Newsletter 166

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

SHINGLE ROOFING IN QUESTION

The state’s top insurance regulator’s recent suggestion that Florida’s most popular roofing might go the way of copper piping may have you wondering what to do if your insurance company insists you run for new cover. Michael Yaworsky, commissioner of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulators, said at a recent gathering of insurance industry representatives that, when it comes to asphalt shingles, “maybe it’s time to start writing them out of the plot in Florida.” No specifics have emerged about what new incentives or disincentives policyholders might find in that report that comes after your insurance company’s drone or inspector comes to have a look at what you’re living under. In recent years, Florida insurers have been trying to reduce their liability by requiring homeowners to replace old, copper piping and certain models of electrical boxes and repair any bumps and bulges on driveway pavement. Still, it doesn’t seem like the changes Yaworsky alluded at that November insurance summit are imminent; a spokesperson for Yaworsky’s office said changes to roofing guidelines are not likely in the foreseeable future. What to use for roofing, though, does present a conundrum, especially for Florida homeowners more likely to face nature’s wrath in the form of hurricane-force winds. What manufacturers say about the lifetime of certain materials might not jibe with what insurers say. Asphalt tiles are made with a base of either organic felt or glass fiber, surfaced with a mineral granule and bound with asphalt. These are the least expensive of the three main roofing materials. Lisa Pate, executive director of Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association, estimated that a 3,000-square-foot house would cost $18,000 to $22,000 to cover with asphalt tiles. They are known to resist rain better than the other materials, according to industry materials. With the highest level of fire resistance, clay or concrete tiles usually come with a 50-year warranty. Clay roof tile is produced by baking molded clay into tile and the density can vary. Concrete roof tiles are made by mixing Portland cement, water and sand in varying proportions. Installing them presents a challenge, however. Pate says that the same, 3,000-square foot house would cost $65,000 or more to install with these tiles. And some of that cost is because the structure underneath must be stronger to bear the weight of the material. The most expensive of the three main options, metal tiles often are rated for the longest life: 100 years. Metal tiles, considered the most recyclable and eco-friendly of roofing materials, resist fire, insects and mildew. They also resist severe weather conditions like snow, wind and hail. If they were to get damaged during a hurricane, however, the damage is likely to be severe. Certain metals can dent if hit by debris and, should it become detached, it could become a deadly missile. For more information on this story, courtesy of The Palm Beach Post, please click here: Shingle Roofing Material In Question

LOCAL MARKET FOR LUXURY HOMES BOOMS IN 2024

Despite national and local headlines that proclaimed a real estate slow down throughout 2024, the area’s luxury real estate agents had banner years last year, according to industry sales figures. Seven agents and their teams closed more than $100 million each in real estate in 2024 with 11.5% of the total sales volume of all properties sold in Sarasota and Manatee counties sold by the top 25 agents in the region. The top 25 accounted for $2.5 billion worth of property sold, with the thousands of other agents accounting for the other $19.7 billion in Sarasota-Manatee transactions last year. Leading the way in sales were Lynn Morris and Georgia Kopelousos, both Realtors with Michael Saunders & Co. who helped sell condo units at the region’s newest luxury resort, St. Regis Longboat Key. Morris sold $282.9 million with an average sale of $5.6 million while Kopelousos averaged $6.4 million per sale for a total sales volume of $261 million. Sales for new construction projects are counted during the year construction finishes, even for sales efforts that run multiple years as in the case for the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort. That has led the region’s long-time top agent to declare victory once again as he and his team at Pettingell Professionals closed $221 million of real estate, all of it from sales that occurred in 2024, he said. “Pettingell Professionals was No. 1 in Sarasota County for the 15^th year (per the Realtor Association of Sarasota & Manatee multiple listing service),” a recent news release stated, touting nearly $3 billion in sales over 40-plus years. Who were the Top 10 Real Estate Agents in Sarasota/Manatee in 2024? Lynn Morris with Michael Saunders & Co.: $282.9 million Georgia Kopelousos with Michael Saunders & Co.:$261.0 million Roger Pettingell with Coldwell Banker Realty:$221.5 million Toni Zarghami with Keller Williams Coastal Living: $148.6 million Bruce Myer with Coldwell Banker Realty: $130.7 million Joel Schemmel with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty: $126.2 million Jason Soto with Soto Real Estate Inc.: $123.0 million Kim Ogilvie with Michael Saunders & Co.: $93.1 million John Neal with Neal Communities Realty Inc.: $91.4 million Charles Buky with Coldwell Banker Realty: $82.7 million There’s more to read here, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Luxury Real Estate Market Booms In 2024

