Saturday, December 26, 2015

The Voices of Pride performing in Lake Worth TOMORROW (Sunday, December 27th)

St. Andrew's Episcopal church in Lake Worth will be hosting the Voices of Pride performance TOMORROW, Sunday 12/27. The church is located at 100 North Palmway; the phone number is 561-582-6609 or you can send an email for more information. To learn more about the Voices of Pride use this link.

A busy day at the Lake Worth BEACH! on Christmas Day

The Casino parking lot full of cars paying by the hour.
If you've been following the discussion about the financial situation at the City's Casino complex at the beach you know things are not going very well. The City now relies almost exclusively on parking revenue to keep the complex afloat. So it's good to see a full parking lot on Christmas Day. However, that isn't the case the vast majority of the time and especially so out of Season:
Some time soon, hopefully, we'll have a full discussion about the finances at the Casino. That should occur about May of next year. So who is responsible for this mess?
Nobody's smiling any more about our "charming", "renovated" Lake Worth Casino.

From CityLab: "A Building That Looks Like a Turd"

You'll have to decide if this building looks like a turd or not. Either way, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is being brought in to solve this dilemma in Edinburgh. Here is an excerpt from the article in CityLab:
     Edinburgh is so obviously Great Britain’s most beautiful major city that it’s not really worth holding a contest. Spread over a terrain of rocky volcanic bulges, cliffs and ravine-like dips, the Scottish capital’s old grey, yellow, and red sandstone buildings have a sober elegance that makes them look like some natural extension of the landscape. Now this beauty is in serious jeopardy—or, at least some claim it is. [emphasis added]
     The new menace comes in the form of an approved building that, despite being marketed as an architectural icon in the making, apparently poses such a visual threat to the city that UNESCO is sending inspectors to reappraise Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site listing. The problem with the new building? It looks like a turd.
[and. . .this interesting line]
The problem with a World Heritage Site listing is that the threat of its removal is sometimes dangled over cities the moment someone moves to repaint their porch.
An inside joke in Lake Worth is a city official's reference to a "turd" being constructed here in the City. However, UNESCO won't be visiting our City to check out that claim. If you're interested in learning more about UNESCO use this link for the Wikipedia site.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Does Everglades EarthFirst! (EEF) have an issue with Black people? Why are people of color so under-represented in EEF?

The Palm Beach Post reporter Kevin Thompson and Lauren Hills at CBS12/WPEC made a big deal of Tuesday Gilliam's claim that the mural on the La Joya Villages wall in Lake Worth was "too white" for the neighborhood. Ms. Gilliam, who is White, decided to be the spokesperson for her neighborhood which has many people of color, including Haitian-Americans.

A reader of my blog has an interesting observation. Are there any Black members of EEF? Whenever you see pictures or video of EEF in action the absence of Black people is hard not to notice:
In the video below the absence of Black EEF members is apparent:
And on a related item. . .here is a Letter to the Editor that was published in today's (Friday, 12/25) Palm Beach Post:
If Ms. Gilliam's true motive was to 'start the conversation', then why doesn't she go through the process and paint her own mural on a wall somewhere? Why single out the Lake Worth CRA? She is a painter so how hard can it be, right?

Christmas Eve Day Lunch at Benny's on the Beach with my father and friends

Family friends that we hadn't seen for a very long time (Snowbirds from the Rocky Mountains) decided to drive across the state from Ft. Myers. When they arrived a little before lunch I started to think about places they would enjoy and are unique to our City. The answer was "Benny's on the Beach." Surprisingly, there was not that much activity at the beach yesterday. However, the parking area "up top" was full with people waiting for spaces to open up. We dropped off two of our party and I stayed with our guest who drove here and helped negotiate our parking kiosk. No problem. We quickly joined the rest of the party.

In advance of going I made a call to see how long the wait was. A very pleasant woman said there might be 15 minute wait. They didn't take reservations but she said to ask for her when we got there (her name was Jordan if I recall). We were surprised that the other two in our group already had seats and were enjoying the lovely and engaging view of the Atlantic Ocean from the pier. We settled into conversation and got around to looking at the menus. The attentive staff kept checking to see if we were ready to order and filling our beverage needs.

