Monday, June 8, 2015

The new reef in Deerfield Beach that didn't quite go as planned


The comments under that accompany this video are very interesting.

Industrial-scale deforestation fixed by industrial-scale reforestation: science solves the problem

Came across this video on the website springwise:

From the article:
     The UAVs [drones] will first map the terrain of effected areas and then carry out precision planting of pregerminated seeds. Two operators are expected to employ multiple UAVs, which can shoot the seeds at a rate of 10 pellets per minute, totalling 36,000 trees in a day. The seeds would be covered with a nutritious hydrogel, making them more likely to flourish and BioCarbon Engineering hope to collaborate with local reforestation organizations to ensure they satisfy the biodiversity needs of each region, restoring ecosystems rather than creating fragile monocultures. The startup suggests that their method could cost 85 percent less than traditional methods.

Attention Plutocrats: The Pitchforks are Coming. . .

The Great American July 4th Raft Race theme this year is "Reading Is Fun" (RIF): Official T-shirts on sale now

The July 4th Raft Race in Lake Worth is a BIG DEAL as you can see in the video below. 
Below is the Official T-shirt of the NAPC* Raft Race this year:
*The NAPC for those of you unaware (or new to the City scene) is the Lake Worth Neighborhood Association Presidents Council. Here is their website, Facebook page, and email.

Sabal Palm House, one of the most popular south FL inns located in charming Lake Worth is For Sale

[UPDATE: Over the weekend this post from May 24th got an extraordinary amount of attention.]

The City of Lake Worth is rebounding quickly following the Great Recession. Recent good news about Lake Worth includes rising real estate values, a significant rise in population, the nearby popular Cottages of Lake Worth, a stable city government, infrastructure work is proceeding (street lights and drainage), a vibrant community of volunteers, a new "Welcome Center", a City known for its festivals and twice monthly "Evening on the Avenue", and on and on it goes! 

You can find the listing here. Here is an image of this charming Lake Worth inn:
Here is a description from the listing site:

SABAL PALM BED & BREAKFAST LOCATED ACROSS FROM THE INTRACOASTAL IN DOWNTOWN LAKE WORTH. 8 BEDROOM SUITES, AND 8 1/2 BATHS, WITH A LARGE COMMON LIVING AREA, INDOOR DINING ROOMS, AND MANICURED COURTYARD. ALL OF THE ROOMS ARE DECORATED AROUND THE NAME OF A MASTER ARTIST, FROM SALVADOR DALI, TO CHAGALL, AND NORMAN ROCKWELL. RENOVATED IN THE 1997 AND OPERATING AS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR INNS IN SOUTH FLORIDA. TRIPLE A RATED, 4 DIAMOND, AND NO.1 RATED INN ON TRIP ADVISOR. 1/2 MILE TO THE BEACH, RESTAURANTS, AND SHOPPING DISTRICTS OF LAKE WORTH. A COMPLETE INVENTORY, AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. THE INN IS A TURN-KEY BUSINESS READY FOR THE NEW OWNERS. THE ENTIRE PROPERTY IS IN GREAT CONDITION. BREAKFAST IS SERVED IN 2 LARGE INDOOR DINING ALONG WITH THE OPEN COURTYARD. LAUNDRY IS DONE ON SITE IN A LARGE DOUBLE LAUNDRY ROOM. THE CURRENT OWNERS WILL HELP IN THE TRANSITION OF OWNERSHIP.

Come and be part of the Lake Worth Experience!
The image above is from the Lake Worth VisitFlorida website.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

City's Virtual Tour promoting Casino Ballroom

Drew Martin and The Palm Beach Post: perfect together

The "POINT OF VIEW" (POV) in The Palm Beach Post is prominent on the editorial page. It is on the same page as the daily editorial and right below the 'Letters to the Editor'. Drew Martin has a nuanced and erudite POV in the printed edition published on Wednesday (6/3/15) titled, "Stop seismic testing off Florida coast"; here is a short excerpt:
[O]ffshore seismic blasting would create so much noise in the oceans that sophisticated Navy sonar might not be able to locate hostile underwater crafts along our shores. This could put Navy bases and Cape Canaveral at risk.
     Right whales traveling along our coast could suffer permanent hearing damage. This testing can even impact the fish population because, during seismic testing, explosions would be generated every 10 seconds.
It is comforting to know that Mr. Martin has strong concerns for our country's Department of Defense and is on top of this matter. Recalled though it wasn't long ago that Mr. Martin had another POV published in the Post and thought that a bit odd; 2 POV's so close together? A search brought up 5 POV's by Mr. Martin in just over a year:
Kudos to Mr. Martin for having the ability and connections to have his points of view so prominent in the county's paper of record. However, if a mayor let's say in Palm Beach County somewhere, unhappy about an article that portrayed a city in a bad light, what would have to done to get that POV published in the Post? Just wondering.