FLORIDA CONDO SALES LOWEST SINCE 2010

Florida condo and townhouse sales dropped 10.5% in 2024, the lowest in 15 years, after a hike in special assessments and monthly fees due to new condo safety legislation, experts said. Florida Realtors, a trade association representing Realtors in the Sunshine State, said there were 94,380 closed sales of existing condo-townhouses in 2024, compared to 105,411 in 2023. The total dollar amount of sales, $44.4 billion, was down 9.1% compared to 2023’s 48.8 billion. Recent legislation may have contributed to the drop. “Multiple factors were responsible for the underperformance of this category throughout the year, including concerns about insurance coverage and reserve requirement compliance giving some prospective buyers cold feet,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “The result was the lowest number of condo and townhouse sales we’ve seen for any year in Florida since 2010.” Legislation passed in 2022 after the deadly June 2021 collapse of a 12-story condo in Surfside that killed 98 people led to a series of reforms in safety standards and requirements for inspections and monetary reserves for large maintenance repairs, including roof replacements, and any needed structural upkeep or replacements, among other changes. To get the money, condo associations imposed special assessments and significant hikes in monthly fees, which may have led to more condo owners selling but fewer people interested in buying. Fewer people (-14.1%) paid for condos in cash in 2024, and the median sale price declined slightly by 0.8% from $322,500 in 2023 to $320,000 in 2024. However, the average price went up from $462,890 in 2023 to $469,933 last year. There are 42.8% more active listings available (64,283) than at the end of 2023 (45,002). Median averages mean 50% of the homes cost less and 50% of the houses cost more. Average prices come from the total sales in dollars divided by the number of sales. A surge in single-family home buys in December brought up the numbers, but the year still closed out with a decline in Florida home sales of -1.9% over 2023, according to Florida Realtors. “Overall, the 2024 Florida housing market saw mostly modest declines in sales and little change in the way of home prices,” O’Connor said. “Even though there were some fluctuations in mortgage rates, they remained in the high range relative to recent years. The most significant changes occurring in 2024 were the widening performance gap between the single-family market and the condo and townhouse market and the overall rise in inventory levels.” There were 252,688 single-family home closings in 2024, down 1.9% compared to 2023, the fewest annual sales since 2014, O’Connor said. Please click here for more, courtesy of Naples Daily News: Florida Condo Sales Drop

