For Joe Gruters, attending the Republican National Convention means more than an exciting trip to a political event in Ohio. The chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota has enjoyed one of the most important years of his political life, having decided early in the election cycle to back Donald Trump for the Republican nomination and getting tapped to co-chair the Trump campaign’s Florida operation. Last week, he served on the GOP’s national platform committee, co-chairing the Economy and Jobs subcommittee alongside the CEO of Hardee’s. “Who would have thought small-town CPA Joe Gruters from Sarasota would be helping draft language for every Republican in the country?” he says.

Gruters will be in Cleveland all week for the RNC as one of the delegates representing the Sarasota-Manatee area. Then he will return to Sarasota, where Trump has stationed his Florida campaign and where full-time staffers will likely shift into high gear starting next week.

A number of political leaders from the Sarasota-Bradenton area also can be found in Cleveland this week. Richard DeNapoli, an alternate delegate at the convention, says the convention was already exciting even before the prime time speeches began. “I enjoyed yesterday's event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the first day's Florida Breakfast with Frank Luntz this morning was very informative,” he said Monday.

Christian Ziegler, Republican state committeeman for Sarasota County, was busy Monday posting a string of Facebook Live videos from the floor of the convention. “It’s pretty sweet being a delegate because you have an all-access pass,” he says in one video. Meanwhile, Republican Party of Manatee Chairman Kathleen King tweeted pictures from around the Quicken Arena where the convention is being held, including from a Florida delegation breakfast held Monday morning. 

Photo courtesy Richard DeNapoli

City planners, engineers and sustainability champions are notching a victory this year in Sarasota with the release of the 2015 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. According to the study, which documents greenhouse gas emissions within the Sarasota city limits for the 2015 calendar year, carbon dioxide emissions have dropped 22 percent since 2003—a decrease that Stevie Freeman-Montes, City of Sarasota sustainability manager, says can be attributed to improving resources, technology and local policy.

According to the inventory, emissions decreased in several categories, most notably electrical use in residential, commercial and industrial sectors and stationery fuel combustion and solid waste, but also in water and wastewater processes.

This is due in no small part to the shift away from coal and oil in favor of natural gas and nuclear energy on the part of the regional electric grid and exemplified by Florida Power and Light (FPL), says Freeman-Montes. In 2003, oil and coal accounted for 19 and 6 percent of FPL’s energy, respectively. By 2015, those numbers had dropped to .3 and 4.1 percent. On the other hand, nuclear and natural gas use grew since 2003 to account for 22.7 and 66.3 percent of energy generated in 2015, up from 21 and 34 percent in 2003. “And from an emissions standpoint, getting away from coal and oil is much cleaner,” says Freeman-Montes.

In terms of the impact the community has via its waste contributions to the local landfill, the real game-changer came from a 2015 decision by Sarasota County to install methane gas-to-electricity converters. Decomposing waste generates plenty of methane, whereas, previously, the county implemented no methane reduction or management program, releasing emissions directly into the air, says Freeman-Montes, and the new converters have already precipitated an 87 percent decrease in landfill emissions. “It’s a dramatic change,” she says, “and all due to a decision by Sarasota County that we really support.”

The only sector where emissions actually increased within the city of Sarasota was in vehicle emissions, which saw a rise of 2.5 percent. It’s a problem city engineers and planners are already wrestling with, says Freeman-Montes. “I don’t think there will be one silver bullet,” she says, but sees lessons to be learned from strides already made and the success this latest inventory heralds. “What it says to me is how important it is to focus on system-wide transformational changes. We’ve got good solid data and we’re headed in the right direction.” 

Cocoa, sugar and rum might not do wonders for your waistline, but downtown eco-luxury destination The Herbarium insists that these indulgent ingredients have skin-rejuvenating properties worth treating yourself to. Slather yourself in L’Erbolario’s Dolcelsir body cream, a luscious concoction of chocolate, cane sugar, rum, sweet almond and sesame oils and elderberry flowers—your skin will thank you for ordering dessert. Antioxidant-rich cioccolato replenishes moisture, improves skin tone and prevents aging; studies show that alongside sunscreen, cocoa enhances UV protection—a lifesaver in the skin-frying Florida sun. An infusion of vitamin-laden elderberry flowers provide a healthy dose of antioxidants; the oil duo of sweet almond and sesame prevents sagging and boosts elasticity; sugar attracts and bathes your skin in moisture from the environment. A shot of rum amps up the blend’s heavenly Kahluà-spiked, marshmallow-thick, hot-cocoa scent—not to mention acts as an antibacterial, inflammation-reducing agent.  

Pictured: Dolcelsir body cream at The Herbarium.

The Herbarium, 1459 Main St., Sarasota, 941-953-3273.

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Nuts can be an excellent addition to one’s diet, providing healthy fats, protein, vitamin E, minerals and phytonutrients. They add richness and crunch to many types of dishes and can be used in almost any meal. Cashews are amazing when blended into a wonderful cream sauce or soup. Nuts provide texture to vegan main dishes and are a natural in breakfast with fruit and whole grains to help keep you going until lunchtime. Walnuts are great in salads and, of course, all nuts can be used in healthy desserts and snacks.

Summer, however, is perhaps not the best time for nuts. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and others are harvested from August through October and when you buy them in summer, you are getting a crop that is almost a year old. The healthful polyunsaturated oils contained in nuts do not hold up well and go rancid when exposed to heat, oxygen and light.

Everyone has tasted rancid nuts in baked goods, or actually purchased a bag of nuts with the date not yet expired only to have it taste and smell terrible. That bad smell is rancid oil and if you discover it in nuts or other oil-containing foods take it back to the store. To safely store nuts and other oil-containing foods at home keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator or, better yet, the freezer. 

Vicki Chelf, Pulp Kitchen

Comprehensive MedPsych Systems (CMPS) finalized an agreement with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System to provide behavioral health consultation to the newly approved Level 2 Trauma Unit. Dr. Donald McMurray, licensed psychologist, will be heading up the behavioral health services by providing psychological consultation to the trauma patients and their families.  

Comprehensive MedPsych Systems

Selah Freedom is pairing up with Music on Main in Lakewood Ranch, Main Street for a free concert series, hosted on the first Friday of every month. Selah Freedom will be the highlighted charity and will be raising funds for their mission to end sex trafficking and bring freedom to the exploited.  

Selah Freedom

Michael J. Furen was recognized as a 50-year member of the Florida Bar. He was admitted to the Bar in 1966, the same year he joined Icard Merrill. He is widely recognized for a successful practice that specializes in land use, development, and administrative and governmental law.  

Icard Merrill