WSLR News

The Manatee County Commission was set for a showdown this week with state authorities and developers over controls for new development. It did not happen, and WSLR News reporter Dania Hefley explains. Next up: Everybody is riled up about flooding. WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez got Sarasota County’s new stormwater management czar in front of his microphone, and he asked Ben Quartermaine a few ques...

The recently flooded Van Wezel got a few more years. The City of Sarasota is now taking steps to keep the historic performing arts hall in good shape, but there are many questions about the future of the Purple Cow. Next up: Layoffs at Sarasota County’s largest manufacturing company seem to continue, after a merger last fall that resulted in the elimination of an entire shift. WSLR News reporter N...

After weeks of ICE detention, a young woman who grew up in North Port signed those deportation papers and walked across the Mexican border. She told WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez what that was like. Next up: 400 million and growing - that’s the cost of a new performing arts center in Sarasota. Suncoast Searchlight brings us a report that shows fundraising for that project is lagging.    Then: Dow...

Lulu Martinez grew up in North Port and graduated from college there just last year. Last week, she walked across a bridge to Mexico, and WSLR News interviewed her about the weeks at an ICE detention camp in Texas before that.  Next up: School board member Tom Edwards has been named executive director of Project Pride SRQ. Now the Sarasota Republican Party says this presents a conflict of interest...

A local non-profit has tested the water quality in seven new locations in the bay, and what they’ve found is a lot of e. Coli. They recommend avoiding swimming at these spots.  Next up: At a recent Republican gathering in Sarasota County, in-fighting within the GOP party reigned as a dominant theme.    Then: Minors in Manatee County will find themselves restricted by a new curfew. The County Commi...

Following whistleblower complaints about lack of financial transparency, the New College Foundation is coming under more scrutiny: This time it’s about a donor who wants their money back. Mason Chambless explains. Next up: An analysis by Suncoast Searchlight reveals that buyers in this region have little choice but to live in neighborhoods controlled and taxed by real estate developers. Derek Gill...

The cold war between Manatee County commissioners and the DeSantis administration turned hot again at yesterday’s commission meeting. Noah Vinsky reports.  Next up: A Trump administration budget cut makes ripples before it has even begun. Suncoast Searchlight reports about the financial squeeze on a nearby rural hospital.    Then: We reported about the ICE detention of Lulu Martinez. The recent co...

The Colson Hotel is a special place, and after its first 100 years, this Sarasota building is getting a new lease of life. Amayia-Marie Gaspard braced spiders to find out how. Next up: On Tuesday, dozens of people lined up at a Sarasota School Board meeting to speak out against a change in discrimination policy. But the two board members who voted against that policy change say they are more conce...

WSLR News reporter Ramon Lopez is headed to Camp Blanding, where the governor wants to open a second camp to concentrate immigrant detainees. Ahead of his trip, Lopez brings us the latest news of this project. Next: FPL wants to bury more power cables in Sarasota. That’s safer and more reliable after storms, but it’s costly, too. Noah Vinsky checks who will pay the bill. Then: Thursday was Good Tr...

A 20-year old man who grew up in Southwest Florida and ran an ice cream shop in Tampa was killed in the West Bank. His death created an international incident, and two local events are ahead this week. Next: The big budget bill signed by President Trump on July 4th comes at a cost for hundreds of thousands of Floridians. Reece Helmick is looking at the effects of the new budget on health insurance...

The Sarasota-based Southwest Florida Planned Parenthood is no more. After a merger with the other regional chapter in Florida, it’s now part of a bigger, statewide organization. Kylee Worth looks at the costs and benefits. Then: The Sarasota County utility chief is pushing back, after an investigative report revealed neglect ahead of historic flooding last year. A new Suncoast Searchlight report r...

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 Napl...

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....

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 com...

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 observat...

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...

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. N...

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 fol...

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 t...

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 seco...

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 fo...

The Florida legislature is in overtime this week, negotiating a budget for next year. Driving the delay is a fight over what taxes to cut, and the governor’s proposal to cut property taxes worries a lot of people. Noah Vinsky has a closer look. Next: Meanwhile in Manatee County, the all-Republican county commission was discussing how to shrink an already lean local government. Spoiler alert: It ai...

Sarasota residents who were flooded last year are putting pressure on the county commissioners. But is Sarasota ready for the next storm season? Next: When it comes to sewage spills, Bradenton has been the worst offender in the region. Now that the city has outsourced its wastewater management, it is trying to get a sense of what all of this will cost.  Then: In a meeting last week, the new chair...

The 3,000 signatures didn’t make a dent. If it’s up to the panel that makes recommendations to the City of Sarasota about the future of the Van Wezel, the historic performing arts center will be history soon. Then: A special board meeting at New College of Florida gave a glimpse of the retention and recruitment problems the movers and shakers behind the conservative makeover are facing.  Next: Man...

More felony charges are piling up against the former communications director of New College. Suncoast Searchlight and The Florida Trident report. Then: The Sarasota County Commission wants developers to go back to holding in-person community workshops for neighbors. At least in part, as Ramon Lopez reports.  Next: Cuts to the NOAA could impact the fishing industry and Red Tide research in the regi...