DEVELOPMENT REJECTED NEAR CELERY FIELDS

The Sarasota County Commission resoundingly rejected a proposed housing development near the Celery Fields, after hours of public comment recently. It was a marathon public hearing that began first thing in the morning and cut into the mid-afternoon. Dozens of people, unanimously against the development, spoke as the hours wore on and a few of the commissioners began to rest their eyes for longer and longer. The Celery Fields is a county stormwater drainage area, which over more than two decades has become a renowned bird sanctuary. D.R. Horton, which bills itself as “America’s Largest Homebuilder,” wanted to buy a cattle ranch adjacent to the environmentally sensitive site to build 126 single-family homes. However, the developer needed the land to be rezoned from “Open Use Rural” to “Residential Single Family.” Rezoning petitions first go before the Sarasota County Planning Board for their recommendation to the commission. The Planning Board, seen by critics as a rubber stamp for development interests, voted 4-3 against recommending the rezone. The meeting began with a presentation by Charlie Bailey, a land use attorney who represented the developer, and Kelley Klepper, a lead planner with the firm Kimley-Horn. Bailey’s case was that the development plans were an example of responsible, measured growth, with a sixty-foot buffer of foliage and wetlands, a centralized drainage pond for flood management, and a scaled-down number of planned units from 170 to 126. About 60 people spoke to the commission as public commenters to talk about their experiences at the Celery Fields, how special it is to them as birders, and how fed up they have been with rampant development in Sarasota County. Commissioners hinted that the county may look at purchasing the farm. Commission Mark Smith said the owners were sitting on an economic opportunity, given the Celery Fields’ international notoriety as a birding destination. There’s more to read here: Development Rejected Near Celery Fields

AMBITIOUS “REWILDING” BEGINS AT QUAD PARCELS

Sarasota Audubon and the Big Waters Land Trust celebrated the start recently of the “re-wilding” of the Quad Parcels, 33 acres near the Celery Fields, an effort to make parcels at the northeast, southeast and southwest corners of the the intersection of Palmer Boulevard and Apex Road more natural wildlife habitat. The goal behind the ambitious project is for the land to provide a transitional buffer between the intensity of Interstate 75 and the nearby oasis that is the Celery Fields, Sarasota County’s 400-acre stormwater management facility that has become habitat to 257 species of birds. “The Quad Parcels act as a crucial buffer to the Celery Fields, so the wildlife therein can thrive and flourish,” said Jeanne Dubi, past president of the Sarasota Audubon Society and current chair for special projects. “Without buffers, wildlife comes under stress to compete for resources and they retreat from noise, light and human pressures.” Christine Johnson, president of Big Waters Land Trust, later added that across a fairly short distance land use intensity steps down from Interstate 75 and a waste transfer station, to a Sarasota County building, to a low-impact recreation area – the southwest Quad Parcel – to a rewilded forest and then to the Celery Fields. Sarasota Audubon will oversee the efforts to create wildlife habitat on most of the three remaining parcels – backed by the Big Waters Land Trust, as well as contributions from foundations and private donors. Big Waters Land Trust, formerly known as the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, has raised about $1.5 million of the $5 million needed to transform the land, not counting the most recent $25,000 donation presented to Johnson by new Sarasota Audubon President Sara Reisinger. Johnson stressed that the land transformation – which will primarily be accomplished by Willis Smith Construction, following a plan from Kimley-Horn and Associates – will be new habitat. “We are not restoring it, we’re not putting it back to what it was – that can’t be done,” Johnson said. “What it means is that we are going to have some areas that are going to be improved just for nature and not for people. “Some portions of the Quad Parcels really are going back to the wild and other portions of the Quad Parcels will be for people to enjoy nature.” There’s more on this story here: Quad Parcels Rewilding Begins