Once we ordered our meals were served within a reasonable time. Two of our party had fish and chips, another had the tuna salad toast and I had the fish tacos. Here are the tacos:
I'm a big fan of fish tacos at Benny's. This was the best plate I've ever had there and would encourage you to give it a try.
I've had this item before, but this plate was the best, with a generous helping of mahi-mahi, cole slaw inside the tacos, sriracha cream sauce and pickled ginger on top with rice on the side. Everyone at the table had good things to say about the food and the experience. Here is a picture of my father, one of our guests, and me enjoying the company, the breeze and the view.
Smiles all over the place at Benny's on Christmas Eve.
The food critic Joseph Thompson III was not spotted which was too bad—would really love to treat him to another hot dog with fries some day. Maybe he was at Mulligan's or took a ride to John G's. Anyhow, the drive to Benny's was an interesting one in that my guests got to see the Gulf Stream hotel, the cottages, and other parts of our downtown. And, as always, it was another wonderful day at the Lake Worth beach.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

A Christmas message from PBSO District 14 Cpt. Baer

Greetings,

This is a nice story involving a very thoughtful young man. The deputies truly appreciated it.

Happy holidays!

Captain Todd Baer
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office
Commander – District 14 – City of Lake Worth

Statement by President Barack Obama on Persecuted Christians at Christmas

This is the official statement released by President Obama's press secretary:

"During this season of Advent, Christians in the United States and around the world are preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. At this time, those of us fortunate enough to live in countries that honor the birthright of all people to practice their faith freely give thanks for that blessing. Michelle and I are also ever-mindful that many of our fellow Christians do not enjoy that right, and hold especially close to our hearts and minds those who have been driven from their ancient homelands by unspeakable violence and persecution.

In some areas of the Middle East where church bells have rung for centuries on Christmas Day, this year they will be silent; this silence bears tragic witness to the brutal atrocities committed against these communities by ISIL.

We join with people around the world in praying for God’s protection for persecuted Christians and those of other faiths, as well as for those brave men and women engaged in our military, diplomatic, and humanitarian efforts to alleviate their suffering and restore stability, security, and hope to their nations. As the old Christmas carol reminds us:

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

A "Holy War" in Lake Worth? Really now CBS12!

[Below is a blog post from December 18, 2014, in the leadup to Christmas in Lake Worth. To say it was one of the low points for local TV journalism would be an understatement.]

 "Free speech gone wild!" said Liz Quirantes at CBS12/WPEC on Monday. Liz Quirantes is the anchor at CBS12 who did the leadup to Israel Balderas' immensely 'important' story [Link has been deleted] on "free speech" here in Lake Worth.

I didn't think it was possible for Mr. Balderas to top the poor taste of his fellow reporter at CBS12, Kathleen Walter, but he did. On the very night preceding the Lake Worth Holiday Parade CBS12 and Kathleen Walter reported on a non-story concerning a Deerfield Beach blogger and his 'Satanist' invocation at a city commission meeting that may not happen for months, if at all. You can read about that here. This image below was from the report—nice juxtaposition of a Christmas tree along with "Prayer to Satan?"
Here is a screen grab of Israel Balderas and his latest story:
A "Holy War" in Lake Worth, Mr. Balderas? Maybe just a tiny bit of exaggeration and inflammatory? When you Wiki "Holy War" this is one of the items that turn up. In the era of ISIS and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is it appropriate, Mr. Balderas, to do a story about a Satanist in Deerfield Beach and a Boca Raton pastor and refer to it as a "Holy War" in Lake Worth? Are we trying to stoke the flames of hysteria, Mr. Balderas? 

Really now, are the ratings at CBS12 that bad? 

NBC5/WPTV has a much superior news program than WPEC. I couldn't imagine a reporter at NBC5 referring to a "Holy War" in Lake Worth. It wouldn't be responsible or ethical. The folks at CBS12 have no such reservations.

The tragic murder of former Lake Worth High School student: The Sheriff needs your help

Below is a sketch of the man PBSO is searching for in connection with the murder of Wellington Glinton. 
Both CBS12/WPEC and ABC25/WPBF falsely reported this crime occurred in Lake Worth. The location of this murder was west of Lantana, outside the City of Lake Worth, south of Lantana Rd, on the west side of Lake Osborne. If you were in the area and may have seen something contact PBSO. 

