W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Celebrating 110 years in West Orange
West Orange boys LAX off to red-hot start. PAGE 14.
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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VOLUME 84, NO. 10
ARTS & CULTURE
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THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
WARRIOR’S
YOUR TOWN SPRING FORWARD
FIGHT
Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 12, so be sure to move your clocks forward one hour before going to bed Saturday night. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5.
10,000 MILESTONE Kpal Photography
Vocal instructor helps find soul sounds.
SEE PAGE 9
City: Turn lanes will ease C.R. 535 congestion
Photo by Adrian Cowan
Officials expect the new left- and rightturn lanes to relieve peak-hour traffic. GABBY BAQUERO STAFF WRITER WINTER GARDEN If you’ve traveled past the County Road 535 and Stoneybrook West Parkway intersection recently, you may have noticed construction workers in their familiar orange hard hats tearing up the left side of road. To relieve the routine morning and evening traffic congestion that plagues C.R. 535, the city of Winter Garden has been working on a road improvement plan encompassing significant changes to the affected area. One of those changes is the addition of a dedicated right-turn lane and an additional left lane. “It’s a significant change to the whole road system,” City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said. “We’re getting an additional left lane thrown in, and if you’re heading south on 535, once you approach Stoneybrook Parkway, we’re adding an additional right-turn lane
SEE LANES PAGE 4
Courtesy photo
Members of the freshman football team lifted Brandon Paulikas’ spirits during a recent hospital visit.
West Orange High freshman Brandon Paulikas is staying positive after a leukemia diagnosis last week. Classmates have started a #BrandonPStrong campaign to raise funds for medical expenses. SEE STORY PAGE 4.
Based on a New Year’s Resolution in 2007 and continuing through 2016, cyclist Sherry McMahon has ridden a total of 10,000 miles and raised more than $25,000 for animal rescue. Nicknamed the Rescue Rider, McMahon pledged to ride one mile on her bicycle for every dollar donated with a goal of 1,000 miles and $1,000 per year. She completed her goals in 2016 and increased donations to more than $3,500 this year, the largest annual amount to date. Rescue groups that have benefited this year include Candy’s Cats, The Haven for Injured and Orphaned Wildlife and the TREATS Program for teaching prisoners to train shelter dogs at The Transition House, a halfway facility of Osceola County.
‘Hiding dropouts’ is not the goal Orange County Public Schools was the subject of a story that alleged the district distorts graduation rates by pushing low-performing students into alternative schools. GABBY BAQUERO STAFF WRITER Gabby Baquero
Sunshine High School serves as a second choice for students who struggle at traditional high schools. The average student who enrolls at Sunshine reads at a fifth-grade level and has a 1.4 GPA.
Orange County Public Schools, the subject of a recent article published by ProPublica and USA Today, has maintained that sup-
pressing dropout rates and artificially boosting graduation rates is not part of its agenda. Getting students to graduate, however, is. SEE GRADUATION PAGE 6