RESTLESS HEART COMING TO ORANGE BLOSSOM OPRY, A3 LEESBURG, FLORIDA Thursday, May 8, 2014 www.dailycommercial.com POLITICS: President’s climate rules DRAFT: Prospects ready to find pose problems for many Democrats, A7 out if the NFL will come calling, B1 LEESBURG Leads sought in missing person case High school MILLARD K. IVES | Staff Writer Wednesday with the haired, hazel-eyed according to police. [email protected] seniors see no family of a missing Trautie E. Rankin, “Detectives are While Leesburg 74-year-old wom- who may be suffer- analyzing informa- police have tem- an to help determine ing from demen- tion, seeking any- porarily halted a her whereabouts. tia, was last seen on thing or anyone that gains on exam ground search, they The 5-foot-5, April 27 at her Silver may point them in a RANKIN continued speaking 110-pound, gray- Pointe apartment, SEE MISSING | A2 KIMBERLY HEFLING Associated Press STATE RESULTS WASHINGTON — Less than a quarter of Handing out dismal Florida high school se- niors scored as profi- grades, the Nation’s Re- cient or advanced on port Card says Ameri- a national math exam. ca’s high school seniors 19%: Florida 12th lack critical math and grade students reading skills for an in- demonstrating sol- creasingly competitive id academic perfor- global economy. mance in subjects like Only about geometry and algebra. one-quarter are per- 36%: Students who forming proficiently or scored as proficient or better in math and just advanced in reading 4 in 10 in reading. And on the exam. they’re not improving, Florida’s math scores the report says, rein- were seven points low- forcing concerns that er than the national av- erage and two points large numbers of to- lower in reading. day’s students are un- prepared for either col- cent, a record. lege or the workplace. One possible ex- Scores on the 2013 planation is that low- MILLARD K. IVES/DAILY COMMERCIAL exam in both subjects er-performing stu- were little changed Amber Koester, the daughter of slain Lake County sheriff’s deputy Wayne Koester, clasps her hands in front of his wreath dents who in the past from 2009, when the during a Law Enforcement Officer Memorial ceremony in front of the Lake County Historic Courthouse late Tuesday evening. would have dropped The deputy’s sister, Paula Cassella, stands behind Koester as she prepares to place a rose on the wreath. National Assessment out of school are now of Educational Prog- remaining in the sam- ress was last given pling of students who to 12th-graders. The take the exam, said ‘THE PATH OF ALL DANGERS’ new results, released Wednesday, come John Easton, acting Lake County honors ULTIMATE SACRIFICE ■ Police Officer Jesse F. Beerbow- from a representative commissioner of the er, Leesburg Police Department, Feb. sample of 92,000 pub- Education’s Depart- Ten Lake County law enforcement 13, 1944, gunfire. ment’s National Cen- officers have died in the line of duty. lic and private school officers who died ■ Officer Clinton Murphy Hyde, students. ter for Education Sta- Their lives and service were celebrat- tistics. ed Wednesday at the memorial. Mount Dora Police Department, Dec. The report follows in the line of duty 1, 1959, gunfire. Wednesday’s results ■ Chief Deputy Bob C. Wilcox, Lake the just-released and ■ Deputy Jean Estelle Daugharty, seemingly more en- are likely to embold- MILLARD K. IVES |Staff Writer County Sheriff’s Office, July 4, 1919, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Jan. 24, en supporters of the [email protected] gunfire. couraging research 1993, car accident. that U.S. high school Common Core stan- ■ Chief of Police James Lee Hux, n a profession where 150 of ■ Deputy William James “Bill” Ma- graduation rates dards that are being their comrades die every year Leesburg Police Department, Feb. rie, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, 13, 1924, gunfire. in 2012 reached 80 per- SEE SCHOOLS | A2 in the United States, law en- March 19, 1994, aircraft accident. I ■ Town Marshal Robert L. Smith- forcement officers throughout ■ Deputy Wayne J. Koester, Lake Lake County took part in a na- wick, Groveland Police Department, County Sheriff’s Office, Feb. 9, 2005, April 2, 1929, gunfire tional memorial service Tuesday gunfire. FRUITLAND PARK night to honor those who have ■ Police Chief Bishop W. Haney, ■ Sheriff Christopher Cooper Dan- made the ultimate sacrifice. Leesburg Police Department, Oct. iels Sr., Lake County Sheriff’s Office, What looked like at least 300 10, 1937, car accident. Oct. 14, 2006, bus accident. Big changes ahead officers in dress uniforms — on down on the crowd, the event horses and motorcycles, in he- in harm’s way while working with licopters and gleaming squad violent criminals, or responding was marked with various speak- for downtown area cars, with many on foot — took to natural disasters and rescues. ers, prayers, a moment of si- “Every day they walk out that lence, a bagpipe salute, the play- STEVE