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Arts & Entertainment

Five students involved with WBTT programs have earned funds toward artistic education and training

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Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe is proud to announce it has, for the sixth consecutive year, awarded WBTT Artist Development Scholarships to deserving students. This year, WBTT has provided five young, aspiring artists – four continuing students and one receiving a new award – with scholarships of $2,000 each.

This year's recipients are: Miracle Deveaux, a recent graduate of Booker High School who is studying Music Production at the University of North Florida – Dr. Robert Mayer and Dr. Jody Beresford Scholarship; Astrid McIntyre, who will be completing her studies in Commercial Music at Southeastern University in the coming school year – Marian Moss Scholarship; Amillia Samuels, who is entering her second year of studies in Contemporary Commercial Music at the University of South Florida – Steve and Shari Ashman Scholarship; Zion Thompson, who will complete his studies in Theatre at State College of Florida in the coming year – Charles and Susan Wilson Scholarship; and Canela Vasquez, who will complete her studies in Digital Communications/Multi-Media Journalism in the coming year – Kitty and John Cranor Scholarship.

All five of the scholarship recipients participated in WBTT’s Stage of Discovery musical theatre intensive program. McIntyre has returned for the past several years as a teacher in the Stage of Discovery program; Deveaux served as an intern with WBTT; Samuels has performed in various WBTT community outreach programs; and Thompson and Vasquez performed in several WBTT mainstage productions.

"Through our youth training programs and professional performance opportunities, we are honored to help young, aspiring artists to hone their skills and receive guidance and support to assist them on their educational and career journeys,” said WBTT Founder/Artistic Director Nate Jacobs. "We are very grateful to the supporters who have made it possible for us to contribute financially to the education of these students and look forward to seeing their achievements in the years ahead."

Since the inception of WBTT’s scholarship program in 2019, eight have graduated from college thus far.

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To be eligible for a scholarship, a participant must be majoring or minoring in a performing arts field and have performed on the WBTT stage in at least two productions, worked at the theatre as an intern, performed in community outreach programs and/or been a participant in the Stage of Discovery summer musical theatre intensive program. Funds are disbursed directly to the educational institution the student is already attending or will be attending in the fall.

For more about WBTT, visit westcoastblacktheatre.org or call 941-366-1505.

About Westcoast Black Theatre TroupeThe mission of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe (WBTT) is to produce professional theatre that promotes and celebrates African American history and experience, engages a broad base of patrons and audiences, supports the development of a dynamic group of aspiring artists, and builds self-esteem in youth of color. Visit westcoastblacktheatre.org.

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Tropical Storm Debby has dumped so much rainfall in Manatee County, with record numbers of up to 21 inches in some areas, that it has forced officials to release water from the dam to ease the pressure.

What You Need To Know

On Saturday, county officials said they began releasing water from Lake Manatee Dam. Then on Monday, the county said they released more water beginning at 9:30 a.m., and once again at 11 a.m. and a third time at 2:30 p.m.

According to Manatee County, the average number for Lake Manatee to have in the dam is 44 feet of water, but it was at 48 feet at the peak of the storm.

There was an alert sent out to everyone’s phone, notifying them of the plans.

County officials said if they did not release the thousands of cubic feet of water, it would have been catastrophic.

“Our call center took over 2,200 calls in the last 72 hours. Additional 800 emergency calls and 900 non-emergency calls have been handled by that call center. Our flood management realized that it handled a 100-year flood. This is a 100-year flood that we’ve had this during this storm and our dam at Lake Manatee did its job,” said Manatee County District 4 Commissioner Mike Rahn.

“It came up too fast” John Mozima is a Bradenton resident has lived in his house by the Manatee River for 30 years. He says his home has never flooded until Monday when the county released water from Lake Manatee Dam. He doesn't have insurance so every cost will be out of pocket pic.twitter.com/8qG5aNgP6e

— Julia Hazel (@Julia_HazelTV) August 7, 2024

Manatee County officials said as of Tuesday morning, they had made more than 200 rescues for adults, children and pets. And as of Tuesday, the county received more than 2,200 calls from residents dialing 311.

U.S. Senator and former Florida Gov. Rick Scott spoke at a Manatee County Public Safety press conference Tuesday morning.

“Do everything you can to keep your family safe. Don’t take any risk. Don’t run. Don’t drive in standing water. Don’t touch a downed power line. The state’s saturated right now,” he said. “Even before this, the state was saturated. So, we’re going to see a lot more downed trees. Then there’s, unfortunately, going to be hazards out there.”

Of the many families impacted by the excess amount of water leaving the dam, some families say they think their home flooding could have been prevented.

