Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Malcolm Cain, 1936–2016

"Malcolm Cain, 80, of Lake Worth, FL, passed away peacefully on May 24th, 2016 at Good Samaritan Hospital, West Palm Beach, FL. Born February 5th, 1936 in Jeffersonville, IN, Mr. Cain moved to Lake Worth in 1961 and opened his first barber shop on Lucerne Ave. For over 55 years Malcolm became the 'Barber of Lake Worth,' and worked until his passing."

[to pay your respects. . .]

     "A viewing will be held at All County's Del Lago Chapel, 131 S. Lakeside Drive in Lake Worth on Friday, May 27th from 6:00-8:00 pm and again on Saturday, May 28th from 10:00-11:00 am, where a funeral service will follow at 11:00 am."

Hmmm. If the Palm Beach Post is the "news partner" of NBC5/WPTV. . .

. . . then why did the Post run ads for ABC25/WPBF last weekend?
"Trust The Team That Knows Your Area"?
The team to trust in central Palm Beach County is hands-down NBC5/WPTV. Read my review of TV news using this link. Here is an excerpt:

"ABC25/WPBF I check now and then to correct them on news locations vis-à-vis the City of Lake Worth. Once in a while one of their reporters stumbles into the City by accident. The one trait all the reporters seem to share at WPBF is they couldn't find the actual City if you gave them the whole day, directions, and smoke signals. They probably think Lake Worth extends into the Everglades and a mile or so into the Atlantic Ocean as well. Pretty much everything that happens in central PBC is in 'Lake Worth'."

Here is a link to an article in the Post titled, "The Palm Beach Post, WPTV-Channel 5 announce news partnership". Here is an excerpt:

     The Post will feature Channel 5 video on its website, and The Post's print and online weather page will feature forecasts from Steve Weagle, WPTV's chief meteorologist.
     "It's a powerhouse partnership that delivers the best of both worlds for readers and viewers in our area," said Tim Burke, The Post's publisher and executive editor. [emphasis added] "We're bringing the visual medium of WPTV to Post readers and the large newsgathering force of Palm Beach Newspapers to WPTV viewers."
     The Palm Beach Daily News also will be part of the partnership with Channel 5. The Post and Daily News are owned by Cox Media Group, and Channel 5, an NBC affiliate, is owned by Scripps Media Inc.

Coyotes in Palm Beach County: Community benefits, the positive impact, and a new book titled "Coyote Settles the South"

Not long ago coyotes were reported in Greenacres, is that a bad thing? Reports are they're eating feral and roaming cats which are a big problem in Palm Beach County, especially so in Lake Worth. As WPEC/CBS12 reported last year, though, the feral cats are keeping to the lettered streets here in the City. Seriously though, watch this news report from CBS2's Weijia Jiang from Long Island City, NY:
This article in Slate raises some interesting points. First, you can hardly call coyotes a nuisance because they have a tremendous fear of humans and are virtually impossible to find. The video above is a rare one of a coyote roaming (hunting?) within a city's borders. And you could argue that coyotes are good for public health and the environment. Here is an excerpt from the article:

     Gehrt [Stanley Gehrt, head of the Cook County Coyote Project] and his team have just completed a large-scale feral cats study, which found that coyotes are repelling them from natural areas within the city. “That has a positive impact on native fauna,” Gehrt says—cats kill a lot of birds. [emphasis added]

[and. . .]

      All of this would seem to be good news for the New York metropolitan area, which could certainly use a better form of rodent control than dangerous poisons. Even a fraction of the effects seen in Chicago could help restore biodiversity, enrich parks, and counteract decades of environmental damage.
Image from Wikipedia.
Now for the new book Coyote Settles the South by John Lane described as a "personal narrative about the arrival and flourishing of the American coyote in the Southeast". Here is an excerpt from the University of Georgia Press:

Coyote Settles the South is the story of his journey through the Southeast, as he visits coyote territories: swamps, nature preserves, old farm fields, suburbs, a tannery, and even city streets. On his travels he meets, interrogates, and observes those who interact with the animals—trappers, wildlife researchers, hunters, rattled pet owners, and even one devoted coyote hugger. Along the way, he encounters sensible, yet sometimes perplexing, insight concerning the migration into the Southeast of the American coyote, an animal that, in the end, surprises him with its intelligence, resilience, and amazing adaptability.

In the end, maybe the coyote will do what it takes to save our dwindling native bird populations being killed by cats. Our local 'environmentalists' who should care have turned a blind eye to these many species of birds at risk of extinction.