FUSSELL City’s growth spurt part in the event in front of the Special to The Daily Commercial Lake County Historic Court- door, they put themselves in the ing of Taps and helicopters flying depends on missing house in Tavares. They gathered path of all dangers,” said King, above. There also was a “Vol- Late this summer, link, see Page A3. with friends and families of de- perched at the podium. ley of Three” in which seven of- Fruitland Park will roll ceased officers. According to the National Law ficers fired a modified version of out the first phase of recently approved a According to a ceremony pro- Enforcement Officers Memori- the 21-gun salute that had small an extended effort to $100,655 contract with gram, 10 officers have died in al Fund, a total of 1,501 law en- children covering their ears. remodel its downtown. BESH Engineering of the line of duty throughout Lake forcement officers died in the “This is a rededication to their Plans are in forma- Tavares to build the County since 1919. line of duty during the past 10 loved ones that they do in fact tive stages now but city water main from Ber- Keynote speaker for the event years, an average of one death live on,” King said. commissioners expect ckman Street west to was State Attorney Brad King, every 58 hours or 150 per year. Officers and family members to take up more details Josephine Street, and who oversees the 5th Judicial Cir- The Tavares ceremony blocked affiliated with each fallen officer in the coming weeks then south to Pine cuit, including Marion Coun- off the section of downtown in the county placed roses as the first project — a Ridge Dairy Road, ty, where a Florida Highway Pa- Main Street in front of the court- on wreaths erected in their water main down the where the construc- trol trooper was killed last week house and included a Mount memories. city’s main thorough- tion project will veer in a roadside crash. King told the Dora fire truck hoisting a giant One wreath was dedicated to fare — nears its start to the west to The Vil- crowd that law enforcement of- American flag into the sky. sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Koester, date. lages of Fruitland Park ficers frequently put themselves With a bright sun beaming SEE OFFICERS | A2 Commissioners SEE CHANGES | A2 INDEX DIVERSIONS C5 OBITUARIES A4 Vol. 138 LEGALS B8 SPORTS B1 TODAY’S WEATHER CLASSIFIED B8 No. 128 50¢ BUSINESS B5 VOICES A11 Detailed forecast 91˚/69˚ COMICS C4 3 sections CROSSWORDS B10 NATION A7 WORLD A10 on page A12. Mostly sunny A2 DAILY COMMERCIAL Thursday, May 8, 2014 Charges possible in jail explosion FLORIDA MELISSA NELSON-GABRIEL building’s basement. grossly negligent by not acting to en- LOTTERY Associated Press State Attorney Bill Eddins said sure the safety of people in the jail. MAY 7 late Tuesday that criminal negli- Inmates have said that they PENSACOLA — Criminal neg- gence charges were a possibility. smelled gas hours before the ex- CASH 3 ...............................................4-2-3 ligence charges are possible in a “That is an issue that clearly has plosion. Escambia County denied Afternoon ..........................................9-6-7 Florida jail explosion case if inves- to be examined,” he said. a request for recordings of phone PLAY 4 .............................................7-0-7-3 tigators find authorities failed to Eddins said an assistant state at- calls made from the jail by inmates Afternoon .......................................7-5-5-7 evacuate the building after smell- torney and an investigator from prior to the explosion, saying they MAY 6 ing gas, a state attorney overseeing his office have been assigned to are part of the ongoing investiga- the investigation said. work with the Florida fire marshal tion. The county also denied re- FANTASY 5 ........................... 7-14-19-21-28 The April 30 explosion at the Es- and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobac- quests to view surveillance vid- MEGA MONEY ........................ 5-13-27-42-5 cambia County Jail killed two in- co, Firearms and Explosives as they eo recorded by the jail before and MEGA MILLIONS .............. 5-15-16-46-49-26 mates, paralyzed a detention offi- comb through debris and try to find during the explosion. cer and injured about 200 others. cause of the blast. The jail was running on generator There were 600 inmates in the jail Eddins said the investigation will power at the time of the explosion when the explosion ripped through likely take months and that crimi- and one inmate and attorneys have THE NEWSPAPER OF CHOICE FOR LAKE AND SUMTER COUNTIES SINCE 1875 the bottom floor, a day after heavy nal charges would only be filed if it told AP that toilets were broken and The Daily Commercial (ISSN 0896-1042) is published daily for $90.74 per year (plus Florida sales tax) by Halifax Media Group rains left two feet of water in the is found that any jail authority was prisoners were using plastic bags.