Weekly Newsletter

Friday, March 20, 2026

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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 & ARTSBEAT:

SARASOTA ERASED DOWNTOWN ART WITHOUT PUBLIC NOTICE, ARTISTS NOW SEEK DAMAGES

David Blanch labored for hours in the spring of 2024 painting a Sarasota sunset that transformed two sidewalk panels on Pineapple Avenue into a burst of pink, blue and yellow.

It wasn’t a big payday — just a couple hundred dollars. But participating in the city’s Avenue of Art initiative was something the professional artist hoped would bring joy to people strolling downtown.

In August, he learned the city ground away his art in a cloud of concrete dust. 

“It was the most ridiculous thing a city could ever do,” the 40-year-old Sarasota resident said.

Within a matter of days last summer, the city removed hundreds of feet of sidewalk art that had drawn visitors downtown for years, rushing to comply with a Florida Department of Transportation memo warning against paint covering public right-of-ways.

Blanch is one of at least nine sidewalk artists who have since filed legal notices against Sarasota, claiming the city violated their rights by removing the art without first notifying them. The individual claims — filed under the Visual Artists Rights Act, or VARA — seek anywhere from $1,200 to $150,000.

Public records show the city’s decision to remove the artwork unfolded largely behind the scenes — with no public discussion and little evidence officials considered challenging FDOT’s directive even after a state official notified them there was an administrative path to do so.

Emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight and ArtsBeat show Sarasota officials moved quickly to comply with the directive as they faced the threat of losing $67 million in state funding.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

LESS SUNSHINE, MORE SECRECY AS FLORIDA LIMITS PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS

After state lawmakers introduced dozens of measures this year restricting access to government records, only a few cleared the Florida Legislature. But open government advocates warn the ones that did pass could substantially limit transparency.

Lawmakers proposed more than 50 such measures, which ranged from increasing privacy for individuals on the Parkinson’s disease registry to exempting records regarding the selection of data center sites from public disclosure. More than a dozen of the bills would have shielded the personal information of different government employees from public view. 

Fewer than 10 will ultimately reach Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk to be signed into law. Government watchdog groups say this year’s legislation reflects a longstanding trend toward government secrecy in the Sunshine State.

“In Florida and throughout the country, we're seeing more and more bills being introduced to keep records secret from the public,” said David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida. “The exemptions just keep piling up every year.” 

One of the bills that cleared the Legislature would allow agencies to withhold from the public the names of crime victims — including temporarily shielding the identities of law enforcement officers who say they were assaulted or threatened on the job. The bill expands on the victim’s rights measure known as Marsy’s Law, which blocks sensitive information about crime victims from public view. This measure specifies that the names of victims are exempt. 

It comes just two years after the Florida Supreme Court prevented law enforcement officers from hiding their identities under that law.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

DECISIONS ARE BURIED IN PUBLIC RECORDS. HERE'S HOW TO ACCESS THEM IN FLORIDA

At a time when access to government records is increasingly under pressure — and key decisions are often buried within them — a series of upcoming community events aims to show Suncoast residents how to find and use public information for themselves.

Suncoast Searchlight will host two, free public workshops focused on accessing public records, one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, tools available to everyday citizens. The events are part of the newsroom’s ongoing community engagement series, presented in partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

The workshops will come on the heels of Sunshine Week, a national initiative held March 16–20 that promotes transparency, open government and the public’s right to know.

“These laws aren't about journalists. Journalists use them because they're trying to get information on behalf of the public, but really, this is for the public,” said David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida, who also participated in an earlier virtual session about public records hosted by Suncoast Searchlight this month.

“Research shows that these public record laws, they help all of us,” Cuillier said. “They lead to cleaner drinking water, safer restaurants. They build trust in institutions.”



The upcoming sessions — scheduled for March 31 and April 10 — are designed to take that foundation a step further, offering practical guidance on how to request records and how to use them.

The March 31 event will focus on how public records are used to uncover information, shape reporting and hold decision-makers accountable. The April 10 session will walk participants through how to request and obtain records, breaking down a process that can often feel confusing or intimidating.

Join us for this installment of our ongoing public records series, presented in partnership with Gulf Coast Community Foundation, as we walk through real stories shaped by public records and explore how documents, delays and discoveries become accountability reporting.

March 31 | 12:30pm

Manatee Community Foundation

2820 Manatee Ave W, Bradenton, FL 34205

Free community event

Have a story of your own? We’ll also invite a few attendees to share public records requests they’ve submitted or are considering.

Seats limited, save yours today

HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

'NOT REALLY A NEED.' DESANTIS SIGNS BILL AIMING TO BLOCK MANATEE CRUISE PORT
FROM BRADENTON HERALD

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday in Bradenton that restricts dredging in Terra Ceia Bay in response to a company’s proposal to build a cruise port in Manatee County. Senate Bill 302 included an amendment by state Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, that prohibits major development and dredging in the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve. The amendment permits minor dredging, but would prohibit the large-scale dredging required for a cruise terminal.

