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Local News

Riverside Drive stretches east along the Manatee River, past the end of Bradenton's Riverwalk. City officials want to double the size of Riverwalk in the years ahead and are taking steps to prepare for the expansion.GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald

Bradenton hopes to double size of Riverwalk in coming years

City officials would like to see Riverwalk double in size in the coming years.

Crime

Linda Pete, petty theft, $120 bond

PHOTO GALLERY | Inmates booked in at Manatee jail on April 17, 2014

Some of the latest arrivals at the Manatee County jail.

Sports

Gregorio Calvillo is the 2014 Herald Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

Palmetto's Gregorio Calvillo repeats as Herald All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year

After lighting up the scoreboard as a junior, Gregorio Calvillo entered last winter's boys soccer season with a target on his back.

Business

Restauranteur and philanthropist Burton "Skip" Sack, left, donated this 2013 Ford passenger van to the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee College of Hospitality & Technology Leadership. College Dean Cihan Cobanoglu accepted the donation for the college. PHOTO PROVIDED

Donated van to USF Sarasota-Manatee help move veterans, students

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee received a surprise donation of a passenger van that could one day transport hope for homeless veterans thanks to the generosity of restauranteur Burton "Skip" Sack.

Opinion

The Community Conversation on the state of the Manatee County school district attracted about 100 people to State College of Florida on April 16, 2014. The panel (from left) featured SCF President Carol Probstfeld (co-moderator); Diane Greene, deputy superintendent of instruction; Superintendent Rick Mills; school board Chairwoman Julie Aranibar; Don Hall, deputy superintendent of operations; and Chris Wille, Bradenton Herald editorial page editor (co-moderator). PHOTO PROVIDED

Manatee County school district's way forward: righting a damaged ship

Wednesday evening's Community Conversation with top school district administrators and the school board chair gave the public detailed information about present and future practices designed to improve the district's academic standing and financial...

Living

Laurie Bacon, Stefanie Overturf and Heather Andrews at Wednesday's Manatee Chamber of Commerce power networking lunch at the chamber's Lakewood Ranch office. Lunch was catered by Jersey Mike's Subs of Bradenton. JOSH BALDO/Special to the Herald

Manatee Chamber power networking lunch

The Manatee Chamber of Commerce held a power networking lunch Wednesday at its Lakewood Ranch office. The lunch was catered by Jersey Mike's Subs of Bradenton.

Entertainment

Sam Woolf is "sailing" now! Take a look at his fantastic Top 7 performance of "Sail Away" by David Gray! Subscribe now for more American Idol clips: http://idol.ly/YT_Subscribe Tune in to AMERICAN IDOL Wednesday & Thursday 8/7c on FOX! See more of American Idol on our official site: http://idol.ly/Idol Like American Idol on Facebook: http://idol.ly/FB Follow American Idol on Twitter: http://idol.ly/TW Add American Idol on Google+: http://idol.ly/GPlus Add American Idol on Tumblr: http://idol.ly/tumblr Add American Idol on Pinterest: http://idol.ly/Pin Add American Idol on Instagram: http://idol.ly/Insta Like FOX on Facebook: http://fox.tv/FOXTV_FB Follow FOX on Twitter: http://fox.tv/FOXTV_Twitter Add FOX on Google+: http://fox.tv/FOXPlus As AMERICAN IDOL XIII enters a landmark season in January 2014, the search continues to find amazing talent from across the nation. Hosted by Ryan Seacrest, and featuring judges Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban, along with in-house mentor Randy Jackson, the series empowers contestants and viewers to share their voices in deciding who will be America's next singing superstar. Every year, tens of thousands of hopefuls from across the nation audition for a shot at stardom. The show's judges will travel across the country including stops in Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Detroit, MI; Omaha, NE, Salt Lake City, UT; and San Francisco, CA, in search of the next AMERICAN IDOL. They narrow down the competitors to a select group of semifinalists who sing their hearts out each week in front of a studio audience and television viewers. The judges have their say after every performance, but it's the viewing public that determines who will advance to become a finalist and who will go home. Telephone, text message and online voting begin immediately after each live performance show, and the results are announced during the following night's live broadcast. Eventually the competition is whittled down to two finalists who compete for a major recording contract with 19 Recordings and the AMERICAN IDOL title. Past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery Phillip Phillips, and Candice Glover, as well as fan-favorites Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry, and Katharine McPhee, have all become household names and made their marks on the recording industry. Top 7 - Sam Woolf "Sail Away" - AMERICAN IDOL XIII http://www.youtube.com/user/americanidol

Sam Woolf makes it to 'American Idol's' Top 6

On Thursday night, "American Idol" voters said they wanted Sam Woolf, the almost-18-year-old Bradenton singer to stay on the show at least one more week. He's now in the final six. 2 hours ago

Lakewood Ranch

The new Lakewood Ranch Maintenance Facility on 59th Avenue East could be home to a satellite emergency operations center for Manatee County. JASON BARTOLONE/Bradenton Herald file photo

Manatee County exploring a satellite emergency center in Lakewood Ranch

A satellite rescue and response emergency center for Manatee County might be stationed at Lakewood Ranch's maintenance facility in time for upcoming hurricane season.

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