WSLR News

Why affordable housing advocates embrace the "Live Local Act" just passed by the Republican supermajority in Tallahassee - even though it restricts the power of cities and counties to control rents, and scares the bejesus out of neighborhood activists. Listen to Kody Glazer, legal and policy director for the Florida Housing Coalition, talk to skeptical neighborhood organizers in Sarasota.

Live! Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: DeSantis-appointed board denies tenure to New College Five; Sarasota County commissioner wants to shrink influence of mental health professionals on county's mental health program selection; in a Sarasota district overwhelmed by new development, a developer-funded candidate leads the county commission race; why the Sarasota County Sheriff wants more military-grade equipment.

Grassroots movements and politics in Southwest Florida: Sarasota students participate in statewide walkout. Interview with a New College graduate who grew up undocumented in Florida. Manatee County commissioners continue their War on Woke at public libraries. Counter-coup reinstates Manatee County Commission chair, after 48 hours.

Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: Conservative Sarasota School Board slows the conservative makeover of public schools. Manatee County commissioners, instead of profiling themselves as culture warriors, turn to infighting. Poor People's Campaign taps into frustrations of Floridians with politics. And how one Sarasota woman stopped big hotel projects.

Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: Yesterday, the Florida house approved, and the governor signed, a six-week ban on abortions. WSLR reporter Marianne Barisonek is in Tallahassee to report about the backlash. Staying with healthcare: Wait times in emergency rooms in Sarasota County have risen by 40% recently. Nickolas Steinig is looking behind the scenes to understand what's going on. Then, we have Joshua Epstein reporting about the waterfront Bradenton City Hall, which may soon have to move elsewhere. On Wednesday, the Bradenton city council took a major step towards selling the prime piece of real estate to a developer. Finally, the injection of contaminated phosphate mining sludge at Piney Point deep into the underground has begun, and the Manatee County Commission approved an increase to pay for it. Zachary Fahringer has that report. 

Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: The state government is pulling out of a national voter registration cross-checking system; Josh Epstein talks to worried election officials and observers. A conservative effort to remake public schools in Sarasota through a consulting contract with a Hillsdale College spinoff is being slowed by pushback from one school board member, protesters, and hours of public comment; Johannes Werner reports. Dean Gallo has the story about how City of Sarasota commissioners - despite unanswered questions - keeps the course towards  construction of the city's biggest project yet.

Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: A Sarasota public housing activist gets honored - by an organization that is not typically associated with affordable housing; the California governor and his family stop in Sarasota on a tour of the South, to listen to community members at the receiving end of Ron DeSantis' "War on Woke"; we play speeches from an "Academic Freedom" teach-in this weekend at New College of Florida.

Your grassroots news from Southwest Florida: Josh Epstein tries to find out from local school officials whether and how they brace for the school privatization bill just signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. A local state senator wants to allow consumer loan companies to charge higher interest rates, and Nic Steinig is chasing that story.  Zach Fahringer is trying to understand what implications Manatee County's Second Amendment Sanctuary declaration has. And Johannes Werner reports about county commissioners eager to enable the next wave of suburban sprawl, and the pushback this is prompting.

Your news from Southwest Florida: Nick Steinig reports on the latest personnel changes at New College; Dean Gallo was at a "medical freedom" protest in Venice; Simon Valek has the story about the latest move to get Sarasota a new performing arts center, and about efforts by the City of Sarasota to find land for affordable housing; and Bev Kippenham presents the activist calendar.

Your news from Southwest Florida: Verbal attacks against gay member of Sarasota School Board continue - while the board stays silent on a state measure that would shift millions of dollars from public to private schools. And: Exclusive interview with Yoleidy Rosario-Hernandez, the recently fired Dean of Inclusion at New College of Florida.