The Sarasota High School Lady Sailors varsity basketball team has been named the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 7A Academic State Champion for the 2025–2026 season, earning the highest team academic honor in their classification for girls’ basketball.

Southern Living magazine has ranked The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art one of its 17 best museums in the South.

Lynette Herbert has been named Sarasota County’s new director of health and human services.

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System has earned a place among America’s Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers in Newsweek’s 2026 ranking.

Children First has been named a 2026 Sarasota-Manatee Top Workplace. The organization was also named a 2026 USA Today Top Workplace and received five Top Workplaces Culture Excellence Awards for Employee Well-Being, Professional Development, Innovation, Work-Life Flexibility, and Purpose and Values.

The Manatee Literacy Council has announced the appointment of Sam Skogstad III to its board of directors.