07/05/2018 ISSUE 27

Brainstorming on awareness at
Mental Health Forum. P16
Suspense mounts
over electric ruling. P8

County seeks bio-sludge ban
to protect Blue Cypress Lake. P10

County voters get to For breaking news visit
choose new judges
Whole Family
BY BETH WALTON Health’s hunt
Staff Writer for CEO stalls

Indian River County voters BY MICHELLE GENZ
will have the opportunity to Staff Writer
choose new judicial officials in
August as they consider candi- What was to have been an-
dates to replace retiring coun-
ty and circuit court judges. other leap forward in the high-

Six candidates are vying for growth trajectory of Whole
two spots – the Hon. Robert
Pegg’s seat on the circuit court Family Health Center – the
bench, where serious felony
cases are decided, and the Hon. hiring of both a new CEO and
Joe Wild’s seat in county court,
which rules on traffic tickets, a new CFO – will be a smaller
landlord/tenant disputes and
other less serious matters. step for the moment after West

Among the contenders for Virginia State Police told Vero
the two positions are an openly
gay former prosecutor, a cor- Beach 32963 last week that the
porate lawyer turned public
defender and a Haitian wom- man selected to be CEO, Brian
an who was the first African-
American judge ever to preside Crist, remains the subject of a
in the 19th Judicial Circuit.
multi-month investigation.
This year’s county judge
race has seen three times The hiring of Crist, which

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Partially sunken sailboat abandoned in Indian River Lagoon between Vero’s two bridges. PHOTO BY GORDON RADFORD had been announced to staff

Vero moves to get old Owner sought of second ‘derelict’ sailboat in lagoon and board members and was
sewer plant off lagoon slated to become effective July
30, was subsequently placed
BY LISA ZAHNER “on hold,” according to Whole
Staff Writer
BY RAY MCNULTY southern Brevard counties, Lightsey said the owner, Family Health’s board chair-
After 60 years of having a Staff Writer said the second sailboat has once located, will be issued man, Stephan Trooboff.
wastewater treatment plant
on the shore of the Indian been placed in the agency’s a citation for abandoning a Capt. Reginald Patterson
River Lagoon at 17th Street,
the City of Vero Beach has tak- A second partially sunken database and that a “diligent derelict vessel – under Florida told Vero Beach 32963 that as
en the first steps to construct
a new plant at the airport and boat in the Indian River La- investigation” was ongoing. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 goon in Vero Beach – this one,
between the city’s two bridges MY
– has been declared a “derelict

House of Refuge is model for proposed lifeguard stationvessel” by the Florida Fish &
VERO

Wildlife Conservation Commis- BY RAY MCNULTY
sion, which was still trying to Staff Writer
locate the owner last weekend.

Another larger boat that Vero Beach lifeguards want to build a

caught fire and foundered centrally located tower and command

south of the 17th Street Bridge center that will allow them to see more of

under somewhat mysterious the city’s shoreline and, at the same time,

circumstances was declared provide us with a glimpse of our history.

derelict in May. The Vero Beach Lifeguard Association’s

Lt. Dustin Lightsey, who plan is to build an oceanfront headquar-

oversees FWC patrols of the Artist’s rendering of new Humiston Park lifeguard headquarters. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

waters in Indian River and

July 5, 2018 Volume 11, Issue 27 Newsstand Price $1.00 ‘Burgers & Brews’
goes off with a
News 1-10 Faith 48 People 11-24 TO ADVERTISE CALL Bang Bang. P 12
Arts 25-27 Games 39-41 Pets 28 772-559-4187
Books 38 Health 43-47 Real Estate 59-72
Dining 52 Insight 29-42 Style 49-51 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 34 CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Derelict boat the vessel can be seized by the state. breaking free and drifting across the the catamaran was anchored “safely
Lightsey said he could not identify lagoon and getting stuck in a sandbar. and securely” 1,000 yards south of
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 the bridge and 250 yards outside the
the boat’s owner or provide further A 35-foot catamaran, which was channel for three days. Then the Coast
law, a first-degree misdemeanor pun- details because the owner hadn’t yet abandoned in the lagoon south of the Guard showed up.
ishable by a maximum of one year in been cited and the case was still under 17th Street Bridge after being damaged
jail, a $1,000 fine or both. investigation. by fire on the morning of April 10, re- Sweet, who planned to do some res-
mained half-submerged offshore from toration and maintenance work on the
“After that’s accomplished,” Lightsey However, multiple local boaters said the Fairlane Harbor neighborhood’s catamaran, said the crew moved the
said, “the vessel will be posted with a the sailboat has been abandoned in seawall last weekend. boat too close to the power lines near
sticker and the 45-day count to remov- the lagoon – approximately 250 yards the bridge and didn’t properly anchor
al will begin.” south of the Barber Bridge and less The FWC cited the catamaran’s the vessel.
than 15 yards west of the Intracoastal owner, Douglas Robert Silvera of the
The due process protections un- Waterway channel – since early April. Bahamas, with abandoning a derelict “So, when the winds shifted and the
der federal law require that the own- vessel. However, the boat’s local care- current shifted,” he explained, “the
er, after being notified by authori- The boat remains visible from the taker blamed a U.S. Coast Guard crew boat must’ve come loose and swung
ties, be given 45 days to remove the south side of the Barber Bridge. for the mishap. around, and it got pushed into the
boat and pay any civil claims before power lines.”
Boaters said the sailboat had been Vero Isles resident Doug Sweet said
anchored near Memorial Island before The fire is believed to have started
when the boat’s mast struck the power
lines.

The FWC, which has police juris-
diction over Florida waters, stated in
its report that the Coast Guard had
“boarded the vessel the night before
the fire” in response to a call claiming
the boat was moored in the channel.

The Coast Guard has not responded
to a voice message left by Vero Beach
32963 seeking information regarding
the decision to move the catamaran. 

Voters to choose new judges
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

more funds raised than for any other
county office, according to the Divi-
sion of Elections’ online database.
The primary election is Aug. 28 and al-
ready some $176,000 has been raised
by the candidates competing for the
judicial vacancy.

In contrast, the second-most-fund-
ed contest, the fight for the District
4 spot on the Indian River County
School Board, has seen only $57,000
in contributions.

Leading the fundraising race is Ni-
cole Menz, an openly gay Minnesota
native who spent nearly nine years
with the 19th Judicial Circuit State At-
torney’s Office in Vero Beach before
starting her own private practice law
firm, Menz & Battista.

There, she represents clients in a
variety of areas including criminal
defense, family law, bankruptcy and
adoptions. Many of her mentors, she
said, were county court judges.

County Court is the place where
most citizens interact with the justice
system, said the 49-year-old Menz. It’s
where a seat belt violation can be dis-
puted and issues between creditors
and debtors are hashed out.

“It’s particularly important,” Menz
said. “You really need to look at the
qualifications of the people. Whoever
is elected is likely to have this position
for many years.”

Menz claims the support of most
of the local bar associations and has

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 3

NEWS

received more than $128,000 in con- life and death decisions are made. run for election now. “I almost died. I The attorney started elawyer.com
tributions. Besides practicing law, she Criminal felonies and high-stakes am just so lucky that I’m alive, that I and would like to see technology im-
acts as a hearing officer in St. Lucie can walk and that I’m not brain dam- prove efficiencies and access in the
County Traffic Court. She says what civil actions are arbitrated in Circuit aged,” he said. court system. “The world is changing
distinguishes her from the other can- Court. The 19th Judicial Circuit covers so fast and in so many ways,” he said.
didates is this experience as an arbi- Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and The attorney has spent more than 26 “I will always be open to listening to
trator and her time as both a prosecu- St. Lucie counties. years in private practice, working crim- suggestions of anything that can im-
tor and a private attorney. inal defense, probate and personal in- prove the lives of our citizens.”
Larsen, 53, said he aspired to be a jury cases. His colleagues call him the
Among her competitors is Robyn judge while he was still attending law “Swiss army knife of the office” due to Larsen was hit by a vehicle while
Stone, a prosecutor who currently school. A recent near-fatal bike acci- the breadth of his experience, he said.
works for the 19th Judicial Circuit. dent pushed him to take the step and CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Stone, a 39-year-old Vero Beach native
and St. Ed’s alumnus, is the young-
est of the candidate pool. The former
school teacher said she returned to
her hometown after law school to be
an advocate for children.

Stone said she wanted to see those
who were negligent and abusive pros-
ecuted for their crimes. She worked
her way up in the State Attorney’s
Office, starting in county court and
eventually trying felony cases.

She is now a supervisor in county
court and helps mentor young prose-
cutors. Stone also serves on the men-
tal health diversion team.

Kiernan Patrick Moylan, 48, of In-
dian River Shores is the third candi-
date running for county judge. The
former corporate lawyer for JM Family
Enterprises said he felt called to pub-
lic service as his career grew. He went
to work for Bill McCollum, the former
Florida Attorney General, before com-
ing to Indian River County and serv-
ing as a public defender.

“I believe in protecting people’s
rights,” he said. “I believe in the sys-
tem and if you don’t have balance on
both sides of the equation in a crimi-
nal courtroom, it doesn’t work.”

Police officer turned criminal de-
fense attorney Bob Meadows, 60,
shares Moylan’s desire for a fair sys-
tem. The former Indian River County
Sheriff’s Office detective said he put
himself through law school while rais-
ing his children as single father. He is
now in the running for Circuit Court
judge.

Meadows says his work in law-en-
forcement and as a private defense
attorney afford him a unique perspec-
tive in the courtroom. “I know how the
grandmother feels crying for mercy. I
can see it from a paradigm unlike any
other.”

Meadows recalled a time he had to
tell the parents of a 17-year-old girl
their daughter had been killed by a
drunk driver. He then had to take the
driver of the vehicle to jail and help
prosecutors build their case.

“Those kind of experiences, you
can’t buy,” said Meadows. “That ex-
perience you can’t get from sitting at
a table.”

Meadows is up against Stuart-based
attorney Lou Larsen and former St.
Lucie County Judge Nirlaine Smartt
for a spot on the Circuit bench, where

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

NEWS

Voters to choose new judges from Haiti when she was 4 years old. looking for, but said the investigation they recommended to Vero was under
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 She was enrolled in Head Start, a pub- was continuing and “a press release West Virginia State Police investigation.
lic early childhood education program will follow at the appropriate time.”
riding along A1A. The driver has since for low-income kids and their fami- According to Trooboff, who said
been criminally charged with being lies. It was there she learned English. Patterson pointed out that one week Crist had spoken “candidly” to several
under the influence of drugs or alcohol after the search was carried out, Crist Vero interviewers about the investiga-
and leaving the scene of the accident. “I’ve had to work hard to get to where resigned as CEO of Lincoln Primary tion and his resignation, Crist main-
I am. Nothing was ever given to me,” Care Center, also known as Southern tains the allegations made by his for-
The experience, Larsen said, not only said Smartt, who returned to her job as West Virginia Health System, which mer company’s board involve credit
gave him a new lease on life, but also an Assistant State Attorney after losing has 15 locations and 16,000 patients. card purchases they say he made for
showed him what it is like to be a vic- the election. She is now a criminal felo- himself but charged to the company.
tim. He asked prosecutors to take his ny prosecutor in St. Lucie County, inves- Attempts to contact Crist directly were
case to trial. tigating and prosecuting major crimes. unsuccessful. Asked to convey a request Trooboff characterized the purchase
for an interview to Crist, Trooboff said amounts Crist named as “so trivial as
“I trust the system. I believe in the “I’ve always felt this need to serve the Crist would not speak to the press. to be ridiculous – $27, $56, nothing
system. I want to see it play out.” community in this capacity. I always try amounts.” The dispute goes back for
to help administer justice, to uphold the Whole Family Health Center has “three or four years,” Trooboff said.
Smartt, 51, is the only one of the Cir- constitution,” she said. “To me, being a a staff of 50 serving more than 4,000
cuit Court candidates who has sat on judge is the epitome of being an attor- patients from offices in Vero and Fort While Crist informed several Whole
the bench before. ney. It’s the highest form of service.” Pierce. It evolved from the Fort Pierce Family Health officials of the investiga-
HIV/AIDS clinic founded in 1995 tion, he did not say it remained open,
She was appointed by Gov. Rick More information about the upcom- by Dr. Gerald Pierone. Whole Fam- a pivotal distinction for Trooboff.
Scott as a St. Lucie County judge in ing elections and candidates is at www. ily Health now offers free or low-cost
2015, making her the first African- voteindianriver.com.  adult and pediatric primary care, “I don’t really think he thought
American to hold that position in the mental health services and HIV/Aids it was an on-going investigation,”
circuit. She was unseated less than a Whole Family Health treatment and other services. Trooboff said. “He thought the whole
year later after a Fort Pierce attorney CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 issue with the state police was totally
defeated her in an election. Crist, his wife Stephany and two over, and that when he got to Florida,
the result of its investigation, appar- teenage sons were planning to relocate it was behind him.”
The longtime prosecutor and one- ently triggered by the Board of Direc- to Vero Beach this month. Crist’s name
time pharmaceutical sales rep said tors of the rural West Virginia health- came to Whole Family Health’s atten- Trooboff said Whole Family Heath’s
she isn’t ready to put the gavel down. care system he led, a search warrant tion through a search firm, UHC Solu- attorney will press Crist’s attorney as
“When I win this election, I will make had been served in March on Crist’s tions, retained after the clinic’s former well as West Virginia State Police to
history again,” Smartt said. “It’s im- home and office. Patterson declined to CEO, Lydia Sciarrino, left in December find out if the questionable charges
portant for the bench to reflect the provide any details of what they were to lead a clinic in Philadelphia. are as small as Crist maintains. Whole
community it serves. I see the need for Family had already called state police,
a person like myself to do this.” Trooboff said the recruitment firm but “they wouldn’t tell us anything,”
had known Crist for 15 years and was Trooboff said.
Smartt came to the United States “flabbergasted” to hear the candidate
“If we can’t verify that and it turns

