01/18/2024 ISSUE 03

One of the most famous houses on the island, long known as “the barcode lady’s house” and later renamed Palazzo Di Mare, is going on the auction block once again. The Regency Revival-style home at 2150 S. Highway A1A in the island’s estate section will be offered for sale by Concierge Auctions, with bidding to start on Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. and close at 5 p.m. on Feb. 15. The house is currently listed at $60 million but there is no reserve price in the auction. When Concierge last auctioned the property in 2019, The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 each week has tripled here since Thanksgiving, and the area’s oldest residents make up 43 percent of those getting sick enough to seek medical attention. Thanksgiving week, only 42 positive cases, an average of six per day, were reported to the Florida Department of Health from Indian River County. The week after Thanksgiving that number decreased sightly to 39 cases. Then in December the numbers began to creep up. Of the 129 new cases reported for the week ending Jan. 11, a total of 56 cases were people News 1-16 Arts 51-62 Books 46 Dining 82-84 Editorial 44 Games 47-49 Health 63-77 Insight 39-50 People 17-38 Pets 85 Real Estate 89-104 Style 78-81 January 18, 2024 Volume 17, Issue 3 Newsstand Price $2.00 TO ADVERTISE CALL 772-559-4187 FOR CIRCULATION CALL 772-226-7925 Sebastian hospital $75K in arrears on utility bills. P14 More seek help with mental health. P64 Final phase of luxury garage project is half sold. P10 Float Hope’s mission saves lives. Page 28 © 2024 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved. For breaking news visit More than four years after Vero Beach began its quest to create a dining, retail, social and recreational hub on the city’s mainland waterfront, we’ve arrived at our first uhoh moment. It came last week, as the City Council listened to its Three Corners marketing consultant provide the latest update of his firm’s efforts to attract developers for what is expected to be a $200 millionplus project. And as you might expect – from a city that took more than a decade each to complete sale of its electric utility to Florida Power & Light and the former Dodgertown Golf Club property to the county – the concern again is connected to the pace with which the Vero council is moving. This time, though, in a someCovid-19 cases soar here since Thanksgiving BY LISA ZAHNER Staff Writer MY VERO BY RAY MCNULTY Haste has no place on Three Corners project Hope is waning for residents waiting to get sand placed on Indian River Shores’ dunes ahead of the unknowns of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, but town officials are doing everything in their power to make it happen. The town hired its own coastal engineers to quantify damage to beaches from Turtle Trail south to the Tracking Station, and to file an independent application to have that stretch of beach declared critically eroded by the Florida Department The United States Tennis Association has made sure Vero Beach never forgets its home-grown tennis star. In a 45-minute ceremony Sunday at Riverside Park, the USTA Florida Section commemorated the tennis career and community involvement of Mardy Name and fame: Vero native son Mardy Fish nets dual tennis honors CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 BY STEVEN M. THOMAS Staff Writer Famed ‘barcode lady’s house’ – listed at $60M – back on the auction block BY RAY MCNULTY Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 BY LISA ZAHNER Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Shores still pushing for beach replenishment Shores Councilmember Mary Alice Smith views the beach with Sgt.Travis Parker. PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ of Environmental Protection. Each week, town public works or public safety staffers ride out to the beach to document each new escarpment chewed away by winter storm systems. Shores oceanfront property owners have quickly signed and returned the required number of easement agreements needed to give county crews permission to work on the beach. Funding is in place to purchase the sand. Now it’s a race against time, as turtle nesting season starts in the spring, and the absolute latest workers can be on the beach is May 1, with special permits. Regulators prefer all heavy equipment be off the beaches by the time the first Leatherback turtles begin nesting in March, and that’s only six weeks away. Councilmember Mary Alice Smith, who serves as the Shores’ representative on the county’s Beaches and Shores Preservation Advisory ComNEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Beach replenishment

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 3 what ironic twist, the council might be moving too fast, and pushing too hard to stay on schedule through a critical phase of the process. Allow me to explain. Making his second appearance at the podium in a month, Colliers International’s Ken Krasnow didn’t ask council members to again extend the deadline for developers to submit detailed proposals for the 34-acre property. He did, however, present them with a compelling list of reasons why they might want to consider it. Krasnow knows that, if the council stays with its Feb. 1 deadline, there’s a real possibility the city will receive only three viable, fully-completed proposals – a response many would view as disappointing, given all the hype about developers being eager to seize such a rare opportunity and jump at the chance to invest in this special piece of property. He also believes extending the deadNEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 My Vero mittee, rode out on an ATV last week to get a closer look at the damage. “I was surprised. The damage is more extensive than before. People who have spent their own money to build up the dunes, a lot of that is gone now,” Smith said. “The houses and buildings look so much closer than they used to.” For example, residents of the 500 Building condominiums at John’s Island took on an extensive dune repair project after Hurricane Nicole, to the extent of sinking large planter containers with vegetation on the building side to shore up the beach and protect the building. “You can see the side of the planters where the sand is washed away,” Smith said. With the North Barrier Island (Sector 3) sand replenishment project underway and making progress, “I’ve heard the Sector 3 project is going really well. We had hoped that they could just continue on and do Sector 4,” Smith said. “We’ve been waiting on the county to get the permits.” The sector numbering refers to the county’s master plan for beaches, the numbers running from 1 to 7 starting just south of the Sebastian Inlet and running south past Round Island Park to the Indian River-St. Lucie county line. Beaches in the town limits include popular public access points like Beachcomber Lane, which Indian River Shores taxpayers paid to replenish with sand after storm damage in the fall, with town Public Works Director Larry Bryant coordinating that project. Town Manager Jim Harpring said the town’s application for critically eroded status is still pending with FDEP in Tallahassee. “Once we get in line with that, you get evaluated automatically,” Smith said. Smith said she thinks the town’s initiative in documenting all the damage on a continuous basis, and submitting its own application to FDEP, has not been wasted on county and state officials who plan and decide the priorities and funding for beach projects. “I think we have their attention now. At least we’re now at the top of the list,” she said. But without that critically eroded status, Harpring and Smith agreed that, realistically, Shores residents may be on their own again this hurricane season in terms of erosion protection. “As to the overall data and the likelihood of the dune replenishment in Sector 4 occurring this season, I defer to the county. They will have the most up to date information on both counts. However, it is mid-January and having not heard of a specific time frame from the County, I do not believe we will see dune work on Sector 4 prior to turtle nesting season,” Harpring said on Monday.

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ line for a second time, perhaps for another month or two, would increase the chances of getting more submissions, particularly from developers who say they’re still assessing the site and project. “Time is not your enemy,” Krasnow said repeatedly at the meeting, where it was obvious he was urging council members to proceed deliberately, rather than stubbornly cling to an arbitrary deadline. And, as he had done just four weeks earlier, when the council voted to push back the submittal deadline from Dec. 15 to Feb. 1, he again explained why. Krasnow cited the challenges this project presents for developers, several of whom have expressed genuine interest but remain hesitant, at this particular time and under the current market conditions. He talked about higher interest rates, soaring construction costs, Florida’s ridiculous insurance premiums and lingering supply-chain shortages spawned by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago. PremierEstateProperties.com New To Market 826 Sandfly Lane $6.5 Million Info: www.V274275com Talley | Brown 772.633.0407 Explore More Of Our Exceptional Vero Beach Collection NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 My Vero

