Friday, April 17, 2026

Featured in this week's newsletter:

• STORY: Red tide outbreaks could shrink with new research, lake changes

• STORY: Sarasota’s property appraiser is moving millions from AI moguls to support Byron Donalds

• STORY: Suncoast environmental threats often overlooked, experts warn

• FACT BRIEF: Is Sarasota's growing population why water resources are dwindling?



• FACT BRIEF: Does the United States control oil prices?



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NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

RED TIDE TURNING POINT? NEW RESEARCH, POLICY SHIFTS OFFER HOPE

Nearly a decade ago, the worst red tide outbreak in a generation choked Sarasota Bay and much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, killing marine life by the thousands and sickening residents.

From October 2017 through January 2019, crews removed more than 2,400 tons of dead animals from beaches and waterways as the toxic bloom killed hundreds of manatees, dolphins, whales and sea turtles, along with countless fish, crabs and other creatures that washed ashore.

It also sent people with respiratory issues to the hospital and dealt a $2.7 billion blow to the local economy. The event was “unprecedented in duration, intensity and impact,” according to one report.

Now, scientists say a wave of new research happening in Sarasota could help stop future outbreaks before they spiral into that kind of disaster.

Researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory are testing a new generation of treatments designed to kill red tide organisms quickly without harming the surrounding environment. In lab and field trials, some have reduced algae levels by more than 70%, raising hopes that blooms could one day be knocked down before they spread.

At the same time, federal officials have recently changed how water is released from Lake Okeechobee, a shift experts say could reduce the conditions that fuel and intensify red tide once it reaches coastal waters. That change, adopted in 2024, is designed to send more water south through the Everglades while reducing harmful discharges to estuaries along Florida’s west coast.

Together, those developments mark a potential turning point in a problem that has long felt inevitable, and uncontrollable, for coastal communities. 

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

SARASOTA'S PROPERTY APPRAISER IS MOVING MILLIONS FROM AI MOGULS TO SUPPORT BYRON DONALDS

Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst chairs a political committee that has moved millions of dollars from wealthy supporters of artificial intelligence, including the co-founder of ChatGPT, to Byron Donalds’ candidacy for Florida governor.

Furst heads the political action committee American Mission Florida, which filed registration paperwork with the state in February, listing its primary address as a Staples store in Tallahassee. A month later, the PAC put $2 million toward pro-Donalds advertisements, according to Florida Politics.

Furst’s committee is part of a broader multi-million dollar effort by Silicon Valley executives to bankroll candidates who back AI advancement. Its only funding has been a $3 million chunk on March 4 from Leading the Future, a national super PAC that said it will spend $5 million to boost Donalds’ campaign as part of a national effort to fund pro-AI candidates.

Furst, a largely low-level constitutional officer who has overseen property valuations and tax rolls since taking office in 2009, did not return phone calls and text messages seeking comment. 

Leading the Future also did not respond to email requests for comment.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

SUNCOAST ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS OFTEN OVERLOOKED, EXPERTS WARN

Environmental experts and advocates on the front lines of water quality, conservation and scientific research gathered Wednesday to deliver a clear message: The Suncoast’s most pressing environmental challenges are often overlooked and deserve more attention.

The panel, organized by Suncoast Searchlight in collaboration with the Science and Environment Council, aimed to highlight the gap between what experts are seeing on the ground and what makes it into the news — and how that gap might be closed.

The event drew nearly 90 attendees Wednesday to the Bayfront Community Center at The Bay Park and coincided with both the Giving Challenge and the launch of EcoBeat, a new tool designed by the Science and Environment Council to help journalists better cover environmental issues. The online, searchable hub offers story ideas, data and access to experts. It’s part of an effort to give reporters the context and resources they often lack as newsroom staffs shrink.

“Journalists don’t need more press releases. They need tools, they need context, they need access,” said Jennifer Shafer, co-executive director of the council. “We’re trying to make environmental reporting faster, better and more connected.”

The discussion — called “Beneath the Surface: The Environmental Stories Shaping our Community” — was part of Suncoast Searchlight’s ongoing community engagement series, sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. 

THANK YOU FOR SHOWING UP FOR LOCAL NEWS DURING THE GIVING CHALLENGE

This week marked our very first Giving Challenge, and we’re feeling incredibly grateful.



To our community, thank you for showing up in such a meaningful way. Whether you gave, attended an event, shared our work, or just followed along, you helped make this possible.

We’re also deeply grateful to The Community Foundation of Sarasota County for hosting the Giving Challenge, where local nonprofits can come together and grow community support — and The Patterson Foundation for their incredible match opportunity.

