06/14/2018 ISSUE 24

Algae blamed for lack of fish
near inlet last winter. P8
Old Dodgertown plan
moving forward. P10

School Board candidates rap
incumbents for not doing duty. P4

MY VERO For breaking news visit

BY RAY MCNULTY Attorney on trial
for conspiracy in
Road-rage law: Ask what Heaton hotel case
would Marshal Dillon do
Cleveland Clinic anesthesiologist with residents and fellows. PHOTO FROM CLEVELAND CLINIC BY BETH WALTON
If you’re having difficulty Staff Writer
with the State Attorney’s Of- Cleveland seen expanding medical training here
fice’s decision not to file crimi- Vero Beach lawyer Eric
nal charges against the shooter BY MICHELLE GENZ hospital board member finds school, cast her vote in Janu- Granitur went on trial Mon-
in the fatal road-rage incident Staff Writer herself in the sweet spot. ary for the Cleveland Clinic to day at the federal courthouse
on State Road 60 in November, take over Indian River Medi- in West Palm Beach, charged
you need to do this: As Cleveland Clinic and the When Dr. Juliette Lomax- cal Center, she saw a bright with conspiracy and mak-
Indian River Medical Cen- Homier, a practicing gyne- future for her program and ing false statements in con-
Watch a few episodes of ter enter the final stretch of cologist and dean of the Fort the students it trains as well nection with mortgage loans
“Gunsmoke.” partnership negotiations, one Pierce campus of Florida that helped developer George
State University’s medical CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Heaton keep moving ahead a
Reruns of the wildly popu- decade ago with construction
lar, television western that of the Vero Beach Hotel & Spa.
aired from 1955 to 1975 still
can be found on the TVLAND Among those set to tes-
and INSP channels, and they tify against him was Heaton,
should help you understand who agreed to cooperate with
the Dodge City mentality em- prosecutors in exchange for
braced by the state legislators a plea deal that will limit his
who made “stand your ground” own sentence to no more
the law of the land in Florida. than five years in prison.

That’s because, as best as Granitur, 60, who per-
I can figure, the determin- formed escrow work in 2008
ing factor regarding when and 2009 for condominium
units at the hotel, maintains
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 his innocence, but prosecu-

Keep fingers crossed CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
on Vero Electric sale
for three more weeks Will valet stands or garage be answer
to parking shortage in Central Beach?
BY LISA ZAHNER
Staff Writer BY RAY MCNULTY possibility of putting as many Parking congestion in front of shops on Ocean Drive. PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD
Staff Writer as four valet stands along Ocean
Just one final, nerve-wrack- and Cardinal drives. They also
ing, three-week period hope- Continuing their search heard a proposal for a park-
fully remains for stakeholders for solutions to the parking ing garage from longtime Vero
in the Vero Electric sale. shortage in the Central Beach businessman Mark Tripson.
business district, Vero city of-
The Florida Public Service ficials are now exploring the The valet suggestion, in-
Commission is expected to is-
sue a formal ruling this week CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
approving the sale of Vero
Electric to Florida Power &

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

June 14, 2018 Volume 11, Issue 24 Newsstand Price $1.00 Wine & Film Fest
once again is
News 1-10 Faith 58 Pets 59 TO ADVERTISE CALL a smash hit. P12
Arts 25-28 Games 39-41 Real Estate 61-72 772-559-4187
Books 38 Health 43-46 St. Ed’s 57
Dining 50 Insight 29-42 Style 47-49 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 34 People 11-24 Wine 51 CALL 772-226-7925

© 2018 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero Timothy Sartori, who shot and killed  “The defendant had no duty to fore their cars arrived at the fateful in-
Dennis Hicks at the intersection of retreat if he was not otherwise en- tersection, where he claimed Hicks ini-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 State Road 60 and 53rd Avenue shortly gaged in criminal activity and was in a tially challenged him to get out of his
after 7 p.m. on Nov. 16: place where he has a right to be.” car – Sartori told sheriff’s deputies he
it’s legally permissible in this state to believed Hicks was reaching for a gun.
use deadly force to defend yourself is:  “The use of deadly force is jus- Sartori, a National Guard member
What would Marshal Dillon do? tifiable if the defendant reasonably who had served as a machine gun- “I thought I saw it; I didn’t hesitate,”
believed that the force was necessary ner protecting military convoys in Sartori said to detectives, who also
As fans of the show can attest, Dillon to prevent imminent death or great Iraq, defended his right to use deadly questioned his passenger, his long-
went for his gun only when the outlaws bodily harm to himself ...” force under the stand-your-ground time girlfriend, Melissa Antler.
left him no other choice – when they law, claiming he drew his Glock 9mm
went for theirs, or at least appeared to.  “The danger need not have been handgun and “opened fire” only after Sartori, who had a valid permit to
actual; however, to justify the use of Hicks threatened to “put a bullet” in carry a concealed firearm, quickly
That’s how the stand-your-ground deadly force, the appearance of danger him and reached toward the center grabbed his gun from a cup holder in
law works here. must have been so real that a reasonably console of his car. his car and began shooting.
cautious and prudent person under the
As Assistant State Attorney Steve same circumstances would have be- Based on Hicks’ hostility – Sartori Deputies at the scene found Hicks’
Gosnell wrote in the 25-page memo- lieved that the danger could be avoided said Hicks had been driving erratically, lifeless body in the front seat of his car.
randum detailing his reasons for not only through the use of that force.” nearly rear-ending another vehicle be- He had been shot four times, includ-
filing any criminal charges against ing once in the chest and once in the
head. They did not find a gun.

Under Florida’s stand-your-ground
law, however, the fact that the dead
man wasn’t armed didn’t matter. As
long as Sartori believed Hicks’ threat
to be real – and investigators found
no witness testimony or physical evi-
dence to refute his claim – there was
no way Gosnell could justify a man-
slaughter charge.

Or any other criminal charge.
According to Gosnell’s memo, Sarto-
ri didn’t stop shooting until he ran out
of bullets, which means he fired all 16
rounds in the Glock’s magazine. Four
of them hit a third vehicle, which was
driven by Michael Clemente-Botke,
who was not involved in the dispute.
That SUV, however, also contained
Clemente-Botke’s 3-year-old son,
Sam. Judging by the bullet holes in the
vehicle, the boy came within inches of
begin hit.
“By the grace of God,” Gosnell wrote,
“no one in the Clemente-Botke vehicle
was physically injured.”
But even though an innocent by-
stander’s SUV was struck by multiple
rounds – even if the child had been
wounded or, worse, killed by a stray
bullet – Gosnell could not charge Sar-
tori with a crime.
Despite lacking the necessary legal
grounds to charge Sartori with man-
slaughter, Gosnell revealed that he
also considered other potential crimes,
such as “culpable negligence or dis-
charging a firearm in public.”
But the stand-your-ground law, as
it’s currently written, didn’t allow him
to pursue such charges.
Gosnell explained that the jury in-
structions for discharging a firearm in
public cases include “lawfully defend-
ing life or property” as an affirmative
defense against such a charge.
“If Mr. Sartori has an unrebuttable
claim of self-defense, would he be
criminally liable for an errant bullet
that struck the Clemente-Botke ve-
hicle?” Gosnell wrote. “For over 100
years, Florida has shielded those who
validly used self-defense and inadver-
tently killed a non-participant.”
He later added: “If the concept of

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 3

NEWS

transferred self-defense applies to the vice by asking her to come outside so to angrily bash a car’s hood, side mir- his brother as having a “macho man”
killing of an innocent bystander . . . the he could “kick her ass.” He later jabbed ror and passenger-side windshield attitude.
concept would apply to the uninten- her in the nose. during a different dispute.
tional striking of another vehicle with So, based on the testimony and evi-
a bullet where no one was physically  In 2012 in Indian River County, If that wasn’t enough, deputies in- dence available, there’s little doubt Hicks
injured. where he pled no contest to a battery vestigating the case quoted Hicks’ instigated the incident, putting himself in
charge after striking a female in the brother, Michael Nosler, saying,“Mom, a situation that cost him his life. But did
“Under the law, Mr. Sartori’s claim face during a dispute over $10. He you know how Dennis is. He has a hot he really say he was going to shoot Sartori
of self-defense, which cannot be re- entered another no contest plea after head and probably said something he and then reach for something, making
butted, travels with his bullets.” being charged with criminal mischief shouldn’t have said.” Sartori believe his life was in danger?
for using an aluminum baseball bat
And for those wondering about the They also quoted Nosler describing CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
number of shots fired: That had no im-
pact on Gosnell’s legal analysis of the Exclusively John’s Island
incident.
Revel in breathtaking ocean views in is this exquisitely renovated,
“Mr. Sartori said he kept firing until redesigned 3BR/3.5BA oceanfront residence. Graced with 2,400± SF,
he eliminated the perceived threat,” custom millwork and fine finishes, unsurpassed features include a gourmet
Gosnell wrote. island kitchen with custom cabinetry, wood flooring, and tray ceiling. An
enclosed seaside lanai, gracious living room with coffered ceilings and
That’s exactly what Florida law al- custom built-ins, luxurious master suite, underground parking, shared
lowed him to do under those circum- outdoor grill and private pool & beach access complete the picture.
stances. That’s why Gosnell, backed by 1000 Beach Road #197 : $ 2,850,000
State Attorney Bruce Colton, didn’t file
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He couldn’t. He had no good-faith
case, and he knew it. Armed with that 772.231.0900 : Vero Beach, FL : JohnsIslandRealEstate.com
knowledge, he wrote, it would’ve been
“unethical” for him to approve a war-
rant for Sartori’s arrest, casually charg-
ing him with a crime and letting a court
decide the self-defense issues later.

Truth is, given the evidence, there’s
little chance any charge would’ve held
up against early court challenges by
Sartori’s defense attorney, anyway.

“Finally, if by some miracle Mr. Sar-
tori’s prosecution survived a statutory
immunity hearing,” Gosnell wrote,
“the state’s ill-conceived prosecution
would most assuredly fail when con-
fronted with the defendant’s motion
for judgment of acquittal at trial.”

Hicks’ questionable character, crim-
inal past and reported behavior lead-
ing to the deadly shooting would’ve
made any case against Sartori even
more difficult to prosecute.

Gosnell wrote that Sartori’s defense
likely would’ve included Hicks’ “repu-
tation for violence,” which could’ve
been used to establish that Hicks, who
was driving with a suspended license,
was the initial aggressor.

Sartori would not be required to
prove that he knew of Hicks’ reputa-
tion, merely that there is evidence to
show Hicks acted in conformity with
his character.

“Mr. Hick’s prior arrest history would
assist in the defense’s endeavor,” Gos-
nell wrote.

According to Gosnell’s memo, Hicks
was arrested:

 In 2002 in Indian River County,
where he was charged with aggravated
battery after someone brandished a
knife and Hicks responded by driving
his car “angrily and intentionally” into
the person, causing injury. Both men
were arrested, and the case was not
prosecuted.

 In 2006 in St. Lucie County,
where he pled no contest to a battery
charge after he expressed his dissatis-
faction with a restaurant waitress’ ser-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero appearance of danger? Certainly, Sartori could’ve sped away legislative branch of Florida.”
Should merely being afraid be enough in his car when Hicks threatened to Clearly, the law needs to be changed,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 shoot him.
to allow the use of deadly force as a and I have two suggestions.
That’s what Sartori and his girlfriend means of self-defense? Even Gosnell thinks so. Either restore the obligation-to-re-
say, and there is no way to disprove their “It is this writer’s firmly held belief
claim, because the only other compel- Then there’s the most ridiculous that Mr. Sartori, without fear of in- treat clause, which probably isn’t going
ling witness is dead. aspect of the stand-your-ground law creasing the danger to himself or Ms. to happen any time soon, or go all in on
– the absence of any obligation to re- Antler, could have avoided this tragic “Gunsmoke,” making it illegal to carry
That’s one of several reasons “stand treat, if possible, to avoid a potentially encounter, had he made an effort to a concealed weapon and allow the
your ground,” which removes any ob- deadly confrontation. retreat with his vehicle,” Gosnell wrote. open carry of handguns on our hips in
ligation to retreat if possible, is a fa- “However, as is now patently evi- holsters.
tally flawed law. If, when confronted with the threat dent, in Florida, the present state of
of bodily harm, you can safely escape self-defense law does not require him With open carry, at least, we’ll know
How do we judge someone’s state without resorting to gunplay or other to do so,” he added. “It is not for this at the outset of any potential alterca-
of mind? How do we determine who forms of deadly force, why shouldn’t prosecutor to debate the policy, but tion who’s got a gun and who doesn’t.
is a reasonably cautious and prudent you be legally required to do so, espe- to enforce the law as written by the
person? What, exactly, constitutes the cially if there’s a real chance innocent Besides, that’s what Marshal Dillon
bystanders could be hurt or killed? would do – which means our state legis-
lators might actually consider it. 

School Board candidates say current board not doing its duty

BY KATHLEEN SLOAN by Shawn Frost. “The board ends up earned an undergraduate degree in cation from the University of Idaho
defaulting to whom they think has management information systems and in women’s studies from Eastern
Staff Writer expertise. We need to shift that.” from Florida State University and a Washington University.
law degree from Southern University
Scandals and other problems un- The three women also agreed that Law Center in Baton Rouge, both as She said she has served on state and
der the current School Board have at- “how we problem solve” needs to a full-scholarship student. She has a national government exceptional-ed-
tracted a bumper crop of candidates change, as Schiff put it. “The School “full service” consulting firm, MDG ucation public policy boards, writing,
for the three board seats that will be Board shouldn’t say to the communi- Advisory Group, and is a realtor evaluating and making recommen-
voted on in next fall’s election. So far, ty, ‘This is what we’re doing;’ it needs and insurance agent. Last year, she dations to elected representatives.
10 candidates have filed to challenge to say, ‘This is the problem, how do founded Pioneering Change, a Gif-
incumbents in districts 1, 2 and 4. we solve it?’” ford-based organization that seeks Klim, too, decided to run for School
to help people become self-reliant, Board because she feels shut out,
Three candidates who made state- Schiff has a doctorate degree in independent and successful. with School Board members asking,
ments and answered questions at the public administration from New York “Why do you want to meet with me?
Democratic Women’s Club of Indian University and is a “restorative jus- “After forming Pioneering Change I have 15 minutes” – an attitude she
River County last week contended tice” expert, serving on federal and and hearing from the community,” called “unacceptable.”
the board currently is dysfunctional, state advisory boards. Green said, “it became clear education
doing the bidding of Superintendent is the foundation that determines where She said she has a handicapped
Mark Rendell instead of properly Restorative justice programs shift a person will end up – in poverty, in jail, son “who has not had a teacher all
overseeing him. from the “shame and blame” of stu- or as a vital member of the community.” year,” and that her daughter’s school
dents to conscience-raising discus- had heavy teacher turnover. “Teach-
“Our School Board [wrongly] acts sions, according to Schiff. “What hap- She said the School District “is not ers want a raise and professional de-
at the direction of the superinten- pened, what harm was done and how receptive to outside influences.” Be- velopment,” she said.
dent,” said Merchon Green, who is do we make it right? When we start ing shut out inspired her to run for
running for the District 2 seat cur- having those conversations, you re- School Board. A primary focus for her would
rently occupied by Dale Simchick. verse school suspensions,” she said. be exceptional education. She also
If elected, Green said she will “hold wants school counselors relieved
Stacey Klim, who is running for the To make schools safe she proposed upper-level management account- from mundane duties, such as bus or
District 4 seat now filled by Charles a five-point plan that includes part- able” by basing pay and bonuses on lunch duty, so they can concentrate
Searcy, said the current setup is a nering with the Behavioral Health student performance, just as teach- on helping children.
“flipped system,” which results in Center at Indian River Medical Cen- ers are held accountable; increase
the School Board rubber-stamping ter and other organizations for better transparency by informing parents “I want to bring the community
whatever Rendell recommends. mental health and substance abuse what is going on in school; and back into our schools,” Klim said. “Let
detection and treatment, and build- change the school climate by letting volunteers handle lunch duty so our
“In addition to roles flipped, it’s a ing relationships with the communi- teachers and community members counselors can be with students.”
matter of expertise,” said Mara Schiff, ty, letting parents in on the decision- “know we hear them.”
noting that people with no educa- making process. She would also focus on behavioral
tional or financial qualifications can Stacey Klim has a degree in Sociol- programs, such as “Conscious Disci-
run for a seat on the School Board, Schiff said her expertise makes her ogy and Education from the Metro- pline,” which has been instituted with
which is responsible for a budget of “the smart choice for school safety.” politan State College of Denver, with success at Indian River Academy. “We
nearly $300 million. Schiff is run- graduate work in elementary edu- need to look at these programs and
ning for the District 1 seat now held Merchon Green also has what take what’s working and put them in
seem like relevant qualifications. She all of our schools.” 

