Continue spreading the message from County Commissioner Steven Abrams.

Take note: Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is term-limited and will not be on the ballot this coming November. A new commissioner will take his place in District 4 (to learn more about the upcoming November General Election click on this link).

But the fact that Abrams will not be on the upcoming ballot in no way takes away from his message to everyone in Palm Beach County. The message remains the same, “[I]t makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said

News from reporter Mike Magnoli,

“Spreading the message” about Brightline and Tri-Rail.

This same message applies to freight trains as well.

From a CBS12 (WPEC) news segment here is the message you want the public to hear from every elected official in Palm Beach County and everywhere else in Florida, Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams said,

“. . .it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said.

This is NOT THE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO HEAR from any elected official in Palm Beach County:

“. . .and you know you might’ve been able to outrun a Tri-Rail train, but you can’t outrun a Brightline train”

And even at normal transport speed, whether empty or transporting heavy freight cars, there is no one in Palm Beach County that can outrun a freight train either.

Below are two excerpts from reporter Mike Magnoli’s news segment titled, “Spreading the message: Don’t try to outrun trains”.


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS 12) — People in Palm Beach County have been living alongside Tri-Rail since 1989. The trains run from West Palm Beach to Miami.

and. . .

     West Palm Beach’s Mayor Jeri Muoio and other officials are trying to get the public to take train safety more seriously, “see tracks, think train”, the mayor said:

     “. . .and you know you might’ve been able to outrun a Tri-Rail train, but you can’t outrun a Brightline train,” [emphasis added]

     Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams is the Chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Tri-Rail, he says that message could be taken the wrong way.
     “A lot of people don’t think that the Tri-Rail train can go as fast as Brightline trains, the Tri-Rail trains on some stretches of the track can and do go that fast, the difference though is that Tri-Rail stops every 3 miles,” Abrams said.
     And the commissioner says regardless of the train’s speed or which company owns it, if the gates are down, a person should never try to outrun a train. “So it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for anyone to ever consider trying to beat a train,” Abrams said.
 

Here is an excerpt from County Commissioner Steven Abrams’ “Train Safety Press Conference”:

Commissioner Abrams currently serves as chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority and is extremely familiar with the importance of train safety which is Tri-Rail’s top priority. Last year, 17 people were killed by Tri-Rail trains from Miami to northern Palm Beach County. While most of the fatalities were suicides, some were the result of people who disregarded the safety warnings and tried to beat the train.

Brightline has been working with Tri-Rail, local law enforcement, municipalities and the county governments to educate the community about rail safety. In addition, Brightline plans to deploy employees to key intersections from Ft. Lauderdale to West Palm Beach to promote safety and educate the public about the need to steer clear of railroad crossings when trains approach.

Downtown Lake Worth will have visitors tomorrow afternoon.

The annual conference of Florida’s American Planning Association (APA) starts today and runs through Friday in West Palm Beach. During this four-day conference will be several “Mobile Tours”. The Cottages of Lake Worth tour was sold out and the actual Cottages that are part of the tour are getting prepared for the event.

A guided tour tomorrow.

To learn more about APA Florida click on this link.

Here is more information about the tour
of Downtown Lake Worth:

Enjoy walking through the time-capsule that is Downtown Lake Worth and nearby residential areas. The guided tour starts at the City Hall Annex, listed on the National Register. Winding around north and south of the Downtown, the tour will show off the City’s cottages built on 25- and 50-foot wide lots prior to WWII. Explore three local historic districts laid out in a traditional grid pattern. Many of the structures appear in The Cottages of Lake Worth book.

UPDATE. . .

From yesterday on this blog. . . 


Front page news in Palm Beach Post: Clarification needed for readers in tomorrow’s [today’s] print edition.


Update: Was a clarification issued by the editor(s) at the Post. No and no regular readers of the Post expected one.

Clarifications and corrections in the Post, when they are issued, are published on page A2 below the fold. There is not a prominent link for the online readership to look over recent and past clarifications and corrections like other newspapers do. Many newspapers also employ what is called an ombudsman on the editorial board to keep the public updated and informed.

The tragic plane crash last Sunday in John Prince Park was front page news in Monday’s Palm Beach Post. This incident occurred in what is called “suburban Lake Worth”, or unincorporated Palm Beach County (see map below). Here is a paragraph in Monday’s paper, on the front page:


     The NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] and the Federal Aviation Administration – which said the plane came from Key West – will work to determine the cause of the crash that happened about a mile northeast of the Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana. [emphasis added]

The PBC Park Airport is not
‘in Lantana.’

