Shores again delays decision
on cell tower site. P12
Battle continues
over vacation rentals. P9
New Fellsmere school building
appears plagued with problems. P10
For breaking news visit
MY VERO An aerial shot of the Stingray Point tract (outlined in purple) adjacent to homes in John’s Island. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL Supreme Court
asked to rule on
BY RAY MCNULTY Time a concern in battle over Shores electric territory Stingray Point
Former local editor now BY LISA ZAHNER some ups and downs last May about the Florida Public BY STEVEN M. THOMAS
urging #dropthepaper Staff Writer week, but residents should not Service Commission com- Staff Writer
expect an answer in the next plaint Town filed as a Vero
To my former colleagues at A complaint filed by the few months. Electric customer, and "the If the U.S. government gets
the Press Journal: Maybe it’s Town of Indian River Shores time frame is really the ques- its way, a long-simmering 32963
time to start worrying about challenging the City of Vero Mayor Brian Barefoot said tion. It will probably be late land-use dispute will be de-
our former employer, Scripps, Beach's electric territory had he's spoken with the Town’s cided by the United States Su-
and its #dropthepaper cam- lead utilities attorney Bruce CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 preme Court later this year.
paign.
Solicitor General Donald
Goodness knows, in recent B. Verrilli, Jr. filed a 265-page
years our flagship newspaper, “brief” on March 17 asking
Vero Beach 32963, has called the Supreme Court to hear
out the Press Journal for lying the government’s appeal of a
about being the largest news lower court decision award-
gathering operation in Indian ing $4.2 million to Lost Tree
River County. Village Corporation, devel-
oper of John’s Island.
With the two new veteran
reporters and the former Bos- The money would repre-
ton Herald Page 1 editor that sent the fair market value of
we have added in the past a 4.99-acre parcel on Stingray
month, our news team of 17 Point in the club community
fulltime professional journal- that the U.S. Army Corps of
ists based here inVero Beach is Engineers prevented Lost Tree
more than twice the size of the
shrinking Press Journal staff CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
based in Indian River County.
But we’ve never urged any-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Accused killer Jones Opera superstar
may plan to testify Deborah Voigt
in murder trial here thrills Vero fans
BY LISA ZAHNER BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA
Staff Writer Staff Writers
Accused murderer Michael Michael Jones with his Broward attorney. To have the inaugural Deborah Voigt with her new book, ‘Call me Debbie.’ PHOTO BY DENISE RITCHIE
Jones’ defense attorneys did a Deborah Voigt International
masterful job of excluding po- is accused of murdering Se- Opera Competition in Vero
tentially damaging evidence bastian River Medical Center Beach was a very big deal
and got him acquitted of a se- nurse and Moorings resident
rious assault charge last week Diana Duve, faces one more CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
in Broward County. Jones, who
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
March 31, 2016 Volume 9, Issue 13 Newsstand Price $1.00 ‘Cause for Paws’
highlighted by
News 1-12 Faith 79 Pets 54 TO ADVERTISE CALL adorable pups. P14
Arts 31-38 Games 55-57 Real Estate 81-96 772-559-4187
Books 50-51 Health 59-65 St Ed’s 72
Dining 72 Insight 39-58 Style 66-70 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 46 People 13-30 Wine 73 CALL 772-226-7925
© 2016 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.
2 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Electric Vero says its PSC-granted territory request to become an intervenor in Wright's motion argues that the
supersedes the Town's rights, and that support of the Shores request to open Town lacks the required standing to
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 customer service agreements with all up Vero's territory. FPL is also actively file a complaint which challenges Ve-
the residents and the Town itself en- trying to purchase the Shores custom- ro's territory. He also asserts that the
summer before our petition would get title Vero to use rights of way. ers from Vero, offering Vero $13 mil- Town, as an electric customer, was
heard." lion. Vero has, in the Town's view, not served by Vero before the existence of
Barefoot called the petition to the seriously considered that offer, but any franchise agreement, so Vero has
Timing is critical to the Town, as its PSC "the most productive and least instead retorted with a lofty estimated a right to serve again in the absence of
electric utility franchise with Vero ex- expensive path we could pursue," asking price of $64.5 million. such an agreement.
pires on Nov. 6 of this year. The Town adding that whichever side wins the
contends that after the franchise ex- PSC's favor, residents can bank on While the Shores waits to hear the The Town's circuit court lawsuit
piration, Vero would be operating the loser appealing the decision. The PSC's decision, Barefoot said "we against Vero, which contends that Vero
its utility in violation of the Florida good thing is that the appeal would expect the city will try to get it dis- is in breach of contract for charging
Constitution because the city would most likely go directly to the Florida missed," and in fact, Vero's lead util- unreasonable rates, is also winding its
no longer have permission to operate Supreme Court. ity attorney Robert Scheffel "Schef" way through the legal system.
within the Town's borders or use pub- Wright filed a 75-page Motion to Dis-
lic rights of way. The Town was bolstered last week miss with the PSC late last week. Indian River County additionally is
when Florida Power & Light filed a awaiting a ruling from the Florida Su-
preme Court following oral arguments
last December on similar territorial
questions. That decision is expected in
the next couple of months. The Coun-
ty's electric franchise with Vero expires
in March 2017.
My Vero
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
one to drop the daily. It actually sad-
dens us to pick up the Press Journal, as
we did this past Monday, and find not
a single Vero Beach news story.
So we were more than a bit surprised
to see what’s happening in Cincinnati,
where the Scripps-owned TV station
earlier this month declared war on the
Gannett-owned daily newspaper and
launched its hash-tagged, #dropthe-
paper marketing campaign.
For that, you can blame Mike Canan.
You remember him, don’t you?
The former managing editor of the
Treasure Coast Newspapers, the fast-
rising boy wonder handpicked to guide
the Press Journal and its sister papers
through the tricky transition from the
ebbing era of print to an uncertain fu-
ture driven by online content?
The young, wise-beyond-his-years
newspaperman who jumped ship in
late 2014, just as Scripps was cutting
its newspapers loose, seeing a brighter
future in television?
For those newcomers who don’t know:
Canan is now the editor-in-chief of
WCPO.com, the website for the ABC affil-
iate in Cincinnati, where he is spearhead-
ing the Scripps station’s all-out assault on
Gannett’s Cincinnati Enquirer on south-
ern Ohio’s digital-news battlefield.
Not only has WCPO.com beefed up
its digital news team, but it also has
outflanked the enemy by offering an
annual “Insider” subscription to its
online site for the ridiculously low
price of $10. (It doesn’t, of course, beat
our price for VeroNews.com – free!)
The Scripps campaign, being con-
ducted in the riverfront city where the
company is headquartered, isn’t mere-
ly an aggressive play for the Enquirer’s
digital audience. It’s an attempt at a
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 3
NEWS
hostile takeover of the Cincinnati mar- Palm Beach-based NBC affiliate that Certainly, it’s possible. local subscribers and revenues would
ket, where WCPO.com has taken to so- also covers the Treasure Coast. Gan- And how would a #dropthepaper only create more angst over the news-
cial media to herald its battle cry. nett, meanwhile, is expecting federal campaign impact our market? paper’s future and staffers’ job security.
approval momentarily to complete its The hard truth is that many of my
#dropthepaper. purchase of the Journal Media Group, former Press Journal colleagues already Maybe it’s mere coincidence that
As you might expect, the #drop- which owns the Treasure Coast News- are nervous about the newspaper being Eve Samples, editorial page editor for
thepaper campaign has upset folks papers, including the Press Journal. bought by Gannett, which has a history Treasure Coast Newspapers, respond-
at the Enquirer, where staffers see the of consolidating positions and reducing ed to WCPO’s campaign by tweeting a
marketing scheme as an attack on Might Scripps go to war with Gan- staff to bolster its bottom line. cute video of her yellow lab retrieving
their work and jobs. It also has ruffled nett again and fight for the digital A serious challenge from Scripps for a newspaper from the driveway. But
feathers throughout a daily newspa- news market on the Treasure Coast?
per industry struggling for survival. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
In addition to the expected harsh,
social-media reaction from Enquirer Exclusively John’s Island
staffers, WCPO’s efforts have pro-
duced a Twitter stream of outrage and A spectacular, private oasis unfolds as you enter this exceptional 5BR/6.5BA
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Connie Schultz, who wrote for the Cleve- outdoor living, 9,761± GSF, lush courtyard pool, Venetian plaster walls,
land Plain Dealer before accepting a job limestone floors, custom finishes, luxurious master suite, cabana, elevator,
teaching journalism at Kent State Uni- bunk room and private beach access. 640 Ocean Road : $8,500,000
versity, was among those who took to
Twitter to respond toWCPO’s campaign. three championship golf courses : 17 har-tru courts : beach club : squash
“This is no way 4 OH journalists to health & fitness center : pickleball : croquet : vertical equity membership
support our profession,” she tweeted,
using today’s social media lexicon. 772.231.0900 : Vero Beach, FL : JohnsIslandRealEstate.com
“Forget #Dropthepaper. #Dropthe-
campaign, @WCPO.”
Canan, though, continued to de-
fend #dropthepaper on Twitter last
weekend, writing: “To be a disruptor in
any business (especially news) means
upsetting the status quo. That’s going
to make people uncomfortable.”
On Saturday, he went off on a nine-
tweet series of posts that explained
why he is “proud” of his ambitious
staff, his supportive bosses and the
work being produced by his team.
“Most of all, I’m proud we have ele-
vated the quality of journalism in Cin-
cinnati,” he tweeted. “We are now a le-
gitimate competitor for Cincy news.”
Having spent the past two-plus years
at Vero Beach 32963, where we’ve el-
evated the quality of journalism in our
county and provided local newspaper
readers with a bolder and better op-
tion than the daily that prefers to serve
the region over our community, I do
understand Canan’s sentiment.
For decades, Cincinnati was a two-
paper town. After a 30-year joint op-
erating agreement with the Enquirer
expired at the end of 2007, however,
Scripps shuttered the withering Cincin-
nati Post, the market’s afternoon news-
paper, and handed the city to Gannett.
Now, WCPO is attempting to reclaim
Cincinnati and make it a competitive
news town again, at least in the digital-
news market, and it’s naive to think the
station – or Scripps – will stop there.
If WCPO’s digital news experiment
is successful in Cincinnati, there’s ev-
ery reason to believe Scripps would
apply the same #dropthepaper strat-
egy and attempt to compete for news-
paper readers in its other markets.
Such as ours.
Here, in fact, the players are the
same. Scripps owns WPTV, the West
4 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
My Vero Accused killer Jones stalking conviction by plea deal, ruled and brought her back to his condo-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 inadmissible by Judge Lisa Porter. minium to have sex. He said Loun-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 sbery showed up and found him with
legal proceeding in Broward before he These restrictions tied prosecutors’ the other female, that a “catfight” en-
there’s no mistaking the intent of the is returned to Indian River County for hands, as anything that traced back to sued and that Katie caused the marks
words that accompanied the video. his first-degree murder trial. how Lounsbery came to be on the wit- on Lounsbery’s neck – all while he
ness stand last week was off-limits. stood by and watched.
“Suggested campaign for @Enquirer Jones, a wealth manager at PNC Bank
and other newsrooms: #GetThePaper,” on Ocean Drive when he was jailed, was Jones’ defense team painted a picture Jones’ story – though impossible to
Samples wrote, clearly warning news- found not guilty last Wednesday in a of Lounsbery as an opportunist who corroborate because he did not know
papers to pay attention to what’s hap- Fort Lauderdale courtroom after trial on saw a well-educated financial planner Katie’s last name, where she lived or
pening in Cincinnati and, if WCPO is a February 2013 charge of domestic bat- as a good catch, who then acted as a where she worked – combined with the
successful, prepare to fend off similar tery by manual strangulation – the same woman scorned after the breakup. prosecution’s weak case, was enough
challenges. method by which the medical examiner to constitute reasonable doubt for the
says Duve was killed in June 2014. The fact that Lounsbery failed to jury. The panel came back in short or-
In an interview with Harvard Uni- respond to multiple calls from Fort der, returning a unanimous verdict of
versity’s Neiman Journalism Lab, En- The case involved another young Lauderdale police detectives also pre- not guilty – to the visible surprise of
quirer president and publisher Rick nurse, Rachel Lounsbery, with whom sented problems for the prosecution. Jones’ own defense attorney.
Green said he has encouraged his staff Jones had an on-again, off-again ro- Instead of bringing a more senior po-
to not “get into a mud-slinging match” mance. lice officer to the witness stand to tes- In the course of the trial, Jones’ pub-
with the TV station. tify about the day Lounsbery showed lic defender went after Lounsbery’s
Lounsbery testified that she met up accusing Jones of choking her, the credibility and her motives – a fore-
“It’s a transformational time in our Jones in August 2012 and just weeks state’s case relied upon a then-trainee shadowing of a likely attack on the
industry, and everybody is scratching later moved in with him, later leav- officer who was along on the call. credibility and lifestyle of the mur-
and clawing to figure out how to best ing him because she found out he was dered Duve. Duve’s mother and step-
serve our readers,” Green said, adding having an affair with his secretary. She The officer, upon cross-examina- father were in the Broward courtroom
that, “We are not looking backwards.” returned after getting a call from Jones tion, testified that she did not remem- last week, accompanied by a victims’
that he was ill. By Lounsbery’s ac- ber Lounsbery or the incident at all, advocate from Colton’s office.