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 5

NEWS

out to be considerable amounts, we newspaper in West Virginia. It recount- coln Primary Care Center is based. the allegations against Crist, though the
would probably press ahead (with the ed in exacting detail the comings and Neither the Lincoln Journal nor oth- Lincoln Journal reported state police
CEO search), and if it’s not, we won’t,” goings of Lincoln Primary Care Cen- had used the phrase “possibility of em-
he said, adding, “His explanation is ter board members over the course of er media reporting on Crist’s departure bezzlement” and according to the week-
very believable.” several days of meetings in Hamlin, a said what prompted his resignation. ly, had also said “it is possible the case
town of just over 1,100 residents where Lincoln Primary Care Center is a major could proceed to the federal level.” Police
News of the investigation first broke Crist and his family live and where Lin- employer in southern West Virginia.
in the Lincoln Journal, a tiny weekly CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
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6 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Whole Family Health “What he’s told us is the person Getting sewer plant off lagoon was a privately-owned utility, but he
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 who made this claim made a legal CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said there was a big downside to that
whistleblower claim. The way I un- approach. “You’ve lost control over the
spokesman Patterson did not respond to derstand it is the state police had to dismantle the aging waterside facil- ability to improve service, try to keep
requests to confirm those quotes. be involved,” said Trooboff. ity, freeing up valuable riverfront rates under control, etc.,” he said.
land and eradicating a smelly eyesore
The West Virginia healthcare sys- “The board chair [at Lincoln Pri- that has been a notable flaw in Vero’s With options narrowed significant-
tem’s risk manager, Ron Hatfield, also mary Health Center] is a prosecuting cityscape. ly, Howle said, building a new plant at
resigned at the same time as Crist, attorney in another county. There’s a the Vero Beach Regional Airport prop-
according to the Lincoln Journal. To lot of information about the dynam- The council authorized Water and erty the city already owns seems like
date, there has been no explanation for ics of this place that gives you real Sewer Utility Director Rob Bolton to the best solution.
Hatfield’s resignation. pause whether there’s any substance commission initial engineering work,
here at all,” said Trooboff. which will take about 90 days. In No- Councilman Val Zudans ran on a
Hatfield and Crist are members vember, the project should be in the promise to get the sewer plant off the
of a popular Southern rock band in On a recent visit to Vero Beach, Crist financial planning stage, Bolton said, river and said he wants it done soon-
West Virginia. The Lincoln Journal met in person with Trooboff and other with a proposal coming back to the er than later. Mayor Lange Sykes, too,
recounted at length the band’s recent board members. council for a vote in December. has been concerned about having
schedule, which included a gig at the the treatment facility on the lagoon,
exclusive Greenbrier Resort and an “Feedback was uniformly positive Mayor Harry Howle has been work- from an environmental standpoint
upcoming performance at a festival about his joining Whole Family Health ing on the issue with Bolton for almost as well as an aesthetic one. Council-
in Charleston, W. Va., in August. It also Center,” Trooboff wrote to staff and four years. “It’s time, obviously,” Howle woman Laura Moss and Councilman
quoted from another news outlet that board members in a note last week. said, “to get an industrial eyesore off Tony Young also backed the idea of
Hatfield had his law license suspend- That was before learning of the on-go- the river.” moving the plant. Young had previ-
ed for three years in 2015. ing investigation. ously spoken out against proposals
Howle said he spoke to Indian River to sell the utility to the county or
Hatfield’s LinkedIn profile shows he Whole Family Health Center appears County officials about the idea of the privatize it.
joined Lincoln Primary Care in De- poised for expansion due to a short- county taking Vero’s waste into its own
cember 2015. He and Crist are gradu- age of low-cost primary care providers system and, in his opinion, that’s not The existing plant, designed to treat
ates of West Virginia University. in Vero. Though a CEO decision may a mutually beneficial solution. “In my 4.5 million gallons per day, was built in
be on hold, its leaders are moving for- mind, that ask is over,” Howle said, 1977 to replace an obsolete 1958 plant
Trooboff said he believed Crist’s ward with the hiring of Jose Zirena as adding that it’s neither the county’s that treated 2.2 million gallons a day.
characterization of the investigation as Chief Financial Officer. Zirena, a na- fault nor the city’s fault that a work- Prior to that, a 1920s plant and a World
small-town jealousy of Crist’s success. tive of Peru, has been CFO of Commu- able deal could not be reached. War II-era U.S. Navy wastewater facil-
He said he had found Crist to be “about nity Health Service of Lamoille Valley, ity dumped treated wastewater into a
as good a guy as you could possibly find. a group of medical, behavioral health The other option Howle investigated relief canal.
and dental practices in Stowe, Vt. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 7

NEWS

Both the 1977 and 1958 plants dis- did think there were some creative My Vero Though the exact numbers aren’t yet
charged treated wastewater directly things the city could do financially available – the VBLA was still talking
into the lagoon, as was the practice prior to the existing debt being paid CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 with its architect, engineer and build-
until 2010, when the Indian River La- off. er last week – Toomsoo estimated the
goon Act prohibited such discharges ters at Humiston Park, where the fa- cost of project would be $250,000.
and Vero invested in a deep-injection Bolton pointed out that there are cade of an L-shaped, 600-square-foot
well at the airport that deposits both savings to be had by waiting a year or structure would resemble the Bethel And he’s hoping some local busi-
wastewater and brine from water two for inflation in the construction Creek House of Refuge, a life-saving ness or barrier-island benefactor will
treatment thousands of feet down into market to shake out. “It’s a great time station that opened in 1876 at the site write the check.
the ground. to be designing something; it’s not a of what is now Jaycee Park.
great time to be bidding something,” “That’s what we’d like to happen,”
Bolton said the debt on the exist- Bolton said. The Bethel Creek facility was the Toomsoo said, adding that, once he
ing plant will be paid off in 2022, first of several similar stations built has the final cost projections, he’ll
and that it would take two years to Once both the sewer plant, Big approximately 20 miles – a day’s walk put together a presentation and begin
construct the new plant, plus time Blue and the electric substation and – apart along Florida’s then-desolate seeking the necessary donor or do-
to test it before wastewater can be switching equipment are dismantled, Atlantic coast in the late 1800s, when nors. “To have your name on a build-
diverted from the riverfront plant so the city will own 23.7 acres of prime House of Refuge keepers would of- ing in the heart of the beach? It’s really
decommissioning can begin. Pay- riverfront property with a total of fer safe havens for shipwreck victims, not that much money.
ments on the new debt – likely tens 1,120 linear feet on the water – not in- providing survivors with food, shelter
of millions for the airport plant – can cluding the canal south of the waste- and first-aid. “Besides, we’re a 501(c)(3) organi-
kick in when the old debt payments water treatment plant – according to zation, so the donations would be tax
roll off, City Manager Jim O’Connor a report previously prepared for the “The tower and command center is deductible.”
said. council by Vero’s Chief Surveyor Da- something we need, especially with
vid Gay. our beaches getting busier and bus- The VBLA applied to the county
“The structure of the debt can de- ier every year,” VBLA President Erik for $75,000 in Tourist Development
termine when we want to have that No decisions have been made yet Toomsoo said. “So, we figured: Why Council funds, but the request was re-
debt and still time it around when the about what Vero and its citizens want not combine functional significance jected. The lifeguards also reached out
existing debt expires. So we’re looking to see built – or not built – on that with historical significance? to the corporate world, applying for a
at a transition of this without having land, but it could end up giving Vero Lowe’s Community Partners Grant of
any impact on the fees that we charge an attractive riverfront sector with “If we’re going to build something, $100,000.
today,” O’Connor said. the appeal of the nicely developed we might as well make it something
riverfronts in places like Stuart, Fort people will find interesting and ap- “The city cares about safe beaches,”
Zudans urged the city staff to Pierce, Sebastian and Melbourne. pealing.” Toomsoo said, “but it doesn’t have the
fast-track the project, saying 2022 is money to do it.”
too far away, and O’Connor said he “Something great can happen on Especially people with money who
both of those sites,” Zudans said.  may want to support the plan. Vero Beach City Manager Jim
O’Connor said the VBLA project would

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

8 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Suspense mounts as Vero and the Shores wait on electric ruling

BY LISA ZAHNER despite expert testimony that Vero cus- lished “due date” for the order on June If the order is published this coming
Staff Writer tomers should pay a surcharge up to 25, called FPL executives in search of an week, that would mean it would not be
$116 million, because FPL is paying answer. He said FPL Director of External final until the end July.
A formal ruling of the Florida Pub- above the book value of the Vero system. Affairs Amy Brunjes told him, “Not yet.
lic Service Commission approving Will call you the minute I know.” Vero and FPL hope to close the sale
the $185 million sale of Vero electric Like a court, the Public Service of Vero electric on or before Oct. 1.
to Florida Power & Light that first was Commission articulates its rationale As of Sunday evening press time there
supposed to be published by mid- for an action in a written ruling, which was still no news, according to Howle. FPL has already reached out to Vero’s
June, and then by June 25, has yet to typically is issued about 10 days after a customers and has also begun the tran-
materialize and those closely following vote. Once that ruling or order is pub- Former Shores Mayor Brian Bare- sition of Vero’s electric utility employ-
the matter don’t seem to know why. lished, parties with standing who wish foot said he’s found a similar dearth of ees – as well as the complex process
to challenge the decision have 21 days information on the status of the PSC of planning to integrate Vero’s system
The PSC in Tallahassee voted 3-2 on to do so, or the order becomes final. ruling. Barefoot said he was told by with the rest of FPL’s transmission and
June 5 to permit the sale and allow FPL the town’s utility attorney that some distribution grid – which would seem
to charge Vero customers low FPL rates, Vero Mayor Harry Howle, upon hear- key personnel at the PSC are on vaca- to indicate confidence on the utility’s
ing nothing four days past the PSC’s pub- tion, hence the delay. part that the deal will go through. 

School Board member resents advice on reducing legal fees

BY KATHLEEN SLOAN Auwaerter, who serves without com- billion during his 32-year career with the School Board member appointed a
Staff Writer pensation, said he is now unlikely to company, which is just shy of the Neth- committee member.
serve on the committee again. erlands’ yearly gross domestic product.
After School Board Member Dale Currently, the School Board pays
Simchick publicly chided Audit Com- Auwaerter, who chaired the audit com- Prior to his chairmanship, the audit its outside general counsel Suzanne
mittee Chairman Bob Auwaerter at a mittee for a year, brought valuable exper- committee had been inactive since D’Agresta $264,000 a year in retainer fees
recent meeting for offering advice on tise to the volunteer position. He grew 2012. It was revived by the School and about $20,000 a year for travel, on-
how to reduce the district’s legal fees, investment company Vanguard’s fixed- Board in response to a $7 million defi- line research, photocopies and postage.
income fund from $1.3 billion to $750 cit in the health insurance fund. Each
The last time the board sought com-

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NEWS

petitive bids for its legal work was in bers and muffling their voices. His fel-
2012. Three law firms bid at the time, low committee members voiced no
but D’Agresta, who did not submit a concern about the research, and voted
bid, was retained at the same rate, unanimously in favor of seeking bids for
legal work.
After studying the situation, the
audit committee advised the School School Board Member Laura Zorc
Board to get bids for legal services now said she appreciated Auwaerter’s ad-
and then every three years, to ensure vice and School Board Vice Chairman
that the district is not overpaying. Charles Searcy said Simchick should
not be correcting Auwaerter.
When Auwaerter presented the com-
mittee’s recommendation last month, Auwaerter was not allowed to re-
Simchick and School Board Member spond to Simchick’s statements at the
Tiffany Justice were critical. public meeting. He told Vero Beach
32963, “I am very disappointed. I’m
They complained Auwaerter had certainly not interested in serving again
done all the research, rushing their per- on the committee.” 
sonally appointed committee mem-

