Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer 9.28.23

YOUR TOWN

A question of valor

Home run theater

Several Sarasota staff members of the Baltimore Orioles decided on Sept. 25 to spend time in the field — the field of the wider community.

As part of the the Fall for Sarasota event held by the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce from Sept. 25 to 28, the staff visited the shop of the The Players Centre for Performing Arts to help remove old equipment, reorganize archives and files and more.

Now in its second year, Fall for Sarasota was established to create a spirit of collaboration between members of Sarasota’s business community and local nonprofits, something that helped complete tasks the nonprofit’s staff had been eyeing.

As a production theater, we don’t have a ton of extra time every day for staff to do the extra work,” said William Skaggs, the theater’s CEO.

Moon shots

There were gasps of awe and surprise Friday night at Bayfront Park.

People who stopped at the Sidewalk Science Center’s telescopes saw Saturn’s rings and a close-up of the moon.

Alex Martin, SSC founder, said more than 70 people checked out the views of space. “Some people were like, ‘That has to be a picture,’” Martin said. “We’re coming back into the busy part of the year where the planets will be out.” Visit the organization’s Facebook page for upcoming events.

Road blocks

Radio host Matt Bruce spoke at Sarasota’s 9/11 remembrance, telling his story of heroism at the World Trade Center. Sources say he wasn’t there.

SEE PAGE 3

Photo by Jim Watson

WEEK OF SEPT. 28, 2023

BY THE NUMBERS

23.3%

The requested reduction of habitable space on the ground floor of Obsidian, which was denied by the city.

PAGE 5

$130,688

The city’s cost of administering the vacation rental ordinance for the current 135 short-termrental units on the barrier islands.

PAGE 7

300

The number of athletes who competed in the Sarasota Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open, an event which was started to help combat bullying.

PAGE 30

CALENDAR

n Sarasota City Commission regular meeting — 9 a.m., Monday, Oct. 2, Commission Chambers, City Hall, 1565 First St.

n Sarasota County School Board regular meeting — 3 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 3, Board Chambers, Landings Administration Complex, 1980 Landings Blvd. (black awning entrance).

City Commission OKs fiscal 2024 budget

With no changes made since its first public hearing, the Sarasota City Commission during a Sept. 19 special meeting unanimously approved millage rates for the fiscal year 2024 budget.

Commissioners supported City Manager Marlon Brown’s citywide millage rate of 3.000. Although unchanged from the current fiscal year, the budget increases spending by $33 million, the extra ad valorem revenue thanks to increased property values plus a general fund transfer of nearly $3 million to balance

the budget.

With a citywide taxable value of $16.7 billion — up 13.6% over the prior year — general fund revenue is projected at $94.31 million, $2.72 million short of the proposed expenditures of $97.03 million. That’s up 13.04% over the current fiscal year’s adopted general fund spending of $85.83 million.

The projected general fund spending for the current fiscal year stands at $89.45 million. The transfer from reserves will leave the city with an estimated

Bay Runner lauds 250,000th passenger

A Lido Key resident was celebrated as the 250,000th passenger on Sarasota’s Bay Runner trolley service, which was launched in March 2022.

Fran Seminerio was honored at the John Ringing Boulevard/St. Armands Circle trolley stop, and presented with a swag-filled backpack. Seminerio says she rides the Bay Runner weekly.

“Transporting a quarter of a million passengers in just 18 months is impressive,” said Parking General Manager Broxton Harvey.

The Bay Runner provides free service on a fixed route through downtown along Main Street, over the John Ringling Bridge, around St. Armands Circle, to Lido Beach and Ted Sperling Park. Hours of operation are 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 7 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Women’s Portfolio Manager of The Year

After years of working on Wall Street, Catherine Avery of Catherine Avery Investment Management brought her ultra personal brand of investor services to the Sarasota area in 2021.

Based on Longboat Key while also serving clients in Sarasota, Avery was recently nominated for Investment News Women’s Portfolio Manager of The Year. This award recognizes a female portfolio manager who works with investor clients and has shown excellence over the past 12 months. It is a part of Investment News’ Women to Watch issue.

$28.9 million in the unassigned fund balance, or 29.8% of operating expenses. The city’s policy is to maintain reserves of 17-25% of general fund expenditures. Responding to comments during a previous budget hearing about a lack of opportunity for public involvement, Commissioner Erik Arroyo requested next year’s budget calendar include citizen engagement earlier in the process.

Brown said he intends to add such a session to next year’s calendar during or after March.

Avery has been interviewed on Bloomberg several times about topics relating to inflation and her predictions on the investment market.

“I love the fact that we can get really into the nitty gritty in our research and analysis and selecting the stocks that go into the portfolio,” said Avery. “I really love being able to work with the clients because I get to see the fruits of what I’ve done. It’s great that you have good performance in the portfolios and seeing it actually make a difference in client’s lives.”

“We are confident that we will be successful in our appeal of this decision to the Planning Board and have them grant the adjustments.”

Obsidian developer Matt Kihnke Read more on Page 5

Andrew Warfield

Sources

reveal inconsistencies in radio host

JAMES PETER MANAGING EDITOR

He was trapped for 13 hours in the rubble of the World Trade Center on 9/11.

That’s what conservative radio host Matt Bruce told an audience this year during the Remembrance of 9/11 ceremony at Sarasota National Cemetery.

“‘Mayday, mayday, mayday,’ those (calls) were real,” said Bruce during his speech. “And I probably was one of them.”

“No way.” “Hell no.” “Not a chance.” Those were the reactions of current and retired firefighters from the city and state of New York to Bruce’s story of survival.

A former Sarasota-area resident now based in the Tampa area, Bruce refers to himself as “the Captain.” He hosts a nationally syndicated late-night talk radio program called “Captain’s America Third Watch,” which appears along with “The Alex Jones Show” in the 40-show lineup of Genesis Communications Network.

GCN’s website describes itself as “the largest independently owned and operated talk radio network in the country,” whose talk radio programming is heard in 49 states. Locally, Bruce’s program appears on The Answer AM 930 (AM 860 in Tampa) and FM 93.7.

Over his decades-long radio career, Bruce has built an audience by cultivating a folksy on-air persona bolstered by his decorated record in Vietnam and as a firefighter in the state of New York.

As a firefighter “assigned” to the New York City Fire Department, he says he responded to the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, where he was buried for 13 hours in the rubble of the Twin Towers.

But sources throughout New York fire departments, including FDNY, have something in common. They say Matt Bruce is “a fake.”

“I had friends who died on 9/11. To say that he survived a building collapse is a sin,” said Mark McLees, retired Syracuse fire chief, whose department Bruce claims to have worked for over a 10-year period.

A wide range of interviews, archival material and public records the Observer obtained reveal that in many cases, according to sources,

Bruce is either lying, exaggerating or some combination of the two when it comes to his military career and service as a firefighter.

MAYDAY

Bruce was invited to speak at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee’s 9/11 commemoration held on Sept. 11, 2023.

During his speech, Bruce told the audience gathered in Sarasota about his experiences on 9/11. He was in New York that day to teach 25 probationary firefighters “the skill of initial fire attack,” he said.

Bruce said, “I found myself” at the World Trade Center, “was able to go up to Tower No. 2,” ostensibly as part of the rescue efforts at the WTC’s North Tower (address WTC

1) “when a building fell on me.” While trapped for 13 hours in the rubble of the North Tower’s collapse, Bruce said he suffered a compound fracture to his ankle that was splinted by a comrade.

“It hurt like hell … stopped the bleeding, put a tourniquet on it, and 13 hours later, we got out of the mess that we were in,” Bruce said in his speech.

It sounds like a miracle, the stuff of movies.

Of course, that movie has already been made. “The Miracle of Stair-

Courtesy photo

well B” recounted the real-life survival story of 14 people inside the North Tower, including 12 firefighters, one of whom was FDNY firefighter John “Jay” Jonas. Only a literal handful of others survived the North Tower’s collapse.

“We’re the most experienced fire department in the world. We teach our own people how to do things,” said Jonas. “Thirteen hours? That area was being combed very closely. If he existed there would be a record of it. ... No doubt he’s a fraud.”

But somehow Bruce’s story escaped recognition.

“I never heard of this man. I’ve never heard of (Matt Bruce),” said Gerald Sanford, who was an FDNY firefighter for three decades and served as press secretary for FDNY in the aftermath of 9/11. Sanford was responsible for organizing a meeting between President George W. Bush and Jonas in the wake of the attacks.

“I was there. I would’ve known about somebody that was trapped

— Jack McDonnell, retired FDNY battalion chief

... I was in the press office,” said Sanford. “It would be impossible,” for such a story to have escaped his notice or that of his press team, Sanford added.

“There were no students to train. The students were already in firehouses. In fact, six of them perished that day,” said Sanford. “Him saying that he taught rookies. I never heard of that.”

Bruce told the Observer that on Sept. 11, 2001, he was teaching a course on Long Island near Huntington, which is located about 40 miles away from the World Trade Center.

Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m. The South Tower (address WTC 2) was struck at 9:03 a.m. In less than two hours, first the South, then the North towers collapsed.

Bruce told the Observer that after the second tower (the North) collapsed on him, he was rescued 13 hours later from the rubble and taken to “the command post.”

There he awaited hospital transport, Bruce said. “But there was no transport at that time.”

“I was right there (at the command post) watching everything from start to finish,” Bruce told the Observer.

Sanford, however, explained there were plenty of medical personnel standing by at that point. The only shortage by then? Survivors.

“He would have been taken to the hospital,” said Jack McDonnell, retired FDNY battalion chief. He is a recipient of FDNY’s highest award for valor, formerly known as the James Gordon Bennett medal.

During his 9/11 speech, Bruce said there were a dozen people with him. When questioned by the Observer, Bruce could not recall the names of any of his 12 fellow survivors.

Similarly, Bruce could not recall the names of anyone at the command post, with the exception of his doctor, Shari Berg, a St. Petersburg practitioner, who Bruce claims was running triage at Ground Zero and subsequently treated him. Berg did not return several calls and messages left with her office for comment.

“The command post was destroyed at the time. They were literally crushed. He wasn’t there,” said McDonnell. “(13 hours?) that was absolutely impossible. I was at the reestablished command post.”

Daniel Caffrey was in the audience in Sarasota when Bruce gave his speech. He retired from FDNY as a captain and is a former deputy fire administrator of the New York Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

Bruce wore a chief’s hat with a gold braid signifying that rank, Caffrey said. A captain’s hat, Caffrey explained, would have a white braid. Not to mention the inconsistencies in Bruce’s story of training probationary firefighters at a training facility on Long Island or tower in Brooklyn.

There’s no training tower in Brooklyn, explained Caffrey.

Bruce has been telling his story of survival for more than a decade. His speech at a political event held in 2010 at Sarasota’s bayfront can be found online. In that speech, Bruce said he

“went through” 9/11 at Ground Zero with six people under his command “who never came back.”

In a video interview posted by Facebook user David Maus Jr. on Sept. 11, 2019, Bruce told Maus:

“The building, Tower No. 1, the South Tower, fell down upon us as we were getting our equipment ready, getting ready to get all my guys in the building. ... And I had nowhere to go but under the truck, through the truck, around the truck, whatever.”

In that interview, Bruce said there were 13 people with him, all of whom survived.

“We had nowhere to go but up. ... I was injured and I couldn’t climb. But I managed to once I took care of what I had to do.”

“(Bruce) was brought up to me through other individuals,” said Carlos Moreira, event organizer and director of campus engagement for veteran success and alumni affairs at USF Sarasota-Manatee. “It was more within the lines of he told me the story, the names he mentioned. I wanted to make sure of what he was going to talk about. So I wanted to make sure no politics got into the speech.”

BRUCE’S WAR

Bruce’s story of his service in Vietnam appears inconsistent as well.

The 9/11 Sarasota Remembrance event program states that Bruce served two tours in Vietnam, earning two purple hearts, a bronze star and a silver star. The latter is the third-highest military commendation for valor that the U.S. awards. The speaker bio further states that Bruce “finished his eight years in the military with the New York Army National Guard.”

Bruce submitted this biographical information to USF and approved the final version that appeared in the 9/11 event program, Moreira said.

In an interview with the Observer, Bruce said that he had done combat tours in Vietnam in 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969, and that he was stateside from 1970 onward, some of which time was spent recuperating from injuries sustained during combat.

Bruce confirmed that he is from Cazenovia, New York, a small town of about 3,000 people located 20 miles east of Syracuse.

The archives of the Cazenovia Republican, the local newspaper, include three stories that reference a Matt Bruce or Matthew Bruce as the head of a Civil Defense Rescue snowmobile organization in November 1970, March 1971 and again in October 1971. Although the Cazenovia Republican doesn’t report any military awards won by a Matt/Matthew Bruce, the archives note a Matt Bruce’s membership in Explorer Post No. 10 in 1961 and the boys club’s subsequent hay ride, along with a congratulations to a Matt Bruce for bowling a 200 game in 1963.

Bruce’s extensive LinkedIn profile, which is written entirely in the first person, states he served in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1974.

That section of the profile includes a photo of a soldier walking away from a burning hut in Vietnam. On the LinkedIn profile, the photo’s caption reads, “Capt Matt Bruce, Vietnam 1968 on Patrol … ”

That same photo appears in the U.S. National Archives. The photo was taken on May 5, 1966, during Operation Georgia, a U.S. Marine Corps Security operation, according to the National Archives.

Bruce denied having written any of the information that appears on the LinkedIn profile, which begins with his high school record at Cazenovia Central School, where it’s stated that he graduated in 1965 with a C+ in general studies. The LinkedIn page for Matt Bruce has 6,000 followers and is updated almost daily with posts from Bruce’s radio program, the “Captain’s America Third Watch.” It contains more than 22 detailed work experiences and dozens of certifications.

A dozen people or sound engineers have access to the LinkedIn profile, said Bruce.

“I can’t even tell you how many people have worked here (at the radio station) in public relations.”

“There’s not 12 engineers. I don’t know the team,” said Marc Lecher, who described himself as Bruce’s “aide de camp,” saying that he sells the sponsors and runs interference for Bruce’s radio program. The Answer Tampa’s website lists Lecher as a multimedia marketing consultant.

Matt Bruce spoke to the audience at the 9/11 Remembrance ceremony held Sept. 11, 2023, at Sarasota National Cemetery.

Buried alive or stolen valor?

A

photo from

“The command post was destroyed at the time. They were literally crushed. He wasn’t there. (13 hours?) that was absolutely impossible. I was at the reestablished command post.”

The LinkedIn profile states that Bruce was part of “LRRP’s, ‘Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Teams,’” and served two tours and eventually rose to the rank of company commander in the 101st Airborne.

“That seems to be a recollection,” Bruce said of the LinkedIn information regarding Vietnam. “That reporter may have interviewed me and written that.”

The identity of “that reporter” is unknown.

When asked if there were any official records of his military service, Bruce told the Observer that they were destroyed in a fire.

