Saturday, September 8, 2018

Maybe you missed this from yesterday. . .


Looking for something interesting to read this weekend?

Then consider. . .


The ARTS CULTURAL
MASTER PLAN
for Downtown Lake Worth



This item was presented at Lake Worth’s Planning & Zoning Board last Wednesday. The presentation is 124 pp. long with a lot of graphics and data. To download the P&Z agenda click on this link and scroll down for the agenda package on September 5th. Once downloaded the Arts Cultural Master Plan begins on p. 52.


Here is just one of many images:

Click on image to enlarge:

LWCHS  =  Lake Worth Community High School; DTLW  =  Downtown Lake Worth.


This plan will also be presented to the Historic Resources Preservation Board next week, on Wednesday, September 12th, 6:00, at City Hall.

However, in the meantime, some regrettable typos need to be corrected. . .



The information gleaned from last year’s Street Painting Festival (shown on p. 169) is very interesting, for example:


The Master Plan should help address some of Lake Worth’s liabilities and image problems: a lack of parking, a high cost of utilities, crime rate, homelessness and vagrancy, and the general sentiment that Lake Worth has a bad reputation and sees an unfair share of bad press [emphasis added]


Hope you enjoy this weekend’s reading suggestion and for more information about all the Public meetings in the City of Lake Worth next week click on this link.


And also Worth Noting. . .

The monthly Food Truck Invasion is next Monday. The first Downtown Lake Ave. Block Party is on October 5th. For more information use this link.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Tomorrow: Backyard Garden Workshop at 9:00 a.m. Details below.


At the end of this blog post is recent news in the Herald for everyone interested in backyard gardens.


But guess what? There is lots and lots of new LOCAL news in this week’s Lake Worth Herald including news about The MID and a structure on N. Dixie Hwy., “[W]hich once housed Wayne Akers Ford is being demolished to make way for The MID, a 5.6 acre two hundred plus unit mixed use development.” Isn’t that a kick!

And there is news about “Family Saturdays” returning to the Cultural Council. The City of Lake Worth is holding a design competition and Pelican Pete has some musings on Tropical Storm Gordon too. And on p. 2 there is news about singing and drinking beer at the annual “Beer & Hymns” event (TONIGHT!), and on September 15th the “Village of Palm Springs Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month”, on p. 3 is Palm Beach County School News, then later in the paper is information from Everglades Ernie and Jorge Goyanes’ Car Clinic, and “The Divas Are Returning To The Lake Worth Playhouse!”

And there’s more.

The Town of Lantana is having a Public meeting for Republic Services’ new automated garbage service, a half-page ad about the City of Lake Worth’s change in recycling method, there are lots of ads from LOCAL businesses and Public Notices as well.

But unfortunately, this week there was no lovely and charming Letter to the Editor. But maybe next week.


Support LOCAL small town journalism.


To see the front page news this week click on this link. To contact the editor call 561-585-9387 or send an email to Editor@lwherald.com

Without further ado . . . about that workshop tomorrow. More information from the Herald.

Backyard Garden Workshop


The Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension is offering a one-day program to focus on tips and techniques on vegetable garden site preparation, seedling establishment, planting, maintenance and harvesting.
     Arthur Kirstein, coordinator of Agricultural Economic Development will be the instructor. The program is free of charge.
     The program will be held on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Hutcheson Agricultural Complex, Exhibit Hall A, 559 N. Military Trail in suburban West Palm Beach. The program is limited to 100 participants.
     To register call Dina Ligotino at 561-233-1792 or by email: Dligotino@pbcgov.org

Thursday, September 6, 2018

TOMORROW NIGHT! It’s the return of “Beer & Hymns” at Aioli’s!


See that news below in today’s Lake Worth Herald.


But first, a short, merry video in preparation for the upcoming Christmas and Holiday Season!




The new news in the Herald
today, an excerpt:


     On Friday, Sept. 7 [TOMORROW NIGHT] at 6:30–8:30, the 9th annual Beer and Hymn songfest will take place at Aioli’s. Sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Lake Worth, Richmond Schmidt, the musical host with the most, will return with the popular hymn sing-along. According to Schmidt, “It is a great opportunity to be together, enjoy some drinks, good food and sing all your favorite hymns together.”


Please note: The owners of Aioli’s are residents of our City of Lake Worth. Aioli’s is located in the plaza at 7434 S. Dixie Hwy. in West Palm Beach directly across the road from the CubeSmart self-storage facility (approx. ½ mile north from the City of Lake Worth past the C-51 Canal).

