SIESTA KEY
Health Matters JUNE 2020
Observer
Finding
calm chaos
Observer
in the
In times of uncertainty, scheduling self-care into your life is the first step to managing your mental health. PAGE 2
INSIDE
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VIRTUAL MEDICINE
What you need to know on telehealth.
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VOLUME 50, NO. 48
FREE
DISASTER LEFTOVERS
How to use the stack of cans in your cupboard.
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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020
Amid national unrest, police, activists, residents and elected officials discuss priorities.
Courtesy photo
Virtual event, real blessing
Just imagine what a dog or cat must think while attending a Zoom meeting. Temple Emanu-El’s 13th annual blessing of the animals June 7 took on a different look this year, going virtual. But the sentiments were very real. Instead of visiting the temple, pets — birds and bunnies joined the more typical companions — all were spotlighted on Zoom and then drew praise from their owners for all on the call to hear and see.
DAVID CONWAY DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR
G
Instructor honored
In tune with Dad Kids chat with us about how fathers are cool. SEE PAGE 22
athered outside of the Goodwill on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Newtown, the leaders of a protest against police brutality and racial injustice were intent on striking a different tone from previous demonstrations. Four days earlier, protesters decrying the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., had taken a knee alongside law enforcement personnel outside of the Sarasota Police Department in a show of solidarity. But on June 6, organizers had no interest in that sort of camaraderie, which they felt undermined the message they wanted to communicate. With a crowd of hundreds gathered to listen, speakers rallied against the police as a rotten institution, calling out local law enforcement leaders and outlining specific demands for major reforms. “We are not here for photo ops with the cops,” Kenra Whyte said. “We are not here for kneeling with CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Harry Sayer
Rob and Luke Rominiecki often play music together.
Show spins thrills
Turtle Tracks AS OF JUNE 13 TOTAL NESTS: 2020 2019 Siesta Key 228 359 Lido Beach 59 33 Casey Key 598 1,018
Wallenda show at Benderson runs another weekend. SEE PAGE 17
TOTAL FALSE CRAWLS: 2020 2019 Siesta Key 231 569 Lido Beach 88 92 Casey Key 718 1,335 Source: Mote Marine Laboratory
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Reform factors
YOUR TOWN
A retired Army officer who now teaches as Sarasota Military Academy is U.S. Army Cadet Command’s Senior Army Instructor of the Year for 2020. In addition to his role as senior ROTC instructor at the school, Morris “Ben” Weiss, a retired lieutenant colonel, is commandant of cadets. Among the accomplishments achieved by Weiss, as written in the letter of nomination, are annual trips he organizes to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for students. SMA has eight graduates attending West Point, one senior with a letter of acceptance to West Point, one waiting to hear and one senior with a letter of acceptance to the Air Force Academy.
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PICTURE OF HEALTH
Discover reinvigoration in fun exercise.
Harry Sayer
Tevin Delmonte races across a spinning wheel.
A+E
Refocusing photography. SEE PAGE 18