News Briefs 04.07.11

+ LECOM advances dental school construction
Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has hired two firms to assist with the design and construction of its new dental school campus, slated for property immediately north of its existing medical and pharmacy schools.

The College Board of Trustees has chosen Fawley Bryant Architects to design the building and Willis A. Smith Construction to manage the construction of the project.

The LECOM School of Dental Medicine is scheduled to enroll its first 100 students in 2012.

+ Lakewood CERT to host meteorologist
ABC 7’s Chief Meteorologist Bob Harrigan will be the keynote speaker at the Lakewood Ranch Community Emergency Response Team meeting.

The event, which will be held from 7-9 p.m., April 7, at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., will help prepare CERT volunteers and members of the community for the 2011 storm season.
Harrigan will speak on “the anatomy of a hurricane.”

Dick Haynes of Manatee County’s Emergency Management team, also will present “Should I leave or wait out the storm? If I leave, when should I leave?”

Lakewood Ranch CERT is a volunteer organization that helps the community during natural disasters and emergencies until first responders can arrive on scene. Volunteers are trained in basic first aid, fire safety, light search and rescue communications and emergency planning and preparedness.

+ Orioles donate to Miracle League
The Baltimore Orioles on March 24 presented a check for $26,000 to the Miracle League of Manasota.

The money, raised through the club’s Orioles REACH Birdland Golf Classic, play for the construction of a baseball field at Longwood Park. The field will be modified to accommodate those with special needs.

+ ShelterBox, Scouts launch partnership
ShelterBox USA, a disaster relief charity that provides shelter and equipment to disaster survivors, has joined forces with the Boy Scouts of America, launching a site for Scouts and other youth at www.youngshelterboxusa.org.

ShelterBox USA and the Boy Scouts of America will work together to promote the importance of shelter and humanitarian action following disasters, as well as how critical traditional Scout skills, including leadership, emergency preparedness, camping, safety, communications, and citizenship in the community, nation, and world, become during a disaster.

Boy Scout Troop 125 displayed the contents of the shelter box and passed out information about the new partnership during the Cub Parent Overnighter event March 26. About 300 individuals attended the event.

+ U.S. Rep. Buchanan promotes youth art
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan is encouraging local high school students to compete the 30th Annual Congressional Student Arts Competition.

“Each spring the U.S. House of Representatives sponsors an art competition for high school students,” Buchanan said. “This nationwide competition provides students with an excellent opportunity to showcase their talent.”

All high school students who reside in or attend school in Florida’s 13th District are eligible to participate and each school can submit up to three student entries.

Those entries will be judged by a curator for the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.

The top entry from the district will be displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol with work from winning entries from every congressional district nationwide. The winner also will earn a flight for two to Washington, D.C. to present his or her winning artwork.

Second through fourth place winners, as well as those who receive honorable mention, will have their work displayed in the Ringling Museum on Art for one year.

The deadline to submit artwork is 5 p.m., April 29.

All entries and paperwork should be delivered to one of Buchanan’s offices: 111 South Orange Avenue, Floor 2R, Suite 202W, Sarasota, FL 34236; or 2424 Manatee Ave. W., Suite 104, Bradenton, FL 34205
An awards ceremony and reception to honor participants will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m., May 6 at the Ringling Museum of Art.

For more information, contact Buchanan’s Bradenton office at.747.9081 or his Sarasota office at 951.6643.

+ River Landings home burglarized
A home in the River Landings community was burglarized of about $20,000 worth of jewelry and electronics in an incident Thursday afternoon.

A Manatee County Sheriff report states the suspect(s) entered a home in the 5900 block of 55th Drive East by breaking the front door latch and pulling the door open. The bottom latch was not secured.

Once inside, the suspect(s) stole about $20,000 worth of jewelry, including a necklace, earrings, bracelets, rings and a flat screen television.

It appears the suspect exited through the front door and fled in an unknown direction, the report states.

+ Volunteers needed for upcoming regattas
The Regatta Organizing Committee is seeking volunteers to help with a series of rowing regattas over the next few weeks.

The committee hosted the 2011 Western District (High School) Rowing Championships April 2-3 at Nathan Benderson Park.

Upcoming regattas include: Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association (April 8-9), Florida Sprints League (April 16), Florida State Rowing Association – High School (April 30 through May 1), and the Dragon Boat Festival (May 7).

Interested volunteers should contact Tom Evans, volunteer coordinator, at [email protected].

+ Manatee County chills energy bill
Manatee County officials hope a new energy efficient chiller connected to the county’s Historic Courthouse will save taxpayers an estimated $138,000 annually.

Workers recently removed two 120-ton, 42-year-old chillers and cooling towers on the roof of the Historic Courthouse and the extremely energy efficient chillers at the Manatee Judicial Center with the Manatee County Historic Courthouse.

The $1.5 million project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.

Officials expect additional savings resulting from the project will be $30,000 in annual maintenance contract costs, $32,000 in reduced man hour costs and $17,000 in reduced work orders. Additionally, the change will save 240,000 kilowatts per year and will reduce the county’s carbon emissions by 172 metric tons annually.

“This is going to be a tremendous savings to the county over the long haul, and zero local tax dollars were spent on this,” Manatee County Board of County Commission Chairman Carol Whitmore said. “It’s a great improvement for the environment, so this is truly a win-win situation.”
 

WITT PARENTS TO JOIN IN MUSIC CELEBRATION

As part of Music in Our Schools Month in March, parents of children at Gene Witt Elementary School got a taste of what their children were learning during music class.

In total, 212 parents and other visitors joined in on the fun, singing, playing instruments, listening, reading and moving with their children.

Highlights of the weeklong event included kindergarten students composing and performing an Elephant Parade song with their parents and second grade students and parents discussing sea life and learning an accompanying song, among other festivities.

“It was so rewarding to see the happy faces of children when they entered the classroom and found their special guests seated and waiting for them,” music teacher Julie Hebert said.