E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Graduation sites change.
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FREE THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020
VOLUME 22, NO. 35
YOUR TOWN
Expansion accelerates New wing at Lakewood Ranch High could arrive sooner. PAGE 3
Courtesy photo
On the road again Six-year-old Greenbrook resident Emma Swinkels left her beloved scooter on the driveway overnight and awoke July 1 to find it stolen. She rode the scooter everywhere, so she decided to post a “lost scooter” sign in her front yard. That evening, she found a new scooter at their doorstep with an anonymous note telling her to have fun. “We picked you up this scooter, so you had one to play with until yours is found,” it read. “Now she wants to do something for someone else,” said her mother, Kate.
The lowdown on spraying Low altitude flights are one necessary tool needed by the county’s Mosquito Control District. SEE PAGE 8 Jay Heater
Pilot Mike McCraw earned a Distinguished Flying Cross while with the Coast Guard during Hurricane Katrina and now works for Manatee County.
NEIGHBORS Courtesy photo
Hanging around at the park When River Club’s Paddi Juliano lost her silver bracelet at Greenbrook Adventure Park, she thought it wasn’t likely she would see it again. Upon visiting the dog park at Greenbrook Adventure Park on June 27, she learned she was wrong. Someone had found her bracelet, zipped it up in a plastic bag and pinned it to the wall at the pavilion. “I am forever thankful for so many honest and good people in this world,” Juliano said. “It hung there for more than a week!”
Lessons from the saddle
Virus can’t stop the boom. SEE PAGE 14
East County camp teaches children rodeo skills. SEE PAGE 16 Jay Heater
Myakka City’s Chaislee Conrad, 7, sprints away to begin a leg of the relay race.