At the pool today with Sally Welsh's water exercise class...

Come join us! Saturdays at 11, Sundays at 10 - no class on April 19 and 20. Sally is about to start Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 a.m. It really is a lot of fun and if you haven't been to the pool, you really need to go.

Rocco's Tacos expanding to Delray Beach - wptv.com

Skipping over Lake Worth. Click title for link.

Great piece from WestPalm TV about Mayor Muoio's participation in Lake Worth's Gay Pride parade last weekend...

Good shots of the parade and a nice scene of the two Mayors, of Lake Worth and West Palm Beach, having fun. Tony Plakas, CEO of Compass does a nice job too.

One more example of Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Larry the Lenz ventures outside the realm of Lake Worth!

Our roving photographer, Larry the Lenz, got adventurous yesterday and broke through the physical and psychological barrier known as the Lake Worth city limits. He took his lenses on the road and ventured into a strange land known as West Palm Beach. There, he didn't encounter any dragons, the mythological creatures that were thought to inhabit the horizon when the Earth was thought to be flat. He did encounter a menagerie of wild animals in this unfamiliar terrain. He was able to use his GoPro and drone to catch the moment with these shots.

Where is this and how did they keep from falling off?

Well, like I said, there were no dragons, but there was a dinosaur!

Developer argues for role in challenge to ‘chapel’ condo | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

A group is challenging the approval of the tall residential condominium on the Chapel-by-the-Lake property and the developer may join the city in defending the lawsuit. They believe that time is of the essence and any time delay would seriously impact the financial viability of the project. Click title for link to article.

Developer G.A.K. Partners, in a “motion to intervene,” said the court actions Citizens for Thoughtful Growth filed in February in Palm Beach County Circuit Court likely will freeze the project for months, “causing G.A.K. severe financial damage.”

The article also mentions the concept of legal standing in relation to the group that opposes the development. The city of Lake Worth questioned the legal standing of Laurel Decker in her now withdrawn lawsuit against the city.

Click here for the Citizens for Thoughtful Growth's website. Impressive night-time SKYLINE shot of West Palm Beach.

In other West Palm Beach development news, there is a new hotel planned for the Palm Harbor Marina along the waterfront. The plans call for a 7 story building with a parking garage on the water. This comes from the WalkableWPB blog. Check out the renderings and other details here.

Here is part of what WalkableWPB says about the project:

The project is unusual in downtown in that the Zyscovich downtown master plan (DMP) does not apply to the site. Instead, due to its history, itis governed under another set of  zoning standards and zoned as City Center-2 (CC-2). This zoning standard is not form-based as is our current DMP and would have likely required a tower-in-a park type development (think Trianon for an example).

Wisely, the developer has opted to utilize City Center- Planned Development zoning and the project is better for it. The proposal will engage the street, with an entrance on Flagler Drive and active use (restaurant). The public park will be a welcome addition to connect a very disused area of the waterfront that does not feel open to the public at present. This project will result in more public use of the waterfront and the infill of a good portion of the surface parking lot that currently exists.

Senate quiet zone funding aimed to curb All Aboard Florida... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

For the required grade crossing improvements, money from the state of Florida may be hard to come by. It seems that the House side of the legislature is not moving forward like the Senate side. However, there might be some federal money available. There are groups in the Treasure Coast that aren't warming up to the idea of a fast train zooming by their homes, especially when there would be no station, as currently planned, to serve the area. Click title for link to article.

“These negative impacts have to be mitigated,” said Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie, who serves as chairwoman of the metropolitan planning organization.

She said the MPO and its partners have asked for funding everywhere they can find it, and will travel to Washington next week to apply for federal funds through a Department of Transportation grant program. Other funds may be available from the state, even if the $10 million grant is cut from the legislature’s budget, such as rail enterprise funds.

10 plans to stormproof NY area are finalists | Crain's New York Business

From 150 different entries come ten considered finalists in an effort to protect New York City and other areas from inundation from storms like Sandy. There are some novel approaches here and all would be expensive. If ultimately approved and funded, the money would come from HUD. Interesting to review some of the proposals, including one called "The Big U" that would provide a barrier and park space around the southern half of Manhattan. Click title for link.

"If you deliver a design for barrier islands off Long Island, a similar solution might make sense in New Jersey," he said. "Then we can work with both communities to see if they are interested."

Mr. Ovink hails from the Netherlands, where he oversaw questions of infrastructure
and water management before being tapped by Mr. Donovan as a senior HUD adviser to run the competition.

Mr. Ovink believes that the competition process will serve as a standard of how to bring both international talent and ideas to local and regional questions of resiliency.

Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

What a difference a year makes.

Update from Mayor Triolo on Facebook (4/4)

Commission Discussion of Beach Permit Parking Policies and Rates from Tuesday night (4/1)

It looks like it will be $40 per year for residents and $60 for seasonal residents/non-residents, with no limit on the number issued.

Three WPB commissioners sworn in

My official congratulations go out to Lake Worth business owner Shanon Materio on being sworn in for another term on the West Palm Beach City Commission. West Palm Beach got out of having an election this year, as well as Lake Worth, since there were no challengers to the incumbents. Perhaps this political stability will help our two cities work together to create a better environment on the road that we share - Dixie Hwy. Click title for link to Eliot Kleinberg's blog.

FAU librarian sentenced to jail for bathroom videos | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

This is a sad story of a Lake Worth person who led a quiet life, within the limits of the law, and then was caught violating the privacy of innocent people just to see if he could get away with it. He will be spending the next year in prison for his action. I believe that the judge was lenient. Click title for link.

Allen West’s new book dotted with familiar, but fake, quotes... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Strange how the other blogger's idol also is a fan and a practitioner of revisionism. It seems that it is o.k. for some now to re-write and create things that famous people have said to justify their current political opinions. Why am I not surprised? This  has probably gone on in human history for a while, but the Internet provides fertile soil for these misquotes and made-up sayings to spread. Click title for link to article. Here is the last one that is discussed.

 A quote attributed to Patrick Henry in West’s book didn’t come from the 18th century Virginian’s writings or speeches, said Henry biographer Thomas Kidd.

West quotes Henry as saying: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”

Kidd, a history professor at Baylor University in Texas, said the quote appears to be of relatively recent vintage and has taken on a life of its own on the Internet.

“The thing that’s strange about that quote to me is it actually sounds like something that Henry might have said…I find it puzzling that it keeps getting used. You can find similar things that Henry has said that are actual quotes,” Kidd said.

While the bogus quote bears some resemblance to Henry’s actual sentiments, Kidd said the giants of American history deserve better.

“If we admire these people,” Kidd said, “then I think we should represent what they actually said.”

Complete Video from Park of Commerce Presentation (3/27/14)