Here is the news from NBC5/WPTV who provide the accurate information:
     A recent Lake Worth High School graduate was fatally shot overnight at an apartment complex in suburban Lake Worth.
     Just before midnight, deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office responded to a shooting in the 2200 block of Shimmery Lane.
     When deputies arrived they found a man shot near some bushes outside an apartment complex.
     The victim, who the family identified as Wellington David Glinton, 19, was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Sandy Axelrod from the magazine "Around Wellington" visits Lake Worth for awesome BBQ

Here are two excerpts from the article in Around Wellington magazine:
Palm Beach County is quite rich in history and culture which include all of the arts – culinary, music and art. A really fun and delicious way to learn and experience all of it in a nutshell is to take one of the Taste History Culinary Tours. In fact, you could take a different one each weekend and no two would be the same! On Saturday, December 5th, my husband and I had the privilege to experience this first hand and I would love to share that journey with you.
[and there's more]
     We arrived at Blue Front BBQ and entered the very cool art deco building through the keyhole door entryway. Once seated we were treated to some of the best barbecue I have had in the area. In fact they were won the award for Best Barbecue 2015 in Palm Beach County. The General Manager Rodney Briguglio explained how the establishment began over 50 years ago on Tamarind Avenue, moved to Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard where they began bottling their fabulous zesty barbecue sauce and now opened at this fabulous location at 1132 N. Dixie Highway in Lake Worth. Our pulled pork sliders, coleslaw and ribs were tender and succulent. And since I am a lover of all things spicy I added a drizzle of their Hot BBQ Sauce which made the perfect compliment to the sweet meat.
I'm thrilled the folks from Around Wellington had a great time in Lake Worth and hope to have you back in town soon!

If you have business with the City of Lake Worth tomorrow (Christmas Eve) take heed

Message from Shilah James, Executive Secretary to City Manager: In celebration of the holiday season, the City Manager would like to extend his gratitude to all staff for their hard work.

Press Release from the Lake Worth Water Treatment Plant

To maintain high water quality in the City of Lake Worth water distribution system, the City of Lake Worth Water Treatment Plant will temporarily change the water chlorination methods for two weeks from December 27, 2015 through January 16, 2016. The City of Lake Worth will also increase hydrant flushing during this time. This is a preventive maintenance process. 

Starting December 27, 2015 a “free chlorine residual” water treatment method will be used to provide a somewhat stronger disinfection process than the “combined chlorine or Chloramines” treatment which is normally used. The City of Lake Worth will revert back to the “combined chlorine” method by January 16, 2016. As part of this process, the City of Lake Worth will be flushing fire hydrants. This flushing will cause temporary water in the swales of the roadways. Please do not be alarmed by this water as it will dissipate within a few hours. 

The City of Lake Worth and their Consecutive Systems water utility customers including Lake Osborne Estates, Hypoluxo Village, John Prince Park, Lantana Cascade and Palm Breezes Club may notice a slight chlorine taste or odor in their tap water during this period; however, these temporary conditions will not cause adverse health effects. If you are especially sensitive to the taste or odor of chlorine, keep an open container of drinking water in your refrigerator for a few hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate. Tropical fish tank owners, hospitals, dialysis patients and residents with pools should be aware of the chlorination changes and make adjustments accordingly. Any questions should be directed to the City of Lake Worth Water Treatment Plant (561) 586-1710.

[RE-POST] A crazy question: Is a possible future spike in Lake Worth's electric rates a human rights issue? A woman's rights issue?

[This is a question I posed earlier this month. Starting at the next City Commission meeting on January 5th many issues will be brought up and sea level rise will be one of them. Once again an issue that the City has little or no control over since this is a matter for the county/counties and state to address. But what this wordy topic of debate will do is take away time and effort from the pressing issues that face many of our residents such as inadequate infrastructure and safety concerns. Does the issue of sea level rise trump the rights and expectations of needy residents who need help NOW? I'm hoping there will a big turnout at the next City Commission meeting from residents demanding their elected representatives focus on the issues at hand instead of abstractions and distractions that do little or nothing to improve current problems in the City.]