Medical education Cleveland to take over Martin Health’s Lomax-Homier is not the only hope- Still in his scrubs, Mitchell slipped
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 three hospitals, where FSU students ful one. As the Jan. 30 IRMC board vote quietly into the first available chair,
also train. Suddenly, a program that for for Cleveland was about to take place, a but did not elude the notice of board
as for the hospital that servesVero Beach. a decade has quietly trained 40 medi- familiar face appeared at the door: Dr. chairman Dr. Wayne Hockmeyer, who
With the upcoming acquisition, cal students a year could find itself George Mitchell, critical care physician acknowledged his presence with re-
offering rotations at as many as four and a beloved member of the faculty at spect and affection.
there is a strong likelihood her students Cleveland Clinic hospitals. FSU-Fort Pierce; Lomax-Homier called
will train at a future Cleveland Clinic In- him “a cornerstone of the medical edu- The unanimous vote that day to join
dian River, and talks are underway for “Who would have ever thought this cation department at IRMC.” Cleveland Clinic’s expanding Florida
could happen?” she asked. division opened the door for FSU med

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 5

NEWS

students to train at a hospital affiliated opportunity to expand the collective and innovate education and research.” students one-on-one for a four- to six-
with one of the best and biggest teach- academic enterprise as an integrated Mitchell, who was awarded the Excel- week period. The Fort Pierce students
ing hospitals in the country. It also pan-regional network,” Cleveland ex- follow the doctors into whatever arena
raised the likelihood that residents will ecutives told Indian River. Along with lence in Teaching award at FSU’s med their specialty involves, from the office
be trained at IRMC. supporting the FSU programs, Cleve- school graduation last month, is one exam room to the hospital operating
land said it “would welcome the op- of more than 200 faculty physicians in suite to conferences on patient care.
“The combination of Cleveland portunity to collaborate to advance Lomax-Homier’s program, including 70
Clinic and IRMC offers the exciting based in Vero, who currently teach med CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

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Medical education Lomax-Homier and Mitchell hope It is hoped that if IRMC begins of- munity board of the FSU Fort Pierce
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 the FSU program will thrive under fering residencies under Cleveland’s campus. “He understood the need of
Cleveland’s leadership as a top aca- ownership, Vero Beach may become FSU medical students to go on to resi-
“You’re really trying to teach the demic health system, training resi- home to more doctors. dencies,” she said.
medical student the foundation, the dents as well as medical students.
bricks and mortar,” said Mitchell, who In March, Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Those residencies may finally be
applied for a faculty position when the Founded in 2001, FSU College of CEO and president, Dr. Wael Barsoum, available in Vero Beach in the not-too-
FSU campus first opened 10 years ago. Medicine is a community-based med- asked visiting IRMC officials if there distant future.
ical school. Along with Florida Inter- was sufficient physician interest in a
Today, Mitchell helps organize con- national University in Miami and Flor- residency program. Lomax-Homier “If there’s a clear desire on the part of
ferences and grand rounds, where ida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, would have answered with a resound- the medical staff and the community to
physicians and students get together it is part of a movement that began in ing “yes.” start training programs at Indian River,
to exchange ideas on an important the 1970s. I don’t see any reason why it’s not some-
topic, always with an expert present. “People absolutely want to donate thing that we would investigate and try
He also hosts a monthly “journal club” Instead of being integrated with their time and talent,” said Lomax- to make a reality,” Barsoum said.
where articles on the latest research one main teaching hospital, FSU uses Homier. “They come in all the time and
are reviewed with students “to bring community hospitals surrounding its ask if they can give a lecture. It’s a way A definitive agreement with Cleve-
everybody up to date.” regional campuses in Orlando, Pen- to share your knowledge, like a plastic land Clinic is expected in July. If ap-
sacola, Tallahassee, Sarasota, Daytona surgeon who comes in and shows peo- proved by the boards of Indian River
Systemwide, Cleveland Clinic is cur- Beach and Fort Pierce. The intention is ple who have never seen how to repair Medical Center and the Hospital Dis-
rently training 1,900 residents and fel- both to expose its students to diverse a burn on the skin, or how to repair trict, regulatory review and approval
lows in 200 programs. At Cleveland’s populations and their health issues, someone’s face after a car accident. We will follow. 
Weston hospital, which officially be- and to diversify where its physician even have a dentist from Indian River
came a teaching hospital in January, graduates choose to practice. State College who does a dean’s round Granitur trial
there are 115 residents and fellows, plus for us on medical manifestation of dis-
third- and fourth-year medical stu- Florida is said to be facing a pro- ease in the oral cavity. It’s great.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
dents from Florida Atlantic University. jected shortage of 7,000 physicians
by the year 2025, with rural areas suf- Lomax-Homier has been head of tors allege he and others lied to lend-
Residents are medical school gradu- fering the worst deficits, particularly the FSU’s Fort Pierce program for ers about incentive programs, such
ates, officially doctors, who are still along the state’s southwest coast. In three years. She was recruited for the as cash-to-close rebates, used to lure
in training under the supervision of 2013, policymakers in Tallahassee un- board of Indian River Medical Center prospective buyers to the Ocean Drive
more experienced physicians, partici- dertook funding measures to increase by CEO Jeff Susi, who dreamed of hav- development during the real estate
pating in three years of graduate med- the number of residencies in the state ing graduate medical education at the slowdown.
ical education. in the hopes that those doctors will set hospital. Susi, like the CEOs of all the
up practice where they have trained. hospitals in this area, was on the com- This illegal move gave commercial

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 7

NEWS

lenders a false impression of the vi- tenced after a verdict is reached. Each confidence that buyers would be able shoppers and diners, particularly those
ability of the luxury hotel and condo- is facing up to five years in prison. to repay their loans, prosecutors claim. who complain that they can’t park close
minium project, they say. Developers enough to their destinations, would
then were able to secure the funds they Vero Beach Hotel and Spa was de- Heaton and others falsified docu- opt to use the valet service, especially if
needed to finish construction without veloped in two phases by Heaton un- ments and improperly transferred their only cost was a tip.
proper scrutiny and to the detriment der the LLCs Vero Lodging and Vero money between accounts, they said.
of the banks. Beach Hotel and Club. Finance agree- The group intentionally concealed City Manager Jim O’Connor said he
ments for construction required doc- seller incentives for personal finan- and his staff are just beginning to re-
Financial institutions funded mort- umented sales of a certain number of cial gain. search the concept and he wasn’t sure
gage loans totaling more than $20 mil- units in a specific time frame. Banks who would operate the service, how it
lion. Yet, some of the units went into wanted to see that the units had been Granitur is a current member of the would work or who would pay for it.
foreclosure, costing the banks an esti- sold before parting with construction Florida Bar in good standing. Neither
mated $3.3 million, according to court funds. he nor his attorney responded to a re- “We’re very early in the process, still
records. quest for comment.  trying to wrap our heads around how
Granitur’s escrow company, Live to go about it,” O’Connor said. “We’re
Granitur, a real estate and probate Oak Title, represented a prospective Central Beach parking looking at a few different things, but
attorney with an office on Azalea Lane, buyer of several units, according to CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 we don’t have any specifics. We might
was indicted by a federal grand jury court records. As an escrow agent, need to hire a consultant to show us
in September 2016. He entered a not he was charged with holding in trust troduced by Vice Mayor Lange Sykes how to set things up.
guilty plea with the court shortly after- mortgage loan proceeds and distrib- at last week’s City Council meeting,
ward and was released on a $100,000 uting the funds upon approval from could involve the use of smart phones, “The biggest challenge, though, is:
bond. the bank. municipal parking areas at Jaycee Who’s going to pay for it, other than
Park, South Beach and Riverside Park, the city?”
If convicted, the lawyer faces up to Federal law requires escrow agents and shuttles to transport the valets to
30 years in prison, some $1 million in to truthfully and accurately prepare the lots. Sykes said he believes the beachside
fines and possible reparations. He is and distribute to lenders a settle- hotel and restaurant workers – many
fighting three federal charges includ- ment statement that details the sales “The technology in that industry of whom use much-needed parking
ing one count of conspiracy to make price, closing costs paid by the buyer has advanced dramatically,” Sykes spaces along Ocean Drive – also could
false statements to a federally insured and any seller contributions before a said, referring to drivers’ ability to use be encouraged to use the valet service,
institution and two counts of making mortgage is executed. their smartphones to call the valet particularly if their employers subsi-
false statements. stands and request their cars 15 min- dized the cost.
Buyer incentives for several condo- utes in advance.
Co-defendants Heaton, 74, and minium units at the Vero Beach Hotel In fact, Sykes asked O’Connor and
Deborah Baggett, 55, an accountant, and Spa were not disclosed or docu- Sykes said he believes beachside his staff to engage the hotel and restau-
both accepted plea deals for a lesser mented, however. Concealing the in- rant owners and managers in hopes of
charge in January. They will be sen- centives gave banks a false sense of encouraging them “to work with us.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

8 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Central Beach parking cost of building the facility at $6 million “We’d definitely Waldo it up, so it fits I’m not holding my breath.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 – Tripson said he needs the city to grant a with the local decor.” In the meantime, the council voted
variance that would allow him to build a
Another intriguing proposal came 50-foot structure and commit to a long- City Council members – who repeat- to temporarily go back to a three-
from Mark Tripson, who owns the term lease of the 120 remaining spaces. edly said they were committed to find- hour parking limit in the beachside
Ocean Grill property at Sexton Pla- ing a permanent solution to the beach- business district to give visitors more
za. He offered to build a five-story, He said he already has located a side parking shortage before winter time to shop and dine without get-
230-space parking garage on the site of company that would deliver the pre- residents and visitors return in the fall ting parking tickets.
the landmark restaurant’s current lot. fab structure, which, if the city meets – did not seem enthusiastic about the
his conditions, could be built within parking garage. The city went from a three-hour lim-
Tripson said the city officials have told two months. it to a two-hour limit in 2016 to keep
him that if he makes such an improve- They said they’d prefer to try to find more spaces open, after beachside
ment to the property, he’ll be required to “I’m still not sure I’d make any mon- solutions to the beachside parking merchants complained hotel and res-
increase the restaurant’s parking capac- ey, but it would alleviate 90 percent problem by re-configuring the curb- taurant employees were using the on-
ity from 80 to 110 to meet the city code. of the city’s parking problem on the ing to add spaces and better utilizing street, public parking spaces the busi-
beach,” said Tripson, Waldo Sexton’s the facilities already in place. nesses needed for their customers.
To make such a project worth his in- grandson and president of Sexton Inc.
vestment, though – he estimated the “I’ve been thinking about this for The new three-hour limit is in effect
“I could get it built pretty quickly, five years, but they don’t want to until Oct. 5. Parking signs with the new
and it would be pretty,” he added. spend any money,” Tripson said. “So, time limit were installed last week. 

ALGAE BLAMED FOR LACK OF
FISH NEAR INLET LAST WINTER

BY SUE COCKING the fishing had improved – but maybe
not for long.
Correspondent
Now that the rainy season is here,
The area around the Sebastian Inlet, bringing deluges that wash contami-
long renowned as a fishing location at- nants into the lagoon, the stage is set for
tracting anglers from across the state a recurrence of the brown tide, accord-
and nation, had an unusually small ing to Dr. Brian LaPointe, a research
catch this past winter and scientists professor at Florida Atlantic University's
blame brown algae fed by sewage Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
leaking from septic tanks. who has studied the lagoon for 40 years.

"It wasn't good all winter long," said "It's unlikely it's going to go away
light-tackle charter boat captain Glyn until we cut off its food," LaPointe said.
Austin. "Typically, we catch a lot of jacks
and a lot of bluefish, pompano and LaPointe and colleagues conducted
flounder in the inlet, but many times a multi-year study of the entire 156-
you'd go in there and it was dead." mile lagoon, which passes through five
counties. The researchers measured
Inshore fisherman Tom Pierce re- high nitrogen loads in the algae-laden
called murky water with 8-inch visibil- water samples they collected and "fin-
ity he encountered in the Indian River gerprinted" them, LaPointe said. The
Lagoon near the inlet. The coffee-col- primary source of the algae producing
ored flats were clotted with algae, mak- nitrogen: not lawn or agricultural fer-
ing it impossible to see schools of spot- tilizers, but human waste.
ted sea trout that normally roam the
seagrass beds in the area. "This is a sewage problem," LaPointe
said.
After casting a range of lures for two
hours without a bite, Pierce and his One of the bloom's hot spots last
companion motored south to Vero year occurred in Vero Beach's Bethel
Beach where they found clearer water Creek after a broken sewer line along
and a handful of keeper trout. Highway A1A spilled 3 million gallons
of waste into the lagoon.
"Fishing is tough as hell anymore,"
Pierce said. "It's consistently more dif- LaPointe says the key to cleaning up
ficult, with fewer numbers of fish." the ecologically sensitive estuary is to
lower the concentration of nitrogen,
Fed by Irma's flooding rains mixed and with 1.6 million people now liv-
with discharges from leaky septic tanks ing in the watershed, current measures
and broken sewer pipes, the organism aren't working.
with the scientific name of aureoum-
bra lagunensis bloomed in the lagoon "We need not just sewage treatment,
last winter for the third time since 2012. not just getting rid of septic tanks and
Though not toxic to humans, the 'brown leaky pipes. We need advanced waste
tide' smothers sea grass, suffocates fish, treatment," he said. "New sewage
and overwhelms oysters and clams that treatment plants achieve 95 percent
normally filter the brackish waters. nitrogen removal. Once you cut off the
source of the nitrogen, the water clears
By early June, most of the brown al- up, the sunlight hits the bottom and
gae that bloomed from Brevard Coun- the muck goes away."
ty's Banana River south to Vero Beach
in the wake of Irma had dissipated and Vero Beach Water and Sewer Director
Rob Bolton said the city is doing what

