04/08/2021 ISSUE 14

New COVID-19 cases here
declining. P 11

Homebound seniors
getting vaccinations. P10
Few realize reefs lay close to
shore just off Humiston Park. P16

Flood insurance For breaking news visit
premiums headed
higher for ‘equity’ Cleveland Clinic
adds physicians
to hospital staff

BY LISA ZAHNER BY MICHELLE GENZ
Staff Writer Staff Writer

A new Biden Administra- Even as Cleveland Clinic In-
tion plan to make flood in-
surance rates promote “equi- dian River Hospital has coped
ty in action” could drastically
increase premiums for luxury with COVID-19, its leadership
residences in coastal areas like
Vero’s barrier island. has continued to look beyond

Based upon a national study the pandemic, bringing doz-
of flood premiums, claims and
property values as they relate ens of new doctors to town to
to flood zones and risk of dam-
age, the Federal Emergency expand its healthcare offer-
Management Agency (FEMA)
last week released the objec- ings.
tives of its Risk Rating 2.0 plan.
Since the world-renowned
“The modernized pricing
methodology corrects the health system took over Indian
current system’s unintention-
al inequities in which many River Medical Center in Janu-
policyholders with lower-val-
ary 2019, it has added close
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
to 200 physicians to its staff,
Huge new subdivision
would add hundreds bringing the total number of
of homes near airport
Unlike the traffic mess on A1A north of the Vero city limits, the Florida Department of Transportation is not totally respon- physicians practicing at the
BY STEVEN M. THOMAS sible for backups in recent days on A1A south of Castaway Cove. But the installation of new concrete utility poles by FPL,
Staff Writer which at times require lane shifts and shoulder closures, is expected to continue until late June. PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN hospital to 423.
Of those, 157 are employed by
A massive subdivision that
was planned but never start- Cleveland Clinic Indian River,
ed on the property known as
Dodger Pines just west of the New stormwater fees could equate to 12 percent tax hike an increase of around 65 since
Vero Beach airport is show- the health system took over, a
ing new signs of life. hospital spokesman said. That
increase factors in both resig-
If approved and built as
planned, Heritage Reserve BY LISA ZAHNER tax rolls to pay for stormwater Mayor Robbie Brackett has nations and new hires, he said.
Staff Writer projects intended to clean up been against this new form of The remaining doctors
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
the lagoon instead of lumping revenue in a pandemic econ- have privileges and work at

The Vero Beach City Coun- those expenses into the gen- omy. the hospital taking care of pa-

cil was set to move forward eral property tax fund. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

this week with the next step of

imposing a stormwater utility Construction boom puts pressure on county building department
tax on residents, businesses

and nonprofits – without the

support of the mayor. BY RAY MCNULTY permit applications for new-
Staff Writer home construction, major

home remodeling and ad-

The sizzling-hot, local ditions to existing homes.

Since the November elec- real estate market has put a The increased demand

tion, there’s been a solid, three- strain on the county’s Build- during the ongoing boom,

vote majority supporting the ing Division, where the staff in fact, has caused delays in

city staff’s push for a dedicated has been overwhelmed by Inspector Dan Inman inspects new home. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

fund billed separately on the

April 8, 2021 Volume 14, Issue 14 Newsstand Price $1.00 ‘Mad Hatters’ raise
teapot of money for
News 1-16 Editorial 40 People 17-34 TO ADVERTISE CALL scholarships. P18
Arts 49-54 Games 43-47 Pets 72 772-559-4187
Books 42 Health 55-61 Real Estate 75-88
Dining 67-71 Insight 35-48 Style 62-66 FOR CIRCULATION
CALL 772-226-7925

© 2021 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Flood insurance mate change,” said Homeland Secu- “FEMA’s National Flood Insurance March 13 also cited the Fleet Street
rity Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Program (NFIP) reported being $20 analysis of the new rate methodology.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 billion in debt in late 2020,” Collins “Nationally, First Street found about
“Risk Rating 2.0 advances those said on Monday. “It seems apparent 4.2 million properties facing major
ue homes are paying more than they goals by fixing longstanding inequities that historical FEMA flood model- flood risk, and those properties would
should and policyholders with higher- in flood insurance pricing and creat- ing methodology was not adequately need to pay about four and a half times
value homes are paying less than they ing a system that is better equipped for matched with premium formulation, more than the NFIP charges to cover
should,” the FEMA press release states. the reality of frequent flooding caused and reforms were needed. that risk. About one in four of those
by climate change. These updates will properties are in Florida.
“As a result, nearly a quarter of the improve individual and community “Flood risk can vary widely from
NFIP’s current policyholders will see a resilience, reduce disaster related suf- home to home within any given neigh- ”Because of new federal caps, mas-
decrease in their premiums under the fering, and ensure fairness. Risk Rating borhood or flood zone. The expecta- sive rate hikes will not all come in one
new pricing structure.” 2.0 is equity in action,“ Mayorkas said. tion is that a more sophisticated ap- year, but industry analysts say home-
proach of contemplating flood risk will owners may face years of consecutive
“We are putting equity at the fore- David Collins, vice president of op- make rates more aligned with reality increases to bring the cost in line with
front of our work at DHS and making erations for the Tom Collins Insurance and collect premiums needed to sus- projected risk – not unlike what has
reforms to help our nation confront Agency in Vero Beach, has been close- tain the program.” happened with windstorm rates. Ul-
the pressing challenges caused by cli- ly following the issue. timately, it may also impact property
So, what should homeowners ex- values and not in a good way,” the U.S.
pect at renewal time, or when buying
a home? News article states. 

It’s unclear right now because FEMA Stormwater utility tax
hasn’t set the new rates yet. They will be CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
phased in, for new policies beginning in
October, and for renewals in April 2022. “The way I see it, this would mean
an 11 or 12 percent tax increase at a
“Based on the limited information time when businesses are still strug-
we have, new rates will be a function of gling and we can’t do that,” Brackett
some combination of individual prop- said on Monday, a day ahead of the
erty risk characteristics such as histori- council vote putting the public on
cal flood frequency, distance to water, notice that the city intends to assess a
storm surge potential, and the home’s new tax.
elevation, among others,” Collins said.
The vote on the amount of the tax
“Many of our private markets have will be separate, after a new city coun-
already successfully implemented cil member comes on board to fill a
some version of this individualized vacant seat.
property approach. Otherwise, we’re
standing by for more specific informa- The new stormwater tax, which
tion from FEMA and the NFIP regard- would be appear on this fall’s tax bills,
ing actual rate changes and what to would be levied on houses, condos
expect for our coastal homeowners.” and businesses, as well as churches,
nonprofits and government buildings
Forbes magazine and US. News and that are exempt from ad valorem prop-
World Report both published stories erty taxes based upon value.
about what the plan might mean,
Forbes’ putting a headline on its Councilman Rey Neville has said re-
March 18 story that read, “FEMA’S Up- peatedly that he thinks a stormwater
coming Changes Could Cause Flood fee is a “much more equitable way” to
Insurance To Soar At The Shore.” pay for the installation of swales and
culverts and for street sweeping than
“The Federal Emergency Manage- via property taxes.
ment Agency (FEMA) has been prepar-
ing to drop a seismic climate-change But Brackett said he would prefer
bomb. Flood insurance premiums for the city council be accountable for all
millions of at-risk homes and business- the expenditures in the millage rate
es could surge as much as four times because that is much more transpar-
what they currently pay over the next ent, and it forces the council to weigh
few years when FEMA announces its all the city’s priorities along with
‘Risk Rating 2.0,’” the Forbes story said. stormwater.

Referencing analysis by the non- Vero Beach is not under the gun to
profit Fleet Street Foundation research meet state requirements for reducing
group, the article cites predictions of stormwater runoff of unwanted nutri-
significant rate increases for pricey ents into the lagoon, as it has already
properties in flood-prone areas. met the year 2025 requirements and
has a good start toward meeting the
The rate changes Forbes cited amount year 2030 requirements.
to the end of what insurance insiders
refer to as the “beachside bailouts.” Vero has done this by funding storm-
water projects through property taxes,
“FEMA’s cheap flood insurance en- so it appears that system is not utterly
couraged development and created broken. There is no evidence of an im-
a lucrative housing boom for realtors minent Vero Beach stormwater crisis to
and contractors in often-flooded states justify a new, dedicated tax of $1 million
such as Florida. Policies were renewed or more per year.
multiple times even after homes were
damaged or destroyed. About one- Brackett has challenged the staff to
third of Americans now live in coastal
areas,” the Forbes article states.

The U.S. News story published

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 3

NEWS

come up with innovative ways to pay dential development is out in unincor- environmental engineer to review the division was approved in 2006, county
for stormwater improvements and at porated county. Any time you develop revised project before submitting it to traffic engineers expected the developer
least one major project is in the works closer to the city core, instead of fur- the city. If there are no hitches in the to contribute to widening 26th and help
to divert stormwater from the main ther away, there is more of a benefit.” permitting process and the housing pay for intersection improvements as
relief canal and sell it to John’s Island market stays strong, he expects to be- far away as 58th Avenue and State Route
as irrigation water – turning a prob- Sunfield Homes owner and general gin sitework next year. 60, to reduce traffic congestion.
lem into a commodity. manager Michael Orsi thinks buyers
will pay a premium for the close-in “We will be widening the east/west The property, which is bounded by
That is the kind of approach need- location, despite the proximity of the road (26th Street) at no cost to the city,” 43rd Avenue to the east and 58th Ave-
ed going forward, especially during a airfield. Orsi says. nue to the west, extending north from
pandemic, Brackett said.
He has hired a traffic engineer and When a prior developer’s similar sub- CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
The new stormwater utility fees
would be based upon the impervi-
ous area of property – that covered by
buildings, patios and paved driveways
and parking lots. The idea is that every
square foot that’s not grass or gravel or
another porous surface causes rain-
water to run off somewhere else, into
swales and potentially into the Indian
River Lagoon.

Consultants will establish the size of
an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU
based upon the average impervious
area of the city’s single-family homes
as determined by a massive surveying
and mapping project now underway.

When the city first talked about im-
posing a stormwater tax, it was esti-
mated that the owner of a typical resi-
dence in the city would pay $60 to $100
per year.

A business owner or institution that
had 10 times as much impervious
area on property as an average home

would pay 10 times that amount. 

Huge new subdivision
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

would be the biggest subdivision in
Vero Beach, increasing the number
of homes in the city by more than 10
percent and substantially bolstering
the tax base.

As of 2019, the city had 7,357 houses
and apartments, according to Location
Inc., a division of CoreLogic. The new
subdivision would add 830 new homes
to that total, according to the develop-
er and a preliminary plat provided to
the Vero Beach Regional Airport.

Residents of Heritage Reserve would
be close to the hospital, the downtown
and Miracle Mile. They would also be
close to the airport, but not in a flight
path and not “in the high noise area,”
according to former Vero planning di-
rector, Tim McGarry, in a 2018 inter-
view.

No formal application for devel-
opment has been submitted to the
city, but project developer New Port
Richey-based Sunfield Homes has had
its pre-application sit-down with city
officials and last month held a public
meeting to get input from neighboring
residents, according to current Vero
Beach Planning Director Jason Jeffries.

