• Alternate Text
  • Loading

  • Sand Bucket List
  • Health Observed
  • Crossword
  • Contests
  • Newsletters
  • e-Newspaper App
  • Longboat
    • News
    • Cops Corner
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Opinion
  • East County
    • News
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Opinion
  • Sarasota
    • News
    • Cops Corner
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Siesta Key
  • Arts + Entertainment
    • Eat + Drink
    • Arts + Culture
    • Reviews
    • Things To Do
    • Black Tie
    • Spotlight Partners
  • Things to Do
  • Galleries
  • More
    • Hurricane Season
    • Red Tide Map
    • Health Observed
    • Sand Bucket List
    • Calendar
    • Celebrations
    • Contests
    • Tributes
    • Submit a Celebration
    • Submit a Tribute
    • Public Notices
    • Classifieds
  • Longboat
    • Longboat
    • News
    • Cops Corner
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Opinion
  • East County
    • East County
    • News
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Opinion
  • Sarasota
    • Sarasota
    • News
    • Cops Corner
    • Real Estate
    • Business
    • Neighbors
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Siesta Key
  • Arts + Entertainment
    • Arts + Entertainment
    • Eat + Drink
    • Arts + Culture
    • Reviews
    • Things To Do
    • Black Tie
    • Spotlight Partners
  • Things to Do
  • Galleries
  • More
    • More
    • Hurricane Season
    • Red Tide Map
    • Health Observed
    • Sand Bucket List
    • Calendar
    • Celebrations
    • Contests
    • Tributes
    • Submit a Celebration
    • Submit a Tribute
    • Public Notices
    • Classifieds
  • Sand Bucket List
  • Health Observed
  • Crossword
  • Contests
  • Newsletters
  • e-Newspaper App

Opinion

    By
  • Kat Wingert
  • February 21, 2018
How do we keep our kids safe?

Treating our schools like minimum security prisons is not the answer.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • February 15, 2018
Power to the local people

Government is best closest to the people.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
The Zota Beach Resort on Longboat Key
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • February 14, 2018
Whose 165 units are they?

Take a hard look at the numbers.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Alison Foxall, 29, Libertarian
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • February 8, 2018
Break the political cycle

The usual tactics of the major political parties have turned the District 72 candidates into caricatures and turned off voters. Here’s an opportunity for a new voice.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Alison Foxall, 29, Libertarian  candidate for House District 72
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • February 8, 2018
Break the political cycle

The usual tactics of the major political parties have turned the District 72 candidates into caricatures and turned off voters. Here’s an opportunity for a new voice.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Columnist .
  • February 8, 2018
A generational legacy in the making

The future of the Bay is being shaped right now.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Adrian Moore
  • February 1, 2018
The Promise and Pitfalls of Form-Based Codes

There are reasons less than 1% of American cities use form-based codes. They are tricky to implement and definitely not a panacea.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort has been closed for almost a decade.
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 31, 2018
The greater legacy

The Colony represents the future of Longboat Key. We urge the Silent Majority not to squander this opportunity.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Dave Bullock and Juan Florensa
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 31, 2018
They set the standard

Bullock and Florensa raised the bar of public service.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
John Norcross is the author of "Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions."
    By
  • Kristine Nickel
  • January 25, 2018
Ch-ch-ch changes

You have to be all in if you really want to change, one expert says

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
The Colony has been closed since August 2010.
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • January 24, 2018
Colony conversation continues

Too big, too dense, just what the town needs. The opinions on the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort redevelopment are as varied as the neighborhoods on Longboat Key. This week, we publish letters in response to last week’s editorial, ‘Make Longboat Special.'

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Adrian Moore
  • January 18, 2018
Cleaning house

Proceeds from the sale of public property should be used to pay down debt, not finance budget shortfalls.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 17, 2018
Make Longboat special

They’re back, and doing it again. Longboat Key’s ardent anti-development, anti-traffic forces are stoking their constituents to kill Unicorp National Development’s latest redevelopment proposal for the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort property.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Clockwise from top left: Gil Waters in victory after the opening of the new Ringling Bridge, August 2003. Waters and city engineer Alex Davis-Shaw. Waters and his wife, Elisabeth. “The Old Coots Lunch Bunch.”
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • January 10, 2018
Tribute to a visionary

For nearly 60 years, Gil Waters was a force in Sarasota. Thanks to his passion, vision and determination, we have the ‘Gil Waters Bridge,’ the Van Wezel and FCCI Insurance.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
  • By Larry Eger | Chair of Decide the Date Sarasota
  • January 4, 2018
City voters should decide when city elections are held

Off-year voting dilutes minority and young voter influence.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
« 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 »
The best of Your Observer, delivered directly to your inbox

Get the latest in news, sports, schools, arts and things to do in Sarasota, Siesta Key, Longboat Key and East County.

Sign Up

Latest News

Sponsored Content
1
  • March 23, 2026
Birthday Candles
2
When he's not painting, artist Tom Stephens makes fishing rods.
  • March 23, 2026
Sarasota artist lives the life aquatic
3
Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary School fourth graders Leona Killion and Michael Chmielarski created business cards as a dancer and a soccer player for the Project T.E.A.C.H. activity on March 12.
  • March 23, 2026
Project TEACH volunteers work to inspire young minds in Manatee County
4
They are goons who don't understand Jesus
  • March 23, 2026
They are goons who don't understand Jesus
5
Jenna Jahn notched a pair of top-two finishes at the Eddie Starling Memorial Invite on March 13 — including a record-breaking performance.
  • March 23, 2026
East County Athlete of the Week: Jenna Jahn

App

Download the Your Observer app

Stay in the know with the latest local news. Any device, anytime, anywhere.

DOWNLOAD NOW

Contact

  • 1970 Main St.
  • Third Floor
  • Sarasota, FL 34236
  • Phone: 941-366-3468
  • FPN Verified

Extra, Extra!

  • Newsletters
  • App
  • Crossword
  • Contests

more

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • Advertise
  • Rack Locations
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Options

sister sites

  • Business Observer
  • Jax Daily Record
  • Orange Observer
  • Accessibility Options
  • Copyright © 2026 Observer Media Group Inc., All Rights Reserved
Sign Up for Daily Headlines

A daily dose of news from Longboat Key, East County, Sarasota and Siesta Key.

Sign Up for In Case You Missed It

A Saturday dose of the week's top stories from Sarasota, Longboat Key and East County.


The Your Observer App is Here!

Get local news you can trust — now on your phone, tablet or laptop. Fast. Free. Easy to Use.
Stay informed, wherever you are.

Download Now