[RE-POST] Anyone surprised? Maybe TOB will hoist one from her condo roof

The Other Blogger (TOB) is at it again: Poor taste, trying to drive wedges between our neighborhoods, and living in her own revisionist world of realities that never were. Here she recalls fondly the 'good ole days':

The "Southern cross" flag was used by the Dixiecrats in opposition to federal Civil Rights legislation in the 1950's. Claims of the flags "heritage" are a myth.

Hey, wait, wasn't this on Stormfront?

Video from last night's meeting held at the Lake Worth Casino building by Hudson Holdings

NOTE! If you are a City of Lake Worth commissioner or are a member of the ITN committee YOU CANNOT WATCH THESE VIDEOS.

Just a few words about last night and this collection of videos. First, there were audio issues at the beginning of the meeting so be patient as you begin watching the meeting. Those issues improve as the meeting progresses.

Noteworthy are these signs which were posted on most of the doors to the ballroom:

You will hear discussion of that at the beginning of the meeting. The City attorney weighed-in and determined that commissioners, city staff or members of the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) Committee are still operating in a "cone of silence."

What caused the long line to enter the Casino building was the checking of IDs. You can see that in the picture below. People were also issued wristbands once their ticket and ID were verified.

I knew of this issue (about the ITN process) beforehand so I called the City Attorney and told her that I planned on taking video of the meeting. She said that it was OK to do that but that she would advise any of the parties from the City involved in the ITN process that they shouldn't watch any of the video(s). So it's important to re-state that here.

I'll be pulling out segments of the video later that I consider highlights of the meeting, but if you have time, I encourage you to watch the entire playlist.

The City of Lake Worth IS NOT a 'sanctuary city' (but why so many people believe it is)

Stay with me here, first some background. In today's Palm Beach Post is an article by Lawrence Mower that refers to a protest in Lake Worth last year. EarthFirst!er Cara Jennings was there along with her crew of Anarchists including the TWAC's. No doubt you're familiar with this photograph taken that day:

Many in the media were there that day to document the goings-on which was curious because the protest wasn't made public until earlier in the day. You can draw your own conclusions. A crowd of people from the Guatemalan-Maya Center (GMC) were brought to the protest to join Father O'Loughlin (the GMC executive director), who was already at the location. 

I haven't heard anything from Father O'Loughlin in a while so checked out the GMC website and discovered he is no longer on the board of directors. The GMC has a new website now, much better than the previous one they had. Took a little tour and much to my surprise came upon this dated July 9th of this year:

In the absence of an effective federal government response, local governments throughout the United States have been supplying their own movements, such as offering sanctuary.
     A sanctuary city is a response of the heart and it is a city that will not act as an instrument of federal enforcement. In Palm Beach County, which has always lived in a state of dependence on the work of undocumented immigrant laborers, it’s about time we acknowledged our indebtedness to immigrant laborers and made provisions for their safety while we’re waiting for a response by the federal government.
     For full story and statement from Frank O’Loughlin, Executive Director, on “Sanctuary Cities” please click here.

On July 14th, just 5 days later, Frank Cerabino penned this in The Palm Beach Post titled "Jupiter, Lake Worth surprised to be on ‘sanctuary city’ list".

Jupiter has their own center for the Guatemalan/Maya community called El Sol.

Note that Lake Worth IS NOT a 'sanctuary city'. Anybody can come up with a list. However, when you read what Father O'Loughlin wrote you can see how someone could get the impression that the City is. It might be a good idea for the City of Lake Worth to boldly state the truth of the matter to eliminate any confusion among the public. And it would also be a good idea for the GMC to also state the truth of the matter so immigrants don't come to Lake Worth seeking 'sanctuary'.

Here is an excerpt from Cerabino's column which explains the situation quite nicely:

     Lake Worth probably made the list of sanctuary cities because the non-profit Guatemalan-Maya Center is there.
     “We help a lot of undocumented people,” said center employee Jill Cole. “But there’s no guarantee of safety here. We see families being deported all the time.
     “One of our teens was getting off the bus to come to class the other day, and ICE was there checking papers at the bus stop.”
     Lake Worth City Manager Michael Bornstein was mystified to learn this month that his city has been labeled a sanctuary city.
     “It caught us all by surprise,” he said. “I asked if there was any ordinance or proclamation in the past, and there was nothing. I think we just got roped up with a bunch of other cities.”