“I like the plan because it prevents
sprawl,” says Jeffries. “Most new resi-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Huge new subdivision to the city that was turned down be- mined. Access into the subdivision will tracts elsewhere in the state, including
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 cause McGarry wanted larger setbacks be from 26th Street and 58th Avenue. 1,100 acres on the outskirts of Sarasota
to provide more of a buffer around the he bought for $8 million in 2014, a year
26th Street, has an interesting history. property, more access roads in and “We want to build a more excel- after he paid $6 million for Dodger
In the 1960s, much of the tract was out and more internal connectivity. lent community, and leave a positive Pines.
legacy,” says Orsi. “The density will
the Safari Pines Country Club, which Instead of submitting a modified be very low and there will be a lot of Orsi says his projects are mostly
had an 18-hole golf course. Dodg- plan, Orsi let the land lay for another walkways and large ponds and trails concentrated in Pasco and Pinellas
ers executive Peter O’Malley, an avid six years as property values increased, around the ponds, lots of internal con- counties, in and around what he calls
golfer, bought the property in the early until the current push to get the proj- nectivity for pedestrians to walk or jog the “golden triangle” of Tampa, St. Pete
1970s, changing the name to Dodger ect going. without interfering with traffic. We will and Clearwater.
Pines Country Club. put pumps in the pond to create foun-
“The long delay was because we were tains that are attractive and aerate the He says he took an interest in Vero
Some 30 years later, in 2002, the too busy with other projects to start on water.” Beach because it is such “a pretty, pris-
Dodgers sold the land for $6.7 million. this,” Orsi told Vero Beach 32963 last tine town, not swallowed up in a con-
Two years later, as the housing boom week. “Now that the market has be- Orsi is a homegrown Florida devel- crete jungle. It is well organized, pic-
heated up, the land was resold for a come more and more vibrant, we want oper who has been doing projects in turesque, not over-crowded and yet
whopping $17 million to Southstar to move ahead. the state since the 1970s. He is very has all the amenities.
Development, which got the property down to earth in conversation, not at
rezoned for a master-planned com- “The city had some concerns with all a big-time corporate type, but he “My family and I make a living out
munity, designed and engineered a our design back then and we’ve made clearly operates on a substantial scale. of land development and construc-
large subdivision and got its prelimi- the changes they requested.” tion and we think this is a good oppor-
nary plat approved in 2006. Besides his land here, he owns large
Orsi says the subdivision will in- tunity to do something.” 
The housing downturn hit before clude a large section of duplexes “that
work got underway, though, and live like single-family homes, with
Southstar’s plans ground to halt. A front and back yards and two-car ga-
2009 letter from an investment bank rages. They will be designed for a lock
informed the city that Southstar was and leave lifestyle, with the landscap-
no longer involved with the property ing, exteriors and roofs looked after.
and the land lay fallow, with wild hogs It is a nice product that has been suc-
rooting along overgrown fairways, un- cessful in Florida.”
til Orsi came along in 2013 and paid
the recessionary price of $6 million for Single-family homes will include
the sprawling tract. 2,000-square-foot, 2-bath, 2-bedroom-
plus-den houses with 2-car garag-
In 2015, he presented his own plan es, along with a number of larger,
2,500-square-foot homes with 3-car
garages. Pricing has not been deter-

PHOTOS BY BRENDA AHEARN

Building Division “Actually, I hear more of the oppo-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 site from them: ‘I just can’t pass it ...’ for
whatever the reason is.”
the county’s processing of those appli-
cations, which must be obtained be- When there are complaints from
fore licensed builders and contractors new-home buyers about faulty work
may begin such projects. at their homes, County Building Of-
ficial Scott McAdam said, they’re usu-
But Community Development Di- ally about the builder, not the inspec-
rector Phil Matson said the surge in tor. Nevertheless, complaints about
new-home construction hasn’t hurt improper or insufficient inspections
the quality of Building Division inspec- are addressed.
tions of ongoing and completed work.
“Is there a chance our inspector
He said he’s not worried about in- missed something?” McAdam said.
spectors – even those hired on a tem- “Yes, but not often. And if we get a com-
porary basis to handle the growing plaint, we will investigate. But nobody
workload – rushing through inspec- is skimping on inspections or taking
tions to keep up with a heavy work- shortcuts, especially with the technol-
load and get on to the next job. ogy we have at our disposal these days.

“That’s one of the least of my con- “We have iPads, so we can take pho-
cerns,” Matson said. “Our inspectors, tos and record information instantly,
whether they’re full-time or tempo- and the process takes less time,” he
rary, are all licensed by the state. So, added. “We’re able to do quality in-
their professional futures are on the spections, even with a heavy load.
line with each inspection.
“We couldn’t do that in the ’90s.”
“If they cut corners or took a short- The Building Division currently has
cut and some tragedy happened, they about 40 employees, including 33 who
know they’d have to answer for it,” he are permanent, full-time workers. The
added. “They’re not going to risk that. other seven are temporary employees,
hired from one of three private agen-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 5

NEWS

cies with which the county has annual fund, which means it must be self- got to lay them off,” he continued. ed. “I’d like to think we can catch up
contracts. sustaining and can spend only what it “That’s also why there has been a de- quickly, once we bring in the tempo-
takes in,” Matson said. “It doesn’t get lay in processing permit applications. rary employees, but it can be like turn-
Matson said the division adds and general-fund revenue from the county. We need to collect the permit fees, so ing a ship. It doesn’t happen as quickly
drops supplemental employees, de- we have the money we need to hire the as you’d like.
pending on its workload. “That’s why we try not to hire full- supplemental employees.
time people during building booms “Another challenge is what’s hap-
“Most people don’t know this, but – because when there’s a bust, you’ve “So, there’s a gap in time,” he add-
the Building Division is an enterprise CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Building Division stream of permits for new-home con- Others, who already own homes here, (1,484), 2003 (2,050), 2004 (3,168) and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 struction, the Building Division also are taking advantage of low interest 2005 (3,426) – before slipping to 2,813
continues to receive applications for rates or using COVID-related stimu- in 2006 and 1,104 in 2007.
pening in the construction industry: knockdowns and rebuilds, remodels lus checks for structural expansion or
There’s such demand right now – par- and expansions, as well as new swim- other improvements. Many of those homes were never
ticularly for inspectors – that even the ming pools, porch enclosures, fencing built and application numbers plum-
temporary agencies are having trouble and other improvements. Matson said newcomers to the meted during the Great Recession,
getting the people they need.” county might be surprised to learn bottoming out at 249 in 2009 and wal-
Matson said the county received ap- that the number of new-home con- lowing in the 300s for the next three
Matson said there has been a “spate plications for about 750 “rebuilds or struction permits in the past year is years.
of retirements” in the industry and, be- significant remodels” in the past 12 not as high as it was during the local
cause the construction trades “are not months, compared to 1,000-plus ap- building boom at the start of the 2000s. Matson said the new-home market
as popular with the younger genera- plications for new-home construction began to rebound noticeably in 2015,
tions,” there aren’t enough profession- permits. According to the county’s Commu- when the Building Division received
als to replace those who are leaving. nity Development Reports, new-home 809 application permits, followed by
Not only are more people purchas- construction permit applications rose 914 in 2016, 979 in 2017 and 1,229 in
In addition to processing a steady ing new homes, but some are buy- steadily through the first five years of 2018.
ing and remodeling existing homes. the millennium – 2001 (1,361), 2002
During the current boom, much
of the new-home growth has shifted
from the south end of the county to
the central section of the urban ser-
vices area, which includes Waterway
Village, Arabella Reserve, Harmony
Reserve, Huntington Place, Fieldstone
Ranch, The Antilles and, more recent-
ly, Lost Tree Preserve.

“We’ve definitely seen an uptick in
the number of single-family build-
ing permits issued the past couple of
years, but where we’re at now is only
one-third of what it was during the
boom of 2004 and 2005,” Matson said.
“And where we’re at now is triple what
it was during the recession.

“This reflects the uneven nature of
boom-and-bust growth in Florida,” he
added. “The numbers may go up and
down, but we ultimately arrive at the 1.6
to 1.9 percent of annual growth project-
ed by the University of Florida’s Bureau
of Economics and Business Research.”

The county has a population of
about 160,000 at present, a number
BEBR projects will increase to 170,000
in 2025; 180,200 in 2030; 188,200 in
2035; 195,000 in 2040; and 200,900 in
2045.

The U.S. Census reported that the
county’s population was: 59,896 in
1980; 90,208 in 1990; 112,947 in 2000;

and 138,028 in 2010. 

Cleveland Clinic

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

tients but are in private practice.
While all eyes were on COVID

counts, PPE shortages, intensive-care
beds and caregiver burnout, the Vero
hospital diligently continued work be-
gun the previous year to make good on
its pre-pandemic commitment to ex-
pand services and staff.

“One of our commitments when we
came was to expand our medical staff
to provide physician specialties that
heretofore had not been available to
our residents of Indian River County
or to the Treasure Coast,” said hospital
president Dr. Greg Rosencrance in an
interview last week.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9





Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 9

NEWS

Cleveland Clinic In addition, Cleveland Clinic Indian close to a decade prior to her post at continue to practice, the Welsh Can-
River has hired a new director for the Georgetown. cer Center has added Dr. Brian Burkey,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 Scully Welsh Cancer Center. Dr. Eleni head and neck oncologist who arrived
Tousimis, a nationally known breast She is also a past president of the last month from Cleveland Clinic Ohio.
In 2020 alone, as COVID raged on, surgical oncologist, is expected to as- American Medical Women’s Associa- He now serves as the inaugural chair
Cleveland Clinic Indian River man- sume her post in August. tion, and has served as personal phy- of the Vero hospital’s department of
aged to add 109 physicians. That in- sician to the Dalai Lama on his visits otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.
cludes 11 physicians with Primary Tousimis has been director of the to D.C.
Care of the Treasure Coast, one of the Orisman Breast Health Center at Burkey, who went to medical school
county’s largest primary care prac- Georgetown University Hospital. The In Vero, Tousimis will take over from at the University of Virginia and com-
tices. The group was acquired by the Washington, D.C. native and gradu- Dr. David Peter, the hospital’s chief pleted a residency at the University of
hospital in December. ate of Mount Holyoke College and medical officer, who has been leading Michigan, will also serve as Institute
Albany Medical College trained at the cancer center since the departure Chair of Surgical Specialties for the
The 109 doctors who joined the staff Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer of Dr. James Grichnik in December. Cleveland Clinic Florida region.
in the past year are on top of another Center. Tousimis served as associate Grichnik, a dermatologist who joined
82 added in 2019. That figure included director of education at Weill Cornell Indian River in 2016, is now at the “Not to compete with the private
40 Cleveland-based radiologists who New York Presbyterian Hospital for University of South Florida. ENTs – he sees highly complex head
review medical images remotely.
In addition to Tousimis, who will CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
“One of the first issues we faced was
our radiology group here had struggles
with night-time coverage, so we added
teleradiology,” Rosencrance said.

The teleradiologists also work with
the hospital’s stroke program, which
has added two neurosurgeons.

The hospital has also bolstered its
anesthesia department, acquiring a
practice that Rosencrance said had had
“significant difficulty with recruitment
and retention.”

The hospital has increased staffing
in endocrinology, and soon will add
staff in rheumatology as well as bar-
iatric and foregut surgery.

Among the newly employed physi-
cians, several are assuming key lead-
ership roles.

Dr. Mariano Brizzio, who replaced
Cary Stowe as head of the Welsh Heart
Center, is a native of Venezuela and
graduate of the University of Buenos
Aires. He came to the U.S. for a fel-
lowship in advanced cardiothoracic
surgery at Cleveland Clinic. He then
joined the faculty of Columbia Univer-
sity, and was an attending cardiac sur-
geon at Valley-Columbia Heart Center
in New Jersey prior to moving to Vero.

The heart center has also added a sec-
ond doctor in electrophysiology, Dr. Fa-
had Ali, who will join Dr. Brett Faulknier
in that specialty. Interventional cardiol-
ogists have also been added, including
Dr. Mistyann-Blue Miller and Dr. Carlos
Gonzalez. And Dr. Nazar Sharac has
joined the hospital with board certifica-
tion in nuclear cardiology and echocar-
diology.

CORRECTION

A story last week about Bar-
bara Regan’s COVID journey
said she thought she might
have contracted the virus
from a friend at the 2020 Art
in Bloom event. The story
should have said Regan
suspects she contracted the
virus at a party the day be-
fore. We regret the error.

