Daily Kos: The wonder of libertarian zoning laws, West, Texas edition

Better and safer lives through proper zoning.  Think of the decisions that were made to allow two schools, an apartment building, a playground and a nursing home in the shadow of the fertilizer plant that blew up last week.  Click title for link.

Click here for photos of the damage from the Daily Mail...not for the faint of heart.

Capital Scoop with Sen. Jeff Clemens | Tallahassee Democrat | tallahassee.com

Click title for link to the "Capital Scoop" where our State Senator Jeff Clemens talks about being a freshman senator, the bills he is sponsoring and some of his trajectory that led to his current position.  There is a video resident on that page that cannot be embedded here, or it would be.

John G's advertisement on back page of Lake Worth Herald this week...

A few things are worth pointing out from the ad.  This:

 Still not serving dinner and they are managing to run a cash only business.

Had to laugh-out-loud about this - they are making a point about their "hassle-free" parking.  To what could they be referring?

South Florida Regional Transportation Authority - Tri-Rail Coastal Link Promotional Video

Tri-Rail Coastal Link from SFRTA IT on Vimeo.

Lake Avenue to close at Florida East Coast Railway tracks | www.palmbeachpost.com

Detour in the downtown around the FEC tracks starting at 8 a.m. Sunday.  Click title for link to article.

Adaptive Planning For Coastal Change: Legal Issues For Local Government - 4/19 Seminar

I attended another great seminar today put on by the Palm Beach County Planning Congress.  Lots of information about what makes and what will make communities resilient to sea level rise. Interestingly, there is some inter-relation with the seminar I attended Wednesday regarding transit service on the FEC.  Many notes, pictures and video from today.  Look for various summaries to be published over the weekend.  Videos are being uploaded now.

Here are some pictures from today:

This was the remote device issued to each participant at the seminar - there were many interactive surveys of those in attendance.

GHG = Green house gases

 

Much more to come.

Change in Comment Dialogue Box

For some reason, clicking on box to share the comments made here on Google+ made all of your names (real and imagined) default to anonymous.  I am not sure if this will continue or not, but if you want to be known as the comment's author, please put your name in the body of the comments.  Thanks!

In the meantime, I will test some other ways of doing things and see if things are different or better.

Robert Jordan, Husband Of Florida Medical Marijuana Activist, Won't Face Charges For Pot Plants

State Senator Jeff Clemens is mentioned in the following portion of the article.  Click title for link for the article in its entirety. 

The article noted that state Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), was sponsoring a bill to legalize the drug that he had named in Jordan's honor. Jordan suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the degenerative, terminal nerve disease more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. She has treated her symptoms with marijuana, and credits the drug for her 25-year survival with the disease.

MEETING FOR APRIL CANCELLED

Hello Mangos,
Sorry for the late notice, but, due to some scheduling conflicts and a small agenda, we will be cancelling this Month's meeting.  Please join us next month, third Thursday, 7p at Compass.
Please note that tomorrow is Bulk Pickup day for District 3, and in honor of the Great American Cleanup, we would love to take advantage of the pickup.
Also, please note that the Bryant Park Derby Day event at Southshore's Tavern will be the first Saturday in May, on May 4th, in the afternoon, and it is always GREAT fun!   We will also be working on a date for a neighborhood cleanup soon and will keep you posted.   Anyone interested in being on the Raft Race Committee, please contact us, and let us know. 
Regards,
Mango Groves Neighborhood Association

'Brilliant Bus' shrinking digital divide

A great story featured on CNN Heroes about a farsighted and resourceful woman and program to help bridge the digital divide.  I have always thought that the building the Lake Worth CDC squatted in next to the Osborne Center for at least five years would have been an ideal place for just such a facility.  Instead, we endured the heavy weight of an inefficient organization that did little to help the community.  Now I hear it is under "re-organization."  What happened to all the land that organization was given by the city? When inquiring with staff about the status of that land, we get blank stares born from an overwhelming inventory of vacant houses in the city.

Meanwhile, back to the article, this is a great story and one that needs to be repeated often around the state and nation.  Click title for link.

