5 Things You Need to Know Today: August 19

1. Deputies will escort the body of fallen soldier Patrick L. Lay II on Saturday.  The escort will begin at approximately 1:00 p.m. at Dolphin Aviation.  The route will be north on U.S. 41 to State Road 70 and then east to 39th Street East.  The escort will continue south on 39th Street East to the Sanctuary at 5428 39th Street East where Lay's fineral services will take place.

2. The Manatee Sheriff's Office will conduct a DUI patrol tonight. Ten deputies, with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol and Bradenton Police, will patrol from 5:30 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. in areas with a history of high DUI related incidents.  The MSO Traffic Unit has made more than 270 DUI arrests this year with nearly 10 percent of those being drug impaired drivers. The purpose of the Saturation Patrol is to bring awareness to Manatee County's DUI problem in an effort to reduce the number of DUI’s and avoid serious crashes.

3.The Manatee County School Board is considering an offer for the Checkers property off of U.S. 41, near the school board building. If the property sells the school board would have to decide whether to use the money to pay down teh school debt or to put it in reserves. If the sale is completed, the school district would have about $1.8 million for debt repayment or to put in its savings account.

4. Suncoast Striders Walking & Running Club and On A Shoestring Inc. have started a training program for the PAL Half Marathon in Sarasota and the Space Coast Half Marathon scheduled for November 27. Running and walking training program starts this week. The program offers three group training sessions per week with certified coaches: Mondays 6:00 p.m. at On A Shoestring; Thursdays 5:30 p.m. at GT Bray or MHS Track; and Sundays at 7:00 a.m. at Robinson Preserve. Please check the group training calendar for times and locations. Anyone 18 or older who can walk or run up to 60 minutes or complete three miles in 60 minutes or less is welcome to participate. The program is free to all Suncoast Striders members.

5. The County Commission is expected to discuss nearly $5 million in renovations to the Manatee Convention Center. The dicussion is set to take place at the County Commission meeting on Tuesday at 9 a.m.