Weekly Newsletter

Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

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We’re here to keep you informed on the local issues that matter most. Each week, we share our latest in-depth reporting, along with the most important stories from around the region, so you stay connected and up to date with what’s happening in your community.

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NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT & BRADENTON HERALD:

SERIES OF MISCONDUCT CASES SIGNALS SYSTEMIC BREAKDOWN IN MANATEE COUNTY SCHOOLS

An elementary school resource teacher arrested for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse materials and footage of sexual activity with an animal. 

A middle school teacher arrested after allegedly sending a student explicit images on social media.

A high school teacher and football coach arrested twice in one week for allegedly making sexual advances toward teenage students.

In the past two years, the School District of Manatee County has faced a drumbeat of allegations that teachers and staff physically or sexually mistreated students as young as 7 years old. 

At least a dozen incidents have sparked headline-making arrests, costly lawsuits against the district and outcry from parents who contend the administration did not do enough to protect kids.

The district is supposed to vet potential hires through background checks, reference checks and screening questionnaires, weeding out problematic candidates before they reach students. Should warning signs emerge after hiring, the district's policies are supposed to protect kids by requiring staff to report any potential boundary violations — from spending unusual time alone with a student to sending students private letters — to district and state authorities.

But in multiple cases, the district’s safeguards didn’t work as intended. Missed warnings and weak follow-through left students vulnerable, according to a joint-investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

OFFICIALS, CIVIC LEADERS WARN PUBLIC HAS LOST CONTROL OVER DEVELOPMENT

Elected officials and civic leaders offered a dire assessment during a panel discussion Wednesday about the forces shaping the Suncoast region: Local control over rapid development has essentially crumbled.

“The state legislature has been held entirely non-accountable for the deterioration of home rule and their empowerment of developers,” said former Sarasota County Commissioner Jon Thaxton. “Hold them responsible,” he added, to applause.

Thaxton and four other panelists spoke before a crowd of nearly 100 people at Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Library in Venice as part of Suncoast Searchlight’s community engagement series in partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The event — the second in the series — was titled “Power and Profit: How development is shaping the Suncoast,” after the media organization’s coverage of the proliferation of special improvement districts. 

Speakers urged the public to elect local officials and state lawmakers willing to push back against developer interests. They also lamented the implementation of legislation, including Senate Bill 180, that has preempted local control over growth. 

SB 180, in particular, drew scorn. The new law limits local governments’ ability to regulate development and has hampered environmental protection efforts. In response to a question about how the county can support rapid growth without sacrificing the environment, Thaxton again spoke forcefully. 

“There is no balance between development and protecting Sarasota’s natural environment,” he said. “You can spend decades writing good environmental policies [and it] can be removed in weeks.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

SARASOTA, MANATEE DENY CHARTER CO-LOCATIONS BIDS, POTENTIALLY LEAVING FATE TO STATE

Sarasota and Manatee counties’ school districts have shut the door on Schools of Hope charter operators seeking space inside public campuses — for now.

Both districts denied the Nov. 11 requests made by Mater Academy and Somerset Academy to co-locate inside four schools: Emma E. Booker Elementary and Brookside Middle in Sarasota and the Sara Scott Harllee Center and Lincoln Memorial Middle in Manatee.

The requests were among nearly 700 filed statewide since last month by charter operators under the state’s newly expanded Schools of Hope law, according to the Florida Policy Institute.

In their denial letters, obtained through a public records request by Suncoast Searchlight, the districts argued the plans were impractical, citing a variety of reasons for this, including lack of available space to accommodate charter students, lack of required infrastructure needed to support certain student populations and the operators’ failure to meet state requirements about how they would serve students from persistently low-performing schools. 

Sarasota County additionally noted in its denials the recently approved repurposing of several campus buildings that allowed it to reduce those schools’ student capacities, leaving no room for charters. 

Ever wonder how a story goes from a quiet tip to a full investigation?

Join Searchlight reporters Alice Herman and Kara Newhouse for an inside look at how they turn tips into deeply reported stories. They will walk through how they follow leads, verify facts and shape reporting that holds power accountable, using real examples from their work.