This airport (FAA Identifier: LNA) is along Congress Ave. immediately to the east of Atlantis about 200–300′ from Congress Ave (see map below). The area shaded blue nearest the crash site is the Village of Palm Springs. East of the PBC Park Airport, across Lake Osborne, is the unincorporated area called Lake Osborne Estates and further east is the Town of Lantana (shaded red).

Click on image to enlarge.

The crash site is south of 6th Ave. South and east of Palm Springs (Congress Ave. runs north-south;
Lantana Rd. runs east-west).

North of Lantana is the City of Lake Worth.
Both John Prince Park and the regional PBC airport are “unincorporated” or can also be called “suburban Lake Worth”.

Here are the municipal limits of Lantana (shaded):

If you are interested in learning more about the Town of Lantana and neighboring areas contact the Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce.

Once again, John Prince Park is not in the City of Lake Worth.

John Prince Park is a County park managed and maintained by Palm Beach County.

For example, the Sun Sentinel got the story wrong:

Video shows plane engulfed in flames moments after it crashed in Lake Worth park.

The City of Lake Worth has many public parks but John Prince Park is not one of them.

Pause momentarily for Tweet to load:

PBSO Responds to Plane Crash - East of Congress, just south of Palm Beach State College off 6th Ave. Twin engine plane crashed with two fatalities. Ultimately, the FAA and NTSB will investigate further. pic.twitter.com/gN4ElowLHv

— PBSO (@PBCountySheriff) September 9, 2018

But following this incident it took some time before the press and news media figured out how to inform the public where this incident occurred. It happened in suburban Lake Worth well outside the municipal limits of the City of Lake Worth not far from Congress Ave. The nearest municipality is the Village of Palm Springs just west of Congress.

Within moments anyone could find this information.

How?

Ever heard of the Geo Nav mapping tool? Learn more about it below. After a few tries using this tool, in just seconds you will be able to find out if a location is in a municipality or in an unincorporated area of Palm Beach County, and lots of other helpful data as well.

For example, in last week’s weekly edition of the Lake Worth Very Very Special Monday Cursory Print Edition (LWVVSMCPE), in the section titled “IN FOCUS: LAKE WORTH” is this excerpt:

Winefest 2018: The American German Club at 5111 Lantana Road, will be transformed into wine village on Sept. 8.

One would or could assume, of course, this event is “in Lake Worth”. But it’s not. Not even close (FYI: the actual City of Lake Worth uses two zip codes, 33460 and a very small part of 33461).

The American German Club of the Palm Beaches
is located in suburban Lake Worth, it has
a 33463 zip code.

Click on image to enlarge:

The American German Club is a wonderful facility. If you’ve never been you should check it out some day. However, this club is located west of the Great Walled City of Atlantis and south of Greenacres.

It is very easy to verify and/or clarify if a press or news media story is accurate — or not — when reporting about any location in Palm Beach County

It’s called the Geo Nav mapping tool (link to site below) from the PBC Property Appraiser’s Office.

For example see the map below. Just by clicking on the “County Parks” tab (explained below) the County’s John Prince Park shows up as light green. Use the municipal parks tab and every park within a municipality will appear. Click on the “Municipalities” tab and each municipality shows up a different shade of color.

The areas not shaded? Those are unincorporated areas in PBC such as suburban Lake Worth where the German American Club is located, clarifying the news today in the LWVVSMCPE.

Click on image below to enlarge.

See the legend in the top left?

Go to the Geo Nav mapping tool and click on
“Layers” tab (far left) and have fun!

The Geo Nav mapping tool will come in helpful for viewers of one TV news station in particular, e.g., a person was recently struck by a vehicle on Congress Ave. “in Lake Worth” according to CBS12. Congress Ave. does not go through the City of Lake Worth.

Now go and check out the Geo Nav mapping tool!

Explained: The City of Lake Worth, Jon Smith Subs in Village of Palm Springs and puzzling story in Palm Beach Post.

In the continuing effort to educate the public, press and news media and helping to answer the question, “Where the hell is Lake Worth!” please continue reading and hopefully this information will help.

