Local News
Community news from our local sources
FEMA funds arriving from 2017
$64 MILLION FINALLY COMING?: It seems Charlotte County is finally going to get about $64 million in FEMA funds - some of it that was set to arrive after Hurricane Irma nearly a decade ago.
Report: Sarasota County water meets all standards
VENICE — The 300,000 people who regularly hydrate with Sarasota County water imbibed a beverage last year that met all of the state's standards with no violations, according to the 2025 Consumer Confidence Report.
Coffee cart brews up downtown food truck expansion proposal
A coffee cart unwittingly operating illegally in the parking lot of a downtown business sparked a movement to craft a zoning text amendment to permit mobile food and beverage vendors to peddle their wares in the Downtown Bayfront zone district. Food trucks are permitted in every…
Sarasota County still awaits $225M in FEMA, state disaster funds
In 2016, Hurricane Hermine made the first Florida landfall in the Big Bend area since Hurricane Wilma 11 years earlier. It wasn’t a direct hit on the peninsula, it travelled up the center of the Gulf, but its impact left just more than $7 million in damage for Sarasota County…
City to repair damaged streetlights on Lido Key
The Sarasota City Commission, via consent agenda, authorized entering into a local agency program with the Florida Department of Transportation to repair lighting on Lido Key. FDOT is providing up to $600,037 for the project with a local match of $108,426. The project included…
Planning Board member reappointed, another named to fill vacant seat
Only minutes after Sarasota Planning Board Vice Chairman Douglas Christy delivered a brief annual report to the City Commission — one in which he lamented a sometimes one-week notice to review voluminous documents in advance of their meetings — one new member was appointed and a…
How your home is appraised in Manatee County
Every year, each of Manatee County’s approximately 236,000 real estate parcels receives a valuation. Sometimes it goes up. Sometimes it goes down. Most importantly, this appraisal of valuation is the basis of that property owner’s tax bill, which makes it an essential process for…
Manatee commissioner tells LWR CDDs he has seen the county waste funds
The property tax referendum was the topic that rose to the top during Commissioner Bob McCann's joint workshop with Community Development Districts on June 30 at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall. Representatives of each CDD were able to submit questions to the commissioner beforehand.…
Registration deadline for August primary is July 20
Voters choose the candidates who will appear on the general election ballots months before the election in August. The primary election is Aug. 18, and those who are not yet registered or wish to change their party affiliation must do so by Monday, July 20. Registration can be…
Palmetto lawyer vies for District 1 Republican nomination
With two attorneys already seated on the Manatee County Commission — Amanda Ballard and Bob McCann — another attorney has entered the race for District 1: Leland Taylor. Taylor said lawyers can make good county commissioners because they’re open-minded, know how to apply the…
Buchanan proposal on school-tax fees now law
A proposal that requires county governments to either pay tax-collector fees on school taxes or waive them all together is now Florida law. The provision, proposed by State Rep. James Buchanan, R-Sarasota, was part of a broader tax package signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this week.…
City to mull food trucks in downtown zone district
For the first time in the 21 months since the retirement of Marlon Brown, the chair of the city manager at the dais of the meeting chamber at Sarasota City Hall will be occupied by an official city manager during a City Commission meeting. Coincidentally, the agenda of the…