The one in St. Louis? “Yes,” Bruce replied.

On July 12, 1973, a fire ignited at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The fire destroyed nearly 80% of the U.S. Army records stored there, according to the U.S. National Archives.

But the records that were affected by the fire in St. Louis belonged only to U.S. Army personnel discharged between Nov. 1, 1912 and Jan. 1, 1960, according to the National Archives.

Bruce later told the Observer that documents regarding his military career and/or firefighting career were unlikely to be found because he possesses a top secret security clearance.

“I’ve done some things for the government before that I can’t talk about,” Bruce said. “I’ve done some things before 9/11 that I can’t discuss.”

ON FIRE

Bruce told the Observer that he began his firefighting career as a volunteer in Cazenovia in 1975.

Then, in 1980, Bruce said he joined the Scriba, New York, fire department on a part-time basis and at some point during that time “made rank in the lieutenant’s test.” The Scriba department is all volunteer.

“In 1982 or 1983,” he said he joined the Syracuse Fire Department, where he served for the next 10 years.

In the bio for the USF 9/11 commemoration, Bruce claims to have risen to the rank of captain there.

“In short, he’s a fake,” said McLees, the former Syracuse fire chief, who

retired in 2013 after a nearly 28-year career with the department. “(Matt Bruce) was never in the Syracuse Fire Department. He has nothing to do with Syracuse. For him to say Oswego or Syracuse, that’s not true.”

Having seen a picture of Bruce during his speech, McLees noted inconsistencies in Bruce’s dress.

“Without even listening to him I could tell that he was a fake,” said McLees. “He has a shirt on that has the FDNY patch in the wrong place. He has epaulets on. No one in FDNY wears epaulets.”

McLees also noted that the patches on the right breast of Bruce’s shirt indicated completed training or certifications and are commonly sewn onto windbreakers by volunteer firefighters.

“Based on his uniform, he’s from another planet,” said McLees.

The Syracuse Fire Department keeps detailed records of employment dating back to 1940, said Matt Craner, public information officer for the Syracuse Fire Department.

But Craner said he and his team were unable to find any employment or service records for Bruce.

“We’re actually in the process of digitizing records (now),” said Craner. “We keep very extensive, very detailed records.”

The Syracuse Fire Department only has about 365 members now, said Craner. The force numbered about 500 during the 1980s and early 1990s.

“People remember. Someone that rose to the rank of captain in 10 years and was around to the early 1990s, I think he would be remembered,” said Craner.

If a former Syracuse firefighter had in fact survived the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, Craner added, “A story like that would have been news here. I assume it would have been national news.”

RANK AND RECORD

Bruce told the Observer that he became a New York State fire instructor in 1993 and served in that capacity until 2003 and was based in Huntington, Long Island. Later during that same interview Bruce told the Observer that he retired in 2002.

“I was a New York State-certified firefighter for 30 years,” Bruce said.

“I became an NYS training fire officer for 12 years. I have proof of every little bit of that.”

No record of Bruce appears in the New York State or city of New York pension or retirement benefit records hosted by SeeThroughNYC. net, which aggregates government records from across the state.

Asked about his absence from pension and retirement records, Bruce said, “Some of these agencies seal the firefighters’ and police records from someone trying to snoop.”

The names of all the New York firefighter sources quoted in this story appear in the retirement, pension or payroll records hosted on the

website. Bruce also told the Observer that due to instruction he led at Mohawk Niagara Power nuclear plants in New York, his records may be classified.

“I did a nuclear plant one time. There are nuclear plants in New York and they have fire departments. … We had to train their fire departments. Every time I did one, they gave me a plaque in remembrance and appreciation. So I got all kinds of things like that.”

In the program for the Sarasota 9/11 Memorial, Bruce describes himself as a “retired Fire Rescue Capt.” The title is used to describe him on the Matt Bruce LinkedIn page, in social media posts about his radio show and on a Matt Bruce profile on Firefighter Nation, a social networking site for firefighters.

“That’s not a term that’s used in New York,” said John Mueller.

Mueller was chief of fire services and worked for three decades in the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

That office operates the NYS training program, according to Mueller. It also trains “all the volunteer firefighters in the state except for Long Island.”

Mueller also said that he has no “recollection of ever seeing an NYS instructor assigned to probation school to teach basic skills.”

“The large cities of New York operate their own training programs,” said Mueller.

WHERE’S THE PROOF?

The Observer asked Bruce why his 9/11 story had thus far escaped media notice.

“Most of us didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to be involved,” Bruce said. “Here’s the thing … It’s never been about the people who survived a major situation. It’s about the people we lost. It’s all about the people we lost. That’s who we were honoring.”

The Observer submitted a Freedom of Information Law inquiry to the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services requesting any fire training, certification, etc. records for Matthew Bruce. That and similar requests are currently processing.

Via email and phone, the Observer requested Bruce share any records documenting his military service (e.g. discharge papers), firefighting career, training and/or certifications.

Bruce replied with 18 blurry photos of various certificates and documents hanging on his wall. Of the 18, one was completely legible. A certificate from the Manatee County Amateur Radio Club.

Matt Bruce emailed the Observer to state he mailed a packet of documents via USPS on Sept. 22. A request for a tracking number and/or clear photos of the documents went unanswered. Ian Swaby contributed to this report.

The

Courtesy photo

Examples of some of the documents that Matt Bruce submitted in response to the Observer’s requests for proof of his service.

Ian Swaby

Matt Bruce sits beside Karen Holbrook, regional chancellor of the USF SarasotaManatee Campus.

Obsidian faces more obstacles before approval

Key adjustments were denied for the 18-story, 14-unit luxury condo tower. The decision may be appealed to the Planning Board.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

The developer of a downtown condominium tower opposed by some community members now faces new hurdles to secure final approval of the project from the city.

Obsidian, an 18-story, 14-unit luxury residential development proposed for 1260 N. Palm Ave, was granted one adjustment but denied two others by Director of Development Services Lucia Panica.  Now, if it is to be developed as proposed, Obsidian must go through the public hearing process before the Planning Board.

In a letter dated Friday, Sept. 22, Panica notified developer Matt Kihnke of her decision to approve an adjustment to the facade coverage but deny the reason for that exception: a reduction of habitable space on the first two floors and a reduction of minimum retail frontage as required for developments in the Downtown Bayfront Zoning District.

“It is unfortunate that we were not able to resolve these reasonable adjustments with city staff,” Kihnke said. “The adjustments are specific to the first two stories of the building and have to do with fire and life safety systems, as well as safe ingress/ egress to and from the site. We are, however, confident that we will be successful in our appeal of this decision to the Planning Board and have them grant the adjustments.”

Kihnke formally appealed the denials to the board in a letter to the city dated Sept. 26.

Not included in Panica’s consideration is the main point of contention

brought primarily by residents of the adjacent Bay Plaza, which is the height of the building. At 342 feet, Obsidian would be some 100 feet taller than any surrounding buildings and the tallest building in the city.

Opponents have spoken repeatedly before the city commissioners, who have no authority in the matter unless it reaches them under appeal.

Those residents have charged that the height of the building is out of scale; it will have adverse effects on Bay Plaza; and that the construction of such a large building on a quarteracre site will be disruptive to the livability of the street for a long period.

Obsidian opposition leaders were measured in their response to Panica’s ruling.

“I agree with the decision summarized in Ms. Panica’s Sept. 22 document about the three adjustments

that had been requested,” said Ron Shapiro of Bay Plaza. “Her decision is appropriate and supported by the facts.” David Lough, president of the Downtown Sarasota Condo Association, referred to a previous letter he wrote to Panica on behalf of the organization.

“The applicant claims that the project, including the requested adjustments, would ‘enhance the area and meet the intent of the Downtown Master Plan and zoning code,’” Lough wrote, adding that the local condominium associations, firmly believe “that the proposed project, in its current form, contradicts the objectives of the Downtown Master Plan and is more likely to degrade rather than enhance, as represented by the applicant, our downtown.”

Under city code, developments in the four downtown zoning dis-

tricts are subject only to administrative review provided they meet all standards in the ordinance. Once all technical standards have satisfied the Development Review Committee, final approval must be granted by the director of development services, who must also sign off on any requested adjustments to those standards.

Opponents of the project have charged Obsidian’s design manipulates interstitial space between floors to achieve the height desired to tower over Bay Plaza to its west to provide views of Sarasota Bay. Although the DRC questioned the use of that space, the habitable space of each floor meets code and could not be denied on that basis.

Panica approved Kihnke’s request to reduce parallel facade coverage by 21%, from 134.1 feet to 106 feet. The reduction was requested to account

for vehicular and pedestrian access to the site, which has frontage only along North Palm Avenue across the street from the Art Ovation hotel and a city parking garage. However, she denied the adjustments that were dependent upon the reduction of the parallel facade.

Panica denied the request to reduce the habitable space on the ground floor by 23.3% and by 8.6% on the second floor.

“Habitable space is intended to increase pedestrian activity and encourage interaction between the pedestrian and the built environment,” Panica wrote. “Habitable space is defined as building space whose use involves human presence with direct view of the streets or open space. Habitable space is required for the full height and length of the first two stories in this zone district.”

Panica also denied the request to reduce the required street level retail frontage by 30.5%.

“Both the retail frontage and habitable space regulations involve improving the pedestrian experience and contributing to the activity on and aesthetic of the zone district,” Panica wrote. “The combination of the reductions in retail frontage and habitable space create a less activated, less dynamic frontage along North Palm Avenue, which is designated as an area the city desires to require features that promote comfort, safety and convenience of the pedestrian. The reduction in order to meet requirements for the residential use does not benefit the pedestrian experience.”

Per the zoning code, Kihnke may appeal the adjustment denials to the Planning Board within 15 days of the date of the letter signed by Panica. That appeal would come in the form of a public hearing, which will allow for the first time in the process an opportunity for citizen input.

“The adjustments are very minor and I feel that if my team had one last meeting with city staff prior to their denial that we would have been able to successfully resolve their issues,” Kihnke said.

File photo

Obsidian would replace this row of retail buildings along North Palm Avenue. Behind it is Bay Plaza.

Van Wezel study group receives scope of work report

Through no fault of its own, the city of Sarasota’s Purple Ribbon Committee is off to a slow start.

Its second meeting — an orientation tour of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall — was canceled because of the then-approaching Hurricane Idalia. And at its third meeting on Sept. 13, the committee created to study potential reuse of the Van Wezel once the Sarasota Performing Arts Center is built, was scheduled to receive and discuss its scope of work.

The 13-page document was prepared by City Engineer Nik Patel, who was unable to attend the meeting after becoming ill, City Manager Marlon Brown told the committee. As a result, that discussion was

tabled until its Nov. 9 meeting. In between, the tour was rescheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 27.

“This was put together by our city engineer with the help of some other departments,” Brown told the sevenmember panel of the task outline.

“Mr. Patel was supposed to be here this evening to respond to any questions that you have, but he has fallen ill. In terms of sequencing of things, we really wanted to have a tour of the Van Wezel before we had this conversation.”

As it turns out, that will be the sequence after all.

That scope of work includes a recommendation to select an engineering firm to provide a comprehensive report on the condition of the Van Wezel, recommended repairs and upgrades to the building and its resilience against extreme coastal

weather events. The document lays out the request for the proposal process for making that selection.

With the 2021 Karins Engineering report already in hand, Charles Costler asked Brown why another study is needed.

“I couldn’t help noticing the similarity between the Karins report and this RFP,” Cosler said. “Is this for a second opinion or a more in-depth analysis?”

“It is more in-depth than the Karins report,” Brown said adding that, unlike the Karins report, the study will take a deeper dive with a focus on repurposing rather than simply preserving.

The next two meetings of the committee will be held Nov. 7 and 29 at either the Grand Foyer in the Van Wezel or at City Hall. Both will begin at 5:30 p.m.

SCOPE OF WORK

Here is a summary of the two-year task for the Purple Ribbon Committee:

FEMA REQUIREMENTS

Ensuring compliance with FEMA regulations because of the building’s location within a flood zone. The review of the building’s condition and compliance with FEMA requirements will include:

Initial evaluation: Conduct an in-depth analysis of the building’s flood resistance measures.

FEMA compliance verification: A thorough examination of FEMA’s flood zone management regulations and verification of the building’s compliance with these rules.

Wind analysis: A thorough evaluation of the building’s exterior to identify vulnerabilities and to assess how the overall structure can stand up to hurricane-force winds. Flood risk mitigation plan: This plan will include recommended modifications or improvements to enhance the building’s flood resistance.

Safety features review: Examine emergency exits, fire suppression systems and evacuation plans for compliance with FEMA guidelines.

50% threshold consideration: The entire building must meet current FEMA standards if renovations or repairs exceed 50% of a building’s value. The assessment will involve determining the potential costs of necessary renovations and comparing these with the building’s value.

100-year flood resilience: An engineering study to explore solutions to enhance the building’s resilience for a 100-year flood event. Solutions may involve structural alterations, landscape modifications or integration of advanced flood protection systems.

FLORIDA BUILDING CODE

Ensure the Van Wezel complies with the current Florida building code and city ordinances. This includes:

■ Identifying non-compliance.

■ Verifying building modifications.

■ Detailed inspection regime including elevators, roof, electrical systems, plumbing, fire safety, and mold and moisture.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

A thorough analysis of the building’s structural integrity will be conducted and involves an evaluation of the physical integrity, which will be conducted in the following stages:

■ On-site Inspection.

■ Non-destructive testing.

■ Develop comprehensive plan to address any identified structural deficiencies.

BUILDING MAINTENANCE

Develop a strategic plan for the regular care and preservation of the Van Wezel. This includes:

■ Maintenance plan development.

■ Prioritization of maintenance.

■ Regular inspection schedules.

■ Detailed report summarizing the building’s maintenance needs and recommended activities.

■ Functionality assessment to focus on the performance-related features including a review of current functionality; enhancement plan; and theatrical equipment evaluation of the rigging system, lighting system, sound system and general inspection.

ACCESS AND ADA REQUIREMENTS

It is a priority to meet or exceed the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandates equal access for individuals with disabilities. This includes:

■ Review of accessibility features.

■ Review of city’s ADA transition plan.

■ Addressing accessibility issues such as handrails, door widths, ramps, lifts and restroom facilities.

SUSTAINABILITY

Perform a detailed energy audit to assess insulation properties, heating and cooling systems, lighting systems and water usage; and to develop recommendations to improve the sustainability of all systems.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

File photo

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall was built over fill, which created land on what was formerly Sarasota Bay.

Vacation rental fees are going up, citywide expansion may be next

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

The proliferation of vacation rental properties in Sarasota has brought the issue to the forefront from both fiscal and livability perspectives as city commissioners and staff grapple with balancing property ownership rights with those of full-time residents.

