Sarasota & Manatee Counties news thread

[wondermint2]

Sarasota Film Festival, its wide variety, arrives Friday

For full article:

https://www.newsbreak.com/sarasota-f...arrives-friday

Whether you want to learn a little about many subjects or a lot about something new — or old — the Sarasota Film Festival is the place to be.

From Friday through April 14, film fans will be gathering in Sarasota for the 26th annual festival. Films will be shown at the Regal Cinema on Main Street and at CineBistro in the Siesta Key Mall on U.S. 41.

“Bull Street,” starring Amy Mattigan and directed by Lynn Dow, will open the festival at 6 p.m. Friday in theaters 7, 3, and 8 at the Regal Cinema on Main Street.

“The Listener,” directed by Steve Buscemi, is the closing night film, at 6:30 p.m. April 13 in the same theaters within the Regal Cinema on Main Street.

In between, film fans will need to study the 55-page festival program of films of all types and lengths plus film festival talks about such topics as artificial intelligence and whether it will help or hurt the film industry; the organic food industry in film, improving the health of mothers and “The Fentanyl Project.”

A red carpet treatment takes place Sunday and is the culmination of festival programs for students. A program for all ages takes place at 4 p.m. and one for high school students is at 6 p.m. at Rise Above Performing Arts, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota.

[wondermint2]

To new beginnings and butterflies

For full article:

https://www.newsbreak.com/venice-fl/...nd-butterflies

VENICE — The Garden Club of Bay Indies held a dedication for its new butterfly garden Monday morning nearly one year after the original conservatory burned down in the Bay House fire.

The event also honored two longtime Bay Indies residents and the garden's originators, Betty and Bob Leonard, for their dedication to gardening and community outreach by naming the new grounds after them.

The two were presented with a sign declaring "The Betty and Bob Leonard Butterfly Garden." It also thanked the "dedicated, supportive, passionate" volunteers and residents who helped rebuild the garden.

The project took approximately five weeks to complete, with Bay Indies residents like Allen Hynek volunteering to dig irrigation trenches by hand and bringing the once-barren piece of land behind the shuffleboard courts back to life.

Hynek said the garden represents the community's best butterfly enthusiasts while honoring the environmental impact the last garden had before it burned down.

[wondermint2]

Longboat Key Cops Corner - Vacationers worried about beds made in the night

After returning from the pool after midnight, the guests wondered how their beds were made. This and other Longboat Key Police reports in this week's Cops Corner.

For the full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...ed-beds-night/

[wondermint2]

Two local area counties see the highest wealth increase in Florida

For full article:

https://tbbwmag.com/2024/04/02/two-t...se-in-florida/

A new study from SmartAsset analyzed the places in Florida which have experienced the most wealth generation, over the last ten years. The study measures growth across median income, home value and investment income, in each county, to find the places where wealth has increased the most.

Sarasota County ranked no. 5 on the list and Manatee County ranked no. 9. Walton County was ranked no. 1.

[wondermint2]

FEMA Launches New Flood Maps Affecting Sarasota County

On March 27, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued new flood maps affecting Sarasota County property owners. Flood insurance rate maps, or FIRMs, could impact your insurance requirements and premiums. Flood risk changes over time due to construction, growth, environmental impacts, floodplains widening or shifting and changes to local watersheds.

Sarasota County compiled resources to help you determine whether your property or business has been affected by the new FIRMs and how you can find more information. Click here to view the interactive Flood Zone Locator map to see if your property may be impacted.

To learn more, visit:

https://ags3.scgov.net/sarcoflood/

--------------------------------------------------

*Please note: These changes do not affect hurricane evacuation levels, which may be viewed here:

https://sarco.maps.arcgis.com/apps/i...bf5867fcf4c57b

[wondermint2]

School police officers lead new program to prevent drug use

The Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence program brings school resource officers and students together to tackle the issue of drug use.

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...-lead-program/

Sergeant Jim Wozniak of the Sarasota County Schools Police Department said when he taught students in the classroom during his time at Laurel Nokomis School, the experience brought him back to memories of raising his three boys.

He hopes to see school resource officers and students forming such relationships with the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence) program now implemented at some Sarasota County schools.

As of the start of February, schools began the program at varying times, with six of 23 elementary schools, for a total of 690 students, now involved.

[wondermint2]

Recently a small plane crashed on I-75 in Collier County and another one crashed in a neighborhood in Cape Coral. Meanwhile on larger planes parts are falling off mid-flight (mostly Boeing). However traveling by plane is still the safest way to go.

