01/04/2018 ISSUE 01

Utility firm sued for negligence
by 2 injured along A1A. P8
Accused killer asks
court for hypnotist. P4
New Shores traffic light to

use smart-signaling technology. P8

For breaking news visit

MY VERO Osceola teacher
fined by state for
BY RAY MCNULTY bullying a pupil

Flowers being groomed to
someday succeed sheriff

At age 50, embarking this 7,000 cubic yards of fill are being trucked in to raise the elevation of 2310 Ocean Drive by 7-to-8 feet. PHOTO BY BRUCE CADY BY KATHLEEN SLOAN
week on his 29th year in law Staff Writer
enforcement and his 10th as Work underway on house that will be largest in Riomar
Indian River County’s top cop, Scott Sanders, who for four
Sheriff Deryl Loar hasn’t yet BY STEVEN M. THOMAS Course, which knowledge- transforming Palm Beach, years was director of facilities
decided whether he will seek Staff Writer able realtors say will be the and many of the original planning and construction for
re-election in 2020. largest house in Old Riomar. homes along Riomar’s oak the Indian River County School
Site work is underway for canopied lanes were built in District, and his wife, Denise
“I’ll make that decision some- a magnificent home on the The island’s most vener- the romantic Mediterranean Sanders, a regular substitute at
time this year,” Loar was saying ocean, two lots north of the able neighborhood, Riomar Revival style he perfected. Osceola Magnet School, claim
last week as he recovered from a Riomar Country Club Golf came of age in the 1920s staff at Osceola mistreated
nasty bout with the flu. “I really when Addison Mizner was CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 and harassed their son after he
don’t know right now.” was injured in a car accident
Ready or not, the train appears to be leaving the station and had difficulty with school
He does know, however, who work, and the Florida State Ed-
he’d like to see as his succes- BY KATHLEEN SLOAN ucation Practices Commission
sor – if not in three years, then Staff Writer agrees.
seven: Eric Flowers.
Despite the apparent will- Ashley Darnell, then a
Flowers with FBI Director Christopher Wray. ingness of the County Com- fourth- but now a fifth-grade
mission to continue funding teacher at Osceola Magnet,
In fact, Loar has been groom- legal maneuvers aimed at was reprimanded and fined
ing Flowers for the job, putting blocking All Aboard Florida’s for violating the Principals of
the 1998 Sebastian River High
School graduate in high-profile CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
positions to increase his vis-
ibility and name recognition in Vmeorvoienlgecftorricwsaarlde
the community, and promoting
him three times in the past six BY LISA ZAHNER
years. Staff Writer

“He would be my choice to- The sale of Vero electric
day,” Loar said. continues to move through
needed approvals, with more
That became obvious last than half Vero’s sister cities in
March, when Flowers was pro- the statewide Florida Munici-
moted from lieutenant to ma- pal Power Association co-op
jor, skipping past the rank of voting ‘yes’ to let the city out
of its membership, and the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Florida Public Service Com-
mission giving notice that it
will audit the value of the util-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

January 4, 2018 Volume 11, Issue 1 Newsstand Price $1.00 ‘Healthy Start’
expands services for
News 1-10 Faith 39 Pets 65 TO ADVERTISE CALL moms, babies. P18
Arts 23-30 Games 45-47 Real Estate 67-80 772-559-4187
Books 38 Health 49-53 St. Ed’s 44
Dining 58 Insight 31-48 Style 54-57 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 36 People 11-22 Wine 59 CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Vero electric closing,” said FPL spokesman David substation on a portion of Vero’s “old see, typically once per month as peti-
McDermitt. postal annex” property on the south- tions on the docket are vetted by the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 west corner of 17th Street and Indian technical and legal staff and readied
One of the PSC’s responsibilities, River Boulevard. for a vote. To save time, FPL has pre-
ity assets being acquired by Florida along with redrawing FPL’s territory filed expert testimony to back up its
Power & Light. to include Vero Electric’s nearly 34,000 Next will come the decommissioning petition for approval. Among those
customers, is to review the proposed of all utility buildings and equipment who have filed testimony on behalf of
Both FPL and the city say the audit sale terms to ensure that FPL’s exist- from the Big Blue power plant site, free- FPL’s request is former PSC member
is standard procedure, and that the ing 4.9 million ratepayers will not be ing up that valuable riverfront parcel. and long-time utility consultant Terry
deal is still on track for a closing on or harmed by FPL paying Vero $185 mil- Deason, who did some rate analy-
before October. lion to grow its customer base. How long will it take for the PSC to sis work for the Town of Indian River
double-check the valuation FPL settled Shores a few years back.
“A PSC audit is a common practice The power company’s purchase on to formulate its $185 million offer?
in dockets involving rates or financial offer includes provisions for FPL to City Manager Jim O’Connor wasn’t When asked to weigh in on how rou-
transactions. While the Commission make employment opportunities certain, but said, “It is expected and tine the audit is or how long it might
has not issued a formal schedule for available to qualified Vero electric util- should conclude in February for hope- take, Deason said it would not be ap-
completion of the audit, we would ity employees, and the construction fully a March hearing as I understand.” propriate for him to comment since
not expect it to affect our schedule for of a state-of-the-art, storm-hardened he has filed testimony in this PSC
PSC hearings are held in Tallahas- docket matter.

In the meantime, Florida Municipal
Power Agency CEO Jacob Williams is
set to continue his treks around the
state to obtain approvals of agree-
ments freeing Vero from its obligations
as a member of the co-op.

Still to approve Vero’s exit are Alach-
ua, Fort Meade, Keys Energy, St. Cloud,
Clewiston, Lake Worth, Jacksonville
Beach and Vero’s closest neighbor, the
Fort Pierce Utility Authority. Key up-
coming FMPA board meetings when
the Vero electric sale will be on the
agenda are Jan. 18 and Feb. 15. 

My Vero

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

captain. The promotion came only
one year after Loar bumped him from
sergeant to lieutenant.

The promotion to major – he’s
one of only three serving under Loar
and Undersheriff Jim Harpring – put
Flowers atop the Sheriff’s Office’s Bu-
reau of Administration.

That means he’s in charge of sev-
eral departments, including human
resources, information technology,
records, school resource officers,
public affairs (and media relations),
fleet (vehicles), courthouse (bailiffs)
and general administration/facili-
ties.

Or as Loar put it: “He’s responsible
for the nuts and bolts of the opera-
tion.”

And as Loar explained: “That was
by design.”

So was Loar’s decision five years
ago to make Flowers his public af-
fairs deputy and public information
officer, which made him the face of
the Sheriff’s Office in the community
and the voice of the agency in the
news media.

Just so you know, though, Loar didn’t
wake up one morning and arbitrarily
decide Flowers might make a good
sheriff someday. Flowers, who turns 38
next month, earned his stripes – then
his bars, then his clusters.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 3

NEWS

He joined the Sheriff’s Office in he decides he has had enough. Chal- “I’ve got about a dozen of those- “I want to be confident the legacy
2003 and has served in various ca- lengers will emerge, perhaps even type kids, and some of them are rock continues, and Eric is a wholesome,
pacities: uniform patrol, field train- from within the Sheriff’s Office. stars,” Loar said proudly. “I’ve got sharp, solid young man,” Loar said.
ing, criminal investigations and some young guys with 10 or 15 years “Yeah, he’s risen through the ranks
multi-agency criminal enforcement Loar said there are several other of service that are all blue-chippers.” pretty quickly, especially the past
unit, as well as in public affairs and potential candidates currently in his couple of years, but he has earned
media relations. ranks, naming Capt. Milo Thorn- Yet Flowers, who said the 9/11 those promotions.
ton and Sgt. Ross Partee as two who terrorist attacks convinced him to
He has earned a bachelor’s degree might run for sheriff – if not imme- become a law enforcement officer “He has certainly prepared himself
in business administration from diately after he announces his retire- because “the fight is on the ground and positioned himself well.”
Stetson University and a master’s de- ment, at some time in the future. here,” remains Loar’s No. 1 pick.
gree in criminal justice from the Uni- That, too, was by design. 
versity of Central Florida, where he
expects to complete work on a doc-
torate in public affairs later this year.

Last month, he became only the
11th representative of the Sheriff’s
Office to graduate from the presti-
gious FBI National Academy, a rigor-
ous 10-week training program for law
enforcement officers across America.

“It is absolutely the pinnacle of
law-enforcement training,” Flowers
said of the Quantico, Va.-based acad-
emy, which offers intense, state-of-
the-art education and training in ad-
vanced communications, leadership,
cybercrime and fitness for carefully
selected law enforcement officers.

“To go through the program and
interact with 220 law enforcement
officers from across the country,” he
added, “it was an amazing experi-
ence.”

It also enhances his credentials for
a future campaign for sheriff – some-
thing Loar considered when he se-
lected Flowers for the program.

“Eric is preparing himself,” Loar
said. “He might not be ready yet, but
he will be.”

That’s the plan, anyway.
Flowers wants to be this county’s
11th sheriff. He said he would never
challenge Loar, but he loves local law
enforcement, is “100-percent com-
mitted” to this community and does
plan to run when his boss retires.
“To anyone who knows me, that’s
not really a secret,” Flowers said.
“Being the sheriff here is something
I aspire to, and I would be honored
to be entrusted with that responsibil-
ity. But it’s not something I’m actively
pursuing. It’s not something I have to
do right now.
“I’ve got 15 years in, but I’m still a
young man, so there’s no rush,” he
added. “I’ve spoken to the sheriff and
he’s certainly aware of my aspira-
tions, but he also knows I fully sup-
port him and that I won’t run against
him if he decides to run again.
“Someday, though, he’s going to re-
tire.”
And when that happens, Flowers
will be ready – just as he has been
ready for all the other opportunities
Loar has given him over the past nine
years.
But will he be elected?
Surely, Flowers won’t be the lone
candidate to replace Loar, whenever

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Osceola teacher fined ing and developmental environment,” said. Only one test a day, and double in class . . . and doesn’t seem any too
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Scott Sanders said, “where they would the time in a small-group setting, were worried about it. He wants to play on
not have to worry about retaliation called for in the plan. the playground but just doesn’t want to
Professional Conduct for the Educa- from school staff.” do his work.”
tion Profession, by failing “to make Tate’s half-day attendance and lack
reasonable effort to protect the student The Sanders’ complaint stemmed of focus were irritants to Darnell. In “What we knew,” Scott Sanders said,
from harmful conditions,” intentional- from their middle son Tate’s treatment. emails to Scott Sanders, she com- “was these problems were not his fault.
ly exposing “a student to unnecessary Nine years old at the time, he received plained “Tate is really not doing much At home, we saw him try to complete
embarrassment or disparagement,” a severe concussion in a car accident
and failing “to keep in confidence per- while with his family on New Year’s Accused island killer seeks hypnotist
sonally identifiable information” on Day, 2015. to recall details of his wife’s murder
students.
“Tate’s neurologist prescribed a plan BY BETH WALTON “It would not be relevant because
Darnell did not admit, deny or con- for Tate’s reintroduction to school,” [hypnotically-induced testimony] is
test she violated one state statute and Scott Sanders said, but the school staff Staff Writer so unreliable.”
three administrative codes. She did, wouldn’t adopt it as the child’s Tempo-
however, accept without contest the rary Individual Education Plan, a legal- An island man’s request to use Florida case law varies on the use
settlement agreement, which puts her ly binding document. hypnosis for help recalling events of hypnosis in trial, Cox told the par-
on probation for one year and orders that led to his estranged wife’s mur- ties after doing a preliminary review
her to pay $900 in a fine and costs. Instead, school officials insisted on der prompted an assistant state at- from the bench. One court decided
using their own plan, which Sanders torney to suggest that pretrial argu- a jury should decide if such testimo-
The Sanderses, who have since re- says “was very loosely and poorly im- ments were entering into the realm ny is credible, while another left it to
moved their child from the district, say plemented by the teacher, Ashley Dar- of the ridiculous the discretion of a judge.
they complained to the state agency nell. There were several instances of
only after trying without success to get Ms. Darnell ignoring the plan for Tate, Asbury Perkins II, who was indict- Cox reserved ruling on Perkins’
help from numerous school and dis- but some were more concerning than ed for first-degree murder in 2015, motion.
trict administrators, including former others.” told Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Cox
superintendent Fran Adams and cur- it was his right to introduce hypnot- Betts was found dead in her
rent Superintendent Mark Rendell. “Tate’s headaches worsened,” De- ically-induced testimony in court. home Nov. 3, 2015, after her father
nise Sanders said, and a follow-up ex- asked authorities to check on her.
“All of our district-level complaints amination “showed serious signs he Perkins is acting as his own attor- He hadn’t heard from his daughter
were dismissed with only retaliation regressed cognitively, to the point the ney as he stands trial for the murder in a few days and there was a his-
against our family,” Scott Sanders said. neurologist was very upset with me for of Cynthia Betts, whose gunshot- tory of domestic violence between
not following his directions.” riddled body was found rolled up in her and her husband, according to
“We decided it was necessary to re- a rug in the couple’s home on Sea- an affidavit for Perkins’ arrest.
locate our children to a school district “It came out, in questioning Tate, grape Drive on the island.
that we believed provided a safe learn- that Ms. Darnell had forced him to take Perkins was inside the residence
three tests in one morning, in violation Investigators claim Perkins con- near the Moorings with the dead
of the school’s plan,” Denise Sanders fessed to shooting his wife because body in the laundry room, the re-
“she took money out of their banking port notes. Someone had shot the
account without his knowledge and 63-year-old woman four times,
because she continually nagged him.” Detective Ross Partee wrote in the
report.
Perkins has been found indigent
by the court. Fees related to his de- There was a blood trail between
fense, such as mental health evalu- the laundry room and a bedroom
ations, investigative and forensic and a loaded .38 caliber revolver in
work – including hypnosis – and a dresser drawer, Partee noted. “Per-
the assistance of standby counsel, kins advised that he was going to
are paid for with public funds. put Cynthia Betts’ body in the trunk
of her car and then drive it into a
“My memory is not clear on the lake, but there were complications
morning of the incident,” said Per- with his plan,” the report notes.
kins, who, according to court re-
cords, is planning an insanity de- Perkins intends to argue his wife’s
fense. The court-appointed mental behavior propelled him into tempo-
health expert, psychologist Bruce rary insanity, court records show. Bet-
Borkosky, could use hypnosis to help ts’ prolonged mental and emotional
him recall what happened, he said. cruelty caused severe emotional dis-
tress, he wrote in a handwritten notice
Perkins wants permission to hire to the court flied last September. This
a videographer to record the ex- resulted in “an irresistible impulse so
change per statutory guidelines. extreme that the defendant, although
He said he was obligated to tell the knowing right from wrong, could not
prosecution of his plan. control his actions,” he said.

