the 941

— After five months on administrative leave, Sarasota Police Chief Peter Abbott will learn whether or not he will keep his job today, as the City of Sarasota prepares to release all 3,000 pages of the Hillsborough Sheriff’s investigation into the Sarasota Police Department.

— The man who will make the decision on Abbott’s future, City Manager Robert Bartolotta, gets mostly positive marks during his annual review before the Sarasota City Commission.

— As all that happens, the citizen review board created to oversee SPD actions in the wake of the Juan G. Perez fiasco receives its mandate and finalizes its membership.

— And in amazingly non-Sarasota-Police-Department-related news, Erin Murphy (aka Maid Mosephine, of Maid Mosephine and the Equines — who just happen to have a new EP out, by the way) has a guest blog post up on CL Contributing Writer Michael Hamad’s new music site, 4GBs. Check ‘er out.

Bookmark to:

It’s a well-known fact that gay men tend to take better care of themselves than their straight counterparts. Add a great haircut, tanned and toned muscles, and fantasies start taking shape. Sometimes in Speedos. Let’s take two of these guys and make them a couple. The average income for gay men is higher than the average income for straight guys. So now we have two hot guys with a considerable amount of  money between them and they look great in skimpy thongs. The gay guys have no children — in most cases. They have no college funds to pay into. Or braces to make payments on. That makes for expendable income. Wouldn’t that be a great couple to attract to Sarasota? Either to vacation or to live?

(more…)

Bookmark to:

— Venice T.J. Maxx staffers who suffered through Tuesday night’s insane hostage crisis in the store talk more about their harrowing experiences. Other fallout? Turns out the police still don’t know who they’re looking for: “Hours later, Venice police had few leads, saying only that they were pursuing two white suspects. Witnesses could provide little information because the intruders were masked and wore gloves.”

— Community leaders in Newtown — including City Commissioner Fredd “Glossie” Atkins — say a recent uptick in murders in the neighborhood is due to a decreased number of cops on the beat.

— The Tallevast Community Center begins work on a community “wall” garden. Planting in the ground remains off-limits due to the neighborhood’s poisoned groundwater.

— The topic for today’s Tiger Bay Club get-together? Offshore oil drilling. Sure to be lively.

— Richard Swier at Red County Sarasota looks at Sarasota County schools’ FCAT numbers, and wonders if money spent teaching to the test is worth it.

Bookmark to:

Here’s the thing about languages that aren’t dead: They grow and evolve (Sorry, Latin — have a neat summer!), most notably by adapting to their contexts. These days, obviously, that context involves the Internet and its trends and memes. Keep that in mind as I point out this headline about the Country Music Awards:

I expect the headline writer hadn’t intended my first thought would be that I had no idea this…

(more…)

Bookmark to:

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.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

“Quern” by B.L. Elkins will be displayed at the Creative Arts Association Fall Art Show Sat., Nov. 21

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ALLYN GALLUP CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY 1419 5TH St., Sarasota (366-2093 or allyngallup.com). William Nichols Enveloped Outside will be on display through Nov. 28.  Normal hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

ARTCENTER MANATEE 209 9th St. W., Bradenton (746-2862 or artcentermanatee.org). On and Off the Wall, an open, juried all media exhibition will be on display through Dec. 4. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Laura Avery’s solo show Atmospheric Abstracts will feature her foil on canvas works. Also on display will be Boots Culbertson’s ceramics. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

— 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.”

Bookmark to:

In a move that threatens to make emptying your spam email folder much less amusing, the Nigerian government recently launched a big crackdown on so-called “419” scammers.

The 419 scam, named for the section of the Nigerian legal code outlawing it, reportedly rakes in billions of dollars annually. It works thusly: You know those weird all-caps obsequious business proposal emails you delete? (Ex. GREETINGS OF THE DAY TO YOU KIND SIR: I AM THE WIDOW OF FORMER ASSISTANT UNDERSECRETARY OF PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT PETER KUMBAYA-MYLORD-KUMBAYA AND IT IS MY GREAT PLEASURE TO WRITE TO YOU AND PRESENT MY BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.) It turns out lots of people actually believe the emails are real.

The 419 is an advance-fee scam, meaning “guy promises to send you $800,000 if you send him $1,000 to help him take care of the legal paperwork necessary to obtain the money.”
The 419 is a worldwide phenomenon now, but it will forever be associated with Nigeria, I think, because it’s the most well-known international example of the thing Nigeria is most well-known for: corruption.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

— 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.”

Bookmark to:

As I watched results of ballots being counted last week, results that would determine if same-sex marriages would be recognized in Maine, if “everything but marriage” laws would protect domestic partnerships in Washington, and if the LGBT community in Kalamazoo would be given equal rights in housing and employment, I had to wonder why the situations had to get to an election at all.  Why would anybody have to campaign to protect an individual’s right to fair housing or assure that they will not be fired because of their sexual orientation? Haven’t we learned anything about homosexuality in the 40 years since the Stonewall riots?

The person responsible for encouraging me to raise my voice and speak up in defense of gay rights was Anita Bryant. In the late 1970s Bryant began her campaign to “Save Our Children.” She promoted the idea that since homosexuals were unable to have children, they needed to convert children to the homosexual lifestyle. Although this may seem absurd to most people in 2009, it isn’t so different from listening to individuals trying to use the words of God/Jesus/Allah/__(fill in name)__ to prevent the LGBT communities from leading alternative lifestyles with some legal benefits.

(more…)

Bookmark to: