WSLR News

Coming up: The Manatee County Commission has a new chair, and we have the details.

Next: The arts community in Sarasota is still reeling from the erasure of hundreds of pieces of sidewalk art in September. Will a lawsuit be filed? Dania Hefley has a report.

Then: The Trump administration is saber rattling around Venezuela. We interviewed a close observer who will be talking at a World Affairs Council event in Sarasota tomorrow.

Finally: WSLR reporter Ramon Lopez took a close look at an unusual theater production. It’s about a school shooting, and some of the actors are school students. 

Near downtown Sarasota, a polluting plant may be on its way out, and truly affordable housing could be on the way in. The host of WSLR’s The Detail interviewed the man behind the project.

Then: Decades after a military contractor polluted the groundwater in a majority African American community in Manatee County, the cleanup is slow to come. WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez brings us Part 3 of his series on Tallevast.

Next: Sarasota County has come up with a new way of killing mosquitos: By applying pesticides from drones. 

Coming up: This Thanksgiving, hunger is more widespread in Florida. What’s going on? Our reporter talked to volunteers who distribute food, to find out.

Then: Artists on the Suncoast who produce public art are coping with erasure. Our reporter talked to a painter of murals whose art was erased not once, but twice.

Next: Her four-year old twin sister died during Josef Mengele’s concentration camp experiments with twins. She survived. Our reporter talked to Sora Vigorito, who will be coming to Venice.

Finally: The hosts of WSLR's Our Changing Environment interviewed an expert of wild turkeys.

Coming up: Manatee County adopted a juvenile curfew - a broadly supported idea. But WSLR reporter Gretchen Cochran also heard the anxious voices of those who fear the effects of more policing.

Then: The Trump administration wants to expand oil drilling in the Gulf closer to Florida shores. It’s no surprise that has prompted pushback here - but the pushback comes from both sides of the political aisle.

Next: There’s a ceasefire in Gaza, but the dying continues. A Sarasota activist responds by organizing a fundraiser for Palestinian children.

Finally: For 15 years, Unidos Now has worked to move immigrants towards the mainstream. The Sarasota non-profit celebrated with a big Quinceañera party in Palmetto.

Coming up: The Sarasota School Board will be changing the times of their meetings and many community members are not happy about it. Johannes Werner has the details. 

Then: Sarasota Commissioners voted down a comprehensive plan amendment that could have transformed Siesta Key. Ramon Lopez reports.

Next: A community advocate is bringing a countywide coalition of neighborhood groups back to life. She told the hosts of WSLR’s Our Changing Environment all about it.

Then: A local group that helps put immigrants on the path through college is celebrating 15 years of work. Johannes Werner learned about the group’s plans for the future.

Coming up: The Sarasota legislative delegation met this week, and local officials and residents raised concerns about state proposals that could impact property taxes and local control. Johannes Werner and Klaus Obermeit have the details. 

Then: We break down how the controversial SB 180 is creating new friction between state lawmakers and grassroots Republicans over local control. Alice Newman with Suncoast Searchlight brings us the report. 

Next: In Manatee County, the planning commission approved a big  Lennar housing project, moving forward under a trade-off that dedicates funding for infrastructure but neglects to include affordable housing. 

Finally:  Shifting to local education, the controversial Schools of Hope law is heating up in Sarasota, as two different for-profit operators simultaneously filed to occupy space on the same two public school campuses. Derek Gilliam shares the facts.

Does climate change make you act like a deer in the headlight? A conference coming up tomorrow slices the big challenge into digestible portions - small enough for action. Gretchen Cochran gives us a preview.

Then: Sarasota was a global pioneer a quarter century ago when it became home to one of the first canopy walkways. Now, an effort is on to preserve and improve it. Brice Claypoole reports.

Next: A busload of Sarasota clerics and activists took a ride to the Alligator Alcatraz, and our reporter Ramon Lopez tagged along.

New College has been DOGE’d by the state, and the results don’t look pretty. The bad optics come at a time when the governor’s and legislature’s financial largesse could come to an end. We try to dig deeper.

Then: Community Development Districts - the developer-controlled entities that tax homeowners, often with little to no representation - have received a not too flattering spotlight. The Manatee County Commission just approved two more CDDs.

Next: Should Sarasota County have a recurring funding source for its land preservation efforts? Securing the future of this program will be up to you, as this will be a ballot question next year.

The threat of for-profit operators taking over school buildings lit a fire under the Sarasota School District. The five school board members seem ready to approve this Friday a substantial reshuffle. We have the details.

Then: Low school enrollment in Sarasota seems to respond more to demographics than to performance. Occupancy at Sarasota charter schools is as low as in public schools, the Suncoast Searchlight found. 

Next: Publix decided to invite customers who openly carry firearms. Many disagree that this will make grocery shopping a pleasure. Lynn Aragon has that report.

Then: Using incentives for developers, Manatee County has produced more than a thousand units of what is called workforce housing. But rents for these apartments are still out of reach for most working people. So the county commission tomorrow will discuss changing tack.

Finally: Clergy have been among the most outspoken critics of the crackdown against immigrants. Sarasota has been a hotspot of religious resistance, as Ramon Lopez reports.  

Coming up: Turning Point, the organization founded by recently assassinated conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, is getting help from the governor in their push into high schools. SEE Alliance, on the other side of the political spectrum, now has ambitious plans to do the same.

Then: A for-profit charter operator is asking the Sarasota School District for free access to a school for the disabled. That raises questions, and Suncoast Searchlight is seeking answers. 

Next: A religious coalition in Sarasota this Sunday is joining a national action in support of immigrants called Disappeared in America. We have the details.

Then: A Sarasota police investigation found a neighbor who sent threatening texts about basketball playing kids in the majority black Central-Cocoanut neighborhood is not a danger to the community. The hoop is back up. But what’s next? We interviewed neighbors and activists.

Finally: Is the ambitious Sarasota Performing Arts Center plan alive? The non-profit behind the $400 million project is planning a gala fundraiser, and Gretchen Cochran tried to find out what it’s about.