Seminole residents told to water lawns only once a week

As the cooler weather arrives in Central Florida, keep in mind that lawns and gardens need less water during the fall and winter months.

Starting Nov. 3, Seminole County residents will be restricted to watering to one day a week. It’s an effort to conserve water.

Residential customers with odd-numbered street addresses will be allowed to water only on Saturdays. Customers with evennumbered street addresses on Sundays. Businesses and other non-residential property owners will be allowed to water on Tuesdays.

Those homes and businesses with reclaimed water will be allowed to irrigate twice a week.

For more information, contact Debra Meinert, Seminole’s water conservation coordinator, at 407-665-2121.

Teen accuses dance teacher of lewd act

An Orlando dance instructor was arrested Monday after a teenage girl accused him of inappropriately touching her after a dance function earlier this month.

Harrison Jonathan Prater, 27, faces charges of lewd and lascivious behavior on a child between12 and16 years old.

Prater teaches dance at several schools in Orange and Seminole counties. Deputies were con- tacted earlier this month when one of Prater’s students told her mother that he kissed her and groped her inside his car.

“When they arrived at her house Prater parked the car and asked the victim for a hug,” according to a statement from a Seminole County Sheriff’s deputy. “When she leaned over to hug him, he kissed, grabbed and touched her inappropriately.” Thevictim was able to get away. Prater is being held in the Seminole County jail on $10,000 bail. Investigators are looking into the possibility of additional victims and are asking anyone with information to call the Sheriff’s Office at 407 665-6650.

Woman awakens to find stranger on floor

An Orlando woman who was sleeping in a bedroom with her grandchildren woke up to find a man crawling on their floor early Tuesday.

The woman, who lives in an apartment on Victor Avenue near downtown, told Orlando police she woke up about 2 a.m. and saw a man crawling on her bedroom floor, reaching for her purse.

The woman screamed for her daughter to help her, and the man ran out of the house, according to a police report.

A security officer who was patrolling the neighborhood told police he saw a man running from the apartment, but couldn’t get a close look at the suspect.

Cuban activist to speak at Valencia

Yoani Sánchez, a Cuban activist who runs one of the world’s most popular blogs about the island nation, will speak at Valencia College on Thursday from 1-2 p.m. Sánchez’s talk with be at Valencia’s West Campus, 1800 S. Kirkman Road, in Building 7, room114.

The event is free and open to the public, but there are limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. She will speak in Spanish with an English interpreter.

Sánchez, 37, has become known around the world for her online commentaries, which are often critical of the government and point out human rights violations on the island. Her blog, Generation Y ( http:// generacionyen.wordpress.com ), gets more than 15 million hits a month and is translated into 20 languages, according to a Valencia College news release.

Cops: Sex offender leapt to his death

Amanshot by police Monday at Tampa International Airport before jumping to his death from a parking garage recently had registered as a sex offender, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Allen Piano, 46, of Palm Harbor registered after being sentenced to probation in August for providing obscene materials to a minor.

Piano was shot late Monday afternoon when he lunged at a TIA Police Officer, authorities said.