Observer
EAST COUNTY
SPORTS:
OPENING DAY!
A&E SUPER NATURALS
INSIDE: HOME STRETCH
In this issue Sarasota Opera’s Little Leaguers take supernumeraries the fields out east. 15A pipe up. SEE 8A
John Neal announces plans to complete University Park. 1B
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
SHORT STACK
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2011
on alert
FIGHT OF THEIR LIVES
Abduction attempt rattles Lakewood
KUDOS, QUOTABLES AND COMMUNITY
+ Ranch senior named finalist
Lakewood Ranch High School’s Kathryn Hancock was one of only four students in Manatee County Public Schools to be named as a 2011 National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Sean McNulty, of Manatee High and Sydney Moninger and Amber Wolabaugh, both of Southeast High, also earned the honor in Manatee schools. Cardinal Mooney High School’s Daniel Elbrecht also was named a finalist. The seniors now have the opportunity to win some of the 8,400 National Merit Scholarships, totaling more than $36 million, to be given out this spring.
Residents in Summerfield Crest say a man in a white van attempted to abduct several children Feb. 18. By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
Michael Eng
Every Day is a Win
Ivette and Anthony Littlejohn surround their son, Adrian, with positive energy as he undergoes chemotherapy.
+ Waxler stars at Rays event
River Club resident Levi Waxler made his reporting debut during the annual Rays Fan Fest event Feb. 19. There, Levi and Tampa Bay Rays announcer Rusty Kath stood outside Gate No. 1, greeting fans and asking them questions such as “What is a 4-6-3?” and “Who invented the curve ball?” Film crews spent two hours filming, and the skits will be viewed on the Jumbotron during the Ray’s season. SEE SHORT STACK / PAGE 4A INDEX Business Directory ...............12B Classifieds.............................12B Cops Corner ...........................5A Crossword ............................11A Neighborhood ........................1B Real Estate ............................9B Sports...................................15A Vol. 12, No. 8 Two sections www.YourObserver.com
ADRIAN PROJECT DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT
The Lakewood Ranch High School Student Government Association is dedicating its Second Annual Dodgeball Tournament to the Adrian Project. All proceeds from the event will benefit Adrian Littlejohn’s trust fund.
WHEN: 7 p.m., Feb. 24 WHERE: Lakewood Ranch High School, 5500 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. COST: Admission is $2; donations also will be accepted INFORMATION: Kent Ringquist, ringquik@manateeschools. net
Adrian Littlejohn, 1, already is showing he inherited strength from his parents, Lakewood Ranch coach Anthony Littlejohn and his wife, Ivette. Just last November, Adrian was diagnosed with AT/RT, a rare pediatric cancer. He has been fighting ever since. By Michael Eng | Executive Editor
ST. PETERSBURG — A mother knows. When Adrian Shawn Littlejohn bound into the world on Feb. 4, 2010 — a full three weeks early — mom Ivette Littlejohn knew he was the perfect baby boy. And when his smile could light up an entire room, Ivette knew Adrian had the same charisma as his father, Lakewood Ranch High School football and track coach Anthony Littlejohn. And when Adrian took to sitting, crawling and rolling over, his mom knew: This was one strong little boy.
A mother knows. And on that day, Nov. 24, 2010 — the day before Thanksgiving — Ivette knew something was wrong when she heard Adrian’s cry that morning. That horrible cry. “It was a different cry,” she says. “It wasn’t his normal cry.” In the days before, Ivette had noticed a difference in her son. The normally energetic boy who had taken to crawling and rolling was lethargic, unable to move. His pediatrician thought it was constipation. An ER physician said it was an ear infection and air in his stomach.
SEE ADRIAN / PAGE 2A
LAKEWOOD RANCH — It was any parent’s worst nightmare. Summerfield Crest resident Jennifer Venditti had just arrived home with her 7-year-old daughter Feb. 18 from violin practice. As Venditti gathered their belongings, her daughter crossed the street to visit with a friend. Just then, an unmarked white van crept up the street. Venditti watched in horror as a man got out of the van and called out to the girls. She sprinted toward them and ushered them back inside the home. “I don’t know what drew my attention to it,” Venditti said of the van. “He was driving too slow. It was an unmarked vehicle.” Just minutes after the incident in front of Venditti’s home, the man again exited his vehicle in front of a home across the street and waved money at another young boy, who was playing in his driveway with his bicycle. “The guy actually walked up into my yard,” father Robert Speir said. “I can’t think of any logical reason someone would come up (and offer a kid money). It was a shocker when I heard that.”
SEE VAN / PAGE 4A
SUSPECT’S DESCRIPTION
Witnesses describe the driver as a black male in his late 30s or early 40s. He was wearing a blue buttonup shirt. The vehicle is a white, unmarked van with windows on all sides. The van had a North Carolina license plate with a V, Z and C in its first three letters.