Sun setting on Lake Osborne

3rd largest auto maker files bankruptcy

After getting $4.5 BILLION DOLLARS From President Bush in December 2008, Chrysler files bankruptcy, forms an alliance with Fiat, and will get even MORE billions of $$$$$$ from Obama. (actually from us taxpayers!).

My grandfather used to own a Chrysler.

Comp Plan

Well, I hear a few people moaning about Commissioner Jennings putting a barb into our Comp Plan and slowing down the process...blaming her for the fact that we are in non-compliance, etc. Well, we hear you and do not agree. The DCA has said that it is more important to "get it right" now then to make changes later. We applaud Commissioner Jennings for watching out for what the people wanted in the Master Plan.

Was anyone in the Chamber the night Mayor Drautz , when asking about heights in the Master Plan, asked how it got from a maximum of 3 stories to 10 stories. "Who put the 10 stories in here?" he asked. He never got an answer. Sharon Jackson was P&Z Director at that time.

Realizing that there are a few P&Z members and a few of their friends who are very upset right now regarding our Comprehensive Plan and the fact that it was not approved “as is,” I want to assure you that there are plenty of other problems, not just height changes:

The City’s responses to the DCA, relating to the adoption of the City’s Water Supply Plan, was REJECTED by the DCA. I don't suppose you would want to blame Jennings for that one, would you?

Also, the City has NOT even sent up its CIP to the DCA. Is that also Jennings fault?

More to follow later.

Old Seaboard Line

Lake Worth near LW High

This is a photo taken in 1959 of the old Seaboard Air Line (now CSX) where Tri-Rail runs. The Seaboard line existed from 1900 to 1967 when it merged with its rival, the Atlantic Coast Line RR.

The line was originally single track with passing sidings, which caused delays and reduced flexibility in scheduling. This line contributed greatly to the expansion of Florida and development of the southeastern part of the U.S.

Santa in Lake Worth every month

Tuesday night I attended the CRA meeting and watched as they voted to give away over $60 thousand dollars for such things as a hot water heater costing $1,000, pavers for a driveway that could have been repaired much cheaper. How many of you can afford pavers for your driveway? Well, move to the CRA district. "That is one of the advantages of living in the CRA District," said Ms. Materio.

A sprinkler system was thrown into the mix of discussion. The owner will come back later for that one. $15,000 for ONE owner who has the nicest house on the street. This is what the CRA does—gives money away to whomever applies and who presents the correct documentation, according to CRA staff, proving that they are qualified to receive “free” money with few strings. Oh, did I mention that she wants a new front fence because school children sit on hers on their way home from school?

The owner, Mary Demers of 501 S B Street only presented, per the back-up docs, one estimate for each item for the work. Her Santa wish-list amounted to over $40,000. In the Residential Rehabilitation Grant, the CRA on a 5 to 1 vote, Donna Ross dissenting, gave her $15,000 non-matching funds towards improvements to her house. There was NO copy of her tax return in the back-up only an altered copy of her W-2. The CRA has agreed that she will have one of our city employees, Martin Cybulski, City Horticulturist, assist her in planning additional landscaping. Once that is done, she will re-submit an application for MORE money from the CRA, ($7,619.82 in matching funds) for pressure cleaning, paint and extensive landscaping. She wanted a Queen Palm. This is a photo of the house at 501 S. B Street. So any of you living in the CRA district who want expert landscaping advice for FREE, call Martin.

Maybe she can get a free tree from the Tree Board,
if she can find room for it.

The five members who voted to give away our TIF money to this property owner were: Brendan Lynch, Wes Blackman, Ed Grimm, Shanon Materio and Wayne Marcinkoski. If I were a tax payer in the CRA district I would be pretty miffed about TIF.

The CRA was formed to eliminate BLIGHT. From the CRA's web site it states: "Tax dollars in the CRA district are spent to help revitalize blighted areas of the city." Is there anything blighted about this house? Yes, agreed, it is in a "blighted" area but this house is NOT blighted.

When will we stop this delving into the cookie jar mentality that the CRA has. "Let’s give it away," says one member of the Board. “I am surprised that you did not ask for more,” says the same member talking about another grant given to a different owner. “Come back for more money.” Recently the CRA and the Commission had a Joint Meeting to set their priorities. There were 20 categories. Residential Rehab Grants ranked 11th; Commercial Façade Grants ranked 13th, and Community Aid Grants ranked 17th.

It’s easy to hand out money when it is NOT yours. Policy must be changed for all Grants within the CRA. There should be a requirement for at least two estimates if not three. The owner should provide a copy of the tax return, not a copy of a W-2. A W-2 does not prove the amount of total income. Standards need to get tighter and if the Grants persist, then the CRA needs to stop handing out money like it is X’mas in Lake Worth every month.

Remember the Gateways, 6th Avenue South and 10th Avenue North where we are spending over $14 MILLION DOLLARS? Well, on the priority list of the CRA and City Commission, maintenance of the Gateways was ranked number 18 out of 20. CRA members Ed Grimm (kudos to Ed) gave it as one of his top priorities (6 points) and Mark Rickards (1 point) and Jeff Clemens (3 points). These were the only members who ranked Gateway maintenance at all. That's why our city looks as it does. We totally neglect our assets or have low priorities for general maintenance. We give money to a woman who does not need it. We give $16,000 to an owner of a commercial property to fix up his parking lot who lives in a waterfront home worth over one million and we vote to neglect maintenance of The Gateways.

Santa, stay in the North Pole and send us a plan that will make sense on how we give money away to eradicate BLIGHT, not to people who are allowed to take advantage of a bad system and a Board whose hands are tied because of it.

Obama and Immigration Reform

After 100 days, President Obama will push for Illegal Immigration reform.

Originally, President Obama supported George W. Bush and his failed plan, (thanks to Congress) that would fine illegals living here but a plan that provided a path to citizenship.

Now, after 100 days, he has decided that something MUST be done and says, “We can’t continue with a broken immigration system; it’s not good for anybody.”

