With less than two weeks until a critical Republican primary, a mailer labeling a Sarasota County Commission candidate as a fortune teller hit mailboxes Wednesday. 

Republican Alan Maio's political campaign sent the mailer, which attacks Republican Lourdes Ramirez's prior ownership of a new age store and a history of advertising herself as a "clairvoyant." The mailer notes that county tax documents listed her business, Isle of Avalon, as a "fortune teller." Maio and Ramirez are both running for Sarasota County Commission District 4 and face off in a Republican primary on Aug. 26. 

"I believe voters have a right to know the work history of a candidate and where they made their money," Maio said. He said his campaigned waited for sometime before making an issue of the business, but felt voters deserved to know about the matter.

Ramirez said she hasn't ever concealed her history. She said her store primarily sold candles, aroma therapy goods and other such items, and also had meditation classes. "Tarot card readings are just part of what I did," she said. "If someone is upset I did aroma therapy, I would say, 'Is that all they have got?' " 

Rumblings about Ramirez's ownership of the store have surrounded the campaign for months; conservative activist Richard Swier, Sr. has brought the issues up on a local blog, and media accounts have mentioned her ownership of the business. But this is the first time the Maio campaign itself has raised the issue so publicly. 

The mailer includes an old advertisement of Ramirez's services where she lists herself as a professional medium and tarot card reader, and which states "Lourdes has connected with Spirit to deliver healing messages." Internet searches show Ramirez's name connected to psychic events in St. Petersburg and Clearwater.

The mailer also includes a picture of Ramirez dressed as a gypsy, which interestingly came off the Siesta Key Community Facebook page and was cropped from a picture where she was posing with retiring Sarasota County Commissioner Nora Patterson. The original picture was posted on Halloween 2011.

When asked about the nature of Isle of Avalon business, Ramirez said the fortune-telling side of the business had "always been for fun." When asked if she believed in psychic powers, Ramirez responded, "A lot of people believe in intuition. Ask any mother and they will tell you they know things through a mother's intuition. That's all it is."

Ramirez said the mailer was intended to distract from county issues, but also lobbed back her own attack, suggesting Maio was connected to a high-profile identity theft case victimizing her. Former Republican County of Sarasota chairman Bob Waechter was arrested in December 2012 on accusations he stole Ramirez's identity to make political donations in her name to Democrats using a prepaid credit card. Waechter pled guilty in December.

Ramirez said Waechter dined numerous times with Maio before the crime, and she feels Maio must have known about the crime. "He [Waechter] did what he did because he was trying to help Maio," she said. Maio has denied any involvement in that crime and dismissed the accusation from Ramirez. "I am not going down the Waechter trail," he said. 

Burns Court Café is currently playing host to an exhibition from the portfolio of retired photojournalist Mike Maple, currently a part-time Sarasota resident. Twelve of his photos, taken from the mid-70s to the early 90s, adorn the walls in sleek black frames, their subjects often in stark black and white, showcasing some of Maple’s most memorable moments in a career spanning several decades and multiple continents. A reception with the artist will be held this Friday at 7pm at Burns Court Café.

Maple caught the photography bug at an early age, in high school in Tennessee. He worked for a horse-show photographer, taking shots and developing them in the traveling camper/darkroom, selling them on the road. It was interesting, but Maple wanted to move on.

“Someone said if you want to be a photographer, go to New York,” said Maple. “I didn’t know any better, so I bought a one-way ticket.”

Arriving in New York, Maple wrangled himself a job at Time-Life through sheer perseverance, showing up at the office without an appointment and calling the homes of photographers he’d seen in the paper.

Maple’s assignments took him around the globe, from the snake-handling preachers of West Virginia to the Ivory Coast of Africa and even to El Salvador in 1981, in the midst of a brutal civil war where many photojournalists met their end. He didn’t stay too long. (“I decided that was not a good way to extend one’s longevity”)

The Burns Court exhibit is a selection of some of the more colorful subjects met and memorable moments had along the way. The famous stoner-comedy duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong make an appearance, as does Ronald Reagan on the campaign trail and assassin James Earl Ray.

Not all are celebrities; some are charming bits of Americana, such as the straight on portrait of an old woman eating her lunch of sardines and crackers in an old general store off Memphis’ Beale Street. She stares defiantly into the camera and thus right at the viewer.

And still some are mementos of exotic oddities, like the gas station in Africa that sold gas metered out in salvaged wine bottles, measured one at a time.

“It took an hour and a half to fill up my suburban,” Maple said with a grin. 

With a bigger investment in creating a more employable community, Goodwill Manasota has hired Eladio Amores as the new director of employment partnerships. Amores brings over 10 years of experience as a corporate consultant for the Florida Department of Education Division of Vocational Rehabilitation where he assisted companies across the state with improving diversity and inclusion programs and solving employment issues. He also previously worked in the private sector in the human resources department. His experience and background made him the perfect fit for Goodwill Manasota, where the mission is changing lives through the power of work. 

Goodwill Manasota

Manatee Technical Institute

Real estate agent Joey Lamielle of RE/MAX Alliance Group has earned the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) designation. The ABR designation demonstrates an agent's commitment to providing outstanding service for real estate buyers. A former professional golfer, Lamielle is a member of the Lee Brewer Team. He has been a Sarasota resident for 25 years, and has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers. 

RE/MAX Alliance Group

On October 4^th, 2014, we welcome the start of entertainment season with our gala of the year, SRQ Bal Masqué. Days prior to our soiree, the October edition of SRQ | The Magazine will arrive in your mailboxes and be disseminated throughout local retailers and establishments. The special sections we have planned for October SRQ include our Season Arts Preview, “Legal Who’s Who”, and Regional Hospitals. If you and your organization are connected to the entertainment, legal, or health industries, then reserve your spot in one of these featured sections by today, Thursday 8/14.  

Click To See Our Special Profile Sections