Food

• Balos set for The Edge downtown, spring 2027
• Just Salad opens at University Town Center
• North Port’s independent pizza shops keep multiplying
• Savor Sarasota pairs prix-fixe plates under $45
• Latest inspections find live roaches in area kitchens
• August openings and closures hit the dining map
• Local pair launch FoodTrukt for Suncoast trucks
• Chicken Salad Chick plans Fruitville Road shop
• Local bakery gets Michelin notice; owner says business doubled
• BrickTop’s takes a UTC space, first in the bay
• Tralia plans a second shop in the Rosemary District
• Two Shores Café opens Friday

Policy

• Parking program stays frozen through Nov. 3
• City adds $3.63 disaster debris fee
• Chief Troche named secretary of PERF board
• County opens $1.7M in housing repair and down-payment loans
• County administrator: Amendment 3 would cut sheriff services
• County approves $32M in flood fixes after 2024 storms
• Schools: $7.5M North Port trades-academy grant revoked
• North Port weighs a pause on data centers
• School board majority flips after Tuesday’s primary
• DeSantis marks primary day at New College
• GOP chair tries to unify the county party after the primary

Construction

• $3.5M state grant to flood-proof Van Wezel
• Selby Phase 2 goes vertical after $41.9M bond
• Commission vacates alley for 10-story Ringling condo
• County funds St. Armands and Celery Fields flood work
• Venice beach renourishment moves south, still on time
• County park gets $10M for an indoor sports complex
• Demo underway at the historic Mira Mar downtown
• County shifts $15.6M to an evacuation route

Culture

• Sailor Circus Academy plays the Smithsonian
• Orchestra benefit at Van Wezel on Sept. 10
• Venice Craft Festival returns Labor Day weekend
• Summer Art Mart fills Art Ovation

Opinion

• Open house on parking barred comment; people walked out
• Commission suspends longer paid hours after pushback
• Walsh: the county slates are missing statesmen

Economy

• St. Armands garage still weighs on parking books
• Belle Haven, 1925, sits in the shadow of new towers
• Goodwill opens a Bargain Barn in Venice
• 38.8% of the county is 65 or older

Sports

• Lady Sailors take the 7A academic state title
• Three EVO gymnasts make the U.S. world team

Places

• Who the library, stadium, and park are named for
• City Island tours go on after the aquarium closed
• Great Scallop Search finds 50 live scallops
• What 1910 train travelers found here
• A weekend map of the Rosemary District

Nearby

• Clementines in Bradenton marks two years
• Longboat Key darkens Gulfside lights for hatchlings
• Communi-Tee golf classic at Calusa Sept. 9
• Del Webb Lakewood Ranch cancer walk set for Oct. 17
• Manatee Concert Band packed a LWR food-bank show
• BubbaQue’s is back on 53rd Avenue in Bradenton
• Longboat Key packs road and court work into summer
• Longboat’s swan cygnets are nearly grown
• Mrs. Thelma’s Southern Cuisine opens in St. Pete
• Chef & The Baker plans a second Tampa shop
• Bocelli and Dead Bob’s land at Largo’s Horizon West Bay