10 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Cleveland Clinic hospital-owned practices last year have Cleveland Clinic’s main campus came to Epic’s online patient portal. Usage of
improved – but not enough. Those Vero to study ways of improving outpa- MyChart has increased from Cleveland
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 problems started after the hospital’s tient workflow with the change to Epic. Clinic patients booking COVID-19 vac-
outpatient services – including all the cines through the portal.
and neck cancers and operates on doctors’ practices – switched to the new “We’re bringing some resources to
them,” said Rosencrance. “We’re doing medical records software, Epic. bear on these issues,” Rosencrance said. “Once we go live (with another facet
head and neck procedures here on pa- of the software) they will be able to
tients that don’t have to leave this area Cleveland Clinic Indian River now “Our goals are to remove barriers to schedule their own appointments and
to go to Tampa or to South Florida to routes appointment-related calls access to care and to our physicians, to look at schedules,” he said.
get their care.” through a central call center. Beginning and to really make it easy to use our
this week, that center is adding another system,” Rosencrance said. “We real- “MyChart is a wonderful tool that
And then there is the issue of how 20 operators, Rosencrance said. ize that lately it’s been anything but allows patients to communicate with-
patients get in touch with all those that. But that’s where we’re headed, out phone lines to their clinicians and
doctors. “The metrics are not where we want and that’s what we’re going to do.” the office staff,” he said. “If you have a
them to be yet, but they are improv- smartphone, you essentially have your
Rosencrance said the phone and ing,” he said. Rosencrance foresees patients in the medical records with you wherever
appointment problems that plagued near future being able to book their
In addition, a team of 27 experts from own appointments through MyChart, you go.” 

VNA nurses now visiting homebound seniors to give COVID-19 vaccinations

BY MICHELLE GENZ Indian River County finally went to the of the Treasure Coast, and the Senior The Community Coach, a door-to-
Staff Writer front of the line. Resource Association and its Commu- door service run by Senior Resource,
nity Coach bus system. has already given rides to more than
In the frantic first weeks of COV- Through a collaboration of local 700 people who had trouble finding
ID-19 vaccine availability, a subset of agencies, those incapable of getting to “It takes a community to help a com- transportation to vaccination sites.
Vero’s seniors were spared the frustra- a vaccine clinic can now get a house munity,” said Senior Resource CEO The new program, though, is limited
tion of trying to book appointments call from a VNA nurse, happy to give Karen Deigl, who credits the VNA for to those who are suffering from medi-
via jammed phone lines and crashed them the shot in the comfort of their taking the lead on the project. Her or- cal conditions that make it impossible
websites. They had no hope of get- home at no cost. ganization had its own list of home- to leave home.
ting a shot because they couldn’t leave bound clients who avail themselves
their homes. The house-call solution to getting of Senior Resource programs such as Those residents were isolated even
the homebound vaccinated is the meal delivery, housekeeping services before COVID-19, more so with the
Last week, homebound residents in result of collaboration between the and even companionship. virus circulating. But that didn’t make
county’s Health Department, the VNA

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 11

NEWS

them safe: Nearly all require outside New COVID-19 cases here decline; hospitalizations also down
helpers in the home on a frequent,
even daily, basis. BY LISA ZAHNER 65 and older have been fully or partially The daily new infection count re-
Staff Writer vaccinated, an important achievement flects the county’s robust vaccination
At the VNA, Pat Knipper, a registered since that age group accounts for 68 efforts, as the average number of new
nurse who is the agency’s health, edu- As COVID-19 shots opened up to percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations cases declined slightly to 21 per day,
cation and wellness coordinator, said anyone age 18 and older (16 and older and 87 percent of the deaths reported and only eight barrier island residents
150 people had signed up for in-home for the Pfizer vaccine) this week, more from complications of the virus. tested positive in the past week.
vaccinations by the start of this week. than 100,000 shots have been admin-
“More people are coming forward istered locally, and 40 percent of Indi- A free vaccination program that be- Hospitalizations were down to 13
every day for consideration as word an River County residents had gotten gan last week for homebound seniors patients at press time Monday – about
gets out,” she said. The list includes at least one dose of vaccine. and others who cannot travel to vac- a quarter of the people hospitalized at
not only seniors but people of any age cine locations is helping push that the peak of the virus locally.
who are physically unable to leave Eighty-six percent of local seniors age percentage higher.
their homes. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Deigl said the program has been
allotted enough doses for nearly 500
people to get both shots.

Each day, organizers pull 10 names
and plot their addresses by ZIP code
on a map to find the most direct route
to reach them all. Timing is impor-
tant to keep the thawed vaccine from
spoiling.

Lynnette Essig, a Licensed Practical Nurse with
the VNA, organizes her materials as she loads
up to deliver vaccines to homebound seniors.

“Our Community Coach drivers are
transporting [VNA nurses who give
the shots]. They know the streets and
roads,” said Deigl.

To extend outreach beyond those
homebound people who call the VNA
to arrange a vaccination, the program
is reaching out to faith-based organi-
zations and other home healthcare
agencies to provide vaccines to their
homebound as well, Deigl said.

“We have people making sugges-
tions, private citizens just coming
forward saying, ‘I know somebody’
or ‘I’ve got a patient’” who needs the
program’s help, Knipper said.

Ultimately the goal of the outreach
extends beyond covid vaccinations,
Knipper said. “We also want to work
with the health department to really
understand the homebound needs in
our county through this vaccine pro-
gram.”

All it takes to get on the homebound
vaccine master list is a phone call to a
dedicated line at the VNA – 772-978-
5524. Interested people can also send
an email to IRCovidvaccinesforhome-

[email protected]. 

12 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

COVID-19 cases here decline The percentage of people who test weeks, but that’s down significantly covid symptoms. Or perhaps vacci-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 positive has been creeping up slightly from December and January, when nated people are no longer required
the past couple of weeks and edged more than 1,000 people per day were to undergo routine testing for employ-
The Indian River County School just higher than 10 percent over Eas- being tested for the virus. ment, further driving the testing num-
District has not reported a positive ter weekend – possibly because fewer bers down.
case since March 18, in part because people are getting tested. Now roughly 1,000 people per day
students have been out of school for are getting their “jab” of vaccine. So Also, as the daily new case number
Spring Break. Testing numbers are somewhat presumably those vaccinated would falls, the natural ripple effect is fewer
sporadic, ranging from 212 people to be less likely to go get tested post-vac- people needing to quarantine for expo-
554 people per day over the past two cination, even if experiencing some
sure and getting tested just to be safe. 

Andres Duany kept on to help city finalize riverfront plan

BY LISA ZAHNER design is needed before anything else nancing large projects to be a problem new branding strategy will emerge soon.
can be done, “but we’re not running in the pandemic economy and asked Jeffries said developers from around
Staff Writer behind schedule, I still think we are on if the City of Vero Beach might want to
track,” Jeffries said regarding getting assist with financing somehow. Florida and out of state are aware of
The Vero Beach City Council has ap- a referendum on November’s ballot. the project and have been monitoring
proved another contract for consulting That would require having a substan- That concept was not favorably re- the city’s planning process.
services with architect and urban plan- tially final plan by August. ceived. The city does not want to be
ner Andres Duany, who has worked a landlord, or to assume the risk of Jeffries reiterated that it is still the
with Vero since 2019 on getting public The new work order pays Duany holding the note on a hotel and enter- city’s aim for the development to be
input and designing the Master Con- $27,000 for two specific tasks, labeled tainment complex. “revenue neutral,” meaning that what-
cept Plan for the city’s riverfront rede- Task 8 and Task 9, encompassing two ever funds the city spends on construct-
velopment project. different master plans – the Community Regarding the future role of the Three ing and maintaining recreational fa-
Plan and a plan recommended by DPZ Corners Steering Committee, Jeffries cilities or amenities would be offset by
“Andres will tweak the design and CoDesign – and a final report along with said he’s not sure how involved the vol- income from long-term leases paid by
give us a revised Master Concept Plan a Powerpoint presentation and media unteer group would be once the plan developers of the commercial aspects of
and we needed the new work order materials that the city can use to edu- is approved by the City Council, as the the project on city land – such as a hotel
because that wasn’t part of the original cate voters. committee’s task is to bring forth a com- and buildings that would house shops,
job,” said Vero Planning and Develop- munity-backed Master Concept Plan restaurants or residential tenants.
ment Director Jason Jeffries. “We’re If the Three Corners Steering Com- that the council can vote up or down.
calling this the Community Plan and mittee approves Duany’s updated If economically feasible, the steer-
we will show that plan to developers graphical plan and there is a consen- Deciding the final elements to be ing committee wants the Big Blue
because it reflects what the commu- sus to move forward, the plan would included, how much to spend on the power plant building on the north side
nity wants to see on the site.” go to the city council for a vote in May. project out of the $21 million in reserves of the bridge repurposed into a hotel
from the electric sale proceeds, and the or conference center, and one of the
Vero city officials expect to bring an “The council has said it will handle wording of the ballot question to be concrete water storage tanks at the
updated conceptual plan for the pro- the decisions about the budget and posed to voters is currently considered sewer plant on the south side of the
posed redevelopment of the riverfront the financing part after that,” Jeffries the elected officials’ responsibility. bridge retained and used in some way.
power plant and sewer plant sites to the said. The new DPZ CoDesign contract The committee wants the Youth Sail-
Vero Beach City Council in May. They slates “Economic feasibility analysis of But there could be a joint meeting of ing Association to have a major pres-
will solicit pitches from developers to scenarios” for May-June of this year. the council and the steering commit- ence in the development.
implement their vision at the same time. tee if Mayor Robbie Brackett and his
At the same time, city staff is putting colleagues decide they need the steer- The committee wants to see some
On April 26, prior to that May pre- together a request for proposals to go ing committee’s input when develop- sort of marine aspect to the project, pos-
sentation, the city’s Three Corners out to interested developers. Jeffries ers make their pitches to the city. sibly day-docks or overnight mooring
Steering Committee will review the in- said he expects to narrow down the facilities, or a water taxi service with var-
progress, revised designer’s renderings field to two or three developers who City Manager Monte Falls has asked ious stops along the riverfront, but there
of the layout and forward its recom- have the relevant experience, a com- repeatedly for the steering committee were concerns about building anything
mendations to the council. patible vision for the project and the or someone involved in the project “to that would compete with theVero Beach
resources to bring it to fruition. please come up with a name” for the Municipal Marina, which is in the early
The city canceled the February and development that is that is much bet- stages of a massive renovation.
March meetings of the Three Corners Several developers who already ter than “Three Corners,” so hopefully
Steering Committee because the new have met with city officials found fi- some possible names, along with a CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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14 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Riverfront plan detached from the commercial build- bring more revenue to the city in lease would help ensure the success of the
ings, or perhaps apartments or condos payments – one estimate cited rev- businesses located at the Three Corners.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 built above businesses, in accordance enues of $30,000 per unit in payments
with Vero’s citywide height restrictions. to the city over the course of a long-term Neighborhood residents would pro-
Still up in the air is whether the project lease – but having people in full-time vide the steady foot traffic of regular
will include some sort of multifamily res- The idea behind having residential or seasonal residence within a walking customers, beyond those who stay at
idential development, either standalone, dwelling as part of the project is twofold. distance to the shops and restaurants the hotel, or who visit for the day to en-
Not only would apartments or condos
joy the amenities. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 15

