Congressional candidate Martin Hyde isn’t done running against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota.

Three months after video of a traffic stop went viral showing Hyde accosting a police officer and threatening her career, he’s decided to self-fund a video ad that visually alludes to the infamous incident. He filmed the ad in the same location where he was pulled over. The plan is that for the spot, Hyde looks into the camera at a familiar angle and asks, this time of potential voters, “Do you know who I am?”

“Part of the redemption process is not running away from this,” said Hyde, who said he felt humbled when video of his bad behavior drew millions of online views.

He hopes his campaign ad takes off and reaches similar zeitgeist. To some degree, he’s trying to turn a negative into a positive, but also sees a chance to rehabilitate a public image.

“I really am a fair and reasonable person,” Hyde said.

Hyde acknowledges his prospects remain slim at best. It always seemed an uphill battle to best Buchanan, one that seemed largely dashed when the incumbent landed the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Many of his critiques of the incumbent, though, remain the same. Hyde categorizes himself a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, but Buchanan voted in favor of background checks on firearm purchases.  The challenger also disagrees with Buchanan’s support of the Paris climate accords, and he said he would have objected to President Joe Biden’s electoral victory while Buchanan voted to certify the results.

Hyde hopes new videos will help him regain his political mojo. He’s also shot an ad based on Apple’s classic “I’m a Mac I’m a PC” series, only it will contrast Hyde as a conservative to a stereotypical liberal.

He’s also meeting with conservative groups, a few months after having some speaking gigs canceled amid the police video kerfuffle. He spoke to Manatee Patriots on Tuesday, where he joked with the conservative audience in Bradenton about the irony he had once advocated for body cameras to be used by police, only to have his bad behavior filmed at a low moment. 

He also made his case that he would be more connected to voters than Buchanan.

“You don’t have a representative of you right now,” he said. “You have a guy who flies in private jets… Vern Buchanan is not interested in you.”

Regardless, he said Buchanan's voting record by any metric has become more conservative since Hyde filed as a primary opponent, so that alone gives him some drive to continue.

Hyde said he does know enough not to ask people for donations. He will pay a $10,440 qualifying fee next month out of pocket, and intends to self-fund the race. But he hopes when all is said and done, voters see him as a passionate activist again and not just a belligerent driver. 

Image courtesy Hyde campaign.

“I look at my hands and wonder what stories will they tell? Where will they go? What will they learn,” ponders Zoe, a young African American girl.

In an afternoon spent baking bread with her Grandmother, Zoe traces her Grandmother’s past through the craigs and lines in her hands. They are hands, Zoe learns, that seem to have kneaded history itself.

By gaining an appreciation for the past, this endearing tale empowers Zoe to use her hands to craft the stories of the future.

Publication Date: March 2022 by Reycraft Books, New York. ISBN: 1478870613. Ages 4-7 

Gulfcoast South Area Health Education Center, as part of the Tobacco Free Florida AHEC Cessation Program, offers free tobacco cessation sessions to help individuals quit all forms of tobacco.  These group sessions—held virtually and in-person—will assist you with developing your own customized quit plan. Free nicotine replacement therapy in the form of patches, gum or lozenges (if medically appropriate and while supplies last) and follow up support from a trained tobacco treatment specialist are provided with the session. 

Contact us today at 866-534-7909 or visit our pageto schedule a class or learn more about the program! 

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Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman presented several awards during a ceremony Tuesday to recognize employees who demonstrated exemplary service to their community. Detective Carlos Verdoni received the Life Saving Award for his efforts to render aid to a woman who was choking. Corrections Sergeant Jessica Evanish and Corrections Deputy Brandon Goldberg received the Life Saving Award for their efforts to save an inmate who attempted suicide. Forensic Chemists Alison Kaskey and Nancy Ludwigsen received the Meritorious Achievement Award for their efforts in successfully achieving accreditation status for the agency’s Drug Lab.Members of the Traffic Unit received the Unit Citation Award for their achievements during 2021. “As Sheriff, these are the days I am most proud of,” commented Sheriff Hoffman. “The men and women we are honoring today go beyond the call of duty. I am very proud of these members, and their community should be as well.” 

