|
HEALTH CARE DEDUCTIBLES DOUBLE, TRIPLE FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF
FROM DAILY SUN
Sarasota County Schools employees, including teachers, will now officially be expected to pay double, possibly triple, their annual average deductibles for health care. At Tuesday’s School Board meeting, officials voted to approve next year’s employee health insurance plan, which lowers district costs by 8.3% while raising costs for employees. District staff will pay three times higher than what they normally pay for an individual’s annual deductible and two times higher than the present deductible.
READ THE STORY HERE
HE HAD A TYPE OF CANCER THAT WAS 99% SURVIVABLE. HOW HIS JOURNEY THROUGH FLORIDA'S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM WENT WRONG
FROM FLORIDA TRIB
Late on a Wednesday evening in March 2023, Dave Wyatt sat down at his computer and began typing a message to members of his cancer team, starting with a one-word subject line: “help.” “I am asking/begging someone to help me,” the Florida man wrote, via the Mayo Clinic digital messaging portal. “Every day is a struggle in every aspect of my being.” His plea grew more urgent as he typed: “While you do not know me personally, I hope you understand the gravity and pain of my existence and are moved/motivated to help me. I honestly don’t know how much more I can take.”
READ THE STORY HERE
CONCRETE CRUSHING PLANT CONTINUES OPERATING WITHOUT AN OWNER — OR A PERMIT
FROM WSLR
A concrete crushing plant in an industrial corridor in the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood near downtown has been operating for months without a permit. According to a representative for the company, they are also—at least for the next two weeks—operating without an owner. During a recent site visit, a front desk worker told me that nothing is currently happening on site—a claim that was difficult to square with the workers and equipment that were clearly present. Workers are at least continuing to dump concrete at the site, but the representative declined to identify who employs the workers and said other operations are halted until the new owner takes over. The representative declined to identify who that new owner would be.
READ THE STORY HERE
JUDGE TOSSES BRADENTON TIMES DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST MANATEE REC OVER CHARLIE KIRK TEXTS
FROM FLORIDA POLITICS
A political feud between the Manatee County Republican Executive Committee (REC) and The Bradenton Times sparked by mass texts over commentary on Charlie Kirk has ended with a Judge tossing a defamation case out of court. A Manatee County Judge dismissed the case, siding with the Manatee REC and Chair Mark Flanagan.
READ THE STORY HERE
COURT DISMISSES KVO CASE AGAINST TAKE BACK MANATEE
FROM THE BRADENTON TIMES
A Manatee County Circuit Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, siding with defendants in the civil suit, Take Back Manatee PAC and its chair, Betsy Benac, under Florida’s Anti-SLAPP law. Van Ostenbridge brought the case against Benac and the PAC in November 2024 following Van Ostenbridge’s failed bid for reelection. The former District 3 commissioner lost the election after changing county district seats to run against incumbent Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse, who represents an at-large seat.
READ THE STORY HERE
THE DESANTIS DECISIONS: QUITE WINS FOR HOMEBUILDERS AND CAR DEALERS
FROM SEEKING RENTS
Follow the Florida Legislature long enough and you’ll soon learn an important lesson: Bills — especially those sought by special interests that spend lots of money cozying up to leaders in the state Capitol — rarely really die. We got a reminder of that this week when Gov. Ron DeSantis quietly signed legislation that will make it easier homebuilders to develop new subdivisions on farmland around cities.
READ THE STORY HERE
THE VISION FOR ST. ARMANDS CIRCLE? IT DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK.
FROM SARASOTA OBSERVER
If there was one takeaway from the two-part visioning exercise about the future of St. Armands Circle it would be this: If floods resulting from occasional heavy rain events — never mind storm surge — are not mitigated, nothing else really matters. The same goes for addressing St. Armands’ aging infrastructure, both above and below ground. Certainly there were multiple conclusions delivered to city and county staff by participants during the first visioning session at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium on Feb. 27. That data was then distilled, prioritized and delivered during the second session, also held at Mote, on April 13.
READ THE STORY HERE
SYLVESTER STALLONE PLAYED A LEADING ROLE IN BOOTING BOATERS FROM PALM BEACH. NOW THEY ARE FIGHTING BACK.
FROM FLORIDA TRIDENT
Of all the large lavish mansions lining the northern end of Palm Beach looking west on Lake Worth Lagoon, the one owned by Sylvester Stallone is unique. It has a private beach – nearly a football field’s length of it. The beach is just one feature of the waterfront estate the film icon bought on the barrier island for $35 million six years ago. He says it’s his family’s “sanctuary.” But for Stallone the property also carried a curse – boat traffic at the busy Palm Beach Inlet. He said his peace is shattered by “looky-loos” lured by his movie fame as well as long-term boaters in the Intracoastal Waterway.
READ THE STORY HERE
RON DESANTIS PAC TOOK $250K FROM FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT AFTER RECORD-SETTING RATE HIKE
FROM SEEKING RENTS
Late last year, a regulatory board in Tallahassee appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis gave Florida Power & Light permission to raise electricity rates by roughly $7 billion over the next four years — a record-setting rate hike that allows the monopoly power company to pocket the highest profit margin in the country outside of Alaska. A month later, FPL’s parent corporation gave Ron DeSantis a quarter of a million dollars.
READ THE STORY HERE
FLORIDA'S SAVE ACT DOES A LOT. HERE'S HOW IT WILL AFFECT VOTER REGISTRATION
FROM WUSF
Florida’s new SAVE Act requires people who need to update or change their voter registration and those voting for the first time to prove their citizenship. It also requires Florida officials to remove people from the voter rolls they believe are not eligible to vote. Supporters say the law strengthens election integrity and ensures only eligible voters register, but critics warn the added documentation requirements and database checks could complicate registration and make it harder for some eligible voters to get or stay on the rolls.
READ THE STORY HERE
| 
