the OIL update, from a Sarasotans perspective

* "Our beaches are as beautiful as they've ever been," said Richard Bradshaw, owner of the Comfort Inn and Days Inn hotels, on Clark Road, and chairman of Sarasota County's Tourist Development Council.

* "The water here is clear, clean and refreshing," said Jim McManemon, the Ritz-Carlton's general manager, to a background of beach strollers and pelicans fishing for a late breakfast.

* "The loop current is pretty far offshore from Sarasota, so unless there's wind and current that pushes it, I think it's pretty good news for you guys," said Stephen "Dr. Beach" Leatherman, chair professor and director of coastal research and director of the International Hurricane Research Center at Florida International University in Miami.

* Leatherman remains confident enough that Southwest Florida will be spared, though, that he intends to include Siesta Public Beach in his 2010 Top 10 survey of the nation's best beaches, due out May 28.

* More than a few predict Siesta will garner the top spot this year. In 2009, it was ranked behind only Hanalei Bay Beach in Kauai, Hawaii.

* "Siesta will be in the Top 10. It has not dropped out because I think there's a low possibility of oil there," Leatherman said.

"If I thought there was a high probability -- a high risk -- I'd have to drop it out of the Top 10, but I don't feel that way."

* "You still have a threat," he said. "As long as there is oil gushing out there, and as long as BP hasn't capped it, it's there."

* "If there's a hurricane, then all bets are off, because you'd get wild transportation of surface waters, and the upwell of water would be substantial," Masters said. "It would mean a lot of oil in places that had not gotten any."

* "We need to make sure to send the message out that there's never been a better time to come to Sarasota," McManemon told the Lido Beach gathering, just before filming began.

"Oh, By the Way... if you or someone you know is considering a purchase or selling, I would love the opportunity and am never too busy for a Referral.  THANK YOU."

SHAYLA TWIT, Michael Saunders & Company, c 941.544.7690, w 941.951.6660, ShaylaTwit@MichaelSaunders.com