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It hasn’t taken long for Sarasota realtor Noah Ward to get a portfolio that includes multi-million-dollar homes.
“I’ve had people reach out to me for $2 million properties off market and sell it off market,” Ward says.
He has been able to expand his reach to clients all across the country after gaining a following of over 40,000 people on the popular social media platform, TikTok.
“They see that I have a lot of local knowledge here in Sarasota because that’s basically what my channel is. No dancing, it’s just basically sharing knowledge about the local area,” Ward says.
But in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that gets one step closer to a potential nationwide ban of TikTok if it doesn’t part ways with its Chinese parent company.
Representative Greg Steube was one of just 15 Republicans who voted against the bill, saying it would give too much subjective power to the president.
“The ability for the Executive branch to say, ‘Elon Musk is subject to foreign entities and is involved in election interference, we’re just going to shut down Twitter’ is hugely problematic for free speech in our country,” Steube says.
Many lawmakers in favor of the bill are worried the app poses a national security threat because of its affiliation with the Chinese government.
“There has been nothing reported, Congress has not been told that any data that has been held in America has been disclosed to the Chinese Communist Party,” Steube says.
While Ward says he is aware of this threat, he says the app has opened up doors for him that he can’t imagine giving up.
“I would not be standing here today with you if it wasn’t for TikTok, and I strongly do believe that,” Ward says.
The bill still has to pass in the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before it becomes a law.
A Tampa area developer is now at odds with the contractor he hired to build several homes and some of his investors also filed a civil lawsuit against him and his company.
Contractor Todd Britton-Harr said he had an agreement to build seven homes in Tampa for M.A.X. Investment Properties.
Tampa pastor accused of using racist, homophobic slurs at New Beginnings veterans shelter
Britton-Harr started construction on the properties, but he said at some point the payments from the developer stopped.
“I was told, I’m going to pay. I’m going to pay. I’m going to pay,” Britton-Harr said. “It’s coming from the finance company. And it just never did.”
Britton-Harr filed liens on the properties for the $631,000 he claimed he was owed.
That should’ve stopped the developer from selling any of the homes, but one sold anyway last April for $500,000.
“It should’ve never sold,” Britton-Harr said.
The new owner apparently did not know about the $102,000 lien Britton-Harr put on the property.
“Now their mortgage is in jeopardy because they bought a property that was supposed to be free and clear and now has a lien on the property,” Britton-Harr said. “That’s what the title company is supposed to do is do a title search to ensure for the new buyer that it’s free and clear.”
M.A.X. Investment Properties is owned by Cliff Parchmon, according to state records. Parchmon has not yet responded to our requests for comment.
The fact that one home sold even though there was lien on it, sent Britton-Harr to Tampa police. He said he told detectives the developer knew there was a lien but signed closing paperwork and sold the home anyway.
Sarasota County Croquet Club to host USCA national championship at Venice's Wellfield Park
The Sarasota County Croquet Club will host the prestigious Association Laws National Championship on March 18-24 at the Sarasota County Croquet Club at Wellfield Park.
The tournament, organized by the U.S. Croquet Association, begins with a practice session on Monday followed by an opening ceremony. The event will feature 28 of the top players in the United States, showcasing skills over seven days of competition. Both admission and parking will be free.
The "AC Nationals" is the USCA national championship conducted under the rules of Association Croquet, the original and most widely played form of the sport worldwide. The invitation-only tournament gathers the nation's best players, many of whom earned entry through regional and other prominent tournaments.
Among the athletes participating in the championship are three-time champion Matthew Essick, Zack Watson, and Thomas Balding – the top three players in the U.S. rankings.
The Sarasota County Croquet Club at Wellfield Park (1400 Lucaya Ave. ) offers one of the few venues in the country meeting the rigorous requirements of the USCA to host championship events. The club previously hosted the event in 2021.
The club, a joint venture including Sarasota County and the city of Venice, was founded in 2000 by Jackie Jones, for many years the leading female croquet player in the U.S. The club has over 250 members of different skill levels and seven full-sized courts with shade on each. For information:
The Latin American Medical Association will hold its inaugural meet-and-greet event March 16 at Tamiami Tap, 711 Osprey Ave., in downtown Sarasota.
The gathering will convene over 100 Latin American physicians from across the region, marking the establishment of an esteemed association dedicated to fostering excellence in patient care, education and community service.
The event will provide attendees with a unique opportunity to connect with fellow members, exchange ideas and celebrate the establishment of LAMA.
LAMA, a nonprofit organization based in Bradenton, is committed to cultivating a cohesive and supportive community of medical professionals who share a common dedication to enhancing health-care standards throughout Latin America and beyond.
Way.com looks at Census Bureau data to see which states are losing or gaining the most people.
Top 10 states with the highest population increase since 2022:
Texas 473,453
Florida 365,205
North Carolina 139,526
Georgia 116,077
South Carolina 90,600
Tennessee 77,513
Arizona 65,660
Virginia 65,660
Colorado 36,571
Utah 36,498
Top 10 states with the fastest population growth rate:
South Carolina 1.7%
Florida 1.6%
Texas 1.6%
Idaho 1.3%
North Carolina 1.3%
Delaware 1.2%
District of Columbia 1.2%
Tennessee 1.1%
Utah 1.1%
Georgia 1.1%
Despite being the most populous region in the country presently, the South saw 87% of the growth between July 2022 and July 2023. According to the Census Bureau, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the only region that continued to have population growth.
