01/20/2022 ISSUE 03

Work on county bridges may
resume soon. P10
Vero, Shores set
for mediation. P12

Man to be sentenced for
hiding camera in bathroom. P10

For breaking news visit

MY VERO Covid surge sees
hospitalizations
BY RAY MCNULTY more than triple

Aggressive driving leads BY LISA ZAHNER
to rise in serious crashes Staff Writer

Nobody thinks they’re a bad New COVID-19 infections
driver, which is a problem for
those of us who see too many here set another record this
of these nobodies on our local
roadways. past week, and the number of

Worse, though, are the mo- people hospitalized with the
torists who’ve deluded them-
selves into believing they’re virus more than tripled.
actually good drivers – who
believe they possess the skills As of Friday’s Florida De-
to maneuver as expeditious-
ly as possible through and partment of Health weekly CO-
around the increasing traffic in
our growing community, even VID-19 situation report, 2,255
when employing illegal tactics
to do so. people tested positive for the

And those numbers are grow- virus in Indian River County
ing.
during the seven-day period,
So is the number and fre-
quency of traffic accidents, es- up 60 percent from 1,407 new
pecially crashes that result in
serious injury and, sometimes, cases the prior week.
death.
More than 320 people per day
“The number of crashes is
going through the roof,” said are being added to the ranks of
Sgt. Doug Mackenzie of the
Sheriff’s Office’s Traffic Unit. California buyers fuel high-end real estate boom people here contending with
“We’re seeing quite an increase COVID-19, whether that posi-
tive test means no symptoms, a
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 head or chest cold, or more se-

FAU appears to gain BY STEVEN M. THOMAS bers and with enough cash to nia buyers last year than in the vere illness leading to a doctor
more authority over Staff Writer become a driving factor in the entire 42-year history of our visit or trip to the hospital.
Harbor Branch funds
island’s record-breaking real es- company prior to 2021,” said During the same period that
BY GEORGE ANDREASSI
Staff Writer In a dramatic turn of events tate market. Dale Sorensen Sr., founder of cases rose 60 percent, new hos-

Florida Atlantic University worthy of a Hollywood thriller “If we look back, I think we’d Vero’s top-selling brokerage. pitalizations of patients posi-
appears to have won greater
authority over the $74 million – or maybe a romance – Cali- find that we had more Califor- CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
endowment controlled by the
fornia buyers suddenly discov-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ered Vero Beach in 2021. Brightline passenger trains starting test runs through county
In a very big way.

Up until 2021, they were sel-

dom seen on Beachland or A1A. BY GEORGE ANDREASSI
Even when the Los Angeles Staff Writer
Dodgers had their spring train-

ing camp here and California Brightline trains were

fans showed up for the most scheduled to start practice

hopeful part of the baseball sea- runs through Indian River

son, they didn’t stick around. County on the Florida East

Then, last year, suddenly and Coast Railroad tracks this

without warning, they began CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

arriving daily in sufficient num-

January 20, 2022 Volume 15, Issue 3 Newsstand Price $1.00 Grand Harbor
aces it, on and
News 1-14 Editorial 34 People 15-28 TO ADVERTISE CALL off courts. P16
Arts 43-48 Games 37-39 Pets 65 772-559-4187
Books 36 Health 49-55 Real Estate 69-80
Dining 60-64 Insight 29-42 Style 56-59 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

© 2022 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero tation department’s seemingly endless
road-widening project.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“The speed limit was reduced to 35
in traffic-homicide investigations and mph to accommodate this debacle of
other serious crashes.” a construction job,” Rosell said, “but
driving to work every day, I see people
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deb- pass me – or try to pass me – going in
bie Carson said last week the exact excess of 50 mph.”
numbers weren’t available because
the agency was in the process of com- He said he also has seen drivers, frus-
piling and analyzing traffic-accident trated by backups at traffic lights, using
data for a report that will be filed with turn lanes to pass slower vehicles.
the state.
“It’s been a problem the whole time
But anyone who travels around the we’ve had this road construction,”
county – or reads the breaking-news Rosell said. “I’ve been here seven years
stories on VeroNews.com – knows our and, hands down, this is the worst I’ve
roadways are becoming more danger- seen it.”
ous.
The aggressive driving epidemic,
Since the calendar turned to 2022, however, hasn’t been as obvious inside
there has been a rash of crashes from the Vero Beach city limits.
one end of the county to the other. Sev-
eral of them have been serious. One of Vero Beach Police Lt. Dan Cook
them left three people dead. said the department’s statistics show
that the number of traffic accidents,
On Jan. 8, a 58-year-old Vero Beach people injured in crashes and crashes
man and two elderly people from Fort resulting in serious injury increased
Pierce were killed in a two-vehicle last year – but only because the num-
crash on U.S. 1, near the McDonald’s bers dropped noticeably during 2020,
restaurant just north of Oslo Road. when COVID prompted businesses
and schools to shut down and fewer
The crash occurred shortly after 10 drivers were on the road.
a.m., when a southbound van turned
left into the path of an oncoming north- In fact, there were no traffic fatali-
bound car. A 7-year-old boy, who was a ties in the city in 2021, after three were
passenger in the van, was injured and reported in 2018, four in 2019 and
flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in three in 2020.
West Palm Beach for treatment.
That doesn’t mean Vero Beach is
One day earlier, two drivers were immune from bad driving, as we saw
hospitalized after a three-vehicle crash when a women struck two pedestrians
near the intersection of U.S. 1 and 69th on Ocean Drive shortly after the conclu-
Street in Wabasso, where authorities sion of last month’s Christmas parade.
said a bakery delivery van rolled over
and one person was ejected. And most local drivers eventually
find their way into the city for one rea-
Three days before that, a Vero Beach son or another.
man was seriously injured in a crash
involving a motorcycle and car on U.S. But Cook said the city’s speed lim-
1, near 45th Street in Gifford. its are generally lower, there are fewer
long stretches of road without traffic
Last Thursday, Vero Beach police re- signals, and it’s easier for police to pa-
sponded to a seven-car crash on U.S. trol only 14 square miles than it is for
1, near the intersection of Aviation the Sheriff’s Office to patrol the entire
Boulevard, where the driver of a stolen county.
vehicle ran a red light.
“I don’t know the numbers, but it
That’s four serious crashes in nine does seem the county has had more
days, and it doesn’t include a colli- serious crashes in their jurisdiction,”
sion between a car and golf cart inside Cook said. “The county is growing,
the gates of John’s Island last week, and so is the volume of traffic on the
when the cart driver apparently rolled roads.
through a stop sign and two women
were ejected and injured. “There are a lot of people here this
time of year, and some aren’t familiar
Maybe it’s just a rough stretch and with the community and aren’t sure
not a sign of the times, but those of us where they’re going,” he added. “You
who regularly travel the county can’t see people making sudden stops and
help but be alarmed by what we’re see- turns.
ing – especially the distracted, unpre-
dictable, sloppy and aggressive driving “I’ve seen them turning from the
that wreaks havoc on our roadways. center lane when they realize they’re
about to pass where they want to go.”
And we’re not alone: Local law en-
forcement officers see it, too. To be sure, driving too slowly causes
problems, too – because it frustrates
The barrier island’s major thorough- motorists who need to get somewhere,
fare isn’t as busy as U.S. 1, but Indian especially for work – and the county’s
River Shores Police Chief Rich Rosell traffic engineering too often makes a
said he has noticed a “tremendous in- bad situation worse.
crease” in aggressive driving along A1A,
particularly during the state transpor- Local drivers should never be re-
quired to wait two light changes to get
through an intersection, nor should

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 3

NEWS

they be forced to stop at three consecu- 1, 2018 do not require the approval of ments totaling $74 million, as stated FAU came a decade after its 2007 merg-
tive red lights, especially when traffic the FAU board. on its 2019 federal tax return. er agreement with the Boca Raton-
isn’t heavy. based public university.
Lawyers for the HBOI Foundation The HBOI Foundation lost $843,432
But that’s no excuse. and FAU could not immediately be in 2019, the nonprofit organization’s FAU administrators started assert-
There’s no excuse for not being pa- reached for comment on Metzger’s fi- 2019 federal tax return shows. That ing greater authority over the HBOI
tient, tolerant and courteous on our nal judgment in the case the Founda- marked a dramatic decline compared Foundation’s endowment in 2016 and
roadways. This is, after all, Vero Beach, tion filed on March 30, 2017. to 2018, when revenues exceeded ex- 2017, triggering the conflict.
where we’re supposed to embrace our penses by $5.5 million, tax returns
sense of community by being neigh- The HBOI Foundation owns $81.6 show. However, the judge ruled the HBOI
borly and showing consideration for million in total assets, including an Foundation lost its autonomous con-
others. endowment of publicly traded invest- HBOI Foundation’s lawsuit against
Local law enforcement agencies say CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
their traffic units are taking steps to
combat aggressive and distracted driv-
ing, speeding and running red lights.
“We have our traffic unit out in force
– monitoring speeds, pulling people
over, stepping up enforcement,” Mack-
enzie said. “People are in a hurry, and
they need to slow down.”
The Sheriff’s Office recently con-
cluded a holiday-season campaign to
educate the public about the dangers
of running red lights, and Carson said
the agency is now working with the
school district to nab drivers who don’t
stop for school buses.
Rosell said he has encouraged his of-
ficers to crack down on speeders and
drivers passing in no-passing zones in
the town, even if it’s only to give warn-
ings.
The Vero Beach police, meanwhile,
continue to patrol the city streets and
respond to complaints from the pub-
lic in an effort to prevent the kinds of
crashes we’re seeing in the county.
“We’re really dedicated to what we
enforce,” Cook said. “We don’t want to
see people get hurt.”
Nor do we.
So be careful out there.
We know there are too many bad driv-
ers on our roads – even if they don’t. 

Harbor Branch

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insti-
tute Foundation.

State Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth
Metzger ruled the HBOI Foundation’s
operating budget shall be approved by
both the foundation’s board of direc-
tors and FAU’s board of trustees.

Metzger found that state statutes
governing the HBOI Foundation’s
Direct Support Organization agree-
ment with FAU “provided for FAU
review and oversight of the Founda-
tion’s budget.”

Metzger’s Dec. 3 ruling also deter-
mined the HBOI Foundation failed to
meet its burden of proof for the allega-
tion of anticipatory breach of contract
regarding FAU’s attempts to take con-
trol of the endowment.

However, Metzger ruled all ap-
pointments made to the HBOI Foun-
dation’s board of directors after July

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Harbor Branch “In 2105 and 2016 the FAU board of
trustees voted to approve the Founda-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 tion’s budget,” Metger wrote. “No one
from the Foundation raised objections
trol over its budget and endowment to these Foundation budget approv-
spending when it entered a Direct als by the FAU board in either 2015 or
Support Agreement with the FAU 2016.”
board of directors in 2007 as part of
the Memorandum of Understanding “Approval of the Foundation’s bud-
for the merger. get was not an issue of contention be-
tween FAU and the Foundation until
The HBOI Foundation sought the 2017 when FAU’s Dr. Daniel Flynn (vice
merger with FAU in 2006 because it president of research) began discuss-
was losing money and afraid of going ing the possibility of FAU taking on
out of business, Metzger determined. certain administrative functions of the
Foundation,” Metzger wrote.
“The Foundation knew it had agreed
to be a DSO, perhaps not happily,” Flynn had proposed asserting great-
Metzger wrote. “But with the DSO des- er control over the HBOI Foundation’s
ignation, the Foundation knew its bud- funds so they could be used to cover
get would go to FAU’s board of trustees the FAU Division of Research’s expens-
and allowed to do so in 2015 and 2016.” es, court records show. 

