Latest reporting from the Local Government desk.
Manatee County commissioners approved more than $100 million in federal disaster recovery funding for 22 stormwater and flood-mitigation projects, including a $24.9 million automated outfall project at Pearce Drain that officials say could reduce repeated flooding in Center Lake.
Local Government
Manatee County revealed that Jiggs Landing Preserve, minutes from Lakewood Ranch, is home to a bat colony that may number in the thousands, and a new bat condo built by Scout Troop 146 was installed in February to expand habitat for the nighttime pest controllers.
Local Government
A comprehensive guide to what Lakewood Ranch-area voters will find on their Aug. 18 primary ballot, covering four county commission seats, two school board races, the open CD-16 congressional seat, statewide primaries and CDD elections, plus early voting details.
Local Government
Rebuilding Together Greater Florida completed its first mobile home repair in Palmetto's Shadow Brook community on Aug. 12, fixing a storm-damaged roof and carport for a resident still recovering from the 2024 hurricanes, with three more Sarasota-Manatee area projects planned before December.
Local Government
Flock license plate reader cameras have been vandalized in at least three Sarasota County jurisdictions, with police warning the damage constitutes a felony as the regional debate over the surveillance technology intensifies near Lakewood Ranch.
Local Government
Two Lakewood Ranch residents launched MingoBid, a $1-starting online auction platform for returned and overstock retail merchandise, from a small warehouse on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard in August 2026, with plans to expand to multiple Sarasota-area locations within a year.
Local Government
FDOT will begin replacing the 1956 Cortez Bridge on SR-684 in September with a $123 million fixed-span bridge that eliminates drawbridge openings, keeping both traffic lanes open during about four years of construction.
Local Government
Manatee County Commissioners George Kruse and Tal Siddique challenged the county's 20% reserve policy at a July 30 budget session, targeting $4.8 million in park reserves and $25.6 million in transportation reserves for road maintenance while the board held the tentative millage rate at 6.0326 ahead of a Sept. 24 final vote.
Local Government
Sarasota County arts organizations must sign a compliance pledge tied to Florida's new anti-DEI law or forfeit public grant funding, with one theater already giving up $40,230 ahead of the county commission's Aug. 26 vote on $2.1 million in cultural grants.
Local Government
A citizen-led efficiency committee found the Manatee County Sheriff's Office was a top spending outlier between 2022 and 2025, but attributed the growth to expanded duties including new judges, school crossing guards and hurricane response rather than waste.
Local Government
Manatee County has postponed its Comprehensive Plan transmittal hearing a second time with no new date set, as Commissioner George Kruse pushes to delay the vote until after the November election seats a full seven-member board.
Local Government
Manatee County begins the dual-lane widening phase of its $65.6 million 63rd Avenue East project on Aug. 10, bringing months of lane closures to a corridor used by Lakewood Ranch-area commuters.
Local Government
Manatee County resident Robert Cusick published an open letter identifying six "fatal flaws" in the county's proposed Comprehensive Plan rewrite, alleging consulting firm Kimley-Horn has a conflict of interest and that new roads east of CR 675 would push development into rural areas near Lakewood Ranch, just days before the commission's Aug. 6 transmittal vote.
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