SO U T H W E ST O RA N G E
Observer Windermere, Horizon West, Dr. Phillips
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Windermere High School community mourns loss of Sammy Lahik. PAGE 7A.
FREE • THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2025
VOLUME 10, NO. 22
Wolverines making a run! Windermere High School is just two games away from a state championship. SEE PAGE 1B.
Passion takes flight YOUR TOWN TIME TO SPRING FORWARD! It’s time to turn your clock ahead one hour this weekend. You will have one more hour of sunlight in the evening starting Sunday, March 9, when daylight saving time begins. Don’t forget to move your clocks forward one hour before you go to bed Saturday night — or at 2 a.m. Sunday — whichever comes first.
CHEERS TO ENGAGED COUPLE Jessica Lyle has devoted six years to cheerleading, and her dedication to the sport has led her to a marriage proposal from another cheerleader. Lyle and Bryce Marshall have planned a spring wedding April 11 at New Smyrna Beach. She cheered for the Warriors at West Orange High School for four years and for the University of Central Florida Knights for another two. Marshall cheered for one year at his high school in Jacksonville before becoming a UCF cheerleader, as well. The pair actually met when Lyle was a freshman at West Orange and Marshall was a freshman on the UCF cheer team. He was attending a state competition recruiting future cheer prospects for UCF. “I had a conversation with (him) about furthering my cheer career at UCF, but I was in between (the University of South Florida) and UCF at the time,” Lyle said. “After that first interaction we had no contact until my junior year of college when, sadly, one of my teammates, Nix Thomas, that was also one of his very, very close friends, was involved in a tragic motorcycle accident.” Marshall was in the United States Air Force and stationed in New Mexico at the time but returned to Orlando for his friend’s celebration of life. Lyle, Marshall and two other friends stayed connected through FaceTime calls. The couple now is living in Oklahoma while Marshall continues his pilot training.
Photos by Liz Ramos
Orange County Fire Rescue Station 48 first responders shared their experiences with Horizon High School biomedical students.
Horizon High School has partnered with Orlando Health to give its biomedical students a realistic look into the medical field. STORY ON PAGE 4A.
Orlando Health Air Care team members John Campbell, left, and Angel Rios-Peña, right, explained all the equipment on the helicopter to Horizon High School seniors Gia Patel and Valentina Reyes.
BRAINFOOD More affordable WHAT IS A LUCKY CHARM? Learn the origins of five lucky items. PAGE 6B.
housing headed to east W.G.? Ordinances to establish new residential designations in east Winter Garden cleared their first hurdle at the Winter Garden City Commission. SEE PAGE 2A.