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 9

NEWS

it can. Vero doesn't have an advanced Electric sale Testifying at the hearing were Vero “These flaws overstate the savings
sewage treatment system to eliminate Mayor Harry Howle, Indian River claimed by FPL and make its analysis
or reduce nitrogen to three parts per CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Shores former mayor Brian Barefoot, unreliable,” Kollen told commission-
million or less, but its system does low- Shores Councilman Bob Auwaert- ers, detailing what he saw as 10 major
er the load to about 12 parts per million, Light, following up on a nail-biter 3-2 er, County Commission Chair Peter problems with the calculations.
he said. Treated wastewater is sent into favorable vote last week, but a 21-day O’Bryan and Commissioner Tim Zorc,
a deep injection well instead of being review period follows the ruling. plus Florida State Sen. Debbie May- Kollen’s conclusion echoed the PSC
discharged into the lagoon. field and Rep. Erin Grall. CPA and utili- staff’s – that Vero ratepayers should
If there are formal objections dur- ty activist Glenn Heran spoke on behalf shoulder tens of millions of dollars in
Other city measures include discour- ing that period, it is possible the deal of the 61 percent of outside-the-city surcharges to make FPL customers
aging homeowners from fertilizing dur- could still be delayed or derailed. If customers who pay Vero rates without whole, a caveat that likely would have
ing the rainy summer months and a there’s no challenge by the end of the representation. killed the deal.
septic-to-sewer program that aims to review timeframe, the ruling will be
eliminate septic tanks within the city final, and the parties can proceed to- The only person or agency Vero Kelly said that bringing inconsisten-
limits. In beleaguered Bethel Creek, the ward a closing. ratepayers can be sure won’t object cies in the deal to light was his office’s
city is working with the Ocean Research to the ruling is Florida Public Coun- job as counsel for the people of Flori-
and Conservation Association (ORCA) The 3-2 vote came after nearly two sel James Ray “J.R.” Kelly. Even though da, but that, “Having done that, we’ve
to install an aeration system, create fish hours of testimony about the carefully the expert he hired to analyze the deal discharged our duty. We will not ask
nurseries and restore the shoreline. crafted $185 million deal that was the found FPL is paying too much, Kelly for a hearing when the order comes
result of a decade of effort. The PSC said said he would not formally challenge out. We’re satisfied that the Commis-
City Councilman Tony Young be- the transaction involved “extraordinary the acquisition. sion, the staff, and the parties have
lieves there is growing sentiment to circumstances” that permitted them to taken into consideration what we rec-
adopt a stormwater utility fee to pay approve the deal, even though FPL plans Leading up to the vote, Kelly’s of- ommended or what we observed, and
for projects to clean up the lagoon. to pay $116.2 million more than what the fice put FPL through its paces, with we’re satisfied with the results today.”
PSC staff said the Vero utility was worth. burdensome interrogatories and in-
"We need to support measures to formation requests, and hired “na- Those who watch the PSC regularly
rectify the damage that's been done by PSC staff had proposed that Vero tionally renowned expert” consultant said Kelly’s decision not to challenge
the increase in population," he said. customers would need to pay a rider Lane Kollen of J. Kennedy and Associ- was based on politics, suggesting he
or surcharge to make FPL’s existing ates out of Roswell, Ga., to analyze the did not want to burn bridges with the
Indian River Lagoon Council execu- 4.9 million ratepayers whole. But FPL, financial terms of the deal and testify legislature or offend Florida State Rep-
tive director Dr. Duane DeFreese says experts and local officials convinced before the PSC. resentative Erin Grall.
everyone is watching the lagoon close- three members of the PSC that there
ly to see what this summer will bring. would be no negative impact on those Kollen told the PSC last Tuesday in Grall, who represents Vero and
customers from the sale, and that in Tallahassee that he had “carefully re- serves on the committee that ap-
"In Sebastian and Vero, the water fact FPL’s customer base would reap viewed the FPL economic analysis proves the Office of Public Counsel’s
quality looks pretty good right now," substantial financial benefits through ... [and found] numerous significant operating budget, took Kelly’s office to
DeFreese said. "That doesn't mean the addition of the Vero system. flaws in it. task in her testimony prior to the vote.
that in three days from now we won't
see something pop up.”  CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

10 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Old Dodgertown golf course development plan moving forward

BY RAY MCNULTY buildings and possibly townhouses, still makes financial sense without them. in the Lakeland area, so I think this one
Staff Writer along with plenty of green space. "I called him the next day to see what might actually have some legs to it."

Vero Beach City Manager Jim When developer Mark Hulbert they thought about the meeting and ask Several other proposals to redevelop
O'Connor said Friday a Lakeland-based presented a conceptual plan for the if they were still interested," O'Connor the former golf course property west of
builder and his partner have decided to project to the City Council last week, said of Hulbert, whose partner in the the airport have been floated over the
try to move forward with their plan to several council members expressed project is Terry Borcheller, a race-car years, but none ever came to fruition.
purchase the Dodgertown golf course concerns about the idea of building a driver who lives in Vero Beach.
property and transform it into a mixed- residential community so close to the City Council members said they were
use development that would contain Vero Beach Regional Airport, and Hul- "He said they're moving forward and interested in Hulbert's presentation,
retail shops, restaurants, hotels, office bert said he would consider pulling the hiring a planner to turn their concept especially if he was willing to delete the
townhouses from the plan if the project into an actual proposal," O’Connor townhouse community from the de-
added. "They've done similar projects velopment, which would be built in a
pedestrian-friendly, open-air style with
trees, park-like fields and retention
ponds, all enclosed by fencing.

But they wanted to see more specif-
ics, which Hulbert and Borcheller said
were coming soon. "I'm intrigued by
it," Councilman Val Zudans said. "Does
it fit with our culture? Maybe."

Though there was no final proposal
on which to vote, the council authorized
O'Connor to begin negotiating the sale of
the property and urged Hulbert to come
back with a more fully developed plan.

One obstacle to a sale could be the
purchase price of the 35-acre property,
located at the intersection of 43rd Av-
enue and Aviation Boulevard.

The city bought the land for $9.9 mil-
lion in 2005, near the peak of the real
estate boom, but it recently appraised
for much less than that, just $3.5 mil-
lion. O'Connor said the city should be
prepared to lose money on the deal.

Vero Beach still owes between $5.5
million and $6 million on the loan it
took out to buy the land, but O’Connor
warned the council not to expect Hul-
bert and Borcheller to offer even the ap-
praised value.

Contacted by phone after the meet-
ing, O'Connor said the selling price will
be "north of $2 million" but probably
less than $2.5 million. 

Electric sale

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

“Common sense suggests FPL’s in-
frastructure will not experience sig-
nificant expense with the addition of
less than 1 percent of its existing cus-
tomers,” Grall said. “Florida Statute
350.0611 states, ‘It shall be the duty of
Public Counsel to provide legal repre-
sentation for the people of this state in
these proceedings.’ And I believe they
have not represented the City of Vero
Beach customers in the testimony
that was presented here today.”

State Senator Debbie Mayfield also
spoke forcefully in favor of the deal,
which affects her constituents.

FPL and Vero are hoping to close the
sale on or before Oct. 1. 

TWO THUMBS UP!
WINE & FILM FEST
ANOTHER SMASH HIT

12 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Two thumbs up! Wine & Film Fest another smash hit

BY MARY SCHENKEL AND STEPHANIE LaBAFF Mark Tchelistcheff and George Takei. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGES 14-21 film we can show what happens in the
lives of people.”
Staff Writers Crystal Ballroom. “We built this re- PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE, MARY SCHENKEL & STEPHANIE LABAFF
ally solid wine and film community Some of the 60 filmmakers and 30
The Vero Beach Wine & Film Festi- and they’re all here having such a fun different wine varieties; some so rare, wine vendors paused to talk shop and
val surged into its third year last week, time. Today we had our first film at the “they don’t usually come out to play.” network with their contemporaries at
offering up sizzling days and nights Heritage Center and practically all the a VSP (Very Special Person) Party at
filled with an even further expanded seats were filled.” Responding to a standing ovation, Grind + Grape Friday afternoon.
number of films, wines and special Takei elicited roars of laughter – and
events. Each of the venues was a hot- “What’s really enjoyable is to see more than a few Vulcan salutes – ut- “We wanted to give them the red-
bed of activity, offering film genres how the program has grown over the tering his signature catchphrase, “Oh carpet treatment,” said Heather Sta-
from comedy shorts to documenta- last couple of years,” said Vero resi- My!” pleton, logistics director. “We love
ries and feature films, and the WOW dent George Taber, author of “Judg- the fact that they come from all over
(World of Wine) tent was THE place to ment of Paris: California vs. France Takei commented on the sense the world to Vero Beach to be a part of
be for oenophiles. and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting of passion binding filmmakers and our festival. This is a way to celebrate
that Revolutionized Wine.” winemakers who all love what they do, them.”
Prior to the presentation of the Life before thanking everyone and signing
Worth Living Legend Award to actor/ The excitement level ratcheted up off with, “Live long and prosper!” Friday evening kicked off with Cin-
activist George Takei at Friday’s Cin- with the arrival of George Takei and ema Uncorked at Riverside Theatre,
ema Uncorked Opening Night Awards husband Brad Altman Takei, who At Friday morning’s Movies in the featuring presentations of VBWFF
Bash, VBWFF founder Jerusha Stew- both charmed with an easy bonho- Morning at Grind + Grape, festival Awards to winning filmmakers, the
art and co-founder Susan Keller Horn mie, chatting and submitting to end- goers sipped mimosas while watch- Life Worth Living Legend Award to
made a special announcement. less selfies. ing “The Root of Happiness” before honoree George Takei, an interview
chatting with its writer/director Andy with Takei and Emmy Award-winning
“When I had the idea to start the Rex, a self-professed ‘Renaissance Truschinski. Throughout the week- film critic Jeffrey Lyons and a screen-
festival three years ago, Susan and man’ with a jaunty handlebar mus- end, these sorts of intimate conversa- ing of the film “To Be Takei.”
her husband Darrell Horn, the most tache, said he began making wine tions were well received by film buffs
loved veterinarian, I think, in town, with his wife in their garage in 1972 and aspiring filmmakers alike. With his instantly recognizable
were very generous to loan the festival before opening Deerfield Ranch Win- voice and characteristic wit, Takei
organization $20,000 to get started,” ery in 1982. “We still learn something Also Friday, the animated feature shared stories of his life as a child im-
said Stewart. new every day,” said Rex, who gets “My Life as a Zucchini” was presented prisoned with his family during World
grapes from various organic, sustain- by Suncoast Mental Health Center. War II simply for having “this face.”
“It has been such a pleasure to be able vineyards and runs a very ‘green’ Now in its 20th year, Suncoast pro- Later he would again be persecuted;
part of this festival,” said Susan Horn, winery. vides counseling, case management this time for being gay. Takei is now
announcing that as the festival pays and psychiatric services to children an activist for both issues, likening his
back the loan, the money will go di- Rex’s selections – Deerfield, White and adults on the Treasure Coast. childhood internment to the current
rectly to Suncoast Mental Health Cen- Rex; Arroba, Merlot; Arroba, Cab- political climate with its frighteningly
ter, the beneficiary of the festival. The ernet and Deerfield Red Rex – were The poignant film showed aban- similar immigration policies
VBWFF is now its own 501(c) 3 non- deliciously paired with outstanding doned children in a foster home,
profit. gourmet dishes from Executive Chef struggling to make sense of their His advice to aspiring filmmakers?
Armando Galeas: crab-mango cevi- new reality and learning to trust new “Hang in there. One thing guaran-
A new Wine Film + Fashion Show che, confit duck risotto with shitake friends. teed is rejection,” said Takei, noting
at the Vero Beach Outlets had kicked mushrooms, sous vide coffee-rubbed that to succeed, people must have the
things off the Sunday before the main venison loin and dark chocolate pan- “I know this is an animated film, but strength to spring back.
events, with a ‘Sip! See! Style!’ adven- na cotta. it really does depict the stories that the
ture featuring wine samplings, culi- children in our four-county area deal Afterward, everyone made their
nary delights from Wild Thyme Ca- Crediting VBWFF wine director with day in and day out. One in five way to the WOW tent, where Chef Ash-
tering and a showing of stylish outfits Bob Stanley, Stewart said weekend children and adults has mental health ley had created a 40-foot grazing table
from Outlet stores. tastings would include close to 100 issues or concerns, which impacts ev- – a cornucopia of savory and sweets
erybody,” said Debra Engle, Suncoast to pair with generous pours from the
“It’s like a dress rehearsal for the CEO. Thanking organizers, volunteers various vintners.
weekend,” said Stewart. and filmmakers, she added, “through
Saturday morning the Vero Beach
The festival began in earnest on Theatre Guild was abuzz with excite-
Thursday, with the first of the film ment with the presentation of the Next
screenings. “We’ve made it so each Up Young Filmmakers Award and the
one of them is their own little jewel Vero Visions Award to films reflective
of a screening this year. We looked at of “a life worth living,” representative
each of these films individually and of the festival’s theme and beneficia-
created or crafted something,” Stew- ry, Suncoast Mental Health Center.
art explained.
“It’s OK to ask for help,” said Stew-
Later that evening the sold-out Vino art. “The film projects are a way for us
Veritas Vintner Dinner at Costa d’Este to have a discussion point for people
Resort featured wines by Robert Rex to know that this is something you
of Deerfield Ranch Winery in Sonoma can talk about. Your mental health
County, awarded 2018 Winemaker of is just as important as your financial
the Year at the American Fine Wine health and your physical health.”
Competition.
Vero’s own Chloe Cappelen re-
“This is like a family reunion!” ceived the Next Up Award for “Poison
whooped Stewart with her distinc- Park,” enabling her to spend time on
tive laugh, watching as 100 guests location with director Jeff Woolnough
sipped champagne, packed shoulder on the set of “The Expanse.” Chris-
to shoulder on the patio outside the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 15



14 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Ray and Phyllis Adams with Dr. Darrell Horn. Eric and Denise Campion with Jeffrey Lyons.

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
Jonathan and Linda Nugent.

Vino
Veritas
Vinter
Dinner

Gordon and Janis Nordstrom with Barry Shapiro and Patricia Miles Susan Keller Horn, George Takei and Jerusha Stewart.

Alejandro Ferrari with Michele and Rob Wayne and Walter Ruiz.
Deb Daly, Stevie Cappelen, Taylor Greenwood and Jenn Kite.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 15

PEOPLE

Richie Adams with Karen and Jon Diack. Margot and Harvey Kornicks with Karen Riley. Mike and Pat Amoroso with Esther and Bill Terry.

Terry and Jackie Rowles with Sandy and Don Mann. Elizabeth and Doug Germer.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

tian Garcia, former co-owner of the
Patisserie with the late Mark Edmonds,
announced that she will also receive
$1,000 from the Mark Edmonds Foun-
dation in his memory.

The Vero Visions Award was pre-
sented to “¿Cómo Fue? A Cuban Jour-
ney,” about Guillermo Vidal, now a
Vero Beach resident, who arrived in the
United States from Cuba as part of Op-
eration Pedro Pan and overcame odds
to become mayor of Boulder, Colo.

Afterward, a film panel hosted by
Lyons with Vidal, Takei, “American” di-
rector Richie Adams and “Her Magnum
Opus” director Marta Renzi provided
an interesting contrast in viewpoints.

When asked what they draw from to
create cinematic art, Takei replied, “I
think all artists are shaped by the hu-
man society that we live in.”

To which Vidal added, “All you can
control is how you behave and how you
tell your story. So tell it as truthfully and
as beautifully as you can, and then it is
up to everybody else to accept it and to
learn from it.”

