Sarasota & Manatee Counties news thread

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Mote Marine’s new aquarium along Interstate 75 is coming together. Take a look inside

For full article & photos:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mote-mari...202000717.html

Over the next several months, the towering multi-story building near the Mall at UTC should begin to look less like a construction site and more like Mote Marine Laboratory’s new aquarium at Nathan Benderson Park.

This time next year, the $130 million Mote Science Education Aquarium (Mote SEA) should be open to visitors if everything goes according to plan.

Ahead of a scheduled early 2025 opening, construction is ramping up on the aquarium , which promises to be a resource for marine science education “unlike any other experience in the country,” according to a Mote spokesperson.

“This is something that’s going to bring state-of-the-art science and marine STEM to this area,” said Aly Busse, Mote Education’s associate vice president. “It’s going to be something that isn’t available to students anywhere else.”

The long-awaited facility, which was first announced in 2018, had been delayed due to the pandemic and funding, but it is starting to come together. With exterior panels set to be installed across the outside of the building starting in a couple of weeks, an aquarium spokesperson said it will look “almost complete” from the outside.

But there’s still work to be done on the 110,000-square-foot, three-story building with a futuristic design that sits on 12 acres near Interstate 75. The finished product will feature more than 1 million gallons of water.

Video here:

Mote Marine’s new aquarium taking shape

For video:

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/33934...m-taking-shape

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Questionable windshield claims impacting car insurance premiums

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/qu...8603382c&ei=50

Colleen Hernandez is one of several people who called Better Call Behnken for help after learning a glass company filed eye-popping claims to their insurance company.

In Hernandez’s case, three separate claims were filed totaling $14,393, even though she only requested one windshield—and not even from the company that sent the bill. Now, those comprehensive claims make her and her husband unattractive to insurance companies.

“It shows huge amounts in such a short period of time. I don’t blame insurance companies for seeing that red flag, but I’m being held accountable for something that I did not—for fraudulent behavior,” she said.

Hernandez is shopping for a cheaper rate and says companies either deny or who quote more than $4,000 for a six month policy and she said her agent said the windshield claims are to blame.

“Extremely disappointed,” she said. “There’s no communication with Farmers with me as a previous customer. I don’t know if this is going to be take off my record, how long I will have to pay the premiums because of the fraudulent payouts that Farmers paid.”

She said she’s learned that even though it’s the insurance company that initially pays a fraudulent windshield claim, that cost gets passed along.

When we first reported this story months ago, Farmers said they were working to resolve this. We have followed up to see how that is going, and to make sure they aware of how this is impacting Hernandez.

Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken will follow up.

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

[wondermint2]

Tree service experts caution you to check your trees before hurricane season


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa87OxEljQQ

[wondermint2]

Flood insurance impacted by unpermitted work in SWFL


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FdHAe5QXv8

[wondermint2]

Major traffic crash in Lakewood Ranch

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2024/04/0...akewood-ranch/

A major accident has been reported on State Road 70 East and White Eagle Boulevard.

There is a reported lane blockage eastbound, and this is considered a trauma alert.

The crash is still under investigation.

[artisan4]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Al Jardine, who’s in Anna Maria this weekend, might be the only Beach Boy worth seeing these days

Brian has pretty much ridden off into the sunset, and don’t get us started on Mike Love.

For full article:

https://www.cltampa.com/music/al-jar...-days-17566590

Brian Wilson has pretty much ridden off into the sunset, and Mike Love is still out there tarnishing The Beach Boys’ legacy.

But Al Jardine—the other surviving member of the band’s best-known classic lineup—fronts his own “Endless Summer” band.

If you close your eyes, the 81-year-old rhythm guitarist’s son Matt will make you think that a young Wilson is in the room, singing those impossible high vocals on “Don’t Worry Baby” and beyond, which he’ll probably do this weekend in Anna Maria Island.

Tickets to see Al Jardine and his Endless Summer Band play The Center of Anna Maria Island on Saturday, April 6 (starts at 7PM) are still available and start at $59.

I thought Brian was ill with dementia. I don't know what is meant by Mike Love 'tarnishing' anything, although I see that he is not touring with the remaining Beach Boys. I wonder if there was some political disagreement.

[wondermint2]

Price now tops location when purchasing dream home, consumer survey shows

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...549aba3a&ei=26

Real estate’s oldest advice has always been location, location, location. However, a recent nationwide consumer survey for Coldwell Banker Realty revealed a surprising finding. When searching for their dream home, more consumers now prioritize price (56%) over location (50%). Women also value price more than men – 60% to 48%. This sets new stakes for this year’s real estate market.