Perkins was unable to explain The couple had violent run-ins
why the court should side with his as far back as 2008, court records
request, other than to say it was a show. Besides being married, they
legal right. He provided two cases were partners in a home-based
to back up his claims, but could not business, Target Electronics, which
detail specific legal arguments. marketed products to the military.

“I think we’re on the verge of ridic- Perkins is being held at the Indi-
ulousness,” assistant state attorney an River County Jail without bond.
Christopher Taylor told the judge in A trial date has not yet been set. 
the Indian River County courtroom.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 5

NEWS

worksheets that had been easy for him. working under the prescribed accom- instead of sending him to occupational Another meeting, in which Denise
He couldn’t do single-digit multiplica- modations, he scored in the top 2 per- and physical therapy in the afternoon. and Scott Sanders were alone withTate’s
tion problems he’d known for two years.” cent,” Scott Sanders said. teacher, turned into a he-said, she-said
Special Education specialist Colleen nightmare, with the school district
Tate was an all-A gifted student prior During a meeting to discuss Tate’s Davenport said the school’s plan “was backing the teacher. She claimed the
to his head injury. After the injury, his grades, Scott Sanders said then-Princi- law,” and their neurologist’s plan was Sanderses yelled, tossed a chair and
grades were uneven, sometimes high pal Kathleen Goldstein pressured him “opinion,” and Tate had earned the low
and sometimes low. “When he was to send his son back to school full time grades. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Osceola teacher fined rimand. The only response came from connect West Palm with Orlando, run- Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 current Osceola Principal Scott Simp- ning through downtown Vero Beach – so taking the train could save a little bit
son who said, “Osceola has a proud in early 2018. of time, but shaving commuter time is
were threatening. But the Sanderses tradition of a positive atmosphere not the main point of the venture.
said Darnell manufactured the drama among students and staff. I invite any “This was a great year for us as we
to avoid being confronted with the fact members of the community to come completed construction on two of our Brightline is marketing itself as a
she had shared Tate’s confidential in- visit our amazing school at any time.” major stations and rail infrastructure, luxury line or “travel option that lives
formation with her ex-husband. successfully presold tickets and cor- at the intersection of transportation
Scott Sanders decided to tell his porate packages to individuals and and hospitality,” a press release stated.
The Sanderses bolstered their argu- story to Vero Beach 32963 because, he businesses throughout the region and
ment Darnell broke student confiden- said, “We wanted to share a portion of priced $600 million in Private Activity “The luxury service will provide all-
tiality by providing a text they received our horrific experience with Osceola Bonds to fund Phase 1,” said Brightline reserved coach and business-class
from her, with spreadsheets attached Magnet and district administration in Chief Executive Officer Dave Howard seating, on-board wireless service and
that contained personally identifiable hopes that the other parents of chil- Dec. 15. food service,” according to a state-
information on every student in her dren who have suffered similarly can ment provided to investors by Fitch
classs. know there are avenues available to “We look forward to launching ser- Rating, the company hired by Bright-
them for dealing with the deceptive, vice to Miami and starting construc- line to rate its $600 million bond issue.
Nevertheless, then-Principal Gold- stonewalling tactics of the district.”  tion north to Orlando in the first quar-
stein sided with Darnell, and School ter of 2018.” The crucial Private Activity Bond
Board Attorney Suzanne D’Agresta All Aboard Florida was authorized by the U.S. Depart-
and then-Human Resources Assistant CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The first train service will be be- ment of Transportation and issued
Superintendent Bill Fritz insisted De- tween Fort Lauderdale and West Palm by the Florida Development Finance
nise and Scott Sanders phone well in high-speed passenger rail project, Beach, starting the week of Jan. 8, Corporation. Morgan Stanley led the
advance before coming on campus Brightline, from traversing Indian Brightline said last week. Ticket prices market sale of the 30-year tax-exempt
and that they be escorted at all times. River County, the train appears to be and train schedules were still unan- bond, which closed in mid-December.
leaving the station. nounced at press time.
This ended Denise Sanders’ substi- Fitch gave the bonds a BB- or non-
tute teaching at Osceola, where she Brightline, the only privately-owned There are three stations in the first investment grade rating because pri-
had worked three or more days a week passenger train in the U.S., is sched- phase: Miami, the southern terminus, vate passenger rail is unknown in this
for three years. uled to start service in South Florida Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, country, and a rail line that “targets
any day now, and the company says it and Brightline says it will take 30 min- business and leisure traffic and has no
School Board members, Superinten- will begin work on Phase 2 – which will utes to travel from station to station, similar U.S. comparables” could not
dent Mark Rendell, Darnell and other with train speeds up to 125 mph. be rated higher.
officials were asked to comment on the
Sanders’ allegations and the state rep- It takes about 40 minutes to travel Brightline will use bond sale pro-
between Miami and Fort Lauderdale ceeds to refinance the $534 million
by car, and nearly an hour to get from debt incurred for Phase I building and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 7

NEWS

rolling stock, which was privately fi- line’s Phase 1 would still break even. Local governments are expected to New Riomar home
nanced at 12 percent interest, accord- On Dec. 22, Brightline announced have to pay millions to upgrade train CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
ing to Tom Nelthorpe of txf.news. crossings to make them safe. Indian
it got authorization from the U.S. De- River County estimates it will cost Members of the 98-year-old Riomar
Brightline’s marketing strategy and partment of Transportation for anoth- about $13 million to upgrade over 30 Country Club and other residents are
revenue models also were revealed by er $1.15 billion in tax-exempt Private crossings. deeply attached to the neighborhood’s
Fitch. Brightline expects 10 percent of Activity Bonds for Phase 2, the 170- narrow shell roads and sleepy ambi-
riders will be business people, 10 per- mile leg between West Palm Beach Brightline still has to sell the recent- ance, and word on the street is some
cent commuters, and the rest vaca- and the northern terminus, Orlando. ly authorized second phase bonds or of the old guard are not too enthused
tioners or leisure travelers. It expects borrow the needed $1.15 billion. But about a 17,400-square-foot home with
ridership and revenues to stabilize af- The company said it is still weigh- nevertheless, Phase 2 work is expected two swimming pools and three guest
ter three years. ing another DOT financing option, a to start in a matter of weeks with the houses going up in the coming year.
“Railroad Rehabilitation and Improve- Orlando station. In a press release,
Brightline“initially plans to price tick- ment Financing” loan, which allows Brightline said it is finalizing “design But the house at 2310 Ocean Drive –
ets at a low level, comparing a proposed private companies to borrow at low for the rail infrastructure and the 70- which upon completion will be worth
fare of $0.69 per mile with the $2.04 per interest rates. acre Vehicle Maintenance Facility,” $15 million to $20 million – is no Mc-
mile on the publicly-owned Acela ser- which is adjacent to, but soon to be Mansion. Looking more British West
vice between Washington, D.C., and Completing Phase 2 will be consid- enmeshed with the airport. Indies than anything else on the plans
Boston, but if it turns out to have strong erably more complex than Phase 1, re- drawn by Melbourne architect Jack-
market power, it will be able to set fares quiring Brightline to acquire 40 miles “Brightline’s station in Orlando will son Kirschner, it is nicely sited on the
at whatever levels it can maximize rev- of new right-of-way between Cocoa be located at the Orlando Internation- 74,500-square-foot lot, leaving 56 per-
enue,” according to Nelthorpe. and Orlando. The remainder of the al Airport’s new Intermodal Terminal cent of the property as open space.
project – including the section that Facility (ITF) that will be the hub of
By 2020, Brightline believes the first- passes through Indian River County – the future South Terminal complex,” The home will disappear behind
phase stretch will take in $107 million will utilize existing Florida East Coast states the press release. a landscape buffer after a year or so,
from 2.9 million rider-fares and $34 mil- freight right-of-way. and be little noticed. And it is not an
lion in combined parking and food sales “The ITF is connected to the North outlier. Nearby lots have been redevel-
a year. Brightline’s Phase 1 has three While Phase 2 has the support of Terminal by a recently completed Au- oped in recent years, with big houses
parking lots with 1,720 parking spaces Brevard County, which hopes a stop tomated People Mover and includes a replacing smaller ones. The modernist
in addition to restaurants and kiosks on may ultimately be added in Mel- 5,000-space parking garage. SunRail, house at the other end Ocean Drive is
the train and in the stations. The food bourne, it has met with fierce resis- Central Florida’s commuter rail sys- larger than the one going up in Rio-
and parking sales will comprise 24 per- tance from Martin, Indian River and tem, has a planned connection to the mar, and there are homes of similar
cent of its revenue, Brightline estimates. St. Lucie counties, where no stops are ITF. The completion of the South Ter-
contemplated and local officials see no minal will add 16 new gates for inter- CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Fitch estimates ridership could be 41 advantage to having high-speed trains national and domestic flights.” 
percent lower than projected and Bright- racing through the Treasure Coast.

8 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Utility firm sued for negligence by 2 injured along A1A

BY BETH WALTON provided signage, indicating that the ated, maintained and/or inspected “It was due to their negligence,” said
sidewalk was closed.” the work space and immediate sur- Dawn Yelton. “There were safety cones
Staff Writer rounding area, which resulted in a and everything else up. These people
The company “owed a duty to users dangerous condition,” he writes. are looking for money.”
An underground utility firm con- of the sidewalk, including the Plaintiff,
tracted by the City of Vero Beach for to exercise due care while working,” While an attorney for Coastal Drill- Yelton noted that the bicyclist was
work along A1A and other parts of his lawsuit alleges. ing has yet to respond to the most re- elderly and riding on the sidewalk
town has come under fire after two is- cent complaint, documents show the instead of in the bicycle lane on the
land residents filed separate lawsuits The accusations came just five company denies wrongdoing in the roadway. He drove through construc-
alleging negligence on the job. months after Vero Beach residents Dr. Kalish case. Both families are seeking tion cones and hit a construction
Keith Kalish and his wife Beth made a damages in the 19th Judicial Circuit. pipe, she said.
Attorney Douglas Tuttle, of Tuttle similar allegation.
Law in Vero Beach, recently filed a Attorneys Shelli Healy and Benja- In the second case, Yelton contin-
complaint blaming the Jensen Beach Attorney Brian Connelly with the min Bedard with the West Palm Beach ued, the jogger was running in the
company, Coastal Drilling and Back- island firm Gould Cooksey Fennell firm Roberts, Reynolds, Bedard & dark and was not looking ahead
hoe, for a May 2016 bicycle accident. claims in court documents that Dr. Tuzzio say Coastal Drilling is not to
Kalish was jogging west of Coastal blame for Kalish’s injuries. Coastal Drilling has been working
His client, William Borrow, was rid- Drilling’s workspace near the 900 in Vero Beach for some 15 years, she
ing his bicycle northbound along the block of A1A in September 2016 when Any work area was “open and ob- said.
state road near the intersection of Ba- he tripped and fell. vious” and the accident in question
hia Mar Road when he ran into a pipe was “unforeseeable,” their filing says. The company specializes in direc-
and fell over, injuring himself, the at- A coiled steel cable had been left “If Plaintiff Keith Kalish suffered any tional drilling and has machinery that
torney claims. partially lying on a public sidewalk, damages as a result of the matters al- can bore holes deep in the ground
causing Dr. Kalish to suffer a serious leged in the Plaintiffs’ complaint, it is without requiring costly and incon-
The equipment had been placed injury, writes the lawyer. the result of other persons, firms or venient excavation, said Rob Bolton,
across the sidewalk by Coastal Drill- corporations. director of water and sewer for the
ing. At no point did Kalish enter into the City of Vero Beach. Its technology and
work space of Coastal Drilling, Con- “The cable plaintiff alleges to have services help link residential septic
“Coastal Drilling failed to follow nelly says in the June 27 filing. He, too, tripped over . . . was the responsibility tanks to the city’s sewer system. Other
FDOT regulations regarding work adds that the company had a duty to of the City of Vero Beach at the time of departments contract with the firm to
zone safety requirements and side- keep the area surrounding its work the alleged incident.” install underground electric lines.
walk conditions,” the attorney said. space free from hazard, and to provide
“Coastal Drilling should have blocked proper warnings to the public. Coastal Drilling’s attorney Ben- City records obtained by 32963
off the sidewalk with a barricade and jamin Bedard did not respond to a showed that since 2010 the company
“Defendant Coastal negligently cre- request for comment, but the com- has been paid over $2.4 million for
pany’s co-owner said both complaints services.
made against the firm were false and
that the company is now considering “They have always been a good
filing counter lawsuits. company for us. We’ve never had any
issues with them,” Bolton added. 

New traffic light at Fred Tuerk Drive
will use smart-signaling technology

BY LISA ZAHNER yellow, then red, if the vehicle stops
Staff Writer and lingers for a time at the light.