Additional Saturday events and VB-
WFF Sunday events will be featured in
next week’s issue – stay tuned. 

16 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Andy Truschinski, Agustín Fuentes, Devi Snively and Christian Garcia. Doreen Frasca, Jerusha Stewart and John Stringer.

VSP
Welcome
Party

Marta Renzi with Gordon and Janis Nordstrom. Arminio Rivero and Claudia Rodriguez.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 17

PEOPLE

George Takei and Jeffrey Lyons. PHOTO: GORDON RADFORD
Una Vesey and Emmy Christensen.

Ann Parker and Jennifer Parker.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

George Takei, Richie Adams, Jeffrey Lyons, Guillermo Vidal and Marta Renzi. Beth Hager and Tamara Darress coordinators of the Vero Beach
Wine Film + Fashion Show at the Vero Beach Outlets.

Film Panel,
Fashion
Show & Wine
Seminar

Suncoast Mental Health Center representatives Christina Harris and Jerusha Stewart emcee the Vero Beach
Michael Hofmaier, Debra Engle and Tricia Cote. Wine Film + Fashion Show at the Vero Beach Outlets.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 19

PEOPLE

Robert Rex with Bob Stanley. Debra Boulet with winemaker Sylvain Boulet.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Randy and Jody Old with Chuck Stewart.

John Stringer, Marta Renzi and Caesar Mistretta.

Gail Shepherd, Marie Healy and Sherry Eisert.

Susan Keller Horn and Dr. Darrell Horn. Claudette Roche and Jeff Woolnough.
Steve and Valerie Sweeney.
Cinema
Uncorked &
A Funny Story
Premier

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 21

PEOPLE

Carol Christiansen, Matthew Glave and Linda Beardslee.

Robert Rex, Bob Stanley, Walter Ruiz and Rob Wayne.

Dr. Darrell Horn, Chris Knoblock, Susan Horn and Jon Diack.
Miles and Laura Lennon with Larry Kenkel.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

A lulu of a Luau assists Youth Guidance programs

BY KERRY FIRTH
Correspondent

It was a homecoming of sorts for the Eric and Katie Smith with Carl and Astrid Fountain. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE Gypsy Lane Band.
hundreds of party-goers who donned
their best floral attire for the 41st an- home the treasure. the year,” he said. “I’ve had supporters Guidance introduced me to my men-
nual Youth Guidance Luau at the Felix Cruz, YG executive director, tell me that they usually go out of town tors, Sam and Jocelyn Block,” ex-
Grand Harbor Golf Club, where arriv- right after Memorial Day but decided plained Connelly. “Their involvement
ing guests were welcomed with color- said he was thrilled with the turnout. to stay just to attend the Luau. This is in my life made all the difference in the
ful leis and a roomful of smiles. “Everyone knows this is the party of our signature event and the proceeds world. I learned to believe in myself.”
directly change the lives of hundreds
The ever-popular Gypsy Lane band of children.” Connelly said he and wife Laurie, the
had people out on the dance floor even event coordinator and a Youth Guid-
before the lavish tropical buffet was Youth Guidance supports the men- ance board member, currently mentor
opened for dinner. toring of children from low-income, two brothers, ages 13 and 15.
single-parent homes in Indian River
“I’ve been coming here for decades,” County. Without the guidance of vol- “We’ve been with them for five years
said Wesley Davis, event auctioneer. unteer mentors and the camaraderie of now and we see them at least once
“This has always been the best party others in its programs, many of these a week. We do everyday things, like
in town and it’s for such a good cause. children would be trapped in a cycle of helping with homework, but we also
I went to school with some of the orga- poverty, with little hope for the future. take them bowling, fishing and to the
nizers so it’s like a reunion. Only this The community support and the dedi- movies,” he continued. “Honestly,
time it’s not about us, it’s about all the cation of the mentors give children a mentoring these two young men has
children we help.” chance to change the direction of their enriched my life every bit as much as it
lives. has theirs.”
Bidding was fast and exciting for
coveted live-auction items and, all Attorney Brian Connelly said he is Youth Guidance has begun a capital
the while, a silent auction bursting living proof that Youth Guidance pro- campaign to preserve and renovate the
with nearly a hundred donations had grams can change a life. original Indian River County Library
guests lingering nearby to make sure building, which they recently pur-
theirs was the bid that would bring “I was just 9 years old when Youth chased as their headquarters. It will be
named the Rita Dion Mentoring Acad-
emy, in honor of the founder and first
executive director.

Plans include construction of a
multi-purpose room for large group
activities, a self-contained kitchen,
and the creation of a STEAM (Sci-
ence, Technology, Engineering, Arts
and Math) learning lab, with state
of the art computers and graphics
equipment. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 23

PEOPLE

Elva Iris and Felix Cruz. Laurie Connelly and Bonnie Brown. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
Lila Blakeslee and Paul Genke.

Robin Lloyd, Diane Hess and DeVere Kiss.

Drew Panczyk, Kim Piston and Martin Lavander.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 Mark Ashdown, Ali Marello, Anna Graves and Patricia Ashdown.
Carla and John Michael Matthews.

Jim and Kathy Linus. Brenda Lloyd and Faye Estes. Lisa and Jon Moses with Tracy and John Carroll.

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ARTIST JEMAL HAYES
TURNS IDEAS INTO
ACTION PAINTINGS

26 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Artist Jemal Hayes turns ideas into action paintings

BY ELLEN FISCHER Jemal Hayes.
Columnist
PHOTOS BY GORDON RADFORD
You might think you know Jemal
Hayes, owner of Vero Beach-based Mr.
J’s Media Productions. For more than 17
years he has worked in graphic design,
portrait photography and videography,
building a client base that stretches
throughout Indian River County. That
business is still going strong, but Hayes
has a brand new bag too: fine art. That
pursuit is not quite a year and a half
old, but he has completed “easily 50
paintings” since picking up the brush
in early 2017.

Hayes started by taking a class at the
Sebastian Art Club. He thought he had
signed up for a portrait class with Judy
Burgarella, but it ended up being a pal-
ette knife class with Louis Haynes.

“The palette knife kind of stuck with
me,” says Hayes.

He now uses brushes in addition to
different varieties of paint-applying
knives and tools. Working on stretched
and primed canvas, he used to begin
his compositions with an acrylic un-
derpainting before completing them in

oil. Now Hayes works in acrylic paint a work in progress. Finished works, as
from start to finish, only occasionally well as those that need a revisit, hang on
reaching for his tubes of oil. the walls, while other works and blank
canvases lean against them. Ample
“Fast forward about a year,” he says natural light is provided by two large
with a chuckle. “In January I was a windows that look out onto the street.
featured up-and-coming artist at Se- An L-shaped seating area and a coffee
bastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music table bearing books about Picasso and
Festival.” American figural artist Fahamu Pecou
complete the atelier.
An art fair newbie, he hoped one
(just one!) of his paintings would sell. From many of the works on display,
Instead, he sold eight. red leaps out at you in all its passionate
intensity; the color is as much a sub-
Not long afterward, he stopped by ject for Hayes as the female figures he
the Sebastian Art Club. likes to depict. Many of the latter are

“I walked in and everybody stands
up and applauds. It was embarrass-
ing,” he says, modestly shielding his
eyes and grimacing – but his rictus has
more pleasure in it than pain.

A native Floridian, Hayes has been a
local resident for all of his 43 years. His
high school sweetheart, Simmone (née
Worrell), was a candy striper at Indian
River Memorial Hospital back then;
today she is a nurse at Lawnwood Re-
gional. The couple married in 1995 and
produced four children, two of whom
are still in high school.

Hayes was still in his 20s when he be-
gan his own business. He later added
Jemal + Simmone Vero Beach Wedding
and Beauty Photography to his services,
working on shoots with his wife, whom
he cites for her “feminine touch.”

Hayes’ painting studio is located at
his home; the front door opens into it.
The spacious, cathedral-ceilinged room
has an easel at its center, complete with

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 27

ARTS & THEATRE

parents danced and partied. worked for both the Sexton and Trip-
When he grew to be a young man son families when Hayes was growing
up. It was he who brought 13-year-old
without a clear sense of direction, Jemal to Sean Sexton’s house for a few
Hayes’ grandmother prayed for him. painting lessons.

“I honestly believe that was a real The first thing teacher and student
turning point in my life. She blessed did together was to cut a palette for
my hands. After that I pretty much Hayes out of a piece of board.
started my career and went on from
there,” he says. Hayes wishes he still had it.
But while the memento is lost, the
Naomi Wallace died in 2011. Partly as connection remains.
a tribute to her, some of Hayes’ paint- In April, Hayes had a booth for his
ings have religious themes; among oth- artwork at the Hibiscus Festival and
ers, a portrait of Jesus and a large Cru- Sean Sexton stopped by to say hello.
cifixion that Hayes titled “City of God” “Sean talked about me coming out to
for the modern skyline that appears in paint at the ranch,” says Hayes.
the background. “I might take him up on that.” 

Hayes’ grandfather, J.C. Wallace,

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shown dancing or twirling, their spin- story, or evoke some type of emotion,” SEE THESE AND OTHER FINE THINGS AT VERO’S FINEST
ning skirts simultaneously created and he says. COLLECTION OF AMERICAN-MADE ART AND JEWELRY
adorned with well-placed sweeps of
brush or palette knife. To draw viewers into the action, THEL AUGHINGDOGGALLERY.COM 2910 CARDINAL DR.
Hayes says that painting large work VERO BEACH, FL
A recent painting of a spinning best. 7 72 . 2 3 4 . 6711
dancer shows a woman stopped in
the moment with her back to us and His “favorite” canvas size is 30 x 40
her flounced skirt flashing around her inches; so far, he has painted as large
thighs. The perfectly spaced pink and as 36 x 48 inches. It is easy to imagine
white stripes at the edges of the skirt him going even bigger.
were applied with a serrated knife; the
dancer’s black bodice is laced tight “I just don’t like to paint small,” he
with knife-applied strands of white says.
paint. The painting’s background is
an abstract composition of translu- Hayes says that to answer the ques-
cent ocher topped with a syncopated tion of why he suddenly jumped into
rhythm of vertical red, black and white painting with such dedication, he be-
brushstrokes. Amid all that bright ac- gan keeping a journal; writing down
tivity the woman’s solidly painted back his thoughts about painting.
anchors the composition, while adding
warm sensuality to it. “It might sound like a cliché, but the
canvas is a place where I can lose con-
Hayes says that Simmone is his muse trol and not have to feel guilty about it.
when it comes to pictures of dancers. I can do it and whether someone likes it
or not, I really don’t care.”
“My wife likes Latin dancing, and I
can’t dance,” he says, shyly adding that “I used to draw a lot when I was
he wants to learn. younger,” he adds, noting that his
grandmother, Naomi Wallace, raised
Hayes has begun to put dancing cou- him and encouraged his latent talent.
ples into his pictures, as well as two-
somes in equally romantic situations. “My grandmother was Mother,” he
In one notable work, a pair is shown says.
kissing on a rainy city street, their mo-
ment of intimacy shielded by an open A generous, good-natured woman,
red umbrella. she was the “Mother Goose of the
neighborhood,” Hayes says. On week-
“I find that I like art to try to tell a end evenings when the little kids – in-
cluding Jemal—were tuckered out
from play, they slept four or five to the
bed in grandmother’s home while their

28 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Coming Up: Garden gala for McKee’s ‘crown jewels’

BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA visitors always include professional
Staff Writer and amateur photographers and
horticulturists, and you’ll see artists
1 One of Vero’s most beloved trea- throughout the garden creating their
sures since the 1930s, McKee Bo- own interpretations of all this beauty
as well. If you arrive first thing, you’ll
tanical Garden will showcase its own be able to catch the night-bloomers
who haven’t gone to bed yet. Hours:
glorious “crown jewels” this Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission: Adults,
$10; Seniors, $9; Children 3-12, $5;
when it presents the 14th Annual Wa- McKee members and children under
3, free. 772-794-0601.
terlily Celebration. While the Garden’s

legendary, tranquil beauty is there to

enjoy all year, this event is a color-

drenched, petals-up stand-out, with

80 kinds of waterlilies, and more than

300 potted and free-range plants spot- 2 The Space Coast Symphony Or-
chestra will travel down the road
lighted throughout its ponds and wa-

terways. Wander the winding paths, a bit to kick off its 10th anniversary

follow the serpentine streams, take season this Sunday at the Community

in the colors and fragrances, check Church of Vero Beach with “On Broad-

out the hands-on potting demos, and way,” a sure-to-be-exciting melange of

get your plant questions answered by Beatles tunes and showstoppers from

horticulture experts happy to share the Great White Way. From “The King

their knowledge throughout the day. and I” to “Hamilton,” “South Pacific” to

Displayed in McKee’s “Great Hall” “Chicago,” and then a wonderful Bea-

(itself a unique jewel of the Garden), tles suite including “All My Loving,”

you’ll find the diverse and impressive “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Lady Madonna,”

entries in the annual Waterlily Photo “Yesterday” and more. Conductor and

Contest (categories: Color, Black-and- Artistic Director Aaron Collins won’t

White, Manipulated, Youth). The hun- be the slightest bit surprised if a lot of

dreds and hundreds of Celebration concert-goers burst into song at this

FREE DIGITAL DESIGN PREVIEWS 1 14th Annual Waterlily Celebration at
AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST! McKee Botanical Garden this Saturday.

chock-full-of-favorites program. Col- as a singer/songwriter. As a native of
lins even predicts that people “will not West Texas with a love of the classics,
be able to constrain themselves, and he says he “could often be found with
… what better way to kick off our 10th his Dickens in one hand and a can of
season than with Broadway and the in- Copenhagen in the other.” The result:
comparable Beatles?” Indeed. For you a well-read redneck. Several more
who are unfamiliar with this excellent years down the road, after surviving
orchestra, it’s comprised of profession- an almost fatal car wreck, the ever-
al musicians, music educators and very quick witted Hall, guitar in hand, be-
talented, mentored amateurs. Show gan a career in … stand-up comedy.
time: 3 p.m. Tickets: $25 in advance; Kevin White is a “Bostonian South-
$30 at the door. 855-252-7276. erner” and self-described “wounded
veteran of two disastrous marriag-
1”Thin Paver Overlays 3 Hey, Hey, Hey. Riverside Theatre es.” OK, then. The show promo says
2 3/8”Thick Pavers is getting a head start on Sum- White was that kid we all remember
Cleaning & Sealing from school, the “class clown, the
Repairs mer Fun with this Friday’s and Sat- wise guy, the one with all the jokes
Travertine & Marble – nice and not so much,” the one ev-
Come and see Fire Pits urday’s the Comedy Zone – Summer erybody figured would either “be a
our newly remodeled Concrete Removal comedian or end up in jail.” White’s
parking lot display. Asphalt Removal Nights. Bringing the laughs on the done some film and TV, including,
Bobcat Service per his bio, singing the blues with Al
Pool Decks last weekend of spring will be Greg Roker on the “Today Show.” No jail
Retaining Walls for him. Show times are 7:30 p.m. and
Hall and Kevin White. A Tennessee 9:30 p.m. As always, if you get there
around 6:30 p.m., you can get food
newspaper has said about Greg Hall and bevs (soft and hard), and enjoy
free live music at Riverside’s Live in
that he’s “probably the best guitar the Loop outside venue. Show times:
7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Admission:
player in comedy. Or the best come- $12 to $18. 772-231-6990. 

dian in guitar playing.” Either way,

it looks like you’ll get music with the

laughs at no extra charge. According

to his bio, Hall’s hopes of becoming

a jockey went south when he grew

665 4th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32962 to 6-feet-5. Since basketball was ap-
(772) 567-2005
parently of no interest, Hall started

playing guitar and began a career



30 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

POLAR POWER PLAY:

WHO WILL PREVAIL AT THE ROOFTOP OF THE WORLD?