COUNTY GETS FUNDING TO KEEP MIDNIGHT PASS OPEN

Sarasota County will be able to use money from the West Coast Inland Navigation District in its effort to keep Midnight Pass open, following a unanimous vote by the agency’s board recently to designate Midnight Pass and associated north and south channels as “public channels.” The vote means that Sarasota County can spend its portion of property tax money collected by the agency known as WCIND on an approved project related to the pass. Hurricanes Helene and Milton – which impacted Sarasota County Sept. 26 and Oct. 9, respectively – reopened Midnight Pass for the first time in more than four decades since two south Siesta Key homeowners closed it in an attempt to save their homes. Following the hurricanes, scientists have been studying the pass, with data indicating that the pass should remain open in some form but is getting shallower and shifting north. David Tomasko, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, said that on Jan. 21 he saw data from 12 measurements that established a trend toward a shallower pass – now 12 feet deep compared with 15 feet previously. It has also moved about 60 to 80 feet to the north. “The one thing that’s very clear is that the pass is shifting to the north.” The West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND) is a special taxing district made up of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Lee counties with a mission to “preserve and enhance the commercial, recreational and ecological values” of their waterways. Tomasko said, pointing to Heron Lagoon and Blind Pass on Siesta as the remnants of former connections between the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay that have closed with tidal flow. It is funded in Sarasota County by a property tax rate of 0.0394 mills. (One mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value). For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the tax generated about $3.6 million for Sarasota County to use for waterway development projects such as boat ramps, dredging, county infrastructure or grants to nonprofits or other organizations, Justin McBride, executive director of the West Coast Inland Navigation District said. What’s next for Midnight Pass will be determined by Sarasota County, noted Tomasko, who added that the next step would be for Sarasota County to establish an inlet management plan for Midnight Pass, similar to what Collier County has for Clam Pass Park or for Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples. There’s more on this story here: County Gets Funding For Midnight Pass

HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM PASSES

In a meeting that began by honoring one of its biggest advocates, a program aimed at preserving historic buildings received unanimous approval from the Sarasota City Commission. About a month after Clifford Smith, a senior planner and historic preservationist with the city of Sarasota, passed away, the program he helped create to preserve local historic buildings was officially inscribed in city code recently. The Historic Preservation Transfer of Development Rights Program aims to incentivize developers to preserve historic buildings by permitting them to use the building’s development rights elsewhere. The program will allow historic buildings to transfer their unused development rights — the amount of density and square footage they’re legally allotted — to another site. With the added rights, developers preserving a historic structure would be able to build bigger or more dense structures elsewhere than would normally be allowed under zoning guidelines. Developers and owners can divide the building’s total density and square footage across several new buildings, though it would require different agreements, and the rights can change hands if the original owner doesn’t use them and decides to sell. The “receiving” site can only add up to 200 units per acre in density and two stories in height to its new buildings, though the city’s planning board had recommended an increase to four stories. The rights eligible to be transferred apply only to the historic building and not to the lot it’s on. Local historic preservation advocates have pushed city officials to adopt the program as developers vie for lots with historic buildings on them, such as the McAlpin House on Cross Street or the Colson Hotel on Eighth Street, where developers have purchased land and submitted site plans that call for new construction in place of the historic building. Such proposals have often met with opposition from local advocates. Erin DiFazio, program director for the Sarasota Alliance of Historic Preservation, said she hopes the program alleviates the conflicts that have risen from pre-existing preservation guidelines, which have pitted developers and preservation advocates against each other. “Our historic preservation toolkit has been insufficient to prevent the loss of historic buildings,” DiFazio said, adding the new program is “a data-driven, unifying and functional process that will invite strong community participation and hopefully protect our walkable, historic city.” Please follow the jump for more on this story: Historic Preservation Program Passes

ARTS CENTER DESIGNERS UNVEIL SECOND DRAFT

In the nearly five months since architects unveiled initial concept designs for a four-building complex to make up a proposed new Sarasota Performing Arts Center, a lot of changes have been made to address questions and concerns from residents and the Sarasota City Commission about costs, the scope and parking.

Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation leaders and the architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop have unveiled a revised two-building concept and new ideas for adding hundreds of nearby parking spaces tucked within The Bay Park. A City Commission vote on March 3 will determine next steps. The city has committed to covering half the cost of what may be a $365 million project, depending on final scope and timing.

The foundation delayed a vote in November to focus on recovery from storm damage to city infrastructure, including the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The new plan reduces the facility to two buildings. One would house the 2,700-seat theater, and the other would combine the lobby and a multi-purpose space. “We realized we could put the multi-purpose room on top of the main lobby building,” said CEO Tania Castroverde Moskalenko, citing efficiency and adaptability. The medium theater may be added depending on the Van Wezel’s fate, which is being studied by the Purple Ribbon Committee.

