Uber drivers have been operating in Sarasota for months in the shadow of new regulations proposed at City Hall. But those regulations remained in the works after the City Commission postponed a decision this week. The delay came after city officials were swamped with emails from Uber drivers and other interested parties. Many have attended … MORE>>

Hockey? Something is happening in Tampa tonight. Something big. We hear rumors of invading barbarian hordes from Chicago. People whisper in the streets about “ice hockey.” Soothsayers have foretold that the Garrison Channel will run “electric blue.” What does it all mean? According to the news – these phenomena are real, and they are associated … MORE>>

New bars are opening up on Main Street this year, but the Paddy Wagon Irish Pub won’t be one of them. Plans for a new Paddy Wagon bar near Main Street and North Orange Avenue were spiked earlier this month when Sarasota’s Planning Board refused to sign off it. The bar would have joined Taco … MORE>>

The Ringling College of Art and Design’s plan for a movie soundstage in Newtown has been met with deep skepticism by some neighbors. The project is supposed to be a symbiotic partnership between Ringling and a historically black, low-income neighborhood. Economic development and job training are promised as potential benefits for Newtown. But when it … MORE>>

Tuesday’s election shook things up at City Hall.  Sarasota’s five-member City Commission will have two new members, with challengers Liz Alpert and Shelli Freeland Eddie defeating incumbents in Tuesday’s city election.  The City Commission will now be stacked with five registered Democrats – four women and one man. It will also include two black commissioners … MORE>>

Hate traffic? Then you’re really going to hate the city’s new plan for dealing with it: Nothing.  Well, not nothing. The City of Sarasota is planning to talk about more bike paths and alternative transportation this summer.  But don’t expect a lot of jackhammers or new traffic lanes. City engineers said this week that more … MORE>>

Anyone can do it: set up a crude shooting range in your back yard – or hell, your living room – and fire away with your rifles, shotguns, pistols – whatever. It doesn’t matter where you live in the state of Florida. It’s legal. That sounds crazy but it’s true, because of a state law … MORE>>

It looks like the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota will not have to change its name after all. A deal with the Florida Senate on Thursday saves SCF from changing its name to “Manatee-Sarasota College,” a move that the college, like others around the state, opposed in the Florida Legislature this spring.  The name change … MORE>>

Some call it a “monkey fist.” Others call it a “slungshot.”  And, under old-timey Florida law, it’s illegal to carry as a concealed weapon. But not if one state lawmaker has his way.  So what is it? A “slungshot” – not to be confused with a slingshot – is an old maritime tool, basically a … MORE>>

Drones, GPS stalking, and “revenge porn,” didn’t used to be things you had to worry about.  Times are changing.  New technologies, and the creeps who might use them, are the target of a batch of bills in the Florida Legislature this year dealing with stalking and privacy concerns.  They have sparked little controversy in a … MORE>>