THIS WEEK IN HISTORY 5.28.2015

May 29, 1986

The sheriff’s department battles the bulge

The health of deputies was high on the list of priorities for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office in 1986. In an effort to increase fitness, officials established a program for a one-year trial run. The article stated that although department officials realized it’s not easy to run, swim, bike or walk, the program suggested four phases of fitness: cardiovascular, skeletal strength, flexibility and body-fat percentage. 

May 31, 1990

Scientists seek to iron out global warming

Scientists were thinking about climate change, even in 1990. The solution? A group of scientists proposed dumping hundreds of thousands of pounds of iron into the open ocean to reduce global warming. No joke. The proposal was based on the theory that adding iron to the existing nutrients would produce a massive algae bloom tosoak up carbon dioxide. Kumar Mahadevan, then the director of Mote Marine Laboratory, thought the plan had the potential to cause long-lasting harm to marine life. “In my opinion, the solution to the global warming problem is to control carbon dioxide at its source,” he said. “We need to stop burning fossil fuel.” 

May 29, 2008

Pet portraits with personality

Local pet photographer Paulette Braun retired to Sarasota after a career that included a half-time act for the Harlem Globetrotters and a stint as a “ta daaa” show girl with the circus. Once Braun settled in Sarasota, she picked up her camera and aimed it at her favorite subject: animals. Her portfolio grew to include more than one million stock images that are used for textbooks, calendars, clocks, T-shirts and dog food packages.