We agree. Let’s see if he can get anything started within the next 100 days as right now, it is out of control, costing this country a fortune (social services for illegal aliens have cost us $397,455,150,733 since 1996) and the illegal aliens are the most notorious criminals in this country. Luckily we have 392,132 of them behind bars for committing other crimes against citizens and their property.

Home invasions on the rise

From: Morganstern, Joel D.
Subject: FW: Protecting your home.
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 2:00 PM

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, District #14 Lake Worth, has begun a concentrated effort to combat burglary within the district.

Subject: Protecting your home.

Do you know what to do to make your home safe from burglary?

You can help protect your family, home and other possessions by investing a small amount of time and money. Most burglars will spend no longer then 60 seconds trying to break into a home.

The majority of residential burglaries – about 85% -- are carried out by youthful amateurs. Most residential burglaries are crimes of opportunity. The burglars devote little time to advance planning. If their advance checking and examination of the potential target reveals a risk greater then anticipated, they often move onto what they perceive to be a safer or easier target. The more the homeowner does to keep the home from looking like an easy target, the safer the home usually is.

It is recognized that good lighting is a deterrent to crime. Can a burglar or vandal hide in the shadows of the night around your home? One of the best sources of cost effective protection around your home is adequate exterior lighting. Lighting has proven to be an effective deterrent against crime.

Do you have a privacy fence obstructing the view of your backyard? By providing concealment, privacy fencing is a disadvantage to home security. You can eliminate this disadvantage by removing every other slat to allow greater visibility. Planting hostile-type plants to cover the outside of the fence, such as roses with large thorns. When building a fence, have the cross rails placed inside.

What about your trees, shrubs and landscaping? Could a potential criminal hide there? The security of your home depends on visibility. Your home should maintain the visibility so that neighbors and patrol cars can watch for illegal activity. Ornamental plant growth should be kept well trimmed, especially around doors and windows, where a person could hide while breaking into your home.

While planning your landscaping, you might consider discouraging intruders from window areas by planting prickly plants, such as roses, some hollies, etc.

Can you see who is outside before you open the door? Install a wide angel viewer (peephole) in the door. Is the door sold core? Is it metal? Is it cracking or splitting? How thick is it? Not only your front door, but all of your exterior doors and the door between your house and the garage should be solid core construction or heavy gauge metal with a minimum thickness of 1 3/8 inches. A thinner door may give if kicked. If your door is the panel type, make sure joints and panels are well glued, not split or rotten. Are your French or double doors secure? One of the doors must be inactive. You can do this by installing flush bolts at the top and bottom of the door secured into metal striker plats. A deadbolt should be on the active door. Sliding glass doors are vulnerable to attacks. Secure sliding doors opening the door and then putting screws into the top track. Turn to screws until you had enough clearance to close the door, but it can not be lifted up and off the track.

The strike plate on your door that the bolt goes into should have at least 3 inch wood screws. You can purchase a heavier gauge security strike plate using longer screws. The screws should take you past the frame into the structural 2 x 4s. It does not matter how much money you spend on a lock. The burglar is not going to defeat the lock, he is going to defeat the frame. One good kick and the frame is broken. He will be in your house, but your $100 lock is still intact.

Are any of your hinges exposed on the outside? While checking out all of your exterior doors, look at the hinges. If your hinges are exposed on the outside. We recommend you replace the hinges with non-removable hinge pins.

Where is your garage door opener? Is it in your vehicle. Is it in your car you left for service? Treat your garage door opener with as much security as you do your house key. It is an electronic key to your home.

Do you have the old fashioned lock in the knob type. This type of lock offers you privacy and convenience but not security. In fact, many can be opened by simply using a credit card of screwdriver. For safety, you need a secure lock. A deadbolt lock is recommended with the following features.

• A single cylinder.
• A minimum 1 inch bolt throw

What about the garage door itself? Is it deteriorating? Does it have windows? Keep garage doors closed and locked at all times.

Doors are usually the burglar’s first choice of entry into a home. Believe it or not, some residents leave exterior doors unlocked. It does not matter how good of a lock you have on your door, or a reinforced striker plate, if you leave your door unlocked. Even if you are home, working in your backyard, keep your garage door closed and your front door locked.

One of the best crime prevention tools is simply neighbors looking out for each other and reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement. Neighborhood Watch is a voluntary program organized by concerned citizens to reduce crime in their communities.

If you would like to organize a Neighborhood Watch, have a Residential Security Survey done on your property, or for any other helpful crime prevention tips, please feel free to contact Joel Morganstern, Crime Prevention Specialist, P.B.S.O. District #14 at 202-9623 or morgansternj@pbso.org. We also have a C.O.P. Unite (Citizen’s on Patrol) in District #14 with 3 cars available to drive. Uniforms and training are provided. You can patrol your neighborhood, and be our Eyes & Ears. If you contact me I will supply you with more information on that as well.

If you take the time to browse any of the major home supply stores, locksmith or hardware stores you can become familiar with items to “Target Harden” your home, such as exterior lighting, motion detector lighting, reinforced striker plates, door viewers, door hinges auxiliary locks and “Charlie Bars” for windows and sliding glass doors, deadbolt locks, protective grills for “Jalousie” windows, and all necessary screws and hardware. The sales personnel will be more then happy to assist you should you have any questions. And again, feel free to contact me.

Sgt. Meloy – C.O.P. Captain is Bernie Siler – 540-4303

Single Payer Health Care

On April 23, there was a U.S. House of Representatives committee meeting on reducing the cost of health insurance for employers, employees and their families.

Read what David U. Himmelstein, Primary Care Doctor and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard has to say about Single Payer Health Care.

America's health care is a national disgrace and an international embarrassment.

Mexican in LW afraid that Swine Flu might come here

Here's a woman in Lake Worth who is afraid for her relatives in Mexico and the Swine Flu saying that it might come here.

She got that one right.

Lake Worth, a SANCTUARY CITY!

According to a group that follows the illegal alien situation, Lake Worth has become a Sanctuary City. DID YOU HEAR THAT? Several days ago I put that announcement in the Marquee and not ONE person e-mailed me with an inquiry. I thought that rather amazing. Are we now just going to capitulate--accept it all as natural? as normal? as NOT breaking the law? When and how did it happen? Why are we all looking the other way as illegals invade our city and legal residents put their homes up for sale?

Our City attracts every liberal ever born. It’s sort of like, well if I support gay rights as an example, then I need to support rights for every human being for every cause and any reason. I can't be liberal on one front without being liberal on all. Heaven forbid that we would take a liberal stand on one issue and not on another.

Gavin Newsom, whose politics are left of left, was here just a few weeks ago spouting his liberal agenda. He wants to run for Governor of California and is making stops to gather support from various groups that may support him. He is well aware that Lake Worth is very liberal on many fronts. He says he is for fairness and human rights but does not listen to the legal citizens and is way out in left field on this issue--illegal aliens. You are illegal and want to come here, heck yes. California is publicizing the fact that San Francisco, where Mr. Newsom is Mayor, is a Sanctuary City. He has taken a lot of heat because there are gangs whose members are illegal (just like Lake Worth) and committing serious crimes just as they do here. Newsom is now re-thinking his policy.

Lake Worth does not have a formal written ordinance on illegal aliens (that's what they ARE Speaker Pelosi and Commissioner Golden!!) but the fact that it is a Sanctuary City can be proved by its informal policies, allowing The Mentoring Center to exist, as an example…giving them a $1 a year lease to help the illegal alien population and using this as an employment center. We know for a fact that there are certain residents in our City who are “open-border” people. A couple of them belong to the Lake Worth Democratic Club and one is on our Commission.

We just had a proposed Ordinance that was shot down, allowing each residence to have 6 chickens and ducks along with chicken coops, that was designed for the illegal alien's culture rather than insisting that immigrants fit into ours...and I didn't say "illegal aliens." That is a category all by itself. Why wasn't the entire city outraged by this proposal?

Now we have a Commission and one Commissioner in particular that is keen on forming a Community Relations Board to deal with racial and ethnic issues/problems within the city…to ensure that the police are not over-reacting, etc. when confronting illegals. Let's call it what it really is...a Board to protect illegal aliens. We don’t have any ethnic issues in our city other than people here who have broken our laws by 1) just by being here and 2) committing illegal acts. We would not have near as many so called "problems" if our Commission followed the law on illegal aliens.

HB 567 was introduced that would prohibit sanctuary cities by law. This would be in addition to the Federal law that is already in place prohibiting the very same thing.

What this Bill says is, the police would be required to contact ICE if they even suspect that they have illegals in custody. The Bill’s purpose is to keep criminals from getting back on the streets. At least it is a Bill heading in the right direction that has been stifled by certain politicians in Miami, the largest Sanctuary City in the State of Florida--and look at the problems they have.

There are some elected officials beholding to big business. Large corporations are the ones benefiting from the illegal alien migration. There is a food service company, Bon Appetit Management, that says Florida is committing a despicable act by not paying tomato pickers more money. There have been seven slavery convictions over the last ten years in Florida involving farm workers. Our do-gooder politicians are contributing to "slavery." Listening Commissioners? Their response: "Their living conditions are better here than where they came from."

I am sick of this Socialistic agenda. Aren’t you? I know that you are because you tell me so. If you continue to look the other way and believe that there is nothing you can do about it, then those breaking our laws win...those who don't believe that there should be ANY laws win!

Let’s take back our City, our State and our Country.

SOSA Neighborhood Assn President calls it "Quits!"

Remember him? He organized a protest against Commissioner Jennings and no one showed but the LW Herald, Channel 12 and two bloggers.

I, Ricardo Rodriguez, Jr. hereby announce by sending this letter to the members of the SOSA Neighborhood Association, that I am resigning from office as President of the South of Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Association. I will not be answering any questions on this action. Thank you, and the best of luck to the South of Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Association.

Sincerely, Ricardo Rodriguez Jr.

News of Interest

• Republican House passes 70-43 allowing off-shore drilling between 3 and 10.5 miles off coast. Gov. Crist expected to sign
• Airport workers will be protected from criminal charges if they harm or kill birds on runways
• Florida universities allowed to raise tuition 15% a year until costs reach national average
• 5% property assessment cap on business owners and part-time residents. (It’s about time!)
• Crist signs Bill striking the word “shylock” from State Statutes. The reason? Discrimination towards Jews. (The most absurd--the word has been around since the days of Christ)
• Blacks with 4 year degree earn 78% of salary compared to Whites but women earn 60% compared to men
• Gays gain more power as Iowa becomes 3^rd state to allow gay marriage
• Lake Worth’s property values decreased by 14.2%. (Look for tax rates and taxable property values to increase while City throws more costs onto ad valorem bill. Fire there next)
• Rain is 69% below average drawing more attention to our precarious water supply
• Florida Legislature refuses to move Bill to expand unemployment benefits in order to accept $444 million in Federal Stimulus
  

P&Z/Commission Meeting

City Manager Stanton asking panel not to speak in acronyms.

Well, for all those who did not attend today's meeting at the Compass Building on the Comp Plan, you did not miss a thing. After the first 1.5 hours, absolutely NOTHING was accomplished. The Mayor, Jeff Clemens, derailed Commissioner Jennings from getting any of her points discussed, would not move forward on her Power Point presentation and even at one point suggested that he stop the meeting.

Rachael Bach informed the panel, bringing up her LaRue letter, that if "significant" changes are made to the Plan then the DCA will not look favorably on us in submitting new amendments. She is then asked what the word "significant" means. Significant, as it turns out, is up to the DCA. She always tells most of the story, but often times a lot of the information is not revealed. In this particular case, she failed to mention that the DCA would prefer that we get it right and take the time--that the May 14th deadline is artificial and not a concern.