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 5 He explained that many of the developers who’ve responded feel too constrained by the terms the city included in its request for proposals. Not only would some developers prefer to purchase the property, rather than lease it, but Krasnow said the city’s refusal to allow a residential component also has thinned the herd. In addition, the city’s concept plan calls for the Three Corners to be developed in a park-like setting, which means plenty of open space that reduces the amount of property available for profitable development. “The deal structure on the table for the Three Corners is unique,” Krasnow told the council, describing the city’s concept as a “very specific, very wellvetted plan that presents a lot of certainty, a lot of clarity to the market.” Such specificity, however, makes it imperative that the city attract investors willing to embrace its vision. Or as Krasnow said after the meeting: “We need to find a developer who gets it.” And we might have one. Or more. In giving his update two Tuesdays ago, Krasnow told the council the number of proposals the city could DISCLAIMER: Information published or otherwise provided by Premier Estate Properties, Inc. and its representatives including but not limited to prices, measurements, square footages, lot sizes, calculations and statistics are deemed reliable but are not guaranteed and are subject to errors, omissions or changes without notice. All such information should be independently verified by any prospective purchaser or seller. Parties should perform their own due diligence to verify such information prior to a sale or listing. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. expressly disclaims any warranty or representation regarding such information. Prices published are either list price, sold price, and/or last asking price. Premier Estate Properties, Inc. participates in the Multiple Listing Service and IDX. The properties published as listed and sold are not necessarily exclusive to Premier Estate Properties, Inc. and may be listed or have sold with other members of the Multiple Listing Service. Transactions where Premier Estate Properties, Inc. represented both buyers and sellers are calculated as two sales. Cooperating Brokers are advised that in the event of a Buyer default, no commission will be paid to a cooperating Broker on the Deposits retained by the Seller. No commissions are paid to any cooperating broker until title passes or upon actual commencement of a lease. Some affiliations may not be applicable to certain geographic areas. If your property is currently listed with another broker, please disregard any solicitation for services. Copyright 2023 Premier Estate Properties, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Your Trusted Advisor for Vero Beach Luxury Real Estate 772.234.5555 675 Beachland Boulevard OUR INCOMPARABLE GLOBAL NETWORK 550 BEACH RD. RESIDENCE #321 $2.395 Million Info: www.V272468.com Talley | Ritter 772.532.6619 1525 PELICAN LANE $1.15 Million Info: www.V272646.com Hendricks | Talley 772.559.8812 2035 OCEAN RIDGE CIRCLE $1.35 Million Info: www.V271496.com Hendricks | Schwiering 772.559.8812 8760 SEACREST DRIVE $2.995 Million Info: www.V270967.com Lange Sykes 772.473.7983 3160 NE 233RD TRAIL $15.495 Million Info: www.V270584.com Lange Sykes 772.473.7983 3 W SEA COLONY DRIVE $1.895 Million Info: www.V267725.com Hendricks | Schwiering 772.559.8812 PINE CREEK SPORTING CLUB NEWLY PRICED NEWLY PRICED SUNDAY OPEN HOUSE | 1 -3 PM SUNDAY OPEN HOUSE | 1 -3 PM NEWLY PRICED NEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Fish – a former top-10 player, Olympic silver medalist and U.S. Davis Cup Captain – by naming the island facility’s courts in his honor. Fish, now 42, retired from tennis and living in Los Angeles, was also inducted into the USTA Florida Hall of Fame, which provided a video highlighting his contributions to the game and beyond, including the work of the Vero Beach-based Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and his efforts to promote the cause of mental health. The dual-purpose event, which was attended by a gathering of about 100 friends, dignitaries and members of the local tennis community, was part of USTA Florida’s 75th Anniversary celebration. “It’s very humbling,” Fish said after the formalities, glancing over at the age 65 and older. Looking at the 50- plus age group, that number increases to 80 cases out of 129. Part of the reason for this is likely the use of at-home test kits by people with mild cases of COVID-19 illness who do not seek medical treatment – those case numbers are not captured in the state statistics. So naturally, older residents would be more inclined to seek out the Paxlovid treatment to head off severe disease and prevent hospitalization than younger people with no underlying chronic health issues. Seven deaths attributed to complications of COVID-19 illness were reported countywide since Dec. 29 – four deaths among patients age 65 and older, two deaths in patients age 60 to 65, and one death in a patient in the 30 to 39 age range. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitalizations rose 34 percent last week over the previous week in the CDC diseasereporting region of Indian River and Brevard counties. Only 35 percent of Indian River County seniors age 65 and older have opted to get the latest bivalent booster vaccine shot designed to protect against the rapidly evolving Omicron subvariants circulating around the world. expect to receive by Feb. 1 was “in the three or four range,” but adding that as many as four of the 12 developers who were “interested and engaged” last month decided to pass. He said there are another four to six world-class, high-profile developers that are still showing considerable interest, but he doesn’t know if they’ll be able to submit complete proposals by the deadline. “They’re still digging through it,” Krasnow said. “We have calls with them regularly, but they’re still processing what this opportunity – specifically, the Vero market – is going to hold for them.” That’s when Krasnow raised the possibility that at least a couple of those developers might submit incomplete proposals, just to give the council a sample of what they plan to do with the property, then provide more details later. Would the council, if intrigued by what they saw, grant these developers the additional time they need? We won’t know how the council will react until after all the proposals have been submitted, which will be on Feb. 1 – because the council did not extend the deadline. Vice Mayor Linda Moore and Councilwoman Tracey Zudans initially seemed open to another extension, saying it might be worth the additional time if it’s likely to produce more and better proposals. But Mayor John Cotugno and Councilmen John Carroll and Taylor Dingle opposed changing the date, though their reasons weren’t overly convincing. The same goes for the argument made by the city’s Three Corners project manager, Peter Polk, who undermined Krasnow’s presentation by claiming another deadline extension would create the perception that the council doesn’t know what it’s doing. Surely, any competent developer is aware of the current market conditions. Likewise, Carroll contended that moving the deadline again would raise questions about the city’s position, saying developers might wonder, “Why are they extending it? Is there no interest?” Both Carroll and Dingle, a council newcomer elected in November, then suggested some developers who were planning to submit proposals might change their minds and back out if the deadline is extended. That’s baloney. There’s no way two or three of the NEWS The Finest Pre-Owned Rolex Watches Le Classique Jewelers and Watchmakers Every Rolex watch comes backed with our 1 year warranty. All Rolex service and repairs are done on premises. Get the Best Price For Your Pre-Owned Rolex We are proud to deliver exceptional customer service and high value offers for your pre-owned Rolex. As your trusted and reputable local jeweler, we make selling your watch a smooth experience with our guaranteed offers. Prices Upon Request 3001 Ocean Drive # 105, Vero Beach, FL 32963 772-231-2060 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 My Vero developers ready to submit proposals would drop out merely because the council extended the deadline. At least a couple of them have been waiting for this opportunity since the city got out of the electric business. Besides, they’ve already invested big money in preparing their proposals. They’ll be there on Feb.1. They’d be there on April 1. Then there’s this: Krasnow said the city would’ve received only one or two proposals if the council had stayed with its original Dec. 15 deadline. He projects that the six-week extension to Feb. 1 will produce three or four submissions – and possibly five, though a couple of them might not be complete and comprehensive. Could we expect even more developers to dive in on April 1? If so, why not follow the trend? “I believe we’ll definitely get two viable proposals on Feb. 1,” Cotugno said. “Three would be great. If we get four, I’ll be ecstatic.” You’ve got to love his optimism. But with inflation easing, unemployment numbers down and a strengthening economy, Krasnow said the development and construction markets are beginning to show signs of stabilizing as the Federal Reserve prepares to meet on Jan. 30. Why not, then, wait to see what the Fed does with interest rates, which could be the nudge needed for a developer or two to commit to the project here? Look, the city is almost certainly going to get at least three completed proposals on Feb. 1. And, as Cotugno said, “If we get two, three, four proposals and none of them are good enough, we don’t go forward. We suspend the process, cut the grass for a while and try again. The land is still there.” Zudans agreed, saying a failure to get the right developer with the best plan now might require the city to review – and perhaps amend – its request for proposals before launching a second attempt. “The one thing I won’t do, though,” she said, “is settle for less that what this community wants and deserves.” Nor should she. None of us should. The Three Corners project will change the face of Vero Beach – of the entire community, really – for the next 100 years. We need it to be done right more than we need it to be done on time. Does anyone really believe we’ll be dining and drinking on the shores of the lagoon by the summer of 2028? There will be delays, and they might not be the city’s fault. So why rush now, at such a critical point in the process? Time is not our enemy. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 COVID cases rise here CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mardy Fish CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ “Mardy Fish Courts at Riverside Racquet Complex” plaque that will be attached to the city-owned, USTA Florida-run facility. “It’s also very nostalgic. “Being here and looking around, growing up across the street and remembering all the time I spent over here on these courts and in this park as a kid …,” he added. “It definitely brings back a lot of great memories.” The dedication ceremony was held on one of the complex’s two easternmost courts – the court where Fish learned to play, hitting balls with his father, Tom, a longtime local teaching pro and now tennis director at Windsor. That began in 1986, when Mardy Fish was only 4 years old. The elder Fish didn’t know he was launching a future pro’s career. He was merely trying to spend time with his son and keep him busy. “Sometimes I’d have to almost drag him over and we’d be out there only 15 minutes, but most times he seemed to be having fun,” Fish’s father said. “I was just trying to raise a happy, healthy kid. “But you could see he was becoming a really good athlete.” The rest is history. Fish would turn pro at age 18 in 1999, then go on to win six ATP Tour singles titles and 8 doubles titles, playing his way to a career-high No. 7 world ranking in August 2011. After taking home the silver medal in singles from the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, Fish would reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (2007), U.S. Open (2008) and Wimbledon (2011). He played on U.S. Davis Cup teams from 2002 through 2012. Fish was enjoying a late-career surge when, in early 2012, he suffered severe cardiac arrhythmia and underwent a corrective procedure. He returned to the tour two months later, but a severe anxiety disorder took him off the courts again in 2013. He did not play in 2014 and retired the following year, still battling mental issues that would become his cause. Fish spoke openly about his anxiety issues and became an advocate for people in need of mental health care. In September 2021, his story was the subject of the “Breaking Point” documentary, part of Netflix’s nine-part “Untold” film series. To this day, however, Fish continues to confront bouts with anxiety. “There are still good days and bad days,” he said. And while Fish has abandoned his dream of playing on the PGA Tour, he said he still plays as much golf as he can and enjoys competing in celebrity events – something he’ll do this weekend at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in the Orlando area. He also hopes to play his way onto the PGA Tour Champions circuit when he turns 50. Now, though, Fish has another passion. Five years ago, a friend introduced him to mixed martial arts, and he quickly became a fan – so much so that he said, when he’s home, he trains daily “at a high level.” Jiu-jitsu is his specialty, and he travels around California to compete in tournaments. “As tennis moves out of your life, something else moves in,” Fish said. “For me, it was golf. But at some point you realize your golf game is your golf game. It’s not going to get much better. I definitely want to try the senior tour, but that’s eight years from now. “So MMA is what I’m doing now, and I’m really enjoying it,” he added. “It doesn’t just keep you fit; it builds self-confidence. Everyone should try one martial art, whether it’s jiu-jitsu or muay thai, or karate, or even boxing.” Fish believes his MMA training has helped ease his anxiety issues, and while he said he wasn’t comfortable being gushed over as the center of attention Sunday, he did seem to be happy and at peace with his posttennis life. It was nice being home, too. “This is quite an honor,” Fish said. “I’m thrilled about the impact the foundation is having on the community, though it’s really more about the people running it, and the volunteers, and my parents. I’m glad I’m able to give something back, just because I could hit a yellow ball. “But I love Vero Beach,” he added. “It’s always great to come back. And to come back here, where I have so many memories … It’s pretty cool. “It’s a day I won’t forget.” NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 Mardy Fish PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ A half dozen Ferraris, a $2 million Provost motorhome, luxury boats, and collections of historic maps, books and military figurines: All will soon have a new home, safe from the fiercest Florida storms, in phase 2 of Motorhaus 2.0. A year and a half after breaking ground on the 100,000-square-foot, $25 million luxury garage project, builder Vic Lombardi says “the market reception has been incredible.” “We will be finished in late March or early April, and I expect to be sold out by then,” says his partner Joe Schulke, an engineer with Schulke, Bittle & Stoddard, one of the county’s top civil and structural engineering firms. The partners completed the project’s 7-building, 67-unit first phase last summer, a year after breaking ground, selling units for an average of about $300,000. Buyers came from as far away as Melbourne Beach, but 90 percent of the units were purchased by 32963 island residents, according to Schulke. The developers broke ground on the 3-building, 25-unit second phase in October. Three months later, all the tilt-wall, concrete-and-steel buildings are up, and half the units sold. “The second phase has gone even smoother and faster than the first phase because all of the infrastructure was already in,” said Lombardi. “We are getting the process down to a science at this point. We have great subcontractors. Most of them worked on the first phase of Motorhaus 2.0 and on our earlier storage projects and they really know what they are doing.” “The subs all work well together and help each other, and that helps the project a lot,” said construction superintendent John Zuefle. Schulke said most of the units at Motorhaus 2.0 have been snapped up by “car guys” looking for secure, convenient storage for vintage high-performance and luxury cars. “We have one buyer who has 36 Ferraris,” Schulke told Vero Beach 32963 last week. “Most of his cars are in Texas, but he has six of them here and needed a place to keep them.” A “car couple” who race Porches in their spare time bought the biggest garage in the complex to house and work on their cars, paying approximately $700,000 for a 3,000-square-foot double unit in Building C in the project’s second phase. The couple didn’t want a column in the middle of their space where a wall would normally have been, so Schulke the engineer and Lombardi the builder beefed up the steel I-beam that carries the roof load over the space, creating a clear span 50 feet wide. “That is the only unit that is drivethru,” Lombardi said. “You can drive in one side and out the other” through 12-foot-wide by 14-foot-high garage doors big enough for the largest recreational vehicles. One unit at the project was purchased to keep the buyer’s $2 million Provost motorhome safe, secure and out of the weather. Buyers have also tapped their bank accounts to purchase Motorhaus 2.0 units to store expensive boats during hurricane season and for a range of other storage purposes. “There is a fellow who is a collector BY STEVEN M. THOMAS Staff Writer NEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Going fast: Final phase of $25M luxury garage project is half sold PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ of historic maps and books, and he bought a unit to store that material in a secure, climate-controlled environment,” Schulke said. “We had another lady whose husband had a large collection of historic military figurines, which filled a museum in Fort Lauderdale for years. He later built a house in Vero and the collection filled the house for years. When he passed away, his widow moved to Grand Harbor and bought a unit just to put all these figurines in.” Internet-ready units “come preplumbed for bathroom/shower, supplied with 100- or 125-amp electric panel, monitored fire and smoke detectors, automated ventilation, electric powered industrial garage door, and front and rear entry man doors,” according to the project website. “For someone storing an RV or boat, that is all they need, but there are basically unlimited upgrades available,” Lombardi said. “We sold about $1.5 million in optional upgrades in the first phase, mainly putting in air conditioning, epoxy floors and interior painting. We also make contractor recommendations if buyers want additional upgrades like finished bathrooms, car lifts and mezzanines.” “Some people have a nice car or two they want to store and work on, but they are basically building man caves, spending $200,000 or more to customize their units,” Schulke said. “Some have teenage kids and are setting the units up partly for the teens to hang out and play air hockey or video games or maybe work on a car.” Mezzanine structures, which consist of a slip-resistant steel staircase and steel platform bolted in place at the back of a unit, fit easily in the highceiling garages and can increase usable floor space by 30 percent, turning a 24- foot by 48-foot 1,150-square-foot unit into a 1,500-square-foot unit for about $40,000. “We are up to about a dozen of those mezzanine structures,” said Zuefle. “The contractor buys several at a time to save on shipping costs. They are bolted together onsite.” The steel decks of the mezzanines have a plywood overlay and can be fitted with hardwood or carpet for a more luxurious finish. Schulke and Lombardi attribute part of the project’s success to its location on 41st street, a block west of U.S. 1, which is only a 10-minute drive from island bridges. “It is located back out of the hurricane wind zone and up on the Atlantic coastal sand ridge, so it is not in any kind of flood zone,” Schulke said. “We are building at the highest point between the Indian River and I-95, in a spot that is close and convenient for island residents.” The buildings’ sleek Bauhaus-influenced design is another draw. “It is crisp, clean construction,” Lombardi said. “The buildings look like there should be a Ferrari sitting in front. People are proud to bring their friends over here and show them their cars.” Besides protecting valuable property and serving as hang-out spots to watch football or work on cars, the luxury garages are also handy hurricane shelters where island owners can safely ride out big storms inside thick, steelreinforced concrete walls, tapping into onsite generators if the power goes out. Motorhaus 2.0 is fenced and gated with private individual security codes and a phalanx of security cameras. There are men’s and women’s restrooms and a vehicle wash area. The isles between the buildings are 50 feet to 70 feet wide, making it easy to maneuver big RVs and boat trailers. The dozen remaining units range from 920 square feet to 1,500 square feet and are priced from $230,000 to $355,000. NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 Luxury garage project CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 Schulke and Lombardi’s first luxury garage project was Autohaus, a 37- unit development on 12th St. near the 17th St. bridge, which they built with several other partners and completed in 2019. Next came Motorhaus, a 17- unit project located between the railroad tracks and U.S. 1, a block north of 41st street, which was finished in 2021. Sales of boats, RVs and other “big boy toys” went wild during the pandemic, driving demand for large luxury storage units, and Schulke and Lombardi are actively looking for a location to build a fourth high-end garage project. “You have to locate the right piece of land at the right price with the right zoning for it to make sense,” Schulke said. “That’s not easy to find.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Estate on auction block it sold for $11.48 million, the auction company said. The house – the first major home built in what later became known as the estate section – was the creation of Sharon Nicholson, widow of Wil-

