941.216.7436 From the high $300,000s PalmaSolaBayClub.com

Sales galleries open and available for virtual or in-person presentations.

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WWW.MICHAELSAUNDERS.COM/NEW-HOMES | 844.591.4333 | SARASOTA, FLORIDA 348892-1

Prices as of February 2021.

Licensed Real Estate Broker

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

TENT SALE

Real estate FROM PAGE 7B

Murali and Leela Atluru sold their home at 1837 Orchid St. to Theodore Wilson II and Samantha Lee Symonds, of Sarasota, for $812,500. Built in 1954, it has four bedrooms, three baths and 2,274 square feet of living area. It sold for $610,000 in 2016.

5581 Magnolia Street LLC sold the home at 1844 Magnolia St. to Mission Property Partners LLC for $460,000. Built in 1953, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 887 square feet of living area. It sold for $167,000 in 2002.

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Malcolm and Diane Nalls, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1954 Goldenrod St. to Phuc Letan Pham, of Sarasota, for $375,000.

Built in 1947, it has two bedrooms, one bath and 1,128 square feet of living area. It sold for $160,000 in 1999.

20%-70% OFF

LINCOLN PARK ON HUDSON BAYOU Glenn and Virginia Saiger, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1752 Lincon Park Circle to Brian Charles Caplan and Kimberly Caplan, of Sarasota, for $1.75 million. Built in 2003, it has four bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 3,141 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.35 million in 2016.

BAY PLAZA Leigh Perry, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 1408 condominium at 1255 N. Gulfstream Ave. to Brian Mills, of Sarasota, for $1.53 million. Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 2,055

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square feet of living area. It sold for $1.45 million in 2020.

CONDOMINIUM ON THE BAY Paul and Amanda Yoder, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 10 condominium at 920 Boulevard of the Arts to John Sutherland Jr. and Stacey Paige Sutherland, of Windemere, for $1.3 million. Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and 1,904 square feet of living area. It sold for $772,600 in 2008.

1350 MAIN RESIDENTIAL Jerry McCoy and Alexandra Armstrong, of Sarasota, sold their Unit 1601 condominium at 1350 Main St. to Kim Ogilvie, of Sarasota, for $1.04 million. Built in 2007, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,216 square feet of living area. It sold for $850,000 in 2014.

Kim Ogilvie, of Sarasota, sold her Unit 1504 condominium at 1350 Main St. to Robert and Laure Steo, of Hoboken, N.J., for $825,000. Built in 2007, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,336 square feet of living area. It sold for $670,000 in 2017.

JOHNSON ESTATES Helen Allen, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 1621 Pine Bay Drive to Marc Cumsky and Linda Whitlock, of Newton, Center, Mass., for $975,000. Built in 1980, it has two bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,403 square feet of living area. It sold for $228,000 in 1993.

TOWNHOMES OF ORANGE CLUB Vandyk Sarasota-Orange Ave. Inc. sold the Unit 656 condominium at 656 Rawls Ave. to

SARASOTA OBSERVER

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Peter and Jacqueline Borden, of Boca Grande, for $950,000. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,092 square feet of living area.

MARK SARASOTA Lisa Kay Bosse and Frank Regis Bosse, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their Unit 921 condominium at 111 S. Pineapple Ave. to James and Barbara Long, of Sarasota, for $899,000. Built in 2019, it has two bedrooms, two-anda-half baths and 1,498 square feet of living area. It sold for $859,000 in 2019.

PLAT OF SARASOTA Carrie Hulen, of Sarasota, sold the home at 1876 Hawkins Court to Jesse Ryan Hart and Tanya Jean Hart, of Sarasota, for $775,000. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, two-anda-half baths, a pool and 1,748 square feet of living area. It sold for $750,000 in 2006.

Jodi Lynne John, trustee, of Sarasota, sold two properties at 1677 Laurel St. to Laurel Dolphin LLC for $750,000. The first property was built in 1925; it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,599 square feet of living area.

The second property was built in 1999; it has one bedroom, one bath and 528 square feet of living area.

KENTWOOD ESTATES Swan Capital Group LLC sold the home at 1575 Eastbrook Drive to C.I. Swanson Corp. for $750,000. Built in 1968, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,420 square feet of living area. It sold for $595,000 in 2005.

VALENCIA ROSEMARY PLACE TOWNHOMES Briana Cincotta and Patrick Bang Nguyen, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1277 Boulevard of the Arts to Alisa Kobrinetz Chernack, trustee, of Laurel, Md., for $732,500. Built in 2017, it has three bedrooms, two-anda-half baths and 2,146 square feet of living area. It sold for $510,000 in 2017.

