W E ST O RA N G E T I M E S &
Observer Celebrating 110 years in West Orange
Real Estate The Observer’s 2015 fall tour of new homes in West Orang e
INSIDE
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 82, NO. 44
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015
Mayoral race too close to call
YOUR TOWN
Ocoee mayoral candidates Rusty Johnson and Jim Sills will advance to a runoff.
AMY QUESINBERRY RHODE COMMUNITY EDITOR OCOEE With only 120 votes sepa-
rating candidates Rusty Johnson and Jim Sills, the election for Ocoee’s next mayor will go to a
Nov. 24 runoff election. According to unofficial results on the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website, Johnson received 1,186 votes (47.86%), giving him slim lead over Sills’
1,066 votes (43.02%). Ronney Oliveira received 226 votes (9.12%). However, with three candidates running, Johnson would have had to receive at least 50% of the votes
to be declared the winner. With 2,478 votes cast, that means he needed only 53 more votes. “It was a good race,” Johnson SEE MAYOR PAGE 4 Courtesy photo
SERVICES FOR WILLIE A. WELCH
BACK
Willie A. Welch, a longtime town commissioner for Oakland, died Saturday, Oct. 24, after a long illness. He was 69. Visitation and viewing is from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at Anointed Ground Church, 304 E. Oakland Ave., Oakland. Funeral services are at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Oakland Presbyterian Church, 2128 E. Oakland Ave.
IN TIME
Attendees of Oakland’s Heritage Festival Oct. 24 enjoyed an afternoon chock full of history and familiy fun.
WATERING TO CHANGE NOV. 1 Mandatory one-day-aweek watering restrictions will begin on Sunday, Nov. 1, for Orange County residential and non-residential properties. Orange County owners must adhere to the following watering schedule: • Homes with odd-numbered or no addresses water only on Saturday; • Homes with even-numbered addresses water only on Sunday; and • Non-residential properties water only on Tuesday. Water only when needed and not between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Watering is restricted to one hour per zone. For more information, call (407) 254-9850.
Photos on 8.
Jason Isla led the drum circle at this year’s Oakland Heritage Festival, which took place Oct. 24 at Speer Park.
ARTS+CULTURE
Commission opens with non-religious invocation Winter Garden resident Edward Lynch delivered the remarks Oct. 22. PETER M. GORDON CONTRIBUTING WRITER WINTER GARDEN Six months after
Orlando Clay Guild bonds through creativity, service.
PAGE 13
Michael Eng
voting 4-1 to restore the practice of opening each City Commission meeting with a prayer, Winter Garden resident Edward Lynch opened the Oct. 22 meeting with the city’s first non-religious invocation. Two days before this meeting, Andrew Seidel, an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foun-
dation, sent Mayor John Rees a letter about the city’s invocation policy. Seidel wrote: “We understand that Winter Garden’s City Commission now has a diversity of speakers on its list of invocators, including atheists and other non-religious viewpoints, but that thus far all invocations have been Christian.” Seidel said the foundation currently was in litigation against Brevard County regarding this issue, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church & State. SEE COMMISSION PAGE 4
Local swimmers Katie Schorr and Grace Khunduang earn national recognition. See story on 19.