E A ST COUNTY
EAST COUNTY
Obser ver
Health Matters AUGUST 2019
Observer
INSIDE
Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
ON THE
LANGUAGE Delay dementia with a bilingual brain. PAGE 2
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
BRAIN
LUNCHTIME Keep kids motivated at school with a healthy lunch.
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PROTECT YOUR TEETH Dentist tailors mouthguards for athletes.
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PICTURE OF HEALTH
Watch your food intake to boost energy.
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FREE THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2019
VOLUME 21, NO. 39
YOUR TOWN
Ready, set, learn
School district of Manatee County welcomes back students for the start of the 2019-20 school year. SEE PAGE 8
Courtesy photo
Local lifesaver
Pam Eubanks
Costco and its 200 employees will offer approximately 4,000 items to shoppers each day after it opens in East County.
A Lakewood Ranch Medical Center intensive care nurse was in the right place at the right time in May and was honored Aug. 6 for saving a life. Sammie Billman, pictured above with her husband, Daniel, was at the Bradenton Yacht Club when she provided CPR until EMS paramedics arrived to care for a man in cardiac arrest. For her heroics, Billman earned the Manatee County EMS Lifesaving Award. The award is presented to non-EMS individuals who participate in the care of a cardiac arrest patient.
Retail giant nears launch Costco opens its doors Aug. 21 in the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour. PAGE 3
Pam Eubanks
A+E
Braden River Elementary School fifth grade teacher Katie McCollum gives students high fives as they walk to their classes as dance party music played. Pam Eubanks
Shop with a cop Carlos E. Haile Middle School sixth grader Ryan Gossett didn’t have a typical back-toschool shopping day. As he browsed racks of khaki pants at Bealls Outlet on Aug. 9, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells stood beside him to hold up pants and make recommendations. Gossett was one of 13 children who were picked to participate in a special Shop with a Cop event. “It’s pretty cool,” he said of shopping with the sheriff. “I think he knows fashion. He’s got a son.”
Will you do bamboo? Liz Ramos
OnlyMoso’s Calvin Yang cuts down a bamboo shoot during Mixon Fruit Farms’ first harvest Thursday morning.
Mixon Fruit Farms harvests first bamboo crop in hopes people test it as a food source. SEE PAGE 6
Threads of change INSIDE