This happened yesterday. Pedestrian hit, killed by train in Lake Worth

Click title for link to WPTV story. Unfortunately, this is not the first time for this sort of accident. We are still short on details.

The Post Editorial on the Briger Tract and EarthFirst!

Trust me, dear readers, you wouldn't want to be Panagioti Tsolkas, Cara Jennings, or frankly anyone in EarthFirst! (EF) this week. Or for the foreseeable future for that matter. Remember there was a time when Randy Schultz ran the editorial board at the Palm Beach Post and Willy Howard was the staff writer for Lake Worth. Back then, the peeps at EF could usually count on the Post for support. Times were good most of the time. Here is a piece on Ms. Jennings from that period. Interestingly, it refers to her not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, something that she was known for. In light of the recent invocation kerfuffle, it helps put things in perspective.

However that was then and this is now. EF as you may know has protested several times the development of the Briger Tract in Palm Beach Gardens. The Briger Tract, with its (possible) green indigo snakes and tortoises is and always was the distraction from the actual story: EF's effort to rid much of Scripps and the biotech industry from here in south Florida. The Post editorial board came out strongly in yesterday's paper and detailed the entire story about Scripps and Briger succinctly. I strongly encourage all my readers to read the editorial. Here are two short excerpts:

There are gopher tortoises, which can be relocated, and possibly — based on the excitement of snake-sniffing dogs sent by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — endangered Eastern indigo snakes.

Hearing the pleas of the Earth First! protesters, it’s easy to forget that building on Briger was deemed among the most environmentally friendly of options for the biotech city intended to be anchored by The Scripps Research Institute.

[and...]

These [plans by Scripps, the Kolter Group, Florida Crystals, et al.] are all positive developments for a piece of land that’s bisected by a highway and surrounded by malls and homes. It’s much more positive than building a sprawling development 10 miles from everything else in the county, a development that encroaches on the northern edge of the Everglades.

Though it’s easy to forget, it’s ultimately the compromise plan for Briger that has managed to put the Earth — and people — first.

The gem you'll get in the printed edition of the paper as opposed to the online editorial is a lovely picture of EF's Lynne Purvis, Lake Worth resident and part of the tribe.

Also in the editorial, the online edition, is a link to the Post's Tony Doris story about the plans for the Briger Tract. 

What's lost on some, and what EF hopes to capitalize on by causing confusion, is the Briger/Scripps story is not new by any means. The Briger/Scripps story is old news, more than 10 years old now. EF is engaged in a form of social media 'monkeywrenching' (misinformation and disinformation) going so far as to accuse the Palm Beach Gardens police of abuses which never happened. In ratcheting up the hysteria and hyperbole EF hopes to gain support and, of course, dollars. 

The Post's online edition has a link to the EF site, the EarthFirst! Journal. If you would like to help out EF you can do so by bidding on an item(s) in their auction! The auction ends today so act fast. I'm considering a bid on two items myself. Perfect timing for your holiday giving and consuming.

Ultimately, what the Post editorial addresses is this key question: The Palm Beach County population and business community is growing and where do we want these people to be? West of the Turnpike or east of the Turnpike? That is the question. 

For Panagiotti Tsolkas and EF they will not come to the table. For them the goal is simple: to get Scripps out of Florida. Period. In their writings of late they have taken on an angry tone and are not accepting defeat. What exactly does that mean for the future? Only they know that and I am not expecting a news conference by EF any time soon detailing their plans. Will EF employ a diversity of tactics? Expect more from this group in the coming year.

Walkable West Palm Beach Blog - Thanks for the mention!

One of my bi-weekly, thrice-weekly blogs to read is Walkable West Palm Beach (WWPB).  It's fun to go through their archives. Recently, I read this gem on WWPB about Donald Shoup, the author of “The High Cost of Free Parking”. You see folks, your free parking in downtown Lake Worth comes at a very high price. Free is not free. Just because you're not paying to park doesn't mean somebody else isn't picking up the tab. Here is the video I did last year when Dr. Shoup was in Delray Beach.

If you're like me and know who Jeff Speck is, desire a walkable/bikeable city, and think FDOT's 12' wide car lanes are a crime against humanity than I would strongly suggest you go to the WWPB blog. Here's the series of videos which I took last May when Mr. Speck gave his initial report to the West Palm Beach City Commission.