14 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ liam Nicholson, inventor of barcode technology and co-founder of Retail Grocery Inventory Service, now called RGIS, a leading inventory control company. The 23,315-square-foot house sits on a 6-acre ocean-to-river lot with 205 feet of ocean frontage and 198 feet of river shoreline. There are seven bedrooms, nine full baths, two elevators, stone and hardwood floors, a 14-car underground garage, and extensive landscaped grounds, including a sweeping back lawn that would do a 5-star seaside resort proud. Nicholson sold the house in 2016 for an undisclosed sum to a buyer who resold it a year later to island developer Ken Cooper for $7.9 million, according to county records. Cooper renovated the dated home, giving it the light, bright look and feel of a classic Palm Beach estate, making it into a breezy dream world with expansive sea views that was both restful and wonderfully alive with architectural and design elements that range from Moorish to Art Deco. Current owners Doug and Sharon O’Banion bought the property in 2019, shortly after selling their RV dealership in Fort Worth. They then spent two years doing extensive additional renovations that Doug O’Banion told Vero Beach 32963 included 14 new air conditioners, a $200,000 Crestron home control system, redoing the resort-style pool and landscaping and, most notably, transforming the little-used third level observation deck into a private, 28-seat bar and dining area with the finest equipment and furnishing and As national reports show Steward Health Care’s network of hospitals deeply in arrears on rent, public records show Sebastian River Medical Center several months behind in bills for essential utility services. The hospital’s utility bills are public record, and a ledger of those bills show SRMC started out 2023 owing $33,000 in water and sewer bills to Indian River County Utilities. Payments were made in the first half of the year to catch up, but at the end of December the balance due for the main hospital facility was more than $75,000. This represents roughly six months of water service, as monthly bills average between $12,000 and $13,000. The last payment made on the account was on July 3, for $43,173.75. The hospital has incurred nearly $5,000 in late fees and penalties since January 2023. County officials did not respond when asked if some special arrangements had been made with the hospital to ensure that the water and sewer services remained on despite the delinquency. Messages left for SRMC CEO Ronald Bierman, and with the Steward media office in Rockledge, were not returned as of press time. On Jan. 6, the Wall Street Journal reported that Steward Health Care System, which took over Sebastian River Medical Center in 2017, was $50 million behind on hospital rents nationwide, owed to landlord Medical Properties Trust or MPT. The Journal story quoted Medical Properties Trust as saying it would extend a $60 million loan to Steward, and postpone collecting on some 2024 rent to keep the hospital chain temporarily afloat. The 145-bed hospital, which was taken over by Steward Health in 2017, is not only behind on its utility bills – and presumably invoices from local vendors – but it has also been fined repeatedly for lax financial reporting. As part of its responsibility to license and oversee healthcare providers, the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration reviews annual financial reports to make sure hospitals have the resources to keep operating and serving patients. Reporting to AHCA includes filing a copy of the hospital’s audited financial statements annually, plus a separate financial report through the Florida Hospital Uniform Reporting System so hospitals can be compared with set criteria on an apples-to-apples basis. Hospitals must NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Estate on auction block Sebastian River Medical Center $75K in arrears on utility bills BY LISA ZAHNER Staff Writer CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 the kind of views you get in heaven. After the dramatic COVID runup in prices for luxury waterfront property in Florida and during the ongoing inrush of migration to the state, the O’Banions listed the home in February for $60 million with Cindy O’Dare and Richard Boga at ONE Sotheby’s International Realty. O’Dare said they had a number of inquiries and showings at that price but no offers as of last week. Details about the bidder qualification process and pre-auction escrow requirements can be found at https://www.conciergeauctions.com/ auctions/2150-s-highway-a1a-verobeach-florida. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ also reconcile any discrepancies between the financials and the uniform report. All of this must be done within 120 days of the close of each fiscal year. On June 13, 2023, SRMC CEO Bierman was sent a certified letter by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration’s compliance department which stated, “A fine of $10,300 is imposed on the above-named licensee based upon the licensee’s failure to timely file its Dec. 31, 2021 audited financial statements. This is in addition to the $34,000 fine levied earlier. This constitutes the licensee’s third violation.” The hospital had missed the May 30, 2022 deadline to file the financials by more than a year – finally providing them to the state regulatory agency on June 13, 2023. Vero Beach 32963 has requested copies of the hospital’s recent financial statements and reports filed with AHCA. NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 Sebastian hospital in arrears