When town officials announced “It will be delayed, so if someone
last year Indian River Shores would makes a right turn, it won’t activate
be getting a pedestrian crosswalk the light,” Stabe said. “If someone
and a fully activated traffic signal sits there a certain number of sec-
where the blinking light is now at onds, it will know that it’s some-
Fred Tuerk Drive, residents raised body making a left turn and it will
concerns that the light would slow activate the light.”
the traffic flow on Highway A1A.
Stabe reminded the council that
In response, Town Manager Rob- the light could also be activated by
bie Stabe told the Town Council at pedestrians wanting to safely cross
its December meeting that the traf- A1A. Councilmembers pointed out
fic light would use smart-signaling that it would take some time for
technology to minimize disruption residents to get used to watching
on the busy state highway. for a red light at that intersection,
and it was suggested that Public
Sensors in the ground will pick up Safety Chief Rich Rosell and his of-
the presence of a vehicle approach- ficers might have an added pres-
ing the intersection from Fred Tuerk ence there during the transition.
Drive, where residents exiting The
Estuary, or the back gates to Ber- According to FDOT construction
muda Bay and John’s Island, would estimates, the new signal should be
travel, but the signal would only turn installed and active by December
2018. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 9

NEWS

New Riomar home around the perimeter of the property
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 to contain more than 7,000 cubic yards
of fill that will be brought in to raise
stature up and down the 32963 shore- the grade 7-8 feet, putting the floor of
line. the main house 19 feet above sea level.
(In case anyone is worried about run-
Matilde Sorensen, the real estate off, there will be underground storm-
broker who both listed and sold the water retention chambers.)
Riomar property, says that the buyers
– a young family with seven children – The main house, three guest hous-
are outstanding people who will be a es, two 30-foot by 34-foot garages
substantial addition to the community. and other structures will be built on
a foundation of hundreds of 16-inch
The value of oceanfront land on the diameter auger pilings loaded with
island, and the caliber of new resi- steel rebar that will go down 40 feet or
dents attracted to ZIP code 32963 at so to marl, and be tied into a matrix of
this stage in its evolution, practically heavy concrete grade beams to make
guarantee that homes on this scale the house a permanent part of the
will become more and more common landscape.
– adding to the reputation (and tax
base) of Vero Beach. The main house will be two stories,
35-feet high, with an open first-floor
The original house on the lot at 2310 interior that includes a 36-foot by 48-
Ocean Drive was built in 1946, when foot central space (foyer, great room
most of the island was still undevel- and gallery) and another vast kitchen/
oped and property was cheap. In 1991, family room combination.
Richard Dillion and his wife Phyllis
bought the home and land for $1.2 Also on the first floor are an elabo-
million, living there until the property rate master suite, a media room, a 30-
was sold in May 2016. foot by 30-foot game room and two
full-featured attached guest houses. A
The property was not on the market third guest house stands apart, behind
when Sorensen brought the buyer and the twin garages.
the Dillons together.
Two staircases and an elevator con-
Richard Dillon, who passed away in nect the first floor to the second where
August, was described in his Princeton there is another, even more awesome
Alumni Weekly obituary as “a pioneer- master suite, along with four 19-foot
ing advertising executive and entrepre- by 19-foot guest or child bedrooms
neur . . . who co-created one of the first with private baths and balconies.
advertising agencies focused on market-
ing to Hispanics in the United States.” Almost the entire ocean-facing back
Phyllis Dillon still lives in Vero Beach. of the house will be glass, a shimmer-
ing series of glazed French, bi-fold and
Oceanfront land sales are catego- pocket doors.
rized by price per linear foot, and the
lot at 2310 extends for 203 feet along The oceanfront pool, set in an ex-
the Atlantic Ocean, which means the pansive terrace, is 16-foot by 41-foot.
buyer paid nearly $44,000 a foot for When it is too windy on the ocean-
the prime Central Beach property front, swimmers can chose a second
close to the art museum and theater, similar-sized pool on the sunny south
Quail Valley club and all the oceans- side that is in a sheltered courtyard
ide restaurants and shops. The price, between the game room and attached
$8.875 million, was not a record but guest houses.
approaches the highest prices paid
for oceanfront land on the island dur- The way the property lays out
ing the peak of the real estate boom around a series of four main court-
in the mid-2000s. yards and terraces is one of its most
attractive and interactive features.
After the sale, the post-war house was
torn down and plans for the new com- Even as colorless lines on paper,
pound were developed. The county is- without the benefit of the all the tones
sued a building permit in November and textures of the “best quality” fin-
and site work began shortly afterward. ish materials specified on the plans, a
tangible quality of spatial excitement
A heavy retaining wall is being built and aesthetic intrigue radiates from
the envisioned structure.

This a place where it will be an
adventure to live – a place that will
become an impressive feature of a
community residents regard as Vero’s
premier neighborhood.

Besides Jackson Kirschner, Archi-
tects, the design build team includes
Mills Group, landscape architect;
Schulke, Bittle & Stoddard, structural
and civil engineers; Kamm Consulting,
mechanical and electrical engineers;
and the Hill Group, builder and general
contractor. 

10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Councilman expresses concern about financial disclosure bill

BY KATHLEEN SLOAN “Currently, I have the option to fill “Form 6 lists the same things on a no salary for serving on the Shores
Staff Writer out Form 1 or Form 6. The first form dollar basis,” Auwaerter said, “so you Town Council. He also serves without
requires me to list sources of income would see what I fill out on IRS Form pay on the City of Vero Beach Utilities
Legislation waiting in the wings in and investments on a percentage basis 1040 as far as income is concerned. Commission and Indian River County
Tallahassee would require those run- of total income and assets, respective- The asset listing would be the same as School Board’s Audit Committee.
ning for or seated on city or town ly,” Auwaerter said. if you looked on my Quicken software.
councils to reveal more about their in- “In fact, my unpaid jobs cost me
come, investments and debt than cur- “By looking at this form, you can “Bluntly, Form 6 is a huge invasion money,” Auwaerter said. “I have un-
rently required. clearly see whether I might have any of privacy. And it provides a nice road- reimbursed travel expenses to attend
potential conflicts of interest. To provide map for identity theft.” meetings up at the FMPA (Florida Mu-
Indian River Shores Councilman that information makes perfect sense,” nicipal Power Agency) in Orlando.
Bob Auwaerter said he might resign if but Sen. Greg Steube’s Bill 1180 “would Auwaerter, who oversaw an invest-
the bill becomes law. require me to fill out Form 6. ment portfolio worth $18 billion be- “If this bill becomes law, I have to
fore he retired a few years ago, collects seriously consider whether I should
resign from Town Council,” Auwaerter
said. “Although people may not agree
with all my views, I think governments
need people like me who are not career
politicians and who are willing to use a
lifetime of experience in areas like mu-
nicipal finance to try to make govern-
ment work better.”

Auwaerter says if passed into law,
the regulations proposed by Sen. Steu-
be, R-Sarasota, will “have a chilling ef-
fect on getting people to serve.”

Under current laws, elected state and
county officials, including school board
members and judges, have to fill out
Form 6, but elected municipal officials
may fill out the less revealing Form 1.

Florida League of Cities Senior Leg-
islative Advocate Rebecca O’Hara said
the push to “even the playing field”
among county and city elected offi-
cials’ financial disclosures “is nothing
new. Some cities have more revenue
than counties and it’s only fair.”

The League has worked several
years on “transitioning” city elected
officials from lesser to greater finan-
cial disclosure, O’Hara said, but the
organization prefers House Bill 7003
over the Senate bill; 7003 is proposed
by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Groveland, who
chairs the House Public Integrity &
Ethics Committee.

It makes two distinctions that would
limit the number of elected city officials
required to reveal more about their fi-
nances. First, it eliminates “tiny town
councils, where it’s hard to get people
to run for office,” O’Hara said. Only
council members of cities with rev-
enues over $10 million for three years
running would have to reveal more.

Second, it would be the “governing
body,” as opposed to “elected officials,”
who would have to fill out Form 6,
O’Hara said. “Believe it or not some city
clerks are elected,” she said.

If Metz’s bill passes, Auwaerter
would not have to reveal more about
his finances since Indian River Shores
takes in about $6 million in revenue a
year. But if Steube’s Senate Bill 1180, or
the related House Bill 815, become law,
then the town may have to find anoth-
er resident to fill his seat. 

ELC ENVISIONS UNIQUE CAMPUS
AS MUST-VISIT DESTINATION P. 21

12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Abundance of amazement at ‘Nutcracker’ preview

Travis Halsey and Adam Schnell. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF He encouraged everyone to get to
know the dancers, adding, “The prob-
PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 Staff Writer lem with anything on the proscenium
stage is there’s a wall between us and
The first snow of the season fell at you. We have worked very hard at Bal-
the Vero Beach High School Perform- let Vero Beach to break down that wall.
ing Arts Center last Wednesday eve- That’s why I do pre-curtain speeches
ning when premiere benefactors were and talk-backs. The personal connec-
treated to a sneak peek performance tion is one of the hallmarks of my mis-
of Ballet Vero Beach’s “Nutcracker on sion for this company.”
the Indian River.” Ballet Vero Beach
celebrated its fifth anniversary season Schnell, who came up with the idea
with the world premiere of the original for the Vero version of the traditional
production Dec. 29-30. ballet while working on a graduate as-
signment in arts administration, said
The audience was mesmerized by the he became enamored with the ballet
flurry of dancing snowflakes as Clara when as a child he was cast as Clara’s
and the Prince made their way through bratty little brother.
the Land of Snow before manatees and
sandhill cranes made their debut dur- “The magic of it all blew my mind and
ing Act II as the family visited the Indian took things to the next level for me,” he
River Lagoon in Vero Beach for the holi- said.
days.After guests enjoyed an exclusive
preview of the Snow Scene at the end of That’s why it was so important for
Act 1, they chatted with members of the him to include young people in the pro-
entire ballet company. Intrigued by the duction. Of the 50 youngsters in the per-
local take on the storyline, questions formance, 24 were recruited from local
were asked about the designs for the nonprofits.
unusual costumes and the spectacular
set. One lucky little one even tried on “To reach beyond, we needed to catch
Clara’s crown. those kids that need positive adult role
models and experience audience ap-
Thanking donors for their patronage, plause,” said Schnell.
Adam Schnell, Ballet Vero’s Artistic Di-
rector/CEO said, “I am extremely proud Ballet Vero Beach presents the cele-
of this production. This is a big ‘thank brated works of Ballet Master and Prin-
you’ for your support. We would not be cipal Dancer Camilo Rodriguez on Jan.
here without you.” 19-20. For more information, including
the 2017/2018 season schedule, visit bal-
letverobeach.org. 



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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Katerina Schweitzer and Nora Carr.
Eddie and Lisa McLaughlin with Camilo Rodriguez.

Ann Eckerd, Ryan Christopher and Cheryl Ernst. Erika Overturff and Matthew Carter. Carolina Kass and Katie van der Mars.

20%OF ALL SALES GOES TO
SAVE THE CHIMPS

SPECIAL FUNDRAISER AT OUR
OCEAN DRIVE LOCATION

JANUARY 10TH - 3PM TO 6 PM

3119 OCEAN DRIVE  VERO BEACH, FL 32963  ACROSS FROM DRIFTWOOD

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 15

PEOPLE

Run Run Santa dash attracts a sea of St. Nicks

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF glaringly evident as he was “green” at proffering a guess at the Grinch’s including a Santa finisher medal
with envy. In the spirit of giving, final time, with the winner taking and a hefty dose of holiday cheer.
Staff Writer the Grinch was allowed to run but half the pot and the remainder add- Top male finisher was Shane
was forced to start at the back of the ed to the proceeds for Healthy Start. Streufert with a time of 5:14.58, and
Santa may not have gone dashing pack. top female finisher Caitlin Batten
through the snow in Vero Beach on A post-race party ensued with with 5:46.32. 
Christmas Eve morning, but more The other runners took chances food, drink, giveaways and awards,
than 300 Florida Santas made a mad
dash for the finish line as partici-
pants in an inaugural Run Run San-
ta 1-mile fun run from Pocahontas
Park in downtown Vero Beach.

In full red-and-white Santa re-
galia, the sea of bearded runners
all made it to the top of Santa’s list
after joining in on the festive fun.
Proceeds benefited the Indian Riv-
er Healthy Start Coalition’s Babies
& Beyond Program, which assists
women and their families before,
during and after pregnancy.

Run Run Santa was hosted by
Brittany Streufert and Mike Acosta
of Power of Pizza Charities. Having
successfully organized a Run Run
Santa race in Viera with her partner
last year, Streufert, who grew up in
Vero Beach, decided to introduce
the jolly jaunt to her hometown.

“My mother has worked for
Healthy Start for almost 15 years
and I’ve seen how it’s made a dif-
ference in so many mothers’ lives,”
explained Streufert.

Wearing the provided Santa cos-
tumes was mandatory for all run-
ners, although one not-so-jolly
participant opted to crash the race.
The dash deviant’s faux pas was

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Mike and Susan Hanner with Cynthia Falardeau. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE Everly Abraham with grandparents Kylene and Tom Abraham.
Paul Hamilton, Josiah Berryman, and Erik Hjalmeby.

Ray Oglethorpe with Kimberly Oglethorpe. Ashton Abraham and Kylene Abraham.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 17

PEOPLE

Muriel Cherry with Jenna Sacco and Paula Sacco.