BY PETER FORD erals and energy, and otherwise gain Kirkenes, Norway. more concrete.
an economic and military toehold in Earlier this year the Eduard Toll, a
Christian Science Monitor this strategically important region. “The Arctic has turned into an
incredibly interesting place where liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker
Rune Rafaelsen is a man with a very All this may turn out to make Ra- climate change and geopolitics are named after a 19th-century Russian
ambitious plan. faelsen’s dreams for Kirkenes less becoming intertwined,” says Mark Arctic explorer, was the first ship to
quirky than they sound. Indeed, it Serreze, director of the National Snow make the winter voyage from one end
Rafaelsen is the mayor of Kirkenes, could put the remote town, where and Ice Data Center, a U.S. research of the Arctic to the other without as-
a small port at the northern tip of Nor- whale steak enlivens local restaurant institute in Boulder, Colo. sistance from an icebreaker.
way, 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle. menus and tourists can stay in one of
Kirkenes is the end of the line for a pas- the world’s few ice hotels, at the eye of While countries have been laying “Pretty crazy things are happen-
senger ship that trundles daily up the a gathering storm of interest, invest- plans to take advantage of the Arctic ing,” says Serreze. Arctic tempera-
coast through scenic coastal fjords. Its ment, innovation, and tussles for in- for decades, it’s only been recently tures are rising twice as fast as the
3,000 inhabitants live in the shadow of fluence in the Arctic. that the climate and technology have world average. The four lowest mea-
an iron-ore works that went bankrupt changed enough to allow those ideas surements of winter ice were all taken
in 2015. The town is best known for to move from notional to something in the past four years, and summer
its dramatic northern lights and king ice cover levels have been falling by 13
crabs, the massive crustaceans with percent each decade since 1981.
legs the size of sculling oars.
By midcentury, experts predict,
And yet snowy Kirkenes is the place there will be no ice in the Arctic dur-
that Rafaelsen envisions as a “new ing the four months of summer, just a
Singapore,” the crucial pivot of a rev- blue ocean. That probably means no
olutionary global trade route across polar bears either.
the rooftop of the world linking the
Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. But in Kirkenes it means much
more than that. “I’m not in favor of
It seems an unlikely prospect. But global warming but it’s happening,
as melting sea ice opens up the Arctic and in Kirkenes we need to exploit
for the first time in tens of thousands it,” says Kenneth Stålsett, head of the
of years, the remote and inhospitable local government’s business develop-
region is emerging as one of the last ment arm.
frontiers of a great geopolitical clash.
Stålsett, an enthusiastic young
The world’s big powers – includ- man with a doctorate in innovation
ing Russia, China, and to a lesser ex- and strategy (read “disruption”), is
tent the United States, as well as sev- promoting the construction of a rail-
eral other countries – are competing road south from Kirkenes toward Eu-
fiercely to exploit the Arctic’s ship- ropean markets. The scheme has won
ping lanes, tap its vast booty of min- tentative approval from the Norwe-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 31

INSIGHT COVER STORY

gian and Finnish governments. latitudes. Drift ice poses a threat to muffled utilitarian town tucked be- and includes among its inhabitants the
It is not hard to see where sup- shipping lanes, and the weather is of- tween barren hills and the sea. The occasional reindeer herder.
ten foul. community grew up around the now-
porters of the project expect to find defunct iron-ore works, but today half The idea of becoming a global
enough cargo to make the rail link An ocean-to-ocean transit route the residents work in government ad- trade hub appeals to everybody in
profitable. On one wall of Rafaelsen’s “may be possible, but there is a lot of ministration. Kirkenes, says Terje Sirma-Kristiansen,
office, near his ceremonial mayor’s work to be done,” cautions Lawson who works on a nearby military base. “It
chain, hangs a scroll decorated with Brigham, a former U.S. Coast Guard Tourism is the biggest local indus- would mean growth now that the mine
a scarlet Chinese paper-cut – a souve- icebreaker captain who now teaches try, serving the passengers from the has closed,” he says. “We can’t live from
nir from one of his visits to the Middle at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. coastal cruise ship. In winter, which hunting anymore.”
Kingdom. To think that the 15,000 vessels that is most of the time here, visitors line
currently transit the Suez Canal each up to take king crab “safaris.” Guides While the town may experience a
The Chinese government is putting year are going to switch soon and join zip them by snowmobile across fro- boom, so, too, will the cobalt waters off
high hopes in a future Arctic North- the two dozen now working the Arc- zen fjords, drill holes in the ice, set its coast. Russia, for one, plans to ship
ern Sea Route: One trial voyage from tic passage is “nuts,” he says. But the traps, and then pull up the mammoth more and more of its mineral wealth
Shanghai, China, to Rotterdam, Neth- Northern Sea Route “could be a sea- creatures, which everyone later eats, along the Northern Sea Route to inter-
erlands, took less than two-thirds of the sonal supplement.” one succulent leg at a time. national markets.
time it would have taken to sail via the
Suez Canal – the normal route going That’s all that Stålsett says he needs Others stay in the hotel sculpted The Eduard Toll, the vessel that made
from east to west – with corresponding to make his port and railroad vision seasonally entirely out of ice and a historic winter passage last January,
savings in fuel and other costs. come true in Kirkenes, the first Euro- snow, an experience that local boost- serves Yamal LNG, a $27 billion lique-
pean port where a Chinese vessel tra- ers – perhaps with too much mar- fied natural gas plant on the Yamal Pen-
China’s state-owned shipping giant versing the Arctic could berth. Even keting time on their hands during insula in Siberia that Putin opened in
COSCO has begun building ice-rated if just 10 percent of China’s seaborne the endless winter nights – call very December. The ship is one of four such
container vessels for its own fleet and “snice.” tankers; 11 more are on order, their re-
is building smaller ice-capable ships exports pass through the town by
that the world’s biggest shipper, A.P. 2030, that would mean “an enor- The scruffy port of Kirkenes does a inforced hulls enabling
Moller-Maersk, will operate on feeder mous increase in Arctic ship- steady business servicing Russian trawl- them to steam east
routes. “We are closely following the ping,” he points out. “We need to ers and the Chinese seismic exploration or west, to Asia or
development of the Northern Sea start building tomorrow.” vessels that are seeking oil for Russian Europe, throughout
Route,” says Anders Boenaes, head of It is hard to imagine how dramat- the year. By 2023,
network for the Danish firm. ically such a project would companies. The town of red, white, they will be leaving
transform and mustard-colored homes the newly built port
Beijing is more enthusiastic, tak- Kirkenes, sits just nine miles of Sabetta at the rate
ing “a forward-leaning view of a long- a snow- from the Rus- of more than
term strategy,” says Heather Con- sian border one ship a
ley, an Arctic affairs specialist at the day.
Center for Strategic and International And it is
Studies (CSIS) in Washington. not just a

A Chinese white paper published
in January, setting out Beijing’s Arctic
policy for the first time, declares its
intention to build a “Polar Silk Road”
by developing Arctic shipping routes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin
told the Russian parliament in March
that his goal was to make the North-
ern Sea Route, which runs along 3,000
miles of his country’s coastline and
which Moscow claims – con-
troversially – as its internal
waters, “a truly global and
competitive transport
route.”

He will face many hur-
dles. There are no ship re-
pair or rescue facilities yet
in the Arctic. Nautical
charts are poor
or nonexistent.
Communica-
tions are dif-
ficult at high

Russian President Kirkenes Mayor Chinese President
Vladimir Putin. Rune Rafaelsen. Xi Jinping.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 Scientist Karen Frey takes optical measurements in a melt pond in the Arctic, flanked by the U.S. Coast In March, U.S. forces staged exercises
Guard icebreaker Healy. The U.S. is building a much-needed new icebreaker, which is set to launch in 2023. testing new under-ice weapons systems.
matter of hydrocarbons. The Arctic
contains a wealth of resources that are company leading the project. Beijing has won recognition as a le- But since the cold war ended, the U.S.
“absolutely crucial to major economies Putin is reestablishing the military gitimate business partner with its heavy Navy has focused more on the Pacific
in the 21st century,” according to Ólafur investment in the region: Chinese com- than the Arctic, even though the region
Ragnar Grímsson, a former president control over the Arctic that had lapsed panies own 30 percent of Yamal LNG, “is vitally important to our interest” for
of Iceland who now chairs the Arctic for two decades. In recent years, the and Chinese firms are making billion- economic and national security rea-
Circle, a forum for debate on regional Russian Army has rebuilt or expanded dollar investments in biofuel projects in sons, former Secretary of State Rex Til-
issues. six forward bases on Arctic islands and northern Finland and mining ventures lerson told researchers at the Wilson
is equipping them to host tactical com- in Iceland and Greenland. Chinese Center, a think tank in Washington, last
In Russia, Norilsk Nickel is the world’s bat aircraft, according to a Danish De- shippers are testing Arctic routes for November. “We’re late to the game.”
largest producer of nickel and palladi- fence Intelligence Service report. their commercial viability.
um and a big supplier of platinum and Grímsson, the former Icelandic
copper. On Canada’s Baffin Island, one The Arctic is also home to most of “We are seeing an incredible uptick in president, jokes that during his years
of the world’s highest quality iron-ore Russia’s strategic submarine fleet and to Chinese economic and commercial ac- in office, from 1996 to 2016, he visited
mines began shipping in 2015. Chinese its fleet of icebreakers – the largest in the tivity,” says Ms. Conley. Alaska more often than any of his U.S.
and Australian firms are preparing to world. The Kremlin has ordered two ice- counterparts.
mine zinc, uranium, and rare-earth breaking warships, armed with cruise In its white paper setting out policy
metals in Greenland. missiles, for delivery in 2020. for the region, Beijing focused on ship- The U.S. Coast Guard has only one
ping and energy and mineral explora- fully functional icebreaker. For eight
Finnish, Japanese, Norwegian, Rus- “To what end is opaque,” Adm. Paul tion, as well as fisheries and tourism. months of the year, no U.S. Navy surface
sian, and Chinese officials are discuss- Zukunft, the U.S. Coast Guard chief, Behind those priorities, however, lie vessels can function in Arctic waters.
ing laying a 6,500-mile fiber-optic cable told Defense & Aerospace Report last deeper geopolitical ambitions – nota-
across the Arctic Circle by as early as December. “Is it to make this an area bly becoming a great maritime power. The Russians “have got all their
2020. The region is rich in geothermal that the United States would be denied “China’s thinking on the polar regions chess pieces on the board right now,
and wind energy potential. access? We have to assume that the an- demonstrates a level of ambition and and right now we’ve got a pawn and
swer to that question ... is yes.” forward planning that few, if any, maybe a rook,” Zukunft lamented last
In more traditional terms, the U.S. modern industrial states can achieve,” year at an event hosted by the CSIS. “If
Geological Survey has estimated that China is no less ambitious with its writes Brady in The Polar Journal, of you look at this Arctic game of chess,
about 30 percent of the world’s undis- Arctic plans. When five Chinese Navy which she is the executive editor. they’ve got us at checkmate right at the
covered gas and 13 percent of the world’s vessels sailed into U.S. territorial waters very beginning.”
undiscovered oil may be found within off Alaska in September 2015, they were China’s white paper was released in
the Arctic Circle. Most of those reserves not threatening force but sent a very January, just three days after Stålsett, Congress has now approved the funds
lie on land or inside one country or an- clear message: that Beijing wants to be- Kirkenes’s development director, came to build a new icebreaker, due to launch
other’s maritime exclusive economic come a polar great power. President Xi out with his study on a rail line to the in 2023, but the problem, says CSIS ex-
zone. But that hasn’t stopped Denmark, Jinping has been working assiduously Norwegian town. He couldn’t believe pert Conley, is that Washington “does
Canada, and Russia from filing rival ever since to advance that goal, which his good fortune. Here was a major Chi- not have a long-term strategic view of
competing claims to parts of the Arctic he first declared in 2014. nese policy statement whose sections the Arctic, and a new icebreaker will not
seabed that each argues is an extension on Arctic shipping suddenly gave him solve the policy deficit.”
of its continental shelf. China has branded itself a “near Arc- a whole new level of credibility. Geolo-
tic state” (although Beijing is closer to gists from the Norwegian Ministry of Perhaps even more ominous for the
The Kremlin claims almost half of the Equator than to the North Pole) and Transport and Communications are al- U.S., China and Russia are cooperating
the Arctic Ocean floor, and a patriotic has stepped up its Arctic activities dra- ready running tests on the proposed site closely in the region. The Arctic could
Russian adventurer once descended in matically over the past decade. Beijing’s of a new shipping port in Kirkenes. become a testing ground for a challenge
a mini-submarine to plant a titanium strategy fits a grander vision than that to Washington and the prospects for a
Russian flag on the seabed directly be- of most Western governments: Along No such grand infrastructure projects new, more multipolar world order.
neath the North Pole. with the deep seabed and outer space, are under way in the U.S. Arctic. None,
the North and South Poles are defined in fact, have been built since the trans- “That is a very powerful develop-
The U.S., though a polar nation be- as China’s “new strategic frontiers” in a Alaska oil pipeline was commissioned ment,” says Arild Moe, an Arctic affairs
cause of Alaska, can press no such ter- 2015 national security law. 40 years ago. “We are an Arctic nation,” analyst at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute
ritorial claims, since any petitions will says Brigham, “but we lack infrastruc- in Oslo. “Stronger relations between
be decided by a commission under “China now has more money to ture.” All the practical stuff, such as Russia and China could affect the inter-
the United Nations Convention on the spend on new polar infrastructure, such docks, ship repair facilities, and salvage national power balance.”
Law of the Sea, which Washington has as bases, planes, satellite installations, operations, “is missing,” he adds.
not ratified. and icebreakers, than any other state,” One reason for all the jockeying in the
says Anne-Marie Brady in her new book, The U.S. certainly has plenty of mili- region is that no single rule book exists
These varied resources and their “China as a Polar Great Power.” tary assets in the Arctic, with airbases, to oversee everyone’s ventures. Unlike
newfound accessibility have invested ballistic defense installations, and nu- Antarctica, which is governed by inter-
the Arctic with unprecedented geostra- The time and money that China has clear missiles at Thule in Greenland and national treaty, the Arctic is regulated by
tegic importance. Russia, whose territo- devoted to Arctic scientific research has Fort Greely in Alaska. Its nuclear sub- an incomplete and ad hoc patchwork of
ry makes up more than half of the Arc- earned it observer status on the Arctic marines prowl beneath the Arctic ice. institutions, treaties, and agreements.
tic Ocean’s coastline, is best placed to Council, the intergovernmental forum
benefit. After two decades of neglect in for cooperation among Arctic states. “Never before have nations faced the
the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse challenge of building a rules-based sys-
in 1991, Moscow has been making some tem for an area the size of Africa ... that
decisive moves in the region. plays such a crucial role in the global cli-
mate,” says Grímsson.
“The wealth of Russia will grow with
the expansion into the Arctic,” Putin Yet nations are finding ways to work
said at last December’s annual Kremlin together. Strikingly, nine countries and
press conference. the European Union agreed last De-
cember to ban fishing in the high seas of
Already, the Arctic accounts for 20 the Central Arctic Ocean for at least 16
percent of Russia’s exports and 10 per- years. That will allow scientists to mea-
cent of its gross domestic product. The sure and track the region’s fish stocks
LNG plant at Sabetta, and a sister plant and marine ecology before anyone has
due to come on line within five years, a chance to ravage them.
will make Russia “the new Qatar,” ac-
cording to Novatek, the private Russian A similar mood of cooperation pre-
vails in the Arctic Council, the intergov-
ernmental forum concerned with sus-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

tainable development, where deals on The stakes are high for nations whose are unlikely to always agree on how far the mayor with the white goatee and
scientific cooperation, oil spill manage- welfare, from their weather to their environmental safeguards should limit affable demeanor sees a town that will
ment, and search and rescue protocols wealth and security, depends on the mining and drilling. be transformed. “If this all works,” he
have been hammered out. Arctic. Sovereignty disputes are likely says, “it will be a game changer for
to break out as Arctic waters become Such risks are not enough to dim world transport. And it will mean a
Several Arctic states have competing more accessible and valuable as trade the visionary glint in Rafaelsen’s eye. completely new Kirkenes. We have to
claims to the seabed, but the disputes routes and resource reserves. Nations As he looks out from his office onto be ready for this.” 
have not turned ugly. Kirkenes’s quiet, snowbound streets,