My Vero that predates the United States Coast
Guard, which evolved from the U.S.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Life Saving Service, which supervised
the houses of refuge.
be a “really great addition,” but the city
has no plans to contribute any funds Did you know:
to it.  In 1894, the Bethel Creek House of
Refuge played a vital role in saving the
The VBLA has been discussing the lives of 24 sailors stranded on the ill-fat-
possibility of building a lifeguard ed Breckenshire, a steamship that ran
tower and command center at Humis- aground on a reef 450 yards offshore of
ton since 2012, but it wasn’t until this what is now our Central Beach?
past October that the concept gained  Or that it helped protect our
enough traction – and cooperation shores during World Wars II, when the
from local design and building profes- Coast Guard built a 40-foot-high obser-
sionals offering pro-bono services – to vation tower to watch for submarines?
move forward.  Or that, in 1950, the federal gov-
ernment returned the House of Refuge
According to the VBLA website, the property to Vero Beach for $200, so it
Humiston Lifeguard Tower and Com- could be used as a beachfront park that
mand Center would feature an ob- would become what is now Jaycee Park?
servation tower that juts out over the “It would be nice if we could build
sand to provide lifeguards with an el- the new command center at Jaycee,
evated, panoramic view of the beach because that was the site of the original
from Riomar to Sexton Plaza. House of Refuge, but it wouldn’t be as
functional there,” Toomsoo said. “We
It also would include a small admin- need a more central location to cover as
istrative office, locker facilities for life- much of the beach as possible, which is
guards and an open room that would why Humiston works best.”
be used for training and meetings. Toomsoo said architect Tom Hoos
has viewed photographs of the Bethel
In addition, the building would pro- Creek House of Refuge and has been
vide lifeguards with “enhanced shelter” instructed to make the building look as
from the elements and “sometimes authentic as possible.
dangerous encounters” with the public. “In the 1800s, the House of Refuge
here helped people in distress, and
“It would greatly expand our field that’s what we do now,” Toomsoo said.
of vision, which is important with our “The only difference is that, back then,
beaches getting busier every year and the people in distress were in vessels.
more and more people going into the Now, usually, they’re not. But there’s
water outside the lifeguard-protected definitely a connection.”
areas,” Toomsoo said. “We’ve already So, if Toomsoo and the VBLA can find
set attendance records this year, and someone to write the check, the Hum-
we’re probably going to have a record iston Lifeguard Tower and Command
month for June. Center will be more than a much-needed
asset that helps make our beaches safer.
“Having this type of facility also It will be a welcomed reminder of our
would reduce distractions from the history.
public, improve our command and Along with Hoos Architecture, en-
control during emergencies and re- gineering firm Mills Short & Associ-
duce our emergency response times,” ates, builder Farrow Construction and
he added. “In pretty much every way, it coastal construction consultant Coast-
would help us do our jobs better.” al Technology are working with Toom-
soo at no cost to develop the dual-use
As for the House of Refuge aspect, project. 
Toomsoo said the concept goes beyond
the planned structure’s look and feel,
both of which he believes would fit well
with the existing beachside architecture.

It’s a connection to Vero Beach’s past,
to Florida history, to a time in America

10 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

County seeks to ban bio-sludge polluting Blue Cypress Lake

BY KATHLEEN SLOAN treated human waste loaded with ni- Water Management District believe the include many sources, such as water
Staff Writer trogen and other chemicals – that’s human waste, which other counties are treatment plant discharges, stormwa-
being spread on fields in Indian River legally dumping here, is contributing to ter runoff, septic tanks, and fertilizer
With scientists increasingly alarmed County is feeding toxic algae blooms in algae blooms in the lake. runoff from both urban and agricul-
that bio-sludge is polluting Blue Cypress Blue Cypress Lake, a water body remote tural lands,” said FDEP spokesperson
Lake while the Florida Department of from urban areas that has been envi- But the Florida Department of Envi- Dee Ann Miller.
Environmental Protection sits on its ronmentally pristine until very recently. ronmental Protection, which issues per-
hands, Indian River County is crafting mits that allow bio-sludge to be spread The lake is part of the headwaters
an ordinance to ban its use in farming. Dr. Eddie Widder of the Ocean Re- on agricultural land as fertilizer, main- of the St. Johns River water basin, and
search and Conservation Association, tains the sludge is not harming the lake. St. Johns River Keeper Lisa Rinaman
Several environmental groups and Dr. Richard Baker, head of Pelican Island raised the alarm about sludge in April,
state agencies believe bio-sludge – Audubon Society, and St. Johns River “As I am sure you know, the sources asking the FDEP for an immediate
of excess nutrients in a waterbody can moratorium on sludge application.

Her call for a halt to human waste
application came in the wake of a St.
Johns River Water Management study
released in February that found the
sludge likely is polluting the lake.

“Knowing this, the FDEP reapproved
a 10-year sludge application permit a
month later to the Pressley Ranch,”
Rinaman said. “They’re allowing Blue
Cypress Lake to die on their watch.”

Seeking to clarify the situation, In-
dian River County wants to perform
scientific tests to determine the source
of pollution in the lake, but the FDEP
has failed to provide testing guidelines.

At the June 19 county commission
meeting, Commission Chairman Peter
O’Bryan said the artificial sweetener su-
cralose and the pharmaceutical chemi-
cal acetaminophen are usually accept-
ed as human-sewage markers, but the
county needs FDEP’s procedural bless-
ing before testing for those chemicals.

“Our staff has talked to their chemi-
cal consultant and the FDEP has no list
that would confirm a biosolid source,
but they said they would look into it,”
O’Bryan said.

Ten days later O’Bryan had no reply.
“I would like to see a little more ur-
gency in the FDEP response,” O’Bryan
said.
The amount of bio-sludge dumped in
Indian River County has been increas-
ing as the substance has been banned
in other watersheds.
The 3,000-acre Pressley Ranch is
among three ranches near the lake ac-
cepting bio-sludge, and it receives the
greatest amount.
More than 11,000 tons of human
waste from 12 sources in Miami-Dade
and Broward counties have been spread
at the ranch since 2015.
“I don’t want to criminalize sludge,”
County Commissioner Bob Solari said,
“but the amounts being applied don’t
have anything to do with farming. It has
to do with the disposal of human waste.”
Faced with inaction by FDEP, the
commission tasked County Attorney
Dylan Reingold with drafting an ordi-
nance prohibiting the application of
bio-sludge in the county, which will be
presented at a July meeting. 

Ellie, Thomas
and Isobel Reynolds.

CHILD ‘POP’ STARS HAVE BLAST
AT BUBBLE WRAP EXPLOSION P. 20

12 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Tasty ‘Burgers & Brews’ goes off with a Bang Bang

Katrina Nickell, Nikki Cameron and Erin Vazquez. Antwan Leonard and Nick Mathews. PHOTOS: GORDON RADFORD PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
Amanda Calhoun, Robert Sweers and Gregg Halacy.

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF Chefs from American Icon Brewery, to present mini versions of the juicy A VIP Lounge inside the Heritage
Staff Writer Bonefish Grill, The Green Marlin, Out- burgers that would later be judged dur- Center offered a welcome respite from
back Steakhouse, Post & Vine, Sean ing the Best Burger competition. Dur- the heat along with a Bloody Mary bar
Saturday sizzled as burgers were Ryan Pub, The Source’s Dining with ing a blind tasting, Chef Cassandra by Filthy’s Fine Cocktails & Beer for
flipped by 10 local chefs vying for the Dignity Program, Southern Social, The Lynne, Executive Chef Jeff Mather and sponsors and top-level ticket holders.
title of Best Burger in Indian River Tides and Wilke’s 14 Bones created food blogger Thomas Miller consid-
County during the third annual Burg- meaty masterpieces, each with their ered presentation, creativity, taste and Outside, crowds filled the streets,
ers & Brews – An American Heritage own special twist. technique before selecting the Judges’ soaking local celebrities in the dunk
Celebration Street Festival in Historic Choice winner. tank, trying out food truck fare, keep-
Downtown Vero Beach to benefit Unit- Activities began with slider tastings ing children busy in the kids zone, and
ed Against Poverty. for the masses, as competing burger Explaining his personal judging pro- immersing themselves in the Apple Pie
architects lined up along 14th Avenue cess, Miller said, “Eat first with your Eating Contest.
eyes. Your nose is second and then
third is taste. Then, everything com- An afternoon thunderstorm rolled
bined together.” in, cooling things off and clearing the
streets for a bit, but not even the sum-
“We’re breaking the burgers down mer storm could keep the hungry
layer by layer, tasting it all and hoping masses away for long.
for some surprises,” added Lynne.
Folks shopped at more than 50 ven-
Chef Jarrett Bass and the Bonefish dors showcasing their wares, while
Grill Team won the Judges’ Award for others found shady spots to watch a
their Bang Bang burger, created with Vero Beach Police Department K-9 unit
Wagyu beef on a potato bun, topped demonstration and listen to entertain-
with cheddar cheese and fried shrimp ment by the Ladies of Soul, East Harbor
tossed in their signature Bang Bang and Ballyhoo.
sauce.
United Against Poverty, UP for short,
“This was the most flavorful and strives to break the cycle of poverty by
cleanest burger,” explained Lynne. providing individuals with the skills
“The beef tasted good and it was needed to lift themselves and their
cooked perfectly. It was really clean; families to economic self-sufficiency.
they nailed it.” In Indian River County, 22,197 families
earn well under the amount needed to
Burger aficionados also weighed in, afford basic housing, child care, food,
voting for their favorites in the People’s healthcare and transportation, ac-
Choice competition. The Source’s Din- cording to Robertson.
ing with Dignity Program students and
Chef Joe Wiser took home that honor “We are serving about 640 people
with their Homeless Haymaker, which a day on the campus in Indian River
featured pork and beef with bacon, County. That’s an increase over last
cheese sauce, pork roll, Havarti cheese year,” said Robertson. To meet the in-
and aioli sauce. The Source provides creasing demands and expand their
numerous services to assist the home- services, the nonprofit recently pur-
less, including the culinary skills pro- chased a 46,000-square-foot facility.
gram, mirroring UP’s model of offering
a hand up, not a handout. “That’s a big step in our campaign
to expand the availability of our pro-
“Dining with Dignity participat- grams. We’ll be moving all our current
ed this year, which was a really fun campus activities into that building, as
way to partner with another non- well as having 12 collaborative partner
profit. They’ve actually been win- agencies housed in there with us. Our
ning a lot of competitions around goal is to make a one-stop shop as it
the state,” said Annabel Robertson, were.”
UP executive director.
For more information, visit upirc.org. 



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

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Annabel Robertson and Angela Novak. David and Sandra Dvorak.
Bobby Del Campo and Kaz Kidwell.

Michele Knight and Kurt Gradel. Megan Warren and Jayce Miley. Abi Harbin with Jackson. Luka Kulikowski and Roxane Pagliaroli.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 15

PEOPLE

Tesia and Devin Poirier. Doreen and Bob Chapman. Sidney Wilkins, Chase Anderson and Audrey Plante.

Shotsi LaJoie and Doug Dangerfield. Lou Kolbauer and Tiffany Hanson. Rachel Vomero. Sarah and JoAnne Snelson.

16 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Brainstorming on awareness at Mental Health Forum

BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF featuring local speakers during the
Staff Writer Children’s Mental Health Forum at the
Gifford Youth Achievement Center last
With the incidence of mass public Thursday evening, sponsored by Proc-
shootings on the rise, nearly 100 par- tor Construction Company.
ents, students, mental health profes-
sionals and concerned citizens gath- The turnout spoke to the level of con-
ered to learn more about the causes, cern residents have about the safety of
preventative measures and what to their children as they sought answers
look out for during a panel discussion on how to identify mental health issues
in children and keep students safe.

Angelia Perry, Freddie Woolfork and Julianne Price. PHOTOS: GORDON RADFORD & STEPHANIE LABAFF

“We wanted to give the community Indian River County Sheriff’s Office
an opportunity to speak about chil- talked about the signs to watch for
dren’s mental health in light of the inci- and what measures are being taken
dents that recently happened,” shared by local law enforcement to prevent
Angelia Perry, GYAC executive direc- and handle active shooter situations.
tor. “We wanted to have experts speak
to the community about what we can Flowers explained that every
do as parents and citizens to help ad- school in the county will have a
dress these issues and help us help our school resource officer on site and
children succeed.” SROs recently completed training at
Vero Beach High School, where they
GYAC Guidance Counselor Car- participated in a mock active-shooter
rie Williams served as the mistress of situation. The most important thing
ceremonies, and before introducing students can do, according to Flow-
the expert panelists said, “as an Afri- ers, is “if you see something, say
can-American woman I know that our something. Find an adult you trust
community is beginning to embrace and tell them what you know.”
mental health services although there
continues to be a stigma attached to it. The final speaker made sugges-
Many times our children struggle with tions on how to embrace the healing
issues that we as parents are clueless powers of nature. Maryam Ghadiri,
about. I want to encourage everyone to ELC director of education and re-
keep the lines of communication open search, discussed the benefits of na-
with our children, listen not to hear ture on reducing stress and anxiety.
but listen to understand them, respect She explained that many children to-
their feelings, be honest and be patient day suffer from a nature deficit disor-
with them.” der because they don’t spend enough
time outside.
Jeffrey Shearer, Tykes and Teens
co-founder, a local nonprofit that “When we take children outside
provides mental health services to they are more engaged, more confi-
children in need on a sliding scale, ex- dent, they build something, and they
plained the difference between men- learn to be observers,” said Ghadiri.
tal health and mental illness, noting “Hug a tree and teach our kids to take
“for most of the mass shootings, it is that time outside.”
not because of mental illness. Most of
them it is because of a level of discon- “GYAC not only stands for the Gif-
nection. Not feeling that you are part ford Youth Achievement Center, it
of the community. That’s one of the stands for Giving Youth A Chance.
great things about this center. It al- That’s why we’re here tonight, to
lows people to feel like they are part change lives,” said Freddie Wool-
of something. When we feel like we fork, GYAC public relations director.
are part of something, then we have a “We’ve gotta communicate, and here
purpose. We have a connection with at Gifford Youth Achievement Center
other individuals.” we’re teaching our kids how to com-
municate, how to be sociable, but
Addressing some of the concerns of most of all that rules without rela-
audience members regarding school tionship brings about a rebellion.”
shootings, Maj. Eric Flowers from the
To learn more about the Gifford Youth
Achievement Center, visit gyac.net. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 17

PEOPLE

Jeffrey Shearer. Char Higgins, Maryam Ghadiri and Jeane Bartlett. Maj. Eric Flowers.

