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Oct 31, 2026
Good News Parish: Daily Good News — October 31, 2026
Good News Parish: Daily Good News — October 31, 2026
00:00
09:43
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Transcript
0:00
[gentle music] Good morning, Parrish. This is George Henman in the heart of Parrish, Florida. Here's today's good news for October 31st, 2026. Tonight is Halloween night, and Palmetto is ready for it.
0:17
Crime Stoppers of Manatee County is hosting its 25th Annual Halloween Safe Kids Night from 6:00 to 9:00 this evening in the main arena of the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto.
0:30
Admission is free, parking is free, and there will be games, candy, costume contest, and prizes for the whole family.
0:38
Law enforcement agencies, nonprofits, churches, and civic groups will all be there with booths and treats.
0:45
This event draws more than 4,000 children and families most years, and this year, its 25th, it is at the convention center for the first time. Bradenton has more Halloween fun on tap tonight too.
0:59
The Village of the Arts is holding its 12th Annual Neighborhood Trick or Treat from 6:00 to 8:00 this evening with costumes, candy, and galleries and businesses opening their doors.
1:11
It's free, and it's a friendly walk through one of Bradenton's most colorful neighborhoods.
1:17
Then from 7:00 to 11:00 tonight, the Bradenton Alive Halloween celebration takes over old Main Street in downtown Bradenton with live music, food vendors, merchandise vendors, and plenty of festive fun.
1:32
Costumes are encouraged. Friday night football gave Manatee County plenty to cheer about. Palmetto beat Bishop Verot 36 to 13, improving to nine wins and one loss.
1:45
Braden River rolled past Lake Buena Vista 70 to nothing in its final regular season game, finishing eight and one, the Pirates' best record and first winning season since 2021. And Manatee beat Southeast 42 to 17.
2:04
Three good wins all close to home as the playoffs draw near. A new home for some of Manatee County's most specialized deputies opened this week in Lakewood Ranch.
2:15
County officials and Sheriff Rick Wells celebrated the opening on Thursday of a new 5,000 square foot special enforcement division substation.
2:25
It will be the primary home for the sheriff's office selective enforcement division with room for specialized units, including SWAT, traffic, and K9, along with command staff, school crossing guard supervisors, and the telephone reporting unit.
2:42
The building sits near the Lakewood Ranch Library, the Premier Sports Campus, and the new Athletic and Aquatic Center, putting deputies closer to one of the county's fastest-growing communities.
2:54
Good news too for the animals at the Bishop Animal Shelter.
2:59
After months of advocates asking for relief from the heat, Manatee County commissioners have agreed to move forward with plans for permanent shade structures at the shelter.
3:09
County staff are now working up a budget for the project. The shade is not built yet, but the decision is made, and that is welcome news for the dogs, the staff, and the volunteers who spend their days there.
3:22
Now, a date worth writing down here in Parrish. On Saturday, November 21st, Rye Preserve hosts the final race in the Run Manatee 5K series.
3:34
The morning starts with a warm-up from F45 Parrish, then a 5K and a quarter mile fun run followed by yoga and a post-race party with a live DJ.
3:46
There will be local vendors and food, and 10% of registration fees will support Foundation for Dreams and Dream Oaks Camp at Rye Preserve, helping children of all abilities enjoy the outdoors.
4:00
Over in Tampa, a fishing tournament did a whole lot of good this week.
4:05
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper hosted the ninth annual Coop's Catch for Kids on Monday, raising $500,000 for pediatric cancer research and patient services.
4:19
Since the tournament began in 2016, it has now raised more than $2 million.
4:25
The money supports research and families through the Cooper Family's J5 Foundation, which also funded a family lounge at Muma Children's Hospital in Tampa, a place for pediatric patient families to rest and spend time together during treatment.
4:42
Tampa also unveiled a new landmark this week. On Tuesday, the city unveiled a seven-foot tall bronze statue of First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez just outside Water Works Park.
4:56
Lopez was a Tampa native and a United States Marine who gave his life in the Korean War on September 15th, 1950, saving his fellow Marines.
5:07
He is one of only two service members from Tampa to receive the nation's highest military medal.
5:14
The statue, fully funded by the Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency, gives folks walking the River Walk a chance to come face to face with a hometown hero.
5:26
In Largo, a grant is opening doors for young people leaving foster care.
5:31
Community Foundation Tampa Bay has awarded $50,000 to Ready for Life, a nonprofit that has spent 17 years helping young adults build independent futures.
5:43
The grant will support 100 foster youth and young adults with GED instruction, vocational certifications, career exploration, entrepreneurship training, and life skills coaching.
5:57
It is practical help at a moment in life when it matters most. Down in Tallahassee, Florida State University cut the ribbon Friday on its new FSU Health Research and Collaboration building.
6:11
The one hundred thirty-seven thousand square foot facility brings together medical research, clinical care, and healthcare education with advanced laboratories, simulation spaces, and a family medicine practice serving more than twelve thousand patients.
6:30
The building will house more than one hundred fifty researchers, and the university expects it to generate two hundred seventeen million dollars in annual economic impact and support more than three hundred fifty permanent jobs.
6:45
A Naples company just won a statewide honor. Arthrex and its TightRope Pro implant, which helps surgeons treat high ankle sprain injuries, have been named the coolest thing made in Florida.
6:59
The contest, run by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, drew one hundred twenty-five nominations from all sixty-seven Florida counties.
7:09
The TightRope Pro, manufactured in Ave Maria, beat out a Northrop Grumman aircraft assembled in St. Augustine in the final round, and the award was presented October 28th at the Future of Florida Forum in Orlando.
7:25
On the court, Florida basketball is starting the season with high expectations and high honors. The league's coaches voted Thomas Hall the Southeastern Conference Preseason Player of the Year.
7:38
Ruben Chaniello joined him on the Preseason All-SEC First Team, and Alex Condon earned Second Team honors.
7:47
All three Gators also made the twenty-player preseason watch list for the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division One Player of the Year, giving Florida more selections than any other program in the country.
8:02
The Gators open the regular season Monday against seventeenth-ranked Miami in Tampa, ranked number one in the preseason Associated Press poll. And finally, a bit of hope from the world of medicine.
8:17
A personalized mRNA vaccine reduced the risk of melanoma coming back after surgery, according to results from a Phase III clinical trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Madrid.
8:32
The trial followed one thousand one hundred thirty-seven people with Stage Two to Stage Four melanoma who had surgery to remove all detectable cancer.
8:44
Two years later, eighty-two point two percent of those who received the vaccine plus immunotherapy were alive without recurrence, compared with seventy percent of those who received immunotherapy alone, a forty-two percent reduction in recurrence risk.
9:02
Trials are already underway studying personalized vaccines for kidney, lung, and pancreatic cancers. It is still trial science, not routine care, but the direction is encouraging. One quick reminder before I go.
9:17
Daylight Saving Time ends at two o'clock Sunday morning, November first. Before bed tonight, turn your clocks back one hour and enjoy the extra hour of sleep. That's the good news for today.
9:30
Be good to each other and share good news. [outro jingle]
Good News Parish: Daily Good News
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