Murder of Woodley Erilas still unsolved; callous 'journalist' tried to exploit crime for personal cause célèbre

The murder of Woodley Erilas on January 9th in Lake Worth (900 block of North 'H' Street) remains unsolved and the family continues looking for leads. They want anyone with information about his death to call Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS; the family is also offering a reward for information.

This family's loss was unfathomable but what happened later was terribly insensitive to the grieving family and friends of the deceased. A self-described 'journalist/editor' attempted to turn this senseless crime into her own personal cause célèbre for charter schools and promoting her odd theories on education of children.

Following is an excerpt from a blog post on January 22 titled, A life lost due to an uncapitalized "i"?:

I wish to offer my most sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Erilas and to also apologize for the callous and insensitive editor/journalist Margaret Menge. She seems to think that if this young man had the benefit of a charter school education, such as one requiring Latin be taught (beginning in the fourth grade) this tragic event somehow would not have happened.

For some illogical reason, Margaret Menge, in her reporting on Mr. Erilas' untimely death (Lake Worth Tribune, January 16th) felt it necessary to add the "Summary on his [Woodley Erilas'] LinkedIn page". It's only a little bit "insensitive" to look at a deceased person's LinkedIn page, isn't it?

But, here in all its glory for the world to see is what Mr. Erilas wrote on his LinkedIn page, courtesy of the Premiere Edition of the Lake Worth Tribune: "My Objective is not only to learn as much as i can [. . .]". Margaret Menge reserved her anger not for Mr. Erilas' passing but instead for Mr. Erilas' use of the uncapitalized "i". At no time does Menge offer any condolences to the family or the friends of Mr. Erilas. 

Then she chooses to connect the dots in a way that revolves back to her "cause" of ubiquitous charter schools and giving those with resources a chance for a tailored education of their choosing. The 'news' story about Mr. Erilas is on page 2 of Menge's 'newspaper'. When you get to page 6, the Opinion page and Menge's Letter From the Editor, Mr. Erilas' sad passing becomes a twisted logic lesson: A + B = C. 

A (Mr. Erilas) + B (Charter School) = C (if Mr. Erilas went to a Charter School, he would alive today)

Menge's failed dream is to start a Charter School teaching a classic curriculum, including Latin. Her dream was denied and she angrily lashes out in her 'editorial', manipulating the somber death of a young man, an uncapitalized "i", and her hatred of the Palm Beach County School Board to write this:

By Margaret Menge, Editor & Publisher: "He [Mr. Erilas] doesn't understand what a sentence is, and when to use capitalization. So he couldn't get a job. So he was living with his [M]other on North H Street, walking around in the dead of the night, and someone shot him."

We are left to conclude that, per the logic of Ms. Menge, but for an uncapitalized "i", Mr. Erilas wouldn't have been walking the street that early morning. Really? Let's ponder what the real reason is for the death of a young man that happened on that morning and the state of a system that allows young men with promise be taken away by a single act of senselessness. I don't think that speaking Latin, or capitalizing an "i", would have altered the trajectory of these events for the victim.

Rest in peace, Woodley Erilas, and May God Be With You. Let's hope that the perpetrator is ultimately found and brought to justice.

Man shot at PBSO station, drives around city and returns to station seeking help

Of course this ridiculous scenario never happened but there was this Tweet. . .

A man shot this morning at Lucerne and G streets in Lake Worth drove himself to a PBSO substation. 4th gunshot victim in last 24 hours.

— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) August 9, 2015

This Tweet from CBS12/WPEC yesterday deserves nomination for most ridiculous of the year. The District 14 headquarters in Lake Worth is located at Lucerne Ave and 'G' Street. So from this Tweet we're to conclude a man was shot there and then drove somewhere (Starbuck's for coffee?) and then returned to the scene to seek help.

The Tweet would also lead you to believe this was the 4th shooting in Lake Worth "in last 24 hours". It wasn't. There was only this one; fortunately the man is expected to be OK.

