5 Things: Newt, First Lady, Elijah Wood Visit Sarasota

1. The Florida Presidential Primary election is a little more than a week away and the candidates and power players are descending on Sarasota this week. . at a to-be-disclosed location on Thursday while will give her insight on the 2012 elections the same night at Selby Auditorium.

2. Another first lady, Ann Scott, the first lady of Florida, will be at Monday along with the Department of the Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell and other guests to kick off Celebrate Literacy Week across Florida schools. Stay with Patch to learn more about this initiative and the 

3. Actor Elijah Wood will be in town today and Tuesday for  Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab, working with students and participating in two Q-and-A sessions for students and for ticketed VIPs. Actor James Woods visited the college earlier this month talking about how the industry has changed and how Sarasota and Tampa Bay stands as a movie factory.

4. Grab tickets today for a Wednesday night show at the . Van Wezel will stage a production of Damn Yankees Wednesday at 8 p.m. If you don't know the show, you probably know the song Whatever Lola Wants.Ticket prices range from $30-$60. For more information and to buy tickets, contact the Van Wezel Box office at (941)953-3368 or log onto www.vanwezel.org.

5. Folks trying to get to and from the Cattleman Road/Bahia Vista Street area have a new option today. . Riders should know that routes 1, 1A and 15 will have some modifications due to the new station and the online bus tracking services might be a little off. For any questions about the schedule or how these routes are affected, call SCAT at 861-5000.