 An immigrant rights issue? Sounds crazy doesn't it? An acquaintance planted this idea in my head several weeks ago and thought it was absurd. But I never stopped thinking about it. The background is commissioners Chris McVoy and Ryan Maier pitched the idea very hard that electric rates should go up at a City Commission meeting on September 8th. In a clash of ideals and convictions Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, and Commissioner Andy Amoroso objected strongly and won the day.

It was a spirited and enlightening debate. Note that everyone, all five of the elected, focused mostly on the economics and finance aspect.
The pitch by commissioners McVoy and Maier to raise electric rates failed.
Electric rates are higher in Lake Worth than rates by FPL but those have been steadily coming down the last few years, credit due to the mayor, vice mayor, and Commissioner Amoroso. The City Commission is in effect their own electric utility commission and can raise or lower rates at will. 

The idea by McVoy and Maier shocked many people and they got the message. At the City Commission meeting on 9/22 there was barely a mention of raising the rates. That, though, did little to quell public angst over this big issue in the City. Looking forward I advised people how to protect themselves and their home and suggested switching to natural gas to soften any future electric rate hike. Again, an economic/financial response. What do you need to switch from electric appliances to natural gas? Money. The benefit pays off handily but it's over time.

Were rates to go up that money going into the City coffers will ostensibly be for fixing the problems at the City Casino building, for example, but that is no guarantee the money won't be directed to other areas like the project du-jour by any elected representative. McVoy makes the case that any hike in rates will be "just pennies" and belittled any suggestion that anyone would even notice the rate spike. 

It's true that some people won't notice a spike in rates and those that do will respond in ways such as changing the thermostat in the Summer from 68° to 69°. Others will see the benefit of switching to natural gas or purchase better windows. The suggestion that no one will notice or not alter their behavior in any way is ludicrous. A spike in electric rates will change how people live—the one's that can afford to change. 

People have benefited from lowered electric rates and their quality of life has improved; a rise in rates will reverse that trend. Who will suffer the most if rates should go up as McVoy and Maier want to do? The poor, single women with children, immigrants, those on fixed incomes. . .the one's that can least afford to pay. 

So, to the question: Are "electric rates a human rights issue?" I think I answered my own question.

The rest of the story that the Post's Kevin Thompson and CBS12/WPEC's Lauren Hills don't know. . .or don't care to know

[The blog post below was posted on December 19th, 2015, in response to the online 'news' by Kevin Thompson on the "too white" mural at La Joya Villages in Lake Worth. . . interestingly leading up to the March 2016 elections. That absurd 'news' made the print edition on December 23rd but the public remained kept in the dark on some crucial facts. So, read on about that "one woman" who is trying to create racial disharmony and the media who is aiding her:]

Now that the City of Lake Worth is 87 days away from election day we've been treated with the first serious salvo of media spin from The Palm Beach Post and from CBS12. Here is my take on Kevin Thompson's pitch about the child depicted in the mural with the too-white skin color, according to "one woman". Lauren Hills follows up this nonsense with the same "one woman" with her story at CBS12; here's an excerpt from the text:
It's a colorful mural, a little boy with fair skin and blue eyes, she's referring to. It's painted on a new affordable housing complex on 6th Ave. South near the rail road tracks.
The "one woman" is Tuesday Gilliam and she has close ties with the Anarchist group called Everglades EarthFirst! (EEF). A candidate in the upcoming March elections happens to be an EEF member—a coincidence? You'll see Ms. Gilliam in a video below from October 2014 along with Peter "Panagioti" Tsolkas and Cara Jennings in opposition to a new road being proposed on 7th Ave. South near the La Joya Villages upon which the mural of the 'too-white' Cuban-American child is depicted.

Here are the parts of the video to pay special attention to:

The 16:10 mark to 17:24: Tuesday Gilliam refers to some group (the Lake Worth CRA?) and their "super apparent" designs for the neighborhood and goes on to say the La Joya Villages are a "huge amount of rental properties towering over our homes." [Note: the La Joya Villages are 3-story buildings and Ms. Gilliam lives at least 2 blocks away.]