SARASOTA BAY CLUB Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 525 condominium at 1299 Tamiami Trail to Anthony Salotto and Mellanie London, of Sarasota, for $723,000. Built in 2003, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,524 square feet of living area. It sold for $521,000 in 2003.

two bedrooms, two baths and 1,420 square feet of living area. It sold for $429,500 in 2018.

PALM PLACE Pierre and Pamela Bourgault, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 102 condominium at 755 S. Palm Ave. to Jeffery and Donna Gedonius, trustees, of La Grange, Ill., for $570,000. Built in 1983, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,421 square feet of living area. It sold for $427,000 in 2016.

SOUTH GATE Ralph and Cathy Houk, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their home at 3336 S. Seclusion Drive to Jeffrey and Maria Manning, of Sarasota, for $520,000. Built in 1991, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,983 square feet of living area.

SOUTHPOINTE SHORES James and Darlene Parish, trustees, sold the home at 7641 Sandalwood Way to Brian Kennelly, of Sarasota, for $650,000. Built in 1963, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,152 square feet of living area. It sold for $450,000 in 2004.

Joseph and Catherine Presley and Bernice Wilke sold their home at 3372 S. Seclusion Drive to Bozena Witek, of North Barrington, Ill., for $510,000. Built in 1977, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,544 square feet of living area. It sold for $165,100 in 2010.

INDIAN BEACH COURT Christopher and Lauren Weems, of Sarasota, sold their home at 741 Indian Beach Lane to Allen and Patricia Shipes, of Oklahoma City, Okla., for $591,200.

Built in 1953, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,610 square feet of living area. It sold for $490,000 in 2018.

Jay Stearns, of Sarasota, sold his home at 3255 Lockwood Ridge Road to Jeremy Madden and Paola Mincarone-Madden, of Bradenton, for $381,000. Built in 1970, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,576 square feet of living area. It sold for $295,000 in 2019.

SUNSET TOWERS Mary Beth Seville, of Sarasota, sold her Unit 707 condominium at 11 Sunset Drive to Glenn Glubiak, of Huntington, N.Y., for $575,000. Built in 1980, it has

OUR BUYERS ARE

Guy and Carmella Trombino, trustee, sold the home at 2738 Tangelo Drive to Michael Sean Higgins and Brenna Higgins, of Sarasota, for $300,000. Built in 1957, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,050 square feet

of living area. It sold for $35,000 in 1978.

THE LANDINGS TREEHOUSE Jeff and Connie Stephen, trustees, of Ontario, sold the Unit 19 condominium at 1348 Landings Drive to Eric and Jacqueline Luckner, of Rockville Centre, N.Y., for $520,000. Built in 1981, it has three bedrooms, two-anda-half baths and 2,132 square feet of living area. It sold for $360,000 in 2012.

BAYS BLUFF Dennis Yanez II, trustee, sold the Unit 402 condominium at 1100 Imperial Drive to Sheri Fuller and Lee de Ovies, of Sarasota, for $481,000. Built in 1971, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,195 square feet of living area. It sold for $217,500 in 1999.

CORAL COVE Jordan and Brittany Norwood, of Sarasota, sold their home at 7349 Starfish Drive to Timothy Joseph Lang and Pamela Lang, of Sarasota, for $478,000. Built in 1973, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,770 square feet of living area. It sold for $411,000 in 2017.

HIGH POINT CIRCLE Rodger Farquhar and Stacey Grad, of Bradenton, sold their home at 1909 High Point Circle to Katy McBrayer-Lynch, of Sarasota, for $450,000. Built in 1972, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,768 square feet of living area. It sold for $170,000 in 2000.

PHILLIPPI LANDINGS Taylor Morrison of Florida Inc. sold the Unit 3103 condominium at 5548 Cannes Circle to

OUR SELLERS ARE

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THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Malcolm Wayne Cutrer Jr. and Natalie Marie Keep, of Frisco, Texas, for $444,900. Built in 2020, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,745 square feet of living area.

GULF GATE WOODS Kenneth Morgan and Diane Morgan, of Pompano Beach, sold their home at 2511 Cardwell Way to Amos Zimmermann and Kay Henderson, of Cantril, Iowa, for $435,000. Built in 1975, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,895 square feet of living area. It sold for $325,000 in 2018.