‘DENIM & DIAMONDS’ A STEELY RESOLVE TO END CANCER TUNY HILL, BA STONE AND SUSIE KASTEN.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ There was strength in the sparkle at the Denim & Diamonds Hope Gala at Magnolia Manor to benefit the American Cancer Society, with presenting sponsor the Bernard Egan Foundation. Proceeds from the event support the nonprofit’s vision to “end cancer as we know it, for everyone,” by raising funds for cancer research, advocacy and patient support, as well as a heightened awareness regarding the ongoing battle against the disease. After a champagne welcome, guests enjoyed fireside cocktails and music with Kurt Stevens, a Nashville country music singer/songwriter. Later, attendees adjourned to the old Floridastyle pole barn for dinner catered by 14 Bones, a live auction, and dancing to live music by Vero’s own Riptide. The evening blended rugged resilience with timeless elegance as a testament to the indomitable spirit required to face the challenges of cancer – much like that which Marnie Parent Howder, an eight-year brain cancer BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Staff Writer At ‘Denim & Diamonds’ gala, a steely resolve to end cancer Members of the extended Bernard Egan family, whose foundation sponsored the event. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Robin and Brenda Lloyd with Karen and Russ O’Brien.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 19 survivor and this year’s honoree, endured and overcame. “For 110 years, the American Cancer Society has been a leader in the fight against cancer. It is the only organization that integrates discovery, advocacy, and direct patient support to measurably improve lives,” said Neal Watkins, event emcee. “Through the American Cancer Society, we have more than hope. We have an organization that has funded more cancer research than any other Dale and Matilde Sorensen. CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 Todd and Marni Howder.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ nonprofit.” He noted that ACS research has helped “more people survive even the most serious cancer diagnosis.” As a result, he said, there have been 3.5 million fewer cancer deaths since 1991, a 33 percent decline. “Cancer is a complex problem, and it takes a comprehensive approach to make progress. The American Cancer Society continues to work tirelessly to fund research and provide support for all types of cancer. Your support tonight gives us the opportunity to continue to be there for people throughCONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 Melissa Talley with Ralph and Roz Evans. Megan and Ross Partee. Gerri Smith and Dr. William Cooney. Laura Scalco and Melissa Turrisi. Bob White, Richard Boga and Maeve White. Margaret Payne, Stephanie LeBlanc and Georgia Hocke. Scott Nuttall and Ali Gonzalez. Shannon O’Leary and T.P. Kennedy. Amy MacCoy and Heather Reeb. Diane Langevin and Charlotte Terry.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 21 out all stages of their cancer journey,” added Watkins. In a video, Howder shared the story of her diagnosis of advanced-stage brain cancer in 2015 and said that the support of family, friends and the American Cancer Society helped her confront the disease. She also described what it was like to be awake while the cancerous tumor was removed from her brain. “I think about cancer every day. Knowing that your cancer could come back at any time, you always have that in the back of your head. You’ve got to live each day to the fullest because you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring,” said Howder. “Tomorrow is never promised, so be a blessing, be a friend, love with all your heart, and never take anything for granted.” The American Cancer Society funds and conducts research, shares expert information, supports those battling the disease, spreads the word about prevention, and advocates for public policy change, ensuring everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat and survive cancer. Relay for Life Indian River will be held at Riverside Park on April 20. For more information, visit cancer.org. Melissa Talley, Kere Minton and Marni Howder. Bernadette Emerick, Kristen Tripson and Diane Parentela. Lisa Thompson Barnes and Karen Deigl. Allison Ritter and Robert Ritter. Jennifer Jarrett and Arely Jarrett. Alan and Christine Ryall.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Members and prospective members of the Circle, a Vero Beach Museum of Art philanthropic group of women who contribute to the museum’s community-based art enrichment programs, kicked off the 2024-25 season at an afternoon gathering in the Buck Atrium. Circle members annually contribute $325 or more and, after committee members conduct site visits and narrow down choices, members will choose which programs to fund at their April 11 Closing Cocktail Reception. “Trudy asked me to share that we had a really successful first year of our five-year plan,” said Susan Kintner, filling in for current chairperson Trudy Powers Hoffman. She added that they hope to reach a goal of $100,000 to con- ‘Circle’ ladies widen their arc of arts-centric philanthropy BY MARY SCHENKEL Staff Writer Susan Horn, Gail Shepherd and Claudia Owen. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS June Fitzgerald and Gail Prauss. Eliot Foote and Lori Lazorik. Mary Wright, Cathy Cronin and Natalie Murdy. Susan Von Hagen, Catherine Cooke and Marty Snyder. CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 Gerri Smith and Sheila Herget.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ tribute to the museum’s programs. Steering committee chairs spoke about their recent activities, including planning a series of events which will be listed on the VBMuseum.org Circle webpage. Robyn Orzel, director of development/associate executive director, noted that over the past 14 years, the CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 Nora Koontz, Diane McGinn, Marilyn Bosland and Kathleen Joachim. Evelyn McGlone, Joy Ann Coll and Susie Ley. Kathy Bantleon, Diana Hoffman, Anne Golensky and June De Jonge. Barbara Williams, Karen Helliwell and Angel LaVine.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 25 Circle has greatly impacted the sustainability and growth of the museum’s outreach and education programs through partnerships with the school district, Senior Resource Association, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Association, Moonshot Moment, Veterans Council, Boys and Girls Clubs, and others. And, she said, thouLeigh Bennett and Lisa O’Brien. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 Christine Ryall, Holly Lentini and Nancy Edmiston.

26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ sands of people have enjoyed the museum’s family programs, school programs, community access programs, summer art camps, and the Art Zone. Last year, she said, the Circle voted to fully fund Museum Explorations and the fall semester of A-Plus Arts, and individual Circle members made additional gifts to support the Pre-K program, Veterans program, and Alzheimer and Parkinson partSuzi McCoy Shriner and Susie Kintner. nership. Sally Roberts and Diane Wilhelm. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 27 This year, programs under consideration are: Alzheimer and Parkinson Association: Movement in the Moment and Movement at the Museum. Senior Resource Association: Movement in the Moment and Artful Engagements. Family Programs: Museum Stories; Museum Babies; Museum Toddlers; Museum Studios, including a new sensory-friendly program for the autistic; Children’s Art Festival and Holidays at the Museum; and the Art Zone. Veterans Program: Three eighthour art classes. Museum Exploration and Museum Exploration on the Go: On- and offsite school programs. A-plus Art and the RISE Center for the Neurodiverse: For those with autism and other special needs. Pre-K at the VBMA: Gallery tours, art activities and take-home art kits. Homeschool: For families with homeschooled students. For more information, visit VBMuseum.org.

