Suncoast Searchlight

Sarasota County commissioners finalized a plan this week to pick up the bill for more than $2 million that Tax Collector Mike Moran withheld from Sarasota County Schools to process a voter-approved referendum for education.

Anxious residents who live near flood-prone Phillippi Creek can expect at least some relief this storm season now that the county has removed 60 tons of sediment from the creek bed. But there is still a long way to go.

The worst water shortage in nearly a decade has drained regional water reserves and prompted emergency water restrictions and rule changes along the Peace River, raising concerns about the long-term impact on Southwest Florida’s ecosystems.

The long-discussed rowing facility has evolved into a proposed 100,000-square-foot recreation complex expected to cost as much as $70 million, with Sarasota County already committing $20 million in tourist tax dollars.

Suncoast Searchlight reviewed water-restriction complaints and enforcement records across Sarasota County during Southwest Florida's most severe drought in nearly a decade and found municipalities are taking sharply different approaches to enforcement.

Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over.

Just days after the Sarasota County School Board sued Tax Collector Mike Moran over millions of dollars withheld from a voter-approved school tax, county commissioners Tuesday voted to reverse course and resume covering the cost of collecting the tax.

New signs posted at Publix stores now state: “Publix kindly asks that only law enforcement openly carry firearms in our stores.” The message appears near the bottom of a broader list of store rules, alongside more routine policies like no pets and no soliciting.

Critics warn that what makes this kind of technology attractive to law enforcement — its ability to rapidly merge and analyze disparate data sources — threatens to erode individuals’ privacy.

The Sarasota County School Board and two county taxpayers have sued Tax Collector Mike Moran, alleging his office unlawfully diverted more than $2 million from a voter-approved school tax after changing a decades-old arrangement over who pays collection fees.

A long-running fight over a proposed subdivision next to Sarasota’s Celery Fields has escalated into a lawsuit, with D.R. Horton abandoning an arbitration process and suing Sarasota County after officials repeatedly rejected its scaled-down plans to build up to 170 homes on nearby Smith Farm.

Three times now, environmental advocates hoping to stave off a housing community proposed next to the Celery Fields bird sanctuary have seen huge victories in the Sarasota County Commission chambers. But a developer that calls itself "America's largest homebuilder” is still carrying on with its plans.