Nor are we. count, she showed up with antibiotics, that she did not remember taking
Our print-first operation at Vero rekindled the relationship and then down the police report or taking the In an emotional moment after the
Beach 32963 and our sister publica- Jones choked her and threatened her photographs of scratches and bruises jurors were polled, Lena Andrews
tions share, in some ways, many of the with more bodily harm. on Lounsbery’s neck, but that she was screamed out in the courtroom, “He
qualities the WCPO.com digital team simply relying in her testimony on killed my daughter! He killed my
claims to possess – a talented, knowl- She escaped to her father and report- what was recorded in the police report. daughter!” and had to be controlled by
edgeable, fearless and growing staff of ed the incident to police, but never fol- bailiffs. The jury was removed via a rear
professional journalists; an unwaver- lowed up with detectives. Investigators The lapse in memory by this key exit of the courthouse as a precaution.
ing commitment to aggressively pur- from State Attorney Bruce Colton’s of- witness was compounded by the fact
sue stories the daily newspaper choos- fice and the Vero Beach Police Depart- that police had failed to calibrate the When police tracked Jones to a Ft.
es to ignore or cover only superficially; ment found and interviewed Loun- camera and the date shown on the Pierce hotel room and arrested him,
and a fierce determination to provide sbery after Duve’s murder. With Jones photographs was more than two years the initial charge was violation of pro-
to our readers the news and informa- safely behind bars, they convinced her prior to the incident. bation, as Jones was on probation for
tion they need to function success- to go forward with domestic battery a 2012 aggravated stalking charge from
fully in our community and enjoy all charges more than a year later. Jones, who appeared in a dark blue Broward County and was not permitted
that makes this a special place to live. suit, light blue striped tie and white to leave Indian River County without
And we take great pride in our work. A team of Broward County public dress shirt, was clean-shaven and be- his probation officer’s OK. Jones was lat-
Unlike the Cincinnati TV station, defenders, assisted by Jones’ local de- yond confident on the witness stand, er charged with murder, and in August
however, we see no need to embark fense attorney, Assistant Public De- telling the jury an entirely different 2014 indicted by a grand jury on the
on some silly #dropthepaper social- fender Shane Manship, were able to get version of the events that led up to capital charge of first-degree murder.
media campaign. any evidence or testimony related to Lounsbery’s visit to the police station.
We’ll leave that to Scripps. Duve’s murder, or to a 2012 aggravated In mid-April, Jones is scheduled to
He told the six jurors – four men and face a hearing before Judge Porter for
two women – that he had picked up a
woman named Katie at Fat Tuesdays
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 5
NEWS
that violation of probation charge, The lead prosecutor in the murder to go forward and present the evidence of 2014, the next docket call on the cal-
with two Vero Beach Police officers, case, Assistant State Attorney Brian surrounding Diana Duve’s murder,” endar is set for June 23. “I don’t have an
Det. Lt. Matt Harrelson and Det. Brad Workman, was present for jury selection Workman said. “Our case remains a estimate on when after that the case
Kmetz, set to testify in that proceed- and for the trial in Broward last week, and compelling one and, in the end, it will will be set for trial,” Workman said.
ing. After that, Jones will be transport- watched as Jones was found not guilty. stand on its own.”
ed back to Indian River County for the Police say Jones drove Duve back
first-degree murder trial. “Wednesday’s verdict in Broward While the case has been continued to his Vero Beach condominium, af-
County doesn’t impact our intention every three months since the summer
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
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NEWS
Accused killer Jones Deborah Voigt embraces contest ner, Verdi and Strauss, among others, in Performing Arts Center her Internation-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 winner, Anush Avetisyan. the great opera houses of the world. al Opera Competition, with 31 of opera’s
finest young talents (ages 20-30), from
ter drinking together in a Vero Beach PHOTOS BY LEAH DUBOIS Vero Beach Opera Artistic Director the U.S., Russia and South Africa, cho-
tavern, and choked her to death there, Roman Ortega-Cowan and President sen from more than 100 applicants.
then loaded her body into the trunk Superstar Voigt Joan Ortega-Cowan have known Voigt
of her own black Nissan Altima and since 2003, shortly after they took the After preliminaries Thursday and
drove the car to Melbourne, leaving CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 VBO reins. In 2007, Voigt joined with Friday, the finalists – six women and
it in a Publix parking lot on Babcock VBO to found the Deborah Voigt / Vero two men – were showcased in the Fi-
Street where Duve’s body was discov- indeed, a significant addition to the city’s Beach Opera Foundation, with the nals Concert Saturday evening.
ered by Melbourne police. already highly respected cultural milieu. purpose of promoting and supporting
young opera singers. The judges’ panel included: Voigt,
Court records and video surveil- Voigt is an opera superstar, one of Eva Franchi, Dr. James Drake and Ro-
lance footage, as well as cell phone the world’s most versatile, sought-after This year Voigt brought to the VBHS man Ortega-Cowan.
records, show that Jones called a taxi singers, known for the stunning power
in Melbourne and rode back to Vero and beauty of her voice. A celebrated First prize, $10,000 from the Deborah
Beach in a cab, then drove his own ve- dramatic soprano, she is internationally Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation,
hicle to the Hampton Inn in Ft. Pierce revered for her performances of Wag- was awarded to soprano Anush Aveti-
where he was arrested. syan, from Philadelphia. The elegance
and clarity of her voice were well-dis-
While in the Indian River County Jail, played in arias from Leoncavallo’s Pa-
Jones was captured on jailhouse video. gliacci and Puccini’s La Boheme.
During those jailhouse visit conversa-
tions with co-workers from PNC Bank, Second prize, $5,000 from the VBO,
Jones also said that he was looking went to Meroe Adeeb, a soprano from
forward to the opportunity at trial to Maryland. Arias from Donizetti’s Don
tell his version of events surrounding Pasquale and Mozart’s Die Zauberflote
Duve’s disappearance and death. revealed the range of her expressive
physicality and rich vocals.
After Jones’ performance on the
stand in Fort Lauderdale and the not The $3,000 third prize, from the Ser-
guilty verdict that resulted from his gio Franchi Music Foundation, was
“Katie” story, those statements could presented to soprano Meryl Domin-
indicate he’s considering taking the guez, whose vocal purity, range and
stand in the murder trial as well. interpretation suited her arias from
Mozart and Stravinski.
A number of other singers received
$1,000 prizes.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 7
NEWS
On the eve of the Thursday prelimi- no off-limit topics. She even brought Wrote Voigt, “It was no secret to any- made a triumphant return to Covent
naries, an audience of opera lovers Steinway, her tiny Yorkie. one what I looked like when I signed Garden to sing the role from which
and Voigt fans gathered at the PAC for on for the role.” Although they could she was fired four years before, wear-
“A Evening with Deborah Voigt,” a can- Not wanting her book to cover “one have overridden the director, Covent ing the little black dress.
did interview by local media personal- part of my life and not another,” Voigt Garden acquiesced to his wishes and
ity Tania Otega-Cowan, followed by an pulls no punches, detailing both her paid out Voigt’s contract in full. Maintaining an easy-going demeanor
audience Q&A. rise to the top of the opera world and and a sense of humor,Voigt gave straight-
When word got out, the media hur- forward answers all evening. About over-
Prior to the interview, Voigt thrilled Anush Avetisyan ricane hit, and the story ran in major coming her addictions, “It feels good not
the audience with a three-selection mainstream publications all over the to live a dual life, to be one person (on
“mini-concert.” Later, she signed cop- her long struggle with weight, relation- world. In a time where “it ain’t over and off stage.) Through the most insane
ies of her autobiography. ships and addiction. One chapter, “The ’til the fat lady sings,” people were moments, I found I have resilience.”
Little Black Dress” episode, caused outraged: They expected their opera
The title of Voigt’s book, “Call Me quite an international furor in 2004. singers to be big. Although Voigt says Asked how a person can help some-
Debbie: Confessions of a Down-To- she understands Covent Garden’s po- one fighting addiction, she replied blunt-
Earth Diva,” is right on the mark: She’s A few months before hurricanes sition, the “little black dress” has be- ly, “They can’t. Ultimately the individual
Frances and Jean tore through her bar- come a symbol of skewed priorities has to say ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
Ethan Simpson rier island condo, Voigt had contracted among directors who value appear-
to sing “Ariadne,” a signature role for ance over vocal artistry. She speaks of having a “palpable
charming, very funny, and definitely her, at the Royal Opera House, Cov- chemistry” with the Spanish tenor Placi-
down-to-earth, taking the stage in chic ent Garden, London. The director en- Elizabeth Zharoff do Domingo, and admits she once sang a
black, with no frills, just shiny blonde visioned Ariadne in what fashionistas karoake version of “Don’t Go Breakin’ My
hair and a beautiful, animated face. know as “The Little Black Dress.” At 330 Voigt used the Covent Garden pay- Heart” with the electrician on a Met tour.
So approachable was she that, when pounds, Voigt didn’t fit the vision or the out to get gastric bypass surgery and,
Ortega-Cowan offered to send her the dress. The director fired her for being in the summer of 2008, transformed She tells young artists that, in order
interview questions, Voigt declined, too fat, an outrageous, unheard move from a size 30 to a glamorous 14, she to project believable emotion, they
preferring no pre-interview prep and in the opera world. must have experienced it, and she ad-
mits, “I was the queen of the compe-
titions in my day, but I never got one
single job from an audition.”
At 55, Voigt is adjusting her pace.
“This is the first time I don’t have an
opera script in my hand,” she says.
Singing professionally since she was
25, she’s looking at roles she hasn’t
tackled yet, and says, “I sing for God,
for others and for myself now, too.”
8 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Stingray Point court’s time and attention for it to get Court of Federal Claims where it start- The history of the case occupies
on the docket. ed. There, a judge will hear arguments many pages in the Solicitor General’s
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and rule on the exact amount of inter- March 17 Petition for a Writ of Certio-
“If they take it, there is not enough est and legal fees the government must rari, the technical name of the govern-
from developing in 2004, citing the time to brief it for the current term, so pay, and the long-running legal battle ment’s request for a hearing before the
Clean Water Act. it will be held over until the fall,” Stouck will finally reach its conclusion in late Supreme Court, but it can be told more
says. “It will be briefed over the sum- summer or early fall. briefly.
If the court declines to hear the mer, heard in the fall and decided by
case, or hears it and upholds the lower the end of the year.” “If they don’t hear the case, It will In 2002, Lost Tree applied to the
court’s ruling, the government will be certainly be wrapped up by Septem- Army Corps of Engineers for a permit
liable for Lost Tree’s legal fees and 12 If the court declines to hear the case, ber,” Stouck says. to fill wetlands on the 4.99-acre tract,
years’ worth of interest on the $4.2 mil- it will be sent back to United States known as Plat 57, in order to develop
lion, which together could double the it for homebuilding. In 2004, the Corps
size of the award. replied in a letter to Lost Tree president
Charles Bayer, informing him the proj-
“The interest will be a hefty number ect was “contrary to the overall public
– several million,” says Jerry Stouck of interest. Therefore, your . . . permit is
Greenberg Traurig LLP, who has rep- hereby denied.”
resented Lost Tree throughout its pro-
tracted legal battle with the govern- Wetlands are crucial to the ecologi-
ment. “There was a seven-day trial and cal health of the Indian River Lagoon,
the government has appealed the case filtering water and serving as fish nurs-
twice (already), and is now trying to eries, and the Corps decided it would
appeal to the Supreme Court, (so) legal damage the ecosystem to drain the
fees will be substantial, running into wetlands on Lost Tree’s property.
seven figures.”
