College Park neighborhood in the little City of Lake Worth: decrease in crime

Photo taken at College Park meeting on Monday, 6/22: PBSO update. To learn how to start your own Neighborhood Watch contact the Neighborhood Assoc. Presidents Council (NAPC).

Eminent domain and the Lake Worth Park of Commerce

The Post's Kevin D. Thompson has this article that appears in the print edition, page B3, today (6/24). Here are two excerpts:

     The city can begin acquiring nine key parcels through eminent domain — land officials say the city needs to widen and make infrastructure improvements along Boutwell Road.
     Under eminent domain, governments have the right to take private property for public use with some form of compensation to the owner. In this case, the city wants to improve the road, which is the entrance to Park of Commerce, a 375-acre site and connector between I-95 and Lake Worth Road.

[and. . .]

     Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell said many residents are under the impression the project will only benefit private interests.
     “That’s a falsehood,” he said. “Upgrading that road is no different than building a road in front of my house,” he said. “We’re not benefiting private businesses any more than we’re benefiting private homes.”
     He also noted how the project could create up to 5,000 jobs.
     “Eminent domain is a really dirty, really ugly phrase,” Maxwell said. “But that process is in place for situations when the public good is at stake. In some respects, this is a game-changer.”

The Lake Worth Park of Commerce is nothing new. One of these days will post some images from the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council Citizens' Master Plan from October 6th, 2001.

VisitFlorida: A review of Lake Worth's 1200 foot BEACH!

VisitFlorida, the world's most visited site for tourists and vacationers, did a short review of beaches in Palm Beach County. The Lake Worth BEACH! is mentioned in the image below:

The restaurant mentioned is Benny's on the Beach. The people at VisitFlorida did our City a big favor not mentioning the municipal pool.

One of the most invasive species on planet spotted in Florida

Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post has this article that appeared yesterday (6/23) about the New Guinea Flatworm:

     The New Guinea flatworm is kind of a pest. In fact, it's considered one of the world's most invasive species. When it shows up uninvited to a region where it lacks natural predators, it makes itself at home -- at the cost of native species forced to compete with it. And now, the flatworm has made its way to mainland Florida, putting the whole country at risk of an invasion. [emphasis added] Reports of the worm were published Tuesday in PeerJ.
     Platydemus manokwari isn't dangerous to humans. Not directly, anyway. But it also isn't pretty: The very flat worm grows to about two inches long, and has a murky olive back and a pale belly -- a belly with a mouth in the middle of it. So it basically looks like a sneeze with eyes.
     But while the New Guinea flatworm poses no danger to you, it could harm the ecosystem: The flatworm is known to feast on local snails wherever it lands, even climbing up trees to get to them.

The New Guinea Flatworm (the head is to the right). Image from Wikipedia.

Mayor Pam Triolo fields questions after remarks on the Governor's infrastructure veto. . .

Klu Klux Klan image shocks tolerant south FL city (and county's paper-of-record continues to ignore it)

And more images of hate that too many have ignored for too long:

Governor Scott vetoes Park of Commerce Road Improvement Funding

Mayor Triolo held a brief press conference today in the Commission Chambers at Lake Worth City Hall to announce that the Governor vetoed $3.5 million in funding for road improvements in the city. Governor Scott said only that it "circumvented the Economic Development Transportation-Road fund evaluation process." According to the City and the documentation they provided (below), they did everything according to the book. This included visits to Tallahassee by the Mayor, the Vice Mayor and two commissioners and multiple visits to Lake Worth by Governor Scott.

The Mayor made some prepared remarks and then took questions. NBC5/WPTV and Ch25/WPBF were there with cameras so look for a story tonight on those stations. Mark Easton from The Lake Worth Herald and I (Wes Blackman) made up the rest of the legitimate press in attendance.

Here is the Mayor on the announcement:


Question and answer session up shortly.

  Back-up Documentation for Lake Worth Funding Request

Lake Worth Media News Advisory 6/23/15

Lake Worth, FL – Mayor Pam Triolo will be holding a media availability at 3:00 pm, Tuesday afternoon (June 23), at Lake Worth City Hall,  7 North Dixie Highway, to formerly respond to Governor Rick Scott's veto message issued earlier today which included the Lake Worth Park of Commerce improvements to Boutwell Rd. in the amount of $3.5 million dollars.