At its Sept. 5 meeting the City Commission approved by a 4-1 vote, with Erik Arroyo opposed, the first reading of an ordinance to essentially double fees associated with registering and inspecting vacation rentals. The 2021 ordinance covered only properties on the barrier islands. The updated ordinance also requires annual renewals rather the current renewal every two years.

At its next meeting, on Monday, Oct. 2, the commission will consider expanding the ordinance citywide as 700-plus identified properties, according to staff, are operating as vacation rentals within single-family neighborhoods in the city.

Staff requested the fee increases to recover a larger portion of the costs to regulate the current 135 vacation rentals in the coastal neighborhoods. Annual costs to administer the program are $130,688, which includes $50,466 for a contract with Granicus, software that identifies via web crawling residences that are operating as short-term rentals. Even with the fee increases, staff projects total revenue of $47,250, recovering only 36% of the cost.

While nobody spoke against the fee increases during the public discussion portion of the hearing, several residents brought up the need for citywide regulation of short-term rentals that they say are disruptive to their neighborhoods.

“We don’t live in a deed-restricted neighborhood,” said Arlington Park resident Rob Grant. “We don’t live in a condo. You are our HOA. You

IF YOU GO

The Sarasota City Commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2, in the meeting chamber at City Hall at 1565 First St. A video link to the meeting is on the city’s website at SarasotaFl.gov.

are our condo board. We need your help, folks.”

The proposed ordinance includes the new fee structure for applications, inspections, re-inspections and change of ownership. The Granicus software has identified more than 700 inland residences operating as vacation rentals, and adding those to the rolls would likely require more staff for oversight and enforcement. Residents who have spoken to commissioners expressed hope that regulating short-term rentals will help mitigate the nuisances, but much will fall to law enforcement.

To capture the city’s cost would require a renewal fee of $968.06 per vacation rental renewal fee per year for the current 135 registered units. Under the new ordinance the current renewal fee is $350 per year.

“Rest assured we will be back when it comes time to promote this to go citywide,” Harris added. That time comes Monday.

File photo Sarasota city commissioners adopted an ordinance in 2021 to register and regulate vacation rentals in coastal communities.

/ OUR VIEW

The social service brouhaha

Should county tax dollars be used to fund social service organizations? Where do you draw the line?

HOW COUNTY COMMISSION VOTED TO FUND SOCIAL SERVICES

The table shows what each social service organization received from Sarasota County for the 2022-23 fiscal year; what the county’s advisory councils recommended for 2024; and what the County Commission adopted on Sept. 12 and Sept. 25. The green figures represent increases over the recommendations of the Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council and Health Services Advisory Council; the red amounts represent decreases. The approved amounts are the figures available prior to deadline.

“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.”

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With no disrespect intended, watching this process, well, it’s almost enough to make you want to seek mental health counseling.

This is the long saga of the Sarasota County Commission — or should we say of Commissioner Mike Moran — trying to figure out what the role should be for the County Commission and county taxpayers in the complicated, growing world of providing and funding social services to the county’s needy residents.

Commissioners went at it again for two and a half hours Tuesday, 90 minutes of which they spent listening mostly to representatives of social service, not-for-profit organizations plead passionately to commissioners to reverse many of Commissioner Moran’s surprising cuts that the commission adopted Sept. 12.

Moran triggered a chain reaction of IEDs among the county’s social service organizations two weeks ago when, without warning to anyone, he showed up at the commission meeting with a spreadsheet of how much county taxpayer money he wanted to allocate to roughly 50 organizations.

Whoosh. Bam, slam. It was Moran’s classic bullying, passiveaggressive style. He prefaced his proposals with accolades for all of the hundreds of hours the 12 members of the Behavioral Health Advisory Council and the Health Services Advisory Council devoted to analyzing, evaluating, auditing, scoring and ultimately recommending funding amounts.

But then rather having commissioners discuss the councils’ recommendations, Moran pushed forward his scoring and final funding recommendations, and before almost anyone could blink or say much, the commission voted unanimously to adopt Moran’s funding recommendations.

It depends on how you look at it. As he tells it, his funding proposals approved 68% of the 90 applications, with 25 of those approved receiving more money than the advisory councils’ recommended. But the flip side of that is Moran initially proposed no funding for 15 applications — for organizations to which the county previously has contributed consistently.

Virtually no one was present to raise a hand. Thankfully, Commission Chair Ron Cutsinger did. You could tell after the vote, he felt overly queasy about what just happened and eventually indicated he thought the commission should revisit the matter.

Meantime, it took no time for the news to spread in not-forprofit circles. The leaders and board members of the affected organizations were agog. They couldn’t believe how neither Moran nor the commission gave any of them advance warning of Moran’s changes; couldn’t believe how Moran’s scoring and recommendations appeared cavalierly tossing aside the advisory councils’ recommendations, with nary a question to the councils’ members and making it seem much of what they had done was all for naught; and they couldn’t believe funding was eliminated altogether for some organizations. In the two weeks hence, Moran

and commissioners felt the aftershocks, so much so that Moran felt compelled at the start of Tuesday’s commission meeting to explain how he arrived at his proposals.

“I didn’t touch the numbers,” he said. “I never touched any calculation” that the advisory councils made. He did, however, create a scoring spreadsheet and a bonus system of his own that resulted in different funding levels.

Cutsinger apparently felt so uncomfortable about what occurred at Tuesday’s meeting he put the matter on Tuesday’s agenda for revisions and discussion and also sequestered himself the past few days to review every nonprofit’s application and the advisory councils’ scoring for every application.

His results explain a lot. They give context to what has transpired over the past two weeks.

“This is the first year for an entirely new process,” Cutsinger told the audience at Tuesday’s meeting. “And then we had the added challenge of significant time constraints. I’ve always understood we might not get it right the first time around.”

And he was right. “What quickly became apparent, there were flaws in the process that led to significantly inaccurate scores.”

Hindsight is wonderful, of course. With the deadline for the adoption of next year’s budget looming, the commission was running out of time for what could have, perhaps should have, occurred: A public discussion with the advisory councils and the commission to raise questions, reach consensus, make revisions and avoid the consternation and con-

troversy that occurred.

By addressing the matter Tuesday, Cutsinger made it right, at least better. Commissioners added back the councils’ recommended funding for six organizations.

But there is more context to this that is worth noting. And here we will give Moran credit.

While his bullying on the dais is off-putting, Moran takes seriously the role of being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. For four years, he has questioned the commission’s allocation of taxpayer money for social services. He vehemently opposes the commission awarding tax dollars to organizations that provide pre-pre-school learning services and, to an extent, day care. Funding for early learning, he says, should come from the Sarasota County School Board.

On a broader scale, without being totally blunt and explicit, Moran rightly has been raising the question of how far or deeply county taxpayers should fund the not-forprofit organizations that do the hard, necessary work of providing social services to the needy.

It’s a great question. You can add this one, too: Whether county taxpayers should fund social services.

As you can see in the accompanying box above, in next year’s budget the commission is allocating more than $12 million for human services. The advisory councils recommended $13 million. If you asked each of the nonprofits what they really need, it would easily double, probably triple the amount.

There is never enough money.

What’s more, as this current debate has demonstrated, even when there is a quantitative scoring system,

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there is an arbitrariness to who gets what. If you listened to the organizations’ representatives at Tuesday’s meeting, they all do great, needed work. So what makes the five county commissioners qualified to sit in judgment on whom to fund or not fund? Some they like, some they don’t.

Indeed, while observing what transpired over the past two weeks, what we often says also became clear: In spite of everyone’s good, honorable intentions, when government intervenes, things get messy, complicated, controversial — and most of the time worse.

One of the answers to this question of taxpayers’ role in social services came when Commissioner Moran asked longtime Sarasota homebuilder and philanthropist

Lee Wetherington: “Where do the government dollars in this stop?”

Moran said: “When I started this four years ago for the community to have this discussion, I respectfully disagree that the government is the answer.”

Wetherington, a foundational rock of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota for 32 years, said, “There is so much money out there that comes in besides taxes. If the government and foundation boards got together to really create a dynamic, it would be much better than we have right here.”

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MATT WALSH

New sites chosen for roundabout sculptures

and we could stick with the original vision.”

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

The two newest pieces in the city’s public art collection will be bound for new homes unless the Sarasota City Commission has any inclination to find budget money to cover the unexpected cost of building concrete pads in their intended roundabouts.

With checks written and fabrication underway on Poly and Seagrass, sculptures approved for the roundabouts at 14th and 10th streets, respectively, on U.S. 41, city staff learned the budgeted $514,000 was less than half the cost to install concrete foundations for those pieces.

Further negotiations with the lone bidder for the work, Jon F. Swift Construction, brought the price down to $883,000 — leaving a $369,000 gap.

That proved to be too much of a difference for City Manager Marlon Brown, who instructed Public Art Manager Mary Davis Wallace to draft a list of options not only for the placement of “Poly” and “Seagrass,” but also for “Complexus,” the cityowned sculpture currently on loan to the Sarasota Art Museum. The list of options also included locations for “Where the Sun Always Shines,” which was recently selected as the Public Art Committee’s recommendation to the City Commission for the roundabout at Fruitville Road and U.S. 41.

“It’s possible that the commission could reverse everything that we just discussed tonight and say that we want to find the money for the two roundabouts,” Wallace said after the committee selected its recommended locations at its Sept. 11 meeting. “It’s ultimately going to be

up to them.”

In the event the City Commission holds the line on the installation budget, the PAC spent nearly three hours Monday evening discussing and deciding on new locations in an effort to balance the artists’ preferences with the community’s interests and the budget.

Even moving the installations outside the Florida Department of Transportation right of way — where the pool of certified contractors is shallow and the cost to manage traffic during installations is greater — doesn’t guarantee affordability. The PAC was told during the meeting by City Engineer Nik Patel that the cost to install pads in locations outside the FDOT right of way could range between $350,000 and $750,000 each, depending on a variety of factors such as availability of electricity for lighting.

That detail surprised even Wallace.

“We’re all in shock with what the pre-2020 prices were to pour a 15-foot foundation,” Wallace said.

“It was under $100,000.”

Some potential relief is available in the form of $443,119 that was earmarked for the interior of the Fruitville Road roundabout, money that can be used anywhere in the city for alternative locations.

Rosemary District resident David Lough told the PAC he was troubled that the U.S. 41 roundabout sculptures would be “scattered” elsewhere and expressed his hope the $369,000 could be found either in the budget or via philanthropy to place them in their intended locations.

“These pieces of art were custom built for a custom area. Now we’re saying, ‘Oh, shucks, where can we stick these things right now?’” Lough said. “That’s ($369,000) a lot of money, but it’s not much money. They were done specifically for these locations. There was a degree of buy-in, and it would be a shame in my opinion to compromise. I’m very mindful that money is money and politics is politics, but I would hope that there would be a some manner in which that gap could be closed

Presuming that original vision is unattainable, the PAC selected Whitaker Gateway Park as its recommendation for “Poly,” the location in the northwest quadrant of the 14th Street roundabout at U.S. 41. It was determined to be a natural choice because of the proximity to its intended adjacent location and in deference to the Central Cocoanut neighborhood residents who lobbied for several years for that sculpture to be there.

The stormwater retention area off the south side of the terminus of the Ringling Bridge is the first option chosen for “Seagrass.” Because that site is property of FDOT, however, a second option was selected — the east end of Ringling Causeway Park on the south side of the bridge — in case permitting with the state becomes untenable.

Although “Where the Sun Always Shines” has not yet been accepted by the City Commission, the PAC voted to place the sculpture in the roundabout at Cocoanut Avenue and Ringling Boulevard, one of two downtown roundabouts on city right of way that do not currently feature public art. Not related to sculpture reloca -

tion, the committee also took up the city-owned “Complexus,” the red steel piece that formerly stood near Gulfstream Avenue that was removed for roundabout construction. With the loan of the piece at the Sarasota Art Museum expiring at the end of the year, the PAC selected a county-owned parcel at the intersection of Fruitville and Beneva roads. The committee determined that to be an appropriate location at the main gateway to downtown from Interstate 75.

Money is already set aside for “Complexus,” including $150,000 for relocation and $300,000 available for use in District 3, for which public art, in this case a platform for it, is eligible.

The PAC’s recommendations are just that. The final decisions rest in the hands of the City Commission. “I will send these recommendations to the city manager. He can then determine whether or not we need to take all of these to commission or what we’re going to do,” Wallace told the committee. “I would recommend that you keep your ears open for that commission date so that maybe the chair and vice chair could make it or a couple of public art members could come to the table when we make this recommendation.”

The Sarasota City Commission will have the final say on where pieces selected for U.S. 41 traffic circles will be placed.

File photos

“Seagrass” is one of two U.S. 41 roundabout sculptures that will be placed in a different location on city property.

“Poly” is among the public art sculptures that will be considered for relocation.

The search is on for a new home for “Complexus.”

Living his dream

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

Ryan Chase, Sarasota High School’s new principal, said he is driven each day by the difference education made in his own life.

“I take that with me every day to work: that one person, one conversation, one relationship, can change someone’s life, and I hope to do that every day with our students or staff, or families,” he said.

Chase became principal after David Jones, the previous principal, was named executive director of learning and professional development for Sarasota County Schools.

As a first-generation college student who worked multiple jobs, Chase found value in his life through his success at school, including through his relationships with his teachers and by serving as a leader on campus.

“I remember finding so much motivation from doing well in school and understanding that, if I could be a part of that for someone else, it would be such a fulfilling life for me,” he said.

There is no better place to live that dream, he said, than the first high school built in what he calls one of the top school districts in the nation, where he started in his new role on Sept. 25.

In fact, Sarasota was where he intended to start his career, although he ended up landing a role in Manatee County instead in 2008.

When Manatee County was facing budget shortfalls in 2013, he decided to look back to where he said his heart had always been, accepting the job of assistant principal of curriculum for McIntosh Middle School. He later served in the same capacity with Sarasota High School.

“From the very moment I was here,

I knew I was walking into something very special, and I’m excited to come back to this amazing tradition that Sarasota High has, and for how I can fit into that, and also to work with our amazing staff and students and families to build us into the next phase of the future of the school,” he said.

Sarasota High School has a “tremendous” amount of positives, Chase said, citing its “great staff that is really focused, student-centered, and really puts the needs of our students first.”

However, he said the wider community will be of help as well due to support from organizations like the Sarasota High School Foundation.

“When you have that kind of support already in place, from parents and from the community, and from our staff, the sky’s the limit.”

Chase said he is also excited to sit down with the administrative team and begin looking at what the school can improve; they have been analyzing the data from last year and will be looking at newer data once student testing is completed.

He said he is working with Assistant Principal Lindsay Gallof to ensure that teachers are able to work together in professional learning communities to analyze data and make sure they can offer the most successful interventions and strategies, as well as to see what professional learning opportunities teachers are in need of based on the data.

“The biggest thing is getting with our staff and our students and our community and listening, and then addressing things that I can do my best on with the great team we already have in place here,” he said.