28 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Funders and community partners of Float Hope, a program founded by Jeff Powers to expand local children’s access to life-saving swimming lessons, were feted at a reception at the John’s Island Golf Club to thank them for their support. “If I have a message for the people tonight, it’s that we’re helping people that are over the bridge; that’s where we’re getting all of our children. And near all of those kids, do not know how to swim. And they will never know how to swim unless we help them,” said Powers. Its importance can’t be overstated. From 2018 to 2020, according to FloridaHealth.gov, Florida had the highest unintentional drowning rate among children ages 0 to 9. Beata Brewster, Float Hope’s new executive director, said most people are unaware that our local public schools do not have pools, so children often have zero water safety skills. “We have this huge gap of children that live in Florida who don’t have access to a good, true pool. And forget about the high cost of swim lessons,” said Brewster. “What we are trying to do as an organization is change that. We’ve taught over 1,000 kids how to swim,” said Powers. During the school year, they average 100 to 120 children, ages 6 to 12, and have double that during the summer. Some 60 percent are in the Minnows program, which teaches BY MARY SCHENKEL Staff Writer Float Hope: ‘We’ve taught over 1,000 kids how to swim’ Jeff Powers, Beata Brewster, Scott Barlow and Holly McClain. PHOTOS BY MARY SCHENKEL Mary Grimm and Rennie Gibb. CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ swimming basics to children who have never been in the water. With additional funding, they hope to expand the Minnows program, especially during the summer when college students can assist head coaches Scott Barlow and Holly McClain. Float Hope partners with the Gifford Youth Achievement Center, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Homeless Children’s Foundation and Youth Guidance, and is seeking relationships with other organizations to expand its reach. Powers spoke about a woman who came to the pool with three young girls. He told them to return the next day when they would be given bathing suits, goggles, caps and an instructor. “And then she told me something that was gut-wrenching. She said, Bill Brewster and Joe Idlette III. Tara and Scott Layne. Paul Hanson and Judy Zern. Roger Lynch and Roger Lynch. Duke and Gael Habernickel with Jeff Powers. George and Marlen Higgs. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 Peggy Griswold with Jeff and Stephanie Pickering. Thomas Lydon with Maris and Bill Baker. Brett Thomason, Elizabeth Thomason and Hannah Hite.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 31 ‘These three kids are children I’m trying to adopt. And the reason I want them to swim so badly is because their mother tried to drown them.’ It took my breath away, and it made me realize the lives that we’re changing,” said Powers. Brewster related that an ICU nurse thanked her recently, saying that even children who survive unintentional drownings often require hospitalization or further care, with long-term injuries that can include severe brain Andrea and Rudy Muller. CONTINUED ON PAGE 33 Sara Carter and David Howard.

PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 33 damage, memory problems, learning disabilities and even a permanent vegetative state. “Float Hope takes children that are afraid of the water and turns them into kids that are confident,” said Brewster. “They have water safety skills, and they’re having fun. So we’re really thankful to all of you for being here and supporting this really important work. I think it’s pretty self-evident that children in Florida need to learn to swim.” Diane Walker and Glenn Smith Chris Bates and Sandra Clark. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ A newly revised Winterfest burst onto the scene at Riverside Theatre, with children taking center stage throughout the weekend. Winterfest, like its Festival of Trees predecessor, is the major fundraiser for Riverside’s educational department, and its students, as well as children from partner organizations, shone brightly as the stars of the festival. At the Preview Gala, guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the lobby, greeting Santa and Mrs. Claus, bidding on beautifully decorated trees and wreaths, and entertained by Gifford Youth Orchestra musicians. Once in the auditorium, Jon Moses, Riverside’s managing director and COO, welcomed everyone to the first of several productions that weekend of “Finding Nemo, Jr.” Joyous Riverside fundraiser put arts education in spotlight Chris and Sarah Whitelock with Michelle and Peter Kelly. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA KODIS Paul and Michelle Julian. Jon Moses and Lisa Amorosa. Sherry Brown and Kim Jarrett. CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 BY MARY SCHENKEL Staff Writer PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT Greg Forrer and Andi Beck.

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36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ “It’s hard to believe that it has been four years since we all gathered here to celebrate and support all things kids in the performing arts,” said Moses, referencing how the pandemic put a halt to much of their programming and fundraisers. “Tonight is really special for me and for many of us here because tonight, and this weekend kind of symbolizes the last major component that the community has been without for four years with the reopening of Winterfest,” said Moses. After thanking the major sponsors and the “army of tree and wreath designers,” he applauded the Riverside staff for their parts in the successful event which, over the weekend, included Santa’s Village and hourly performances by children on all three stages. Kevin Quillinan, Riverside’s director of theater education, commented that arts can level the playing field in terms of socioeconomic status and academic achievement for children of all ages. In addition to its long-running arts education program, he said, Riverside has a fully endowed tuition assistance program, with fundraisers such as this enabling scholarships. “So we make sure that regardless of ability to pay, we can not only serve as many kids as possible, but we can keep the lights on. And we can inspire the next generation of artists,” said Quillinan. Adam Schnell, Riverside’s director of dance and Ballet Vero Beach CEO, cited the importance of their community engagement initiatives. “It really is the reason that I continue to work here. Because getting out into the community and being able to share our love of the arts with young people, it really changes the world,” said Schnell. Quillinan noted that while the Festival of Trees was a beautiful event that raised a great amount of money for the education program, what he liked about Winterfest was that it was demonstrating what the fundraiser supports by centering on the acting, dancing and musical skills of children, including the 32 children who performed in “Finding Nemo, Jr.” Over the weekend, there were also performances by children from the Gifford Youth Orchestra, Boys & Girls Clubs, Music Angels, Citrus Singers, Youth Guidance, the Homeschool Troupe, and a special presentation of “The Lion King, Jr.” by students from Gifford Youth Achievement Center, who will be performing it at the Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta. “What I love about this program is that it’s welcoming to everybody,” said Quillinan. “So thank you all so much for coming out and supporting this and the amazing work everyone’s doing.” Bernice Hebert and Barbara Russell. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 34 Laurie Murphy, Deanna Sachs, Carmel Bryant-Graham and Victoria Wright. Jean Ueltschi with Sutton Barnett and Tori Barnett. John Franke, Dianne Miller, Ashley Franke, Michael Shields and Karen Franke. James Power and Lora Connolly. Tarryn and Paul Walsh. Robin and Brenda Lloyd with Susan and Ed Smith. Diane Langevin, Melinda Cooper and Page Franzel. Tom Tierney and Eva Gurley.

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 41 INSIGHT COVER STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 When Debbie Mettenleiter’s old Hyundai needed replacing after racking up 200,000 miles, she decided to jump on the electric car bandwagon. After all, Teslas seemed to be at every stoplight in San Diego, where she lives. Even her daughter has one. So she put down a $250 deposit on a Tesla Model Y. Then she started talking to friends about their electric vehicle experiences and the difficulty they had accessing reliable charging stations. She also didn’t enjoy getting into the back seat of her daughter’s Model Y to ride with her grandchild. “I hit my head every time,” says Mettenleiter, 67, a retired executive assistant. So she pulled the plug on her Tesla reservation and instead bought a 2022 Hyundai Kona SUV with a traditional internal combustion engine. “I wanted a vehicle I could just hop in and go on a road trip and not have to worry about charging,” Mettenleiter says. “I’m just not ready to make the leap with the charging issues what they are.” A year ago, EVs had the auto world abuzz, and it seemed like an all-electric future was just around the corner. But today’s car buyers are having second thoughts about them, short-circuiting sales growth and causing plug-in models to pile up on dealer lots. Automakers, who are pouring more than $100 billion into developing EVs this decade, are now slashing prices, BY KEITH NAUGHTON | BLOOMBERG