Stay tuned for Hudson Holdings' Casino Building meeting video

Beware of 'loaded language' in Lake Worth, especially concerning the BEACH!

This particular story (see image below) by CBS12/WPEC appeared as a news segment only a few days prior to our municipal elections on March 10th in Lake Worth. Reporter Lauren Hills referred to a "Backroom" meeting which was anything but (more on that later in this post).

The link to the news segment has since been taken down. The use of the word "Backroom" is an example of Loaded Language. Why couldn't the title have been "Lake Worth Residents Concerned Over Beach Development Proposals"? 

Here is the definition of "backroom" in Dictionary.com: 

a place where powerful or influential persons, especially politicians, meet to plan secretly or from which they exercise control in an indirect manner

Margaret Menge, a self-described reporter/editor of a now-defunct (always-FREE, delivered free, advertising-challenged) tabloid began this "backroom" nonsense with her false reporting of what actually occurred. The "backroom" meeting was simply a group of condominium owners who reside next to the Gulfstream Hotel who wanted to meet with Steven Michaels (the owner of the hotel) and discuss their common concerns.

Click on the letter by Mr. Tebbe. He sets the record straight regarding his groups meeting with Mr. Michaels:

This meeting between the Gulfstream of Lake Worth Condominium Assoc. and Mr. Michaels was no different than the hundreds (if not thousands) of meetings that occur each and every day in this country. That's one of the ways people learn stuff—they meet and talk.

The reason there is even a meeting tonight at all is because the our charming Casino/Beach complex is hemorrhaging money. The business plan put in place by a previous city commission has failed and it's up to our current city commission to fix it. Hudson Holdings has ideas they would like to share with the community:

Had a previous city commission done their job and used due diligence our City would not be in the position it is in right now vis-à-vis the Casino complex and pool. Don't forget that important fact. All the loaded language you'll hear is just a distraction from the ugly truth:

Equal time: Terry Aperavich on the historic Boynton Beach High School

If you've been following this debate in the Post you know there was an article by Alexandra Seltzer. Also a Point of View and two letters were published supporting the preservation of the structure. In today's paper a Letter to the Editor by Terry Aperavich of Boynton Beach was published with a decidedly different opinion. Here is an excerpt:

     I found the Wednesday letter “Old Boynton High is part of our heritage” — opposing tearing down the dilapidated Boynton Beach High School — disingenuous. The writer states that Lake Worth refurbished its oceanfront Lake Worth Casino, but then omits that the city hasn’t been able to create enough interest in the finished project to repay the $6 million it invested in the rebuild. [emphasis added]
     Boynton Beach officials have commissioned study after study to try to save this ugly building and have only wound up throwing more good money after the previous bad.

How about you? Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Aperavich? Ever wanted to write a Letter to the Editor? Here's how:

Send a Letter to the Editor of The Palm Beach Post: Letters are subject to editing and must include the writer’s name, address, e-mail address and daytime phone number. Preferred length is a maximum of 200 words.)

Pics from Sally Welsh's water exercise class yesterday

These were taken by AnnaMaria Windisch-Hunt. She was content to walk around the pool and take pictures of the class in session. That's something that is hard to do when you are part of the class. You can see how the larger-than-usual class was moved to the shallow north end of the pool. That's yours truly in the bright red shirt in about the center of the above picture.

That's the basic information about the class. Times are 10 a.m. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

How quickly things can change

Official White House photograph of President Barack Obama.

This article comes from the Associated Press. Whatever your political persuasion happens to be you have to marvel at the change in President Obama's presidency from just a short while ago. Here is an excerpt from the AP story:

     After a string of sunny seasons gripped by controversy, crises and plummeting popularity, the summer of 2015 has been among the most productive stretches of Obama's presidency. [emphasis added] Late June victories in the Supreme Court on health care and gay marriage, along with a win for his trade agenda on Capitol Hill, were followed by the landmark Iran nuclear deal in July and the raising of the U.S. flag over a new embassy in Cuba in August.
     Instead of being overshadowed by the 2016 presidential campaign, Obama's agenda has often been driving the debate among the candidates running to replace him.
     And yet to the president, one of his summer's biggest successes may simply be making it through his annual vacation on the tony Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard largely uninterrupted.

