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Rosa Parks’ life has been reduced to that one moment on a bus in Alabama in which she refused to give up her seat. Her elevation to an icon of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement has obscured the fact that she had a life before and after, and that she was embedded in an organization and a movement.

Last fall, Sarasota County Commissioners allowed the owners of Lakewood Ranch to get around limitations to urban sprawl and pave over 5,000 acres of pastureland in the rural east of the county to build thousands of mostly luxury homes in more cul-de-sacs.

Many Starbucks baristas across the nation want to join a union. So do a handful workers at a Starbucks store on University Parkway and Honore here in suburban Sarasota. On Tuesday, they held a vote that failed to reach majority. Ramon Lopez has that story.

The city of Sarasota Planning Board recommended approval of an affordable housing complex for veterans in the heart of Newtown, Sarasota’s African American neighborhood. Some of the neighbors, including a former city mayor and commissioner, aren’t happy about it. Sophia Brown talked to them.

By 2040, the city of Sarasota will be facing water shortages. That’s what city Utility Chief Bill Riebe told Sarasota City Commissioners during a workshop on Monday.

And now it’s your turn. Get up and shake up the world. Here’s Diana Bregman with the Activist Calendar and a few leads for you to get involved next week. This is Diana Bregman with your Activist Calendar for Friday, July 14.

Richard Corcoran, the interim president of New College, who is in charge of a conservative makeover, wants to beautify the campus for incoming students. One of his first measures was to have students-made mural art painted over.

More than two-thirds of people in Sarasota live in a place they own. Insurance is a big chunk of the cost for homeowners, but they’re now facing the perfect financial storm. In the latest hit for the Florida market, Farmers Insurance announced on Friday that it will pull out of the state.

Big developer meets small town. The Venice City Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 to approve a controversial shopping center Pat Neal wants to build in North Venice. WSLR’s Ramon Lopez reports.

Heat in Sarasota was ratcheting up during the Fourth of July this year, but that didn’t stop a group of Sarasota residents from joining in the Gillespie Park Independence Day Celebration.