E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
Sleepy day on the Ranch. PAGE 20
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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FREE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2020
VOLUME 22, NO. 50
YOUR TOWN
Voters consider lands fund Referendum asks voters to create county fund to buy environmentally significant land. PAGE 3
Liz Ramos
Students leave mark on campus
UP TO THE TUSK?
With several senior year traditions being canceled due to COVID-19, Kendall Stanley and Margot Murphy (above), both seniors at Lakewood Ranch High School, still were able to paint a parking spot on campus. Each year, seniors gather paint and brushes and put their creative minds to work to make a parking spot their own. The girls decided to write “I just painted this” before painting an emoji in the spot. “We hang out all the time, and we have a lot of inside jokes,” Murphy said. “There is a giant inside joke behind this.”
Myakka Elephant Ranch opens to the public, so it can expand its conservation efforts. SEE PAGE 18
Brendan Lavell
Pink on the links Ninety University Park golfers came together Oct. 10 to hit the greens while wearing pink shirts and hats, pins and pompoms. Golfers weren’t the only ones sporting pink. Carts, too, were adorned with pink ribbons, flowers and boas. Eileen Cantarella and Ronni Loundy are cochairwomen for University Park’s Pink Week. The team they lead, Answer to Cancer SRQ, raised money for the American Cancer Society’s support services and research. Pink Week also included a “walk for the cure” Oct. 11 that featured food trucks and festivities for those who have been affected by breast cancer and supporters.
Courtesy photo
Myakka Elephant Ranch visitors MacGregor Monroe and Alea Dellecave enjoy interacting with one of the elephants on the ranch.
Campus option pick of parents Many students who had been enrolled in online or hybrid learning are headed back to campus. SEE PAGE 4
County opts for $32.5 million complex purchase Brendan Lavell
The land purchased adjacent to the landfill will increase the life span of the landfill on Lena Road from 16 years to an estimated 22 years.
The 161 acres at State Road 64 and Lena Road also will expand the life of the landfill. SEE PAGE 2