Just the other day when I visited WWPB, its author Jesse Bailey, was promoting my podcast from last December with Joe Minicozzi. Some of you old-timers in West Palm Beach will remember Mr. Minicozzi. 

Mr. Bailey did an excellent job of highlighting the topics Mr. Minicozzi and yours truly discussed:

• How the Convention Center could have been better designed to show respect for the adjacent Grandview Heights neighborhood
• Imagine getting off the plane at PBI and taking a ferry directly from PBI Airport to the convention center and downtown. It could have happened, if not for the county crushing the plan
• The economic harm of arbitrarily giving away development rights, and the need for a consistent, non-political framework to guide development decisions
• Chapel by the Lake site
• Why the focus on density and height is misplaced. It’s about design.
• How our downtown areas and urban places are our true economic engines, bringing in a tax yield that is orders of magnitude higher than suburban sprawl or big box development

Our Lake Worth downtown and our Lake Worth Park of Commerce are indeed "economic engines". 

Soon I hope to have Mr. Bailey as a guest on my podcast, High Noon in Lake Worth. High on my list of topics to discuss with Mr. Bailey are "one-way pairs" like our Lake Worth Lake and Lucerne Avenues. 

I appreciate Mr. Bailey promoting my podcast with Mr. Minicozzi and hope our talk added positively to the debate.  Be sure to visit his blog. As usual, you will discover that our two cities have more in common than we know.

We are a republic, after all...

Image from the Tom McGow archives, used with permission. 

State Senator Clemens at Kiwanis - Tuesday, December 16

Florida State Senator Jeff Clemens will speak at the Kiwanis Club breakfast meeting on Tuesday, December 16 to give us a legislative update and discuss issues relevant to the future of our City. All are welcome. Too Jays. Downtown Lake Worth. 8AM. You can order coffee or breakfast off of the regular menu.

Former Congressman Mark Foley getting some good press...

“I think I’m a fortunate person. I think God blessed me abundantly in ways that I can never measure, and I’ve had a very fortunate life,” he said. “I’ve virtually bounced back from any challenge thrown my way — Layne’s passing, my dad’s death, loss of job. These all are things I would rather have not experienced but they are part of life’s journey, so I don’t look at it as lucky."

Quote by Mark Foley in this week's Florida Weekly. This story about Mark Foley is a very long read and encourage everyone to read it. It's nice to be reminded during the holiday season about the power of redemption and recovery after overcoming life's challenges.

New Bike Trail network in Lansing, Michigan

This is from where I was born and raised. The region worked together to link various trails along rivers and streams, through park land and other areas to provide a dedicated bike/pedestrian way. When I lived there and worked as a planner for the city of East Lansing, the prospect of this "River Trail" was just being talked about. Almost 30 years later, all the parts have come together in an integrated system. This video is a narrated trip through part of the trail.

It also represents a fairly professional video prepared by a local government given newly available technology.
Join Lansing's Parks Director, Brett Kaschinske and Chief Operating Officer, Chad Gamble on a little mid-day adventure as they explore the newly created South Lansing pathway extension. You will also hear various pathway and park updates from the likes of Officer Bob Merritt, Kevin Shaw and Brett Kaschinske himself.

Palm Beach County reconsiders $135 million baseball stadium deal

Seems that this project is stuck in the same rut that it was before. Now, West Palm Beach is saying "come all offers" on the piece of land they were ready to see for a development project. This is perplexing County officials. And, reading the article, another stake has been placed in the heart of John Prince Park being a suitable location. The search continues! They will be talking about this at Tuesday's County Commission meeting. Click title for link.

County Mayor Shelley Vana said she opposes trading land as proposed, but said she is willing to continue talks with the city to try to reach a deal.
"We put everything up [that] we are going to do," Vana said. "West Palm Beach keeps giving us moving targets."
In response to the revived proposal for a potential land swap with the county, city officials issued a statement saying they are continuing talks with competing developers and that the county is also welcome to submit a proposal.
"Our position that we will not give away taxpayer land for free to build a baseball facility remains unchanged," the city's statement said.

Town of Palm Beach - Traffic Advisory - Flagler Memorial Bridge

Flagler Memorial (North) Bridge
The eastbound lane will be closed on the Flagler Memorial Bridge Thursday, Dec. 18 through Tuesday morning, Dec. 23, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., for bridge foundation work on the southeast side of the bridge. Flaggers will guide eastbound and westbound traffic across the bridge alternately. Drivers should expect delays and seek alternate routes if possible.

