WSLR News

Within just three years, Sarasota County will be facing a deficit, if spending continues to grow as it has. One of the biggest drivers has been the Sheriff’s Office, as a Suncoast Searchlight report points out.

Then: The county committed to helping build an indoor sports arena. How will they pay for it? Shuffling tourism tax revenues, as WSLR reporter Ozzie Konez found.

Next: A developer from Naples is trying to leverage a new state law to go big and tall in downtown Sarasota. Ramon Lopez has the details.

Then: Within barely a week of creating its new stormwater department, Sarasota County found the flood czar to head it. Ramon Lopez gets the inside track from the county administrator.

Finally: It’s reboot time for Sarasota’s city manager search. WSLR News reporter Kylee Worth is following the journey. 

Donald Trump was expected to sign the big budget reconciliation bill on Fourth of July, and its Medicaid cuts are not good news for an already troubled MCR Health. That’s the biggest local provider of healthcare services to low-income and underinsured patients.

Then: In Manatee County, tensions are rising between big developers and a new set of county commissioners elected to rein in their power. Noah Vinsky reports.

Next: The state legislature and governor just passed major restrictions on citizen-led constitutional amendment drives. The Florida Clean Water campaign suspended signature collections. The grassroots initiative is still hanging in there, but organizers say they need a miracle to get the signatures the state requires to get on the ballot. Reece Helmick has that report.

Finally: It’s Pride Month. But for aging LGBTQ people who have gone through criminalization, AIDS, and discrimination, the new political environment looks eerily like a bad past. We have a Suncoast Searchlight report. 

The damage to hundreds of homes in Sarasota after Tropical Storm Debby was not just the result of an epic natural disaster, but of neglect. That’s according to a joint investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Florida Trident.

Then: It’s reshuffle time for Sarasota County stormwater management, after last year’s flooding. Ramon Lopez is keeping track.

Next: Lulu Martinez is a danger to her community, a judge ruled, and that’s why she continues to be stuck in an ICE detention camp in Texas, rather than return home to North Port. Ramon Lopez reports.

Then: A Sarasota company has helped in the construction of “Alligator Alcatraz”, and that’s caused a firestorm. Mason Chambless reports.

Finally: It’s one more meeting, after all, before the Purple Ribbon Committee will let the Sarasota City Commission know what we should do with the Van Wezel. 

The board of New College met on Thursday to talk about finances, amid growing enrollment. There was no discussion about murky accounting at the foundation that supports the college.

Then: Martin Hyde is a gadfly or worse to some. But few people doubt that he is an astute observer of local politics, a fiscal conservative, and a Republican. In an interview on WSLR’s The Detail, he made some observations about New College.

Next: Turning Point USA, the conservative student group, will hold its national meeting in Tampa in July.

Then: Lulu Martinez made a wrong u-turn in North Port and ended up in an ICE detention camp in Texas. Meanwhile, charges over her traffic violation are piling up here at home. Our reporter caught up with her lawyer, as Lulu will be facing two court hearings next week.

Finally: Remember the wilted grass, bushes and trees after the flooding during last year’s storm season? Our reporter talked to an expert on how to prepare your yard for the next floods.

For the first time, Sarasota Schools are recognizing the district is facing a financial crisis. In an email to employees, the superintendent announced a hiring freeze. WSLR reporter Noah Vinsky has the details.

Next: Local politics are not going Pat Neal’s way. The Manatee County Commission gave the heavyweight of local developers a red light on a project that’s at the core of Neal’s new business strategy.

Then: Street protests are not exactly a long-standing tradition for the 105-year old League of Women Voters. But the Sarasota chapter of the non-partisan organization is taking to the streets, in response to what they call a constitutional crisis.

Last but not least: Listen up cowgirls- and boys! The Great Florida Cattle Drive is returning this January, and WSLR reporter Ramon Lopez has the details.

For tens of thousands of homeowners in Sarasota and Manatee their annual tax bill includes more assessments by developers and their homeowners association than taxes to local governments. A Suncoast Searchlight report sheds light on these hidden costs of living in Florida.

Then: In the wake of the Minnesota assassinations, our reporter Kylee Worth interviewed anti-abortion picketers in Sarasota.

Next: Only four percent of Planned Parenthood’s services are abortions. WSLR News reporter Ishmael Katz has a look at the other 96 percent - and new programs they are adding.

Finally: Controversies are swirling around the existing and future performing arts center in Sarasota. But a lot is happening in the emerging park around that building. WSLR Gretchen Cochran takes us on a stroll through the Bay Park.

The Florida Legislature agreed on a budget Monday. Among the losers: The governor’s property tax cuts, New College’s expansion plans, and land preservation.

Then: The No Kings demonstrations in this area were the biggest this year. But one speaker at the Sarasota protest said the real work lies ahead. Klaus Obermeit has that story.

Next: An immigrants’ rights protest in Bradenton on Monday was followed by a picket at the Sarasota-Bradenton airport early Wednesday. Mason Chambless reports.

Finally: Dancers are quitting the Sarasota Ballet in droves. A Suncoast Searchlight report looks behind the scenes at the Asolo Theatre.

Florida Highway Patrol is using a mass surveillance tool to catch undocumented immigrants, according to a Suncoast Searchlight investigation.

Then: A Sarasota activist spent some days helping protesters in Los Angeles. In an interview with WSLR’s Surreal News, Sarah Parker wants to set the record straight on what’s going on.

Next: Have you heard of the Bradenton Nine Devils? You will learn about the history of this Negro League team if you go to LECOM Park, the baseball stadium near downtown Bradenton on Saturday.

Finally: Juneteenth is coming early to Sarasota. To be precise: This Saturday. We have the details.

Lulu Martinez is a recent college graduate. She was arrested after a wrong U-turn in North Port and is now at an ICE detention center in Texas. Ramon Lopez has her story.

Then: The events in Los Angeles after ICE raids, protests and rioting, are making ripples here, too. A local immigrant rights advocate has scheduled a march across the bridge in Bradenton this Monday in response. This is the second immigrants’ rights protest in this region within a week, and Mason Chambless has more on that.

Next: A military parade will be rolling through Washington this Saturday, and “No Kings” is the theme of nationwide counter-protests. In the Sarasota protest, veterans will play a key role.

Then: The Manatee County School Board last month fired the superintendent, in a tight and controversial vote. Our reporter was at the first school board meeting since that day, to understand what’s next.

Finally: Rise Above, the youth theater group in Sarasota, is taking a risk in the search of love. Tamara Solum went to see their latest musical, The Prom.

Two former officers at the New College Foundation are alleging administrators may have tried to cover up misuse of donation. Suncoast Searchlight has that report.

Then: Sarasota County seems headed towards creating an entire new department in charge of stormwater management. It comes after public despair over lack of clarity and urgency in the wake of massive flooding last year.

Next: Get ready for the storm season, local officials urge. Ramon Lopez has more. 

Then: Manatee County Commissioners seem to be headed towards a clash with both developers and the state. Noah Vinsky has more.

Finally: Soaring egg prices influenced the outcome of the last presidential elections. A family farm in DeSoto County seems to have found the right answer to the main cause of those soaring egg prices.