Carl Sagan

2014 Earth First! Rendezvous Call For Workshops and Donations | Earth First! Newswire

If you haven't made your summer plans yet, here's a fun trip where you can meet up with your EF! friends at the beginning of July. Click title for link. Below is a snip from the article. The highlighted phrase caught my eye.

The One thousand and One Cottages of Lake Worth | Lake Worth every minute

Great post on the Cottages of Lake Worth by AnnaMaria Windisch-Hunt. Click title for link.

I really miss Soul Train...

Why are so many white men trying to save the planet without the rest of us? | Suzanne Goldenberg | theguardian.com

The environmental movement...it's pale and male (and so are our local enviros). Click title for link. From the article:

Public opinion research in the US suggests women, Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and Native Americans are more concerned – and more directly affected – by climate change than other populations. Doesn't it make sense to include those who are most at risk in decisions about how we fight the defining challenge of our time?
Now take a look at the top executives at eight of the top 10 groups devoted to fighting that fight:
Sierra Club? White male.
Nature Conservancy? White male.
League of Conservation Voters? White male.
World Wildlife Fund? White male.
Environmental Defense Fund? White male.
Friends of the Earth? White male.
National Audubon Society? White male.
Nature Conservancy? White male.
The very top of "Big Green" is as white and male as a Tea Party meet-up. It doesn't look like change. It doesn't even look like America. So is it any wonder environmental groups are having trouble connecting with the public on climate change?

More crime in Greenfield CA

Assault with Deadly Weapon
05/09/2014
1000 Block CHALONE DR & 12TH ST

From the National Weather Service

COASTAL PALM BEACH-COASTAL BROWARD-COASTAL MIAMI DADE- 754 AM EDT SAT MAY 10 2014 ...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING... 

* TIMING...THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. 

* IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS SWIMMING CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TODAY...ESPECIALLY AROUND PIERS OR JETTIES WHERE CURRENTS CAN BE STRONGER. REPORTS FROM OCEAN RESCUE CONFIRMED THAT MULTIPLE RESCUES OCCURRED YESTERDAY DUE TO STRONG CURRENTS. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS. RIP CURRENTS ARE POWERFUL CHANNELS OF WATER FLOWING QUICKLY AWAY FROM SHORE...WHICH OCCUR MOST OFTEN AT LOW SPOTS OR BREAKS IN THE SANDBAR AND IN THE VICINITY OF STRUCTURES SUCH AS JETTIES AND PIERS. HEED THE ADVICE OF LIFEGUARDS AND THE BEACH PATROL. PAY ATTENTION TO FLAGS AND POSTED SIGNS. IF YOU BECOME CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT...DO NOT PANIC. REMAIN CALM AND BEGIN TO SWIM PARALLEL TO SHORE. ONCE YOU ARE AWAY FROM THE FORCE OF THE RIP CURRENT...BEGIN TO SWIM BACK TO THE BEACH. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SWIM DIRECTLY AGAINST A RIP CURRENT. EVEN A STRONG SWIMMER CAN BECOME EXHAUSTED QUICKLY.

Shirdi Sai Baba

"Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it."

Census says...

Everyone should get their calculators out and following along this weekend. I think it is important to flesh out what "world class" diversity looks like. That was one of the strengths made by the Residences of Lake Osborne in their presentation last Tuesday.

According to the 2010 Census, the entire City of Lake Worth had a population of 34,910, of which 19.8% were Black/African American and 39.6% were of Hispanic/Latino origin, white and non-white.

In the area bounded by Lake Osborne on the west, I-95 to the east, 6th Avenue South and the southern city limits, there are a total of 1,299 people, of which 1,116 (85.9%) are white and 121 (9.3%) are Black/African American. Other groups make up the balance.

We will have more information later as we research the numbers from the census tract and block data.