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Presented as part of the Searchlight Series with Gulf Coast Community Foundation and in partnership with Manatee Community Foundation.

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR ST. ARMANDS CIRCLE

FROM SARASOTA MAGAZINE

St. Armands Circle’s historic charm and thriving local businesses are at a crossroads as worsening storm flooding and rising seas expose its vulnerable infrastructure, prompting slow-moving resilience upgrades funded in part by federal grants, while debates heat up over transparency, future development, density and how to balance preservation with economic recovery after back-to-back hurricanes. 

READ THE STORY HERE

NEW FACILITY WILL TURN MANATEE COUNTY'S TRASH INTO RENEWABLE ENERGY. HERE'S HOW

FROM BRADENTON HERALD

A new facility at Manatee County’s landfill will transform “waste to worth,” generating enough energy to power thousands of homes and up to $1.7 million per year in revenue, county officials say. Manatee County Government has reached an agreement with two companies, Nopetro Energy and Johnson Controls, Inc., to use space at the Lena Road Landfill for a $50 million facility that transforms landfill methane gas to renewable natural gas.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA ARTISTS CONSIDER LAWSUIT OVER AVENUE OF ART ERASURE

FROM WSLR

The Sarasota arts community is still reeling from the erasure of hundreds of sidewalk paintings at Burns Court under the threat of the state withdrawing road funding. For four years, it was the largest public art installation in the county, telling the Sarasota's history through nearly 300 paintings. Now, Denise Kowal, head of the organization behind the Avenue of Art, is actively supporting artists exploring a lawsuit under the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA, which protects the integrity of certain works of art. She believes the city lacked the courage to fight the state mandate despite legal precedent set elsewhere.

READ/HEAR THE STORY HERE

AMID MEASLES OUTBREAK, FRIDAY WORKSHOP ON REPEALING FL VACCINE MANDATES DRAWS NATIONAL ATTENTION

FROM FLORIDA TRIDENT

Amid a post-Thanksgiving outbreak of measles in South Carolina — reporting 111 infections through Thursday morning — Florida pediatricians this week said vaccine hesitancy is growing among parents of their young patients. They say confusion is being fueled by Florida’s top public-health officer, Joseph Ladapo, and the nation’s highest-ranking vaccine skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., head of the Trump administration’s U.S. Health and Human Services Department. With the nation’s latest measles outbreak making headlines, sparks are likely to fly Friday when pediatricians, family physicians, parents for and against vaccines, state Department of Health officials and others meet for the first public airing of surgeon general Ladapo’s plan to repeal four mandates on school-entry vaccines now and bring about the repeal of seven others later.

READ THE STORY HERE

CITY ASKS: HOW MUCH NOISE IS TOO MUCH?

FROM SARASOTA OBSERVER

The Sarasota City Commission voted on Dec. 1 to adopt an ordinance that mirrors that of the city of Miami Beach, one that has successfully navigated legal scrutiny in Florida courts. In simple terms, that law prohibits sources of sound plainly audible from a distance of 100 feet between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. The approved motion made by Mayor Debbie Trice, though, extends those hours on weekends and select holidays from 11 p.m. to midnight.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA COMMUNITY RESOLVES LAWSUIT OVER LAWN IRRIGATION COSTS

FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

Gran Paradiso Property Owners and the West Village Improvement District have settled a three-year-old dispute over the amount of money homeowners pay to water their lawns. The district is working with the property owners association to hook residents up to its irrigation water system. Gran Paradiso residents will pay the same irrigation fees as those in other Wellen Park communities.

READ THE STORY HERE

RON DESANTIS SAYS MOST FLORIDIANS WON'T NOTICE 'SCHOOLS OF HOPE,' AS THEY WILL BE IN PLACES MOST PEOPLE DON'T GO

FROM FLORIDA POLITICS

Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending Florida’s expanded “Schools of Hope” initiative — a policy that allows approved charter school operators to co-locate in underused public school buildings — as a way to broaden options for struggling students, saying most residents won’t be affected because many of the new sites are in less-visited or under-enrolled schools; he emphasized the program targets places where traditional schools are struggling or have space, while downplaying concerns about its impact on higher-performing districts and assuring critics that it’s meant to help, not disrupt, existing public education.