‘Everything was under water’

John Mozina is a Bradenton resident who has lived by the Manatee River for 30 years. He said on Monday night, he, his son and family members saw the water flow into their home, and then saw his neighbors around him also impacted. Their entire area surrounding them has flooded.

Until Mozina’s home is safe again, his two dogs will be temporarily staying with his daughter and grandchildren.

“I’m taking them to a safe place,” he said.

Mozina’s entire driveway was flooded, so the only way to get to his house was by boat.

“It’s heartbreaking. You know, everything you work for in our house and all of our stuff — most of it is ruined,” he said.

Spectrum Bay News 9 took a ride with Mozina on his boat and were several feet above his driveway. He said it is because of the water that was released from Lake Manatee Dam.

“I’ve been dealing with it for 30 years. We have a problem with our dam. No one does nothing about it,” he said.

“Im taking them to a safe place.” John Mozina’s Bradenton home flooded a foot in his home. He says it’s from the water being released from Lake Manatee Dam so now he is taking his dogs to safety, temporarily leaving them with his daughter and grand kids. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/XefUHtfLAy

— Julia Hazel (@Julia_HazelTV) August 7, 2024

While he’s lived at his Bradenton home next to the Manatee River for 30 years, he said this is the worst flooding he’s ever experienced.

“Everything was under water,” he said.

It had never seeped into his house until Monday night.

“They put out a notification that they were going to open everything and they had to get rid of the water because they’re worried about the dam breaking. And it wasn’t about 30 minutes after that, it turned 10 times more turbulent coming out the river. And then the water just came up,” he said.

His family estimates it will cost them $20,000 just to repair the walls.

“It came to pass that you couldn’t move things that fast. A lot of it got ruined. Those couches are all sucked up. Ten tons of water last night. And all the foam and everything’s saturated. All you can do is throw it away,” he said.

He doesn’t have insurance, so the cost will come out-of-pocket.

“New furniture, new appliances, new this, that, and the other. It adds up. Especially now, everything’s expensive,” he said. “Life’s got its ups and downs. This is definitely a down, but we’ll come back. I just hope they can do something.”

He’s looking on the bright side of things, hoping this amount of water won’t end up in his home again.

Read the latest on the Herald-Tribune's Tropical Storm Debby live blog.

As the tropical system dubbed Invest97L continues its path towards Sarasota and Manatee counties, the National Hurricane Center now expects that "tropical storm watches or warnings could be required for portions of Florida later today."

If it develops further, it could become Tropical Storm Debby, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Sarasota experienced flooding and damage from a previous Tropical Storm Debby in 2012.

According to the latest NHC forecast, environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for additional development after it passes over or near Cuba, "and a tropical depression is likely to form this weekend over the Straits of Florida or eastern Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Peninsula."

➤ Track all active storms

➤ Spaghetti models for Invest 97L

"Regardless of development, heavy rains could cause areas of flash flooding across Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas through the weekend," says the NHC.

The storm now has a 60% for formation in the next 48 hours and a 90% chance of formation through the next seven days.

"Landfall could occur sometime between late Sunday and early Monday just about anywhere from Apalachicola to the Tampa Bay area," said National Weather Service forecasters.

What impacts will the storm have on Sarasota, Bradenton?

The forecast for the Sarasota area calls for more rain, but details are still in flux depending on the path of the storm.

"Regardless of development, this will bring plenty of deep tropical moisture across the area and allow for a slight risk of excessive rainfall across portions of the area over the weekend and into Monday, with the highest totals expected near the coast," according to the National Weather Service office in Tampa.

Gov. Ron DeSantis declares State of Emergency for Sarasota, Manatee counties

Gov. Ron DeSantis put the vast majority of Florida counties in a state of emergency in preparation for the potential landfall of a storm that could become the first "significant threat" to the state in what is expected to be a violent hurricane season.

"Based on meteorological reports, there is significant threat of heavy rainfall over most of the State of Florida, with the possibility of at least 12 inches of rainfall over the next seven days," reads the Thursday evening executive order. "The water tables in the affected areas are already nearing peak capacity and incoming heavy rainfall will cause significant river flooding that may last for several weeks."

The counties under a state of emergency: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.

The 2024 Summer Olympics are less than two weeks away.

The opening ceremony for this year’s Olympics is slated for July 26 in Paris, France.

And athletes with connections to Bradenton via IMG Academy are set to compete in basketball, golf, tennis and track and field.

Here’s a look at the former IMG Academy alums competing:

Malcolm Clemons, a first-team All-American for the University of Florida, is a Team USA track and field member. Clemons is a long jumper.

He’s the only IMG Academy alum on Team USA’s track team. Two other former Ascender track stars are representing other nations. They are sprinters Davonte Howell (100 meters, Cayman Islands) and Rikkoi Brathwaite (100 meters, British Virgin Islands).