Robert Lynn Hall and Joy Hall, of Englewood, sold their home at 7248 Antigua Place to Roger and Dawn Harada, of Reno, Nev., for $366,000. Built in 1972, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,492 square feet of living area. It sold for $98,000 in 1989.

Fred Kahoun Jr., trustee, of Dacula, Ga., sold the home at 7312 Biltmore Drive to Coral Green Homes LLC for $325,000.

Built in 1972, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,888 square feet of living area. It sold for $130,000 in 1986.

ONLINE See more transactions at YourObserver.com

MORE BUYERS ARE

BUYING

SELLING

COMING

PENDING 1 DAY | $1.325M

PENDING FEBRUARY | $1.5M

548 BEACH RD | $1.695M

SOLD 1 DAY | $1.399M

SOLD 9 DAYS | $1.375M LP

7345 PINE NEEDLE RD | $1.22M

SOLD MARCH ABOVE LIST PRICE! | $6M LP

SOLD 17 DAYS | $1.995M LP

COMING SOON - SIESTA KEY BAYFRONT

YOUR HOME HAS NEVER BEEN WORTH MORE I DON’T JUST SELL THE SIESTA KEY LIFESTYLE, I LIVE IT! • Siesta Key’s Top Selling REALTOR® Since 2005

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.

352780-1

• Best in client satisfaction real estate agent 15 years in a row by Sarasota Magazine

941.928.3424 | judie.berger@premiersir.com | www.homesofsarasota.com |

9B

SARASOTA OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

YOUR CALENDAR

WELCOMES Vernu Visvalingam, MD Board Certified, Gastroenterology

Dr. Visvalingam brings to Intercoastal Medical Group at the Cattleridge office a wealth of knowledge and experience in Gastroenterology.

MARCH 20

LE MARCHE BOHEMIEN 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Five Points Park, 1 Central Ave. The annual marketplace event will have vintage items, hand-crafted gifts and other curious things to add to your collection. Free. Visit SarasotaDowntownMerchants.com.

MARCH 24

REC DAY AT THE PARK 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle. Participants will have the opportunity to try stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, canoes, fishing and more.

Fees are $10 per person for ages 7-18 and free for parents and siblings ages 1-6. The fee is $10 for adults without children. Meet at the finish tower. Visit NathanBendersonPark.org.

NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS! TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT, PLEASE CALL

941-342-8892 Cattleridge Medical Building

353038-1

3333 Cattlemen Road, Suite 202, Sarasota, FL 34232 Medicare and most insurances accepted

‘CAMELOT’ 8 p.m. nightly through April 1 at the Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N Tamiami Trail. Lerner and Lowe’s 1960’s medieval classic gets new concert staging by Associate Artistic Director Celine Rosenthal with new orchestrations by Steve Orich. Tickets start at $25. Visit AsoloRep.org.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Gator Club, 1490 Main St. Gator Club is hosting an outdoor block party complete with DJs, food trucks and plenty of Irish attire. Free. For more information, call 366-5969.

Undergraduate: The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education/City University of New York Medical School, New York, NY Medical School: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY Residency: Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY Fellowship: Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology

www.intercoastalmedical.com

MARCH 19

A Patient Focused, Multi-Specialty Group l National Expertise l Multiple Locations

MARCH 28

BIG TRUCK DAY 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Nathan Benderson Park, 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle. Big Truck Day

File photo

Valentina Isaac, Jimmy Isaac, Santino Isaac and Max McLaughlin at a previous Sarasota County Fair

DON’T MISS MARCH 19

85TH ANNUAL SARASOTA COUNTY FAIR Through March 28 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds, 3000 Ringling Blvd.

Games, prizes, food and rides. Tickets start at $4. For information, call 365-0818, or visit SarasotaFair.com.

will be conducted in a drive-thru format. The Easter Bunny will also be on site distributing goodie bags. Registration is required, but the event is free. To register, visit SCGov.net/parks, or call 861-7275. Registration will close Friday, March 19 or when capacity is reached.

Siesta Key Campus: Pre-K - Grade 5 | Uihlein Campus in Lakewood Ranch: Grades 6 - 12

CUSTOMIZED COLLEGE COUNSELING APPLY NOW FOR 2021-22 941-203-3640 | www.ODA.edu/discover

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10B

SARASOTA OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

FORECAST

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

THURSDAY, MARCH 18 High: 82 Low: 63 Chance of rain: 15%

FRIDAY, MARCH 19 High: 74 Low: 55 Chance of rain: 5%

SATURDAY, MARCH 20 High: 75 Low: 53 Chance of rain: 4%

SUNDAY, MARCH 21 High: 74 Low: 54 Chance of rain: 5%

Curtis Bean captured this photo of a sunset at North Bridge Outlook Park.