Here is The Palm Beach Post's version of events which is more accurate than what CBS12 reported.

Could this be the future of Dixie Hwy in Lake Worth, FL?

Click here for an article about a complete re-do of a four lane (with a center turn lane) highway through Lancaster, California. Good-bye stroad?

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

The City of Lancaster, California, converted a drab, automobile-oriented arterial at the heart of downtown into a lively, pedestrian-friendly center. The nine-block makeover of Lancaster Boulevard has become a regional draw and attracted significant economic development in its first two years.

And this:

Space for automobiles along the corridor has been drastically reduced, but not eliminated, since the boulevard’s completion in 2010. Five lanes of traffic, including a center turn lane, were reduced to two lanes, with a wide, tree-shaded public ramblas in the center of the thoroughfare. A true ramblas was provided only for the busiest blocks, with stylistically consistent angle-in parking anchoring the outer blocks.

And then this:

     During the planning phase, skepticism about the project was rampant, Caudle says. “It was going to be a great success or the biggest waste of money ever. I don’t think there was any in-between. Any time you change as drastically as we did, you consider a possible negative outcome. Fortunately the design and the way we implemented it and engaged the community caused it to be a success.”
     Other cities could “absolutely” do a similar project, says Caudle. “There’s nothing unique about Lancaster — they could replicate the design. What is difficult to replicate is our leadership — the mayor and city council — and private partners.” Lancaster is welcoming to business and development, which Caudle says is unusual in the region.

How could the City of Lake Worth have 9 Zip Codes? And City's only 6 square miles!

The answer: because the City of Lake Worth doesn't have 9 zip codes, it only has two, 33460 and a part of 33461. However, for those too lazy in the news media (primarily TV news) you would think 'Lake Worth' extends all the way to the edge of the Everglades.

Frequent readers of this blog will know that this issue is a real bug-a-boo of mine. But it is more important than you may realize at first since this affects the City of Lake Worth's image. That City of Lake Worth covers an area just over 6 square miles along the extreme eastern portion of Palm Beach County. It does not cover the vast areas west of Congress and south towards Lantana, as you will hopefully learn here.

As the City goes about re-branding itself, it doesn't help matters when the news media reports on crime, accidents, and other mayhem occurring in other parts of Palm Beach County as having occurred in "Lake Worth". Incidents outside the City should correctly be labelled as "suburban Lake Worth", or "unincorporated Lake Worth", or "unincorporated Palm Beach County ", or as some have recently stated, "near Lake Worth".

When I googled Lake Worth zip codes, came up with a list and they are below with a google map showing the area covered. Interestingly, I always believed there were three Lake Worth Zip Codes: 33460, 33461, and 33462. I was wrong as you'll see below.

33460: This zip code covers the vast majority of the City from the C-51 Canal south to Lantana and west to I-95. Also in this area is a small pocket of the City west of I-95 and east of Lake Clarke Shores:

33461: Most of this zip code is Palm Springs and the unofficially named the "Lake Worth Corridor" (suburban Lake Worth). A small part of the City of Lake Worth west of I-95 is in this zip code; for instance some mobile home communities and the condos along Lake Osborne Drive are located in the City along with some single family residential neighborhoods. The Lake Worth Park of Commerce is also located in this area:

33462: This "Lake Worth" zip code includes no part of the City of Lake Worth. Atlantis, Lantana, and Hypoluxo are some of the municipalities in this area, and some are unincorporated Palm Beach County. For a long time believed a small part of the City was in this zip code but I was wrong:

33463: Another "Lake Worth" zip code area exists well outside the City limits, west of Military Trail and the Great Walled City of Atlantis. Notice where Greenacres is to the north on this map:

33465: This is the southern part of the town of Lantana, but it has a "Lake Worth" mailing address. It is not in the City of Lake Worth (Notice the location of the landmark "Friendly Greek" restaurant along U.S. 1 [Dixie Hwy.]):