FYI: You do not have to be a member of the First Congregational Church to participate. Cold beer and excellent Aioli food will be available for purchase.

To see the front page news this week in The Lake Worth Herald and Coastal and Greenacres Observer click on this link.


And visit the newsstand Studio 205
some time today as well.

Click on image to enlarge:

Studio 205 is located at 205 N. Federal Hwy. in the City of Lake Worth. Stop by, just for kicks, and check out the cafĂ©, juice bar and pick up the Herald too, our LOCAL City weekly still costs just ¢50.

News in Coastal/Greenacres Observer* and The Lake Worth Herald† about the City of Greenacres.



Exciting news announcing an upcoming photo contest (see details below) and the winners will be featured on Greenacres’ official Facebook page!


“CAPTURE THE BEAUTY
OF GREENACRES”
(see newspaper clipping below)


Photographers: Maybe stage the Greenacres Community Center the backdrop for beat reporter from The Palm Beach Post interviewing Commander Lt. Tristram Moore of PBSO District 16.


We’re coming up soon on the three-year anniversary of the PBSO merge with the Greenacres Police Dept.


Learn more about this anniversary below.
Click on newspaper clipping to enlarge:

To submit your high-resolution images to the wonderful City of Greenacres click on this link.

Our City of Lake Worth is so fortunate to have such a fine neighbor as Greenacres.‡


More details about this photo contest reported in the Herald and Observer. . .


And whilst on the topic of the City of Greenacres. . .


Did you know Greenacres once had a dedicated beat reporter from The Palm Beach Post?

It’s true, back in 2015.

Read more about PBSO merge with Greenacres PD in 2015; from the editor(s) at the Post in March 2018:

“[T]here is no debate about the result. Overall crime is down, and available law-enforcement resources are far better.”


*The Coastal/Greenacres Observer is FREE. To download the newspaper click on this link, go to options and “Download as PDF”. The Observer is published weekly by Lake Worth Herald Press, Inc.

To contact the editor at The Lake Worth Herald call 561-585-9387 or send an email to: Editor@lwherald.com

In the last rankings by the Post of municipalities in Palm Beach County “from worst to best” — higher the number the worse the rank — the City of Greenacres came in unjustly and arbitrarily at #20 (the nearby Village of Palm Springs was ranked a dreadful #31, completely unwarranted).
     The City of Lake Worth came in at #6. To learn more about these inequitable rankings in the Post click on this link.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Very worthy news you can use in cities of Greenacres, Lake Worth, unincorporated (suburban areas) in between.


PBSO Graffiti Eradication Unit.


NO COST TO YOU!
IT’S FREE!


Take back your street, neighborhood,
community and parks.


Help PBSO District 14 (City of Lake Worth) and District 16 (City of Greenacres) and help PBSO in unincorporated Palm Beach County as well (e.g., places like John Prince Park in suburban Lake Worth). . .

  • If you see GRAFFITI IN PROGRESS call 911 immediately!
  • Non-emergency number: 561-688-3400.
  • Have a chronic graffiti problem? Call CrimeStoppers at 800-458-8477. Be eligible for a reward and remain anonymous.



How the PBSO Graffiti Eradication Unit came to be:


In early 2005 Sheriff Ric Bradshaw established this program to rapidly respond and remove graffiti within unincorporated Palm Beach County and select municipalities that now include the cities of Lake Worth and Greenacres.

It is very worth noting that Greenacres received high honors for “Safest Cities in Florida 2018” in Palm Beach County this year; however, the data from City of Lake Worth was late arriving to the judges showing a significant drop in crime.

The villages of Wellington and Royal Palm Beach — also patrolled by PBSO — were also ranked very high on the “Safest Cities” list as well.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Very important: Stormwater and drainage in this little City of Lake Worth.


If you happen to have a persistent issue with storm drains getting clogged contact the Public Works Division (phone number, email address, and more information is below).

Or the other option is you can contact somebody you know at a TV news station. However, TV reporters don’t clear drains. But maybe you’ll get interviewed on TV! Don’t forget these “easy-to-learn and highly effective techniques” demonstrating how to do a TV news interview.

Anyhow, without further ado. . .

Drainage System Maintenance.