42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 INSIGHT COVER STORY production and profit forecasts for the new green vehicles. Inventory of batterypowered models on dealer lots has more than doubled over the past year, reaching a record high of a 114-day supply at the beginning of December, compared with 71 days for the overall auto industry, according to researcher Cox Automotive. It’s gotten so bad that a nationwide group of almost 4,000 car dealers calling itself “EV Voice of the Customer” wrote to President Joe Biden in November, asking him to “tap the brakes on the unrealistic” government mandates for EVs, which his administration wants to make up more than half of all U.S. auto sales by 2030, from about 7 percent in 2023. Instead, car buyers are shifting toward hybrids – the gas-electric vehicles that have been around for a quarter century – which dealers have a hard time keeping in stock. Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and others are cranking up hybrid production to meet demand. Meanwhile, traditional internal combustion engine vehicles continue to do big business, representing more than 8 in 10 auto sales in America. The U.S. has lagged Europe and China in adopting EVs, and auto executives and politicians have been eager to catch up so America doesn’t lose the transportation technology race. But most U.S. consumers aren’t going along for the ride. EVs remain too costly, at an average price of $60,544 – about $13,000 more than a gas-fueled car, according to automotive researcher Edmunds.com. That premium has become even more painful as interest rates on auto loans have soared. Beyond cost, many consumers also see EVs as too risky if they run out of juice with no charger in sight – a concern known in the EV industry as “range anxiety.” Annual EV sales growth in the U.S. rose 60 percent in 2022, but it increased only 47 percent in 2023 and is expected to climb just 11 percent this year, according to a forecast by UBS Group AG. Ford slashed its production plans in half in 2024 for its F-150 Lightning plugin pickup, its signature EV. General Motors Co. also is delaying production of highly anticipated EVs such as the Chevy Equinox SUV and Silverado pickup. Elon Musk repeatedly slashed prices on Tesla models in 2023. That triggered what Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley called an EV “price war,” which led his company and others to also pare back what they were charging. Musk’s moves slowed – but didn’t prevent – market share losses that took a significant toll on profit margins. “It all pivoted really quickly,” says Mickey Anderson, a car dealer who’s seen long waitlists for EVs evaporate while batterypowered models pile up at his dealerships in Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. What changed, industry executives and analysts say, is that the initial rush of buyers consisted of wealthy drivers purDebbie Mettenleiter with her new Hyundai Kona. Auto Inventories Days of supply on US dealer lots Total vehicles EV models Jan 2022 Jan 2023 Apr Source: Cox Automotive Figures exclude Tesla and Rivian because those brands don't sell through dealers. Jul Oct Apr Jul Oct 120 90 60 30

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 43 INSIGHT COVER STORY chasing an extra car for their household because they wanted the latest technology. Now that the early adopters are sated, mainstream buyers who depend on their car as their daily vehicle find EVs “more expensive and less useful,” Anderson says. “We have to have a more reliable charging network,” Anderson says, noting that there’s just one charging station in the 200-mile commute he makes weekly between his offices in Omaha and Kansas City. “People have to have confidence that they can get their kids to the doctor’s appointment, that they can get to work on time and that they can use this vehicle for vacations.” It’s not just the charging network that’s unreliable. EVs had 80 percent more problems than cars with traditional internal combustion engines, according to the latest survey by Consumer Reports magazine. EV owners reported the most troubles with their battery and its ability to take a charge. “This has nothing to do with the chargers in the field. This is specifically about a problem with the vehicle where it would not accept a charge,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports. “It’s like you can’t get gasoline into the car. That’s a problem, a big problem.” That helps explain why more than half of American car buyers now say they’re not interested in EVs, up from just 42 percent who ruled out battery-powered models in 2022, according to a survey of a quarter-million US car buyers by automotive research firm Strategic Vision. “In the most recent months, there’s been a strong pushback with more people saying they absolutely, positively have no interest in buying an EV,” says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision. He contends there is actually no “intrinsic demand” for EVs because of their high price and charging limitations. “Very few people want to spend $55,000 so they can worry.” To be clear, the bottom is not dropping out of the EV market. Sales of batterypowered vehicles will still grow at a faster rate than the overall auto market this year, automakers and independent analysts predict. But the heady optimism about an EV in every garage has run up against the pragmatism of mainstream buyers. Until they see lower prices and more chargers dotting their daily commute – two issues the auto industry and US government are devoting billions of dollars to improve – they’re sticking with their traditional rides and familiar filling stations. “I know there’s a gas station every few miles,” says Mettenleiter, the Hyundai Kona owner, “and that will never be an issue.” EVs have also ended up in the crosshairs of the culture wars, another obstacle to demand. Plug-in cars are central to Biden’s plans to combat climate change. His signature legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, offers a range of consumer tax credits and billions of dollars in manufacturing incentives to stimulate demand. Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency has proposed restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions that would require two-thirds of new passenger vehicles be all-electric by 2032. “Blue states say EVs are great and we need to adopt them as soon as possible for climate reasons,” Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, said in an October interview with the New York Times. “Some of the red states say this is just like the vaccine, and it’s being shoved down our throat by the government, and we don’t want it. “I never thought I would see the day when our products were so heavily politicized,” said Ford. “But they are.” Ford is cutting production plans for its F-150 Lightning. Disinterest in Electric Vehicles Share of US survey respondents who say they are not interested in battery EVs for a future purchase or lease 2016 2017 2020 Source: Strategic Vision’s New Vehicle Experience Study 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 75% 50 25 0

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT EDITORIAL By David Ignatius Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his fourth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war exploded by visiting Arab capitals last week, hoping to gather some bargaining chips that might convince Israel to move toward peace. He got what he wanted from the Arabs. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other key leaders pledged they would support a postwar reconstruction of Gaza – and normalize relations with Israel – but only if Israel ended the conflict in Gaza and committed to a process for creating a future Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t agree to either demand. But knowledgeable U.S. and Israeli sources say the diplomatic situation could be more promising than it might appear. Blinken knows he’s negotiating with an Israel still badly shaken by Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack. That’s why he laid out the Arabs’ proposal to a broad audience – not just to Netanyahu, but individually with each member of Israel’s war cabinet. And he explained it in a news conference to a traumatized Israeli public. Here’s the core question: Is the opportunity for Saudi normalization – and the united front against Iran that it would encourage in the region – the proverbial “offer that you can’t refuse”? Netanyahu’s right-wing government would rebel if he even hinted at support for a two-state solution. But Israelis who know Netanyahu well say he might pay that political cost to gain the prize of Saudi normalization that he’s been chasing for years. Israeli officials tried to answer Blinken’s push for a quick de-escalation in Gaza by pledging to move into a new phase of “lower intensity” combat that should mean fewer civilian casualties and more humanitarian aid. They plan to reduce Israel Defense Forces’ presence inside Gaza from 21 brigades at the war’s outset to four or five by next month. That’s partly because of international pressure, but also because they’ve already hammered Hamas. Officials estimate that more than half of Hamas’s 24 battalions no longer operate and that more than 60 percent of its battalion and company commanders have been killed. Israeli won’t yet allow Palestinian civilians to return to northern Gaza, arguing that Hamas fighters are still active there. The Israelis fear this remnant could meld into the returning civilian population – triggering renewed heavy combat and, perhaps, another forced evacuation. Better to wait, they contend. But to get ready, Israel has agreed to allow a U.N. team to make a detailed survey of water, sewage, health and housing needs in northern Gaza, starting immediately. Israel also claims it’s working with international aid agencies to create a large refugee camp south of Gaza City to house some of the hundreds of thousands who fled south to Rafah, on the Egyptian border. To provide more humanitarian assistance without the inspection bottlenecks at existing land crossings, Israel and other countries are exploring delivering more aid from ships. Blinken is said to have responded that these Israeli de-escalation steps aren’t enough. Israel plans to continue airstrikes and shelling of some targets in southern Gaza, but Blinken said in a news conference last week that the civilian toll is “far too high.” Israeli sources concede that they’re still killing one Palestinian civilian for every Hamas fighter they take out. The Biden administration wants Israel to focus on Hamas’s high-value targets. The future battlespace in Gaza is underground, in Hamas’s vast network of tunnels. Israeli officials recognize that they initially underestimated this “Gaza metro,” as it’s called, which they now reckon zigs and zags more than 300 miles under a strip that’s just 25 miles long and 7 miles wide. The Israelis say they have finally mapped this underground empire, thanks to captured computer diagrams, interrogations of Hamas members who helped build the tunnels, and new listening and location technology. Israelis warn that the siege of the tunnels could continue for months. The IDF has capped many of the shafts with emulsions known as “sponge bombs” that form a permanent chemical barrier. They’re developing other exotic tools to help them find Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and others. U.S. officials know that Israel isn’t likely to stop fighting until those planners of Oct. 7 are dead. Who will maintain order in Gaza as Israeli troops withdraw? That might be the weakest link in this planning chain. As Hamas is diminished, Israel plans to work with an ad hoc governance network of local municipal councils, business groups, trade unions, clans and employees of the Palestinian Authority, which Netanyahu rejects but whose role might be inescapable. The United States has been training Authority security forces for nearly two decades and wants them to oversee the Gaza transition. As the Gaza war begins to recede, Israel is sending some of its troops north to the Lebanese border, where its forces have been trading fire with the Iranbacked Hezbollah militia. The Hezbollah threat has driven about 80,000 Israelis from northern towns. The IDF has responded by pounding Hezbollah targets, killing more than 160 fighters and driving the militia several miles back from the border. But Israel demands a real buffer zone. The Biden administration is scrambling to craft a deal that would send the Lebanese Army into this buffer and defuse the border crisis. Amos Hochstein, a White House aide, has been shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem, and Israeli officials think a diplomatic settlement is possible. Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah hinted that he might support such a deal in a speech last week. With Mohammed bin Salman’s offer on the table, the question is how to get to “yes.” A version of this column first appeared in The Washington Post. It does not necessarily reflect the views of Vero Beach 32963. The big challenge in the Mideast: How to get to ‘Yes’ At present, our Pelican Plaza office is closed to visitors without appointments. We appreciate your understanding.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 45 INSIGHT OP-ED What's wrong with Britt Lane's bed? And why won't Ashley Furniture fix it for her? She's been sleeping on the floor since she ordered the furniture from the retailer. QUESTION: I recently bought a new bed from Ashley Furniture. The company delivered the bed with missing parts. Ashley Furniture has not provided the correct parts to make the bed functional. When I call customer service, the reps hang up or put me on hold indefinitely. I would like a partial refund on the price of the bed as well as the parts needed to make the bed work. Ashley Furniture has already refunded the delivery charge and setup fee, but it will not adjust the price of the bed. I've been sleeping on the floor for more than a month. Can you help me? ANSWER: Ashley Furniture should have delivered your bed to you when it said it would – the whole bed. But of course, you already know that. It looks like you ordered Ashley's "No-Hassle Delivery + Assembly" option, which promises "your items will be delivered, set in your room of choice and, if necessary, assembled." I reviewed the correspondence between you and Ashley Furniture. It appears you were missing all the parts that hold the bed together, including screws and bolts. So, of course, the driver could not assemble your bed because there was nothing to hold it together. It makes sense that Ashley Furniture would refund your delivery and assembly fees. It had delivered an incomplete – and unassemblable – bed. Ashley Furniture draws more than its fair share of consumer complaints, who gripe about the quality of its furniture and lack of customer service. You might have reminded the unhelpful Ashley Furniture employee of the company's mission statement, which is to "delight our guests, turn houses into homes and change lives for the better… together." A half-assembled bed is no way to turn a house into a home. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of Ashley Furniture's customer service executives on my site, Elliott.org. An appeal to one of the executives might have helped move your case along. But also, a request for a partial refund might have been too much. Ashley had already refunded the delivery and assembly fee. It just needed to get you those bolts. I contacted Ashley Furniture on your behalf. A representative called you and set up a time to finish assembling your bed. Two months after your delivery, you emailed me with good news: "I now have the fully assembled and functioning bed that I paid for." Get help with any consumer problem by contacting Christopher Elliott at http://www.elliott.org/help BY CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT My bed from Ashley Furniture is missing a few parts. What should I do?

