WSLR News

The City of North Port has received an application for construction of a data center - but the commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to slam the brakes on any project, including this one.

Next: This developer lawsuit against Sarasota County is different - it actually tries to hold individual commissioners responsible for their “no” vote. 

Then: In a surprise, last-minute vote Tuesday, the Sarasota School Board reversed course on a controversial vote it took just a few months ago.

Next: The City of Sarasota will spend millions to expand its wastewater treatment plant, and to underground utility cables on the keys. We explain.

Finally: He is the only incumbent on the Sarasota Public Hospital Board facing a challenger in the upcoming elections. We have a profile of Brad Baker.

If you have a gunshot wound and no insurance, you’re likely to spend significantly less time at Sarasota Memorial Hospital than insured patients. The hospital explains what’s behind the discrepancy.

Next: Expect worker shortages at rehab facilities, in homecare, and retirement homes soon. Next Friday, thousands of Haitian immigrants working in care jobs will likely drop out.

Then: An upscale business wants to move to Sarasota’s Gillespie Park - and it actually got a warm welcome in a neighborhood workshop.

Next: A state board is telling community colleges to ban undocumented students. We have a report with local reactions.

Finally: He served time. Then he got a law degree, and he got Florida to change its constitution. Now, he is running for governor, as an independent. We have a profile of Desmond Meade.

The Florida legislature has recently produced more than 50 laws that restrict local decisionmaking. The Suncoast’s state legislators approved all of these unpopular bills - yet most of our local representatives and senators seem to be cruising to re-election. 

Next: School districts are in a budget squeeze, and that has consequences. On the table in Sarasota now are price increases for school meals.

Then: PACs are popping up in a growing number of down-ballot races. We explain what these campaign vehicles do, and what role they’re playing in local races.

Next: The Sarasota Police Department just finished a gun return program. What’s the upshot?

Finally: Kelly Kirschner is a former mayor of Sarasota. He is now running for Congress, and we put the spotlight on his candidacy.

The national Democratic fundraising arm for congressional candidates declared a local district “in play”. We explain what that means. 

Next: We continue our series of candidate profiles. Today, we’re focusing on Eddie Pope, a Republican running for Congress in District 16.

Then: Journalists sometimes venture into fiction. Scratch that - faction. That’s the literary genre where facts and fiction overlap. The editor of the Bradenton Times just published a novel titled “Fish Kill”, and our reporter is probing how Mitch Maley walks that fine line.

Finally: It was simple, it was sturdy, and it was one of the most iconic weapons in the arsenal of the United States’ epic Antifa effort, otherwise known as World War 2. We’re talking about the Jeep, and one local guy’s way of honoring the vehicle’s history.

Today, Sarasota joined the fast-growing ranks of Florida counties slamming the brakes on data centers. 

Next: One rural resident has an issue with being charged by the county for rainwater that does not end up in the county’s ditches, channels or canals. She may have a case. 

Then: Like many districts in Florida, Sarasota Schools is facing a budget crisis and cuts. The driver is shrinking student enrollment.  Our reporter Rhatia Murphy is taking a deeper dive.

Finally: Eddie Speir’s campaign for Congress is grassroots driven. We have a profile of the cowboy-hat wearing candidate who channels Teddy Roosevelt.

Today, WSLR News is going underwater, with a report on turtle rehab at Mote Marine and another one about restoring oyster beds in the Manatee River. 

But before that, we have a report on how the world’s biggest vacation rental company is helping fund Byron Donald’s campaign for governor. 

Then, we bring you a story about a small business owner who takes the unusual step of passing on his company to employees. 

Next: The Trump administration is switching its approach to tackling homelessness from “Housing First” to “Treatment First”. Our reporter gathers local reactions.

In a WSLR exclusive, our reporter Ramon Lopez interviewed a Canadian businessman who spent time at the now-shuttered Everglades immigrant detention center before he was deported. One of the moments Doug Dixon would rather like to forget: He witnessed the suicide of a 19-year old fellow detainee.

Next: Today is the day New College officially absorbs the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus. Yesterday, the New College board of trustees met, and our reporter was there to find out more on the college’s budget challenges that are ahead. 

Then: Yevgheni Khodorkovsky filed last-minute to run for the Sarasota City Commission. We bring you a profile of a tech guy who wants the city to operate more efficiently. 

The notorious immigrant detention center in the Everglades is shutting down for good. In a WSLR exclusive, our reporter Ramon Lopez interviewed a Canadian businessman who spent time at Alligator Alcatraz before he was deported.

Next: The foul-mouthed blue cartoon character that made a big difference in the outcome of the last Manatee County Commission elections is due for a court hearing this Tuesday. Or rather, the cartoon’s creator is. 

Then: Neighbors worried about high asthma incidence in north Sarasota, want the city to shut down a concrete crushing plant. Now, they unearthed a decades old ordinance that seems to give the city a tool to do just that. But don’t hold your breath.

Finally: Worried about flooding? Sarasota County is trying to figure out how to reduce the damage next time around, and it needs your help.

Being seen as tied to developers is a big no-no in this election cycle. One of the most active anti big-development groups in Sarasota County just endorsed one candidate, and it’s being taken to task for it.

Next: Julie London is the sole Democrat in this election cycle running for a seat in the Sarasota County Commission. We have a profile.

Then: Even though it seems wildly unpopular, the development project known as 1899 Fruitville is advancing fast through the approval process the City of Sarasota has in place for downtown. Our reporter explains how the process called “administrative review” works.

Next: Change is afoot at the Sarasota School Board in the upcoming elections. Two powerful drivers of pandemic-era school politics will be gone or barely be visible after Aug.18. We put the focus on Bridget Ziegler and Moms for Liberty.

Finally: Laughter yoga is no joke, as our reporter learned.

Sarasota Public Hospital Board elections made headlines in 2024, when a slate of “Medical Freedom” activists was on the verge of taking control of Sarasota Memorial Hospital. They failed. But what about vaccination and mask skeptics in the upcoming elections? Nic Steinig reports.

Then: A local activist launched a statewide petition for a moratorium for all rezoning.  Noah Bookstein reports.

Next: Candidate forums offer an opportunity for compare-and-contrast. Our reporter has a close look at one featuring five Sarasota County Commission candidates.

Next: Juneteenth is upon us, and we have a roundup of local events.