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SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - One is from Scotland, one is from Italy. Both are amazing! The one that is in a museum is actually a museum piece. The other shows three different plays a week. Find out why the share the name “Asolo” in this story.
With all the benefits of Venice airport, why not try to make it your friend? There are now two viable flying schools. Jets are a new airport standard, but they pay fees and buy fuel, which benefits our community.
I am glad the city approved a sound mitigation position to address this new growth. Let’s give them a chance. Other good qualities of our airport are the municipal golf course and venues, such as the chalk festival and the upcoming Blues Festival.
Hopefully, the shark tooth festival moves back there. It has ample parking. Been to the airport restaurant? It’s owned and operated by a delightful couple, and he is a professional chef.
They offer comfort foods and unique cuisine. Familiar with the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) and VASI (Venice Aviation Society Incorporated)? These groups do wonderful things for our community, including giving scholarships.
Plus, our airport houses helicopters. They can be noisy but are used by our Coast Guard for search and rescue and firefighters to put out blazes. The police and sheriff use them to keep us safer.
Emergency helicopters come and go to the hospitals. Take a tourist helicopter ride down our beautiful coast. Well worth it and highly recommended.
The airport is a gem, albeit enjoying booming growth and discovery. I hope a manned tower for traffic control comes in, bringing new jobs. Be reasonable with all our gems of Gulf Coast living.
On March 22 at 7 p.m., Ringling College of Art and Design and its Center for Diversity and Inclusion will host the first annual Women of Industry event.
The panel, initially inspired by Women’s History Month, will feature a number of women working in the themed entertainment industry. Each year, the panel will focus on a different creative industry.
This women-focused discussion will touch on the unique opportunities and challenges for women in the themed entertainment industry. Eight panelists will share their professional and personal experiences working in a male-dominated profession and talk about the evolution of women leadership.
The Women of Industry panel will take place in the Roskamp Exhibition Hall on Ringling College’s Main Campus, in Sarasota. It is open to students, faculty and staff, and the general public is also encouraged to attend. Admission is free.
I was disappointed and surprised to read that the Florida Legislature passed a bill to allow chaplains in the public schools. I hope that the Sarasota County School Board will reject any such move for several reasons.
I believe this action is a clear violation of the Constitution as it relates to church-state separation. It does not pass the three-part "Lemon test" that the Supreme Court applies to issues involving the government and religion:
- The government's action must have a secular legislative purpose.
- The government's action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion.
- The government's action must not result in an excessive entanglement of government with religion.
If the Sarasota County School Board adopts this chaplain program, there will be significant and costly litigation.
Do they really want students to be under pressure to join religious clubs? Or to be counseled by a person whose faith will be the backdrop for any advice they may give?
The Sarasota County School Board should hire professional counselors, not pastors!
Don't we have enough controversies going on within the School Board? Why add another one that is unnecessary?
Major improvements are planned for a popular plane-spotting area at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
The unpaved patch off the west side of a big curve on 301 Boulevard East/15th Street East, across from Lindbergh Court, is owned by Manatee County.
The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority and Manatee County government are jointly planning a reimagined observation area there, designed by Sweet Sparkman Architecture & Interiors, including The Wing, an aluminum shade structure.
Visitors will be able to listen to air traffic communications from speakers in the 825-square-foot observation deck.
Displays and signage would provide information about the airport and its history. Seating will also be available in the observation area.
An aviation-themed playground for children is planned with sponsorship by Allegiant Air.
Also planned are landscape design, lighting and a paved parking area.
“We would look out there and see all the people behind the fence watching the planes and wondered how we could enhance it and make it a nicer experience,” said Rick Piccolo, the airport’s president and CEO.
The Chair of a U.S. Senate committee is putting Florida’s insurer of last resort on blast for not responding to its questions about its financial footing, amid concerns that the state may lean on the federal government to bail out the insurance market after a major hurricane.
In the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantis claiming Citizens Property Insurance is “not solvent,” U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse is “renewing all requests for information and documents set out in the Committee’s November letter related to the company’s plans to address increased underwriting losses from climate-related extreme weather events and other disasters.”
Last year, Whitehouse wrote the Governor, Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky and Citizens CEO Tim Cerio with concerns about how climate risk could push Florida’s insurer of last resort into insolvency.
Months later, the Rhode Island Democrat is frustrated.
“Citizens has not adequately addressed the Committee’s questions and has ignored repeated attempts at follow up. In a non-responsive letter dated December 15, (Cerio) referred to a Florida law enabling the company to levy special assessments on all policyholders as a basis for its solvency,” reads a press release from the committee that notes the question of whether the insurer would need a federal bailout is still unanswered to date.
“Citizens has failed to cooperate with our investigation,” said Whitehouse on Tuesday.
“Governor DeSantis’s repeated statements that Citizens is not solvent and the company’s own public comments about their ability to shift their financial losses to Florida policyholders have done nothing to assuage the Committee’s concerns about possible future requests for a federal bailout. Floridians are grappling with already astronomical insurance rates and one future storm could make things far, far worse. I look forward to Citizens’ full compliance with our investigation.”