California buyers Landers said he saw “a huge” in-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 crease in California buyers last year,
selling more to them in 2021 than in
Partners Cindy O’ Dare and Richard all the years since he started in real es-
Boga at Premier Estate Properties said tate in Vero in the late 1980s.
the extraordinary influx of buyers from
the West Coast accounted “for a huge The gold rush of buyers from Cali-
percentage of the increase in sales,” as fornia was part of the overall pan-
they more than doubled their transac- demic migration, in which millions of
tion volume in 2021 people fled crowded urban areas, re-
locating to attractive small towns and
“Our two biggest oceanfront sales embracing remote work.
were to California buyers, and we had
many other sales to people from Los An- But it was also fueled by other pow-
geles and San Francisco,” said O’Dare. erful financial and social factors, some
related to the pandemic, some not, ac-
Those two big transactions alone cording to island brokers.
– the $22 million sale of 10 Ocean in
Indian River Shores in July and the $27 “From talking to my buyers it was
million sale of the estate at 1920 A1A mainly driven by finances,” said Land-
in November – significantly boosted ers. “Taxes are drastically lower here
their 2021 total. and you get so much more for your
money when you buy a house. There,
“We have certainly seen an increase you basically get a shack for $1 million,
in buyers from California,” agreed a 1,200-square-foot house. Here, you
Carol Prezioso, managing broker at the can get a nice house on the island.”
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices of-
fice on the island. “They are coming Statistics and online listings back up
from all parts of California, with most Lander’s perception.
purchasing in the $500,000 to $2 mil-
lion price range and one of our buyers On Monday a 2-bedroom, 2-bath,
looking in the $20 million-plus range.” 740-square-foot house in La Jolla, a
beachy area of San Diego, was listed for
“We had a large number of Cali- $1 million. InVero, a 2-bedroom, 2-bath,
fornia buyers, 10 to 15 percent of our 1,945-square-foot house on Mocking-
total,” said Bobbie Holt, managing bird Drive in Central Beach was offered
broker at ONE Sotheby’s. “They of- for $899,000 – two and a half times the
ten want to look in Jupiter and Palm space in a comparable location for less
Beach as well as Vero Beach, but most money.
come back Vero when they realize the
value and unique lifestyle here. They In December 2021, the median sale
are amazed at the cost of our ocean price for a home in Vero Beach was
and riverfront properties.” $329,900, according to Realtor.com. In
Los Angeles and San Diego, the median
Brokers say the Californians, flush sales price was more than double that,
with cash, bought homes almost ex- ringing up at $795,000 in both cities.
clusively on the barrier island, often
on the river or ocean. In San Francisco, the median sold
price was $1.5 million, more than four
“I sold one $350,000 house in Pointe times the Vero figure.
West to a California buyer, but that
was an investment property,” said Luxury waterfront prices were even
Berkshire Hathaway agent Chip Land- more divergent. Median list prices in
ers, “All the rest were on the island, in December were $3.7 million in New-
the $1 million to $1.5 million range.” port Beach and $3.9 million in Malibu,
compared to $950,000 in 32963.

In San Diego, median list prices in
La Jolla and Coronado, two prime wa-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 5

NEWS

terfront areas, were $2.4 million and costs, preschool bills and bar tabs. early – selling a $5 million house in swap would find it an even better deal.
$2.3 million, respectively, while the me- A person making $52,000 a year in Laguna Beach, buying a similar house “If you maintain your California
dian ask in San Francisco’s Marina Dis- here for $2 million, and investing the
trict was $2.7 million. Vero would need to make $100,000 windfall – walks around smiling. compensation and work from Florida,
in Los Angeles to maintain the same where home prices and cost of living
Overall, the cost of living is much quality of life, according to bestplaces. Someone who keeps their Silicon are much lower, it is a real win,” said
lower in Vero Beach, too, with cheap- com’s 2022 cost of living calculator. Valley or downtown Los Angeles job Rei Mesa, president and CEO of Berk-
er gas, groceries, transportation and moves here with a similar house
A Californian who decides to retire CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

California buyers nia, but people liked the lifestyle,” said especially on the 32963 barrier island. Beach County to Brevard County and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 Dale Sorensen Jr., managing partner FBI statistics show that the percep- back.
of his family’s company. “When what
shire Hathaway HomeServices Florida you get for those taxes is crime, home- tion of more crime in California is ac- The route includes the St. Sebastian
Realty, who oversees some 40 offices lessness and restrictions on kids going curate in some places, not so accurate River Railroad Bridge, a 1,625-foot-
in 21 counties in the state. to school, people get fed up.” in others. long structure built in 1926 that
Brightline is replacing with twin con-
Based on the bestplaces.com fig- “They have been shut down a lot For instance, in 2019 there were 494 crete railroad bridges.
ures, someone making $200,000 in more than we have here,” said Land- violent crimes per 100,000 people in
Los Angeles effectively gets a raise to ers. “They know we have a governor Los Angeles, compared to 209 in the But the trains were to carry only
$390,000 by moving to Vero, where who keeps things open and since they Vero Beach/Sebastian area, but in Or- crew members, not passengers, com-
money goes almost twice as far. can work from wherever they want, ange County, where Newport Beach pany spokeswoman Katie Mitzner said
why not move to a place with lower and Laguna Beach are located, the Monday.
For icing on the financial benefits taxes and fewer restrictions that is number was 230, not much different
cake, California has a steep state in- much more affordable?” than here. Brightline expects to operate one
come tax, which can take a bigger bite qualifying train per day on the FECR
out of workers’ paychecks than federal “They are tired of traffic, crime and But perception is what matters to tracks, so engineers and conductors
income tax, while Florida has no state congestion,” said island broker Sally people making the move, along with can learn about the new route and its
income tax. That one difference could Daley. “I’ve had a number of clients, all the financial advantages, and for railroad crossings, Mitzner said.
potentially boost the $200,000 Los An- one in particular, saying they just can’t now, “California buyers are driving
geles worker’s effective Vero income tolerate the runaway homelessness our market,” according to Holt, push- “Operating a train requires engi-
another $20,000 to $410,000. anymore. That client lives in a nice ing “the increase in prices and num- neers and conductors to be intimately
house is a very nice neighborhood ber of cash transactions.”  familiar with the rail corridor, includ-
But all those financial incentives where there is a divided boulevard with ing road crossings, signals, curves and
have been in place for decades with- a median and the homeless are allowed Brightline trains speed restrictions,” Mitzner said. An
out enticing California buyers to In- to camp there. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 experienced manager who has al-
dian River County. So what tipped the ready been qualified for the route will
balance? “Coming and going every day past week in anticipation of completing provide instruction and oversight to
those encampments, seeing excre- the high-speed passenger line’s $2.7 the train crews.
Island brokers said their buyers ment in the streets, having to worry billion extension to Orlando by the
have told them that increased crime, about public safety and public health end of the year. The first train was to leave West
homelessness and pandemic restric- issues has gotten to be too much for Palm Beach 7 a.m., Tuesday and reach
tions in California are what pushed her.” For these test runs, the Brightline Micco by 10 a.m., Mitzner said. The
them over the edge, with the new passenger trains were to operate at a train then was to return to West Palm
world of remote work enabling many Vero Beach has a problem with maximum speed of 60 mph, same as Beach.
of the moves. homelessness, too, but it isn’t as ap- the FECR freight trains, from Palm
parent or overwhelming here as in San After that, Brightline planned
“Taxes were always high in Califor- Francisco or downtown Los Angeles, to operate qualifying trains on the
FECR tracks from West Palm Beach to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

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8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Brightline trains coa to Orlando International Airport Maria Leclair, whose small house “Yesterday morning, it was dark
– a stretch where trains are to travel on 137th Court in Roseland abuts the and they were out there banging. It
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 125 mph. train tracks, said she, her husband and was just before sunrise on a Sunday.
their home have been shaken to the The house, I mean, it was shaking
Cocoa and back once a day, Mitzner The passenger trains travel 80 mph core by the massive cranes conducting so bad. The walls shake, the floors
said. between Miami and West Palm Beach. pile driving operations just feet away. shake. The dishes are rattling in the
cabinets. The sliding glass doors are
Brightline has been constructing a Brightline resumed operating 32 “They’re just banging away,” Leclair shaking.
second track and improving railroad trains per day in South Florida, 16 in said Monday. “We’ve got three giant
crossings on the FECR tracks from each direction, on Nov. 8 after halting cranes right here putting pilings in. It’s “It takes my joy away. It really has,”
West Palm Beach to Cocoa for nearly service March 25, 2020 at the start of getting closer to the house, so that’s Leclair said. “Before when they were
two years to meet Federal Railroad the COVID-19 pandemic. why the banging is really intense now. out over the river, it wasn’t as bad.
Administration regulations for trains But now it’s literally in the backyard.
that will travel up to 110 mph. Sometime in 2023, Brightline antici- “It goes right through your whole They pulled down all the trees from
pates zipping 32 trains per day through body,” Leclair said about the vibra- our house to the river. The scenery
Brightline is also building new Indian River County, including the tions from the pile driving. “You can has completely changed. The train, I
train tracks alongside the Beachline Downtown Vero Beach business dis- feel your body shaking. Literally, your mean, it’s in our yard now.” 
Expressway/State Road 528 from Co- trict and Historic Roseland, en route body is shaking.”
from West Palm Beach to Orlando.

CRISTELLE CAY COVID surge

One must not wait until dusk to see how splendid life can be CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Oceanfront Cristelle Cay is entirely surrounded by preserves in perpetuity tive for COVID-19 more than tripled,
Find matchless quality and value in a wide pristine beach setting from 20 hospitalizations on the Jan. 7
Each condominium has a 32’ x 8’ direct oceanfront patio balcony report to 61 on the Jan. 14 report. Those
numbers increased over the weekend,
All windows and sliding glass doors exceed the Florida Building Code and by Sunday the Centers for Disease
Custom design ceilings~Marble Bathrooms~Engineered wood floors~Painting Control and Prevention’s COVID Data
Tracker showed 74 new hospitaliza-
Custom Gourmet Kitchen tions here in the previous seven days.
9-unit SAILFISH has three 3-bedroom & 3-bathroom condos remaining
12-unit MAHI-MAHI has five 2-bedroom & 3-bathroom condos remaining As of Monday morning, Cleveland
Garage parking - AC storage units - Gym - Gated Entry - Dog Walk - Barbecue Clinic Indian River Hospital had 41
patients in its regular COVID wards,
Design-Developed by Cardinal Ocean Development LLC plus another seven in the COVID In-
52-years Florida oceanfront condominium development tensive Care Unit, for a total of 48 Cov-
id-positive patients, according to hos-
Peer-reviewed engineering integrity pital President Dr. Greg Rosencrance.

Now Under Construction The Indian River Shores Public
Safety Department serves some of the
4804 Atlantic Beach Boulevard (A1A) North Hutchinson Island, Florida county’s most vulnerable-by-age to
Fifteen minutes south of Vero Beach 17th Street Bridge serious COVID-19 illness, but Deputy
Email: [email protected] Tel: 772.321.9590 Chief Mark Shaw said the ambulance
from $1,025,000 crews have not seen an uptick in calls
where patients need to be transported
60% Sold to the hospital due to COVID.

