E A ST COUNTY
SCHOOL BACK TO
2020
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
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YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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FREE THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020
VOLUME 22, NO. 38
Mandate for masks
YOUR TOWN
Manatee County will now require facial coverings. PAGE 2
Liz Ramos
Wheely in need of bikes Three bikes down and 22 to go before Summerfield’s Cheryl Hedger reaches her goal of 25 bikes to donate to Turning Points, a nonprofit helping the area’s homeless. “This is the only transportation [clients] have for them to be able to come back and forth for their services at Turning Points, including medical, dental, housing assistance and gently used clothing,” said Hedger, who is a volunteer coordinator with the nonprofit. During Hedger’s drive last year, she collected 15 bikes, which went toward the 595 bikes Turning Points collected and distributed to clients. To help, email Hedger at chedger@tpmanatee.org.
Risky road share Cyclists clamor for change on Lakewood Ranch roadway. SEE PAGE 3
Pam Eubanks
East County’s Andrea Sacchetti, Richard Garrett and Dawn Zielinski say the new traffic pattern on southbound Lakewood Ranch Boulevard at State Road 70 creates uncertainty for drivers and cyclists and is a safety problem.
NEIGHBORS
Liz Ramos
Food for thought Into the future. SEE PAGE 18
Restaurants struggle to find the new normal. SEE PAGE 4 Pam Eubanks
The Granary General Manager Hector Liemann adds powdered sugar to an order of French toast.
Banking on donations After a six-month hiatus, OneBlood’s blood mobile parked in the parking lot of Our Lady of the Angels church July 24 to receive much-needed blood donations. The drive was the first organized by the church’s Knights of Columbus group since January due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-six people signed up to participate. “We usually have one every three months,” blood drive organizer Carmine Maida said. “Right now, there’s a critical shortage.”