Jennifer Crow with Raymond Vinaya, Lauren Vinaya and the Grinch. Overall winner Shane Streufert. Stephen Dirhold and Charlie Dirhold.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Healthy Start’ expands services for moms, babies

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Andrea Berry and Dr. Glenn Tremml. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE counseling and can attend classes
Staff Writer covering a wide range of topics, in-
is to touch every single mom in this gin the moment the mother finds out cluding prenatal nutrition, child-
For the past 25 years, the Indian county at least twice, because every she’s pregnant. Ninety-five percent of birth, coping with stress, baby-wear-
River County Healthy Start Coalition mom can use a little help,” says Berry. the pregnant mothers in the county ing, breastfeeding, infant care, brain
has delivered invaluable education “The science behind prenatal care, are touched by us.” development, milestones, infant CPR
and support to new mothers in the childbirth and childcare changes, so and postpartum self-care.
belief that “Every mother. Every fam- programs should be adapted to use The Babies and Beyond program
ily. Every baby.” deserves a healthy best practices with the client’s needs engages and empowers new mothers It was while making a home visit to
start. in mind. Healthy Start services be- through education during each step check on a 15-year-old teen mother
of their pregnancy. Moms receive and her new baby that Berry dis-
They have remained true to their covered there was a need for doulas
mission to provide a local system of – trained women who provide non-
care that optimizes the health of all medical physical, emotional and in-
moms, babies and their families liv- formational support before, during
ing in Indian River County. A broad and after delivery. A grant from the
spectrum of programs has been es- John’s Island Community Service
tablished to ensure that pregnant League provided the initial funding
women and their babies receive nec- for the program to offer doula train-
essary healthcare and support ser- ing.
vices from conception through the
first few years of a child’s life. “It’s about health literacy and
showing mothers that if they have
Under the leadership of CEO An- the strength to give birth, they can
drea Berry, who came on board in do anything,” says Berry. She notes
2016, programs have been broadened that a doula offers the type of advice
to expand their scope of services and a woman might get from her mother;
encompass a continuous Babies and helping to develop a birth plan, giv-
Beyond curriculum. ing massages, teaching delivery tech-

“Our goal with Babies and Beyond CONTINUED ON PAGE 20



20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18 PEOPLE

niques and providing family inter- Sarah Starr (left) teaches a nutrition class at Healthy Start.
vention.
more than half their mothers were identify what is going on in the com- tion changes so much that we’ve lost
Then, as she took a tour with a De- enrolled in Medicaid services and munity and make changes to suit that base of mommy knowledge. We
partment of Health representative were screened as high risk. current needs,” says Berry. She hopes want to be that person they can rely
of several impoverished areas in the to base it on a program used in Mi- on for evidence-based information.”
community, Berry became aware “The idea is to have a one-stop shop ami-Dade to reduce its teen preg-
that having a safe sleeping space was for mommies in one place,” she says. nancy levels utilizing preconception Healthy Start will host an open
a serious issue for newborns. “Some of our lower income areas family planning education and inter- house and ribbon cutting from 4 to
have higher rates of infant mortality conception health care, the period 6 p.m. Jan. 18 at its new Bridgewa-
“Every year we have a few deaths and having access to services is part between pregnancies. ter Plaza location, 1555 Indian River
related to strangulation or suffoca- of the issue.” Blvd. They recently purchased the
tion, but in many cases it’s not about “We teach mommy to set life goals second floor and sublet space to two
co-sleeping, it’s about having a place Also in the works are plans to insti- and talk about family planning,” other nonprofits, Treasure Coast
period. There are homes in this coun- tute a Nurse Family Partnership pro- says Berry. “It shouldn’t be shame- Community Health and the Kinder-
ty where there is nowhere to sleep,” gram to address a number of issues, ful to ask for help. Women are giving garten Readiness Coalition.
she says. including the high incidence of teen birth to babies and they don’t know
pregnancy. There were 88 teen births what’s going to happen during labor Upcoming fundraisers include the
To help remedy the situation, each in Indian River County last year; a and delivery. Some people don’t have ninth Annual Beachside Half Mara-
baby born at Indian River Medical rate higher than our neighboring that mommy wisdom. We’ve lost gen- thon at Riverside Park on Jan. 7; and
Center now receives a safe and snug counties, Miami-Dade County and erations of families that just aren’t to- the 10th annual Dancing With Vero
Baby Box fitted with a mattress. It is the state average. gether, aren’t communicative or just Stars, May 12 at Riverside Theatre.
filled with diapers, baby’s first read- aren’t sure. On top of that, informa-
er and a cute onesie with “This Side “Our community has a lack of For more information, visit
Up” printed on the front; a reminder health literacy. Part of our job is to irchealthystartcoalition.org. 
of the American Academy of Pediat-
rics’ recommendation to have babies
sleep on their backs to prevent Sud-
den Infant Death Syndrome.

Before mothers leave the hospital,
they can schedule a home visit with
an RN through HSC’s Newborn Home
Visit Nurse program, where nurses
provide a well-check to mother and
child and answer any questions she
might have. Once mother and baby
are settled in, Heathy Start’s play and
peer group interactions help parents
establish peer support while also
learning developmentally appropri-
ate techniques for raising healthy,
happy babies.

Berry has written a proposal in
hopes of being awarded a 2018 Im-
pact 100 grant to fund obstetric ser-
vices, mental health, playgroups and
pediatric care at the Gifford Center
for Women and Children. Of the 1,245
babies born in the county in 2016,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 21

PEOPLE

ELC envisions unique campus as must-visit destination

BY MARY SCHENKEL wherever they are.”
Staff Writer In addition to broadening the scope

Molly Steinwald, executive director Maryam Ghadiri and Molly Steinwald. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE of elementary and middle school edu-
of the Environmental Learning Cen- cation programs, they want to engage
ter, hopes to position the ELC as a des- as the Environmental Learning Cen- people of all ages and abilities by offer-
tination; a strong environmental edu- ter’s education and research director. ing diversified programs that encour-
cation and cultural center that will Ghadiri has a bachelor’s in Environ- age return visits, impart knowledge,
draw multiple visits by residents and mental Science and master’s in Con- and ultimately change environmental
visitors alike. Recent assessment and servation Biology and is completing attitudes and behavior.
focus groups indicated that too many her Ph.D. in Ecology and Informal
people primarily think of the ELC as a Learning. “We would like to be a destination
place for elementary school field trips. that brings very many environmental
“We’re looking at ways where we educators here,” says Ghadiri, hoping
“We had done the American Alli- can be really utilizing our campus eco-centric organizations will visit
ance of Museums’ assessment pro- strengths. We have a large and gor- and share their knowledge and expe-
gram about a year and a half ago to geous campus that we were only uti- riences. “We can use our resources,
look at the needs of the community lizing in certain ways before. Instead, the scientists we have here who are
and the operations of the organiza- we want to be transforming it into a advocating for environmental conser-
tion; whether it actually was meeting more richly diverse community cen- vation, to make this a platform for en-
community needs and doing in a fis- ter,” says Steinwald. “But the baseline vironmental education on a national
cally sustainable way. It was our first of everything we’re doing is meet-
ever external review of our practices ing our mission of connecting people CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
at the national level, to compare us to with nature and inspiring them and
other organizations to see: what were empowering them to be stewards
we doing well, what were we not doing
well and what we need to do to change
and survive in the long run and also
be really relevant to current issues,”
says Steinwald, noting that the results
showed they needed to broaden their
reach.

“So we wanted to bring in somebody
who had a very diverse knowledge
base and passion and has the comfort
and excitement to engage with a dif-
ferent audience. Because bottom line,
everybody needs nature and nature
needs everybody.”

She found her someone in Maryam
Ghadiri, who came on board this fall

22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 PEOPLE

level. There are not that many places says Ghadiri. “With the technology it’s also a strong background in education series features nationally recognized
that are this close to a complex system possible to collect more data. It’s fas- research itself; really studying how speakers on a range of multi-disci-
that is so attractive from many differ- cinating. We would like to help people best to be communicating. We need plinary topics, positioning the ELC as
ent aspects. It has a beautiful ecosys- install those apps and maybe have to have scientists who communicate a place that introduces new ideas to
tem, we attract many different birds schools compete to see which school well and educators who know how the local community while also build-
and our diversity is really high.” collects more data and kind of inspire to educate in a way that’s changing ing collaborations with organizations
them to become citizen scientists.” somebody’s behavior.” outside the area.
The ELC celebrates its 30th anni-
versary in 2018 and, while the found- Steinwald says they want to col- They plan to take a ‘stealth science And they have begun offering the
ing mission of the organization is still laborate rather than compete with the education’ approach to draw in a di- ELC as a green rental space for birth-
relevant, its audience is quite differ- area’s existing research institutions, versified audience through pontoon day parties, family reunions and cor-
ent, with people spending more time offering the ELC campus as an out- boat trips, music and movies with an porate retreats. “So it’s meeting our
indoors on computers and personal let where scientists can impart their environmental twist and other func- mission because it’s getting people
devices. knowledge to a participating public. tions with an underlying ecological connecting with nature and it’s also
component. financially smart for us,” says Stein-
“It requires that we change the way “There’s a real need for working wald.
we’re educating and inspiring people with scientists to help them better “We don’t want to just teach them
in order to be engaging the current communicate their work,” she adds. knowledge,” explains Ghadiri. “We A national landscape architect
generation. I don’t mean that by just “In looking for a new education direc- would like them to be engaged with firm and strategic planner are as-
children; it’s the current community,” tor I deliberately titled the position the environment; to come here to ex- sisting with a Master Plan for the
says Steinwald. “There are issues of as Education/Research Director, be- plore, to have joyful experiences, to be campus 10 to 15 years out. One idea
depression, obesity and lack of con- cause I saw that we had a real need curious and stay curious.” is to include more terrestrial (land)
nectivity.” and an opportunity to have somebody animals on site.
with a strong science background and Steinwald has already instituted a
To tap into the technology fixation, number of improvements since join- “There’s no nature center any-
they are introducing environmen- ing the ELC three years ago: adding where around here where people can
tally oriented smartphone apps such simple refreshments, shade sails and be learning about any of the other
as iNaturalist and RecordTheEarth. fat-tire wheelchairs, and modifying critters that you see; the snakes, spi-
Anyone can identify, monitor and col- the admission policy to allow free ad- ders, gopher tortoises,” says Stein-
lect data which is then uploaded onto mission for families showing finan- wald. “We have a real responsibil-
an online map that can be viewed cial need. The pontoon boat is now ity there, because that’s the type of
around the world. For example, col- run more regularly on weekends and nature people interact with at their
lected data can assist scientists to later in the day, a new Mack Whiting houses and they’re getting very lit-
monitor migration trends resulting Nature Playscape has opened, and tle education about how to care for
from climate change. an existing greenhouse is being rede- them.”
signed for outdoor programing.
“We don’t have that many scientists; For more information, visit discov-
that’s why we need people to help,” An Adventures in Learning lecture erelc.org. 

SUBLIME NEW ‘NUTCRACKER’
NAILS VERO VERISIMILITUDE

24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

Sublime new ‘Nutcracker’ nails Vero verisimilitude

BY MICHELLE GENZ inspired just filling Halsey’s gor- oval cutout of the lagoon framed Drosselmeyer is on his way to escort
Staff Writer geous designs. by mangroves. That drop and oth- them to Vero Beach. Played by Mat-
ers were created by Holly Porch, fa- thew Carter, ballet master of Ballet
Ballet Vero Beach’s all-new “Nut- It probably didn’t hurt that the 23 miliar to the Vero theater scene as a Nebraska and a longtime friend of
cracker on the Indian River” is a professional dancers, which Bal- graphic artist at Riverside Theatre. Schell’s, the mischievous, kid-loving
big-league production full of small- let Vero Beach shares with Omaha- Porch was contracted by Bungalow Drosselmeyer brings instant magic
town charm – Vero’s charm. This based Ballet Nebraska, was miss- Scenic Studios, an Orlando firm that to the family. He hustles them off to
may not be the first themed Nut- ing out on sub-zero temperatures created the sets. Grand Central Station, where we are
cracker to recast the famous story during Nutcracker’s two-day run in treated to a trio of spiffy lady por-
ballet’s plot for its hometown audi- Florida. But in the five years of per- The drop rises on a parlor on ters, and the mashup of travelers.
ence, but the idea that struck artis- formances here, I have never seen Christmas Eve 1919, with a family
tic director Adam Schnell – to have more joy emanate from the dancers. about to be invited on a train ride Then, as in all Nutcrackers, Marie
the creatures of Vero’s shoreline fill In that time, the company has also to Florida. It was around that time finally dozes with her Nutcracker,
little Marie’s dream world – was a grown noticeably more polished. that Vero was first being visited by bandaged after breaking on a wal-
brilliant one. If Schnell saw that coming, joining sun-seeking northerners descend- nut. The toy transforms to the living
forces with what was then his brand- ing on Henry Flagler’s Florida East breathing Nutcracker, the tall and
Even more brilliant was having new ballet company and Nebraska’s Coast Railway, the Brightline of its boyish Anders Southerland. Night-
costume designer Travis Halsey – nearly new one, then he was right to time. (Vero’s little train station, still mares of sword fights with nasty
Schnell’s old friend – design the cos- wait until now to give Vero this ma- standing on downtown’s 14th Ave- mice ensue (Ryan Christopher does
tumes. Halsey himself has joined jor production. nue, was built by Flagler in 1903. It’s a mean Mouse King, and a frisky
the ballet big leagues, designing worth a visit, maybe in tandem with bobcat, in the second act). Then the
for Miami City Ballet and New York Schnell sets his ballet in New next year’s Nutcracker.) victorious Nutcracker escorts Marie
City Ballet, among many others. I York, a century ago. The opening through more pleasant dreams of
couldn’t help but feel the cast was drop resembles a vintage postcard, The family’s ritual is interrupted snowy forests, a Sugar Plum Fairy, a
with a locomotive roaring past an by news that the eccentric Uncle

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 25

ARTS & THEATRE

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 Halsey also masterfully delivered the Arts, the late Samuel Kurkjian), tain audiences in preparation for a
two gopher tortoises in jersey-skirt- “Nutcracker on the Indian River” lo- lifetime of theatrical experiences,
growing Christmas tree and finally ed, amber-hued outfits, their al- calizes a classic with wit and origi- and to spawn a new generation of fu-
the shores of the mangrove-laden mond-eyed heads worn on the danc- nality while tapping the nostalgia ture ballet dancers. Few profession-
lagoon with dancing dolphins, ot- ers’ heads like fascinators at a royal that makes this ballet such a tradi- als will not have a Nutcracker role at
ters, manatees and bobcats. Not to wedding. tion. the bottom of their resume. Maybe
mention Carter’s marvelous Mother that’s the joy we saw on the dancers’
Mangrove, who appears to have tak- If lumbering is even possible Sadly, I had to miss seeing the chil- faces as they recollected the moment
en Flagler’s train to the end of the en pointe, Schnell wrought it out dren in this production. All 50 – yes, they were little mice and soldiers.
line – Key West. Before we know it, of dancers Erika Overturff, Bal- 50 – got the night off at the dress re-
Marie is awake, and heading for the let Nebraska’s founder, and Kelsey hearsal I saw (holiday Vero Beach And while you enter next year’s
real-life beach she saw in her dream. Schwenker, in the witty pas-de-deux 32963 deadlines precluded review- Nutcracker on your Google calendar,
with a twinge of hip-hop about the ing the opening night performance). consider tagging this Jan. 19-20 for
It’s a moment where I found my- hands. I loved it. I can only imagine how moving it another Ballet Vero Beach first, an
self reflecting – exactly as Schell and would be to see them, knowing the entire program featuring company
his key collaborator, the Indian Riv- In contrast, the elegant Sandhill excitement they each would expe- ballet master Camilo Rodriguez, in-
er Land Trust, hoped – on just how Cranes, danced by Katie van der rience. That is the dual function of cluding his now legendary tongue-
much affection I feel for Vero’s natu- Mars and Sasha York sporting jaunty Nutcrackers everywhere – to enter- in-beak version of “The Swan.” 
ral realm. red caps like the real birds, seemed
barely tethered to the stage as they
Schnell wrote in his program that moved as if on stilts. They bobbed
though he sometimes feels at odds and jumped as the real storks do
with the world around him, the mo- studding the county’s pasturelands.
ments of what he called “unabashed Again, Halsey’s costumes were
beauty” tend to occur in darkened breathtaking allusions to reality,
theaters and in nature. With this sheathing the dancers in shimmer-
program, he hopes to merge the two ing taupe with plumes of chiffon at
“magical realms.” the hips.

