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News

Kristina Sargent has filed to run for Sarasota County Commission District 2.
    By
  • Andrew Warfield
  • October 16, 2025
Republican challenger files for County Commission District 2

Incumbent Mark Smith will face a primary race against attorney and former prosecutor Kristina Sargent for the Sarasota County Commission District 2 seat.

  • Sarasota
  • News
Sarasota school bus driver charged with sexual misconduct
    By
  • Eric Garwood
  • October 15, 2025
Sarasota school bus driver charged with sexual misconduct

Authorities in Manatee County were alerted by Sarasota County Schools' in-house police department in August.

  • Sarasota
  • News
The ever-evolving master plan for The Bay Phase 3B does not show a possible future Sarasota Performing Arts Center, but does include a parking structure and expansion of park space into the Van Wezel parking lot.
    By
  • Andrew Warfield
  • October 15, 2025
Utility undergrounding, The Bay highlight City Commission agenda

Monday's Sarasota City Commission meeting will include presentations about The Bay Phase 3 and burying utility lines on St. Armands and Lido keys.

  • Sarasota
  • News
From left, Sarasota Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Director Nicole Rissler, Hermitage Board of Trustees President Carole Crosby and Hermitage attorney Steven Solowsky address the county commission.
    By
  • Andrew Warfield
  • October 15, 2025
County proposes take-or-leave-it offer to Hermitage Artist Retreat

The Sarasota County Commission offers a lump sum to help hurricane restoration at the Hermitage providing it assumes responsibility for repairs going forward.

  • Sarasota
  • News
Longboat Key resident Audrey Bear is adamantly against changing the name of Gulf of Mexico Drive, calling it a “vanity project” that would cause a major hassle for older residents who live on the road.
    By
  • S.T. Cardinal
  • October 15, 2025
GMD renaming would require homework from residents, businesses

Paperwork, addresses and bills will all need updates if Longboat Key changes the name of Gulf of Mexico Drive.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Residents in Summerfield Bluffs are rescued after the Braden River flooded their street following Hurricane Debby in 2024.
    By
  • Lesley Dwyer
  • October 15, 2025
Manatee County inches toward initiating stormwater fees

Despite public pushback in 2019, Manatee County is taking another shot at implementing a stormwater program.

  • East County
  • News
A banner announcing a new Starbucks location still sits inside the storefront of 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, but interior work is yet to begin.
    By
  • S.T. Cardinal
  • October 15, 2025
Longboat Starbucks 'on hold' with build-out yet to start

It has been eight months since the arrival of Starbucks to Longboat Key was announced, and interior work is yet to start.

  • Longboat Key
  • Business
Greg Crawford, area president of M/I Homes, Erika Walker, Pelotonia's philanthropy and stewardship manager and Chase Knopt and Ashtyn Crockett, construction managers at M/I homes pose with the $141,000 check at the Sweetwater benefit home.
    By
  • Madison Bierl
  • October 14, 2025
M/I Homes donates $141,000 toward cancer research

The sale of the M/I Homes dwelling in Lakewood Ranch is going to Pelotonia, a nonprofit that supports cancer research.

  • East County
  • News
The Gulf Islands Ferry launched in 2023 and has experienced growing ridership and increased investment from Manatee County.
    By
  • S.T. Cardinal
  • October 14, 2025
As Manatee County looks to grow ferry, Longboat stop discussed

Longboat Key leaders see a potential traffic benefit from the Gulf Islands Ferry but no suitable location for a stop on the island.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Shots struck a Sarasota County Fire Department ambulance in 2019.
    By
  • Eric Garwood
  • October 13, 2025
Sarasota man convicted of firing at first responders gets 40 years

Thirty-eight-year-old Tyran Young was arrested almost three months after the 2019 incident on Goodrich Avenue.

  • Sarasota
  • News
A Goodwill bookstore and donation center will occupy the new outparcel building at 3160 Gulf of Mexico Drive by the end of the year.
    By
  • S.T. Cardinal
  • October 13, 2025
Goodwill sets up first Longboat Key location

The bookstore and donation drop-off at the outparcel of the new Brista Commons commercial complex is expected to open by the end of the year.

  • Longboat Key
  • Business
Teri Hansen is the outgoing CEO and president of the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation.
    By
  • Elizabeth King
  • October 13, 2025
Barancik Foundation in Sarasota names new president and CEO

The new leader of the family foundation will assume his role in December.

  • Sarasota
  • News
From left, newly sworn Sarasota Police Department officers Emilio Suriel, Gabriel Victorio, Tristan Sarney, Gabrielle Theofanous and Savannah Gray.
    By
  • Andrew Warfield
  • October 13, 2025
Sarasota Police Department swears in five new officers

Police Chief Rex Troche tells five new recruits the time to build their legacy in law enforcement begins now.

  • Sarasota
  • News
2-year-old critical after SR 70 crash in Lakewood Ranch
    By
  • Jay Heater
  • October 12, 2025
2-year-old critical after SR 70 crash in Lakewood Ranch

A Ford SUV drove into the back of a Fort Pierce school bus that was stopped.

  • East County
  • News
Brookside Middle School is one of three campuses upon which space has been requested by a South Florida charter school company under the provisions of Florida's Schools of Hope program.
    By
  • Eric Garwood
  • October 9, 2025
Charter school claims space in Manatee, Sarasota county schools

Mater Academy names under-capacity Booker Elementary, Brookside Middle and Oak Park in a request to co-locate. Space in Bradenton and Palmetto also sought, Manatee district tells parents.

  • Sarasota
  • Schools
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  • December 17, 2025
Animal interactions and private experiences at Sarasota Jungle Gardens
2
Wild pigs look for food near Lakewood Ranch Town Hall.
  • December 17, 2025
The River Club in Lakewood Ranch has a pig problem
3
LaRon Foye, a senior safety/wide receiver, points to his right ring finger following his game-sealing interception against Jacksonville Bolles.
  • December 17, 2025
Cardinal Mooney football has undergone all-time turnaround
4
Lynnette Beecher and Gunilla Imshaug, members of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Photography Club, check out a photo of a baby alligator that was taken moments before.
  • December 17, 2025
Lakewood Ranch photography club preserves moments in time
5
Justin Gomlak helps bring big city glamour to the Sarasota stage in "A Very Broadway Christmas," which plays Monday, Dec. 22, at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.
  • December 17, 2025
The Van Wezel wants you to have 'A Very Broadway Christmas'

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