Sarasota County

Three sentinel chickens recently tested positive for West Nile virus in the county. While mosquitoes tend to be a year-round problem in Florida, heavy rains with flooding tend to increase their presence.

Due to a National Weather Service forecast for heavy rain, self-service sandbags are available for residents in Sarasota County and in the city of North Port.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, GOP political consultant Anthony Pedicini, and a trio of prominent local developers were not candidates themselves, yet voters delivered them a clear rebuke, with six out of seven candidates they supported facing defeat.

Sarasota County has issued an air advisory for elevated ozone levels and/or the potential for elevated ozone levels that fall within the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" category, per Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national ambient air quality standards for public health.

The benefits, announced by FloridaCommerce, are for eligible Floridians whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a direct result of Hurricane Debby are encouraged to submit a claim at FloridaJobs.org.

It happened as the mother was dropping off the 12-year-old near Booker Middle School on Monday. The youngster was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital with critical injuries.

Breakfast and lunch again will be served at no cost to students in all schools in Lee, Hendry, Glades, and DeSoto county schools as well as in 43 of Sarasota County's 53 schools.

Sarasota's burn ban automatically took effect on May 5.

Nina Venter is a Senior Transportation Planner for the Sarasota-Manatee metropolitan planning organization. She says Northeast Manatee County alone is projected to have a population similar to Fort Lauderdale's by 2050.

They say people have a tendency to base decisions on past experience. But this season is forecast to be far more active than any in recent memory.

The ban in Sarasota County will be lifted once the index reaches acceptable levels for seven consecutive days.

Florida residents were undercounted in the last census, although Sarasota County did well at responding.