Manatee County News

This summer Manatee County voters are faced with an important decision over whether to fund community health costs through proceeds from a half-cent sales tax.

Manatee County voters will decide two issues on the June 18 referendum. While the half-cent sales tax increase to pay for indigent health care has ignited heated debate, the other item on the ballot has been flying under the public's radar.

With an increase in the number of burglaries, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has assembled a task force to combat the new rash of crimes.

At nearly every high school graduation a plea is made to the audience not to cheer until all the graduates have walked across the stage.

An ambulance manufacturing plant in Bradenton that laid off 129 employees qualified for more than $2 million in incentives since 2007.

The incident occurred at 7:45 p.m. in the 1800 block of 28th Avenue East, according to a Manatee County Sheriff's Office report.

In its annual budget analysis designed to ferret out spending that received little if any public review and bypassed the state's competitive process, Florida TaxWatch only cited one Manatee County allocation as a "Budget Turkey." The list of 107 projects totaling $106.8 million in the Legislature's budget includes $2.3 million for IMG Academy.

The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program is reminding residents not to use fertilizer products containing nitrogen and phosphorus from June 1 through Sept.

When the photo comparing a diseased heart valve to a healthy one flashed up onto the screen, a collective gasp rose from the couple hundred or so Lincoln Middle School eighth-grade students assembled in the cafeteria.

Cha-ching! Manatee County enjoyed a sterling 2012 as almost 3 million people visited our fine slice of paradise, a sweet increase of 3.9 percent over the previous year.

The state's unemployment numbers fell to 7.2 percent in April, still below the national average, as more people are finding work in the Sunshine State.

The couple were in bed in their Bradenton home late last night when Miss Harrison 'wanted to have sex', according to Manatee County Sheriff's Office report.

At a time when Manatee County public schools are facing tremendous budget cuts, students at Willis Elementary School have helped put their principal in an even stickier position.

Bradenton Police Department Detective Andres Perez with Manatee County Hundred Club President Roy Winterbottom after Perez was named the Manatee County Hundred Club Officer of the Year during a banquet at the Bradenton Country Club Thursday.Photo by PAUL

Crime was down more than 6 percent in the city of Bradenton in 2012, according to a report released Thursday by the Bradenton Police Department.

Manatee County Schools Superintendent Rick Mills reminded teachers and parents in a recorded phone message Wednesday night that the district's finances are bleak and that layoffs are coming.

Manatee and Sarasota counties are being asked to commit $6.5 million more to help bring the 2017 World Rowing Championships to Nathan Benderson Park.

A couple who has been active in the effort to have medicinal marijuana use protected in Florida had their crop Cathy Jordan, who suffers from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and her husband Bob reportedly say smoking marijuana is the only thing that relieves her painful symptoms.

"Ever since I was a boy of 8, I was planting seeds and watching with interest when they came up," said the 81-year-old Ray, a lawyer, real estate investor and former engineer who worked at Cape Canaveral from 1954 to 1967.

Educational leaders and administrators from USF Sarasota-Manatee, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and Ringling College of Art and Design signed memos of understanding creating the program, which allows students to enroll in participating schools for further After completing undergraduate degrees at Ringling College or taking arts courses ... (more)