A job fair promising on-the-spot interviews and hiring is set for Thursday in Sarasota.
More than a dozen Sarasota-area companies are looking to hire and fill more than 200 openings at the Job Link 2024 Job Fair on Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Hampton Inn Conference Center, 975 University Parkway.
Employers include Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Sarasota County, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, Amazon.
Parking and admission are free. Organizers say a resume is not needed. Registering in advance online is suggested.
For more information and to see companies attending, visit:
In Sarasota County, nearly half of students qualify for free or reduced-cost meals and, in DeSoto County, 100% of students qualify.
All Faiths Food Bank is working to end child hunger; one way the organization does this is to provide nutritional assistance through school pantries held at Sarasota and DeSoto County schools.
Last year, there were 14 schools with pantries to provide nutritional assistance - including nine that remained open over the summer - in the current school year, to better fill the need for area families and students, the number of sites jumped to 20.
The School Pantry program, part of the food bank’s Children & Families initiative, helps set up food pantries that are conveniently located on-site at schools for the families of students in need.
School administrators, food bank staff, and volunteers work together to manage ordering, delivery, and distribution of the food – including fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, and other available nutritious foods.
These offerings complement school breakfast and lunch programs, providing access to food for children and their families after the school day has ended.
Last year, AFFB provided food for 8,603 individuals through school pantries, up from 7,000 the previous year.
For more about local efforts to fight child hunger, visit :
Spring break and spring training make March the busiest month of the year in Sarasota and Manatee counties, and this weekend will feature even more fun thanks to all of our local St. Patrick's Day events.
For our list of the Top 5 things to do this weekend, I've chosen a county fair, a free beachfront food and music festival, two huge St. Patrick's Day block parties, and a St. Patrick's Day parade.
In addition to the items highlighted below, be sure to check out our entire list of St. Patrick's Day events, which take place in Sarasota, Manatee, and Charlotte counties on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Earlier this year, drug company Biogen announced it was discontinuing the development of its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, leaving patients participating in area trials left to find a new treatment path.
In 2021, Aduhelm became the first Alzheimer’s drug to be approved by the FDA in nearly two decades. Then, in January 2022, Medicare restricted its access. At the time, Michele Hall, a Bradenton woman, had just started treatments.
“We really feel it’s been helping her. It’s hard to measure, but she seems to be progressing really slowly,” said Doug Hall, Michele’s husband.
Michele was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at just 53-years-old. The mother of three and former lead counsel for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office had begun missing court cases and started to forget everyday words. Soon after her diagnosis, she started participating in an Aduhelm trial locally.
The drug has not been without controversy. It received fast tracked approval by the FDA, amid warnings of irregular study results and the potential for risks to outweigh the benefits. Sales for what was once touted as a game changer never took off and Biogen announced it was pulling it from the market in late January.
“He called me really quickly, and I was like, what? I just wasn’t ready for that,” Michele said of Doug giving her the news.
Now the couple says they will be looking into other treatments, including Biogen’s more widely accepted lecanemab, which also treats the disease in its early stages, as well as Eli Lilly’s donanemab, which could be approved by the FDA later this year.
However, the couple said there may be a waiting period before Michele can start a new treatment. If the disease progresses past the mild stage in that time frame, the other drugs may no longer be an option.
“I’m kind of scared there,” Michele said. “Especially if they say we’re going to have to start you from the bottom up now.”
Michele is set to receive her last Aduhelm treatment in November. In a statement from Biogen, the company said its decision to discontinue the drug had nothing to do with safety or efficacy concerns.
As troubles over where to place acquired sculptures under for the U.S. 41 roundabouts at 10th and 14th streets continue, the delay is now affecting the artists whose pieces were selected years ago for those locations.
The delay was caused by bids to build the platforms on which the pieces would stand coming in at twice the just more than $500,000 budgeted, prompting city administration to put a halt on the program and to instruct the Public Art Committee to find alternative locations, presumably where foundations outside of Florida Department of Transportation right of way can be built at a lower cost.
As it turns out, the concrete construction and other necessary infrastructure in city right of ways aren’t much less expensive, Public Art Coordinator Mary Davis Wallace told PAC members last week, putting the entire process on hold.
Wallace added that some local contractors have offered to bid for at least the 14th Street roundabout, but how that squares with state requirements to be FDOT-certified to do the work was not mentioned.
Meanwhile, Casto Solano, whose Seagrass sculpture is slated for 10th Street, has put a hold on fabrication until the piece has a destination. Poly, selected for 14th Street, is fabricated with nowhere to go. Poly was designed by Jia Min Nancy Hou, who has been told by its fabricator that it has to go somewhere.
“Poly is getting ready to get kicked out of the fabrication garage because the fabricators said, ‘We need you to move. We've got other stuff going on,’” Wallace said. “We've got to make a decision on Poly for sure, and that's why 14th Street is going out (to bid) at this time. If it doesn't come back with anything that we can afford, we're going to have to relocate it to plan B, which is the park across the street from the roundabout.”
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