Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 Page 44 robberies were cleared with the arrest of a transient. For burglaries, the figure was 23 percent; for aggravated assault/battery, it was 16.7 percent. On May 6, the City Commission waives $5,000 in city fees for the 2013 Chalk Festival. Denise Kowal, founder of the event, had asked for $10,000 in waivers. The city has no grant program to help fund special events, but it does waive certain fees normally paid to city departments for services such as parking, trash pickup, utilities and police. The departments' funds are made whole by special allocations in their regular budgets. City departments, in other words, pad their annual budgets to cover festival costs. In effect, these are indirect subsidies. The City Commission votes to make the new circus-themed playground in Payne Park off limits to pets. Additionally, the board approves a motion to put Payne Park under the regular leash law ordinance, meaning a dog must The City Commission agrees to make Payne Park's circus-themed playground off limits to pets. Photo by Norman Schimmel Chalk Festival founder and organizer Denise Kowal sits in front of artwork created during the 2012 event. Photo by Norman Schimmel