Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Bolivia's answer to mass transit


Could something like this work in south Florida?

Monday, April 25, 2016

Lake Worth High School Class of 2016 to receive scholarships*

     "The Lake Worth High School class of 2016 will receive a total of $67,000 in scholarships on May 5 from the city's Dollars for Scholars Foundation. The event will be held in the school auditorium. Dollars for Scholars is part of Scholarship America, a national scholarship and educational organization.
     David Cantley, former Lake Worth High School principal, started the Lake Worth chapter of Dollars for Scholars in 1999. The foundation has awarded $970,000 since it began"

[and. . .]

     "For the first time, two vocational scholarships will be awarded for a total of $3,500, Cantley said."

*This item appeared in The Palm Beach Post on Sunday, 4/25, page B3 below the fold, by the Post's Kevin Thompson. The links above were added by Your's Truly.

The grumbling continues about loitering issues in downtown Lake Worth. So. . . what did Delray Beach do about their problem?

[Please Note: If the issue of sober homes is important to you, then contact your elected representative(s) and tell them about this meeting happening soon.]

Below are two excerpts from this article by the Post's Christine Stapleton titled, "Addiction treatment backlash: No outdoor seating at Delray Starbucks":

     "Starbucks has closed the outdoor patio at one of its stores on Atlantic Avenue and police have assigned an officer to the corner in response to complaints — especially on social media — that young, recovering drug addicts are loitering and harassing passersby.
     The decision to close the outdoor seating area Tuesday came after a meeting between the city, police department and district manager of Starbucks, said Jamael Stewart, the city’s downtown manager. Starbucks did not return calls and emails for comment."

[and. . .]

     “I don’t think anybody would have a problem with any of the kids if they were acting as customers of Starbucks should act,” said Bill Bathurst, a Realtor and lifelong resident of Delray Beach. “The reason they are there isn’t to get a cup of coffee.”

The rapid growth westward in Palm Beach County and the demand for housing is getting a lot of attention

The two excerpts below from this article are from Dan Weil at The Real Deal (South Florida Real Estate News). Three very large development project are cited: Westlake, Avenir, and Indian Trails Grove:

     "And it’s not as if the developments are overtaking pristine rural settings. 'You’ve got open agricultural land with gnarly trees and cow dung,' Merin [Neil Merin, chairman of West Palm Beach-based NAI Merin Hunter Codman] said. 'The real issue is traffic. We just won’t be able to have the kind of road system to accommodate that kind of development.'
     Indeed, Palm Beach County is growing by 25,000 new residents a year [emphasis added], he said, and given that traditional public transit systems are unlikely in the county, the focus has to be placed on ways to avoid one person per car, such as ride-sharing."

[and. . .]

     "Merin calculates that just in the last five months, the county has approved 15,000 homes, 4.5 million square feet of industrial space, 3.6 million square feet of office space and 2.5 million square feet of retail space on agricultural land about 20 miles west of the Intracoastal.
     Basically, 'growth is moving up from Dade and Broward counties,' Rebel Cook, president of Rebel Cook Real Estate in Palm Beach Gardens, told TRD [The Real Deal]."

Belle Glade, Greenacres, Highland Beach, Lake Worth, et al., not all too happy with Cerabino's 'satire'

By special request, a re-post from yesterday. . . Frank Cerabino's ranking and musings about Palm Beach County cities isn't sitting to well with many people if you've been reading the editorial page of late. The editor(s) at the Post must be rethinking the wisdom of 'ranking' the cities when their very own newspaper continues to lay off staff and can't even publish their own news. The Sun Sentinel in Broward County has to print the Post's newspapers for them. We'll likely never see a satirical column about that in the Post.

Along with Lake Worth's 'ranking' the public had to be educated that raising chickens in the City is not legal. Learn about that by looking the right-hand column for, "Raising chickens, aka 'Urban Chickens' IS NOT allowed in Lake Worth."

Below is an excerpt from the latest letter to the editor that appeared following the ranking of cities "from worst to best" by Lee-John Sobering:

     "His [Cerabino's] review and ranking of Greenacres, where I reside, is insulting, and any fact-checking is missing. Although I am not Asian, he neglected to include them in our mix of residents.
     And 'a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing' is so far off-base [emphasis added], it proves he not only knows nothing about our community but didn’t bother to find out. Just going to our city’s website would have enlightened him."

