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EAST COUNTY
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
NEWS
Willis Smith Construction throws party. PAGE 9A
OUR TOWN
+ Garden Club hosts afternoon tea Members of the Lakewood Ranch Garden Club enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of finery at the club’s recent Afternoon Team at Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club. More than 100 guests enjoyed tea, scones and other delicacies. They also experienced an educational presentation of floral design by Betty Call, who used plant material grown in our part of Florida. Co-chairs of the event were Lucrezia Lackey and Chris Czarnowski. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Garden Club’s Native Garden and Arboretum at Lake Uihlein at LWR Town Hall.
Thursday, MARCH 15, 2012
neighborhood
SPORTS
Ponies, puppies schmooze at Sarasota Polo Club. PAGE 1B
Braden River edges Lakewood in dual meet. PAGE 13A
By Pam Eubanks | News Editor damages beauty and the feet
Parents of bus crash victims to file lawsuit against district Eight families of students involved in a Jan. 5 bus crash have notified Manatee County Public Schools they plan to take the district to court. MANATEE COUNTY — Eight families of students injured in a Jan. 5 bus crash have notified the Manatee County School District they intend to sue. Manatee County School Board attorney John Bowen said under the state’s sovereign immunity
statute, parties are required to notify the district about their intent to pursue legal action. “We have six months to evaluate that and either tell them we’ll settle or we’re not going to pay,” Bowen said. “If six months goes by, and we don’t respond to
them, then they can sue. “We’re offered to pay all their expenses and everything so we recognize we are responsible,” he said, adding the district already has agreed to pay all medical expenses of students involved in the crash and does not plan
to respond, at this time. “Those who haven’t gotten an attorney, we’re going to pay anyway. Those who got an attorney, we’re going to pay, but the attorney is going to get 25% (as per state statute).”
SEE CRASH / PAGE 11A
case closed
SHAMROCK SHAKE
By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
Parties settle burned home suit
A trial regarding the Greenbrook home that burned down in 2008 was slated to begin this month.
+ UPCC women celebrate the arts Fifty members of the University Park Women’s Club enjoyed a cultural extravaganza during their recent trip to St. Petersburg. Attendees began their day at the Salvador Dali Museum, home to the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by the late Spanish surrealist. They then walked to the Vinoy Hotel restaurant, where they enjoyed lunch, before heading to The Morean Art Center and a tour of the Chihuly Collection. “Nothing prepared us for the magnificent show of color in the glass creations on display,” UPWC Historian Katy Arrillaga says of the collection. “It was a brilliant and stunning day, leaving us in wonder of it all.” Co-chairs for the event were Shirlain Hayes and Judy Jones.
Pam Eubanks
Tara Elementary School Principal Dr. Linda Fouse greeted students from atop the school’s roof dressed as a leprechaun, complete with striped stockings and a tall hat March 10. The stunt was a reward to students for raising more than $1,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
awareness By Pam Eubanks | News Editor
K2 crisis hits close to home An “herbal incense” known as K2 or K2 Spice is addictive and is causing worrisome side effects in those taking it. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently banned the product for six more months. LAKEWOOD RANCH — As a registered nurse and the director of the cardiac cath lab at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, East County resident Jan Froelich works to save lives every day. But she’d never felt as hopeless as she did the day she held her teenage son in her
arms as he asked for help fighting the use of an herbal mixture known as K2 or K2 Spice. “I help people every day with heart disease, but I couldn’t help my son,” Froelich said, her eyes welling up with tears.
SEE K2 SPICE / PAGE 11A
LAKEWOOD RANCH — Just weeks before a trial was to begin over a home that burned down in Greenbrook in late 2008, parties in the case have settled the matter. Homeowners Chrissie and Samuel Budd and their home insurance company, First Community Insurance Co., have reached a confidential settlement, the Budds’ attorney Jose Sosa said. “Both parties were suing each other, and the case is being dropped, pursuant to the terms of the settlement,” Sosa said, declining further comment. “Part of the settlement is confidentiality.” The Budds’ home at 6216 Macaw Glen in the Greenbrook Haven community caught fire Sept.
SEE TRIAL / PAGE 11A
INDEX Classifieds ........ 17B Cops Corner..........6A
Crossword.......... 16B Opinion.................8A
Real Estate........ 12B Neighborhood...... 1B
Sports................ 13A Weather............. 16B
Vol. 13, No. 11 | Two sections YourObserver.com