The latest letter takes issue with a recurrent DeSantis claim that private companies are taking risk off the backs of taxpayers through absorbing some Citizens policies. It notes that the “offloading” consists of “often its least risky policies.”
Whitehouse also suggests the company isn’t complying with state law.
“As a public entity in Florida, Citizens is generally subject to the Florida Sunshine Law, which broadly states that ‘all state, county, and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person” and that “(p)roviding access to public records is a duty of each agency.’ Citizens’ own website makes clear that it was ‘created by the Florida Legislature in August 2002 as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, government entity.’ The statute governing Citizens equally makes clear that Citizens is subject to the record retention provisions of the Sunshine Law, with limited exceptions.”
The city of North Port was ranked No. 21 on Southern Living Magazine’s list of The South’s Best Cities on the Rise for 2024.
That placed the fast-growing city between Morgantown, West Virginia, at No. 20 and Lake Charles, Louisiana, at No. 22.
Wilmington, North Carolina, ranked No. 1, Franklin, Tennessee, No. 2, with No. 13 Palm Bay the only other Florida city to make the list.
According to the Southern Living website, the magazine’s editors compile a list of “Best Cities on the Rise,” based on research – including the U.S. Census, which denoted that the South accounted for 87% of the country’s growth in 2023. It was also the only region to maintain population growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Readers then pick their favorites for the magazine’s annual “South’s Best Awards” survey.
The initial list pointed to Warm Mineral Springs, the Myakka State Forest and the emerging Downtown Wellen Park as main draws.
Still the Southern Living listing isn’t even the most recent accolade listed on the city website, which can be found here: https://bit.ly/4a30Eo7
Since then, MoneyGeek placed North Port No. 1 on its list of “Most Up and Coming Small Cities in the U.S," and No. 7 on its list of “15 Most Affordable and Safe Small Cities.”
With a five-year population growth of 28.4%, North Port was the fastest-growing city on the Up and Coming list. MoneyGeek also cited a 43% increase in housing units since 2017 and a 46% increase in median household income – to $78,587 – in that same time period.
On the Affordable and Safe list, North Port earned its rankings in part because monthly mortgage payments made up only 21.2% of income and monthly food cost 14.7% of income – though it's also worth noting that the food cost percentage was the highest among the top 15 ranked cities.
North Port City Manager Jerome Fletcher pointed to a desire to maintain that safe status as one reason to push for a new police station.
Riders ambled to Myakka City this week to compete in a Winter Series at the TerraNova Equestrian Center, a new horse riding show venue that opened in Manatee County in 2021.
For co-founder Hannah Herrig Ketelboeter, the facility is the culmination of a lifetime in horse riding. The facility features six competition arenas including a cross-country course designed by Olympic gold-medal winner Mark Phillips and built by craftsman Eric Bull. The venue hosts equestrian competitions that include hunter and jumper, eventing and dressage shows.
"My husband and I both ride and compete, and it kind of turned into a family project to build this show facility," Ketelboeter said.
"One thing we always wanted to do is to make it a world-class experience for all levels of riders," she said. "We often see the young riders getting to talk to these big-time Olympians and Grand Prix riders, and they get inspired by interacting with them. It's a great environment for those two levels in the sport to connect."
The center features a VIP pavilion, spectator viewing areas, permanent luxury stabling, wash racks, a campground with RV hookups, a show office with a lounge, a play area for children, and a dog park.
The gentle sound of water splashing off rocks from two massive artificial waterfalls greeted Bobby Fletcher recently at a home in Southwest Florida.
Because the custom-built waterfall was one-of-kind — created at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars — its proud owners were positive the water feature should have increased the value of their property by a substantial amount.
"They wanted to convince me that it was value-added," he said. "It was very cool but that wasn't true."
Fletcher has been appraising property for nearly 30 years, and in his opinion, niche home improvements like expensive water features, secret rooms or putting greens don't increase market value when it comes time to change addresses.
Fletcher, principal at Bass Fletcher & Associates Inc. in Sarasota, said when it comes to projects worth their cost, it's those that are important to the broadest audience that move the needle the most.
What home improvement projects result in increased market value?
The things that add value are the things that are important to the average buyer, and the average buyer will be willing to pay more than if the improvement wasn't there.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1365, which requires counties to ensure that homeless individuals receive the mental health and drug addiction services they need.
“The legislation I signed today upholds our commitment to law and order while also ensuring homeless individuals have the resources they need to get back on their feet,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.
Under the bill:
- Homeless individuals are prohibited from camping on city streets, sidewalks, and parks—and instead placed in temporary shelters monitored by law enforcement agencies.
- The state of Florida has the enforcement tools needed to ensure local governments comply.
- Homeless shelters will require occupants to not use drugs.
- These shelters will also include substance abuse and mental health treatments.
HB 1365 also provides alternatives for when homeless shelters have reached max capacity. It directs the Department of Children and Families to authorize temporary campsites that do the following:
- Maintain sanitation, including access to clean and operable restrooms and running water.
- Provide access to substance abuse and mental health treatment resources through coordination with the regional managing entity.
- Prohibit illegal substance use and alcohol use on the property and enforce this prohibition.
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