33466: Another area that is not in the City. This is along a stretch of Lake Worth Road. There is some village of Palm Springs in this area as well as unincorporated Palm Beach County. It also is known as the "Lake Worth Corridor":

33467: This is one of the more problematic areas as far as the media is concerned. Many incidents is this area are labelled as "Lake Worth" in news reports; notice the Florida Turnpike. Again, well outside the municipal borders of the City by many miles:

33449: This zip code is on the edge of the Everglades and south of Wellington. Most definitely not "Lake Worth":

33454: Another zip code outside the City. Notice "Planet Fitness Lake Worth". Yes, it can be confusing:

The location of the dot on the above map is one of the county's main north/south streets, Jog Road. 

I hope this information was helpful. When you boil it down, this over-use of the "Lake Worth" name has its roots in the sprawl development pattern that began in the 1960's and continues today. Below is a USGS Map of the same areas indicated above from 1956. The orange on the map is considered "developed" or "urban" area; the green area indicates where the type of vegetation has been identified. The rest, ladies and gentleman, is essentially swamp land. Also note that this is prior to I-95 coming through. The Florida Turnpike is here by this time but no development leading up to it on the major east/west roads.

As areas developed over time and pushed west there was obviously a need to deliver mail to those areas. No one thought to call it anything else but "Lake Worth." The unintended consequence of that is many things that happen at "Lake Worth" mailing addresses is attributed to the City, in the minds of many people. The news media is doing a better job of late, with assistance from time to time, to make the distinction between what is in the City of Lake Worth and what is not.

Can we come up with a name for the vast area that is "Unincorporated Palm Beach County" that does not rely on whether it is west of Lake Worth or West Palm Beach? Or does this fuel the argument by some to change the name of the City to something such as "Lake Worth Beach?" Before such a solution, now that the city has its Twitter account up and running, maybe it can help teach local media outlets to know the difference.

Great video of the Grassy Waters Preserve and the City of West Palm Beach water supply

I am not sure when this video was produced by the City of West Palm Beach. Bill Moss is listed as a producer. He is the former city commissioner that passed away a few years ago soon after winning re-election. The topic here is emerging again as the proposal to extend State Road 7 north of Okeechobee Boulevard to Northlake Boulevard is again a topic of conversation. The video is worth watching just for the peek into the ecosystem that is the city's Water Catchment Area, which is what the area was called back in the day when I worked for the city in the early 90's.

The "perpetual" Lake Worth collection calendar and guide: coming soon

Everything you need to know about trash, bulk and vegetation pick-up in the little City of Lake Worth as well as what can and cannot be recycled. Brought to you by the Neighborhood Association Presidents Council (NAPC) and soon to appear in the NAPC Neighborhood Guide. Feel free to share!

Click on image to enlarge.

Reminder: Schools Open Soon!

Mentors needed for boys and young men of color: My Brothers Keeper program in Palm Beach County

Here is a short video about the mentoring program:

For more information on mentoring a boy or young man of color email Lashawna Howard to register or click here for the male mentor recruitment event. You can also call (561) 242-5713 or click here for more information.

From Cara Jennings' deposition on August 19, 2011

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NO.: 50-2009-CA-039320

GREATER BAY GROUP, LLC, a Florida limited liability company,

Plaintiff,

vs.

CITY OF LAKE WORTH,

Defendant.

Q. I've got to ask you this one too, and it seems like an appropriate time: Have you or are you or have you at any time been an avowed anarchist?
A [Cara Jennings]. I am an anarchist. I identify with that political philosophy, yeah.

