News Briefs

+ Ranch IDA selects director finalists
Members of the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority board today selected six candidates to interview to become Lakewood Ranch Town Hall’s next executive director.

Candidates include: Laurence Arnold, of Parrish; Jim Gleason, of Ocoee; Laura Hannah, of Lake Worth;, Eva Rey, of Summerfield; Shane Crawford, of Lake Geneva, Wis.; and Interim Executive Director Steve Zielinski.

Interviews will be conducted June 10.

+ Planners consider Cooper Creek proposal
As Benderson Development takes steps to attract businesses to the University Parkway corridor, the company is seeking county approval to impact landscaping buffers along the roadway.

The Manatee County Planning Commission on May 12 recommended denial of Benderson’s proposal to allow buffers of varying widths between University Parkway and its commercial center, The Shoppes at University Center.

Benderson said a tenant is interested in expanding the space formerly occupied by Circuit City, but to make the deal viable, the company would have to encroach on the existing buffer.

Manatee County requires a 50-foot buffer that can be reduced in areas to as little as 20 feet to preserve native trees and plants.

+ Ranch ambassadors wins tourism awards
Lakewood Ranch’s Ambassador Team on May 12 was honored by the Sarasota County Visitors’ Bureau for its outstanding efforts in the tourism industry.

The bureau recognized all the ambassadors and some of their support staff as nominees at the National Tourism Week breakfast at Ed Smith Stadium.

Earning top honors were Greg Spring and Sherri Spanos.

Spring won for his guest service excellence in the “front of the house” category, while Spanos won for her guest service excellence in the “back of the house” category.

Lakewood Ranch ambassadors, work out of three offices within Lakewood Ranch and offer free driving tours of the community, maps and information and a big screen presentation about the history of the area and activities and amenities that are available.

+ Seniors improve on FCAT retakes
Manatee County School District seniors retaking the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test beat the state average in mathematics when it comes to scoring high enough to graduate.

Students must pass the reading and math portions of the FCAT to graduate high school.

This year, 63 12th-grade students were assessed in math with 22% earning a scale score high enough to meet the graduation requirement. Statewide, 7,084 seniors took the FCAT Retake Math Test, and 21% earned a passing score.

Of the 293 students taking the FCAT Retake Reading Test, 14% earned a scale score high enough to meet graduation requirements in reading. The state average was 15%.

+ Braden River VFW awards students, teacher
Veterans of Foreign Wars Braden River Post 12055 recently recognized three students as winners of the Patriots Pen Essay Contest.

Haile Middle School seventh-grade student Brianna McVaugh, eight-grader Amanda Lewis and home-schooled student Gabrielle Goldin each were awarded a check for $100 and a plaque for their essays.

McVaugh took the writing honor for a second year in a row.

The VFW also honored teacher Dana Mills as “Teacher of the Year.”

The Patriot’s Pen program is designed to foster patriotism by allowing middle school students to express their opinions on democracy based on an annual theme. This year’s theme was “Does patriotism still matter?” Students compete for prizes at the local, state and national levels.

More than 300 students from Haile entered the competition, and Mills, lingual arts department chair, sponsored the program at the school.