Darleen Medeiros and Christina DeFalco. Shannon McGuire Bowman, Tracey Griffis and Hannah Hite. Dasia Jones, Cayla Atkins, Trivoria Taylor and Gershyia Inman.

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18 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

True (orange and) blue! Hearty ‘Toast’ to newest Gators

BY KERRY FIRTH
Correspondent

Shining star students traversed a sea Ali Schlitt, Debbie McCain, Sarah McCain, Ryan McCain, Will Schlitt, Susan Harris and Shane McCain. Scott Francis and Amanda Robinson.
of orange and blue as they accepted
scholarships to the University of Flor- several smaller fundraisers, like 50/50 Kevin Mojica, one of this year’s NCAA Tournament berth in 2017-18.
ida at the 11th annual Treasure Coast raffles and silent auctions that take scholarship recipients, shared the He assured the enthusiastic crowd
Gator Toast, hosted by the Treasure place throughout the year at watch Haynes family table and spoke of his that the team, which includes three
Coast Gator Club. parties and networking events.” gratitude for their generosity. of ESPN’s top 100 players among their
incoming freshman class, was looking
Nearly 150 UF alumni, supporters In a heartfelt tribute to her children, “I am a sophomore majoring in ar- equally promising for the upcoming
and family members gathered at the Donna Haynes donated the Andrew chitecture and sustainable develop- season.
Richardson Center on the Mueller Schmeer Memorial Scholarship in ment. I bleed gator orange and blue
campus of Indian River State College memory of her son, who was tragically and I am grateful for this gift,” said “UF alumni is strong and united,
to recognize a group of exceptional killed in an automobile accident, as Mojica. The oldest of five children, he especially on the Treasure Coast,”
students from Indian River and St. Lu- well as the Andrew and Allison Sch- said that in addition to achieving his said Scott Francis, UF Alumni As-
cie counties, who are either currently meer Sibling Scholarship in honor of own future goals, he hopes to improve sociation president. “I travel all
attending UF or were recent high her son and daughter. his siblings’ chances of pursuing their around the country visiting gator
school graduates heading to the uni- dreams as well. clubs, helping them engage in uni-
versity in the fall. “Both of my children attended UF versity life no matter where they live.
and my daughter Allison graduated After enjoying a hearty dinner, This club is so adept at keeping their
“Scholarships totaling $37,500 were with a master’s degree,” said Haynes. guests were treated to a rousing talk members informed and committed
given to 25 deserving students this “She was awarded a scholarship by UF basketball coach Mike White. that they’ve won numerous awards
year,” said Katie Profeta, president of through the Gator Club while she was Reaffirming the university’s place as from the UF Alumni Association. It’s
the TC Gator Club. “That is a record in school and it helped her achieve her a national powerhouse, White led the obvious by the turnout tonight that
amount for our club, bringing our 10- goal. Now, as a family, we want to pay team to its third straight 20-win sea- this is truly a Gator nation.” 
year total to over $230,000. Each $1,500 that gift forward.” son and secured a second consecutive
scholarship is good for one year, but
students can technically get it renewed
for up to four years if they reapply.”

She noted that scholarships are
raised through the generosity of local
donors, including many individuals
and foundations that continue to give
the gift of education year after year.

“We couldn’t possibly do this with-
out the benevolence of our commu-
nity,” added Profeta. “Additionally, the
Treasure Coast Gator Club helps by
raising funds with their annual Clint
S. Malone Memorial Golf Tournament,
to be held in the spring of 2019, and

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 19

PEOPLE

Simon Beauchamp, Randy and Donna Haynes with a photo of son Andrew Schmeer, Dale Grubb, Matthew and Lori Grubb, Brantley and Linda Schirard. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
Alison Egberts with son Henry, and John Egberts with son John Jr.

Katie Profeta, Hamp Elliott and Amy Speak. Vanessa Larson, Kathy Fennell and Jennifer Malone. Kevin Mojica with Maria Mojica and Mario Bello.

Justin and Vanessa Larson. Katy Block Healy and Steve Healy. Zack McGuire and McCoy Murphy. Amanda Gard with Victoria Henrotte.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Child ‘pop’ stars have blast at Bubble Wrap Explosion

The Vero Beach Book Center
erupted with excitement at the
store’s annual Fourth of July
Bubble Wrap Explosion, where
the cacophony of pop, pop, pop-
ping from a stockpile of bubble
wrap competed with the joyous
sound of unabashed giggles. Be-
fore jumping feet first into the
plastic sound bursts, children
gathered around Miss Michelle
to hear a selection of engaging
stories, sang songs and crafted
red, white and blue band leader
batons which they wielded as
they marched in a patriotic pa-
rade around the store. The mini
patriots took to their bubble
wrap task with wild abandon,
vowing to pop ’til they dropped
and stomped with abandon. Join
Miss Michelle for Story Hour Fri-
days at 10:30 a.m., Ice Cream Day
at 1 p.m. July 14, and a Pajama
Party at 11 a.m. July 28. 

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 22



22 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21
Curtis Yergler with little brother Josiah.

Rocky Prudenti and Lindsey O’Hagan. Jarren and Jalyn Rossmell. Collins Reilly. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 23

PEOPLE

Violet, Rael and Griffin Welsh.

Benjamin Graney Michelle Isaacson leads the parade at the Bubble Wrap Explosion. Erich Stanton.



A WRINKLE OF IRONY
IN FUNK’S EXHIBITS
ON APRONS, SEWING

26 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

A wrinkle of irony in Funk’s exhibits on aprons, sewing

BY ELLEN FISCHER childhood to married (and harried) antly surprised.” PHOTOS BY GORDON RADFORD
Columnist mom in embroideries that combine The traveling exhibition from Mid-
vintage pieces of fancy work with her with home cooking and the memorable
Aprons and embroidery: Didn’t those own stitchery. American Art Alliance features aprons aromas in Mom’s kitchen, an educa-
go out with ant farms and beehive hair- from several unnamed collections. The tional adjunct in the gallery is a station
dos? At first glance, the two exhibitions Keidra Navaroli, assistant director of earliest apron (c. 1900) is a long, white where you can take a sniff from any of
at Florida Institute of Technology’s FIT Galleries and curator of the Ruth cover-up from the days when it was five canisters containing unidentified
Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts would Funk Center, explains that the idea of more practical to scrub a soiled apron odors. The object is to write what the
appear to glorify the bad old days of an exhibition featuring aprons is off- than an entire skirt. That crochet- odor reminds you of on a sticky note
Woman’s place: in the home, preferably putting to some. Only two aprons on edged number is accompanied by a few that you place behind the canister that
barefoot and – well, you know. display are intended for Him (in his others that represent pre-World War II provoked your memory.
role as backyard grill master); but ul- protective garments.
Don’t be deceived. “Apron Strings: timately, this exhibition is all Enthuses Navaroli, “It’s been a fun
Ties to the Past” and “Maggy Rozycki about Her. The bulk of the exhibition, however, way to engage people, to talk about
Hiltner: Not Quite Sew” are two exhibi- focuses on aprons from the late 1940s the collective experiences of our au-
“We had a women’s group through the garment’s golden age in dience.”
tions you don’t want to miss. whose members at first did not the 1950s, when women were essen-
On view through Aug. 11, want to come, because tially “dressing up to stay at home,” ac- A dress-up/selfie station between the
they thought it was re- cording to Navaroli. gallery area that holds Apron Strings
both exhibitions deal with gressive,” says Nava- and those that hold Not Quite Sew in-
history. Apron Strings traces roli. After the war “there was this monu- vites you to try on an apron while hold-
the 20th century evolution of mental shift in technology,” she says. ing a cross-looking “Mad Mom” mask
its subject from workaday She adds Navaroli explains that women – most of over your face.
cover-up to frilly whom still bore sole responsibility for
hostess acces- that after touring household laundry chores – increas- The source of the childishly
the show and finding that the ingly took advantage of such innova- scrawled faces on the masks are found
sory. Not Quite aprons in it were discussed as tions as the electric wringer washer nearby, in seven portraits of har-
Sew outlines Mag- artifacts from another (long- and wash-and-wear (synthetic blend) ried mothers from Hiltner’s continu-
gy Hiltner’s personal past) era, the group was “pleas- fabrics. Modern conveniences like ing “Mad Mom” series. Inspired by a
history from not-so-innocent those gave homemakers more time to child’s portrait of “Mother,” Hiltner
play the lady of the house, rather than embroidered similarly untutored-
its drudge. looking faces atop delicate line em-
broideries of 1950s-style moms doing
As women’s aprons became less of a things that moms do: juggling plates,
splatter guard and more of an acces- tending children and walking the dog.
sory, they became smaller and frillier. As a segue from the light-hearted his-
A woman might have a drawer full of tory of Apron Strings to the heavier
them for different occasions, from material of Hiltner’s personal mus-
presiding over a coffee klatch in the ings, it is effective.
kitchen to a cocktail party in the liv-
ing room. All the works in Not Quite Sew are
on loan from Billings, Montana-based
The current exhibition boasts aprons Hiltner, whose artist’s statement in the
for Christmas and Valentine’s Day, gallery explains that she buys vintage
aprons with flowers and polka-dots
and rickrack, aprons made of hand-
kerchiefs, tulle and lace. Some itsy-
bitsy, wedding-veil sheer ones on view
ensured that their wears looked sexy
while presenting hubby with his after-
dinner martini – with or without the
little black dress underneath.

Aprons were the souvenir T-shirt
of their day, says Navaroli. Examples
that commemorate visits to California
and Portugal are in the show, as well
as a Seminole-made geometric beauty
from Florida. That one was made in
the 1960s, a high point for tourism on
Seminole reservations, according to
Navaroli.

“Seminole women were turning
out objects they though white people
wanted to buy. They used traditional
patchwork techniques to make a gar-
ment that is completely outside what
their culture would wear.”

Outsiders, she adds, were attracted
to such a memento: one that spiced
the comfortingly familiar with exotic
allure.

Because aprons are often associated

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 27

ARTS & THEATRE

embroideries (she calls them “discard- Coming Up: ‘Dixie Swim Club’ makes comedic splash
ed treasures”) to reuse in her art works.
She cuts the hand-stitched flowers and BY SAM ROHLFING BAITA the long-time southeastern favor- covers, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. From Mel-
cute animals from the tea towels, dress- Staff Writer ite, the acoustic duo HairPeace, at bourne, the contemporary bluegrass
er scarves and samplers she finds, and 8 p.m. Chrystine on vocals, guitar, band Penny Creek takes you into the
reunites them in all their kitschy glory 1 Dive into this Vero Beach The- harmonica and percussion, and Ray night, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with “heart-
with line-embroidered “drawings” of atre Guild’s summer comedy: adding vocals, guitar and mandolin felt, hard-driving bluegrass music
her own. The latter feature boys and are experienced singer/songwriters with tons of variety.” And on Sunday,
girls engaged in investigations, adven- “The Dixie Swim Club” is about life- who keep the spirit of the ’60s alive 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. it’s Soul Jam: five mu-
tures, and the occasional misfortune. with an original blend of folk/rock, sicians who play select covers and
time friendships – at once hilarious Americana, bluegrass and a seem- write and perform their own stuff
The result, says Hiltner, are “images ingly endless cover play list, says as well. Souljam blends classic rock
that at first appear whimsical or vi- and touching; raucous and poignant. their bio. On Saturday, Category Five – think Phish, the Grateful Dead, Te-
brantly happy, but on closer inspection out of Port St. Lucie brings blues, deschi Trucks Band – as well as “the
are not quite so. Sometimes it’s a mali- Opening this coming Tuesday, July swing, R&B and jazz instrumental new and exciting.” 
cious undertone to the relationships, or
a lack of self-control on the part of the 10, for a two-week run, it is the story of
characters, or maybe an otherworldli-
ness hidden in the everyday.” five Southern women who have been

All the artworks on display are au- friends since they were teammates
tobiographical, some of them inti-
mately so. on their college swim team. Since

Perhaps the most troubling piece in those days, they’ve met for a week-
the show is “Providence” of 2011. The
artwork’s title refers to the Pennsylva- end every August at a beach house
nia village where Hiltner grew up, and
where her parents spent much of their on North Carolina’s Outer Banks to
time at the local bar. In the label next to
the artwork, Hiltner refers to her even- “catch up, laugh and meddle in each
tual “escape” from her childhood envi-
rons, and wonders if she is doomed to other’s lives,” according to drama-
repeat her parents’ mistakes.
tists.com. The play covers three of
The work’s predominant color is
a green fabric background against those weekends over 33 years. Still
which her vintage embroideries are
stitched. There, a colorful, anthropo- the “team leader” is Sheree, focused
morphic array of puppies, kittens and
birds gambol – and tipple – from jugs on her “organized and perfect life.”
marked “XXX.” In the green reserves
between them, the figures of boys and Wisecracking Dinah is a career dy-
girls are traced in fine black line work.
They deal with the drunken hilarity of namo with a frustrating personal life;
the animals in different ways. One boy
drinks from a jug himself, while two pampered, oft-married Lexi strives to
girls wade in an overflow of booze: one
of them pours liquid into the stream maintain her looks and youth; sharp-
from her boot.
tongued Vernadette is determined to
An artwork made especially for the
exhibition is “Devil’s in her Pocket” of “embrace” her chaotic and challeng-

2018. In a nod to the Apron ing life; and gentle, accommodating
Strings show in the ad-
joining gallery, Hiltner Jeri Neal surprises her friends with
constructed a
black apron some unexpected news. “The Dixie
edged with
found floral Swim Club” show times are 7:30 p.m.
embroidery, over
which she stitched Tuesdays through Fridays; and 2 p.m.
stylized flames.
Three embroidered Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are
red devils protrude
from the apron’s $15 to $30. 772-562-8300.
pocket.
“We asked her to 2 If you have yet to see a perfor-
make her version mance by the young perform-
of an apron for
this show. This is ers who have gone through River-
what she made
specifically for side Theatre’s excellent summer
us, for the show,”
says Navaroli. camp program, you might very well
“We really like
this one.”  be surprised and amazed at their

exuberance and the level of talent

in these gifted young actors, singers

and dancers. If you’re already famil-

iar with the program, you know how

much fun and well-done these sum-

mer kid shows are. This coming Fri-

day, July 13, definitely bring the fami-

ly to iRascals Pop, a Riverside Rascals

Revue that showcases these emerg-

ing young stars, who’ll be perform-

ing “kid friendly” songs from the pop

charts. Show times on the Stark Stage

are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.