There seemed to be a rush (isn't there always?) to send the Amendments to the DCA by John Paxman, Jeff Clemens and Rachael Bach with the idea of "making the changes later." As Laurence McNamara pointed out, if they did that, then there very well possibly could be grounds for a lawsuit by the owners of Sunset.

Future Land Use Map amendments must be adopted by Ordinance. If the City selects to NOT adopt the amendment, then it must give its reason for the decision and withdraw the amendment and send a letter to the DCA notifying them of the final action regarding the amendment. Let's get Sunset, Jewell and the Beach zoned correctly BEFORE submittal to DCA.

I left the meeting before it adjourned but I heard it now goes back to ANOTHER workshop.

Oy vey.

Commission and P&Z to meet today

This is the only notice on Lake Worth's Web site on the Comp Plan Meeting today. It was on the Calendar.

Joint Commission/P&Z workshop

Monday, April 27, 2009 at 3:00 PM

This is a continuation of the April 14, 2009, joint Commission/P&Z Board workshop meeting.

It is noticed in the Post and it will be held at the Compass Building at 201 N. Dixie Hwy. Perhaps we will learn why Rachael received a letter from LaRue Planning & Management giving an opinion different than Richard Grosso's and Nancy Stroud's.

Florida--we need growth management and the DCA

Holy! The Palm Beach Post got another one right -- well, sort of! Essentially they are saying, fix the problem of urban sprawl now and you won't need FHD in 2010. Things must be improving at the Editorial Staff. Perhaps they realize now that they have made some boo boos in the past. The Post says, “Head off Florida’s land rush,” and ask, "why would any developer contemplate a new town in this economy?" We ask, why contemplate ANYMORE sprawl across Florida, period.

Right now there are some State Legislatures who want to abolish the DCA, our only watchdog on development within the State of Florida. And as imperfect as this agency may be, it is all that we have as residents to oversee growth within our State. Otherwise we, as citizens, are just complaining about outlandish projects to elected officials with hearing problems. Why do some in our State Legislature want to do this? Lobbyists for developers have been working overtime to convince them that the DCA is the problem and that the DCA is the reason for what is slowing down growth in Florida. All governments are in budget crunches and they are believing the developer line. With over 300,000 houses sitting empty in our State, our selected officials need to get a grip.

Near Yeehaw Junction, there are 27,400 acres and Tony Pugliese wants to build 100,000 houses for a new town called Destiny. He’s the guy who wanted to get his hands on our beach several years back. The only destiny we will have here is sprawl--100,000 more housing units of it.

Read what the St. Petersburg Times has to say.

We have so many empty houses within the State of Florida. St. Lucie alone has 10,000 empty houses and has the 10^th highest foreclosure rate in the United States according to Sally Swartz, writer for the PB Post. According to realestate.aol.com, the City of Lake Worth in both zip codes, 33460 and 61 have a total of 2,294 units for sale and a total of 1,426 in foreclosure. Why then do certain people want to get rid of controls we have in place for growth management? Money. It is always about the money. They can build to their hearts content, bulldozing prime land. Environmentalists are angry because wildlife habitats will be cut off and possibly totally eliminated. Residents are unhappy because we do not want our State paved over, traffic problems and sprawl.

The DCA reviews local governments’ Comprehensive Plans and unless something is totally out of whack, they usually end up approving what a city wants but it takes time. Builders want everything paved over yesterday. Right now the DCA has approved the Sunset parcel zoning change and land use. Seven of us are now in a lawsuit with the DCA and The City of Lake Worth. We can at least present our argument, and if good enough, get this approval reversed because zoning is all a political decision as confirmed by our Planning & Zoning Board’s own counsel choice, Nancy Stroud. She also said that it was illegal--contract zoning. So, there are still ways to skin this cat.

Citizens shouldn’t have to go through hoops to protect their neighborhoods from self-serving decisions of Planning & Zoning Boards and some developer backed officials who just want to feed the budget's bottom line. We need to hold the line from population increases, the development at any cost mentality and have a proper plan for growth. Good growth management is essential for a healthy State. We need to keep the Department of Community Affairs.

Love always, Patsy Cline

Patsy Cline, born in 1932, was one heck of a singer. She could belt one out like “nobody” could. Born to a blacksmith and a seamstress and deserted by her father when she was 15, Virginia Patterson Hensley (Patsy Cline), dropped out of school to help support the family. She rose to stardom in 1957 and was dead 6 years later at the age of 30, dying in a plane crash. A short lived career of a woman whose voice lives on.

The only singer with whom I could compare her voice with today would be LeAnn Rimes.

Go see Patsy Cline at the Lake Worth Playhouse. This was one of the top shows all Season.

A Chicken on every Lot

It used to be a chicken in every pot.
Now it might be a chicken on every lot!
Is it no wonder why Mary is moving from Tropical Ridge?
Is this what we have to look forward to?
Of course, the chickens and ducks all could get stung by bees and the problem would be solved.

PB Post says it is an Attack on Voters

"Last week, with just a few days left in the session, Republican legislative leaders proposed a terrible election "reform" bill that came with no public comment or staff analysis."

Read more about it in today's Opinion,

Palm Beach Post

The Post got it right this time! Read my post of April 16.

Hats on Luncheon at Atlantis CC

Today was the 4th annual Lake Worth High School Alumni Foundation's Dollars for Scholars Luncheon at Atlantis Country Club. Men as well as women had to wear a hat! Last year we raised $6,000 for kids and hope the pot is even greater this year. We expect to raise over $59,000 in scholarships this year that will be awarded to 53 students.

Three people won prizes at my table: Molly Parham, James McCauley and Ed Mitchell.

Today's judges were: Lady Hereford, Ann Pickett McGill, Bruce Easton and John Harvey. Many thanks as always to Doris Dorsey, Chairperson, and her committee for all the work, the fantastic prizes and everything that goes into making this event such fun and such a success.

Tri-Rail joins the ranks for raising prices

Tri-Rail is raising rates by 25%. Why not? Everything else is going up? Do you really think the entire economy is in this bad of shape because of some criminal bankers, mortgage brokers and people who bought houses they could not afford? I guess so. The government says that we are experiencing hardly any inflation. Tell that to the consumer. Next, the rental car tax is coming forward for our PB County Commission to vote on to help Tri-Rail. If it doesn’t pass, Tri-Rail says that it will cut back on services. ??

I started talking to a stranger in the Publix check-out line yesterday. I asked him how he was doing. “Not so good,” he said. “I can’t find a job. I lost my house. Prices are up on everything. It is really tough but I’m trying to stay positive.” I was sort of sorry that I asked him.

When you see prices escalating, services diminished, unemployment up, it doesn’t make for a very good day.

Killer bees

Firefighters fend off thousands of killer bees in West Palm Beach.

They're getting CLOSER! :)

Lake Worth Killer Bee?

Dog goes for Chicken's Jugular

Dog takes revenge on Commissioner Jennings’ chicken

I am very suspicious of anyone who says they do not like dogs and they prefer chickens. Chickens are dumb as squat. Commissioner Jennings wants our city to be overrun by chickens, ducks and bees. Can it get much more stupid than it already is folks? To give the lame reason that this is about producing your own food really takes the cake. She thinks that we ALL are as dumb as chicken feed.

Even dogs are way too smart to fall for this.

Dream is really a Nightmare

Has anyone heard of the DREAM Act? Well, not only does this give amnesty to illegal aliens but also it gives amnesty to those States that have been arrogantly and flagrantly violating the laws of the United States.

In 1996, a new law was enacted called the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility which expressly states that it is illegal for any State to give tuition subsidies to any illegal immigrant unless that rate is given to ALL U.S. citizens throughout the country.

Right now, the DREAM Act will allow illegals, up to the age of 35, who have a high school diploma (in many or even most cases the citizens of the US have subsidized) or a GED, to attend any of the states’ universities and pay only the in-state tuition rate. What is the prerequisite for this? Being an illegal alien. Also, they would get permanent green cards and can use that card to help their parents get one too, the very people who committed the crime of illegal entry into our country. And this is a CRIME, but our government continues to want to overlook this.

Prerequisites:

"According to the 2009 version of the bill, DREAM Act beneficiaries must have:

• Proof of having arrived in the United States before age 16.
• Proof of residence in the United States for a least five (5) consecutive years since their date of arrival, compliance with Selective Service.
• Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at time of bill enactment.
• Having graduated from an American high school, or obtained a GED.
• "Good moral character"

The illegal alien has six years to convert his green card from “conditional” to “non-conditional.” He can do this by going to college for at least 2 years or enlist in the military for 2 years and count his years under the conditional green card towards the 5 years needed for US citizenship. This deal is not offered to aliens who are lawfully here now.

Read what Numbers USA has to say.

A great article explaining the Dream Act

The other important consideration that makes this Act a nightmare is once an illegal files an application, he can NOT be deported and he doesn't even have to prove that his claims are true. And what is even worse, one federal agency can’t share any information on the illegal alien’s application with any other federal agency or they can be fined $10,000. Just think of what could occur here. A sleeper terrorist, hell bent on blowing up our country in the future, files an application and there is nothing we can do about getting rid of him. We would probably invite him to Lake Worth and give him a free chicken.

Why do illegals continue to get favorable treatment? WHY?

Ask your Congressman. Take back your country.

Gang punks and blight

Cpt. Silva just called. The Graffiti Team is on it.

Morning Visitor

My morning visitor has not been around for several days. He was sitting in front of my picture window, looking at himself, and singing away. He did this for several weeks. The other day I saw a bird that looked like him with a twig in his mouth. He will soon be singing a different tune.

One more headache on back burner

Willie Howard's article on CHICKENS

Polo Ponies death

Franck's Pharmacy, a privately owned pharmacy in Ocala, right in the middle of horse country, is responsible for mixing the fatal compound in death of polo ponies.

Read the PB Post report

Read the CNN report

FMPA, a Deadly Marriage

FMPA, after about ten minutes, should have been asked immediately to end its presentation Tuesday night. Actually there was NO back-up and there was no Power Point. Not one person on the Commission had received a copy of the presentation and therefore could not really ask any questions based on it. Even ten minutes was too long for me to listen to the con, which lasted 45 minutes, and his choke hold that was getting tighter around the neck of the City of Lake Worth. You could almost feel that noose, crunching bones, as Fred Bryant spoke.

Mr. Bryant, a lawyer for 40 years and now for the past 11 years, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for FMPA, has his smooth and soft spoken act down to perfection while he tried to convince the Commission that they were in for BIG costs and that our electric bills were going to go way up. He knows that he has 5 years to turn the Commission around and what better way to start doing that then by suggesting that big bucks will be going down the tubes (having to pay for nuclear and then not using it) unless the Commission changes its mind. He also knows that he will have political changes on the Dais that might go his way. He and FMPA started to play hard-ball in January and the Commission didn't yell loud enough then.

So now, FMPA has decided that it wants to buy into the two nuclear reactors in Levy County that are on the drawing board. Members of the FMPA will be paying into this for 7 to 9 years before the reactors would even be finished and who knows for how many years members would be paying on the bond. He never once said why they thought nuclear was the way to go and why FMPA had decided upon this direction. His presence was only to scare and intimidate and to put us in a squeeze. There was no need to have a printed presentation. That was not his purpose. He made his point loud and clear...sort of like a vindictive spouse in a divorce situation. Next we will be hearing how Sue Hersey's report is outdated.

Even as he spoke, the cost shot up by $1 billion to $18 billion dollars. Mr. Bryant is very well aware that we have exited the All Requirements of FMPA. Once we gave notice to exit FMPA, it stuck us with a $60,000 a month bill for a natural gas line. The gas line runs from the Turnpike to our power plant. He even tried to console the Commission by saying that he didn’t agree to that decision. Ah gee, Mr. Bryant, nice guy.

Let’s get another attorney to protect our interests and see if we can accelerate the exit with FMPA. The question now is, will the Commission start yelling loud enough to stop FMPA from any more bone crunching and pushing us further into debt.

After FMPA's actions Tuesday night, I would rather see the City forget about any sort of a cost/benefit analysis pertaining to them and nuclear...forget about doing anything further with FMPA....seek legal advice....get out early. Oh, and if they step one foot into our City, unless they are spending money in our downtown, have Cpt. Silva escort them out.

Florida has Declining Population

"For big developers, the population projections are just one more facet of a disturbing trend. No wonder they're so determined to gut growth management."
Read more of Joel Engelhardt's article--

The Population Battle

Punks Rule

Liberal Judge strikes down saggy pants law--Read the article

Hell with the 70% of the voters who wanted this law.
Next we will see them in Lake Worth. Why not? Chickens are pending.

Earth Day and the EPA

If President Nixon is to be remembered for just doing one right thing while he was President of the United States, the one accomplishment that stands out is the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency during the second year of his presidency.

Created in 1970, the EPA has had many accomplishments from making us aware of lead-based paints, the treatment of hazardous wastes and the banning of sewage sludge into the ocean. It now monitors radioactive fallout after the Three Mile Island’s nuclear plant accident in 1979. It banned DDT in 1970 and consequently in 1996, our national bird, the Bald Eagle was removed from the endangered species list allowed to live its life.

This agency strives to protect the Earth for all of us. It is concerned about the air that we breathe, our waters, rivers, lakes and oceans as well as the land on which we live.

We have one Earth.

What's the beef?

From a blog--

Why the secrecy? Why slip this in as an "add/delete" - are you afraid that someone might actually have a good argument to keep the current zoning? All in all a cowardly act not in keeping with the spirit of the Sunshine Law.

Another BOGUS argument from the other side and a typical tactic and company line from those who are losing an argument. P&Z, a Board that has sided with developers every chance it gets, did not get its way. No one is afraid of any argument here. The entire Commission agreed to reverse this zoning ordinance on the Sunset property at the joint workshop over a week ago. This should have moved forward to the next City Commission meeting.

There was no one afraid of anything that anyone has to say who opposes single family neighborhoods. We have heard it before, in fact, for nearly four years. The principles were at the meeting: most of Save Our Neighborhood, a few residents of the neighborhood as well as one of the owner’s of the Sunset parcel. They were there. They knew about it being part of the Agenda. The announcement WAS on the City’s web site that it was an addition to the Agenda.

So, what’s your beef?

Whose the Boss?

A Commissioner puts something on the Agenda. It is publicized as ON the Agenda. Agenda sheets are in the back of the room. When it comes time to discuss the item, no--it is NOT on the Agenda because it was not read into the record in the beginning of the meeting. The Mayor overlooked this as did everyone else on the dais, still assuming because it is written on a printed agenda sheet, passed out to the public, that it is ON the Agenda.

Commissioner Jennings then calls for a vote accepting it on to the Agenda. Why was it taken OFF the agenda in the first place, unbeknown to a Commissioner who requested it? Rachael Bach wanted it off. Bach, in collusion with the Interim City Manager and probably with the blessing of the City Clerk, took it off! Rachael Bach was "conveniently" not there last night to give her reasons for insubordination.

Now folks, this is outrageous! Staff continues to jerk this Commission around and the Commission continues to be diplomatic about it. Behind the scenes are some P&Z members whispering in Bach's ear. Commissioner Mulvehill was very respectful when she queried the agenda item and its removal. The Staff continues to be disrespectful to the public. Take LW Utilities as a prime example of employee insubordination...treating people like dirt and talking to them in condescending ways and plain out not telling the truth. I say, off with their heads! This would NEVER be allowed to happen in the corporate world. NEVER! That person would be gone with NO severance and rightly so. There are millions of people looking for jobs right now.

We have another employee, our Engineer, who was fired because his boss didn’t like him answering a Commissioner’s direct question that could have saved our City $50,000. He was fired for it. We have lost a highly respected engineer in the field because he answered a question by a Commissioner. How stupid can it get? Well, it is $50,000 dollars stupid of your money and a deplorable way to treat a valued employee. Who was behind this? Rebecca Mattey, the Utilities Director and most likely the Interim City Manager.

Having a new city manager here this coming Monday will be the best thing that ever happened to this City. Perhaps respect for our Commission and the public will be a priority. The Commission has every right in the world to put something on the agenda. When a Commissioner says do something, do it! Don’t spit in her face, staff. Do it. If not—bye, bye and may it be soon.

Spoof Poll Over

This was the first "spoof" poll. Actually we all know that the Mayor hates applause, does not want any, for any reason, and says that the Commission agreed to that. Ban all clapping at City Hall. Sounds funny, doesn't it? Your right of free expression is banned?! Pat Parrish won the poll, however, due to his intolerance of public speaking in general and for actually stating that we, the public, the very ones who go out of our way to make our commissioners accountable, who show up for these meetings... have worn out our welcome...speak too often...and speak on too many subjects.

We are what keeps this City on its toes--what keeps it honest and transparent. The First Amendment Right is the most important amendment to our Constitution that ensures a truly democratic society. But I'm not telling you or him anything you don't already know. If we don't sort out ideas and have free exchange, then we are headed towards totalitarianism. Likewise, a free press must exist. We control the government, not the other way around.

So, Pelican, you write and we will speak and we will be checking on you, week to week.

The Mystery of the Polo Ponies

Vargas' home in Palm Beach

"If any banker, the president of a foreign or domestic bank, refuses to comply with the constitution or our laws, not only could we nationalize the bank but that banker could be imprisoned for breaking the law," President Chavez warned in 2001.

I know. There are some of you who have even said that you don’t believe in conspiracy theories. I do. It is probably due to all the fiction I read. However, there is a story here on these dead horses. Hopefully, we will find out this week what exactly killed all these valuable polo ponies. We do know that this “toxin” only affected the Venezuelan ponies. That is strange in itself. Victor Vargas was known to have loved his horses more than anything in the world.

Everything I have been reading about Vargas, the banker indicates that he once was extremely friendly with Chavez, even tripling his wealth after Chavez came to power in 1998. Vargas came from the upper crust, one of the oligarchs of Venezuela with blueblood relatives, royalty it has been said. In 2004, his daughter married the great-grandson of General Franco and Chavez was at the wedding. Vargas is a capitalist in a Socialist country. Chavez, on the other hand, is a die-hard Socialist and in just a decade, has managed to nationalize many industries. In 2002 there was an attempt to overthrow him and he blames the United States, believing to this day that there is a conspiracy to remove him from power. In 2005, U.S. television evangelist Pat Robertson made headlines when he suggested Chavez should be assassinated.

In August 2008, Chavez announced that he was nationalizing the Bank of Venezuela that was controlled and owned by a Group of Spanish businessmen, Spanish bank Grupo Santander, after Chavez learned that this group was trying to sell the bank to Vargas. Chavez said that he was taking over the bank “since this is a country that is recuperating its wealth in order to put it at the service of the people.” This nationalization resulted in Vargas losing an estimated $100 million. Chavez has nationalized the power, telecommunications, oil and cement companies, several of them foreign-owned. Chavez continues to strong-arm businesses in Venezuela and people are worried about private property rights. He has been driving off foreign investment.

So we have a multi-millionaire capitalist living in a socialistic country under Chavez, a man who wants for nothing and is so insolated from socialism. He has over 600 people working for him and all his wealth has been derived through capitalism, something Chavez abhors. He has made it big in banking and lives like royalty and is as mysterious as Howard Hughes. His entire lifestyle is in direct conflict with Chavez. Chavez is taking away the power of the upper crust in Venezuela and perhaps targeted Vargas in particular in the Bank of Venezuela situation. Vargas has been too big to hurt. Vargas, has assets out of Venezuela and the continuing socialism of his country has not really affected him nor has he probably bowed down to it. He has taken a lot of money out of the country even buying the above oceanfront property in Palm Beach.

Hopefully, there is no conspiracy here and the death of these ponies was just caused by some awful, dreadful mistake. If anyone was behind the death of these horses, it would be so cleverly planned that no one would ever be able to figure it out as to who did it and why with 100% certainty. The only thing that would ever make Vargas stand up and take notice to what has been going on around him in his own country would be to take away something he loves more than money, his polo ponies.

How best to get back at someone, bring him to his knees, than to take away what he loves the most? It was reported that he was crying as he was holding them, as they died in his arms.

Nuclear reactors in Levy County

St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. We own a share in this

Cara asked FMPA to make a presentation on Nuclear Energy--

Presentation on new Nuclear Power Plant by FMPA (Florida Municipal Power Agency).
The City of Lake Worth is part of a public energy network called FMPA. We have a very strict contract to buy and sell our electricity through this network. FMPA is proposing that we invest in the two new nuclear power plants being proposed in Levy County (just north of Tampa). I have environmental and rate cost concerns about the expansion of Nuclear Energy. I have requested that FMPA do a presentation for the city so we can have a dialogue about what energy sources we want for our city.

I thought we were getting out of FMPA? What does Bill Newton the executive Director of the Florida Consumer Action Network say? It’s scary. It really is frightening." Visit the FCAN website and read on RENEWABLE ENERGY

The reactors are supposed to be operational by 2016–18 assuming that the NRC approves the plant's operating license, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approves the site.

The price tag on these two nuclear reactors? A whopping $14 BILLION DOLLARS plus $3 billion for transmission upgrades and growing-- $17 BILLION!! Consider that the cost of copper alone is up 300%, who knows what the final cost will be.

This should be an interesting, one-sided presentation.

Lana, the woman animals love to hate

Lana Marks is the CEO of her own company and she designs handbags using reptile skin—lizard, alligator and crocodile. Her bags sell for $1,000 on up to ungodly sums. You don’t even want to know what people pay just to own one of her handbags. I used to think Gucci was expensive. She is headquartered in Palm Beach. Where else? Besides Worth Avenue, she has stores on Rodeo Drive and Madison Avenue.

In her PB office she used to have photos that adorned her walls with Princess Diana before she was the "late" Princess. Probably still does. She loved to let you know of this “connection.” Lana Marks was hell on wheels to work for. Her staff then was scared to death of her. She micromanaged everything, even down to insisting that you sign out for paperclips.

She never could keep an executive assistant back in those days and she wondered why, never understanding that perhaps she just could not relate to anyone but the rich or famous and never wanting to. She mentioned to me that she thought some of her "help" was stealing from her. I walked out after one day on the job and told her not to even pay me for that one day of work. That was probably one of the few times she ever listened.

Now Lana is being sued in Federal Court. Read about the gal who definitely made it off the hides of helpless animals, two legged as well as four. She didn't get close enough to this gator!

Are these reptiles endangered?

READ THE ARTICLE

Dead polo Horses--something sinister going on?

Read what Jose Lambiet says about the

DEAD HORSES

Update on the Beagle pups and their Mom

A healthy Beagle puppy

The puppies and Mother are in stable condition and still in the hospital. There is still a lot of testing to do. They are not out of the woods yet. Safe Harbor will know sometime this week whether they all will survive this horrible neglect and dastardly deed.

Always looking for foster homes for animals, Safe Harbor does wonderful things. This is their Mission Statement:

“We refuse to believe that euthanasia is the only option for pet population in this country. Safe harbor offers low-cost spay/neuter services and a full service veterinary hospital open to the public."

For all those who want to send a donation and help in the cost of saving these abused Beagles, please send to Safe Harbor, PO Box 1843, Jupiter 33468

E-mail in response to below

Photo of brightly painted house--

shown as an example that "anything goes" in LW

E-Mail
102 N. Dixie --

He should have been fined $200 a day like they did to my Dad's property for only having the paint color not approved by the city on his warehouse. Beige is a neutral color and there shouldn't have been a problem with that since it was a repaint of the same color it was before.