Support like this makes it possible for us to keep reporting on the issues shaping our community, asking hard questions and bringing forward the information people need to better understand what’s happening around them.

This is what it looks like when a community invests in staying informed.

And we’re grateful to be part of it.

HELP US SHAPE THE SEARCHLIGHT SERIES

We want your input.

What conversations do you want to see?

More workshops? Panels? Different spaces or formats?

For those who want to be more involved, we’re building a small community to help shape the next season — from program help to connecting voices and ideas. We’ll be gathering interest through May, with our first planning meeting in June.

We’re also looking to partner with local organizations and businesses who are interested in participating, hosting or collaborating on future conversations.

👉 Share your ideas and get involved here.

HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

GIVING CHALLENGE BRINGS IN $16.7 MILLION AS 751 NONPROFITS DRAW BROAD SUPPORT ACROSS THE REGION 
FROM SARASOTA MAGAZINE

The Giving Challenge ended Thursday at noon after raising $16.7 million during the 24-hour online campaign, according to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. This year, 50,904 donors made 87,814 gifts to a record 751 participating nonprofits. The 2026 event was the 10th Giving Challenge since the effort began in 2012, bringing its cumulative impact to nearly $110 million. Among the nonprofits, Mote Marine Laboratory, All Faiths Food Bank and Satchel’s Last Resort raised the most.

READ THE STORY HERE

DESANTIS 'FLIP-FLOP' ON PRO SPORTS TAX SUBSIDIES DIVIDES REPUBLICANS

FROM FLORIDA TRIDENT

In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis was blunt and concise about using tax dollars for professional sports. “I don’t support giving taxpayer dollars to sports stadiums, period,” he said to enthusiastic applause at a news conference in Orlando. DeSantis had been asked about his veto of a $35 million appropriation by the Florida legislature for a Tampa Bay Rays spring training and youth sports facility in Pasco County. Three years later, DeSantis was almost as emphatic discussing a new Rays stadium in the Tampa Bay area. Today, with the Rays under new ownership led by a major DeSantis and Republican donor, the governor sounds different – in a way that even some of his Republican supporters are calling a flip-flop.

READ THE STORY HERE

BUSINESS OWNERS LEFT IN THE DARK ABOUT THEIR LEASE AGREEMENTS
FROM WSLR

The Historic Downtown Village — a collection of 1920s woodframes at the edge of downtown Sarasota — is on the chopping block. This week, the developer who wants to replace them with a two-block apartment complex met with neighbors and existing business tenants who may have to look for another location.

READ/HEAR THE STORY HERE

DISCOVERY OF FOREVER CHEMICALS ADD TO ENVIRONMENTAL TROUBLES FOR TALLEVAST IN MANATEE CO.
FROM WTSP 10 TAMPA BAY

Environmental researchers working through an EPA grant say they’ve recently detected a number of forever chemicals, including PFAS, in the Manatee County community of Tallevast. For nearly a year, 10 Investigates has been tracking researchers working in the community, testing about 15 properties for concerning chemicals in the community they believe are connected to heavy industrial activity in the area.

READ THE STORY HERE

ALLEGED FSU SHOOTER CONSULTED CHATGPT ON WHEN TO ATTACK, SEXUAL SCENARIOS WITH A MINOR
FROM FLORIDA PHOENIX

Two hours before he went on a shooting rampage, Phoenix Ikner had a question for ChatGPT. “If there was a shooting at FSU, how would the country react?” the 20-year-old Florida State University student asked on the morning of April 17, 2025. His question, which came mere hours after he told the chatbot that God had abandoned him, hung in his oft-used log with the AI platform for two seconds. Then, ChatGPT detailed how the school would lock down, national media would swarm, and the president would express condolences. That exchange is among more than 13,000 messages obtained by the Florida Phoenix between Ikner and the AI platform dating to March 2024.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA PARKING HOURS EXTENDED, FINES INCREASED
FROM ABC7

City commissioners have unanimously approved the extension of paid parking hours and an increase in fines for parking citations. On-street parking will run from 8 a.m. to midnight. Garages and city-owned lots will require payment around the clock once in effect. Broxton Harvey, the city of Sarasota parking general manager, said the parking division is still financially recovering from the 2024 hurricanes. City commissioners weighed options, looking for a way the parking division could generate revenue rather than borrowing from the city’s general fund. They ultimately chose extended hours over a rate hike.

READ/VIEW THE STORY HERE

WILL MANATEE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR STAY OR GO? HIS CONTRACT IS UP FOR DEBATE
FROM BRADENTON HERALD

Manatee County officials are working out the details of a new contract with County Administrator Charlie Bishop — and it could be his last. County commissioners debated the terms of Bishop’s contract at an April 7 meeting, including the length, emergency overtime pay, annual raises, vacation time accrual and how the board could fire Bishop if necessary. If approved, Bishop’s new salary would start at $255,000. Bishop’s contract expires in August, and commissioners need to approve a new contract by June. If both sides cannot agree on the terms by then, commissioners would need to find a new county administrator.