NEWS

Brightline tracks from north and south to meet at county line

BY GEORGE ANDREASSI Brightline spokeswoman Katie tive construction sites in Indian River the sound of the passing trains after
Staff Writer Mitzner said the northern stretch of County are at the South Canal and the Brightline cleared all the trackside veg-
track will be joined to the southern St. Sebastian River, where contractors etation that had previously absorbed
The heavy thump of pile drivers re- stretch at the Brevard/Indian River are building new concrete railroad some of the train and horn noise.
verberates from south Vero Beach to County line, or the St. Lucie/Indian bridges in the FECR right-of-way.
Sebastian as Brightline constructs new River County line. “It drives you nuts,” said Tom Wojto-
railroad bridges for the extension of its A 250-ton crane started banging wicz, a retired railroad mechanic who
passenger train service from South Which county line, however, re- large concrete pilings into the ground has lived in his well-kept trackside
Florida to Orlando. mains undetermined. earlier this year at South Canal as part trailer at Woodlawn for more than eight
of the construction of a new concrete years. “It literally shakes the ground.
The $2.6 billion project appears Brightline anticipates running railroad bridge alongside the existing
bound for completion in late 2022 in 32 trains per day at up to 110 mph 125-foot-long steel bridge. “It loosens up everything,” Wojto-
Indian River County, the final bastion through Indian River County en route wicz said last Thursday. “I’m having
of resistance where county commis- between Orlando and South Florida Odorous smoke emanates from the problems with my lights in my house
sioners spent $4 million on futile legal starting in early 2023. rig during the rhythmic thumping of now. See how it’s flickering.”
challenges aimed at stopping the train the pile-driving at the drainage canal
project. That effort ended in October FECR’s 10 to 20 daily freight trains just west of U.S. 1 between the 1st and Buffy Royal, who lives in the track-
when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected currently rumble through the county 4th Street railroad crossings. side trailer closest to the construction
a last-gasp appeal. at approximately 40 mph in urban ar- site, said the pile-driving makes her life
eas and 60 mph in rural areas. Pile-driving work is slated to contin- more difficult when she has to work a
Brightline contractors have been ue 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through night shift because the noise prevents
working full blast on high-speed rail- Brightline’s plans call for the con- Saturday, through the fall on the $1 her from sleeping during the day.
road tracks in neighboring Brevard struction of a new set of tracks and the million bridge project, Brightline’s
and St. Lucie counties for several upgrading of the existing Florida East weekly construction advisory says. “I can’t sleep in the daytime,” Royal
months, but construction activity in Coast Railway tracks from West Palm said. “My trailer is shaking, and I can
Indian River County has been spotty. Beach to Cocoa to handle the high- Several homeowners in the nearby hear that pounding as clear as day and
speed passenger trains. Woodlawn Mobile Home Park com- I’ve got to go to work at night.”
Whether coincidentally or intention- plained the constant banging from
ally, the construction schedule sets the Brightline is also building new high- the pile-driving operation shakes their The trees and bushes Brightline
stage for the linking of the new train speed tracks alongside State Road 528 homes and causes lights and televi- cleared along the tracks last year should
tracks from the north and the south with from Orlando International Airport to sions to flicker. be replaced with a sound barrier to re-
a “Golden Spike” in Indian River County. Cocoa. duce the noise impacts to Woodlawn’s
They are hoping construction will residents, Royal and Wojtowicz said.
With all that work going on to the include a noise barrier wall to block
north and south, Brightline’s only ac- CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

16 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Brightline bridge next to the steel bridge across the
Main Canal in August and complete the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 span in May 2022, Mitzner said.

“They need to put a sound barrier In addition, Brightline expects to
up because when these trains come by start construction on a $1 million con-
and they blow that horn, it’s way over crete railroad bridge across the North
65 decibels,” Wojtowicz said. “It will Canal in January 2022 and complete
deafen you. It’ll hurt your ears.” the span in July 2022, he added.

Meanwhile, on the northern end of Brightline has already made im-
Indian River County, Brightline con- provements to the Roseland Road rail-
tractors wielded a 290-ton hydraulic road crossing that overlooks the bridge.
crane, driving piles for installation of
a work platform along the west side The company is currently chopping
of the 95-year-old St. Sebastian River down and mulching vegetation along
Railroad Bridge. the existing tracks in Indian River Coun-
ty to make way for a second set of tracks.
Nearby homeowners also com- It’s also clearing drainage facilities and
plained about noise and vibrations making minor improvements at cross-
when pile-driving started in July. ings from Vero Beach to Sebastian.
Brightline’s weekly construction advi-
sory says pile-driving and demolition In addition, Brightline recently up-
work will continue through 2022. graded one of the most obscure rail-
road crossings in Indian River County,
Brightline anticipates spending $33 installing new warning signals, safety
million to build a new 1,625-foot-long, devices and utility boxes on a one-
2-track concrete railroad bridge. When lane segment of Old Dixie Highway
that is complete, the company will de- between Sebastian Boulevard/County
molish the historic steel bridge. Road 512 and U.S. 1.

Brightline also plans to start construc- However, the railroad tracks and
tion on a $1 million concrete railroad crossings in downtown Vero Beach re-

main virtually untouched. 

cFleowseretaolsihzeotrhe ajutshtaorfdf bHouttmomistroenefPs alarky

BY SUE COCKING structures. The worms don't live long
but they have prodigious reproductive
Staff Writer abilities that speed up the growth of
reefs that are home to more than 1,000
Most Floridians think of the Keys species of fish, invertebrates, sea tur-
when they hear the word reef, visualiz- tles and other marine creatures.
ing colorful coral forests teeming with
bright fish. But Vero Beach has reefs, Nearshore hardbottom reefs, says
too, right offshore and likewise loaded Holloway-Adkins, are migrating and
with marine life. nesting corridors for five species of
sea turtles, including the three we find
A new book discussed in a recent digging nests on our beaches from
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Insti- April through October – loggerhead,
tute lecture highlights this fascinating green and leatherback.
feature of the Vero environment that
many residents don’t have a clue about. Holloway-Adkins calls the chain of
reefs "a sea turtle superhighway."
"Islands in the Sand" was co-au-
thored by four Florida scientists: Ken Sponges, crabs, lobsters and fish rang-
Lindeman of Florida Institute of Tech- ing from small snappers to big sharks
nology, Dr. Dan McCarthy of Jackson- also are inhabitants and visitors to the
ville University, Dr. Karen Holloway- hardbottom reefs just off our beaches.
Adkins of East Coast Biologists and
David Snyder of CSA International. The reefs are “like an underwater
forest," McCarthy said during a recent
In the book, the authors tell the sto- Harbor Branch lecture. “They are an
ry and describe the complex ecology important ecosystem in Florida that
of Florida’s hardbottom reefs that lay needs more study."
close to shore in less than 12 feet of wa-
ter along the Atlantic Coast between For this reason, care needs to be
Miami and St. Augustine, including taken, McCarthy said, to avoid bury-
reefs just offshore from Riomar Coun- ing these reefs in sand during beach
try Club and Humiston Park. renourishment projects.

The reefs are made up mostly of While some organisms can easily es-
"worm rock" – brittle structures con- cape the onslaught of new sand that is
structed by thousands of the lapidosa trucked from the mainland or pumped
marine worm species that glue sand from offshore sources, sponges, oys-
together on top of ancient limestone ters and clams can't get out of the way

and impacts can be lethal. 

Natalie Jackson.

‘MAD HATTERS’ RAISE
TEAPOT OF MONEY

FOR GIFFORD SCHOLARSHIPS

18 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Mad Hatters’ raise teapot of money for Gifford scholarships

Gail Alexander and Iliana Malaret. PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN Mary McReynolds and Charlotte Terry.

Nadia, Dawson and Natalia Glover. Kytiana Williams. Linda Holmes and Jan Alfano.

BY MARY SCHENKEL Woolfork, GYAC director of public re- A Chance.’ And that’s what we’re do- goal of becoming an obstetrician. “I
lations and facilities operation. ing right now,” said Woolfork, noting plan to come back to my community,
Staff Writer that the graduation rate among Black GYAC specifically, and pour positiv-
“I learned a long time ago that seniors today is 81 percent. ity, love and motivation back into the
The Vero Beach Woman’s Club re- when you work with women, things place that poured so much into me.”
cently hosted an inaugural Mad Hat- get done,” said Woolfork, before giv- Xaria Reason, a senior at Sebastian
ters Tea Party, complete with an Eas- ing a brief history of GYAC, which River High School, and Kytiana Wil- Williams, who has been enrolled in
ter Bonnet contest, to raise money opened in 1998 as the Gifford Youth liams, a senior at VBHS, shared their GYAC just shy of six years, said she is
for scholarships to be awarded to de- Activities Center. At the time, he said, experiences at GYAC. headed to Bethune-Cookman Univer-
serving high school seniors at Gifford they took a “broccoli and candy” ap- sity and hopes to become a veterinar-
Youth Achievement Center. proach, blending education with fun. Having been enrolled in GYAC ian. Williams said she was grateful
In 2016 the name was changed to the since kindergarten, Reason said she for the many opportunities offered by
Tables set up inside and on the Gifford Youth Achievement Center, considers it her second home. GYAC GYAC, including going on college trips
porch of the historic VBWC building, which better reflected its objective. sparked her interest in musical the- and attending science camps.
built in 1916 and expanded in 1926, ater by introducing her to Riverside
were set with vintage teacups and Woolfork related that in 1964, when Theatre, where she first performed “They have helped me with sub-
tablecloths, and the assorted teas, schools elsewhere became integrat- in “The Wiz” in 2011. She has since jects in school, becoming a woman in
delicious tea-sandwiches and sweets ed, he had been a student at the Gif- performed in more than 20 River- life and what to expect once we go off
were provided by Quail Valley Golf ford High School, and that integra- side productions, including “My Fair to college. I just want to thank GYAC
Club. tion didn’t take place here until 1969, Lady” in 2019. That same year she for getting me this far,” said Wil-
his senior year. traveled to the Junior Theater Festi- liams. Despite having changed her
“We’re working hard to get some val in Atlanta and won the Excellence major numerous times, she said the
programs together for the coming “They bused me over to Vero Beach in Choreography Award. consistent response from GYAC staff
year,” said Charlotte Terry, VBWC High School, all 792 of us – that num- has been that she can do anything
president, before introducing the ber is rooted in my mind – from “At GYAC they invested in my she puts her mind to.
new slate of officers and thanking seventh grade to 12th grade,” said dreams and gave me the opportunity
past president Susan Heath and trea- Woolfork. The impetus for the estab- and freedom to find myself, love my- The VBWC was founded in 1915
surer Ann Beyerle for their decades of lishment of GYAC came in 1996, when self, and explore what makes me hap- by Irene Young, wife of Anthony W.
service to the club. the graduation rate among Black se- py. That is the greatest gift I could ask Young, who became Vero’s first mayor
niors had plummeted from 92 per- for because far too often children like in 1919 when the city was incorporat-
“The end goal for this tea party is cent at GHS to 23 percent at VBHS. me are denied the chance to live their ed. The building was added to the U.S.
to raise enough money for scholar- dreams, simply because the resourc- National Register of Historic Places
ships for young women from the Gif- “Gifford Youth Achievement Center, es are unavailable,” said Reason, who in February 1995 and is available for
ford Youth Achievement Center,” said with the acronym GYAC, says it all, be- plans to attend Florida A&M with a event rentals. 
Terry, before introducing Freddie cause it also stands for ‘Giving Youth

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 19

PEOPLE

Gail Shinners, Claire Birdsall and Lynne Bortree. Back: Gertrude Terry and Bridie Cobbs. Kytiana Williams, Freddie Woolfork, Xaria Reason and Annette Reason.
Front: Josie Kohring with Kiera and Emory Cobbs.

Priscilla Warren, Brianna Ernst and Diane Ernst.

Sandy Fowler.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

At Fish Fry, ‘amazing’ support for Volunteer Fire Dept.