34 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

FREE AT LAST: VERO REALLY IS ABOUT TO EXIT THE ELECTRIC BUSINESS

In the 10 years that we’ve been pub- negotiation of a power contract with Or- treasure was a give-away? We do not preclude the possibility
lishing this newspaper, no subject has lando Utilities. You remember? Where we That brings us to one of the final ironies that somewhere in America, there is a
received more of our attention than the found the documents were being kept by small town capable of running a munic-
need to get Vero Beach out of the elec- consultants in Boston so no one in Vero – the fact that this deal came close to be- ipal electric utility in a way that benefits
tric business. could see them, and where our city’s rep- ing scuttled by the Florida Public Service its customers. But that certainly wasn’t
resentative inserted a $20 million penalty Commission over its staff’s contention the case here.
Our coverage began with the huge spike in favor of Orlando? the $185 million purchase price offered by
in electric rates that brought our readers FPL was almost double what Vero Electric We would, however, like to salute a few
astronomical summer bills a decade ago And, of course you remember how – was actually worth. who over the years played key roles in
– the result, we reported, of a fuel-hedging when the idea of selling Vero Electric to the effort to extricate Vero from its elec-
gamble by the power co-opVero belonged Florida Power & Light finally began to gain But last week’s 3-to-2 vote by the PSC tric morass. A special tip of the hat to Pi-
to where the co-op lost its shirt. traction – anti-sale forces insisted that the means that barring some unforeseen lar Turner, Charlie Wilson, Steve Faherty,
amount being offered for this municipal glitch, our readers will all become FPL Tom Cadden and Glenn Heran. 
Then we had theVero city government’s customers sometime this fall.

ELITE AIRWAYS FLIGHTS FROM VERO ARE A BENEFIT TO OUR COMMUNITY

BY JIM DAVIS Only one flight was over a half hour late United States. It is a tribute to excellent long security lines and connections in
(42 minutes). Mr. McNulty’s contention crew training, careful maintenance and hub cities? Recall the cramped seating
As a commercial pilot and Vero resi- that Elite’s flights are frequently late sim- the world’s best air traffic control system. of the big airliners?
dent, I take exception to the column by ply is not correct.
Ray McNulty published in the May 31 Clearly, there will be mechanical delays We have waited 20 years for an air-
issue of Vero Beach 32963, which in my Fifty percent of the nation’s population to ensure passenger safety. This is to be line to service Vero Beach. We are
opinion taints Elite Airways in an unde- lives within 500 miles of New York City. expected. Aircraft are much easier to fix currently being served by a well-run
served negative light. The Northeast Corridor of New York, Phil- on the ground than they are in the air. company with fast, safe aircraft with
adelphia, Boston and Washington experi- nonstop service to the nation’s largest
Mr. McNulty’s assertion that no one ence unparalleled aviation traffic delays. As most researchers would agree, a city. The benefit to our community is
keeps a record of on-time performance valid survey requires a substantial base of measurable and positive.
is not correct. Every commercial flight According to the Bureau of Transpor- interviewees. A check of the Elite website
(and most general aviation flights that tation Statistics, over the period from today would contradict Mr. McNulty’s as- Painting a negative picture of Elite’s
have filed an instrument flight plan) are March 2017 to March 2018, only 67 per- sertion that residents are dissatisfied with service will do nothing but injure the
documented and available for histori- cent of Newark Liberty International the airline, as all but a few seats are sold airline which in turn may leave us
cal review as is the record of every flight flights arrived on time. Eighteen percent out. His survey of a few travelers does not with … nothing!
since Elite Airways took flight fromVero of those delays were caused by Air Traffic seem to replicate the public sentiment.
Beach Regional airport on Dec. 1, 2015. Control. Last year, Newark airport served If Mr. McNulty’s respondents find
over 43 million passengers. Clearly, when McNulty’s interviewee states that “if Elite Airways service not to their liking, I
I have compiled information taken coupled with an unprecedented winter residents reach a point where they can would suggest they contact a company
from www.flightaware.com recording storm season, Elite’s performance is far no longer trust Elite … they might fly an- like NetJets which offers on demand
the arrival and departure times for Elite ahead of the curve. other airline out of Melbourne, Orlando service without those pesky delays.
Airways flights during the two week pe- or West Palm.”
riod from May 21 to June 1, 2018. During the past decade an estimated Oh, wait. They have to deal with Air
500 billion passengers safely boarded Really? Would they willingly take the Traffic Control as well.
Out of the 16 flights, most flights and exited numerous aircraft. During hour-plus drive to those other cities to
arrived on time or ahead of schedule. that time, there has been only one life lost avoid a possible half-hour delay? Re- These views are those of Jim Davis, a
aboard a U.S. commercial air carrier in the member the experience of expensive long-time Vero Beach broadcaster, and
parking in those airports? Remember do not necessarily reflect the views of
Vero Beach 32963. 

HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT YOUR SERVICE, care homes, rest homes and intermediate care facilities provide a
type of residential care for people who require continual nursing
PART IV care and have significant difficulty coping with the required activities
From the day you enter the hospital as a patient, the hospital’s case of daily living. Nursing aides and skilled nurses are usually available
management department begins working on what you might need 24 hours a day.
and where you might need to go after discharge.
As your doctor develops your post-hospital care plan, the case man- ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES
ager will work with him or her and you to determine what kind of
help, if any, you will require. Assisted living facilities (ALFs) are a bridge between living at home
The case manager will provide you with a list of local home health and living in a nursing home. Residents usually have their own pri-
agencies, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. She or he will vate apartment. Services include medication management, bath-
not recommend one over another, but your physician may be able ing assistance, dressing, escorts to meals and activities. Registered
to suggest one he or she regards highly. Friends are another great nurses and license practical nurses are available by phone or e-mail
resource to ask. 24 hours a day.
HOME HEALTH AGENCIES
Home health agencies offer home care which provides medical ser- HOSPICE
vices as well as chore and housecleaning services. Home healthcare
helps patients recover from an illness or injury and delays the need Hospice care is available for patients with a terminal prognosis who
for long-term nursing home care. Caregivers can include physicians, are usually medically certified to have less than six months to live.
registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, licensed social workers, Hospice care can be delivered at home, in hospice “houses,” nurs-
physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, certi- ing homes, assisted living facilities and in hospitals. Services include
fied nurse assistants and home health aides. 24/7 access to care, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment as
REHABILITATION HOSPITALS well as support for loved ones following a death.
Rehabilitation hospitals provide speech therapy, occupational ther-
apy and physical therapy for patients who have had a stroke, ortho- According to the highly-regarded accounting firm Deloitte, between
pedic surgery (such as knee and hip replacement) or other acute 2000 and 2016, 4.6 million health care jobs were created: 1.1 mil-
medical issues. They offer a higher level of professional therapies lion in hospitals, 728,800 in home health care services, 726,600 in
than a “skilled nursing care” facility. physicians’ offices, 431,100 in outpatient care centers, and 130,500
NURSING HOMES in nursing care facilities. For workers, that’s good news. For patients,
Nursing homes, convalescent homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), it’s reassuring to know millions of people are going to work every
day to help meet medical needs. 

Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always welcome.
Email us at [email protected].

© 2018 VERO BEACH 32963 MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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38 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

Dangers lurk every- narrator of “The with a pulse of spite, fear had finally awakened her
where for the natives in Midnight Zone” mother. Maybe she was scouring the state for her,
“Florida,” Lauren Groff’s suffers a debilitat- even now.”
second story collection. ing concussion
There are alligators, pan- while attempting Several of the stories concern a writer who, like
thers, snakes. Even on the to change a light- Groff herself, lives in Florida and has two young sons.
most casual stroll through bulb at a vaca- The stories that remain in the safety of the upper
a gentrifying neighbor- middle class (“Privilege. Sorry,” one woman jokes)
hood, you need to watch tion cabin, “so far are weaker and tend to run together, like outtakes
out for the blistering heat, from humanity from an unfinished longer project. They share a wry,
stray dogs that attack. Car- in all that Flor- elliptical voice like that of Rachel Cusk, whose work
swallowing sinkholes gape ida waste.” Her often springs from a similar autobiographical bent.
open. Then there’s the mat- husband has – The mother in “Yport,” one of the three stories set
ter of thieves, stalkers, rap- of course! – left outside the Sunshine State, is supposedly research-
ists. for some emer- ing a biography of Guy de Maupassant in France, but
mostly she just tends to her bored boys and worries
Luckily for the characters gency business about the intrusions of her smarmy landlord. Even-
in these 11 finely crafted sto- back home, and tually, she admits that “she doesn’t belong in France,
ries, the things they dread there’s no cell- perhaps she never did; she was always simply her
don’t always materialize – phone recep- flawed and neurotic self, even in French. Of all the
with the exception of the hur- tion, so the kids places in the world, she belongs in Florida. How
ricanes, which arrive regu- have to take dispiriting, to learn this of herself.”
larly enough that you’d think care of her:
these hapless women would Groff is careful to live up to the collection’s title
listen to weather advisories “I had begun by including at least passing references to all parts
and avoid getting stuck in life- shaking very of the state, from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to the
threatening conditions. Groff hard, which “queer dank musk” of Central Florida, where “people
is most fascinated by the fear my children, decorated their yards with big rocks and believed
itself. Her morose protagonists sudden gen- they could talk to God,” and Sarasota, so tony and se-
drink too much wine as they tlemen, didn’t date it “barely qualified.”
fret about everything from global warming to the mention.”
daily hazards confronting their vulnerable children. Groff bestows the tales of threatened While these stories don’t always achieve the psy-
kids with the surreal sheen of fairy tales. The two sis- chological depth of Groff’s novels, there’s serious
Indeed, nothing seems to get Groff’s imagination ters in one of the strongest stories, “Dogs Go Wolf,” pleasure to be had in her precise descriptions of
soaring like the mistreatment of a minor, especially are left alone in another swampy, isolated cabin, landscape. “After a storm,” she writes, “the sunlight
a child’s abandonment. The mother in “At the Round starving, without water or electricity. They eat cherry in this town pours upward as though radiating from
Earth’s Imagined Corners” just walks away, leaving ChapStick, hide in caves and grow ever weaker, un- the ground, and the sudden beauty of the stucco and
her son with a cold, inattentive, snake-obsessed fa- sure whether they’ll ever be found. Spanish moss is a hard punch at the center of the
ther. The poor kid plays alone or with a procession Hunger is also at the heart of the eerie “Above and heart.”
of puppies: “Inevitably, the dogs would run down to Below,” in which a young woman, having lost both
the edge of the swamp, and one of the fourteen- or her graduate student funding and her boyfriend, be- Her characters may complain, but Groff is clearly
fifteen-foot alligators would get them.” comes homeless. Unwashed and ashamed, she lurks drawn to the state’s bizarre lushness. With this collec-
around her old university campus. For most of us, tion she stakes her claim to being Florida’s unofficial
In another story, a babysitter finds that her charg- Groff suggests, such a slide from comfort is possible. poet laureate, as Joan Didion is for California. 
es’ mother will not be coming home – she has been Even as an adult, the woman still mourns the failure
arrested for prostitution. Even when a call to Family of her family to nurture her. “The police must have FLORIDA
Protective Services is not required, the mothers are found the abandoned station wagon and traced it;
decidedly not the PTA paragons who bake yummy someone must have called. Her mother would think BY LAUREN GROFF
treats for the kindergarten Halloween party. The of murder or abduction. … Maybe, the girl thought RIVERHEAD. 275 PP. $27
REVIEW BY LISA ZEIDNER l THE WASHINGTON POST

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presents presents

THE BEST COOK TOM CLANCY -
IN THE WORLD LINE OF SIGHT

Tales from My Momma's Table A Jack Ryan Jr. Novel

Alfred A. Knopf Books G.P. Putnam's Sons

Tuesday, June 19th at 6 pm Wednesday, June 20th at 6 pm

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 39

INSIGHT BRIDGE

FIND THE FIT AND JUDGE THE LEVEL WEST NORTH EAST
?4 K632 ?85
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist J 10 8 6 AK9753 Q4
A 10 7 6 2 Q3 854
Greg Norman said, “Setting goals for your game is an art. The trick is in setting them at 10 6 2 98543
the right level, neither too low nor too high.”
SOUTH
That applies to bridge. The trick is in setting the level of your contract neither too A J 10 7
high nor too low. However, often you only know the right level after you see how the 2
opponents’ cards lie. KJ9
AKQJ7
In this week’s deal, how should the auction go after South opens one club, and North
responds one heart? If South gets to the elevated level of six spades, how should he Dealer: South; Vulnerable: East-West
play after West starts with the ace and another diamond?
The Bidding:
South, despite his heart singleton, should rebid two spades. With 19 high-card points,
he must force. Then North should either raise to three spades (which is stronger than SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
jumping to four spades) or make a four-club splinter bid. (With club support, North 1 Clubs Pass 1 Hearts Pass
quietly rebids three clubs.) Over three spades, South should control-bid four clubs, ?? LEAD:
North would control-bid four hearts, and the contract would be either six spades or (if A Diamonds
North-South use Roman Key Card Blackwood) perhaps only five spades when South
learns a key card (an ace or the spade king) and the spade queen are missing.

In six spades, South should not be influenced by West’s lead into thinking that he has
the spade queen. West’s lead is normal after any sensible sequence. The percentage
play is to finesse spades through East because declarer can pick up queen-fourth. Win
trick two with the diamond queen, cash the spade king, play a spade to the jack and,
assuming the finesse wins and West follows suit, draw the last trump and claim.