Four years later, in 2008, Lost Tree
Stouck has until April 22 to file his re- challenged the denial in the Court of
sponse to the government’s last-ditch Federal Claims, arguing that the gov-
appeal, arguing that the lower court ernment had violated its fifth amend-
was correct and the Supreme Court ment rights by taking the value of the
should not hear arguments in the case. property without paying due compen-
sation. (With a fill permit the property
The justices will consider the govern- was worth millions. Without the permit
ment’s petition at an end-of-the-week it was worth only $27,500, according to
case conference sometime in May or court calculations.)
the first week in June. Three justices
have to agree the case is worthy of the The Court of Federal Claims found
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 9
NEWS
for the government, agreeing with the “It is tough to fight city hall,” Stouck says that if the government is going to or hears the case and affirms the low-
argument that Plat 57 was part of a says. “The Justice Department fights protect the wetlands at its expense, it er court’s ruling, Lost Tree will still
larger “parcel” of John’s Island prop- like hell. They don’t like to lose, and they should be compensated. So far the fed- be prohibited from developing the
erty, from which Lost Tree had already see these as important legal issues.” eral courts have agreed with the com- property it owns on Stingray point
profited handsomely. pany. but it will be $7 million or $8 million
Lost Tree does not deny the Corps’ richer and have the satisfaction of
Lost Tree challenged that decision right to protect wetlands under the au- If the Supreme Court refuses to prevailing against city hall.
in the United States Court of Appeals, thority of the Clean Water Act. It merely hear an appeal from the government,
which reversed the lower court, agree-
ing with Stouck’s argument that Plat 57 Vacation rentals: City, landlord continue battle
was a discrete property that had never
been part of any larger master plan. BY LISA ZAHNER and intends to appeal if defeated at from renting to tenants for less than 30
That being the case, the Corps’ refusal Staff Writer the lower court level. days and that the changes made to the
to issue a permit wiped out more than code in 2015 were just to clean up the
99 percent of the land’s value and made Central Beach property owner The Florida Legislature in 2011 ap- language and clarify the regulations.
the government liable, under the Fifth Charles Fitz and his attorneys will find proved a measure reserving the regula-
Amendment and legal precedent, to out soon whether they get their day in tion of vacation rentals to the state, pro- Vero also increased the fine for vio-
compensate Lost Tree. court now, or later, to argue their side hibiting cities and counties from beefing lating the city code as it pertains to
in the ongoing dispute over the legal- up their local rules after that, but grand- vacation rentals from $50 per occur-
The case bounced back and forth ity of short-term vacation rentals in fathering-in existing regulations. rence to $500 per occurrence. Should
between the Court of Federal Claims Vero Beach neighborhoods. code enforcement officers, who are
and the Court of Appeals several more Fitz, who owns multiple proper- now under the Vero Beach Police De-
times, as the value of the property was Judge Paul Kanarek initially ruled that ties in Central Beach and was cited partment, find evidence that a prop-
adjudicated and the ruling in Lost Fitz’s case had no merits and also denied in April 2015 for renting his property erty owner has advertised and rented
Tree’s favor was upheld against the his request for summary judgment. on Fiddlewood Road to vacationers, a property, and that tenants continue
government’s appeals. argues Vero did, in fact, toughen its to occupy the dwelling repeatedly
Now the City’s trial attorney John short-term rental regulations after or on consecutive nights, that $500
On June 1, 2015, the Court of Ap- Frost has asked Kanarek for a final the 2011 statute was passed, violating fine could be assessed on a per day
peals definitively affirmed the judg- judgment that would eliminate the the law and leading to his citation. basis, according to City Manager Jim
ment, leaving the government one fi- need for a full-blown trial. Fitz’s at- O’Connor.
nal recourse. After getting the deadline torneys from the Vero Beach law firm City officials and their attorneys
to respond extended twice, the govern- of Rooney and Rooney have said their contend that Vero always had rules on The next hearing in the dispute is
ment filed its petition to the Supreme client is prepared for the “long haul” the books prohibiting property owners set for April 11.
Court on March 17, all 265 pages of it, in residential-zoned neighborhoods
arguing that the lower court erred in
viewing Plat 57 as a separate, self-con-
tained economic opportunity.
10 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Fellsmere Elementary: Big problems with new building
BY KATHLEEN SLOAN The new building, known as the 900 The 900 building has been plagued with
Staff Writer building, has been plagued with mold, mold, leaks and cracking stucco.
leaks and cracking stucco, almost from
A slew of anonymous and on-the- the day it was “finished.” PHOTOS BY PHIL SUNKEL
record complaints about health haz-
ards at Fellsmere Elementary spurred The nearby 700 building, where a new
Vero Beach 32963 to investigate first kitchen and expanded cafeteria/audito-
mold and now the shoddy condition rium were built as part of the same ren-
of the school’s new classroom building ovation project has similar problems; in
and cafeteria/auditorium, completed addition, it was somehow built without
less than two years ago as part of a $9.7 being tied into the school’s new million-
million campus renovation. dollar climate control system, adding to
moisture and mold problems.
The problems suggest a lack of communication has allowed the prob-
checks and balances in the district’s lems to fester. Although the school dis-
bidding and construction process. trict’s website puts parents at the top
of its organization chart, the district
The bidding process for the new two- has not informed parents about ongo-
story, 25,000-square-foot 900 building ing problems with the new building.
was overseen and the contractor select-
ed not by a panel of engineers or con- The school board has not been in-
struction managers, but by a commit- formed, either, according to Charles
tee composed of an elementary school Searcy, the only board member who
principal and departmental staff from responded to calls for comment. He
food service, facilities, finance and ESE said he was unaware of any problems
(exceptional student education). with the new building and that noth-
ing has been mentioned by district
Astonishingly, neither the county personnel at public school board
nor the city of Fellsmere approved the meetings or elsewhere.
plans for the 900 building, inspected
it during construction or had any say District building inspector and
in issuing the occupancy permit that code enforcement officer Scott Gang-
allowed students to be placed in the er found 15 violations in the 900
humid, leaky structure. building in his “Annual Fire Safety,
Casualty and Sanitation” inspection
A lack of transparency and effective on Oct. 1, 2015. Sixteen code viola-
tions were documented in the 700
building, including five in the cafeto-
rium and kitchen area.
Mold was found in both buildings
over the past year. After 10 works order
requests cited problems with air quali-
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 11
NEWS
ty and mold in the 700 building, a facil- The process used to deliver the proj- through a competitive-bid process, Originally slated to cost $8.9 million,
ities staffer was allowed to investigate. ect, “Contract Manager at Risk,” cuts and suppresses competition. the renovation ended up costing an ex-
He found the humidity control system out third-party and public oversight. tra $800,000, for a total of $9.7 million.
was giving false data to the central Unlike a sealed bid opened in public, Sanders said an architect was hired
HVAC control panel. The control sys- the contractor is queried on quali- to do “20 to 40 percent drawings” for Indian River County community de-
tem was replaced, but it’s still hooked fications and selected by the owner. the new building, but it is unclear if velopment director Stan Boling con-
up to an old HVAC system, not the new The construction management firm the architect provided supervision firmed that the county does not oversee
heating and cooling system installed acts as a consultant to the owner dur- throughout the project. school district building plans. A county
two years ago, according to district ing the design phase and then acts committee looks at the site plan as it re-
physical plant director John Earman. as the general contractor during the On the basis of the “20 to 40 per- lates to road and sidewalk impacts, but
construction phase. The construction cent drawings,” a legal ad was placed not at construction details.
Although the 700 building gets the manager also acts as materials vendor. “soliciting professional qualifications
most communal use of any building and letters of interest from qualified A records request to determine who
on the campus, housing art rooms and The construction management firms” that elicited 13 responses. signed the certificate of occupancy for
the cafeteria/auditorium, it is the only journal CM eJournal reports that this the 900 building was not fulfilled in
one not hooked into the new central method makes it impossible to know An unidentified selection com- time for this article, so it is unknown
HVAC plant, which consumed about how close the delivery cost comes mittee chose six finalists who were for the moment if the original design
$1 million of the $9.7 million project to what could have been achieved evaluated by the school principal and architect was used to compare the de-
cost, according to Sanders. district staff committee, which chose sign with the end result.
Pirtle/Pinnacle.
Sanders said moisture problems in
the 900 building began within four
months of completion. In response,
the mastic around the sealed windows
was checked. The frame, head, jamb
and sill of the windows are flush with
the stucco, with no lip or rim to shed
water, making it imperative that seals
are tight. Adjustments were made un-
til the windows withstood pressure-
washing tests, Sanders said.
Still, small puddles formed inside
the building.
The next remediation effort was to
lower the grade around the building
so that the sod was no longer in con-
tact with the stucco. As built under
district supervision, without county
oversight, the sod was in contact with
the stucco, which can allow moisture
to wick into a building.
Puddles continued to form after the
grade was changed, Sanders said.
The next step was to call out the
contractor, Pirtle/Pinnacle construc-
tion, two local companies that teamed
up to win the building contract. The
company’s workers examined the en-
tire stucco exterior, tapping to find
hollow places where moisture might
accumulate. Areas that sounded hol-
low were marked with orange spray
paint (always a good look) as part
of a plan to remove and replace the
bubbled stucco over spring break, be-
tween March 21 and 25.
Sanders said the contractors “were
under a tight schedule” and “may have
been rushed” during the original con-
struction. There are three layers to stuc-
co and each is supposed to “cure” before
the next layer is applied. The stucco sub-
contractor, Applegate Construction of
Lake Worth, was new and unknown to
Pirtle/Pinnacle, Sanders said, and may
not have allowed proper time for curing.
It is not known, yet, if the stucco re-
pair will cure the moisture problem.
Pirtle, Pinnacle and Applegate all
refused to comment about problems
at the new building, but Sanders said
the district has done a number of pre-
vious projects with Pirtle/Pinnacle
and has been satisfied with the work.
12 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Shores delays cell tower location decision one more time
BY LISA ZAHNER ton-based CityScape Consultants, pre- prefer the Town Hall location on the stayed out of the study process as to
Staff Writer sented his findings of a signal study at one hand, and Bermuda Bay residents not influence the result. CityScape had
the Town Hall complex to a packed room who have mobilized and signed peti- been hired at the urging of John’s Island
The Indian River Shores Town with about 75 local residents. Edwards tions opposing the Town Hall location. and The Estuary residents who engaged
Council, which had planned to vote recommended the Town plan for a 115- beachside attorney Michael O’Haire to
on the height and location for the pro- foot tower north of theTown Hall parking “The search ring is devoid of poli- represent their interests. They felt the
posed cell tower on Monday, instead lot in a wooded area, and said that tower tics,” Edwards said, noting that he Town needed an independent, second
delayed the vote and gave a consultant would cover theTown and could support studied the town based upon comput- opinion from the firm of Datapath Tow-
an extra few weeks to expand his radio the four major cell service providers. er radio frequency models only. “This ers that the Town contracted with to
frequency (RF) study to include a site location gave the best penetration permit and build the tower.
at the end of Fred Tuerk Drive. The crowd gathered was split be- through all the obstacles.”
tween John’s Island and The Estuary During the meeting, Penny King of
Rick Edwards, president of Boca Ra- residents and environmentalists who Town Manager Robbie Stabe said the Bermuda Bay Property Owners As-
outside the meeting on a break that he sociation objected to having a decision
made at Monday’s meeting, without
the promised post-study workshop.
“Taking a vote without the step of hav-
ing the workshop would be a terrible
end to this process,” King said.
Vice Mayor Jerry Weick, a Bermuda
Bay resident, said the Town Coun-
cil has a responsibility to weigh how
many residents would be impacted by
the Town Hall location versus the Bee
Gum Point location. “That location on
Fred Tuerk Drive affects maybe 10, 15
houses, but this location (Town Hall)
affects 100, maybe 150 houses,” Weick
said. When it was revealed that Ed-
wards did not perform a signal study
on the Bee Gum Point location, prog-
ress toward a vote screeched to a halt.
John’s Island resident Sandy Kasten,
a vocal opponent of the tower being
placed anywhere near his waterfront
property, urged the Council to go for-
ward with the consultant’s recom-
mendation. He said maybe something
could be done to improve the aesthet-
ics of the tower. But Councilman Tom
Slater made a motion to direct the con-
sultant to take a couple more weeks
and study the Bee Gum Point location.
Mayor Brian Barefoot agreed, with
the caveat that he was dead-set against
anything that would shelve the project
or push it down the road. “The bottom
line here is that we’ve got to make a
decision,” Barefoot said. “There’s a real
life safety component.”
The treasurer of the Ocean Colony
association reported not being able
to call for fire and police services due
to lack of cellular service. Others from
Bermuda Bay complained that proper-
ty values would go down, an average of
10 percent for homes in close proxim-
ity to the tower.
Bob Gibb, principal of John’s Island
Real Estate, countered that the lack
of adequate cell and data service is
actually hurting property values, and
that prospective homebuyers see the
Town’s cellular dead zone as a missing
amenity, or even a lifeline.
Edwards said he is out of town next
week, but could complete the study by
mid-April.
14 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
Arf-fully adorable pups highlight ‘Cause for Paws’
Nancy Briggs, Chalmers Morse and Mary Ryan. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS CAUSE FOR PAWS PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 “Each house was made by the
Ellie and Bob McCabe. committee last year and they were
so wonderful we used them again
BY CHRISTINA TASCON education services. room. Guests eagerly examined the this year,” said Spitzmiller. The ef-
Staff Writer Last year’s gala raised $320,000 merchandise as they sipped cock- fect was simple, whimsical and, best
tails and munched on tuna sushi of all, cost effective, ensuring that as
Nine adorable pups – Petey, Rock- and organizers expected to do the appetizers and spanakopita before much money as possible would ben-
et, Shane, Shiloh, Ladybug, Mikey, same this year under the capable dinner. efit the animals.
Zorro, Chanel and Bambi – attended guidance of co-chairs Mary Ryan,
Cause for Paws along with roughly Bonnie Spitzmiller and Maria Se- Eleven live auction items were “I am a big animal lover,” said
300 guests at the annual fundraiser gura. More than 450 auction items auctioned off during a delicious din- Melissa Shine, an avid supporter of
to benefit the Humane Society of filled every nook and cranny of the ner of chicken Florentine and ginger the Humane Society. “Indian River
Vero Beach and Indian River County, Oak Harbor reception hall and side salmon, including a four-seater elec- County’s biggest problem is getting
held last Monday evening at the Oak rooms, and guests were actively pe- tric Club Car golf cart, a Barbados stray animals spayed or neutered.
