Shipt coming to Palm Beach County: On-Demand Grocery Shopping from a Publix near you

Here is an excerpt from the text of Eric Weiss at NBC5/WPTV:

     How would you like to order groceries on your phone and have them delivered to your door? Now there's an app for that.
     A company called Shipt is launching a Publix grocery delivery service in South Florida next week.
     The service starts Aug. 18 and will operate from West Palm Beach to Miami. A company representative says there are currently no plans to expand into the Treasure Coast.
      Members have to join the service, which costs $49 per year if you sign up during their current early bird promotion. In return, Shipt says you will get unlimited deliveries on orders over $35.

Climate Change and Preservation: Where Do They Intersect? Or do they? From the PreservationNation blog

Click title for link to an article about sea level rise, climate change and the potential impact to historic buildings. Below is an excerpt from the piece that talks about novel approaches to address possible threats to those structures in low-lying locations:

In 2014, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) named 30 landmarks across the country that could face irreparable damage or be lost forever due to climate change. Moving forward, we will be partnering with them to save these and other historic places. To do so, we may have to consider novel approaches, such as moving buildings, raising them up, or implementing creative waterproofing and reinforcements to help them withstand flooding.

[RE-POST] Crime | Downtown Lake Worth FL | Another THEFT/LARCENY

This is one of my all-time favorite crimes featured by The Other Blogger (TOB): The famously funny & popular theft/larceny of ketchup in downtown Lake Worth. Read more here:

In the image below a witness to the incident explains:

This particular ketchup heist that TOB shared with her readers is in addition to all those "Beverage Violations", neighbor complaints, child issues, 'crimes' listed as "Other", crimes in unincorporated Palm Beach County she mistakes for the City, and the oft-mentioned 'vehicle burglaries' which more often than not are residents NOT LOCKING THE DOORS!

Those long lists of crime by TOB are impressive—unless, of course, you take the time to read them all.

Question: Will we ever reclaim our downtown from the ketchup & jelly thieves?

Nice recognition by State Representative Dave Kerner. Suitable for framing!

About the All Aboard Florida Station being constructed in West Palm Beach

About the video below:

     The All Aboard Florida West Palm Beach station has a lot to offer residents and tourists. The 60,000 square foot station will include apartments with direct access to the station. There will be a 23 story apartment complex within the station. From the West Palm Beach station visitors can get to Miami in 1 hour, Fort Lauderdale in 30 minutes, and Orlando in 2 hours. This station will provide $164 million in economic impact for Palm Beach County through 2021. The West Palm Beach All Aboard Florida station will also provide 1,200+ new jobs in Palm Beach county through the construction of the station and rail line. This station is also within walking distance to City Place, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, and Clematis Street.

Congratulations Greenacres! And Kevin Thompson's opening paragraphs of same story: on-line versus print editions

Congratulations to Greenacres for making what had to be a hard, but necessary, decision. Their city commission voted to merge with PBSO last night; it was a 4 to 1 vote. No doubt the great work PBSO does in Lake Worth made their decision easier.

Now to The Palm Beach Post's Kevin Thompson article about the PBSO vote in Greenacres; here is the first paragraph in the on-line edition:

The city’s law-enforcement officers next year will trade in their dark blue uniforms for money-green outfits.

Money-green? Here is how the paragraph reads in the print edition:

The city’s law-enforcement officers next year will trade in their dark blue uniforms for forest-green outfits.

Anyhow, here is another excerpt that explains why Greenacres decided to merge with PBSO:

     Councilwoman Lisa Rivera said the move was long overdue.
     “Our police department is incredibly understaffed,” she said. “The department is used as a training ground to gain knowledge and experience. We want officers to stay with our city, and we can no longer afford (to operate) a small-town police department.”

The PBSO critics in Lake Worth that continue to fantasize about our City having its own PD can never find a way to solve this problem: if we recruit and train new officers and can't afford to pay them what PBSO pays then all the good ones will leave after they get experience and we'll be left with the rest who PBSO isn't interested in.

That's a big problem.

[RE-POST BY REQUEST] Sheriff Bradshaw made a video: now the Post and WPTV are going bananas

PBSO Sheriff Bradshaw couldn't attend the PBA’s 8th Annual Police Officer’s Ball so he uploaded a video for them.