Rose and Mike Rivard, with Billy and Valerie Daly, and Kathleen and Craig Reynolds. Ryan Howard, Rachael Pollack, Avery Richard and Johnnie Richard. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

BY MARY SCHENKEL fingers and sides were taken to enjoy at Walmart as a mechanic and then he Donations help provide scholarships
Staff Writer home. has a side catering business called Fuel toward fire academies and EMT and
the Fire.” paramedic training.
Despite the pandemic, or possibly “We have some new sides this year.
even because of it, support for our lo- We have homemade macaroni and A fixture in the community since “EMT school is $3,000 to $4,000,
cal firefighters, who are duel-certified cheese, and I made coleslaw using 1923, the volunteer squad provides paramedic school is $10,000 to $12,000,
as paramedics, has never wavered. Ac- a family recipe in a licensed church backup and support to Indian River and they need to have both. And then
cording to Joe Hill, board secretary of kitchen,” said Hill. “And then we have County Fire Rescue and to the com- fire school is $3,000 to $4,000, so you
the Vero Beach Volunteer Fire Depart- special firehouse baked beans made munity at large. Funds raised are fun- add this up and it’s a lot of money,” said
ment, speaking at their 54th annual by one of our volunteer firemen, Da- neled into a variety of areas, including Hill. “The scholarships will be $1,000 to
Fish Fry fundraiser at Fire Rescue Sta- vid Vazquez. He works full-time at lifesaving equipment, public service $2,000, and if they stay multiple years,
tion #2, they have dispersed upwards projects and scholarships for firefight- they can get multiple years of scholar-
of $50,000 in donations over the past ing, EMT and paramedic classes. Hill ships.”
five years. said they plan to provide more CPR
training and other classes to residents, In addition to the Indian River State
“I actually got a stack of envelopes post-COVID. College Fire Academy, he said some
that was 3 inches tall. I go through those students are going to a new Fire Train-
envelopes and I get goosebumps,” said “We have more young people com- ing Academy at Eastern Florida State
Hill, who joined as a volunteer about ing in who are looking to volunteer, but College in Brevard County, and the
five years ago and is trained as an EMT. they’re also interested in maybe mov- Treasure Coast Medical Institute in
ing into a full-time career. They’re usu- Fort Pierce now offers EMT and para-
“It’s a great event. Vero Beach is ally with us two to four years through medic training.
just amazing the way they support us. that schooling, and they’re getting to
Without the donations we would not know the county, work with residents “We’ve also done two in-house para-
be here,” said Hill. and actually volunteer on fire trucks medic courses within the organiza-
and ambulances,” said Hill. He noted tion. I worked with two different col-
While last year’s Fish Fry took a grab- that in this line of work, hands-on ex- leges and we brought instructors in
and-go approach, this year had limited perience can be even more important and we met in a fire station,” said Hill.
tables set up in the station’s bay, al- than book learning. “And then there are “We’ve graduated 30 students through
though the majority of the nearly 300 other people like me, that just want to that, and the cost for that was $5,000
dinners of panko-crusted cod, chicken work in the community and volunteer.” to $6000 per person versus $10,000 to
$12,000.”

Volunteers can work in any of the
stations in the county and, unlike per-
manent hires who are assigned posi-
tions by a captain, are allowed to pick
their shift, said Hill, who primarily vol-
unteers at Station 2.

“It’s kind of become almost like
a second full-time job for me. I’m a
software developer but I’m building
computer systems that we’re using
that are going to carry this depart-
ment into the future,” said Hill. “It’s
amazing stuff. And it’s just absolutely
astounding how this community sup-
ports us. So, thank you Vero Beach.”

For more information, visit vbfire.
org. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 21

PEOPLE

Edwin Jardines, Ryan Ramsey and Nick Cross.

Wayne and Carol Thomas.

Rick Cancelosi and Judith Kennerk. Sheryl Hathaway and Joe Hill.

Andrea and Branton Shearer.

David Vazquez, Mike Munk and James Darry.

22 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Quail’s fundraising flourishes with ‘Art Show and Sale’

BY MARY SCHENKEL Bonnie Beauchamp Jones and Robert Mead Jones. “And then a percentage of the pro- Many of the artists said that the pan-
Staff Writer ceeds of the sales, which is 25 percent, demic had given them some extra time
ing a lovely, embroidered quilt and goes to Quail Valley Charities,” said to work on their artwork, and with the
Quail Valley Charities added a new a Nantucket-style wine basket. Pho- Redner. “And Rick Kelly is doing a live world going ‘virtual’ some also took
event to its fundraising arsenal with an tographer Betsy Crothers was doing a demonstration on the porch. Then that online art classes to keep busy.
inaugural Quail Valley Art Show and brisk business with her stunning im- painting is going to be up for silent auc-
Sale, held recently in the Waterfront agery that she inserts into functional tion and all the money he raises for the “This has been a great success,” said
Dining Room of the Quail Valley River Lucite trays and makes into notecards, painting will go to Quail Valley Chari- Martha Redner, Quail Valley Charities
Club. as well as designer notepaper in Lucite ties.” executive director. “The membership
boxes. has been really happy, and the artists
“We have 13 artists participating in Despite the pandemic limiting some have been happy.”
the art sale and 21 artists participating of their fundraising efforts this year,
in the art show,” said Kristen Redner, Quail Valley Charities was still able to As the event was happening, Kathy
marketing and social media coordina- raise and recently distribute contri- Mulvey, CEO/owner of Quail Valley
tor. butions totaling $705,000 to the rep- Golf Club, was meeting over lunch to
resentatives of 37 charities that focus strategize fundraisers going forward
“We wanted to do the art show for on children and education, including with Wanda Lincoln, Quail Valley
those artists that didn’t feel comfort- the Quail Valley Employee Education Charities Week event chair, and Trudie
able selling, but they could put a piece Fund. Rainone, who oversees the auction do-
into the show. And then with the art nations.
sale, they have their own 8-foot area, By the end of the day, the Art Sale
and they can sell whatever they creat- artists – Elizabeth Carothers, Cynthia “We’re honored to showcase the
ed,” she added. Pointing to the layout, Colella, Wendy Douglas, Dottie Ferone, many artistic talents of our own mem-
she indicated show items in the center Patricia Forelle, Elise Geary, Dede Gil- bers,” said Mulvey.
of the room, and sale displays circling bert, Rick Kelly, Gail Long, Madeline
the dining room. Long, Suzy Mellott, Emily Tremml “It’s impressive to see how support-
and Andrea Williams – had sold nearly ive they are of each other,” said Lincoln
The variety of works in the sale ran $26,000 worth, which meant a con- in agreement.
the full artistic gamut of paintings and tribution to Quail Valley Charities of
photography, and the show featured about $6,500. “We hope to expand this next year
one-offs of artwork and crafts, includ- because it seems like it’s so successful.
We’re actually discussing it right now,”
added Rainone. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 23

PEOPLE

Dede Gilbert, Denise Battaglini and Suzy Mellott. Dottie Ferone and Janet Ward. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES John and Patricia Forelle.

Betsy Carothers and Elke Fetterolf. Betsy Wheeler, Linda Wiltfang and Elise Geary. Madeline Long and Wendy Douglas.





26 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Something to build on! Moorings hands ‘Habitat’ $660K

BY MARY SCHENKEL “This has been a fun experience this nership will be able to build six new Numerous adjustments were made,
Staff Writer year and it’s been an interesting one, homes, repair 10 houses and award 15 from the way information was dis-
because we’ve all worked very hard to- scholarships to Habitat homeowners seminated to the actual events and
Members of the Moorings Classic gether as a team and yet this is the first and children. auctions. Over the summer, some
Habitat Weekend committee and rep- time that we’re actually all meeting to- new online systems were created that
resentatives of the Moorings Yacht and gether,” said Chris Johns, chairman of Despite modifications to accom- helped streamline the operation, as
Country Club gathered last Monday the Moorings Classic Habitat Weekend modate pandemic precautions, Johns did changing much of the media and
evening for a celebratory cocktail re- fundraiser, before recognizing every- said this year’s fundraiser, held over communications to an online format.
ception, where they presented a check one involved in the event. Valentine’s weekend, raised $490,000.
for $660,000 to Sheryl Vittitoe, CEO of “That’s a tremendous thing. Better yet, Johns credited the leadership volun-
Indian River Habitat for Humanity. Johns said that through their collec- our expenses were half of what they teers heading the various committees,
tive efforts, the Moorings Habitat part- were,” said Johns. saying they would take the areas they
were in charge of and “just run with
it,” often making creative changes that
may continue.

Outdoor activities – such as croquet,
golf, tennis, pickleball and a run/walk/
bike event – went on with limited ca-
pacity. Others, such as bridge, went
virtual.

“It was just phenomenal. We had a
lot of participants and it went off with-
out a flaw,” said Johns, adding that the
raffle and auctions also went virtual
and did exceptionally well.

“So all of you, thank you so much. It
was an honor to serve with you guys
this year; it was just a wonderful expe-
rience,” said Johns.

He gave special thanks to the leader-
ship and staff of the Moorings saying,
“At the end of the day, we can say we
coordinated all this stuff, but they’re
the ones who have been doing it for a
long time and make it easy. They make
sure that everything is taken care of,
and so that really makes it wonderful.”

Maggie Selby, president of the Moor-
ings board of governors, also thanked
everyone for an “amazingly successful
year.”

She said that more than $10 million
has been donated to Habitat since 1999
when the Moorings Habitat partner-
ship began.

“Part of that contribution comes
from participating in the Community
Contribution Tax Credit Program,”
said Selby. “CCTCP is a Florida State
affordable housing program that en-
ables the club to divert sales tax dollars
from the state to Habitat. Under this
program, the club provides volunteer
hours through members working at
build sites or at the Habitat ReStore.”

Selby said that this year, the Moor-
ings Yacht and County Club is con-
tributing $170,000 in sales tax, which
goes directly toward next season’s
home building, adding that since 2004,
the club has contributed $2 million
through that program.

After thanking everyone for their
contributions, Vittitoe introduced
Brandy Bryant, a single mother of four
boys who will soon close on her own
Habitat home.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 27

PEOPLE

Pam Delaney, John Larsen and Nancy Fette Larsen. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN

Heidi and David Sommers. Sheryl Vittitoe and Carrie Adams.

Craig Lopes and Maggie Selby. Anne Curti and Julie Goodrich.

Vittitoe said that throughout the ing at the bit to continue working
pandemic, Habitat “just pushed on their homes and one another’s
through” and that because “we homes.”
have families to serve,” they never
stopped building, repairing homes Vittitoe said that a recent Habi-
or awarding scholarships. tat Florida study indicated that for
every dollar invested in affordable
In the early days of the pandemic, housing, $1.40 is reinvested in the
she recalled hearing a newscaster local economy. She also noted that
say that people “may need to shelter among the six Habitat homes the
at home.” Moorings is supporting this year are
14 children, who will grow up in a
“Those words still ring in my ears. safe, stable environment.
Because when you’re told that on the
national news and you’re in a Habi- “Again, thank you all for your part-
tat program and you don’t have a nership over the years and for your
home to shelter in, boy that just puts continued partnership,” said Vitti-
the spotlight on it. It became an im- toe. She added that despite the chal-
mediate need for families like Bran- lenges of this year’s event, “you not
dy. These homebuyers were chomp- only showed up, you showed off.” 

28 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 Jan McLachlan and Trish Walker.
Adrian Selby, Peter McLachlan and John Larsen.

Karen Sones and Eve Kyomya. Ann and Jim Hill.

Gary Parker and Marcia DuRie. Sheryl Vittitoe and Chris Johns.

Bruce and Marcia Humphrey. Kay Keyser and Cheryl Johns.



