E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
DERBY DAMES PAGE 1B
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 17, NO. 25
FREE
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THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
Manatee school board seeks lesson on unity
Funding won’t be ready until October, but organizers hope to see the project sprout sooner rather than later. PAM EUBANKS SENIOR EDITOR
— Lakewood Ranch resident Carolyn LowryNation is eager to get her hands dirty, and she’s convinced others feel the same way. As she and Greenbrook resident Joe Sidiski sat around a conference table at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall’s operations building April 28, they shared with residents their visions for bringing a community garden to Greenbrook
LAKEWOOD RANCH
SEE GARDEN PAGE 6A
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dent Norman Nelson settles into the second row of the meeting room at the School Support Center on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Nelson, an education enthusiast who has attended Manatee County School Board meetings since the late 1990s, opts for the second row because he doesn’t enjoy the ringside view of what he sees as a divisive school board. “We have five individuals with five agendas and they don’t come together,” Nelson said. “They fight over those agendas, and the students are left behind.” School board member Karen Carpenter addressed the board’s divide in a statement she emailed to colleagues and constituents
Courtesy photo
As the Manatee County School District embarks on a superintendent search, school board members hope the journey will bring the group closer together.
“We weren’t elected together as a pack. But we have to learn to work together and focus on educating students again.”
April 27. “It’s clear this board is dysfunctional and lacks the organization and leadership to get anything accomplished,” Carpenter wrote. “I am constantly receiving calls from (outraged) county commissioners, parents, teachers, retirees and business leaders.
– Karen Carpenter, School board member
SEE SCHOOLS PAGE 3A
YOUR TOWN
Lakewood Ranch Boulevard
ROOM TO GROW 75
OVERPASS
Polo Club
VILLAGES OF LAKEWOOD RANCH SOUTH
Tatum Ridge Golf Links
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UNIVERSIT Y PKW Y.
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SMR hopes construction of Mall at UTC the Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Lorraine Road extensions can rev up in early 2016 to accommodate growth.
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EAST COUNTY — River Club resi-
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Attendees go all in to support A Life Story Foundation.
STAFF WRITER
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CASINO NIGHT
AMANDA SEBASTIANO
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Greenbrook plots community garden concept
The resignation of Superintendent Rick Mills is the latest test school board members face as they struggle to work together.
NCH B L V D. L A KE W OOD R A
Pam Eubanks
Gardeners Out East Club President Carolyn Lowry-Nation and Greenbrook resident Joe Sidiski are leading the charge for the community garden.
SMR PROPERTY LINE
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SPECIAL DELIVERY Want to help feed the area’s needy? It’s as easy as putting a stamp on an envelope. The National Association of Letter Carriers once again will hold its Stamp Out Hunger food drive. Residents are encouraged to place a bag of non-perishable food times at their mailboxes the morning of May 9. They also can drop off donations at five Manatee County post offices, including the downtown Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Braden River and 57th and 75th Street locations. Stamp Out Hunger is the nation’s largest all-volunteer one-day food collection effort. It takes place in more than 10,000 locations across the country to raise national awareness about community hunger.