Harbor Club House. Tails wagging as rusing the huge selection of jewelry, stay for eight at a vacation villa, and The quantity of stray animals being
they greeted arrivals, the endearing home décor, bedazzled handbags the chance to be named as a charac- born without owners is outrageous.
dogs were a poignant reminder that and vacation stays that were on dis- ter in one of Stuart Woods’ novels. Other Humane Societies actually
the grand gala was helping to raise play to entice them. bring their animals here because
money to assist the shelter with its The decorating committee had cre- this facility is so great about spaying
various programs, including spay- The auction process was made ated table centerpieces of charming and neutering.”
ing and neutering, vaccinations, easy with the use of BidPals, hand- lighted houses, each featuring a cat or
adoptions and anti-cruelty/humane held devices which allowed bidders dog resting comfortably on its porch, In fact some of the dogs that
to keep an eye on bids to their fa- and had added flared multi-colored greeted arrivals were among the 12
vored items from anywhere in the napkins at every table setting. taken in by our shelter on an emer-
gency basis from a recent puppy
mill rescue in Arkansas. Staff was
hopeful that some of the guests
happily petting the furry ambas-
sadors would find it in their hearts
to visit the shelter to adopt them or
any of the other animals needing a
loving home.
“I have had two lap dogs and lost
them both in the last six months, so
I am ready to consider getting an-
other one,” said Lee LaPointe, eye-
ing a Shih Tzu pair, a cute beagle
and a smaller, sweet-faced mixed
breed pit-bull. “I have a cat at home
from the Humane Society and I love
my cat, but I still want another dog
for companionship.”
16 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
CAUSE FOR PAWS PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 1 2 3
456
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 17
PEOPLE CAUSE FOR PAWS CAPTIONS
7 1. Marilyn and Kurt Wallach with Diana Stark.
2. Jill Shevlin, Kelly Holm and Leslie McGuirk.
3. Lou Ann Lindsay, Sally Anderson and
Eve Hoffman. 4. Sally and Roger Smith.
5. Sara Wright, Maria Segura and Russ Isaac.
6. Don and Jamie Portell. 7. Tom Lowe and
Bonnie Spitzmiller with Patricia and Mark
Ashdown. 8. Steele and Fredi Ash with Shirley
and Mike Petroline. 9. Rod Grandison, Liz
Hughes, Ashley Fugate and Erik Mallory.
10. Rusty Vincent, Melody Ipolito, Jenna and
Jeremy Schwibner and Brian Shambo. 11. Eva
Gurley, Kendra Haines, Joel Allen, Bill Gurley
8 and Marilyn Asplundh.
9
10
11
18 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
No question: ‘Answer to Cancer’ event a smash hit
BY MARY SCHENKEL ago by a group of Grand Harbor res- 1
Staff Writer idents who had each been touched
by cancer in one way or another.
The Grand Harbor Golf Club was It has been co-chaired by Carole
bursting with friends on a mission Plante and Don Casey since its in-
last Monday night at Answer to ception.
Cancer, raising funds to make life a
little easier for local residents deal- Rainfall has plagued the golf
ing with the devastating disease. tournament portion of the event in
The fundraiser was formed 11 years years past, but this time the weath-
er was blustery yet beautiful, entic-
4
2 This year they are working with the
hospital to fund DigniCaps – aka ice
3 caps – which cool the hair follicles
of patients undergoing chemo infu-
ing roughly 200 golfers out to the sion so that they do not lose their
links of the Grand Harbor courses. hair.
Another 50 guests joined them later
for a bountiful buffet dinner, silent “There’s none north of Stuart. We
auction, raffles and camaraderie. want to bring it to the Scully Welsh
Cancer Center,” said Plante. She
Spring-colored Luminaria lined learned of the process through her
the driveway and had also been daughter, who received DigniCaps
placed as centerpieces on the tables treatment in Maryland and was
in remembrance of loved ones, rein- able to save her hair.
forcing the importance of the mis-
sion. As guests mingled over cock- “Now we’re raising money so that
tails and scrutinized more than 100 others will not lose their hair,” said
silent auction items amassed by the Plante. She read a touching letter
committee, some attendees pur- from her daughter, who stressed
chased chances to wonderful raffle the enormous uplifting benefit of
items, including a grand prize do- maintaining dignity and one’s out-
nated by Grand Harbor of tickets to ward appearance.
all of the club’s major events.
“What is interesting is that there
“We will have raised more than are people in this room right now
$500,000, which is a lot of money for who are being treated for cancer in
us,” said Plante of the cumulative our cancer center. It takes a lot to do
amount raised. this,” said Don Casey, watching as
wife Carole dashed about the room
“We’re a tiny little group of 11 vol- ensuring that everything was run-
unteers. The things we have done ning smoothly.
for the cancer center over the years
have been amazing.” “But what really makes this tick
is you have people who have been
Money has been donated to fund touched with cancer who come
a variety of projects and equipment together to recognize some who
through the Indian River Medical haven’t made it and celebrate those
Center Foundation to what is now people who did make it. There’s a
the Scully-Welch Cancer Center. great deal of emotional energy. Last
year we donated $86,000 toward the
True Beam Linear Accelerator, one
of only four in the state. There’s a
dream; there’s also the reality of the
cancer center operating and doing
the things that need to be done day
in and day out.”
“It’s always such a privilege to
come here for Answer to Cancer,”
said Indian River Medical Center
Foundation president Jan Donlan,
adding that cancer is the No. 1 killer
in Indian River County. “It is a joy to
be a part of this event and see all of
your grassroots efforts.”
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 19
PEOPLE
5 6 7
8 9 10
11
ANSWER TO CANCER CAPTIONS
1. Jean Jordan, Julie Otto and Pat Perry. 2. Carole
Plante with Alan and Linda Romano. 3. Barbara
Leggett, Tom Mackie and Dee Gaddy. 4. Myra
Burns, Barbara Lowry and Sue Post. 5. John and
Jan Donlan. 6. Sherry and Dave Brown. 7. Don
and Carole Casey. 8. Steve and Chris Thurlow with
grandchildren Henry, Ellie and Charlie Johnson.
9. Carole Jean Jordon, Mel and Linda Teetz and
Roni Fuster. 10. Betsy Otteson, Nancy Marquardt
and Mary Lindsay. 11. Deb Fletcher, Dean and Laura
Copeland and Wendy Eckert. 12. Toni and Paul
Teresi. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
12
20 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
Higgs’ $250K gift lifts Boys and Girls Club program
George Higgs, with club members Tyler, Camille, Marie and Terrance. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE ing they graduate high school with a member Barry Wiksten pondered a
solid plan for their future. number of issues, including:
BY MARY SCHENKEL George Higgs with a $250,000 be-
Staff Writer quest toward a new career pre- Launched at the Vero Beach Club What can we do to help im-
paratory program aimed at ex- thanks to a $10,000 gift from the prove the lives of the young people
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indi- posing teens to potential career Hauser Family Foundation, they after they leave the Boys and Girls
an River County has received a ma- paths, helping them discover their hope to eventually offer the Desti- Club?
jor boost from John’s Island resident strengths and interests, and ensur- nations program to all high school
members. How can we encourage them
to stay through high school?
“Our educational system has
shifted from preparing students for How can we help them to
careers by aptitude to preparing develop a career path for a decent
students for college,” says BGC ex- middle class living?
ecutive director Elizabeth Thoma-
son. “Not all students have the ca- One way is to broaden the num-
pacity for college, so why should ber of career options, with program
they saddle themselves with debt, participants being offered tours
wasted time and generic degrees of the Indian River State College,
that do not lead to gainful employ- which provides affordable voca-
ment? With shortages in the trades tional and technical training in ar-
and manufacturing, I hope we see a eas such as Industrial Education,
resurgence of vocational training in Fire Science and Law Enforcement,
high school.” Culinary/Hospitality and Office
Administration.
“I’ve been involved with the Boys
and Girls Club for over 40 years. “There are so many jobs in those
I'm a passionate believer in what fields that go unfilled. That's the
they do to help young people,” says logic behind getting this initiative
Higgs, adding that in recent months started,” says Higgs. “A lot of these
he and BGC Foundation Board jobs pay more than college-trained
jobs. Some of these kids go through
four years of college and you see
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 21
PEOPLE
shadowing, and provide continued a factory in a severely impoverished Club probably does a better job than
counseling support even after they area of Newark, N.J. anybody. Most of these people want
get the job. the same things we do; they want a
“A lot of the kids needed a program chance for a better life. I know first-
“We all know that the poverty lev- to keep them off the streets. I met hand what a tremendous role the
el here is incredibly high; it's such a many lawyers and all who said the Boys and Girls Club can play in a
disconnect with the barrier island,” Boys and Girls Club saved their life. young person's life. It makes a huge
adds Higgs. “But many of these peo- It was a rough environment. If they difference. They have a place to go
ple, if given a chance, are going to hadn't had the Boys and Girls Club after school instead of being on the
do well. The program could grow they would have been drug dealers streets.”
but it's going to need some fund- or something,” he explains. “It was
ing.” in the inner city and I felt some ob- “With Mr. Higgs’ generous be-
ligation to try to help them. We have quest and the Destinations pro-
Higgs started his long-term re- much the same situation here. We gram, we can help our kids make
lationship with the Boys and Girls need to try to help them; teach them informed choices about the best
Club in the early 1970s when he so they can help themselves. career path to achieve their goals,”
founded Carex, a manufacturer of Thomason adds
health care products, and opened “And I think the Boys and Girls
George Higgs and Elizabeth Thomason.
them in jobs making very little
money. And some kids get out with
a debt they never can repay.”
They have also discussed promot-
ing internships in various trade in-
dustries.
“One area that comes to mind is
construction,” says Higgs, who has
spoken with building contractor
Toby Hill of The Hill Group about
reviving the construction-related
internships once offered through
the Builders Association. Higgs says
he also recently noted a sign adver-
tising “electricians needed” on the
side of a truck.
“Now these are $50,000, $60,000
jobs and they can’t fill them be-
cause they don’t have the trained
people. And that’s true of almost all
the trades,” states Higgs. “There are
a lot of young people here who could
earn a nice middle-class living in
these positions. We have to connect
the dots. Another one would be hos-
pitality, which is big all through the
Treasure Coast. Hundreds of work-
ers are brought in from Eastern Eu-
rope to fill these jobs. Something
isn’t right about this. If we have
hundreds of kids here without jobs,
it just doesn't make sense that we
can’t train people here who are ca-
pable of doing those jobs.”
Thomason hopes to eventually
hire a dedicated staffer to assist
teens to navigate a national career
planning database, write resumes,
complete job applications, and ap-
ply for scholarships and grants.
They could also help with job in-
terviews through role playing exer-
cises, arrange for speakers and job
22 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
HabiTrot runners 'hop' to it for 5K fundraiser
12
3
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ PEOPLE Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 23
4
5 1. Peggy Gibbs, Anna and Dick Lanam, and
CIndy Hatfield. 2. Lindsey and Chelsea Yangst
with Kathy Cottier. 3. Nick Cady wins. 4. Justin,
Karen, Amanda, Logan and Matthew Gore.
5. Randy and Josephine Holtzclaw.
6. Delta Nagele and Shirley Reul.
7. Geoff and Sasha Badner.
8. Al DeRenzo and Vinnie Fulginiti.
6 PHOTOS: PHIL SUNKEL
Runners laced up last Saturday
morning – with some also don-
ning some little bunny ears – to
participate in the 9th annual In-
dian River Habitat for Humanity
HabiTrot to Higher Education 5K
Run/Walk at South Beach Park.
The family-friendly event sprang
forward with youngsters tak-
7 ing part in their own Bunny Hop
before runners took off for the
5K. Funds raised from the event,
sponsored by Girard Equipment
and coordinated through Run-
ners Depot, will support Habitat’s
scholarship program affording
homeowners and their children
with an opportunity to attend
college or post-secondary educa-
tional programs.
8
24 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
March for Meals feeds seniors, fulfills volunteers
BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Staff Writer
To promote awareness of the Se- Mike Redstone, Terri Redstone, Phil Redstone, Matt Redstone, Karen Deigl, Sheriff Deryl Loar and Eric Flowers. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
nior Resource Association Meals on
Wheels program, one of 5,000 pro-
grams nationwide, the SRA invited
well-known residents to participate
in its 14th annual March for Meals
campaign last week. The month-
long March for Meals movement is
sponsored by the Meals on Wheels
Association of America.
Local notables – including Vero’s
indefatigable Alma Lee Loy, New
England Patriot Bryan Stork, Rep.
Bill Posey’s director of marketing
David Jackson, and a host of other
philanthropists, religious and busi-
ness leaders, and city and county
officials – rode along with MOW
volunteers to deliver food to home-
bound seniors all across Indian Riv-
er County as participants in Com-
munity Champions Week.
