• 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
    • Elections
    • 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
    • Elections
    • 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

Sarasota | Opinion

    By
  • Emily Walsh
  • August 26, 2019
Anti-semitism is on the rise

It’s not just in Europe. It’s rising in the U.S., too — thanks to social media. The Trump administration is making the fight against anti-Semitism a priority.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • August 14, 2019
The consummate journalist

In her 70s, former Longboat Observer senior editor Dora Walters ran circles around the young Turks in the newsroom. She knew everyone and everything about Longboat Key. "She was our best reporter."

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Adrian Moore
  • August 8, 2019
The power and limits of home rule

In recent years the Florida Legislature has gone after home rule polices restricting guns, vacation rentals, plastic bags and tree ordinances, just to name a few. When is overriding home rule merited?

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Eric Garwood
  • August 1, 2019
Letters to the Editor: Readers go round and round about St. Armands speed humps

Road changes are designed to slow traffic around pedestrians.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • July 11, 2019
Sarasota's spending is outpacing its growth

It is symbolic of a bigger issue: Who's in charge? Citizens? Commissioners? City manager?

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • June 27, 2019
Selby: What's not to like?

The directors and CEO of Selby Gardens are doing their job: enacting a vision to turn the endangered asset into the jewel is deserves to be.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
Eileen Walsh Normile is chairwoman of the Sarasota Planning Board.
  • By Eileen Walsh Normile
  • June 20, 2019
My View: Blank slates or informed volunteers?

Questions over Epoch appeal raise a broader issue of expertise, involvement on advisory boards.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • June 13, 2019
Apparently, it's OK when Democrats use voter registration

Debate goes on over County Commission's plan to draw new districts.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • June 13, 2019
Consider the consequences

When city commissioners take up the volatile topic of the development review process, they should probe deeply the likely effects of adding more regulation.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Guest Author
  • June 12, 2019
Letters to the editor Readers sound off on: Epoch, Selby, Orchestra

STOP organizer says group wouldn't object to a specific project.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
Bill Kelley
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • June 6, 2019
D-Day: The high price of freedom

Will future generations ever really understand the value of freedom? They should know the enormity, horrors and human toll of The Longest Day.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
Lea and James Buchanan
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • May 30, 2019
Rep. Buchanan's choice: me or thee

First-term Republican is expected to vote against a Bradenton colleague to designate a House speaker for 2024-25.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • May 30, 2019
Public park, public funding

It's exciting to envision a $100 million park on Sarasota Bay. But then there's the issue of money. From where will it come? Now, the hard part has begun — figuring which taxpayers will pay.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • May 23, 2019
The crime of Bobby Jones Golf Club

Reading the city consultant's business plan for the golf course is like reading a prospectus of a company with a bad idea trying to make money in a declining industry.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
City Commissioners rejected a plan to explore Payne Park as a possible site for the Sarasota Orchestra.
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • May 23, 2019
Vote on Sarasota Orchestra sends a message

The city seems at a turning point, as it was in the late 1960s when forward-thinking commissioners shaped a lasting vision.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
« 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 »
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 in Sarasota

1
School safety patrol supervisor Justine Holcomb, Noah Moise and Principal Patti Folino stand together.
  • May 22, 2026
Tuttle Elementary fifth grader named AAA School Safety Patroller of the Year
2
Riders set out on the ride.
  • May 22, 2026
Ride of Silence honors cyclists injured or killed while the community mourns recent losses
3
The expansion of McCown Towers would surround the parking structure that would include 160 public parking spaces owned by the city.
  • May 22, 2026
Senior affordable housing project funding remains one step short
4
  • May 21, 2026
Sarasota gunfire remains under investigation
5
A massing model of The Bay phases 3A and 3B show a parnking deck to the right, to the left the Sarasota Performing Arts Center location flanked by two restaurant spaces and the current parking lot converted to green space. The Van Wezel is at the bottom left corner.
  • May 21, 2026
Bay Park Conservancy reveals final phase concepts for The Bay park

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.

Anytime. Anywhere. Observer.

From in-depth local reporting to real-time breaking news, stay connected to the stories shaping our community with the Your Observer app.

Download Now for Free