The men’s long jump qualifying round is Aug. 4, with the medal round scheduled for Aug. 6. The 100-meter dash’s first round for the men is Aug. 3, with the semifinal and medal rounds slated for Aug. 4.

Bradenton native Nelly Korda, the No. 1-ranked women’s golfer, is defending her 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medal.

On the men’s golf side, Byeong-Hun An, an alum of the defunct Bradenton Prep, joins fellow IMG alums Cristobal del Solar, Emiliano Grillo, C.T. Pan and Nico Echavarria in the Olympic field.

An (Korea), Grillo (Argentina) and Pan (Chinese Taipei) are competing in this week’s Open Championship, the final major on the men’s golf calendar, in Scotland.

Pan won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The men’s and women’s Olympic golf tournaments are contested on Le Golf National, a course near Versailles that hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup.

The men’s event is Aug. 1-4, while the women’s tournament is Aug. 7-10.

Del Solar is representing Chile and Echavarria plays for Colombia.

Another individual sport, tennis, has two IMG alums competing. Danielle Collins represents the United States and Kei Nishikori represents Japan.

The Olympic tennis schedule runs July 27 through Aug. 4.

And Dwight Powell, an NBA player with the Dallas Mavericks, is an IMG Academy alum playing for Canada in men’s basketball.

Canada’s opening group game is against Greece on July 27.

Bradenton Herald

941-745-7017

Sports reporter Jason Dill has covered high school, college and pro sports since joining the Bradenton Herald in 2010. He’s won Florida Press Club awards for sports feature and column writing. He currently writes college and pro sports stories for the McClatchy East Region real-time team.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Halfacre Construction Company, a Lakewood Ranch-based commercial construction company, was recently awarded a contract for construction management at-risk services for the 75th Street West Improvements project for Manatee County.

The $24 million project includes work at 75th Street West from 20th Avenue to Manatee Avenue, a 75th Street West at Manatee Avenue – Turn Lane Improvement, and an 11th Avenue West and 75th Street West - Reclaimed Water Main Improvement.

“Our mission is to build and manage high-quality transportation infrastructure that enhances connectivity and improves the quality of life for our communities,” said Jack Cox, CEO of Halfacre Construction Company. “We aim to achieve this through innovation, sustainability and a relentless pursuit of excellence, and with decades of experience and a commitment to excellence, we are confident in delivering improvements that stand the test of time.”

The 75th Street West from 20th Avenue to Manatee Avenue project is a comprehensive initiative and will feature 100 feet of right-of-way due to property needs, sidewalks for pedestrians, buffer space between the road and the sidewalk, shared-use path for cyclists, raised median for safety and additional lanes for rush hour traffic.

Additionally, the planned intersection signalization at 18th Avenue West and the additional turn lanes for the northbound and southbound approaches to the Manatee Avenue intersection will improve traffic flow and safety.

The 11th Avenue West and 75th Street West Reclaimed Water Main Improvement project will consist of removing and upsizing the reclaimed water main along 11th Avenue West from 68th Street West to 75th Street West, continuing north along 75th Street West from 11th Ave to Manatee Avenue, and then on the north side of Manatee Avenue for approximately 70 feet.

Early work that includes shoulder closures and flagging operations may start as early as late September, with traffic control plans for other aspects of the project nearing completion. Extensive maintenance of traffic and lane closures during the construction at the intersection of 75th Street and Manatee Avenue will occur while the utilities are installed under Manatee Avenue. Drivers are urged to seek alternative routes during the construction project.

Specializing in construction management, Halfacre Construction Company has completed a number of roadwork projects consisting of new road builds, expansions and maintenance. Notable projects include Carlton Street Expansion in Hardee, Cheney Boulevard Extension in Charlotte, Gasparilla Roadway Expansion in Charlotte, Cocoanut Avenue in Sarasota, and Myrtle Street in Sarasota, among others.

About Halfacre Construction Company

Halfacre is the area's oldest, most established, locally owned and operated private commercial construction company. Their foundational strengths stand as evidence that its commercial and industrial construction projects will be delivered on time, within budget, with the utmost integrity and with the expertise and financial strength needed for success. Halfacre Construction also offers its expertise as a Green builder with the knowledge and abilities to produce viable, effective alternatives to reduce energy consumption and preserve natural resources. Staff includes U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) certified professionals who have demonstrated proficiency in green building practices and who possess a thorough grasp of the LEED Green Building Rating System. For more information, please visit www.HalfacreConstruction.com.

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[Photo 1 attached: Map of 75th Street West Improvements project]

For more information, please contact:

Candice Brown-McElyea

Candice@oneeightohpr.com