 The 22:00 mark to 26:18: Peter Tsolkas and Cara Jennings (the leaders of EEF) chime in with their thoughts on the 7th Ave South road project and the La Joya Villages.
Tuesday Gilliam cleverly tricked the Post reporter and CBS12 Lauren Hills using multiple logical fallacies, relying heavily on the hasty generalization fallacy, among others. Gilliam's objection all along has been to stop any development, road building, and/or new housing south of 6th Ave South—that much is clear. Would you expect any less from a sympathizer of EEF? 

 Gilliam gives up the gig in this excerpt from the CBS12 story, what the objection to the "mural" is really about:
"There are arts initiatives all over the country in use for gentrification, and I feel like we might be seeing that play out right here in our own backyard," she [Tuesday Gilliam] said.
So, you see, the mural of the 'too-white' Cuban-American child isn't about race, it's about "gentrification" or what most others would call long-delayed community improvements and upgrades. Ms. Gilliam claims she wants to "start a conversation" but she's not really doing that at all. How do you start a meaningful conversation by begging the question and circular reasoning? Well, true, that job does get easier when you can trick some in the press into falling for it.

Question: If you knew Ms. Gilliam has been a strong opponent of the CRA's La Joya Villages project all along would that have given you a different perspective on this 'news' story? Probably so.

And that's the rest of the story you won't read or watch in the local press.

Special Request: Our Cottages of Lake Worth (your's truly interviewed by radio host Allan Mason/WBZT)

The Cottages of Lake Worth will have a hardcover book available next year about Lake Worth's iconic cottages with high-quality color photographs and professionally edited. Everyone involved in this project is excited about this as you can imagine. You can learn more about this project here and if you wish help with the book's publishing by contributing to their GoFundMe account.

Below is a YouTube video with images and more information about the cottages along with the audio of my interview with Allan Mason at WBZT:

There are several events upcoming and will list them soon. There is also a self-driving, walking, biking tour available.

Will the "epic battle" in the City of Lake Worth continue through the Christmas holidays? What about "Joy to the World"?

While most of Christianity celebrates the coming of Christmas Day with messages of peace and joy. . .
. . .the 'Common Ground' church is engaged in an "epic battle" for the City of Lake Worth?
In November the 'Common Ground' (no 's') church made claim to be the superior religion to all others in Lake Worth because they aren't a religion. It's confusing but you can real all about that here.
"Jesus hates religion" in Lake Worth?
In case you didn't know, the 'Common Ground' church is a recovery church and they hold their Sunday service at a nightclub/bar in downtown Lake Worth. Learn about that here and show up if you can. From what I understand they have coffee and danish prior; a welcome prospect if you had a rough night on the town.

More positive Christmas season messages from the 'Common Ground' (no 's') church:
Huh?
"We must develop the skill of listening and speaking less", pastor Olive says. Good advice. A New Year's resolution perhaps?

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Worried about gentrification in Lake Worth? Chill! Our City didn't make the list

The good folks at Thrillist have a list of 12 areas that are high on the scale for future gentrification and the closest one to Lake Worth is Hialeah, FL. So take a deep breath all you delusional Anarchists in the little City of Lake Worth! From the article:
     But what are the next cool, mildly affordable neighborhoods just waiting to be overtaken by young creatives? Sure, there are plenty of sexy ‘hoods, bro-ish ‘hoods, and even hipster ‘hoods, but let's be honest, they’re all pretty much played at this point. And more importantly, they're all too expensive for anyone without a trust fund or investment-banking job.
     Which is why we decided to tap trendsetters, developers, and real-estate professionals -- folks with their fingers on the pulse of America's cities and towns -- for their predictions of the country's next hotspots; neighborhoods that are affordable now, but poised to blow up. 
Here is what the folks at Thrillist write about The Leah Arts District in Hialeah, FL:
     As once-artsy Wynwood becomes the domain of developers and the artists get priced out, Miami’s creative community needs somewhere to go. And as it turns out, warehouse-ridden and comically Cuban Hialeah is now that place. Yes, the city that’s been the butt of Miamians' jokes for decades is poised to be a landmark arts destination.
The other cities on the list are:
  1. North Central neighborhood in Charleston, SC
  2. South Bronx, New York
  3. East Bank in Sioux Falls, SD
  4. Pilsen in Chicago, IL
  5. Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA
  6. Trinity Groves in Dallas, TX
  7. Downtown Tacoma, Tacoma, WA
  8. Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA
  9. Southwest Waterfront in Washington, DC
  10. Cesar Chavez St in Austin, TX
  11. Lents neighborhood in Portland, OR