He did exactly that. If the creature characters were
I found one of the most magical delightful, the classical ballerinas
characters near the beginning: balle- were spectacular in Halsey’s lavish,
rina Bret Samson’s gleaming (slimy?) bejeweled and beflowered tutus.
alligator, transformed by Halsey’s Schnell nearly broke the bank on this
head-to-toe unitard printed in scaly permanent collection of costumes,
hide, her long machete of a tail swish- and when Tchaikovsky’s unforget-
ing behind her. Dancing with reptili- table score led Nutcracker veterans
an menace, Samson’s gator was aloof in the audience to envision the tradi-
and elegant, reigning with impunity tional choreography, Schnell served
over the lagoon’s lesser critters. up scene after gasp-worthy scene.

Snowflakes swirled down over a
dazzling 12-member corps de ballet
for the King and Queen of the Snow’s
pas de deux (another lovely Mars-
York pairing). And around Claire
Goodwillie’s Dew Drop hovered a
dozen Flowers, their tutus adorned
with lily pads. By the way, for the
first time, a Vero native was in that
corps de ballet: Katerina Schwietzer
has just joined Ballet Nebraska as a
trainee.

By retaining much of the original
Petipas choreography (Schnell also
credits the choreography of his for-
mer mentor at Walnut Hill School of

26 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 27

ARTS & THEATRE

Two residents of next island ready to ‘show’ they’ve got game

BY PAM HARBAUGH seth said. “To drive an hour or more, gether . . . all up and down A1A.” meeting to get the feel of the commu-
back and forth, just too onerous. This In order to gauge how residents nity. We had a dozen people.”
Correspondent way we could start our own and not
have to do the drive.” would receive this, they scheduled a They wanted to start off small, so
A dozen miles north of our barrier is- meeting at a local civic organization’s the women decided to find a couple of
land up A1A, a new community theater So before you could say “five min- clubhouse. short plays, no longer than 30 minutes
is about to stir to life this spring. utes,” the South Beach Players was each.
born. “But the hurricane came and scut-
It’s the South Beach Players and it’s tled the meeting,” Roberts said. “Then Mjoseth came up with “Lives of
the brainchild of South Melbourne “We feel like there really is a need for we set a date after the hurricane, put Great Waitresses,” in which playwright
Beach-area residents Jeannine Mjos- this,” Roberts said. out notices and started word of mouth Nina Shengold takes a glimpse into the
eth and Donna Roberts. that we would have an introductory
“It will bring the communities to- CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
Auditions for their first show will be
held Jan. 4. The show, two short plays,
is scheduled to run March 14 and 21 at
the historic Sebastian Beach Inn, now
called Coppolla’s Bar and Grille.

“We’re starting small but eventually
we hope the South Beach Players will
be to Melbourne Beach what the Cocoa
Village Playhouse is to Cocoa,” Mjoseth
said.

Although their enthusiasm bubbles
over when you talk with them about
their project, there’s no doubt they area
approaching this with some smarts,
thanks in part to their unusual friend-
ship:

At 6 foot 2 inches, Mjoseth is a former
professional lady wrestler who went
by the name of Mad Maxine. Roberts,
reaching to the height of just over 5
feet, is a former grade-school teacher
and children’s theater director.

The two women have been working
on this project since April when ser-
endipity brought them together. They
were at the beach in their small neigh-
borhood of Floridana, a quiet, unin-
corporated community on the barrier
island where a blinking yellow light
warns drivers along two-lane A1A to
slow down.

Mjoseth, 58, an outgoing woman
with ready humor, saw Roberts, 64,
wearing a hat with the logo of a theater
company called “Key Players.”

She knew that among an area of
7,000 citizens quickly approaching
AARP status, she had found a kindred
spirit. So Mjoseth approached Roberts
and ideas flowed.

They learned each other had relocat-
ed to Floridana Beach with their hus-
bands about the same time last year.
They realized immediately that they
were both extroverts and friendly. And,
most importantly perhaps, they adore
the theater and would love to partici-
pate.

However, the long drives to estab-
lished community theaters is so daunt-
ing that they don’t get to them that
much. They both want to get involved
with productions.

“I had just that morning looked at
websites for community theaters and
thought I’d like to be involved,” Mjo-

28 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 ARTS & THEATRE

divorce and a third is on a first Internet “It’s the extreme of theater, where Upper Keys) and done every aspect
date. everything is so broad,” she said. “And you could think of in theater. It was a
reading an audience, that is an essen- big part of my life for 25 years. So I re-
Without planning it, the plays both tial part of wrestling. You are building ally missed it. That’s another reason I
have similar set pieces and props. And, up an audience where they all have this just jumped on the bandwagon with
just as coincidentally, their first pro- group experience, like a crescendo. It’s Jeanine.”
duction is scheduled to run on a dining pretty powerful.”
room stage at Coppola’s Bar and Grille They’d like to get help from local
at the historic Sebastian Beach Inn. A million miles away, in the Florida playwrights and directors. They’re
So they don’t expect to have to put too Keys, Roberts was teaching the gifted also hoping that volunteers and staff at
much effort into getting tables, chairs, program at a K-8 school where she also established community theaters will
plates and other necessities for restau- directed children’s theater. give them advice.
rant scenes.
“I did not direct any adult shows,” “We want to learn what we can from
The next step they took was to hold a she said. “But I have been on stage, a people who have been at it for a while,”
50/50 raffle fundraiser at a community stage manager (for Key Players in the Mjoseth said. 
party.
Donna Roberts and Jeannine Mjoseth.
“We got a not-insignificant contri-
PHOTOS: GORDON RADFORD bution ($140) toward scripts and royal-
ties,” Roberts said.
lives of those waiting tables.
“I thought the dialogue was funny “The rest is coming out of our pock-
ets. We have faith that this will come to
and compelling,” Mjoseth said. fruition.”
Roberts came up with “Three Ta-
They’re also weighing the option of
bles.” having a Kickstarter campaign. Kick-
That play, written by Dan Remmes, starter is an online fundraising web-
site.
concerns three separate couples in a
restaurant. One couple is celebrating Both women plan to drawn on their
an anniversary, another is planning a backgrounds.

Mjoseth, who was born in Germany
to a U.S. military family, learned a lot
from Mad Maxine, which was part of
the old World Wrestling Federation.
Her last appearance in the ring was in
1986. Her first televised match was in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 29

ARTS & THEATRE

Coming Up: Emerson entertains with triple-header

at least some of the melody and/or Symphony Orchestra in British Co-
lyrics to “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” lumbia, Canada, and, from 2007 to
“Seventy Six Trombones,” “Some En- 2012, music director of the Southwest
chanted Evening” and “Impossible Florida Symphony. Joining the sym-
Dream,” to name a few? I’ll bet you phony on stage are sopranos Claire
can even name the shows these icon- Tendl and Beth Green, and baritones
ic numbers were in. Wielding the ba- Sean Christopher Stork and Shawn
ton as principal guest conductor will Jesseman. Show time is 3 p.m. Tickets
be Michael Hall, the newly appointed are $20; free for those 18 and under.
music director of the Prince George
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

1 Space Coast Symphony Orchestra present’s “Best of Broadway.”

BY SAMANTHA BAITA the “Best of Broadway” this Sunday
Staff Writer afternoon at the Emerson Center.
With unforgettable music from the
1 The Emerson Center appears Great White Way by such stellar com-
to be the unofficial Venue of posers and lyricists as Rodgers, Kern,
Hamlisch, Bernstein, Porter, Webber,
the Week, with several events on Hammerstein and Hart, you should
plan on doing a lot of humming un-
the calendar there: The wonderful der your breath. Who doesn’t know

Space Coast Symphony Orchestra

welcomes the brand-new year with

30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 ARTS & THEATRE

2 In what is sure to be an extremely songwriting and her songs have been
engaging and fascinating eve- interpreted by Bonnie Raitt, “Home”;
Wynonna Judd, “Tell Me Why”; and
ning – and likely a packed house – this Lynn Anderson, “Isn’t It Always Love.”
Ronstadt has recorded a number of
coming Thursday, the Emerson Cen- Bonoff’s songs, notably three tracks
on the 1976 album, “Hasten Down the
ter’s well-received Humanities Series Wind,” which introduced Bonoff to a
mass audience. The concert begins at
will present rancher, artist, poet and 7 p.m. Tickets are $35 to $75.

Waldo Sexton grandson Sean Sexton

on “Local Legends: The Sexton Fam-

ily.” The program is part of the Trea-

sure Coast History Festival, and the

intriguing format will be, says the

Emerson promo, a “fast-paced, free- 4 If you want to see “Finding
Neverland,” you’d better get your
wheeling roundtable discussion,” as

descendants of the legendary patri- wiggles on: the short run of Broadway.

arch Waldo Sexton share recollections 3 Livingston Taylor kicks off 4 “Finding Neverland” at the Kravis Center. com’s Audience Choice Award for Best
“LIVE! From Vero Beach.”
of their enigmatic, eccentric, visionary ries is focusing on the classic folk and Musical ends its short run at the Kra-
rock groups of the ’60s and forward,
grandfather “and the family whose and plans to bring in some country vis Center’ Dreyfoos Hall in West Palm
rock and bring back some audience fa-
name has become synonymous with ty’s growth. Admission is free and vorites as well. According to Wikipedia, this Sunday. The musical, based on the
seating is first come, first served, so singer/songwriter/folk musician Tay-
‘Vero Beach.’” Waldo Sexton, as much make a note-to-self to arrive early so as lor is the brother of James Taylor, and, Oscar-winning film, tells the backsto-
not to miss what is sure to be an unfor- as a matter of fact, all five siblings are
as any other, was responsible for the gettable evening with this legendary musicians/vocalists. Taylor’s noted for ry of one of the world’s most beloved
family. The program begins at 7 p.m. Billboard hits “I Will Be In Love With
unique character of our little town. The Treasure Coast History Festival You,” “First Time Love” and “I’ll Come characters – Peter Pan; how playwright
continues Jan. 13 in front of downtown Running”; has toured with such lumi-
Such landmarks as the McKee Botani- Fort Pierce’s Sunrise Theatre, with ac- naries as Linda Ronstadt, Jimmy Buf- J.M. Barry finds the courage to become
tivities throughout the day. fett and Jethro Tull; and still performs
cal Gardens, the Patio Restaurant, the more than 75 shows a year nationally the writer – and man – he yearns to be.
and internationally. Singer-songwrit-
Ocean Grill, the Driftwood Inn and er Bonoff is primarily known for her Barrie finds the inspiration he’s been

the Szechuan Palace Restaurant are missing when he meets the beautiful

among Waldo’s creations. In addition widow Sylvia and her four young sons:

to Sean Sexton, participating family Jack, George, Michael and Peter. The

members include Mark Tripson, Logan show website quotes Time magazine,

Tripson Geeslin, Jenz Tripson, Bonnie 3 The very next evening, Jan. 12, the describing the show as “A spirited,
professional concert series “LIVE!
Schwey, Randy Sexton and more, who tuneful, nimbly staged delight. One of

will reminisce about their family’s rich From Vero Beach” kicks off its fifth sea- the year’s Top Ten Best Shows.” Show

history and discuss the various cre- son at the Emerson Center with a pair times are Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2

ative paths they’ve taken in many as- of headliners, Livingston “Liv” Taylor p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, 2 p.m.

pects of Vero’s and Indian River Coun- and Karla Bonoff. This season, the se- Tickets start at $28. 