Submit your photos at YourObserver.com/Weather. All submissions will be entered for the 2021-22 Weather and Nature photo contest. In February 2022, you will vote for your favorite photo, and the submission with the most votes will win a $500 gift card.

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11B

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

SUNRISE / SUNSET

Sunrise Sunset

Thursday, March 18

7:35a 7:40p

Friday, March 19

7:34a

7:40p

Saturday, March 20

7:33a

7:41p

Sunday, March 21

7:32a

7:41p

Monday, March 22

7:31a

7:42p

Tuesday, March 23

7:30a

7:42p

Wednesday, March 24

7:28a

7:43p

MOON PHASES

April 4 Last

April 11 New

April 20 First

April 26 Full

RAINFALL Monday, March 8

0

Tuesday, March 9

0

Wednesday, March 10

0

Thursday, March 11

0

Friday, March 12

0

Saturday, March 13

0

Sunday, March 14

0

YEAR TO DATE:

MONTH TO DATE:

2021 3.27 in.

2021 0.38 in.

2020 2.84 in.

2020

0 in.

MANASOTA FLOORING INC 349210-1

941.355.8437 | Bradenton

CROSSWORD

941.748.4679 | Venice

AD CREEP by Steve Mossberg; Edited by David Steinberg

941.493.7441 | www.manasotaonline.com

102 Tiny, cutesily 103 Traveler’s stopover 104 Finally decide on a home?

109 Taylor-Joy of “The Queen’s Gambit” 110 “Think again!”

111 Assortment 112 Moving wheels?

116 TikTok’s has a music note 117 Word after “end” or “time” 118 Took without asking 119 Finish lathering 120 ___ ex machina 121 CPR pros 122 Write an email, maybe 123 Haircuts that taper

46 Seeing the sights 47 “Don’t sweat it,” in a text 49 Part of WPM 50 Ignite, with “to” 52 “... available ___ request” 53 Blend 54 5:4 or 3:2 57 On or about 58 Kind of acid that kills ants 60 Vishnu, for one 61 “The Matrix” role 62 Joke 63 Shark part that sticks up 64 “Ich bin ___ Berliner” 65 In that case 66 Grp. with a phonetic alphabet 67 Read, as an e-ticket DOWN 1 Staple root in Nigerian food 68 Neighbors of Argentinians 72 You wouldn’t need this 2 World Cup shout clue if you had it (Abbr.)

3 Allow 73 Clawfoot ___ 4 “Gangnam Style” genre 77 Word often confused with 5 Banish from the kitchen, “fewer” perhaps 78 LaBelle of disco stardom 6 Overly elaborate 79 Sour apple candy’s color 7 Cannabis brownies, for 80 Deck out instance 83 Show embarrassment 8 Mega- times 1,000,000 84 Sesame or canola 9 Polluted Asian sea 85 Make things happen 10 Where going downhill 87 Ride a wave with minimal isn’t bad or no gear 11 Contain, as laughter 89 Raison d’___ 12 Printer choice 90 Grim Reaper costume 13 “Que ___?” props 14 Service for a stressed 91 One may dilate a pupil partner 15 Major tennis tournament 93 Golfer’s posture ©2021 Universal Uclick ACROSS contest with music like 77 Links org. for Stacy Lewis 16 Like a smell you can’t miss 94 “Psst!” briefly 95 Fully grasp 17 Bit of help 1 “Sunny” egg parts “Don’t Stop Believin’”?

81 Chaplin of “The Comey 51 Japanese wrestling 19 Mani-pedi board material 96 Add up (to) 6 Greek cheese 30 Texting format initials Rule” 55 “___ we forget” 97 Irish beer named for its 27 State by Ky. 10 Send, like a package 82 Zoom or Disney+ 33 Singer Lavigne 56 “Closing Bell” network color 28 Resulted in 14 Part of a hedge 34 Great Lakes tribe 83 Drag show accessory 58 Borscht ingredient 98 How a Reuben is served 29 Price 18 A, in Hebrew school 35 Dark cloud, perhaps 86 Buzzing “facial hair” 59 Imitated 99 Enzyme suffix 30 Sandbank 19 Venerable villager 36 Like a somewhat rich 60 Trying to be a champion 88 H.S. diploma alternative 104 Uttered 31 Tree with a Japanese 20 Hawaiian coffee region dessert?

