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EAST COUNTY
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IN FOCUS
free • Thursday, JULY 19, 2012
SPORTS
BUSINESS
Spyder Broussard Sarasota Heat cooks up a good 18U Gold team time at Polo Grill. captures national berth.
Ranch Alliance enjoys suds and networking.
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OUR TOWN + Braden River High secures championship Braden River High School’s Student Technology Association returned last week to Bradenton with a championship title. Twenty-two students, competing in 33 technology events, set a new record for number of awards earned for their school. Braden River seniors Jacob Kargauer, Aubrey Hudson, Griffin Rosnack, Ian Robins, Kirsten Evans, Sommer Godshall and Tyler Rohaley led the team to place 15 times in the top 10 nationwide, bringing home three national championships, two second-place trophies and three third-place trophies. Other Braden River students taking top-three finishes were Valeriya Mikhaylova, Derek Hintze, Joey Komor, Abigail Holmes, Blake Humbert, Stetson Gregorio, Mario Palmer, Sagar Shah and Paul Wagner.
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Heritage Harbour South By Alex Mahadevan | Staff Writer beauty and the feet
Budget talks prolong conflict A homeowners association said if the CDD changes its taxing method, it would drop a 2011 lawsuit, and some residents want a maintenance contract on the auction block. The Heritage Harbour South Community Development District Board will consider its financial model for the 2013 fiscal year Sept. 6, which will include a discussion that could dissolve a
lawsuit filed by a neighborhood association last year. However, the controversy revolving around a roughly $65,000 annual maintenance contract that has never been put out to bid will
iconic introduction
not be considered, after board members voted against awarding the 2013 fiscal year extension to the lowest bidder. Maggie Mooney-Portale, a lawyer with Lewis Longman and
+ Ranch Realtors donate to programs East County Realtors from Keller Williams Realty of Lakewood Ranch gave back to the community recently, with a donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County. Through the company’s Operation Give Back, Realtors hosted a car wash and a Pirates spring-training game tailgate party, which generated $300 for the Boys & Girls Clubs.
SEE SUIT / PAGE 9A
IN SESSION
By Pam Eubanks | Managing Editor
By Pam Eubanks | Managing Editor
LECOM welcomes first dental students Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Bradenton welcomed its inaugural class of dental students.
+ Palm-Aire ladies present donation As men teed off during Palm-Aire’s annual golf classic tournament, their spouses and their guests were busy with a ladies’ fashion show and participating in contest festivities that raised $1,250 for the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center of Sarasota (SPARCC). The event was co-chaired by Joy Pendergast and Marcia McCarthy. Pendergast is pictured with SPARCC’s director of community awareness, Jessica Hays, left.
Walker P.A, which represents the Lighthouse Cove Homeowners Association, said during a Monday, July 16 board meeting, the or-
Pam Eubanks
South Florida Museum Executive Director Brynne Anne Besio, a resident of Lakewood Ranch, loves to visit Snooty, who will celebrate his 64th birthday July 21. “He’s making history every day with his age,” she says.
Dynamic Duo
Together, Lakewood Ranch resident Brynne Anne Besio and Snooty, the South Florida Museum’s resident manatee, are raising awareness about manatees, the environment and Manatee County history. BRADENTON — As Brynne Anne Besio stands at the edge of the South Florida Museum’s aquarium, the museum’s resident manatee, Snooty, pulls himself partially out of the water, using his large flat flippers to lift himself up and lean closer to Besio. The Lakewood Ranch resident reaches out her hand to touch his
snout. In turn, Snooty draws her hand into his mouth: It’s feeding time, and Besio doesn’t flinch. Instead, she smiles and begins to talk about Snooty’s features — his soft skin and elephant-like nose … and his personality — inquisitive, people-oriented and steady. “He’s charming, and he’s
friendly,” Besio says. “He knows he’s a star, and he loves the attention. If he could climb out of that tank (to greet guests), he would.” As the executive director of the South Florida Museum, Besio’s role isn’t to care for Snooty, but she still visits him in the muse-
SEE SNOOTY / PAGE 9A
LAKEWOOD RANCH — The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s School of Dental Medicine officially has opened. LECOM officials welcomed the inaugural class of 100 students during a special ceremony Monday, July 16. Students report to class July 23. “LECOM’s heritage and our unparalleled ability to recruit, to instruct and to train firstrate osteopathic physicians, pharmacists — and now dentists — is designed to improve and to advance the health care and scientific environments of the 21st century,” LECOM Bradenton President and CEO Dr. John Ferretti said. Dental students will start their training with a two-week basic dental technician course to prepare them for working alongside dentists during early clinical experiences in private and community-based dental practices. The dental curriculum, in particular, includes components such as faculty-directed
SEE LECOM / PAGE 9A
INDEX Classifieds ........ 13B Cops Corner....... 10A
Crossword.......... 12B Neighborhood...... 1B
Opinion.................8A Real Estate........ 10B
Sports................ 11A Weather............. 12B
Vol.13, No. 29 | Two sections YourObserver.com