46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Jorge Luis Borges’s essay “Beatrice’s Last Smile” opens with a daring assertion: “My intention is to comment on the most moving lines literature has achieved.” In the “Paradiso,” the third part of his “Divine Comedy,” Dante has been guided through heaven by a woman he once loved on Earth, the Beatrice who inspired his earlier, semiautobiographical mixture of prose and poetry, “La Vita Nuova,” or “The New Life.” As Dante has steadily ascended toward his final vision of “the love that moves the sun and the other stars,” Beatrice has grown increasingly beautiful, her smile ever more radiant. But now, suddenly, she is no longer at his side. Instead, she has returned to her place among the souls in one of the circles surrounding the celestial Rose. As Dante gazes up at her in the distance, she smiles back at him one last time, then turns away forever. To Mark Gregory Pegg, this moment “encapsulates the history of the Middle Ages because it evokes the ebb and flow of holiness and humanity … that shaped the medieval world.” In “Beatrice’s Last Smile: A New History of the Middle Ages,” he tracks these “fluctuations between the divine and the human by interweaving stories about men, women, and children living and dying between the third and the fifteenth centuries.” It’s quite a tapestry. The book opens with the martyrdom of a 22-year-old Christian woman in 203 and ends in 1431 with the burning of Joan of Arc as a heretic. In between these two horrific events, Pegg – a professor of history at Washington University in St. Louis – relies on short biographies and dramatic anecdotes to illuminate, if only in strobe-light flashes, what many people still regard as the “Dark Ages,” a millennium of ignorance, confusion and all-encompassing religiosity. As early as the 3rd century A.D., the Christian apologist Tertullian famously asked, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” By this, he meant to dismiss classical “pagan” learning as irrelevant to a life conforming to the teachings of Jesus and his followers. Nonetheless, as Pegg repeatedly shows, Greek philosophy and Roman political ideals infused the Middle Ages and were regularly repurposed by the church’s greatest thinkers and saints, including the former neo-Platonist Saint Augustine and that master of Aristotelian logic, Saint Thomas Aquinas. While the main focus throughout “Beatrice’s Last Smile” is Western Europe, Pegg also looks at the Eastern Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople, and the enormous impact of both Islamic conquest and Islamic scholarship. Today we might ask, “What does this age of faith have to do with the 21st century?” To begin with, the Middle Ages are an era less alien than you might imagine. They are, in fact, to borrow historian Barbara Tuchman’s phrase, “a distant mirror” of our own. In this millennium one finds mindless religious fanaticism; antisemitism and rabid Islamophobia; the interlacing rather than separation of church and state; the cult of personality in politics; masses of people swarming across borders as they fled homelands devastated by invaders (in this case, the Mongols); life-or-death disputes over religious dogmas (in particular the nature of Christ, the Trinity and the Eucharist); massacres of Christians, Muslims and Jews; and not least, the Black Death, which from 1346 to 1353 carried off half the population of Europe. As Pegg points out, its victims tended to be the urban poor, while the rich fled to their country estates and, more often than not, escaped unscathed. Other pages of “Beatrice’s Last Smile” introduce us to such perennially fascinating figures as the demon-haunted Egyptian hermit Saint Antony; the visionary Saint Benedict, originator of the “Rule” that still governs monastic life today; Alcuin, whose educational reforms under Charlemagne set in motion the 9th-century Carolingian Renaissance; the mystical Saint Francis of Assisi; and those doomed lovers, the philosopher Abelard and his passionate pupil, Heloise. Pegg naturally includes many of the era’s most famous anecdotes, often freshly reinterpreted. Thus Pope Gregory the Great observes a group of fairhaired enslaved boys from Anglo-Saxon Britain and puns that they should be called angels rather than Angles, then sends an emissary to convert their homeland. In his “Ecclesiastical History of the English People,” the greatest historical work between antiquity and the Renaissance, the Venerable Bede compares the life of a pagan to a sparrow that flies from the wintry night into a warm, firelit longhouse before quickly passing back out into the eternal darkness. Commenting on schisms among various Christian sects, Ammianus Marcellinus concludes that “no wild beasts are such dangerous enemies to man as Christians are to one another.” It was, in fact, a time as brutal as our own. When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 A.D., Pegg reminds us that “anything precious, beautiful, and portable, including [the emperor] Honorius’ sister, Galla Placida, was snatched and carried away.” In 845, some 120 Viking ships sailed up the Seine and ransacked Paris; the following year another Viking flotilla pillaged the city, then burned it. When the Christian soldiers of the First Crusade reached Jerusalem in 1099, “anyone not obviously signed with the cross was slaughtered.” As the chronicler Fulda proudly wrote, there was no escape for the Saracens: “Not one of them was allowed to live. They did not spare the women and children.” Most famous of all, in 1209, during the Albigensian Crusade, soldiers asked their commander how to distinguish the heretics from the righteous and were given the simple, shocking order: “Kill them all. God will know his own.” As well as an abundance of anecdotes, Pegg does present an underlying thesis: Up to roughly the 11th century, he argues, the overall religious and sociological ethos of the Middle Ages can be called penitential, by which he means that “all traces and memories of sinfulness were to be eliminated in preparation for death.” Erasure of the self was the point. However, as he writes, Abelard’s “History of My Calamities” (set down around 1132) exemplifies the later medieval period’s shift to a predominantly “confessional” culture: “Autobiographies as narrative histories of the self, as reflections upon an individual life moving through time in a linear progression, multiplied from the twelfth century onward. They were spiritual and literary innovations.” In sum, “Beatrice’s Last Smile” provides insightful and instructive reading, yet also makes clear that the Middle Ages are too rich, too complex, too diverse for any one book or historical approach to do those astonishing centuries full justice. INSIGHT BOOKS Beatrice’s Last Smile A New History of the Middle Ages By Mark Gregory Pegg Oxford University Press. 504 pp. $34.95 Review by Michael Dirda | The Washington Post

