"I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true." (RE-POST)

It may be, but some perspective is necessary. On Friday, 12/12/14, this item appeared on a local Facebook page called Lake Worth Community:

The penalty referenced is for a second degree misdemeanor, the same penalty one would get, in theory, for riding a bike or skateboard on a sidewalk in the city. Those signs were at the beach, but came down when the city realized that they were confusing and actually directed bikes to areas that were unsafe. One example would be encouraging bikes to ride behind cars parked, facing in, at a 90 degree angle. So, some common sense was applied there. 

It sounds like we need some additional common sense to be applied in this area. Some seem to have a problem with "profane language" being banned from the Lake Worth Pier and the Snook Islands recreational area. There are already decorum standards for City Commission meetings. You can find those here on the city's website. The standards appear below:

Those commenting on Lake Worth Community are referencing a website posted on April 5, 2012, almost three years ago. Three years ago does not qualify as "new." The Internet can breed people that become experts when it comes to embellishment. For instance, read this warning posted on Lake Worth Community to evacuate the City due to the coming controlled burn at one of the city's vacant homes. 

So let's simmer down about the implications of what is actually going on here. Research actually takes time and effort. The Palm Beach County Park rules, that would apply to John Prince Park, are more restrictive than even Lake Worth's rules:

Sec. 21-39. - Noise. (Ord. No. 04-022, § 24, 8-17-04): No person shall make such loud, excessive, unnecessary noise so as to create a nuisance in any county park. Noise shall be considered a nuisance where it produces actual physical discomfort and annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities.

When you're dealing with other local sources on the Internet, and that includes blogs, including some comments left on this one, and Facebook pages along with other sources, it's important to remember that many times hype trumps fact. For example, here are two excerpts from comments on Lake Worth Community's 'profanity' rules post (I will not identify the poster):

Lake Worth City Hall's obsessed with behavior modification, just like all authoritarian regimes are.

Huh? And then there is this:

Are these the new rules for Lake Worth, N. Korea, and they got posted here by accident? I didn't know there was a Lake Worth in N. Korea.

So we're to conclude, from a 3-year-old website, that our City of Lake Worth is now an "authoritarian" regime and akin to a North Korean city government? Here's some North Korean propaganda, let's compare and contrast.

Lake Worth is a medium-sized  municipality in Palm Beach County. There are 38 municipalities in Palm Beach County. For those of you who see Lake Worth, a City of just over 35,000, as a crucial link in some grand conspiracy...I say, "some perspective is in order". 

If anyone in Lake Worth, a resident or non-resident, would walk up and down the Snook Island floating dock yelling George Carlin's Seven Dirty Words and a Sheriff deputy appeared you could be arrested and charged with violating Florida Statute 877.03 which states:

Breach of the peace; disorderly conduct.—Whoever commits such acts as are of a nature to corrupt the public morals, or outrage the sense of public decency, or affect the peace and quiet of persons who may witness them, or engages in brawling or fighting, or engages in such conduct as to constitute a breach of the peace or disorderly conduct, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Lake Worth's rule prohibiting "profane language" seems a reminder to park visitors to engage in proper conduct and to not "outrage the sense of public decency". Something most citizens would consider common sense. 

As far as the invocation issue, we can now report that the video views are less frequent and the hysteria over that issue seems to be calming down. I think that the perspective of time will allow us to see what happened there with a little more wisdom and understanding.

Status of Bike sharing program in West Palm Beach

From Eliot Kleinberg at the Post we have this about the new bike sharing program coming to West Palm Beach. 

The big hurdle stalling a plan to place rental bicycles in downtown West Palm Beach has fallen. A sponsor’s been lined up, the plan’s consultant told the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority board Tuesday.

“We have the sponsor. We have the operator. Our intention is to roll out — pun intended — by the end of March,” Carlos Pujol told Tuesday morning’s board meeting.

The DDA has been working on the plan for nearly a year and had hoped to kick it off in the summer of 2014. But it pushed the project at least into 2015 in August after it heard that a high-visibility failure of a similar program in New York City had left potential sponsors nationwide hesitant.