READ THE STORY HERE

NEW POLL SUGGESTS FLORIDA COULD BE POLITICALLY COMPETITIVE IN 2026 ELECTION
FROM WUSF

A new poll finds Florida may be politically competitive in the November election. More than 1,800 Floridians were recently surveyed, and Christian Ulvert from EDGE Communications said the results are good news for Democrats. “What we're seeing in Florida is not unlike what we're seeing across the country,” Ulvert said. “The environment is shifting in real time, and Democrats are clearly energized and galvanized." His firm and another behind the poll, MDW Communications, are both Democratic-aligned. Republicans have been largely dominant in recent state election cycles. But, when asked whether they’d rather elect a Democrat or Republican to Congress, voters slightly favored Democrats in the poll.

READ THE STORY HERE

ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ PHONES WERE CUT OFF. THEN THE BEATINGS BEGAN, COURT DOCS SAY
FROM MIAMI HERALD VIA ORLANDO SENTINEL

Attorneys representing immigrants held at the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site alleged Friday in federal court that guards beat and pepper-sprayed detainees after a protest over lost phone access — allegations they argue show state and federal officials defying a recent court order protecting detainees’ civil rights. In a court filing in Fort Myers, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and civil rights groups said officers at the controversial Everglades facility entered a unit earlier this month and physically assaulted detainees. One man was thrown to the ground and “severely beat,” according to his attorney, who submitted photographs to the court showing her client with a black eye.

READ THE STORY HERE

SOME RESIDENTS SAY MANATEE PULLED 'BAIT AND SWITCH' ON MYAKKA RIVER MONITORING
FROM EAST COUNTY OBSERVER

When the late Manatee County commissioner Carol Ann Felts made a motion on Sept. 16, 2025 to direct county staffers to come up with the budget, funding and personnel needed to take “into account water quality standards and environmental standards that we should have been doing all along,” she was clearly talking about the Myakka River. With Commissioner Tal Siddique absent, commissioners voted 6-0 in favor of Felts’ motion. But seven months later, Felts’ plan to hire two additional staff members to monitor the river has morphed into two part-time technicians under the Planning and Zoning department who will work throughout all of Manatee County.

READ THE STORY HERE

DID YOU MISS OUR PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

ENVIRONMENTALISTS WARNED CRUISE PORT FIX WOULD LEAVE TERRA CEIA VULNERABLE

While state lawmakers drafted a measure to stop a cruise port in Manatee County, environmental watchdogs warned the bill could leave the door open to large-scale development in the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve. 

Conservation groups publicly praised state Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton), who took the lead on the legislation, for his efforts — and Boyd has repeatedly emphasized his opposition to the controversial cruise port idea.

But emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight show that Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, a prominent environmental group that led efforts to quash the cruise port plan, urged Boyd to strike key provisions from the measure and replace them with language to specifically restrict dredging to accommodate commercial vessels. 

Environmental and land use attorneys who compared the two versions of the bill at Suncoast Searchlight’s request said the one that ultimately passed was weaker. 

AS DEVELOPMENT BOOMS, SARASOTA VOTERS WILL DECIDE FATE OF FUTURE CONSERVATION

For more than two decades, Sarasota County has had a single program to counter the suburban sprawl that has come to define the area’s recent development boom.

In November, voters will decide whether to extend that program for another 23 years.

The Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to add a referendum to fund the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program through 2049. As Sarasota County has grown at a staggering pace, carving once-rural areas into asphalt and cul-de-sacs, local environmentalists see the government program as the most effective weapon to protect land from otherwise inevitable development.

The referendum needs a simple majority of votes to pass.

GIVING CHALLENGE RETURNS WITH 24-HOUR PUSH FOR SUNCOAST NONPROFITS

For 24 hours every two years, local nonprofits get a chance to supercharge their fundraising, tapping into millions of dollars in donations on a single day.

The surge comes from the Giving Challenge, a biennial event hosted by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with support from The Patterson Foundation. Since launching in 2012, it has raised more than $92 million for about 750 nonprofits serving Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and DeSoto counties.

From noon April 15 to noon April 16, organizations will once again take part.

“The energy and enthusiasm around this year’s Giving Challenge is palpable," Jessica Muroff, CEO at the Community Foundation, said in a statement. “Whether someone has $25 to give or 10 times that amount, the Giving Challenge shows that everyone can be a philanthropist and make a lasting difference in their community.”