The City’s Stormwater Division has a certified, technical staff and fleet of heavy equipment that work to maintain proper drainage and to prevent pollutants from reaching inlets and storm drains that lead into our Intracoastal waterway. The Streets Division cleans drains before and after rain events and major storms.


You can help by reporting blocked drains
and keeping garbage and debris away
from the drains.


It is prohibited to deposit anything that is not identified as acceptable stormwater directly or indirectly into the stormwater system.

Contact information for Stormwater Division:

  • Call 561-533-7346 from 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.
  • Address: 1880 2nd Ave. North.
  • Supervisor: Carlos Enriquez.
  • Email: cenriquez@lakeworth.org

Monday, September 3, 2018

FLASHBACK. City of Lake Worth. Prior to and after Labor Day Weekend, 2016. Public debate about proposed ordinance.



Please note. A reminder. The months of August and September are traditionally ones for banning things in Palm Beach County — generally things of interest to the environment community — and typically the very same things a lot of visitors and tourists find quite fun, entertaining, and very practical. Like plastic straws for example.


Let’s delve into this topic. Case Example:
The City of Lake Worth.

In late August/early September 2016 the public, administration and elected officials debated an ordinance to ban something that is used at parties, galas and socials. Things got a little overblown at times but order was quickly restored. This particular debate preceded the Neighborhood Road Bond vote in November of that year. Was the proposed ordinance about the roads in this City? No. Efforts to control flooding? No. The proposed ordinance was to ban something else entirely. Do you remember what it was?


Proposed Ordinance No. 2016-24 would be a violation under City of Lake Worth’s “Code of Ordinances” general penalty section, section 1–6, and subject’s a violator to a fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail.


A fine and/or jail time for what? Using balloons on City property. Not kidding. And who would have to enforce this ordinance? PBSO. Now imagine the message that sends to those who live in areas with too much crime?

To learn more about what happened in September 2016 in this City click on this link.

But the Balloon Platoon failed ingloriously in 2016 and did not come back in 2017 but then in 2018 along comes the Plastic Straw Police and they are making some headway in Broward County; they had no luck in Palm Beach County this year banning plastic straws. First they hit Delray Beach with their scheme, then Jupiter, then Boca Raton and hit the Town of Palm Beach too. But this little City of Lake Worth would be the prize for those who like to ban fun things like balloons and straws.

But imagine if the Straw Ban Police devoted their energy to teaching the public how to recycle properly instead of trying to ban stuff? Whilst on the topic of banning stuff like plastic straws in Broward and Palm Beach counties the Sun Sentinel wants to hear from you:


Should these sorts of regulations be handled at the state level instead? Let us know by emailing dsweeney@SunSentinel.com or tweeting @Daniel_Sweeney. Your response could be used in a future story.

Now back to the Balloon Platoon in 2016.

The Balloon Platoon was actually on to something about banning balloons but it nothing to do with the Atlantic Ocean. It had a lot to do with the electric grid.

Clutch the pearls! Below is a press release
from the City of Lake Worth.


A reader of this blog reminded me about in preparation for Hurricane Irma last year there were a whole lot of balloons entangled in the one and only City’s tie-in line to the electric grid. Can you imagine the City going dark because of balloons!

Post-Hurricane Irma here are City crews and out-of-town linemen posing for a group photo:




Now let’s get back to those pesky balloons. . .

If you recall, back in 2016 the Balloon Platoon showed up in this City trying to ban balloons but they ended up scaring the bejesus out of all the little children with ordinances to fine their parents or even throw a parent in jail for having a balloon at the Lake Worth Beach. That made a whole lot of people upset. Kids too.

So if the Straw Ban Police just happen to march in lockstep to the front of Lake Worth City Hall please remind them about what happened in this City last year and tell them to march back to where they came from and come up with another plan of action.

Forget about plastic straws. Ban balloons from anywhere near the electric grid!

Here is the press release from the City last year:


For more information contact Mr. Ben Kerr, the City’s Public Information Officer, at 561-586-1631; email: BKerr@lakeworth.org

September 5th, 2017.


Lake Worth* — The City of Lake Worth Electric Utilities had to perform a planned outage [ended at 4:00 p.m.] in order to remove mylar balloons that had become entangled in the main electric line.
     Please remember that the releasing of balloons is not allowed as it poses a risk to electrical infrastructure.

The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused.