You may recall reading or hearing something about
Jon Smith Subs in The Palm Beach Post:

It was a puzzling story about Mr. Jon Smith — the owner of Jon Smith Subs on Congress Ave. in the Village of Palm Springs — and an unfortunate and major electrical incident created by the high winds of Hurricane Irma in September 2017:


“There was a giant billboard on the property in one corner and it just fell on top of our building and wiped out the roof . . . I thought we missed the bullet but I guess we didn’t.”
     Smith said he paid about $160,000 in repairs and was closed for 17 days. “We lost about $150,000, maybe a little less,” he said.

Here’s where it gets confusing. . .

     He [Mr. Smith] owns eight sub shops in the county in Lake Worth [sic; emphasis added], West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Royal Palm Beach, Lake Park and Boca Raton.
     The suburban Lake Worth store has been in business for 29 years, Smith said.
     “The city of Lake Worth was extremely helpful to us,” he said. “They understood the damage and were very helpful so we could get back open. The site looks great.”

So you’re asking yourself,
“What the heck is going on here!”

The answer is below.

First of all, sadly, there is not a Jon Smith Subs

location in the City of Lake Worth.

But you can call Mr. Smith at 561-642-4300 and say, “I want Jon Smith Subs in my City of Lake Worth too!”

Jon Smith Subs is located at 3900 S. Congress Ave. in Palm Springs. But guess what? Jon Smith Subs IS in the Lake Worth Electric Utility service area. That area is not FPL territory.

In other words: Just because your electric bill comes from the City of Lake Worth doesn’t necessarily mean you are a resident or have a business in the City. So did “The Explainer” help?

Coming soon from Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce: Business news and updates for City of Lake Worth.

If you have a business in the City of Lake Worth stay tuned for exciting information. In the meantime stop by some time soon or call and introduce yourself to the Lantana Chamber (contact information below).

Learn more about our neighbor to the south:

Town of Lantana,
municipal limits shaded.

Click on map to enlarge. Lantana is bordered by Lake Worth and South Palm Beach to the north and to the south by Hypoluxo and Manalapan. Also to the south and west are large areas of unincorporated County and suburban Lake Worth, e.g. Lake Osborne Estates.

The Greater Lantana Chamber of Commerce is off S. Dixie Hwy. at 212 Iris Ave. in Town of Lantana between Lake Worth Ave. and East Pine St.

For more information about the chamber call 561-585-8664 or click on this link.

Stay tuned for the “Lake Worth Community News” section at the Lantana Chamber for updates and new news about business and other related topics in the little City of Lake Worth as well.

About the Town of Lantana Discover the Palm Beaches calls the town Old Florida, “The coastal fishing village of Lantana hasn’t lost any of its small-town allure” and about the City of Lake Worth, “An easygoing enclave worth discovering”.

Whilst on the topic of two neighboring cities that share many common interests and issues. . .

Two mayors. . .

Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo and Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart at a ribbon cutting in Downtown Lake Worth. TooJay’s getting the word our for everyone to stop by and “See Our New Look!”

And Mayor Stewart once again in the City of Lake Worth on the topic of Dixie Hwy. and transportation . . .

View of the room at the Dixie Hwy. Multimodal Corridor Study at The Hatch (1121 Lucerne Ave.):

Lake Worth Commissioner Herman C. Robinson (left) at the “Open Studio Charrette”, Section 3: Lake Worth, Lantana, Hypoluxo held last July with (L–R) Downtown resident Mr. Greg Rice, Mayor Stewart, and Lake Worth Commissioner Scott Maxwell as charrette staff look on.

Maybe you missed this from yesterday. . .

Looking for something interesting to read this weekend?

Then consider. . .

The ARTS CULTURAL
MASTER PLAN
for Downtown Lake Worth

This item was presented at Lake Worth’s Planning & Zoning Board last Wednesday. The presentation is 124 pp. long with a lot of graphics and data. To download the P&Z agenda click on this link and scroll down for the agenda package on September 5th. Once downloaded the Arts Cultural Master Plan begins on p. 52.


Here is just one of many images:

Click on image to enlarge:

LWCHS  =  Lake Worth Community High School; DTLW  =  Downtown Lake Worth.

This plan will also be presented to the Historic Resources Preservation Board next week, on Wednesday, September 12th, 6:00, at City Hall.

However, in the meantime, some regrettable typos need to be corrected. . .

• In “Appendix A, Acknowledgments”, on p. 123, Palm Beach County School Board member Erica Whitfield’s name is misspelled. Whitfield’s first name in Erica, not ‘Erika’.
• On p. 124, “Workshop Participants”, Patti Chung Sheldon’s middle name is misspelled. ‘Cung’ is another typo.
• And “Steering Committee” member Shanon Materio’s name is also misspelled. On p. 125 the spelling is ‘Shannon’ which is incorrect.

The information gleaned from last year’s Street Painting Festival (shown on p. 169) is very interesting, for example:


The Master Plan should help address some of Lake Worth’s liabilities and image problems: a lack of parking, a high cost of utilities, crime rate, homelessness and vagrancy, and the general sentiment that Lake Worth has a bad reputation and sees an unfair share of bad press [emphasis added]


Hope you enjoy this weekend’s reading suggestion and for more information about all the Public meetings in the City of Lake Worth next week click on this link.

And also Worth Noting. . .

The monthly Food Truck Invasion is next Monday. The first Downtown Lake Ave. Block Party is on October 5th. For more information use this link.

Tomorrow: Backyard Garden Workshop at 9:00 a.m. Details below.

At the end of this blog post is recent news in the Herald for everyone interested in backyard gardens.

But guess what? There is lots and lots of new LOCAL news in this week’s Lake Worth Herald including news about The MID and a structure on N. Dixie Hwy., “[W]hich once housed Wayne Akers Ford is being demolished to make way for The MID, a 5.6 acre two hundred plus unit mixed use development.” Isn’t that a kick!

And there is news about “Family Saturdays” returning to the Cultural Council. The City of Lake Worth is holding a design competition and Pelican Pete has some musings on Tropical Storm Gordon too. And on p. 2 there is news about singing and drinking beer at the annual “Beer & Hymns” event (TONIGHT!), and on September 15th the “Village of Palm Springs Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month”, on p. 3 is Palm Beach County School News, then later in the paper is information from Everglades Ernie and Jorge Goyanes’ Car Clinic, and “The Divas Are Returning To The Lake Worth Playhouse!”

And there’s more.

The Town of Lantana is having a Public meeting for Republic Services’ new automated garbage service, a half-page ad about the City of Lake Worth’s change in recycling method, there are lots of ads from LOCAL businesses and Public Notices as well.

But unfortunately, this week there was no lovely and charming Letter to the Editor. But maybe next week.

Support LOCAL small town journalism.

To see the front page news this week click on this link. To contact the editor call 561-585-9387 or send an email to Editor@lwherald.com

Without further ado . . . about that workshop tomorrow. More information from the Herald.

Backyard Garden Workshop

The Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension is offering a one-day program to focus on tips and techniques on vegetable garden site preparation, seedling establishment, planting, maintenance and harvesting.
     Arthur Kirstein, coordinator of Agricultural Economic Development will be the instructor. The program is free of charge.
     The program will be held on Saturday, Sept. 8, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Hutcheson Agricultural Complex, Exhibit Hall A, 559 N. Military Trail in suburban West Palm Beach. The program is limited to 100 participants.
     To register call Dina Ligotino at 561-233-1792 or by email: Dligotino@pbcgov.org

TOMORROW NIGHT! It’s the return of “Beer & Hymns” at Aioli’s!

See that news below in today’s Lake Worth Herald.

But first, a short, merry video in preparation for the upcoming Christmas and Holiday Season!

The new news in the Herald
today, an excerpt:

     On Friday, Sept. 7 [TOMORROW NIGHT] at 6:30–8:30, the 9th annual Beer and Hymn songfest will take place at Aioli’s. Sponsored by the First Congregational Church of Lake Worth, Richmond Schmidt, the musical host with the most, will return with the popular hymn sing-along. According to Schmidt, “It is a great opportunity to be together, enjoy some drinks, good food and sing all your favorite hymns together.”


Please note: The owners of Aioli’s are residents of our City of Lake Worth. Aioli’s is located in the plaza at 7434 S. Dixie Hwy. in West Palm Beach directly across the road from the CubeSmart self-storage facility (approx. ½ mile north from the City of Lake Worth past the C-51 Canal).

FYI: You do not have to be a member of the First Congregational Church to participate. Cold beer and excellent Aioli food will be available for purchase.

To see the front page news this week in The Lake Worth Herald and Coastal and Greenacres Observer click on this link.

And visit the newsstand Studio 205
some time today as well.

Click on image to enlarge:

Studio 205 is located at 205 N. Federal Hwy. in the City of Lake Worth. Stop by, just for kicks, and check out the café, juice bar and pick up the Herald too, our LOCAL City weekly still costs just ¢50.