Please click here for more: Arts Center Designers Unveil Second Draft

DONORS REACT AFTER FUNDING LOSS

Attorney and developer Hugh Culverhouse Jr., who has helped Sarasota County non-profit organizations, is stepping in again to support Embracing Our Differences.

Culverhouse and his wife Eliza have donated $100,000 to the organization after Sarasota County disqualified it from receiving tourist tax funds by changing eligibility rules for cultural funding.

Requirements now include electronic ticketing or staffed entry, which Embracing Our Differences cannot implement at Bayfront Park. Organizations must also collect tourist data through surveys. Last year, the Culverhouses gave $107,643 to the group to offset funding cuts. The outdoor art exhibit showcases 50 large-scale posters promoting messages of kindness and inclusion from global artists.

President and CEO Sarah Wertheimer said the donation will support field trips, workshops, Reading Day, and curriculum development. “This gift is an absolute game-changer,” Wertheimer stated, adding that over 14,000 students engaged with the exhibit last year. The 2025 event runs daily through April 13, and the Celebration of Kindness has been rescheduled for March 30 due to earlier storms.

A separate exhibit is scheduled in St. Petersburg’s Poynter Park from March 1–31.

Please click here for more: Donors React After Funding Loss

SARASOTA ORCHESTRA RECEIVES $60M GIFT

In what is considered one of the largest financial gifts ever to an American orchestra, the Sarasota Orchestra has announced a $60 million donation toward the planning and construction of its new music center. The anonymous donor declined naming rights. The facility will be built on a 31-acre site on Fruitville Road west of I-75. The center will include a 1,700-seat concert hall, a 700-seat recital hall, rehearsal spaces, offices, and educational facilities. “The new music center will elevate our already wonderful orchestra to new artistic heights,” the donor stated. Sarasota Orchestra President and CEO Joseph McKenna called it a “transformational gift” and said it will shape the future for both performers and audiences alike. The gift follows an earlier $10 million commitment to secure the land at 5701 Fruitville Road. The orchestra recently welcomed its new music director, Giancarlo Guerrero, who is expected to play a key role in realizing the orchestra’s expanded vision. McKenna added, “This is an investment not just in the orchestra, but in Sarasota’s cultural future.” Please click on the link for more: Sarasota Orchestra Receives $60M Gift

OPERA MARKS 66TH SEASON

As he prepares to start his 43rd year as artistic director of the Sarasota Opera, Victor DeRenzi said he is working toward the same goals now that he had at the start of his long tenure. “My goal is to do opera as good as I can do it, to get the best people I can get who love and believe in opera.” As he has shown throughout his four decades, DeRenzi doesn’t go for gimmicks. “I want to do a performance that somebody who comes to the opera for the first time would enjoy, that would involve them in the lives of these characters, the way good theater is supposed to do, and someone who has seen these operas hundreds of times will still find interesting and compelling. The 2025 winter festival season, which operates in a rotating repertory format, opens with the double bill of two one-act operas – Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci,“ a combination that has come to be known as “Cav/Pag.” It continues with Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” (featuring the return of baritone Filippo Fontana in the title role), followed by Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” providing audiences a rare opportunity to see the two operas that deal with the barber Figaro and several other characters in two works based on plays by the French author Beaumarchais. Both are among the most popular operas in the world. The season closes with “Stiffelio” by Verdi, who might be considered the “resident composer” at the Sarasota Opera, which often bills itself as Verdi’s American home because it has presented just about every note the composer wrote, all of it conducted by DeRenzi. DeRenzi will conduct the opening and closing productions, leading the Sarasota Opera Orchestra for “Cav/Pag” and “Stiffelio,” which he last conducted in 2005. Martha Collins is the stage director for the opening double bill, which features returning singers Lisa Chavez, Rafael Davila, Jean Carlos Rodriguez and Ashley Milanese. Stephanie Sundine will stage “Stiffelio.” The company has never performed “Barber” and “Figaro” together. There’s more here: Opera Marks 66th Season