Here is the link to the Greenacres official website and a little information about the city:

"Located five miles from the Atlantic Ocean in Southeast Florida, the City of Greenacres is home to approximately 38,943 residents and over 1,000 small and medium sized businesses. The City was founded in 1926, and today is the 8th largest city of the 38 municipalities in Palm Beach County.
     The City of Greenacres is a well-planned, safe, and attractive community, with an efficient and effective local government."

The latest: "Boynton high school revamp delayed by lawsuit"

Attiyya Anthony at the Sun Sentinel has the latest news about the Boynton Beach historic high school:

     "The city's legal team says that discussing the project's potential costs and revenue could lengthen a pending lawsuit. That's because the plaintiff, who previously had plans for the site, is seeking 'monetary damages for the lost profits it believes it would have earned' had a prior project gone forward, city agenda documents state.
     In 2013, Juan Contin, of Boynton Old School Partnership LLC, presented the city with a plan to turn the vacant school into an entertainment and destination center. The city rejected the necessary zoning for the project, because they didn't believe that Contin could secure the $4.5 million to renovate the building, documents show."

[and. . .]

      "As part of the recently submitted plan, Straticon Construction would invest $4 million into the building, allowing REG Architects to save the school from demolition and transform it into a community focal point that would host most of the city's art, senior and civic classes.
      At a recent meeting, the City Commission asked the City Manager to find the remaining $1.5 million and at least $300,000 annually for 20 years needed to finance the building's redevelopment."

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Do you live in Monroe, Broward, or Miami-Dade county and concerned about rising sea levels? And. . . are you a fan of pickleball?

Many areas in the City of Lake Worth are well above sea level like the Sunset Ridge Park area, for example. That part of the City has some recently improved streets, new infrastructure, along with excellent sidewalks.

The downtown is very close to Sunset Ridge and there is easy access to I-95. Dixie Hwy. (the main thoroughfare) is a few blocks away, the beach is within biking distance, and a popular community garden is very close by as well. In addition, the nearby C-51 Canal may be getting a boat lift in the future giving everyone easy access by water to the Lake Worth Lagoon.

Sunset Ridge Park is located at 14th Avenue North between 'A' Street and 'D' Street. Here are the amenities: Two picnic pavilions, five lighted tennis courts, basketball court, multi-purpose field, BBQ grills, playground equipment, and there are restroom facilities. And now there is a pickleball league. How cool is that? Use this link to see all the parks in the City.

If you scroll up and down the right-hand column of this blog you'll learn about the great things happening here and find out more about the City. You'll also note we have challenges here as well. But doesn't every city?

However, with so many parts of this City at 15′ and 20′ above sea level you can scratch that concern off your list if you should decide to relocate to this little City. If you visit after dark just be careful. We have more than our fair share of potholes and issues with street lighting but we're working on that.

And don't forget about pickleball!

"We do not have blight on the western side of the community." The "lettered" streets are the problem in Lake Worth, you see.

The last time Spring Training baseball was proposed in John Prince Park, back in 2014, a few people in the Residences (note: not the "Residents") of Lake Osborne (ROLO) 'neighborhood' came to City Hall and complained that the City should focus their attention on the "lettered" streets because their neighborhood, ROLO, was perfect just the way it was. You see, there was no blight west of I-95 in Lake Worth. Enjoy the video:
So how does ROLO look these days? Is there any blight at all? Is it perfect just the way it is 2 years after the video above was taken?

A baseball stadium in John Prince Park, we were told, would affect the ROLO 'neighborhood' in a terribly negative way back in 2014 and will also have terrible consequences in 2016 now that the Atlanta Braves are interested in building a training facility in the park.

If you are one of those people who live on a "lettered" street in Lake Worth why don't you take a drive or a bike ride to ROLO and check things out over there. Does it look like a baseball stadium in the County's John Prince Park would destroy ROLO's quality of life?

If you live in that area of the City, west of I-95, the next ROLO meeting is on May 10th. That might be a good time to come out and speak your mind, don't you think? Learn more about ROLO using this link, the handful of people who are claiming to represent you.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Upcoming Crime Walk in the City and a few thoughts about the media and PBSO

The Cultural Plaza is at the intersection of Lake Ave and Federal Hwy.
There is a video below of one of the City's crime walks last year. You may find this interesting: last year published this blog post about all the media that showed up at a protest against PBSO (see image below) and here are the media that showed up to report on it:
  • Palm Beach Post reporter John Lantigua
  • NBC5/WPTV's Katie LaGrone
  • CBS12/WPEC (don't recall reporter)
  • A Spanish TV station reporter
  • A reporter from the Broward New Times
  • Various photographers and independent reporters
But how many in the media do you think showed up to cover this crime walk and other ones, not including The Lake Worth Herald? Zero. None. Nada. Zilch. But the media was falling all over themselves to cover a protest? Note that each one of these crime walks was covered by our paper of record, the Herald.

