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FAMILY WHO STARTED SCHOLARSHIP SUES NEW COLLEGE FOUNDATION, ALLEGES MONEY ISN'T BEING AWARDED
FROM WUSF
A scholarship fund meant for students of color who demonstrate financial need is at the center of a lawsuit alleging New College of Florida hasn't given out the money in years and won't relinquish the funds as requested. John J. Lentini and his children, Julia K.L. Marquis and Jerald Lentini, are suing the New College Foundation, seeking a return of the money, which amounted to $156,000 when the family endowed the scholarship in 2021, plus interest and court costs.
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AFTER $67 MILLION IN GIVING, MANATEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES NEW CHAPTER
FROM BRADENTON HERALD
The Manatee Community Foundation is entering a landmark new chapter: After 27 years under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, it is now officially operating as a fully independent organization. Since its founding in 1998, the Bradenton-based foundation has invested more than $67 million into the community through grants, scholarships and partnerships that support everything from emergency food and housing to education and the arts. Leaders say this step toward independence will give the foundation more flexibility to grow its impact and better serve the people of Manatee County.
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HOUSING REPORT: THOUSANDS OF AFFORDABLE UNITS NEEDED BY 2035
FROM VENICE GONDOLIER
A middle-income family of two earning $112,560 per year — 140% of the area median income — can’t afford to buy a moderately priced home in Sarasota County. That’s one of the findings in the Sarasota Housing Action Plan prepared by the Florida Housing Coalition. The plan was funded by Gulf Coast Community Foundation, the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, The Patterson Foundation and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. The plan projected a need to add 6,800 affordable homes for sale by 2035 to “meaningfully” increase the supply, based on current statistics and estimated growth in the population of “cost-burdened” households — ones in which more than 30% of their income goes to housing expenses, including utilities, taxes and insurance.
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DESANTIS PICKS BLAISE INGOGLIA FOR CFO; SAYS HE NEVER WOULD HAVE CHOSEN JOE GRUTERS
FROM FLORIDA PHOENIX
According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, even if George Washington rose from the dead and patted him on the shoulder and said he should appoint Gruters to the CFO spot, he wouldn’t be able to do it. “My response would be, ‘No, I can’t do that without betraying the voters that elected me to lead the state in a conservative direction,'” he said.
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TURTLE NEST DISTURBANCE REPORTED IN BRADENTON BEACH
FROM THE ANNA MARIA ISLANDER
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed it's investigating an alleged disturbance of a sea turtle nest July 9 by a family in Bradenton Beach. The investigation was prompted by witness reports that a group of adults and children dug into a marked sea turtle nest, removed hatchlings and carried them toward the Gulf. Lisa Harrison of Plant City spoke to The Islander July 11, saying she witnessed the incident. “We watched them. We took some photos,” Harrison said. She said at one point one of the girls in her party called authorities. “They carried some (hatchlings) out to the water … .They carried some out to knee-deep (water). Then, when it got dark, that’s when they started digging, like really digging… .It was awful.”
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COUNTY MISTAKE FORCES URGENT REQUEST FOR NEW TRAIL PLAZA DEVELOPMENT
FROM SARASOTA OBSERVER
Construction is already underway on North Trail Plaza, a 96-unit affordable housing project on Sarasota’s North Trail — but a last-minute land mix-up nearly derailed it. The developer, Blue Sky Communities, recently discovered that a strip of land it was set to donate to the state for road improvements didn’t actually belong to the seller, which was Sarasota County, as previously believed. It was already owned by the state. By the time the error came to light, foundation work and exterior walls were already in place. The Sarasota Planning Board approved a key setback adjustment on July 9 to keep the project on track.
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'I WAS THERE REPRESENTING EVERYBODY FROM SARASOTA COUNTY.' SUNCOAST MEN ASSIST WITH TEXAS FLOOD RECOVERY EFFORTS
FROM ABC7
When Kerr County, TX, called for help, two Suncoast men immediately jumped in to help. “When I was out there, it wasn’t about myself, I was there representing everybody from Sarasota County,” former Fire Captain Sergio Curvelo said. Curvelo says when the phone rang on Four of July weekend asking for his help in Kerr County, Texas, his immediate answer was yes. He later made the 12-hour drive with his cadaver dog to assist with search and rescue efforts.
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INVESTORS SNAPPED UP TAMPA BY HOMES DAMAGED BY HURRICANES HELENE AND MILTON
FROM TAMPA BAY TIMES
A Tampa Bay Times analysis found LLCs bought more than a quarter of the 3,300 properties that sold in areas inundated by significant storm surge. The share of homes in those areas that sold to a company instead of to an individual more than doubled over the six months after Hurricane Helene. In areas with minimal or no surge at all, the share stayed about the same. It’s a familiar trend after natural disasters, experts say, as residents buckle under the financial strain of repairs and the emotional toll of living in a high-risk area.
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SARASOTA COUNTY AWARDS $17 MILLION IN ARTS, HURRICANE RECOVERY GRANTS
FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
The Sarasota County Commission awarded numerous grants for Hurricane Ian recovery as well as to arts programs last week, as part of the county's summer meetings on next year's budget. The arts funding was a much smoother process than last year’s budget meetings, when then-commissioners Mike Moran and Neil Rainford held up funding for for three popular programs – Embracing Our Differences, the Chalk Festival and WSLR/Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center. Moran is now the Sarasota County Tax Collector; Rainford was unseated by Commissioner Tom Knight last August.
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