90 You may fold one while at provoking?

105 Finance expert Orman variety 21 Italian wine region 40 Did karaoke eating it 65 Just for laughs 106 Manitoba-to-Quebec 32 Lots and lots 22 Movement Tarana Burke 41 Soap ___ (TV drama) 92 Orthopedic prefix 69 Run on TV again direction 37 Building in a campus row started on MySpace 42 December visitor 93 Closed 70 Quakers 107 Pretentiously creative 38 Vehicle with a meter 23 “Schitt’s Creek” matri43 “Life Goes On” boy band 71 Ability to see past super- 95 Teaching staff’s swank 108 Branch of Islam 39 De Armas of “Knives Out” arch ficiality? ride?

44 Checking one’s work 43 Garment usually made of 113 “Your point being?”

24 Varieties 74 Telescope sight email 24/7, say 100 Shred 114 Put into play 25 Dad jokes and such 75 Leaning Tower’s city 48 Dim sum bun 101 ___ Kitchen (frozen food terry cloth 115 “___ Miserables” 45 Where to keep track of 26 Top prize at a karaoke 49 Anti-smoking spot, e.g., 76 Street’s edging brand) points

CELEBRITY CIPHER

By Luis Campos Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present.

Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“OJTLJTP C ONU CE N UKXFW MP ITTKCES RNBKG MP JNYCES LPMXRKT MII LJT ICTKB, LJT MEKG LJCES LM BM ONU HTTW UOCESCES.”

– JNEH NNPME

“SFMN (SFD MWMNF) MN GTD WJED GV RDGRYD VGW BFGH RNOEFGJTJYONMN MN GV TG ZND BFJSNGDADW.” – NMLHZTU VWDZU Puzzle Two Clue: A equals V

Sarasota

SAVE ON SELECT COLORS & STYLE

Puzzle One Clue F equals M

CARPET

© 2021 NEA, Inc.

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

©2021 Andrews McMeel Syndicate

03-18-21

Made for where you live. Here!

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

INFORMATION & RATES: 941-955-4888

Condos/Apts. for Rent

DEADLINES: Classifieds - Tuesday at Noon

OSPREY SPACIOUS light and bright 2BD/2BA w/ garage, large screened lanai, step in shower, pool and tennis, in a no smoking building. Requires application. $1650/mo.

Includes cable and water.

941-966-9763.

redpages@yourobserver.com • yourobserver.com/redpages

The Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer reserves the right to classify and edit copy, or to reject or cancel an advertisement at any time. Corrections after first insertion only. *All ads are subject to the approval of the Publisher. *It is the responsibility of the party placing any ad for publication in the Sarasota and Siesta Key Observer to meet all applicable legal requirements in connection with the ad such as compliance with towncodes in first obtaining an occupational license for business, permitted home occupation, or residential rental property.

Announcements Searching For Diamonds

Garage/ Moving/ Estate Sales

Items Under $200 ADVERTISE YOUR MERCHANDISE with the total value of all items $200 or less in this section for FREE! Limit 1 ad per month,15 words or less.

Price must be included next to each item. No commercial advertising.

Ad runs 2 consecutive weeks in 1 Observer.

Call 941-955-4888 Or Email ad to: classified@yourobserver.com (Please provide your name and address) Or Online at: www.yourobserver.com Or mail to: The Observer Group 1970 Main St. - 3rd Floor Sarasota, Fl 34236 DVD SETS: Johnny Carson/Tonight Show (10) $25.

Victor Borge (13) $13.

(941) 966-6816.

SELL IT FAST HERE! POST YOUR AD WITH EASE YourObserver.com/RedPages

ESTATE/GARAGE SALE Saturday March 20th, 8:00am-1:00pm- Rain or Shine 1900 Tulip Drive Original Roomba, First Alert Smoke Alarm, Ceramics, Glass, Swiss Army knives, Housewares and more. Priced to sell!

Numbers go out at 8am 2016 Mercedes Benz C 300 class with only 31,000 miles on it fully loaded, Swarovski crystals, Waterford crystal, 25c antique slot machine, clocks, patio furniture, beautiful apothecary cabinet, pair of twin beds, living room furniture, gorgeous dining room table and chairs, books, artwork, kitchenwares, garage-wares, and lots and lots of bric-and-brac.

For more Information call Ken at: 941-356-3318. antiquesandchatchkes.com

FULL SET- Left handed golf clubs with pull cart- $125 OBO. 941-918-2479.

GLASS FRAMED photo print-Pres. Jefferson Davis, 9x11. $35. 941-223-5097.