After gathering at the Senior Re-
source Association facility in Vero
Beach, where they were instructed
on the program’s procedures, the
Heidi Hayes, Erin Grall and Tammy Vock. of strokes has left her with tunnel
vision and a weakness that has lim-
champions were paired with a sea- ited what she can do.
soned volunteer before heading out
to deliver the hot, nutritious meals “Without Meals on Wheels I
to MOW clients. would be eating cereal and sand-
wiches every day,” said Ellis. “I like
Vero Beach Mayor Jay Kramer and the friendly people that bring it.
wife Alla joined philanthropists The meals are good, they are always
George Fetterolf and Trudie Rain- on time and I have thoroughly en-
one and rode along with volunteer joyed the people who come. I would
Denise Hegener. Their first stop was be lost without them.”
with Ann Ellis, who welcomed the
group and shared her appreciation Rainone and Fetterolf had both
for the food she receives daily while delivered meals through MOW
her daughter is at work. Ellis lost her programs elsewhere and said they
husband four years ago, and a series found it to be a tremendously ful-
filling form of volunteerism.
“Even if they have family, this pro-
gram gives relief to their families to
know that someone is visiting on a
regular basis to keep an eye on their
beloved family member,” said Fet-
terolf. “Plus, this gives them a really
nutritious, rounded meal every day.”
“And by us coming in, statistics
show that this keeps them in their
home rather than in a nursing
home,” added Rainone. “It’s also a
very lonely life if you do not have
family. This gives them something
to look forward to every day.”
“As we age there are two factors
which help with our quality of life
– nourishment and socialization,”
said Karen Deigl, SRA CEO/presi-
dent. “People may have the money
but may not have the ability to go
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 25
PEOPLE
out and get the food or prepare it.” with Deigl to deliver balloons and a invited Sheriff Deryl Loar and Pub- “Mrs. Redstone, you have had
Close relationships are often birthday cake along with her regu- lic Affairs Sergeant Eric Flowers to meals with us since 1999,” said Dei-
lar meal. Florence’s son Phil Red- join the family in singing a rousing gl to a smiling Redstone. “We also
formed, such as the one with MOW stone is chief of police at Orchid Is- rendition of “Happy Birthday” be- have your meal, but you can have
recipient Florence Redstone, who land, and grandson Matt Redstone fore everyone indulged in a piece of cake today and have your meal later
recently celebrated her 104th birth- is an IRC sheriff’s deputy, so Deigl cake. since it’s your birthday!”
day. The Redstone family arranged
26 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 Trudie Rainone, Jay Kramer and George Fetterolf. George Fetterolf, Denise Hegener and Trudie Rainone.
Linda Cassady, Leila Heptinstall, Tracy Colon.
“All these years; such good food,”
replied Redstone as she cut into
the cake. “I think that is one of the
things that has kept me going.”
The program delivers roughly
58,630 hot meals per year in Indian
River County, each prepared by reg-
istered dietitians at the IRC School
District based on daily nutrient
requirements. They also provide
Emergency Meals on Wheels to se-
niors within 30 days of being dis-
charged from healthcare facilities.
Having learned that seniors often
feed part of their dinner to their an-
imals, Pets on Wheels – sponsored
by the Humane Society of Vero
Beach and Indian River County – is
offered at no cost to eligible MOW
recipients.
Meals on Wheels visits serve as
a wellness check, with volunteers
all trained to watch out for signs
that clients need further help and
to report anything back to the case
managers. The Senior Resource As-
sociation is always looking for ad-
ditional volunteers – the program’s
life’s blood. In addition to indi-
viduals getting involved, the SRA
encourages businesses to “Adopt a
Route” and allow their employees
to help out.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 27
PEOPLE
Brett Daily, Linda Knoll, Don Wright.
Florence Redstone blowing out the candles on her 104th birthday. Trudie Rainone and Alma Lee Loy.
28 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
Boat biz visionary Deal is Entrepreneur of the Year
Roy Lambert, Hariot Greene and Dr. Ed Massey. Alma Lee Loy and Don Proctor. Susan Blaxill-Deal, Scott Deal and Ann Decker. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS
BY CHRISTINA TASCON Richardson Center at Indian River tence of a successful entrepreneur,” dation director of development Mela-
Staff Writer State College. Deal’s flourishing busi- presenting its first award to its name- nie Forget, who co-chaired the event
nesses have produced four top-of-the- sake, the late Dan K. Richardson. with Monique Walker.
Scott Deal, owner of the Maverick line powerboat divisions: Maverick,
Boat Group, was presented with the Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia. Past honorees, friends, family and The pair produced a stunning
Dan K. Richardson Entrepreneur- business colleagues of Deal’s were aquatic-themed banquet, with tables
ship Program’s 2016 Entrepreneur The IRSC Foundation and the 13 among the 200 guests at the special covered in a watery ocean-like pat-
of the Year Award at the 17th annual other founding members of the Dan occasion. In keeping with his marine tern topped with centerpiece bowls
Entrepreneur of the Year Award Din- K. Richardson Entrepreneurship Pro- connection and passion for fishing, of mangroves (artificial, of course) lit
ner, held last Thursday evening at the gram established the award to “exem- a unique fly-fishing boutonniere had from below.
plify the innovation, drive and persis- been designed for Deal by IRSC Foun-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
30 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE Bob and Sandy Brackett.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 ick Owner’s Tournament. In 1988, the Vernon Smith and Sid Banack.
firm purchased Hewes Boats, solidify-
“No mangroves were harmed in ing the top spot in the flats boat busi-
the making of these centerpieces,” ness – a position still held today – and
laughed Walker. “We have this big in 1991 developed the Maverick Mi-
conservation guy we are honoring; we rage, the first boat designed for noise-
would never cut down a mangrove!” less poling. A creative visionary, Deal
designed the Pathfinder boat in 1998,
Dinner featured tender, braised launching the Bay Boat Revolution
short ribs catered by Event Makers, and forever changing inshore fishing.
and for dessert, the Cake Lady created Maverick Boats continued to expand
clever mini-key lime cakes for each with the purchase of Cobia Boats in
guest, decorated with realistic edible 2005 and recently changed its name to
fish jumping out of the sea toward a Maverick Boat Group.
fishing line and hook.
Deal also works closely with the
Deal established the Maverick Boat Coastal Conservation Association and
Company more than 30 years ago in
conjunction with the annual Maver-
Paul Genke and Lila Blakeslee with Bill and Pat Marine. Elliott, Matt and Cory Deal.
Laura Lyshon, Terry Deal and Katy O’Connor. Joe Lembo with Linda and Dan Downey.
Jim Keenan, Joe Zwemer and Tom Kindred. “Scott has a real focus to get some-
thing done and he also cares about
was the first recipient of the CCA’s his product and the people who buy
Lifetime Achievement Award. He was his boats. I think that caring makes
also honored with the Eddie Smith everything cohesive and everything
Conservation Award. work,” said wife Susan Blaxill-Deal,
who also serves as Maverick’s corpo-
rate attorney.
IRSC president Ed Massey ex-
plained that the award is determined
based on nominations from former
award winners and community mem-
bers, adding, “These are people who
have created a business usually from
the ground up and fit the definition of
a true entrepreneur.”
32 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
Launch into history with Lemasters' memoir ‘The Step’
BY JULIE TARASOVIC Martha Lemasters.
Correspondent
PHOTOS BY PHIL SUNKEL
Martha Lemasters’ inspirational
memoir, “The Step: One Woman’s
Journey to Finding her Own Happi-
ness and Success During the Apollo
Space Program,” tells the real story
of her life as a single mother of three
daughters working at the Kenne-
dy Space Center during the Apollo
years.
Underlying themes of women’s is-
sues and equality intertwine with
history, science, humor and romance
as Lemasters makes her way through
the obstacles of life on her journey to
happiness and triumph.
Lemasters is a first-hand witness to
the historical events that took place
in the 1960s and ‘70s as NASA and the
Launch Support Team made the ex-
traordinary achievement of landing a
man on the moon.
The memoir also talks about the
lack of recognition of the thousands
of unsung heroes that made up the
support team of brilliant engineers,
analysts and programmers, writers,
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 33
ARTS & THEATRE
secretaries and typists. This dream instead and that eventually led me Martha Lemasters will be at the for the State Attorney’s Office as a vic-
team did things that had never been to get in some trouble and lose my Vero Beach Book Center on April 6 at tim advocate for six years. During this
done before, working around the badge until I went through a safety 4 p.m. for a talk and book-signing of time, she hosted several concerts for
clock behind the scenes to make training course,” said Lemasters. her memoir, The Step. Visit her website victims entitled “Vero Sings for the Vic-
this game-changing feat happen. “I www.marthalemasters.com for more tims.”
worked for IBM in public relations There are many stories of the trials book-signing dates and information
during those years as part of the and tribulations of Lemasters and all on where you can purchase her mem- Lemasters is a member of Impact
Launch Support Team. I started out of the people who dedicated 10-plus oir. 100, a women’s collective giving group
as a typist and worked my way up to years of their lives to achieve what whose members each donate $1,000 a
my dream job of becoming a writer,” was the biggest historical event since About the Author year and award grants to nonprofits in
said Lemasters. the allies won WWII. Martha Lemasters is a Floridian, the community.
raised in Ft. Lauderdale and now re-
This first-time author started the As a marketing and communica- siding in Vero Beach. During the late She served on the board as vice
book in 1979 after the Apollo program tions writer, Lemasters was able to 1950s she attended the University of president of communications for five
ended. She started out writing the write about the people who made up Florida, majoring in Journalism. years.
book in the third person, but an edi- one of the greatest technical teams Since retirement, she volunteered
tor friend of hers told her it had to be ever assembled in American history. Lemasters also writes a bi-weekly
written as a memoir in the first per- Stories of their heartaches, challeng- inspirational column on behalf of the
son. “I had to be honest and vulner- es, achievements and failures are so Christian Science church.
able. That was easy because it’s not a inspiring, “The Step” will have you
perfect life and it’s about somebody laughing and crying throughout.
who made mistakes on her journey.
I believe that bad choices are not life Lemasters recently visited the
sentences. They are life lessons,” said Kennedy Space Center with relatives
Lemasters. and found the visit to the Saturn
V exhibit heartbreaking. “I looked
They were exciting times. “The com- at the vehicle and there was no in-
mitment was intense. People had af- dication whatsoever of whom the
fairs, people died. The Cape area had contractors were for each stage of
the largest divorce rate in the country the Saturn V. The Apollo program
at the time because of the long hours was a team effort. NASA did not ac-
everyone had to put in.” complish this mission all on their
own, yet there was no mention of
Her husband worked on the space all the others who contributed to
program as well. getting man on the moon – Boeing,
IBM, North American, McDonnell-
“He was on the launch team for Douglas – nothing,” said Lemasters.
John Glenn’s mission. We grew apart “What about the 17,000 others that
and eventually got divorced after we made up the greatest technological
had our three daughters. So I was left team ever assembled, achieving the
a single mother who had to work, and most difficult challenge of all man-
in those days it was not the norm,” kind to date!”
said Lemasters.
The names of the astronauts will
In addition to overcoming the forever be inscribed in our history
negative social aspect of being a sin- books, but the names of the entire
gle mom in the ‘60s, Lemasters also Apollo Launch Support Team will
had to deal with being a woman in a only be known to a few. NASA is dedi-
male-dominated workplace. “There cating an entire building to Heroes
were about 17,000 people working at and Legends … again, just about the
the Space Center on any given day, astronauts.
and only 3,000 of them were NASA
employees. The ratio of men to wom- “If NASA really wants to get this
en was also about 200:1. We were also place right, then history has to also
considered a safety hazard. We could be right,” said Lemasters. “Why not
not wear dresses or mini-skirts any- dedicate a whole wing to the team?
where in the vehicle assembly build- And discover what it means to have
ing (VAB). We had to don coveralls ‘The Step.’ ”
34 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
Coming Up: ‘Raw Space’ gallery spices up stroll night
BY MICHELLE GENZ
Staff Writer
1 The gallery stroll downtown in-
cludes the grand opening of a new
gallery that promises to be a breath of
fresh – and exotic – air in the district.
Neli Santamarina’s new Raw Space at
Edgewood gallery at 1785 Old Dixie has
a reception planned to both introduce
itself to the community and to honor
a roster of excellent Cuban-American
photographers. They include Flor A.
Mayoral, a Coral Gables dermatolo-
gist and much-lauded photographer;
Lissette Solorzano, whose work was
featured in a 2015 show at New York’s
Robert Mann Gallery; and Neireda David Handel is conducting the Atlantic Classical
Orchestra at St. Edward's.
Garcia-Ferraz, who curated the six
former Juilliard School faculty member,
women and two men in the show. The Giora Schmidt. Handel spent 14 years
conducting the National Symphony Or-
reception, open to the public, is from 6 Dawn Miller showing at the Center for Spiritual Care. chestra of Bolivia and at the same time
was involved with orchestras in Argen-
p.m. to 8 p.m. tina, Guatemala and Chile.
Also on stroll night, a second recep- Handel was engaged as guest conduc-
tor in Moscow immediately after his
tion for artist Dawn Miller, a favorite her gorgeous landscapes and interi- conductor of four featured this season
ors, with soft pastels – is on display in its effort to find a new artistic direc-
on the gallery scene, who has had a through April 26. tor is David Handel, principal guest
conductor of the Moscow Symphony-
show all last month at the Center Russia Philharmonic. The concert fea-
tures a celebrated young violinist and
for Spiritual Care. The show – aptly
named “Touching Dust,” since for the 2 Next Thursday, April 7, the Atlan-
tic Classical Orchestra’s final guest
past 20 years that’s how she makes
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 35
ARTS & THEATRE
sold-out debut there in 2010. Environmental Learning Center. This
In Vero, the concert is at St. Edward’s is the unofficial Vero arts communi-
ty’s ritual unwinding, and it’s always
School. The pre-concert lecture starts at enriching at the same time.
