Friday, May 22, 2026

Featured in this week's newsletter:

• STORY: Developers push massive data center complex in DeSoto County amid backlash

• STORY: Downtown Sarasota battle pits history against development

• STORY: Economist warns Sarasota commissioners of looming economic threat

• STORY: First round of Phillippi Creek dredging completed

• STORY: Sarasota County vote on school tax punts long-term decision back to courtroom

• FACT BRIEF: Does Sarasota law enforcement have open access to resident Ring cameras?

• FACT BRIEF: Did any hurricanes make landfall in the United States last year?



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NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

DEVELOPERS PUSH MASSIVE DATA CENTER COMPLEX IN DESOTO COUNTY AMID BACKLASH

On a Wednesday afternoon in May, Eugene Turner sorted through maps of DeSoto County, laying one on a wooden table in his Arcadia real estate office.

Turner scrutinized the map, pointing to properties in the rural county that had grown citrus and raised cattle for decades, some owned by families like his that had passed the land down from one generation to the next. 

“We got 5,000 acres of citrus,” said Turner, who describes himself as a fourth-generation Floridian. “I wish we didn’t.”

He lamented how the once-profitable citrus industry that made the orange a symbol of sunny Florida has crumbled as citrus greening — a disease that stunts the growth of oranges — has swept the state. 

In DeSoto County, not much has grown in its place. 

But snaking under the soil, a natural gas pipeline that stretches from Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and down into Florida could power a tantalizing new economic opportunity — in the form of a sprawling complex of AI data centers.

In March, DeSoto County voted to rezone 34 acres of land on a decommissioned power plant to allow the company DCIP Group to begin the process of constructing its first data center there, using natural gas supplied from the Florida Gas Transmission Pipeline. County commissioners have embraced the proposal, which they herald as financial salvation that could fill the county’s coffers and help the rural community weather budget shortfalls. 

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

DOWNTOWN SARASOTA BATTLE PITS HISTORY AGAINST DEVELOPMENT

The fate of a more than century-old downtown Sarasota building could be headed to court following a last-ditch effort from a preservation group trying to stop it from being razed for luxury condos.

Members of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation said city officials sidestepped the public review process typically required before potentially historic structures can be demolished. The U.S. Garage building should have undergone a formal historic review after developers sought demolition permits tied to plans for two luxury high-rise towers downtown, Alliance members said.

Instead, the city relied on a single unsigned form attributed to former historic preservation chief Clifford Smith to determine the building was not historically significant — allowing the project to move forward administratively without a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Board.

The determination was made before the current owners purchased the property. Smith died in 2024, making it impossible to verify details surrounding the review now at the center of the dispute.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

ECONOMIST WARNS SARASOTA COMMISSION OF LOOMING ECONOMIC THREAT

Amid stubborn inflation, the surging cost of living and constant angst at the gas pump, Sarasota has not been immune to the national trends that have pushed the economy into a downspin.

Sean Snaith, the director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting, presented a snapshot of the local economic situation this week to the Sarasota County Commission. Florida is experiencing what Snaith described as a “ho-hum labor market.”

Meanwhile, both bankruptcies and credit card delinquencies are on the rise. “The labor market is in a state of suspended animation in many ways,” he told commissioners. “Unemployment rates are low by historical standards, but job creation is quite slow.”

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

FIRST ROUND OF PHILLIPPI CREEK DREDGING COMPLETED

Anxious residents who live near flood-prone Phillippi Creek can expect at least some relief this storm season now that the county has removed 60 tons of sediment from the creek bed.

But there is still a long way to go.

Workers have finished dredging the “high spots” of a 1.7-mile stretch of Phillippi Creek as part of a $41 million stormwater project.

The project calls for dredging roughly seven miles of the creek from where it empties out at Roberts Bay north to South Beneva Road. Over the years, the creek, which drains stormwater from surrounding neighborhoods, has flooded due to a buildup of sediment.

NEW FROM SUNCOAST SEARCHLIGHT:

SARASOTA COUNTY VOTE ON SCHOOL TAX PUNTS LONG-TERM DECISION BACK TO COURTROOM

Sarasota County commissioners finalized a plan this week to pick up the bill for more than $2 million that Tax Collector Mike Moran withheld from Sarasota County Schools to process a voter-approved referendum for education.

