Suncoast Searchlight

6 days ago | suncoastsearchlight.org | Clinton Engelberger |Suncoast Searchlight

Though Sarasota residents might have been wary of drinking the funky-tasting tap water these past couple of weeks, it was perfectly safe to drink. The explanation behind the taste is free chlorine, which Sarasota County added on April 22 and stopped on May 6. Under Florida Administrative Code Rule 62-550.817, the Department of Environmental Protection recommends using free chlorine to disinfect drinking water from viruses and other harmful pathogens.

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

While it’s not the standard for school boards across Florida, Sarasota County’s decision to host one school board meeting per month isn’t out of the ordinary. State statutes require school districts to host no less than one meeting per month, and many counties  — such as Osceola, Gulf, Polk and Palm Beach — take advantage of that minimum. Pinellas, Hillsborough, Alachua and Orange counties all host two meetings per month.

3 weeks ago | yoursun.com | Alice Herman |Suncoast Searchlight |Kerry Sheridan

When New College of Florida hired Fredrick Piccolo Jr. as communications director in December, he had already been charged three times with indecent exposure — a criminal history that the school’s background check failed to uncover, records obtained by Suncoast Searchlight and WUSF show. The background check, run on Jan.