TWIN BED with frame, like new $35. Patio Table w/ 4 chairs $25. 941-400-4808.

RED PAGES CALL TODAY 941-955-4888

This week’s Crossword answers

Unlimited earnings.

Call Paul:

917-751-6506.

FAMILY SECURITY DRIVER 941-735-4732.

Ask for Eddie.

Many years experience with rock stars, wild teens, children, elderly, and foreign families.

Feel safe, Be safe 24/7 Licensed and Legal.

Autos Wanted CASH FOR YOUR CAR We come to you!

Ho Ho Buys cars.

941-270-4400.

SELL STUFF HERE!

WE BUY cars. top $$ paid for your vehicles.

Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

LOCAL COLLECTOR pays cash for flags, guns, medals, helmets, war souvenirs, military items ours/theirs.

941-323-9417.

Advertise your business or service in the Observer

Make calls, set appts, typing

STORAGE FACILITY Boat/ RV/ Trailer. Secure facility, low monthly rentals, Clark Rd area.

941-809-3660, 941-809-3662.

Merchandise Wanted

GOLDEN GATE POINT: Beautiful 2BR/1BA, top floor, end unit, remodeled kitchen and bathroom, polished Terrazzo floors, peek-a-boo views of bay from every room, For Sale: $332,900.

303-944-8300. eceonlbk@msn.com Please no agents.

Busy sales man seeks assistant ASAP.

Estate Sales Conducted By: Antiques & Chatchkes

WINDMILL Manor Community carport sale March 20th 8am- 2pm. 4920 Windmill Manor ave. Bradenton 34203.

FOR SALE: 2BD/2BA second floor corner unit w/ cathedral ceilings, largest 2 bedroom in the complex. Palmer Ranch.

1,200 sqft + large lanai. Gated community, tennis court, clubhouse, and pool. $215,000. 941-358-6001.

WORK FROM HOME:

6528 38th Lane East Sarasota, FL 34243 (Bradenton) (Rio Mar) March 19th-21st Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 9am to 6pm

CLEAN OUT YOUR GARAGE HERE!

Condos/Apts. for Sale

CALL 941-955-4888

Spring Estate Sale

YourObserver.com/RedPages

FORD F150 Short bed roll up Tonneau cover. $170.

719-250-8565.

Autos Service

NEED SOMEONE special to do a variety of tasks: Housework, some shopping, dog walking, and read material for legally blind woman. 2 or 3 mornings a week, 3/4 hours a day. 941-388-2083.

YourObserver.com/RedPages

GARAGE SALE Advertise as low as $17.50 per week!

941-955-4888

Condos/Apts. for Rent NORTH SIESTA Key Penthouse for Rent: Whispering Sands, 12th floor corner unit 2BD/2BA 55+ community. 270ft of incredible gulf and beach views from your 50ft wrap-around lanai. Private beach included.

2 month minimum, longer term prefered.

Price based on rental term.

Call: 941-373-5432.

©2021 Universal Uclick

You’re only cheating yourself.

YourObserver.com/RedPages

POST YOUR AD WITH EASE.

peekers’ place

BUY STUFF HERE!

HELP WANTED: Servers and bartenders for Chef Rolf's New Florida Kitchen.

Call: 941-806-6820.

real estate

Join my Database Today For immediate Consideration or Call Debra: 401-569-8233.

Www.getreadytodate.com

Help Wanted

auto

stuff

Are you single, mindful, attractive, and between 50-65?

Conducting Executive Matchmaking Search for an eligible, young at heart & extremely active 70 year old accomplished Bachelor for long term relationship.

jobs

Service Directory - Friday at 3PM • PAYMENT: Cash, Check or Credit Card

MOW OVER the competition!

RED PAGES

This week’s Celebrity Cipher answers Puzzle One Solution: “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.”

Hank Aaron Puzzle Two Solution: “This (the Irish) is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever.”

– Sigmund Freud

This week’s Sudoku answers

©2021 NEA, Inc.

RED PAGES. MADE FOR WHERE YOU LIVE. HERE! TO ADVERTISE CALL 941-955-4888 OR VISIT YOUROBSERVER.COM/REDPAGES

SARASOTA OBSERVER

Condos/Apts. for Sale LOCATION LOCATION CONDO SALE: Beautiful waterview walk to beach. 2BD/2BA has it all!

Elevator building and carport.

A must see! $459,000.

Call today!

941-400-4808.