Thanks for the e-mail. There are a lot of inequities regarding our code enforcement. Incidentally, the City eliminated the paint color approval requirement and you no longer need a permit. You now can paint your house any color you choose. And people are. Also, I am not sure that there are any EPA standards on the type of paint to use but will check into this. The loosening of standards, I suspect, has a lot to do with the influence of immigrants from south of our border.

102 N. Dixie -- the rip off of the system

On February 24^th this year Cosmo Di Schino, the owner of the property at 102 N. Dixie Highway (formerly Bid Daddy’s Lounge) applied for a commercial enhancement grant to fix up the property he owns. He wanted to lease it out but had to make certain repairs before a tenant would want to lease from him. He asked for $19,010 from the CRA but received $16,530.50 in matching funds. He even wanted tax dollars to pay for overhead, supervision and builder’s fees. Luckily the Grant does not cover those types of fees or he would have had that too! Lake Worth Media did an expose on this as well as other grants, showing that the owner lived in a 6,600 sq. ft. house on the water valued at over $1.3 million.

Instead of giving tax dollars to someone who obviously can well afford to keep up his property and upgrade it himself, he should have been coded and given a big fine. The parking lot was totally neglected, even with trash and weeds. The owner couldn't bend over to pick up a bottle. He didn’t even bother to keep it clean. Now Mr. Di Schino can go about his merry way, collecting rent, thanks to the upgrade the people funded. Can it get any sicker than this?

These types of entitlements need to stop.

More on Susan

"She Came with an impressive resume..."

Read the
Sun Sentinel article
on Susan Stanton

Obama has taken the first needed step to Peace

"One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values," so said President Obama.

This country was formed with a lack of belief in any formal religion but our forefathers were Christian and believed in the separation of Church and State. Because of their beliefs, our country was founded on a sense of justice for all, a Christian principle.

There is still a majority (68.3%) of adults in the United States who identify themselves as Christian. From the Pew Research Center:

• Evangelical Protestant Churches 26.3%
• Mainline Protestant Churches 18.1%
• Catholic 23.9% (Visit the Pew Research Center for complete list)

And since we were founded on this principle of fairness to all, we must be pro-active when it comes to defending it. One thing for sure, when you want to negotiate peace, you don’t talk to your friends. The goal of world community, with liberty and justice for all, will only happen if we can sit down at the table and be willing to accept that there are differences and be willing to listen.

Affirmative action lies within Obama's psyche with him believing that no one should be discriminated against; everyone is entitled to be heard with the goal that every outcome results in fairness to all.

Listening is what President Obama did in his recent overseas tour--the first step to solving differences and the first step to peace.

Beagle and pups thrown in trash bin

READ THE STORY
May the low life who did this suffer the consequences.

Please read the article and send a donation to help this mother beagle who was left, "moaning in agony" along with her pups, dumped in a recycle bin in Jupiter.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Newspapers--we need them to survive as a free society

The Palm Beach Post has been downsizing its newspaper. Recently it went to a larger font (something I like a lot) and cut the width. It has laid off a bunch of people including news room staffers. They even were heartless by doing this in a bulletin board announcement last year. We all have seen the repercussions of the decisions made at the Post. They have few syndicated columnists now. I have defended newspapers…still do, but today’s newspaper really took the cake for me. Here’s why.

Page 1. Front page. Months ago, they started allowing one ad on the front page. I thought then that this was pathetic…still do.

Page 2. 3 ads

Page 3. 1 half page ad

Page 4. 1, 4/5^th’s page ad

Page 5. 3 ads, 1 half page

Page 6. 4 ads, 1 half page

Page 7. Full page ad

Page 8. Full page ad

Page 9. 4/5^th’s page ad

Page 10. 2 ads, 1, ½ page

Page 11. Full page ad

Page 12. 3 ads taking up 4/5^th’s of the page

Page 13. 3 ads taking up 4/5^th’s of the page

Page 14. 4 ads

Page 15. Full page ad

Page 16. 8 ads—I said eight (8)!!

Page 17. Full page ad

Page 18. Full page ad

Page 19. 3 ads

Page 20. Finally, the Editorial section and something to read!

Page 21. ½ page ad on the rest of the Opinion section

This is the entire front section of our Palm Beach Post, a newspaper that used to be the greatest. It is no wonder it is losing readership. Who wants to spend $214 a year to read advertisements of things you can’t afford to buy or don't want? We buy the newspaper to keep us up on all the latest news worthy issues here in Palm Beach County as well as State and National and World events. The Post launched its on-line coverage in 1995 and they have done a superb job here. It is the physical newspaper that they have allowed to go down the tubes.

Every business seems to do the same thing. If you are losing market share or losing customers, you raise the price of the product and/or you pay more for less. I have never figured this one out but it happens all of the time with every product imaginable. The City of Lake Worth did it to our golf course. It raised the price of fees because it was losing memberships and players. Instead of tackling the problem for these losses, which was golf course maintenance, their solution was to raise the rates, still cutting back on fertilizer. Brilliant!

I wrote about the rapid death of print newspapers in March and that it would be a terrible thing for us all if they died out. The Palm Beach Post is one of the reasons why we can keep a free society. Just look at what they did to expose corruption in Palm Beach County? If it were not for their superb investigative reporting, we would still have crooks running our County.

Thomas Jefferson said, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter."

A solution must be found now. I don’t want to read the major section of the newspaper consisting mainly of ads. I don’t buy this paper to read ads. Unless the news media act fast and come up with something sensible here, we will have a government unchecked because there will be no one to monitor them. So, Mr. Burke, let’s find that solution. I don’t want to see this paper die. The number one benefit to society as a whole are all the newspapers and all the reporters who cover our news and report on the facts and expose the truth. So, please, come up with a model that will work.

And that is why we speak out in public forums, something our local Lake Worth news editor just does not get.