Related video: Sawfish arrives at Mote facility TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A smalltooth sawfish rescued in early April has died despite rehabilitation efforts. The Mote Marine Laboratory (Mote), along with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), rescued the sawfish on April 5, after it was spotted swimming in circles in Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys. Following the rescue, the first of its kind attempted to help the mysteriously afflicted species, the sawfish was taken to Mote's Lower Keys facility before being taken to a facility in Sarasota a few days later. Credit: The Mote ..read more

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- A Sarasota vet was arrested after police said she wrote prescriptions for animals and then picked them up from a pharmacy for her own use, according to the Sarasota Police Department. A man was taking his dog to see Melissa Page, who owns Coastal Veterinary Internal Medicine on Fruitville Road. Page wrote the dog a prescription in January for hydromorphone, which is an opioid. The dog's owner took the prescription to Walgreens to have it filled. Police said the prescription was filled and the dog owner took the prescription home for his dog. The dog owner later decided to ..read more

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — On the edge of Downtown Sarasota, there's an empty grass lot on School Avenue just south of the county health department. That lot could one day become a new workforce housing project. In collaboration with realtor Michael Saunders, One Stop Housing is planning to build a 48-unit mixed-use development on the site. We are told 100% of the housing is slated to be available as workforce housing with rental rates at or below 80% of the area median income. Managing Partner of One Stop Housing Mark Vengroff tells 8 On Your Side the collaboration came about organically when he ..read more

SARASOTA,  Fla. (SNN) — In a harrowing account from the Supernova Music Festival in Israel, one attendee who faced a nightmare during the surprise attack by Hamas told SNN his story. Among the 3,500 young people at the Festival was Yuval Simon Tov. He recounted how moments of confusion and mistaking lights in the sky for fireworks, quickly escalated into sheer terror.  He and his friends fled the festival in their car, attempting to seek safety, only to be attacked by members of Hamas.  “There were eight motorcycles and then two semi-trailers full of the terrorists, and they wer ..read more

Related video: Property insurance crisis: what's really being done to fix it? SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida's west coast is seeing a surge in housing supply and many sellers are cutting prices, but demand is lackluster according to a new report by Redfin. Redfin says Florida is one of two states (Texas being the other) where the home supply is growing but homes are having trouble selling thanks in part to high insurance rates and many potential buyers being priced out of the market. In Florida, Cape Coral (51%), Sarasota (48%), Fort Lauderdale (30%), Tampa (29%), Orlando (23%), and West Palm ..read more

SARASOTA COUNTY (WFLA) — As we inch closer to some of the rainiest months of the year, residents can expect to see more mosquitoes out and about. Sarasota County is preparing to respond as needed, but they're asking the public to prepare as well. You may recall last year, Sarasota County saw seven malaria cases. It was the first time in 20 years that the state of Florida had any confirmed cases of the mosquito-borne illness. Crews treated more than 580,000 acres and more than 2,400 miles of ditches. "With all of those efforts, we still cannot reduce the risk of mosquito-borne viruses and paras ..read more

NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) — Mary DiSanzo celebrated her 79th birthday last week. She is incredibly grateful to have another year after a close call earlier this month. DiSanzo was shopping at the Walmart on Tamiami Trail in North Port when she started to feel dizzy. "All I remember is a lady coming up to me saying 'are you OK?'," recalled DiSanzo. Next thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital. She had experienced a cardiac arrest while in the store, which caused her to collapse. Fortunately, store employees Suzan Martucci and Tanya Frener knew what to do and immediately jumped into actio ..read more

Video above: 40-year study gives Mote researchers insight on sea turtle populations TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- Mote Marine Laboratory's Sea Turtle Patrol documented their first nest of the 2024 season on Sunday. Sea turtle nesting season begins May 1, but it's not unusual to see some early arrivals on Sarasota County beaches. Sea turtle nesting season begins in Florida: Here’s what to know “Even though sea turtle nesting season isn’t officially supposed to start until May 1, we like to be prepared and patrol early to make sure we catch the first signs of nesting on our beaches,” Melissa Macksey, Se ..read more

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — A man who claims he was sexually abused by a Florida priest as a child spoke publicly for the first time in Sarasota on Friday. Investigators said Father Leo Riley, 68, faces allegations of sex abuse. The alleged incidents occurred in Iowa and date back to the 1980s, before the church transferred him to Florida. A 32-year-old man said he was sexually abused by Father Riley in the early to mid-2000s. Tragically, this is part of a larger issue within the Catholic Church, something we've seen before. “As a child, I attended Saint Charles School in Port Charlotte, where Fa ..read more

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — If you are looking for weekend plans, take the kids to this outdoor Gem of Tampa Bay. Established in 1939, Sarasota Jungle Gardens is known as one of the oldest tourist attractions in the state. "That’s the great thing about this, because it’s multi-generations," Sarasota Jungle Gardens Lead Entertainment Host Alan Gillespie said. "So many people came here as kids and now they’re bringing their kids." Visitors have the opportunity to walk around the 10-acre park and even feed flamingos out of the palm of their hands. “When people come here for the first time, literally ..read more