News Briefs

APRIL FOOLS —

+ Mud wrestling coming to Premier
When Premier Sports Campus opening in Lakewood Ranch, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch officials remarked that it could accommodate any sport that could be played on grass.

Turns out, it even is more versatile than that.

The crown jewel of East County sports will host its first Lakewood Ranch Bikini Mud Wrestling XXXtravaganza at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 8. The event will feature bracket-style tournament of female mud wrestlers from throughout the Southeast and serve as a qualifier for the national Mud Wrestling Association championships in October.

The tournament will take place in a custom mud pit, which will be dug out of the center of Field 1. Before the matches begin, Lakewood Ranch children will be able to hunt for Easter eggs in the pit along with the wrestlers.

“We really want to show how mud wrestling can be a family-friendly event,” said Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Association Director Laurie Basilogney. “We hope this becomes an annual event — and another feather in Lakewood Ranch’s cap.”

+ Jerry Springer enters local race
The race for Manatee County supervisor of elections just got hotter.

Jerry Springer, who recently closed on a home in The Concession, filed documents last week as a candidate for the seat being vacated by longtime Supervisor of Elections Bob Sweat. A campaign official for Springer said the popular talk-show host and former Cincinnati mayor wants to give back to his hometown and, of course, add some levity to local politics.

“Mr. Springer loves politics, mudslinging and circuses,” the official said. “This race is the ideal combination of all three.”

+ Occupy Myakka movement halted
The grassroots Occupy Myakka movement was inadvertently — but unceremoniously — disrupted last week.

According to Manatee County Sheriff’s Office reports, three protesters handcuffed themselves to an old sofa situated under the blinking light in the middle of town. But a county-contracted Waste Pro Management driver did not see them and hauled the sofa — along with the protesters — away in his trash vehicle.

The three later were discovered at Waste Pro’s Bradenton headquarters. They were dazed but unharmed.

“They just blended right in,” the visibly shaken driver told the East County Observer.

Although all parties involved were Caucasian, Occupy Movement leaders call the incident and act of racism and vowed retaliation.

School Board OKs creative cuts

Following tumultuous budget discussion last month, the Manatee County School Board on Monday approved unanimously several creative cuts at schools district-wide.

At elementary schools, all crayons will be broken in half to effectively double the use of each box. District officials say custodial staff has been monitoring the trash and discovered half-used crayons often were discarded.

“That’s money going directly into the trash,” said outgoing School Board member Harry Kinnen.

The initiative will save an estimated $15,000 per year, leaders said.

At middle and high schools, the district will institute mandatory naptimes from 1 to 2 p.m. daily throughout the campuses. During this time, all lights and air-conditioning will be shut off, saving an estimated $23,000 each school year.

District-wide, Manatee also will adopt a no-new-textbook policy. Instead of purchasing textbooks, the district will ask each of its teachers to build curriculum for his or her classroom. The policy is similar to one already in place in Texas public schools.

Officials say the cuts — although seemingly small — will yield big savings that will be used to bolster administration and supervisory salaries at the district’s downtown Bradenton headquarters.