Saint Augustine

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”

Presentation by the Residences of Lake Osborne at Tuesday's City Commission meeting (5/6)

Here we learn that, for some unknown reason, this neighborhood association has changed its name from the "Residents" to the "Residences" of Lake Osborne. We can assume that this reflects a change in focus of the association to represent inanimate objects instead of the people that live in the neighborhood. We learn that the neighborhood has been stable over the past 50 years, which parallels this public comment by a resident of this neighborhood. This comment was made at the meeting when the City Commission passed a resolution of support for a Spring training facility in John Prince Park. Which the same neighborhood representative at the podium signed off on. You can see examples of the neighborhood's "stability" interspersed through the video.

So, this rosier than reality presentation before the Commission led me to do some fact-checking. Here is what I found from a local real estate agent with access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

The Residences of Lake Osborne Heights area, shown in gray-green on this neighborhood association map, makes up almost all of the area west of I-95, north of the City limit, to Lake Osborne and an area north of Sixth Avenue South.

Portion of Utility Service Area Map

This map shows multiple jurisdictional lines including water, sewer, electric and the Lake Worth city limits. Note that the electric service area is in yellow. The north/south road, south of the "r" in Lake Osborne on the map,  is High Ridge Road and is also the city limit.

• In the area delineated by the MLS which takes in much of the same area as this neighborhood association, 136 properties were on the market during the last 24 months. Condominium/apartments made up the vast majority of sales with a total of 87. Traditional single family residences tallied 49 listings. Note that per the MLS map, this area also includes all the properties between the southern Lake Worth city limits to Lantana Road. This is outside the city of Lake Worth and is served by FPL. See a portion of the city utility service area map from the city's website showing the service area.
• Thus, about half of this area enjoys electric service provided by FPL which carries lower rates and the market would reflect this in higher property values. If anything, this skews the sales value data upward for this area since it does not solely reflect sales in the city of Lake Worth.
• One particular address, 2204 Lake Osborne Drive, which shows up as Building 6 on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's website, had three units sell at a median price of $26,500 and an average price of $28,000. If you look on the map above, the area where this particular building is located is outside of the boundaries of the neighborhood. This is odd as this building houses a person that is "glued to the hip" of any representative from ROLO at city meetings. This building's real estate performance is the lowest performing "outlier" of the set of data. Which makes one wonder if there is something unusual or unique about this building. Hmmmm.
• Of the 87 condominium/apartment sales (how they are listed in the MLS), 52 of them were from the high density Murry Hills development. This waterfront property tallied a median sales price for individual units over the past two years of $40,950 and the average price was $35,074. With the average price being lower than the median, there were more lower value sales than were at the higher end of the range.
• It's important to note how other sectors of the city have performed with sales volume in the wake of the Great Recession during this two year period. Sales in the northeast part of the city (traditionally referred to as District 3) totaled 174. A smaller geographic area southeast of Lake Avenue and Dixie Hwy. (District 4) rang up 78 sales. The northwest area of the city (District 2) had 105 sales. And the part of District 1 west of Dixie and east of I-95 had 64 real estate transactions. As stated above, the area that includes ROLO includes areas outside of Lake Worth, all the way south to Lantana Road. Not all of the 136 sales were in the city of Lake Worth or the ROLO neighborhood.
• Single family home median values in the MLS area that includes the ROLO neighborhood had a median price of $127,500 and an average price of $116,100. This is not exactly setting the residential real estate world of south Florida on fire. It actually represents an area under-performing to what its potential actually could be.
• Quite to the contrary of these facts, Mr. Waples states in his presentation that "the housing inventory keeps shrinking." I'm not sure what he means by this. Does he mean there are less houses available on the market due to their dilapidated condition? Or does he mean that there are less homes on the market currently? Or, does it mean that they are actively deterring new redevelopment opportunities? If the Commission wanted to ask questions like this, the neighborhood association provided no opportunity as the three made a quick exit, stage right out the door immediately after their presentation. Most all other neighborhood presentations at the podium wait and ask if there are any questions from the Commission. This presentation was different.
• And, just for the record, there are 13 properties in this MLS area that are under contract and 22 active listings as of the date of this post.
• Mr. Waples talks about the neighborhood's "location, location, location" as being a key to its attractiveness and 50 year stability. These strengths include "world class diversity with cultures from around the globe", "very little if no absentee landlords", "close to I-95 and the Tri-Rail station", that is waterfront property "surrounded by beautiful Lake Osborne", "proximity to Palm Beach State College and of course the park for the people, John Prince Memorial Park", etc. With all these strengths and inherent assets, it should be performing better in terms of property value. For some reason it is not and that means that something is holding it back. Could it be the residents themselves or at least their leadership?
• Again from the presentation, Mr. Waples says "our values are increasing which makes us a very desirable place to live." This statement is contrary to Mr. Waples' experience with his own property! Check out the assessed value history of his property. This is public information from the property appraiser's office. Contrary to his presentation, his own property decreased in assessed value between 2012 and 2013 by $8,758 or a little over ten percent. How does the property appraiser determine a property's assessed value? He does so by looking over sales values over the previous year. According to this, property values must be falling for similarly situated properties. Why? 