READ THE STORY HERE

DACA RECIPIENTS ARE BEING DETAINED DESPITE DEPORTATION PROTECTION LAWYERS, ADVOCATES SAY

FROM WUSF

As the Trump administration carries out mass deportations, participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are more at risk of being detained and placed into deportation proceedings, immigration attorneys say. The DACA program was created through executive action in 2012 and gives eligible participants work authorization. It does not provide a pathway to citizenship. DACA recipients must renew their status every two years, a process that requires background checks. Recipients can lose their protection if they commit a felony or serious misdemeanors. Despite the protection, however, a number of DACA recipients across the U.S. have been swept up in immigration enforcement.

READ/HEAR THE STORY HERE

FROM FRESHMAN TO CHAIR: TAL SIDDIQUE TAKES THE GAVEL IN MANATEE COUNTY

FROM FLORIDA POLITICS

First-term Manatee County Commissioner Tal Siddique has swiftly ascended the local political ranks, and earned the coveted Chair role after one year in elected office. Siddique, who represents Manatee County’s coastal District 3, takes the gavel from current Chair George Kruse at a time of intense debate over growth, storm recovery, property taxes and the balance of power between local governments and Tallahassee. Siddique’s district includes Anna Maria Island, the northern end of Longboat Key, and western portions of the City of Bradenton including the downtown area.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVES 8,999-HOME PROJECT

FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

The Sarasota County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a project to build nearly 9,000 homes as part of the Winchester Ranch along North Port. The county commission will make the ultimate determination sometime in early 2026. A petition from the developer requested to change the Future Land Use of about 2,433 acres of land in southern Sarasota County to allow for the development of 8,999 homes. It would also allow the city of North Port to annex just under five square miles from the county. Major aspects of the development were already approved in 2021, but Winchester Ranch must return to the county for approval of the rezone due to some procedural complications.

READ THE STORY HERE

DID YOU MISS OUR PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

SARASOTA COUNTY FACES LAWSUIT OVER CONTROVERSIAL SIESTA KEY LAND SWAP

Sarasota County last month signed off on the final step of a land swap meant to end a years-long court battle over a stretch of sand on Siesta Key — only to find itself facing another lawsuit.

A year ago, county commissioners agreed to trade a piece of Siesta Key real estate to businessman Michael Holderness in exchange for four sandy lots he owns next to Beach Access 3. The settlement was intended to resolve Holderness’ latest lawsuit accusing the county of turning his private land into a public beach. 

For the deal to go through, Holderness required the county to grant him permission to build a 5,000-square-foot house on the property he was set to receive in the swap — about a quarter acre near his beachfront lots. Commissioners granted that approval on Nov. 5, clearing what was expected to be the final hurdle. 

But, the deal proved controversial. 

The land the county is giving up — purchased in 2017 for $1.4 million through a park acquisition program — is now valued at nearly $2.8 million by the county property appraiser. The land it gets in return, by comparison, is valued at less than $100,000. And the variance marked a major reversal. The county had denied similar requests four times over the past three decades.

Now a Siesta Key resident, Lourdes Ramirez, intends to sue the county to unwind the entire agreement. She argued it has no legal authority to dispose of parkland bought with dedicated tax dollars and that it ignored its own development codes to push the deal through. 



MANATEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE ACCUSED OF DOUBLE STANDARD AFTER SEPTEMBER SCUFFLE

As crowds looked on from a line waiting outside the Good Night John Boy nightclub in downtown St. Petersburg, bouncers of the bar had a man with a bloody face pinned to the concrete.

The man had tried to cut in front of others to get back into the 1970s-themed club, known for a large disco ball that hangs above the dancefloor. When confronted by a bouncer, the man head-butted him. 

This was no ordinary unruly patron that night in early September. It was 39-year-old Randall Crawford — a lieutenant with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office — who was out partying with other command-level deputies from the agency.