Sailfish Mahi Mahi “This variant has been mild,” Shaw
said, strictly in terms of tasking the
Shores’ emergency medical response
teams. “But I also think our residents
have a higher vaccination rate.”

As of Sunday, 92.6 percent of Indian
River County residents age 65 and old-
er were fully vaccinated, and a full 55
percent of those senior citizens have
also had a booster shot.

Nearly three-quarters of all Indian
River County adults are fully vacci-
nated, and 88 percent of local adults
have had at least one dose of COVID
vaccine.

State health department reports say
that 27,000 Indian River County resi-
dents – 16 percent of the population
– have tested positive for COVID-19
since the start of the pandemic coro-
navirus testing in 2020.

That means 84 percent of Indian
River County residents have not yet
reported testing positive for COV-
ID-19.

At-home rapid antigen test results are
generally not included in the state data. 



10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Work may resume soon on bridges of Indian River County

BY SAMANTHA BAITA The 17th Street bridge project – re- it was immediately shutting down all of the bridge either during the work or
Staff Writer inforcing the beams to repair cracked, operations. while the work is on hold.
flaking concrete – had already been
Projects that dead in the water under delayed several times since it began Since then, the Florida Department The westbound work is done, and
two heavily traveled bridges spanning in 2020, mainly because more work of Transportation has been furiously the eastbound side will be closed to
the Indian River Lagoon – Vero Beach’s had to be done than originally antici- “seeking new contracting methods” traffic until the project is complete.
17th Street bridge and the Wabasso pated. to get the impacted projects back on
Causeway bridge – should be back on track. The Wabasso Causeway high span
track in a couple of months, according Then, on Oct. 22, work on both bridg- fencing project, too, had already been
to the Florida Department of Transpor- es stopped after the contractor, multi- The good news is that soon, work delayed before the DBi shutdown,
tation. million-dollar, international DBi Ser- may be resuming. after island residents successfully
vices Company, abruptly announced fought against the original design,
According to District 4 Communi- saying it would obstruct the iconic
cations Manager Guillermo Canedo, river view.
FDOT has executed a contract with
its new asset maintenance contrac- When that project was halted, stan-
tor, Louis Berger, and maintenance chions had already been placed on
work on the 17th Street Bridge is ex- both sides of the bridge and, before they
pected to restart “within the next few could be removed, DBi had gone belly
weeks. up.

“No additional scope (of work) has According to Kehres, “currently the
been identified which would lead to FDOT is working with our asset man-
deviation in our planned repairs,” he agement contractor to procure quotes
added. for the work to remove previously in-
stalled stanchions, and for the instal-
All the work takes place under the lation of the new CalTrans railing sys-
bridge, and it was 65 percent to 70 tem.
percent complete when the shutdown
occurred. “As of today, no price quote or
contractor has been selected for
The beam replacement is a mainte- completion of the work. A contract
nance project which, said FDOT Dis- is anticipated by mid-February,”
trict 4 Operations Engineer Kris Keh- Kehres said. 
res, does not compromise the safety

Man to be sentenced for hiding camera in bathroom

BY LISA ZAHNER deal with State Attorney Tom Bakke-
Staff Writer dahl’s office that would keep the home
electronics and information technol-
The defendant in a May 2020 case in ogy contractor in the community, with
which two teenage girls found a camera some minor restrictions.
hidden in their bathroom in the island
estate commonly known as the “Wack- The Indian River Shores Public Safe-
enhut House” has pled no contest to ty Department caught Starkweather
two felony charges of video voyeurism retrieving the camera allegedly plant-
and is scheduled to be sentenced next ed in the home in Bermuda Bay while
month – not to prison, but to probation. he was doing electronics work for the
family, and analysts from the Indian
The defense attorney for Lennon River County Sheriff’s office analyzed
Ford Starkweather, 38, negotiated a plea
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12



12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Camera hidden in bathroom to impose a stiffer sentence than two
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 years of probation at the Feb. 7 hear-
ing, court records say that Starkweath-
Starkweather’s computers and found er can withdraw his plea.
supporting evidence.
Charging documents against Stark-
“The State and the Defendant agree weather say the two teenage girls
that the sentence will be two years of who were being filmed discovered the
probation and the defendant will un- “stealth camera” disguised as a fully
dergo a mental health assessment and functioning cellphone charger box.
follow any treatment course indicated, When they did a Google search, they
have no contact with the victims, do not found the device was actually a stealth
return to the scene of the offense, and video camera sold on Amazon.com.
the defendant will not work in the infor-
mation technology field during the term Police subsequently installed their
of the probation,” court records state. own surveillance cameras, and video-
taped Starkweather returning to the
The maximum sentence that could be house and retrieving the camera.
imposed by the court, according to the
plea agreement paperwork, was 10 years Indian River Shores Public Safety
in prison and a $10,000 fine, but that sen- Chief Rich Rosell and Deputy Chief
tence would most likely only be invoked Mark Shaw on Monday both expressed
if the defendant had prior offenses. disappointment at the light negotiated
sentence.
Should Judge Dan Vaughn reject
the negotiated plea deal and choose Rosell said the evidence in the case
was solid and prosecution should have
been a “slam dunk.” 

VERO, SHORES SET FOR UTILITY MEDIATION

BY LISA ZAHNER to make the territories permanent.
Staff Writer Retired Judge Paul Kanarek, who was

Legal teams from the Town of In- hired to mediate the dispute, recently
dian River Shores and the City of Vero sent the parties a list of 10 questions
Beach were set to enter pre-trial me- for them to answer to better prepare for
diation this week in a federal antitrust the session. Among the things Kanarek
lawsuit filed by the Shores against Vero wants to know are why the Shores wants
over the city’s claim to a permanent to leave Vero’s system, and how much it
water-sewer service territory which would cost for Indian River County to
includes the town. add the Shores to its utility system.

In the lawsuit, Indian River Shores “I think he wants to have those an-
claims a 1989 agreement splitting Indi- swers in hand before we sit down to-
an River County into water-sewer ser- gether,” City Manager Monte Falls said.
vice territories – placing the Shores in
Vero’s territory – is a violation of federal The Vero City Council discussed
antitrust laws because, if enforced, it the utility dispute at the Jan. 4 council
prevents the Shores from seeking com- meeting, and Mayor Robbie Brackett
petitive rates for an essential service. reported back on a meeting he had
with Shores Mayor Brian Foley. The
Vero claims the 1989 agreement two mayors had discussed measures
clearly grants the city a permanent ser- that would allow the county and the
vice territory, and that it was the intent Shores to talk about the county’s po-
of the local elected officials at that time tential interest in serving the Shores
without fear of retribution from Vero.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 13

NEWS

“I’ve asked Mr. (John) Turner (the get to the end quicker,” Brackett said. cials have said repeatedly that they have could just clear the fog, I think we
city attorney) to look at is it possible Falls and Brackett pointed out that, no intention of going after any of Vero’s could resolve this darn problem, and it
to set aside, with permission from this utility customers. But the Shores seems wouldn’t be hard.” Neville said one big
council, obviously, to set aside some to date, Vero has never gotten a formal determined to exit Vero’s system and to missing piece of information is wheth-
of the restrictions of that agreement so request from the County Commission convince the county to take them on. er or not Indian River County even has
they can talk to the county openly just for the freedom to negotiate with the the capability to service the Shores util-
to speed up the process and hopefully Shores about providing water-sewer Vice Mayor Rey Neville said: “There’s ity customers. 
service to the town. In fact, county offi- a lot of fog out there yet and if we



Debbie Wells with Holly
and Debbie Greer with Yogi.

DOGGED DETERMINATION TO HAVE
FUN AT ‘BARK IN THE PARK’ P. 24

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

International Open: Grand Harbor aces it, on and off courts

Emily Bullard, Jeffrey Zachary and Marco Osorio. Sheriff Eric Flowers and Dr. Barry Garcia. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF & KAILA JONES KICK-OFF
Dick Tompkins, Mayor Robbie Brackett and Michael Gibson.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Flowers and quipped that he was glad the United States. Osorio had invited “It’s the first time I’ve ever installed
to see him back at Grand Harbor for a the Vero Beach High School girl’s ten- a show without walls,” said Moses with
Staff Writer reason other than the recent car chase, nis team to attend the tournament so a laugh, reflecting on her 30-year ca-
that had ended, fortunately safely, on that they could see firsthand what it reer as a gallery owner in Boston.
The Grand Harbor Golf & Beach the Grand Harbor golf course. takes to play professionally.
Club left it all out on the courts during The show featured local, profession-
the week-long Vero Beach Internation- “We’re going to try and keep all the Inspired by a tournament in Key al artists Barbara Krupp, Shotsi Cain
al Open Tennis Tournament. cars off of the tennis courts while you Biscayne, Emily Bullard, GH tennis Lajoie, Gustaf Miller, Janvier Miller
have this event,” said Flowers. “We manager, picked up the proverbial and Maciek von Ato in the “Five at
From the high-level play on the want to make news with this great tennis ball and ran with it, opting to Grand Harbor” show, displayed in the
courts by some of the top women pro- event but not that kind of news.” include various social events to help grand foyer of the clubhouse.
fessional tennis players in the world, encourage camaraderie among club
to the week’s multiple social events, The genesis for hosting the event members, especially now that the club “I was looking for a cohesive, intel-
Grand Harbor scored points in its ef- took hold a year ago, shortly after is open to non-resident memberships. ligent and talented group of paintings
fort to breathe new life back into the Grand Harbor club members had and sculptures,” said Moses.
now member-owned club. taken over its management, explained With a team of at least 50 volun-
Michael Gibson, general manager. “We teers and the full force of Grand Har- The work of several club members
Players from 30 countries ranked wanted Vero Beach to know that ten- bor’s staff, they planned a full week of was also showcased around the dining
from Nos. 150 to 300 competed in the nis at Grand Harbor is alive and well.” events, which were open to the public room – a visual reminder that demon-
tournament, their eyes on the $25,000 and included something for everyone strated that Grand Harbor has more
prize purse and the opportunity to Having previously hosted the Mardy to enjoy. to offer than tennis and golf for those
improve their ranking in the United Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis pursuing other amusements.
States Tennis Association Women’s Championship, members wanted to Fashionistas gathered one evening
Pro Circuit. bring that level of play back to Grand for a “fashion extravaganza” orga- The week of festivities and play con-
Harbor, said Gibson. nized by Ruth Farrell that featured cluded with a gala in grand style at
Attendees enjoyed high intensity clothing for men and women both the clubhouse, featuring foods from
matches during the blustery but most- “We’re excited about 2022. We’re off on and off the court. Club members around the world. Guests dusted off
ly beautiful days, and later made their to a great start,” said Gibson, inspired had fun modeling clothing from the evening wear that had been closeted
way to the various options available to by the level of play the young women Grand Harbor Tennis & Golf Shops, since the onset of the pandemic and
them in the evenings. exhibited. J. McLaughlin and Maus & Hoffman headed out for a glamorous night.
as their friends dined on a dinner of They dined on international fare and
Several community leaders stopped “A year ago, the club was closed. I surf and turf. There was no shortage listened to the music of the Riptides
in for the opening ceremonies to wel- didn’t know if I would have a job. See- of good-natured ribbing as Tompkins Band, playing their 2022 music debut.
come the participants and guests ing how Grand Harbor is now, how you and Gibson stepped in as male mod- It didn’t take long for the beloved band
alike. made that happen, is amazing,” said els. to kick things up a notch, enticing
Marco Osorio, director of tennis. guests to work off their fabulous din-
“It’s great to see the community Several of the tournament players ners on the dance floor.
come together. It’s great that Grand He explained that with Mardy Fish had also enthusiastically agreed to
Harbor is continuing to bring pro- already hosting the men’s tournament model some of the women’s clothing, As the member-owned club works
fessional tennis back to Vero Beach. in Vero Beach, Osorio thought it was but Mother Nature put a halt to those to revive its status as a top-notch ten-
It’s events like this that really touch time to showcase some female players’ plans. After a day of rain canceled play, nis facility, they are looking forward
home,” said Vero Beach Mayor Robbie talent. Tennis professionals answered the players were still on the courts to hosting men’s and women’s senior
Brackett. “It’s really about the coming the call, with 300 players applying to when the fashion show began. Thank- tournaments in May and October,
together of people that have a passion play in the tournament. fully, club members agreed to take and, according to Osorio, have addi-
for a sport.” more than one turn down the runway, tional plans in the works for a junior-
Among the players was Vero’s own and the evening continued without a level tournament.
“We have a wonderful tennis pro- Grace Levelston, who began swinging hitch.
gram at Grand Harbor. Tennis is such the racquet at age 5 with the Mardy “We will grow this event. We will go
a critical part of our community,” said Fish Children’s Foundation. Osorio The next evening, aesthetes enjoyed for $60,000 and then $100,000 to help
Dick Tompkins, Grand Harbor Ten- began working with her when she was wine and elegant hors d’oeuvres as the tennis community. Vero Beach is a
nis Committee chair, adding that this 6 years old. they perused an art show curated by huge tennis community. We want the
was just the beginning of their plans to Meredyth Hyatt Moses. community to believe in the tourna-
“resurrect the club.” He said that during the time she ment,” said Osorio. 
played in the 12 and under and 14 and
Tompkins welcomed Sheriff Eric under tournaments, she was No. 1 in

