SRQ DAILY Oct 1, 2020
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"Families are experiencing hardships regardless of their financial background and those hardships make it difficult to put food on the table. We want anyone who is struggling to feed their families to know that we are here for them with food and support."
State Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, touts his efforts to boost fines for sewage spills. But Democratic challenger Katherine Norman said the Legislature has failed to take proactive steps with the environment.
Norman, who has worked closely with the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida on building a campaign, said it’s not enough to focus on pollution after it takes place. Lawmakers in Tallahassee should work instead on building better wastewater facilities, working directly with cities, counties and private utilities.
“We need to talk about infrastructure changes,” Norman said. “We need much more broad action. There’s no reason sewage continues to come into our waterway, and it shouldn’t be swept under the rug. But what we need is to invest in more wastewater treatment plants right now.”
Gruters sponsored legislation signed into law this year that increases fines for spills by 50% for polluters, including government sources like city and county utilities. He also put leverage within legislation giving the Department of Environmental Protection leverage if the providers are investing in infrastructure improvements to prevent further spills. He made the legislation a major focus of his first television ad in the district, he said, because of the importance of clean water for every facet of life in the state.
“There is nothing more important to the future of Florida than our water quality,” he said. “Water truly is the lifeblood of Florida, and as a fourth-generation Sarasotan and a father of three young children, it has been and will continue to be my priority to protect and improve all of our waterways.”
Gruters has also worked to bring funding for red tide research, including ongoing funding for an institute at Mote Marine Laboratory, to find solutions to such algal blooms that ravaged the coast in 2018 and continue to create problems in lakes and waterways.
Norman, for her part, considers such funding a smokescreen. The cause of red tide at this point is well known, she said, and the Legislature rather should look at ways to prevent the further dumping of biosolids in Florida waterways by agriculture and development interests.
Gruters won election to the Senate District 23 in 2018 after spending two years in the House. He’s up for reelection again because he was elected to serve out the remainder of now U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota. This is Norman’s first run for office after moving to the region in 2013. District 23 includes all of Sarasota County and north Charlotte County. 
Tidewell Hospice is using technology to enhance its care programs and provide patients and their loved ones moments of joy and relief from pain and social isolation. The virtual reality (VR) platform allows groups of people to leave the four walls of their residence and engage with the world in ways they never thought possible. “It was an amazing experience for everyone, myself included,” Zeliff said. “We went skydiving, enjoyed an elephant safari, explored a volcano and visited the International Space Station. The patient and his wife had a friendly competition popping virtual balloons. At the end of our experience, we relaxed with the technology’s meditation app, which guided them through breathing techniques while in a calming meadow.”
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium announces a NEW 24/7 hotline for reporting distressed, injured or deceased sea turtles, manatees, dolphins or whales in the Sarasota/Manatee region. The new number, 888-345-2335, is effective immediately. Mote's Stranding Investigations Program responds to reports of distressed, injured or deceased sea turtles, manatees, dolphins or whales throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties. Members of the community are strongly advised to report to the hotline, and are advised to NOT attempt to assist any distressed or injured animal on their own. Mote's Stranding Investigations Program will be able to better serve local marine life with even faster response time.
The Atlanta Braves and 5 Star National will host top tier collegiate baseball players from around the United States at CoolToday Park, the Spring Training home of the Atlanta Braves from November 29 through December 22. “I would like to thank the Braves for allowing our 5 Star National Organization to partner with them on this unique opportunity for amateur baseball players,” said Andy Burress, owner and national high school director for 5 Star National. Players interested in registering should visit: https://5starcollege.leagueapps.com/signup?bid=1862488. Friday night games will be played under the lights in the main stadium on December 4th, 11th and 18th at 4:30pm and 6:30pm in a double header fashion. Additionally, the teams will play on Wednesdays and Fridays on the Quad. General admission tickets will be $10 each and Family Passes will be $75.
For more information contact CoolToday Park at springtraining@braves.com or call 941-413-5000.
ITNSuncoast is proud to welcome Deral Pitts as the newest addition to their staff. Pitts will take over the duties as Executive Director, overseeing strategic planning and operations of the organization in support of our mission and goals. He has previously served as the Chief Executive Officer at two different Boys & Girls Clubs organizations. He also has experience as a Unit Director and Program Director of a non-profit organization.
The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast (“Perlman Suncoast”) is excited to announce that Lisa Berger has been named the organization’s new Executive Director. Prior to joining Perlman Suncoast, Berger was affiliated with Art Center Sarasota for twelve years – serving on the Board of Directors; as Development and Marketing Director; and, for the last eight years, as Executive Director. “I am looking forward to having a visionary like Lisa, with her many talents and long-standing ties in the community, leading The Perlman Music Program/Suncoast," said Fran Lambert, Board President. “We are thrilled to welcome her as the newest member of our team.”
Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce a preliminary lineup for the 2020 season of “HD at the Opera House” opening on Sunday, October 4th. The presentations will include Bizet’s Carmen from the Zürich Opera House, Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty ballet from Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly from Teatro Real in Madrid. Each presentation will begin at 1:30pm. More titles may be added to the schedule in coming weeks. Tickets to “HD at the Opera House” are $20 for single ticket buyers and $18 for current Sarasota Opera subscribers. All seating will be reserved and distanced for safety.
PulteGroup, Inc. is honoring those who serve our community every day through the homebuilder’s new “Hometown Heroes” program that offers active teachers, nurses, EMS, police and fire fighters – along with active and retired military – a special $2,000 incentive when they purchase a new home in a Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta or Centex community in Southwest Florida, from Sarasota to the Fort Myers and Naples area. “Pulte recognizes the hard work and dedication of essential employees throughout our region,” said Josh Graeve, vice president of sales for PulteGroup in Southwest Florida. “This special offer is our way of thanking our heroes for all they do for us while serving on our front lines every day.” The new $2,000 savings program, which is effective on new purchases as of Oct. 1, 2020, is applied as a credit toward personalizing a new home with selections from the builder’s design center.
As the financial impact of the coronavirus continues to be felt, the ongoing issue of hunger has reached a crisis point. With an approximately 120% increase in distribution – and a nearly 45% increase in new clients at its mobile pantries – since mid-March, All Faiths Food Bank has adapted to the crisis by changing its operations and adding resources and staff in order to expand and enhance services, and more efficiently find and feed those who are hungry. All Faiths hired a researcher to analyze the Meal Deficit Metric with the goal of identifying new areas with insufficient or no services. Armed with this information, All Faiths explored where it can engage new agency partners, hold additional mobile pantries, and supplement its staff. “As the pandemic continues to hit our community hard, we’re working harder and smarter to find people who may never have had to ask for help before,” said Sandra Frank, CEO of All Faiths. “Families are experiencing hardships regardless of their financial background and those hardships make it difficult to put food on the table. We want anyone who is struggling to feed their families to know that we are here for them with food and support.”
To learn more about All Faiths go to allfaithsfoodbank.org or call 941-379-6333. Pictured: All Faiths Food Bank volunteers Ellie Wilson (left) and Maria Marin-Diaz load food into a community member's car during a recent distribution at the Glasser/Schoe
Manatee County's new Building Official announces new Building Official Stephanie Raucci is a former construction business owner who superiors say will carry on the Building Department's longstanding reputation for stellar customer service. “Stephanie has demonstrated a quality to lead people and see the big picture when it comes to the building industry,” said Building and Development Services Director John Barnott. “CJ Dupre’ set the standard for quality work and good customer service with the industry. Stephanie will continue forward that legacy.”
Trendsport: Hobbies.
Click here to read the full article from SRQ's New September 2020 edition.
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Ron Turner is reminding county residents that Monday, October 5 is the last day to register to be eligible to vote in the November 3, 2020 general election. All three county elections offices in Sarasota, North Port and Venice will remain open until 6pm on October 5th to receive and process applications.
Please join in celebrating the architectural legacy of Carl Abbott FAIA at this year's SarasotaMOD.
Jennifer and Austin delighted judges and audience members alike at Artist Series Concerts’ 2016 National Voice Competition, where they took first and second place respectively. Fast-forward to 2020 and the duo, each now pursuing a busy music career, returns to Sarasota to perform together for the organization’s 25th season. Soprano Jennifer Kreider is pursuing a performer’s diploma under the guidance of Jane Dutton at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Her past roles include Musetta (La Bohème), Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), Linfea (La Calisto) and many others. She has been a young artist at Opera in the Ozarks, the CoOPERAtive Program in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria. A native of Brandon, Florida, tenor Austin Cripe is currently pursuing his master’s degree at Florida State University. He has performed with Florida State Opera in the roles of Gastone in La Traviata, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the title role in Candide and others. He has also performed with Red River Lyric Opera, the Savannah Voice Festival and Opera Tampa. The trio performs works by Brahms, Donizetti, Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern and more. With Austin Cripe, tenor; and Joseph Holt, piano
Welcome to Out of the Blue 2020 – a unique Live Online Event and Costume Contest supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Throughout the month of October, you will have the opportunity to enter a picture of your best “BLUE” costume. On October 29th from 6:30-8:00 pm, NAMI will host a Live Online Zoom event emceed by entertainer Jonathan Cortez and featuring local artists and talent all in support of NAMI. Our evening will wrap up by announcing the Costume Contest winners with a “Best in Blue” winner in each category. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to have fun creating a “Bluetiful” costume along with an enjoyable – and safe – evening of entertainment.
