Ag Reserve Round-table Discussion

From Andy Reid at the Sun Sentinel on the Ag Reserve round-table yesterday. Click title for link. And Drew Martin gets quoted! Probably one of Drew's best performances to date:

"County officials on Monday held a day-long discussion with neighborhood representatives, growers, developers, environmentalists and others to try to find common ground on whether to change the development rules for the Agricultural Reserve.
But at one point, some participants couldn't even agree on the idea that producing food and other agricultural pursuits should still take priority in the Agricultural Reserve.
'It is called the Ag Reserve,' said an exasperated Drew Martin of the Sierra Club."

Fort Lauderdale Critical Mass Ride

James Argyropoulos at the Broward New Times has some great pictures from the last weeks Critical Mass ride in Fort Lauderdale. Click title for link. The ride by the looks of it has become much more novice- and family-friendly. Good for them.

Remember! The Lake Worth Critical Mass ride is this Friday. I'll have details later in the week.

Economic Development Projects in Palm Beach County's Pipeline

Jeff Ostrowski reports on some very big business news for Palm Beach County. Click title for link. All of these are very cryptic, especially "Project Framework" - imagine what that would do for the Lake Worth Park of Commerce and our local economy!

"One company, which Smallridge [Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County] identified only by the codename Project Gemini, is looking for a place to build a $175 million manufacturing plant with 250 workers, she said Thursday.
'We need that really bad for the Glades area,' Smallridge told Business Development Board members during a meeting in West Palm Beach.
The other company, known as Project Carbon, would spend $7 million on a green energy facility with 100 jobs.
The Business Development Board has pushed for economic development in Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay, poor areas in an affluent county. Smallridge estimated that unemployment in the Glades is 36 percent.
Smallridge said she’s also wooing another company that would be a coup for the county. Project Framework is looking for a 200,000-square-foot facility somewhere in central or southern Palm Beach County. That company would bring 1,000 jobs."

There are standards...

Interesting editorial piece in the "Hot Topics" section of the Palm Beach Post today. You can read it here.

The commentary by Mr. Wasserman deals with the journalist code of ethics and specifically the Society for Professional Journalism (SPJ). Just last week I brought up the SPJ because a local "journalist" had publicly come to the defense of a blogger who is using violent images and harmful/personal attacks. The SPJ code of ethics does not encourage such tactics. No professional "journalist" would.

You can re-read my earlier post here.

The Post also seems to be grappling with issues in local reporting such as when it is appropriate to publish unattributed rumors. I think the state of the media in general has let go of what standards it had and is playing to the lowest common denominator.

Lynn Anderson Unmasked...

From the College Park Neighborhood Association comes this...

Since the College Park Neighborhood Association was founded in 1996, we have been fortunate to have had so many dedicated people step up to serve as officers and directors. Every year since then, each new board member has brought fresh ideas and unique talents to bear on the challenges and opportunities that are a part of living in College Park. Please consider bringing your own fresh ideas and unique talents to serve our neighborhood for 2015.

From the bottom of my heart, it's truly been an honor to serve as President of College Park NA for the last four years. Together with all of you and our other officers and directors during that time, we have achieved some wonderful goals. But there is always more to be done and more ways to do it. I am looking forward to supporting a new President next year and helping as a neighbor to continue all our efforts to make College Park a neighborhood we can always be proud to call our home.

I especially Thank our 2014 Board of Directors, Vice President Johnny Pickett, Secretary Kim McEvers, Treasurer Terry Brokovich and Directors, Wes Blackman, Rick Dytrych, Scott Eller, Charlotte Keshian and Kristine Olson for their dedicated service and I sincerely hope that each of them will consider serving again next year. On behalf of the entire board, I also Thank our neighbor, Ian Esplin, for his continued service as volunteer webmaster for our College Park website.

The election for 2015 officers and directors will take place on Monday, December 8th at 6:30 at our usual meeting place, the First Congregational Church, 1415 North K Street.

Your Neighbor,
Mary Lindsey, President CPNA 2011-2014

http://www.collegeparklakeworth.com/

For all of us missing the weekly quotes from Drew Martin in the Palm Beach Post...

Good news everyone! Drew Martin is fine and there is nothing to worry about. Joe Capozzi from the Palm Beach Post is tweeting live from the Ag Reserve round-table discussion and Drew Martin is working with a facilitator.

Maybe tomorrow Drew Martin will once again resume his position as THE SOURCE for quotes in the newspapers on environmental issues.

Stay tuned!

From a loyal reader, catch the moment while you can!

Latino workers dying at higher rates in job accidents, report shows

From the Broward Bulldog comes this story about the hazards faced by Latinos in the workplace, especially construction and related jobs. This was part of the issue when we had large groups of people assembling west of the Shuffleboard Courts for day labor in the early 2000s. I remember horror stories of on-the-job injuries and little regard for basic safety for some of the workers. Some would do work and not get paid or get paid less than others doing similar work. They were afraid to complain due to their undocumented status. Click title for link. From the article:

As Latino workers take on more and more of the nation’s toughest and dirtiest jobs, they increasingly are paying for it with their lives.
Preliminary federal figures released last week showed that of the 4,405 U.S. workers killed on the job in 2013, 797 were Latinos. That equates to 3.8 of every 100,000 full-time Latino employees in the U.S. dying in workplace accidents during the year.
The fatality rate for Latinos was up marginally from 3.7 per 100,000 workers in 2012, and was significantly higher than the 2013 fatality rates of 3.2 for whites, 2.9 for blacks and 1.5 for Asians.
Safety experts point to reluctance among many Latino workers, particularly immigrants, to protest job hazards. They commonly attribute the reluctance to language barriers or fears that complaining about working conditions will cost them their jobs or even lead to deportation.
In addition, worker advocates blame weak federal and state regulation and a trend of employers increasingly giving dangerous jobs to temporary workers, including some with little training.

