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Walmart shoppers may be entitled to a cash payout as part of a proposed $45 million settlement over allegations that the retail chain overcharged for grocery items.
A lawsuit filed in October 2022 (and since revised) had accused Walmart of “falsely inflating” the weights of certain sold-by-weight groceries at the register, thereby negating any sale pricing (or “rollback” pricing) that shoppers may have believed they were paying, court documents say. The lawsuit also accuses the retailer of incorrectly labeling certain sold-by-weight bagged produce items and sold-by-weight clearance items, leading the consumer to unknowingly pay more for the amount they were getting. The grocery items included meats, seafood, poultry and pork, as well as a variety of bagged citrus items.
Walmart denies any wrongdoing or deceptive practices. But in November 2023, the company reached a deal to settle, according to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
A hearing to determine whether the proposed settlement can move forward will be held later this year.
Until then, customers can submit claims online or by mail for a share of the proposed $45 million at:
To qualify, Walmart customers needed to have purchased the aforementioned sold-by-weight items between Oct. 19, 2018 and Jan. 19, 2024. Customers need not provide any proof of purchase to file, though payouts without receipts or other documentation are capped at $25 per person depending on the amount of claimed purchases (to those who qualify). Customers with receipts or other proof of purchase may be eligible to receive up to 2% back on the total amount paid for the groceries, but capped at $500.
Consumers may also opt out of the settlement, if they wish to take separate legal action against Walmart, according to the settlement website.
The hearing to determine approval of the proposed settlement is scheduled for June 12, 2024, in Tampa. More information on the settlement agreement, and instructions for filing a claim, can be found on the settlement website.
Walmart settlement over groceries sold by weight is real
Eligible customers must file a claim before June for the $45 million settlement, which involves products like produce and meat that are sold by weight.
Spring Break is underway and many are visiting the State of Florida for the season.
Sarasota County Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Tim Dorsey, spoke out on some of the safety measures Sarasota County prepares for during this time.
“Sarasota County is increasing its response profile on beaches in high populated places such as Siesta Key, Fire Rescue boat will be on the water during high impact times and high use times,” said Dorsey.
The Fire Department does encourage everyone to have fun but in a responsible manner, and make sure everyone has life jackets when you are on a boat in case of an emergency, and finally when swimming, have a designated “water watcher” to ensure safety.
Law enforcement preparing for spring break in Sarasota area
Last March more than 500,000 passengers traveled through the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport alone.
One of the most anticipated new local restaurants this year, located within one of Sarasota's biggest attractions, has made its debut.
The Green Orchid is now open at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens' downtown Sarasota campus at 1534 Mound St., according to a press release. Sarasota fine-dining mainstay and Selby Gardens' longtime food provider Michael's on East will operate The Green Orchid, part of the gardens' recently unveiled phase one of its master plan.
The restaurant is fully solar-powered with designs to achieve net positive energy, generating more energy than it consumes. A rooftop garden will provide fresh produce for a seasonally inspired menu, with the garden planned, planted and maintained by Operation Eco Vets, a nonprofit providing personal, educational and professional growth opportunities for military veterans.
The menu will feature dishes such as The Green Orchid Salad, Cape Malay Street Tacos and a Lavender-Infused Crème Brûlée and will change seasonally, incorporating vegetarian and vegan options among other dietary preferences. James Beard Award winner Jimi Yui designed the kitchen, which will not use gas or flames but rather electric and induction cooking facilities, using electromagnetic fields to heat pots and pans directly.
The restaurant seats up to 150 people and offers walk-up indoor and outdoor table service. No reservations are necessary, but admission to Selby Gardens ($26 adults, $11 ages 5-17/member guests, free members/ages 4 and under) is required to visit the restaurant.
The Green Orchid will be open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. daily. For more information on the restaurant, visit:
With another push to get Bridget Ziegler to step down from the Sarasota School Board came a mixture of emotions from the hours of speakers Tuesday night.
There was a rally held before the meeting that brought out a crowd of people holding signs, waving flags and speaking out for Ziegler to step down.
“Enough is enough. It’s time to bring sanity and good policy making back to our schools,” said Samantha Pollara, Senior Advisor to School Sanity Project.
Her supporters were voicing that they feel she has been unfairly targeted for her beliefs and said that people shouldn’t even be talking to children about sex.
