News Briefs

+ Planning commission discusses SMR project
The Manatee County Planning Commission considered changes to the Lakewood Centre Development of Regional Impact in Lakewood Ranch Nov. 8, at a meeting held at the county’s administrative building.

“It is a minor update and a clean-up to the existing approvals,” said Todd Pokrywa, vice president of planning for Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch. “No new density or entitlements are being sought.”

The changes, generally, involve an update to the project’s phasing and build-out dates, allow design flexibility and modify affordable housing conditions, among other changes, Pokrywa said. 

The item was under the consent agenda.

Other regular agenda items included a county-initiated water supply facilities work plan and proposed developments off County Road 675 and Mendoza Road.

The items soon will go before the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners for approval.

+ Osteopathic med school enrollment up
Total enrollment at the nation’s osteopathic medical colleges climbed 4.5% this year, with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, or LECOM, having the largest enrollment of any medical school in the country.

According to a press release, total enrollment at the nation’s osteopathic medical schools tops 21,600. LECOM, with campuses in Bradenton, Eric, Pa., and Greensburg, Pa., enrolls 2,156 of those students.

Today, 20% of all U.S. medical students are attending osteopathic medical schools.

That number is expected to increase as three new colleges of osteopathic medicine open their doors in 2013, with several others in the planning stages.

LECOM’s Bradenton campus received approval for a class-size increase in 2011 and currently has 707 osteopathic medical students enrolled.

+ Accident due to dropped cell phone
According to a report by Florida Highway Patrol, a Nov. 6 crash killed a 66-year-old man driving a Chevy Suburban.

An 18-year-old girl driving a Ford Expedition traveling south on I-75 dropped her cell phone and reached to pick it up. Doing so, she entered the inside shoulder of the road, over-corrected and overturned her vehicle.

The Chevy Suburban struck the overturned Ford. Then, a freight truck driven by a 37-year-old man also ran into the crash site. The other two drivers were transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

Meetings & Agendas
• Lakewood Ranch Community Development Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5 and Inter-District Authority Board Agenda Review Meetings — start at 8 a.m. Oct. 18, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.
• Manatee County School Board Meeting — 5:45 p.m. Nov. 20, at the School Board Administration Building, 215 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.