News in Coastal/Greenacres Observer* and The Lake Worth Herald† about the City of Greenacres.

Exciting news announcing an upcoming photo contest (see details below) and the winners will be featured on Greenacres’ official Facebook page!

“CAPTURE THE BEAUTY
OF GREENACRES”
(see newspaper clipping below)

Photographers: Maybe stage the Greenacres Community Center the backdrop for beat reporter from The Palm Beach Post interviewing Commander Lt. Tristram Moore of PBSO District 16.

We’re coming up soon on the three-year anniversary of the PBSO merge with the Greenacres Police Dept.


Learn more about this anniversary below.
Click on newspaper clipping to enlarge:

To submit your high-resolution images to the wonderful City of Greenacres click on this link.

Our City of Lake Worth is so fortunate to have such a fine neighbor as Greenacres.‡

More details about this photo contest reported in the Herald and Observer. . .

• Photographers of all ages are welcome.
• Winners will be announced on Facebook.
• Winners will be recognized by Mayor Joel Flores and the Greenacres City Council.
• Photographs chosen as the top three will be displayed in City Hall for three (3) months.
• If you have any more questions call 561-642-2090 or visit the Greenacres Community Center. For the days and hours of operation click on this link.
• Once again, the deadline is Friday, September 7th.
• If you wish to learn more about Leisure Services in the splendid City of Greenacres click on this link for all that information.

And whilst on the topic of the City of Greenacres. . .

Did you know Greenacres once had a dedicated beat reporter from The Palm Beach Post?

It’s true, back in 2015.

Read more about PBSO merge with Greenacres PD in 2015; from the editor(s) at the Post in March 2018:

“[T]here is no debate about the result. Overall crime is down, and available law-enforcement resources are far better.”

*The Coastal/Greenacres Observer is FREE. To download the newspaper click on this link, go to options and “Download as PDF”. The Observer is published weekly by Lake Worth Herald Press, Inc.

†To contact the editor at The Lake Worth Herald call 561-585-9387 or send an email to: Editor@lwherald.com

‡In the last rankings by the Post of municipalities in Palm Beach County “from worst to best” — higher the number the worse the rank — the City of Greenacres came in unjustly and arbitrarily at #20 (the nearby Village of Palm Springs was ranked a dreadful #31, completely unwarranted).
     The City of Lake Worth came in at #6. To learn more about these inequitable rankings in the Post click on this link.

Very worthy news you can use in cities of Greenacres, Lake Worth, unincorporated (suburban areas) in between.

PBSO Graffiti Eradication Unit.

NO COST TO YOU!
IT’S FREE!

Take back your street, neighborhood,
community and parks.

Help PBSO District 14 (City of Lake Worth) and District 16 (City of Greenacres) and help PBSO in unincorporated Palm Beach County as well (e.g., places like John Prince Park in suburban Lake Worth). . .

• If you see GRAFFITI IN PROGRESS call 911 immediately!
• Non-emergency number: 561-688-3400.
• Have a chronic graffiti problem? Call CrimeStoppers at 800-458-8477. Be eligible for a reward and remain anonymous.

How the PBSO Graffiti Eradication Unit came to be:

In early 2005 Sheriff Ric Bradshaw established this program to rapidly respond and remove graffiti within unincorporated Palm Beach County and select municipalities that now include the cities of Lake Worth and Greenacres.

It is very worth noting that Greenacres received high honors for “Safest Cities in Florida 2018” in Palm Beach County this year; however, the data from City of Lake Worth was late arriving to the judges showing a significant drop in crime.

The villages of Wellington and Royal Palm Beach — also patrolled by PBSO — were also ranked very high on the “Safest Cities” list as well.

Very important: Stormwater and drainage in this little City of Lake Worth.

If you happen to have a persistent issue with storm drains getting clogged contact the Public Works Division (phone number, email address, and more information is below).

Or the other option is you can contact somebody you know at a TV news station. However, TV reporters don’t clear drains. But maybe you’ll get interviewed on TV! Don’t forget these “easy-to-learn and highly effective techniques” demonstrating how to do a TV news interview.

Anyhow, without further ado. . .

Drainage System Maintenance.

The City’s Stormwater Division has a certified, technical staff and fleet of heavy equipment that work to maintain proper drainage and to prevent pollutants from reaching inlets and storm drains that lead into our Intracoastal waterway. The Streets Division cleans drains before and after rain events and major storms.