This is one of the signs carried high at the protest against PBSO:
Sign courtesy of the ever-dwindling Anarchist 'community'.
These crime walks get many in the community to come out and walk the walk. Capt. Silva in the video is now leading Wellington's PBSO. On the upcoming walk would be a good chance for everyone to meet Capt. Baer who now leads Lake Worth's District 14. For more on that look in the right-hand column for "PBSO District 14 headquarters".

The New Times' "19 Best Environ- mentalists in South Florida" and you won't believe who is NOT on the list

The Broward/Palm Beach New Times' website is so full of ads and come-ons of late it might slow down your computer quite a bit but if you want to check out who the "19 Best Environmentalists" are use this link. If you're not interested in learning who they are this might intrigue you: 2 of the 19 are from Lake Worth and both were heavily involved in the failed campaign to get the Anarchist Ryan Hartman a seat on the Lake Worth City Commission.

Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell, if you didn't know, beat Hartman in a runaway landslide. Anyhow, can you guess who the two "Best Environmentalists" in Lake Worth that made the list?

But. . . guess who wasn't on the list? Brace yourself. Drew Martin of Lake Worth.

Below is a list, just "off the top of my head" of what Mr. Martin has done lately:
  • Martin is a regular at meetings about the Ag Reserve
  • He's also a regular at Palm Beach County (PBC) Commission meeting and makes public comment quite often
  • Not a Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) goes by without his attendance
  • He was, and maybe still is, an elected official here in PBC; although the position has no salary
  • How many presentations on "sheet flow" have we all been given?
  • Not a week goes by, it seems, Martin doesn't have a letter to the editor or "Point of View" in The Palm Beach Post
And the list could go on and on. How did this happen that Martin didn't make the list?

From NBC5/WPTV's Charlie Keegan, "Delray Medical Center opening standalone ER in suburban Lake Worth"

To read the entire article and watch the news segment use this link. Here is an excerpt:

"SUBURBAN LAKE WORTH - You'll soon have a new place to get help for a medical emergency without going to the hospital.
     Delray Medical Center is opening a standalone emergency department in suburban Lake Worth.
     NewsChannel 5 got an inside look before the center opens.
     It has everything you'd expect in a hospital emergency room: X-rays, triage and trauma rooms, a cat scan, a lab to process blood work.
     Hospital leaders say the $10 million project should make it easier for you to get treated.

This new ER will open on May 3rd. It is located at 6250 Lantana Road west of the Great Walled City of Atlantis.

Why you might want to reconsider being a vegan. . .

Last year published this blog post about Lierre Keith, a recovering ex-vegan and environmentalist who wrote the book, The Vegetarian Myth. Along with damaging her own health she concluded that mass farming and agriculture aren't quite the answer people have been led to believe. Whether you believe she is right, wrong, or not sure, know that Lierre Keith caught hell for speaking her mind and is probably still catching hell after the release of her book in 2009.

If you're interested in reading why you might want to eschew that vegetarian lifestyle and try an awesome dinner at Callaro's read the excerpts below from an article titled, "Vegetarian and 'Healthy' Diets Could Be More Harmful to the Environment":

     "Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon," said Paul Fischbeck, professor of social and decisions sciences and engineering and public policy. “Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.”

[and. . .]

     "However, eating the recommended 'healthier' foods — a mix of fruits, vegetables, dairy and seafood — increased the environmental impact in all three categories: Energy use went up by 38 percent, water use by 10 percent and GHG emissions by 6 percent.
     'There’s a complex relationship between diet and the environment,' Tom said. 'What is good for us health-wise isn’t always what’s best for the environment. That’s important for public officials to know and for them to be cognizant of these tradeoffs as they develop or continue to develop dietary guidelines in the future.' "

So consider going to Callaro's and try a pulled pork sandwich and meet the awesome staff just waiting to assist you:

Friday, April 22, 2016

Sober Homes—Very important meeting on May 2nd. Congresswoman Frankel has this important news:

[Please Note: The meeting mentioned below is not open to the public. This meeting is for elected and other government officials involved in solving the sober home problem. Not long after this meeting on May 2nd pay attention to news about public meetings that will surely follow in many communities, including Lake Worth. Stay tuned.]