32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

When Andréa Grottoli peered at the gists a hint of hope that reefs will exist That’s a question that many coral gether, as diversity is seen as key to
corals growing in tanks on Hawaii’s long into the future, despite rapidly reef biologists are grappling with. As long-term resilience of an ecosystem.
Coconut Island earlier this month, she warming temperatures, rampant over- it becomes increasingly evident that
breathed a sigh of relief. Some still lived. fishing, and persistent ocean pollution. reefs of the future won’t continue to This tension isn’t limited to coral
contain their characteristic biodiver- reef science. Ecologists across fields
They all should have died. But a few surviving corals dominat- sity, scientists are forced weigh two of contemplate the same question: Is it
For the past two years, Professor ing a monochromatic reef isn’t the their highest values, biodiversity and possible to have ecosystem-wide re-
Grottoli and her colleagues had sub- same as a thriving reef. So is it an envi- ecosystem resilience, against each silience without biodiversity, and to
jected these corals to some truly harsh ronmental win if reefs persist but bio- other. But the two are also tangled to- maintain both when a system is bom-
conditions, the kind that climate mod- diversity is lost? barded with threats?
els suggest could become the new
normal by the end of the 21st century. Coral reefs thrive on three distinct
When she harvested them from reefs layers of diversity – and each has its
around the Hawaiian island of Oahu, own relationship to resilience. Reefs
Grottoli had hoped that some would support thousands of marine organ-
acclimate to the excessively warm and isms, from fish to marine worms to
acidic waters of the tank, but “there algae, and more. This splendid biodi-
was a real risk that they were all going versity is what captivates tourists and
to die after two years,” the Ohio State nature photographers from all over
University coral researcher says. the world. There are also hundreds of
Indeed, some of the corals had distinct species of coral globally. And
bleached under their new conditions. within each coral species there is also
But a couple held their characteristic thought to be broad genetic diversity.
color. The team still has to examine the
surviving corals in the laboratory to A rich diversity among any species is
see if and how they truly acclimated to thought to promote overall ecosystem
the new conditions, but “I’m glad they resilience. If one species in a diverse
didn’t all die,” Grottoli says. “I’m glad ecosystem is wiped out, there’s proba-
that we have survivors and we have a bly another species that can step in and
story of resilience.” perform the same ecological function.
The apparent resilience of even a few In the case of reefs, many coral species
specimens of coral offers marine biolo- can build the stony structure that other
animals call home. So as long as some
stony corals survive, so too can reefs.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ January 4, 2018 33

“The risk with low diversity, and conditions (on opposite sides of Classic evolutionary adaptation the DNA itself. Or perhaps an organ-
this is true in any ecosystem, is the globe, in this case), certain traits could be at play, as genetic traits that ism has particularly plastic traits
that if you have disease propagate will be favored differently within the are more advantageous in distinct that can be expressed differently in
through and everything is the same same coral species. This can happen environments could be selected for different environments, making it
species and it’s a disease that targets in a few different ways, says Rob- over a generation or two. Some sci- possible to adapt to a new habitat in
that species, you lose everything,” ert Toonen, a coral biologist at the entists are also investigating wheth- its lifetime. Better understanding the
Grottoli explains. “With low diver- Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology er there is some sort of epigenetic mechanisms at play could help coral
sity, you lose that ecosystem-level in Kaneohe and Grottoli’s collabora- mechanism at play, with heritable scientists better understand how
resilience” even if reefs still exist. tor in Hawaii. changes in gene function rather than well the world’s diverse reefs will sur-
vive into the next century.
Grottoli and others are on a mis-
sion to find so-called super-corals Diversity plays a key role with
that are particularly resilient to the all these mechanisms, particularly
extreme conditions predicted with when it comes to heritable genetics.
anthropogenic climate change.
“Genetic diversity within a species
Some of these super-corals are is basically fuel for adaptive evolu-
indeed quite “super.” In one of Grot- tion,” says Mikhail Matz, a coral ge-
toli’s experiments, she found some neticist at the University of Texas at
corals in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Austin. A broad variety of genetic mu-
northern Red Sea that can be heated tations provides more options for ad-
to 6 degrees C above their normal aptation in the face of changing envi-
summertime temperatures before ronmental pressures, he explains.
they release their symbiotic algae
and bleach. So if that genetic diversity exists,
adaptation can happen quite quickly,
But not every population of a even within a generation, thus add-
species is necessarily resilient. One ing resilience to the overall system.
of these super-coral species in the
northern Red Sea, Pocillopora dami- But there’s a catch. It takes a long
cornis, was also one of the species time to build up such diverse mu-
that Grottoli collected in Hawaii. tations in a population. With the
And the Hawaiian population died extreme selection pressures of ris-
in their tanks with just 2 degrees C of ing global temperatures, the weakly
warming. This distinction suggests adapted organisms will be selected
that something might be at play on out quickly, leaving a smaller popu-
a more minute level as well: adapta- lation made up of a significantly di-
tion to local conditions. minished pool of genetic diversity.
This will eventually create a bottle-
The idea is that under different neck of genetics, as a species or pop-

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 INSIGHT COVER STORY

ulation will have less variety to draw from and will A recent modeling study found that the lar-
therefore be less resilient. vae from a handful of small, healthy reefs could
be carried on ocean currents to replenish many
Dr. Matz likens it to saving money. “Right now dead or dying reefs across the Great Barrier Reef.
we have accumulated some genetic currency
which we can spend, but it will not last forever. “There is a capacity for recovery that we were
The income is slow, we cannot spend it too fast,” unaware of,” says Peter Mumby, a leader of that
he says. “The genetic diversity existing right study and a marine spatial ecologist at the Uni-
now is basically buying us some time to come to versity of Queensland in Australia.
our senses and stop global warming. If we don’t
do this, things will eventually collapse.” Despite such hopeful hints, we may have to
change how we think of reefs.
Still, some ecologists see a glimmer of hope: if
some reefs survive, they’ll be able to help others “All the world’s reefs aren’t going to be gone”
regenerate, too. in the next century, says John Bruno, a marine
ecologist at the University of North Carolina at

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 35

INSIGHT COVER STORY

Chapel Hill. “There’ll be high-latitude reefs, there’ll cease to exist,” he says. “I think that they will look crowds of diving and snorkeling tourists. But reefs
be reefs in places that just don’t warm for whatever very different, but I think that we will continue to also support coastal fisheries, and the stony struc-
reason, but there’ll be far, far fewer than what we’ve see corals and something that we can call a reef.” ture of reefs protect coastlines. A single species of
got right now, and they’ll be different.” stony coral, or even concrete, might still yield a sim-
Whether or not you see a reef as resilient without ilar effect in some cases, Toonen suggests.
As an ecosystem, whether or not you consider biodiversity will depend on how you define a reef,
coral reefs resilient may be somewhat of a mind- he says. Right now, the spectacular biodiversity that Professor Mumby agrees. “We will have to change
set, Toonen says. “I don’t believe that coral reefs will reefs support make them iconic and draw large our expectations of what reefs do for us.” 

36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

What Happened? Some New Year’s ruminations
BY RICHARD KERR
reality. Storm clouds were gathering. WHAT HAPPENED? It was a conflict of cultures and a pri-
The period between 1980 and 2000 In the late 1990s there were several mary reason for the British vote to leave
seemed a golden one for the United Were there a few critical events or choic- the European Union.
States and much of the world. major terrorist attacks on U.S. facili- es that threw a relatively peaceful and
ties overseas, but terrorism was new optimistic world into utter confusion? The problems were not limited to
The U.S. was riding high; the econ- and terrorists tended to be treated as the Middle East. Russia had become
omy prospered, the end of the Cold criminals who should be brought to the American hubris – overweening pride increasingly aggressive and in 2014 an-
War and the collapse of the Soviet em- court system for punishment. – was a factor, and the success of the nexed Crimea and initiated conflict in
pire were fast approaching, the war US military contributed. In the wars of Ukraine as it tried to recover its role as
with Iraq in Kuwait was successful and The attack on the Trade Center in choice – Grenada, Panama and Iraq – the a player on the world scene. The Rus-
“just.” New York on 11 September 2001 was U.S. found it relatively easy to win a war sians werebecoming even less tolerant
the beginning of an avalanche of dra- against against third world opponents. of criticism from their press.
Throughout the world there were matic and damaging events:
reasons for optimism: Winning the peace and establishing China was flexing new muscles – eco-
After thrashing the Iraqi army, US “democratic” governments that fit our nomic and political. It developed a very
The internet and cells phones were forces faced an increasingly effective model was more difficult. In both Iraq aggressive cyber program to steal U.S.
changing how we all communicated. counter insurgency in Iraq. and Afghanistan, the U.S. became occu- commercial secrets while erecting barri-
piers seen as Christians invading Islam- ers to free trade. It was also placing more
Democracy was on the rise in South Saddam Hussein, the primary en- ic lands – the Crusades all over again. and more limits on public freedoms.
America emy of Iran, had been removed giving
Iran a free hand in the area. The U.S. also was the “evil” capital- Fukuyama’s thesis about the move to-
China seemed to be moving toward ist power, exploiting the undeveloped ward liberalism seems as wrong as the
being a responsible member of the The U.S. presence in Afghanistan, world. Terrorism and what became faith in Western liberalism. It was easier
world community. originally intended as a short term war known as “asymmetric warfare” result- to buy into Samuel Huntington’s view
against Terrorists, became an endless ed in heavy U.S. casualties and was far that civilizations are different from each
Russia was not a threat, lurching to- battle with the Taliban. more difficult to deal with than fighting other by history, language, tradition,
ward becoming a third world country. conventional armies. and most important religion. Attempts
The early beginning of the Islamic to impose the values of one civilization
The scourge of malaria in Africa was State went largely unnoticed in 2003 The U.S. did not cause the unrest on another seem doomed to failure.
being eliminated. and 2004. across the Middle East although it en-
couraged the revolt against Gaddafi in Huntington’s comment that drink-
Europe was prospering and moving The U.S. was overwhelmed by an Libya. Social unrest in that area was ing Coca Cola does not make a Russian
toward a single, unified community. economic meltdown during the last the result of generations of poor lead- any more western than eating sushi
year of Bush 43’s presidency. ership in country after country. People makes an American Japanese seems
Even the Arab-Israeli problem felt powerless and at the mercy of their particularly relevant.
seemed headed toward resolution. Internationally the world was in cri- leaders. Capitalism was seen as an evil.
sis beginning with the Arab Spring in Maybe there were different ways to
The ten year war between Iraq and 2010. The internet provided the enabler; govern. Maybe Western liberalism did
Iran had ended. it allowed a small leadership group to not fit all. Maybe there was room for reli-
First the Syrian uprising in 2011, the mobilize crowds at will, organize pro- gions that do not accept Christian values.
Historians and philosophers pos- fall of Mubarak and rise of the Muslim tests and respond to the actions of
ited that civilization was moving in Brotherhood in Egypt. authorities. The flow of refugees from Kerr, a resident of the barrier island
the right direction; toward democracy, war torn areas in Iraq, Syria and Libya and former deputy director of the Central
liberalism and social justice. Other cul- Riots in Iran were harshly repressed. led to significant unrest in many Euro- Intelligence Agency, periodically writes a
tures were becoming essentially like A new State of Islamic fundamen- pean countries. Immigration from the column for 32963 on national security
the West, like the U.S. talists began to control a large area of Middle East became a primary source and international affairs. The views of
Iraq. of problems across Europe; guest columnists do not necessarily re-
Professor Fukuyama wrote about the Iran and Russia became major play- flect the views of Vero Beach 32963. 
“end of history,” a renaissance during ers supporting Assad in Syria.
which mankind was getting “better” North Korea developed nuclear
each year. In the U.S. there was discus- weapons and was working on delivery
sion of a “Pax Americana.” American systems.
values would dominate the world for
the foreseeable future.

Of course this nirvana was never a

HEALTHCARE’S RAPIDLY MERGING Many stand-alone community hospitals which most advanced technology and state-of-the- © 2018 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved
ENVIRONMENT, Part III have worked hard to remain independent are art equipment.
now seeking affiliations, collaborations and/or
Why would a financially-stable, independent, partnerships with bigger organizations. ELEMENTS A COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
not-for-profit hospital consider partnering with LOOKS FOR IN A POTENTIAL PARTNER
a larger healthcare system? REASONS A STAND-ALONE HOSPITAL
WOULD WANT TO JOIN A BIGGER Hospital leaders look for an organization that
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ORGANIZATION will ensure the hospital sustains a strong finan-
cial position over the years to come. The merg-
 The United States spends about 18 percent Reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid er should help the hospital grow, strengthen
of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health- and other insurers plus healthcare reform are its clinical quality and enhance its ability to
care; that’s far higher than the rest of the world driving the way healthcare is delivered. To recruit and retain high-quality physicians. The
and economically unsustainable. survive and thrive today and into the future, new network needs to be able to increase effi-
 The quality of healthcare in America is good healthcare providers will need to transition ciency and promote a positive internal culture
but lags behind a number of other countries. from “fee for service” reimbursement to “fee that helps the hospital stay or become the lo-
 To lower costs and increase quality, the basic for value” based on quality outcomes. While cal employer of choice.
model of U.S. healthcare is changing to what is population health management, which focus-
called value-based healthcare. es on keeping people well and treating peo- A very important aspect of joining a larger cor-
 This new value-based model called popula- ple efficiently with high quality, is a positive poration will be increased IT (information tech-
tion health management requires providers to move, most stand-alone hospitals will be at nology) capabilities. The electronic medical re-
become responsible for all the care needs of a serious financial risk since they won’t have a cord (EMR) will become an essential component
large population, and reimburses hospitals with large enough population to be able to spread of value-based reimbursement. It is imperative
a lump sum (that’s adjusted, up or down, based the risk. The lump sum they receive for their for hospitals to be a part of a system of elec-
on quality outcomes). This presents a substan- local population will not cover costs if too tronic record-keeping, ordering and communi-
tial financial risk for providers if many of their many patients need extended, costly care. cations that is continuously updated, expanded,
patients require extensive, expensive care. safe and secure. 
 To lower financial risk, hospitals need to Another significant catalyst to join a larger
spread that risk by drawing on a large enough network is to gain financial resources to build Your comments and suggestions for future topics are
pool of patients, which a partner can provide. or update facilities and stay current with the always welcome. Email us at [email protected].