6:40 p.m.; the concert is at 7:30 p.m. The
decision on ACO’s new conductor is ex- This year’s poets include three
pected later this month. women. Sidney Wade, a professor of
creative writing at the University of
3 This is the weekend that West Florida, where she has taught for 23
Palm’s Kravis Center hosts the years, is a New Jersey native who stud-
ied philosophy at the University of
extraordinary, all-new production of Vermont, and earned a Ph.D. in Eng-
lish from the University of Houston.
Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s She is the president of the Associa-
tion of Writers and Writing Programs.
Dream,” staged by the Miami City Alice Friman, Laurel Blossom and Sidney Wade perform during the Laura Riding Jackson Poetry Barbecue Her poems have been published in
at the Environmental Learning Center. The New Yorker, The New Republic
Ballet as the culmination of its 30th and Southern Review.
season. Shakespeare’s tale has been South Carolina’s Laurel Blossom, an
avid swimmer who has put together
reimagined as taking place underwa- ceeds go to The Center for Spiritual Rijos. Rijos studied at the Puerto Rico an anthology of writings on the sub-
Care, Friends with Diagnoses and Conservatory of Music and the Pea- ject, has published five books of po-
ter, with a set designed by Miami na- other cancer-related causes. Doors body Conservatory in Baltimore. ems, the latest – “Longevity” – came
open at 12:30 p.m. The event includes out last fall. Her chapbook “Any Min-
tive Michele Oka-Doner. It’s getting speakers and goes until 4 p.m. Heads up on a promising concert ute” was nominated for the Elliston
April 13, when folk and bluegrass Prize. She is on the board of trustees of
fabulous reviews and deserves a drive singer Amy Helm is playing at Stuart’s the Laura Riding Jackson Foundation.
Lyric Theatre. Helm is the daughter
down. Performances run through of the late Levon Helm, legendary In addition to four chapbooks, Al-
drummer for The Band, with whom ice Friman has also published six
a Sunday matinee. The production she played for 10 years. She’s recent- collections of poems; her fifth, “Vin-
ly released a roots album, “Didn’t It culum,” won her the Georgia Author
moves to Broward the following week- 5 The Vero Beach Choral Society Rain,” and is now playing with a band of the Year Award in Poetry. In 2012
has its spring concert in two ven- called The Handsome Strangers. she won a Pushcart Prize. She is po-
end, before heading to New York, et-in-residence at Georgia College in
Milledgeville.
where the company makes its Lincoln ues this year: Friday at 7 p.m. at First
Center debut April 13 and 14. Presbyterian, and Sunday at 4 p.m. at
Community Church. With the theme “If
4 Lunafest, a traveling national Music Be the Food of Love,” selections
festival of short films made by
range from Mozart to Leonard Cohen,
women and about women, is on tap and singers include the 14 who were in
Saturday at the Richardson Center at Vero Beach Opera’s “Die Fledermaus” in 6 And if you want to start heav-
ing a sigh of relief now that the
Vero’s campus of Indian River State January.
College. Established in 2000, the fes- Also Sunday at 3 p.m., Christ-by- season’s winding down, save a little
tival’s shorts are curated from around the-Sea’s Marcos Flores teams up air for April 10, when the Laura Rid-
the world, billed as a “fund-raiser in a again with classical guitarist Miguel ing Jackson Poetry Barbecue takes
box” for their 175 hosts. In Vero, pro- Bonachea and another guitarist, Ivan place on the beautiful grounds of the
36 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
A ‘round’ of applause for ‘Freud’s Last Session’
BY ELLEN FISCHER It is the round of the century. Play- Sigmund Freud (played by Steve Brady).
Correspondent wright Mark St. Germain sets the ac-
tion on Sept. 3, 1939, the day England PHOTOS BY PHIL SUNKEL
A play that features an intellec- declared war on Germany. Our cham-
tual sparring match between reli- pions – Christian apologist C.S. Lewis
gious hope and profane reality runs (played by David Schmittou) and
through April 3 on Riverside Theatre’s proto-psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud
Waxlax Stage. “Freud’s Last Session” is (played by Steve Brady) – take off the
presented in the round, with the au- gloves in a freewheeling debate about
dience lining the four-sided stage like religious belief, human nature and the
spectators at a heavyweight bout. fate of humankind. The opponents in
this fictional matchup have at each to flee Austria after the German annex-
other not on a boxing ring canvas, but ation in 1939, Freud is now 83, and ad-
in the well-appointed London office vanced oral cancer is killing him. The
of Freud. Complete with a conspicu- inescapable fact of his pain and immi-
ous rug-covered couch and a desk nent death is the defense with which
bristling with antique statuettes, the Freud forcefully counters Lewis’ asser-
intimate set was lovingly put together tions that a benevolent God is both the
by Riverside’s producing artistic di- mover and goal of human affairs.
rector Allen D. Cornell, who also di-
rected the show. In 1939 Lewis was 40 years old. His
Christ-oriented fantasy series “The
Persecuted by the Nazis and forced Chronicles of Narnia” was still 10
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 37
ARTS & THEATRE
years in the future; in this play he is are representations of the deities of sued gas masks and leaves them, after vice or sacrifice it may demand, then,
the author of Pilgrim’s Recess (1933). antiquity. Although he opposes Lewis’ the fact, momentarily unstrung by the with God's help, we shall prevail. May
The satirical update of Bunyon’s “Pil- pro-God arguments, he is well read fear each man felt – for very different He bless us and keep us all.”
grim’s Progress” describes a modern in the writings of spiritual belief and reasons – in the face of danger.
wayfarer’s search for faith. The book presents an apt counterargument for Steve Brady as Freud slips into his
is mentioned at the start of the play every idea that Lewis advances. The self-examination this engen- character completely and with little
for its cartoonish characterization of ders takes their dispute into far-rang- effort. As Milton did for Satan, Mark
Freudian thought. Lewis, upon enter- Psychoanalytically speaking, the ing territory, covering the topics of St. Germain gave Freud the best po-
ing Freud’s study, offers a sardonic two also share a deeply ingrained joke-telling, farting, music apprecia- etry in the play, and the archest lines
apology in the belief that the great contempt for their fathers. Lewis’ was tion, morality and, of course, sex. – book-ended by a couple scenes of
man was offended by it. a God-fearing Christian and house- frightful suffering. He also gave the
hold tyrant. Freud never forgave his Although only two actors occupy the psychoanalyst oral gratification in
No, Freud says; he never read it. father, an Orthodox Jew, for his meek stage, a radio plays the parts of com- the shape of a magnificent stogie on
He has invited the younger man for response to an anti-Semite who mentator and chorus on world events. which Brady puffs happily for a fra-
tea to discuss Lewis’ “essay on Para- knocked the parental homburg into On Sept. 1, Hitler had invaded Poland, grant few minutes.
dise Lost” (an anachronism; Lewis’ the mud. killing thousands. Throughout the play,
“A Preface to Paradise Lost” was pub- Freud impatiently fiddles with the dial David Schmittou gives Professor
lished in 1942). Freud explains that Freud and Lewis both have a passion for news of England’s response. Lewis the earnestness of a true believ-
Milton's epic poem had comforted for argument. In their war of words, er, leavened with a boyish humor that
him many years before, during a sep- one or the other may occasionally The radio has the play’s last word in peeps around the edges of his don-
aration from his future wife, Martha. concede a point, but never a premise. King GeorgeVI’s famous address to the nish demeanor. And while Schmit-
Fortunately for us, their exchanges are British people, or rather the end of his tou’s Lewis rises to Freud’s intellectual
“You were comforted by a clash be- often barbed with witticisms that are speech, in which he invokes the Deity challenges, the actor is also capable
tween God and Satan?” asks Lewis. as sharp as their insights. no less than three times: “… we can of shocked modesty when the subject
only do the right as we see the right, turns to sex, and moral outrage at the
"I didn't say which side I was on," Their discussion is interrupted early and reverently commit our cause to suggestion of suicide as a rational al-
answers Freud, who then asserts that on by an air-raid siren that sends them God. If one and all we keep resolutely ternative to a painful death.
Milton gave Satan “the best poetry.” scrambling for their government-is- faithful to it, ready for whatever ser-
The men’s costumes, designed by
After an ominous fit of coughing, Anna Hillbery, were appropriately
Freud describes the ravages of his tweedy and sensible. It was a delight
cancer and the discussion turns to the to see Freud, near the end of the play,
concept of God. Lewis explains that pull the watch on its chain out of his
he, like Freud, was once an atheist, vest pocket and consult it.
until he “was struck by a thought in
the sidecar of his brother’s motorbike While it is new to Vero Beach,
on the way to the zoo.” “Freud’s Last Session” played at Palm
Beach Dramaworks in November
Freud counters that Lewis is “a vic- 2010, only months after it opened
tim either of a conversion experience off-Broadway at New World Stages.
or a hallucinatory psychosis.” The The play’s original premier was in the
battle thus engaged, the men never- summer of 2009 at Barrington Theatre
theless find themselves often on the Company in Pittsfield, Massachu-
same side of the intellectual fence. setts. The play was inspired by a book
Lewis argues for an analytic under- by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Armand
standing of God, an approach that M. Nicholi Jr. Published in 2002, “The
Freud, with his training in scientific Question of God” compared the writ-
method, can appreciate. ings of C.S. Lewis on belief in God
with the rationalist philosophy of Sig-
Like Lewis, Freud also has a God mund Freud.
fixation; the knickknacks adorning
every horizontal surface in his office
40 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
INSIGHT COVER STORY
BY HOWARD LAFRANCHI | CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Colombia’s
big comeback
From cocaine capital of the world to Latin American success story
Cradling in his hands cacao pods as red as scar- Orphaned as a boy after both his parents were bia was written off by much of the world as a dys-
let macaws, Serafín Guzmán bends down to work murdered in what Colombians simply call “the con- functional narco-state.
the Colombian earth that has defined his life since flict,” Guzmán later became one of Colombia’s mil-
he was a boy – producing both searing tragedy and lions of internally displaced people. But now as the country moves tantalizingly close
now, he hopes, a bright future. to putting an end to its long war, it is a very differ-
When he decided a few years ago it was safe ent place.
Farmers like him stand at the heart of a story enough to return to his farm, Guzmán was ready to
that has transformed Colombia from the world’s move beyond coca plants. He found there were now The government and the Revolutionary Armed
cocaine capital to one of Latin America’s great suc- government programs to help him do that. He plant- Forces of Colombia, or FARC, missed the deadline
cess stories. ed 6,000 cacao trees. “I grew up in the coca culture; it they agreed to last fall to reach a final peace accord by
was easy and brought a lot of money into this poor March 23. But killings, kidnappings, and disappear-
A decade ago, Mr. Guzmán grew coca, the ba- area, but it brought with it too much pain,” he says. ances are all down sharply: Murders, which totaled
sic ingredient of cocaine, on his 200-acre spread. “Things really have changed for the better.” 26,250 in 2001, fell by more than half to 12,750 in 2014.
These days the farmer in Putumayo, a jungle re-
gion of southern Colombia bordering Ecuador, Guzmán’s shift in fortunes is emblematic of Co- Bombings, field battles, and massacres are no lon-
shows off flourishing rows of corn, avocados, ba- lombia’s dramatic turnaround. Fifteen years ago, ger daily front-page fare. With security reestablished
nanas, and peppercorn plants. the country was considered by many a failed state. in many places, notably cities such as the capital, Bo-
It was awash in the world’s worst violence, mired gotá, and the Millennial-cool Medellín, private invest-
But it’s the squat trees laden with cacao, the basic in the continent’s oldest guerrilla war that had cost ment is flooding in and the middle class has expanded.
ingredient in chocolate, that offer the most hope nearly a quarter-million Colombian lives, with weak
he has for a secure future – and that the country’s institutions that reached only parts of the country Perhaps most important, the central government
five decades of guerrilla war is over. and were prone to the control and corruption of is no longer absent from whole sections of the coun-
drug cartels or right-wing paramilitary groups. try, and no longer leaving a vacuum to be filled by
“There is security now. I can grow my crops and crime gangs and other malfeasant actors.
try to improve with something new like cacao in When it became clear that the presidential elec-
tranquility,” says the young farmer in knee-high tion of 1994 was riddled with drug money, Colom- While this progress is largely a result of Colombi-
rubber boots and a beaked cap. ans’ own efforts, it was accomplished with the assis-
tance of a partnership with the United States. And
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 41
INSIGHT COVER STORY
Colombian rice farmers.
it is this collaboration, dubbed Plan Colombia at its Farmer Serafín Guzmán shows cacao pods he harvests in Loro Uno. Human rights advocates fault the plan for focus-
inception in 2000 under then-President Bill Clinton, ing on security and concentrating spending on mili-
that now stands out as a success of US foreign policy, narcotics collaboration, and that part of the plan tary hardware: Plan Colombia has left the Colom-
a rare case of American nation-building that worked. was hardly a rousing success. bian armed forces with the second-largest fleet of
Black Hawk helicopters in the world after the U.S.
