Government

Citizens are encouraged to participate in a brief online survey about priorities for the City of Sarasota as the City Commission prepares to establish a 2025-27 Strategic Plan.

Kings Highway between Harborview Road and Westchester Boulevard in Charlotte County will shift to one lane between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday this week for converting older streetlights to LED-type devices.

Several volunteer advisory positions are open in Collier, Charlotte and Lee counties.

Old tires are notoriously effective mosquito-breeding habitats. Lee County Mosquito Control will accept passenger car tires at an event rescheduled for Jan. 11 due to Hurricane Milton in October.

Land and conservation easements worth $318 million and designed to protect more than 85,000 acres of Florida’s most important wildlife habitats and rural ranchlands were approved for purchase by the state Cabinet Tuesday.Many of the proposed easements are part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.The purchased conservation lands cover 134 square miles, or 2.5 times the size of the City of Miami, and constitute the largest increment of conservation land and easement purchases ever proposed on a single Cabinet agenda. House and Senate leaders in the Florida Legislature included strategic appropriations for conservation land acquisitions and easements in Florida's budget—an important investment in Florida's economy, ecology, and quality of life.

Amid a long-running legal battle about the issue, a Republican state senator Tuesday proposed repealing a law that prevents people under age 21 from buying rifles and other long guns. Sen. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who is running in a special election for a congressional seat, filed the proposal (SB 94) for consideration during the 2025 legislative session, which will start March 4. The bill is similar to a measure that passed the House during the 2024 session but failed in the Senate.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may be under consideration to serve as U.S. Secretary of Defense during a second Trump term, as the President-elect’s first choice is embroiled in allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse.

President-elect Trump promised to close the Department of Education. We asked several education policy experts what the impacts of doing so would mean for students and the country.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments about the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2022, with Chief Justice Carlos Muniz pointing to potentially far-reaching future effects of the court’s decision.As he questioned Daniel Nordby, an attorney for the Legislature, about key issues, Muniz said the case could involve “potentially a paradigm shift.”“What does redistricting 2030 look like if you win?” Muniz asked.

A Fort Myers woman is under indictment for the alleged theft of $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.The unsealed indictment charges Laurie Ann Roszelle, 65, with one count of wire fraud. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.