Observe this: City won't change event policies

City won't change event policies

→ Sarasota city commissioners agreed no major changes need to be made to its event policy and closing Main Street is not a major detriment.

Downtown Sarasota business owners and festival promoters came out in force Wednesday afternoon to tell the Sarasota City Commission that nothing’s wrong with the way the city handles and manages its events. It worked.

At a special meeting Wednesday, June 6 at City Hall, commissioners heard a report from a committee that was formed to review the way events were handled, especially on Main Street. ... [click here to read on!]

Siesta Key's 'mane man' closes shop

→ Joe Thraen will close Siesta Key's Classic Shapes in Hair June 9. The 71-year-old salon owner will ride off into the sunset on his Tweety Bird motorcycle, leaving behind 30 years of memories.

After Joe Thraen sweeps up locks of hair from the floors of Classic Shapes in Hair for the last time, Siesta Key will lose another “old curmudgeon” — as he refers to himself.

The 71-year-old salon owner can no longer afford rent at his salon’s South Siesta location and he says he is tired of listening to gripes about prices. But the community that has come to know the avid biker, occasional Santa Claus and deadpan jokester since he started at the salon in 1983 bids adieu to a warm and hardworking entrepreneur — hardly in line with his self-deprecating self summary. ... [click here to read on!]

A walk through time

→ The Sarasota City Commission will vote Monday, June 18, on whether to approve a permanent exhibit to be displayed in the Sarasota City Commission Chambers.

f given the go-ahead, Clifford Smith would probably take his current project — a compilation of historic photographs of Sarasota dating back to the late 1800s — and open exhibits all around town.

He might turn the hundreds of photographs he’s spent the past five years collecting into a coffee table book — or four. But, for now, he’s selected his favorites from the Sarasota County History Center for a display, which he’s hoping will become a museum-quality exhibit called, “Walk Through Time.” ... [click here to read on!]