772-231-6990.

3 If you’re looking for somewhere
to hang out this weekend with

a laid-back vibe and live music, give

a thought to Waldo’s over on the

beach. (Smack on the ocean, actual-

ly.) Of all Vero’s cool watering holes,

Waldo’s is among the coolest, and

“laid back” is its middle name. Along

with food and beverages, there’s live

music on the poolside stage week-

ends. Friday, July 6, at 8 p.m., it’ll be

28 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PETS

Bonz inspired by Tucker, who’s blind but blessed

Hi Dog Buddies! Mom an Dad were super nice. Since I on the furniture feet and patio
wasn’t used to ridin’ in a car or going on
This week’s innerview reminded me leash walks, I was Very Nervous at first, dog door so I could find the
what a lucky dog I am. so nervous that I’d tuck my caboose un-
der. So Mom an Dad changed my name exit. And vanilla on my water
Tucker Davis is a 9-year-old Rat Ter- (Victor) to Tucker. (Which I like better
rier. Last September, he got a disease anyway.) I didn’t even know how to play, dish. An lavender on path-
that made him blind, an a couple weeks if you can believe it. I only knew how to
ago he Woofmailed me to ask if he could watch TV and snuggle on the couch. ways to Important Places. So
share some of the tricks he learned to
help him find important stuff like his “When I first got here, Mom an Dad by the time my lights went
food an water bowls an bed an Mom an had another pooch, Idaho, a Jack Rus-
Dad, and not bump into things. sell. We weren’t what you’d call come- out, I knew how to use my
PAT-ibble. It was sorta my fault, I guess,
When the door opened, a chocolate- cuz, see, since I didn’t understand Playin’ nose to find stuff.”
colored pooch was standing there, next back then. I kept trying to save Mom from
to a lady, an Tucker was right behind, Idaho when they were just playin’ Tug-of- “Woof! Tucker, that’s uh-
real close. He had a black sniffer and War. We finally worked out a Semi-Peace-
very big, very dark eyes. An the BEST. ful Co-existence, and, when Idaho went MAZ-ing!! YOU’RE amaz-
EARS. EVER. Big pointy ones that looked to Dog Heaven, I really missed her, and I
like sails onna boat. He may not be able moped and moped. ing. But I thought I heard
to see, I thought, but I bet he can hear a
mouse in sneakers, tip-toeing. “Mom an Dad figured I needed an- bells, when we first came in.
other pooch pal, so they went to a Rat
After a coupla woofs, they came up for Terrier rescue down in Miami and found What’s up with that?” Tucker, the
Wag-and-Sniffs, Tucker leaning against Hershey. Only half of her is a Rat Terrier. “I also learned to use my Rat Terrier.
the chocolate-colored pooch a liddle bit. I’m not sure which half. The rest is Jack
Russell and Chihuahua. She’s a wunner- ears more Mom an Dad an PHOTO BY
“I’m Tucker, this is my liddle sister, ful liddle sister. She even taught me how Hershey wear bell brace- GORDON RADFORD
Hershey, an this is our Mom, Sandra. to play by running laps around the cof-
Our Dad’s Tom. Thanks for coming, Mr. fee table, an bouncing at me, an waggin’ lets so I always know where
Bonzo.” an stuff. An, when I got blind, she figured
out how to help me by stickin’ real close they are.”
“Thanks for having me,” I replied. “I and kinda bumpin’ me along. She’s Awe-
gotta say, you seem to get around nicely. some Dog Biscuits!” “Woof! So you can run
If I didn’t know you were blind, I don’t
think I wudda suspected.” Hershey trotted over and licked Tuck- around an play with Her-
er on the nose. “Awwww, thanks, bro.”
“Well, I hadda learn a lot pretty quick. shey an stuff like that?”
It was frustrating for a while, but, with “Well, it’s true,” he told her. “Anyway,
Mom and Dad an Hershey and my spe- last September, Mom an Dad ree-lized “Sure, since Hershey
cial trainer helpin’ me, it’s all good now.” something was wrong, an took me to a
specialist. When they found out it was showed me how to play.
“So why don’t you start from when SARDS and I was probly gonna totally
you first got your Forever Family,” I sug- lose my sight, they got a special train- I don’t do as much zoo-
gested. er for me, A.J., to help us Prepare. A.J.
taught us some Cool Kibbles stuff. Like min’ around as she
“K. Well, I was 5 anna half when Mom using my sniffer: while I could still see a
and Dad found me at the Brevard Hu- liddle, Mom’d put different smelly stuff does, though. I’m a Momma’s Boy. I like “Well Thank Lassie,
mane Society. I’d been very well cared (she calls ’em Essential Oils) on places I
for by my previous owners, probly even need to be able to locate. She made Smell snoozin’ on the grass, in the sun. Her- things turned out OK,” I told them. “I
a little spoiled, but they had to let me go Paths for me to follow. Like, peppermint
cuz of Unavoidable Circumstances. I shey says I snore, but I’m not so sure. sure appreciate you sharing your experi-
wasn’t mad at ’em or anything, but I was
sad. And kinda concerned. But my new She’s a Daddy’s Girl. They watch football, ences, so maybe it’ll help other pooches

an she helps him in the garden. She’s a in the same spot. It’s been a pleasure.”

hunter, too. She’ll hunt anything that Heading home, I was feeling fortu-

moves. Lizards, squirrels, snakes.” nate. And inspired. And, just in case

“You got THAT right!” Hershey inter- your humans wanna know: SARDS is

jected. “I’m good at it, too. Except, one Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration

time, on the beach, I ate one of those Syndrome. I Googled it.

blue, bubble-looking thingys with the

long blue strings on ’em. THAT was a BIG Till next time,

Mistake.” The Bonz
“HUGE!” Tucker agreed. “She was

sicker than a – well, you know. She hadda

have SUR-gery. Now we’re mostly back Don’t Be Shy
to normal. We share everything. Except
food. When we hear Mom running the We are always looking for pets
bath water, we run an hide together. But with interesting stories.
it doesn’t do any good. When we figure To set up an interview, email

out we’re going to the vet, we sit and give

Mom the ‘No, we don’t think so,’ look. [email protected].

That doesn’t work either.”



30 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

The computer in the spotter car DEREK LEWIS DRIVES A CAR EQUIPPED WITH LICENSE-PLATE-RECOGNITION CAMERAS. able to use big data to find targets, the
shouted “Hide!,” and repo agent Derek repossession industry is booming at
Lewis knew that meant to keep driving 325xi. He twisted in his seat. “It’s right capitalize on a dark corner of the an unexpected time. Although the U.S.
like nothing had happened. He’d just there,” he said. United States’ strong economy: the economy recently entered its second-
found another wanted vehicle. He was soaring number of people falling be- longest-ever period of expansion, the
about to ruin someone’s day. Best not Technology has made the repo man hind on their car payments. auto loan delinquency rate last year
to draw attention. ruthlessly efficient, allowing this fa- reached its highest point since 2012,
miliar angel of financial calamity to No longer tethered to a tow truck and driven by souring subprime auto loans.
It helped that he wasn’t in a tow truck,
the stereotypical image of a repo man. And the repo man has noticed the
Lewis drove a beat-up Ford Crown change.
Victoria sedan. It had four small cam-
eras mounted on the trunk and a lap- “So much of America is just a heart-
top bolted to the dash. The high-speed beat away from a repossession – even
cameras captured every passing license good people, decent people who aren’t
plate. The computer contained a grow- deadbeats,” said Patrick Altes, a veter-
ing list of hundreds of thousands of an agent in Daytona Beach. “It seems
vehicles with seriously late loans. The like a different environment than it’s
system could spot a repossession in an ever been.”
instant. Even better, it could keep tabs
on a car long before the loan went bad. Repo agents are the unpopular foot
soldiers in the nation’s $1.2 trillion auto
Now, Lewis had a live hit in a park- loan market. They don’t make the loans
ing lot. He glanced at his laptop. The or issue the repossession orders that, for
plate matched a blue 2006 BMW some high-risk customers, can come as
soon as a single payment is days late.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 31

INSIGHT COVER STORY

But they are the closest most people RELENTLESS RECOVERY’S CAR LOT IN CLEVELAND. Now, Lewis kept his eye on the
come to a faceless, sophisticated finan- blue BMW, a vehicle that might cost
cial system that can upend their lives. ABOVE: DAN HOLBROOK, PERFORMS MAINTENANCE ON ONE OF RELENTLESS’S TOW TRUCKS. $37,000 new but after more than a de-
cade was worth less than $8,000. The
Lewis rolled to a far corner of the A REPOSSESSED BMW IS TOWED AFTER HAVING THE OWNER’S BELONGINGS CLEANED OUT. tow truck rolled up. Lewis slipped on a
parking lot, next to an apartment build- pair of work gloves.
ing overlooking Lake Erie, and called “For getting a live hit, this is the place to today get assignments for high-end
the BMW’s lender. be,” he said earlier, weaving his way past brands such as Mercedes-Benz. They “You ready?” he shouted at the tow
rows of cars outside a Dollar General. take the new cars of Uber drivers. The truck driver.
“I’m sitting on a live hit for you,” he only cars still rarely seen are Subarus
said. While it could feel like he was prey- and Volvos. The best repo is a quick “hook and
ing on the poor, Lewis said agents roll.” This wasn’t one of them. The
He texted for a company tow truck. BMW had all-wheel drive. All four
It was seven minutes away. This was wheels needed to be off the ground.
the hard part. He had to just hope the The tow truck swung its lift under
vehicle’s driver didn’t come out and the rear tires of the backed-in BMW.
drive away. Lewis and the tow driver jumped out
to assemble a metal dolly to raise
He sat in silence, one of the few times the front tires. Time crawled. Lewis
his spotter car wasn’t logging new scanned the lot. A woman walked to-
plates, each one trumpeted by a video- ward them. He watched with relief as
game-like bing. The system picked up she climbed into a different car.
passing cars. Parked cars. Cars stashed
in driveways. As many as 10,000 every “See you, guys,” the tow truck driver
eight-hour shift. shouted, pulling away with the boun-
ty – worth about $400 to Relentless.
Lewis works for Relentless Recovery,
the largest repo company in Ohio and First repo of the day.
its busiest collector of license plate Although there are no national auto
scans. Last year, the company repos- repossession statistics, other measures
sessed more than 25,500 vehicles – in- point to a growing problem. More than
cluding tractor trailers and riding lawn 4 percent of auto loans were at least 90
mowers. days late at the end of 2017 – the highest
rate in five years. That number jumps
Business has more than doubled to almost 10 percent for subprime auto
since 2014, the company said. Even loans alone, according to a report by
with the rising deployment of remote the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
engine cutoffs and GPS locators in Affordability is one factor. The aver-
cars, repo agencies remain dominant. age new car price has soared 20 per-
cent over a decade, to $35,500, while
Relentless scanned 28 million li- wages have been sluggish. Auto loans
cense plates last year, a demonstration now carry higher balances and longer
of its recent, heavy push into technol- terms, stretching out the timeline for
trouble to appear.
ogy. It now has more than 40 camera- Analysts point to a period from
equipped vehicles, mostly spotter cars. 2014 to 2016, when auto lenders got
Agents are finding repos they never too loose with credit. That helped the
would have a few years ago. United States sell a record number of
automobiles in 2016. But it also pushed
The company’s goal is to capture the delinquency rate higher.
every plate in Ohio and use that infor- “As a result, the markets pulled back
mation to reveal patterns. A plate shot a little bit,” said Amy Crews Cutts,
outside an apartment at 5 a.m. tells you chief economist at Equifax.
that’s probably where the driver spends The rate of auto loan write-offs –
the night, no matter their listed home which includes repos – is trending
address. So when a repo order comes higher but remains below its 2009
in for a car, the agent already knows peak, according to Equifax numbers.
where to look. Repo agents have their own theories
about what’s going on – from fading
“It’s kind of scary, but it’s amazing,” attachment to vehicles to an increased
said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of willingness to walk away, a lesson
Relentless. learned from the housing crisis. One
national list of active automobile re-
Lewis, 33, tries to follow one main possession orders reached 360,000 this
rule: “Don’t make someone’s bad situa- year, more than double what it was at
tion worse.” So he avoids hospital park- the same time last year.
ing lots. But he loves shopping malls, The camera systems have made
especially the last row of lots, where the agents more productive but also
employees park. Discount stores are opened them up to new challenges.
another target. Repo agents are responsible for the
majority of the billions of license plate
scans produced nationwide. But they
don’t control the information. Most of
that data is owned by Digital Recog-
nition Network (DRN), a Fort Worth

STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

32 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 INSIGHT COVER STORY

company that is the largest provider A VIEW OF EAST 105TH STREET ON CLEVELAND’S EAST SIDE. Lewis loved being back in a hulking
of license-plate-recognition systems. Ford F-450. Moving to a spotter car had
And DRN sells the information to in- been “like getting neutered,” he said.
surance companies, private investiga- But he realized the change was better
tors – even other repo agents. for business.