“When they spend three hours just talking about Bridget’s private life, there’s something wrong with them,” Sally Nista said. “There is something wrong with their thinking and their logic and it’s horrible for our kids.”
Inside the meeting, speaker after speaker continued to ask her to step down.
“Bridget Ziegler, you have blasted homophobic and transphobic rhetoric on this dais, across the country and on your social media. You have gay and trans students who are telling you that because you’ve done that, you being here makes them feel unsafe,” a speaker said.
Multiple speakers speak out asking Bridget Ziegler to step down, supporters rally around her asking her to stay
A cyberattack is crippling the nation’s largest healthcare payment system and the impact is being felt in Tampa Bay, as some people face dramatic price increases for critical medication.
The Change Healthcare cyber security incident has the potential to put people and their health in jeopardy.
Several pharmacies nationwide are dealing with delays and disappointed customers.
“Everything we submit comes back ‘denied’ or for some reason they can’t accept it,” Michael Dougherty said.
Dougherty is already paying sky-high prices for prescriptions, but this week his trip to the pharmacy came with an unwelcome surprise.
“I usually pay for this one medication $417 dollar a month,” Dougherty said. “Now it has gone to $1,750 a month without the discount.”
His plight is part of a national issue that’s jilting pharmacies that are unable to process manufacturer and discount cards.
Statement from Change Healthcare:
Change Healthcare can confirm we experienced a cybersecurity issue perpetrated by a cybercrime threat actor who has represented itself to us as ALPHV/Blackcat.
Our experts are working to address the matter and we are working closely with law enforcement and leading third-party consultants, such as Mandiant and Palo Alto Networks, on this attack against Change Healthcare’s systems. We are actively working to understand the impact to members, patients and customers.
Such a wonderful thing this worldwide bitcoin 'phenomenom' driving bitcoin prices to the moon.
Hackers Behind the Change Healthcare Ransomware Attack Just Received a $22 Million Payment
The transaction, visible on Bitcoin's blockchain, suggests the victim of one of the worst ransomware attacks in years may have paid a very large ransom.
The ransomware attack targeting medical firm Change Healthcare has been one of the most disruptive in years, crippling pharmacies across the US—including those in hospitals—and leading to serious snags in the delivery of prescription drugs nationwide for 10 days and counting.
Now, a dispute within the criminal underground has revealed a new development in that unfolding debacle: One of the partners of the hackers behind the attack points out that those hackers, a group known as AlphV or BlackCat, received a $22 million transaction that looks very much like a large ransom payment.
On March 1, a Bitcoin address connected to AlphV received 350 bitcoins in a single transaction, or close to $22 million based on exchange rates at the time.
Then, two days later, someone describing themselves as an affiliate of AlphV—one of the hackers who work with the group to penetrate victim networks—posted to the cybercriminal underground forum RAMP that AlphV had cheated them out of their share of the Change Healthcare ransom, pointing to the publicly visible $22 million transaction on Bitcoin's blockchain as proof.
Ex-Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler won’t face video voyeurism charges in connection to his female threesome partner’s rape accusations, prosecutors say.
In a memo on Wednesday, the Sarasota state attorney’s office said it declined to pursue a case against Ziegler—husband to Moms for Liberty co-founder and school board member Bridget Ziegler—because of “insufficient evidence.”
Prosecutors, in their memo, said there was no way to determine if the recording was shot without consent. Moreover, the memo said: “There is no evidence that there was any sort of 3rd party secretly viewing the sexual encounter, nor is there any evidence that the sexual encounter was secretly broadcast to someone else.”
Derek Byrd, Ziegler’s lawyer, told The Daily Beast his client “is relieved to finally be completely cleared of the false allegations and any criminal wrongdoing.”
“We cooperated at every stage of investigation and as difficult as it was, we remained quiet out of respect for the investigation,” Byrd continued. “On day one, we said that Mr. Ziegler was completely innocent and we asked everyone not to rush to judgement, and instead to presume Mr. Ziegler innocent—as the Constitution instructs.
“Unfortunately, many did not award that courtesy to Mr. Ziegler, damaging his family, career, and reputation throughout this process.”