Florida pilots address passenger safety concerns amidst recent plane accidents


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQC16dBB37g

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Some more details here:

Sarasota City Commission OKs density bonus for affordable housing in new districts

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...8e75e6b3&ei=15

Another affordable housing incentive squeezed past the Sarasota City Commission on the second reading at a special meeting Monday.

A zoning text amendment that will offer a density and height bonus to developers that build affordable housing in certain districts passed with Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch and Commissioner Debbie Trice in dissent. The amendment creates three new districts in growing areas that aim to encourage mixed-use developments, and it passed by the same vote on the first reading March 4.

The districts — known as urban mixed-use 1, 2 and 3 — are located in along major corridors like Fruitville Road, Washington Boulevard and U.S. 41 in the North Trail area. Developers that build in these districts will receive up to a triple the density bonus if 15% of the bonus units are priced attainable.

The amendment allows developers to build up to 75 units per acre in mixed-use 1 and 2 and 105 units per acre in mixed-use 3, located in the North Trail area. It also affords developers a height of up to 5 stories if projects meet the 15% threshold, though a development can’t exceed 70 feet.

Overall, the districts include more than 700 parcels along the designated areas. Their implementation is the latest in a line of affordable housing measures, which have included a downtown density bonus and a recently introduced fund for affordable development.

Briana Dobbs, chief planner for the city of Sarasota, said the new districts will ideally encourage walkable, mixed-use projects with residents of varied incomes.

“It really does allow for the development we would like to see along these corridors,” Dobbs said.

The amendment has been widely debated since its introduction. While proponents have supported the amendment for addressing the affordable housing issue, opponents fear the extra units and height the amendment affords will inundate districts with excess development while also doing little to solve the problem.

Some members of the public called the amendment a step in the right direction and others cautioned that its language was too lenient on developers.

Kathy Kelley Ohlrich, a candidate for the District 3 city commission seat, said the affordable unit requirement isn’t high enough to implement adequate affordable units in the corridors. The density bonus will proliferate the corridors with too many market-rate units and won’t change Sarasota’s affordable housing landscape, Ohlrich said.

Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch echoed Ohlrich and others in her dissenting vote, remarking that she was unsatisfied with the amount of affordable housing the amendment requires. She cited an online inclusionary housing calculator that concluded increasing the requirement would scarcely impact a developer’s profitability.

The 15% threshold, Ahearn-Koch said, was too low, and with little change to profitability, she felt the amendment could raise the requirement without turning developers off.

“If we could be asking for more, we should be asking for more,” Ahearn-Koch said. “We have one shot to get this right.”

New Sarasota zoning amendment has some worried about excessive growth


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsDXmtM6tu0

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Driver sentenced to prison after drunken head-on crash with trooper during Skyway 10k

For full article:

https://www.newsbreak.com/sarasota-f...ing-skyway-10k

A Sarasota woman who hit a Florida trooper’s vehicle during a 10K race on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is set to spend the next 10 years in prison.

Kristen Watts, 54, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and fleeing and eluding law enforcement at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, more than two years after the Florida Highway Patrol says she bypassed an Interstate 275 closure and barreled toward pedestrians before a trooper used their vehicle to block her path.

A judge sentenced Watts to 10 years with credit for time served, in addition to four years probation.

The maximum sentence Watts could have received is 15 years, a judge said.

Watts was scheduled to go to trial on April 29, court records show.

But talk of Watts entering a plea instead of going to trial has persisted for months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHhnCBx6Lx0

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Mote's 40-year study proves effective

For full article:

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/33873...oves-effective

A four-decade study by Mote Marine Laboratory of the nesting behaviors and productivity of marine turtles along the Gulf of Mexico coastline, confirms the effectiveness of Mote’s current conservation efforts.

Conducted by the Mote Marine Laboratory Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program, this research provides critical insight into the dynamics of marine turtle populations and their implications for conservation effort according to a news release.

Most notably, the study highlights the significance of long-term data in understanding marine turtle populations.

Jake Lasala, program manager of the Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program, said that long-term data is numerically invaluable.

“Long-term data sets are indispensable for developing effective conservation strategies for threatened and endangered species like marine turtles,” Lasala said. “They allow us to discern trends, understand population dynamics, and identify key factors influencing nesting success.”

Conducted across five beaches in Sarasota County since 1982, the research involved standardized monitoring of nesting habitats.

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium conservation study is saving our turtles


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ-EUop3pi4