These are the facts as I could assemble them since Tuesday night. All I know is that the city promoted itself as a city with two waterfronts for a very long time. Here is a sign from back in the 1960s along U.S. 1 in front of the current City Hall building:

The ROLO neighborhood is on the waterfront, in the middle of Palm Beach County, Florida. It is not currently the shining neighborhood on the hill as the presentation suggested. What we heard on Tuesday night was contrary to the facts and reflected a denial of the real conditions present in the neighborhood by its leadership. The presentation left more questions than answers and this neighborhood continues to be a drain on city resources. When presented with opportunities to improve the situation in their neighborhood, this small group of people does everything in their power to resist change. Maybe they are the biggest part of the problem.

We're curious...

We're curious about many things, as you know. What about all the name changes for one of our city's neighborhood associations? First, we learn that they drop "Heights" off the end of their name. Then we learned at last Tuesday's City Commission meeting that they are also changing "Residents" to "Residences" at the beginning of their name, now supposedly officially known as the Residences of Lake Osborne. Which changes their acronym from ROLOH to ROLO. It kind of makes we wonder when the meds are distributed over there and if it may be a problem with Medicare Part B. Or is it more like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

Anyway, they need to change a lot of logos, insignias, e-mails and websites. Here are just a few that I found.

Neighborhood Fav Commissioner Shelley Vana enjoys a link on their website.

CITY OF LAKE WORTH FY 2014 JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

Downtown West Palm Beach Historical Walking Tour - Tonight (5/9)

When: May 09, 04:00 PM

Where: PBC History Museum - 300 N. Dixie Hwy

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County will host Downtown West Palm Beach History Strolls led by architect and historian Rick Gonzalez of REG Architects. The one-hour guided tour showcases the evolution of downtown West Palm Beach buildings and landmarks and includes an historical urban design overview through recent area development. The tours have been organized each season since the development of CityPlace, West Palm Beach.

Tour groups should meet at the Dixie Highway entrance to the historic 1916 courthouse in West Palm Beach. Advance reservations are required.

WALKING TOURS START AT:
Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum
Historic 1916 Courthouse
300 N. Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach

ADMISSION: Advance Reservations Required.  A Minimum of 10 people are required for the tour to take place.

Free and Open to the Public
Donations may be made to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County
For reservations, underwriting opportunities, or
general information, please call (561) 832-4164 ext 103

More crime in Greenfield, CA

Robbery
05/08/2014
100 Block EL CAMINO REAL & MAPLE AV

Breaking & Entering
05/08/2014
100 Block 10TH ST & MAPLE AV

Theft
05/07/2014
100 Block 9TH ST & OAK AV

Assault with Deadly Weapon
05/07/2014
400 Block EL CAMINO REAL & WALNUT AV

Theft
05/06/2014
1 Block 11TH ST & ELM AV