But they only agreed to cover the annual expense until an ongoing lawsuit between the tax collector and the school district is resolved in court. After that, commissioners said they would revisit who exactly would cover the fee going forward based on the judge’s ruling.

“I don’t want to see us pay something that is not something we should be paying,” Commissioner Teresa Mast said at the meeting. “And I think that hopefully the courts will resolve this issue.”

HERE'S WHAT ELSE WE RECOMMEND READING THIS WEEK

PROPOSED FEMA OVERHAUL COULD END FEDERAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM
FROM ABC7

A council appointed by President Trump to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency has proposed a major overhaul to the agency that stops short of the administration’s vows to dismantle it, but could reduce the number of disasters the federal government supports and the amount of money it distributes. One of the most significant elements of the proposal is to shut down the National Flood Insurance Program and privatize flood insurance coverage. The proposal comes 11 days before the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. Florida accounts for more than one-third of NFIP policies across the U.S., more than any state, said Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations with the Insurance Information Institute.

READ/WATCH THE STORY HERE

NEW COLLEGE SAYS BASEBALL STADIUM WILL BE DONE BY SUMMER. BUT WILL IT?
FROM WUSF

Plans for a new baseball stadium at New College of Florida was announced in December 2024, bolstered by a $1 million donation from developer and Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority Board member Carlos Beruff, but it still hasn’t been built. “It should be done by end of summer,” the college’s president, Richard Corcoran, told a board of trustees meeting last week. A key issue has been that New College doesn’t own enough land to build the whole facility, northeast of University Parkway at Tamiami Trail. And the Federal Aviation Administration has set restrictions on what can be done, and how, with airport land that New College leases.

READ THE STORY HERE

OLD MEMPHIS CEMETERY IS SACRED GROUND. TREAT IT THAT WAY 
FROM BRADENTON JOURNAL

The Old Memphis Cemetery in Palmetto is sacred ground, the final resting place of parents and grandparents, infant children, military veterans and generations of African American families whose stories are woven into the history of Manatee County. Which is why the vandalism discovered there recently — a true sacrilege — should offend every decent person in this community. That is also why Saturday’s community work party matters. For those who are physically able, this is an opportunity to do more than clean up trash, cut back overgrown vegetation and restore weathered grave markers.

READ THE STORY HERE



9/11 STEEL BEAM ARRIVES AT FLORIDA SCHOOL WHERE BUSH LEARNED AMERICA WAS UNDER ATTACK
FROM FOX NEWS

A steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center arrived Tuesday at the Florida elementary school where then-President George W. Bush learned the United States was under attack on Sept. 11, 2001. The beam was brought to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota as part of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s "Steel Across America" tour commemorating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, who informed Bush that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, attended the ceremony. Bush was visiting a second-grade classroom at the school on the morning of Sept. 11, when Card approached the president and told him what had happened.

READ/WATCH THE STORY HERE

FIRST SEA TURTLE NEST OF THE 2026 SEASON MARKED, RELOCATED 
FROM ANNA MARIA ISLANDER

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring recorded its first sea turtle nest of the 2026 season during the week ending May 15. Turtle watch’s patrol team began monitoring the beaches for sea turtle nests April 15, two weeks before the official May 1 start of the nesting season on Anna Maria Island. But it wasn’t until May 12 that it could announce, “The turtle mommas are finally here!” After flagging the first nest, documented in Bradenton Beach, AMITW relocated it due to beach renourishment work this summer.

READ THE STORY HERE

FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT FOR 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ' STARTS FLOWING 
FROM FLORIDA TRIB

The initial installment of the long-awaited $608 million federal reimbursement for “Alligator Alcatraz” is expected to hit the state of Florida’s bank account in a matter of days, according to correspondence obtained by The Florida Trib. The amount is a fraction of what Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has spent to build the sprawling tent-and-trailer compound at a remote airstrip in the Florida Everglades, which has cost the state more than $1 million a day to operate.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA ROLLS BACK SUNDAY PARKING FEES AFTER CHURCH OUTCRY
FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

Outcry from pastors and parishioners of downtown Sarasota churches prompted the Sarasota City Commission to roll back new paid parking charges on Sundays until 1 p.m. With the change, approved 4-1 with Commissioner Kyle Battie in dissent, street parking downtown and on St. Armands Key will be free from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. The new expanded hours for paid street and garage parking of 8 a.m. to midnight will go into effect June 1.