Gabrielle Sarann at NBC5/WPTV corrects initial report of "Lake Worth" fatal crash

Yesterday there was another tragic vehicle crash and my condolences go out to the family. This terrible event occurred near the intersection of Kirk Road and Melaleuca Lane.

The first report of this crash was in The Palm Beach Post by Lulu Ramadan and she correctly reported it happened outside the City of Lake Worth. Gabrielle Sarann at WPTV initially reported it as "Lake Worth" and this morning the news segment was changed to "suburban Lake Worth". Thank you to the staff and reporter.

However, ABC25/WPBF still can't grasp the concept of the difference between unincorporated Palm Beach County and our City's boundaries.

Another thing I noticed is the use of the word "crash" in all the news reports. This may be a new thing or maybe not. How many still use the phrase "car accident"? Many readers will find this from Vox interesting.

Here is a map of Lake Worth:

Notice Lake Osborne to the left of the big "W". If you're west of the lake you're probably out of the City limits. Just trying to help.

A big pool is actually too small by trying to do all things for all people at the same time

Sometimes a big pool can be too small if it is trying to do too many things. I arrived at 9:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. water aerobics class and was greeted by three Palm Beach County Fire Rescue trucks parked right in front of the pool building. While I was there Sally Welsh was unloading her stuff for the class and you can see traffic backed up behind her—and a sheriff car in front of the trucks. It looked like there was a drowning or some other medical emergency at first, but no flashing lights.

I go in to the pool area and both east and west sides of the entire middle section are taken up with fire rescue personnel doing some sort of dive training. Maybe a total of twenty people doing that activity.

Knowing that I wonder why Palm Beach County Fire Rescue couldn't use the turn around area to park and enter through the gate at the south end of the pool. I have a bugaboo about any vehicle parking on the shoulder/bike lane that is clearly marked "No Parking." For an emergency, yes, but for this sort of activity I think that they could have parked elsewhere on the 19 acre property, especially at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday. It's not like these fellas have any mobility issues.

The swimming lanes, north and south of the middle section were all full with lap swimmers, sometimes two to a lane. The extreme shallow ends were cordoned off. One-fifth of the northern section was for a beginning swimmers class. The lanes are currently in the east/west configuration. It wouldn't have worked at all if they were in the north/south position.

The remainder of the 4.5 ft depth area was for Sally's water aerobics class. She "buys" two lanes as part of her deal with the city; I think her cost is $35 plus parking. There were at least 35 in the class today and it was way too crowded and too shallow to enjoy. Many people were not happy with the situation. Finally, Scott Mies, the new pool manager, opened up another lane to everyone's relief by asking people to move in swim lanes that were already being used by others. Some had to double up. All the while the fire rescue people were still doing their thing in the middle of the pool. The south side of the pool was crowded too.

This comes after the pool was closed for the morning on Saturday, for an ECAC Swim-a-thon. It opened up later on for the public. I was there to exercise and 20 people were around the pool and about 10 people in it. On a Saturday afternoon.

Why fire rescue had to do what they did today and not during the hours the pool is closed to the public? I do not know.

The bottom line is that the pool needs to be open more hours that are friendlier to people's schedule for the 9–5 workaday world; hours after 6 p.m. if the money is available to make it happen. Additional equipment for strength training may make it more appealing and offer some a workout destination. Do we really need a kiddie pool?

And here again: it is either a situation where there are very few in the pool (3 or 4 people) or a situation where the pool isn't big enough like today. I think the idea of two pools serving two different purposes is a good one. People are concerned about losing an Olympic size lap pool though. That solution might be a larger pool in another location: like another park (Bryant Park?) elsewhere in the city. Some have mentioned the golf course as a suitable location for a pool.

