Emily Andersen/Suncoast Searchlight

Each year, local governments set aside funds to support nonprofits providing critical services to vulnerable community members. Many nonprofits leaders across Sarasota and Manatee counties now fear those funds could be in jeopardy if voters advance the proposed property tax amendment on November’s ballot.

Programming that helped thousands of children and families could now be under threat if a new proposal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is approved after a public comment period that ends next month. Announced in August, the proposal wouldn’t directly cut funding to Head Start — a federal program that provides free childcare and preschool services to low-income families — but it would eliminate many of its federal regulations. Sarasota County providers worry the change could ultimately reduce funding and make it more difficult to maintain support for families.

More than a hundred people are now left without a place to shower, wash clothes and get out of the heat and a church has had to reduce services and hours as it works to address a code violation and neighborhood complaints.

Like many local ranchers, DeSoto County's Newt Keen said he’s worried about the future of the industry, especially after President Donald Trump announced he will be easing tariffs for foreign beef — a move some agricultural experts fear could further weaken the country’s future beef supply.

The number of people on the precipice of homelessness across Sarasota and Manatee counties has risen by more than half during the past three years, driven by higher costs of living, according to data gathered by local homelessness organizations.

The unhoused in Sarasota hope on a daily basis to go unnoticed by anyone who may pose a threat in the middle of the night — or ask them to move. In Sarasota, and throughout Florida, that includes the police, because lodging outside on public property is illegal.

Cultural and political division in Florida and across the country has spread beyond heated arguments on social media and around Thanksgiving tables.

The lack of water has become dangerous for local ecosystems, but as far as drinkable water supply is concerned, officials say they’re not panicking yet. Even if the drought continues through this year’s rainy season, officials are confident they can refill the supply before the end of the summer.

Suncoast Searchlight reviewed water-restriction complaints and enforcement records across Sarasota County during Southwest Florida’s most severe drought in nearly a decade and found municipalities are taking sharply different approaches to enforcement. While some jurisdictions actively patrol for violations and issue citations, others rely primarily on education and warnings and provide few clear ways for residents to report violations. We also examine how the drought has heightened public scrutiny over water use, with hundreds of residents filing complaints about sprinklers, lush lawns and suspected overwatering during the regional shortage.

Tamara Patzer didn’t mean to call the police on her son. On April 11, she realized he was having a delusional episode while visiting him at his home in Port Charlotte. She called a mental health service provider. Instead, he was arrested and is now being held in the Sarasota County Jail.