Manatee sightings have surged in SC this year, with 245 total. Here’s where you might spot them for the remainder of the season..

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia announced that an audit of Manatee County’s budgets was the “worst” his office has seen in its review of budgets across the state.

MANATEE COUNTY Fla. (WWSB) - Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia continued his statewide tour highlighting “excessive and wasteful government spending.” He presented his findings on Manatee County Thursday afternoon at Pier 22.

CFO Blaise Ingoglia unleashed a torrent of criticism on the municipal spending in Manatee County, continuing his road trip through more than a half-dozen Florida counties and calling out what he says is wasteful spending.

In just seven counties, including Manatee, Blaise Ingoglia's office found over $1.1 billion in excessive spending this year alone.

Blaise Ingoglia announced today that over $112 million is being "excessively and wastefully spent" in the Manatee County Budget, triggering a strong call for the county to immediately change its spending habits and offer substantial property tax relief to residents.

Staff laid out two options of how citizens could cover a $41.4 million stormwater program — either dedicate .58 mills to stormwater or charge each homeowner an Equivalent Residential Unit fee of $15.60 a month or $187 a year.

REWARD INCREASE Manatee County deputies are offering $10,000 for anyone with information on the 2023 murder of a Bradenton man.

Responding to a recent investigation from Suncoast Searchlight and the Bradenton Herald, Manatee County Commissioner Tal Siddique pitched the regulations this month as a way to go beyond the limitations of broad state statutes that have failed to get a handle on the spread.

Out of seven legislative priorities set by Manatee County staff members and commissioners, two are slated for East County — an aging bridge in Myakka City and a new multiuse trail through Rye Preserve. The bridge is on Singletary Road about a half-mile south of State Road 70. It crosses a branch of the Myakka River and was built in 1970.

The Florida Highway Patrol says this happened around 8 p.m. Saturday in the area of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.