30 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Sea Oaks on right path with pleasing ‘Arts & Crafts Stroll’

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Nikki Pfeiffer and Peter McCurrach. PHOTOS: BRENDA AHEARN have ever wanted to be in the show.
Staff Writer We’ve been cooped up, and it’s out-
of which was created during the pan- shoppers as they milled about and side. People are more excited about it
The burgeoning Sea Oaks Arts & demic. Unable to socialize with their caught up with their neighbors, feel- than ever,” said Timmermann.
Crafts Stroll, an exhibition and sale, neighbors at the clubhouse, folks had ing a little safer in the outdoor setting.
celebrated its 11th year recently, opting made use of the isolation to enhance Marilyn Fezza, the “Bay Ridge Bak-
this year for the first time to take the their creativity. “We haven’t done anything in the er,” said she had turned her creative
show outdoors, said event chair Debo- community, really, because of COVID. energy toward her passion for bak-
rah Timmermann. And what a glorious The Sea Oaks Trio entertained the We have 31 artists. This is more than ing, and was turning over the pro-
day it was. ceeds from the sale of her delectable
baked goods – an impressive batch of
Sea Oaks Beach & Tennis Club resi- scones, brownies, salted toffee bars
dents and guests meandered along and tarts – to the Sea Oaks Employees
Bent Oak Lane, an oak canopied cul- Holiday Fund.
de-sac, stopping in the driveways of
select homes to view and purchase a “I love to bake. It’s good for me.
spectacular array of paintings, pho- It’s good for my friends. I baked
tographs, sculptures, jewelry, flowers, a lot during COVID and gave it
pottery and gift items. away to my neighbors,” said Fezza,
watching as the delicious goodies
“We have a lot of artists here. For were gobbled up. “There’s so much
some reason, it [Sea Oaks] draws art- suffering and so much need. The
ists,” said Timmermann. She added Beach Club employees got hit hard.
that the community has an arts and They feed us so it feels like a natural
crafts group where residents can inter- thing.”
act with other creatives.
Additionally, attendees of the
Attendees biked, walked and even show were asked to support the Sea
brought along their canine pals to pe- Oaks Employees Holiday Fund, for
ruse an impressive variety of works cul- staff members who worked through
tivated by artists and artisans, much the pandemic. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 31

PEOPLE

Tony and Bernadette Corey with Gail Shaughnessy and Susan Frost. PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
Members of the Sea Oaks Trio: Joe Goodman, Dan Hardcastle and Doug Jones.

Frank Cassata and May Lum.
Martha Lawrence and Kristine Davis.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 Cynthia and William Suddath. Bruce Busby and David Nicholson.
Bervery Sanchez, Debbie Timmermann and Joe Moran.

Emily Calica and Kevin Calica. Tina Tubaugh and Linda Vincent. Marilyn and Andrew Fezza.







36 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Lake Baikal, cutting Siberia’s Taiga forest north of people say the cremated remains of shamans were
the Mongolian border, is a mile deep in some places placed inside the trees.
and believed to be 25 million years old. It contains
20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater and is Then, four years ago, a Russian family moved to
home to the Baikal seal, or nerpa, the only freshwa- the village and bought a plot of land within the “sha-
ter seal species. man forest,” now considered part of the national
park. The garish pink house they built has come to
The lake has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site represent the growing divides around Lake Baikal –
since 1996 and, for many Russians, its unspoiled about 2,700 miles east of Moscow – as it becomes an
grandeur is part of the nation’s identity. increasingly popular tourist destination among East
Asians and recently, with the pandemic restricting
Along the shore of the lake, there is a place some international travel, for Russians.
locals regard as sacred. It is here, on Lake Baikal’s
Olkhon Island settlement, that many of the towns- The pink house embodies the rapid development

Top: A pink house built in a con-
troversial place, a shaman grove
on Olkhon Island in Russia. Bot-
tom: Yulia Fadeeva, Baikal guide
and environmental activist,
stands against the background
of ice painted with colored smoke.
A group of activists made sure
such toxic smoke was no longer
used in grottoes and did not
stain natural objects.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 37

INSIGHT COVER STORY

encroaching on a precious ecosystem, home to potential exceptions, activists say. For example, log- that measure could invite more extensive timber
more than 2,500 species and subspecies of animals, ging is only allowed for “sanitary” clear-cutting of harvesting under rules that are difficult to regulate.
half of which exist only there. trees affected by pests. Mikhail Kreyndlin, a Green- Clear-cutting risks exacerbating the forest fires that
peace lawyer and expert on protected areas, said have devastated Siberia in recent years.
For some, the land should never have been sold
to start with. For others, the outrage over the pink During a five-hour drive from the city of Irkutsk to
house is seen as backward thinking: pointing to en- the Olkhon Island territory, trucks heading in the op-
vironmental restrictions that many locals say hold posite direction carrying logs were a frequent sight.
back tourism potential in a region that has grown
dependent on the industry. Environmentalists have raised alarms that the
legislation regulating the lake’s minimum and maxi-
“It’s become like a symbol,” said tour guide Yulia mum water levels, controlled by a dam, could simi-
Fedeeva. “Everyone here knows about the pink larly be laxed. This has been a recurring point of con-
house.” tention between business executives and activists.
Entire industries in the area depend on manipulating
The Russian government has already moved to the levels, especially companies profiting off hydro-
develop other environmentally sensitive areas in Si- electricity.
beria and the Arctic to tap energy resources and po-
tential shipping corridors as climate change opens But raising the water level is a danger to Baikal’s
new routes. Baikal, however, is a particularly deli- unique fish species, some of which live or have their
cate battle for the Kremlin. nurseries in the warmer shallow depths.

Moscow this year significantly weakened the “You basically kill whatever is being grown in these
legislation that protects Baikal and was part of the nurseries with the influx of cold water,” said Simonov
UNESCO conditions. Among the activities now al- of Rivers without Boundaries.
lowed include restricted logging, permission for the
construction of large food-processing facilities and The population of omul, a Baikal white fish, was
waste incineration. one of the species that suffered from the water-level
manipulation. Omul stocks declined so severely that
Most worrying for activists and scientists is that all commercial fishing was banned in 2017.
there will be more “pink houses” – land-grabbing
that will lead to the construction of residential and Though Baikal is not currently listed as a site “in
tourism facilities in previously untouched areas. danger,” UNESCO plans to review the lake’s “state of
conservation” in July. The director of the UNESCO
“It destroys the most vulnerable coastal land- World Heritage Centre, Mechtild Rössler, said in a
scape,” Eugene Simonov, a coordinator of the Rivers statement that the U.N. agency has not been receiv-
without Boundaries international coalition. ing the necessary environmental assessments from
the Russian government.
Meanwhile, Russia has declared 2021 the “Year of
Baikal,” inviting even more people to visit. “We are indeed very concerned about reports on
the weakening of this protection status and have
During the winter freeze, the ice that forms on contacted the authorities of the Russian Federation
Lake Baikal is famously clear, with cracks weaving in this regard, but so far have not received any fur-
through the deep blue depths like white veins. Dur- ther information,” Rössler said.
ing Russia’s winter months, cars can safely drive on
the ice for hours. The temperature dropped to as The Irkutsk region’s governor, Igor Kobzev, told
low as -38C on Feb. 1, according to weather experts. The Washington Post he “will not sign a single docu-
ment if there are objections from ecological organi-
For those who live near the lake, it has an aura of zations.”
mysticism tied to the area’s strong belief in Shaman-
ism, a spiritual practice linking energy forces and “We will be looking for compromises and will
nature. Many make wishes while standing beside it. openly discuss all the issues,” Kobzev said.
Some refer to it as if it is a person, or even a close
friend. But its waters are no longer clean enough to But local scientists said their objections have so
drink after years of sewage waste discharge. far been ignored.

The new list of permitted activities is loaded with “For several months, we were fighting to at least
have some explanation at every meeting and every
roundtable,” said Marina Rikhanova, an Irkutsk-
based environmentalist and winner of the Goldman
Environmental Prize – considered the “Green Nobel.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

From the top:
1. The roof of an ice cave.
2. An Illegal bathhouse
on Olkhon Island.
3. A typical Baikal transport,
or "bukhanka," for tourists
on Olkhon Island.
4. Tourists admire the ice caves.
5. Ice grottoes on the Kharantsy
island.

38 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 INSIGHT COVER STORY Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 smoke flares near the openings of ice
caves to create a unique Instagram
“We can only conclude,” she added, photo. (She refuses, believing it to be
“that all of these [environmental rule] harmful to the caves.)
changes are needed for some private
or financial interests." Anyone entering those caves or en-
closed grottoes also must be mindful
Gala Sibiryakova grew up in List- of where they step – they are popular
vyanka, a small town near the point for bathroom breaks.
where the Angara River meets Baikal.
Deer used to come to her doorstep. “My grandmother used to tell me that
Now the waterfront is a row of hotels if you’re angry or in a bad mood, you
and restaurants to accommodate the
rising number of tourists.

The changes disgusted Sibiryakova.
Fifteen years ago, she moved to a dif-
ferent spot along the lake – the remote
Khuzhir village on Olkhon Island,
which has a population of roughly
1,500. Electricity was a novelty there at
the time.

“Then tourism came here, too,” Si-
biryakova said. “Now my friends laugh
at me and ask where will I go next.”

Gala Sibiryakova with her husband, Fedor, and daughter, Radana. shouldn’t even look at Baikal because
you don’t want your bad thoughts to
Olkhon Island has become the go- taint it,” Sibiryakova said. “Now peo-
to spot for visitors to Baikal. In the ple pee on it.”
summer, it is accessible by ferry. In
the winter, scores of wagons, called She worked for the local National
bukhankas, carry up to eight passen- Park Service for the past three years.
gers across a makeshift ice road on the Among the most frustrating parts
lake. Some vehicles tow inflatable ba- of the job was the ineffectiveness of
nana boats across the ice. the existing rules, she said. The fine
for placing a portable sauna near the
Cigarette butts or candy wrappers shore, a clear hazard to the lake, is
litter the ice. Holes are made for a 3,000 rubles, or about $40, but those
“French kiss” – sucking a shot of alco- saunas will happily accept those fines
hol from the divot and then chasing it when they charge 2,000 rubles ($27)
with berries. for one hour.

Some tourists wrap colorful ribbons
around the trees, copying a shaman-
istic prayer practice. Activists later cut
them off because the ribbons weigh
down the trees and cause branches to
break.

Fedeeva, the local tour guide, said
clients often want to light colorful

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 39

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Tourists also build bonfires along sea” in English. Few tourists visit the community meetings where de- The infamous pink house remains
the lake, Sibiryakova said, a threat to there now, but a road was recently bates on that question would devolve part of the struggles over Lake Baikal’s
the many animals and plants. She re- constructed leading along the coast- into shouting. future.
signed from her role with the National line, alarming local activists that it
Park Service early this month because signals the next spot picked for de- She disagrees with Ryabtsev on In 2019, the pink house owner died
she disagreed with some of her col- velopment. most fronts, insisting that her liveli- of a heart attack. His wife told local
leagues who she said are consider- hood comes first. However, she agreed news outlets that the couple received
ing approval for “glamping” – luxury “We’re always told there needs to that Khuzhir’s development has now constant harassment for building the
camping – on Sarayskiy Plyazh, the be some kind of balance between gone too far. home. She continues to live there as
beach beside the shaman forest. protecting the lake and develop- questions about the structure’s future
ment,” said Vitaly Ryabtsev, a local “When you have 10 rubles today – and if it might have to be demol-
“People need to learn that some environmental activist. “But where’s and then 20 rubles tomorrow and ished – are currently being decided in
places are off-limits,” she said. “Some the balance? We have a huge imbal- then 500 rubles and then suddenly court.
areas have to be protected. But people ance when development commands 100,000 rubles, a person loses their
don’t want to be told that they can’t do everything and defeats any conflicts sense of boundary,” Bencharova said. “If she wins, the other plots here will
something.” of interests.” “And obviously, this became very bad, be developed, too,” said Fedeeva, the
the endless construction. Six months local tour guide. “We’re all waiting to
Bencharova used to regularly attend pass, and there’s another hotel.” see what happens next.” 

Natalya Bencharova grew up in
Moscow. In 1995, she visited Baikal
and fell in love at first sight. She even-
tually left behind a well-paying job
and moved to Khuzhir, where she and
her husband, Nikita, have run the vil-
lage’s oldest guesthouse for more than
20 years.

Those early days were difficult as
money was tight. But then the tourists
started to come, and the residents of
Khuzhir realized renting a few spare
rooms could be a profitable business.