Another great way to tour the City of Lake Worth: Take a Taste History Culinary Tour

Here is the news from Lynn Kalber at BocaMag:

     Try a Taste History Culinary Tour this holiday weekend, as the summer series for this tasty pastime kicks off on May 28 [see Lake Worth tour dates below]. For $45–$60 per person (children under 14 are free), you’ll spend four hours exploring historic districts with visits to bakeries, eateries, juice bars, tea bars and markets for tastings, history and food culture. With your guide, you’ll meet restaurant owners, chefs and directors/artists of the cultural centers.

[and. . .]

     June dates: June 4, West Palm Beach/Lake Worth; June 11, Lake Worth/Lantana; June 18, Delray Beach/Boynton Beach; June 25, Delray Beach/Boynton Beach. Pre-payment is required, and tickets can be purchased using this link.

You might be surprised by the answer to this question: "Guess who produces the most oil and gas in the world?"

This question and the answer comes from Grist:

     The U.S. led the world last year in producing both oil and gas [emphasis added], federal government estimates published Monday show, even as the country committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
     The U.S. was the globe’s leading producer of crude oil for the third year in a row in 2015. Government estimates show that crude oil production has continued to grow across the country, from nearly 8 million barrels of oil per day in 2008 to about 15 million in 2015. The U.S. produced about 14 million barrels per day in 2014.
     Thanks to the fracking boom, which unlocked previously hard-to-reach shale oil and gas, the U.S. surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s leading producer of oil in 2013. The U.S. became the top natural gas producer in 2011, and has led the world in both oil and gas production together for four years in a row.

Found this on Twitter—An idea to increase tourism this coming Fall and Winter from the European continent:

Should we send this information to our Sister City in Lappeenranta, Finland?

The Lake Worth High School Alumni Foundation's "Hats On" Luncheon

Here are the details:
  • Date: Saturday, May 28th, from 11:00 to 3:00
  • Where: The Country Club in the Great Walled City of Atlantis (190 Atlantis Blvd.)
  • Tickets are $40
  • For more information: Call 561-964-4722
The "Hat's On" social hour begins at 11:00 with lunch at 12:00. The hat contest, if you haven't been, is a show in itself—very entertaining. It's hard to believe the thought and ingenuity that is put into these creations. It's not necessary to compete if you don't want to; come and enjoy the show as a spectator.

Along with the superb lunch and hat contest there will be an awesome array of silent auction items and raffle baskets. The proceeds go to the Lake Worth High School Alumni Foundation which supports the Dollars for Scholars Foundation. That's what these fundraisers are all about! Raising scholarship money for needy and Worth-y high school graduates.

Hope to see you there.

Population growth in Palm Beach County and another look at the Sierra Club Loxahatchee Group candidate questionnnaire—Leadership or pandering?

The Anarchist Ryan Hartman received the 2016 endorsement from the Sierra Club in the last Lake Worth election and it didn't help very much. He lost in a landslide. It's not known if Hartman filled out a questionnaire or not like the ones that were used in the 2015 elections. Maybe the endorsement by the Sierra Club was never in doubt from the start?

A big question in Palm Beach County back in 2015 remains a subject of debate in the present: population growth. Where should people, families, and businesses moving to Florida relocate to? Along the I-95 corridor (and east towards the coast) or directed to other locations west, encroaching on what greenfields are left and then further west into the Everglades? What is better for the environment, more western sprawl or encourage development closer to the coast? If you're looking to groups like the Loxahatchee Sierra Club for answers, good luck with that.

Below is an actual question from the Loxahatchee Sierra Club (by Drew Martin) to Lake Worth then-Commissioner John Szerdi on a candidate questionnaire:
9. Do you think there should be a moratorium on further development within limits of the city [Lake Worth]? 
Here is John Szerdi's answer:
Why? We have excellent land development regulations with a goal of revitalizing the city. We have lots of areas to re-fill and rebuild which should take priority of any new construction on greenfields west of the city. I am a big proponent of re-vitalizing our established downtowns and neighborhoods. That is where you can live closer to many amenities without congesting our roads and interstates.
Of course, the Loxahatchee Sierra Club opposes western urban sprawl in Palm Beach County. However, is the Loxahatchee Sierra Club and Drew Martin also seriously suggesting that a city in Palm Beach County, an established urban core along the coast, have a "moratorium on further development"? Even the suggestion is absurd.

Groups like the Loxahatchee Sierra Club want to have it both ways. They want western sprawl to stop AND they are also against development along the coast as well. This is not leadership and it's not practical either. What they are offering as a solution(s) are false choices. Here is another question from the candidate questionnaire and another 'false choice':
15. How do you feel about city’s disregard for Dark Skies recommendations.
Here is Szerdi's answer:
I object to this question because it is not a real question Drew. I mentioned our direction above in number #1. We have issues balancing enough light for safety in the city between our street corners and are planning on installing better quality light (4000 degree) LED with strict cutoffs and excellent photometrics. Please follow this issue as the City brings it forward in the next month or so.
The City of Lake Worth has NEVER disregarded "Dark Skies" recommendations and you can read what the City has done using this link. There were a total of 15 questions in the questionnaire and most if not all are/were addressed by the City.

