E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Special section on yodeling INSIDE
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FREE MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2019
VOLUME 21, NO. 19
YOUR TOWN
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Pork for dinner The huge sounder of wild pigs that has been seen near various spots along Lakewood Ranch Boulevard must be looking for a higher quality of food. They are headed toward Main Street at Lakewood Ranch. State wildlife officials have been tracking a group of 37 pigs as they have inched across the Country Club and have moved closer to Main Street over the past month. “At the rate they are going, they will be there by July,” said Wildlife Control Supervisor Auld McDonald. “People are going to be saying, ‘With an oink oink here and an oink oink there.’”
Lakewood Ranch gets the point
ABOVE AND BEYOND?
New library plans to be modeled after the Luxor.
New aquatics center will get plastic, above-ground pool. PAGE 3A
JAY HEATER MANAGING EDITOR
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County officials were entralled by this Olympic-sized, above-ground pool at the Easy Living Trailer Park in Harpers, Kan., and decided upon that model for the new aquatics complex.
Design ideas for the planned Lakewood Ranch Library have taken a turn — to Las Vegas. County planners have unveiled their lead design, a smaller model of the famous Luxor Hotel & Casino. The Luxor is designed as a glass replica of Egypt’s pyramids, and library planners wanted to “go big” with an architectural statement that would be recognized all over the country. “At first, we were worried about the wasted space of a pyramid,” said Cleo Patrick, head of the county’s design team. “We’re really not in a financial position to pay millions for an intricate design, but we thought the novelty of this would be worth it to make sure the library stays topof-mind in our community. We are betting this will be a good tradeoff for the cost and lack of space.” Patrick said the committee considered the fact that so many library resources are now online. The entire second floor of the library will be computers for the public that will have access to any book available at any public library in Florida. The first floor will be made up of smaller meeting
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Tower above the others Lakewood Ranch might have found a solution to its cellular phone coverage problem. Since the San Marco Square clock tower doesn’t tell the correct time anyway, officials are considering an 80-foot steel rod jutting from the top of the tower. Negotiations have begun with a national provider, which has not yet revealed its identity. Other solutions have been dragging for years, so the steel conductor, which also will serve as a lightning rod, could be the answer. The clock face will be removed and that space will be rented by the month.
SEE LIBRARY, PAGE 4A
Skunk preserve raises stink
BLACK
TIE
Some residents fume over planned preserve. PAGE 2A Masks prohibited INSIDE