SARASOTA
Observer
Join the club.
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YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 14, NO. 8
YOUR TOWN
FREE
Balk in the park
Residents want straight answers to fix tricky curve.
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This isn’t an everyday sight
First things first
Downtown businesses are once again celebrating the police, firefighters and emergency responders who work in the heart of the city, designating January as the second annual First Responders Appreciation Month. Sponsored by the Downtown Improvement District, organizers are teaming with local restaurants to offer $50 meal vouchers to first responders working downtown. They will also distribute signs and pins with positive messages throughout downtown storefronts. And on Jan. 24, students from Sarasota Military Academy, Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences, St. Martha Catholic School and Southside Elementary School will show their gratitude for first responders in an event at the Sarasota Police Department.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018
Slow down, Siesta!
Photo courtesy Joe Volpe
A Siesta Key resident was shocked Jan. 16, when he looked outside and saw a 12-foot yellow python trying to slither out of the canal behind his home. “[My wife] wasn’t too thrilled,” said Joe Volpe, who fished the snake out with his pool brush. He said it seemed to be in shock because of the cold. When Justin Matthews arrived from Matthews Wildlife Rescue, he took the creature to a vet, who determined it had a slight head injury and was smaller than it should have been. Matthews suspects, from its coloring, the albino reticulated python was a pet someone set free. In all his time in Sarasota, Matthews said he’s never seen a python. He plans to keep it.
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County leaders alert cities to possible cutbacks on spending for recreation.
PAGE 3A A+E Cassidy Alexander
Anne Bryant and Georgia take a walk at Arlington Park, one of several city-owned, countyoperated parks that may lose funding as Sarasota County considers how to reduce its budget.
Builder quits affordable housing plan Harvey Vengroff says a lack of flexibility is holding the city back. PAGE 6A
A new twist on ballet.. INSIDE