Fall Civics Taking Applications

Seats still open for fall Civics 101 session Sarasota County government's popular Civics 101 program still has a few seats open for the session beginning Sept. 8. Civics 101 is a 10-week session that introduces people to the operations and services of Sarasota County government. The Thursday-night classes give students a better understanding of how county government works and allows them to build relationships with county staff. (MORE)

Take the Survey

Sarasota County wants bicyclist and pedestrian input for future paths:

Sarasota County’s first Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan is under development. We want your input!

The first draft of the plan is expected to be available in summer 2011. The plan is designed to outline a safe, convenient and efficient bicycle and pedestrian system that provides access to major destinations within Sarasota County and surrounding counties.

Click on "Take our Survey."

"Changing the way we're growing old"

By 2050, 1 in 5 Americans will be seniors. Worldwide, almost 2 billion people will be 60 or older, 400 million of them over 80, says the AP:

Atlanta is creating what it calls "lifelong communities." Philadelphia is testing whether living in a truly walkable community really makes older adults healthier. In Portland, Ore., there's a push to fit senior concerns such as accessible housing into the city's new planning and zoning policies.

Such work is getting a late start considering how long demographers have warned that the population is about to get a lot grayer.

"It's shocking how far behind we are, especially when you think about this fact — that if you make something age-friendly, that means it is going to be friendly for people of all ages, not just older adults," said Margaret Neal of Portland State University's Institute on Aging.

Civics 101 Spring Graduation and Recognition

Belatedly (sorry!) here's the Civics 101 Graduation for the Spring Civics 101 Class. The enthusiasm of the classmates and the special recognition of Civics Class Coordinator Vickie French -- a $1,000 contribution for a tree and a plaque in her name at the Celery Fields -- are remarkable. The Civics item comes up quite early - about the 2 minute mark.

Civic Literacy and Ill-literacy

Lynda Seidl shared a link to another Civics Literacy Test:

Full Civic Literacy Exam (from our 2008 survey)

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams. LINK.

What's disturbing is the remarkably dismal performances of college educators and elected officials. Is literacy an endangered species?

Celery Fields coming into its own

We've covered the development and opening of The Celery Fields as a park and a habitat - here's a blog post on Sarasota Patch about how happy people are finding new things to do there.

When is property not properly taxed?

Richard D. Wolff on the improprieties of how property is taxed: