Mr. Lepa's Home Improvements and the Mean Girls Go On the Attack Again

The Other Blogger (TOB) and the Mean Girls are very unhappy with Mr. Lepa again and this is why.

Last Wednesday (8/12) Mr. Lepa appeared before the Lake Worth Historic Resource Preservation Board and you can see what he was requesting here (go to page 222 for the beginning). Here are some of the improvements he's made to his home:

He's done everything right, going through the proper procedures and the permitting process. You would think the residents of Lake Worth would be happy about this? Some people will not be happy about anything. Below is an earlier picture TOB took of Mr. Lepa's home:

Along with the 14 anonymous comments registering their displeasure with Mr. Lepa, Ms. Anderson penned 3 additional silly comments and "Weetha Peebull" chimed in with 2 more even-sillier comments. But only 1 of the comments made any sense, and it was this one:

 The comment continues:

The commenter refers to 805 N. Lakeside, a house 1 block North of Mr. Lepa. Here is a GoogleMaps street view of 805 N. Lakeside:

Looking for a school in West Palm Beach? Have you considered the Palm Beach County Jail?

As part of my continued effort to demonstrate the absurdity of The Palm Beach Post using NeighborhoodScout (NHS) to report on crime in Lake Worth decided to do some poking around the NHS website about the city of West Palm Beach, where the paper is headquartered. When you look for schools in West Palm Beach look at two that are listed:

Two 'schools' in West Palm Beach.

Did you know that, according to NHS, West Palm Beach is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States? According to NHS it is:

According to NHS 94% of cities in the United States are safer than West Palm Beach.

The city of Riviera Beach is twice as safe as West Palm Beach according to NHS. 

Instead of NHS being cited as an expert source for local news and information the public should instead be cautioned about dubious websites whose data collection methods are unknown. That's the real news story.

Edward G. Ryan, chief justice of Wisconsin Supreme Court, address to graduating class at University of Wisconsin, 1873

"The enterprises of the country are aggregating vast corporate combinations of unexampled capital, boldly marching, not for economic conquests only, but for political power. The question will arise, and arise in your day, though perhaps not fully in mine: Which shall rule -- wealth or man; which shall lead -- money or intellect; who shall fill public stations -- educated and patriotic free men, or the feudal serfs of corporate capital?"

Collage from last night's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Movie at the Cultural Plaza

From Walkable West Palm Beach—Support ridehailing services like Uber and Lyft: Email the County Commissioners

Walkable West Palm Beach is an outspoken supporter for ridehailing services. (Read past content). The County Commission votes on whether to allow these services to operate in Palm Beach County on Tuesday of this week. Please send a supportive email to BCC-AllCommissioners@pbcgov.org which will email all county commissioners.

A sample support email is included below, courtesy of Complete Streets Palm Beaches:

Honorable Commissioners,

We ask that you embrace ridesharing and work with Uber, Lyft, and similar companies to ensure continued access to safe, reliable and affordable transportation options, while also providing greater economic opportunities for our citizens. New technologies call for new regulatory approaches and we hope that you follow down that path and not stifle innovation.

Safety is our primary concern, noting that Uber and Lyft’s entry into markets have correlated with a drop in DUI arrests and a decline in drunk-driving crashes in cities across the country including Philadelphia, Seattle, and across California. Ridesharing drivers have the ability to respond to demand in real-time, connecting riders with a safe and reliable means of transportation when they need it the most.

Furthermore, Uber has a $1M primary insurance policy that covers all trips, and conducts federal, state and local background checks going back 7 years. Even further, riders and drivers have the ability to rate one another, ensuring that both are having the best experience possible.

Our secondary concern is the cost of ridesharing versus traditional vehicle for hire options, which have semi-regulated fare prices. Uber and Lyft operate without this price floor and are able to provide more competitive price options to travelers.

We urge the county to craft modern regulations that embrace more choice and opportunity for everyone and create a permanent home for job-creating technologies such as ridesharing.

Here it is, Kevin Thompson's Lake Worth 'crime' story

The story finally hit the print edition in today's (Sunday, 8/16) edition, in the B section below the fold. 

Here is a link to the article. I still have not received any further information from NeighborhoodScout about the method for data collection, specifically from zip code 33461. 

This is a continuing story and I encourage you to check back to this blog for more on this. It's my contention that the City of Lake Worth has been treated very unfairly by both the website and the Post reporter who used this data to put the City in a bad light. 

What does encourage me is the angst by Mayor Pam Triolo and City Manager Michael Bornstein about this situation. For too long now it's fallen on a few brave sets of shoulders to defend the City against the unfair and inaccurate reporting by the news media. It's time for the City to step up and defend themselves. The City of Lake Worth has enough problems. We don't need the black eye for what happens in the suburban communities in Palm Beach County. 

And it's time for the news media, including The Palm Beach Post to get over their long-held and false biases about the City:

[PINNED POST] The Palm Beach Post's expert source for crime data

In tomorrow's paper The Palm Beach Post's Kevin Thompson is (likely) making a big splash with his story about 'crime' in Lake Worth. The Post's expert source for crime now is a website called NeighborhoodScout. Something dawned on me late last night and nagged me so much decided to do a little research. Guess what I found on NeighborhoodScout?

According to NeighborhoodScout, West Palm Beach is in the top 10 percent of Most Dangerous Cities in America.

Riviera Beach, according the Post's expert source, is more than twice as safe as West Palm Beach.

