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Aprile Osborne from Call It Closed International Realty visited the ABC7 studio to share tips on what overseas home buyers are looking for in the local market.
As many Florida homeowners have been stripped of their flood insurance discounts by FEMA, U.S. Senator Rick Scott said he has a plan to help lower the costs of rising premiums.
In 2023, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office issued 26,168 citations, the agency noted in its annual report for that year, which was released in March.
The 2023 total is down approximately 7.5%, compared to the 28,268 reported for 2022.
Because of the agency’s longstanding focus on preventing crimes, Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman told the Sarasota County Commission in June 2023, the total number of what the FBI used to classify as “Part 1 crimes” — the most serious incidents, including murder, rape, aggravated assault and vehicle theft — was down 56% since the 2009 fiscal year.
The Traffic Unit in 2023 handled 3,144 crash investigations and 748 DUI arrests, the new annual report shows. Altogether, though, the report points out, the agency dealt with 6,559 traffic crash investigations, a number approximately 15% lower than the 2022 total of 7,673.
Both Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman and his predecessor, Sheriff Tom Knight, have explained to the Sarasota County Commission that the agency prefers to have the Florida Highway Patrol investigate incidents involving fatalities, as it generally takes so much longer to deal with those accidents, taking patrol units out of operation for extended periods.
However, Hoffman and Knight also have emphasized their unwillingness to see members of the public suffer long waits for the Highway Patrol to arrive at a crash scene. Thus, the Sheriff’s Office often will deal with incidents, to ensure that persons involved in them experience faster assistance.
Among other details in the 2023 Annual Report are the following:
What began in 2018 as a plan by Florida Studio Theatre to build a parking structure has morphed into an expansion to accommodate the recent growth of FST and secure its long-range future.
If all goes as scheduled, thanks in part to a new $4 million challenge grant from Ed and Susan Maier, work will begin by the end of the year on what is now a gravel parking lot on First Street next door to FST to build the Florida Studio Theatre Arts Plaza, a multi-use theater, parking and residential complex.
The Maiers seeded the campaign to name the Arts Plaza in honor of longtime patrons Dennis and Graci McGillicuddy. Dennis McGillicuddy is also president of the FST Board of Trustees.
The building was originally planned to be named for mega-patrons Patrick and Mary Mulva, who are now relocating to Texas but are leaving behind their $6 million gift for the plaza. They also donated the naming rights of the building back to FST.
In all, FST has received donations and pledges totaling $35 million toward its approximately $57 million project. A campaign has been mounted to raise the $4 million for the match.
“We're in a pretty good shape,” said FST CEO Richard Hopkins. “The gift has given us a huge boost.”
Planning to replace and expand the parking began pre-COVID, and the resulting delay prompted FST to look further into the future than its parking needs. First came the prospect of consolidating its visiting actor housing program into one building above a parking garage. Over the years, FST has acquired 18 houses scattered throughout downtown to house the performers while in town.
“They're all paid for. They’re nice little houses,” Hopkins said. “They’re for visiting actors who are coming in for six weeks to six months. Ones with two bedrooms and two baths have two actors in it, three actors in a three-bedroom and so forth. It's pretty expensive and very difficult to maintain, very difficult to operate. The good news is they have grown in value.”
That’s a boon for FST because the organization intends to sell those properties to help pay for the Arts Plaza. The building will offer 18 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units and 39 studio units. The studios will accommodate visiting actors for up to six months. The two-bedroom units are for arts workers.
“We're building affordable housing for our staff as well as first staff members of other arts organizations downtown,” Hopkins said. “We can rent below market value to our full-time, year-round employees and to other arts workers who are looking for a place to live downtown that is affordable.”
Running a large garden requires a community effort, but fortunately for the Sarasota Succulent Society, plants can be generous too.
Succulents have a tendency to multiply themselves, which results in more donations from the public, as well as new succulents to offer in return.
The staff of the volunteer-run, nonprofit garden said they hope that the result is that Sarasota’s community will discover something it hasn’t seen before — if they can find the garden tucked away in an unassuming spot off 38th Street.
“People see a lot of different varieties in here that maybe they can’t see at Home Depot or Walmart, and we try not to be outrageously expensive,” said member Jennifer Rodgers, stating the society can also avoid the higher prices of online markets.
A look through the Succulent Society’s grounds finds unusual sights, from thorny flowers to succulent vines, some available for purchase and others for display.
Not only are there plants that aren’t your garden-variety items, but there is history as well, with a tradition that stretches back to 1950 and begins with a historic home.
“I think this is one of the hidden gems in Sarasota. I really do,” said member Ben Balmer. “Because a lot of people don’t know about it, but yet we’ve been here, just quietly, for 74 years.”
Mother’s Day Weekend Sale. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 12. The Sarasota Succulent Society will be hosting host one of its three annual sales open to the public. It will also feature an outdoor educational program offered on the north lawn at 10 a.m.
Work Day Sales. The grounds are open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon every Monday and on the third Saturday of every month (except for December).
