Really only one story this morning, and it’s a still-developing one: Two gunmen in ski masks storm a Venice T.J. Maxx and take eight employees hostage around 9:30 p.m. last night. At 12:30 a.m., a Sarasota County SWAT team storms the building, rescues the hostages, but (as of 2 a.m.) the gunmen are nowhere to be found. More information will surely be forthcoming as the day rolls on.
COVER STORY
— What’s next for Jannus Landing? The life, death and rebirth of a beloved concert venue.
NEWS & VIEWS
— Image of the week: Same-sex marriage supporters March for equality in downtown Sarasota.
— The week that was: Rounding up local headlines.
— .Com-ments: Bahi Hut, El Guaro, local hooch, Safe Sex Halloween Bash.
— Remember the Orlando Democrat who summed up the Republican health care plan thusly: “If you get sick, America, the Republican health-care plan is this: Die quickly“? Well, the man who said those words — Rep. Alan Grayson — is coming to Sarasota to address the Democratic Club of Sarasota on Dec. 6.
— A local Republican Party committee has some fiery words for the Sarasota County School Board and the 1-mill property tax renewal it has placed on March 2010 ballots: “It is necessary to replace all current school board members regardless of party affiliation as their actions have shown a disregard for one of our party’s core beliefs.”
— “The city of Sarasota is issuing a call to artists to create sculptures, which will be placed throughout downtown. A dozen sculptures will be chosen for display, and one of those 12 will be purchased by the city for $20,000 and put on permanent display.”
— Sheriff Tom Knight faces allegations of accepting illegal campaign contributions last year: “The accusations first surfaced during the campaign but have now landed Knight in the sights of state investigators trying to find out whether he took money from fictitious businesses.”
— Westfield Shoppingtown: Southgate will be 243,000 square feet bigger by 2013.
— High school marching band enrollment is down for some reason, despite the fact that it’s a proven path to success in the world of hip-hop. Right, Saturns?
— Senate candidate Marco Rubio wins a straw poll conducted by the Republican Club of South Sarasota County, and Red County reports there is dissatisfaction with the Sarasota County party leadership: “Talking with those attending this meeting there is a serious concern about Governor Crist being named the ‘Statesman of the Year’ by Republican Party of Sarasota Chairman Joe Gruters. Many I spoke with are planning to boycott the event, which is the largest local party fundraiser of the year. I heard several RCSSC say they will send the $100 per seat price for the Statesmen Dinner being held on December 13, 2009 to the Rubio Campaign as a donation.”
Another 941 Book CL-B entry, another gift from the exceptionally well-read Peter Hooten. This week it’s a script adaptation by James Merrill of his National Book Award-winning epic poem, The Changing Light at Sandover, an adaptation Hooten himself helped usher along when he produced and acted in a video based on the script.
Both the original poem and Voices From Sandover prominently feature elements of the occult, and revolve around messages Merrill transcribed during sessions around the Ouija board. By necessity then, Voices — and I’m assuming Changing Light, too, although I haven’t read it — is a scattered, anti-rational work, full of competing voices from disembodied poets — Wallace Stevens, W. H. Auden — and ancient gods.
— Local media outlets wrap up Veterans Day events: The Bradenton Herald covers Manatee County ceremonies, the Observer has a slideshow from the Sarasota event and WWSB ABC 7 gives you footage from Venice.
— MC Coolidge honors veterans with a column about her time volunteering at a homeless shelter that housed American vets.
— Lael Hazan (who so graciously blogs for us here at Creative Loafing) just got picked up by Sarasota Magazine as well! Congrats to her! Check out her first blog post — on a very yummy topic — here.
Creative Loafing Half-Hour Variety Hour: Episode #35 (Part 1)
Creative Loafing Half-Hour Variety Hour: Episode #35 (Part 2)
It’s that time again, folks! Time for more of the best banter on the Suncoast!
This week, Tim and I welcome a very special guest to the 1220 AM and 106.9 FM WSRQ studios: Contributing Writer Robert Johnson!
To kick things off, we chat with Tim about his cover story for this week’s issue, covering two new ways to get your hands on locally produced hooch. Then, in part two, we discuss Robert’s feature this week, updating readers on what’s been happening at the Sarasota Boxing Club since his original tale of the place. Then Tim jumps back on the mic and wraps things up with some observations from a recent Q&A he conducted with Sen. Bob Graham.
Listen up!
— “Tuesday the first ever full military caisson burial ceremony was held at the new Sarasota National Cemetery. This is one of the few services of this type ever to be held outside Arlington National Cemetery.” (And don’t forget: Today’s Veterans Day parade starts at 10 a.m. at the corner of Main Street and Osprey Avenue and ends at Gulfstream Avenue.)
— The City of Sarasota hands over Ed Smith Stadium to Sarasota County for the tidy sum of $1.
— We’ve already heard what Rep. Vern Buchanan had to say about health care reform at a Monday luncheon; Kim Cartlidge fills you in on the rest of Buchanan’s thoughts.
— This is just really, really dumb: “U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan told a Sarasota audience Monday that he voted against the health care reform bill because he thinks it will lead to rationed care and the government ‘pulling the plug’ on grandmothers to save money.” Puh. Leeze.
— It’s a rare story that makes me wish I was a middle-schooler again, but Christopher O’Donnell’s profile of a Bayshore High School class that teaches the history of hip-hop and also requires students to perform their own tracks does it. Unfortunately, methinks it can’t be long before some idiot who can’t stand the rap music launches a campaign to get the program shut down.
— “In a 40-page strategic plan released Monday, Nov. 9, Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight identifies five major goals that will guide the sheriff’s office for the next five years.”