DRN is a sister company to Vigilant “I had to ask myself, ‘Do I want to
Solutions, which provides the plate make money, or do I want to look like
scans to law enforcement, including a tough guy in a tow truck?’ ” he said.
police and U.S. Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement. Both companies He pulled up to a quiet garden-style
declined to respond to questions about apartment complex. The plate scan’s
their operations. The potential misuse GPS coordinates pointed to exactly
of the plate data has drawn criticism where the car should be. And it was.
from privacy groups. A federal court in
Nevada ruled in January that the scans The tow truck’s rumble seemed im-
do not amount to unwarranted sur- possibly loud. Darkened apartment
veillance because they are essentially windows lined the parking lot. Lewis
snapshots taken in public. backed up the truck and guided the lift.
He jumped out with a flashlight and
For repo companies, one worry is
whether they are producing informa- DEREK LEWIS OF RELENTLESS RECOVERY
tion that others are monetizing. TRIES TO FOLLOW ONE MAIN RULE:
“DON’T MAKE SOMEONE’S BAD
Now it was after midnight and Lewis SITUATION WORSE.”
was back at work, trying to rouse him-
self with Red Bull. This time he drove a
tow truck. And he had his eye on a po-
tential repo: a 2016 Chevy Cruze.

The order was only a few hours old.
Half of Relentless’s repos are found
within the first two days. After 10 days,
most vehicles disappear.

But Lewis had a plate scan for the
Chevy taken five days earlier, at 8:39
a.m. outside an apartment complex.
He bet that was the car owner’s home.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 33

INSIGHT COVER STORY

verified it was the right car. He got back knickknacks dangled from the rearview of lender late notices and phone calls. make up, but she could get her items
in, lifted the vehicle higher and pulled mirror. In the back was a child’s car seat. After her car was towed to Relent- back for $50.
away. A real hook and roll.
Lewis didn’t flinch. He knew that a less, the woman’s personal items The repo man also had a policy, part
Safely out of sight, he pulled over mother was probably going to walk would be stored in a cardboard box, of that aim to not make a bad situation
to inspect the vehicle. He could see a outside in the morning and realize her amid the stacks of boxes from other re- worse.
woman’s sunglasses in the front con- car was gone. She had to have known pos. The car might be gone, the missed
sole. A “black ice” air freshener and this moment was coming after a flurry payments and repo fee too much to The child’s car seat was always re-
turned for free. 

34 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE CONTINUING DECLINE OF THE LOCAL DAILY

The forces that have had such a devastating im- “I can’t get the system to take this, but I have a code So Friday came, and back we went to the drive-
pact on local journalism in communities across the here, so I’m going to put you in for all seven days at way. There was another Florida Today.
country are well known. $13 a month.” That sounded like the right price –
sure a lot better than $38.50 – so we said yes. So once again, we called the 800 number. “We know
Chief among them is the gobbling up of local you’re in South Carolina,” we told another nice lady,
newspapers by distantly owned chains – Gannett, The next morning, we went out to the driveway “but Vero Beach and Melbourne are not very close.”
Gatehouse, Digital First – that are more interested in and there was the paper. The only problem was it
milking every possible dollar out of the papers they wasn’t the Press Journal. It was Florida Today, Gan- “Oh, we’re not in South Carolina,” the woman
acquire rather than investing in newsgathering. nett’s Melbourne paper. Why would the local carrier replied. “That’s our other call center. We’re in Lou-
be bringing us the Melbourne newspaper? isville, Kentucky. But you will get the Press Journal
Last week, we had yet another personal experi- tomorrow.”
ence with how chain ownership has impacted what So once again, we called the 800 number, and asked
we once considered our local daily. for them to send out a copy of the Press Journal. It And to think we used to be distressed just a few
was still pretty early. We thought we’d have it by 9. years back when the circulation department aban-
After returning from a month of travel, during doned Vero, and we had to engage in these discus-
which we suspended home delivery of the Press “Well, we basically don’t do that anymore,” the sions with a Scripps call center in Stuart.
Journal, we called the toll-free number in the paper nice woman in Greenville, South Carolina, said.
to reactivate it. “We don’t redeliver. We can send it with your paper But all of this just further illustrates how local news-
tomorrow?” papers, despite their fundamental importance to our
After talking for a few minutes to a computer, we democracy, for the most part are no longer local.
were finally connected to a nice woman at the Gan- And why would we want today’s paper tomorrow?
nett call center in Greenville, South Carolina. “Well, we will give you a credit then,” she said. “You And with only a few Press Journal reporters left in
will get the Press Journal tomorrow.” Vero, most of the daily’s news isn’t local either.
We told the nice lady we did not feel we should
continue paying $38.50 a month for our subscrip- Things are not getting better. 
tion – a sum we recently discovered was higher than
what many others are paying.

Now, if you are wondering how it is possible that
some subscribers to the Press Journal pay more than
others, Gannett has bragged on conference calls
with Wall Street analysts about how it is dealing with
plunging circulation by boosting subscription prices.

Sound counterintuitive?
This strategy, implemented last year, is based
on the belief that some subscribers don’t pay very
close attention to what is charged to their card each
month, while others will pay almost anything to
have the comics and crossword at breakfast time.
To some extent, this cynical strategy works.
So after a brief pause, the nice woman at the call
center said, “I can offer you a rate of $32.37 a month.”
No, that’s still too high, we responded.
“Well, we have a Wednesday through Sunday
rate of $24.61,” the call center person said. Since
the Monday and Tuesday Press Journals are wafer
thin – probably soon to disappear – we decided to
go with this deal.
A couple of minutes later, she came back and said,

STROKE, PART II BLOOD CLOTS FOR WOUNDS
The life cycle of a normal blood clot depends on a series of
CAUSES OF STROKE chemical interactions.
 Platelets (“blood clot cells”) are a component of blood
There’s big news in the stroke world. In January, The Joint Com- whose function is to stop bleeding by clumping and clotting
mission and American Heart Association/American Stroke As- blood vessel injuries. Platelets congregate around a wound
sociation published new guidelines for doctors and hospitals in order to create a cap to stop blood flow out of the tissue
to follow that significantly lower mortality and disability from and form a plug.
certain types of stroke. We’ll cover these changes later in this  Proteins in the blood signal each other to cause a rapid
series. chain reaction and the clot grows.
But let’s start with a basic understanding of stroke. Stroke (a.k.a.  Then, other proteins offset extra clotting factor proteins so
“brain attack”) results when the supply of blood and oxygen to the clot doesn’t spread farther than necessary.
the brain is blocked.  Finally, as damaged tissue heals, and the clot isn’t needed
anymore, the clot dissolves and the blood takes back the
TWO TYPES OF STROKE platelets and cells of the clot.
The two types of strokes are ischemic and hemorrhagic.
 Ischemic strokes are caused by blood clots and debris that BLOOD CLOTS WITHIN A BLOOD VESSEL
block arteries near or in the brain. Waxy cholesterol plaque that forms in arteries has these sub-
 Hemorrhagic strokes occur when a blood vessel bursts/ stances inside them too. If the plaque breaks open, it starts
leaks and causes bleeding in the brain. the clotting process. The gradual build up of plaque and other
About 87 percent of all strokes are ischemic; 13 percent are fatty deposits inside a blood vessel eventually create a blood
hemorrhagic. clot. If the blood clot is formed in or near the brain – or if it
travels through the bloodstream and blocks the main artery of
ISCHEMIC STROKES (DUE TO BLOOD CLOTS) the brain – a stroke results.
Triggered by either a thrombus (a stationary blood clot that Blood clots also form when blood doesn’t flow properly. For
forms in a vessel) or an embolus (a blood clot that travels example, if it pools in your blood vessels or heart, platelets are
through the bloodstream and becomes lodged in a vessel), an more likely to stick together. Atrial fibrillation is one of those
ischemic stroke results when a clot blocks oxygen-rich blood conditions in which slowly moving blood inside the heart
flow to the brain. chambers can cause clotting problems that lead to stroke. 
When we get a cut or injury, we welcome the formation of Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always
blood clots to stop the bleeding. However, blood clots that form welcome. Email us at [email protected].
when not needed can cause stroke and other serious problems.
© 2018 VERO BEACH 32963 MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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38 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

There are traitors, and then youthful ideology when synthesize foreign policy problems unmatched.
there’s Donald Maclean. Now Stalin made a surprise Still, Maclean was such a committed alcoholic it’s a
here was a card-carrying turn- pact with the Nazis just
coat. Maclean rose swiftly and before the war. As au- wonder that he got any spying or diplomatic work done,
efficiently through the diplo- thor Arthur Koestler put and that he didn’t betray his double life, given how out-
matic ranks of the British Foreign it: “No death is so sad rageously impolitic he was when he was drunk, which,
Office, all the while delivering and final as the death in Philipps’ portrayal, was most of the time. At a George-
reams of documents to his Soviet of an illusion.” But town party hosted by the Washington Post’s Katharine
handlers. He was a lesser-known Graham, he picked a fight with another guest and peed
member of the Cambridge Five – communism was no in Graham’s garden (a version of this anecdote made it
a group of top-drawer British men illusion for Maclean. into Graham’s memoir). Maclean had to leave Cairo, his
who spied for the Soviets before, Communism would final foreign posting, after he and his drinking buddy,
during and after World War II and secure world peace. writer Philip Toynbee, ransacked and defiled an apart-
well into the ColdWar, whose ranks And world peace, in ment while scavenging for booze. In his London days,
included Kim Philby and Anthony Philipps’ telling, is before he fled, Maclean was drunk and belligerent when
Blunt. After 15 years, Americans what animated Ma- he muttered to Toynbee a reference to Alger Hiss, an
uncovered Maclean’s treachery (the American accused of spying for the Soviets: “I am the
Brits were willfully blind to it), and clean’s ideology, even English Hiss.”
the spy defected to Russia, never to when that ideology
set foot on Her Majesty’s soil again. warred with his pa- Maclean, whose first code name was Orphan and
He was 38. triotism. He betrayed his last Homer, told no one of his secret life except his
his country but not American wife, whom he met in Paris before the war. He
“A Spy Named Orphan: The Enig- his conscience. He must have been hell to live with, but Melinda Marling
ma of Donald Maclean,” a scrupulous hoped his country stuck with him, fleeing with their three children to join
new biography by Roland Philipps, would catch up. him in Russia a year or so after his escape with Burgess.
follows Maclean from boarding Maclean died in Moscow in 1983 at age 69.
school in the English countryside to None of the Cam-
Cambridge University, London and bridge Five took Philipps provides plenty of evidence for his version
Paris, to Washington, New York and Cairo, back to Lon- money for their work, according to Philipps. of the mysterious Maclean, and the details make for
don and then on to Moscow. Maclean left behind no At the end of the war, the Soviets wanted “to reward the gripping, enlightening and occasionally exasperating
journals or memoirs, so much of his life has remained in agents who had made the most significant contributions reading. He is sometimes repetitive in conjuring the
the shadows. Philipps does an admirable job of piecing to victory” with annual pensions, Philipps writes. All re- purity of his “tall, distinctive” protagonist’s motives. He
together the spy’s tale, relying heavily on a trove of previ- fused. Guy Burgess, the Cambridge Five spy with whom also doesn’t fully reconcile Maclean’s near-constant in-
ously classified files released by the British security ser- Maclean fled to Moscow, relented, accepting “expenses,” sobriety with his talent for both his taxing jobs. Details
vice MI5 in 2015. Philipps also has a family connection to and “bought a gold, soft-topped, second-hand Rolls from Maclean’s three decades in the Soviet Union are
Maclean’s story: His grandfather was Sir Roger Makins, Royce on the grounds that he was such a terrible driv- understandably sketchy, but there are enough to make
Maclean’s colleague in Washington at the Atomic Energy er that a ‘sturdily built’ car was a life-saving necessity.” the case that Maclean found a life among the favored
Commission (whose secrets Maclean pilfered) and also But Maclean made few such concessions to capitalism class there and never regretted his choices. “His life in
in London, where he was the last person in the Foreign and didn’t even like the work of being a spy, Philipps re- the Soviet Union was always characterized by an excep-
Office to see Maclean before he slipped away from the ports. It was “like being a lavatory attendant,” Maclean tional absence of nostalgia,” Philipps writes. An absence
dolts who had finally caught on to him. said. “It stinks but someone has to do it.” And he did it of nostalgia could apply to “A Spy Named Orphan,” too.
well. He was methodical in lifting documents from his Philipps does not make the life of his unhappy antihero
The man Philipps wants us to see is equal parts con- offices, photographing them and delivering copies to his seem fun. 
tradiction and constancy. Maclean threw off his father’s handlers. Hundreds and hundreds of pages. Several of
Calvinism early, adopting communism as his creed at his handlers were recalled to Moscow and executed in A SPY NAMED ORPHAN
Cambridge. Maclean never wavered in his commitment Stalin’s purge, but Maclean just kept going. He excelled
to communism, which was grounded in his fervent anti- at his diplomatic job, too. Philipps writes that both the THE ENIGMA OF DONALD MACLEAN
fascism. Many comrades, by contrast, abandoned their British and the Soviets found his ability to analyze and
BY ROLAND PHILIPPS | NORTON. 440 PP. $28.95
REVIEW BY MARY JO MURPHY, THE WASHINGTON POST