40 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JUNE 7) ON PAGE 60
INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS DOWN
1 Pantry (6) 2 Milky coffee (5)
4 Afternoon nap (6) 2 Consequences (13)
9 Violent storm (7) 3 Foe (5)
10 Group of ships (5) 5 Notifies (7)
11 Imp-like being (3) 6 Requirement (13)
12 Atomic number 70 (9) 7 Try (7)
13 Minor setback (6) 8 Condition (5)
15 Help (6) 13 Nevertheless (7)
17 Canals, rivers etc (9) 14 Noisy commotions (7)
19 Expert (3) 16 Big (5)
21 Pansy-like flower (5) 18 Japanese sliding door (5)
22 Increasing in size (7) 20 Keen (5)
23 Oppose (6)
24 Champion (6)

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 41

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 69 Wedding 122 Wild finish? 53 The L of 13 The Washington Post
1 Some belly accompaniment 123 Winged child Down
WHAT ARE YOU, A COMEDIAN? By Merl Reagle
laughs 71 Wine city DOWN 55 Actors John and
5 Embryos, earlier 72 “Make me 1 Rope material Sean ATTENTION:
8 Overload 2 Officer who
laugh,” etc.? 56 Born Orchid Island Barber Shop at 4893 HWY A1A
safeguard 74 Half of a funny arrested Arlo in 58 Kiwi has a new proprietor. Michael Starckx has
12 “___ sight, man!” his Alice’s 59 Brigitte’s brothers purchased and completely renovated the shop
17 Poet’s pitch movie duo Restaurant tale 62 TV show chunk: located in the Pelican Plaza (next to the Village
18 Comic’s opening 76 Bucky Beaver’s 3 Stays on too Beach Market). Haircuts are now $18. We look
long? abbr. forward to serving you.
bit? 1950s toothpaste 4 Play for the 64 Pitiful
22 About 17 football 78 Asian nation impatient 65 ___-de-rol
79 Anatomical 5 Not working 70 Butt
fields 6 Bass ___ 71 Ethiopian of
23 Odd reason to do network 7 Pull up out front
81 Ex-Attorney 8 Tsk-tsk, old-style opera fame
standup? 9 Double-dot 73 Gershwin
25 Accelerator General Ed marks
27 Modena money, 82 Iditarod needs 10 Scotsman’s portrayer
84 City or state in S purse 75 Juiciest parts,
once 11 Dr. J
28 Seed coat, or 27 India 12 Miel-loving beast usually
86 Abbr. for a late 13 Defunct grid org. 77 Kal-Kan rival
Across spelled 14 The key to 80 Ontario-N.Y.
backwards listing comedy
29 City of N France 87 Dug in, perhaps 15 Transparent linen divider
30 Get-rich-quick 88 Televised Tour, 16 It may be nicely 83 Inner attitude
scheme, often turned, or twisted 84 Intro to term or
32 Place for dyeing familiarly 19 Prize for Stern
33 Spigoted servers 89 Grand ___ 20 What I saw sentence
34 ___-do-well 91 Check-cashing 21 South American 85 Dutch treat?
35 Peeper-thwarting electrifiers 89 To take, to 59
38 Antlered beast reqmts. 24 Always, to the
39 92 Down for gas 93 Concealed Bard Down
economy 94 “Darn Hot” lead- 26 Letterman’s time 90 Work like an elixir
41 Celeb 31 Cougar, e.g., 92 Record bk.
42 Passing time? in for short
43 Belonging to Li’l 95 Wilbur’s TV chit- 35 Of Saigon’s land, datum
Abner in 1960s 94 “Mommy, ___ a
44 Pirate’s chatter headlines
playground 96 Cats and dogs 36 Request from a story”
45 Hse.-call makers, standup who’s in 95 Pulled a
once make them the dark?
48 Parent co. of 99 Step into the surf 37 ___ avis “revealing” prank
Sheraton, ___ 102 Alert people are 38 Obedience 96 Entire range
Corp. school word 97 Singer Milsap
49 Tie type on them 39 “Hand ___ towel” 98 Encomium’s
52 Mulcahy of 103 The way, in 40 Broadway Joe
M*A*S*H 43 Injury inflictors point
54 Actor Hawke China 44 “Out!” 99 Fem. flyer in the
57 Old zither-like 104 Playwright 45 British comic
instrument during the military
(backwards, a Connelly 1980s?* 100 Betel nut palm
girl’s name) 105 As ___ 46 Performed as a 101 Expected by
58 Pryor’s ’do, once standup? 102 Chowderhead
60 Concealed (generally) 47 Like a wetsuit’s fit 103 Bean curd
61 Propositions 107 Habit 50 ___ a house 106 Spot
63 Surefire, as a 108 It means “all” 51 West Indian 109 The Dew Drop
standup’s 110 Mr. Sulu whammy
material? 52 Have a ___ bear and the Dolly
66 Very excited portrayer Wright, e.g.
67 First name in 113 Considers being 111 Sailor’s saint
cosmetics 112 Nature goddess
68 Thinks a 114 Letter before ar
standup? and ess
117 Societal 115 Dandy
sicknesses 116 “Are we having
118 Standup’s fun ___?”
Microsoft
shtick?
119 It heads out on
the
highway
120 Keep ___ on
(watch)
121 Like a well

The Telegraph 4893 HWY A1A • (772) 234-0262

All Major Credit Cards Accepted

42 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Is mom being selfish – or is she just being impatient?

BY CAROLYN HAX about your parents and fairness and
Washington Post the comparative ease of doing this now
vs. when you have a toddler or older
Hi, Carolyn: child, but, really – you have a baby you
wouldn’t be able to see. That seems like
I am a single mother of an infant something you accept only when you
have no other choice.
daughter. I love my daughter more
You have choices, and not just the ei-
than life itself, but I am at a cross- ther-or you depicted here, the “fly free”
or “stay chained evermore.” Beware of
roads and she is in the middle. I black-and-white thinking, by the way;
when used to justify choices, it tends to
work a very good, high-paying job. be self-serving.

However, I don’t like it. I want to go back to school With a little imagination, planning
and patience you can get your educa-
and get a master’s in a field I am passionate about. I’d tion in a way and on a schedule that
doesn’t cost you and you baby so dearly.
get a job that would ultimately only pay about half
Mainly, this means saving every loose
of my current earnings, but I would actually enjoy it! penny from this generous employer
until you have enough to launch, and
If my daughter weren’t in the picture, I would do researching every means available of
reducing the daily impact of this degree
this without hesitation. I can afford school, and I once you’re financially armed to pursue
it. There are so many variables to consider that I
know I could be successful at it. won’t bog us down in them, but they fit in those
two boxes: degree-obtaining options (online,
But my daughter IS in the picture. Meaning I could self-paced, part-time, etc.), and financial options
(postponing, saving, part-time work, etc.).
not afford to stop working full-time to go to school, Meaning, replace your yes/no, black/white
with “not yet” and strategic, measured steps. See
and therefore would have to go to school in my off- your daughter as your beacon for this journey vs.
someone who stands in the way. 
hours and weekends, and I wouldn’t be able to spend

any time with her. My parents wouldn’t say no if I

asked them to watch her while I studied, but that is

unfair to them because they already raised four kids,

are retired and want to pursue their own interests. Selfish: Selfishness isn’t the first word that came
to mind as I read this; I was thinking impatience.
It’s not like I am complaining because I want to go
You want what you want and you want it now
out and party or anything like that … and I WANT to – very human of you. But your quick calculations
have already told you what this (relatively speak-
be with my daughter and not miss out on her child- ing) immediate gratification will cost you. It’ll re-
quire all of your best hours to go to working and
hood, but I want this, too. studying and not to your baby.

Am I being selfish? Is it OK to be selfish in this case? I could keep going and parse some other points

Or should I just accept that as a parent I must make

sacrifices and just stick with what I have got?

– Selfish?

NEUWN‘DCEORBWRAAY’ SATTENSTRMTRCIAL

44 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

New ‘Cobra’ stent trial is underway at SRMC

BY TOM LLOYD work on a worldwide clinical trial for
Staff Writer the FDA-approved Cobra PzF cardio
stent by CeloNova.
Interventional cardiologist Dr.
Charles Croft of Melbourne and Stents are metal or plastic mesh
nurse practitioner Jennifer Konow- tubes that, according to the Ameri-
itz of the Sebastian River Medical can Heart Association, “help keep
Center’s catheterization lab are op- coronary arteries open and reduce
erating on the cutting edge of mod- the chance of a heart attack. A stent
ern medicine, having just started is inserted into the clogged artery
with a balloon catheter. The balloon

Dr. Charles Croft and ARNP Jennifer Konowitz. PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE

is inflated and the stent expands and lar growth or fatty deposits can clog
locks in place. This holds the artery up a stent.
open and allows blood to flow more
freely.” “The Cobra stent is a new kind of
stent,” Croft says. “Normal stents
Until it doesn’t. are made with metal scaffolding and
Sometimes inflammation, cellu- then a polymer coating; in the poly-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ HEALTH Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 45

mer is a drug to stop cells from grow- view and exam information to the
ing into the stent and blocking it off.” study coordinator – located right in
Croft’s Melbourne office – it takes
By contrast, the Cobra stent “is mere seconds to determine the pa-
covered in an inorganic nanome- tient’s eligibility.
ter layer of a polymer that has cer-
tain characteristics. Number one, It’s entirely possible the data col-
it stops inflammation, the cause of lected here on the Treasure Coast, as
stents blocking off. Number two, it well as in Germany, France, Italy and
is antithrombotic, which means it other countries around the globe,
stops blood [and fatty deposits] from will revolutionize cardio stent tech-
sticking onto the stent and clotting nology.
it off.”
Dr. Croft’s offices are at 1402 Oak
Another impressive quality of Street in Melbourne. The phone num-
these new stents is their ability to ber is 321-722-3288. The number for Se-
radically reduce the amount of time bastian River Medical Center, where the
patients have to be on blood thin- cath lab is located, is 772-589-3186. 
ners such as Plavix after the stent is
implanted.

Croft says currently most patients
must be on Plavix for six months af-
ter a stent is put in place, but this
clinical trial hopes to show that
timespan can be reduced to just two
weeks.

“That’s what we’re hoping,” says
the meticulous Croft, “and we’re
hoping that the outcomes are going
to be equivalent to, or better than,
the traditional stents.”

If the trial yields positive results, it
will be a game-changer, according to
Croft. That’s because many patients
are already on other blood thinners,
such as Elequis or Xarelto, that don’t
protect the stent from clotting, and
have to take Plavix on top of the ex-
isting meds, which increases the risk
of excessive bleeding.

If the Cobra clinical trial is suc-
cessful, the device could cut the
time patients need to take two blood
thinners by more than five months,
providing both a medical and emo-
tional boon.

“If you know someone on these
types of medications,” Konowitz
says, “they tend to bruise easily and
bleed longer, [and] they even worry
about it when they’re not bruising
or bleeding. Less time on the dual
antiplatelet therapy for my patients
would be a huge benefit.”

Of course, clinical trials need
patients and getting into this trial
starts with Konowitz.

“I telephone them and go through
a fairly extensive history prior to
them coming in, and then do a phys-
ical examination when they come to
the cath lab,” she says. “If they are
a candidate, I tell them everything
about the study – the risks and the
benefits. Then I ask them if they
would like for us to give all the de-
tails to their primary care physician
and their cardiologist. They always
do and we much prefer that. After
that, Dr. Croft speaks to them about
the trial.”

If a patient is suited for the trial, he
or she will find out fast.

Once Konowitz submits her inter-

46 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

THE HEALTHY SENIOR

Memory problems don’t necessarily mean Alzheimer’s

BY FRED CICETTI attribute this to what I call the “over- history includes information about suffering from the effects of a high fe-
Columnist loaded filing cabinet.” As we get older, use of medicines, diet and past medi- ver, dehydration, poor nutrition, reac-
we accumulate so many memories cal conditions. Blood and urine tests tions to medicines, thyroid problems
Q. I’m 78 and I’m forgetting things that it’s impossible to find the one we may be done. There are also mental or a head injury.
more often now. Should I be worried? want. tests of memory, problem-solving and
language. A brain CT scan could be And then there are those pesky
For starters, worrying is a waste of I’m not sufficiently concerned ordered. emotions. People facing retirement or
time. If you think your forgetfulness is about my memory difficulties to men- coping with the death of a loved one
the sign of Alzheimer’s onset, get to a tion them to my doctor. But if you are If you’re having some memory may feel sad, lonely, worried or bored,
doctor for a check-up. concerned, get tested. lapses, go to the doctor with a positive and those negative emotions along
attitude. Many different medical con- with the struggle to adapt to change
The scary truth is that Alzheimer’s The available tests include a thor- ditions may cause Alzheimer’s-like can make you forgetful.
begins with difficulty remembering ough physical, neurological and symptoms, and some of these condi-
the familiar – people, things, events. psychiatric evaluation. A medical tions may be treatable. You could be There are benefits to an early diag-
Or, you start having trouble doing history will probably be taken. This nosis of Alzheimer’s. Knowing early
simple arithmetic in your head. These helps patients and their families plan
annoyances are common to seniors for the future. It gives them time to
with healthy brains, so most of us discuss care while the patient can still
don’t get too worked up over them. participate in decisions. Early diagno-
sis also offers the best chance to treat
But, as Alzheimer’s progresses, it the symptoms of the disease.
can make people forget how to brush
their teeth or change channels on a Today, some people with Alzheim-
TV. And it gets worse until patients re- er’s are given drugs to treat some of the
quire complete care. disease’s symptoms, and researchers
are working to develop new, more ef-
So, when should you go to your doc- fective drugs to combat the disease.
tor to discuss your memory lapses?
Research is helping us learn more
That’s a personal judgment call. about Alzheimer’s but we still do not
For instance, I’ve found that I can’t know what causes it, and there is no
remember the names of movie stars cure at the present time. 
and ballplayers the way I used to. I

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 47

‘Sex and the City’s’ fashion influence still going strong

BY CAROLINE LEAPER Lurex packed, power shouldered Another key ‘source’ for someone tary around what happened in the
wardrobes. Friends, meanwhile, keen to revisit the style hits of “Sex scene, why the outfit worked for it
The Telegraph had quirky Phoebe, but the nuances and the City” is the Instagram ac- and what the semantics were.
of Monica and Rachel’s looks were count Every Outfit On SATC, run
It is 20 years today since the first so subtle that they were difficult to by super fans Lauren Garroni and The level of analysis that they will
episode of “Sex and the City” aired, pick up en masse – although ‘The Chelsea Fairless. For almost 500,000 go into is deep. “A perfect example
and the stylish protagonist Carrie Rachel’ haircut did of course cap- people, they deliver a daily flash- of an outfit that could only be con-
Bradshaw twirled onto our screens ture the coiffure imagination of a back image and extensive commen- cocted by Patricia Field and worn
wearing a pink vest and a white generation. by Sarah Jessica Parker,” they write
mesh tutu. beside one image of Carrie in season
For the first time, I think, the four. “It evokes all things Britannia
That tutu (which was plucked out principles of costume design that (Carnaby Street, Oliver Twist) with a
of the bargain bin at a New York were applied in “Sex and the City” few fun Pat Field flourishes thrown
thrift shop for $5 by the show’s cos- were simultaneously relatable, in- in (white patent pumps, the horse-
tume designer, Patricia Field) could teresting, timeless, inspirational, shoe necklace).”
in hindsight be read as an indication aspirational and fantastical – hence
of the impact that both the charac- why so many women still reference The fodder for discussion topics is
ter and her wardrobe would have on the distinguishable visual identities endless; wasn’t Miranda’s waterfall
audiences. As Carrie’s story danced as influences two decades later. Put cardigan era a triumph in showing
around ideas about sex, love, friend- simply, are you more of a Carrie, or the reality of postpartum style? How
ship and everything in between, her a Miranda? do Miranda’s outfits compare with
fashion romance moved with her. today’s power dressers? Would out-
The generation of women that fit ‘X’ receive a different response in
She tried things, both romanti- watched the show in its heyday also the Trump era?
cally and sartorially, that were ‘un- happen to have now grown into the
conventional’ for television. As her generation of women that is now The sign of a good costume de-
career amped up, so did the levels leading the use of visual social me- signer is one who can start conver-
of designer labels she would buy (al- dia platforms. Keeping the flame sations around the clothes and what
though a column a week could never alive is easy when fans-turned-fol- they do for the plot. The sign of a
truly afford her that many pairs of lowers, all of whom remember the great one? When those discussions
Manolo Blahnik shoes, I can con- show fondly, are willing to hit like are still considered relevant fashion
firm). every time somebody posts a SATC chat decades down the line. 
fashion ‘throwback’ picture.
Before Bradshaw, tutus were
dancewear, not daywear. Before Man Repeller, a leading fashion
Bradshaw, we had no idea that all blog with over 2 million followers,
manner of clothing items could offi- devotes regular posts to the cause.
cially go together. Before Bradshaw, Its founder, Leandra Medine Cohen,
TV characters didn’t organically ac- probably posts a Carrie-inspired
quire their clothes through a believ- styling tip every couple of weeks.
able mix of thrift, high street and “Note to self: locate turquoise, mix
designer shopping. They didn’t have with pearls, sleep in white cham-
real style at all. bray button down, wake up and
wear,” she said, annotating a still
Something that Patricia Field was of Sarah Jessica Parker signing au-
particularly good at was bridging tographs in the 2000s, seemingly in
the gap between fantasy and real- character (it became hard to distin-
ity. The looks were all in the styling; guish her personal style from that of
you could have, possibly, put that her Bradshaw’s at one point).
outfit together yourself. You could
capture its eclecticism on any bud-
get, it wasn’t about having to buy a
specific item to get the look.

