In a well-lit office building waiting room sits Laurie Swink, the co-founder of Selah Freedom, an anti-trafficking organization based in Sarasota, waiting for me to set up the recording device. She’s a blonde woman with piercing blue eyes and a tight smile. She gets up…
As anyone driving in the Sarasota-Manatee area is aware, traffic is horrible. The snowbirds have flown down--rather they drove, and they are driving locals up the wall. Recently, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) proposed a plan to make driving easier for the predominantly…
As a little girl, Sophia Kanzius often wondered what heaven would look like. She imagined a place that was warm all year, a place where no one had to work, with green trees and flowers that stayed in bloom. At 92 years old, Sophia…
The words “medieval studies” may conjure images of stuffy old men clad in wool, smoking pipes, polishing pocket watches and debating the ecclesiastical reforms of Pope Gregory VII. However, nothing could be further from the truth, and on Mar. 8-10 New College will open its…
“One, two, three, four. I’m a worker and a whore! Five, six, seven, eight. Masterbate and smash the state!” Syd Eastman said, rallying the crowd that stood before her composed of sex workers and their allies. Eastman founded the Sex Worker Solidarity Network…
Greyhounds may be the fastest dogs in the world, but they’re also mellow, magnanimous and grade-A couch potatoes. And unlike many kinds of purebred dogs, where obtaining the family pet of one’s dreams may involve back-and-forths with breeders, waiting lists for litters and American…
Saturday, families settled in behind brand new LED TVs, icing the bruises earned battling for that larger-and-brighter-than-life display and apprehensively eyeing day three of turkey-centric meals. Jeff Bezos saw his net worth explode to over $100 billion, enough to buy the NFL and the MLB,…
More than 800 alumnae/i, donors and other community members gathered on Sunday, Nov. 5 for Brunch on the Bay at the University of Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) campus. Brunch on the Bay is the USFSM’s foremost fundraising event and guests enjoyed a wide array of food…
[huge_it_gallery id="32"] The lingering smell of turkey legs and the distant sound of “cheers” and “huzzahs” signaled the return of the 14th annual Sarasota Medieval Fair. Hundreds of visitors, including several students, filed into the dusty parking lots of the Sarasota Fairgrounds throughout…
“Can't we find it in our hearts to choose to forgive and not forever condemn?” Governor Charlie Crist asked Florida's Executive Clemency Board in 2007. He was attempting what Floridians are attempting to do still today: give a second chance to those who have…