“It became clear the village needed
new sources of income, and tourism
became the answer,” Bencharova said.
“When we got electricity, a huge tour-
ist boom followed.”

Khuzhir now has cell towers,
schools and art programs even more
sophisticated than those in Irkutsk,
the nearby city with a population
of about 600,000. Yet Khuzhir is still
locked in conflict between the locals
who say the area is suffering from
“over-tourism” and those who de-
pend on the steady flow of tourists to
put food on the table.

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as
over-tourism,” said Semyon Mayor,
who owns a local tour company. “I
have a dream that one day we’ll have
a cable car on Olkhon Island.”

Though quaint guesthouses re-
main in Khuzhir, several multilevel
hotels have popped up – some owned
by Chinese investors. One hotel was
built directly on the shore and is now
an empty eyesore, deemed illegal for
violating environmental regulations.
Another one nearby, the upscale Port
Olkhon, was also ordered to be de-
molished by regional authorities, but
it continues to rent rooms to those
who know the right number to call.

On the opposite shore of Khuzhir is
an area called Maloe More, or “small

40 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT WORLD NEWS AND OPINION

In recognition of the danger posed by foreign cy- ligence agencies operating inside the United States. Recognizing DHS’s legal authority and respon-
berattacks against the U.S. military, economy, infra- The latter path is almost certainly not politically sibility for cyberdefense internally, I proposed that
structure and political system, the U.S. Cyber Com- we agree to appoint a “dual hat” senior DHS officer
mand was created on May 21, 2010. feasible. And any kind of formal partnering with the who would also serve as a deputy NSA director with
private sector is likely to encounter resistance from the authority to task the NSA in real time to defend
As secretary of defense at that time, I concluded most such companies and, in any case, would be chal- against cyberattacks of domestic origin.
the mission to defend "the nation from significant lenging to operationalize in such a way as to provide
cyberattacks” required a new, overarching military the necessary rapid responses. (That said, improved That deputy director would have her or his own
command, consolidating previously disparate units informal cooperation between the government and legal staff and general counsel, and we would create
into one integrated command structure. private cybersecurity companies could enhance pro- firewalls and regulations to ensure that DHS tasking
tection of the U.S. private sector.) would be kept separate from and follow different rules
For Cyber Command to be able to respond in- than the foreign intelligence operations of the NSA.
stantly to attacks, the commander also had to be in The NSA is the only U.S. government organization
charge of the National Security Agency, the only U.S. with the vast capabilities to conduct both cyberde- Napolitano and I took this proposal to President
institution with the capability to defend the country fense and cyberoffense at home and abroad. Barack Obama, who, after proper vetting by the
against such attacks and retaliate. Justice Department and White House lawyers, au-
Civil libertarians and privacy advocates might hope thorized us to implement this proposal. Sadly, the
Cyberdefense and cyberoffense, I was convinced to see creation of a purely domestic organization to initiative came to naught, mainly because of bu-
(and still am), needed to be commanded by one per- defend against attacks launched from within the Unit- reaucratic foot-dragging and resistance.
son. The commander of Cyber Command could not ed States – with appropriate legal safeguards – but that
be in the position of having to ask for or negotiate is a fantasy. There is not enough money, human talent I still believe the most expeditious path to an effec-
NSA support, thus increasing the danger of delays in or time to establish a domestic equivalent to the NSA. tive U.S. defense against cyberattacks launched from
our response time. within the United States – through servers located here
We recognized this dilemma in 2010 within weeks or other means – is to return to the initiative of a de-
Even in 2010, we recognized a fundamental legal of establishing Cyber Command. In an attempt to cade ago: to enable DHS to fulfill its domestic cyberde-
and structural problem in defending the United States resolve it, I reached out to then-DHS Secretary Janet fense responsibility through new arrangements giving
against cyberattack: The Defense Department and Napolitano with a proposal that would organization- it authority to use NSA’s incomparable resources with
NSA had limited legal authority to defend against ally empower her department to draw directly on appropriate structural and regulatory safeguards.
such an attack originating inside the United States. NSA resources to deal with cyberattacks originating
inside the United States. The challenge for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
By law, primary responsibility for defending against and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would be to ensure
domestic-based attacks belonged to the Department that their designees make the arrangement work.
of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, DHS had the
authority but little capability. SolarWinds and the attack on Microsoft make clear
that prompt action is necessary. The approach we de-
More than 10 years later, that conundrum contin- vised in 2010 would not require new legislation and
ues to make the country vulnerable to attacks ini- could be implemented quickly.
tiated from abroad but launched from within this
country, such as the SolarWinds attack (likely of Rus- We are under attack. There might be a more ele-
sian origin) and those against Microsoft’s Exchange gant solution to our vulnerability, but a better means
servers (likely of Chinese origin). of defense is available now. 

Some contend the solution is for the government A version of this column by Robert M. Gates, who
to partner with private-sector companies. Others served as director of central intelligence from 1991 to
argue that Congress should give NSA additional au- 1993 and as defense secretary from 2006 to 2011, first
thority to conduct cyberdefense domestically – thus appeared in The Washington Post. It does not neces-
breaking the decades-long prohibition against intel- sarily reflect the views of Vero Beach 32963.

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 41

INSIGHT WORLD NEWS AND OPINION

When the console on Suzanne Kai- I spent more than eight hours on ANSWER: to give you a refund if it doesn't want
ley's NordicTrack stops working, the the phone with ICON trying to get the to.
company tries to fix it. But it can't. Is a console fixed. Yesterday, a manager ICON should have fixed your Nor-
refund in order? told me it was a software problem they dicTrack promptly. It looks like it tried, I think you might have given the
could fix. I had already spoken with the and tried, and wanted to keep trying. managers you contacted a little more
QUESTION: software department and had been But you'd had enough. time to get back to you. And that was
told it was clearly not a software issue. my recommendation for your prob-
I purchased a NordicTrack ellipti- Your case raises an interesting ques- lem – give the ICON folks a little more
cal last year. While it was under war- Today, I sent a detailed email to tion: How long do you give a company time to respond to your appeal.
ranty, the console stopped working. ICON's director of customer service to fix something under warranty? How
ICON Health & Fitness (NordicTrak's and its vice president regarding the many attempts do you give them be- Written appeals can work wonders.
manufacturer) sent a technician to my issue. I requested a full refund and fore throwing in the towel and asking I think a brief, polite request would
home twice. They replaced the con- stated I would file a complaint with for a refund? have been effective, minus the threat
sole. But the problem persisted. the BBB as a last resort if I could not about contacting the BBB. Threats,
get a satisfactory resolution. I think you were plenty patient. and especially legal threats, can send
ICON had sent two technicians to re- your complaint to the company's le-
I would like a full refund of my place the console, and it still wasn't gal department, where it languishes
$2,277, which covers the purchase working. By the way, it's not clear if until you file a lawsuit.
price plus shipping and setup. Earlier, ICON would have been obligated to
I would have been happy with a re- refund the elliptical. Have a look at By the way, I should note that you
placement, but I never want to have to the warranty. It says the decision to got the executive contacts at ICON
deal with this company again. repair or replace is "at ICON’s discre- Health & Fitness from my consumer
tion." In other words, it doesn't have advocacy site, Elliott.org, and I'm hap-
py you found the information helpful.

An ICON representative contacted
you and offered to replace your Nor-
dicTrack elliptical. You accepted the
offer. 

Get help with any consumer prob-
lem by contacting Christopher Elliott
at http://www.elliott.org/help

42 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

The director was an insecure task-master whose SHOOTING MIDNIGHT COWBOY claimed but forever despairing British director who
most recent movie had bombed. The producer second-guessed most every shot, berated his crew
was a lifelong depressive whose last film had also ART, SEX, LONELINESS, LIBERATION, and cast, and was certain no one would see a movie,
flopped. The screenwriter was a self-destructive in his words, “about a dumb Texan who takes a bus to
alcoholic, the two lead actors relatively untested AND THE MAKING OF A DARK CLASSIC New York to seek his fortune screwing rich old wom-
newcomers. BY GLENN FRANKEL | FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX. 415 PP. $30 en.” He won the Academy Award for Best Director.

Collectively, they were to make a movie based on REVIEW BY JAMES S. HIRSCH, THE WASHINGTON POST There was Jerome Hellman, the distraught produc-
a bleak novel that had sold poorly and was mostly er whose last film had been a bust and, in the midst
ignored by critics. rector John Schlesinger. But Schlesinger relented, of a painful divorce, had to sell his house in Bel Air.
agreeing to Hoffman only after taking a walk with There was also James Herlihy, the author of the book
That was the improbable genesis of “Midnight him on 42nd Street, whereupon the actor started “Midnight Cowboy,” published and poorly received
Cowboy,” the 1969 classic of two outcasts who find limping like Ratso. in 1965; his depiction of emotionally damaged char-
heartbreak and hope in the kaleidoscopic jungle acters reflected his own internal conflicts, includ-
of New York City. The film would win the Academy To prepare for his role, Voight explored Times ing his homosexuality, which he kept concealed for
Award for Best Picture and the adoration of legions Square dressed as a cowboy and invited homeless much of his life. (The novel, unlike the movie, had
of fans while capturing the lonesome bravado and people to his basement apartment for dinner. Hoff- explicit gay themes.)
sordid materialism of America in its crass urban man studied photographs of the liberated concen-
decline. tration camps in World War II, as he wanted Ratso “Shooting Midnight Cowboy’s” most endearing
to replicate the pose, and the dignity, of a survivor. figure is screenwriter Waldo Salt, a recovering alco-
More than 50 years later, Glenn Frankel has ex- The chemistry of Voight and Hoffman on-screen re- holic who had been blacklisted in the 1950s for his
amined the film in “Shooting Midnight Cowboy: flected their deep respect for each other, but their Communist Party membership and whose screen-
Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of friendship was not without rivalry. Hoffman was plays in the 1960s had consisted of three flops. But
a Dark Classic”; it explores the movie’s controver- miffed with the final cut because his character didn’t in “Midnight Cowboy,” Salt not only recognized the
sial subject matter (gang rape, homosexuality), its appear until the 25th minute. heart of the story – Joe Buck’s “search for love in the
mournful eye (a helpless poodle humiliated on a only world he knows” – but also the corrupt, simmer-
talk show) and its cynical humor. Critical to the enterprise was Schlesinger, the ac- ing violence of modern pop culture. Joe’s illusions,
Salt concluded, “are in fact the absurd reality of our
Where’s the Statue of Liberty, asks the newcomer time.” Thanks in part to Salt, “Midnight Cowboy” is
from Texas. as much a meditation on urban rootlessness as it is
on male friendship.
“It’s up in Central Park,” replies the derisive local,
“taking a leak.” Frankel is a diligent researcher, and he uncovers
the rich details that gave the movie its texture and
Frankel, a Pulitzer-Prize winning former re- authenticity. Costume designer Ann Roth found Rat-
porter for the Washington Post and the author of so’s grungy clothes at sidewalk tables in midtown, and
other books on Hollywood, is a smooth writer and the Andy Warhol-inspired party scene included War-
sure-footed narrator who uses this volume to exca- hol regulars. Some scenes were too authentic: Jennifer
vate the cultural landscape of postwar America – the Salt, Waldo’s daughter, who played the role of a young
entrenched homophobia, the shameless exploita- woman who was gang raped, was traumatized by the
tion of women, the corrosion of our cities. But even experience.
good books about great movies have limits. In this While Frankel uses “Midnight Cowboy” to trace
case, squeezing more than 300 pages of prose from a broader cultural trends, some digressions are ex-
113-minute film does not always come easily. traneous. There are unnecessary details of the self-
absorbed Warhol; of a bomb that detonates in a
Frankel tells his story through interweaving pro- townhouse next to Hoffman’s Greenwich Village
files, mostly of men who have to overcome financial apartment; of Schlesinger’s next movie. Some care-
woes, combustible egos and their own self-doubt. less writing also creeps in. The teenage boy who
Frankel’s message seems to be: It takes desperate meets Joe Buck at a movie theater is described as
men to make a movie about other desperate men. “pimply” five times.
Nonetheless, Frankel’s book will satisfy anyone in-
Fans most closely associate the film with Jon terested in how a long-shot movie about two under-
Voight and Dustin Hoffman, who found the humani- dogs became an American original. Or as Voigt told
ty in two seemingly broken men: Joe Buck, the wide- his disbelieving director while still shooting the film:
eyed strapping Texan who seeks his fortune in New “We will live the rest of our artistic lives in the shad-
York as a hustler, and Ratso Rizzo, the sickly, street- ow of this great masterpiece.” 
smart grifter from the Bronx who craves deliverance
to Florida.