Since the probe made national news, Christian Ziegler was ousted as chair of the state Republican party and Bridget lost her job at the conservative Leadership Institute. Before Ziegler’s removal, one GOP official told The Daily Beast, “It’s a career-ender politically, in my opinion. He’s always going to be the threesome guy.”
According to the state attorney memo, the victim told police she had no memory of Ziegler recording the video and “did not consent to being videotaped.”
But in a sworn interview with the state attorney, the victim “acknowledged it was possible she could have consented to one being taken.” The woman told investigators she and Ziegler discussed recording a sexual encounter at least one other time but she declined.
For his part, Ziegler told police he had spoken with the victim about making a video of a sexual encounter for his wife to view. Ziegler, the memo says, claimed the victim asked him via an Instagram message in vanish mode whether he’d shown his wife the footage. Authorities were unable to recover any such messages.
Assistant state attorneys also pointed out inconsistencies in the victim’s statements, which they said “appear to be the result of substantial intoxication and trauma.”
“The investigation uncovered no apparent evidence that the Victim in this case had any financial, political, or malicious personal motivation to report this incident and initiate a police investigation into the Defendant,” they added in the memo.
Her inability to recall whether she consented to the footage, as well as inconsistencies in key details, “leave the State unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the video in question was filmed without her knowledge or consent,” they concluded.
The Sarasota County School Board voted 4-1 to approve a for-profit charter school Tuesday.
The Sarasota Classical Preparatory Academy, which wants to open for the 2025-26 school year, is affiliated with the for-profit Charter Schools USA, a fact several public commenters pointed to as reason the board should deny the application. SCPA's estimates its opening enrollment at 885 K-10 students, with hopes to expand to 1,235 K-12 students by its fifth year, according to the school's 600-page application submitted to the district in December.
Board member Tom Edwards, who was outspoken in his opposition to the charter school, cast the dissenting vote.
The last charter school approved by the School Board was the College Preparatory Academy at Wellen Park, a K-8 charter that was initially unanimously denied. However, the school appealed the decision and the board, which had two new board members as a result of the August 2022 election, voted 4-1 in favor.
The charter school describes its education plan in three steps: grammar, logic and rhetoric. Grammar encompasses K-5 grades, logic grades 6-8 and rhetoric 9-12. The charter references "The Great Works" of Plato, Homer and Shakespeare for high school students.
The school is separate from The Classical Academy of Sarasota, an existing private school affiliated with the conservative, Christian Hillsdale College. However, the school's proposed location is the same address as The Classical Academy's current campus off Fruitville Road.
This could be good if 'local government' steps up to provide solutions for the homeless. But knowing local governments they'll likely complain about where the funding comes from. The $30 million of state mental health funds that can be tapped into won't be enough. Will taxpayers foot the bill? Philanthropic organizations? Also some residents are going to b*tch that they don't want a homeless facility near their residence.
Florida lawmakers OK new restrictions on homeless, send measure to Gov. DeSantis
Under the legislation, 'local governments will step up and do the right thing to address the homeless crisis in their own communities,' the sponsor said.
Florida lawmakers Tuesday approved banning cities and counties from allowing homeless people to camp or sleep on public property, a measure opposed by many Democrats but a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The legislation is among several bills advancing this session that take decision-making authority away from local governments, many more liberal-leaning than Florida’s Republican-dominated Legislature. It now goes to DeSantis, who is expected to sign the measure (HB 1365) into law.
The Senate's 27-12 vote, divided along party lines, came after the House advanced the measure last week – also with Republicans driving the issue. Along with banning the unhoused from claiming spots on city streets and parks, local governments would be urged to create designated homeless camps, with security, sanitation and access to mental health services.
The legislation provides no direct funding for local governments to enact the changes ordered. But the Senate sponsor – Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers – said that $30 million in mental health funding in the state's proposed budget is among the dollars cities and counties may tap.
"We as a Legislature are doing our part to right the ship and provide housing safety and services for our homeless population of Florida," Martin said. "It's my hope that, with the passage of this bill, local governments will step up and do the right thing to address the homeless crisis in their own communities with the tools this bill provides."
But opponents were skeptical: "More harm than good will result from this legislation," said Sen. Victor Torres, D-Orlando.
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-North Miami Beach, condemned the measure. "This is just taking people off the street that are a nuisance ... it's a round-em-up, paddy-wagon kind of situation," he told colleagues.