As he steps further into the role, he believes his experience will be of value.

His last three years at Brookside Middle School have been “tremen-

Kristen Walker, MD

dous,” he said, stating during his time there, he built the school into something he could be “really, really proud of,” as the feedback he received at a recent open house confirmed.

“It tells me exactly what I wanted to hear, which is that we have built a place that really puts the students first, and that when students enjoy coming to school, they feel safe coming to school, and they’re learning, I am doing my job as a principal to create that environment.”

He said when he served as an assistant principal of curriculum at Sarasota High from 2020 to 2023, the school also saw a “tremendous” amount of growth.

“I’m really proud of that work as well, because it took an entire team to put that work together, and it wasn’t just me, but everyone working together on that goal.”

In 2023, he was recognized by

RYAN CHASE

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SARASOTA COUNTY

■ Principal, Sarasota High School

■ Principal, Brookside Middle School – 2020 to 2023

■ Assistant Principal of Curriculum, Sarasota High School, Woodland Middle School, and McIntosh Middle School

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF MANATEE COUNTY

■ Assistant Principal, Carlos E. Haile Middle School – 2012 to 2013

■ History Teacher – 2007 to 2012

■ Athletic Director – 2008 to 2011

HONORS AND AWARDS

■ Leader of the Year, University of Florida Alumni Association – 2023

■ Region 2 Regional Director’s Award, University of Florida Alumni Association – 2022

■ 40 Gators Under 40, Sarasota County Schools –2021 Ian Swaby

the University of Florida Alumni Association as the “Leader of the Year” for one of its affiliates, the Sarasota County Gator Club. He became president in 2020, helping to restore features including events and to rebuild the board of directors.

“I’m really proud of that because there are so many amazing leaders in this country that are involved in Gator Clubs and affiliate groups, and to be recognized as among one of them is a tremendous honor,” he said.

The club was also recognized as the most improved Gator Club, out of the 87 affiliates nationally, in 2023.

Chase said there are many qualities that resulted in him receiving the award.

“I think good leaders are listeners. They’re team builders, they’re trustworthy, they’re responsive, they’re ethical, and they are people focused,”

he said.

Outside of education, Chase loves spending time with his family, including his wife of 15 years, Madeline Chase, who is an assistant principal with Florida Virtual School, and his children, 11-year-old Carter and 7-year-old Claire. As a result of his son, he also spends time giving support to special needs organizations in the community.

Outside of school, you know where to find him.

“I’m a Disney person,” he said. “You’ll find me at Disney.”

However, the place he is proudest to be is Sarasota’s most historic high school campus.

“Setting foot on this campus every day is a reminder of how much honor I get to have in my job every day, and I take that seriously,” he said.

Ryan Chase brings a history of experience in both Sarasota and Manatee counties to his dream job.

Ryan Chase became Sarasota High School’s new principal Sept. 25.

COPS CORNER

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13

BOGUS BEACH BOMBS

11:47 a.m., 4700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive

Assist other agency: Dispatch received an anonymous call, claiming pipe bombs were placed on the beach and that law enforcement would be shot at if they were encountered.

Officers, including a K-9 unit, cleared the resort and then went to the beach where there were multiple groups of people but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Continuing the investigation, nothing suspicious was discovered and officers spoke with a witness who said she had been on the beach and did not witness anything suspicious.

Once the beach was cleared it was discovered that the call was likely an incident of swatting, and that the phone number from which the call originated was a number used via a virtual (internet) line. The FBI was notified, and the event was one of many that had occurred throughout the state the same day.

Police concluded their investigation and the call was cleared with no further incident.

MONDAY, SEPT. 18

REMISS RENTAL RETURN

10:03 a.m., 2800 block of Bay Street

Civil dispute: Police were dispatched to a home where a complainant said he allowed a female acquaintance to borrow his rental car and she had failed to return it. The urgency was that the car was not returned by the termination of the rental agreement. He told police he didn’t want the woman to be in trouble and that he just wanted the vehicle back.

While on scene, the complainant received texts from the woman stating she was going to return the vehicle. With the two communicating, the officer determined the matter between the two parties was resolved.

SMOKING SQUABBLE

10:06 p.m., 2200 block of Fifth Street Civil dispute: Cigarette smoke emanating through the walls of an apartment resulted in a dispute between neighbors. An officer met with the complainant, who stated he has been having an issue with his neighbor about him smoking inside his apartment and constantly smelling the smoke through the walls. He advised that he has children and does not want them constantly breathing the smoke.

The complainant said he confronted the neighbor about the issue, resulting in a verbal dispute. He added that he has found nails in his tire previously and, although he has no evidence, suspects the smoking neighbor is the perpetrator.

An officer spoke with the neighbor who confirmed he was confronted by the complainant, but was previously unaware of the smoke issue. The subject provided doorbell video footage over recent days showing no incidents involving him placing nails under a tire. The two men were advised the matter was civil in nature and no crime occurred.

A+E INSIDE:

<READY TO EAT: Chef Sol Shenker’s Sarasota fans eagerly await his latest New York-style deli. 17

BLACK TIE INSIDE:

GAMES FOR GOOD: Sisterhood for Good hosts annual Designer Bag Bingo 18>

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

HAVE YOURSELF A HIGH-WIRE CHRISTMAS

Nik Wallenda teams up with Circus Arts

Conservatory to create a new holiday tradition.

or many New Yorkers, attending the Big Apple Circus under the bigtop at Lincoln Center is a Christmas tradition.

Renowned Sarasota aerialist Nik Wallenda wants going to the circus to become a holiday ritual in his hometown as well. “I want the circus to be like ‘The Nutcracker’ and the Radio City Rockettes at Christmas,” he explains during an interview at his home off of Fruitville Road, past the Founders Club.

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Big top

FROM PAGE 13

To achieve his goal, Wallenda is teaming up with his mentors and friends Dolly Jacobs and Pedro Reis, co-founders of the Circus Arts Conservatory, to bring a giant tent to the University Town Center/Nathan Benderson Park Area.

Wallenda and the CAC will present a holiday spectacular called “A Brave New Wonderland” from Nov. 18 through Dec. 21 at a bigtop that will be located east of the Mall at UTC.

“I’ve always dreamed of sharing the magic of my New York City productions with my beloved hometown and revered circus community of Sarasota,” Wallenda said in a statement. “With ‘A Brave New Wonderland,’ I’m thrilled to collaborate with the Circus Arts Conservatory to bring this dream to life and create unforgettable holiday memories for the community that means so much to me.”

Wallenda is the most prominent member of the multigenerational acrobatic family once known as The Flying Wallendas. He is known to millions around the world for walking a wire across Nicaragua’s Masaya Volcano, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Times Square. In 2017, he

became the headline act at the Big Apple Circus and has since become its proprietor. The Wallenda family’s roots are inextricably linked to both the history of the circus and of Sarasota. The family was performing in Cuba in the 1920s when they were recruited by circus magnate John Ringling, who made Sarasota the winter home of what became known as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

“My family stayed in the Ca’ d’Zan until they found their own place,” Wallenda says, referring to John and Mable Ringling’s bayfront mansion, which today is a museum.

As anyone who has followed the circus arts knows, the Wallendas are an acrobatic troupe that has sought and achieved unprecedented glory but has also suffered unfathomable tragedies.

Among them are the death of Nik’s great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, in 1978 when he fell from a tight rope at age 73 in Puerto Rico, and the life-threatening injury of his sister, Lijana, who broke every bone in her face after the family fell during a performance of their signature human pyramid in 2017.

The obvious question is: Why do the Wallendas continue to court danger and tempt fate with ever more daring performances? According to Nik Wallenda, there are two reasons:

It’s in their DNA, and they love the circus. “My family has literally given their lives to elevate the awareness of circus arts,” he says.

About 15 Wallenda family members are active performers, including his 72-year-old uncle, who is currently on the road performing at state fairs.

Nik Wallenda meets a visitor to his home gym wearing a T-shirt that says “Wired Different.” There’s no argument there. He walks the wire spanning his backyard the way most people in Sarasota stroll along the beach. “When I’m on the wire, I’m calm,” he says. “It’s where I belong.”  Wallenda is excited about his latest collaboration with CAC because it allows him to give back to the hometown he loves and to introduce a new generation to the thrill and beauty of circus arts.

“When Nik came to us with his idea for a holiday show, we were thrilled at the concept and got to work right away to help bring the idea to life,” said CAC Executive Vice President/ COO Jennifer Mitchell in a statement. “It’s entirely appropriate for Sarasota’s ‘hometown hero’ and ‘hometown circus’ to come together for a show that will delight and inspire residents and visitors alike.”

As Wallenda’s phone buzzes with text messages during an interview, he talks about his love/hate relation-

ship with technology. Cell phones allow us to communicate instantaneously, making life more efficient and convenient, he notes. But Wallenda believes “technology has robbed us of the magic of live entertainment.”

Wallenda says he allows audience members to take photos and videos during his performances even though it is distracting to performers and others in the audience because it would be even more annoying to have ushers stop them from recording the moment.

As he talks about the history of the circus and the bankruptcies of Ringling Bros., Cirque du Soleil and Big Apple Circus, Wallenda notes that the bigtop has been forced to adopt to changing tastes in areas like the treatment of animals.

Wallenda is well aware that the circus has taken a few knocks in recent years (“SpongeBob makes fun of the circus”), but he remains focused on elevating the circus arts and earning the love and respect of his family’s audiences.

Although the circus has welcomed misfits and outcasts during its 150-year-plus history, Wallenda downplays the opportunities for exploitation in favor of a message of acceptance. The circus welcomes different types of people who ultimately form a family, he says, even if

they aren’t related by blood.

At Sarasota’s Sailor Circus, Wallenda says the young performers are often introverts who get the chance to express themselves in the bigtop in a way that they wouldn’t in a classroom or on an athletic field.

Not that Wallenda is down on sports — he played high school football, and standing close to six feet tall and weighing about 230 pounds, looks ready to don shoulder pads if need be. Most of the strength required to hold up a human pyramid resides in his core, he notes.

As he ticks off his accolades and accomplishments, including setting 13 Guinness World Records, winning Emmy Awards for his TV performances and writing two books, Wallenda doesn’t seem boastful. His passion for his lifelong profession is obvious.

That’s why he goes out in the crowd and signs autographs that say “Never give up” after his performances.

“No one else does that, not Criss Angel, not David Copperfield,” he says, referring to the popular illusionist and magician, respectively. “I want to inspire people, to let them know they can overcome any obstacle.”

In every aspect of his life, Wallenda is determined to prove he deserves the title of “Sarasota’s hometown hero.”

Cliff Roles

The big top will move to a spot near the Mall at University Town Center for the holiday show, “A Brave New Wonderland,” playing from Nov. 18 to Dec. 31.

Critic’s picks for Sarasota’s new live theater season

MARTY FUGATE CONTRIBUTOR

There are theaters of war, political theater and the theatrics of overdramatic relatives at expensive restaurants. These varieties of live theater are no fun at all. Don’t worry. Live theater on stage is a whole lot of fun — sometimes.

Like the little girl with a curl, when it’s good, it’s very, very good; when it’s bad, it’s awful. No worries. These six selections are very, very good. (A prediction based on my vast critical acumen and my Magic Eight Ball.) They will be coming to a theater near you before the year’s end. Enjoy.

‘RUTHLESS!’

THE SARASOTA PLAYERS

Here’s the story of a girl named Tina, an 8-year-old Shirley Temple from hell. This wannabe child star is dying to play Pippi Longstocking in a school play. When another kid gets the part, Tina decides that killing her is just the ticket. No, I’m not kidding.

Mayhem and merriment ensue — with no concession to good taste. Marvin Laird and Joel Paley’s mordant musical has multiple satiric targets. It lampoons mid-20th-century shockers like “The Bad Seed” and “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” — and simultaneously spoofs overwrought Broadway musicals like “Gypsy” about show biz ambition and psychotic stage mothers. Whatever the target, it’s bloody good fun. Directed by Scott Keys.

IF YOU GO

When: Sept. 27 to Oct. 15

Where: Players Centre, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130

Tickets: $30

Info: Call 365-2494 or visit ThePlayers.org.

‘THE SOUND INSIDE’ URBANITE THEATRE Talk, talk, talk. Our species can’t seem to shut up. Human lives are filled with arguments, agreements, dissensions, debates, insinuations and implied contracts that are never spelled out. Trust is always the key implied condition. If a pal says, “Close your eyes for a big surprise,” it’s understood he won’t punch you in the face. It happens — and worse things happen too. Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside” revolves around the private lessons a writing professor gives his student. Their words are all about words. Some words become deeds. Some shouldn’t. What do their words become? I won’t spoil it, but it’s chilling. Directed by Kristin Clippard.

IF YOU GO

When: Oct. 20 to Dec. 3

Where: Urbanite Theatre, 1487

Second St.

Tickets: $42 Info: UrbaniteTheatre.com.

‘CRAZY FOR YOU’ ASOLO REP Ken Ludwig’s madcap musical is a loose adaptation of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Girl Crazy,” the 1930 Broadway smash. Ludwig added a few more gags and picked up the pace, but didn’t mess with the core story. (Spoiler alert: City slicker falls for hometown girl.) Along with that meet-cute encounter, he also put in cowboys, showgirls and high-energy production numbers. With toe-tapping Gershwin tunes like “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Embraceable You” and “I Got Rhythm,” dancing in the aisles will be a temptation for theatergoers. (We figure the ushers will watch over them.) Directed and choreographed by Dennis Jones.

IF YOU GO

When: Nov. 15 to Jan. 4

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $35-$95

Info: AsoloRep.org.

‘LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS’

FLORIDA STUDIO THEATRE

The original horror show (Roger Corman’s 1960 flick) was a punk rock “Doctor Faustus” before punk existed. (Swap an evil alien vegetable for Mephistopheles and you get my point.) Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s 1986 musical adaptation distills Corman’s black comedy — without the happy ending of Frank Oz’s movie. The plot? Audrey II, a trash-talking, carnivorous plant from outer space, seduces a nebbish named Seymour into feeding it fresh blood from freshly killed humans. Said nerd kills for all the right reasons: self-actualization, revenge against sadists, true love, etc. But good ends don’t justify bad means. Seymour comes to a bad end — along with the whole human race. This dangerous vision was planted in my brain in 1987 when I first saw the musical at FST. Its seeds will be sprouting again soon there. Don’t miss it, baby. Directed by Sean Daniels.