38 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

Here is a book that will burn your nostrils and mobilized to aid the war effort. Twenty-thousand cinating spectrum of this war effort, an undertold
make your throat close. Its main characters are as- pounds of phosgene, a choking gas, were produced story in a nation more fluent in the heroics and hor-
phyxiants and vesicants – mustard gas, chlorine and daily in Niagara Falls, N.Y. In Gunpowder Neck on rors of World War II. Emery’s reporting is vast and
other chemicals deployed in World War I – and au- the Chesapeake Bay, shells were filled with chemicals meticulous, and his storytelling is focused and clean.
thor Theo Emery describes in vivid, bronchial lan- before being shipped across the Atlantic. Lewisite, a He gathered a wealth of materials, including Higgin-
guage how they sowed agony through the fields and blistering agent, was made in Willoughby, Ohio. Heli- bottom’s detail-rich diaries and letters, which put the
forests of Europe, and how they afflicted soldiers, sci- um came from Texas, cyanide from Tennessee, mus- reader in the muddy trenches as thousands of shells
entists and innocent bystanders on the home front. tard from Rhode Island, gas masks from Long Island. fly through the sky.
Another kind of agent is at play here, too, and it’s as
insidious as any poison fog: the bureaucracy that en- This enterprise was possible only through the bu- “When he reached the billet,” Emery writes, Hig-
sured that the United States, late to the war, throttled reaucratization and industrialization of pain and gie “was finally able to slow down and ponder what
its way to chemical supremacy, damn the cost, risk death. “Hellfire Boys” shows how the United States, had happened in that moment of pure silence just
and moral peril. Emery’s “Hellfire Boys: The Birth of and the world, brought scientific sophistication and before he pushed down the plunger on the detona-
the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service and the Race for mechanical efficiency to the barbarism of war. Emery tor. When the projectors roared and sent six hundred
the World’s Deadliest Weapons” may lack suspense, toggles among appropriators in the halls of Congress, pounds of gas at the Germans, he felt he was in the
but it brims with shock and surprise. chemists on noxious proving grounds, and shivering war at last.”
soldiers in Flanders Fields who had to fight with and
A century has passed since the United States en- defend against new and frightening weapons. The Back in Washington, Fries told Congress that chem-
tered the Great War – the last surviving veteran died in book overflows with characters, and Emery wisely ical warfare “is the most humane” kind of combat but
2012 – and there has been enough ensuing horror on provides a dramatis personae at the start of the book. then lobbied on behalf of its ghastliness: “If we could
the battlefield to bury its particulars in the collective Two individuals stick out: Harold “Higgie” Higginbot- make war so terrible that there would not be any
memory. The atomic bomb, a generation later, multi- tom, a 21-year-old chemist and early recruit to the chance for it to last more than five or ten minutes,
plied the horror of combat by a million. Vietnam be- First Gas Regiment, and Amos A. Fries, an engineer then they would stop all wars.” Emery, in a rare but ju-
came shorthand for military folly scented with napalm who became chief of the Army’s nascent gas forces dicious editorial aside, notes the absurdity and “con-
and Agent Orange. Over the past few years, the regime and a cheerleader for chemical warfare. voluted logic” of a man beholden to industry above
of Bashar al-Assad has practiced the dark sorcery of humanity.
sarin gas and chlorine barrel bombs, which were “the These men, a grunt on the front lines and a savvy
original chemical weapon of the twentieth century,” as bureaucrat in the halls of power, embody the fas- Chemists helped to make war terrible in new ways,
Emery calls it, first used in 1915 in Belgium. but these ways were not terrible enough to stop it.
“Hellfire Boys” is the story of a Rubicon crossed, a Pan-
Though squarely a crackling history, “Hellfire dora’s box opened. The United States, goaded by its
Boys” is also a relevant primer on the past 100 years foes, flouted conscience and the conventions of war
and on a kind of total warmaking that continues to to ensure victory and achieve peace. This Faustian
haunt us – sometimes from another hemisphere, bargain, Emery writes, was prologue to the next world
sometimes in our own back yard. war; the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service was a dry run
for the Manhattan Project 15 years later, when physi-
Emery’s introduction opens on Spring Valley, a cists took the baton on innovating weaponry. In a
leafy upper-class neighborhood abutting the cam- world where whole towns had already been poisoned
pus of American University in Northwest Washing- by “the devil’s perfume,” the notion of incinerating a
ton. There, in 1993, the U.S. military disinterred 144 city seemed like just another scientific pursuit, just an-
pieces of World War I-era munitions, including un- other do-or-die tactic for securing victory and achiev-
exploded mortar rounds: the remains of the govern- ing a more complicated and precarious peace. 
ment’s chemical effort to fight fire with fire against
the Germans. With the university’s permission, the HELLFIRE BOYS
area had been used as a giant laboratory to make and
test some of mankind’s nastiest concoctions. The Birth of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service

“Hellfire Boys” is a story of collaboration, of and the Race for the World’s Deadliest Weapons
public-private partnership, of a marriage between
science and industry. Many corners of the country BY THEO EMERY | LITTLE, BROWN. 535 PP. $29
REVIEW BY DAN ZAK, THE WASHINGTON POST

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 39

INSIGHT ON FAITH

For 2018, maybe we all need an attitude adjustment

BY REV. DRS. CASEY & BOB BAGGOTT and even hopeless. Hurricanes did their triguingly about the power of atti- everyday regarding the attitude we will
Columnists worst, wild fires raged, deranged shoot- tude. He claims, “Attitude, to me, is embrace for that day... I am convinced
ers killed without reason or remorse in more important than facts. It is more that life is 10% what happens to me
Sometime back in the 1980’s rhythm Las Vegas and Colorado and Texas, and important than the past, than educa- and 90% of how I react to it.”
and blues singer, Patti LaBelle, recorded a terrorist truck driver mowed down in- tion, than money, than circumstances,
a hit single on MCA Records called “New nocent people in New York City. Wars than failure, than successes, than what True, our attitude may not extin-
Attitude.” It shot up the charts and found are still waged, poverty stunts oppor- other people think or say or do… The guish forest fires, change the path of a
its way into many film and television tunity, domestic violence is rampant, remarkable thing is we have a choice hurricane, unveil the cure for cancer,
scores. The song is a tribute to the pos- around 10,000 children die of starva- or soothe the violence that lurks in
sibility of change, from the inside out. tion in our world every single day, and many human hearts. But then again,
With joyful gusto, Ms. LaBelle’s lyrics an- despite the best efforts of researchers, where else do we begin to work for the
nounce, “I'm feeling good from my hat disease carries away those we love. changes that will make our world a safe
to my shoe, Know where I’m goin’ and I and joyful place for ourselves and our
know what to do, I've tidied up my point Considering the world’s track record children? Didn’t every fresh idea that
of view, I've got a new attitude.” for heartbreak, the outlook for 2018, blossomed into reality, and every em-
many would say, is bleak. But with a new powering dream for a better way start
That classic tribute to the possibility year packed with three hundred and six- with someone’s hope-filled attitude?
for an attitude readjustment that reori- ty-five days of possibility before us, we’re
ents all of life came to mind recently. not willing to succumb to that fatalism God’s faithful people are encour-
You see, we’ve been considering the ne- just yet. Maybe we need a new attitude. aged repeatedly to consider the at-
cessity of getting our own new attitude. titudes with which they engage the
The host of tragedies our nation and Rev. Charles R. Swindoll wrote in- world around them. The Bible tells us
our world underwent in 2017 threatens over and over again to be not afraid, to
to leave us feeling deeply discouraged be courageous, to be of good cheer, to
be at peace, and to trust in God. God’s
people are focused, positive people.

What might change for us all if we
underwent an attitude adjustment
this year? Maybe change really could
happen from the inside out. We’re
hopeful. 

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42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT TRAVEL

THE BEST travel experiences of- VISIT JORDAN AND TRAVEL DEEPLYYOU’VE TRAVELED WIDELY? BY JOHN OWENS | TRAVEL COLUMNIST

ten happen far from the tourist-clogged tors rent cars and drive freely around isn’t especially menacing. The country the regional troubles, and now it seems
monuments, museums and palaces the country. Even in border towns is welcoming. Perhaps the most wel- every Jordanian is a goodwill ambassa-
that are the globe’s boldface names. such as Umm Qays there are only a few coming place I’ve ever been. Tourism dor. In Amman, people leaned out of the
Rather, the most memorable times are checkpoints and the military presence has been off in recent years because of windows of their cars, shouting “Wel-
the authentic adventures we find while
exploring the smaller dots on the map.

A great example of this was my re-
cent visit to Umm Qays, Jordan. This
hilltop village, with its Roman-era ru-
ins and phenomenal views across the
border to Israel, Syria, the West Bank
and the Sea of Galilee, lies 70 miles
north of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Car-
tographers might see it as a tiny blip,
but the village’s welcome was indeed
large, and I met the people and expe-
rienced everyday life in a way that typi-
cal tourists never do.

“Wait!” you say. “Jordan?! That’s in
the constantly-in-crisis Middle East!”

Yes, there are very serious troubles
in the region, and this past July, the
U.S. Department of State issued a trav-
el warning for Jordan due to terrorist
threats. But in 10 days there this past
October, I never felt unsafe and the resi-
dents didn’t seem at all on edge. Jordan’s
west side, which borders Israel and the
West Bank, is where virtually all Jordani-
ans live and contains all the places you
would want to visit. I found the atmo-
sphere in Jordan, from north to south,
downright mellow. Many Western visi-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 43

INSIGHT TRAVEL

come to Jordan.” Children on the street south to Feynan Ecolodge (ecohotels.  Petra, the ancient city carved out of Marriott (marriott.com), rooms are just
cheered “Hello! Hello! Hello!” – seem- me/Feynan). Built on the site of an an- limestone mountains more than 2,000 over $100 a night.
ingly the only English they knew. In one cient copper mine, the lodge is reached years ago by the Nabataeans, a lost  Bethany Beyond the Jordan is re-
village, an old man got up from drinking only by 4x4 over a rugged, dusty path. Arab civilization, is itself worth a trip garded as where Jesus was baptized
tea with friends on the sidewalk, and Built in 2005 to introduce travelers to from the States. by John the Baptist. This spot on the
crossed the street to shake my hand. the area’s people and history while  Wadi Rum, the beautiful, red-sand Jordanian side of the Jordan River has
having little impact on the environ- rockscape of Lawrence of Arabia, has only recently been excavated. As on
It’s this kind of close-to-the-people ment, the lodge is solar-powered, and numerous tent camps with restau- the Israeli side of the 30-foot-wide riv-
travel that’s behind a project called its 26 rooms are lit only by candles af- rants and en tent facilities so you can er, Christian pilgrims are baptized in
Baraka Destinations (www.barakades- ter sunset. It’s an enchanting experi- be ready early enough to ride a camel these waters.
tinations.com). Working with villagers ence, especially if you packed a flash- to the sunrise.
in Umm Qays, this group opened a B&B light. Figure $220 a day for two people,  The Dead Sea is fun.The super-salin- While these bold-faced sites are high
in a charming old cottage on a hillside including room, meals and activities, ity of the water makes you as buoyant on the list of anyone visiting Jordan,
in the heart of town. Here, you hear not such as visits to Bedouin families. as a beachball, and slathering its black the warmest and most vivid memo-
only the mosque’s call to prayer, but mud all over your body is therapeutic ries will come from getting close to the
also neighborhood roosters. This four- I joined guide Suleiman Hasaseen, in many ways. The resorts are luxurious people. 
bedroom inn – which is rare for Jordan who led a group to his family’s camp, and inexpensive. For instance, at the
where hotels are the norm – has all the where they tend to more than 100 For details on Jordan travel, go to
www.visitjordan.com.

2018

A 10-year-old camel The Treasury at Petra
wrangler at Wadi Rum
Travel Expo

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inspection of the honey-making pro- we visited his neighbors, where a man Cunard Line Ama Waterways
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Kitchen in her home and serves meals While traditional Bedouin tents are **Space is limited for presentations**
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To get close to nature, as well as the stay out of the icy wind.
local Bedouins, I traveled 170 miles
Of course, Jordan has much more to
offer than just out-of-the-way expe-
riences. There are, in fact, numerous
bucket-list-caliber sites:

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT ST. EDWARD’S

Cincy hoopsters swoop in to take St. Ed’s tourney

BY RON HOLUB Left: Blake Adkins scores for Cincinnati
Correspondent Country Day School. Right: Trey Smith
gets double-teamed by Elyjah Washington
Cincinnati Country Day School cap- and Najee Leon.
tured the championship of St. Ed’s sec- PHOTOS BY DENISE RITCHIE
ond annual D5 Alive Holiday Tourna-
ment this past Saturday night by holding That warm sun disappeared after a
Port St. Lucie to eight second-half points day or two and gave way to chilly, over-
in a 48-35 win. The title showcase fea- cast conditions. Still, the stark contrast
tured the survivors of an eight-team field to what was going on up north was
and concluded an entertaining three- thoroughly baked in. Two CCDS players
day event. Fans were served up fast- were nevertheless undeterred about the
paced, frenetic basketball throughout cooldown and decided to heat things up
and some of the players were probably on the hardwood.
nursing floor burns into the New Year.
Senior co-captains Trey Smith and
The hosts defeated Community Chris- Blake Adkins came to town with 20-plus
tian, 59-47, in the opening round. The point-per-game scoring averages. They
Pirates couldn’t keep up with Port St. Lu- were both over 20 in a 60-56 semifinal
cie in round two and were dispatched to win over scrappy Centennial.
consolation status following a 63-27 de-
feat. Centennial claimed third place by “It was a long car ride, but this was the
easing past St. Ed’s, 52-35. chance of a lifetime,” Smith said. “I woke
up on Christmas morning and it was 6
“This was a great event,” Pirates head degrees with 2 inches of snow outside.
coach Greg Zugrave said. “We couldn’t be Stepping out of the car here it was 80 de-
more excited that the D5 Alive Founda- grees. Not having to wear anything on
tion is able to raise awareness about the your legs and arms was awesome.
rare form of kidney cancer that took the
life of (St. Ed’s graduate) Darell Flowers. “Basketball has been a great ride and
This gives us a great opportunity and this is my best year ever. To be able to
bond with your teammates on a trip like
venue to do that. It’s a great experience this is just such a fun thing to do. I’m glad
for the whole community. we got to do it for such a great cause.”