Plan for Fitness 08/23 by Plan for Fitness Talk Show | Radio Podcasts

Tune in today as Sally Welsh, water exercise instructor and first Lake Worth beach female lifeguard, is on Plan for Fitness, 6:30 p.m. Callers are welcome during the second half of the 30 minute show. The call in number is (516) 453-6067. I understand that our own Commissioner Andy Amoroso may be calling in to talk about the pool and how things look for its operation during the coming budget year.

Here's a picture at the end of our class today at the pool. Almost 35 people attended!

Here's Sally with another water friend—not in the pool!

It should be a great show! Looks to be a half-hour long. Click title for link to listen to the live show @ 6:30 today or for the archived show after the live show airs.

The problem with hurricanes: Eliot Kleinberg's excellent article gets pushed to the 'B' section

The article by Eliot Kleinberg in the Sunday's Post (8/23) is a MUST READ. If it weren't for Hurricane Danny it probably would have made the front page of the paper. Hurricanes, or even a possible hurricane, always gets the front page as well it should.

Talk is ramping up to dissolve the city of Pahokee. The fallout over the Guy Harvey Outpost Resort fiasco is still resonating. That resort, if it were built, would have been the answer to so many of the city's problems. Ends up Guy Harvey got wooed by Okeechobee and off he went along with his $19.5 million. An opportunity lost forever. Sadly South Bay is also in serious trouble according to the article.

Here is a list of Florida cities in a state of a financial emergency:

• Caryville, Town of
• Eatonville, Town of
• Gretna, City of
• Hampton, City of
• Hawthorne, City of
• Indian Creek Village
• Noma, Town of
• Pahokee, City of
• Paxton, City of
• South Bay, City of
• Wausau, Town of
• Webster, City of
• Westville, Town of

In the article you'll learn that dissolving cities in Florida is nothing new. Eleven have been dissolved since 1977 and the reporter has a list.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

     Asked if people on the coast leave Pahokee, Belle Glade and South Bay off their personal radars, Pahokee resident Dashonda McPherson told a Palm Beach Post reporter, “Ain’t no kind of. They do. We ain’t even on the map. We ain’t even on the news when they do the weather.”
     Every work day, she leaves her 5-year-old daughter, Adrienne, at Pahokee’s Head Start center and drives more than an hour to work at a McDonald’s in West Palm Beach.
     Twenty minutes away, Belle Glade has fast food joints. But Pahokee has none. Just a few gas stations and diners. One night club. And a half-vacant Main Street that, historic photos show, once packed sedans whitewall-to-whitewall.
     Founded in 1922, Pahokee went from 2,000 residents in 1930 to fewer than 6,000 now. In comparison, Boca Raton went from 447 to nearly 84,000 in that same time span.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Suburban Lake Worth missionary helping the handicapped and orphaned in Haiti

This article about a suburban Lake Worth woman appeared in the print edition of The Palm Beach Post today (8/23), B section page 3. For many years Miriam Frederick has had a mission in Haiti helping the disadvantaged there. Reporter Kevin Thompson interviewed her and here is part of the Q&A with the missionary:

Q [reporter]: With all the time you spend in Haiti, does it take an emotional toll?
A: Since hurricane Sandy, I spend the majority of my time in Haiti. It is emotional but when you see children’s lives being saved, it’s worth the time and effort.
Q: How did you initially get involved in helping Haiti?
A: An opportunity was given to me over thirty years ago for a mission trip and that is when my heart turned to Haiti. I returned to the United States and became a nurse to equip myself to help the people of Haiti.

Here is the website for New Life Children's Home. More contact information: PO Box 6462, Lake Worth, FL 33466, 561-868-5005.

If you have good news about the little City of Lake Worth and wish to share it with the Post reporter here is his contact information:
Email: kthompson@pbpost.com
561-820-4573
Twitter: @kevindthompson1

What is going on in Times Square?

The video below was produced by the New York Daily News. New York City is grappling with a new phenomena that is completely legal and no one, as yet, has come up with a way to solve the problem. If it's a problem at all. There are some that have no problem with what's happening (the entertainment factor). The video is only 1 minute—enjoy!