Newsletter 67

MTV REALITY SERIES FILMING ON SIESTA KEY: MTV has turned its attention to Siesta Key. But is attention always a good thing? Camera crews are filming a new reality TV show about wealthy local college students home for the summer at America’s #1 beach. Southwest Florida’s reputation for culture, arts & relative wealth doesn’t necessarily mesh with the reality TV dramas that the cable network has pumped out since the early 2000’s, so this week’s news stirred mixed emotions among locals. Some are calling it the latest in Southwest Florida’s string of accolades, while others worry it might bring a party-focused crowd to Siesta’s shore. Details of the show, which premieres in July and is known as “Siesta Key,” are minimal. The show could shape the way millions of viewers see Southwest Florida, and Virginia Haley, president of Visit Sarasota, hopes it’s an accurate portrayal. Please click here for more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Siesta Shore?

ARTS HUB ENVISIONED FOR CENTER OF LBK: The historic Longboat Key Center For The Arts may be closing this month at the north end of the barrier island, but community leaders are beginning a push to raise funds for a bigger and more centrally located facility. In a partnership with the town of Longboat Key Foundation, Ringling College expects to lease and operate the multi-purpose arts center on nearly five acres provided by the town. It will be located where the Amore restaurant now stands and behind the shopping center anchored by a Publix supermarket. The town is making a roughly $5 million investment in land for the new facility that will house art exhibits, classes, workshops & possibly a black box theater that would accommodate both theatrical performances and town meetings. Follow the jump for more on this story: LBK New Art Hub

HOME PRICES RISE 6% IN YEAR: Home prices in the North Port-Sarasota-Venice market – factoring in distressed sales – rose 6% in March when compared with the same month in 2016, according to an analysis released by CoreLogic, a national data provider. Month-to-month, prices including distressed properties rose 0.6% from February to March. Florida posted a year-over-year price gain of 6.6%. Nationwide, home prices rose 7.1% in the year-over-year measure and 1.6% in the month-to-month tally. “Home prices posted strong gains in March 2017, and the CoreLogic Home Price Index is only 2.8% from its 2006 peak” at the height of the real estate boom, CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft said recently. Please click here for more: Home Prices Continue To Rise

NORTH PORT TAKES A SHINE TO SOLAR TREES: Florida Power & Light hopes to bring a new species of tree to North Port – a solar tree – along with canopies that would generate 100 kilowatts of energy, as part of its Solar Now Program. Kathleen Campanella, project manager for the FPL Solar Now Program, said there is enough money – collected through optional contributions by FPL customers specifically to foster solar power – to build four or five solar trees, as well as the canopies. Rae Dowling, area manager for FPL, noted that in the 2.5 years that the program has been in place, more than 15,000 residents in the state have invested in Solar Now. About 1,000 of those are in Sarasota County. Homeowners enrolled in the program pay $9 a month to support solar energy. There’s more here: Solar Trees

TURBULENCE SHOULDN’T STUNT STATE: Even with turbulence in the international tourism market and uncertainty surrounding the new U.S. administration, economic growth is expected to continue in the Sunshine State. In the year that’s passed since the last time Sean Snaith – a well-known economist and director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida – addressed guests of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County, quite a bit has changed politically and internationally, but Florida’s five-year economic uptick is still going strong. Three of the top international feeder markets for Florida – Canada, Brazil & the United Kingdom – are undergoing fiscal turbulence within their own borders, but domestic visitation has been strong, unemployment is down and job creation is on the rise. The state is welcoming 1,000 new Floridians per day, just as it did before the Great Recession. The more people here, Snaith said, the faster the economy will grow. Click here for more: Florida Economy Healthy

TURTLE VOLUNTEERS ‘OUR FIRST RESPONDERS’: The sun is just beginning to rise when the white-shirted patrols set out on Siesta Beach with large, wooden stakes in hand. They keep a brisk pace along the shore as they look for signs of any turtle crawls or nests left behind as the official turtle nesting season begins in Southwest Florida. Public education and outreach is an important part of the job of a turtle patrol, says Coquina Homer, a seasonal biological technician with Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program. “On Siesta especially, there’s so much opportunity to educate the public, because the public is so present,” Homer said. To read more on this story, please click here: Turtle Volunteers