Kwanzaa begins in Lake Worth starting on December 26th at the Cultural Plaza

To learn about Kwanzaa use this link and you can learn more at Wikipedia:
Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the Western African diaspora in the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles (Nguzo Saba). It was created by Maulana Karenga, and was first celebrated in 1966–67.
Below is a Tweet sent by the City of Lake Worth with plans for this Saturday:
The City Hall Annex is at the Cultural Plaza on the corner of Lake Ave and Federal Hwy.

Now, what about those electric rates in Lake Worth?

Electric rates in Lake Worth are below the municipal average in the State of Florida.

That's right. Along with the plummeting crime rate things are actually going very well here in Lake Worth. What realtors, for instance, hear all the time is that the crime rate and electric rates are very high in the City. It's a myth. You can see it for yourself here.
Electric rates have been coming down in the City for several years now as the City weans itself off the cash cow: the electric utility. Good news, right? Not if your Commissioners McVoy or Maier. They want at that cash cow again in a big way:
The pitch by Maier and McVoy to raise electric rates failed thanks to Mayor Triolo, Vice Mayor Maxwell, and Commissioner Amoroso. But that doesn't mean Maier and McVoy are done trying to raise your rates.
But there are ways to protect yourself and your family and finances from a cash grab by commissioners Ryan Maier and Chris McVoy: convert many of your appliances to clean, cheap, and plentiful natural gas and soften the blow of any possible future spike in electric rates. 

Megan McArdle: "Gentrification Is an Irresistible Force"

If you've been following the debate about gentrification (there! I used the 'G' word) you've probably read about the paradox the anti-gentrification groups find themselves in. By opposing development and new housing they risk getting 'gentrified' out of the very cities and neighborhoods they are trying to 'save'. Look no further than the failed social experiment in San Francisco. 

 Megan McArdle wrote a long piece in BloombergView about gentrification and in the article she cites the number of tactics used to stop the process, or at least slow it down:
  • City-wide upzoning
  • Increase the crime rate
  • Underfund schools and education initiatives
  • Inclusionary zoning
  • Rent control
  • Scatter site development
  • Tax credits
  • Vouchers
But none of theses tactics solve the problem: there is not enough housing. So what happens when the supply is too low? The prices go up. This is exactly what happened in San Francisco. This sentence from the BloombergView article stood out:
Gentrification tends to stop when affluent people stop wanting to move into the city -- and while there are many government-sponsored ways that we could potentially achieve this end, they would involve things like deliberately underfunding schools, and allowing crime to rise. [emphasis added]
And this from the end of the article:
     If this sounds like I’m pointing and laughing at activists hoist by their own petard, let me say that this is the furthest thing from my mind. I don’t want another Robert Moses, and I do want more housing built, and unfortunately, there is an inevitable tradeoff between these priorities. The trade we made has limited the government's ability to preserve and create affordable housing while also limiting its ability to destroy communities. And I don't see any way to make a different one at this point, so blame is sort of beside the point. Maybe the legal changes of the 1970s were a mistake, but if so, they are a mistake that we cannot easily undo.
     And so here we are: The government simply has relatively little power to create more affordable housing in the face of massively increasing demand for homes in desirable cities like Washington, New York and San Francisco.
And you can add the desirable Palm Beach County to that list.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Was there a suspicious package found in Lake Worth on Dec. 19th? No. But CBS12 thinks there was

CBS12/WPEC's pitch is they are the "one to turn to" for TV News. My suggestion is you "turn to" some other channel, like NBC5/WPTV, which is by far the most accurate of all the local affiliates. CBS12 screwed it up again with this 'news':
     Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue are investigating a suspicious package on Hypoluxo Road at the intersection of Jog Road in Lake Worth.
     The package was discovered just before midnight.
     Fire Rescue officials say they are at the scene along with PBSO's bomb squad.
The intersection of Hypoluxo Rd. and Jog Rd. is nowhere near "Lake Worth":
Image from Google Maps.
How can you trust CBS12 for news about Lake Worth when they don't even know the borders of the City? 

