Weekly Newsletter

Friday, April 4, 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.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

Firing of Chinese asylum seeker under SB 846 raises alarm in Florida and beyond

When New College of Florida fired Chinese asylum seeker and professor Kevin Wang last month, it wasn’t just a local personnel decision. It marked what appears to be the first time Florida’s controversial SB 846 law has been used to remove an asylum-seeking educator — a move that civil rights groups say could set a chilling precedent.

SB 846 restricts Florida’s public universities from hiring employees connected to countries deemed security threats, including China, Venezuela, and Iran. Although the law allows for case-by-case exemptions, critics say its enforcement threatens academic freedom and unfairly targets international scholars — especially those from China. Wang’s firing, they argue, exemplifies the law’s sweeping overreach.

The case is now part of a broader legal and political fight, with the ACLU and other groups challenging the SB 846 in court. A federal judge recently paused enforcement of part of the statute, but only for students. Faculty, like Wang, are still at risk.

Sources have described Wang’s dismissal as abrupt, frightening, and deeply personal. One student called it “barbaric.” Others say the case reflects a larger shift in Florida — one that could shape the national conversation around xenophobia, academic freedom and who gets to teach in American classrooms.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

Sarasota, Manatee home values tumble, marking one of the biggest drops nationwide

The red-hot housing market that defined the Suncoast during the pandemic is now cooling — fast.

New data show home values in Sarasota and Manatee counties have dropped more sharply than nearly any of the other large counties in the United States, reversing years of double-digit growth and sparking concerns about the region’s economic health.

In Sarasota, home values fell 7% over the past year; in Manatee, the drop was 5%. That’s a stark contrast to the national trend — where most counties actually saw home prices increase — and suggests that the Suncoast is entering a significant market correction.

Experts point to a range of factors, from high interest rates to low consumer confidence. Retirees and seasonal buyers, who make up a large share of the local market, are pulling back amid financial uncertainty. At the same time, a new state condo law is compounding the problem by forcing major repairs in aging buildings — and pushing many condo owners to sell at steep discounts.



The result? Sluggish sales, more inventory and what one local economist calls the sharpest housing reset since the 2008 crash. Still, some Realtors say we may be near the bottom — and that savvy buyers are already snagging deals.

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

A NEW MANATEE COUNTY DEVELOPMENT BOARD? OFFICIALS EYE MAJOR CHANGES

FROM THE BRADENTON HERALD

Manatee County leaders are considering a major overhaul of the county’s Planning Commission, citing a list of complaints about how the board operates. Among them: the planning commissioners’ low attendance at meetings, ideological differences with the county commissioners and a lack of representation for some of the county’s five districts. County Commissioner George Kruse, who brought up the topic for discussion, said he thinks the answer is to remove all members from the Planning Commission and start with a clean slate. Commissioners Carol Ann Felts, Bob McCann and Jason Bearden agreed with the concept of overhauling the Planning Commission. Bearden claimed that the board is used as a “recruitment tool” by developers to identify builder-friendly political candidates. A plan to remove current Planning Commission members and make new appointments by district will come back for a vote at a future meeting.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA SCHOOL DISTRICT SUFFERS $4 MILLION BLOW DUE TO VOUCHERS, BRACING FOR MORE

FROM THE VENICE GONDOLIER

Sarasota County Schools are exploring new ways to solve a $4 million blow to its annual student funding budget next year. School Board members also learned in a recent budget update that if they cannot get the deficit solved, it could mean the loss of 30 teachers. Though the declining student population was cited by the state for the county deficit, officials said the real reason lies in the state's lack of guidelines and monitoring of the voucher system for its Family Empowerment Scholarship program. While the budget report stated charter schools will suffer the biggest hit of $2.9 million after over-estimating their student population, officials refuted the state's decision to detract $2.4 million from traditional schools — and even more next year.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA COUNTY SIGNALS IT WILL ALLOW HI-HAT DEVELOEPR TO BUILD ROAD THROUGH PUBLIC LAND

FROM THE HERALD-TRIBUNE

Sarasota County commissioners will allow Hi-Hat Ranch's developers to extend Bee Ridge Road eastward through county land, on their own dime, to connect their planned 13,000-home subdivision to key transportation artery that links to Interstate 75 and the Sarasota County coast. Sarasota County and Hi-Hat will also each pay at least $14 million to widen a one-mile stretch of Bee Ridge Road − from Bent Tree Boulevard to Lorraine Road – which would lead to the extension.