RED PAGES AD RATES First 15 words .................. $ 17.50 per week Each add’l word ....... 50¢

15% DISCOUNT FOR 4-WEEK RUN Color background: $ 5 per week Ad border: as low as $3 per week

PLACE YOUR AD: Call: 941-955-4888 Fax: 941-955-4808 Email: redpages@ yourobserver.com Online: yourobserver.com NORTH SIESTA Key Penthouse for Sale: Whispering Sands, 12th floor corner unit 2BD/2BA 55+ community.

270ft of incredible gulf and beach views from your 50ft wrap-around lanai. Private beach included. $1.375 million.

941-373-5432.

Homes for Rent VINTAGE ST. ARMANDS: 3BR/2BA, fireplace, formal living room, Florida room, 2 blocks from the Circle and beaches. furnished. $3000/mo + utilities.

Small pets okay. All other services included.

813-778-3252.

Homes for Sale Luxurious 4 Bed 4 Bath Built in 2020 Lakefront Lakewood Ranch $1,599,900 Everything Updated Sarasota's Phillipi Gardens 3/2/2 $359,900 55+ Beach and Boating: One story villa 2BED-2BATH $424,000 Longboat Key Beach House: on Canal, 2BED-2BATH, 1/CAR, Dock. $530,000. Owner/agent Private Boat Lift: beach access villa/condo Pet Friendly $399,000 Call for coming soon listings.

home services

YourObserver.com

Buy or Sell with Brooke O’Malley as your Realtor, and CLUB REALTY will Pay your title insurance.

Call 941-726-2677.

Adult Care Services

WRITER SEEKS affordable, COVID-Safe mother-in-law suite or private room. I’m quiet, clean, professional & discreet.

Will caretake or housesit for snowbirds.

Excellent references.

941-271-1778.

2BR/2BA CONDO DIRECT GULF-FRONT SIESTA KEY Available March and/or April 2022. 8th floor, spacious, best views, 30 ft lanai, fine furnishings, many amenities, covered parking.

By Owner: oceanfrontsiesta.com Ann: (407) 227-6817

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Adult Care Services

BUY & SELL HERE!

CLEANING BY Brazilian Lady.

Meticulous, reliable, deep cleaning specialist. Residential.

Commercial. New Construction.

941-400-2866.

SELL IT FAST!

NEED ASSISTANCE? A LENDING HAND HOME CARE - Transportation - Meal Preparation - Light Housekeeping - Personal Care - Dementia Care - Companionship - Medical Reminders Schedule your free in-home consultation today!

Perfect Solutions For Seniors *Caregivers/Companions * CNA’s/HHA’s * Assistance with Daily Living Activities * Hourly 24/7 Care -Affordable Rates * Licensed/ Bonded/ Insured HHA# 299994819

Call for a FREE Evaluation!

941-536-6372 EpicHomeCare@yahoo.com Rosa Torres- Owner

Cleaning

VIRTUAL TAXES by H&R block Computer to computer Includes phone interview Safe info questions clayton.prowls@tax.hrblock.com

Phone (941) 809-1438

EPIC HOME CARE Personal Care-Respite Care Alzheimer’s Care-Light Cleaning Med Administration-Meal Prep Shopping, Errands & More

13B

Financial Services

941-809-3725 www.alhhomecare.com NR#30211577

Rentals Wanted

Vacation/ Seasonal Rentals

Adult Care Services

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FIND BUYERS & SELLERS HERE!

REAL LOCAL STUFF HERE!

YourObserver.com/RedPages

Auto Transport SHIP YOUR car, truck or SUV anywhere in the United States.

Great rates, fast quotes. Call Hawley Motors: 941-923-3421.

Cleaning

941-955-4888 YourObserver.com/RedPages

YourObserver.com/RedPages

BRAZILIAN CLEANING Service by Maria. Residential.

Meticulous Cleaning. Excellent References. Free Estimates.

Reliable. Lic./Ins. 941-400-3342. www.braziliancleaningbymk.com

Place Your Ad Online YourObserver.com/RedPages

Home Services ESTATE MANAGER/ HOUSEHOLD MANAGER Olga has ability to manage all of your properties with seamless service standard. As a highly organized and intelligent professional, I will represent your family in the highest manner. I have over 20 years of experience managing household services.

PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFORMATION AND INQUIRIES. (248) 755-0327. www.olgascleanhouse.com

Painting CARLO DATTILO PAINTING. Licensed & insured. Interior/ Exterior painting including drywall repair and retexturing.

Wallpaper installation & removal, pressure washing.

Residential & commercial, condos. Honest & reliable.