For those of you who did not catch on, the blog post above about balloons does include a bit of satire but what happened back in 2016 did happen! For about two weeks everyone was distracted about balloons. But all the time and public funds wasted by municipalities having to deal with this nonsense about plastic straws and balloons should be satire. But it’s not. Public officials and law enforcement have much bigger things to worry about.

And since the press and news media continues to be fascinated and enthralled with this story about plastic straws — because the story is still getting social media clicks and ‘kicks’ and selling more newspapers — there was actually a letter to the editor published in The Palm Beach Post recently that is a worthwhile read and starts off with this line, “I would like to propose a simple, no-cost remedy to the problem of the abundance of plastic straws impacting our environment.”


*We are LAKE WORTH. A hometown City that is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service through a commitment to integrity, hard work and a friendly attitude. We strive to exceed the expectations of our citizens, our businesses, our elected officials and our fellow employees.”

Deadline for ITB 17-18-143 is tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 4th at 3:00.


Below are two excerpts from The Palm Beach Post print edition published on Aug. 28th on p. B7 (“Business” section). Today is Labor Day. Administration offices in West Palm Beach will re-open tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

Invitation to Bid (ITB 17-18-143)
WPB-TV Enhancement Broadcast Equipment


The City of West Palm Beach (City) is accepting bids from qualified and responsible contractors to furnish and supply broadcast equipment for the WPB-TV Enhancement Project. WPB-TV, the City’s Public Educational and Government (PEG) Channel is undergoing a complete rebuild of broadcast operations at City Hall. The rebuild will enhance municipal transparency and include Closed-Captioning of all programming on-air and on the web. This project includes replacement of equipment in the following areas: Commission Chambers, Flagler Gallery, Master Control, and the Production Suite.

and. . .

Time is of the essence and any bid received after 3:00 p.m. on September 4, 2018, whether by mail or otherwise, will be returned unopened.


[NOTE: Bid documents may be acquired free of charge by clicking on this link. Hard copies of bid documents may be acquired at this address: 401 Clematis Street, 3rd floor in West Palm Beach.]

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Zika: News from journalist John Kennedy and news also “Worth Noting” from the City of Lake Worth.


In August 2016 a case of Zika was reported in Lake Worth. It was big news in The Palm Beach Post. See that news below.

First, while Zika is not quite the plague it was in 2016 there continue to be cases discovered here in South Florida. What concerns public health officials most about Zika is it’s “particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.” Prior to a case of Zika being reported the information below is important to know.

All the Zika cases thus far this year are “travel related” mostly in Collier and Miami-Dade counties. Many of the public here in Central Palm Beach County and in cities such as the City of Lake Worth regularly travel back and forth from South America and other locations in the Caribbean for either business or pleasure. So the battle to “Fight the Bite” against mosquitoes needs to be a year-round effort here in this region to try and stop Zika in its tracks: eliminating as many places as possible where mosquitoes can breed.

The news below can help you get ready and
protect yourself from mosquitoes.


“Fight the Bite!”

First the news from the City of Lake Worth:

“Worth Noting” is a FREE newsletter sent to your email inbox. To subscribe use this link for news directly from the City, unfiltered. Click on this link to learn more about “Fight the Bite”.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE!


Below is the big news from August 2016 by former Palm Beach Post political correspondent John Kennedy who used to run the Tallahassee news bureau for the Post. Briefly, after that news bureau was shut down in Dec. 2016, for quite some time there was no longer an assigned journalist from the Post to report the goings-on in the State Capitol.

The fine irony is John Kennedy now works as a journalist for Gatehouse Media in Tallahassee reporting state-wide political news which is published in newspapers all over Florida and the United States. And one of those newspapers — as of May 1st this year — now owned by Gatehouse Media is . . . you guessed it: The Palm Beach Post.

Welcome back Mr. Kennedy!

The news below from Kennedy can help you become aware of the potential dangers, get prepared, and protect yourself, family and neighborhood from mosquitoes:


“There is [was] a reported case of Zika in Lake Worth [in August 2016]. As with all other cases across the State, the Florida Department of Health is responsible for verifying, tracking and reporting cases of Zika to local authorities.
     Florida Health, Palm Beach County is the lead agency in all local outreach efforts to minimize any effects regarding the additional case. The Health Department is assisted by Palm Beach County Mosquito Control Division to gather data and work with affected communities.
     We continue to urge residents across the County to take precautions to prevent the spread of mosquito transmitted diseases.”



Now that we are officially in Wet Season look around for places where mosquitoes can breed so you can “Fight the Bite!”