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More than 300 high school students from Manatee and Sarasota counties attended Manatee Technical College’s “Construction Rodeo" Thursday.
The event was created to introduce students to career opportunities in construction and other trades.
There were several hands-on demonstrations, including one where students brazed copper air conditioning lines.
“We do this in partnership with the schools, to help them get hands on activity, show the kids what’s out there, generate that interest, and they can come out of high school with a good-paying job,” said Gulf Coast Builders Exchange executive director Mary Dougherty.
GCBX, a not-for-profit construction industry trade organization, sponsored the Construction Rodeo. The event brought together more than 30 local businesses to meet with students at Manatee Technical College to give them opportunities to experience careers that some may have never even considered.
“My favorite was the diesel — learning how to turn on the lights and turn on the turn signals," said Parrish Community High School senior Emily Evans. "But other than that, I liked the welding as well over there."
While welding was Emily’s favorite, she also tried painting. Welding won over a lot of the students, including MTC student Madison Vremer, who joined her alma mater, Palmetto High School, to watching a welding demonstration.
“I’ve kind of always wanted to do things with my hands, for my entire life, and this I can progress and grow and all that kind of stuff,” she said.
Currently, experts say the construction industry exceeds the current workforce, which is why organizers said it’s so important to hold events like the Construction Rodeo.
“Not every kid is going to college, so we need to get this message to them where they live, that this is available in their community, there’s good careers, and they can do it,” said Dougherty.
The Sarasota Players is proud to announce its 95th Season as Sarasota’s community theatre. The event will be held at their theatre space at The Crossings at Siesta Key (3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34239) on March 18 at 6pm.
Staff and supporters of the first performing arts organization in Sarasota will enjoy performances and updates about the theatre, along with seeing the upcoming 2024-25 lineup for the first time! The event will feature light bites and is free to the public.
The Players is the perfect place for anyone in the community looking to become involved in the performing arts. From volunteering on the stage, in our costume shop, scenic department, painting or help us organize, there’s a way for everyone to join our family. It’s the perfect environment to learn and grow in. Even if you’ve never been involved with The Players, we encourage you to join us and learn more about what we have to offer.
*March 18 at 6pm, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 1130, Sarasota. Please park and enter the mall by Connor’s Steak and Seafood.
New to Florida and eager to learn more about the state’s often colorful history and culture? Or a longtime resident who’s looking for a refresher? You might find what you’re seeking with Once Upon a Time in Florida, a lavish new coffee table book published by the Florida Humanities, in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
Levine and some of the book’s contributing writers have been on a tour of the state for the book, one that brings them to Sarasota’s Selby Library on March 15. On the Sarasota panel will be longtime teacher, writer and filmmaker Maurice J. O’Sullivan and award-winning journalist Craig Pittman (a sometime writer for Sarasota Magazine). For more information about that, click here:
A Sarasota-based nonprofit group is taking a holistic approach to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.
Operation Warrior Resolution is seeing success with an alternative therapy method called brain-based healing.
While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers more traditional, evidence-based therapy methods, the nonprofit’s CEO, Kendra Simpkins, says these often require patients to relive their trauma or bring up painful memories. She wanted to provide a different way for veterans to heal.
“That can be highly traumatizing or retriggering, and that’s what the VA does. That’s just the typical treatment for trauma, to desensitize people,” said Simpkins. “As a clinical social worker, exposure therapy didn’t make sense to me, to cause more pain to get somebody out of pain. So, I’m looking to get people out of pain as quickly as possible.”
To do that, she turned to brain-based healing.
After being honorably discharged from the Army in 2010, Simpkins went on to get her master’s degree in social work and became an expert in combat-related trauma, PTSD, neuroscience, military and veteran transition, global health practices, and wellness program development.
She was eventually introduced to Rapid Resolution therapy, a method that “employs innovative concepts, multi-level communication, and specialized tools to effectively address emotional disturbance and maladaptive behavior,” according to the official RRT website.
After becoming certified in neuroscience and trauma-informed yoga, Simpkins determined experiential treatments offer people the best chance at healing.
Brain-based healing is an experiential process, meaning the clinician facilitates and guides the session. It is interactive, creative and can include movement.
“It just seems like a conversation, but the practitioner is very intentional in the languaging and the way that we’re speaking to somebody, because just in the way you speak to people it can cause an emotional response,” said Simpkins.
“We’ll use also some techniques to get the nervous system to start to come into a space of balance, because the nervous system has to be deactivated and they have to feel in the present moment in order for the brain to begin to resolve trauma.”
Guided meditation or guided visualization is often used to deactivate the nervous system before interactive techniques and movement are implemented to actually have the brain fully process the trauma.
