W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Celebrating more than 110 years in West Orange
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VOLUME 85, NO. 37
#BAILEY STRONG
Foundation Academy community rallies around Bailey Trinder. SEE PAGE 17.
Ocoee budget passes its first reading GABBY BAQUERO NEWS EDITOR
Love of marine life inspires local boy. 3.
Americana the beautiful West Orange residents who lived here in the 1970s and ’80s might remember the iconic statue that stood in front of Griffith Tire. Once missing, she has been restored and is back in commission in Georgia. AMY QUESINBERRY
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SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
Commission favors raised millage rate Winter Garden leaders approved the first reading of an ordinance to raise the rate to 4.50 mills. ERIC GUTIERREZ STAFF WRITER
Winter Garden commissioners voted unanimously to approve the first reading of an ordinance that raises the city’s millage rate to 4.50 mills for fiscal year 2018-2019. Ordinance 18-29 proposes
COMMUNITY EDITOR
S
aturdays were special for Sherri Holton Todd when
SEE CITY PAGE 8
REAL ESTATE
she was a little girl, because
During the city of Ocoee’s first budget hearing, held Wednesday, Sept. 12, city leaders adopted a tentative proposed budget balanced at 5.5 mills and a tentative millage rate of 6.5.
that was the day she visited her
SEE OCOEE PAGE 6
Groveland, she was too small to
grandmother in Winter Garden. Sitting in the back of her family’s car as they rode from see over the front seat, so she always watched out the side
Hickory Hammock home tops weekly transactions. SEE PAGES 14-15.
TIE
window for the giant tire lady on State Road 50. That meant she was almost
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to Granny’s house. “The excitement of seeing her never ended,” Todd said. The 18-foot-tall Fiberglas icon stood in front of the former Griffith Tire Co. on what is now known as West Colonial Drive. The shop is now Clark Tire & Automotive.
SEE PAGE 4 Give Kids the World hosts Black & White gala. SEE PAGE 10.
YOUR TOWN NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS ANNOUNCED Orange County Public Schools is celebrating 33 seniors from 12 OCPS high schools chosen as semifinalists for the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program. Twelve hail from West Orange-area high schools: n Dr. Phillips — Talib Hakim and Peter Toma n Olympia — Brenden Berrios, Blake Bradford, Jake Shannin and Jasmin Singh n West Orange — Daniel Gordon, Catherine Kim, Shannah Nice and George Tomecek n Windermere — Kavya Shah and Griffin Willman These seniors now have an opportunity to continue in the competition for one of 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.