Thank you so much for this. Like you Mitch, I discovered WMNF and Rob Lorei soon after moving to Bradenton (in 1988). WMNF and WSLR are the only music stations I listen to. You are spot on to highlight his way of making every call in commenter feel like their opinion was important and valued. To me, he was what integrity sounds like. I remember being shocked to learn he was fired by the station. I just could not imagine him doing anything dishonorable. The station's talk/news programming hasn't come close to what it was under him. It was so sad to hear that he passed.
It’s time for commissioners to relieve us of the administration that is looking out for developers over citizens and join the class action lawsuit. It will be money well spent.
“… board member Charlie Kennedy (a former teacher in the district and friend of Wilhoit's) mentioning the handling of Wilhoit's employment as one of the reasons he had lost confidence in Wysong.” And this is why I have lost confidence in Charlie Kennedy.
DeSantis and the Republican legislature has effectively ended local government control - face it. The state has green lighted itself absolute power to mess in local city & county affairs. Especially if they think the locals are not dancing to the state's tune or may be obstructing their "business favorites" pocketbooks with local regulations. Florida government has set a new low standard for dishonesty and corruption. "They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot..."
Right on Mr. Pittman! They’ve also done away with the requirement to bring bears that have been “harvested“ to a central location to be counted. Now the hunter can take the bear home and has 12 hours to go online and report his harvesting. This does two things it makes it possible to cheat on how many bears you actually kill and it also keeps the press from taking photos of those dead bloody bears that so enraged the public the last time they did this. You nailed it when you said killing bears clears up more room for developers. It’s disgusting.
Congratulations to all on #200. I (we) enjoy staying informed and you ALL do an excellent job for us on keeping it fair, balanced and well investigated on Manatee Counties Governmental business.
To Dawn great job and stay strong with your current situation and goal in kicking the bad habit. ❤️
We can also vote out the current GOP House and Senate representatives when they come up for election, either in their primaries, if they have one, or in the general election. This will demonstrate the will of the people to be correctly represented.
My vote is that every city council and county board of commissioners file a class action suit against the State immediately. This strong-arming of local governments by Tallahassee has to stop! SB180, in effect, rules against voters who elected their officials who align with their local priorities. That isn't something Tallahassee should have the power to undo.
I understand that Pat Neal has built 25,000 homes in Manatee County. None of them are Florida homes. Many of the communities act as dams in times of floods from heavy rainstorms and hurricanes. Florida homes are built on short pilings regardless of the height of the natural lay of the land. The homes should also have rain tanks built in so they could be used for watering the lawn and gardens and flushing toilets.
The way these communities are designed create a series of little dams which over a large area speed the flow of flood waters.
---- ---- --- --- --- --- This is an example of how many of these development's houses are placed. Water flow
--- --- --- --- --- --- is bounced around each house causing the water to pick up speed.
Just as expected, many people are overreacting. If I have seafood more than one date before my scheduled trash pick-up, I wrap the remains in foil or a baggy and put it in the freezer until trash day. Problem solved.
August 21, 2025 BOCC Vote on Wetland Buffers and Policy 2.1.2.8:
Hold your horses Editor. It’s a trap. Our commissioners are being set-up for immediate failure. If they pass an ordinance contrary to State law, they will be removed from office. Let us not fall on our swords. Our County, and others, were outflanked by the developers and thrown under the bus by our state representatives. They won this maneuver, but it is not over. I am among the most ardent supporters of bigger wetland buffers and restoring the integrity of the future development area boundary (FDAB). These are the two most important issues in our county and state, and I have been fighting for them since the early 1970s.
SB180 is now the law. It is a horrible law that needs to be revised, better defined and limited to storm damaged properties. SB180 is an absolute assault on home rule. But it is the law for now. Our Governor has already proven his willingness to remove duly elected officials from office. He’s done this with some very flimsy reasoning which in at least one case the courts overruled- too late. Any whiff of misfeasance or malfeasance, and the Governor will remove one or all commissioners and then replace them with developer puppets. He and other politicians need the developers’ money for future campaigns. Some existing commissioners may be left alone or reinstated. It’s hard to know. I certainly do not want to see any recent former commissioners back on the BOCC.
A few current commissioners who voted to reduce wetland buffers and approve Policy 2.1.2.8 developments east of the FDAB, have suddenly changed their tunes. I wonder if they may be part of this set-up.