According to the Post's expert source it's more than twice as safe in Riviera Beach than it is in West Palm Beach. Should this information be published by the paper for tourists planning their next vacation?

Or is it all really about "Good Old Lake Worth"?

Will this video finally settle the debate? "Was the Civil War About Slavery?"

Colonel James T. Seidule published a YouTube video on August 10th that already has almost half a million hits.

About the video: What caused the Civil War? Did the North care about abolishing slavery? Did the South secede because of slavery? Or was it about something else entirely...perhaps states' rights? Colonel Ty Seidule, Professor of History at the United States Military Academy at West Point, settles the debate.

News you'll only see in The Lake Worth Herald: Lake Worth Mayor Triolo negotiates with PBSO

Below is good news about the little City of Lake Worth and PBSO; therefore the public is guaranteed to never see this published in The Palm Beach Post. Here is an excerpt from The Lake Worth Herald:

     While the vast majority of the major municipalities contracted with PBSO will see a 3 percent increase in their contract cost, Lake Worth will only see a one percent increase. 
     Lake Worth was notified of a three percent increase also. 
Mayor Pam Triolo took Lake Worth’s plight to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and explained, once again, the financial condition of the City. Bradshaw listened and agreed to a one percent increase for the next year. 
     The initial contract with the Sheriff’s Department has a cap on the price escalation for the first three years. The City is entering it’s eighth year contracting PBSO services and there is no cap on the amount the Sheriff can increase price of the contract. 
     Sheriff Bradshaw and PBSO have worked with Lake Worth to help keep the cost of law enforcement in the City under control.

Miami-Dade officials take a trip to Denver, learn about public transportation

Brian Bandell at the South Florida Business Journal has this interesting news about a trip to Denver by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. What stands out is this quote by Mitchell Bierman, the chair of that chamber’s transportation committee:

“We are ripe for these kinds of improvements but in the last few years we haven’t gotten them off the ground,” Bierman said. “We are at a point where our traffic problems will have a negative impact on our ability to grow and attract new business and talent to our community because people don’t feel like the can thrive in a community where you have to have a car, and where a trip between home and work can take 90 minutes to two hours."

The article states that Denver used the model of public-private partnerships with "private developers" to create transit-oriented development (TOD) in that city.

That got me thinking. There's been discussion in Lake Worth of ways to link Palm Beach State College (in suburban Lake Worth), with the Tri-Rail Station, our City's downtown, and the Casino complex/municipal pool. Discussion focuses on what the City can do and most everyone knows Lake Worth is strapped for money right now. Thinking out of the box here: a public/private partnership to operate a trolley system in the City? If you recall this year's Street Painting Festival the shuttles that ran from the college and the Tri-Rail station were highly popular and very effective.

Historical revisionism and 'Confederate' flag rally in Plantation tomorrow (contingent from Loxahatchee going?)

Jess Swanson at the Broward New Times has this article on a 'Confederate' flag rally tomorrow. If you recall our good friends in Loxahatchee recently staged one of these rallies right here in Palm Beach County. From the New Times article:

     Chris Nicolaus used to drive around Fort Lauderdale with a Confederate flag proudly flapping on the antenna of his truck. But in the mornings, he’d find his vehicle had been keyed overnight. He started bringing the flag into his house in the evenings and putting it back up in the mornings, but that became too tedious, so he stopped. It’s a shame, Nicolaus says, because to him, the Confederate flag is an emblem of Southern culture, not racism.
     “For some people, it means one thing. For others, it means another,” Nicolaus tells New Times. The 35-year-old has lived in South Florida his whole life. “It might’ve meant something different 135 years ago, but for me it means that I’m Southern and enjoy fishing and hunting and being outdoors in the Everglades. We’re not the KKK.”

The flag being referred to is this one (a pleasant message from The Other Blogger [TOB]):

This flag, the 'southern cross' is confused with the authentic Confederate flag called the 'stars and bars' (See link in following paragraph).

The gentleman quoted in the article needs a history lesson. Here is an article about the 'Confederate' flag, a history much more recent than he's been led to believe.

Cool graphic from the Washington Post showing how much space cars take up on streets

Compared to other forms of transit.

Alligator hunting season begins today in Florida

Matt Mauney at the Orlando Sentinel has the news about this:

     Florida's statewide hunt begins Saturday.
The limited entry hunt starts at 5 p.m. Aug. 15 and runs through Nov. 1. Hunting usually occurs at night and in the early hours of the morning.
     The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission gave out around 6,000 permits last year. The FWC website says about 5,000 permits will be awarded to approximately 10,000 applicants for the 2015 season.
     Several restrictions listed by FWC include feeding the gators, the use of traditional firearms, the use of baited hoots and using gig-equipped bang sticks.

Coming up September 1st at Compass: Social Security Administration Benefits Workshop for Same-Sex couples

Social Security Administration Benefits Workshop for Same-Sex couples here at Compass on Tuesday, September 1, 2015 7:00 p.m.

In light of the latest decision of same-sex marriage by the Supreme Court of the United States, Congresswoman Rep. Lois Frankel and the Social Security Administration will host a discussion on how this decision will affect Social Security and other benefits for same-sex couples.

Seating is limited, please RSVP to charity.lewis2@mail.house.gov

For questions regarding this event, please contact the office of Congresswoman Lois Frankel at 561-998-9045.

Surfer in Lake Worth, FL, surfing near City's pier

Photo courtesy of James Stafford Photography.