IF

YOU GO

When: Nov. 17 to Jan. 7

Where: FST Gompertz Theatre, 1265 First St. Tickets: $29 Info: FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

‘THREE SISTERS’ FSU/ASOLO ACTING CONSERVATORY

Anton Chekhov tackled every facet of the human condition. This play is about paralysis. The three sisters are all trapped in lousy situations and looking for a way out. Olga, the oldest sister, is a struggling school teacher. She selflessly tries to help her younger sisters and hold onto their family home. But Olga’s two siblings prove hard to help. Masha’s marriage is empty; her affair with a

young colonel isn’t. Irina gives her love to a passionate suitor as a ploy to skip town with him. Romantic delusions, good intentions — the sisters’ motives don’t matter. Daily life defeats the escape attempts of all three. That sounds depressing, but it isn’t. Chekhov had been a physician; as a writer, he wasn’t a fatalist. There’s hope (and possibility) in every scene. In the end, the sisters stay stuck. But they don’t have to be. They still have choices  — and always did. Directed by Andrei MalaevBabel.

IF YOU GO

When: Oct. 27 to Nov. 19

Where: FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $32

Info: Call 351-8000 or visit AsoloRep.org/Conservatory.

‘JOYFUL! JOYFUL!’

WESTCOAST BLACK THEATRE

TROUPE

There’s no stopping the holidays. Ineluctably, that means Santa Claus and Hanukkah Harry will be flying — and WBTT will unwrap a shiny box of seasonal song and dance. This year’s Christmas present reprises WBTT’s 2021 production of Nate Jacobs’ “Joyful! Joyful!” (Along with “A Motown Christmas” and “Black Nativity,” it’s joined WBTT’s annual rotation of holiday spectaculars.)

“Joyful! Joyful!” reimagines the holiday classics and mixes them up with soul and R&B classics by The Staple Singers, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and others. If you’re sitting in the audience, the joyful experience lives up to its name. If the Grinch snuck in and secretly watched, he couldn’t help but smile. Directed by Nate Jacobs and choreographed by Donald Frison.

IF YOU GO

When: Nov. 29-Dec. 30

Where: WBTT Donelly Theatre, 1012 N. Orange Ave.

Tickets: $50

Info: Call 366-1505 or visit WestcoastBlackTheatre.org.

From the morbid to the merry, there’s something for everyone between now and year-end.

Sorcha Augustine

Vickie Daignault stars in Urbanite Theatre’s “The Sound Inside” from Oct. 20 to Dec. 3.

Courtesy photo

The soulful holiday spectacular “Joyful! Joyful!” plays from Nov. 29 to Dec. 30 at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.

THIS WEEK

THURSDAY

‘SACRED LUNDY’

6 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2256 Bahia Vista St.

$10

Visit PreserveSRQ.org

David Baber, vice president of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, will conduct a tour of St. Paul Lutheran Church, which was designed by Sarasota School

Architect Victor Lundy, followed by a presentation about Lundy and the church by author Christopher Wilson. The event is free for members of the church and the alliance.

MARK KLEIN

7 p.m. at McCurdy’s Comedy Theatre, 1923 Ringling Blvd.

$25

Visit McCurdysComedy.com.

Mark Klein’s clean comedy shows, which have been featured on CBS, Showtime and Sirius XM, focus on the things he knows best — bourbon, horse racing, family and freedom. Runs through Oct. 1.

‘UP ON THE ROOF’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Court Cabaret, 1265 First St. $18-$39 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Manhattan’s Brill Building was home to songwriting duos such as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Carole King and Gerry

OUR PICK

‘THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE

SHOW’

“Do the time warp again” with Barry Bostwick as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” celebrates its 48th anniversary. The performance features the live “shadow” cast Hell On Heels, host Larry Viezel and audience participation. You must be 18 to attend the show, which includes a memorabilia display and a costume contest.

IF YOU GO

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail

Tickets: $42-$72

Info: Visit VanWezel.org.

Goffin and Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Their iconic “Brill Sound” is showcased in this musical revue by Rebecca Hopkins and Richard Hopkins. Runs through Feb. 4.

‘CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REMIXED!’

7:30 p.m. at FST’s Goldstein Cabaret, 1239 N. Palm Ave. $18 and up Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

“The Jersey Tenors” and “The Surfer Boys” veteran Vaden Thurgood has created his own musical revue for FST. The show follows the life of Creedence Clearwater Revival founder John Fogerty through hit songs such as “Proud Mary” and “Bad Moon Rising.” Runs through Oct. 22.

‘RUTHLESS!’

7:30 p.m. at The Players Centre, The Crossings at Siesta Key

$32 Visit ThePlayers.org.

The theater company now known as The Sarasota Players presents the morbidly funny tale of an 8-yearold who’s willing to go the distance to play Pippi Longstocking in her school play. Despite the youthful setting, the show directed by Scott Keys contains adult material. Runs through Oct. 15.

FRIDAY

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: ‘COCO’

7:30 p.m. at The Oval, 1055 Boulevard of the Arts Free Visit TheBaySarasota.org.

Disney Pixar’s “Coco” takes the audience on animated song-filled journey about a boy’s quest to find his great-great-grandfather in the Land of the Dead. Bring blankets, chairs, family and friends for the magical screening under the stars. Food and beverage will be available for purchase from the Simply Greek Food Truck. The first 100 people to arrive will receive a scoop of Rise Up Cafe ice cream.

OPENING NIGHT: 13TH ANNUAL

FABULOUS INDEPENDENT FILM

FESTIVAL

7:30 p.m. at Burns Court Cinema, 506 Burns Court

$10 Visit FABAF.org.

The Fabulous Independent Film Festival kicks off with a screening of “Glitter & Doom,” a mind-blowing summer love story that unspools to the sounds of the Indigo Girls. The celebration of LGBTQ cinema continues after the film with a party at 99 Bottles. Sponsored by the Fabulous Arts Foundation, formerly known as the Harvey Milk Festival, the fest features a program of

DON’T MISS

WBTT PRESENTS: THE JOSE RAMIREZ BAND

Last year, Jose Ramirez was signed by Chicago-based blues and jazz label Delmark Records, becoming the first Latin American artist in the label’s 70-year history. At WBTT, Ramirez and his band will play new and classic tunes, including selections from his second studio album, “Major League Blues.”

IF YOU GO

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30

Where: at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, 1012 N. Orange Ave. Tickets: $30

Info: Visit WestcoastBlackTheatre. org.

shorts, features and documentaries with LGBTQ themes. Runs through Oct. 1.

SUNDAY

‘THE VELVETEEN RABBIT: A TOY

STORY’

10 a.m. at FST’s Keating Theatre, 1241 Palm Ave. $10 Visit FloridaStudioTheatre.org.

“The Velveteen Rabbit” tells the story of a child who gets a sawdustfilled rabbit as a gift. As the pair bond through the adventures in the child’s storybooks, they discover the power of love to make imaginary things real. Through Oct. 15 on selected weekend dates.

‘REEFER MADNESS’

2 p.m. at Pinkerton Theatre, Venice

$37 Visit VeniceTheatre.org.

Last seen at Venice Theatre in 2008, the campy musical “Reefer Madness” is a hilarious sendup of the 1936 film with the same name that warned of the perils of marijuana. Runs through Oct. 8.

NEXUS CHAMBER MUSIC

4 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2050 Oak St. $40 Visit ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

Nexus Chamber Music opens the

Season 28 | Stars Ascending

Artist Series Concerts season with featured emerging artists Alexander Hersh on cello, Stephanie Zyzak on violin and Evren Ozel on piano.

MONDAY

MATT DENDY

5 p.m. at Marina Jack’s Blue Sunshine Patio, 2 Marina Plaza Free with orders from the menu Visit MarinaJack.com.

Unwind after a day at the beach or the office with the sounds of Matt Dendy, who has been a resident violinist for St. Martha’s Catholic Church since 1993. Dendy has also performed with Asolo Repertory Theatre for multiple seasons and has played as a first violinist for the Venice Symphony.

WEDNESDAY

SAM ART TOUR

5:30 p.m. at Sarasota Art Museum, 1001 S. Tamiami Trail $15; members free Visit SarasotaArtMuseum.org.

Learn about the contemporary art museum’s latest exhibitions, including “Reassembling Spilt Light: An Immersive Installation by Carlos Bunga” and “Surface Pressure,” which celebrates the multimedia work of Chakaia Booker, in this tour hosted by the museum and Willis Smith Construction. Drinks will be provided.

Intimate musical experiences.

NEXUS Chamber Music

October 1 • 4:00 pm • First Presbyterian Church

Back by popular demand!

This Chicago-based chamber music collective creates engaging classical music experiences for a broad audience. Co-founder Alexander Hersh is joined by Marlboro Music Festival alums Stephanie Zyzak and Evren Ozel in a program of piano trios by Haydn, Brahms, and Ravel.

Ilya Yakushev, piano

October 10 • 7:30 pm

Historic Asolo Theater

Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition, Yakushev will be joined by a string quartet, including Daniel Jordan, concertmaster of Sarasota Orchestra, for Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota offers a diverse range of 26 concerts featuring emerging and accomplished classical, chamber, jazz, and pop artists from around the globe.

Full concert schedule/tickets: ArtistSeriesConcerts.org

Courtesy photo

Waiting for Wolfie’s

MONICA ROMAN GAGNIER ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Sarasota’s prodigal deli king is back in town, and he’s got a new home in the Rosemary District, where he is the executive chef of the Original Wolfie’s.

Sol Shenker, who has won a devoted following in Sarasota for his New York deli-style food at several different eateries, has been living in Colorado, where his wife has been attending veterinary school.

The marquee above the eatery where Shenker and his treasured recipes for matzo ball soup, pastrami and swiss on rye and cheesecake will soon be found reads the “Original Wolfie’s.”

The space will also house a nightspot brethren, Wolfie Cohen’s Rascal House. You’ll find them at 1420 Boulevard of the Arts, sandwiched between two theatrical venues — the Sarasota Ballet School and the Sarasota Players.

Nearby, at 1436 Boulevard of the Arts, is what is being called Wolfie’s Box Office, which will offer takeout options from the storied Jewish delicatessen.

The pedigree of the new deli reads like a list of credits from a Broadway show. According to marketing materials, its menu features favorites from such South Florida historic delis as Wolfie’s, Pumpernik’s and Rascal House, as well as Jerry’s Famous Deli of Southern California.

Sarasota’s incarnation of the Original Wolfie’s will arrive sometime in October, a few months after the New York-style Palm Avenue Deli opened downtown in July. The obvious ques-

tion is: Can Sarasota support two new New York-style delis, even if one is downtown and the other is in the Rosemary District?

The answer is a resounding yes, according to Shenker, whose restaurant resume in Sarasota goes back 23 years. In fact, says Shenker, there’s room for even more competition in what he calls the “Jewish food space.”

It’s a familiar argument to those old enough to remember when department stores Macy’s and Gimbel’s were located within a block of each other in New York’s Herald Square. In other words, competition is good for everybody. “I’ve been to the Palm Avenue Deli at least 20 times since it opened,” Shenker says.

What the competition doesn’t have is chef Shenker, who has catered many a wedding and bar mitzvah during his years in Florida. He has won a flock of customers as he has moved from places like the former Embassy Suites hotel and its later incarnations to Sol’s NYC Delicatessen in a former Applebee’s on Main Plaza. Back in 2016, Sol’s NYC Deli was forced to move to make room for a new development in Main Plaza.

In many ways, hooking up with the investors who are bringing Wolfie’s and its Rascal House to Sarasota is coming full circle for Shenker. He once worked at the Rascal House in Miami, a onetime hangout for gangsters like Meyer Lansky, although that was before Shenker’s time.

Like many a restaurateur, Shenker has had his ups and downs in the business, including a dispute with his relatives over one of his previous delis.

But where the Culinary Institute of America grad and his cheesecake

2023 FALL FELINE FUN RUN!

Help us Save Lives and Run for the Kitties!

Join us for our 4th annual virtual run in support of the cats and kittens we serve each year

Registration is now open and is $45 per registrant.

All registrations will include a commemorative t-shirt, souvenir race bib, and certificate of completion.

2542 17th St., Sarasota, FL 34234 941.366.2404 | www.catdepot.org

recipe go, his customers will follow.

Shenker waxes nostalgic about his time at Sol’s NYC Deli, and how an elderly gentleman once sent a note in Yiddish into the kitchen comparing the chef’s matzo ball soup favorably to that made by the customer’s mother.

As he took a break from working with electricians at the new Wolfie’s to grab a cup of joe at the nearby Project Coffee in the Rosemary District, Shenker was greeted with open arms by a former legal associate. (We’ll take that as a good sign.)

There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Original Wolfie’s. It’s opening “sometime in October,” says Shenker.

He will not reveal where his bagels, bread and deli meats are being sourced, except to say they are coming from New York. He also declined to name the new eatery’s owner.

The only thing that Shenker loves more than Jewish food and his customers is his wife, Marta. Shenker met the former ballerina in the

Catskills 12 years ago, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

He followed Marta to Colorado, where she is studying veterinary science, and has been commuting back and forth between homes in Florida and the Rocky Mountains.

Try managing that lifestyle along with the care and feeding of six chihuahuas and volunteer work with the Humane Society. It might require a takeout Wolfie’s sandwich on rye — or two — to help you power through.

Join us for free innovative programs in music theater art literature dance, and more featuring award-winning artists from around the world.

Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “The Blurred Line Between Humor and Heartbreak: A Playwriting Workshop”

Thursday, October 5 @ 6pm Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (Sarasota)

Writer, actor, and Hermitage Fellow Halley Feiffer’s most recent project as writer and showrunner for “American Horror Story — Delicate,” has been described as fun, stylish, and ultimately terrifying by Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story” creator) in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter

Come and hear more about how she has received critical acclaim in the first of the 2023-2024 “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” programs. Presented in partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and The Players Centre.

To register (required) for upcoming programs: HermitageArtistRetreat.org

A knock at the door might not seem like a big deal to many of us. But, to a homebound senior, it could signal the arrival of the only person they might see all day or all week long. It brings hope. It brings health. It brings the nutrition and care that will completely make their day. A knock from Meals on Wheels can even save lives.

Chef Sol Shenker’s Sarasota fans eagerly await the opening of his New York-style deli.

Monica Gagnier

Sol Shenker takes a break at Project Coffee in the Rosemary District near where the Original Wolfie’s will open in October.

Peter Acker

Executive Chef Sol Shenker will not reveal where the ingredients from Wolfie’s mouthwatering sandwiches will come from.

Designer Bag Bingo

Thursday, Sept. 21, at Lakewood Ranch | Benefiting Sisterhood for Good

Lakewood Ranch’s Samina

Morrow double checked that the numbers punched through on her bingo card were the ones called before she stood up in front of more than 100 women to claim a luxury purse.

With assurances she had bingo, Morrow made her way up to the stage to collect her new Chloe purse during Sisterhood for Good’s annual Designer Bag Bingo on Sept. 21.

It was Morrow’s first time attending Designer Bag Bingo, which she said was more fun that she thought it would be. More importantly, she said she loved being able to give back to the community.

All the funds raised during the event are put toward grants Sisterhood for Good distributes to nonprofits throughout Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Last year, Sisterhood for Good raised $110,800 for grants for 32 nonprofits. The grants benefited 24,714 individuals in Manatee and Sarasota counties..

