Manatee County

Citing a 2017 memo, Manatee County prohibited the League of Women Voters' of Manatee County from distributing its nonpartisan voter guides in public libraries ahead of the midterm election.

Amendment 3, which will appear on Florida’s November ballot and requires 60% voter approval to pass, would sharply expand the state’s homestead exemption and reduce the property tax revenue that counties and cities use to pay for police, fire rescue, roads, parks and other services.

If Florida voters approve Amendment 3 in November, cities and counties across the state could lose roughly $12 billion a year in property tax revenue — forcing local officials to cut spending, find other sources of money or shrink the services they provide. What would that mean on the Suncoast?

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.

Manatee County joins multiple locations with burn bans.

Fifty percent of household water consumption comes from outdoor use. Households restricted to one-day watering schedule

Many people don't know how common strokes are in women, or what the symptoms are. A Bradenton woman tells her survival story.

The odds of significant cold, coastal, and marine impacts across South Florida this weekend and beyond continues to increase. An Extreme Cold Watch is in effect for the Lake Okeechobee region and coastal Palm beach County and a Freeze Watch is in effect for inland Collier, Miami Dade and Broward counties. Wind chills could drop into the 20s across all of South Florida early Sunday morning. Very breezy conditions are expected on Saturday afternoon through early Sunday morning as the strong cold front pushes through the area. Sustained winds 15-25 mph could gust up to 40 mph, with highest winds likely along the immediate coastlines. A Gale Watch is in effect for local waters beginning on Saturday afternoon and evening. Sustained winds of 30-40 knots with higher gusts is possible across the Atlantic and Gulf waters through Sunday afternoon. Wave heights could peak as high as 12 feet across the Gulf and Atlantic waters during the day on Sunday as well.

The same Suncoast lawmakers who voted earlier this year to let charter schools move into underused public campuses have stayed quiet as a Miami-based charter operator’s early push to occupy local schools set off confusion and concern among parents and educators.Mater Academy, one of Florida’s largest charter school networks, filed notices last week to co-locate inside five Sarasota and Manatee county schools — part of a broader wave of early filings across the state that districts say were submitted prematurely. According to officials, charter operators must wait until Nov. 11 to submit a notice.