Developer's offer could knock the Washington Nationals and Houston Astro's out of a ballpark - wptv.com

John Prince Park is still in the play for a spring training baseball facility. Click title for link. Check out the video and what West Palm Beach spokesperson Eliot Cohen says.

This just in from "Mighty Thumbs" McGiveron...

Justin Snyder, Chief National Correspondent for "The Florida Squeeze" 09/19 by High Noon in Lake Worth - Archived Edition of Yesterday's Show

Join your host Wes Blackman as he welcomes Justin Snyder to the High Noon in Lake Worth studios. He is the Chief Correspondent for the "The Florida Squeeze" which is a source for Florida politics, history and society. Justin Snyder, a Palm Beach County resident, began his political career at Stetson University after being elected as the College Democrats President. During his tenure, Justin helped author the Florida College Democrats Constitution. In 2008, Justin interned and then organized for the Barack Obama Campaign in Volusia County. Since that time, Justin has worked on several political campaigns all over the country from Nevada, to Arkansas to right here in the Sunshine State including Heather Beaven’s Congressional campaign,  Bill Halter’s Senate Campaign (Arkansas), and most recently as District Director CREDO SuperPac’s Take Down Allen West Campaign and as Field Director and Deputy Campaign Manager for Jeff Clemens For Florida Senate Campaign which resulted in a 17 vote victory.

Justin studied political science and economics at Stetson University and is a strong advocate for the middle class and progressive causes. His writing focuses on the Florida political scene and finding solutions to our most pressing issues be them political, economical, or cultural.

Click for live show beginning at noon this Friday (9/19) or after the show airs for the archived version. Leave questions as comments below.

Murphy/Domino agree on debate schedule

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, and Republican challenger Carl Domino have agreed to two debates in their campaign for the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast District 18 seat — but the Domino camp wants at least one more.

The two candidates have agreed to appear at an Oct. 21 debate sponsored by the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce at the Palm Beach Gardens campus of Palm Beach State College. Murphy and Domino are also slated to appear with WPTV-Channel 5’s Michael Williams for a debate to be taped Oct. 24 and air Oct. 26.

Click title for link to a short article by George Bennett of the Post.

Video-on-demand finally comes to Broward County Commission meetings | Broward Bulldog

The Broward County Commission crawls out the the cozy cave they have been meeting in and will now have on-demand, archived video of their meetings. There was much discussion about this before and, for some, it was a surprise that so many other communities were doing this as a matter of course. Many were practicing this method for years. Not so for Broward County government, but they've now caught up with the Joneses. Click title for link.

Broward County took a step toward greater government transparency last month with the start-up of a new system of on-demand video for commission meetings and public hearings.
The changes mean the public can now accessonline archived videos of county meetings and hearings for anytime viewing. Comprehensive agenda information and minutes are also available. The new video archive began with the commission’s August 12th meeting.
BrowardBulldog.org reporter William Hladky reported last October that Broward was the only county in southeast Florida, and the only major government within the county, that did not archive its recorded commission meetings for later on-demand viewing by the public.
“The public is far better served as a result of this,” said Commissioner Lois Wexler, who led the county’s push to implement on-demand video. “That story empowered me with information about the situation. I never realized how many cities and counties had it and we didn’t.”

Wellington Village Manager Paul Schofield’s job possibly in...

Sunshine law shenanigans in Wellington? No better a red flag than to have an elected official tell you that they have lined up three votes to terminate your employment. You just can't do that sort of thing outside a public meeting. Things have gotten more rough and tumble out in Wellington recently. Click title for link.

A council member reportedly advised Schofield [Village Manager Paul Schofield] on Sept. 10 to resign before Tuesday’s meeting because the council member said he had secured the three votes needed to fire Schofield, the source told The Post on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from the council.
Schofield was on vacation this week and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Such a coordinated arrangement by members of the Wellington Village Council would be a violation of Florida’s Sunshine Law, which requires all council decisions to be voted on at advertised, public meetings.
Mayor Bob Margolis said he hadn’t heard the rumor before talking to The Post on Friday. He said he was concerned by it and the potential implications of a Sunshine violation.
“I have no knowledge of that,” he said. “My goal is to review Paul’s performance.”

Palm Beach County's tree cutting rule changes trigger concerns - Sun Sentinel

The county used to regulate tree removal on private, single-family properties, but not since 2009. Some would like to see the same level of scrutiny as before, including Lake Worth resident Drew Martin. Click title for link.

Before 2009, a permit was required to remove mature native trees from a single-family lot planned for construction. Trees of a certain size were protected or plans were supposed to be made to plant new ones on the property. If replanting wasn't possible, property owners could pay a fee toward environmental protections or improvements elsewhere.
County officials say downsizing prompted by budget cuts during the economic downturn triggered operational changes, such as doing away with the tree-clearing permit requirement for single-family lots.
Those properties are still subject to county landscaping rules, which can require planting new trees if the old ones are cut down. Also building permits call for landowners to only remove native trees that are in the footprint of their planned construction.
Yet that's a big change from the county inspections and marking of protected trees that used to be commonplace before 2009.

All Aboard Florida to have minimal impact on environment,... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

The Environmental Impact Study is out, in draft form. It was required due to the federal loan involved in the All Aboard Florida project. The comment period starts now and ends December 3rd, with public hearings in various location between now and then. There will be one in West Palm Beach on October 29th. Click title for link to article and more details.