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 47 One way may be better than two way By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist Popular in the rest of the world is the Multi: an opening bid of two diamonds to show a weak two-bid in either major. It liberates two-of-a-major openings for other meanings and can also make life harder for the opponents. This was board 16 in the final of the Spingold Knockout Teams. At the other table, Ron Pachtman opened two hearts, a normal weak two. Piotr Gawrys (North) made a takeout double, and Michal Klukowski (South) had an easy pass. The defenders took two spades, two hearts, one diamond and two clubs for down two, plus 500. At this table, Fernando Piedra (West) opened with the Multi. Nicolas L’Ecuyer (North) bid two hearts to show a takeout double of hearts (a debatable method). Paul Street (South) was endplayed into advancing two no-trump. South took the first trick with his heart ace (East discarded a diamond) and played a club to the queen and king. East returned the club two, declarer taking that trick with his ace. Now South ran the diamond 10, losing to East’s jack. East cashed the diamond ace and led another diamond. Declarer played three rounds of spades to endplay East into leading from the club 9-4 into dummy’s J-8. However, South had won only seven tricks: two spades, one heart, one diamond and three clubs. Zimmermann gained 11 international match points on the board. To succeed, declarer has to go the dummy and lead the club queen. If East does not cover, then the club jack pins West’s 10. A third club establishes dummy’s eight. Then playing three rounds of spades endplays East in diamonds, giving South two spades, one heart, two diamonds and three clubs. Dealer: West; Vulnerable: East-West NORTH A K 9 7 6 4 K Q 7 Q J 8 6 WEST Q 3 K Q J 9 7 5 8 6 5 10 7 SOUTH 5 4 A 10 8 3 2 10 9 2 A 5 3 EAST J 10 8 6 2 — A J 4 3 K 9 4 2 The Bidding: OPENING LEAD: K Hearts SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 2 Diamonds 2 Hearts Pass 2NT Pass Pass Pass INSIGHT BRIDGE CARPET ONE CREATIVE FLOORS & HOME Creative Floors & Home has more for your entire home from the floor up! With Flooring, Tile, Cabinets and even vacuum cleaners! 772.569.0240 1137 Old Dixie Hwy • Vero Beach creativefloorscarpet1verobeach.com Professional Cabinet Design Available

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ The Telegraph 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 SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JANUARY 11) ON PAGE 88 ACROSS 1. Minestrone, e.g. (4) 3. Functionary (8) 9. Head (5) 10. Orwell’s 1984 setting (7) 11. Sheep (3) 13. Car hit ram (anag.) (9) 14. Riding seat (6) 16. Hostility (6) 18. Athens attraction (9) 20. Glide over snow (3) 22. Letter-writing friends (3-4) 23. Skimpy garment (5) 25. Go into the red (8) 26. Revise text, e.g. (4) DOWN 1. Cavalry weapon (5) 2. Vase (3) 4. Unwelcoming (6) 5. Basque, e.g. (7) 6. No Mensa member (9) 7. A hostel (anag.) (7) 8. Sports side (4) 12. Shackleton’s ship (9) 14. Hair cleanser (7) 15. Arctic Circle region (7) 17. Blood component (6) 19. Location (4) 21. Gold brick (5) 24. No spring chicken (3) INSIGHT GAMES hello, fun... ® Rentals • Sales • Service 518 21st Street, Vero Beach, 32960 772-365-4514 pedegoverobeach.com

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 49 ACROSS 1 Long-billed waders 7 Long-tailed squawker 12 Practitioners’ org. 15 Actress Joanne 18 Reo rival 19 King novel 20 Where Jackson got his “Stonewall” nickname 22 John Dunlop’s 1888 invention for bicycles 24 See 129 Across 25 Cook fast, as a steak 26 Pastor’s abbr. 27 Harrison’s nickname 29 Girl of song 33 Needle part 34 Spanish number 35 Beige, for one 39 Start of a city 41 “Tool Time” subject 44 Snow-capped peak 45 ___ glance 46 A giant among Giants 47 Outspoken sister-in-law of Vietnam’s President Diem in the 1960s 50 2000 Super Bowl player 52 ___ voce 54 Saver’s option 55 Came down with 56 Sweet, crunchy center 61 Leader of the Mel-Tones 63 As Good As It Gets Oscar-winner 64 Barrister’s order? 65 Affront 66 Fiddler on the Roof role 67 Quayle’s home 71 Pie ___ 73 Wild plums 75 Hit on the head 77 Groan-inducing, as a pun 78 Billiard table’s rim 82 Helping hand for Morticia 83 Serengeti stampeder 87 Unconscious 88 Part of B.C.E. 90 Pointy 91 House tops 92 N.Y.C. closes it on Easter Sunday 95 Day break 96 Dinghy thingy 98 ___ reaction 99 Cousin of 911 100 Apiece 101 Group with no coverage? 104 ___ degree 106 Wind dir. 108 Space Needle city 109 Soft, white French cheese 113 Maui memento 114 Atkins diet staple 118 Goof 119 Best way to solve this puzzle 123 Prime candidate? 124 Date for Daisy Duck 125 Existing from birth 126 Norma ___ 127 Wynn et al. 128 Plumber’s tool 129 Columbus’s 1503 discovery, with 24 Across DOWN 1 They’re up to something 2 Fish or wish follower 3 Impression 4 Painter of Grand Jatte fame 5 Shade tree 6 Ogle 7 “Whatever-yourname-is” 8 Feat of Klee? 9 Lit. analysis 10 More spacious 11 Sad 12 Rose’s guy 13 Like a bodybuilder 14 Poe, partly 15 Bond classic 16 Loutish 17 Young ___ 19 Reversible car model 21 Covered with wool 23 ___ story 28 Animal rights grp. 30 Liquid Plumr rival 31 Lethal loop 32 Singer John 35 Slangy assent 36 Yale of university fame 37 The Jungle author Sinclair 38 Klemperer et al. 40 Shorten a sentence? 42 Teed off 43 Intro to “Yes, you!” 47 Skier’s concern 48 Done in by Kasparov 49 Part of SUV, for short 51 Director’s word 53 Salad type 57 The Beatles, e.g. 58 1960s ring master 59 Do “the most important job in the world” 60 Addis ___ 62 Go too far with 66 Demon barber 68 Israeli desert 69 Threat to peace? 70 Lit. compilation 72 Put a dent in 73 Clams (up) 74 Currier & Ives print 76 Actor Reeves 79 As much as you like, 1960s-style 80 As a joke 81 Like The Taming of the Shrew 82 Office comedy, 9 ___ 83 Decrease 84 Slender wire nails 85 Silas Marner girl 86 Memorable Robin of Locksley 89 Prepared to travel again 93 Perceptive 94 Night bear 96 Furry river animal 97 Of light’s ability to produce chemical changes, as in photography 101 Rob Roy portrayer 102 Drinking toast 103 Like a certain Life Saver 105 Old enough 107 Ornamental nailheads 109 Fashion’s Ricci 110 90 degrees from norte 111 A relative of mine? 112 Singer Horne 115 Dutch cheese 116 Utah ski area 117 High-schooler 118 Shannon Lucid’s home for 188 days 120 Talk a lot 121 Flamenco dancer’s shout 122 ___ whimsieve” The Telegraph The Washington Post ...How many ways can you spell “new”? Totally New! By Merl Reagle INSIGHT GAMES

50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 18, 2024 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ INSIGHT BACK PAGE Dear Carolyn: My friend “Mia” recently got engaged. She and “Steve” have been together since right before COVID, and she’s been wanting to get married for a long time. However, Steve is terrible. None of her close friends like him or think he’s right for her. Two examples of many: Mia always wanted kids, but Steve didn’t; all of sudden, she changed her mind about it. He also drinks and does drugs (mostly party drugs) a lot, while she’s a homebody, and we recently learned she dropped acid with him because he was pushing her to. He dims her sparkle, and everyone sees that except her. It’s gotten to the point where we have started not inviting her to certain things because we knew he’d be there. Steve doesn’t even seem to be excited about their engagement, let alone the wedding; he made a comment recently about “if it even happens.” Her oldest and best friend once questioned the relationship, and Mia said that if Steve ever left her, she’d die. As a group, all her girlfriends want to tell her this guy sucks and she could do so much better. But we also know her well enough to know we could easily lose her. How do we choose between telling her our feelings and risking her friendship? – Conflicted Conflicted: Preserving your friendship is important, but it’s much less of a worry than preserving Mia. For all the red flags around Steve, Mia’s “I’d die” is way more alarming. Maybe hyperbole is her thing; you’re better able to put it in context than I am. But we have that statement, plus a decent case for Steve’s awfulness, plus her “long time” focus on Getting Married, which tends to crowd out any incentive to be picky about the “to whom” part. Plus, we have her bending to Steve’s will on things that are out of character, off her life path and unsafe. These add up to real peril for Mia. And while I am super (duper) sympathetic to finding Steve so terrible that you’ll drop Mia to be rid of him, you and her other friends heighten her risk when you do that. Abuse math is vicious. When Steve drives off all her people, she’ll have no one but Steve, and depend on him more, and feel less able to leave, and take more of his abuse. Mia needs her friends’ love. She needs your eyes on her. She needs your steady presence as a reminder that she matters – to each of you specifically, to all of you together and to the universe just because. Coordinate if you can so she’s covered and you’re all sharing the weight. She also needs to hear how she appears through your eyes: “I am worried. I see you losing your sparkle, and feel helpless to fix it, so I’ll just say this: I’m here for you, 24/7, when you’re ready.” Say it one-on-one, kindly, with an eye to planting this idea in her heart vs. persuading her this very instant. Also be clear this is concern, not criticism. And make no mention of Steve. If she’s already not receptive to everyone’s assessments of how terrible he is, then stop. You don’t want to push people in Mia’s position into feeling they have to defend their terrible mates, or their terrible choices to be with terrible mates. Even if your dimmed-sparkle talk upsets her, too, at least she’ll know she has someone she can ask for help. Fingers crossed. BY CAROLYN HAX Washington Post Do they tell a recently engaged friend she can do much better?