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 39

INSIGHT BRIDGE

TRY TO VISUALIZE THE END-POSITION WEST NORTH EAST
93 74 Q J 10 8 6
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 4 J 10 8 5 2 96
K Q 10 6 5 AJ3 98742
Robert L. Schwartz said, “The entrepreneur is essentially a visualizer and an actualizer. He K Q J 10 5 A63 7
can visualize something, and when he visualizes it, he sees exactly how to make it happen.”
SOUTH
A top bridge player is good at visualizing where the missing key cards lie. AK52
AKQ73
West used the Unusual No-trump to show at least 5-5 in the minors. North’s three-club —
cue-bid (the cheaper) promised at least game-invitational values in the lower-ranking of the 9842
other two suits; here, hearts. (A response of three hearts would have indicated the values for
a single raise. A three-diamond cue-bid would have guaranteed five-plus spades and game- Dealer: South; Vulnerable: Neither
going values. A response of three spades would have been natural but nonforcing.)
The Bidding:
After East leapt aggressively to five diamonds, South closed his eyes and bid a slam, hoping
that if the opponents could cash the club ace and king, West would start with a diamond. SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
1 Hearts 2 NT 3 Clubs 5 Diamonds
When West led the club king, South experienced a sinking feeling — until he saw the club 6 Hearts Pass Pass Pass LEAD:
ace on the board. Still, though, he seemed to have two club losers. What did he do? K Clubs

South possessed a key piece of information: that East had only one club. So, declarer won
with dummy’s club ace, drew trumps ending on the board, cashed the diamond ace, ruffed a
diamond, took the top spades, ruffed a spade and ruffed the diamond jack. Then he led the
spade five and discarded a club from the board.

East took the trick, but on his spade or diamond return, South ruffed in his hand and sluffed
dummy’s remaining club to gain the slam bonus.

40 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JUNE 28) ON PAGE 58

ACROSS DOWN
1 Garish (5) 1 Writing on the wall (8)
5 Scottish lakes (5) 2 Brings together (6)
8 Overweight (5) 3 Sprightly (8)
9 Farewell (5) 4 Sauce; savour (6)
10 Width (9) 5 Seep; disclose (4)
11 Enemy (3) 6 Convincingly argued (6)
12 Too compassionate? (4-7) 7 Bodies of water (4)
15 Acting without mercy (2,4,5) 13 Explosive causing huge cloud (4,4)
19 Atmosphere (3) 14 Humiliates (8)
20 Explosive causing little cloud 16 Oven (6)
17 Busted (6)
(5-4) 18 Flower, often ball-shaped (6)
22 Greased (5) 20 Comic routine (4)
23 Shine brightly (5) 21 Border; advantage (4)
24 Small number (5)
25 Big animals (5)

The Telegraph

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Fill in the grid so the
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in every column, row
and three-by-three
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 41

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 79 Contribute, as to 6 It’s going around 68 “Full of” suffix The Washington Post
1 Famous last a 401(k) the office 71 Gallery eyeball-
IS THAT YET ANOTHER CHICKEN JOKE? By Merl Reagle
words 80 Wonderland 7 Redness benders
6 Entrepreneur’s vehicles, standard 72 Front for cene or

deg. at Disneyland 8 Quick lithic
9 Jeanne’s last 82 Lorgnette event 9 Get in here? 73 Every ___ the
84 Cinema computer 10 Stockpile
name 85 Aristocrat 11 Noted riveter way
13 “___ Slow Boat to 88 Crow’s-feet 12 Stashable bed 75 Expel, as lava
89 Plop preceder 13 Petro faction 76 Thessaly peak
China” 90 Large omelet 14 From Mexico 78 Inflatable vessels
16 Chicks’ favorite that’s 81 Hebrew letters
just for show? City to Monterrey 82 Slices of slime in
snack food? 94 Int’l carrier 15 Chicken feed?
19 Melville novel 95 Home, not bus. 17 Move like a joey gumbo
20 Visit briefly: slang 96 Drum along the 18 Oprah in The 83 “Quiet, you
23 What chickens Mohawk
Color Purple chicks!”
always hope 97 Newshounds 21 So what, to a 84 Kin of compost
Farmer Brown 99 Jungle-movie suit 86 Luxuriates
won’t do? 100 Mustangs’ chicken? 87 K-P contents
25 Brave souls, to 22 Designer’s initials 91 Sex appeal
Kipling campus: abbr. 24 The 92 Letters on a
26 Cole Porter was 101 Chinese dish that
one Fountainhead Detroit truck
27 High weed? chickens never author 93 Parking place
28 Iranian language order? 29 Wedding setting 98 Mercedes model
29 Real 107 Rx scribblers 31 Earth Day prefix 102 Solemn promise
30 Window sections 109 Sibilant “hey you” 32 FX’s ___ 103 Has a Chiclet
33 Idolatry, for one 112 Hot tubbers’ Anarchy 104 Actress Ryder
34 Market words 33 Clockmaker 105 “Let me ___
36 Antlered animal 113 ___ mickey Thomas et al.
37 Hen’s favorite (incapacitate) 35 Truman’s saying ...”
Saturday Night 114 “God ___ a birthplace (speaker’s intro)
Live sketch? cheerful giver” (II 38 Artist’s deg. 106 TV’s Sagal et al.
42 ___ distance Cor. 9:7) 39 ___ tears (fill with 108 Flower part
44 Mon. night scores 116 Banana box ennui) 110 Joe, the jerk
46 Hiking 118 Mayberry aunt 40 Elaborate 111 Process for
47 Unanimously 121 Take-home fabrication Shapiro
50 Oldsmobile 122 Filch 41 Violin sec. 114 Shreveport
ancestor 123 Reassurance to 43 Choice words campus: abbr.
51 Essen an antsy fried- 45 “... out of a ___ 115 Hardy heroine
exclamation chicken lover? ear” 117 Metropolis near a
54 Hen’s favorite 127 Last of the 48 Mid-broadcast marble
actress? Mohicans 49 Spanish mausoleum
57 Missile wobble 128 Decorated statesman and 118 Like a tuna’s fin
58 South American Bradley dramatist, 119 Old Persian Gulf
plain 129 Chicken’s favorite López de ___ kingdom (with a
60 Former legislator, Dionne Warwick 51 Crooked, old- matriarchal social
in headlines hit? style system, despite
61 Swiss river 130 Subway relatives 52 Board game what it spells
62 Australian gems 131 J’accuse author that’s murder backward)
64 Groggy 132 Coll. term 53 Chick raiser’s 120 Charlotte’s Web
66 Put ___ on 133 Pencil shadings greeting? author: inits.
(follow) DOWN 55 Small and round, 123 From A ___
68 Utah city 1 Don’t fight (it) as eyes 124 Mental
69 Iron-pumper’s 2 Smackeroos 56 Beginning the yardsticks,
pride 3 Henhouse raider betting familiarly
70 What French 4 DC-10 course 59 Citadel denial 125 Reading from the
hens 5 100 Across 63 Joe of heart?
sit on? or 114 Down GoodFellas 126 Cannes Film
74 Indifferent 65 The ___ Age Festival award,
77 Take on 67 Ex-San the Palme ___
Francisco mayor
Art

The Telegraph

42 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

For hard-working parents, a lot of unrest at bedtime

BY CAROLYN HAX easier if you did not do bedtime at all.” Only kidding. I’m typing this only because the
Washington Post flashback finally passed.
I think because she is with them more, it seems
Dear Carolyn: There’s a lot going on in the scene you’ve de-
My wife and I are both hard- unfair to her that the kids “love dad more.” But it’s scribed, so I’ll start with this: Everyone’s feelings
working professionals. We have are normal.
a 3-year-old son and 2-year-old all just phases, in my opinion – they come and go.
daughter. We do our best to di- And on your kids’ part, they’re uncomplicated,
vide duties fairly and wisely, but, I’d appreciate your opinion. too. They see their mom more so they see time
generally, I work significantly more, and she runs with you as special. I’m sure your wife thinks her
the house and kids significantly more. – Dad version is rational – more time invested = more
By and large, we are a happy family and the rou- love – and time might prove her right, but at the
tines go well. Dad: moment, it’s adult thinking. Kid thinking is that
But sometimes there’s an issue at bedtime. When Huh … when our three were little, bedtime nev- mom is spinach and dad is cake.
she takes one kid and I the other to read one last er unraveled.
book and put each child in bed, they sometimes Your wife is acting on her feelings inappropri-
whine over who gets to go with me. This bothers ately, but the feelings themselves are normal to
my wife and hurts her feelings, and she voices that, set a watch by – of losing herself to all this.
sometimes in dramatic fashion – storming out and
saying, “Fine, then Dad can just put you both to Your dismay at your wife’s acting out is also nor-
bed,” and not coming back. Then the kids just get mal and apt. You want your kids to grow up mind-
quiet and seem confused as to what just happened. ful of others’ feelings but not feel responsible for
My concern is the kids will feel they have to exer- them, and your wife’s out-storming – if it becomes
cise caution to make sure their mom’s feelings are a habit – will indeed send them the message that
not hurt, and feel guilty when they are. I feel it’s it’s their job to keep Mother happy.
our job as parents to take these things in stride and
provide unconditional love. I generally want them This precursor to eggshell-walking could war-
to be living free and unhindered in our presence, as rant counseling, for you alone if your wife refuses.
long as they are not being disrespectful. However, she might have veered close to an an-
I have expressed these feelings to her, and get a swer herself. You don’t “stay out of it,” though –
couple of responses: 1. “This is between me and the she does. You do bedtimes solo, just through this
kids, stay out of it”; and 2. “Then it would just be phase, canceling the competition and giving your
wife some time for herself. It checks every box:
more you for your kids; more kids for you; less of
everyone for your wife; less emotional pressure
on kids. Ahh. Ask her, kindly, to grant you this rare
one-on-one time with the kids. 

TRANSITIONAL CARE CRITICAL
TO PATIENTS’ LASTING WELL-BEING

44 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

Transitional care critical to patients’ lasting well-being

BY TOM LLOYD the program and its skilled nursing
Staff Writer facility “is to help people regain their
strength and safety awareness, so that
“Transitional care,” says registered they can return home safely. And,
nurse Virginia (Ginny) Currier, direc- hopefully, stay at home and not end
tor of nursing at Sebastian River Med- up back in the hospital again.”
ical Center’s transitional care unit,
“is the bridge between hospital and A typical transitional care patient
home” for patients that need addition- could be a hip or knee replacement pa-
al care after an operation or illness. tient who is still unsteady on their feet
or someone who is otherwise too weak
According to Currier, the goal of or fragile – due to age, anesthesia, pre-

Nursing home administrator Gloria Tausch and TCU Director of Nursing Virginia Currier. PHOTOS BY DENISE RITCHIE

scription medications or surgical-re- The need for transitional care and
lated complications – or someone who its success in helping patients is well
lives alone and has no one to help care documented.
for them at home upon release.
Beckers Hospital Review writes that

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 45

HEALTH

on average, 20 percent of Medicare continues, “who is also our case man- they have any questions.” nursing and home health physical
beneficiaries discharged from hos- ager, calls and makes follow-up dis- “We also give them also an entire therapy and occupational therapy. If
pitals are re-hospitalized within 30 charge appointments with primary they don’t want it they can cancel it,
days, but a large series of “randomized care doctors. If they have a specialist print-out of their medications and we but it is ordered and set up for every-
controlled trials” have shown that that is following them, such as an or- tell them to take that to their follow- one that leaves here.”
transitional care programs like the thopedic surgeon, she also makes that up appointment so their doctor can
one at SRMC can “significantly lower follow-up appointment. review and make any changes [he Both Currier and Tausch are keenly
those readmission rates,” according to or she] wants. And, if they are put on aware that patients want to leave the
American Nurse Today. “Even if [the patient is from] out- any new medications while they are hospital and return home as soon as
of-state, we try to follow-up with that in our care, we do a complete educa- possible. They just want that return to
These programs incorporate ser- too, and with the families, to make tional print-out of the new medica- be as safe and long-lasting as possible.
vices such as comprehensive dis- sure that patients follow-up with tion for them.”
charge planning, post-discharge their physicians when they go home Both Tausch and Currier are with
telephone outreach, patient-centered and make sure they have all the doc- Currier adds that “any equipment Steward Health’s Sebastian River Medi-
discharge instructions, follow-ups umentation they’re going to need,” patients used while they were in ther- cal Center transitional care unit at
with primary care providers and says Tausch. “We give them a card apy, if they don’t have that at home, we 13695 U.S. 1 in Sebastian. The hospi-
medication reconciliations. so they can feel free to call us back if get that for them before they leave. Ev- tal’s phone number is 772-589-3186. 
erybody goes home with home health
SRMC’s transitional care unit is lo-
cated at the hospital, but not in the
acute care part of the building.