NORTH PORT, Fla. — Many people in southwest Florida are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian more than a year later.
However, United Way of South Sarasota County and the nonprofit World Renew are helping several homeowners, such as Janina Migliaccio, build back their homes after the storm.
“From the roof, to like, everything," said North Port homeowner Janina Migliaccio. "My car, everything. I mean everything was affected.”
She said a miracle recently happened to her.
“I didn’t find [them], they found me," Migliaccio said. "[Hilda Dutton] just knocked on my door and we started talking.”
Dutton is the Director of Resilience and Recovery for United Way of South Sarasota County. She said she wanted to find people who needed help dealing with Ian damage. That’s when she crossed paths with Migliaccio.
“After I spoke with her, I realized she had been a victim of fraud from a public adjuster," Dutton said. "He had done some work and had left [her home] in a state where she didn’t even have water or a working bathroom. She couldn’t sleep. I mean, the house was uninhabitable."
Manatee County leaders are set to make a final decision on whether to buy land to expand Emerson Point Preserve in Palmetto at Tuesday’s commission meeting.
State officials have identified the 98-acre property right next door to the existing preserve as a “critical” area for conservation that could help protect fish, manatees and other wildlife, preserve important mangrove habitat and provide resilience against climate change.
The cost of the purchase would be covered by a voter-approved tax fund to buy conservation lands that was created by referendum in 2020. The majority of the purchase would also likely be refunded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which has expressed strong interest in purchasing the property from the county through the Florida Forever program.
That would free up those funds for the county to make additional conservation purchases.
The Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Committee — a citizen volunteer group that advises the county on conservation land purchases — recommended that the county purchase the property in April 2023. That same month, commissioners authorized staff to pursue buying it.
Commissioners unhappy with asking price
At a board meeting on February 27, several commissioners said they want to buy the land but are concerned about the price that the property owners are asking. Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge claimed the amount was “millions and millions” above the land’s appraised value.
“If we continue spending large amounts of money over asking price we’re going to be shooting ourselves in the foot,” Commissioner Amanda Ballard said.
Commissioner Ray Turner said the land’s future conservation value should not factor into whether the purchase is a good business deal for the county right now.
The property was appraised at a value of $11.1 million in September 2023. The property owner’s asking price has not been made public, and the county did not immediately respond to a records request Thursday asking the amount.
Under Florida law, local governments can choose to exempt offers and counteroffers on land purchases from public record “until an option contract is executed” or “until 30 days before a contract or agreement for purchase is considered for approval by the board of county commissioners.”
But members of local organizations and residents pushed back on the commissioners’ concerns, noting that the purchase will still be a good deal for the county with the state’s support.
Commissioner George Kruse spoke in favor of the purchase, noting that it was a better deal than what the county paid for the recently purchased Crooked River Ranch property. The county paid $11.2 million for those 68 acres along the Manatee River in Parrish.
Kruse made a motion for county staff to present a “best and final offer” for the land deal during the board’s Tuesday, March 12, public meeting, and the motion passed 5-2.
‘One-time-only opportunity’
In a call to action on the issue in February, the League of Women Voters of Manatee County called the land purchase a “unique and one-time-only opportunity.”
“The purchase of this property which will expand Emerson Preserve will be something we, and future generations, will enjoy and be proud of. Don’t let this slip through your fingers,” said an email from the League.
At a February 27 board meeting, members of the League, Suncoast Waterkeeper, the Manatee Fish & Game Association and ELMAC spoke in support of the purchase.
Not bragging, but just as a reference I have lived in Sarasota since the 1950s and have continued to love it despite the mind-bending development.
Rarely do I enter a fray over how it is run. But it was with alarm that I read Carrie Seidman’s column March 3 about a proposal to develop Ken Thompson Park.
If you know my old friend and local historian Jeff LaHurd even casually, you know his feelings about the Lido Casino, as it was an iconic piece of our collective lives and memories.
It was torn down almost overnight and replaced with a strip-mall-like complex.
Ken Thompson Park, on City Island, is in danger of becoming a profit-driven business, leased out for waterslides and such. Those places can be put up anywhere, but in the park one can see the sunset over Sarasota in a still-pristine environment.
Do yourself a favor, before it’s too late: Buy a sandwich, grab a beach chair, gather up some friends and go watch one of the prettiest sunsets you will ever see.
You may brand Ken Thompson Park as an underused park, but I see it as a priceless piece of Sarasota that should be kept for posterity.
It was under City Manager Ken Thompson’s watch that we lost the Lido Casino. Let’s not let history repeat itself.
For those who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Agave Bandido, a colorful, high-energy Mexican-inspired restaurant and tequila bar, the wait ends Monday, March 11, when the owners put out the open sign.