LIZ RAMOS

October 13th-October 15th

Church of the Redeemer

Bach and Beer – a perfect combination!

Key Chorale presents a 3-day festival celebrating the music of  J.S. Bach with 4 amazing concerts and concluding with a German Biergarten.

Fri, October 13, 7:30 PM Opening Concert

Sat, October 14, 11:30 AM Organ Recital & Bach’s Lunch

Sat, October 14, 7:30 PM Period Instruments Chamber Music Concert

Sun, October 15, 4:00 PM Closing Concert

Sun, October 15, 5:30 PM Biergarten Experience

Purchase your tickets today at: KeyChorale.org

941.552.8768

Purchase a 3-day pass & SAVE 15%!

Photos by Liz Ramos

Lakewood Ranch’s Karen Medford and Jackie Tamminga look forward to supporting Sisterhood for Good and its mission.

Alison Chafing makes her way down the runway.

Bradenton’s Christina Sisti, Parrish’s Kim Bailey, Lakewood Ranch’s Peggy Kronus and Sarasota’s Tanya Peters are ready for a fun night of playing bingo while raising money for area nonprofits.

Osprey’s Leslie Williams sees what the silent auction has to offer during her first Designer Bag Bingo.

Lakewood Ranch’s Amy Gorman and Roz Bokoff look forward to raising money for the community. Selling raffle tickets is one way Sisterhood for Good is raising money.

Nonprofit turns lives around

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

In December 2022, David Harris, also known as “Yogi,” told a programs officer, “I want a program that helps me reenter society.”

In preparing to depart prison after almost 30 years, Harris had only one condition — that wherever he was headed, it had better not be an area riddled with drug use.

The officer suggested Project 180, cautioning him that the organization required drug and alcohol tests every 90 days.

“I says, ‘OK, well, that can’t hurt me,’” Harris said. “If anything, that would help.”

Although he had come a long way in his self-improvement journey, Harris had little in the way of material possessions after he was released from the county jail and left on the sidewalk, waiting to be picked up by Project 180.

The only clothes he owned were what he had on: shorts smaller than his boxers, a T-shirt, socks and a pair of thick boots.

Yet while living under the nonprofit, he would continually find the strength to do what he said was the hardest thing to do at that time — to get up and face the next day.

Today, Harris is eager to get up for work each morning at Beneva Flowers & Plantscapes, a company at which he started in December 2022 and where he is now manager of his department.

Project 180’s founder, Barbara Richards, said she always felt called to her line of work, having volunteered in the past for a men’s prison support group in San Francisco.

While completing a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University, she decided to start a reentry program and founded the nonprofit in 2008.

According to a media release, only 14% of the organization’s Residential Program graduates are arrested again during their first year after release, compared to the national rate of 44%, while those who do not graduate recidivate at a rate of 27%.

A

PLACE TO START

In addition to helping him obtain his job, Harris credits Project 180 with meeting many needs he could not have fulfilled on his own.

Staff helped him obtain health care, dental care, vision, housing, employment, and a driver’s license, while the nonprofit also offers him a

CONTRIBUTING FOUNDATIONS

■ Boscia Family Foundation

■ Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation

■ Community Foundation of Sarasota County

■ Gulf Coast Community Foundation

■ Koski Family Foundation

■ The Patterson Foundation

■ Palm Avenue Wealth Advisory Group at Raymond James

■ Scheidel Foundation

■ UNI Foundation

■ Verizon

To learn more about Project180 or to donate, visit Project180Reentry.org.

community of others in similar situations.

Harris had long realized that it was the people he surrounded himself with who would determine his success in life.

In 1995, he committed an armed robbery at an ATM, stealing $40, and due to his status as a repeat offender, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

He found prison never suited him, and eventually made a decision to associate with people like judges, police officers and teachers, becoming a law clerk and pursuing a bachelor’s degree in administration from within prison.

A story he read in Florida Law Weekly inspired him to successfully pursue the overturning of his sentence.

“Now, I’m willing to abide by the rules of society, but I have to demonstrate that I’m willing to do that,” he said.

Amid the overwhelming experience of starting his life anew, he appreciated that staff encouraged him to slow down and enjoy moments like eating a hamburger for the first time in decades, at Miller’s Ale House.

“It was the mushrooms that did it for me,” he said. “It was the biggest hamburger I’d probably eaten in my life at that time, and I know it was the best hamburger I had eaten in my life at that time.”

One of the positive experiences has been a renewed relationship with his family.

“I used to be the guy they didn’t want at the family reunions,” he said.

“Now, they want to know when I’m coming home and they’re genuinely happy to hear from me.

The group also offers a community of its own, something he said has been enormously helpful.

“If you look like you might have something on your mind, they want to know what it is,” he said.

THE NECESSARY SUPPORT

Seth Campbell is another member of that community. Like Harris, he had nothing when he finished a threeyear prison sentence in November 2022. However, he came to serve as residential program coordinator for the nonprofit.

“I slowly but surely accumulated a wealth of things, so to speak,” he said.

The former Bradenton resident had long been homeless, having never had a driver’s license or vehicle nor maintained a job.

He called the experience of learning to drive “overwhelming.”

“The only time I drove before, it was a stolen vehicle. I was kind of scared of the roadways,” he said.

Like Harris, Campbell emphasized the community Project 180 offers.

“Usually, people go back to what’s comfortable, so I think the hard part is forming a new core and trusting complete strangers,” he said, noting that once people are able to open up, they discover a new group they can align themselves with.

When Campbell experiences selfdoubts, he finds it helpful to share his feelings with the group, including those who may be further along on their journey.

“Being able to live a normal, productive life is easy, because I no longer have to put a substance in my body,” he said.

He is also grateful for the impact Project 180 has had in pushing him to take a job, including a past role with Beneva Flowers.

Campbell says he has developed a vision for his life — to help others. He is now pursuing psychology through college courses, something he never had thought was possible in the past.

“Through people pushing me to become the best version of me, I was able to conquer those fears and

believe in myself,” he said. “If I can help people for a living, and maybe even if it’s just one person, it’s worth it. Everything’s worth it.”

He’s also finding the opportunity to enjoy trips to locations like Orlando, Key West and Atlanta.

A MISSION OF UNDERSTANDING

The stories of Harris and Campbell echo others, said Richards.

When people leave prison, they have usually lost any credit, jobs, or housing they may have had. They often have no one to go to. This is where the nonprofit comes in.

At the heart of the organization, she said, is the Residential Program, which offers up to two years of program residency and other assistance for men, helping counter issues like housing affordability and housing discrimination.

This program is specifically for those suffering from addiction, which she said impacts 75% to 95% of all people who are incarcerated. Most men in the program began using drugs prior to adulthood.

Another program, First Week Out is important, she said, because it establishes relationships with individuals several months before their release from prison.

Project 180 also offers a referral service to different resources in all Florida counties, a financial literacy course and CEO Workforce Education class in the Sarasota County Jail and a yearly public lecture series.

“We’re all the same,” Richards said. “As human beings, we share common needs and desires, and our underlying humanity connects us, whether we choose to see that or want that.”

Project 180 helps formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives.

Photos by Ian Swaby

Mark Stackhouse, Barbara Richards and Thomas Graff talk during a meeting.

David Harris, nicknamed “Yogi.”Seth Campbell

New campus boosts bilingual studies

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

The colorful decor and pastelpainted walls that greet visitors to the new campus for Dreamers Academy in Newtown are about more than just embracing the cultures associated with the Spanish language.

They’re also about education, according to Head of School Cathy Rodriguez.

As her saying goes — something of an unofficial school motto — “A happy child is a child who learns.”

“You can feel the energy of the school, very positive, very joyful,” she said. “Our students are happy, and they express that. Our parents put their trust in us, and we take that seriously.”

Founder Geri Chaffee said in a traditional school, Spanish-speaking children can become impeded in their ability to learn, hurting their self-esteem. Dreamers Academy, she said, was founded to turn this problem around, something it can do more effectively at its new campus.

The tuition-free public charter school’s new campus hosted a ribbon cutting on Aug. 7. Students arrived for instruction, Aug. 9-10. The school welcomes both native Spanish and English speakers and holds open enrollment from Oct. 1 to January.

Prior to the new, dedicated space at 2146 Myrtle St., the school had rented a space from Temple Beth Sholom.

EXCLUSIVE SPACE

AN

The campus will be an important space for teachers to collaborate, said Rodriguez, something important for the school’s coordinated instruction, which alternates between English and Spanish throughout the week. “Collaboration, No. 1, is key,” she

said. “That’s why I believe our teachers are just exceptional, because what they do is not easy. It really takes a lot of work, dedication and passion from them, doing what needs to be done to get the students to the next level.”

Finding the right place to carry out the school’s mission was also important. The new campus takes the school to the place where its vision had always guided it from the beginning: Newtown.  Chaffee called the area the location of greatest need. In Newtown, she said, many socioeconomic factors affect academic success, including lack of access to health care, violence in neighborhoods, domestic violence and instability.

“You really have to be able to address that from a culturally sensitive space,” she said.

Another benefit of the new campus will be an increased freedom to hold events. It will also offer a duallanguage library, slated for opening from January to March 2024 and is being funded through a $110,500 grant from Impact100 SRQ. The library will host events, including a parents’ university, workshops, opportunities for parent volunteers and an additional room serving as a computer lab.

A recess area is set to open next month; a playground will be added within four to six months.

“We’ve had great community support and just angels along the way to help us put this together,” she said.

One contributor was the Florida Development Finance Corp. (FDFC), which awarded a state bond based on the school’s proposal. According to Chaffee, this was the first time the organization ever issued one for a new school.

A VITAL MISSION

The school fulfills a role in the community for which Chaffee found a

LEARN MORE

Upcoming information sessions and school tours:

■ Thursdays at 5 p.m., Oct. 19, Oct. 26, Nov. 9, and Nov. 16. No reservations are required.

■ Dreamers Academy. 2146 Myrtle St. Visit DreamersAcademy.org.

serious need.

When Chaffee, who is Latina, volunteered at a north county school in 2017, she was surprised to find that although many children did not understand English, they were still taught in that language.

When she began trying to teach a group of students in Spanish, a teacher told her to speak English, which she said caused her to feel “just shocked.”

“The kids were really smart, and understanding the concepts, but when I switched to English, they looked at me like I was betraying them.”

Questions began to enter Chaffee’s mind. Were situations where children were not learning in their native language an outlier, or were they common? After performing extensive research, she found that for many counties, they were in fact the norm.

However, she also discovered that other states were using a model of dual-language immersion.

“It actually opens up the doors of your brain and your cognitions,” she said. “(Children are) more empathetic, and let’s face it, they’re smarter, because they know more than one language.”

Soon, the planning for the school had begun.

Most of the school’s teachers are

Antonio Moretta, MD

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Undergraduate: Villanova University, Villanova, PA

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Fellowship: Cardiac Electrophysiology, Stony Brook University, New York, NY; Cardiology, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY

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bilingual and plan their units, standards and content together, with three teachers per grade level teaching in English and three teaching in Spanish. The co-teaching cohort, who uses the homerooms, also alternates between English and Spanish.

Students exist at many different levels, with teachers working on targeted groups and skill sets.

Some students bring no initial knowledge of English, while others have no initial knowledge of Spanish. Kids attend specific centers within each classroom to improve on certain skills, in whichever language they are currently being taught in.

Rodriguez said students easily learn the basic phrases they need to use routinely, like “good morning.”

“The first day, they go home, and they say, ‘I just learned this word,’I just learned how to count to 10,’ or ‘I just learned my colors,” she said.

Most special subjects in the school are taught in Spanish, due to English being the school’s dominant language, but the entire specials team is bilingual.

This year, the school is piloting an advanced cohort — the AWC — which is accelerated and challenges students with more rigorous work.

Rodriguez is uniquely qualified to lead the initiative, bringing a doctorate of education degree from Wilmington University, having written

her doctoral dissertation on duallanguage programming and duallanguage K-12 teachers.

Chaffee said the results of the school’s method are paying off.

Grade-level reading proficiency was rated at 58% for third graders at Dreamers Academy, according to data collected by the Tallahassee Democrat. Chaffee said compared with the 61% of the county overall, this number was impressive, for many students at the school are nonEnglish speakers.

The data also showed that 81% of students were on grade level in math, a statistic rivaled by only five of the county’s schools.

Chaffee said the reasons for the school’s academic standing extend beyond its teaching model.

She also noted the parent-teacher council is highly involved, holding meetings bi-weekly or monthly while volunteering with many events and helping with fundraising.

Finally, the school has had 100% teacher retention for its three years of operation, Chaffee said, something she called “unheard of” in the area.

Chaffee said she is excited to introduce a new grade — fifth — to the school next year. A grade has been added each year since the school’s founding in 2021.

The tuition-free public charter school alternates its instruction between English and Spanish and now teaches from its own campus.

Ian Swaby

Second-grade teacher Jessica Perez Maquedo holds a storytime for the class.

FL 34236

SOTA RESIDENCES & HOTEL

Set privately above the hotel, 35 spacious residences pair stylish city living with the luxury of serviced simplicity. An iconic modern design by the renowned Hoyt Architects of Sarasota is paired with innovative interiors by the visionary firm Andre Kikoski Architect from New York City. Flow-through residences feature airy, light-filled interiors and spacious terraces overlooking the downtown skyline and streetscape below. Residences from $1.8 million.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

PENINSULAGOLDEN GATE POINT

Construction is underway on Golden Gate Point as the Gault Family Companies has officially broken ground on Peninsula Sarasota, a 23-unit luxury condominium development at 223 and 283 Golden Gate Point. Units in the two mid-rise towers are priced from $2.6 million. The three-bedroom floor plans, and three-bedroom with den floor plans range from 2,400 to more than 3,000 square feet.

ROSEWOOD - LIDO KEY

This 65-unit property is a collaboration between Rosewood Hotels & Resorts & Naples-based Ronto Group, & is Rosewood’s first all-residential development. Scheduled for completion in 2025. Situated on 3.5 miles of Gulf-front property. Swedroe Architecture, with interiors by Lillian Wu Studio. Each condo will offer sweeping water views; on the ground floor, residents will have access to Rosewood-serviced amenities. Units range from 3,3005,000 SF & prices start in the high $5 millions.

Local shorebird finds refuge in Myakka

MIRI HARDY CONTRIBUTOR

Striking and boisterous, black skimmers are Florida statethreatened birds who are rapidly losing their habitats as a result of coastal development.

They’re also imperiled due to increasing disturbances, mostly caused by humans and humansponsored predators, such as dogs and fish crows.

Many enjoy watching these unique shorebirds on Sarasota’s beaches. But to visitors’ delight, skimmers can also be spotted at Myakka River State Park.

In early 2023, beach conditions were especially hazardous for shorebirds due to rampant red tide, which contaminated their food. And for the first time, a large flock of 92 black skimmers took refuge in the park, where they found newly restored floodplain marshes at the Upper Myakka Lake and ample, untainted food.

