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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
Payne Park
  • By Joseph Bartel
  • May 15, 2019
My View: Reject the Sarasota Orchestra’s land grab in Payne Park

The group's argument that moving to the downtown-adjacent park is all about rising sea levels is absurd.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
The Pillar of Hope stands in the lobby of CPC’s Child Advocacy Center. After a child’s initial services, the child and a staff member drop a blue marble down the pillar to join other marbles, symbolizing they are not alone.
    By
  • Emily Walsh
  • May 10, 2019
Prevention — proof it's protecting our children

As the Child Protection Center reaches its 40th year, new data showing the child abuse rate in Florida is declining prove that its services are working and must continue.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Guest Author
  • May 6, 2019
Letters to the editor: Master plan project fits with Selby's goals

Sarasota area readers sound off on key issues.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
Rendering of an affordable housing project proposed by the late Sarasota entrepreneur Harvey Vengroff. Citing frustration with city regulations, Vengroff abandoned the idea after spending three years and $300,000 on it.
    By
  • Adrian Moore
  • May 2, 2019
Affordable housing requires whole solution

The answer to Sarasota's lack of affordable housing is simple, but few communities are willing to commit to what's necessary.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Adrian Moore
  • April 25, 2019
City advances thinking on marijuana charges

The city is contemplating civil charges for possessing small amounts of marijuana. The real benefit is the flexibility this would give law enforcement.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
Now the city wants to spend $200 million in public and private funds on another park — this one on the bayfront.
  • By Joel Schleicher and Jonathan Mitchell
  • April 18, 2019
My View: City needs better governance, not a big park

Since 1974, the city’s spending has increased 420%. But in that time and with all that money, the City Commission repeatedly demonstrates irresponsible and dysfunctional leadership and management.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
    By
  • Guest Author
  • April 14, 2019
My View: Why we need Mote's new aquarium

Mote’s proposed Science Education Aquarium in Benderson Park will further the region as a leading center for marine science, education and discoveries.

  • Longboat Key
  • Opinion
What happens if Sarasota's bayfront park becomes a center of constant activity, similar to what has occurred, say, at Cincinnati’s Fountain Park? (Courtesy image)
    By
  • Matt Walsh
  • April 12, 2019
Sarasota's overall strategy: Whack-a-mole!

Monday’s City Commission meeting agenda — with votes on the Bay Park and Fruitville Road — illustrates a helter-skelter strategy, which is no strategy. Table the Fruitville Road vote.

  • Sarasota
  • Opinion
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