You can help by reporting blocked drains
and keeping garbage and debris away
from the drains.

It is prohibited to deposit anything that is not identified as acceptable stormwater directly or indirectly into the stormwater system.

Contact information for Stormwater Division:

• Call 561-533-7346 from 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.
• Address: 1880 2nd Ave. North.
• Supervisor: Carlos Enriquez.
• Email: cenriquez@lakeworth.org

FLASHBACK. City of Lake Worth. Prior to and after Labor Day Weekend, 2016. Public debate about proposed ordinance.

Please note. A reminder. The months of August and September are traditionally ones for banning things in Palm Beach County — generally things of interest to the environment community — and typically the very same things a lot of visitors and tourists find quite fun, entertaining, and very practical. Like plastic straws for example.


Let’s delve into this topic. Case Example:
The City of Lake Worth.

In late August/early September 2016 the public, administration and elected officials debated an ordinance to ban something that is used at parties, galas and socials. Things got a little overblown at times but order was quickly restored. This particular debate preceded the Neighborhood Road Bond vote in November of that year. Was the proposed ordinance about the roads in this City? No. Efforts to control flooding? No. The proposed ordinance was to ban something else entirely. Do you remember what it was?


Proposed Ordinance No. 2016-24 would be a violation under City of Lake Worth’s “Code of Ordinances” general penalty section, section 1–6, and subject’s a violator to a fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail.


A fine and/or jail time for what? Using balloons on City property. Not kidding. And who would have to enforce this ordinance? PBSO. Now imagine the message that sends to those who live in areas with too much crime?

To learn more about what happened in September 2016 in this City click on this link.

But the Balloon Platoon failed ingloriously in 2016 and did not come back in 2017 but then in 2018 along comes the Plastic Straw Police and they are making some headway in Broward County; they had no luck in Palm Beach County this year banning plastic straws. First they hit Delray Beach with their scheme, then Jupiter, then Boca Raton and hit the Town of Palm Beach too. But this little City of Lake Worth would be the prize for those who like to ban fun things like balloons and straws.

But imagine if the Straw Ban Police devoted their energy to teaching the public how to recycle properly instead of trying to ban stuff? Whilst on the topic of banning stuff like plastic straws in Broward and Palm Beach counties the Sun Sentinel wants to hear from you:


Should these sorts of regulations be handled at the state level instead? Let us know by emailing dsweeney@SunSentinel.com or tweeting @Daniel_Sweeney. Your response could be used in a future story.

Now back to the Balloon Platoon in 2016.

The Balloon Platoon was actually on to something about banning balloons but it nothing to do with the Atlantic Ocean. It had a lot to do with the electric grid.

Clutch the pearls! Below is a press release
from the City of Lake Worth.

A reader of this blog reminded me about in preparation for Hurricane Irma last year there were a whole lot of balloons entangled in the one and only City’s tie-in line to the electric grid. Can you imagine the City going dark because of balloons!

Post-Hurricane Irma here are City crews and out-of-town linemen posing for a group photo:

#LakeWorth crews stayed out as late as they could & will go out again as soon as conditions improve. 227 of the 392 outages were resolved pic.twitter.com/LWEXVn7OqR

— Lake Worth (@LakeWorthPBC) September 10, 2017

Now let’s get back to those pesky balloons. . .

If you recall, back in 2016 the Balloon Platoon showed up in this City trying to ban balloons but they ended up scaring the bejesus out of all the little children with ordinances to fine their parents or even throw a parent in jail for having a balloon at the Lake Worth Beach. That made a whole lot of people upset. Kids too.

So if the Straw Ban Police just happen to march in lockstep to the front of Lake Worth City Hall please remind them about what happened in this City last year and tell them to march back to where they came from and come up with another plan of action.

Forget about plastic straws. Ban balloons from anywhere near the electric grid!

Here is the press release from the City last year:


For more information contact Mr. Ben Kerr, the City’s Public Information Officer, at 561-586-1631; email: BKerr@lakeworth.org

September 5th, 2017.

Lake Worth* — The City of Lake Worth Electric Utilities had to perform a planned outage [ended at 4:00 p.m.] in order to remove mylar balloons that had become entangled in the main electric line.
     Please remember that the releasing of balloons is not allowed as it poses a risk to electrical infrastructure.

The City apologizes for any inconvenience caused.


