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Since the Florida Archaeological Council began recognizing entities with its Stewards of Heritage Award 50 years ago, only one city, St. Augustine, has been so honored.
Sarasota has now joined that exclusive list.
During Monday's Sarasota City Commission meeting, the FAC officially delivered the award to the city, specifically citing the work of Senior Planner Clifford Smith for his 15-year effort to include the Newtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
According to a letter to the city from FAC President James Ambrosino, the Heritage Award was established to recognize the role of the general public, individuals and organizations in the preservation, research, education or the promotion of public awareness of Florida archaeology.
The awards are given biennially in conjunction with Florida Anthropological Society meetings.
Sarasota's historically African American neighborhood was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. And now Newtown is getting more recognition. Ramon Lopez reports.
A 26-year-old Sarasota man was bitten by a shark Friday at New Smyrna Beach, according to Volusia County Beach Safety.
It happened shortly before 4:15 p.m. as the man waded in an inner tube in approximately 5 feet of water in the area of the 4300 block of South Atlantic Avenue, Volusia County Beach Safety said in a statement.
He suffered non-life-threatening injuries to his left foot and received initial treatment at the scene before being taken to a hospital for further care, the statement reads.
It’s the second shark bite recorded in the New Smyrna Beach area in just as many days.
Thursday, a 21-year-old Ohio man was hospitalized for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries after a shark bit him near Flagler Avenue while he played football in knee-deep water, officials said.
The Suncoast Science Center/Faulhaber Fab Lab is thrilled to announce it was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation to help enhance its fabrication lab and student-led programming, propelling efforts to ignite curiosity and innovation in the community.
“We are delighted to support the essential experiential learning that takes place at the Fab Lab. This grant offers a special way to marry the Selby Foundation’s strategies that strengthen both student and nonprofit achievement,” shared Susie Bowie, President/CEO of The William G. and Marie Selby Foundation.
The Sarasota Charter Review Board is the beholder of our local constitution, the county charter. And it is the stage of an epic battle between developers eager to build more subdivisions beyond existing boundaries, and residents wary about rapid construction and political influence by businesses. Fourteen candidates have lined up to be elected to that volunteer board this year. Our news team explains what it’s all about.
A Bradenton K-9 officer recently hit the high seas for a narcotics operation, the Bradenton Police Department announced Saturday.
Officer Blue, a narcotics-detection K-9, partook in an operation with Coast Guard Station Cortez and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to help sniff out illegal contraband, the police department shared on Facebook .
The HSI task force conducts federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons, and sensitive technology into, out of, and through the United States, the department wrote in the post.
Opinion - Republicans Need to Clean Up the Republican Mess We've Made in Manatee County
Opinion piece by Joe McClash - the publisher of The Bradenton Times. He is a Marine Corps veteran who served on the Manatee County Commission from 1990 to 2012.
Our county government has been corrupted, and we, as Republicans, are at fault. It is our Republican majority that has elected the worst commissioners in our county’s history after disguising themselves as conservatives when they are really the least conservative and most anti-democratic group of elected officials I can recall.
I served 22 years as a Manatee County Commissioner. We enacted policies to save money, listen to the people we serve, and, most of all, ensure we had a talented and respected workforce. We had a standard of ethics and an open book to all we did on the public's behalf. We were not puppets to the developers and had development impact fees that ensured that residents did not have to pay for the infrastructure like roads and parks. As Republicans, we conserved our rich array of environmental resources. We refused to change policies so that a developer could make a few extra bucks at the cost of our quality of life.
Now, we have a chance as Republicans to correct our failures and elect people who put the citizens over the developers. The election season has started, and the insults to our intelligence are evident in the slick postcard mailers and text messages you've probably started receiving. The incumbent county commissioners, except for George Kruse, fail to have an open public debate, go on a podcast, or even respond to emails you send them because they rely on those slick mailers to fool you into believing they are super-conservatives.
And why not? The majority of Republicans that voted them into office have believed the hyper narrative all orchestrated from polls and then executed by a political hack. That political hack is Anthony Pedicini, and his connection to developer Carlos Beruff is no secret. Recent county commission votes favoring Carlos were worth well over $200 million. So investing a million bucks to have people he can control is an easy decision. And suppose those bought and paid for commissioners fail to stay in line by not voting as the developer pleases. In that case, they are terminated from the PAC money, direct contributions, and his hack consultant so that they can go about installing another puppet candidate.
This is evident with Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who has stayed in favor with Carlos, while George Kruse went off script by refusing to be a puppet. Van Ostenbridge, who, for good reason, is loathed in his current district, switched races to challenge Kruse in an at-large seat. The two Republicans will face off in the August primary. It is a perfect race for Republicans to finally start to correct our failures in electing qualified people. While Kruse has not been perfect, he has represented our Republican views with renewed ethics, while KVO has proven to serve only his master.
The 80 miles of recreational hiking trails at Carlton Reserve owe their existence to Mabry Carlton, a fifth-generation Floridian with a visionary outlook. Carlton, a Sarasota County Commissioner, and rancher, owned a farm adjacent to what is now the Carlton Reserve. Unlike traditional cattle herders, he used a small plane instead of a horse to manage his herd. While flying, he often admired a piece of land to the west of his property, believing it should be protected. This insight was shared by John McCarthy, former Director of Sarasota Parks and Recreation, in a 2004 speech to the Manatee County Historical Society.