READ THE STORY HERE

DEI SUPPORT TANKED UF'S LAST PRESIDENT. HOW DOES STUART BELL'S RECORD STACK UP?
FROM BRADENTON HERALD

When University of Florida named Stuart Bell its lone presidential finalist Monday, culture warriors moved almost immediately to raise the same question that doomed UF’s last pick: Is he too tied to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to lead a public university in the state where, as Gov. Ron DeSantis once declared, “woke goes to die?”

READ THE STORY HERE

BAY PARK CONSERVANCY REVEALS FINAL PHASE CONCEPTS FOR THE BAY PARK
FROM SARASOTA OBSERVER

As of May 18, The Bay park’s people counters have tabulated 1.15 million visits since opening in fall 2022. And the 53-acre park isn’t even half finished. Bay Park Conservancy Founding CEO AG Lafley and Chief Operating Officer Diana Shaheen delivered that attendance figure to the City Commission on May 18 as part of a report on plans for completing the build-out of The Bay by the end of 2029. With the fully funded final Phase 2 projects such as a new town square in the Cultural District, resilient shoreline south of the boat launch basin and the first of three restaurants all underway or soon to begin, the BPC is turning its attention toward Phase 3 projects.

READ THE STORY HERE

SARASOTA ORCHESTRA RECEIVES ANONYMOUS $11.7 MILLION GIFT TOWARD MUSIC CENTER
FROM ARTSBEAT

In the latest step toward the realization of its future home, the Sarasota Orchestra on Monday announced a gift of $11.7 million from an anonymous donor toward its new music center project on Fruitville Road east of I-75. The donation brings the publicly announced total of fundraising for the center, which is estimated to cost from $375 to $425 million in total, to nearly $87 million.

READ THE STORY HERE

DID YOU MISS OUR PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER?

HERE'S WHAT WE SHARED:

DROUGHT DRAINS SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WATER RESERVES, OFFICIALS SAY SUPPLY IS SECURE

Standing on the wall of a reservoir the size of about four golf courses, it’s easy to see the impact of Southwest Florida’s extreme water shortage.

Operated by the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, the reservoir is built to hold 6 billion gallons of water. It is now half empty, and the distance between the current waterline and the visible mark where the water normally sits is striking.

'YOU ARE PLAYING GAMES': SCHOOL TAX FIGHT ERUPTS AFTER SARASOTA VOTE

Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. 

Turns out, the fight isn’t over. 

PUBLIX APPEARS TO REVERSE CONTROVERSIAL OPEN-CARRY POLICY

Just months after Publix sparked controversy by implementing a policy allowing customers to openly carry firearms in its stores, the Lakeland-based grocery store chain appears to have reversed course.

BENDERSON PARK BOATHOUSE ADVANCES DESPITE SCRUTINY OVER SIZE, FUNDING GAP

After more than a decade, Nathan Benderson Park is moving forward with plans for a long-discussed boathouse project, with construction bids already out and a contractor expected to be selected in June.

What park officials now propose, however, is far more ambitious than the simple rowing facility envisioned in a master plan in 2010. The project has morphed into a 100,000-square-foot sports complex with basketball courts, weight rooms, catering facilities and a price tag that is expected to be as much as $70 million.

HUNDREDS REPORT WATER VIOLATIONS AS ENFORCEMENT VARIES ACROSS SARASOTA COUNTY

A Suncoast Searchlight review of records found Sarasota County municipalities are unevenly enforcing water restriction rules. Few cities have issued fines or provided easy ways to file complaints — gaps that could be undermining compliance.

SARASOTA COUNTY BACKTRACKS AFTER SCHOOLS SUE OVER WITHHELD TAX MONEY

Just days after the Sarasota County School Board sued Tax Collector Mike Moran over millions of dollars withheld from a voter-approved school tax, county commissioners Tuesday voted to reverse course and resume covering the cost of collecting the tax.

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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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Suncoast Searchlight

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(941) 724-4450