SARASOTA PLAYERS CELEBRATES 95 YEARS

The last few years have been a time of constant evolution for the Sarasota Players, the community theater that is celebrating its 95th anniversary with a party while the staff is making plans to transform its new home into a theater space. Sarasota’s oldest performing arts organization (just a few years younger than Art Center Sarasota), has been dealing with constant changes since 2016 when the company announced plans to sell its building on U.S. 41 across from the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium and move to a new theater complex in Lakewood Ranch. The building was sold, but the new Lakewood Ranch project was canceled and the Sarasota Players turned a former Banana Republic store into a theater space inside The Crossings at Siesta Key shopping center. Ever since, the company has been looking for a more permanent home. Efforts to move operations to the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium were rejected by the Sarasota City Commission, which later approved a 30-year lease for the much smaller Payne Park Auditorium. The Players, as the company has long been known, initially proposed using that auditorium as offices and an entryway to a new two-story 17,000 square-foot addition, but because that new building would encroach on public parkland, it was rejected by the commissioners. So now, the Players plans to turn that former event space, which has been used for parties, lectures and community dances, into a 200-seat theater. The lease does not allow the theater to add to the building. “We’re going to do a full renovation to turn it into a performing arts venue,” said CEO William Skaggs, who joined The Players in 2020 just months after performances in its former building were halted for the COVID pandemic. “The goal is to maintain the 1960s aesthetic of the building while creating a flexible, comfortable space for performances. We’ll be able to seat around 200 people, and the space will be adaptable – whether for a play, a musical, or even community events. We’re looking at a new lobby, expanded restrooms, and a back-of-house area that will accommodate dressing rooms, band spaces, and loading areas.” Skaggs said he hopes that construction can begin in the summer or early fall and that the new space will open in late 2026 in time for the start of a new theater season. Skaggs expects the renovations to cost about $2.5 million, though design work has not been completed to better determine cost estimates. Skaggs said the theater company will “need more support from the community to make this vision a reality.” There’s more on this story here: Sarasota Players Celebrates 95 Years

MOTE HELPS ADD TO ARSENAL TO FIGHT RED TIDE

Three technologies proven to limit the impact of red tide took center stage at a showcase hosted recently by Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. All three technologies developed by Mote and its partners have achieved favorable results eradicating red tide in small-and large-scale controlled testing at Mote’s Florida Red Tide Mitigation & Technology Development Facility. The tests were at Mote Aquaculture Research Park on Fruitville Road and received regulatory approvals to be used in real world settings to combat red tide. Another two dozen technologies are still being tested, noted Michael Crosby, president & CEO of Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, who later added that any one of these could be considered the most significant breakthrough in combating harmful algal blooms. Two of them use plant-based chemicals, while a third uses bubbles to essentially pop the single-cell Karina Brevis algae. “It’s not difficult to kill the algae that starts red tide, you can kill it very easily,” Crosby said, noting copper sulfate sprayed from a crop duster can kill red tide. “You’ll kill everything else in the marine ecosystem as well, so our mantra is, with all of these technologies, none of them will do any greater harm to the environment than the red tide is already doing,” Crosby said. All three technologies displayed at Mote were tested on a three tier level: first in a laboratory setting; second in large “mesocosms” containing thousands of gallons of water, and finally in an open system in small marinas and canals. “Everything you see today, if we have a red tide today, they are all deployable,” Crosby said. Dr. Richard Pierce, associate vice president for research, ecotoxicology program manager and a senior scientist at Mote, noted that no single technology will work in all scenarios. “So we are developing a toolbox where we have many different technologies,” he added. All three approved technologies could be used to combat the same algal bloom. “These three may be used in concert, they may be used in sequence − it depends where the red tide is,” Crosby said. “Are we deploying the technology sub-surface, on the surface – is it in Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Tampa Bay, is it in a canal system? So it really depends on where the red tide is at that time, whether it’s going to be in combination or sequential.” The decision to use the technologies would be made at a state and federal government level, Crosby noted. There’s more on this story here: Mote Adds To Arsenal To Fight Red Tide