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 17

PEOPLE

Josie Mundy, Rosemary Catanzaro, Linda Baran and Dawn Rogers. Frank and Linda Heinemann. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
Pat Andrus with Helen and Michael Evans.

Dave Brown and Roger Andrus.

Sophie Williams, Anastasia Sysoeva and KB Maleka.

LeeAnn Haury, Reliford Sanders and Marcela Calderale.
Chiqui Guiribitey and Gracie Levelston.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Vera Lapko.
Sophie Chang.

Louisa Chirico. Reese Brantmeier. TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Elvina Kalieva.

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 19

PEOPLE

Wanda Hattaway and Diane DeFrancisci. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
John Giesea and Jeb Bartow.

Marco Osorio and Michael Gibson. Celia Montgomery, Kim Begien, Ruth Farrell, Ann Faunce and Sue Cole. FASHION SHOW
Sherry Henderson and Tracy Mooney.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
Lana Heinze, Catherine Spahr and Lauren Kushner.

Susan Bond and Ron Philo. Kathy Mecca and Janine Nebons.

Mare Cappuccio, Nancy Walsh, Linda Kruger and Ani Kruger.

Bridget Hyslop and Felicia Patton. FASHION SHOW
Diane Finnegan and Theresa Brady.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 21

PEOPLE

Barbara Krupp. Ann McIlvain, Susan Werner and Dede Gilbert. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
Emily Bullard and Meredyth Hyatt Moses.

ART SHOW/WINE SOCIAL
Doug and Susanne Sweeny with Sharon Tauber and Mike Goldberg.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 Susanne Sweeney with Tony and Marge Randazzo and John Faunce. Dr. Tom and Joanne Balshi with Pat and Bob Stahl.
Carl and Connie Wessinger.

Charlene Friedman, Liz Crowther, Pat Reynolds and Jacqui Mason. Jeanine Nestor, Liz Germer and Emily Bullard. DINNER/DANCE GALA
Ann Faunce with Jim and Mary Allen Martin.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 23

PEOPLE

Dr. Erol Atamer and Dr. Marie Scherer with Denise and Dr. Luis Cisneros.

Gary Schulman and Cecilia Brock. Sharon Tauber and Mike Goldberg.

Lace and Bob Milligan. Catherine and Mark Ensio.

DINNER/DANCE GALA
John and Elaine Reynolds with Ruth and Ed Farrell.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Dogged determination to have fun at ‘Bark in the Park’

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Wendy Trimarche with Kate Meghji. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES der their pets, she explained that they
Staff Writer work with other nonprofits to help
formed by the Disc-Connected K9’s veterinarians, animal photography owners access the care they need.
The answer was a resounding World Famous Frisbee Dogs, demos by and paraphernalia, fencing options,
“Woof!” to anyone who asked, “Who the Indian River County Sheriff’s Of- pet spas and boarding. “Why take a pet from a family that
let the dogs out?” at the 10th annual fice K-9’s and, new this year, the Puppy loves it and try to find it a new home,
Bark in the Park at Riverside Park to Pals Comedic Stunt Dog Show, res- The day, according to Kate Meghji, when we can simply help that family
benefit the Humane Society of Vero cued dogs that showed what animals HSVBIRC executive director, was all keep their pet?” asked Meghji.
Beach and Indian River County. can do when given guidance. about “celebrating our pets and bring-
ing our community together. It’s a way “Whether it’s providing food, veteri-
Organizers estimated that more Dog-centric vendors informed to see the joy these amazing dogs bring nary care or short-term housing while
than 2,000 canine companions, and about animal rescue nonprofits, local to people and feel the importance of someone is going through a transition,
some 10,000 of their human contem- those relationships.” I think the future of animal welfare re-
poraries, were in attendance. Great ally is about helping pet owners keep
Danes towered over Chihuahuas, and Although she goes home at the end of their pets for the long haul, so that the
regal Irish Setters looked down their the event, happily covered with drool shelter piece is there for the animals
long noses in amusement as pit-bull and dog hair, Meghji said, “It’s the best who need it the most and who need
pups frolicked with newfound friends, feeling. It helps remind us of why we do a little more care,” Meghji explained.
leaves, and perhaps a butterfly or two. the work that we do. To help save ani- “The animals that are coming in right
mals, because we know that they can now are mostly stray or surrendered
There was plenty for everyone to be loved and have wonderful lives.” for reasons that we can’t ameliorate.”
do – two- and four-footed alike. Pups
quickly turned their attention to The Humane Society provides hu- With more people staying home
showing their speed and agility on the mane care and shelter to homeless during the pandemic, they were able
lure course, prancing in the dog pa- animals, places adoptable pets in lov- to take those animals in, said Meghji.
rade and costume contest, leaping into ing homes, and promotes spaying and She added that having foster families
the pool from the Ultimate Air Dock neutering and responsible pet owner- take the time to socialize and get to
and creating paw art as they traipsed ship. know the animals better helped with
across paper. more effective placement.
Meghji said during the pandemic,
Crowds were amazed by tricks per- they shifted their focus toward im- At one point recently, Meghji said,
proving access to veterinary care in there was only one cat available for
underserved parts of our community. adoption in the shelter.
Rather than having families surren-
“Because we were able to reset our
population by getting a lot out at the
beginning [of the pandemic], we’ve
been able to maintain a healthy, lower-
level population. That’s a great prob-
lem to have.”

The Humane Society has also
worked more closely with overcrowd-
ed shelters elsewhere, anticipating
needs, helping them to prepare for dis-
placed animals after storms, and pro-
viding them with a place to send their
animals when needed.

On March 14, the Humane Society
will host its annual Cause for Paws gala
at Oak Harbor. For more information,
visit hsvb.org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 25

PEOPLE

Nancy Briggs with Lilly, Virginia Schwerin with Zoe and Liz Briggs with Lucy.

Bill Krawczyk and Wilson with Maria and Corey Wilson.

Kathy and Grace Petersen with Beckett. Nury and George Sifuentes with Red and Blue. Champion Swayze Lachey.

26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Rotary Walk for Peace initiative ensures youth will be served

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 of fellowship and to discuss the impor- have these kids think about the world
Staff Writer tance of the initiative and how best to outside themselves. To think about
Andrea Barkett and Elaine Jones. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF implement it in the county. peace and conflict resolution, which in
Members of the local Rotary Clubs our world and America today is really,
walked the walk and talked the talk he spent the night before heading off Indian River Charter High School really important,” he added.
with Rotary District 6930 Governor Mi- the following day for Fort Pierce. is one of 281 schools across the nation
chael Walstrom, as he passed through participating in the Youth & Peace in The idea, he said, was to get students
Indian River County last week during Walstrom’s goal is to raise $30,000 Action program through its ‘My Peace- to put their phones down, stop using
Rotary’s Walk for Peace campaign, to fund the Youth & Peace in Action builder Foundations’ online curricu- social media, and to think about their
which seeks to raise funds and aware- program, which is available to high lum, which focuses on peace and con- neighbors.
ness of the Rotary Youth & Peace in Ac- schools and youth organizations with- flict resolution.
tion initiative. in the district through Rotary Interna- “Think about the world around
tional’s Interact Clubs, their youth ser- Its interactive coursework includes you. And ask, ‘How can I be a part of
Wearing T-shirts declaring that they vice clubs. six modules that feature the funda- it? How can I be a group community
were “Obsessed with Rotary,” mem- mental drivers of conflict and peace, member, both locally and nationally?’”
bers met Walstrom at various sites After greeting him at the hotel, Ro- techniques for imagining innovative said Walstrom. “These kids will realize
along his nearly 200-mile trek from tary members gathered at the home of approaches to change, and skills need- they don’t have to feel bleak and hope-
one end of his district to the other – Ti- John and Tracy Carroll for an evening ed to develop and implement peace- less. They can do something and affect
tusville to Boca Raton. The six-county focused youth service projects. change. A lot of these kids get the sense
district represents 46 Rotary Clubs and that there’s just no hope. We want to
more than 1,100 members of the inter- Walstrom explained that Rotary In- empower them, to say that you can go
national nonprofit organization. ternational already had plans to imple- out there and make a difference.”
ment the program before the onset of
In our county, members of the Ro- the pandemic, and the need has be- Rotary is an international organiza-
tary Club of Sebastian were the first to come even greater. tion that devotes its efforts to support-
greet him near the Sebastian Inlet, fol- ing local and international humanitar-
lowed by members of the Oceanside, “Because of COVID, we’re seeing a ian projects, including hunger, poverty
Orchid Island, Sunrise and Vero Beach real rise in depression and teen suicide. and illiteracy.
clubs, who escorted him along the way This has been boiling for a while. There
to the Vero Beach Hotel & Spa, where are a lot of factors, but COVID kicked it For more information, visit youth-
up a notch,” said Walstrom. peaceaction.org or rotary6930.org. 

“This project was tailor-made to

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28 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Gene O’Donnell and Lyn Kenney.

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 John and Tracy Carroll.
County Commissioner Laura Moss, Michael Walstrom, Mayor Robbie Brackett and Capt. Matt Monaco.