Below: Complete Final Copy of Downtown West Palm Beach Walkability Report

  West Palm Beach Downtown Walkability Study by Wes Blackman

Two-thirds of Florida voters weren't wrong...

Lawsuit: Town goes too far on political sign rules and...

Lesley Blackner is suing the Town of Palm Beach for their zealous enforcement of the Town's political sign laws. Mind you, this is the same person who fought for a state constitutional amendment that would require a vote on every change to a local government's Comprehensive Plan. That was Amendment 4 of 2010, also referred to as Hometown Democracy. If it passed, which it didn't by a long-shot, it would have trampled on private property rights around the state and subjected land use regulations to the equivalent of mob rule. Our ballots would also have been at least 5 pages long. Here, she is asserting her First Amendment rights to display political signs on her property. She and the other blogger were pals and Blackner used the Sunset property case here in Lake Worth as a rallying cry for her effort. Click title for link.

Before the Aug. 26 primary, the couple [unidentified in article] placed two signs in the yard of their Australian Avenue home. One supported Attorney General Pam Bondi ; the other Palm Beach County School Board candidate Larry Rosensweig.
According to the suit, code officer Walton removed the Rosensweig sign a few days before the election, citing the limit on the number of signs. On Aug. 30, a code officer informed Blackner that the other sign should be removed because more than 48 hours had passed since the election. She refused. Walton removed the sign Sept. 1 and placed it, with a violation noticed stapled to it, at the door of the couple’s home.
Blackner [Lesley Blackner] is representing the couple.

Critical Mass Fort Lauderdale Is Happening Tonight With New Route

Click title for link to Broward New Times article. It appears that things are getting under control and there are rules now for this ride. It's been a bit of a rough-and-tumble experience of late, for the bicycle riders and the police. From the article:

"It was the consensus that we don't really want an exact repeat of last month, where traffic lights sliced the ride into a series of different groups, where tickets were issued instead of warnings, and even though we handed out a map some people got a little lost," the post adds. "That is why we were trying to work with the police for a better protocol on intersections. As of now we have not had a positive response from Fort Lauderdale Police Department about assisting the ride through intersections. The only definitive statement is that they will be out monitoring the ride and enforcing the law, like last time."
The new route is designed to avoid as many traffic lights as possible, as well as hit more localized roadways.
Fort Lauderdale Police has insisted that the mass be split at each traffic light, which has created small pods of riders. CM is going to try breaking riders into small groups prior to the ride starting, in a preemptive maneuver to avoid this headache.
Each small group will have an assigned leader who will dictate the pace of the group. Moreover, if a group gets accidentally split up by a red light, the others can simply pull over and wait for them to catch up.

Peter Pan

"Shall we have an adventure now, or would you like tea first?"

Mr. Nice Guy - Taste Test - Going back to one of my older product reviews

Today I reveal  my much-anticipated review of the drink called “Mr. Nice Guy.” First, here is a little background. On June 4, 2014 in the Palm Beach Post there was an article about entrepreneur Dylan Harrison. He got into a little trouble a while back; old news now. Anyhow, he partnered with a gentleman named Ron VanTassel to produce his new beverage called: “Mr. Nice Guy.”

After reading the Post article, I went to the 'Mr. Nice Guy' website. There I noticed a 'Contact Us' link and sent a quick note requesting a sample to review and giving well wishes to Mr. Harrison. Two days later, a pleasant young man came by the house and dropped off ten cans for me to sample and review. Just by coincidence I had a contest going on at the time and used 'Mr. Nice Guy' as the prize and received additional reviews. You can read about my contest here.

The cans are cute and fit easily in the hand. Upon opening, the smell is fresh and effervescent The drink flavor, upon tasting, can be described as "Chillicious Berry" and perfectly carbonated. I carried the beverage into my bedroom whilst I browsed through my Kindle for the day's readings. Soon, I felt a slight tingling sensation across my upper back. Something like you would feel after a gentle massage. Just the right drink before bed time which is exactly what 'Mr. Nice Guy' is for. In big letters they have the word, “RELAXINOL” and on the can they have their 'Mr. Nice Guy' motto:

“When the day is over, or work is done, get your head right & Relaxinol. Cool calm & carefree is the way of Mr. Nice Guy. ENJOY THIS CAN & BE NICE.”

Note to self: Save a can in reserve for the other blogger in town. She could use a little relaxation.

Soon, I found my eyes falling off the page and had to put my reading down. Turning off the light, I adjusted to the fetal position and soon it was morning. I was wide awake and fresh as a daisy.

The product is manufactured in the USA and the office of 'Mr. Nice Guy LLC' is in West Palm Beach, FL. Can you say, “Buy Local, Drink Local, Relax Local.”

The reviews, including my own, are very favorable for the product and it does exactly what it claims. On the can under “Supplement Facts” they list their proprietary blend of amino acids and other ingredients. No doubt these ingredients cause the calming and soothing effect of the drink. There is also a warning on the drink: “May cause drowsiness. Do not drive or operate machinery after consuming.” Sound advice.

I give Mr. Harrison, Mr. VanTassel, and their product, 'Mr. Nice Guy' two thumbs up. Just be safe and wait until you get home before consuming. Drink Up, Relax, and Be Nice! And put down that heavy mechanical equipment.