W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Celebrating more than 110 years in West Orange
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. FREE
VOLUME 86, NO. 15
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APRIL 11, 2019
THE SECRET IS OUT West Orange High is having a season no one expected. SEE 21.
Spring Fever blooms downtown Green thumbs flocked to the Bloom and Grow Society’s annual festival. SEE PAGE 9.
Full circle Eric Gutierrez
Landon Bliven has been battling leukemia since January 2017 and is currently in remission.
School launches Pennies for Patients Students will be raising money to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s program in honor of Landon Bliven.
Two decades after she wrote then-Vice President Al Gore, Winter Garden resident Laura Betts received the Green Ring Award from him.
ERIC GUTIERREZ STAFF WRITER
Oakland Avenue Charter students have joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Hero Squad as they kicked off a campaign to help change cancer. The school will be partici-
STORY ON PAGE 4. Laura Betts was presented the Green Ring Award at The Climate Reality Project’s recent climate and environmental justice training in Atlanta.
Photo by Troy Herring
YOUR TOWN WASTE COLLECTION IS SATURDAY Orange County residents have a chance to get rid of their household hazardous waste and electronic waste when the county holds a community collection event from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at the Orange County Services Building, at 475 W. Story Road, Ocoee. The county will accept items such as paint, cooking grease, household and pool chemicals, pesticides and herbicides, batteries, drain cleaners and electronics. For a complete list, call (407) 836-6601 or visit ocfl. net/HHW.
Ocoee to move forward with Election Day Massacre marker City staff is set to apply for a marker memorializing victims of the 1920 Election Day Massacre through Florida’s Historic Marker Program. DANIELLE HENDRIX BLACK TIE EDITOR
Ocoee commissioners decided April 2 to take the next steps toward erecting a marker dedicated to the victims of the Ocoee Election Day Massacre of 1920. The commission voted unanimously during the meeting to allow city staff to apply for a his-
torical marker for the massacre through the Florida Historic Marker Program and to include it in the capital-improvement plan for Lakefront Park. The event, also referred to in historical literature as the Ocoee Riots, resulted in black citizens being lynched for their attempt to SEE OCOEE PAGE 4
SPOTLIGHT
SEE PENNY PAGE 5
TWANG THANG The American Cancer Society celebrated its 20th Orlando Cattle Baron’s Ball. SEE PAGE 14.