30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

KOSCIUSZKO NATIONAL PARK, Australia – They mate change killed or displaced an estimated 3 billion mountainous acres. Now, with the 2019-2020 bush
had been stalking the remote, fire-scorched stretch animals, thousands of koalas were among the dead. fires boosting funding and urgency, the scientists
of forest for an hour in the sizzling midday sun when aimed to determine whether koalas were hiding in
Karen Marsh spotted something on the trunk of a Between the blazes, drought, disease and defor- one of the country’s best-known wilderness areas.
tall mountain gum. estation, almost a third of the country’s koalas have
disappeared since 2018, according to one conserva- The discovery would do more than just increase
“Do you see all the claw marks?” the ecologist asked tion group. the known number of koalas. It would also add to
a student research assistant, pointing to scratches in growing evidence that koalas can live at higher el-
the wood above a blackened base. “Something defi- The federal government is weighing whether to la- evations, raising hopes that the marsupials might
nitely likes going up this tree.” bel half the country’s koalas as endangered. survive global warming better than feared.

Marsh peered up at the canopy of eucalyptus The collapse is especially severe in New South So far, however, several weeks of searching had
leaves, hoping to catch a glimpse of the animal she Wales, where the bush fires destroyed 70 percent of produced only enigmatic scratches on trees like the
and a small team had spent weeks searching for – a some koala populations and a state inquiry warned ones Marsh now examined, some teeth marks that
koala. that the species will probably go extinct before 2050 might – or might not – belong to koalas, and some
without urgent government intervention. potential koala scat.
But one of Australia’s most iconic animals is get-
ting harder to find. Marsh and her colleagues had come to Kosciuszko Marsh turned her eyes from the trees to the ground.
National Park on a mission. For decades there had “Let’s see if there’s any poo,” she said, as she searched
Two years ago, when bush fires supercharged by cli- been speculation that koalas roamed its 1.7 million

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 31

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Kosciuszko National Park
protects highland areas
in Australia's southeast.

Ecologist Karen Marsh
measures a eucalyptus
tree while searching for
koalas in the Park.

for the cylindrical, eucalyptus-scented dung of a koala. baffled as to what the creature looked like until 1803, habitat shortage as eucalyptus forests were paved
Instead, there were only wombat droppings. But years when three koalas were captured and given to the for subdivisions. Although adapted to Australia’s fre-
of studying koalas had taught her that the animals are governor of New South Wales. quent dry spells, the animals couldn’t cope with a
adept at blending into gray gum trees. She sighed as climate-change-fueled drought in 2018 and 2019 that
she headed back to her pickup truck to survey another “An animal whose species was never before found saw dehydrated koalas literally dropping from trees.
section of forest. in the Colony is in His Excellency’s possession,” re-
ported the Sydney Gazette in 1803, likening the ko- Then came the Black Summer bush fires, which
“I’d love to know how many koalas we just walked ala to a wombat with soft gray fur, teeth like a rabbit burned more than 20 percent of Australia’s forests.
past,” she said. and sharp talons for climbing trees. “Its food con-
sists solely of gum leaves, in the choice of which it is Marsh, a research fellow at Australian National Uni-
Koalas have survived this long because of their excessively nice.” versity in Canberra, watched as the blaze roared to
elusiveness. Their small brains and slow movements within a few hundred yards of her house. She and her
make them easy to capture or kill. But when British Australia’s koala population plummeted over the colleagues began receiving calls from people who had
colonists arrived in 1788, it was a decade before they next century as the animals were hunted for their rescued koalas, some badly singed but others simply
recorded seeing one of the 10 million koalas esti- fur, a practice that culminated in a 1927 Queensland emaciated.
mated to have inhabited Australia at the time. cull that killed at least 600,000 in a month.
“They were in awful condition,” Marsh said of
The first specimens were dismembered paws ob- Koala killing was outlawed, but the animals con- the roughly 30 koalas that ended up at the lab. As
tained from Aboriginal guides, leaving the British tinued to suffer from a chlamydia epidemic and a
COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 INSIGHT COVER STORY Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 Above: Researcher James
Skewes and ecologist Karen
nocturnal animals, even a small rise A koala clings to a eucalyptus Marsh examine a map of
in temperature can make koalas less tree near Yengo National Park, potential koala locations.
hungry. But heat can also play havoc a few hours north of Sydney.
with a koala’s ability to break down the
toxins in eucalyptus. Left: A map showing locations
where researchers are looking
While Marsh and her colleagues for koalas in Kosciuszko
nursed the koalas back to health, they National Park.
were pleased to see the notoriously
picky eaters were able to consume
some types of epicormic growth, the
green shoots that sprout from burned
eucalyptus trees and can be especially
toxic. That enabled the researchers to
release the animals into the scorched
landscape a few months later. When
they did, they were surprised to find
that koalas that had survived in the
bush were doing just as well.

“Essentially, they recovered by them-
selves in the wild,” Marsh said, adding
that the findings, though still provision-
al, suggest koalas that survive bush fires
are less susceptible to starvation than
feared.

It’s hard to say how many koalas per-
ished in the Black Summer fires. WWF
Australia estimates that 60,000 were
killed or injured. The Australian Koala
Foundation says the species shrank by
30 percent in the past three years to
about 50,000, though government esti-
mates are several times as high.

What is clear is that the fires rekin-
dled popular concerns over an animal
that many Australians identify with,
even if most have never seen one out-
side a zoo.

Conservationists renewed calls
for the government to declare koalas
endangered – a decision on their sta-
tus in New South Wales, Queensland
and the Australian Capital Territory is
three months overdue – and addition-
al funds suddenly became available to
study the popular but poorly under-
stood animals.

That was how Marsh ended up at a
campground just outside Kosciuszko
National Park last month, perched
over a picnic table, studying a map
studded with blue stars.

Scientists have long speculated that
the stunning wilderness surrounding
Australia’s highest peak could harbor
koalas, but a 1940 sighting was followed
by decades of silence.

Then, in 2016, a motorist spotted a
male koala crossing a highway run-
ning through the park and snapped a
picture. The incident sparked renewed
interest, and in the past three years,
National Parks cameras set up to detect
invasive species such as foxes and deer
in Kosciuszko have captured images of
koalas on four occasions.

With a grant to go searching for the
mysterious marsupial population,
Marsh used a koala habitat suitability
model to select about 80 spots for small,
battery-powered audio recorders she
hoped would catch male koalas bellow-
ing to potential mates during the night.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

The thousands of hours of audio place at the right time, looking in the The rare find wasn’t a koala, but it was With the koala mating season end-
would be sent to a lab in Sydney, where right direction.” another threatened species of marsu- ing this month, the researchers have
they would be run through special ko- pial, one that Marsh and her colleagues only a few more weeks to search for
ala-call recognition software. Research- A half-hour later, Marsh and a stu- were also tasked with surveying. She the animals in Kosciuszko. But they are
ers would then listen to any hits to con- dent research assistant, Ashley Davies, made notes about the type and location only now recording some of the most
firm that they were koalas and not a park climbed out of the pickup truck onto a of the tree before starting the spotlight- promising sites, and the first batch of
ranger driving past in a pickup truck. desolate trail where owls hooted and ing. audio files have already come back
frogs croaked. A half-moon provided with lots of potential hits.
“I’ve heard many, many koalas, so I the only illumination until Marsh The glider had raised hopes that
feel confident,” Marsh said when asked switched on her headlamp. they would also see koalas here. But as As the researchers begin to go through
about her ability to identify the mating Marsh and Davies walked separately them, Marsh remains optimistic. You
calls. But before the two could start spot- through the forest, their flashlights can’t protect koalas if you don’t know
lighting, Marsh heard an odd gurgling found only empty gum trees. where they are, she said, yet Austra-
After examining the map, she and from the trees. She turned her light lians haven’t looked very hard.
an ANU student research assistant toward the sound and suddenly two Back at camp, they shared excite-
went to survey the trees at several sites small eyes beamed back from a branch. ment over the glider, tempered by the “There are probably more out there,”
while James Skewes took another stu- frustration of another day without see- she said. “But they are really hard to
dent to set up audio recorders. “That’s a yellow-bellied glider!” Marsh ing a koala. see.” 
said, trying not to shout.
Skewes, an ecologist accustomed
to the bush, powered his pickup truck
over fallen logs and streams until his
GPS device pinged. Then he and the
student, Ryan Lindenmayer, searched
for a dead tree on which to put the
recorder. Skewes checked the audio
settings using an app on his phone.
They’d have to return in a few weeks to
swap the memory card and batteries,
like spies tapping a foreign embassy.

Skewes was encouraged by the green
tufts that sprouted from scorched
eucalyptus trees at most of the sites.
While it was once thought koalas didn’t
live much above 3,300 feet – the eleva-
tion at which eucalyptus leaves lose
some of their nutritional content – sev-
eral years ago scientists discovered a
population of koalas that compensate
by chewing bark.

“This would be a good refuge for
them as we lose other habitats to cli-
mate change and development,” Skew-
es said as he drove to the next site, stir-
ring a pair of outrageously colored king
parrots. And finding a “flagship” spe-
cies like koalas could also lead to the
protection of lesser-known but more
endangered species in the park.

“I’d love to just look out and see a
koala,” he said as he set up another
recorder. “We would say, all right, we
know they’re here.”

As dusk fell on the campsite, kan-
garoos grazed on the banks of a bub-
bling creek. A few weeks into their
two-month project, the researchers
had seen snakes, possums, wombats,
wallabies, blue-tongued lizards and
the droppings of wild horses – but no
koalas. Now they were preparing to go
spotlighting, the process of methodi-
cally shining flashlights into trees at
night in the hope of seeing the reflec-
tion of an animal’s eyes.

“Can someone please spot a koala,”
Marsh said in half-serious desperation
as she and Skewes divided up the flash-
lights. “That’s all I’m asking.”

If the audio recorders were a broad
net, then these nighttime forays were
stabs in the dark.

“Spotlighting is a bit like looking
for a needle in a haystack,” Marsh
said. “You have to be in the right