Development Opportunities on the FEC Corridor: An Interactive Forum 4/17 - Teaser

I attended this seminar today put on by the Urban Land Institute and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority in Dania Beach.  It was all about Tri-Rail's coming Coastal Service along the FEC railway - the eastern RR tracks through region that would link all the coastal downtowns with rail transit service - in addition to an expanded Tri-Rail service and the "All Aboard Florida" - privately initiated by the FEC - fast train which will link Miami and Orlando.

I took a lot of notes, video and pictures so expect a lot more in the coming days.  William Waters and Delores Key attended on behalf of the city.  Almost all the communities along the route had a display at the conference - Lake Worth did not.  There were many private sector developers there as well as government officials.  For those monitoring the LDR formulation process, the station area for Lake Worth would be in the area of Lake/Lucerne Avenues and the FEC tracks and it will soon be zoned for transit oriented development.

To give you a sense of the anticipation and excitement of other communities along the route, check out this video I took of the various displays in the lobby outside of the seminar room:

Again, much more to come later.  In the meantime, check out the links above.

Miami Has the Nation's Most Efficient Roads, Says Scientist Who's Never Driven the Palmetto - Miami - News - Riptide 2.0

It has the least miles of pavement per capita...hence it is more efficient.  Perhaps it is just under-served according to its population.?  Click title for link to New Times article.

Perhaps we will see an apparition on the ginormous garage...?

Any strange or unusual sightings, let me know.

Pics from LW Earth Day - Cultural Plaza - 4/13

 Before the rain hit.  I did win a Simpson Stopper.  The tree-give-away was made possible due to a private anonymous donation from the Lake Worth Inter-Faith network.  I'm not supposed to ask any more questions.  I have a great video of the "plastic bag" girl dancing to the music there.  Will upload it later on.

Supporters Plan Boston Marathon Walks in Honor of Victims

Groups are planning to walk/run the marathon route in an act of community solidarity so that symbolically  "they" - and not terrorists - are the ones that will determine the end of this year's race.  A nice statement for those who ran, were involved or injured/killed during yesterday's tragic event.  Click title for link to article.

Bill Clinton's new BFF Stephen Colbert gets him on Twitter - Political Watch - MarketWatch

As some of you may recall, I am re-awakening my twitter account (twitter.com/wesblackman) - fun to think about our ex-President having one.  One revealing quote from the article:

“After I became president and everybody started sending blizzards of emails within the administration, the Congress subpoenaed them all,” Clinton said. “And all these young people, drunk with the power of the new technology, said the first thing that came into their head, so some of these emails were mildly embarrassing.”

Given what happened during the Clinton administration, I wonder what our former President's threshold for "mildly embarrassing" really is?  Or, does that depend on what the definition of "is" is?  I really am a fan of his, by the way.

Diamonds in the Rough - The latest entry from former Commissioner Mulvehill

Click title for link.  Telling part of this entry:

At the same time I saw this beauty, I also saw poverty. I saw mud and unpaved streets. I saw rain and clouds. Buildings in decay. I was able to see both – dark and light – at the same time. Poverty and prosperity. Positive and negative. I saw why people come here to visit and I saw why the youth who live here want to leave. I realize now, I took no pictures of the dark or of anything that I perceived to be negative.
Do I have the tendency to only see what I want to see? To only see what I perceive to be good? To only want to live with the light?  Perhaps.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?  Throughout, it's like she is paraphrasing this song - how profound:

Florida battles Giant African land snail infestation with over 100,000 already in the state | Mail Online

You might recall that in a recent comment on a post, someone mentioned that "slugs always leave a trail." If that is indeed true, then this "slug" would leave a large one to be sure.  Click title for link.

??

History of the Lake Worth Casino - according to the city's website:

Click title for link.  This paragraph left me with an ambiguous feeling:

The casino was rebuilt after the 1947 hurricane; and included shops and restaurants, a ballroom, a municipal pool and a pier. Recently there was considerable debate over whether to demolish the building or renovate it. However, it was decided to re-build the structure and in 2013 the new $6 million casino building and beach complex opened to much fanfare.

Can the city please set the official record straight and say that the building was demolished due to its deteriorated condition?  I would even be o.k. with saying this was only done after extensive attempts to save the former building.  The narrative above leaves questions unanswered.  If there was "considerable debate," and there was, then it is important to be clear what the ultimate outcome was.

