WSLR News

On Thursday, New College began cutting trees at the Uplands Bayfront Preserve, to make space for a soccer field and volleyball courts. Anxious neighbors scrambled, and on late Friday managed to have the City of Sarasota intervene. We have the details.

Then: Johnny Hunter Sr. provided an information lifeline and a mirror to African Americans in this area. He passed away two weeks ago, and we will tell you what's going to happen to Tempo News.

Next: Remember the study that showed how Sarasota Memorial Hospital outperformed their peers during the pandemic? Hospital CEO David Verinder talked about it during an appearance Thursday on the Detail show with Cathy Antunes, on WSLR.

Finally: Customers of one of Florida's biggest utilities met ahead of a shareholder meeting, to voice anxiety over rising rates. Partner station WMNF reports from Tampa.

Hurricane season is upon us, and weather experts predict that La Niña will turn it into an intense one. We get you pointers from Sarasota County's new emergency chief.

Then: Yes, the billionaire commencement speaker at New College's graduation event was challenged by a hostile crowd. But the bigger challenge was a faulty sound system, as our news team reports.

Next: One Sarasota County commissioner hates big buses, and at a meeting this week, he went on the record with his deeply held conviction again. All five seemed to agree that transit should not incur a deficit - in the same meeting they agreed to spend close to $100 million on roads, which generate no revenues at all for the county. So what do you do if you're in charge of the county's transit agency? We were there to listen and watch.

A bus crash this week near Ocala killed eight farmworkers and injured 45. WSLR's Ruth Beltran interviewed a farmworker leader from Immokalee and a lawyer from Sarasota who are close to this tragedy.

Next: The biggest commercial developer in the region is proposing to turn one of the biggest mall properties in Sarasota into a complex that mixes retail and housing. That should be low-hanging, juicy fruit to build affordable apartments. But apparently neither the developer nor the city planning commission is willing to pick it. Ramon Lopez has the details.

Then: One Sarasota County commissioner hates big buses, and at a meeting this week, he went on the record with his deeply held conviction again. All five seemed to agree that transit should not incur a deficit - in the same meeting they agreed to spend close to $100 million on roads, which generate no revenues at all for the county. So what do you do if you're in charge of the county's transit agency? We were there to listen and watch.

Finally: It's becoming a routine for New College students. In less than an hour, there will be the official graduation ceremony on campus. But before that, yesterday evening, there was the traditional Alt graduation. Traditional, as in quirky and raucous. Florence Fahringer was there to report.

A national homebuilder wants to build a subdivision right next to a bird sanctuary and birdwatcher destination. We watched a neighborhood workshop in which the question was raised why Sarasota County is doing nothing to protect the Celery Fields.

Then: New College student Grace Keenan is graduating, and that means she is on her way out after two challenging years as a student leader on the culture-war battlefield her campus has become. We talked to the new leaders of the New College Student Alliance about the challenges ahead.

Next: Keeping with culture wars - thanks to a Manatee County commissioner, the Sunshine Skyway won’t light up in its usual rainbow colors for Pride month this year. Partner station WMNF has the details.

And more culture wars: Lawyer Dan Bailey has been a conservative figurehead through the decades in Sarasota. He is now worried about an ideologically driven takeover attempt of the local hospital. 

Two of the five districts of the Sarasota County Commission are up for election this year. District 3, in the south, has the so far most complete constellation of candidates, and Florence Fahringer did some digging about them.

Then: The rains are about to begin, and that means mosquito season. That raises concerns not only about malaria and dengue, but also about massive pesticide spraying. Our news team talked to the Sarasota County mosquito control chief. 

Then: A Sarasota woman’s stepson is one of the Israelis taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7th attack. She is still seeking answers on her son’s whereabouts seven months later. Partner station WMNF has this update.

Finally: The Selby Botanical Gardens' massive new parking garage had to face quite some headwinds in Sarasota. Lost in the noise were some positive news. 

Seventy-nine Sarasota truckers voted this weekend whether to join the Teamsters union. We have the details.

Then: The crowd was big, the tone was raucous, and the battle cry was "Home Rule!". Gretchen Cochran reports from Anna Maria Island.

Then: A developer will be allowed to tear down a historic building in downtown Sarasota - if the city doesn't manage to move it. This story is from Ramon Lopez.

Next: Just weeks after the three-way scandal, Bridget Ziegler flexed her political muscle again on the school board yesterday.

Finally: The vice mayor of Sarasota made a last-gasp effort to stop a major zoning amendment that changes what can be built along major thoroughfares in the city. Ramon Lopez reports.

On Monday this week, USF students in Tampa joined the Palestine protests that have erupted on campuses elsewhere in Florida last week, and on Wednesday organizers promised they would be back today, after a break on Thursday for graduation ceremonies. So what's happening today? Our news team will let you know.

Then: Just weeks ago, the talk around Dakin Dairy Farm, one of the biggest agricultural operations in the region, was about closing down and selling the land. That raised the anxiety levels of community members fearing the land might be the next target for developers. Yesterday came a collective sigh of relief, and we have the details.

Next: Home rule is guaranteed by the Florida constitution, but it's under attack by the state legislature. A grassroots organization in Manatee County called Save Florida Home Rule is preparing a rally this Saturday, and it seems hundreds of protesters will be there.

Bank employees in Bradenton this weekend voted to join a union. That makes them among the first in the nation in that industry to seek collective bargaining.

Then: Despite threats by the governor and university administrations, the wave of Palestine protests keeps spreading in Florida. Now it has reached the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida, and students met immediate pushback. Sister station WMNF has that report.

Then: Today, Florida's six-week abortion ban goes in effect. We interviewed a Planned Parenthood executive to understand its impact.

Next: Home rule is guaranteed by the Florida constitution, but it's under attack by the state legislature. A grassroots organization in Manatee County called Save Florida Home Rule is preparing a rally this Saturday, and it seems hundreds of protesters will be there.

Finally: It looks like yet another spaceship will be landing near the heart of the oldest continuous rural settlement in the region. It brings not aliens to Old Miakka, but wealthy suburbanites who'd like to live the country life - but behind gates, and outfitted with three-car garages and pools.

His colorful bicycle sculptures are adorning street corners throughout Sarasota. For years, he and his puppet theater were a mainstay on the downtown Farmers' Market. And this is just the most visible art he produced. William Pearson was a creative presence in town for decades, and he passed away yesterday. Here's the WSLR News team's tribute to the giant known by everyone as Dr. Nik. 
Mark Zampella worked with Dr. Nik on music and film, Adam Ratner met him through the theater connection. Here are the full-length interviews by WSLR News Director Johannes Werner.

WSLR News is collaborating with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and reporter Derek Gilliam brings us a report about cozy communications between developers and Sarasota County staffers.

Then: The New College Foundation is the financial vehicle delivering most of the million-dollar-plus pay President Richard Corcoran receives. But the institution's finances are foggy, as reporter Florence Fahringer learned.

Then: WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez was at a conference that rekindled awareness about 20 years of efforts to clean up the toxic mess brought by a military contractor to the African American neighborhood of Tallevast. 

Finally: You may not know Dr. Nik, but if you live in Sarasota you sure know the dozens of bicycle sculptures he deployed along streets here. He passed away last week, and we have a tribute.