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

Ukraine:It’shardtoseethewiggleroom But U.S. officials see other Russian draft treaty
language – invoking the Helsinki Final Act, the 1997
BY DAVID IGNATIUS that could provide the Russian leader with a version of Founding Act between Russia and NATO, and limits
The first round of diplomatic negotiations over what he says he wants – a new security architecture in on short- and intermediate-range missiles – as build-
Ukraine played out pretty much as expected: The Europe – without compromising any important NATO ing blocks for an agreement that the United States
Russian representative made an extravagant de- principles. That’s the ideal outcome of such a crisis: an and its allies would welcome.
mand for “ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally agreement that makes all sides safer and more secure.
binding guarantees” that Ukraine would never join The Biden administration would probably support,
NATO. His U.S. counterpart rejected this and some Ryabkov’s own words suggest that perhaps there’s a for example, joint limits on military exercises and on
other proposals as “simply nonstarters.” pathway forward. Before the meeting with Sherman, some forward-deployed offensive weapons systems.
It was hard to see much wiggle room there, even in a he was asked by the newspaper Izvestia about Russian
world where negotiators often start very far apart. But demands for “security guarantees.” Ryabkov’s answer Putin has expressed concerns about missiles that
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and was telling in its seeming willingness to compromise – would give Russia only a few minutes warning be-
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman agreed in contrast with last week’s strident public comments. fore a decapitating attack on Moscow; this demand
to keep talking. And, as Sherman said, “it’s very hard for could probably also be addressed. The same with
diplomats to do the work we do if you have no hope.” “Diplomacy involves seeking solutions based on Putin’s complaints about flights near Russia’s bor-
The Biden administration didn’t blink in this open- a balance of interests,” he said. “We do not intend to ders by nuclear-capable B-52 and B-1 bombers. That
ing round in Geneva. In the aftermath of the meeting, contest every single objection – otherwise it would sort of nuclear saber-rattling serves no one in 2022.
U.S. officials prepared for the possibility that Russia be a preemptory demand on our part rather than a
could break off the talks and invade Ukraine as far proposal to negotiate.” If Putin wants security assurances such as these, he’s
west as Kyiv, or launch cyberattacks and other provo- probably pushing on an open door. Explains William
cations to destabilize the Ukrainian government. Biden administration officials have explored a pack- B. Taylor Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine: “A
U.S. intelligence officials think President Vladimir age of proposals that might address Putin’s insistence return to the transparency, confidence building and
Putin hasn’t yet decided which option he prefers. To that he’s threatened by NATO, without undermining risk reduction that would come with an agreement on
prepare for the worst case of an all-out invasion, U.S. the alliance. Take the draft treaty on “security guaran- military exercises would make both sides, NATO and
and allied intelligence officials are visiting Kyiv to plan tees” that Russia announced in December. The United Russia, more secure. If these negotiations proceed, it
a well-armed insurgency that could severely harass the States rejects some provisions, such as a formal ban on will have been worth it.”
attackers. If Russia climbed the ladder of escalation and Ukraine’s NATO membership.
tried to punish the United States with cyberattacks, the But Putin may well desire something more, which
Biden administration is ready to respond in kind. is to rewrite history. In her book “Putin’s World: Rus-
Why is Putin considering such risks in Ukraine? Ad- sia Against the West and With the Rest,” Angela Stent
ministration officials think the Russian leader fears writes that the Russian leader wants the West “to treat
that the window is closing on his ability to affect the Russia as if it were the Soviet Union” and to “renegoti-
political future there. Kyiv is moving inexorably away ate the end of the Cold War.” Those atavistic dreams
from Russia and toward the West; it’s drawing closer to are impossible.
NATO, to the point that it’s almost a de facto member,
even though actual membership is distant, if ever. Countries that have been nursing a grudge, as Pu-
This crisis is likely still in its early stages, adminis- tin’s Russia does, are often tempted to strike at what
tration officials believe. And before Putin takes the they think is the core of the problem. Israel did that
irrevocable step of launching a war in Europe, White when it invaded Lebanon in 1982. The United States
House officials are framing a diplomatic approach did the same in its 2003 invasion of Iraq. Both are
widely recognized as costly strategic mistakes. Now,
Russia is considering a similar roll of the dice.

Russia’s desire to feel secure within its borders isn’t
unreasonable. Every country wants that. But if Putin
thinks he can achieve this goal by invading Ukraine,
he’s almost certain to fail. 

A version of this column first appeared in TheWash-
ington Post. It does not necessarily reflect the views of
Vero Beach 32963.

During the coronavirus crisis, our Pelican Plaza office is closed to visitors. We appreciate your understanding.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 35

INSIGHT OPINION

Tricia Lewis decided not to attend a When I called Vivid Seats, they were had been postponed to October. I am you should have been able to file a
show in New Orleans because of surg- experiencing "high call volume," so I extremely disappointed in the way claim. It looks like you decided to piv-
ing COVID. Vivid Seats refuses her re- tried contacting the company via email. Vivid Seats has handled this. Can you ot to a credit card dispute quickly. You
quest for a refund. Is there a way to get I received an automatic response that help me get a refund of $526 for my can file a credit card dispute under
her money back? an agent would respond to my email tickets? the Fair Credit Billing Act, but it has
within 24 hours. After two business to be for the right reasons. Unfortu-
QUESTION: days without any response, I contact- ANSWER: nately, your cancellation didn't meet
ed Vivid Seats via chat and they ad- the criteria.
I'm trying to cancel tickets to a Dave vised me I only can receive a refund if I think you deserved a full refund for
Chappelle and Joe Rogan show in New the event has been canceled or post- your tickets. But your case was a little I list the names, numbers and email
Orleans that I bought through Vivid poned. complicated. Let's see if we can sim- addresses of Vivid Seats executives on
Seats. There were too many COVID-19 plify. my consumer advocacy site. A brief,
cases and I didn't want to risk attend- I informed them the numbers are polite email might have changed the
ing the show. extremely high in that state and that First, I think you were correct about outcome of your case, but not after you
I am not willing to risk my health. A canceling your tickets. At the time of filed a credit card dispute. The dispute
representative advised me there is the show, COVID cases in New Orleans is considered a nuclear option, and
nothing they can do. I told them I were soaring, and even if you were fully once a company has won, it will typi-
had cancellation insurance in case I vaccinated, this was no time to attend cally ignore you.
couldn't make it to the event because a large public event.
of COVID-19-related circumstances. But I think you have a stronger case
Vivid Seats told me to contact my in- Calling Vivid Seats was a mistake now that the concert has been can-
surance company. I could not reach for two reasons. First, concerts were celed, regardless of your unsuccess-
the insurance company, so I contact- being canceled left and right and the ful dispute. I contacted Vivid Seats on
ed Chase and filed a chargeback and company was probably overwhelmed your behalf. It refunded your tickets
received a temporary credit. I lost the with calls. Second – and more impor- as a goodwill gesture. 
credit card dispute. tant – you wouldn't have had any proof
of your conversation. A reliable paper Get help with any consumer prob-
On Sept. 2, two days before the event, trail is a key to solving any consumer lem by contacting Christopher Elliott at
I received an email stating the show problem. http://www.elliott.org/help

If you had cancellation insurance,

36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

Carl Bernstein’s name will from the University people relying on what they can get on their cellphones
forever be linked with the Wash- of Maryland) put him for news. Bernstein’s book gives a vivid sense of what
ington Post as half the byline on in position to help has been lost.
what a study for the Columbia cover the space race,
School of Journalism described the Cold War and the In most towns these days, it’s impossible to imagine a
as arguably “the most famous Supreme Court de- scene like the one that so entranced Bernstein the first
story in American investigative cision to end prayer time he walked into the newsroom of his hometown
journalism history.” But in his paper. The “glorious chaos” and “purposeful commo-
new book about his reporting in public schools. tion,” he writes, were generated by a room full of re-
career, Bernstein doesn’t go any- At one point, Bern- porters, dictationists, editors, photographers and copy
where near there. stein was so angry boys. In an era when data is transmitted wirelessly, the
about being denied work that kept Bernstein so busy is obsolete: Copy boys
“Chasing History: A Kid in the a plum assignment crisscrossed the newsroom ferrying first drafts of the
Newsroom” doesn’t mention Wa- to cover civil rights day’s news from the typewriters of reporters still writing
tergate. The occasional references leaders’ response to it to the desks of editors waiting to ready it for publica-
to Richard Nixon have nothing the beatings of pro- tion. A floor or two below, another room full of linotyp-
to do with the scandal that Bern- ists and pressmen was preparing to create the rumble
stein would help uncover about testers (including of the presses that Bernstein would feel under his feet.
the nation’s 37th president. And the future congress-
newspaper that the work of Bern- man John Lewis) in Bernstein describes it as a kind of word factory. In
stein and Bob Woodward vaulted Selma, Ala., that he fact, he uses the word “factory” repeatedly in referring
into the journalistic pantheon rates took vacation time to the Star, and it is telling. Newspapers of the era – es-
only relatively glancing mentions. to flack for them. pecially afternoon papers, where presses rolled dur-
While it’s hard to ing the day while reporters and writers were at work
Inveterate newshound that he is, imagine a more upstairs – were intriguing cultural crossroads. Writerly
Bernstein has no interest in retelling intellectuals, recruited straight out of the Ivy League –
an already well-known tale. Instead laudable cause such as Lance Morrow, later a celebrated essayist for
of the staccato just-the-facts brag to support than Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and Warren
you might expect from an investiga- civil rights, Ber- Hoge, later the foreign editor of the New York Times –
tive reporter whose work brought down a president, nstein’s brief experience as a public relations agent regularly crossed paths with less lofty-minded mem-
“Chasing History” is a lovingly detailed memoir com- only cemented his desire to become a full-fledged re- bers of the trade (the aforementioned cop shop report-
posed in a humble register. A recounting of Bernstein’s porter. He was eager to have his hand in shaping the ers) as well as members of blue-collar craft unions who
first five years in the journalism business, it opens in daily news report. As a lowly courier for the Star’s busy worked with ink and hot lead.
1960 at the Washington Star with a vivid description of police reporters, he learned enough about D.C. law en-
Bernstein’s first job interview at the paper he once de- forcement officials’ efforts to hunt down homosexuals A “media elite” it was not. Oh, it’s true that the Star
livered to Silver Spring, Md., homes from a red wagon. – including a top aide to then-President Johnson – to was an incubator of many journalists who would
Bernstein was 16 years old, self-conscious about his wonder whether an abuse of police power wasn’t the become leading figures in the profession, including
freckles and trying to hide his status as a high school real story. And, as a draft-eligible young man, he spent a three trailblazing women: the celebrated columnist
junior behind a spiffy suit from the same discount hab- good deal of energy trying to avoid a government-paid Mary McGrory, author Myra MacPherson and inves-
erdasher who outfitted then-Senate Majority Leader trip to Vietnam. tigative reporter Miriam Ottenberg. Bernstein drops
Lyndon Johnson. Overcoming the initial skepticism of As much as it is about Bernstein, this book is about their boldfaced names liberally throughout his text
the Star’s editors required a combination of precocious the vibrant life and inexorable death of the Star and, and pays them generous credit for mentoring him.
pertinacity (“I telephoned every two or three days,” Ber- by extension, all too many other major metropolitan But he reserves his best writing for the characters to
nstein recalls) and a lightning-fast typing speed (nearly dailies. It is, however, hardly sentimental. Take, for in- whom he seems to owe a bigger debt, characters like
90 words per minute). It was an early sign of Bernstein’s stance, Bernstein’s descriptions of the Star’s police re- Eddie, the legless pencil vendor who steered him to
rebel streak paying off. He decided to become the only porters: One “looked like a warthog and he sounded where he could get his first grown-up suit at a dis-
boy to study typing, “part of the Home Economics cur- like a warthog too,” he writes, describing the “snuffling, count, and Annie the newspaper vendor, who sold
riculum at Montgomery Blair High School,” he notes, rooting noise” that accompanied “almost every clause him papers when he was a kid. 
because “I’d come to hate shop classes by then.” he uttered.”Yet for all the quirky and at times downright
repellent characters at newspapers like the Star, these CHASING HISTORY
Bernstein’s coming-of-age in the newsroom coin- institutions managed to incubate talent and serve their
cided with a tumultuous time in American history. communities in ways that we are sorely missing today. A KID IN THE NEWSROOM
His preference for the newsroom over the classroom Particularly in rural America, the loss of local papers,
(he barely finished high school and never graduated combined with a lack of adequate broadband, has left BY CARL BERNSTEIN | HOLT. 370 PP. $29.99
REVIEW BYKATHY KIELY, THE WASHINGTON POST