READ THE STORY HERE

NEW COLLEGE RESCHEDULES TALK WITH RUSSELL BRAND DAYS AFTER RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES

FROM WUSF

​New College of Florida has postponed a scheduled talk with British comedian and political commentator Russell Brand, originally set for April 12, citing logistical issues such as the unavailability of the Sarasota Opera House and the limitations of a smaller on-campus venue. The event, part of the college's Socratic Stage Dialogue Series, was to focus on free speech and cultural power. The decision to reschedule comes shortly after Brand was charged in the U.K. with multiple sexual offenses, including rape and sexual assault, stemming from allegations by four women between 1999 and 2005. Brand has denied the allegations. While the college's statement did not reference these charges, it acknowledged that the current media climate could distract from the event's intended purpose of fostering open dialogue. New College emphasized its commitment to civil discourse and plans to announce a new date that allows for broader public engagement.

​READ THE STORY HERE

USF POLICE PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM

FROM THE ORCALE

​The University of South Florida's (USF) Police Department is set to join the federal 287(g) program, enabling local officers to enforce immigration laws — a move initiated by University Police Chief Christopher Daniel through a signed agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This aligns with Gov. Ron DeSantis' directive for state law enforcement agencies to participate in the program. Critics, including immigration experts, warn that such involvement could lead to racial profiling and erode community trust in campus law enforcement. The agreement awaits ICE's final approval, and details regarding officer participation and training schedules remain unspecified. ​

READ THE STORY HERE

WHICH POLLUTED FLORIDA WATERS ARE GETTING WORSE? FIND OUT HERE

FROM THE TAMPA BAY TIMES

​Nearly 1 in 4 waterways are contaminated by high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus or other issues that point to imbalances of the chemicals, the Times found. The pollutants fuel devastating algae blooms that kill seagrass that manatees and many other animals rely on to survive. Several bodies of water in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties are included in this database. Click the link below to see which ones.

EXLPORE THE DATABASE HERE

DID YOU MISS LAST WEEK'S NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

Sarasota Schools to end on-campus therapy program that helped hundreds of kids

Sarasota County Schools is ending a long-running contract with The Florida Center for Early Childhood that placed full-time mental health therapists in elementary schools — a program that served hundreds of students annually and helped make the district a national leader in student mental health care.

Instead, the district plans to shift to an interagency referral model and use mental health funds to retain social workers and hire rotating staff psychologists, raising concerns about reduced access, added barriers for families and the loss of on-campus, relationship-based care.

The change comes amid budget shifts and political pressure on school mental health programs, and it has sparked concern about whether the new approach may leave vulnerable children without timely support.

"It hurts my heart for all the people that really need this service and could have benefited from it,” said Christine Scott, a Sarasota County mom whose son thrived after sessions with an in-school therapist.

DeSoto County farm defies avian flu surge, keeps eggs affordable as prices climb

Grove Ladder Farm sits at the end of a dirt road deep in DeSoto County. 

Owned and operated by Tim and Chelsea Clarkson, the farm’s 13 acres spread out in green pastures shaded by giant oaks draped with Spanish moss. A scarecrow named Gertrude watches over a vegetable garden with bouquets of broccoli ready to pick, while two Great Pyrenees dutifully guard grazing sheep and ewes. 

The farm also boasts a flock of roughly a thousand chickens that happily roam the grounds.

That they’ve managed to run a profitable venture while raising their five children in a small cabin fills them with pride. It also offers a valuable lesson:

The Clarksons’ sustainable, ethical land and husbandry practices have allowed them to weather the avian flu crisis that has shaken the factory farm egg industry nationwide.

New College fires Chinese professor under controversial Florida ‘countries of concern’ law

A New College of Florida professor was abruptly fired this month under a controversial state law that limits public universities from employing people from so-called “countries of concern,” including China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

Kevin Wang, a Chinese academic who is seeking asylum and authorized to work in the United States, had been teaching Chinese language and culture classes at the small liberal arts college in Sarasota for nearly two years when, on March 12, the school terminated his contract, citing a university regulation based on that law, known as SB 846.

His sudden ouster has sparked outrage among his students and raises questions about academic freedom as Florida’s crackdown on foreign influence plays out across the state. 

For Wang, his firing carried echoes of the political repression he fled in China, he told Suncoast Searchlight during an interview on campus.

“I never expected to face such a distressing experience," Wang said.

For a quarter century, Florida State University has staffed, operated and managed the finances of the arts complex known as The Ringling.

But at Gov. Ron DeSantis’s request, those duties could be turned over to New College of Florida, a tiny public liberal arts college that relies on millions of dollars in state support to stay afloat and has faced accusations of financial mismanagement in the two years since DeSantis installed political allies in key leadership roles at the school.

FSU currently pours vast resources into the maintenance of The Ringling, from managing the museum’s endowment more than $50 million to employing more than 200 staff to run the museum, a Suncoast Searchlight examination of public records shows.

Can New College feasibly handle it?

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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.

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