Crime in the little City of Lake Worth: more good news from Kevin D. Thompson

In the Post today, page B3 of the print edition, is an article about crime in Lake Worth. Here are two excerpts:

     Murders, robberies, burglaries and car thefts are all down in the city since the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office took over Lake Worth’s police department seven years ago, City Commissioners were told last week.
     In 2008, the city commission voted 3-2 in favor of the merger between’s the sheriff’s office and the city’s police department, with many residents saying they didn’t feel safe because the police force was having a hard time time dealing with criminals and gangs in the city. [emphasis added]

[and. . .]

     But, most important, [PBSO District 14 Captain] Silva said, is residents taking ownership of the city and working in concert with the sheriff’s office through neighborhood associations.
     “None of these things on their own solve our problems, but they all add value,” Silva said. “The more people that get involved, the better these problems will be addressed.”

Captain Silva was referring to this effort, to show one example:

If you have more good news you want to share with Kevin D. Thompson here is his contact information:
Email: kthompson@pbpost.com
561-820-4573
Twitter: @kevindthompson1

West Palm Beach Commissioner Shanon Materio kicks off her re-election campaign June 30th!

News about AAF: Student rates for All Aboard Florida?

The Post's Jeff Ostrowski and Jennifer Sorentrue have this interesting news about AAF:

     All Aboard Florida has met with officials at the University of Central Florida to discuss the possibility of a shuttle from the campus to the company’s rail station, according to a report by the company proposing rail service from Miami to Orlando.
     Some 9,500 students at UCF come from South Florida, the Post’s Jennifer Sorentrue reports.
     By offering discounted fares to students, the study found All Aboard could boost its ridership by roughly 48,000 passengers a year, assuming that students travel home about six times a year.

Just curious, does The Palm Beach Post have even one stock photo of an AAF passenger train? Every story is accompanied by a freight train picture. Do believe AAF would be happy to provide one.

San Francisco, 'Gentrification(!)' and why the small cities "need to step up"

Henry Grabar at Slate has an interesting take on the rental crisis in San Francisco in an article titled, "The Biggest Problem With San Francisco’s Rent Crisis". Could extrapolate on West Palm Beach and their revitalization, All Aboard Florida, and the high number of lots in a city just south of West Palm; but I'll let you draw your own conclusions. From the article in Slate:

     Between 2007 and 2014, San Francisco issued as many permits per capita as booming Santa Clara County, home to San Jose and Silicon Valley, one of California’s fastest-growing counties.
     The biggest problem with housing in San Francisco isn’t actually in San Francisco. It’s in the suburbs.
     In the Bay Area, the cities that have shut their doors to housing are the suburban municipalities that contain most of the region’s population. “The smaller communities, in my opinion, need to step up, and I don’t see that happening,” San Francisco planning director John Rahaim says. “There’s such a huge demand in general and that can’t be met just by the big three cities.”
     Nor should it be. Once upon a time, a forward-thinking planner might have conceived of the region as three high-density nodes of housing and jobs, in San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, with quiet bedroom communities strung like beads along commuter rail lines and highways.

Town of Palm Beach forms Underground Utilities Task Force

Replacing existing FPL power polls and lines has been discussed for years in Palm Beach. The notion got a renewed push after the hurricanes of ten years ago. Above are portions of the first meeting agenda of the group that would start and oversee the process.

Lake Worth's Joint Sister City Meeting today at 4:00

This meeting is noticed on the City's calendar. The meeting will be held at the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, 601 Lake Avenue, beginning at 4:00 and ending at 5:30.

Also, the Cultural Council received some awards yesterday and will try to find more information on that. Stay tuned.

Story from Lake Worth Visitors' Information Center

"Something happened yesterday at the Lake Worth Visitor Center - something pretty amazing. A lady came in to pay her bill at the utility office adjacent to the information center window. She was late with her payment and in danger of having her service cut off. She found she was $10 short in the amount of money she needed to cover the expense and she was visibly shaken and upset. A good neighbor overheard and offered the $10 to help her out. That's not the amazing part. Lake Worth is filled with generous and kind people.

What happened next is the amazing part. A third lady witnessed the whole interaction and followed the first lady as she was leaving the building, her bill now having been fully paid. This extraordinary woman remarked to the first lady, 'Please take $10 from me too. I see you were short on your utility bill payment and I'm guessing you may be short on food money for the rest of the month. It's not much, but I hope it helps.'

Lake Worth, Florida!"