Can you Guess the Candidate in Lake Worth challenging Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell?

[Hint: Do you remember the "battery in the lake" at a protest in Palm Beach Gardens in November 2014?]
"And I got to talk about anarchism to a jury!" How sweet.
This challenger to Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell may have already knocked on your door or a group of his Anarchist friends did. This challenger looks much, much different today. Sacrificing principles and changing like a chameleon is one of the talents of a committed, well-trained Anarchist. All of them are so nice when they're trolling for votes.

He'll show up at your door looking like a harmless preppie with long sleeves to cover up the tattoos, a sporty hair cut, clean-shaven, and a laundry list of bullet points tailored for your neighborhood and a vote. Oh, and he'll have wide, beaming smile and you'll say to yourself, "I hope my daughter meets a nice, young man like this some day." And it's all a big show. 

Stay tuned as they say. The effort to get this Anarchist elected will reach all the way to The Palm Beach Post editorial board and a local TV News station will also be enlisted along with anonymous mailers, brand news PAC's, and all kinds of dirty tricks.

45-Second Video: What is the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)?

About the video: Ever wonder where your gas tax dollars go when you fill up your tank, and who makes those decisions about what transportation improvements to fund? In Palm Beach County, FL, it's the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Learn more and get involved in the transportation planning process!
Lake Worth is represented by our Mayor Pam Triolo. This is the group that the City worked with and through to go after the money the legislature approved for the Park of Commerce, only to be vetoed by the Governor. Good to see a public agency using social media to educate people about who they are and what they are doing.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

From the Associated Press: "Where have all the Canadian tourists gone?"

Had a conversation a few days ago with a merchant in downtown Lake Worth and the dearth of Canadian tourists is quite apparent. The main reason is the status of the loonie against the U.S. dollar. The merchant relayed to me that Canadian tourists will still be coming in large numbers but they're waiting until after the new year and will be staying for less time than in recent past seasons.

Here is an excerpt from Mike Schneider at the AP that explains the situation:
     The Canadian dollar, also known as the loonie, this year has dropped to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar in more than a decade. The loonie has slid 25 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past three years and now is worth, in the ballpark, of 75 cents. [emphasis added]
     After Canada, the biggest sources of international tourists in the United States are Mexico, with a forecast of 17.9 million visitors this year; the United Kingdom, 4.4 million visitors; Japan, 3.5 million visitors; and Brazil, 2.3 million visitors.
     In Florida, where 4.2 million Canadians vacation annually, Canadian visits are down 1.4 percent for the first three quarters of the year, even though overall tourism is up by 5.5 percent, and Florida is on the path to break the 100 million visitors mark. Florida is the second most-popular state for Canadian visitors, trailing only New York.
Keep your fingers crossed and hope, in this instance, we'll see more these loonies (as opposed to our year-round resident loons) heading our way in the near future to the City of Lake Worth.

News from Gabrielle Sarann at NBC5/WPTV: The Guatemalan-Maya Center needs your help

Gabrielle Sarann at WPTV has this sad story about the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth. A major donor to the center backed out of a pledge and left them with a big problem: not enough Christmas gifts and other needed supplies for the Holiday season. Here are 2 excerpts from the text of the news segment:
LAKE WORTH, Fla.- - Hundreds of Palm Beach County children could be without gifts for the holidays. The Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth is scrambling for toys after a donor pulled out at the last minute.
     The thought of Christmas makes 3-year-old Cynthia smile. She wants new shoes and anything from the movie Frozen.
[and. . .]
     If you would like to help the Guatemalan-Maya Center, drop of toys or monetary donations at the center, 430 North G Street, Lake Worth. You can also call Mara Martinez at (561) 713-6414. 
Here is the video from the news segment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)