SARASOTA COUNTY SCHOOLS TO CUT TEACHERS AS VOUCHERS DIVERT MILLIONS FROM DISTRICT

First-year teachers across the district could lose their jobs next school year as Sarasota County Schools plans to cut 180 instructional staff positions in response to funding shortfalls.

The staff reductions come as the state diverts millions of dollars to school vouchers for families to pay private school tuition, inflation outpaces state funding for public education, and special COVID-19 earmarked funds dry up. In Sarasota, a county with an aging population, public student enrollment has also flatlined in recent years, meaning less money for schools.

The cuts mirror those at school districts across Florida, which have slashed programming and even closed schools amid mounting budget pressures. In Sarasota, an A-rated school district in a property-rich region that enjoys enthusiastic community support, the roughly 6% reduction in instructional staff has come as a shock.

“We’ve had lulls before,” said Rex Ingerick, president of Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association, the union representing teachers in the district. “We’ve had times where we’ve had some teachers unassigned, but not this level — not this many people.” 

Among teachers, those in their first year with the district would be the first to be laid off, according to the union. Another 79 classified staff positions, such as custodians, food service workers and IT professionals, are also slated to be cut. 

SARASOTA COUNTY BLOCKS 'LIVE LOCAL' LAW, RISKING CLASH WITH DEVELOPERS

In a unanimous vote that could set up a major legal showdown, Sarasota County commissioners this week moved to block developers from building large apartment complexes next to rural homes and farmland, rejecting applications amid legal uncertainty over a controversial state law. 

At the center of the dispute is Florida’s Live Local Act, a 2023 state law that lets developers bypass local zoning rules and public hearings if they include some affordable housing in their plans. In recent months, developers have used the law to propose projects with hundreds, and even thousands, of units in rural and low-density residential districts.

Commissioners said they were reacting to a steady barrage of concerns from residents over the impact of the proposed developments. Among them are Lisa and Denver Miller, who told Suncoast Searchlight they’ve been writing letters to the county about a planned apartment complex near their 15-acre farm in rural east Sarasota County that they believe would upend the character of their neighborhood.

MANATEE DROPS BID TO TIE NONPROFIT FUNDING TO IMMIGRATION CHECKS AMID PUSHBACK

A proposal that would have required nonprofits receiving Manatee County funding to verify they are not serving undocumented immigrants was withdrawn Tuesday after drawing widespread public opposition and little support from commissioners. 

Commissioner Amanda Ballard, who proposed the measure, pulled the item from the agenda after a lengthy and, at times, tense discussion among commissioners, followed by public comment in which most speakers opposed the move. She said she wanted more time to work with nonprofit leaders and community stakeholders.



“I believe very strongly that there is absolutely a place for nonprofits to provide funds to anyone and everyone that needs help in the county,” Ballard said.

FLORIDA AG COMMISSIONER HOPEFUL PUSHES GREENBELT REFORM, CITING 'RENT-A-COW' STORY

A Republican vying to become Florida’s next commissioner of agriculture is urging for sweeping reforms to the state’s Greenbelt law, citing abuses highlighted in a Suncoast Searchlight investigation.

Matt The Welder — whose birth name was Matt Taylor before he legally changed it in an attempt to get his persona on official ballots — posted an Instagram video Monday highlighting excerpts from a Suncoast Searchlight story published in February 2025 that revealed how area developers score big tax breaks through the “Rent-A-Cow” loophole.

He said closing the loophole has become a central theme in his campaign for the statewide seat, citing the need to protect Florida’s farmers and ranchers from threats of development, while slowing urban sprawl.

MANATEE COUNTY REVISITS UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT POLICY AMID NONPROFIT CONCERNS

After weeks of silence that left some nonprofit leaders wondering whether the issue had faded, Manatee County commissioners are set to revisit a controversial proposal requiring nonprofits receiving county funding to verify the legal status of the people they serve.

The proposal, which appears on the commission’s Tuesday agenda, would align the county’s grantmaking with a federal law that restricts certain public benefits for people living in the country without legal authorization. 

If approved, the measure would require nonprofits to certify that county funds are not used to serve those individuals, a change that could affect at least 86 organizations receiving more than $26 million annually from Manatee County Government. 

Nonprofits that don’t comply could lose that funding, which supports programs such as early childhood development, college readiness, shelters, dental care, sexual assault advocacy and addiction recovery.

Exempt from the restriction are programs that provide immunizations, emergency health care, short-term disaster relief and similar services.

The idea was first raised in September and revived again in January, drawing concern from nonprofits and even community leaders who questioned how immigration status would be defined and verified, and warned the proposal could add costs and bureaucracy while discouraging people from seeking help.

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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