PelicanPress SIESTA KEY
AN OBSERVER NEWSPAPER
FREE • Thursday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
milestone
Beloved volunteer celebrates her 100th birthday. PAGE 5A
OUR TOWN
all in
SPORTS
DIVERSIONS
Riverview Rams junior makes some hard hits. pAGE 17A
The Sarasota Opera’s Richard Russell returns to familiar surroundings. INSIDE
by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
Ocean Club meets code A Siesta Key business veteran plans to roll the dice on a business some critics label as ‘legalized gambling.’ A new type of surfer may soon frequent the vacant space previously occupied by a surf shop in south Siesta Key Village. Alex Gutierrez, a Siesta Key property owner and 23-year resident, applied for a certificate of
occupancy with Sarasota County Planning and Development Services July 20, for an Internet café. After approval by county staff for building, zoning and the health department codes, all that remains before Ocean Club can of-
ficially open at 5263 Ocean Blvd. is a fire code inspection. Ocean Club would be the first such business on Siesta, which has some residents and civic leaders concerned about the impact on the area. Gutierrez, who
once owned the Beach Club, said Ocean Club would operate similar to 777 Internet cafés around Sarasota County, in which customers can pay for Internet time to check email, surf the web, receive faxes — and play casinostyle Internet games. “As a community, we’re go-
SEE CLUB / PAGE 2A
Nick Friedman
Don Malawsky and Jackie LeClaire
+ Circus Sarasota unveils offices Circus Sarasota held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to showcase the completion of the newly renovated administrative offices Wednesday, Sept. 19. The renovations were made possible by a $75,000 grant from the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation. Circus Sarasota acquired the management of the Sailor Circus program last October, and the two are now united in one location.
+ New face seen at St. Michael’s St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 5394 Midnight Pass Road, has hired Chelle Maida as its new director of religious education. Maida was hired in July and is now working with the 42 children involved in the children’s programs at the church. For adults, she will be offering Bible study, short class seminars on different topics of the church and a retreat for women. Maida began her ministry of religious education as a director of faith formation in New York and has spent the last seven years working with children and adults at Our Lady of the Angels, in Bradenton. “I am honored and privileged to share my faith journey here at St. Michael the Archangel and I look forward to meeting new families and making new friendships,” said Maida.
ALL SMILES ChapelKidz student Polly Teffenhart, 1, enjoys a chocolate-chip cookie during Siesta Key Chapel’s open house Sunday, Sept. 23.
leaky reserves
by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
WCIND funding faces tighter budget It’s no longer smooth sailing for the four-county taxing district’s funding for Sarasota County waterway projects. Economic indicators show signs of improvement, but lagging effects from the recession hit the West Coast Inland Navigation District hard this year. The district provides grant funding and direction for navigable waterway projects in four counties: Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Lee County. The
Bay Island Park seawall replacement on Siesta Key and 10 other countywide projects in Sarasota County’s 2013-2017 Proposed Capital Improvement Plan, have been designated to use WCIND grants for funding this year, according to the 2013 fiscal year budget. And the district will collect about 3% of county
property taxes this year. But, Sarasota County is “walking a tightrope with no net,” according to Sarasota County Coastal Manager Laird Wreford during a Sept. 19 Coast Advisory Committee meeting. And county staff might have to rein
SEE RESERVES / PAGE 2A
Rachel S. O’Hara
WCIND County Navigation Improvement Fund balance
$9 million
$6.5 million
FY 2011–’12
FY 2012–’13
Source: WCIND
INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds ........ 25A
Cops Corner....... 14A Crossword.......... 24A
Opinion .............. 8A Real Estate........ 22A
Sports................ 17A Weather............. 24A
Vol. 43, No. 9 | Two sections YourObserver.com