St. Petersburg police did not know this when they arrived and handcuffed Crawford, shooing away his colleagues as they tried to intervene, according to body camera footage from the incident. Police said they had enough evidence to arrest Crawford for head-butting the doorman, even telling the bouncer, “I’m assuming — I know he’ll go to jail.”

But shortly after Crawford identified himself as a fellow law-enforcement officer, police turned off their body cameras, uncuffed Crawford and — after the bouncer declined to press charges — dropped the investigation. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s internal affairs probe cleared Crawford of wrongdoing and imposed no discipline on him.

The incident and its aftermath provide a rare glimpse into how high-level members of law enforcement are treated during external and internal police probes and raise questions about whether they’re held to the same standards as everyone else, according to an investigation by Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald.

FLORIDA ELECTION SKEPTICS LOSE POWER IN TALLAHASSEE, BUT THEIR MESSAGE STILL SPREADS

The mood was grim on Defend Florida’s mid-November Zoom call.

Members of the Sarasota-founded election conspiracy theory group traded frustrations over Florida Republicans who no longer seemed interested in their proposals to tighten Florida’s voting rules.

“We’re getting heavy resistance,” said Deborah Monks, a volunteer member, during the call.

It was a far cry from their rise in the years after the 2020 election, when Defend Florida had cultivated relationships with Gov. Ron DeSantis' office, meeting regularly with his staff while they crafted Florida’s controversial Office of Election Crimes and Security. But its influence in Tallahassee has faded: Republican lawmakers have pushed the group aside, calling its brand tarnished. 

“I guess that's the definition of losing political clout,” committee chair Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, told Suncoast Searchlight after the meeting. “In politics, winners win and losers lose.”

But while its clout in Tallahassee has faded, the group itself has not. 

Defend Florida has transformed from a state-focused pressure group into a national effort coordinating with activists questioning election security across the U.S. It has routinely hosted calls drawing thousands of listeners and featuring high-profile election deniers like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and recently pardoned Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

The message political operators like these spread — that elections are corrupt — still threatens public trust, election officials warn.

NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR VISITS SARASOTA TO DISCUSS STATE OF LOCAL JOURNALISM

The future of local journalism is uncertain, but not doomed, according to a former executive editor of The New York Times.

Dean Baquet, who led the Times from 2014 to 2022, visited Sarasota Thursday for a community conversation on the challenges and opportunities in local journalism, hosted by Suncoast Searchlight. Dozens attended the event, which was the first in the Searchlight Series that aims to deepen public understanding of the media industry and connect residents with the journalists who serve them.

“The good news is the nonprofit news industry, if you will, which didn’t even exist when I started … it will be, certainly, at least be a giant part of the future of journalism,” said Baquet, who now runs the Times’ Local Investigations Fellowship, a program that supports journalists at regional outlets in producing major investigations.

“In my fantasy, you get to the point where the local news organization becomes like the library or the museum,” he continued. “You want to have somebody who covers your community, and you contribute to it – and it’s not just five zillionaires or five giant philanthropies – that people actually subscribe, pay for it.”

Baquet’s remarks come at a time when news deserts – areas with limited local news coverage – are growing, and Americans’ trust in news has reached a new low.

Speaking at the Sarasota Garden Club, Baquet answered questions submitted in advance from attendees and from Suncoast Searchlight Executive Editor-in-Chief Emily Le Coz. He discussed the impact of upheaval in the news industry, the rise of digital and nonprofit journalism and how journalists can respond to better serve communities.

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Suncoast Searchlight is a 501c3 nonprofit news organization whose mission is to produce investigative and explanatory journalism that serves and empowers the residents of Florida’s Suncoast region (Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties). We shine a light on critical issues affecting our community. Through independent reporting and collaboration with diverse media partners, we foster transparency, accountability and an informed citizenry, ensuring that all voices are heard and that the public has access to the information they need to drive meaningful change.

CONTACT US:

Suncoast Searchlight

PO Box 99 Sarasota, FL 34230

(941) 724-4450