The conservative, Texas-based Cicero Institute, a policy research group, has been advocating for states to adopt such restrictions.
Republican megadonor and billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel has promoted the idea, along with Joe Lonsdale, a tech investor who hosted a Texas fundraiser for DeSantis during his now-suspended presidential campaign.
Critics have complained the legislation unfairly targets a vulnerable population and put new limits on cities and counties struggling to deal with a homeless problem. It includes no penalties for the living on the streets, but the measure allows local residents, businesses and Attorney General Ashley Moody to sue local governments that don’t follow the restrictions.
DeSantis made a pitch in Miami Beach last month for the crackdown, standing at a podium bearing a placard, “Don’t Allow Florida To Become San Francisco.”
The nation’s biggest politically blue state, California, was hit hard by DeSantis. “You can go to Los Angeles and tent cities are everywhere,” DeSantis said.
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo told reporters earlier in the day there had been "a lot of misunderstanding, maybe misplaced concern" about the bill.
"I've traveled all over this country and it's really troublesome when you go to cities that seem to have more and more homeless people living under bridges, on the streets, in front of buildings. ... We even have a few here in Tallahassee. It breaks my heart to see people have to live like that,” she said. "We've got to do something to help them."
Last edited by wondermint2; 03-06-2024 at 11:55 AM..
North Port city commissioners cleared the way for multifamily housing to be built on 262.3 acres annexed in 1999 by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, despite concerns raised by neighbors over the number of homes and loss of wetlands.
Known as Toledo Blade 320 Residential Multi-Family, the tract is owned by Deluxeton Homes of Dunwoody, Georgia, and located about a mile north of Interstate 75.
It previously carried no zoning designation because the owners did not have a plan for the property after a project called Isles of Athena fell through and the Great Recession hit. The board designated the property as appropriate for residential multifamily development, which matched the site's designation in the city's long-range growth plan.
Development in that portion of the city has been jump-started by North Port's decision to extend water and sewer lines north of the Interstate, using federal American Rescue Plan funding.
Attorney Jeff Boone noted that plans for the site will call for about 880 units on the parcel, with a large percentage of the wetlands preserved.
“There’s a high degree of wetlands and environmental features that goes with our proposal," Boone said.
The parcel is just north of, but not connected to Star Farms Village, once known as Toledo Village, a 3,000-plus home development mothballed by the Great Recession.
Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert has one challenger thus far for the Sarasota City Commission District 2 seat in Laurel Park resident Ron Kashden.
Alpert was first elected in 2015 and is serving her second term as mayor. The Sarasota mayor and vice mayor are selected annually by a vote of the City Commission. Kashden frequently appears before the commission to speak on topics, often opposed to the majority of the board.
Both have filed for election with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office. This is the first time Kashden has run for elected office.
“I’m running to give the public a seat at the table and bring a voice of reason to civic discussions.” Kashden said in a news release. “Engaged leaders approach problems the way software engineers handle bug reports — identify issues, research the causes, consider possible solutions and then implement fixes.”
According to a news release, as a city commissioner Alpert has supported the creation of The Bay, renovation of the Bobby Jones Golf Course and Nature Park, and the new playground and splash pad at Bayfront Park. She has supported incentives to create more affordable housing and multimodal transportation options to relieve congestion.
“This election is about moving our city forward with smart solutions for local issues,” Alpert said in the news release.
Former software exec files to run for District 2 Sarasota commission seat against Alpert
So far, only one Sarasota resident has filed to challenge Mayor Liz Alpert for reelection: Former software executive Ron Kashden, who recently announced his candidacy to represent District 2 in a campaign he said will try to unite Sarasota’s diverse voting blocs against what he said has been an unresponsive City Commission.
Kashden said he’s eased into community involvement since he moved to Sarasota in 2011. The former CEO of a New York-based software company has also been involved with the Sarasota Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations, a local advocacy group, and served as the secretary of the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association.
A fixture in his advocacy to the City Commission − both over email and at public comment in meetings − he said he is running because he feels the commission is not sufficiently responsive to its constituents.
“I found that with the current City Commission, nothing seemed to break through their little bubble,” Kashden said. “I quickly realized that the tone of City Hall begins with the commission and works its way down. If I wanted to effect change, I had to join the City Commission.”
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