We must support any commissioner willing to vote against passing a County ordinance that will stand contrary to State law. Let us keep our good commissioners in office to play the long game. Let us work with other counties to legally challenge, remove, or refine SB180 and SB250. Let us scrutinize proposed comp plans amendments for the certainty that they will benefit all citizens. Let us deny rezone requests that are untimely, incompatible, lacking proper transition, or will pose an undue environmental or financial burden on the County. Let us not fall on our swords.
Mark VanDeRee
Waterline Road Preservation Group
How many times are they going to mention, “former Green Beret,” as if service as a green beret, while admirable, has any bearing on the job of Lieutenant Governor. Surprised, lap dog DeSantis, might back someone whom his master, Trump, doesn’t . Jim Tierney
Call or send an email to the bill sponsors. I sent an email to Jim Boyd and his asst just sent back to contact the bill sponsors.
Rep Fiona McFarland (941) 899-0940 https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/contactmember.aspx?MemberId=4780&SessionId=105 and
Sen. DiCeglie (727) 563-1910 https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s18?pref=full
A great conversation on the SMR intersection discussion. Re Butzow's difficulty in answering the simple question of who put this on consent, I think he was debating in his mind whether he should take a bullet for Charlie Bishop and/or others that might have participated in the decision to intentionally bury this on the consent agenda, including KVO and Mike Rahn. I am so disappointed in Kruse, who so often tries to win the vote by arguing only one side, like he is a lawyer representing only whatever side he wants to win. That is what is wrong with our stupid partisan politics. Kruse knows what happened here, yet he was arguing that the public had a chance to speak because the rules allow for comment on consent items. Instead, he should have called out Butzow for his role, admitted the wrongness in how it happened and then argued that our hands are tied. Although, if the full board were to unite, along with the very wealthy homeowners that, as you point out, purchased multimillion $ homes from SMR, that might have put pressure on Jensen to be flexible. Why do you two think Kruse is so afraid to criticize the Bishop administration? I hope you discuss that question on the podcast after the BoCC decides to go forward with reinstating wetland buffers. Kruse will steer the BoCC meeting away from the question of how the buffers were removed. But if not for Bishop's corruption (that is what it was) we would not be in this situation. How can Kruse and the board continue to ignore that?
The American health CASTE system is based on profit, not CARE. The recent elimination of millions of citizens from the Medicaid rolls will increase the costs for healthcare for all Americans. People without health insurance will seek care in hospital emergency rooms driving up the uncompensated care. This will trigger hospitals to increase their charges for care and insurance companies to increase their premiums to pay for the care. The following information gleaned from the internet will hopefully wake people up and they will start voting their interests rather than party affiliations. Both political parties are complicit in this crisis.
"The US healthcare system ranks poorly compared to other high-income countries, despite spending the most per capita on healthcare. It consistently ranks last or near last in overall performance, particularly on measures of access, equity, and health outcomes, according to reports from organizations like the Commonwealth Fund. While the US performs well in areas like patient engagement and scientific advancement, it struggles with affordability, administrative efficiency, and providing equitable access to care for all citizens, leading to lower overall rankings."
"The ten countries with the best healthcare are:
Taiwan (78.72)
South Korea (77.7)
Australia (74.11)
Canada (71.32)
Sweden (70.73)
Ireland (67.99)
Netherlands (65.38)
Germany (64.66)"
"Does the US spend more on healthcare per capita?
AI Overview
Yes, the United States spends more on healthcare per capita than any other high-income country. In 2023, the US spent an average of $14,570 per person on healthcare, according to the American Medical Association. This is significantly higher than the average of other wealthy nations, where per capita spending is often less than half of the US amount, according to the Peterson Foundation."
I vote Laurie as Manatee school superintendent. She's put in the hard work with an exceptional, positive attitude and obvious passion. I know how dedicated and skilled she is in everything about educating all of our children in the public school systems. While she is more highly qualified than most candidates who would ever apply for any superintendent of schools, she also has a unique ability to be the great equalizer when consensus is needed to move forward and to be successful. Everyone under her leadership will feel engaged as part of the decision-making, because she is aware of each employee's strengths and values. I believe the choice of Dr. Breslin is essential for a smooth transition, as well.
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