PBSO and the NAPC - Spirit of the Season

From the Lake Worth Neighborhood Association Presidents' Council (NAPC) Facebook page we have this wonderful Santa story at our PBSO District 14 headquarters:

From the NAPC -- Even with the hanging snowflakes and stringer of colored lights, there is nothing remarkable about this room at PBSO headquarters on North G Street in Lake Worth. It looks like any other county or municipal office in December. It's too harshly lit and devoid of all but efficiency. What makes this a remarkable picture despite the sterile background is the warmth, sincerity and the pride that's born in serving together. These are our guys, the men and women of PBSO District 14 in Lake Worth with their families and friends who stepped WAY UP to provide a happier holiday for more than 100 families in our neighborhoods. The NAPC is grateful to have been a small part of this effort and we wish for all our Deputies ~ a Merry, a Happy, a Blessed, a Healthy and above all a Safe Holiday and New Year.

The Annual PBSO tradition of giving back to the Community with presents for every child of every family that signed up. The big giveaway with Santa and his Elf was held at the District 14 HQ on North G St. More than 100 families were there with kids! The NAPC was on hand with popcorn for everyone! Royal Palm Mazda was a huge sponsor of this effort and most of the money was raised at the PBSO Golf tournament held earlier this month. Peeps from the LW Neighborhoods pitched in to help wrap the individual presents earlier this week. Amazing effort Deputies. Thank You!!!

Thank goodness the adults are finally in charge. Commissioner Mulvehill's "Yes, Mother" at the 1 minute mark.

"Un-American"? Not a term to lightly throw around, Commissioner McVoy

According to Commissioner McVoy, it is "un-American" to leave a meeting and choose NOT TO LISTEN to someone at the podium in a city meeting. Everyone will be very interested to discover that leaving a meeting and NOT LISTENING to someone is not new in Lake Worth. Look what I discovered here:

What I discovered is from the minutes of the Lake Worth City Commission meeting on October 4, 2011. By McVoy's standards something very un-American occurred at this meeting.

So, you see, what Mayor Pam Triolo, Vice Mayor Maxwell, and Commissioners Szerdi and Amoroso did last December 2nd during Preston Smith's atheist 'invocation' actually has precedent. 

Former commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill left the meeting on October 4, 2011, to NOT LISTEN to Suzanne Squire (7:32 to 7:35). And then former mayor Rachel Waterman left the meeting to NOT LISTEN to Mary Lindsey (7:35 to 7:37).

Will McVoy offer up an apology to Mayor Pam Triolo and the others. Of course not. 

Watch this video from Charlie Keegan at Channel 5 (WPTV) and fast-forward to the 1:15 mark where he calls his colleagues on the Lake Worth dais "un-American".

From a dark period in our nation's history: Hearings of House Un-American Activities Committee:

Money pours into Scripps for groundbreaking research

More good news for Scripps Florida from Carolyn Susman at the Shiny Sheet (Palm Beach Daily News): 

The Esther B. O'Keeffe Charitable Foundation has become the largest local philanthropic donor to Scripps Florida, Scripps officials said.

The foundation has given more than $3 million in gifts and pledges to advance research that the Scripps Research Institute is doing on brain disorders from autism to Alzheimer’s to bipolar disease and other conditions, said Irv Geffen, director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving at Scripps.

[and later in article...]

“These disorders have an enormous impact on our economy and, of course, on any individual who suffers, as well as the family structure,” said Dr. Ron Davis, founding chairman of Scripps Florida’s Department of Neuroscience. “I am often asked when we will have a cure, or effective preventatives or therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, or other major brain disorders. We are not yet there, but what I am absolutely certain of is that we will never get there without research.”

The Lake Worth Project—Final month— Jan 2015 A Better Life for our Community Cats

The Latest Editorial in the Lake Worth Herald (12/18/14)

On Tuesday, December 2nd, atheist Preston Smith delivered his "invocation" before the Lake Worth City Commission. You can read about that and research done on invocations (or the lack of ) in other municipalities in Palm Beach County. For instance, Greenacres does not have an invocation while others do.

Just when you thought the 'invocation' kerfuffle was settling down this week's (12/18/2014) Lake Worth Herald editorial came out swinging and pulling no punches. Good for them. I strongly encourage all my readers to read this editorial. If you don't get the Lake Worth Herald delivered you can subscribe at LWHerald.com or pick up a copy at a newsstand (for instance, the newsstand immediately west of our downtown Starbucks).