Free estimates. 941-744-1020.

35+ years experience.

Aluminum

Visit RED PAGES at YourObserver.com/RedPages

Realtors

“Specializing in 6” Seamless Gutters”

Dustin Yoder

941.650.9790 YoderAluminum.com

Owner / Operator Insured

353815

Auto Service

SELL YOUR CAR! FAST • EASY • SAFE

941.270.4400

5-Star Rated

352417

HoHoBuysCars.com

TREASURES FOUND HERE!

TO ADVERTISE CALL 941-955-4888 OR VISIT YOUROBSERVER.COM/REDPAGES

352973

WE COME TO YOU

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

Handyman

941-929-9095

Pegatronics Computer Instruction and Repair It’s Easier Than You Think!

Learn Computer Basics Phones/Tablet Help Apple & Microsoft Problems Solved On-Site and Off Much More! Call Today!

Licensed Lic. #38333 References

352975

“OUR ESTIMATES & ADVICE ARE FREE”

(941) 504-3168

ome epaiR eRvice • No JoB Too SmaLL • ScReeN RepaiRS • paiNTiNG/DRY WaLL • TiLe RepaiRS • & MUCH MORE!

24/7 SERVICE

Concrete Since 1967

Patios - Driveways - Sidewalks

3680493-01

922-3157

353388

Michael Koch Concrete, Inc.

Servicing the Sarasota area since 1999

Licensed & Insured

918-8587

Free Estimates

334711

Reasonable Prices

FREE

ESTIMATES!

High Tech Home Watch and Concierge Service available Who is checking the house while you are gone?

BONDED/INSURED

Watching your home while you’re away

THE BEST

Bob & Carol Guthrie 941.993.6613

SPINAL DECOMPRESSION PHYSICIANS IN AMERICA

Serving the Palmer Ranch Area Since 2007

Sliding Glass Door Repair

“FIX IT - DON’T REPLACE”

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6968 Beneva Road

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Licensed and insured #IMT708

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Painting

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by

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Joe Murray, Owner

Fully Insured

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120

$

AFTER

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25

UP TO

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Building & Roofing Contractor

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Form Serving Longboat Key Since 2005

38 Years Experience

Serving South Sarasota Only including: Palmer Ranch – Osprey – Nokomis

941-923-8140

Lic./Ins.

& Pressure C Window lean t e s ing as Sunrise Wi n w o n k Sun y l nd er

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352403

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Faulkner’s

“No Job Too Small”

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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Movers

|

SARASOTA OBSERVER

|

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

DOING MORE IS OUR DISTINCTION

$

WWW.SCHEMMELGROUP.COM

S I E S TA K E Y 1 2 14 S H A RSWO O D L A N E | $ 3 ,4 5 0,0 0 0 Siesta Key’s newest waterfront community.

CLOSED IN 2020

$

55

MILLION

CLOSED OR PENDING IN 2021

G O L D EN G AT E P O I N T 1 2 8 G O L D E N G AT E P O I N T # 9 01- #10 01 | $ 3 ,49 5 ,0 0 0 Three-story penthouse in one of the best locations in downtown Sarasota.

S I E S TA K E Y 8 2 1 8 S A N D E R L I N G R OA D | $14 ,0 0 0,0 0 0 The ultimate beachfront compound encompassing over 4 acres on Siesta Key.

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104

MILLION

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Listing inventory is at a historically low level not seen in many years.

As a result of our extensive marketing reach and in-depth understanding of the local market, we can provide you with the best possible experience when selling your home. If you are considering selling, now is the time. Please contact us!

JOEL SCHEMMEL, J.D., REALTOR® 941.587.4894 | JOEL.SCHEMMEL@PREMIERSIR.COM SHARON CHIODI, REALTOR® 941.809.0380 | SHARON.CHIODI@PREMIERSIR.COM SCHEMMELGROUP

SCHEMMELGROUP

SCHEMMELGROUP

SCHEMMELGROUP

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each office is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity. Property information herein is derived from various sources including, but not limited to, county records and multiple listing services, and may include approximations. All information is deemed accurate and neither suggests nor infers that Sotheby’s International Realty participated as either the listing or cooperating agent or broker in the sale or purchase of the properties depicted.

352784-1

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S ’ E R THE !

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Burr Bakke, DDS

Cameron Johnson, DMD

• Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (only 550 accredited dentists worldwide)

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Advanced Care and Dental Technology at One Location Stay Connected With Us

(941) 999-3205 | 3951 Swift Rd., Sarasota, FL 34231