“They’re actually discharged as a
hospital patient and then they come
here for a brand-new admission,”
Currier says. “They come from up-
stairs straight down to us, after they
are discharged,” to do physical ther-
apy, occupational therapy, speech
therapy and otherwise prepare to re-
turn home.

“This is a skilled nursing unit,” Cur-
rier continues, “so, it’s the same as
if they were to go outside to a stand-
alone skilled unit. It’s the same prin-
ciple. Except we’re under the hospital
license.”

Which has obvious advantages –
few, if any, stand-alone skilled nurs-
ing units have fully staffed emergency
departments, operating rooms and a
full-time staff of highly-trained phy-
sicians and surgeons just a few steps
away in the same building.

The transitional care unit’s admin-
istrator, Gloria Tausch, joins the con-
versation to point out “there aren’t
that many transitional care units in
Florida.”

For that reasons, SRMC’s TC unit
takes patients from other area hospi-
tals, as well. “We take patients from all
the surrounding areas, and we do di-
rect admits from physicians’ offices.”

The availability of the unit is vital
given this area’s high concentration
of retirees. “High-quality transitional
care is especially important for older
adults,” according to the National Li-
brary of Medicine.

The need for transitional care is re-
inforced by American Nurse Today,
which reports “fewer than 50 percent
of patients see their primary care
provider within two weeks of a hospi-
tal discharge.”

That’s a figure that clearly raises
Currier’s hackles. “We don’t allow
that,” she says. “Before any of our
people are discharged home, we’ve al-
ready made their follow-up appoint-
ments for them, and the dates and
times are written on their discharge
paper work.”

“Our discharge planner,” Currier

46 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

IRMC unveils its latest hi-tech imaging equipment

BY TOM LLOYD Dan Cameron, director of
Staff Writer Diagnotic Imaging Servies.

According to Dan Cameron and Dr. PHOTOS BY DENISE RITCHIE
Heather Nagel, “the Force” is now of-
ficially with the Indian River Medical
Center.

They don’t mean a “Star Wars”
character has arrived armed with a
light saber, but rather that the Sie-
mens Somatom Force – a 384 slice,
dual-source, dual-energy computed
tomography (CT) scanner – is now in
operation at the hospital. It is one of
the newest, most powerful and flex-
ible imaging devices on the market.
And it’s just one of three new imaging
devices recently installed there.

There’s also a new positron emission
tomography (PET) scanner by General
Electric and an upgraded 3D tomo-
synthesis scanner for mammograms,
which, Nagel says, “now allows us to do
something that we could not do before
– direct a biopsy using 3D imaging.”

Cameron, IRMC’s director of imag-
ing services, is clearly pleased with all
three of the devices but seems most ex-
cited about the Siemens machine.

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 47

HEALTH

“In the CT scanner, we’re [now] able looking at people that come in with Dr. Heather Nagel. the best possible deal. It wasn’t like we
to do any type of imaging. Cardiac, acute symptoms to see what’s going on were a kid in a candy shop or we can get
neuro, orthopedic, oncology, urol- – on a physiologic level – in their brain.” These new capabilities, however, whatever we want. It was really, what
ogy,” says Cameron. didn’t come cheap. can we get and who can provide the
And, perhaps best of all, Cameron best quality machine at the best price?
“What it means is that we’re now says, “the new CT scanner reduces the Cameron puts the collective price It really came down to economics.”
prepared for any programs here at the radiation dose [patients receive] up to tag for the Siemens and GE devices at
hospital, now and in the future. We’ll 80 percent.” more than $5 million – which Nagel Cameron explains the bidding and
be able to provide the best imaging says was a good deal for the equip- buying process by saying, “we do this
possible and it prepares us for prob- With his new equipment up and run- ment. “The hospital really has done its thing called total cost of ownership
ably five or 10 years out, as far as our ning, the normally soft-spoken Camer- due diligence. We looked at every pos- when we do these projects. We look at
capabilities.” on makes a bold claim: “I say if we can’t sible vendor. What they had and what the purchase of the equipment, and
scan the patient, nobody can scan the they could provide. then we look at what is called the ser-
Nagel, the director of the Women’s patient. We’ve got the best machine, vice maintenance agreement. We ne-
Imaging Center at Vero Radiology literally, in the world right now.” “John Skalko and Dan [Cameron] gotiate not only on the purchase, but
Associates and a five-star rated diag- did a tremendous job working these also on the servicing over a five-year
nostic radiology specialist on Health- vendors against each other, getting period and then add those up and say
grades.com, jumps in to point out, ‘OK, that’s what it’s going to cost us to
“the new Siemens’ applications for run this thing for six, seven years.’”
oncology imaging are tremendous for
differentiating tumors and differenti- Then, says Cameron, a “cage match”
ating cancer versus hemorrhage.” begins.

Pausing only for a quick breath, she Line item by line item, Cameron
adds, “the cardiac imaging is tremen- and Skalko pointed out to vendors
dous, [too]. We can image the heart in that their competition has a lower
one beat. We no longer have to give price here or there and after much
[patients] a drug to slow their heart haggling, they’re confident they
rate down to get that snapshot image reached the lowest price on the best
of the heart.” machines.

The new equipment will be a boon Dr. Heather Nagel is the director of the
to the hospital’s nascent stroke center, women’s Imaging center at Vero Radiol-
as well. ogy Associates at 3725 11th Circle. The
phone number is 772-562-0163. Dan
“We’re now developing a very ag- Cameron is the Indian River Medical
gressive stroke program,” Nagel re- Center’s director of imaging services. 
veals, “and the new CT scanner – the
‘Force’ – has profusion capability for

48 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ON FAITH

We, too, can imitate God and touch the earth with beauty

BY REV. DRS. CASEY AND BOB BAGGOTT attributes. We can’t seem to exhaust the and full of life both large and small; O Throughout the years we have been
Columnists possibilities for describing God. God, designer, artist, engineer, and mak- fortunate enough to attend the pre-
er of us all!” sentation of the Laurel Awards, given
What’s your image of God? Most of us And yet, amidst the array of ways we annually to outstanding volunteers for
begin with images from childhood that might think of God, one particular aspect If a visual image for God is inevitable, the arts who have been nominated for
depict God as an old man in the clouds, of God that may deserve further atten- an occasional consideration of God with the honor by members of the Cultural
sitting on a throne perhaps, looking a tion is God’s astonishing artistry. A prayer paintbrush in hand, washing the sky in Council of Indian River County. These
little fierce, wrapped in flowing robes and of praise by James Benedict captures the sunset hues; or with chisel raised, carving award recipients and the organizations
wearing a long white beard. For many of wonder of God’s boundless creativity the mountain gorges; or with compass they serve help to provide our region
us that image changes with time and be- so well: “O God who touches earth with poised, mapping the constellations; or with untold numbers of opportuni-
comes less a visual image than an image beauty, who paints the twilight sky, who with baton aloft, conducting the sym- ties for encounters with the arts. And
of character and occupation. God is love. gives the lark its song to sing and makes phony of birdsong, would certainly be through those encounters we are of-
God is our shepherd. God is just. God is the desert dry, the ocean wet and vast appropriate. fered a reflection of the same sort of
mighty. God is merciful. We’re confident gifts which God’s creative genius offers:
you could add more to the list of God’s meaning, inspiration, motivation, won-
der and insight. Doesn’t it seem that the
artists in our midst, and all who encour-
age and promote their efforts, are bor-
rowing the great creativity of God? And
the employment of that boundless cre-
ativity delivers vast benefits to us all.

If you were to imitate God, where
would you start? Being merciful, loving
and just would be wonderful. But don’t
forget the chance we all have to add to
and support the world’s impressive cre-
ative output.

God has touched the earth with beau-
ty, and perhaps we can, too. 

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For 3 Generations”

• On Site Cremation
1655 27th Street • Vero Beach, FL

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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Style Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 49

Don’t sweat it: Style rules for staying chic in the heat

BY VICTORIA MOSS
The Telegraph

Now that summer is here it is time
to dress the part. When out and about
you tend to notice that for a large
proportion of the populace, the heat
means one thing: a stretchy dress two
sizes too small. Why so keen to show
off your panty line? That, I thought,
cannot be comfy in this heat. Ladies:
We must free ourselves from the tyran-
ny of too tight. This isn’t about size, it’s
about style. May I counsel a bit of waft?
A little looseness … see below for other
key summer considerations …

Check the label
Does it say cotton? If not, leave it.
Man-made fibers are not your friend
in this weather. What you’re look-
ing for is a fresh linen or gauzy cot-
ton. Helpfully, “fashion” has decreed
linen to be a trend. I know, I know,
you’re thinking “Isn’t it available ev-
ery summer?” Yes, but this summer
there is even more of it, which means
it’s a good year to stock up, and you
can find some chic items with a little
extra swish. Who doesn’t want swish?

Speaking of sleeves … tended heel, I think sandals and slip-on
Tricky to dispose of under any cir- sliders are fine in town – but for work
cumstance, but a rush of mercury stick to leather ones with a bit of a smart
does make one reconsider most life sheen. If you are doing a (clean, please)
choices. To sleeve or not to sleeve is sneaker or plimsoll, you may come
a very personal judgment, and some- up against the age old conundrum, to
thing with a loose puff or neat detail sock or not to sock. I do a sock, and am
to it is pleasing to the eye as well as very into my hot pink sheer ones which
to the breeze. I love very breezy wide make everything seem a bit jolly. I’m
sleeves. However I’m not keen on also a fan of sheer anklets when wear-
sleeveless in an office environment. ing a maxi dress and sneakers.
I don’t want to see your pits over the
printer. I just don’t. Short note on color:
If you still haven’t worked out that
Where are you going? gray is not ideal in the heat, then I want
You might think it’s worth buying to know what deodorant you use. For
items that can work as well for the of- everyone else: think sweat, and think
fice as the beach. I would offer that what will contain it the best. Icky, but
such items should not be conflated. true. Always check sheerness too, this
Beach-y things will inevitably get sun is the tricky thing with online shop-
cream/sweat/salty/beach-ified. They ping – you can’t always tell if some-
will not be your best promote-me thing is see through. If it is, then keep
look. Those embroidered Ukrainian it to the beach. Unless you’re a contes-
folklore dresses are still knocking tant on Love Island or a Kardashian
around, but are they a bit common? sister, in which case, as you were. 
Shirt dresses are more of a current
thing, and very any occasion friendly.

Always look down ...
At your feet. If you’re honest, do you
need a pedicure, but if even more hon-
est, find it all a bit dull and expensive?
I hear you. Personally I go local and
can’t bear to touch my own feet. But if
you can, a simple buff file will make all
the difference to your heels. With a thus

50 Vero Beach 32963 / July 5, 2018 Style Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Being chic is as much about a stylish home as a great wardrobe

BY CAROLYN ASOME nishings and if not a stampede exactly
The Telegraph to Cutter Brooks, the lifestyle empo-
rium peddling the chicest points of
Step back into the not-so-distant country living founded by Amanda
past – an era pre-Instagram when in- Brooks, a former Barneys buying di-
teriors were aspirational certainly, but rector, then news on the grapevine
not integral to a style maven’s raison that the $4,500 lily of the valley pots
d’être. Those in the know were al- are selling like hotcakes.
ready buying linen sheets from Zara
Home or scuttling to H & M for decent Simply looking stylish isn’t enough
table accessories, according to Twig these days, design savvy-iness as we
Hutchinson, the founder of the Min- are constantly reminded through the
ford Journal, and the person respon- prism of nine squares and multiple
sible for styling the very first Toast likes on Instagram extends to where
Home catalogue 11 years ago, making we eat, where we holiday, where we
us want to swaddle up in herringbone shop, signifiers of who we are or more
cashmere. importantly, who’d we like to be.

But all things “home” as a style in- The choice of Austrian Carl Auböck
sider’s serious pursuit? Forget it. candlesticks on your dining table
says as much about your (ahead of
Fast-forward a decade and you the curve) fingers up attitude to the
can’t move for fashion’s bed-hopping glut of floral maxi-length dresses and
with interiors: Alessandro Michele willingness to embrace a trouser suit
at Gucci careering into Antoinette at even the smartest bash. It seems
Poisson prints (the recherché French we all want homes with a point of
wallpaper brand that makes individ- view. Partly because it seems a more
ual panels according to 18th century intelligent way of consuming design-
techniques) at its cruise show a month er frippery than simply buying yet
ago, Preen matching their exuberant, another dress. But also, because it’s a
signature ditsy florals to their soft fur- better longer term investment, a fact

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