Horned 'Rock it Suda' Hotel Revitalizes an Old Mining Town in South Korea | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Perhaps this is what the Respectful Planning PAC had in mind for Lake Worth's hotel district and general downtown area.  An idea at least and definitely not overly tall.  Click title for link.

Lake Worth to pave gravel sections of 10th Avenue South | www.palmbeachpost.com

This truly is good news; something we heard about on last Friday's High Noon in Lake Worth radio show with Mayor Triolo.  Click title for link to article.

Town financial outlook improves | www.palmbeachdailynews.com

All is well in the land of "champagne wishes and caviar dreams."  Since they actually use our beach in their Comprehensive Plan to meet their recreation requirement, I always thought it would have at least been worth the effort to contact them and urge them for a financial contribution.  As it turns out, residents from the Town of Palm Beach - especially the condominium section - are one of the beach's largest user groups.  Click title for link.

Amazon.com: Lake Worth, FL Beer & Ale Coasters - 4pk: Everything Else

Not sure about the historical accuracy about these, but they might be nice novelty items and functional in a humid environment. Click title for link.

What some prefer to do...

Installment #2 from a loyal and concerned reader: TWAC/EarthFirst! and the elections in Lake Worth 2014 (Continued)

This is the second article concerning EarthFirst! (EF) and their affinity group (or “off-shoot”), TWAC. TWAC, if you recall, staged a demonstration in Boca Raton on April 9 against the GEO Group. Four of their members were arrested, two members reside in Lake Worth FL: Lynne Purvis and Christine Baglieri.

EF is what's called a “collective.” Collectives in the anarchist community are informal, self-described “non-hierarchical” groups with varying membership numbers. This tactic is approximately forty years old and has proven highly effective. It's effectiveness primarily due to the Internet, the access to information and the ability of members to go underground yet able to supply information to the public, share information with each other and between collectives, and most importantly: the majority of the collective members remain anonymous.

Collectives can have fifty members, hundreds or even thousands. EF stands out due to it's large membership/sympathizers but also because EF is international, with outreach in Europe and Australia. This exposure increases both fund-raising and an ever-growing collective.

A tremendously successful strategy EF utilizes is taking advantage of social conflicts. Be it nuclear energy, immigrant and farm worker rights, biotechnology, feminism, and in the case of TWAC, “the oppression of womyn [sic] and transgendered people”, EF has been adept at tapping into that energy to aid the EF collective. On the EF news link from 4/19: “TWAC Storms Prison Industry Giant GEO Group's HQ in Boca Raton”. What does EF have to do with the transgender movement? Everything.

As collectives grow and become increasingly active an issue or event may need particular or immediate attention. Too difficult for the collective to address but an ideal situation for a small group of activists. A small group, five to twenty, will thus be spun off as an “affinity” group. They can claim almost any issue to protest as long as the collective is not seen publicly as involved. Still part of the EF collective but tasked to accomplish short-term goals, with very limited scope. Whereas the collective is concerned with long-term goals, strategy, publishing journals and maintaining a soaring Internet presence, an affinity group like TWAC for example, can be formed and trained to work on a local, city level. For example, upset the present 4 to 1 Lake Worth majority, an unfriendly majority to the anarchist agenda, and elect a new mayor and one, possibly two new commissioners to the Lake Worth commission next March, 2014.

What EF provides to sympathetic candidates who opt to run against the current majority is “boots on the ground.” EF will not donate money, officially, but can donate something worth much more than currency, trained and trusted campaign workers handing out literature, knocking on doors, monkeywrenching, gathering intelligence, putting up/stealing yard signs, and other efforts.

Much more to come. 
For more proof from the Internet, click here for EF!'s posting on Idealist and here for the intern application, requirements and stipend information to work on their newsletter.  All very interesting reading and confirms what many think about this collective network headquartered here in LW.

More from the EPA Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities - Day Two - 4/5/12

We arrived a bit late so the presentation was in process.  To see what preceded this and to view the entire  presentation click here.  Comments from those in attendance are included in the second half of the video.