An old rivalry is returning to the softball diamond! After a multi-year hiatus, the Bradenton Police Department and Bradenton Fire Department will once again go head-to-head in Boots vs. Badges, a …
As we welcome the fall season, we look forward to cooler temperatures, community gatherings, and holidays that bring families, friends, and neighbors together. Hurricane season is not yet behind us, …
A house whose owner loved it so much she wrote it a love letter. An antique doll that reportedly wouldn’t stay where it was placed. A phantom bus said to haunt the Sunshine Skyway. This week’s …
Do you have a favorite movie? Mine is “Singin’ in the Rain.” Maybe because I grew up in the rainiest city in Florida, Pensacola. I could identify with Gene Kelly splashing around in all those …
Earlier this month, I joined local, state, and federal leaders at City Hall to recognize Christine Olson and 20 years of To Inform Families First, known as TIFF. After losing her daughter, …
A balcony door moves on its own. Music drifts through a hotel hallway. Someone spots a light in a building that has stood empty for years. Around Tampa Bay and Sarasota, old hotels have accumulated stories that don’t appear in their guest registers. Their histories are documented; whether anyone stayed beyond their allotted lifetime remains a matter of belief.
The Miss Cortez III didn’t stay close to shore. The all-day fishing boat carried passengers 20 to 50 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, part of a fleet that became a familiar sight along the Cortez …
For 40 years, I have lived on the banks of the Braden River in Manatee County, Florida, watching its waters from my home just feet from the shoreline. As a retired marine scientist with over 50 years …
When naturalist John James Audubon visited Florida in the 1830s, he marveled at our vast flocks of birds but complained about all the wetlands covering the landscape. “The general wildness, …
Welcome to Episode 1 of Bellamy University, a video series hosted by Reggie Bellamy, candidate for Manatee County Commissioner, District 6 At-Large. In this episode, Bellamy examines historical …
Once upon a time, one Florida legislator was the fiercest climate warrior in Tallahassee. You could see his stance written on his unusual footwear. When he was a senator, Jose Javier Rodriguez …
Back when my kids were in Boy Scouts, our troop spent a lot of time at the Sand Hill Scout Reservation in Brooksville. We always brought home a lot of that sand — in our tents, in our uniforms, and …
When a natural disaster sweeps across a community, the immediate focus is always on safety and survival. But once the sky clears, independent business owners often face a secondary, daunting crisis: …
Stand By Me made the term “barf-o-rama” legendary. But what if the original didn't involve kids in a pie eating contest, but pigs on a boat? You’re in for a choppy ride this week. This story …
A year and a half ago, when Suncoast Searchlight published its first stories, I wrote a column explaining why we were here. Local newsrooms had been shrinking for years, I wrote. The journalists …
“Reader’s Digest” always claimed laughter was the best medicine . In Lee County, laughter has also become a resistance tactic for people who want to keep their community free of ugly sprawl …
The City of Bradenton is launching a comprehensive citywide Stormwater Master Plan aimed at enhancing local flood management, evaluating existing drainage infrastructure, and protecting neighborhoods …
Earlier this week, I wrote about Macklemore getting dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour for saying "Free Palestine" on stage. The fallout for Sheeran has been brutal, as every other artist involved has …
September is always a time to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001, and to recognize the first responders and service members whose courage and sacrifice continue to inspire us. This …
Two Israeli filmmakers are facing calls to have their citizenship revoked this week over a documentary that uses interviews with 24 IDF soldiers and intelligence officers to chronicle the genocide in …