Resilient Retreat’s 2021 Community Impact Report provides valuable insights into the positive and negative emotions and impacts of helping others at work. Over half of those surveyed report compassion fatigue consisting of burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Surveys were completed by 180 individuals from a variety of helping professions, including medical, law enforcement, nonprofit, fire/EMS, education, mental health, and human services. Compassion Fatigue is a term that describes the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others — often through experiences of stress or trauma. Medical professionals reflected the highest levels of burnout, while Fire/EMS reported the lowest. Medical professionals reported the highest level of secondary traumatic stress, while fire/EMS reported the lowest. Overall, 52% of local first responders/helping professionals reported experiencing compassion fatigue, with 43% reporting moderate to severe burn-out and 39% reporting moderate to severe secondary traumatic stress.

“Understanding needs and providing programs to support our remarkable first responders and other helping professionals is essential for community health and workforce stability,” said Dr. Sidney Turner, Resilient Retreat Founder and Chair, Board of Directors. “While many respondents experience satisfaction in their work, this data shows that the struggle with compassion fatigue has a negative impact on the individual and in turn, those whom they serve.”

Compassion Satisfaction is the antidote to Compassion Fatigue. It encompasses the pleasure and satisfying feeling that comes from helping others. Mental health professionals reported the highest levels of compassion satisfaction while law enforcement reported the lowest. The average score reflected a “moderate” score of compassion satisfaction for all professional disciplines. 

To read the full report, click here.

It’s never too early to plan for college. While the mission of Children First is to strengthen children and families in our community by providing a strong foundation for children ages birth to five, our work does not stop there. The CFC College Fund was recently started by two of our very dedicated donors in order to give Children First’s young students a “Head Start” as their families begin planning for their college educations. Already, 20 families have applied for 25 children who would benefit from this fund. As one parent wrote, “I would like to participate in the College Scholarship Program because I am a young mother and would like to give my children the best education there is… I want them to know that the sky is the limit and they can do anything they put their minds to!”  The founding donors of the fund, a couple who wishes to remain anonymous, explained why they felt the CFC College Fund was important for them to support. The initial goal of the plan was to fund 20 children to start – a goal which has been quickly met. The funds have been set up as 529 College Savings Plans as part of a three-year pilot program with the founding donors, with each child accruing $25 per week. Moving forward, the hope is that through private philanthropic support, additional donors will enable the creation of even more 529 College Savings Plans for Children First students. To be considered for one of the savings plans, the family must have been engaged for a minimum of one academic year with Children First, with the children in the family between 6 months and 2 years of age. Parents are encouraged to contribute what they can to the fund, though it is not required. If you are interested in learning more about the CFC College Fund, contact Jessica Rogers, Vice President of Philanthropy, (941) 953-3877 or at jrogers@childrenfirst.net. 

In the month of May, the Bradenton Kiwanis Club is pleased to have provided more than $177,000 in grant funding for local organizations supporting our community. Fund recipients included: Manatee County 4-H – $10,000 to be used for scholarships to camps and conferences for youth, educational programming, leadership awards, and projects; Carmel Resource Center - $15,000 for a cargo van, which will be used to pick up furniture, household items, and other necessities and distributed them to the clients they serve; Southwest Florida Council Inc. (Boy Scouts of America) - $25,000 for dining hall renovations at Camp Flying Eagle; Take Stock in Children of Manatee County - $26,000 to be used for scholarships for their Take Stock Program; City of Bradenton Police Department - $37,545 to purchase tables, chairs, signage, and other necessary items to complete the renovation of a COPS House, which was formerly the Little Girl Scout House that Bradenton Kiwanis helped fund in 1950; HOPE Family Services - $63,500 to help construct a Children’s Counseling Center to provide services in a “child-friendly” environment. These grants are one of the many ways that the club works towards its mission of creating “A Better Way of Life… A Better Bradenton.