For the latest on population growth, western sprawl, a massive development project west of Lake Worth, and the enviros silence about all of this, look in the right-hand column for "Did you know 2 of '19 Best Environmentalists in South Florida' are in Lake Worth?"

Ever read a Letter to the Editor in the Post and thought "how did that nonsense ever get published?"

Read about this doozy of a letter published in the Post last year:
For those of you interested in local history, this article by Sonja Isger on the former "Jefferson Davis" school in Palm Springs is an interesting one.
Maybe those letters get published because there are so few to choose from? If you have something to say here is how you send a Letter to the Editor at The Palm Beach Post:

Send a letter to the editor: letters@pbpost.com (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.)

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Why President Barack Obama is one of the most consequential presidents in American history

From a blog reader: Notice anything a bit out of place in the image below?

Take a few moments and look at this image from the Town of Jupiter Island website and see if you can spot something a bit odd, a little out of date if you will:
From Wikipedia: Some of the wealthiest people in the United States live in Jupiter Island: Worth magazine ranked it #1 in the country for having the highest median home sale, and it has the highest per capita income of any inhabited place in the country.
So what's a bit odd? I'll have the answer below.

Since we're on the subject of city websites, you need to check out Delray Beach's new and improved site. In a word, it's amazing. Here is the link. Our City's website still gets complaints of being 'clunky' and that finding specific items can be difficult, but it's leaps and bounds over what we used to deal with. I'm fine with it for a while but some time this year it will need an overhaul.

Now back to Jupiter Island, the answer: In the left column are the most important links for their residents to take note of and one of them is "Facts about Ebola". Ooooops. To their credit the town also has a lot of information about the Zika virus also.

"Exclusive! Sneak peek at new marina tower and club in the north end"

This news comes from the city of West Palm Beach's website. Here is an excerpt:

"After YEARS of talk and planning, HERE IT IS!
     This is what the first tower and beach club at the planned Related/Rybovich north end project will look like.
     This first portion includes 132 units and a beach club along the east side of Flagler Drive between 38th and 44th streets."

Here is one of the images:
Tall Building! Tall Building! Tall Building!

"Location of Office Depot’s 'store of the future' is top secret for now"

Interesting news from business reporter Jeff Ostrowski at the RealTime blog about a "top secret" Office Depot store:

The company is testing a 15,000-square-foot “Store of the Future” that’s about half the size of the retailer’s old big-box locations.
     In a call with analysts Monday, Office Depot Chief Executive Roland Smith said he’s “very excited” about the concept. For shoppers, the smaller stores are “easier to navigate,” Smith said.
     “Our first Store of the Future opened this past February, and the initial test results have been very positive,” Smith said. “As a result, we plan to expand the test to 20 stores by the end of the year.”

[and. . .]

Office Depot isn’t divulging the store’s location.

How many construction workers does it take to stop out-of-control concrete buffer?

Sit back and enjoy this video and commentary. It's hilarious:

What if someone says this about the Lake Worth political scene: “It’s a little crazy for local politics.”

Here is how you answer if someone says Lake Worth politics is "a little crazy": It's not ordinary for any small American city to be the headquarters for an organization known to affiliate and collaborate with ecoterrorist organizations, both nationally and internationally. That organization, EarthFirst! (EF!), is led by Cara Jennings and Peter 'Panagioti' Tsolkas. EF!'s goals all along have been to destabilize this City's politics, create ill-will against PBSO and the CRA (to name just two), and distract the public in a myriad of different ways.

So you can imagine the glee and merriment when their latest effort failed miserably:
Very important: The media spin was the landslide elections last March 15th were because of campaign contributions. Don't fall for this narrative (meme): It's not true.
Here is an excerpt from an article that appeared the very next day:

     Bruce Webber, an art gallery owner, said voters made the right choice to move the city forward.
     “If we lost one seat on the commission, it would have set us back ten years,” [emphasis added] he said. “We need development and we need to fix our roads.”

The truth is all three incumbents were forced to respond to the threats by the Anarchists in Lake Worth and one of the tools at their disposal was fundraising. If JoAnn Golden et al. had not put Ryan Hartman on the ballot then fundraising would never had become an issue in this election. But they did and the rest is history. The public rallied, became engaged and highly motivated to keep this City moving forward.

It's important to keep the momentum moving forward. That's why I keep "beating the dead horse" about the last election cycle: Don't get complacent.
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