Other such efforts launched in subsequent years, Colombia’s drug trade was splintered but far from
such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, are widely destroyed, while the drug cartels’ logistical control of Still, the initiative has transformed millions of
considered failures and have turned off much of the trade simply shifted to Mexico. And coca produc- lives and helped bring state institutions – a profes-
official Washington to the efficacy of big state- tion, which was reduced for a time largely through a sionalized National Police force, judicial services,
building programs. controversial US-supported aerial eradication pro- and social programs such as rural development – to
gram, has surged back in some regions in recent years. large swaths of formerly lawless territory. It is help-
Given the gridlocked Washington of today, where ing people like Guzmán support the world’s taste for
foreign-policy initiatives are just as politically con- chocolate instead of its desire for cocaine.
tested as domestic issues, it’s worth noting that
Plan Colombia has evolved over 15 years with un- On a wall across the plaza from Casa de Nariño,
wavering support from both Democratic and Re- Colombia’s presidential palace in Bogotá, graffiti
publican administrations. scrawled in black spray paint declares, “Sin pan para
el pobre, no hay paz para el rico” – “Without bread
“It’s been a success because it’s been biparti- for the poor, there is no peace for the rich.” The
san,” says Daniel Restrepo, who served for six years phrase might sound like a slogan from the “We Are
as President Obama’s principal adviser on Latin the 99 Percent” movement in the US.
America before joining the Center for American
Progress, a think tank in Washington. But in Colombia the graffiti is an apt reflection of
the country’s long war, a conflict launched in the
But to say that Plan Colombia worked is not to mid-1960s with an ideology of delivering political
suggest that it accomplished everything it set out
to do. It was initially conceived largely as an anti- STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 42
42 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 INSIGHT COVER STORY
power, justice, and economic equity to rural farmers strewn with papers and contains a bowl of candies Jaramillo says the strength of the program was in
(campesinos) through the use of force. that are white like Picasso’s doves of peace. What assisting and advising the Colombians – in essence
his years of experience have demonstrated to him, providing the seed money for a national rebuilding
That ideology was tainted as leftist guerrillas like he says, is that state-building, or what he calls “the project – but not doing it for them.
the members of FARC increasingly turned to Co- extension of the state’s institutional presence,” is key
lombia’s booming drug trade in the 1990s to finance to creating peace and prosperity. Furthermore, he Plan Colombia was “built on the basis of the home
their survival. And in recent years as the conflict has praises Plan Colombia for helping, despite its faults, country taking on most of the responsibility,” the
receded to the country’s vast rural areas, many Co- in the effort to revive Colombia. former vice minister of defense says. “The U.S. was
lombians have been tempted to believe that the con- wise in not trying to fight the other man’s war.” He
flict hardly mattered anymore. Declining rates of vio- “I am not one of those who believes that Co- considers the U.S.-Colombia partnership a model
lence and sustained economic growth have left the lombia in 2000 was a failed state. It wasn’t going to of nation-building. The two countries “were talking
unresolved war less and less relevant. completely crumble,” Jaramillo says. “But there were about an assistance strategy with a state-building el-
large swaths of the country that looked like a failed ement long before people were talking about nation-
But other Colombians, among them some of the state, where it certainly was an absent state. And so building in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he says.
country’s leaders, knew that, to paraphrase the graf- for me the most important question in all this is how
fiti, there would be no peace, no fulfillment of the to strengthen institutions on the ground, so they can Other experts in Bogotá say that if Plan Colombia
country’s potential, if poor rural regions were left provide order and help to manage the normal com- succeeded, it did so almost despite itself.
behind as modern, urban Colombia moved forward. plexities of life.”
To these leaders, the path to peace starts at least with “Plan Colombia was a total failure in its primary
extending the security and institutions of the state to Calling Plan Colombia “a model of cooperation objective, which was the drug interdiction aspect,”
every region of the country. that is probably the most mature program of devel- says Sergio Uribe, a specialist in law enforcement at
opment assistance the US has ever put forward,” Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá and a longtime
To the extent that Plan Colombia has done that, consultant on governance and organized crime in
it has played a crucial role in jump-starting Colom- both Washington and Colombia. “If anything, drug
bia’s progress. production under Plan Colombia has grown, and
particularly in recent years,” he says.
Inside Casa de Nariño, Sergio Jaramillo, Colom-
bia’s high commissioner for peace and one of the But he quickly adds that its secondary objective,
chief government negotiators at ongoing peace ne- which was primarily to professionalize the military
gotiations with the FARC in Havana, is running late. and the police and to create a viable and truly na-
There’s a roundtable with other officials on “the fu- tional judicial system, “had an unprogrammed ef-
ture of a country in peace.” Then there’s the matter fect. By forcing the government to spend money on
of a recent controversial rally featuring FARC leaders the plan’s priorities as a requirement for keeping the
where weapons were provocatively displayed – a vio- assistance coming,” Mr. Uribe says, “it helped the
lation of the ground rules for the peace talks. country pull itself up by the bootstraps and build a
functional state – something that until Plan Colom-
But the commissioner, who speaks in the lofty bia we did not have.”
phrases of the Oxford-educated philologist that he
is, takes a moment to sit down at his desk, which is One example: Before Plan Colombia, a fifth-grade
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 43
INSIGHT COVER STORY
education was sufficient to join the National Police. On the floor of the Ocati fruit-packing plant an boxes. As part of their work, they strip the uchuvas
But now the minimal education for a police recruit hour’s drive north of Bogotá, women in smocks of their distinctive paperlike shells. Some of the ber-
is a high school diploma. Under former President and hairnets sort through large bins of “uchuvas” or ries will be sold domestically, but a growing share is
Álvaro Uribe, the country also committed to putting “golden berries,” tart, marble-sized fruit winning the destined for foreign markets: The greenest berries
at least 30 police officers in each of its 1,105 munici- hearts of chefs around the world. are culled for finicky Germans, and the firmest are
palities – a huge extension of the state’s presence over set aside to undergo a 10-day anti-fruit-fly quaran-
what it was in the 1990s. The plant hums with activity as the workers cull
and pack sweet-scented fruits into stacks of colorful STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 44
44 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 INSIGHT COVER STORY
tine to win the right to enter the US. Colombian coffee farmer. or 5 in the afternoon without fear of memory of a horrendous massacre.
As a tropical fruit wholesaler, Ocati being robbed on the way home, and Many houses and small businesses on
the more competitive and quality-ori- most of us are mothers and we all had the main street are abandoned and
is a beneficiary of the global boom in ented Colombian companies have to so many worries about the dangers overgrown, as a peak population of sev-
people’s quest for natural products be – and that process of improvement our children faced every day,” says eral thousand in the years of the coca
and new tastes. The company, found- has allowed companies like ours to ex- Dorelvi Guerrero, a mother of three boom has dwindled to less than 800.
ed in 1988, has started selling dragon port and take a little piece of the global and Ocati employee for 23 years who
fruit to Hong Kong and guanabana cake that is the world economy.” Tall weeds and jungle vines creep
to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. And Mr. Guzmán shows the inside of a cacao pod. inexorably to claim the walls that wit-
these days buyers can source the cor- Colombia’s improved security cli- nessed the town’s darkest moment 17
nucopia of fruits the company offers mate is felt even more acutely by the is a floor supervisor. “But now security years ago. These days about the only
from all of Colombia’s regions and cli- women sorting and packing fruit on is better. That is reassuring for us. But I sounds one hears are the shouts of
mate zones – something that was im- the ground floor. Mostly single heads believe it also allows companies in the police officers playing a pickup soc-
possible just a few years ago. of household, the women chat eas- area to add more jobs, which helps ev- cer match with some of El Placer’s few
ily about what a safer and less violent erybody.” adolescent boys.
“In recent years we’ve been able to community has meant for them.
grow and expand our offering of fruit Ms. Guerrero, who will soon com- Workers sort and box fruit at Ocati plant in Chia.
varieties because we’ve been able “Before you couldn’t leave here at 4 plete her high school education and
to get to regions of the country that begin building a new house through Two decades ago Putumayo was
before were off limits,” says Wilson company programs, sees another the No. 1 region for coca produc-
Amézquita, a plant operations chief at benefit of working for a firm sending tion in Colombia. The lucrative, illicit
Ocati’s packinghouse in Chia, a town Colombian fruit to foreign markets. crop brought unimagined earnings to
in the valley north of Bogotá. small-farm operators such as Guzmán
and attracted campesinos from neigh-
To Mr. Amézquita’s way of think- boring poor regions looking to cash in
ing, the 15-year partnership between on the bonanza. They settled in places
Colombia and the U.S. is paying off. like El Placer.
With less violence has come more jobs,
growing salaries, and a return of for- But violence flared as the FARC and
eign investment – which rose from $2 paramilitary groups battled for con-
billion in 2000 to $16 billion last year. trol of the coca market: Thousands
were murdered or disappeared, sexual
“With Plan Colombia there is more violence against women became com-
security for more of the country, and monplace, and nearly 150,000 people
that has changed life for many Colom- were displaced from Putumayo in the
bians, but it has also broken the un- decade after 2000.
certainty of foreign investors,” he says.
“The more foreign investment there is,
Come in and let us create a masterful blend of function Workers sort ‘uchuvas’ or ‘golden berries’ for export.
and esthetics for the kitchen of your dreams.
A heavily protected police station in La Hormiga. At the abandoned elementary
f e at u r i n g : school a half block from a relatively
“When you think that a lot of this is new arrival to El Placer’s main street
Established 18 Years in Indian River County going to Europe,” she says, looking – a police station – the small Museum
over the bins of small yellow globes, “it of the War records the town’s tragic
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The Army failed to arrive in time to
stop the shooting – out of complicity,
most locals insist, with the local para-
military force. The violence left 11 vil-
lagers dead. But during the years of the
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 45
INSIGHT COVER STORY
coca wars about 1,500 civilians were didn’t make us rich like people think,”
killed in and around El Placer.
Ybáñez says. “On the contrary.” She
At the one-room museum, a glossy
timeline of Putumayo’s war years pub- starts to tell her family’s story but,
lished by international human rights
groups hangs on the outside wall. The overcome, stops to wipe her eyes and
year 2000, the launch date of Plan Co-
lombia, is marked by an American flag regain composure. “The violence kept
overlaid with a skull and crossbones.
getting worse, but we felt we had no-
Unlike the widely positive image of
the U.S.-Colombia collaboration in Bo- where to turn,” she says.
gotá, places like El Placer hold a darker
view of it. They see the joint initiative A cousin was killed, then her preg-
as one of death and destruction – both
because of the large-scale aerial eradi- nant daughter’s husband. Then in
cation program the US introduced,
and because of close U.S. cooperation 2000, Ramiro, the couple’s 15-year-old
with an Army that was linked with the
feared paramilitaries. “adopted son” and laborer on their six-
“Plan Colombia was a negative for acre farm, was abducted by the para-
this area because the emphasis was on
eradication, and while that may have militaries and murdered. The parents
reduced the coca it also damaged peo-
ple’s health and left large tracts of land fled, becoming one more family in the
empty and unproductive,” says Luis
Fernando Palacios, the young Green legions of Colombia’s displaced.
Party mayor of the Valle del Guamuez
But in December 2014 Blanca and
Jesús Alebio Portillo and his wife grow peppercorns.
Jesús got word that Putumayo had
municipality that includes El Placer.
“Nobody wants the return of coca, but Donkeys bring supplies through the jungle. changed. The government was assur-
we think there are better ways to en-
sure that doesn’t happen again.” ing people they could return and live in
Others fault Plan Colombia for be- safety. There were new programs run
ing too heavy on military spending,
particularly at the outset, and for serv- says Virginia Bouvier, a Colombia ex- that has to begin this year and dem- by state agencies, with technical assis-
ing U.S. purposes – a desire to reduce
cocaine production – in ways that were pert at the United States Institute of onstrate results to people,” he says. tance from the US, to help families re-
counterproductive for Colombia.
Peace in Washington. “The emphasis “Otherwise the farmers will return to gain legal ownership of lost farms and
“There were a lot of different agen-
das on the U.S. policy side, and they was on fumigation [eradication of coca, and nobody wants that.” learn how to substitute new crops for
ended up working at cross purposes,”
coca], but that led to a lot of displace- A few miles of bumpy dirt road from coca. The couple came home – though
ment of people that went counter to where Palacios speaks, Blanca Lilia without their five children, who remain
the socioeconomic goals of the plan.” Ybáñez fusses over the peppercorn too frightened to return just yet.
Another stain on the joint effort was plants that wind up gangling trees. Ms. “We got our land back.We got money
recurring examples of the U.S. collab- Ybáñez and her husband, Jesús Alebio to plant a new crop and for fertilizer to
oration inciting human rights abuses Portillo, show off the nascent bunches help the plants grow, and we get tech-
instead of reducing them. “There was of tiny green peppercorns they hope nical advice on growing something that
some evidence that the brigades re- will grow in plentiful numbers and is new for us,” Mr. Portillo says holding
ceiving the most U.S. money were the help them overcome a painful past. a peppercorn bunch in one hand. “And
ones that ended up being hit with ac- “We grew coca here before, but it I can say, we live in peace.”
cusations of the worst [human rights]
violations,” says Dr. Bouvier.
