Suncoast Searchlight

1 week ago | suncoastsearchlight.org | Clinton Engelberger |Suncoast Searchlight

If Sarasota County residents want more than one bin to store excess trash, they’ll need to pay a monthly fee. Sarasota County started a new contract in late March with two vendors ––– Waste Pro and FCC Environmental Services. Each will cover a different section of the county and provide one free waste bin for residents. For an additional bin, residents pay $7.60 per month with a house served by Waste Pro and $12 per month for FCC.

1 week ago | thebradentontimes.com | Jackie Llanos |Dawn Kitterman |Josh Salman |Suncoast Searchlight

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law Wednesday bringing harsher penalties and restrictions for owners of dogs that severely injure or kill people. The bill, known as the “Pam Rock Act,” honors a mail carrier who was mauled to death by five dogs in Putnam County in 2022. Starting July 1, owners of dogs that have attacked humans, severely injured or killed pets, or menacingly chased people will have to carry liability insurance of at least $100,000.

1 week ago | thebradentontimes.com | Josh Salman |Suncoast Searchlight |Dawn Kitterman

Michael Terhune riding alongside the Team Guardian Inc. truck used to transport deceased military veterans and first responders at no cost. (Photo courtesy Michael Terhune)Michael Terhune, who served as a hospital corpsman in the Navy Reserve, is not a statistic. But he could have been after putting a loaded pistol in his mouth in October 2021. Terhune had been deployed to Iraq in 2003 and again in 2007.

1 week ago | thebradentontimes.com | Josh Salman |Suncoast Searchlight |Dawn Kitterman

Virginia Connolly accepts a folded flag during ceremony honoring her father John Connolly at Arlington National Cemetery in March 2025. (Photo by Tracey Attlee/Special to Georgia Recorder)More than 80 years after he died in the attack on Pearl Harbor, John Connolly was finally laid to rest – not as an unknown in a mass grave, but as a naval officer in Arlington National Cemetery.

1 week ago | thebradentontimes.com | Josh Salman |Suncoast Searchlight |Dawn Kitterman |Eliana Perozo

Ernie passed away on May 19, 2025, at home in Bradenton, Florida surrounded by love. Born April 15, 1949, to Joseph and Dorothy Fischer in Bradenton, Ernie was a lifelong resident of Manatee County. He graduated from Southeast High School and was a lineman on the football team all four years. Ernie worked at Tropicana for 31 years and at King Middle School for 13 years. Ernie was preceded in death by his parents, Joe and Dot Fischer, his brother, Steve Fischer, and son, Carl Reese.