The best bit of all, perhaps was
that she did it all x4. If Carrie’s baker
boy caps and subverted pinstripe
suits weren’t to your liking, perhaps
you preferred the preppy uptown
vibes offered by her comrade Char-
lotte York, or the flash, glam and
sexy sparkle of Samantha Jones.

Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and
Samantha each presented a dif-
ferent fashion personality. Here
were four female leads, each with
a unique and exciting visual iden-
tity to steal real life wardrobe ideas
from.

While “Dynasty” and “Dallas” had
distinct character styling, they cap-
tured a very specific, quite extreme-
ly fashioned time period with their

48 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Style Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Dolce and Gabbana doing it their way. Deal with it

BY ROBIN GIVHAN a golden carpet in clothes of fairy-tale Domenico Dolce Stefano Gabbana
The Washington Post opulence (those were gold and diamond
buttons, not brass and rhinestone) and Alta moda is a small part of the Dolce the upkeep of which he documents on
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gab- sipped Cristal. They relaxed into a level & Gabbana business, which encom- Instagram for his 1.2 million followers.
bana unspool politically incorrect of consumer luxury that makes the good passes ready-to-wear, accessories and
opinions with little more than a shrug. life look like little more than a struggle to fragrances; and despite its expense, it Dolce, 59 and Gabbana, 56, have
They evoke rage and fury on social me- survive. Awaiting the start of the Dolce & generates a small profit. But alta moda’s known each other for 35 years. Dolce,
dia. Then they douse the flames with Gabbana alta moda show – a spectacle of greatest value is in the message it deliv- the son of a tailor in Sicily, taught Gab-
some of the most breathtaking fashion sable, mink and more diamonds – they ers about the brand, which is that Dolce bana – a fashion-loving graphic designer
imaginable. were living the best life. Or at least the & Gabbana is among the most creative from a working-class family in Milan
fashion world’s version of it. and masterful in the world. – how to sketch. They founded their
At a time when fast and disposable has fashion house in 1985 on the romantic
become the norm, these designers have These clients can sate their per- And its most powerful lesson is imagery and stereotypes of Southern
opted to go ever more luxurious with sonal desires because they are fabu- about the economic disparity of these Italy: black-clad Sicilian widows, macho
fashion meticulously made by hand. lously wealthy. The designers are able times: You really have no idea how Mediterranean men, voluptuous linge-
And when they brought their glamorous to indulge their runway fantasies be- great the gulf is between the haves rie models, all anchored by the central-
ode to the American Dream to this melt- cause they don’t answer to investors. and the have-nots. ity of family, a devotion to Catholicism,
ing-pot city, it was a version accessible to Still, observers can’t help pointing out the pleasure of food and the beauty of
about 1 percent of the 1-percenters. the ungodly cost of mounting an alta The garments must still be wearable. the Italian landscape.
moda show. But they are not for the merely rich.
In other words, they are the perfect These are clothes meant to be worn Other designers have sold out to large
designers for this cultural moment, with “Excuse me, it’s your money?” Dolce aboard the 600-foot private yachts of conglomerates; other major brands
all of its fractured politics and infuriat- replies. “No. Okay.” Russian billionaires and Middle Eastern churn through creative directors ev-
ing contradictions. Go ahead. Tsk-tsk royalty, and behind the security perim- ery few years. These two remain at the
them. They don’t really care. The designers do not refer to these eters of walled-off European estates. The helm of their privately held “baby,”
men and women as customers; that garments delight China’s new genera- with sales of $1.5 billion. (They spent
At the Metropolitan Opera House sounds so “commercial.” And for Dol- tion of moguls and feed a hunger among nearly four years fighting accusations
last month, golden chairs awaited 350 ce and Gabbana, this is art. (One of America’s corporate titans who put fash- of tax fraud in Italy before being found
coddled clients. Pink and lilac roses their coats is embroidered with gold ion in the same category as fine art, rare not guilty in 2014.)
were tucked into the thick gray branch- thread, like something worn by a ra- wines and trophy real estate.
es curled around the brass handrails of jah, a queen or a pope.) But make no And unlike many fashion lines, Dol-
the grand staircase. The guests walked mistake: This art is for sale. The opening price point for these ce & Gabbana has passed up the profit
frocks? As much as $60,000. Are these margins to be found in lower-priced
incredibly wealthy people paying too goods. They recently closed their less ex-
much? pensive division, dominated by T-shirts
and jeans, and have committed to ad-
“Do you ask the cost of a Michelan- dressing the unique desires of the few.
gelo?” retorts Dolce. “You don’t ask the
price. Beauty has no price.” This season’s alta moda was a rah-rah,
red-white-and-blue love letter to Amer-
Dolce, 59, is bald with a gray stubble ica. At a time when the country itself is
of a beard and an average build. He riven by questions about what consti-
speaks in long paragraphs in heavily ac- tutes greatness, the Italian designers still
cented English. He has the more serious, believe in an America as a snow globe of
reserved bearing, and an Instagram ac- glamour, possibility and freedom.
count on which he has never posted any-
thing. Gabbana, 56, is the tall one with Freedom is paramount for them,
black hair and a more muscular build, as they often declare as they burrow

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 49

into controversy after controversy. Mrs. Trump has worn the brand on flag. There were red-white-and-blue added – her daughter Lori, a model.
They’ve been accused of racially in- numerous public occasions, includ- bejeweled hoodies and glittering Then she glided into the post-show
sensitive references in their work, such ing the 2018 White House Governors’ track pants, lush dresses encrusted
as describing gladiator-style sandals Ball. During an official visit to Sic- in crystals and headpieces that call to dinner, on the stage in front of a high-
as “slave sandals” and featuring Moor- ily last year, she donned the brand’s mind Lady Liberty. The models were drama chiaroscuro set from “Turandot.”
ish – or “blackamoor” – imagery in a richly embroidered floral coat, valued a diverse group – categories included After dinner, guests could shop the col-
ready-to-wear collection. In one inter- at $51,500. The designers did not invite plus-size, mature, Muslim, and celeb- lection, hanging on racks in a makeshift
view, they expressed their belief that Mrs. Trump to alta moda, however. rity. Naomi Campbell closed the show, shop – complete with dressing rooms.
“family” should be strictly defined as “She’s the wife of the president and I in a corseted ball gown, her head tilted
mother, father and naturally conceived don’t want to do any mistake,” Gab- back with enough ravishing hauteur Most people will never lay eyes on the
children. They called IVF babies “syn- bana says. “But we’d love to have her.” to make guests feel as though they’d women who ultimately buy and wear
thetic” and said they didn’t support the witnessed a fashion moment. these clothes, except perhaps in pictures
right of gay parents to adopt. The appreciation is mutual. “Mrs. from some party on a private island.
Trump admires their work and has been “Domenico and Stefano are just like Perhaps, they will declare the garments
Gabbana has also questioned wheth- purchasing Dolce & Gabbana since her geniuses,” offered Marjorie Harvey, wife beautiful. Or grotesquely decadent. Re-
er the #MeToo movement exaggerates teenage years,” emailed her spokes- of comedian Steve Harvey and star of gardless, the clothes mean something.
incidences of sexual harassment, and he woman Stephanie Grisham. “She con- her own website, TheLadyLovesCout- They speak of unimaginable wealth and
maintains that sexual harassment is a siders them each an incredible talent ure.com. “You never know what to ex- unbound creativity. And they represent
nonissue in Italy. who have made a significant impact on pect from one season to the next.” the ability of two designers to speak free-
fashion around the world.” ly – with little worry or concern for what
“We have a lot of women in our com- “And my baby was in the show!” she anyone else might think is correct. 
pany. [They] are the best. . . . The woman At other fashion shows, arriving
is more powerful than men,” Gabbana guests typically go directly to assigned
says. “All the things about women in seats. But at alta moda, no good can
U.S., we don’t have the same thing be- come from ranking customers. Regu-
cause we have a lot of respect for women. lar guests knew to immediately claim
Our mentality is totally different.” a seat for themselves, deftly draping
chairs with a mink or chinchilla seat-
The designers are emblematic of saver while Hollywood-handsome
this cultural moment in which the ex- waiters topped off their coupes from
tremes have moved to center stage, the magnums of bubbly.
so-called common man is hailed for his
wisdom and political correctness has, in Alta moda debuted in Taormina in
some quarters, become the enemy. 2012. Since then, there have been shows
at La Scala, in Portofino and Venice, and
“I love to be free. Free, free, free, free, on a rocky outcropping in Capri best ac-
free. I love to say what I think,” Gab- cessed by yacht.
bana says. “I’m not afraid. What I say
is not wrong, but it’s out of the system. This alta moda weekend was
But it’s really what I think.” He added stretched out over several Manhat-
that “You find the truth from ordinary tan sites, chosen to reflect the design-
people, not in politics.” ers’ fantasies about the city — the Met
in a nod to their obsession with opera;
Gabbana has supported the American menswear at the Rainbow Room of
first lady while much of the global fash- Rockefeller Center, a symbol of Dolce’s
ion industry has been diplomatically si- fondness for architecture and jazz; and
lent if not actively opposed to the Trump the New York Public Library, host of
administration. This has made him the Carrie Bradshaw’s aborted wedding in
target of social-media trolls and boy- the “Sex and the City” movie.
cott threats. The designers responded
by producing T-shirts emblazoned with At the Met, Isabella Rossellini intro-
“#boycott Dolce & Gabbana” and a video duced the collection by reading the
of a mock march. Emma Lazarus sonnet from the Statue
of Liberty. Then an operatic soundtrack
Gabbana entered the American politi- soared to life and model Karlie Kloss ap-
cal fray on New Year’s Day 2017 when he peared at the foot of the grand staircase,
posted a photo of the Trumps at Mar-a- dressed like a bewitching firebird — all
Lago, where the first lady was wearing a red feathers and fearsome grace.
black Dolce & Gabbana dress decorated
with jeweled bows. His caption made up The show covered 100 looks over
in heart emoji what it lacked in punc- 30 minutes, including full-length in-
tuation: “Melania Trump #DGwoman tarsia furs featuring images of the
thank you #madeinitaly ” New York skyline and the American

50 Vero Beach 32963 / June 14, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

DINING REVIEW

Thomas Keller: Three stars by land, one great chicken by sea

BY TINA RONDEAU Server Ugur Acun Snake River Farms rib-eyes from the
presenting the same purveyor who provides steaks
Columnist served at the French Laundry, on our
Roasted Free Range second visit I persuaded my husband to
Talk to any veteran cruiser, and Chicken for two join me in the roasted free-range chick-
you are likely to hear the lament that carved tableside. en for two, a gorgeous bird carved table-
cruise ship dining is not what it was in side and served with thyme jus (along
the good old days. with sides of crème fraiche whipped
potatoes, wilted spinach and sautéed
This is for the most part true, and mushrooms scented with brandy).
actually quite understandable. Ships –
even those of upscale lines – keep get- I love a good roast chicken, and the
ting larger; it’s tough to prepare haute classic Thomas Keller recipe produced
cuisine for hundreds of diners let alone one of the juiciest and most delicious
thousands; and as cruise lines compete tasting roast chickens I have put fork
for passengers, the cost-cutting needed to. With crispy skin and tender breast
to hold fares down has impacted not just meat, even my husband (not a chicken
the quality of ingredients but service. enthusiast) had to reluctantly agree it
made for a great meal.
Recently, a number of cruise lines
have attempted to mask this decline While The Grill is not quite as dif-
through high-profile deals with celeb- ficult to get into as the French Laun-
rity chefs, who variously serve as menu dry, most nights on this recent cruise
consultants or lend their names to ship- found us taking dinner in the Ova-
board “specialty” restaurants (where tion’s gourmet dining room, named
passengers can dine at an extra charge). simply The Restaurant.

We have experienced the cruise My husband would tell you the best
ship cuisine of Iron chef Jose Garcas, part of these evenings came at dessert
Food Network star Geoffrey Zakarian, time, when each night The Restau-
celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Todd rant featured a different souffle. Pis-
English, and James Beard Award-win- tachio souffles, bittersweet chocolate
ning chef Michael Schwartz, among souffles, hazelnut souffles, tangerine
others, and have generally been less souffles, bourbon whiskey souffles –
than wildly impressed. he had them all, each airy creation a
thing of perfection.
But for the past two weeks, we have
been sailing aboard the newest ship of And Keller’s influence is found in
a cruise line that has partnered with The Restaurant as well. Several nights
another celebrity chef, Thomas Keller, a week, the dining room features a
and have found the total dining experi- “Thomas Keller selection” not offered
ence unrivaled by anything we’ve hith- in his eatery.
erto seen or tasted at sea.
On one evening, I feasted on his So-
Keller is, of course, founder of the noma Duck Breast “Poele” with crispy
French Laundry in the Napa Valley “rillettes,” glazed Harukei turnips
and New York’s Per Se – both Michelin and pickled blueberry “gastrique;”
three-star restaurants – and his res- on another, I had a mouth-watering
taurant aboard the Seabourn Ovation, herb-roasted saddle of Elysian Fields
simply named “The Grill,” is his fifth Farmlamb with ratatouille.
for this ultra-luxe cruise line.
These experiences were highlights
This steakhouse is unlikely to win of two weeks of cruising and dining
Keller more Michelin stars, but it’s aboard the Seabourn Ovation. If there is
mighty fine dining with tableside prepa- a better culinary experience to be had at
rations of everything from Caesar sal- sea, I haven’t yet found it – but I welcome
ads to Dover sole meuniere. And with a reader comments and suggestions.
menu that focuses on Keller’s versions
of iconic dishes, I would rank The Grill The writer, who reviews restaurants
overall right up there with some of the for Vero Beach 32963, currently is on
best chop houses in Florida. holiday. .

While on our first visit we savored

Jumbo Lump Souffle. Salmon Carpaccio.
Crab Cake

with Spicy Aioli.