Thanks to the pandemic, the United States plunged from a record-breaking economic expansion to a severe recession. What choices do we need to make to reverse that trend and secure our economic future? William Dudley (’71-’74) is a senior research scholar at Princeton University’s Center for Economic Policy Studies. He served as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2009 to 2018 and was also the vice chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee. In 2019, Dudley spoke about our nation’s record-breaking economic expansion. Shortly after, the pandemic cut that short. With breathtaking speed, the United States economy has plunged from its recent heights to the deepest recession in decades. The American economy is sick. What is Dudley’s prescription to bring the patient back to health? What choices must we make to jump-start a recovery? How long will it take to turn things around? Depending on our choices, Dudley will define the best-case and worst-case scenarios.
Orphaned children from Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) collaborate to craft a collective fairytale drawn from their darkest memories and brightest dreams. Their fictional character, Liyana is brought to life through animated artwork as she embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her young twin brothers. As the children’s real and imagined worlds converge, they must choose the kind of story they will tell, both in fiction and in their own lives. This genre-defying film weaves their animated hero’s journey with poetic documentary scenes to create an inspiring tale of perseverance that reveals the strength of the human spirit and the healing power of storytelling. Liyana has won more than 35 jury and audience awards and has been screened at more than 100 film festivals around the world. Moderator: Julie Cotton.
Online
As part of Florida Studio Theatre’s Suffragist Project, an artistic celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of women’s right to vote, this stellar all-female quartet which includes Artist Series Concerts co-founder Lee Dougherty Ross, performs pieces by Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach and Marion Bauer. The concert was filmed in July 2020 at Church of the Palms in Sarasota. Women of Note is hosted by Marcy Miller, executive director of Artist Series, and features cameo appearances by Kate Alexander, Ariel Blue and Meg Gilbert. With Jenny Kim-Godfrey, soprano; Robyn Rocklein, mezzo soprano; Gail Berenson and Lee Dougherty Ross, piano.
No name has dominated Sarasota’s history like that of John Ringling, commonly known today as the “circus king who built a museum and started an art school.” A century ago, Ringling and his wife, Mable, spent a dozen quiet winters in Sarasota before the dramatic Florida Land Boom began in the 1920s. Always one to recognize opportunity, Ringling, often working with developer Owen Burns, seized the chance to profit from his significant land holdings in Sarasota and on its barrier islands. While developers George Merrick, Addison Mizner, Glenn Curtiss and Carl Fisher fought over the Miami-Palm Beach corridor, Ringling had freshly minted Sarasota County largely all to himself. This program traces the riches-to-ruin story of both the Florida Boom and John Ringling. He had many acquaintances but few friends, yet he reshaped Sarasota’s image and helped make it the cultural capital it is today. In this lecture, you will learn details of Ringling’s life that go far beyond the common perception. Tickets: $15. Members: $10. Registration Closes On: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 @ 12:00 AM
Online Seminar
From Young Concert Artists comes one of the most versatile string quartets in classical music today. The Omer Quartet is quickly gaining a reputation for “fearless renderings” (the New York Times) of the standard quartet repertoire as well as compelling performances of works by today’s composers. The ensemble burst onto the scene with top prizes at Borciani, Trondheim, and Bordeaux in Europe all in one year, having already captured the Fischoff National Competition Grand Prize. The quartet was awarded first prize in the 2017 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions and recently debuted at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Joining the quartet from Young Concert Artists is accordion virtuoso Hanzhi Wang. Praised for her captivating stage presence and performances that are technically and musically masterful, this groundbreaking young musician is the only accordionist in 59 years to win a place on the YCA roster. 3pm Pre-Concert Wine Reception. Tickets are $42.
Jennifer and Austin delighted judges and audience members alike at Artist Series Concerts’ 2016 National Voice Competition, where they took first and second place respectively. Fast-forward to 2020 and the duo, each now pursuing a busy music career, returns to Sarasota to perform together at the first soirée series concert of the organization’s 25th season. Soprano Jennifer Kreider is pursuing a performer’s diploma under the guidance of Jane Dutton at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Her past roles include Musetta (La Bohème), Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), Linfea (La Calisto) and many others. She has been a young artist at Opera in the Ozarks, the CoOPERAtive Program in Princeton, New Jersey, and the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien, Austria. A native of Brandon, Florida, tenor Austin Cripe is currently pursuing his master’s degree at Florida State University. He has performed with Florida State Opera in the roles of Gastone in La Traviata, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the title role in Candide and others. He has also performed with Red River Lyric Opera, the Savannah Voice Festival and Opera Tampa. Tickets are $53.
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