E A ST COUNTY
Observer Lakewood Ranch’s weekly newspaper since 1998
New fireworks show goes forth. SEE PAGE B1
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
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FREE THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017
VOLUME 19, NO. 33
211 million reasons to improve The half-cent sales tax leads to $211 million in upgrades in Manatee County. SEE PAGE 3
THE BEST NEST
YOUR TOWN
Courtesy Photo
Recipe for success Lakewood Ranch resident Jaryd Hearn (above) is now spicing up the Polo Grill and Bar kitchen. Hearn spent the past two years working at the Alinea restaurant in Chicago. Alinea is one of 13 restaurants in the U.S. to earn the Michelin three-star rating. Hearn was hired to be the executive chef at Polo Grill and Bar.
Lakewood Ranch family loving life with a rescue macaw. SEE PAGE 8
Berkley Mason
Lakewood Ranch’s Angelique Still rescued Tilla, her pet macaw, three years ago.
A+E Dancing through life INSIDE
Growth on a roll East County’s new construction drives increase in county’s tax rolls. SEE PAGE 5
Courtesy Photo
Lemur lessons
Pam Eubanks
Eagle Trace is just one of the rapidly growing East County communities that has pumped value into the county’s tax rolls.
Garrett Fendrick and Nic Sevarino (above), who will be sixth graders at Gilbert W. McNeal Elementary School next semester, visited the Myakka City Lemur Reserve on June 25 after their engineering class built a feeder system for the lemurs. “I can’t believe how fast they figured out how to use the feeder,” Fendrick said. “They are very smart.”