Coming up: The Sarasota County Commission approved Pat Neal’s road in South Sarasota County, giving residents at his fast-growing Wellen Park development a straight shot to the beaches. Dania Hefley reports. 

Next: Responding to an ultimatum by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the City of Bradenton removed paintings off sidewalks at Village of the Arts. Brice Claypoole reports. 

Then: It’s Labor Day this Monday, and we have union news. For one, City of Sarasota employees voted overwhelmingly last week to continue to be represented by the Teamsters. In other Teamster news, hundreds of warehouse workers in Sarasota got their first contract ever, and that comes with a big bump in hourly pay. We have the details.

Finally: Did you know? One union in Sarasota is turning 100 this year. They will celebrate with a cake on Labor Day, and we will tell you which union it is.

City of Bradenton and City of Sarasota work crews are sandblasting art off sidewalks, to the dismay of artists. What’s happening?

Next up: Manatee County Schools have a new superintendent. Noah Vinsky tells us who the pick is.

 

Then: Suncoast Searchlight continues its series about the hidden costs of living in a privately run development: Josh Salman reports about trouble at a subdivision in Manatee County.

Next: A luxury developer is proposing to tear down a 12-story office building in the heart of downtown Sarasota and replace it with a taller tower. We have the details.

Finally: Some activists believe the historical Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall is facing death by neglect. But the City of Sarasota’s interim manager told our reporter this ain’t so.

The Manatee County Commission was set for a showdown this week with state authorities and developers over controls for new development. It did not happen, and WSLR News reporter Dania Hefley explains.

Next up: Everybody is riled up about flooding. WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez got Sarasota County’s new stormwater management czar in front of his microphone, and he asked Ben Quartermaine a few questions. Then: After hand-wringing about runaway spending and a possible deficit opening up in a few years, Sarasota County Commissioners agreed to hold a fifth budget workshop this week. It ended with few, if any, cuts, as Suncoast Searchlight reports.

Finally: A Miami judge just upended the immigrant detention center in the Everglades set up by the state government. We get local reactions.

The recently flooded Van Wezel got a few more years. The City of Sarasota is now taking steps to keep the historic performing arts hall in good shape, but there are many questions about the future of the Purple Cow.

Next up: Layoffs at Sarasota County’s largest manufacturing company seem to continue, after a merger last fall that resulted in the elimination of an entire shift. WSLR News reporter Noah Vinsky has the story of a struggling couple in North Port. Then: We continue to follow the deportation of a young woman from North Port. Today, Ramon Lopez brings us the third chapter of her journey: What does the future look like for Lulu Martinez in Mexico? And what are her legal options, if she tried to return to the United States?

Then: Speaking of deportations - a protest is coming up in Sarasota this weekend. 

Finally: Rob Lorei was not loud, but this Tampa Bay area journalist left quite the legacy. He passed away last weekend, and we bring you a eulogy.

After weeks of ICE detention, a young woman who grew up in North Port signed those deportation papers and walked across the Mexican border. She told WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez what that was like.

Next up: 400 million and growing - that’s the cost of a new performing arts center in Sarasota. Suncoast Searchlight brings us a report that shows fundraising for that project is lagging.  Then: Downtown Bradenton is changing fast, with little public scrutiny. We bring you a report about a city council vote that will change a historic neighborhood nearby. 

Next: Vaccination rates in Sarasota kindergartens have dropped below herd immunity levels. We bring you this Suncoast Searchlight investigative report.

Finally: A plan for a family resource center connected to a school in Newtown is taking shape. But even before fundraising has begun, the project has mobilized hundreds of community members.

Lulu Martinez grew up in North Port and graduated from college there just last year. Last week, she walked across a bridge to Mexico, and WSLR News interviewed her about the weeks at an ICE detention camp in Texas before that. 

Next up: School board member Tom Edwards has been named executive director of Project Pride SRQ. Now the Sarasota Republican Party says this presents a conflict of interest and asks him to resign.  Then: The Manatee County School Board narrowed its search for a superintendent to two finalists. Who are they?

Finally: Rents remain high across Sarasota and Manatee, outmatching wages for most renters. We bring you a Suncoast Searchlight analysis.

A local non-profit has tested the water quality in seven new locations in the bay, and what they’ve found is a lot of e. Coli. They recommend avoiding swimming at these spots. 

Next up: At a recent Republican gathering in Sarasota County, in-fighting within the GOP party reigned as a dominant theme.  Then: Minors in Manatee County will find themselves restricted by a new curfew. The County Commission also continues to push back against SB 180. 

Finally: Sarasota City Commissioners denied a rezoning request by a synagogue to build apartments next to the temple.

Following whistleblower complaints about lack of financial transparency, the New College Foundation is coming under more scrutiny: This time it’s about a donor who wants their money back. Mason Chambless explains.

Next up: An analysis by Suncoast Searchlight reveals that buyers in this region have little choice but to live in neighborhoods controlled and taxed by real estate developers. Derek Gilliam reports. Then: Environmentalists and an indigenous tribe are suing state and federal agencies over the immigrant detention center in the Everglades. A Sierra Club organizer explains their reasons.

Then: Reporter Noah Vinsky has the latest on Manatee Schools’ superintendent search.

Finally: The North Water Tower Park is one of Sarasota’s best-kept secrets. Will it stay that way?

The cold war between Manatee County commissioners and the DeSantis administration turned hot again at yesterday’s commission meeting. Noah Vinsky reports. 

Next up: A Trump administration budget cut makes ripples before it has even begun. Suncoast Searchlight reports about the financial squeeze on a nearby rural hospital.  Then: We reported about the ICE detention of Lulu Martinez. The recent college graduate from North Port is now in Mexico, as Ramon Lopez reports. 

Then: Some protesters in Bradenton will express their rage at Rage Against the Regime, as Mason Chambless learned. 

Finally: Soon an open mic and yoga for the unhoused will be launching. Gretchen Cochran has that story.

The Colson Hotel is a special place, and after its first 100 years, this Sarasota building is getting a new lease of life. Amayia-Marie Gaspard braced spiders to find out how.

Next up: On Tuesday, dozens of people lined up at a Sarasota School Board meeting to speak out against a change in discrimination policy. But the two board members who voted against that policy change say they are more concerned about a different challenge: Money. I will bring you this report.

Then: Sarasota City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch is still fixing her home, after last year’s flooding. Student reporter Oscar Moore interviewed her about this experience, and what she thinks the city should do about future flooding.

Then: The city is giving away trees. Kiona Wehlage interviewed the City of Sarasota’s chief arborist about the Neighborhood Canopy Program. 

Finally: The Mobile Freedom School and its focus on African American history is back this summer. Mason Chambless took one class and learned about … the history of traffic lights.