NBC5/WPTV and The Palm Beach Post have been off the rails ever since they got hold of the video. They are handwringing because Sheriff Bradshaw mentioned them by name vis-à-vis the LINE OF FIRE: BULLETS, BADGES AND DEATH ON THE STREET!. Seems to me they have no problem criticizing PBSO but get very sensitive when the table is turned. Bradshaw is fighting back and defending his organization and deputies; what's wrong with that?

Watch the video and decide for yourself:
An added thought, now that the city of Greenacres has voted to merge with PBSO do the Anarchists in Lake Worth still stand behind their sign at last October's anti-PBSO protest? You can read about that protest here.

This sign was at the protest organized by EarthFirst! against PBSO last year.

The Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, FL: LGBT Social on Sunday (8/16)

The Bamboo Room, sad to say, has been the recent target of a nasty anonymous email campaign. So whatever your particular situation or persuasion show up and support businesses that are investing in our City. We don't need this anti-business nonsense in the tolerant little City of Lake Worth.

Niccolo Machiavelli

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. ”

Is anyone doing this for our restaurants in El Dub?

Imagine if there were five or six Tweets a day about our restaurants in downtown Lake Worth? Maybe from the 'Lake Worth Visitor Center'? Just a thought. Below is a Tweet promoting Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach:

Looking for the prime dinner location? @clematis_street has a wide variety of options @palmsugarwpb @pistachewpb @greaseburgerwpb

— Palm Beaches, FL (@PalmBeachesFL) August 10, 2015

Billboards: Another lawsuit settled in the little City of Lake Worth

The final vote was 4-1 with Commissioner McVoy dissenting.

From last Tuesday's City Commission meeting: More evidence that the adults are in charge now

This has to do with the collection of franchise fees by property owners that have been annexed into Palm Springs from unincorporated Palm Beach County. It turns out that the City was still collecting the same, higher fees, from those properties after annexation and ends up owing Palm Springs funds the difference. It was a long-standing situation, sort of a junior version of the municipal sewer billing fiasco. The solution the Commission came up with was to allow for an amortization period where they can pay what is owed over time, and the City will pass this on to Palm Springs. There will still be some back and forth, but it is good to see the spirit in which this problem was dealt with—cooperatively.

Sad the people of Loxahatchee FL are in the national spotlight due to this nonsense

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been mapping 'Confederate flag' (which is actually the 'Confederate Battle' flag) rallies around the country and there was only one in south Florida: Loxahatchee in Palm Beach County, Florida!

Image from the SPLC website.

Here is what the SPLC is attempting to accomplish:

     The Southern Poverty Law Center compiled the information in this map from lists created by other human rights organizations, hate groups and its own research in order to give a sense of the size of this reactionary movement. When available, event organizers, hate groups and key members involved, source information and crowd sizes at past events have been included. When not explicitly reported by credible news sources, the number of attendees has been estimated from photos and video evidence. Our hope is that the map will serve as an interactive resource for those seeking to understand the scope of the forces supporting the embattled flag.

Then there is the cadre of bully bloggers who provide the flag supporters the encouragement to continue:

The flag shown above is not the 'Confederate' flag. The link in the paragraph below explains the public confusion about this issue.

For those interested, here is the difference between the "stars and bars" and the "southern cross". The 'southern cross' is a re-purposed flag found in a museum by the Dixiecrats responding to the civil rights movement in the middle 20th century.

From the Broward County MPO: Complete Streets 2015 and TIGER VII Grant Application

The Broward County Metropolitan Planning Oganization (MPO) has this information on their TIGER Grant application process:

     The Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (Broward MPO) is applying for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant to leverage existing local funds to construct bicycle and pedestrian facilities which provide transportation connections and promote safety throughout the Broward Region.
     This effort builds upon the Broward MPO’s Complete Streets Initiative committing $100 million of funds over the next five years to construct an additional 90 miles of bicycle facilities and approximately 35 miles of sidewalks along Broward’s existing roadways.
     Nearly 250 bicyclists and pedestrians were killed on Broward’s roadways between 2011 and 2014. [emphasis added] This project will provide for safe bicycle and pedestrian routes to complete an integrated system of multimodal facilities connecting major commercial, residential, educational and recreational facilities in the region.
     Consistent with the vision of the Broward MPO, the proposed network will serve the needs of all users: people who drive, bicycle, walk, and ride transit, including those covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Surfside Hotel 130 Hammon Avenue. Palm Beach circa early 1960s

Today via Google Maps Street View