SIESTA KEY
SEASON FA L L 2 0 17
Observer
THE OBS ERV
Formerly the Pelican Press
E R ’S G U IDE TO T HE ARTS AND SOC IETY
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YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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VOLUME 48, NO. 12
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017
Long road ahead
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy photo
Sarasota born and Rays
It will take years to build U.S. 41 roundabouts.
Sarasota native Kyle Snyder is finally rounding the bases and headed home. The Riverview graduate will be taking over for Jim Hickey next season as pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced this week. Snyder pitched for the University of North Carolina for three years before getting picked in the first round of the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals. His pitching career ended in 2012 when he was hired by the Rays as a minor-league pitching coach. This will be Snyder’s first post in the major leagues as a coach.
DAVID CONWAY DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR
“R
oundabout” has been a buzzword for nearly a decade in Sarasota, a point of emphasis that has produced plans to build three of them on U.S. 41 by 2020. In November, the Florida Department of Transportation will embark on Sarasota’s largest roundabout project to date, breaking ground on a pair of two-lane roundabouts on U.S. 41 at 10th and 14th streets. SEE ROUNDABOUTS, PAGE 3
Anna Brugmann
Cmdr. Joe Hembree holds son, Jacob Hembree, after returning home from a more than yearlong deployment in Djibouti, a country in east Africa.
File photo
Robyn Erhardt and Tom Magliula at last year’s Taste of St. Armands
Taste of St. Armands postponed St. Armands foodies will have to wait a few more months for the eighth annual Taste of St. Armands. The event, which was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7, has been postponed until Jan. 20 because of Hurricane Irma. The event will take place from 5-8 p.m. with more than 18 participating restaurants, wineries and microbreweries. Tickets are $55 in advance and $65 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online at eventbrite.com and searching for “Taste of St. Armands.”
Daddy’s home Joe Hembree was expecting a welcome party, just maybe not one quite so large.
A+E
ANNA BRUGMANN STAFF WRITER
M
elissa Hembree and her four children had waited 389 days for Navy Cmdr. Joe Hembree to return home. But of those days, the last 15 minutes seemed to last the longest.
SEE PAGE 4
Growing up New garage part of Selby Gardens’ plans. PAGE 6
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Painting on a living canvas. INSIDE