“We had some talented teams in here. Smith lauded his teammate Blake Ad-
Having a team come down from Ohio kins as “a ridiculous player, a ridiculous
added a lot of enthusiasm and excite- athlete, and one of the best I’ve seen.”
ment to the tournament. We try to bring Adkins is destined to play basketball in
in schools from outside the area and had college. Smith has college baseball in his
a nice balance from the immediate area future. On the court Smith reminded ob-
and across the state. The tournament servers of Larry Bird, a scorer ready to do
was competitive and we saw a high level any required dirty work. Adkins is a silky
of play.” smooth swingman with a nice floater
from the outside.
By running the table, the talented vic-
tors returned to Ohio with a record of “This has been a great opportunity for
8-1. Back home after a nearly 2,000-mile team bonding and of course supporting
round-trip trek from the Queen City, the the D5 Alive tournament,” said Adkins.
reminiscences about the visit to Florida “When I heard it was about 10 degrees
will not only be about winning basketball in Ohio, I thought, wow, I can roll down
games.The timing of the journey couldn’t the windows here. It’s just amazing. I love
have been better as an arctic deep freeze it down here. We had fun and it was for a
engulfed the northern tier of states. great cause. I’m glad we came here and
this trip will also make us a better team.”
“I saw the tournament listed on the
FHSAA website and we try to give our Smith had 21 and Adkins contributed
team an experience somewhere nice 16 more in the finale. The CCDS Indians
with warm weather about every two appeared to enjoy what they witnessed
years,” CCDS head coach Greg Ross told off the court as well as what they accom-
us. “We played in a holiday tournament plished on it. 
at St. Edward’s in 2004 and really enjoyed
it down here.

“We brought down 11 varsity players
and a lot of these guys were just happy to
see palm trees. The kids were also excited
about the ocean. Greg (Zugrave) set us
up with a boat ride on the Indian River
where we hoped to see manatees and
dolphins (no report on success). So we
did different things, but mostly we really
enjoyed the nice warm Florida sun.”

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 45

TRY TO MAXIMIZE YOUR CHANCES INSIGHT BRIDGE

NORTH

94

AQJ7

Mark Twain claimed: “Necessity is the mother of taking chances.” J 10 6

We have chances in bridge: for example, the chance that the contract will make. With AJ53
finesses, what are the chances that one, or one out of two, or one out of three will
work? WEST EAST
K 10 6 5
In today’s deal South has finesses available in all three side suits. However, because 93 J8732
he is in a small slam, he cannot afford to take two that lose. How should he play in six K742
hearts after West leads a trump, and East follows suit? 10 8 7 6

The bidding followed a modern path. Two no-trump was the Jacoby Forcing Raise, 9853
guaranteeing game-going values with at least four-card heart support. Four no-trump
was Roman Key Card Blackwood. North’s reply showed the trump queen and two key Q96
cards (two aces, or one ace and the trump king). Five no-trump announced that all six
key cards (four aces, the trump king and trump queen) were held and that South was SOUTH
thinking about a grand slam. Six hearts denied a side-suit king.
AQ
Declarer drew trumps ending on the board, then played a diamond to his queen. Sadly,
it lost, and a diamond came back. Now South needed to maximize his chances in the K 10 8 5 4 2
black suits. He won with his diamond ace, cashed the club king, played a club to the
ace, discarded his last club on the diamond jack and ruffed a club. Here, the queen AQ
appeared to establish dummy’s jack, so the contract was home. But if the queen had
not been seen, declarer would have crossed to dummy with a trump and tried the spade K42
finesse.
Dealer: South; Vulnerable: Neither
The percentages on those finesses are basically 50, 75 and 87.5.
The Bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
1 Hearts Pass 2 NT Pass
4 NT Pass 5 Spades Pass LEAD:
5 NT Pass 6 Hearts All Pass 3 Hearts

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46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (DECEMBER 28) ON PAGE 66

ACROSS DOWN
1 For each (3) 1 Gusts (5)
3 Meadow (3) 2 Most wealthy (7)
5 Ways of walking (5) 3 Mislay (4)
8 Concentrate (5) 4 Astonished (6)
9 Missed (7) 5 Wonderful (8)
10 Appear (4) 6 Asian country (5)
11 Their age (anag.) (8) 7 Misery (7)
13 Thespians (6) 12 Shields (8)
14 Spurts (6) 13 Beasts (7)
17 Recognise (8) 15 Coast (7)
19 Numerical facts (4) 16 Assume (6)
22 Piece (7) 18 Go in (5)
23 Offence (5) 20 Vigilant (5)
24 Types (5) 21 )Blemish (4)
25 Hill (3)
The Telegraph 26 Consume (3)

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 47

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS Dolly tableau 65 Last box on a The Washington Post
Wright 127 “Wine-dark” questionnaire
1 Hsydrogen ___ 65 Canadian prov. WE INTERRUPTS THIS PROGRAM By Merl Reagle
(gas that smells 66 Sinking signal places 68 Mirror-breaker’s
like rotten eggs) 67 Interrupted show 128 Some grains bad-luck span,
about prune- 129 Lives briefly
8 Flop loving private
12 Florence sits on it eyes? DOWN 69 A concrete
16 Something to 72 Detour abbr. 1 Bait-and-switch, amount
75 “You betcha”
stand on 76 Letterman’s time e.g. 70 Crusades crusher
19 Beaver’s last 77 Hawaiian tuna 2 Arm bone 71 Part of a circle’s
78 Supermodel who 3 Interrupted actor
name wed area
20 Soprano’s David Bowie in who’d been sitting 72 Demetrius’s
1992 around too
neighbor 82 Awakened, in a long anyway? workplace
21 Turn sharply way 4 Clan: abbr. 73 Slot machine fruit
22 Resident of San 84 Bust bottom 5 A paler shade of 74 Classic Ford,
85 Frankenstein white
Simian? neck feature 6 Don’t mention it, familiarly
23 Cup-shaped 87 Jannings and in Durango 79 Interrupted show
Gilels 7 Previously,
flower 88 With 96 Across, to the Bard about lawn-care
24 Interrupted film the other 8 Diet restrictions crimefighters?
Tammany Hall 9 Skin cream herb 80 ___ of one’s own
about Southern scandal? 10 Pianist José medicine
farmers? 90 “Too much!” 11 Attach firmly 81 Salamanders
27 Military or music 91 Opposite of sud 12 Mary Kay rival 83 “That ___
abbr. 92 Golfer Hogan 13 Boxer separator religion”
28 Made tracks 93 Auction gesture 14 Starting-over goal 84 See 59 Down
29 Pianist Rudolf 94 Ark of the 15 Maker of Tater 85 Sierra Club sci.
30 Whitman’s Covenant, e.g. Tots 86 Baby’s need, for
dooryard 96 See 88 Across 16 Aa or pahoehoe short
bloomers 103 Oft-dedicated 17 Roots was one 88 Word in a Joe
31 Half-wild, poetry 18 Hair goos McCarthy
half-domesticated 104 ___-Contra 25 Guesser’s plea question
canine 105 Jousting title? 26 Tin is one 89 Biol. blueprint
34 Gide’s good 106 Muscadet wine 32 Ring cheer 92 Pet
35 Conceal city 33 Bask successfully 95 Weed yanker
36 A step ahead of 108 A Musketeer 35 A living nightmare 97 Watch sites
the MPs 111 Take to a higher 36 Incendiary crime 98 Some snakes
38 Interrupted blue- authority 37 “___ not amused” 99 Dog in old RCA
collar spinoff of 114 Sizable: abbr. 39 Heaps logos
Dallas? 115 Geometry proof 40 Luau accessory 100 Gorgeous, to a
45 Rise up abbr. 41 Linden and girl
47 Darned spot 118 Interrupted series Roach 101 More subdued
48 Barrister’s quaff about a cramped 42 Casablanca role 102 V-8, for one
49 Mr. Kazan flying saucer? and namesakes 107 Gray’s Anatomy
50 Laid orbs on 120 Blend 43 Mislead et al.
51 Interrupted 122 Parent co. intentionally 108 Baksheesh
aerobics-show of Universal 44 Elihu and Linus 109 Top 40 format
theme? Pictures 46 ’60s mindbender 110 Fired, as a
57 Photographer 123 Glass coloration 52 Go downhill torpedo
Adams 124 Anarchist 53 Settle 111 Mound dwellers
58 Oligocene critters Goldman 54 “A big fat hen” 112 Pinnacle
(literally, “toothed 125 Hop on an iron preceder 113 Poetic pastures
mountain horse 55 Recipient 116 City or canal
dwellers”) 126 Astronomer’s 56 Unseat 117 Hibernation
60 Last gasps for 57 Italian wine city stations
gamblers 59 JFK’s spy hero 119 ___ big way
61 Plutocrat’s digs 61 Caruso or Fermi 121 Angle or cycle
62 Mount that Moses 64 ___ Teen-age preceder
climbed Werewolf
63 Recommended
amt.
64 Dew Drop and

The Telegraph

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Little things starting to ruffle lovebirds’ feathers

BY CAROLYN HAX every new couple does “back in the time,” when
Washington Post they first figure out they’re nuts about each other.
They minimize the flaws, dismiss them as small
Hi, Carolyn: My husband prices to pay.
and I met in college and have
been married now for six Evoke that forgiving climate, and restore it by
years. I love him and can’t example. Choose not to say something harsh, con-
imagine living my life with- sciously, even if it means you “lose” the battle at
out him. The problem is that hand. Choose to say, “I’m sorry for snapping at
we are taking each other for you.” Be warm again, be vulnerable again, count
granted and becoming in- to 20 and wait.
creasingly harsh with the words we say. It’s the tiny
things that set us on edge these days. I know we are Hi, Carolyn: A couple of years ago, I was in a re-
toughest on those we love the most because we ex-
pect so much from them. How do I begin to love my lationship for a couple of months that didn’t end
husband the way he deserves to be loved, and bring
us back to the time when we were always there for very well. It was going OK, but I decided she just
each other?
wasn’t right for me. I’ve never been good with talk-
– College Sweetie
ing about issues like that, or anything emotional,
College Sweetie: Stop expecting so much from
him. And take the cliche about being toughest on so I simply stopped calling and spoke with her on-
those we love most and give it the porcelain swirl.
line less and less. I never gave her an explanation,
The people we love deserve our lightest touch,
and that means expecting him to be, allowing him and I still feel guilty about that. Would it be ap-
to be and loving him for nothing more than him-
self. And it means expecting the same forgiveness propriate to send an email about how I’m feeling;
from him. It’s the only thing any of us can reason-
ably, and justly, expect of anyone. write a letter; call?

That’s the philosophical angle, at least. The moan. You left the cap off the toothpaste, you’re – Conflicted
practical one will probably serve you better: Ex- late again, that chicken suit isn’t amusing.
pect him to be the perfect housemate, and every Conflicted: I’d just ignore your question, but I
day he’ll give you a day full of “tiny things” to be- Accepting him as is, on the other hand, releas- crave closure.
es you from having to pick at him every time he
disappoints you, because he’ll stop disappointing The rule on out-of-the-blue apologies is that you
you; you’ll simply expect that he’s always 10 min- should only undertake one if it’s to ease her pain,
utes late and the toothpaste will never be capped. not appease your guilt.
All you have to do is remind yourself you love the
person who has the good traits that happen to The other rule is, no one ever has any idea how
come with the bad ones. the other person feels.

Bad ones that didn’t always bother you so much, So, do it. Good practice. Plus, it’s a kind gesture;
right? Not coincidentally, that’s something almost even if the gesture fails, the kindness still counts.
And email sounds fine to me. 



50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 4, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Waking up to the new high blood pressure guidelines

BY TOM LLOYD Dr. Cassie Jones. In November, however, “normal” blood pressure, medications are actu-
Staff Writer systolic blood pressure for most peo- ally not recommended; rather, a long
PHOTOS BY DENISE RITCHIE ple suddenly plunged to between 130 list of evidence-based, non-drug in-
Most Americans went to bed on and 120. terventions are.
a recent Sunday night in November For years, the target for systolic
thinking their blood pressure was blood pressure – the first of the two “Now they’re saying ‘we want peo- “What are these interventions?
normal. numbers used – was 140. In 2013, that ple no greater than 140 over 90,’” says A diet high in fruits and vegetables
target was “relaxed” to 150 for patients Jones. “We really want you at 130 over (such as the DASH diet which is natu-
By that Monday morning, howev- over the age of 60. 80, and if you can do 120 over 80 that’s rally high in potassium); decreased
er, tens of millions of them suddenly even better.” salt and bad fats; more activity; weight
found themselves catapulted into the loss if one is overweight or obese; and
“high blood pressure” or hypertensive Since high blood pressure is second no more than two alcoholic drinks per
category. only to smoking as a preventable cause day for men, and one for women” – all
of heart attacks and strokes, the new things that really work.
In essence, the American Heart As- guidelines – based on a huge 2015 study
sociation, the American College of first published in the New England (For more information on the DASH
Cardiology and the National Joint Journal of Medicine – were splashed diet, see dashdiet.org.)
Committee on Prevention, Detection, across the headlines and TV news.
Evaluation and Treatment of High It’s then that Jones broaches a topic
Blood Pressure moved the goal posts But what may have gone unnoticed rarely heard in heart health conversa-
overnight. is the fact that the study’s recommen- tions: dementia.
dations for lowering blood pressure
As that Monday morning dawned, do not revolve around more medica- “We’re not really paying attention
almost half of all U.S. adults and a tion or higher doses of statins like Lip- to the dementia that’s related with
whopping 80 percent of those 65 and itor or Crestor. statins,” says Jones, adding, “we need
older found themselves classified as people to really change their lifestyle
having high blood pressure. The Harvard Medical School joins so that we don’t require them to be on
Jones in pointing out “for elevated statins. And if they are on statins, we
Dr. Cassie Jones, a board certified in- [need to] get them on the lowest dose
ternal medicine specialist with the Se- possible, instead of putting out all
bastian River Medical Group and Stew- these high-intensity statins.”
ard Healthcare, calls the change one of
the “flipsy-flopsies” of medicine. The good news is that despite the
new, lower blood pressure guidelines,
Harvard Medical School and Jones
agree that “simply changing what
you eat can bring down systolic blood
pressure by as much as 11 points and
each additional healthy habit you
adopt can bring it down another four
to five points.”

Physicians like Jones are ready, will-
ing and able to help.

The new guidelines, she says, are “a
wake-up call that says we need to get
better control on this.”

Dr. Cassie Jones is with the Sebas-
tian River Medical Group and Stew-
ard Healthcare. She has office hours at
13840 U.S. 1 in Sebastian and 8000 Ron
Beatty Blvd. in Barefoot Bay. The phone
number is 772-581-0644. 