Top 25 most popular US beaches - WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Top Stories

Click title for link to the most popular beaches in the U.S. No, Lake Worth didn't make the list,  but Palm Beach (?) squeezes in at #25. I think they finally installed bathrooms to prove public accessibility due to use of state funds for beach renourishment. Click here for the full U.S. list with photos. Some of the criteria and a list of those beaches in Florida, from the article:

Eight Florida cities actually made the list, including Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.
But Rehoboth Beach, Delaware took the top spot. The beaches were ranked based on overall attendance and beachgoers per-capita.
Highlights:
#25- Palm Beach
#20- Fort Lauderdale
#18- Clearwater
#17-Sarasota
#14- Hollywood
#13- Jacksonville
#10- Daytona
#6- Miami
#1- Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Nicaragua Approves Route for $40bn Waterway Linking Pacific and Atlantic Oceans

EF! has their hands full; maybe that's why we don't see them around here much anymore? Click title for link. From the article:

Nicaragua has approved the proposed route for a $40bn waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, a landmark project that will lock horns with the 100-year-old Panama Canal when completed.
A committee of government officials, businessmen and academics has approved the 172 mile (278 km) route, from the mouth of the Brito River on the Pacific side to the Punto Gorda River on the Atlantic side.
The shipping channel could lift the Central American country out of poverty.
The proposed channel will be over three times longer than the 48-mile (77-km) Panama Canal, which is located further down south at the narrowest part of the Central American isthmus.

West Palm Beach to start talks on planned health center at... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

You know, there was a time in Lake Worth when there was a big push to land a hospital within our borders. I think that we can make more of an effort to connect, via trolley or other transportation method, to the existinng JFK Hospital campus. Here, West Palm Beach may be courting a new health center on one of its prime downtown locations. Click title for link.

City commissioners voted Monday to start talks with a developer who plans a medical center at West Palm Beach’s long-vacant “tent site.”
The vote followed a contentious meeting where they heard two separate proposals, got a surprise pitch from a third suitor, and heard impassioned pleas from area hospitals who fear competition.
The panel, meeting as the board of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, opted to talk for the next 90 days with a consortium led by developer Michael McCloskey, and to get a new appraisal for the 2.4-acre site at Okeechobee Boulevard and Dixie Highway, valued in 2010 at $10 million.

Controversy spreads over 'fracking-like' oil drilling near Everglades - Sun Sentinel

This just doesn't seem right, even though small scale drilling for oil has been going on since the 1940s. This is different. Click title for link. From the article:

"I cannot believe our governor or anybody would allow this to happen in the Everglades, which is supposed to be a major filter for our water into the homes," said Douglas Brodhead, 57, of Fort Lauderdale. "They should be letting kids know that this is what grownups are doing, and that this is what your water supply is going to be when you grow up."
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., the Collier County Commission and some state legislators are raising alarms about expanded drilling.
"My biggest concern is that we are a state where it's not really appropriate to have fracking, with the Floridan Aquifer underneath and with so much of our drinking water in jeopardy," said state Sen. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, who hopes to enact a ban.
He said passage in the Legislature "will be a tough road but one that's achievable.
"We are seeing more awareness across the state now that the truth is coming out. A lot of the environmental community here and statewide groups are discussing the issue. Even developers and growth-management people have to take this seriously. Tourism is a huge ally. We learned from the BP spill that tourism and oil spills don't mix," Soto said.

More trouble in Greenfield...

Another pic from the Tom McGow archives...

This came from a time when the new noise ordinance was being written. Willie Howard was talking about the long term effects of noise on humans in the paper and everyone's brother and sister were calling in noise complaints stemming from certain downtown businesses. Most of those complaints came from one address on N. M Street. I remember our former Commissioner complaining about noise from downtown at her 5th Avenue North and Palmway house.

By the way, we walked from the Cultural Plaza during the time when the Kiss Tribute band was playing Friday night. We couldn't hear any noise coming from the downtown north of 2nd Avenue. Here are two pictures of the band playing last Friday night.

"Get your Bling On" Exhibition

Saturday August 2nd 2014 6-9pm
Artisans On The Ave
630 Lake Avenue
Lake Worth, Florida 33460
"Get your Bling On" Help a charity of your choice!
Support a charity and have fun!
561-582-3300

Click here for a slick "walkers" map of Downtown Lake Worth - from the CRA of course

Moving Up: Ruth Mageria, new director of C.R.O.S. Ministries | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Good news for the Lake Worth area. Click title for link.