Protecting imperiled species is a priority for Myakka’s Florida Park Service team. So to keep the skimmers safe in their newly chosen spot, a temporary barrier was placed, preventing disturbances from park visitors.

When flocks of birds are startled and forced to fly with no reason, they extend energy they’ll need to replenish or are forced to move to a less optimal area. While disturbing wildlife is always to be avoided, the extra protection was important as rest is critical for birds getting ready for their arduous nesting season.

Thanks to bird banding, which allows us to identify individual birds, Florida-based skimmers, as well as migratory ones from New York and New Jersey, were spotted among the flock in the park.

These findings highlight the

Sea of knowledge

Four-year-old Landon Varsek was among the children enjoying their time at Bay Fest: Exploring Our Underwater World, spending hours dip netting in the bay without ever asking to go home.

Formerly held in recognition of volunteers in the Sarasota Seagrass Survey, a volunteer-driven survey of the area’s different seagrasses, this year the event served the wider public when it was held on Sept. 23 at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron facility.

“We wanted to open it up and make it more of a public spectacle, and engage kids and people that didn’t necessarily participate, but we thought needed to know about seagrass,” said Megan Barry, public outreach manager for the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

Miri Hardy

In early 2023, with red tide rampant on area beaches, 92 black skimmers sought refuge at Myakka River State Park. One of them was 5B, a member of the Lido Key nesting colony banded as a chick in 2019.

importance of Myakka’s existing and newly restored protected habitats for imperiled wildlife both near and far.

It was especially meaningful to spot 5B, who was banded as a chick on St. Pete Beach in 2019. For the past two years she’s nested with the North Lido Key colony — one of the largest skimmer colonies in Florida.  This summer, after spending quality time at Myakka, 5B again nested with the colony at their new location on South Lido Beach, where she successfully fledged a chick.

And thanks to banding, we also know that 5B survived the winds and storm surge associated with Hurricane Idalia unscathed. Perhaps we’ll see her at Myakka again this winter.

Friends of Myakka River exists to support Myakka River State Park and the Wild and Scenic Myakka River. Together, we’re protecting and sharing Myakka’s Magic, to the benefit of future generations, and our own. Follow us @FriendsOfMyakkaRiver.

DENTAL IMPLANTS

Implant Specialists

Barry said the goal of the event, a joint effort between Sarasota County and the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, was to offer something for all ages.

The offerings included the opportunity to see and touch seahorses, spider crabs, puffer fish with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, free kayaking tours with Wayne Adventures and live music by RhythmTrail.

— IAN SWABY

Natalie Munich of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute shows a spider crab to Illyana Recher, 5, and Zavier Recher, 8.

Photos by Ian Swaby Jeremy Jones and Christian Jones, 10, enjoy dip netting in the bay.

Hang Reusch, Lily Reusch, 5, and Justin Reusch enjoy a kayaking trip together.

Local businesses score at tailgate expo

During the Tradeshow Tailgate Expo, the scene on Sept. 21 at Robarts Arena was a little different from past business expos held by the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.

The auditorium was filled with sports jerseys, football-shaped balloons, and fun opportunities in keeping with the event’s newly chosen theme.

“A lot of people went a little outside of the box and really got into the game,” said business alliance president Brittany Lamont.

A few examples of the team spirit, she said, included social media competitions between businesses, an opportunity to win Super Bowl tickets from Florida Cancer Specialists and a virtual reality football station by Rite Technology.

The scene was completed by the presence of the marching band from Bayshore Elementary in Bradenton, which circled the auditorium once while offering a performance. The business alliance has been holding the expo since its inception, but this year, it decided to create a new experience for the event, which it had held in partnership with Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce in past years.

— IAN SWABY

Photos by Ian Swaby Maverick the Manatee and Bradenton’s Alexander Martinez of State College of Florida speak with Sarasota’s Sydney Pollock of Everglades University.

St. Pete’s Gene Turovsky, Sarasota’s Jessica, Marie and David Polimeni, Parrish’s Wayne Parrish and Lakewood Ranch’s Gareth Stevenson of Rite Technology.

Nelson

IAN SWABY STAFF WRITER

Around the same time members at Temple Emanu-El were fasting for Yom Kippur, they had also been donating food, as the crates on display and filled with food items showed on the night of Sept. 25.

“For far too many people in our community, it’s not a choice to fast; it’s not a choice not to have all of the food that they need,” said Rabbi Elaine Glickman.

The food drive, held each year during the High Holidays for All Faiths Food Bank, has been honored by the food bank as the most successful fundraiser and food drive for the past six years, said Glickman.

The High Holy Days begin on Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish new year, and conclude 10 days later on Yom Kippur, a day of atonement and repentance.

Social Action Committee Chair Susan Rosenbaum called All Faiths Food Bank a wonderful nonprofit organization, stating members were glad to support it now more than ever

amid current issues in the community with hunger.

She said the process of bringing together the donations has been wellestablished. During Rosh Hashanah, donation bags are offered. Starting at that time, a list of suggested foods, which includes many healthy items, is provided to the congregants to help them participate.

“It it feels good; you’re giving, you don’t have to get anything back,” said Social Action Committee member and former Chair Barbara Peltz. “It’s called a true mitzvah, when you do something from your heart, and you don’t expect anything in return.”

“It’s a very generous congregation,” said Rosenbaum, noting she hopes that the food drive will continue its winning streak this year.

Following an evening service on Sept. 25, the temple celebrated the breaking of the fast during Yom Kippur with a dinner that featured many traditional dishes including noodle kugel, lox and bagels.

The temple’s sisterhood helped with the event by cooking the food, while its brotherhood provided additional support.

Cherokee Park home tops sales at $4,188,500

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

Ahome in Cherokee Park tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Terry and Nancy Turner sold their home at 1739 Cherokee Drive to Charlotte Hinman, of Sarasota, for $4,188,500. Built in 2009, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,538 square feet of living area.

SARASOTA

HUDSON BAYOU

M&J; Pham Development LLC sold the home at 1718 Bay St. to 1718 Bay Street LLC for $3,975,000. Built in 1997, it has five bedrooms, four baths, a pool and 4,015 square feet of living area. It sold for $2.85 million in 2022.

VISTA BAY POINT

Patty Hayes, of Katy, Texas, sold the Unit 1002 condominium at 128 Golden Gate Point to Elizabeth Beninati, of Dover, Maine, for $3 million. Built in 2004, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 3,317 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.7 million in 2018.

MARK SARASOTA

Albert Castello Bosch and Julianne Maria Bosch sold their Unit 901 condominium at 111 S. Pineapple Ave. to Pamela Polan, trustee, of Wheaton, Illinois, for $2.35 million. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths and 2,112 square feet of living area.

ONE PALM

Naomi King sold the Unit 401 condominium at 711 S. Palm Ave. to Barry and Beth Machlin, of Glencoe, Illinois, for $1.85 million. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 1,883 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.45 million in 2021.

SCHINDLER

ZF SPV LLC sold two properties at 635 and 633 N. Osprey Ave. to One Alexander Properties LLC for $1,499,000. The property at 635 was built in 2019 and has three bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths and 2,090 square feet of living area. The property at 633 was built in 2019 and has one bedroom, one bath and 473 square feet of living area. They sold for $735,000 in 2021

ONE HUNDRED CENTRAL

Robert Douglas Bradbury, trustee, sold the Unit F1012 condominium at 100 Central Ave. to Regina Vandroff and Anita Ochab, of Sarasota, for $1.3 million. Built in 2005, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,532 square feet of living area. It sold for $920,000 in 2019.

ESPLANADE BY SIESTA KEY

Deborah and Thomas Lance, of Sarasota, sold their home at 2409 Vaccaro Drive to William Wagner, trustee, of Sarasota, for $1.2 mil-

Other top sales by area

SIESTA KEY: $2.75 MILLION

Bay Island Shores

Sabrina Aquino, of Sarasota, sold her home at 746 Siesta Drive to Jennifer and Daniel Mueller, of Mason, Ohio, for $2.75 million. Built in 1956, it has six bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,434 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.75 million in 2020.

Tortuga Beach

A home in Cherokee Park tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Built in 2009, it has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a pool and 4,538 square feet of

lion. Built in 2013, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,262 square feet of living area. It sold for $770,000 in 2016.

DESOTA PARK

Dean Denman, of Shelby, Michigan, sold two properties at 1864 Clematis St. to Jamie Elliott McPherson and George Raines III, of Highlands, North Carolina, for $1,075,000. The first property was built in 1925 and has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 2,090 square feet of living area. The second property was built in 1925 and has one bedroom, one bath and 240 square feet of living area. They sold for $499,000 in 2002.

SUNSET TOWERS

William and Kim Meissner, of Longboat Key, sold their Unit 203 condominium at 11 Sunset Drive to Michael McCarty and Karen Gentleman, of Indianapolis, for $1,045,000. Built in 1980, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,433 square feet of living area. It sold for $470,000 in 2021.

SCHOOL AVENUE TOWNHOMES

Shareef Adam Lodhi, of Lakewood Ranch, sold his home at 122 Audubon Place to Michael Dotsey and Pauline Martin, of Gap, Pennsylvania, for $925,000. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three-and-ahalf baths and 2,332 square feet of living area. It sold for $679,900 in 2021.

SOUTH GATE

Katharine Keh, of Sarasota, sold her home at 2444 Siesta Drive to Jacqueline Young, of Sarasota, for $850,000. Built in 1957, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,765 square feet of living area. It sold for $440,000 in 2005.

Cardinal South LLC sold the home at 2417 Siesta Drive to Terese Coudreaut Curiel and Ramiro Curiel, of Miami, for $835,000. Built in 1956, it has three bedrooms, two baths and 1,731 square feet of living area. It sold for $335,000 in 2021.

BAYS BLUFF

Michael Daniec, trustee, of Forest Hills, New York, sold the Unit 202 condominium at 1100 Imperial Drive to Marlena Jbara, of Sarasota, for $695,000. Built in 1971, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,195 square feet of living area. It sold for $118,000 in 2010.

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

GULF GATE EAST

Jan and Cynthia Galik, of Sarasota, sold their home at 3726 Kingston Blvd. to Rene Defendini and Debra Licato, of Sarasota, for $670,000. Built in 1986, it has three bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,523 square feet of living area. It sold for $204,000 in 2012.

GILLESPIE PARK Mark Flannagan and Tammy Wyman, of Sarasota, sold their home at 1843 Sixth St. to McKenzy Hilary Wynne, of Sarasota, for $600,000. Built in 1960, it has four bedrooms, two baths and 1,583 square feet of living area.

ONLINE

See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Karen and Douglas Smith, of Beverly Hills, Michigan, sold their Unit 400 condominium at 8710 Midnight Pass Road to Gail Roseman and David Diamond, trustees, of Sarasota, for $2.75 million. Built in 1980, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,614 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.36 million in 2018.

PALMER RANCH: $1,285,000

Esplanade on Palmer Ranch

Stephen Funsch, of Sarasota, sold the home at 5392 Salcano St. to Janet Imbordino and Paul Imbordino, trustees, of Sarasota, for $1,285,000. Built in 2019, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,383 square feet of living area. It sold for $621,000 in 2019.

OSPREY: $1.2 MILLION

Oaks II

Patricia Butler, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 219 Saint James Park to Ronald and Julie Milton, of Osprey, for $1.2 million. Built in 1988, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,813 square feet of living area. It sold for $400,000 in 2021.

NOKOMIS: $625,000

Laurel Villa

Robert F. Smith and Kathleen L. Smith Family

LLC IV sold the home at 1504 Morgan St. to Adam Petrilli, of Osprey, for $625,000. Built in 2004, it has two bedrooms, four baths and 2,456 square feet of living area. It sold for $279,000 in 2004.

These are the largest city of Sarasota building permits issued for the week of Sept. 11-15, in order of dollar amounts.

Courtesy of Realtor Kim Ogilvie

living area.

BlackTie Gala

Join Us for An Elegant Evening

Benefiting:

Friday, November 3, 2023

6 PM - 10 PM

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

• Cocktail Reception

• Live Band

• Gourmet 3-Course Dinner

• Curated Live & Silent Auction Packages

FRIDAY, SEPT. 29

SELBY LIBRARY’S 25TH

ANNIVERSARY

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1331 First St. Free. Commemorate a milestone of Sarasota’s downtown library in this celebration featuring the new Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources’ Pop-Up Library, presentations by Mote Marine and the Sarasota History Center, remarks by county commissioners and more. For information visit SCGovLibrary. LibraryMarket.com.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30

TAKE A CHILD OUTSIDE WEEK – VOLUNTEER INVASIVE PLANT

REMOVAL

8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at North Lido Nature Trail, 190 Taft Drive. Join UF/ IFAS Extension Sarasota County and Sarasota County naturalist Pete Garcia to learn how to remove invasive vegetation including snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue, as well as about the threat invasive species pose to Florida’s environment.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

COSTUME CONTEST

11:30 a.m. at The Bazaar on April and Lime, 821 Apricot Ave. Free. Dress up your pup and possibly win prizes at this event featuring adoptable dogs, live music, guest vendors. For information visit Facebook.com/ BazaaronApricotandLime.

BEST BET

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30

BLAZE OF HOPE’S ANNUAL FALL FEST

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Suncoast Community Church, 8000 Hawkins Road. Free. Kick off the fall season with activities including a pop-up market, raffles and prizes, and a kids’ zone with interactive games, bounce houses, a rock climbing wall and a slide. Support Blaze of Hope, which assists hospitalized children with life-threatening medical conditions and their families, and donate new, unwrapped toys to children in need. For information visit Facebook.com/ BlazeofHope.

www.SPARCC.Net

Presenting Sponsor/The Rose

Lawrence P. Castellani Family Foundation

Diamond Sponsors/The Lily

Janice & William Farber Sue & Tom Ghezzi

JoAnn Heffernan Heisen

Jennifer & Roger Holland

Georgie Holst-Knudsen

Bonnie McIntyre Kimberley Pelyk

John Roble

Fred Simmons & Nancy Smith

Cathy Bachand & Cindy Thelen

Elizabeth & Michael Murphy and Shirley & Patrick Wulf

Media Sponsors

BENJAMIN GILKEY FUND PRESENTS - THIS MAGIC MOMENT

6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Michael’s On East, 1212 S. East Ave. Donation suggested. This gala held for The Benjamin Gilkey Fund for Innovative Pediatric Cancer Research features food and drinks from Michael’s On East, a live auction, games, prizes, magicians from Zubrick Magic Theatre and more. To register visit EventBrite.com.

ANNUAL PET BLESSING AT UNITY

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Unity of Sarasota, 3023 Proctor Road. Free. Have your pet friend blessed, or explore the grounds at Unity of Sarasota where pets and owners can socialize. There will be water available, as well as hot dogs and vegan hot dogs at noon. For information visit Facebook.com/ BlessingoftheAnimalsSRQ.