Here are three excerpts from the Lake Worth Herald editorial:

     Being elected to any political office does not eliminate one's right to free speech. Neither does it preclude one's right to listen. Everybody is on a level playing field with those rights. 

     Choosing to not listen to someone exercising their right to free speech, for any reason, is not "un-American" as Commissioner Christopher McVoy would say. This was once again McVoy speaking just to promote "his" agenda and take "cheap shots" at his colleagues on the dais.

     McVoy never called his friend, former commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill un-American when she left the room every time Lake Worth resident, Suzanne Squire's turn to speak came around. This was just another example of McVoy's tactics to be a roadblock to progress in Lake Worth. It was completely disrespectful for him to call his colleagues actions "un-American."

     The Mayor and Commissioners who left the dais when Preston Smith stood to give an "invocation" from an atheist's view, did so with a right to listen or not, for ANY reason.

[later in the editorial...]

     Lake Worth has suffered enough of McVoy's diversionary tactics and it is time for him to depart his position on the dais. He has brought nothing constructive to the table since he was first elected, and has only served to interfere with the progress Lake Worth needs to make in order to remain a viable institution. The likes of McVoy and company only lead to the degradation of the quality of life in Lake Worth.

[and...]

     How many more times do we need to hear him [McVoy] talk about "sea level rise" for ten minutes when the discussion is whether to approve a "proximity waiver" or any other topic before the commission. 

Also in the editorial there are questions as to why Preston Smith did his 'invocation' in Lake Worth as opposed to another municipality and speculation as to who may have offered that invitation. I also have my suspicions. 

Lastly, the folks at the Lake Worth Herald offer this to the City of Lake Worth:

SEASONS GREETINGS!

Beware of local political campaigns. Some can be loose with the truth.

From the Tom McGow archives.

Town of Palm Beach Offices Closed on December 24th, December 25th, December 31st and January 1st

From an email from the Town of Palm Beach:

In observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays, all Town offices and the Recreation Center will be closed on December 24th, December 25th, December 31st and January 1st. 
Certain Town recreational facilities will be open per the hours below and the beaches will have lifeguards on duty from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

December 24th and December 25th:
The Par 3 Golf Course will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (closes at 12:00 p.m. on December 25th)
Phipps Tennis Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Seaview Tennis Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Town Docks will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (Closed on December 25th).
December 31st and January 1st:
The Par 3 Golf Course will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Phipps Tennis Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Seaview Tennis Center will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Town Docks will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

"All units, attention all units, be on the look-out for a lady who is a suspect in Santa's kidnapping..."

A woman in Boca Raton stole somebody's inflatable Santa and Santa's 7 reindeer too. The Boca PD needs your help finding what lawn Santa and his reindeer came from. Read the entire story here from Kate Jacobson at the Sun Sentinel. 

Boca Raton police said they caught Crystal Tessa stealing Santa Claus.

Police in Boca Raton saw a blue Ford Focus driving through a neighborhood early Wednesday with cords and a tent stake hanging out of the trunk. The driver, Tessa, 37, made a traffic violation and officers pulled her over, according to a post on the Boca PD Facebook page.

That's good news. I hear that Blitzen and Dancer both have chronic medical conditions, one is diabetic and the other has early signs of dementia. We can rest easy now that the culprit has been apprehended. Santa is resting comfortable in a hyperbaric chamber. Re-inflation pressures have been restored.

Coming to a door near you? "It makes our job easier" from 2012

The issues have moved on. Some haven't.

From the Town of Palm Beach - Midtown Beach has reopened

Midtown Beach has reopened. Per Assistant Manager Tom Bradford, the water samples taken yesterday were found to be of satisfactory quality, therefore, the beach has opened back up.

Don't forget the Evening on the Avenues tomorrow night...

Don't forget the Evening on the Avenues tomorrow, Friday at 6:00. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet all the peeps as they drop by the NAPC and find out more about our/your City.

City of Boca Raton routinely uses Twitter...

**MEETING REMINDER** **December 18, 2014** Planning & Zoning Board Meeting tonight at 6:30pm The meeting is... http://t.co/LouzHwdcqA
— City of Boca Raton (@CityBocaRaton) December 18, 2014