Mageria said she plans to continue efforts to end hunger in the area by facilitating connections between faith-based and other types of nonprofit organizations. She intends to also focus on collaborating with other agencies to develop job training opportunities that help struggling families become self-sufficient.
“We have so much diversity here in South Florida,” she said. “One of the things I really enjoy about being here at CROS is that we walk with people of all faiths. We need to all work together to end hunger in Palm Beach County.”
Last year, CROS’s food pantries distributed food to 55,056 people, 42 percent of whom were children. One hundred and eighty children attended CROS’s summer camps last year and CROS’s Caring Kitchen provided 15,888 referrals and services for basic needs.

Global warming latest: Amount of Antarctic sea ice hits new record high | Mail Online

Obviously, further scientific study is needed but let's not let that prevent us from going forward and improving our infrastructure. Remember during the Cold War (interesting name now that I think about it), we lived under the threat of mutually assured destruction, and survived many near misses. Such a catastrophe could still happen today. Should the threat of that prevent us from investing in our city? I don't think so. Click title for link to article.

America’s National Snow And Ice Data Center, which is funded by Nasa [sic], revealed that ice around the southern continent covers about 16 million sq km, more than 2.1 million more than is usual for the time of year.
It is by far the highest level since satellite observations on which the figures depend began in 1979.
In statistical terms, the extent of the ice cover is hugely significant.
It represents the latest stage in a trend that started ten years ago, and means that an area the size of Greenland, which would normally be open water, is now frozen.
The Antarctic surge is so big that overall, although Arctic ice has decreased, the frozen area around both poles is one million square kilometres more than the long-term average.

Raft Race 2014 - "Art on the Water" - This one has the final heat, controversial ending.

Getting ready for Heat #2 - Raft Race 7/4/14

More from the Great American Raft Race - this from the end of Heat #1

All Aboard Florida head wants to attend Jupiter council meeting | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This is turning out to be another case of group hysteria. You might remember that I posted a letter from All Aboard Florida to the Town of Jupiter and then the resolution the Town passed at its last meeting. It seems like they will be meeting again to talk about the facts and the real impact to the area. Click title for link to article.

The president of All Aboard Florida wants to attend a town council meeting to answer questions about the company’s plan to build a 235-mile railroad between Orlando and Miami.
“There is a lot of emotionally driven rhetoric out there not based on fact. I look forward to meeting with the council and engaging in a meaningful dialogue,” said Michael Reininger, whose company wants to begin building the railroad in 2016, with stops in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
A public meeting with Reininger would be a big boost to understanding the railroad plan, said Jupiter Councilwoman Wendy Harrison.
“In the absence of information, people speculate. Often, they think the worse-case scenario,” said Harrison, who said she would welcome the meeting.

Believe it or not, this was a real issue and a mystery to some...

From the Tom McGow archives comes this:

Commissioner Jennings questioned the "real" height of the Lucerne from the dais back in the summer of 2009. She said that she saw a letter from a surveyor that said that the Lucerne was 83 feet tall. She insinuated that, even though the maximum height limit in that area of the downtown was 65 feet (it is now 45 feet in this area), that somehow someone let the building be built 18 feet higher than it actually was approved for. Apparently, this had been an issue since the time of the building permit review and construction period. Certain people (eh hem) were hyper-concerned about the maximum height of the building that they saw to it to have some architectural details eliminated from the final design. You can thank these people (eh hem) for the boxy shape of the building today.

I had a meeting with Commissioner Mulvehill at the time on building height in general in the city. This was during the period where the Comprehensive Plan said that everything had to be two stories and could be three stories in some areas given special dispensations and general intercessions. In our meeting, Commissioner Mulvehill was convinced that the Lucerne was 83 feet high and she had asked Fedner (who, no fault of his own, was basically our planning department at the time without very much experience) to get a surveying instrument and determine the REAL height of the building. I'm not sure that ever happened and I don't think he had the capacity to work such a machine in the first place.

It turns out that a letter from a surveyor turned up in the file, and if you had at least half a brain, upon reading it you would conclude that the measuring point for the height of the Lucerne was at 18 feet ABOVE SEA LEVEL and, measured from there it was exactly 65 feet tall. This was a case where someone latched on to a little bit of information, added three dashes of hysteria and a couple squirts of political gamesmanship. Bananabreath, Jennings and Mulvehill were all on the same page with this one.

So, Tom McGow decided to put the matter to bed in his inimitable style and the above is the result.

And, yes good citizens of Lake Worth, the Lucerne is STILL 65 feet high. It is not growing. It was not built 18 feet higher than it should be. Oh, and just because the building's east side doesn't have windows doesn't mean that our historic Library will be torn down for another high-rise. Another hysterical claim made back-in-the-day. 

Enjoy!