"This week I met with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Julian Castro to discuss our concerns about the proliferation of sober homes in South Florida. Secretary Castro conveyed that his staff is preparing for the May 2nd stakeholder meeting in Delray Beach with Assistant Secretary Gustavo Velasquez, HUD's top Fair Housing advisor.
     This meeting will be an excellent opportunity to share your sober home stories [emphasis added] and highlight the need for guidance on sober home regulation. In that regard, I encourage city participants to ask questions based upon ordinances that you would like to enact."

[and. . .]

     "I am hopeful that our May 2 meeting will provide the agencies with more insight into the sober home issues affecting our cities and that the update can give some direction on how local governments can maintain the character of neighborhoods and safeguard the rights of recovering addicts.
     Addressing the sober home issue remains a top priority for my office and I look forward to your continued input and engagement as we move forward with this process. 
     If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact my District Director, Felicia Goldstein (Felicia.Goldstein@.mail.house.gov) or Legislative Assistant, Grant Dubler (Grant.Dubler@.mail.house.gov) on my staff.
 
Sincerely,
Lois Frankel
Member of Congress"

More on "civility" and a stroll down memory lane: A mayor burned in effigy and names on bullets.

A less-than-stalwart Lake Worth commissioner made the front page of the Post a little while ago. His effort to confuse and create a panic in the community with his cryptic message of "burden of safety" failed miserably. Why? Because Vice Mayor Maxwell called out Commissioner McVoy right then on the dais. See that in the video below:
The comments made by Mr. Parrilla in the video below are what seemingly have commissioners Ryan Maier and McVoy both cringing with fear (this link will further explain the dramatically emotional moment):
Very briefly, this is about an unfortunate incident, a breach of protocol by Maier, at the recent Gay Pride Parade in the City. Mr. Parrilla was a witness to what occurred and let his feelings be known in public comment.

On the subject of civility, let's take a stroll down memory lane to September 9th, 2014, at a City Commission meeting where Mr. Bob Lepa and Ms. Peggy Fisher, as members of the general public exercised their right to Free Speech:
They both spoke about this image that appeared in another blog here in our charming City:
On that blog this was a GIF (moving action) image depicting Mayor Triolo "engulfed in flames".
Another charming image from the same blog. Greg Rice, Loretta Sharpe, Mary Lindsey, and Your's Truly's name on a bullet.
The search for "civility" by Maier and McVoy is more about not wanting to hear Free Speech from people they disagree with than any real call for civility. Why? Because if they truly cared about civility they would have both roundly denounced the images above.

But they never did.

"Open Carry of Guns in Florida?" State Representative Dave Kerner is one of the leading opponents of "open carry" laws

In the week's (4/21) Lake Worth Herald* is an article by Representative Dave Kerner about guns. If you didn't know, he is not running for re-election to that seat and is instead focused on having a seat on the Palm Beach County Commission. Below are excerpts from Kerner's article in the Herald: 

     "During this past legislative session, your Florida Legislature grappled with several issues important to Floridians. From an 82 billion budget, to increased accessed to affordable healthcare, the lives of every Floridian was impacted in one way or another during the sixty day legislative session. 
     A large part of the issue driven debate centered upon 3 National Rifle Association bills that would have dramatically altered the landscape of Florida law, and the safety of our community."

[and. . .]

     "As the press has reported, and I will confirm, I was the lead opponent of each of these bills. As a former police officer and special prosecutor, and as the son of a career Lake Worth Police Department Deputy Chief, I have spent most of my life around weapons. I value and respect the 2nd Amendment, along with every other concept within our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
     There are times in our lives when we have to stand up loudly and resolutely against someone or something, with the knowledge that the repercussions will be severe. For me, one of those times was in opposition to the 3 NRA bills discussed [in the Herald article]."

[and. . .]
     
     "I am proud to announce that all 3 NRA bills died this year, although they advanced very far into the legislative session. 
     Certainly, the death of these 3 bills was not the result of my efforts alone, but a result of the democratic process. I take comfort in that, and you should as well."

*To pick up the print edition of the Herald go to the City's news stand across the street from the Starbuck's downtown. A nice man named Andy will assist you.
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