READ THE STORY HERE

'TAKE CARE OF MAYA' CASE UPENDED BY NEW ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FORMER LEAD ATTORNEY
FROM FLORIDA TRIDENT

Maya Kowalski, the woman at the center of the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya,” has filed a sworn declaration in court proceedings accusing former family attorney Greg Anderson of inappropriate comments and interactions while he represented her, explosive allegations that could reshape the already turbulent next phase of the long-running case arising from her treatment at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. Multiple efforts to contact Anderson were unsuccessful but Anderson’s wife and law partner, Jennifer, told the Trident he vehemently denies the allegations.

READ THE STORY HERE

WEEKS AFTER OPERATOR'S DISSOLUTION, CONCRETE CRUSHING PLANT CONTINUES RUNNING
FROM WSLR

On Feb. 25, the owner of the concrete crushing plant at the south end of the Cocoanut-Central neighborhood dissolved the corporation that runs it. But concrete crushing continues, apparently under a different corporate entity controlled by Christopher Williams, the Sarasota entrepreneur who set up the plant that processes debris from demolition sites in 2019. The dissolved entity, US Recycling, was the subject of numerous complaints by neighbors and county and state inspections — and a defendant in a lawsuit filed in December by Suncoast Waterkeeper. Two weeks ago, after calling it a “bad-faith actor,” the Sarasota City Commission decided to pursue legal action against US Recycling. But now, it’s unclear who could be served with any lawsuit.

READ/HEAR THE STORY HERE

FROM HOMELESSNESS TO THE MOUND: SARASOTA MAN THROWS FIRST PITCH AT ORIOLES GAME
FROM ABC7

In Sarasota, a man who once struggled with homelessness is celebrating a moment few people ever experience: standing on a Major League pitcher’s mound. Richie Moon recently threw the ceremonial first pitch at a game for the Baltimore Orioles, marking a powerful milestone in a journey shaped by hardship, resilience and poetry. Moon said writing helped him process some of the most difficult chapters of his life. While experiencing homelessness and battling mental health challenges, he began putting his experiences on paper, turning pain, loneliness and survival into poetry.

READ/WATCH THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO STORMWATER INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE COW PEN SLOUGH
FROM SARASOTA NEWS LEADER

Sarasota County Commissioner Teresa Mast has won the full support of her colleagues in seeking a report from county Stormwater Department staff regarding initiatives to improve Cow Pen Slough, as well as options for paying for that work. Mast frequently has noted her District 1 constituents’ desire for county measures that would prevent residential flooding from Cow Pen Slough.

READ THE STORY HERE


THREE DEVELOPMENTS THAT MAY HAVE PUT USF SARASOTA-MANATEE AT RISK
FROM BRADENTON JOURNAL

The fight to save the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus is not over — at least not yet. The Florida House has approved language that would transfer the campus to New College of Florida, as proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, but the Senate’s version of a higher education appropriations bill does not include the proposal. That leaves the issue to be resolved in negotiations between the two chambers as they hammer out the final budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year during a special session next month. Until then, the future of the Sarasota-Manatee campus remains uncertain. If the takeover ultimately happens, it will not be because the idea appeared overnight.

READ THE STORY HERE

DESANTIS CRITICIZES FLORIDA SHERIFFS OVER IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT COMMENTS

FROM NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA VIA WUSF

Gov. Ron DeSantis rebuked some of Florida’s top law enforcement officials Thursday, criticizing their calls to Congress and President Donald Trump to work on a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. “This idea that unless you’re an axe murderer you should be able to stay, that is not consistent with our laws, and it’s also not good policy,” DeSantis said at an event in Bradenton. On Monday the State Immigration Enforcement Council, a group of local law enforcement officials who were appointed to advise the State Board of Immigration Enforcement on illegal immigration enforcement, decided to send a letter to federal government officials asking them to work on a path to citizenship for noncriminal undocumented immigrants who pay a fine.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE NAMES WADE TATANGELO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

Wade Tatangelo has been named executive editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he will lead newsroom operations for the USA TODAY Network publication with a focus on providing essential coverage of the community where he has lived and worked for nearly 25 years. “As someone who has lived in Sarasota-Manatee for the better part of the past 25 years, it’s an honor and privilege to oversee the region’s most important media outlet,” Tatangelo said in a statement.

READ THE STORY HERE

BEAUX ARTS BALL RETURNS FOR ARTS CENTER SARASOTA'S CENTENNIAL YEAR
FROM ARTSBEAT

Whether wearing glittering vintage gowns or elaborate costumes crafted to suit a fantastical theme, guests will once again fill the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium March 21 when the historic Beaux Arts Ball returns as part of Art Center Sarasota’s centennial celebration. The beloved gala, which once transformed Sarasota into a dazzling playground of music and spectacle, will again bring together artists, performers and community members for a night where art and imagination take center stage.

READ THE STORY HERE

WITH ANTI-TERROR LAW, DESANTIS HAS NEW TOOL TO SHAPE HIGHER ED
FROM FLORIDA TRIB

Gov. Ron DeSantis is about to get new anti-terrorism powers, thanks to the Florida Legislature. Campus activists, especially those who advocate for Palestinian causes, are watching with trepidation. The legislation, adopted last week, will give the governor a new tool to accomplish what he has tried to do in the past – crack down on campus groups that engage in protests, especially those on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza. His previous efforts have been blocked by the courts. Among the provisions of the new statute, the governor and his cabinet will have the right to designate foreign or domestic groups as terrorist organizations. Any state university student deemed to have “promoted” such an organization is to be “immediately expelled” and could conceivably face felony charges.