Additionally, a majority of consumers surveyed (56%) believe the real estate landscape will either improve or remain the same in 2024 compared to 2023. Interestingly, consumers who plan to sell their home in the future would be more likely to move to a different city after selling their home now (39%) vs. in 2022 (19%).

Nearly a third of respondents (32%) said their ideal home is located in the South. This was the No. 1 region of the country selected in the survey, which bodes well for Florida and, specifically, the Sarasota-Manatee real estate market. Florida has been the top moving destination in the U.S. for several years running.

In terms of home style and size, nearly half (49%) of consumers surveyed said their dream home size is mid-sized: 3-4 bedrooms and 2-3 bathrooms. Ranch homes, which are plentiful in the Sarasota-Manatee real estate landscape, came out as the top dream home design style at 13%, with Modern Contemporary (11%) a close second.

[wondermint2]

Letters to the Editor - The new motto of Sarasota's far right: Give me 'medical freedom' - and give you the bill.

For full column:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...549aba3a&ei=33

'Medical freedom’ could affect insurance rates

I am biased. But I am not an ideologue or radical.

I can live with a lot of the far-right agenda being pushed in my community. Honestly, a lot of it just doesn’t impact me personally and I don't think of myself as some kind of champion for justice these days.

But the “medical freedom” slate running for Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board seats has me activated. The unsafe practices encouraged by these people put my life in danger.

I do not want my public hospital going private. And I need these services. This alone has gotten more than my attention.

What I would like to know, and encourage the newspaper to investigate, is this: What kind of positions are Blue Cross, Humana, United and Medicare taking on all of this? I wonder if these entities would be willing to contract with hospitals that practice so-called "medical freedom" and, if so, will it affect the rates for coverage?

We have a world-class public hospital here in our county. Let's keep it that way and free of politics.

J. Maxwell Jackson, Venice

[wondermint2]

'Thank you and goodbye': Sports reporter Dennis Maffezzoli retires after 48 years in journalism

Story by Dennis Maffezzoli

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/oth...695ef507&ei=24

Thank you.

Thank you to all the athletes, coaches, athletics directors, school principals and others who have permitted me to tell your stories during the past 48 years, the most recent 35 in Southwest Florida, including the past 25 for the Herald-Tribune.

I could stop there, but that would not be telling the entire story.

I’m retiring from the Herald-Tribune. My last day was Friday.

It has been a great journey, but it could not have been completed without you.

I’ve always said we need the athletes, coaches, athletics directors, and principals just as much as they need us, so thank you.

[wondermint2]

Sarasota business community leaders pushing solutions for affordable housing crisis

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/real...695ef507&ei=40

Faced with serious labor disruptions caused by a shortage in workforce housing, area business leaders are mobilizing to help ramp up the years-long effort to bring more affordable housing to the region.

Late last month, the board of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to back many recommendations on the issue proposed by the region’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee.

For several years, the advisory committee has presented the recommendations to Sarasota city and county elected officials as ways they could work with developers to combat the housing shortage.

While steps have been taken on some of the recommendations, housing advocates have continually been turned away on some of the items they think could make the biggest impact.

Armed with the Chamber board’s seal of approval on the recommendations, business leaders plan to “hit the circuit” and meet with elected officials to ask “How do we get these rolling in our community?” said Chamber CEO Heather Kasten.

Local Sarasota businesses are impacted by the lack of affordable housing

The move comes on the heels of an Affordable Housing Summit that the Chamber hosted late last year in partnership with several area nonprofits and philanthropic agencies.

While the summit included numerous community leaders among the 250 in attendance, it was largely targeted at local employers.

“The nonprofits have known for years this is an issue,” Kasten said. “But now that this is impacting the business community, we geared it to them.”

Highlights included results of recent surveys done by the Chamber, which represents 1,400 area companies that employ more than 60,000 people

Results showed that 73% of local businesses report that the shortage in affordable housing has severely affected their ability to recruit and retain workers.

They also found that 1,500 workers had recently turned down job offers here over housing costs and that more than half of young professionals already working here have considered leaving the area due to high housing expenses.

“Some of the young people are commuting over 40 miles a day,” Kasten said.

Key among the recommendations is a proposal to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund using a percentage of property tax growth from new development, which would act as a recurring revenue source to build affordable housing units on a regular basis. The Chamber voted to support that, as long as the trust has clear parameters at the outset on how the funds would be disbursed.

The Chamber board also voted to back the committee’s recommendation for the establishment of a Voluntary Density Bonus Program where developers could build more units per acre providing that at least 12% of the original units are priced as “affordable.”

However, the Chamber board declined to support the committee’s recommendation regarding mandatory inclusionary zoning, which would require that a percentage of all units built in designated areas be affordable.