SWORDFISH GRILL RANKED ONE OF BEST IN NATION

One of the best restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton has been named one of the top dining spots in America. Among 44 establishments from across the country, with only three from Florida, Swordfish Grill has earned a spot on the 2025 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list. The article is described as “a celebration of local flavors and stories, curated by reporters from across the country,” with the list representing “a taste of the most remarkable dining destinations across the country right now.” Swordfish Grill overlooks north Sarasota Bay in the historic Cortez commercial fishing village in west Manatee County near Anna Maria Island. The other two Florida restaurants to make the USA TODAY list are Bicyclette Cookshop in Naples and Pearl & Horn in Pensacola. Gaze southward from the back patio of Swordfish Grill, and you’ll see the downtown Sarasota skyline in the distance. However, you might as well be a thousand miles away, nestled in Cortez. Surrounded by working docks and pristine mangroves, gray pelicans and blue herons, leaping mullet, and frolicking dolphins, the experience is a delightful slice of Old Florida paradise. Owned by local fisherman John Banyas, Swordfish Grill opened in 2011 and features a waterfront patio and tiki bar with live music, as well as an indoor bar and dining room adjacent to the open kitchen, where locally sourced seafood is deftly blackened, grilled, or fried. While there’s plenty to recommend from the extensive menu, the first order of business at Swordfish Grill — right up there with ordering a drink, such as an ice-cold beer or one of their beachy signature cocktails — is to take a nice, long look at the separate specials menu. Among my recommendations, you’ll find a mix of items from the regular menu as well as selections regularly featured on the specials menu, including the essential “daily catch” option. There’s more to read here: Swordfish Grill Ranked One Of Best In Nation

SARASOTA-MANATEE SETS FUNDRAISING RECORD

In the wake of a historic series of catastrophic storms, residents of the Sarasota region have made history themselves by raising an astonishing $7.2 million for the annual Season of Sharing campaign to help their neighbors in distress. Coming on the 25^th anniversary of the campaign established by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County (CFSC) and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the amount sets a new record – surpassing the previous record set three years ago by almost $3 million. Nearly half of the almost $7.2 million raised this year includes large contributions from several area philanthropists and foundations. But the remaining half on its own – donated by ordinary residents – still would have resulted in one of the Season of Sharing’s most successful fundraising campaigns. Large and small, every donation has been badly needed following three back-to-back hurricanes and an ongoing housing and childcare crisis. “In the face of widespread challenges, it is heartening to witness this incredible outpouring of support from our generous community,” said Roxie Jerde, president and CEO of the CFSC. “The devastation brought by these storms upended people’s lives at a time that many are already experiencing economic strain,” she added. “These dollars will go a long way in helping people rebound from setbacks, helping to stabilize our entire community.” Throughout the year the funds assist residents of Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties who are facing an emergency. Monies can be used toward housing, utility, childcare and transportation expenses. This year’s widespread storm damage led to broad displacement and work disruptions, resulting in soaring hardship and need, CFSC reported. “For those families living on the economic edge, any emergency — a hospital visit, gap in paychecks, the death of a spouse — can send them spiraling into financial crisis that can be difficult, if not impossible, to recover from,” said Kirsten Russell, CFSC’s vice president of community impact. For Debra Jacobs, president and CEO of The Patterson Foundation, Season of Sharing provides the perfect time-tested conduit for the community’s generosity. “Seasoned donors and citizen philanthropists of all means and backgrounds know where to turn when hardship threatens the well-being of their neighbors,” Jacobs said. “Their response is a testament to our community’s trust in Season of Sharing’s proven model and the Community Foundation of Sarasota County’s exceptional stewardship.” There’s more to read here: Sarasota-Manatee Sets Record For Fundraising