Westward Ho! in Palm Beach County

Ron Bukley at the Town-Crier has a lengthy and detailed article about the dizzying pace of development in western Palm Beach County. Here are the first few paragraphs:

     Would-be developers in the western communities are in a race to see who gets the remaining allocation of traffic in the area, Palm Beach County Engineer George Webb told the Town-Crier this week.
      Last year, Minto West got county approval for a rezoning allowing 4,436 homes. [emphasis added] Meanwhile, GL Homes, which owns property to the west of The Acreage, is attempting to alter the Agricultural Enclave Act to apply it to that development as well. Avenir, a 7,600-home development planned between Northlake Blvd. and the Beeline Highway in Palm Beach Gardens, is also in the application process.
     The GL Homes plan calls for 4,900 homes in a predominantly residential community, with only about 250,000 square feet of commercial space, meaning most of the residents would be commuting to shop and work.

I know, I know. There goes Wes again beating that dead horse.

The Cost to Control/Maintain the Palm Beach Island Cats (33480)

In this article by Aleese Kopf at the Shiny Sheet there is no mention of bird populations in Palm Beach but they're very meticulous when it comes to their non-indigenous feral cat population. At the end of the article is this information:  

     In addition to spaying and neutering, the group feeds and provides water for the cats and pays their medical bills. Leavitt [President David Leavitt] said the group [Palm Beach Island Cats] goes through 50-60 cases of wet food and 11-13 large bags of dry food each week.
      There currently are 74 colonies on the island, Leavitt said, but locations remain hidden for safety reasons. Property owners give the group permission to maintain the colonies on their sites.
      Leavitt said the organization runs on a $255,000 budget. It receives $110,000 in individual donations, $115,000 from fundraising and $30,000 from grants [emphasis added], Leavitt said.
     The group pays three people a total of $100,000 a year to feed the cats, trap them if necessary and carry out day-to-day operations. Food costs $53,000, fundraising events cost $45,000, and an executive director makes $18,500.

The Palm Beach Post editorial board tried to raise public awareness about the devastation caused by cats but they were not heeded:

     Some 10,000 cats a year are taken in by the county shelter, and only 1 percent are claimed.
     But before [Palm Beach County] commissioners vote to add a TNVR program, they would be wise to remember this cautionary tale. In 1999, Palm Beach County voters endorsed buying environmentally sensitive land. The first property on the list was a 97-acre patch of sand pines and scrub oak on Hypoluxo Road, near railroad tracks. The county paid $4.5 million for it. What made the site so special? It was home to the southernmost population of Florida scrub jays, an endangered species that lives only here, and is unique for its intelligence and family bonding. We say “was,” because there are no more scrub jays on the Hypoluxo Scrub. County environmental managers believe that the last eight birds were hunted and killed years ago — by stray house cats. Because the birds nest in low bushes, they were easy prey for the feline predators. It is a stark reminder of how much damage free-roaming cats can do to native wildlife, not just birds but small mammals and reptiles as well.

The Florida Scrub Jay, image from Wikipedia.

NBC5/WPTV: Fatal car crash in suburban Lake Worth

From the news report, this is the 62nd person to die in a vehicle according to PBSO. The victim was speeding and not wearing a seat belt.

Jeff Cousins at ABC25/WPBF also reported on the accident but he misreported the location as "Lake Worth".

This is odd, why all the sudden interest in Palm Beach Post circulation numbers?

[Below is an excerpt from a blog post on April 22nd. This post along with the link embedded in the first paragraph received a large amount of traffic over the last few days. Remember how surprised I was when I found the Post's circulation numbers; expected numbers much higher but others I talked to were not surprised at all (including a former employee in the editorial dept. who thought the numbers were too high). Without further ado, the Post's circulation data:]

Last Monday (4/20) wrote about The Palm Beach Post circulation numbers and how surprised I was. The Post reported in last Sunday's paper that two of their reporters were up for awards "in the category for newspapers with circulation of less than 150,000". A search turned up the Newspaper Data Exchange, or NDX, for short. They report the print circulation for the Post is approximately 85,000.

