Category: Primary Featured

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Less sunshine, more secrecy as Florida limits public records access By Alice Herman and Derek Gilliam, Suncoast Searchlight After state lawmakers introduced dozens of measures this year restricting access to government records, only a few cleared the Florida Legislature. But open government advocates warn the ones that did pass could substantially limit transparency. Lawmakers proposed […]

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Sarasota erased downtown art without public notice, artists now seek damages By Derek Gilliam, Suncoast Searchlight, and Carrie Seidman, ArtsBeat Photo: Sarasota Chalk Festival David Blanch labored for hours in the spring of 2024 painting a Sarasota sunset that transformed two sidewalk panels on Pineapple Avenue into a burst of pink, blue and yellow. It […]

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March 12, 2026 Special News Update March 24 Vote: Tell Commissioners to Protect our Parkland! Protect Siesta Key Needs Your Help Again! We have an important update — and a second chance to stop a bad deal for the public. On March 24, the Sarasota County Commission will hold a public hearing to approve the […]

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This week at VT In the Raymond, Pinkerton, and at Venice Performing Arts Center The Silver Foxes Together We Rise, A Retrospective Tuesday – Sunday in the Raymond Center The area’s premier senior theater troupe engages, enlightens, and entertains with robust humor, song and dance. Like a fine wine, they just get better with age! This year’s […]

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How Mark Vengroff became a major force in affordable housing on the Suncoast By Kelly Kirschner This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.   A few years ago, Sarasota affordable housing developer Mark Vengroff tried to buy […]

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Multi-agency team advances scientific study of Midnight Pass On March 1-2, county staff assisted Dr. Nina Stark, director of the Center for Coastal Solutions at the University of Florida, with access to Palmer Point Park for data collection. Research vessels also launched from Blackburn Point Park. Researchers from several Florida universities worked alongside the U.S. […]

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CONA Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations March 10 Meeting Citizen’s Role in Protecting Natural Sarasota As Sarasota faces growing concerns about overdevelopment, shrinking green space, and the paving of vital wetlands, the role of everyday citizens has never been more important. Protecting our natural environment is not just the responsibility of planners and officials—it […]

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Sarasota Paradise, entering their 2026 USL League One season, features a roster led by forwards Garrett McLaughlin and Jonathan Bolanos, along with midfielders Maximus Tainio, Jørgen Pettersen, Sander Roed, Chandler O’Dwyer, Andres Rodriguez, and Brendan Krueger. Defensively, the squad includes Roberto Burlew, Anderson Rosa, Callum Stretch, and Declan Watters.  Sarasota Paradise +2 Key 2026 Roster Details Forwards: Garrett […]