Suncoast Searchlight

Local and national media experts at a recent forum warned that, in the age of AI, emotionally charged and false content spreads significantly faster on the internet than accurate information.

Commissioners are expected to consider a plan to update funding agreements with nonprofits in response to a federal law that bars undocumented immigrants from receiving state and local benefits. Nonprofits that don’t comply would lose their county funding.

The measure has drawn backlash from local governments and advocacy groups, including 1000 Friends of Florida, which argue the law undermines home rule and prevents communities from strengthening wetlands protections among other issues.

A Sarasota County judge dismissed a legal challenge to a controversial Siesta Key land swap, clearing the way for a 5,000-square-foot home to be built on a county-owned parcel originally purchased for preservation.

New College of Florida plans to divert $2.5 million from its auxiliary housing fund to help build a new baseball field, despite the campus facing an ongoing student housing shortage.

While community donations and volunteers met the immediate surge in need, advocates say the emergency response highlighted deeper gaps, including limited shelter access, enforcement of anti-camping laws and a shortage of affordable housing that leaves many people cycling between the streets and short-term aid.

A Florida Senate bill would allow homeowners in community development districts (CDDs) to recall board members accused of malfeasance, neglect or incompetence — a power residents currently lack.

Sarasota’s effort to directly develop affordable housing downtown — an unprecedented, city-led plan championed by former City Manager Marlon Brown — faltered after the city spent more than $7 million on land without a finalized construction budget or financing strategy and as anticipated state and philanthropic funding did not come through.

As political polarization deepens, Sarasota-based nonprofit Conversations Across the Aisle (CATA) brings together people from across the political spectrum for facilitated dinners designed to replace debate with curiosity and understanding.

The “Law Enforcement Accountability Dashboard” asks tipsters to identify non-compliant law enforcement agencies, but records show many submissions hinge on allegations about neighbors and community members suspected of being undocumented. Often embedded in those complaints are accusations that local agencies are not doing enough about it.

The Manatee County School District has rolled out new mandatory training on boundaries, sexual harassment and abuse prevention and launched an audit of its hiring practices after a joint investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald into repeated cases of staff misconduct toward students.

The resolution, approved despite hours of emotional public opposition, does not spell out what documentation agents would need to enter schools, whether judicial warrants would be required for non-public areas, or who would make those decisions.