READ THE STORY HERE

DID YOU MISS OUR PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

HOW MARK VENGROFF BECAME A MAJOR FORCE IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON THE SUNCOAST

A few years ago, Sarasota affordable housing developer Mark Vengroff tried to buy the Magic Castle Inn and Suites in Kissimmee.

Made famous in the 2017 film “The Florida Project,” the faded purple motel a few miles from Disney World served on screen — and in real life — as a last refuge for struggling families living on the edge of homelessness.

For decades, properties like that were the backbone of the Vengroff family’s approach to affordable housing. Mark’s father, Harvey Vengroff, built a business buying aging motels, renovating the rooms into efficiency apartments and renting them at prices low-income tenants could afford.

The Magic Castle would have fit the model perfectly.

But the deal never happened.

“We couldn’t make the numbers work,” Mark Vengroff told Suncoast Searchlight during a wide-ranging interview at his office on North Tamiami Trail, where another former motel he converted now operates as affordable apartments.

Today, Mark Vengroff is moving away from the motel conversions that defined his late father’s legacy and toward a different strategy: building new affordable apartment complexes from the ground up, often financed through a patchwork of public subsidies and philanthropic support. 

FIGHT ERUPTS OVER PLAN TO HAND SARASOTA GOLF COURSES TO DEVELOPER

A plan to lease hundreds of acres of golf courses and green space in The Meadows to Benderson Development Co. for nearly 50 years has sparked a lawsuit over the future of one of Sarasota’s oldest and largest communities.

The Meadows Community Association board voted 6-3 last month to authorize its president to sign the contract. The deal would transfer control of 500 acres — including three, 18-hole golf courses and vast expanses of open space — to a subsidiary of Benderson Development, which owns and operates the nearby Mall at University Town Center.

The lease comes after years of operating losses pushed the country club into bankruptcy and forced two of its courses to close. Under the deal, Benderson would pay off the mounting debts and work to reopen the courses.

But the agreement has divided residents.

Some homeowners say the negotiations were conducted with too little transparency and fear the deal gives the developer too much control over land long seen as the heart of the community. 

One of them, Donald Breece, filed a lawsuit arguing the contract goes far beyond a simple golf lease. Instead, his suit says, it allows long-term and potentially permanent changes to the land that defines the 3,500-home community without a vote of property owners.

FLORIDA HOUSE APPROVES SCALED-BACK UTC DISTRICT THAT BENDERSON WOULD CONTROL

The Florida House of Representatives unanimously approved a scaled-back bill Wednesday to create a special district around the booming University Town Center area — a proposal that would still give one of the region’s largest developers significant influence over the new entity spanning more than 1,400 acres across Sarasota and Manatee counties.

If the bill becomes law, Manatee County-headquartered Benderson Development Co., which owns much of the land inside the proposed district, would hold a majority voting interest in the new government entity, according to the developer’s Tallahassee lobbyist.

Initially, the bill, which was introduced by state Rep. Bill Conerly, R-Lakewood Ranch, in January, would have allowed the district to levy property taxes and exercise broader government powers across the area.

But lawmakers narrowed its scope as it moved through subcommittees. 

Among the changes: Land owned by Sarasota Memorial Hospital was removed from the district, though Sarasota County-owned Nathan Benderson Park — which makes up about a third of the district’s footprint — remains included.

Lawmakers also stripped the district of its ability to levy property taxes on landowners.

WINDOW CLOSING TO ROLL BACK FLORIDA SB 180 HOME RULE LIMITS

The Florida Legislature has just days in the current session to kill controversial provisions in a state law limiting local jurisdictions from regulating growth. 

Senate Bill 180, which passed with nearly unanimous approval last year, limits cities and counties from advancing any measures deemed more “burdensome or restrictive” on development in the wake of major storms. The law spurred backlash from local governments that had spent months — in some cases years — crafting planning policies, only to see them struck down by the state. 

“When a local government doesn't have the ability to respond to things like hurricanes in a meaningful way, we just continue to make the same mistakes,” said Kim Dinkins, the Policy and Planning Director of 1000 Friends of Florida, an advocacy organization focusing on growth management and conservation that has sought to reverse parts of SB 180.

In Manatee County, where voters elected a slate of commissioners in 2024 who ran on a platform of curbing sprawl, SB 180 had immediate impacts. When commissioners advanced measures to restore wetlands protections and raise impact fees on developers, the Florida Department of Commerce threatened litigation. 

Citing fears that Gov. Ron DeSantis would remove them from office, commissioners backed off.

Now, the state Senate has passed a bill largely reversing that preemption on local planning. But the Florida House of Representatives has not moved on a companion bill — with the end of the legislative session looming. 

Dinkins spoke with Suncoast Searchlight this week about the group’s efforts to overturn aspects of SB 180 and how the law has impacted local governments.

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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