NDX provides this background:

For over a decade, newspaper circulation has been a topic of lively conversation for the media industry and its stakeholders. Beginning with circulation scandals and the heightened accountability they provoked, significant declines in print circulation and the new product development that followed, and the emergence of the ‘multi-platform’ newspaper, traditional weekday and Sunday paid print circulation has gone from ‘the’ story to an increasingly less prominent part of the evolving story of newspaper circulation. And yet, for a large group of marketers for whom traditional print circulars remain a primary driver of store traffic and sales, that aspect of the larger story is still of primary importance. 

This information from NDX is really quite interesting.

The circulation numbers of a long list of newspapers from 2013 and 2014 are broken down with numbers of print papers and digital access. Using only the print numbers from 2014 this will give you some idea how the Post stacks up in the industry:

• Wall Street Journal: 1,356,292
• Tampa Bay Times: 217,597
• "South Florida" Sun-Sentinel: 115,172
• "West" Palm Beach Post: 85,043

This is where it gets interesting. The total number of subscribers to the Post in 2014, both print and digital was 105,335. How many subscribers, such as myself, are counted twice? No doubt many people subscribe to the Post with offers which include both print and on-line access. The data from NDX doesn't break this information down for any newspaper. In other words, if you get the paper delivered and also have on-line access, you're counted twice. If this conclusion is inaccurate please feel free to comment.

Here are the numbers for the Post in 2014 compared to 2013 (the first set of numbers is print and the second digital):

2014: 85,043
2013: 93,759
Percent change: -9.3%

2014: 20,292
2013: 7,653
Percent change: +165.2%

From the numbers above it's hard not to see the trend. As NDX points out, the issue of newspaper circulation is extraordinarily complex. The data is crucial to advertisers and many others as well.

West Palm Beach: South Dixie Hwy redesign meeting on August 18th

Tony Doris at the West Palm Beat has this information that will be of interest not only to residents of West Palm but also to many residents in Lake Worth interested in new ideas concerning Dixie Hwy redesign:

     The West Palm Beach Downtown and El Cid neighborhood associations, working with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, are hosting a public meeting Aug. 18 on redesign plans for South Dixie Highway.
     Treasure Coast Regional Planning Design Director Dana Little is scheduled to discuss plans to redesign Dixie Highway, from Okeechobee Boulevard to Albemarle Road, to make it a more pedestrian-, business- and bike-friendly corridor.
     You can hear his presentation and offer up your input, at the meeting, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Palm Beach Dramaworks, 201 Clematis St.

From Facebook: Treasure Coast Citizens Against the Train wave white flag of surrender (with a little sour grape thrown in)

 "The final environmental impact statement on the All Aboard Florida project, released Tuesday by the Federal Railroad Administration, is everything I expected it to be: a whitewash of the facts, a minimization of impacts to our region, and a rubber-stamping of the project.

In short, the report is a JOKE.

The entire process has been a CHARADE.

The system has failed Treasure Coast residents opposed to All Aboard Florida. The only real hope, at this point, to stop the Miami-to-Orlando rail project lies with the marketplace:

Will All Aboard Florida find buyers for its $1.75 billion of tax-exempt bonds? On Wednesday, the Florida Development Finance Corp. — the quasi-governmental agency charged with deciding whether the rail company can sell the bonds — gave unanimous approval to the sale at the end of an eight-hour meeting in Orlando.

Will the rail company recruit enough passengers to become financially viable?

Treasure Coast residents fought a valiant battle. There were more than 15,400 comments in response to the draft environmental impact statement, which was released in September 2014. Almost two-thirds of the comments — 9,500 — were in opposition and 'most came from individuals ... living, working or having property interests in the project study area, particularly residents of Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties,' according to the report.

We fought a good fight. However, the outcome now lies with forces beyond our power to influence. Truth be told, we never had much power to influence this project."

A recent silly ad that appeared in the Post from the 'Guardians of Martin County' prior to their surrender.