SUNDAY, OCT. 1

SARASOTA SKI-A-REES WATER SKI TEAM

2 p.m. at 1602 Ken Thompson Parkway. Free. The fall season begins for the Sarasota Ski-A-Rees show, which returns to offer performances at 2 p.m. each Sunday until Nov. 5.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4

BIRDING BASICS FAMILY PROGRAM

9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Urfer Family Park, 4012 Honore Ave. $5 dollar donation per child suggested. Learn how to identify birds in their natural habitat with hands-on games and activities in this beginner birding program for kids and their families. For information visit ConservationFoundation.com.

Sarasota County’s economy relies on service industry employees: store clerks, restaurant servers, hotel staff, and more. We’re proud to support them as they support you.

Our riders move the community forward: scgov.net/breeze

Courtesy photo

SEPTEMBER

SPORTS

Fast Break

Former Sarasota High running back Brian Battie, a junior at Auburn University, had eight carries for 59 yards, plus two catches for 23 yards, in the Tigers’ 27-10 road loss to Texas A&M; University on Sept. 23. Battie and the Tigers are now 3-1 on the season.

… Cardinal Mooney High

football senior defensive back/ wide receiver Teddy Foster had a touchdown catch and a picksix interception return in the Cougars’ 60-0 road win over Space Coast High on Sept. 22. Foster, who is committed to the University of Florida, now has 15 catches for 184 yards and three touchdowns in 2023. The win improved Mooney’s record to 4-1.

Sarasota Sharks swimmer

Lolly Milbaum finished 20th in the Women’s 10K (2:08:33.70)

Sept. 23 at the 2023 LEN (European Swimming Federation) Open Water Cup in Barcelona, Spain.

Cardinal Mooney High junior volleyball player Riley Greene had eight kills, three aces and two blocks in the Cougars’ 3-0 home win over Bishop McLaughlin Catholic on Sept. 21. The Cougars are 11-4 in 2023 as of Sept. 25.

Riverview High junior boys cross-country runner Ben Skaggs won the Large School Boys division of the 2023 North Port XC Invitational, held Sept. 22 at North Port High. Skaggs crossed the finish line in 16:21.84.

The Riverview High boys golf team finished second overall at the 2023 Riverview Rams Invitational, held Sept. 23 at Heritage Oaks Golf and Country Club. The Rams shot 298 as a team and were led by senior Justin Zullin, who shot 71.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

Since taking over the Booker High football head coaching position prior to the 2022 season, Scottie Littles has preached his team needs to finish games.

Often, the Tornadoes have not listened, getting early leads thanks to their breadth of natural talent, then failing to hold onto them because of small mistakes.

Maturity, discipline and attention to detail: those are the things the program has been lacking, Littles said.

On Sept. 22, Booker finally showcased all three.

The Tornadoes (3-2) faced Braden River High (2-2), a program annually in the playoff discussion and coached by Curt Bradley, someone well-respected in the area’s football community for instilling in his team the same things Booker has lacked.

Booker had lost five straight meetings with the Pirates, its last win coming in 2013 — Bradley’s second year at Braden River.

Much of the game felt like a story Booker fans have seen play out. The Tornadoes took a 10-0 lead in the first half, then saw their fortunes change: by the start of the fourth quarter, Booker trailed 20-10. But unlike in the past, the Tornadoes did not continue the collapse. They fought back.

Booker made a change at quarterback, swapping junior Jordan Johnson in for junior Alex Diaz. It is something the Tornadoes have done all season to get both players time on the field. Against Braden River, it acted as a spark. Johnson completed six of his nine passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns, both to senior receiver Joshua Burrows — the second coming on a fourth-and-five from the Braden River 40-yard line with 6:15 remaining. The Pirates secondary got caught looking in the backfield and Burrows sneaked behind them; Johnson hit him in stride.

“I just trusted the kids,” Booker Head Coach Scottie Littles said. “The coaches didn’t want me to call a timeout (before the fourth down play) to save it for defense, but I knew we were going for it and I wanted the right play call. We condensed the formation and we had a guy sneak open. That’s another (big) moment. Can we pay attention to detail and execute? In the past, we haven’t. Tonight we did and that’s encouraging.”

Having regained the lead, the Tornadoes needed to hang onto it. Braden River attempted a last-minute drive down the field, converting two fourth downs of their own, but Booker did not get rattled. Eventually, the Tornadoes forced an incompletion on fourth and 10 from the 23-yard line to seal the win. Littles praised his defense’s maturity and focus level on the final drive.

The win was important for Booker in the immediate future. It gets the team’s record above .500 before an upstart Bayshore High program (3-1) comes to town Sept. 29. But it may be more important in the long-term future.

“This is usually a game that Braden River schedules to get a win, let’s just be honest,” Littles said. “At the end

What: Booker High football (32) vs. Bayshore High (3-1)

When: 7 p.m. Sept. 29

Where: Booker High

Why: The game is a chance for Booker to string wins together after beating Braden River High (2-2) 24-20 on Sept. 22.

Tornadoes Head Coach Scottie Littles believes that game is proof that his team is figuring out how to win.

Tornadoes player to watch: Senior receiver Josiah Booker, who is one of the fastest players on the Gulf Coast and holds NCAA offers from Duke University, Coastal Carolina University and Purdue University among other schools.

of the day, man, our kids fought hard and earned this win for our program. And I told them, tonight’s about moving our program forward. We had that opportunity against Berke-

ley Prep (last week) and we didn’t rise to the occasion. Tonight is about moving our program forward. We can compete with bigger schools in our area and be competitive.”

A Booker program that plays under control could be a frightening one for future opponents, as the Tornadoes are beginning to fill their roster with NCAA-level talent. After senior running back Ahmad Hunter left the Braden River game with an injury — Littles said Hunter will be fine and that the removal was precautionary — the Tornadoes turned to junior Rashawn Peterson, who normally plays wide receiver and holds offers from Florida State University, Penn State University and Duke University among other schools. All Peterson did, playing out of position, was take 13 carries for 90 yards (6.9 yards per carry). And before he was switched out for Jordan Johnson, Alex Diaz threw a 30-yard touchdown to senior receiver Josiah Booker, who holds offers from Duke, Coastal Carolina University and Purdue University among other schools.  The team’s defense is no different.

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Sophomore safety Karaijus Hayes, who had an interception against Braden River, has an offer from the University of Miami. So does sophomore Kevontay Hugan, who had five tackles (two tackles for loss) against the Pirates.

Of the team’s five remaining games, four should present challenges. The first, district opponent Bayshore, has junior running back Jaden Judge, who is responsible for 17 touchdowns through four games, scored in a variety of ways. Then, a game against DeSoto County High (0-4) is followed by games against Wiregrass Ranch High (3-1) and Lemon Bay High (5-0), both of whom will test the Tornadoes. They will finish their regular season against Lakewood Ranch High (2-3), a Class 4S school who will provide another chance for Booker to prove it can compete with bigger opponents.  Littles believes the time for the Tornadoes is now.

“We rose to the occasion (against Braden River),” Littles said. “That means we’re doing it. We’re going in the right direction.”

Courtesy photo Brian Battie is a junior running back at Auburn University.

— Logan Schaub, Riverview High girls cross-country. SEE PAGE 31

A comeback win over Braden River High could be a turning point for the program.

IF YOU GO

Booker junior Jordan Radkey (55) and sophomore Jason Thomas (16) celebrate after a tackle for loss.

Booker senior receiver Joshua Burrows catches a ball behind the Braden River defense. Burrows turned the catch into a 60-yard touchdown.

Jiu-jitsu event combats bullying

nity center waiting to get inside.

Thadeu Vieira felt moved to do something.

Vieira, who runs Sarasota’s Vieira Martial Arts Academy, had heard numerous stories in the last year about kids being bullied in school. Some of those stories came from an old friend named John Hokanson, the co-owner of Fiorelli Winery and Vineyard in Bradenton.

Hokanson was a student of Vieira’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu teachings nearly a decade ago but stopped because of a lack of time. Hokanson recently returned to Vieira’s school because a high school family member of his, Jayke Maracle, had experienced an act of bullying in a school bathroom. To show Maracle what BJJ can do for someone, not just physically but mentally, Hokanson signed Maracle up for classes, and Hokanson returned to class alongside him.

Hokanson and Maracle’s story was but one of many Vieira heard in recent months. With Hokanson’s encouragement, Vieira decided

he had to do something positive, something to fight back against bullying. The sport, after all, teaches people to have confidence and stand up for themselves.

Enter: The Sarasota BJJ Open.

The event was held Sept. 23 at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex. The Open was a traditional BJJ tournament, but it had a few twists.

One, it featured a free selfdefense workshop for anyone who paid the $5 event admission fee, even spectators. Two, while there were awards handed to individual winners at the event, there were not team awards given to the BJJ school who did the best, as is tradition at such things. Vieira said he wanted the focus to be on the message behind the event, and to bring all the BJJ schools in the area together, celebrating the art of competition instead of pining for a trophy.

It was a massive success. At 10 a.m. — the time the event’s first matches were scheduled to begin — there was a line of people wrapping around the corner of the commu-

The event was expected to last until 3 p.m.; it ended up going until 6 p.m. Vieira said approximately 300 competitors took the mat and approximately 500 more spectators watched all the action. Vieira said some of those spectators had no relation to any of the competitors; they just wanted to watch the action and maybe learn a thing or two about self-defense; 99% of the time, Vieira said, that doesn’t happen at BJJ events. This one was different.

“It was the largest event I’ve ever put on,” Vieira said. “You know, between different instructors, there’s a lot of competition. Sometimes, when you hold an event here, they don’t want to come. I usually have to beg them to come. But this time it was easy. There was a great energy in the room. It was the first time we were united.”  Hokanson and Maracle were in attendance at the event. Maracle competed in matches, but Hokanson did not. Why? Because he’s recovering from a broken wrist he suffered at the 2023 World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Las Vegas. Yes, after nearly a decade away from the sport, Hokanson was game enough to go for a medal. His injury, which occurred in a semifinal match, forced him to tie for third in his division of the event. Hokanson had no regrets about giving it a shot; the message was far more important.

“My wife asked me, ‘Was it worth it?’” Hokanson said. “The broken arm? No. But the statement you can make to your children? Yes. Get out there and do it with your kids. Understand the pressure they are under and their fears.”

Maracle, too, was glad Hokanson convinced him to try BJJ. He said taking up BJJ has helped him gain the confidence, the internal toughness, that Hokanson wanted him to find. The other competitors in the

gym are more than willing to give him advice when needed. He’s even taken some of Hokanson’s natural ability. Maracle took a silver medal in his Boys White Teen III division of the Siesta Key Open tournament in May.

“I love it,” Maracle said. “You get to make friends and you get to have fun. You get hands-on learning. It cures your boredom. You learn how to defend yourself and you can compete in tournaments with the skills you learn. I didn’t want to do it at first, but after a while I started to like it. I am glad I stuck with it I’m not scared of anything now.”

Vieira said this will not be the final anti-bullying event he runs. In fact, he hopes to hold them once a quarter, he said. At those events, he plans on turning some of the proceeds into scholarship money, giving it to other martial arts schools to cover the costs of athletes who are being bullied. Vieira also raffled off six BJJ uniforms to spectators in

the hopes of getting people to try the martial art.

After this first event, Vieira said, he had fellow instructors coming up to him, asking when the next one would be. They want to help spread the message, he said. It’s a new mentality in the field, but a welcome one, he said. Bullying may never fully go away, but Vieira and the community are going to do everything they can to combat it, to give today’s kids the skills they need to stay strong through whatever they face — as kids, and through the rest of their lives.

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Thadeu Vieira’s event, held at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex, drew more than 300 competitors.

Ryan

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Aayla Bruttell and John Darling face off during the 2023 Sarasota BJJ Open, held Sept. 22 at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex.

Barrett Zubke puts a hold on an opponent at the 2023 Sarasota BJJ Open.

Logan Schaub

Logan Schaub is a sophomore girls cross-country/track and field runner at Riverview High. Schaub won the Large School Girls division of the 2023 North Port XC invitational on Sept. 22 at North Port High, crossing the finish line in 20:02.90.

When did you start competitive running?

I started in middle school as a seventh grader. I ran track for Sarasota Middle. I didn’t really start crosscountry until I trained with my high school team.

What is the appeal to you?

I love the competitiveness of it. I love how you just keep going. You are challenged every day.

Do you prefer cross-country or track and field?

I like cross-country more. I like longer distances. It’s also more fun to run on trails and different surfaces, going through the woods, than to run on the track all the time.

What is your favorite running memory?

Last year I placed in both Sarasota County and overall at the Tri-County Championships. That was the first time I felt like I could do this. I felt confident. I realized if I pushed myself I could get even better. (Schaub finished the race in 21:15.30).

What are your goals for the rest of the 2023 season?

I want to go sub-20 minutes for sure. As a stretch goal, I’d like to get under 19:30. That just seems like a solid number.

What is your favorite food?

Tofu. I’ve been vegan for almost three years, so I love how you can season tofu and use it however you want.

If you would like to make a recommendation for the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Ryan Kohn at RKohn@ YourObserver.com.

What is your favorite TV show?

Probably “Survivor.” I watch it with my mom (Wendy Williams) any time it comes on. It’s a memory from when I was a little kid that we still keep up.

What is your favorite school subject?

I love all the STEM courses I take. I want to be an engineer when I grow up. That’s something I discovered recently. I like building stuff.

Which superpower do you pick? I would want super speed. You could get everything done faster and be more efficient.

What is the best advice you have received?

It’s on the back of my shirt right now: “Everybody counts.” We’re a big team and I love our team. It’s so good. Everyone is helpful and nice and it makes the experience of running so much better. So in competitions, it’s important to stay tuned in and be supporting for everyone else.

Finish this sentence: “Logan Schaub is …”

A challenger. I like to be challenged.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Crow”

68 Condition for which

Temple Grandin is a spokesperson

70 Mimicked

71 “Slithy” creature in “Jabberwocky”

72 Orange juice brand

73 Flair or Ocasek

74 Many Zagreb residents

78 ___ gin fizz

79 Musical Greek god

80 Way out there, and how

82 “Thirtysomething” star

83 Commanders on the front line?

85 Inside scans (Abbr.)

86 Missy in the Songwriters Hall of Fame

87 Arms for Force-ful people?

89 Apt rhyme for “pitch”

93 Instrument in a jazz combo

95 Emperor of India known as “the Great”

96 Attach, as a corsage

97 Pursue, as a lead

98 Fusses

99 Worker that fills in gaps, for short

100 Water, for a Super Soaker

102 Workplace watchdog (Abbr.)

105 “Delicious!”

106 Pacific tuna

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STRIKE THAT! by Jeff Chen, edited by Jeff Chen

Luis Campos

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

Jim Eachus took this photo of