For those of you who did not catch on, the blog post above about balloons does include a bit of satire but what happened back in 2016 did happen! For about two weeks everyone was distracted about balloons. But all the time and public funds wasted by municipalities having to deal with this nonsense about plastic straws and balloons should be satire. But it’s not. Public officials and law enforcement have much bigger things to worry about.

And since the press and news media continues to be fascinated and enthralled with this story about plastic straws — because the story is still getting social media clicks and ‘kicks’ and selling more newspapers — there was actually a letter to the editor published in The Palm Beach Post recently that is a worthwhile read and starts off with this line, “I would like to propose a simple, no-cost remedy to the problem of the abundance of plastic straws impacting our environment.”


*“We are LAKE WORTH. A hometown City that is committed to delivering the highest level of customer service through a commitment to integrity, hard work and a friendly attitude. We strive to exceed the expectations of our citizens, our businesses, our elected officials and our fellow employees.”

Deadline for ITB 17-18-143 is tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 4th at 3:00.

Below are two excerpts from The Palm Beach Post print edition published on Aug. 28th on p. B7 (“Business” section). Today is Labor Day. Administration offices in West Palm Beach will re-open tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

Invitation to Bid (ITB 17-18-143)
WPB-TV Enhancement Broadcast Equipment

The City of West Palm Beach (City) is accepting bids from qualified and responsible contractors to furnish and supply broadcast equipment for the WPB-TV Enhancement Project. WPB-TV, the City’s Public Educational and Government (PEG) Channel is undergoing a complete rebuild of broadcast operations at City Hall. The rebuild will enhance municipal transparency and include Closed-Captioning of all programming on-air and on the web. This project includes replacement of equipment in the following areas: Commission Chambers, Flagler Gallery, Master Control, and the Production Suite.

and. . .

Time is of the essence and any bid received after 3:00 p.m. on September 4, 2018, whether by mail or otherwise, will be returned unopened.


[NOTE: Bid documents may be acquired free of charge by clicking on this link. Hard copies of bid documents may be acquired at this address: 401 Clematis Street, 3rd floor in West Palm Beach.]

Zika: News from journalist John Kennedy and news also “Worth Noting” from the City of Lake Worth.

In August 2016 a case of Zika was reported in Lake Worth. It was big news in The Palm Beach Post. See that news below.

First, while Zika is not quite the plague it was in 2016 there continue to be cases discovered here in South Florida. What concerns public health officials most about Zika is it’s “particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it can cause severe birth defects.” Prior to a case of Zika being reported the information below is important to know.

All the Zika cases thus far this year are “travel related” mostly in Collier and Miami-Dade counties. Many of the public here in Central Palm Beach County and in cities such as the City of Lake Worth regularly travel back and forth from South America and other locations in the Caribbean for either business or pleasure. So the battle to “Fight the Bite” against mosquitoes needs to be a year-round effort here in this region to try and stop Zika in its tracks: eliminating as many places as possible where mosquitoes can breed.

The news below can help you get ready and
protect yourself from mosquitoes.

“Fight the Bite!”

First the news from the City of Lake Worth:

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PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

Below is the big news from August 2016 by former Palm Beach Post political correspondent John Kennedy who used to run the Tallahassee news bureau for the Post. Briefly, after that news bureau was shut down in Dec. 2016, for quite some time there was no longer an assigned journalist from the Post to report the goings-on in the State Capitol.

The fine irony is John Kennedy now works as a journalist for Gatehouse Media in Tallahassee reporting state-wide political news which is published in newspapers all over Florida and the United States. And one of those newspapers — as of May 1st this year — now owned by Gatehouse Media is . . . you guessed it: The Palm Beach Post.

Welcome back Mr. Kennedy!

The news below from Kennedy can help you become aware of the potential dangers, get prepared, and protect yourself, family and neighborhood from mosquitoes:


“There is [was] a reported case of Zika in Lake Worth [in August 2016]. As with all other cases across the State, the Florida Department of Health is responsible for verifying, tracking and reporting cases of Zika to local authorities.
     Florida Health, Palm Beach County is the lead agency in all local outreach efforts to minimize any effects regarding the additional case. The Health Department is assisted by Palm Beach County Mosquito Control Division to gather data and work with affected communities.
     We continue to urge residents across the County to take precautions to prevent the spread of mosquito transmitted diseases.”

Now that we are officially in Wet Season look around for places where mosquitoes can breed so you can “Fight the Bite!”