The new restaurant at 1550 Lakefront Drive in Lakewood Ranch’s Waterside Place , faces onto Kingfisher Lake, and is a feast for the eyes with its clustered Mexican skull chandeliers, colorful murals and plush booth and tableside seating.
Seating is also available along a room-length bar with its expansive tequila, mezcal and cocktail offerings, as well as on the lakeside patio.
It’s barely 8 a.m., and the sting of disappointment has already deflated whatever high spirits we woke up with.
We’ve checked into the ranger station at Myakka River State Park to hike to the alligator-abundant Deep Hole on Lower Myakka Lake. On its best days, it’s an alligator haven — tens, dozens, sometimes a hundred-plus in heaps along the shoreline, lazily soaking up the sun or drifting across the water.
The ranger on duty tells us today is not one of those days.
The ranger says this year’s El Niño, a periodic weather event that can disrupt an area’s seasonal rainfall, is probably to blame. The sinkhole’s water level is usually lower than the rest of the lake, making it a popular gator gathering spot for protection and reprieve, but recent rainfall has filled it in.
That means Deep Hole is neither deep nor much of a hole these days, but that hasn’t deterred tenacious tourists from making the trek. If everything above sounds enticing, it shouldn’t turn you away either: Deep Hole, even sans an unbelievable alligator attendance, is a worthwhile destination.
Everything you’ve heard about Deep Hole is pretty much true, including the early arrival. Yes, people do line up before the park opens to secure one of 30 permits allotted to visitors each day, and crowds have been known to grow so big rangers must turn people away.
To avoid any unfair advantages for eager explorers, rangers are habitually hush-hush on the whole affair, so it’s tough to pin an optimal arrival time. We shoot for the earlier end between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. and are comfortably first in line. By the time the park gates swing unceremoniously open at 8 a.m., there are only a few cars behind us, and minutes later, it’s just us and the trail.
Myakka River State Park — home to the state’s first designated wild and scenic river — prides itself as real Florida. You can catch bobcats, otters and more than 100 species of birds across 58 square miles of protected nature. Endangered species like the Florida burrowing owl have made their home on the dry prairie: a self-sustaining ecosystem unique to three areas north and west of Lake Okeechobee that makes up half of the park.
The real Florida. Untamed and uncut. The park’s wilderness preserve, despite surprisingly decent cell service, has no facilities and nary a vehicle coming to the rescue — save for the park ranger sent to take the morning readings. And they probably won’t offer you a ride.
Two miles and some change may sound like a stroll, but compound the distance with the heat and the bugs (then double it because, much to my shock and dismay, you do have to walk back), and it’s nothing to scoff at. Pack smart but pack light. Water, sunscreen, your favorite hat, and more water are your friends.
On a unanimous vote this week, the Sarasota County Commission to approve the appropriation of $1 million for new pickleball courts at Twin Lakes Park on Clark Road in Sarasota.
The item was listed as a Presentation Upon Request on the March 5 agenda, but no board member asked for staff comments, and no one had signed up to address the commissioners. It took longer for Chair Michael Moran to read the agenda item into the record than it took for Commissioner Mark Smith to make a motion to approve the funding, followed by Commissioner Ron Cutsinger’s seconding it and then the board vote.
As a county staff memo in the agenda packet explained, “On April 20, 2021, the County Commission approved the North County Athletic Facilities Master Plan,” which included a preliminary analysis and conceptual plans for four sites: the 17th Street Park, the Fruitville Park, the Youth Athletic Complex, and Twin Lakes Park.
“The conceptual plan for Twin Lakes Park proposes the addition of pickleball courts adjacent to the existing tennis courts at the park,” which stands at 6700 Clark Road, the memo noted. “The pickleball improvement project includes design and construction of six lighted pickleball courts, fencing, a shade structure, accessible pedestrian connections, and associated amenities,” the memo continued. “This project also includes potential lighting for the existing tennis courts.”
The location of the tennis courts and the proposed pickleball courts is near the site of the planned multi-purpose building, the memo said. That structure will be part of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Administration Facility that the commissioners have agreed to include on the park property, as The Sarasota News Leader has reported.
That multi-purpose building will have restrooms available for park visitors to use via an external entrance, the memo indicated.
“Construction of new pickleball courts would continue to advance the department’s effort toward increasing the number of pickleball courts to help meet the demand and also to provide separate dedicated courts for pickleball and for tennis,” the memo pointed out.
Twin Lakes Park is centrally located in the county, “with access to major roads and Interstate 75,” the memo added.
Funding for the pickleball courts will come out of both North County and South County Park Impact Fee revenue, the memo said. “Staff will work with [the] Capital Projects and Procurement [departments] to procure a design and construction contractor for the project,” the memo noted.
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