Lynn and Dee: Bringing us together...

MSU students turn backs on George Will at commencement

Click title for link to a Detroit Free Press article. Are those that turned their backs during George Will's talk "un-American"? Would Commissioner McVoy think so? From the article:

As conservative columnist George Will spoke during today's graduation ceremony, 18 Michigan State University students — wearing green caps and gowns — stood with their backs to him.
Several in the crowd of thousands at MSU's Breslin Center also did the same. Others sat in their seats, holding up newspapers and pretending to read.
It was part of a protest surrounding inflammatory statements the Washington Post columnist and commentator has made discrediting the severity of college rape. Protest organizers said the university should have canceled his appearance because of those statements.

Voices of Pride Performance from World AIDS Day Observance at Compass

Excerpts from yesterday's reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Channel 12, Kathleen Walter - Poor taste never ready for prime time

Yesterday was the Lake Worth Holiday parade. This parade, along with the Street Painting Festival, are one of Lake Worth's signature events. Jodie Wagner at the Palm Beach Post wrote an excellent story about the parade you can read here. Here is an excerpt:

More than 5,000 spectators are expected to line downtown streets Saturday for the city’s annual holiday parade.

Featuring floats, antique cars, marching bands, twirlers and other performance groups, the 48th annual event promises plenty of family friendly fun, said Juan Ruiz, the city’s leisure services director.

“It’s probably our biggest event that provides a community bonding opportunity for everyone to come out and celebrate the holidays,” he said. “Parades in Lake Worth are really popular. They love parades in our town.”

This last Friday night, Kathleen Walter from Channel 12 came to Lake Worth to do a news story, something altogether different than the story by Jodie Wagner. Keep in mind the following day was the Lake Worth Holiday parade, however Kathleen Walter was determined to do a story on the controversial "invocation" issue in the City of Lake Worth. Remember, the atheist invocation by Preston Smith was 12 days ago. Not exactly what you would call "breaking news". A citizen in Deerfield Beach now wants to do a 'satanic' invocation in Lake Worth. [Note: Not reported by Kathleen Walter, Deerfield Beach has an invocation at their city commission meetings. Reverend Fulmore from the Church of the Living God gave the last invocation.]

This satanic 'invocation' could be months away, if it ever happens at all. From a news perspective, again, this story could be broadcast any time. I spoke with someone yesterday in the downtown who relayed their interaction with Kathleen Walter and her/his pleas for Channel 12 to do a positive story about Lake Worth and the Holiday Parade, to no avail. 

Instead Kathleen Walter reported this story on Lake Worth, the night before the Lake Worth Holiday Parade. We understand that she was trolling for a negative point-of-view during the evening. As part of Kathleen Walter's story she included the tree lighting ceremony from Friday night as a backdrop and here is the screen grab:

If you are not offended, you should be. If you are a resident of Lake Worth (or for that matter, a resident of Palm Beach County) I would strongly suggest you not watch Channel 12 news or communicate with anyone at Channel 12. For residents outside the City of Lake Worth know this: if this kind of offensive reporting could happen to our city, it could happen to yours too. 

Finally, Kathleen Walter has an impressive résumé. She knows how to do news reporting. Why shouldn't the City of Lake Worth get the same professional treatment she would give any other story? The City of Lake Worth deserves better.

If you make it to downtown West Palm Beach...

From Eliot Kleinberg at the West Palm Beat blog we have this about "parklets" in downtown West Palm Beach. How about this idea for downtown Lake Worth?

“Parklets” are in place again in downtown West Palm Beach.

Starting Thursday morning, local artists transformed a parking space at Rocco’s Tacos, 224 Clematis St., into a “street balcony.” It will stay there for a month, then move to Le Rendez-vous on Datura street and then to Field of Greens back on Clematis Street.

The mini-parks started in 2005 and have become popular in cities across the country. One in Oakland held bicycle racks and tables and chairs along with a row of planters. One in Vancouver, B.C., was surrounded by a wire fence and held blocks that served as benches. A San Francisco version held dining tables and was framed by a wood fence.

Two urban planner/artists are part of the team responsible for this placement. They are Sherryl Murriente and Beju Legobart.