The Federal Railroad Administration last year began studying the impact of the rail project between West Palm Beach and Orlando. All Aboard Florida’s request for a $1.6 billion federal loan required that the study be completed.
The study found train noise on a 128-mile stretch of the Florida East Coast Railway tracks between West Palm Beach and Cocoa Beach would be reduced by the installation of less-noisy horns at rail crossings or the implementation of quiet zones along the corridor.
All Aboard Florida’s trains are not expected to have “significant adverse impacts” on protected species or habitat, the study found.
The project is also expected to improve air quality by encouraging mass transit, ultimately reducing vehicle emissions across South Florida, the study said.

From Eliot Kleinberg about the 1928 Hurricane

Every year around this time, we remind our readers, many of them relative newcomers, that the second greatest single event in U.S. history in terms of lives lost took place on Sept. 16, 1928, right here in Palm Beach County.
That day, a massive hurricane smashed the coastline from the Treasure Coast to Miami, then moved inland and washed out what then was a flimsy dike around Lake Okeechobee, sending a wall of water into the countryside. The official death toll is 2,500, but it could be as high as 3,000.
With 86 years now having passed, finding anyone who survived the storm, and was old enough at the time to have any memories now, has become nearly an impossible task. We were thrilled when longtime reader John Weigand of Delray Beach directed us to retired shop teacher Leslie Douglas, now living in Ocala.

Click title for link to complete article. Here is a picture of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in the aftermath of the storm. The church was rebuilt at it's current location after the storm.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church after the 1928 hurricane, Lake Worth, Florida. Credit: State Archives of Florida. 

Always remember this...

Truer words have never been written...

This is a complete letter to the editor as it appears in the Palm Beach Post.

Bucher’s response to errors indefensible
I was disappointed in Susan Bucher’s response to questions about the voting process (“Poll worker errors disenfranchises 14 voters,” Monday). Though it was clear that some of the problems came from poll worker errors, she praised her workers and passed the buck. To paraphrase her words: we are only doing what the law requires; if you have a problem with that, take it up with the legislators.
I would expect a lot more from the supervisor of elections. How about: “Even one uncounted vote is unacceptable. I will hold my workers accountable for errors and do everything in my power to alert the legislators about the problems in the system as it exists to make sure the needed changes are made at their level.”
Susan Bucher is not the victim here; the voters whose votes were not counted were. Unfortunately, most of the questions asked in the article were answered by her attorney, which reveals her choice to defend her actions as legally correct over being proactive and taking action to improve the situation.
CINDY ANSELL, LAKE WORTH

‘Talk like a pirate day’ in Lake Worth has some up in arms | www.palmbeachpost.com

Remember these sad utterances from two years ago from the THERE SHALL BE NO MERRIMENT crowd? Click title for link to an archived Willie Howard article.

Former City Commissioner Jo-Ann Golden didn’t find the pirate proclamation humorous.
In an email to Bornstein, she called it “an insult to the people of the city of Lake Worth” and suggested that a better proclamation would have been Constitution Day on Sept. 17, the day Constitutional Convention delegates signed the U.S. Constitution.
“In these times when there is so much turmoil, ignorance and killing, this effort to further dumb down our government should be rejected,” Golden wrote.
Golden noted that modern pirates rob, murder and kidnap people for ransom. She noted that yachtsman Peter Blake was shot and killed by pirates off Brazil in 2001 during an environmental exploration expedition.
In another email, resident Lynda Mahoney said the pirate day proclamation sounded “juvenile, nonsensical — a day that might occur in a kindergarten class.” She said the city should not waste time on such foolishness because it has serious problems.

Well, it's back. You can check out the Front Porch at Evening on the Avenues tonight.

Unfortunately, I understand that the Evening on the Avenues is cancelled tonight due to expected torrential rains. So, big party and JoAnn and Lyndas! Bring your Parcheesi boards and vanilla waffers, they will provide the milk. Arrive at 6 and lights out by 8, no talking on the way home.

Coconut Grove Grapevine: Fred Hunt

Our condolences go out to AnnaMaria in her time of loss.

It was 2010 and I was communicating with someone from Coconut Grove via email. She was interested in moving to Lake Worth with her husband as she saw Lake Worth's potential as a haven for artists. We communicated off and on. In April of that year, my father's second wife past away suddenly and I was going to be spending time with him during the summer and would need someone to watch and/or stay in my house while I was gone, I off-handedly suggested that she and her husband stay in my house while I was away to make looking for properties here easier, rather than commuting back-and-forth all the time.

She liked the idea and thought that would work out. The ironic thing was that she was house-sitting at the time in Coconut Grove and the two dogs in that house were named "Moon" and "Star." My dogs names then were "Mars" and "Venus." Thus, this alignment signaled that it was a match made in heaven. I was able to spend quality time with my father, while Fred and AnnaMaria got to know Lake Worth better, watch my house in the meantime and take care of the dogs.

The rest is history.

I will miss Fred and his quiet wisdom and creativity. Click title for a link to a remembrance of Fred Hunt from the people in Coconut Grove.

Judge promises review of decision to throw out Lake Worth ballots | The Opinion Zone

Click title for link. Suddenly a member of the canvassing board is having a change of heart and wants to reassess their decision sometime before the November election!

Correspondence between Robert Earl Waples and the Senior Investigator of the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics

 I went ahead and copied the White House since this is definitely a need-to-know basis.