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 37

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

MORE THAN ONE WAY TO REACH 10 TRICKS Q J 10

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist AJ

Mitch Hedberg, a stand-up comedian who died in 2005, said, “I haven’t slept for 10 97542
days ... because that would be too long.”
863
When you are in a contract of four hearts or four spades, start by counting your losers.
Then, if you can do it in under 10 minutes(!), count winners. Sometimes, that will make WEST EAST
the right line of play more apparent — as in this deal. How should South proceed in four K72
hearts after West leads the club queen? 54 98543
K863
South might have rebid three no-trump, which would have worked well here. (If you Q J 10 9 632
employ two-over-one game-force, I believe that a two-no-trump rebid should show a
big balanced hand and be forcing to game. Then, a jump-rebid of three no-trump can J 10
show this type of hand: a good six-card major, 18 or 19 high-card points and 6-3-2-2
distribution. Here, North would then have the quandary: pass or correct to four hearts?) K72

Declarer has four potential losers: one spade, one diamond and two clubs. There will be SOUTH
a natural reaction to use dummy’s two trump entries to take the pointed-suit finesses.
Surely one of them will work. First, though, count winners. South has two spades, six A6
hearts, one diamond and one club — wow, 10!
K Q 10 9 8 7
So, after taking the first trick with the club ace, cash the spade ace and play another
spade. West wins with his king, cashes the club jack and plays a club to East’s king. AQ
East shifts to the diamond jack, but declarer wins with his ace, draws two rounds of
trumps with dummy’s winners and discards the diamond queen on the spade queen. A54

Dealer: South; Vulnerable: East-West

The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
1 Hearts Pass 1 NT Pass
4 Hearts Pass Pass Pass LEAD:
Q Clubs

38 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JANUARY 13) ON PAGE 68

ACROSS DOWN
3 Ringer (4) 1 Bill of fare (4)
7 Pile (4) 2 Receptive to new ideas (4-6)
8 Peddle; bird of prey(4) 3 Occupied (4)
9 Surrey racecourse (5) 4 Lob champ (anag.) (4,4)
10 Incinerate (4) 5 Music genre (4)
11 Marks (trail) (6) 6 Tall building (10)
13 Become smaller (8) 10 Scruffy; broken-down (10)
15 Equipment (4) 12 Totals (10)
16 Enthusiastic (4) 14 Meant (8)
17 Raised to a level (6,2) 19 Cargo (4)
18 Gilded (6) 20 Murder (4)
21 Slightly open (4) 22 Affirm (4)
23 Wander; meaning (5)
The Telegraph 24 Test (4)
25 Fencing sword (4)
26 Hero (4)

How to do Sudoku:

Fill in the grid so the
numbers one through
nine appear just once
in every column, row
and three-by-three
square.

The Telegraph

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 39

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 107 Stuntman’s words 57 X ___ (tic-tac-toe choice) The Washington Post
1 A Turner channel, briefly 113 Congressional mail 58 Hit the road
4 All-white-keys chord: 116 Called 60 Assign as one’s share
117 Guy at first 63 Author Maurice
abbr. 118 Special edition of 66 “Hell ___ fury ...”
8 Barely lit 67 Messy impact sound
11 Osmond country Animation Monthly? 69 Absorb data
15 Enjoy Osmond country 121 ___ Aviv 71 Egy. neighbor
18 Ranch assent 122 Exxon, before 72 Pop group or rhyme scheme
19 Popular sauce 123 Border line? 73 The Grateful Dead’s Bob
20 “Meet me ___ the first cock 124 Olympic weapon 74 Moises of baseball
125 Palmer, for short 76 Actress Mary ___ Hurt
crow” (Shak.) 126 One of the four saisons 78 Brain gauges
21 Saint of oratorio fame 127 Parks on the bus 80 Ancestor’s opposite: abbr.
22 Network that debuted in ’82 128 Ballet step 81 Musicians in a pit: abbr.
23 Tests on GIs 129 Word with shoulder or soap 82 “How ___, doc?”
27 Genesis bone 130 Double numero 84 Well-pitched game
28 “To ___ human” 85 Train hopper
29 Certain magazine workers DOWN 86 Overturn
31 Make certain reservations 1 Flu virus variety 87 City 60 km E of Tokyo
34 Sulzberger paper: abbr. 2 Pack animal 90 Snide laugh
35 Directed 3 A VP’s first name 94 Samuel Beckett play
36 “... could ___ fat ...” 4 ___ straws 95 Alps country
37 Goalie’s place 5 Rug on the stoop 97 Lott and Milsap
39 It shows you the money 6 The time of your life? 98 McNally opus
40 Board member 7 Kipling’s ___ Stories 101 Part of the foot
43 Cop’s concern 8 Removal of restrictions: 102 Severe and sharp
50 “Washboard” anatomy 103 Glengarry Glen Ross penner
51 “___ you loud and clear” abbr. 104 Poisonous gift for Snow
9 “___ that remark!”
53 On the beach 10 Encounter White
54 Angel or Carol ending 11 Make whole 105 “___ This House”
55 Baseball practice 12 Pole length: abbr. 106 Foil introducer, 1910
59 Lab medium, originally 13 Jason’s ship 108 Partners, trios, etc.
61 “___ as it goes ...” 14 “He’s just like ___” 109 Circle segment
62 Bird or hand soap 15 Semitransparent curtain 110 Yardbirds hit,
63 Span’s partner 16 Game of Clue piece “Still ___”
64 Part of the yard 17 Sacked out 111 Spitting cobra’s toxin type
65 ___ and ahs 24 Minn. maulers 112 Perfect places
68 Writer Zora ___ Hurston 25 Part of a Cugat dance 114 “I see,” to Chan
70 Maker of the first 26 French edict city 115 Waterproof cover
30 Site of the Tupac Amaru
portable electric saw 119 Lead paint watchdog: abbr. DOUBLE DOUBLE MEANINGS By Merl Reagle
72 ___ of attrition siege 120 Flooder of Grand Forks,
75 Cop alerts 32 Enjoyed home cooking
77 I came 33 Bergen boob N.D., in 1997, the ___ River
79 Kin of “me too”
83 Disparage 38 Latin abbr.
85 Money for pay toilets 39 “Let me take
88 Bk. store section ___ at it”
89 Attention-getting words, 40 Spoken fanfare
41 Hitting stat
once 42 Letters on fighters
91 Has a harsh sound 43 Tycoons
92 Univ. 44 Take ___
93 Riverside exercise (drop sharply)
96 Otalgia 45 One-movement musical wk.
99 Revelation reaction 46 Spiritual leaders
100 A Tex. city, to Southwest 47 Latvia’s capital

Airlines 48 Eat like a rat
101 ___ water 49 Make, as a profit
(up the creek) 52 “Kookie” Byrnes
102 Violin maker 56 Native New Zealander
105 A Christmas Carol word

The Telegraph





42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Burned-out caregiver looks for ways to be kind again

BY CAROLYN HAX time from work, a 15-minute walk outside can concept of putting on your oxy-
Washington Post help you do the next hour’s work in only 30 min- gen mask first before you help
utes. The math for productivity isn’t just 2 + 2 = 4. anyone else.
Dear Carolyn: In addition to
my full-time job, which I am very If that’s impossible or impractical for whatever Finally, there’s finality: You
grateful for, I am also one of the reason, then build breaks into your day internal- suspect she’s near the end,
caretakers of a relative. We all live ly. I’m thinking meditation, mainly – it’s some- which may help you grasp the
together, with 3 to 4 people in the thing you can do any time and its mental health permanence of the “after.” This,
house at any given time, for finan- benefits are well documented. Even if you can get the “before,” is a moment. So
cial and medical reasons. The relative in question has outside for breaks, meditation is worth adding to you can ask yourself, “Do I have
had some health scares and appears to be nearing the your day anyway. Stretching helps, too. a moment in me?” The answer
end. may be “yes” more often just for
The problem is that I am burned out and it has And laughing! Cartoons, videos, favorite shows your framing it this way, even
turned me into a nasty person. I am short with my are there for you when you can clear 15 or 25 when it still feels as hard.
relative, I lack patience and am generally not nice to minutes.
be around. I suspect part of this is resentment. I work Readers’ suggestions for re-
from home, so I am around her 24/7, but the other You’re learning the hard way the truth of the spite:
caregivers go into the office, and one even took a so-
cially distanced vacation. I feel as if I get no breaks, · You might also reach out to
but it’s still not kind of me to take it out on her. the local hospice organization
I know I will regret my behavior if she really is near- to see if they offer caretaker support services.
ing the end, and I don’t want her to feel unwelcome or · · Please have a meeting with others in the house.
uncared for in her final weeks. How do I snap out of Set up times when people are “on- and off-duty.”
my selfishness and be kinder and more patient? Just because you work from home doesn’t mean
you should be the default caregiver 24 hours a day.
– Caretaker · · A therapist helped me to understand that I
(like everyone) have limitations in terms of stress,
Caretaker: I am sorry you have to go through and had to learn new skills. Some things that
this. worked: fresh air, in the woods, etc., unplugging
from people; a drive with LOUD music; exercise,
Please, please, when one of the other caregivers if only a few minutes to break a sweat; meditation,
is there, leave the house. Somehow. Give yourself absolutely; a few minutes for myself during the
a break. Even if you can’t technically spare the day, small timeouts; a sympathetic ear. Frankly,
therapists are as good as it gets. 

‘WAKING IN PARADISE’:
COLORS RISE TO THE FORE
IN FAIRCHILD’S ART

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF | STAFF WRITER ‘WaAkRiTnSg& TiHnEAPTaREradise’: Colors rise
to the fore in Fairchild’s art

Award-winning oil and watercolor
artist Beth-Anne Fairchild has an affin-
ity for color, often preferring to “punch
things up” in ways that others might
have a hard time even imagining. But
after viewing her work, it would be hard
not to see and appreciate the vibrance
of the world around us.

Fairchild, who was a member art-
ist at Gallery 14 when she lived in Vero
Beach, is the featured artist at a solo
exhibition through Jan. 30, “Waking in
Paradise,” at the Fifth Avenue Art Gal-
lery in Melbourne.

“I’ve known that I wanted to be an
artist since I was a child,” says Fairchild.

Born in Vermont, Fairchild moved to
Florida 50 years ago, after being in a se-
rious car accident while driving home
from work at a ski area.

“I came to Florida for the warmth and
to heal from that accident, and I’ve stayed
here ever since,” she explains. Most of
that time has been spent in the Mel-
bourne area.

She was finally able to follow her
dream of becoming a professional art-
ist after taking an early retirement from
her job of 28 years as a State Farm In-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 45

surance agent. However, all throughout ARTS & THEATRE Beth-Anne Fairchild. foray into the arts was with watercolor,
her life, she attended workshops with and once that was mastered, garnering
well-known artists around the country. Society, both enviable accom- PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES awards and recognition along the way,
plishments. she began to dabble in oils, which she
“I didn’t get serious about it until I finds easier than watercolors.
actually left my business. I was a single In Florida, Fairchild says
mom running a big business. I couldn’t she has found a never-ending “If you make a mistake in oil, you
really do my artwork and be a mom at bounty of subjects to paint, can go back over it, and no one would
the same time,” Fairchild says. from bobcats walking through know that you made a mistake. If you
her backyard to the myriad don’t like the composition or the color,
“Let’s face it. You cannot really make shapes and shadows that can you can redo it, whereas watercolor, if
a living being an artist unless you’re be found in nature, such as you make a mistake, you pretty much
doing art that’s for a specific project or breaking down the petals in a have to change the design to fix that
person. Very few artists make it just as flower, one at a time. mistake,” says Fairchild.
artists. I didn’t want to go through all
of the pain. I wanted to paint for me. I “I don’t know what it was Fairchild has built quite the follow-
didn’t want to paint for anybody else, I that drew me to art. I just al- ing over the years with her realistic
didn’t do it to make money, I didn’t do it ways loved looking at objects paintings.
to build a career. It wasn’t my goal to be and seeing what makes them
up. When you look at some- CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
thing and see how the light
hits it, that’s pretty much what
my art is all about. It’s about
light and shadow and color. If

a famous artist or to sell
a lot of paintings. It was
more to paint the best I
could paint for myself.”

