In the latest dispatch of things that don't pass the smell test in Manatee County, I'd like to draw your attention to your county commissioners’ efforts to outsource HR to one of their buddies. …
On Thursday, a sizable congregation of well-intentioned citizens assembled in the Manatee County Commission chambers to bear witness and enter testimony before their elected representatives went …
My name is Brice Claypoole. I’m fifteen years old and run the advocacy group Kids for Clean Water. The group was founded in 2020 by me and six other local kids. Our first campaign was an effort …
Manatee County is proposing to eliminate several policies that provide wetland protections. Revisions to the county’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code will defer to the state …
At Thursday's Manatee County Commission land use meeting, commissioners will cast a final vote on plans to gut the county's wetland protection policies. If board members move …
On Tuesday, Manatee County Commissioners once again crammed an impressive amount of excrement into a single meeting. From an ill-advised takeover of a prestigious department to the final play in …
On Tuesday, Manatee County Commissioners will take up a late addition to the agenda that would move the county’s historical resources department from the clerk and comptroller’s office to …
This week, Democrats and Republicans in Washington pretended to be in a high-stakes debate over the potential effects of negotiating lower prescription drug prices on some drugs for some Americans. …
On Wednesday, Congressman Vern Buchanan and Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge got in front of news cameras to peddle the notion that planting clams and oysters is going to fight …
After last week's public forum and commissioner interviews, retired Naval officer Andrew Butterfield seemed to be the clear-cut favorite to become Manatee's next county administrator among a field of …
Manatee County residents need to prepare for less protection from storm surges, increased insurance rates, insurance companies canceling additional homeowner policies, and more water pollution. …
In what amounted to a reprehensible mockery of the democratic process itself, Manatee County Commissioners voted 6-1 to move forward in gutting the county’s own wetland protection policy during …
In a 3-2 vote last week, the Manatee School Board approved an amendment to Team Success’ charter that will allow for the construction of a second campus adjacent to the SRQ airport, …
Though I was pleasantly surprised by the Planning Commission’s vote against the transmittal of proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment PA-23-06/Ordinance 23-66 to delete the county’s …
As you peel away the layers of the developer-driven proposal to gut Manatee County’s wetland protection policies, the smell of this already rancid onion just keeps getting worse. Considering …
This week, our favorite soap opera/horror story offered up some twists and turns as another character was written off the show and Machiavellian plots among board members continued to unfold. …
Phosphate industry representatives have increased their efforts to convince people that phosphogypsum may soon become an important asset in the form of mining Rare Earth Elements from phosphogypsum …
Over the next several months, the Manatee County Commission and its administration will set about an overhaul of the county’s comprehensive land use plan and its policies regarding wetland …
At Tuesday's Manatee County Commission meeting, Commissioner George Kruse asked why the approved timeline for addressing impact fees had seemed to be abandoned. He didn't get much of an answer. …