A tragic homicide but an opportunity for some to further the agenda

There was a homicide in the City of Lake Worth yesterday and that is a tragedy. But don't think for one second that some will not try to capitalize on this crime and take advantage this 'opportunity' presents. That is a brutal reality in Lake Worth. For some in our City any tragedy, especially a homicide, can be an opportunity to advance the anti-PBSO agenda.

The focus needs to be solving this crime and bringing the person(s) responsible to justice. Very little is known at this time about what occurred. What will be interesting to see is how this story is spun in the coming days and weeks. 

There are many new residents in the City who have no knowledge of those terrible days in 2008 and 2009 which is the reason the LWPD was disbanded and PBSO brought in to patrol the City streets. If necessary, we'll revisit that period once again. It was not a pleasant experience to be a City resident back then. 

The media will be falling all over themselves to get more information about this terrible incident. Illustrative though is not one single mainstream news media outlet in Palm Beach County showed up for this recent event (including The Palm Beach Post, the City's newspaper of record):

It's A Wrap! Another school year comes to an end at Lake Worth High School

Click here for the June issue of The Trojan Times.

Aaron Wormus, aka 'a guy on clematis' with photo of C-51 Canal and sky over City of Lake Worth

Photo taken from West Palm side of the C-51 Canal. And check out other news of what's going on in downtown West Palm Beach at the 'a guy on clematis' blog. 

Borowitz Report: "N.S.A. Compensates for Loss of Surveillance Powers by Logging on to Facebook"

Andy Borowitz of The Borowitz Report has news about the N.S.A. and their enterprising efforts to keep the country safe:
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The National Security Agency is compensating for the expiration of its power to collect the American people’s personal information by logging on to Facebook, the agency confirmed on Monday.
     The director of the N.S.A., Admiral Michael S. Rogers, said that when parts of the Patriot Act expired at midnight on Sunday, intelligence analysts immediately stopped collecting mountains of phone metadata and started reading billions of Facebook updates instead.
     “From a surveillance point of view, the transition has been seamless,” [emphasis added] Rogers said.
     While the N.S.A. has monitored Facebook in the past, it is now spending twenty-four hours a day sifting through billions of baby pictures, pet videos, and photographs of recently enjoyed food to detect possible threats to the United States.

[UPDATE] PBSO lawyers: Emails showing "coverup" of shooting called fake in court documents

[UPDATE: This bombshell story wasn't mentioned one single time in the Post today (6/7). And neither was the "LINE OF FIRE", "Bullets, badges, and death on the street!", PBSO, or even Sheriff Bradshaw. Amazing. Here is the original blog post from yesterday:]

If this story isn't on the front page above the fold in tomorrow's Sunday paper (6/7) then that will be very telling. Stay tuned as they say and put on your seatbelt, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Here is a short excerpt that appeared on page B3 in the Post today:
Two emails published on a local gossip website that implicated top brass at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in a coverup over the shooting death of Seth Adams are fake, PBSO’s lawyer said Thursday in a legal filing.

From the Sun Sentinel: "SeaWorld may be bouncing back from 'Blackfish' backlash"

Hugo Martin at the Sun Sentinel has this interesting article about SeaWorld. SeaWorld is fighting back at critics to reestablish their image with public relations campaigns. Here is an excerpt:
     Joel Manby, SeaWorld's new CEO, told investors he was encouraged by the results so far.
     "It's very early, though, and it's part of a long-term, very targeted initiative," Manby said in a conference call discussing the firm's first-quarter financial results. "We have heard from our partners, our employees, most importantly, our guests that they're happy that we're out there disseminating the facts."
     Analysts disagree on whether the counterattack will work, or whether the "Blackfish" controversy will permanently damage SeaWorld's future profitability.
     Standard & Poor's credit analyst Shivani Sood said that negative press could hurt the park's ability to raise ticket prices and draw advertisers.
     But Alex Petti, an analyst with Seeking Alpha, disagreed. Eventually, he said, customers will forget about the movie and it "will have less of an effect this year." [emphasis added]
The video below is part of that PR campaign:

PBSO—Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office: Detectives are Investigating a Homicide in the City of Lake Worth

A business employee noticed a w/m slumped over in the 1300 block of Lucerne Ave, Lake Worth and immediately called 911. Deputies and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel arrived to find the male had suffered a wound to the abdomen. PBC Fire Rescue pronounced the victim deceased on scene.

 Violent Crime Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators arrived on scene to investigate further.

 No witnesses have been located and no motive has been determined.

 If anyone has information about this homicide they are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

 If you ever see any suspicious activity you are encouraged to contact PBSO:

The "Living Shoreline" in Lake Worth: Press release from Jamie Brown, Public Services Director

Click on the images for larger view:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)