In spite of documentation to contrary, Corps of Engineers fails to have contractor renourish...
Corps project manager tells city engineer ‘sand placed to north will work its way down there’. In December 2025, the website of the City of Sarasota featured a map that showed the limits of the Lido Key Beach Renourishment Project planned to begin in late January of this year.
Yet another call for a marine rescue on Siesta Key ends with no one...
Fire Station 13 crew responds to alert about jet skier. On Friday, April 24, in yet another Siesta Key incident regarding a 911 call indicating the need for a marine rescue, the responding Sarasota County Fire Department personnel found no one in distress, The Sarasota News Leader has learned. A...
AI-powered program at Sarasota Memorial improving early lung cancer detection
Doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital say a new early detection program is helping catch more lung cancers before symptoms begin and when the disease is most treatable.
Storms enter into the Suncoast this weekend
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Today: We’ll have another nice day today under a mix of sun and clouds… warm and humid for sure as highs are forecast to be in the low 80s for the beaches and in the low 90s inland!. This Weekend: Our cold front is...
May 5 County Commission discussion planned on issuance of nearly $20.8 million in bonds...
During April 21 meeting, board members requested more details about staff plans for site. During their regular meeting on April 21, the Sarasota County commissioners agreed to wait until their regular meeting on May 5 to consider whether they should adopt a resolution authorizing staff to issue $20,770,000 in bonds to pay for 2.04 acres of property known as The Boatyard, which is located...
Sarasota sheriff taps state immigration funds for AI policing tech
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is expanding its surveillance capabilities, tapping a state fund to purchase a software platform that offers AI-powered data analysis with the stroke of a key. Promising to use the technology to investigate serious international crimes like human trafficking, the agency netted nearly $1 million...
Bradenton man sentenced in armed trafficking case after I-75 stop, records show
A Bradenton man will spend more than a decade in prison after troopers said they found drugs, a gun and thousands of dollars in cash during a January 2024 traffic stop on Interstate 75. A Manatee County judge sentenced 39-year-old William Henry Caldwell IV to 13 years in prison, including a seven-year minimum mandatory term, after a jury convicted him of...
Charliebird Stuns at Sarasota Film Festival
The 2026 Sarasota Film Festival brought an assortment of varied and powerful stories to the Gulf Coast. One such was the Narrative Feature Competition winner, Charliebird. Directed by Libby Ewing, Charliebird follows Al (Samantha Stuart), a music therapist at a children’s hospital in Texas, who begins to work with a troubled young patient, Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez).
Waterfront park to receive $3 million in hurricane repairs and resilience
Although a temporary pause in work to repair hurricane damage at multiple waterfront city parks remains in effect, the Sarasota City Commission on April 20 approved a $3.3 million contract for repair and resiliency work at Ken Thompson Park on City Island. Multiple restoration projects were halted by recommendation of...
‘Room to grow.’ Palmetto leaders seek new home for city hall building
Palmetto leaders are considering moving city hall, addressing the city’s projected growth and the need for more full-time employees. The decision comes as city officials are looking to the future of Palmetto, and expect that the city’s operational needs will soon outgrow its office space. Looking 15 years ahead, projected staff increases — to accommodate more city residents — will require more space. Several new...