Students at Dreamers Academy got a free dental cleaning thanks to the Florida Department of Health’s dental sealant program.
The program provides free dental cleaning services for elementary school students who might not have access to dental hygiene.
“There is a question of access to dental services and sometimes, it is pretty expensive and our students are losing their teeth in kinder and first and second grade. So it makes sense that their teeth are growing health,” Cathy Rodriguez, head of Dreamers Academy said.
Rodriquez said that over 100 students took advantage of the program. They are hoping to bring it back next school year.
SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Samantha’s Friends is an organization that provides canine support to individuals in need. Samantha’s Friends has been in existence for over 28 years providing service canine support to individuals in need. During the last 28 years, SF has donated over $150,000 to organizations through their fundraisers held in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Coming up next for Samantha’s Friends is the Enchantment Under the Sea Gala.
The event will feature food and fun, as well as a guest appearance from General Hospital actor Finola Hughs.
The two day gala will be held Saturday May 4 and Sunday May 5.
To learn how to buy tickets call Alice at (941)518-3906
Before they voted 4-1 on April 23 to approve the county’s next allocation to The Bay Park Trust Fund, produced by a tax-increment financing mechanism, the Sarasota County commissioners heard an update on the 53-acre project underway on the city of Sarasota’s bayfront.
AG Lafley, the volunteer CEO of the Bay Park Conservancy, which manages the park and raises private funding for it, pointed out that the creation of Phase 2 of the initiative is on track. “We’re in the design and construction and planning stage,” he said during his April 23 presentation to the commissioners.
“We are refining scope, as we always do,” he continued, in an effort to ensure cost effectiveness.
Phase 2 consists of four initiatives, Lafley noted: creation of the Resilient Shoreline, including the section along Hog Creek, which is north of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall; work on the Cultural District, which borders North Tamiami Trail in downtown Sarasota; replacement of a seawall and installation of new day docks at the Centennial Park Boat Ramp; and construction of the Sunset Pier.
The permitting process remains underway for the pier, which is one of the signature elements of the park, as Lafley and other representatives of the Conservancy have pointed out. The nonprofit has to win approval from even the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for that feature, Lafley told the commissioners.
In June or July, he pointed out, construction is to begin in the Cultural District.
The budget for Phase 2 is $65 million, Lafley reminded the commissioners. Of that, $48 million is being funded by the City of Sarasota’s issuance of bonds, which will be paid back by the tax increment financing mechanism (TIF).
In 2020, both the County and City commissioners seated at that time agreed to create a TIF district that encompasses not just the area of The Bay Park but also surrounding property. Each year that the value of the land in that district rises from the figure for the base year, which is 2019, the two local governments apply the lower of their current millage rates to that value. The resulting revenue is set aside for the park.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Hurricane season is now only one month away. And all signs are pointing to, not just an active season, but a hyperactive season.
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that early season parameters we look at to forecast seasonal activity are as robust as we have ever seen.
Let’s look at the factors driving our concern.
First and foremost, the best correlation we have to Atlantic hurricane season activity is Tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures. When the Atlantic is warm, generally there are more and stronger storms.
For the past few months, sea surface temperatures in the main development region of the Atlantic have been running above record levels. They still are right now. In fact, the temperatures from the Caribbean east to Africa are at levels we would expect in late July.
The pattern of sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic gives us a clue. This year they are arranged in a classic horseshoe pattern – this is well known to be associated with active Atlantic hurricane seasons.
If you look at the graphic below you can see that the tropical regions are record warm, but the western Atlantic off the US Eastern Seaboard are cooler than normal. This is important because it means the tropical areas are concentrating heat and are warmer “relative to” the rest of the basin.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is investigating four vehicle burglaries reported on north Siesta Key between April 21 and April 22, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
Nothing valued more than $40 was found to be missing, the affected residents told the Sheriff’s Office.
In response to a News Leader inquiry about the incidents, Dana Judge, media relations specialist for the Sheriff’s Office, reported in a May 1 email that all of the cases had been assigned to a single detective, who “Is working to ascertain if they are related.”
That was all the information she had at the time, Judge added.
One of the residents of the home located at 725 Mangrove Point Road told the responding deputy that he had observed two male suspects driving a black, four-door sedan in the area of his home the morning of April 22. The report indicated that the resident had seen them on a surveillance system.
The suspects damaged the resident’s video surveillance equipment by pulling it down, the report also indicated; then they entered his Land Rover. The resident told the deputy “he thought it was kids acting stupid,” the report continued, but he discovered later that his checkbook was missing from the vehicle. The resident told the deputy that he “was in the process of notifying his bank,” the report said.
Damage to the surveillance equipment was estimated at $1,200, the report noted.
The deputy handling that case was able to watch surveillance video of the incident, the report also indicated. The deputy observed “two male suspects, approximately 15 to 19 years of age, [wearing white, long-sleeved hoodies] and white shorts exit a black 4-door sedan” at the resident’s home and then walk toward a video camera, the report further indicated. (Sections of the report were redacted.)
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