But her core criticism is that Plan
Colombia needed to put more weight
on features such as rural economic
development. And she is hopeful
that, with peace on Colombia’s hori-
zon, that shift could soon take place.
“I think Peace Colombia could be a
much more successful policy,” she
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46 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
INSIGHT EDITORIAL
It's not too late for Trump to lose the nomination
While Donald Trump would appear the front- or even downright ugly convention. If most party the votes – is determined in many states separate-
runner for the Republican presidential nomination, actors accept Trump as the nominee, it’s likely – ly from delegate selection – choosing the actual
his lead is more precarious than it might appear. though hardly certain – that enough delegates will people who will make up the Republican National
Bloomberg columnist Jonathan Bernstein explains follow that Trump will get over the hump. Convention in Cleveland.
the situation.
The key questions for party actors at this point This is where Trump may finally prove to be un-
There are three ways that Donald Trump still are simple: How far from 1,237 Trump remains; lucky in his opponents. Cruz is perhaps the least
could be denied the Republican nomination. what public opinion polls say about both the nomi- likely person in politics to give in to the rest of the
nation and the general election; and the extent to Republican Party, or to the spirit of the rules, if he
He could lose the delegate lead: Trump is ahead of which Trump has either reconciled with the party can find the votes to fight on. During April and
Senator Ted Cruz by a little less than 300 delegates. or failed to do so. They might also pay attention to May, Cruz’s campaign will be working hard in ev-
That’s a large advantage, but there are still more polling on voter preferences about procedure – the ery state choosing delegates. If he’s successful, not
than 800 bound delegates remaining to be selected, new Bloomberg Politics poll has voters preferring only will his own delegates be loyal to him, but so
almost all of them in winner-take-all or winner- the plurality candidate from the primaries over del- will a solid chunk of Trump’s delegates.
take-most states. There isn't enough polling data to egates acting on their own – but voters are unlikely
indicate what’s going to happen in most of these. to have strong views about procedure, at least if they Cruz will need those delegates to support him on
wind up with a candidate they can support. a vote to “unbind” the delegates -- to allow them to
And that delegate lead is a little shakier than it vote their preference, ignoring (if they choose) the
might seem. About 200 delegates are either un- He could hit 1,237 and still lose at the conven- outcome of the primaries. He also may need their
committed or allocated to candidates who have tion. It’s not necessarily over even if he appears to votes for other rules questions, on any credentials
dropped out of the race. Most of them are free to have won, though many Republican party actors challenges (that is, resolving disputes about which
choose, and there’s reason to believe that most have signaled that they would consider Trump the delegates were actually chosen).
won’t support Trump. Once they declare, Trump's legitimate winner if he hit that milestone. That’s
margin could narrow. because when it comes to the convention, the real The process involves three steps. First, the Re-
players are the delegates and the candidates. publican National Committee will establish a set
There’s an interactive effect, too. If Trump is win- of proposed rules for the convention. Rules maven
ning, the free-to-choose delegates will tend to ei- The problem for Trump will be that some of his Josh Putnam says it’s unlikely that those rules will
ther support him or remain undeclared. If Cruz (or delegates might be disloyal. That’s because Repub- free the delegates. Then, a week before the gath-
even Governor John Kasich) starts winning, they’ll lican delegate allocation – which candidate gets ering, those rules will be handed off to the con-
move in that direction. vention’s rules committee, which is free to change
them any way it likes. Once that’s done, the rules go
If Trump does lose the delegate lead before the to the full convention, which can accept them as is
convention, it’s extremely unlikely that he could or amend them in any way it deems appropriate.
recover to win the nomination.
If the delegates vote to free themselves, then
He could retain the delegate lead, but fail to that’s that: They will vote as they wish, regardless
reach the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. of how they were chosen to vote. And presumably,
If Trump doesn’t win any of the uncommitted or a scenario in which Trump has been allocated a
unbound delegates, he needs to win about 60 per- majority of delegates in the primaries and caucus-
cent of the remaining bound delegates to get over es but loses a floor vote over freeing the delegates,
the top. He’s on pace to fall short by just a few del- would doom his bid for the nomination.
egates, according to several close observers.
So voters, party actors or the delegates them-
If Trump can’t quite reach 1,237 after the July 7 selves can still stop Trump. And given how few
primaries, he will try to get them during the pre- polls have been published in the remaining states,
convention period, the six weeks between the final and how little we know about the actual delegate-
primaries and the convention. selection process, it’s too early to predict whether
that will happen.
Party actors who have opposed Trump through-
out the primaries will be important players in that
scenario. They might fight on, risking a very messy
HOSPITALISTS, PART I during their hospitalization. But once they understand the concept and see the © 2016 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved
positive aspects, most seem pleased with the care they receive.
If you have been a patient in the hospital lately, it’s likely your medical
care was managed by a group of physicians known as “hospitalists.” While ADVANTAGES OF A HOSPITALIST PROGRAM
some internists and family practice physicians (primary care physicians) still
provide both office and hospital care for their patients, this traditional model FOR INPATIENTS
of care is in transition. Hospitalists …
Are in the hospital 24/7; available at a moment’s notice for a medical crisis.
WHAT IS A HOSPITALIST? Are readily available for family meetings to discuss patient needs.
Care for chronic medical problems and acute medical illnesses.
A hospitalist is a physician who primarily dedicates his or her practice solely to Have test results, medication lists and other pertinent hospital informa-
the care of the hospitalized patient. tion at their fingertips.
Request and coordinate consults from specialists.
WHAT SPARKED THE HOSPITALIST MOVEMENT? Can contact the patient’s PCP, give updates and discharge summary, as needed.
Can admit patients from the ER.
Historically, most hospitalized patients in the U.S. were visited daily by their Can perform preoperative consults involving orthopedic patients with
primary care physician (PCP). Hospital staff, specialists, and the Emergency hip or other fractures, etc.
Room often needed to call the doctor at the office concerning the patient’s Work closely with hospital systems, clinicians, procedures and processes,
care. Many PCPs found it increasingly difficult to provide efficient, prompt care which streamlines care that can lead to shorter hospital stays.
simultaneously to patients in the office and in the hospital. Work with the patient, family, discharge planners, home health agencies
and others to avoid readmission.
At the same time, with insurance reimbursement for caring for inpatients FOR DOCTORS’ OFFICE PATIENTS
declining, many PCPs felt pressure to increase their daily office visit load.
Patients whose PCP limits his or her practice to the office setting will find
The national healthcare scene was also changing. In addition to being forced to their doctor has more time to spend with them with fewer interruptions. And
reduce costs, hospitals faced more and more demands to meet quality and safety as America shifts from treating illnesses to promoting wellness, patients will
standards established by health insurers and regulators. notice their PCPs focusing more on preventive health services.
Accordingly, hospitals today focus on three major priorities: 1. quality of Next time we’ll explain how hospitalist care is expanding to include pediatri-
care, 2. patient safety, and 3. cost efficiency. Since hospitalist groups are usu- cians, intensive care physicians and other subspecialists, and more.
ally employed or under contract with the hospitals they work in, their goals
are fully aligned. Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always welcome.
Email us at [email protected].
Certainly, some patients admitted under the care of the hospitalist service
are surprised when they learn their personal physician will not be visiting them
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50 Vero Beach 32963 / March 31, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
INSIGHT BOOK REVIEW
In the spring of 1997, the Library of would come to be erased or rendered of life. Astronomers realized that by crumbles. What’s different now is that
Congress opened an ambitious exhibit unreadable by changes in technical looking through a telescope they could our cultural memory is embedded in
featuring several hundred of the most standards. We’d have the words, but see not only across great distances but a complex and ever-shifting system of
historically significant items in its col- the document itself would have little far back in time, gaining a glimpse of technologies. Any change in the system
lection. One of the more striking of the resonance. the origins of existence. can render the record unreadable. A
artifacts was the “rough draught” of book can sit on a shelf for hundreds of
the Declaration of Independence. Over Historian Abby Smith Rumsey was Through such discoveries, Rumsey years and retain its legibility. All that’s
Thomas Jefferson’s original, neatly one of the curators of the Library of argues, people both revealed and re- required to decode it is a pair of eyes. A
penned script ran edits by John Adams, Congress exhibit, and the experience fined their “forensic imagination,” a digital file is far fussier. Dependent on
Benjamin Franklin and other Found- informs “When We Are No More,” her subtle and creative way of thinking computers for decoding, it can disap-
ing Fathers. Words were crossed out, wide-ranging rumination on cultural highly attuned to deciphering mean- pear or turn to gibberish whenever op-
inserted and changed, the revisions memory. “A physical connection be- ing from matter. We deploy that same erating systems, software applications
providing a visual record of debate and tween the present and past is won- imagination in understanding and or document standards are revised.
compromise. A boon to historians, the drously forged through the medium appreciating our history and culture.
four-page manuscript provides even of time-stained paper,” she writes. But The upshot is that the technologies a All of us have experienced the eva-
the casual viewer with a keen sense of that “distinctive visceral connection” society uses to record, store and share nescence of the digital. Web pages
the drama of a nation being born. with history may be much diminished, information will play a crucial role in change by the day, leaving little or no
if not lost, when our cultural heritage is determining the richness, or sparse- trace of their earlier versions. Hyper-
Imagine if the Declaration were com- stored in sterile databases rather than ness, of its legacy. To put a new spin on links dead-end in 404 error pages, with
posed today. It would almost certainly in actual objects. Rumsey’s book poses Marshall McLuhan’s famous dictum, their irritating “Not Found” notices. In-
be written on a computer screen rather a vital question: As more and more of the medium is the memory. ternet services and social-media sites
than with ink and paper, and the edits what we know, make and experience is shut down, their data disappearing
would be made electronically, through recorded as vaporous bits in the cloud, Whether through cave paintings or with them.
email exchanges or a file shared on the what exactly will we leave behind for Facebook postings, we humans have
Internet. If we were lucky, a modern- future generations? always been eager to record our expe- Rumsey is clear about the dangers
day Jefferson would turn on the word riences. But, as Rumsey makes clear, of our “ephemeral digital landscape,”
processor’s track-changes function We tend to think of memory as a we’ve been far less zealous about safe- but she isn’t a doomsayer. She believes
and print copies of the document as purely mental phenomenon, some- guarding those records for posterity. In that we can protect our cultural legacy
it progressed. We’d at least know who thing ethereal that goes on inside our choosing among media technologies for our descendants, even if that legacy
wrote what, even if the generic com- minds. That’s a misperception. Scien- through the ages, people have tended ends up mainly in the form of imma-
puter type lacked the expressiveness of tists are discovering that our senses to trade durability for transmissibil- terial bits. But, she stresses, we’ll first
handwriting. More likely, the digital file and even our emotions play important ity. It’s not hard to understand why. need to overcome our complacency
roles in recollection and remembrance. Intent on our immediate needs, we and start taking the long-term protec-
Memory seems to have emerged in prefer those media that make com- tion of valuable data seriously. We’ll
animals as a way to navigate and make munication easier and faster, rather need a reinvigorated system of librar-
sense of the world, and the faculty re- than the ones that offer the greatest ies and archives, spanning the pub-
mains tightly tied to the physical body longevity. And so the lightweight scroll lic, private and nonprofit sectors ad-
and its material surroundings. Just tak- supplants the heavy clay tablet, the in- ept at digital preservation. We’ll need
ing a walk can help unlock memory’s stantaneous email supplants the slow- thoughtful protocols for determining
archives, studies have shown. moving letter. A cave painting may last what data needs to be saved and what
for millennia, but a Facebook posting can be discarded.
Rumsey draws a powerful analogy will get you a lot more likes a lot more
to underscore memory’s materiality. quickly. Those are prudent suggestions. But,
The greatest memory system, she re- even as we continue down the path to
minds us, is the universe itself. Nature We’re now in the midst of the most a virtualized future, we shouldn’t lose
embeds history in matter. When, in the far-reaching shift in media ever, as we sight of the enduring value of the mate-
early 19th century, scientists realized rush to replace all manner of physical rial artifact. We should make sure that
that they could read nature’s memory media with digital alternatives. The there’s always a place in the world for
by closely examining the Earth and benefits are compelling. We’ve gained the eloquent object, the thing itself.
stars, we gained a much deeper under- instant access to a seemingly infinite
standing of the cosmos and our place store of information. But there are WHEN WE ARE NO MORE: HOW DIGITAL
in it. Geologists discovered that the losses, too. “Digital memory is ubiqui- MEMORY IS SHAPING OUR FUTURE
strata in exposed rock tell the story of tous yet unimaginably fragile,” Rumsey BY ABBY SMITH RUMSEY
the planet’s development. Biologists reports, “limitless in scope yet inher- Bloomsbury. 229 pp. $28.
found that fossilized plants and ani- ently unstable.” All media are subject Review by Nicholas Carr,
mals reveal secrets about the evolution to decay, of course. Clay cracks, paper The Washington Post
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