During Carlton's time, developers were rapidly purchasing farmland in eastern Sarasota County. Carlton anticipated that rising property values would soon make large land acquisitions by the government unfeasible. He recognized that suburban expansion would continue eastward to accommodate a growing population, making the protection of the land urgent.
The land Carlton admired was then owned by the MacArthur Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the United States. The foundation had acquired the property from the Ringling brothers, famed for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, who had invested in extensive tracts of land during the 1920s.
According to historic maps, the property was originally owned by a man named Woodward, who ran a handful of turpentine camps during the early 1900s. As the story goes, Woodward lost a card game to one of the Ringling brothers and had to relinquish ownership of the Carlton Reserve property. This property not only represented a financial asset but also served practical purposes; circus workers hunted game to feed the lions and tigers and grew corn for other performing animals, as McCarthy noted.
The Ringling brothers once hoped the land would yield oil. As McCarthy recounted, despite purchasing equipment and generating local newspaper excitement, the venture failed, producing only “worthless” water.
Back in the wild 1970s and ‘80s, airplanes packed with drugs soared the skies over North Port, Charlotte and DeSoto counties, and other largely undeveloped areas around the region.
North Port, back in those days, had around 6,000 people, five churches, six banks, and 15 police officers.
And there were miles and miles of paved roadways without any homes or businesses in sight. These roads were the prime places for illicit pilots to land seatless planes, packed to the brim with bales of marijuana and other contraband.
Along with North Port, cities like Cape Coral also saw a number of drug planes — with one being found abandoned back in 1979, just a few miles south of Punta Gorda.
And Charlotte County Sheriff Alan LeBeau had confiscated and sold three drug planes by 1979, according to an article in the Florida Sheriff’s Association newsletter.
Addie McWilliams, a 65-year resident, shared a story about one of the planes that crash landed in North Port in 1983.
Convivial Jacaranda Trace announced they have begun accepting pre-construction reservations for The Overlook at Jacaranda Trace in Venice, Florida.
The Overlook will consist of 1- to 3-bedroom residences ranging from 1,218 to 2,244 square feet with open floor plans featuring gourmet-style kitchens, dining, and plenty of living area to enjoy and entertain guests. Residences also include den and hobby rooms, a wet bar, extra storage, walk-in closets, and large 1.5 to 2.5 bathrooms.
The Overlook will be constructed with eight residential floors over underbuilding parking on a 2.2-acre parcel of land. Each residence will have a private terrace with various views of Jacaranda Trace’s 33 acres and some coastal views on elevated floors.
“We are delighted to begin accepting reservations. We’ve begun meeting with our priority depositors, and they are pleased with the spacious, well-designed floor plans and our plans to expand healthcare on our campus,” said Kristen Myers, Vice President of Membership Sales.
In addition to 87 new residences, The Overlook at Jacaranda Trace’s expansion will provide new amenities, including indoor and outdoor restaurant dining, an expansive outdoor pool, cabanas, and other leisure activity spaces. Other plans include adding skilled nursing to Convivial’s existing home health, assisted living, and memory care services. Residents have priority access to healthcare services with substantial savings after becoming a member of the community.
PORT CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte County Utilities Department is extending its boil water advisory for customers in a large portion of Port Charlotte into the weekend.
The boil water warning was originally issued Wednesday afternoon, with a public service announcement stating that "mechanical issues" affected water service for Mid-County residents.
"Due to reduced system pressure from the shut-off of the water supply and as a precautionary measure, Charlotte County Utilities is requesting that all customers in the affected area listed above, boil water intended for drinking or cooking at a rolling boil for a minimum of one minute," the announcement read.
According to Utilities, the advisory applies to all address in El Jobean, and those between State Road 776 and Hillsborough Boulevard. Neighborhood roads include Biscayne Drive, Cornelius Boulevard, Chancellor Boulevard, Jacobs Street, McCabe Street, Chamberlain Boulevard and more.
In a follow-up announcement Friday morning, county staff that they anticipated the boil water advisory had not been rescinded, but could be over the weekend.
"Customers should boil water until further notice," the announcement states. "The Utilities Department will notify all affected customers with a rescission notice as soon as the water quality is confirmed to be at safe consumption levels."
West Port resident Donna Paules said her faucets didn't come on Wednesday morning. She called her homeowners association to find out why she and hundreds of others didn't have water.
"We are not sure the reason — nobody is really saying," she said. "I called and was told the outage is too large of an area for them to leave door knocker notices. We have to boil it, but we have also bottled water."
Some local businesses reported having "gold color" water come out of outside faucets before the water was turned off or they were told about the boil water notice.
Residents in the water boil notice area have also been told to use bottled water as an alternative for the duration.
Anyone seeking more information on the state of water services can contact Utilities at 941-764-4300 or visit CCU-Alerts.com.
BREAKING: Water boil notice ends for Port Charlotte
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