Her best has also im-
pressed others in the
art world. She won an
award for the very first
painting she entered
into an art show and has
since been designated
as a Signature Member
of the Florida Water-
color Society and the
Southern Watercolor

you put those three things to-
gether and tweak it a little bit,
you can come up with some-
thing beautiful. I get caught
up in my paintings – the color
and the perspective,” Fair-
child explains.

She is also not afraid to
experiment with materi-
als and ideas or looking at
things from various perspec-
tives. Fairchild says her initial

46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45 ARTS & THEATRE

“People say they look like photographs, Enamored of botanicals, she says, “I “When you look at my painting, you cer and also the loss of her spouse.
but they don’t, because they have colors love nature. ‘Waking up in Paradise,’ can see all the way around it. It’s the “Being an artist saved me through
in them that you wouldn’t see in nature. that’s how I feel every day. I wake up, I way I tweak that light that you see in
There’s nothing more exciting than a new see everything beautiful.” a photograph. I do use photographs to COVID and the death of my spouse. I
tube of paint,” says Fairchild. paint from, but I’m always reminding was all alone.
As an example, she recalls seeing a myself that it is a photograph, and it is
She admits that while she gets bored spoonbill feeding in the lake outside flat. I need to make sure that the view- “Then, of course, I was in isolation
painting the same subject over and her window on a recent morning. er feels like it’s a 3-D object that they’re for my surgeries for breast cancer. It
over again, her unique use of color is looking at,” says Fairchild. was a really hard time, and if I didn’t
the one constant in her work. “I was mesmerized by it and with the have painting to disappear into, it
reflection in the water,” Fairchild said. “You’ll always know what’s in my would have been a really hard year for
“It’s more about the color than it is “I’m always looking at reflection and paintings. I would love to be able to me. It saved me,” she adds.
the object with me. I don’t paint what how light hits things and the color too. I paint a little more abstract and a little
somebody says they want. I paint what always think about how I can turn it up bit looser, but I get caught up in the de- Fairchild says you can expect to see
I want to paint,” says Fairchild, adding a notch, make it a little more exciting. tail of how beautiful something tiny is.” Florida seascapes, landscapes, botani-
that she feels that is the secret to her Turn blue water into teal water to make cals, birds and boats in the show at
continued success. it more exciting and more interesting.” After living in Vero Beach for five Fifth Avenue Art Gallery.
years, she returned to Melbourne to
Even her watercolors don’t look like Fairhild adds that she also tries to be closer to longtime friends, having “Everything that you love about
traditional watercolors as she uses an in- paint from a three-dimensional point experienced a bout with breast can- Florida and what we call paradise,” she
tensity of color, adding, “I don’t water it of view. promises.
down much. It’s more color than water.”
For more information, visit fifth
avenueartgallery.com. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 47

COMING UP! ARTS & THEATRE

A musical week blasts off with ‘Rocket Man’

BY PAM HARBAUGH 1901 23rd St. Tickets begin at $90. Call
Correspondent 772-778-1070 or visit IRSymphonic.org.

3 This weekend, the First Pres-
byterian Church of Vero Beach

Music is in the air this week from rock welcomes the return of ChamberFest
to classical.
Vero Beach’s Festival Artists Concert.

Violinist Jessica Tong, violist Amadi

1 First up is at the Emerson Center Azikiwe and cellist Tobias Werner
when Live! from Vero Beach pres-
will perform 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The

ents The Rocket Man Show – a tribute concert is free and open to the public.

to Elton John. The show promises to They will play works by Barriere, Per-

be filled with color and fun as well as kinson and Mozart. Musicians wish-

those unforgettable tunes. It begins 7 ing to brush up their skills may want

p.m. today, Jan. 20 at the Emerson Cen- to attend Public Masterclass with

ter, 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets the Vero Beach High School Orches-

are $35 to $85. For more information, tra at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22; or

visit MusicWorksConcerts.com.. a Weekend Workshop Chamber Mu-

sic Masterclass at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan.

2 The Indian River Symphonic 23. You have to register ahead of time
Association presents the Polish
for the master classes. All activities, vid Amado, will present “Technicolor 5 You also have the opportunity to
Dance,” a concert featuring pianist become a maker of all this beau-
Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra including the concert, will be held at Lindsay Garritson performing Gersh-
win’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The concert
in concert this Friday evening. The the First Presbyterian Church of Vero begins 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, at tiful music. The Vero Beach Choral
the Community Church of Vero Beach,
concert features the winner of the Beach, 520 Royal Palm Blvd. Call 772- 1901 23rd St. Tickets start at $30. Call Society is welcoming new singers to
772-460-0851 or visit AtlanticClassi-
prestigious international Wieniawski 562-9088 or visit MusicBeyondThe- calOrchestra.com. audition. Under the guidance of the

Violin Competition performing the Chamber.org. organization’s new music director, Ja-

composer’s violin concerto No. 2 in D cob Craig, the group is now based at

minor. The concert begins 7:30 p.m. at 4 Next week, the Atlantic Classi- the First Presbyterian Church of Vero
cal Orchestra, conducted by Da-
the Community Church of Vero Beach, CONTINUED ON PAGE 48

VBerAo LBLeaOch ON FESTIVAL

FEBRUARY 5 & 6TH AT THE INDIAN RIVER COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

• Check that bucket list and take a Hot Air Balloon ride!
• Tethered Hot Air Balloon rides - $25 per person

(while supplies last and weather dependent)
• FUN for the entire family!
• A Kids Zone with Games and Rides including trains,

bounce houses, rock walls and much more!
• DJ & Live Music
• Lots of Craft & Retail Vendor Booths
• Food Vendors with fantastic Festival Style food!
• Bring your blankets, chairs and umbrellas

GRAND FINALE AFTER 8PM - Hot Air Balloon Glow & Laser
show where we will light up all the balloons in unison with
crowd participatory “Count Downs”! This show incorporates
Music and visually stunning coordinated burns by the Hot Air
Balloons & Lasers.. creating a Glow!

Fun for the entire family!

Tickets freshtix.com/events/verobeachballloonfest

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47 ARTS & THEATRE

ACCEPTING
NEW PATIENTS!

We provide all Primary Care Medical Services

Beach, where Craig serves as director or online visit FrogLegFestival.com.
of music and arts. The Choral Society
will be preparing for its spring concert 7 The 27th annual King of the Hill
scheduled for April 24. Anyone who can Tennis Tournament runs through
read music and has experience singing
in a vocal ensemble is welcome to the March 3 at the Boulevard Village and
auditions, which will include individu-
als singing a chromatic scale up and Tennis Club in Vero Beach. The tour-
down a cappella. To schedule an audi-
tion, visit VeroBeachChoralSociety.org.

6 In addition to going inside to hear
music, you can also go outside

to enjoy a few activities. The 31st an-

nual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival runs

through Sunday, Jan. 23. There will

BRUCE MURRAY, MD SANDY POTTER, RN be food, rides, entertainment, exhibi-
Board Certified BA Health Care Administration
tions, T-shirts galore and, yes, frog legs.
Practice Manager
You can get frog pops and gator pops,

Home Visits when dinners, hushpuppies, coleslaw, grits
Medically Appropriate
and more. Food ranges from $2 for

side orders to $16 for frog leg and gator

tail combo plates. Carnival ride costs

range from $3.75 to $5. You can also get nament will be held for seven consecu-
tive Thursdays beginning Jan. 20. This
all-you-can-ride passes for $20 to $25. is a fundraising event with tennis pro-
fessionals from Indian River and sur-
There are bluegrass, country and drum rounding counties. The event gives fans
the opportunity to watch local tennis
For more information, go to our website at: troupes. The COVID-conscious with a pros in doubles competition. Funds
raised benefit the Youth Guidance Men-
MurrayMedicine.com hankerin’ for frog legs or gator tail will toring Academy to give vocational train-
Or Call: 772-226-6461 ing, academic enrichment and healthy
want to access the drive-through lane meals to 200 local children and young
adults. The event runs 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
at 21 S. Cypress St., Fellsmere. Take out Thursdays from Jan. 20 to March 3 at
the Boulevard Village and Tennis Club,
is cash only. The Fellsmere Frog Leg 1620 Boulevard Village Lane. Admission
is $10. Call 772-492-3933 or visit Youth-
Festival runs 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thurs- GuidanceProgram.org. 

day and Friday, Jan. 20-21; 11 a.m. to 8

p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22; and 11 a.m. to 4

Murray Concierge Medicine p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23. The location is at
920 37th Place Suite 103
Vero Beach, Fl. 32960 the Old School Complex, on the corner

of C.R. 512 and Broadway Street -- 22

S. Orange St. There is off-site parking

and shuttle service from Mesa Park,

100 Mesa Park Blvd. Call 772-571-3022

SPECIALIST DETAILS
BENEFITS OF NEW ROBOTIC
COLORECTAL SURGERY

50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 20, 2022 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Specialist details benefits of new robotic colorectal surgery

BY KERRY FIRTH Dr. Haane Massarotti. in the deep bony pelvis
Correspondent which houses the blood
PHOTOS: KAILA JONES vessels and nerves, so
Dr. Haane Massarotti recently the greatest benefit of
joined Cleveland Clinic Indian Riv- the robotic is operating
er Hospital to lead the colon and on the rectum because
rectal surgery program, which now of the confined space.”
can provide colorectal care through
minimally invasive robotic surgery. Contrary to some
Prior to her arrival, patients seeking popular beliefs, robot-
the most advanced robotic surgery ic surgery is not per-
for colorectal cancer would have to formed by an autono-
drive to Orlando or South Florida. mous robot. Instead,
the technology pro-
“Colorectal surgery is done with vides a highly precise
open or minimally invasive proce- tool used by surgeons
dures,” said Dr. Massarotti. “Pri- to perform the surgery.
or to me coming on board, most There are three parts
colorectal surgeries were done lap- to the robotic device:
aroscopically or open with some ro- the surgeon console,
botic use. Our new robotic system is the patient side cart
designed solely for use in colorectal and the vision stack.
surgery, which involves all surgery The surgeon sits at the
within the colon, rectum and anus. console and there is
a side cart attached
“This advanced technology en- to instruments or ro-
ables us to remove both malignant botic arms that go into
and benign colorectal cancers and the patient’s abdomen
polyps, and to treat diverticulitis, through small inci-
pelvic prolapse and Crohn’s disease. sions.
The rectum is a very narrow space

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*Not in combination with any other offer. Offer
good for new patients only and cleaning in absence
of periodontal disease. Xrays are non transferable.

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The patient and any other person responsible for payment has a right to refuse to pay, cancel payment, or be reimbursed for
payment for any other services, examination, or treatment that is preformed as a result of and within 72 hours of responding
to the advertisement for the free, discounted fee, or reduced fee service, examination, or treatment.

1225 US HWY 1, VERO BEACH, FL 32960 JULIE A. CROMER, DDS