W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Winter Garden, Ocoee, Oakland
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FREE
VOLUME 87, NO. 8
•
Home sales still strong in West Orange. 10-11.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020
LOST
BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
The first installment of this series examines the history of Clarcona and Fuller’s Crossing. 8-9.
Commission approves DQ, hotel projects
Former Winter Garden resident Ashley Lawrence recently became the first woman to compete in the Freestyle Alligator Wrestling Competitions in Brighton, Florida.
New developments are coming soon to West Colonial Drive.
SEE PAGE 4.
DANIELLE HENDRIX ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Two different development projects recently approved by city leaders are bringing hotels, retail and a DQ Grill & Chill to Winter Garden. During the Feb. 13 Winter SEE PROJECTS PAGE 5
PIRATES & PRINCESSES Ashley Lawrence wrangled alligators for five seasons on Animal Planet’s show “Gator Boys.”
Courtesy of Animal Planet
GATOR GIRL
Jerry Demings stumps for transportation tax Town residents shared their thoughts of Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings’ proposed one-cent sales tax increase for transportation issues. ERIC GUTIERREZ STAFF WRITER
EPIC PROPORTIONS PRSRT STD ECRWSS US POSTAGE PAID WINTER GARDEN, FL PERMIT NO. 81
*****************ECRWSSEDDM****
Postal Customer
‘Ben Hur’ is heading to the Garden Theatre. 12.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings took his advocacy efforts to Oakland in a recent meeting — spreading the word about the potential one-cent sales tax increase to fund transportation needs. Demings has held more than 150 meetings in various commu-
nities throughout the county in an effort to engage residents about his mission to get a proposed one-cent sales tax increase on the November 2020 ballot. Through his community engagement efforts, Demings hopes to craft a plan on how the proposed sales tax increase would work based on the input residents have SEE COUNTY PAGE 5
Disney classics fuel West Orange High School sing-along. 15.