SIESTA KEY
Observer Formerly the Pelican Press
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 46, NO. 1
FREE
Conversation with Angie Stringer PAGE 10 •
THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2015
Bench Press A downtown leader asks the city to bring benches back to Five Points Park. More than three years after they were removed, can his proposal gain traction? SEE PAGE 6
What happened to the
Homeless?
The Salvation Army has cleaned up the sidewalks in front of its Central Avenue facility, but Rosemary District stakeholders are still concerned about homelessness in the area.
CELEBRITY SIGHTING Find out why a young Ed Harris was on Siesta Key
PAGE 4
PAGE 9
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy
Michael Carlo, Hannah Carlo and Rep. Vern Buchanan
ARTS+CULTURE
THEATRICAL TAKE
Urbanite Theatre adds an artistic and popular success to downtown Sarasota.
PAGE 12
CAMPAIGNING FOR CHILDREN
SWEET GOODBYE After almost 60 years, Swiss Day Preschool has become a center of activity and learning in the Oyster Bay neighborhood. SEE PAGE 19
Amanda Morales
Swiss Day Preschool alumna Kristen Helmuth visited the school July 22 with her 1-year-old daughter, Harper.
Sarasota resident Hannah Carlo, 15, traveled to Washington, D.C., recently for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Children’s Congress. The Children’s Congress is hosted every two years and invites children from across the country living with Type 1 diabetes to meet with members of Congress to help them understand what life with Type 1 diabetes is like and to encourage funding of critical research. Hannah was diagnosed with the disease at age 4, and her family has since been helping to fundraise to support research.