Though Hoffman had just come off his breakout
performance in “The Graduate,” neither Hoffman
nor Voight was favored by “Midnight Cowboy” di-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 43

INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

ACCURATE SIGNALING CAN BE BEAUTIFUL AQ2

By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 4

Michelangelo said, “A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear Q654
and see it.”
KQ763
We could amend that for bridge players: A beautiful bid or play never gives so much
pain as does partner’s failing to see it or to interpret it correctly. WEST EAST
94
There is something beautiful about accurate signaling between defenders that results 753 K 10 7 6 3
in the defeat of a contract. In today’s deal, for example, how did East-West card to 10 8 3 2
take four tricks against four spades? QJ985263 A8

After West opened with a weak two-bid, and North made a takeout double, East’s AK7
jump to four hearts looked automatic with so many hearts. However, from his point of
view, four spades was probably laydown, and so he might have even passed! Here, 5
though, South was always bidding four spades. SOUTH

West led the diamond ace. East would usually have made an attitude signal to show K J 10 8 6
or deny the queen, but that card was sitting in the dummy. Now, therefore, East
would have normally given a count signal by playing the eight (second-highest from A
four). But East was nervous that his partner would think that he had started with a
doubleton and try to give him a ruff at trick three. So East played his two. J9

Then, when West cashed the diamond king, East dropped the three as a suit- J 10 9 4 2
preference signal for clubs. (With the heart ace, East would have played his 10 on the
second round.) Dealer: West; Vulnerable: Both

West, getting the message, shifted to his singleton club. Finally, East, knowing his The Bidding:
partner couldn’t have the heart ace (he would have opened one heart, not two),
returned his second club for West to ruff. SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
4 Spades 2 Hearts Dbl. 4 Hearts
Pass Pass Pass LEAD:
A Diamonds





46 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (APRIL 1) ON PAGE 74

ACROSS DOWN
1 Hostel (3) 1 Thoughts (5)
3 Deity (3) 2 Ordinary (7)
5 A herb (5) 3 Kit (4)
8 Additional (5) 4 Medic (6)
9 Muddle (7) 5 Propensity (8)
10 Painful (4) 6 Juvenile (5)
11 Moderately (8) 7 Put into office(7)
13 Wage (6) 12 Creased (8)
14 Repeated (6) 13 Roads (7)
17 Of late (8) 15 Result (7)
19 Prevent (4) 16 Shut (6)
22 Makes possible (7) 18 Move slowly (5)
23 Snap (5) 20 Conceited (5)
24 Firm (5) 21 Twirl (4)
25 Noisy disturbance (3)
The Telegraph 26 Finish (3)

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 47

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 95 Electron-stripping result 45 Tibetan climber The Washington Post
1 Berle pearl 96 Budget rival 47 Indispensable items
4 Alone 97 All ___ up 48 “The Twist,” for one SOMETHING IN A WEATHER VEIN By Merl Reagle
8 Cry of triumph 99 Juilliard’s loc. 49 Polish targets
12 Brit. bestowal 100 Bad time for Dracula 50 “Tiger in your tank” company THE Art & Science
15 Home of home 103 John who played Gomez 51 Smells awful
54 Not pro of Cosmetic Surgery
loans: abbr. Addams 57 Compass pt.
18 Gardner in The Bible, 1966 105 Minus middlemen 59 Blackmore heroine SPECIALTIES INCLUDE:
19 Still not old enough to get a 107 Fine-tune anew 60 Popular brand of kitchen • Minimal Incision Lift for the
110 Conk out
special hello from 112 Sometimes lucky plant sponge Face, Body, Neck & Brow
Willard Scott? 116 Raison d’etre for an ocean (or, a tailless cat?) • Breast Augmentations
22 College game sound 62 In full bellow
23 Laid-back approach to office platform 65 Undies fabric & Reductions
management? 117 Home remedy for smelly 66 Nigerian hot spot, 1967-70 • Post Cancer Reconstructions
25 Cold forecast 67 Disposable outgo • Chemical Peels • Botox
26 Talus chain dogs? 68 Arrived, in Arles • Laser Surgery • Tummy Tucks
27 Type of humidity: abbr. 122 Destiny 69 Three-dimensional • Obagi Products • Liposculpture
28 Audience member 123 Spanking? 70 Testifier Hill • Skin Cancer Treatments
30 One of Nancy Reagan’s 124 High-speed French train 71 Abdul and Zahn
1980s designers 125 Light, to Luis 72 Receipts receptacle
33 Private journal 126 “Parked it” 73 Hole-punching tool
36 1944 meeting site, 127 Wicked Witch’s home 78 Tornado aftermath
Dumbarton ___ 128 Men on base?: abbr. 79 Rome fountain
37 From ___ (completely) 129 Soak (up) 80 ___ Minh
40 Reset setting 81 (None of the above)
41 Cotillion stars DOWN 82 “Good grief!”
42 Pellets 1 Ball, for one 83 Observed
44 Unconscious states 2 Bard’s river 84 Those people
46 Part of an upside-down 3 Rubberneck 86 Miracle-___
cake? 4 Fathered (plant food)
52 WWII Supreme Cmdr. 5 ___ many 87 Body study: abbr.
53 Deliver, as homework 91 Watermelon discard
55 They’re below Fs (just over the limit) 92 Microsoftware
56 Illiterate marks 6 Beetle Bailey’s 94 Under control
58 Remedy for an overly 98 Prefic meaning “science”
long forecast? Fuzz et al. 100 Risible
61 “Closing” opening? 7 Surprised sounds 101 The Vanna White Quintet
62 Sharp tools 8 Concerning 102 The Blue
63 Casserole candidate 9 Exerciser Danube, e.g.
64 H-bomb org. 10 Word with shut 103 Tie or track
65 Store hours word 104 Attempt
66 Out of lucre or trade 105 “My little cupcake”
67 What tourists go through 11 Napoleon’s field marshal 106 Noisy shoes
when their Caribbean 12 Dreaming Walter 108 Runs in sweats
vacations are over? 13 Sugar source 109 USC rival
73 Concert venue 14 Mrs. Hoggett in Babe 111 “Love comes ___
74 Young-___ 15 Mexican artist Kahlo the eye” (Yeats)
75 Love Story composer 16 The ˇ mark in Czech words 113 Former service members
76 Highest rating 17 W.C. Fields assent 114 Therefore
77 Wax antonym 20 Franc’s replacement 115 “Tell us if you’re coming,
78 Bat stat 21 Nicholas was one OK?”
79 Poetic addition to the 24 Shopping center 118 Toothed tool
forecast? 29 Intrusive 119 ___ de la cité
85 Infamous acid 31 Gird up one’s ___ 120 K-O inserts
86 Segovia’s forte 32 12 Angry Men star 121 As written
88 Riot-scene thief 34 Ghosts writer
89 Bit of a laugh 35 “___ your life depended on
90 Digital gift for a
forecaster? it”
93 Mann’s first 37 Choice of juice?
38 Commotion
39 Augury
41 Turned down
42 Deli sandwiches
43 Some degrees: abbr.

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48 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Grandparent upset by mom playing favorites with kids

BY CAROLYN HAX connection that the problem lies within her mother’s
Washington Post character, not hers.

Dear Carolyn: It breaks my heart She may never connect those dots. But the goal
here is the same as for child rearing itself: to create
to see my daughter-in-law play fa- opportunity, not perfection, and to have every child
experience love.
vorites toward her 5-year-old over
It will be tempting to make that connection for
her 7-year-old. The 5-year-old gets her, to just condemn the mom as unfair. You’ve al-
ready done that, in a way, when you exclaimed on the
spontaneous hugs and praises. The 7-year-old’s behalf. But doing that explicitly in out-
burst form risks your very access to these children. I
7-year-old gets a lot of scolding for will never condone the abuse of this power, but the
fact remains that parents are the gatekeepers for their
being rambunctious, and not looking after her younger kids, so you have the mother herself to thank for your
presence in their lives that you currently enjoy and are
sister. The hugs are also stingy. leveraging to protect them from her.

I see the hurt in the 7-year-old’s eyes. I adore both Phew. Your job as affectionate grandparent might
be the only thing about this situation that isn’t com-
my granddaughters and am lucky to be around them plicated.

several times a week. It’s hard for me to stand by and I’m also not suggesting you tiptoe around the
mother for fear of being banished – just that you re-
witness the unfairness, and have at times exclaimed it write your mental job description from “fix this cruel
mother” to “support this beautiful child.”
out loud – which obviously was not received well in the
Keep an eye, too, on the relationship between
moment. the girls. That is often a casualty of favoritism: Since
they’re not strong enough yet to challenge their moth-
Unfortunately, I don’t have a close relationship with er’s power, they may jockey for power against each
other. A loving grandparent can help temper that by
my daughter-in-law where I could calmly express what never pitting anyone against anyone else. Not even
– or especially not – grandparent or husband or kids
I am seeing and advise her. I have talked to my son and against their problematic mom. 

even her mother. They both have not been able to help. itism, and because the mother’s mother is, if I’ve read
correctly, also present and also not playing favorites,
My son shows no favoritism and is warm and loving to you have about as good an environment as possible
for protecting an unfavored child.
both.
That’s because the biggest risk to the 7-year-old is
How can I help in the family dynamics? that she will grow up believing she is to blame for her
own mistreatment. When there are multiple other
–A warm, involved, loving adults to contradict that mes-
sage, though – to prove to her every day that she is as
A.: The advice is as simple as the situation is painful: worthy of affection as her sister, without vilifying the
Be there and love your granddaughters. sister – she will have enough information to make the

Because you’re there almost daily to lavish the
7-year-old with the uncomplicated affection she
needs, and because the father is warm without favor-

‘SLEEPING PRINCESS’ AIMS
TO AWAKEN KIDS’ PASSION

FOR BALLET

50 Vero Beach 32963 / April 8, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

‘SLEEPING PRINCESS’ AIMS TO AWAKEN

KIDS’ PASSION FOR BALLET

BY MARY SCHENKEL | STAFF WRITER

Ballet Vero Beach will conclude its are still getting used to having a pro- Katherine Eppink and
2020-21 season with the debut of “The fessional ballet in their community. Anders Southerland at
Sleeping Princess,” an abridged but Sebastian Elementary School.
no less impressive version of the be- Additionally, Ballet Vero Beach has
loved classical ballet “The Sleeping always sought approaches to engage PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE LABAFF
Beauty,” April 16-18 at the Vero Beach the youngest members of our commu-
High School Performing Arts Center. nity. One way has been through their free Student Matinee Series,
offered to all local students.
Adam Schnell, BVB founder and
artistic director, says he had fallen “It’s really sort of a per-
in love with the classic version as a functory thing, right? You’re
young dance student and has always an arts organization, so
wanted Ballet Vero Beach to perform you should have shows for
a version of it.

“The struggle with us is always,
what does it mean in terms of our
overall mission?” says Schnell.

The difficulty, he explains, is in
finding a ballet that will entertain
their most ardent fans, the ones who,
under normal circumstances, can
travel to attend performances any-
where, as well as those residents who