News Briefs

+ LECOM honored for work
The “com” in LECOM — the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine — also stands for community.
The college was named to U.S. President Barack Obama’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the eighth consecutive year.

The award recognizes institutions that make commitments to improving education for children and students grades pre-kindergarten through undergraduate.

Schools receive the award for service in volunteering, civic engagement and other involvement in the community based on four categories — general community service, interfaith community service, economic opportunity and education.

During the 2013-14 school year, LECOM’s medical, pharmacy and dental students in Bradenton, Erie and Greensburg, Pa., contributed 300,000 hours of community and volunteer service.

+ Bishop retiring from CDD 5
Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 5 Secretary Tom Bishop is retiring from his board seat, effective in March.

Bishop, a former chairman of the board, has been a board member for six years.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall is now accepting resumes from interested residents living in CDD 5 to fill Bishop’s seat.

The term of the seat expires in November 2016.

Interested candidates must be legal residents of Florida and registered to vote in Manatee County.

The deadline for submitting resumes for the vacancy is 5 p.m. Feb. 19. The CDD 5 Board of Supervisors will interview applicants at a later date.

Resumes may be emailed, mailed or hand delivered to Lakewood Ranch Town Hall Clerk to the Boards Jessica Mears at 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202. Mears can also be reached at 907-0202, Ext. 247 or [email protected].

+ New name, new feel
At its job fair Dec. 10, Manatee Technical Institute featured many employers seeking members for their workforce.

The technical school also showed off its new name — Manatee Technical College.

At its Dec. 9 meeting, the Manatee County School Board unanimously approved to change MTI’s name.
The change follows Sarasota, Citrus, Pinellas and other counties’ school boards that changed their technical institutions to technical colleges.

According to the school district, changing the name to “technical college” will lend the school greater credibility; many employers, educators, students and parents place a greater value on college rather than vocational education.

This is the fourth time the school has changed names in 51 years. The institution was named MTI in 1997.

 Meetings & agendas
County offices will be closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 in observation of the holidays.

Public parks, preserves and beaches will remain open during the county’s closures.

Garbage, yard waste and recycling will not be collected on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Collection services are postponed one day for the remainder of the week until Jan. 5.

Public libraries will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Day.