E A ST COUNTY
Observer
This cat can throw a party.
Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
PAGE 1B
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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FREE THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2021
VOLUME 23, NO. 18
YOUR TOWN Tick, tock. Turn forward your clock! Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. March 14.
Willis Smith finishes Waterside Place hub
A year of COVID-19:
SCHOOLS ADAPT Parents, teachers say the School District of Manatee County has navigated the pandemic well. SEE PAGE 3A
Landscaping and roads will complete the entertainment and restaurant center. PAGE 8A
Liz Ramos
Egg-cellent display For the past 34 years, River Walk Meadows’ Ingrid Wach has hand-painted egg shells for Easter that she gives to friends. One of the eggs she did for this year was painted blue with purple and white dots, and she added it to her collection of eggs hanging from the chandelier above her kitchen table and the wooden tree her husband, Jerry, built as a display. “We eat a lot of scrambled eggs,” Jerry Wach said with a laugh.
Jay Heater File photo
Gene Witt Elementary third grader McKinley Bradshaw and teacher Cheryl Bulfin wear masks that became a way of life in School District of Manatee County schools.
Brendan Lavell
Small gains in cell coverage
Less pressure to exercise Watercrest resident Bruce Baldwin used to love rollerblading. Then he had knee replacement surgery, and he needed to find a way to exercise without putting too much stress on his knee. Now the 71-year-old uses a StreetStrider, which he described as an elliptical bike on wheels, to move around Lakewood Ranch. “It’s way more fun than using a regular elliptical,” Baldwin said. “There’s a learning curve to it. But once you’re used to it, it’s easy.”
File photo
Lakewood Ranch resident Philip Cabibi says that in 2018 he bought a signal booster, so his cellphone would work in his home. Some residents are still struggling with dropped calls and poor coverage in their homes.
Lakewood Ranch residents struggle with cellphone service despite improvements. SEE PAGE 5A
Willis Smith’s Nathan Carr says the Waterside Place buildings are ready for businesses to begin interior work.
A+E
Feel-good concert. SEE PAGE 6B