Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/104211
Sarasota News Leader January 18, 2013 Page 40 WALLENDA ASKS FOR WIRE OK solicit or attempt to solicit funds or contributions from persons traveling in or on vehicles, Homeboy and international star Nik Wallenda whether such vehicles be actually moving or is the last item on Monday's agenda, but he temporarily stopped." will certainly be a headliner in the coverage. He is asking city permission to stretch a wire At the Tuesday meeting, the commissioners across U.S. 41 near the bayfront. And what, will conduct the second public hearing on the repeal, and they are expected to pass it. you ask, will he do with that high wire? On Jan. 29, he wants to walk on that wire from the condominium east of One Sarasota Tower to the ground in the parking lot of Marina Jack. In 2010, he walked a wire between the One Watergate condominium complex on Gulfstream Drive and the Ritz-Carlton. A letter from Jennifer Mitchell, marketing director of Circus Sarasota, says, "We are asking the commission to consider underwriting the city costs (budget to be determined after city's estimate) of this collaborative event that will position Sarasota at the forefront of local and international recognition." The repeal would allow distribution of "literature or other materials to persons traveling in or on vehicles …." In other words, it soon could be legal for people to beg at stop signs and pass out pamphlets — including political or religious material — at cars stopped for a traffic light. GATEWAY UPDATE PANHANDLERS REJOICE Part of the city's "wayfinding project" includes the erection of a number of "monument" — or large — signs along major thoroughfares entering Sarasota's city limits. Most will welcome residents and visitors from the roadside, but one is planned for a median. Thanks to a flurry of court decisions over several years, the city is about to repeal its ordinance regulating panhandling at vehicles. Previously, it was "unlawful for any person to That different one is proposed for the University Parkway median just east of the street's intersection with DeSoto Road near the airport. Because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, the City Commission will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Photo by Norman Schimmel