VB32963_ISSUE19_051216_OPT

Groups start to clean up litter
on spoil islands. P12
New power plant

will be a water hog. P10
South Beach Property Owners
group settles its legal battles. P11

For breaking news visit

MY VERO An aerial shot of an FEC freight train making its way across the old St. Sebastian River bridge. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL Police account of
chilling murder
BY RAY MCNULTY Bridges could yet pose obstacle for high speed train on South Beach

Vero attorney a leading BY LISA ZAHNER ko-Ri for the massively pow- sensitive waters and wetlands. BY LISA ZAHNER
national expert on DUI Staff Writer erful All Aboard Florida op- Bad publicity, open rebel- Staff Writer
eration, as local officials band
Local attorney Mike Kessler The spans across the canals together to use bureaucratic lion and throngs of attorneys Newly-released police re-
wrote the book on DUI de- and rivers of northern Indian push-back to block environ- seem to have succeeded, al- cords provide a riveting, real-
fense in Florida – not the only River County could be like a mental permits needed to run beit temporarily, in killing the time account of events leading
such book, of course, but may- scene from the Bridges at To- train tracks over and through market for All Aboard Florida’s to the arrest and eventual in-
be the best one. dictment for first-degree mur-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 der of 58-year-old Asbury Lee
Which makes sense. Perkins, who is accused of
Kessler, who has been prac- killing his wife at their South
ticing criminal-defense law Beach home in November.
on the Treasure Coast since
1985 and living in Vero Beach The “Detail Call for Service
for the past 28 years, is among Report” – 18 pages of back
the state's most knowledge- and forth communication
able, sought-after and suc- between deputies and the
cessful DUI lawyers. Sheriff’s Office dispatch – was
Before you reach for the among the discovery docu-
phone, or begin shooting off ments demanded by Perkins’
an email, let me make it clear public defender. When com-
Kessler is not a defender of bined with the arrest warrant
drunk driving. Neither am I. narrative, the computer-gen-
No one should condone such erated log presents a moment-
irresponsible, dangerous and by-moment description of
potentially lethal behavior.
"I drive on these roads, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
so does my family," Kessler
said. "I want everyone to be

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

‘Project manager’ in fraud case to be Failed subdivision
sentenced for unrelated grand theft is an odd intruder
on pelican preserve
BY LISA ZAHNER week in a case unrelated to the
Staff Writer contractor’s alleged crimes. BY ALAN SNEL
Staff Writer
Among the cast of charac- William “Charlie” Jones’
ters in a criminal case involv- name appears again and again Cleared lots on the edge of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL A site on the north bar-
ing a contractor accused of in the arrest warrant narrative rier island where an archi-
bilking three sets ofVero Beach that landed Vero Lake Estates tect dreamed of building
homeowners out of more than resident Mark Murphy in jail luxury homes with rooftop
$150,000 is a “project man- last month. Jones seemed to
ager” who is scheduled to be have had the most contact CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
sentenced for grand theft next with the homeowners, includ-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

May 12, 2016 Volume 9, Issue 19 Newsstand Price $1.00 Treasures galore
at McKee Fairy
News 1-12 Faith 68 Pets 69 TO ADVERTISE CALL & Pirate fest. P24
Arts 31-36 Games 49-51 Real Estate 71-80 772-559-4187
Books 46-47 Health 53-57 St Ed’s 58
Dining 62 Insight 37-52 Style 59-61 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 44 People 13-30 Wine 63 CALL 772-226-7925

© 2016 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero Kessler, who co-authored with William go and make a business trip out of it. they opened my eyes to a number of
Head, a nationally acclaimed, Georgia- That made it easier to justify taking things about DUI defense."
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 based DUI lawyer, the Florida edition of time away from work."
"The DUI Book: A Citizen's Handbook Kessler was so inspired that he es-
safe. I just don't want innocent people on Fighting a Drunk Driving Case," One particular seminar – a field- sentially went back to school, joining
to go to jail." which was published in 2006 and is as sobriety-test class in Atlanta about 12 the National College for DUI Defense,
comprehensive as it is easy to read. years ago – made so profound an im- a first-of-its-kind association devoted
The Mike Kessler story is an interest- pression that it put him on the path to solely to DUI defense. He also began
ing one. He's so learned and respect- "I wasn't a DUI expert," he added. "I DUI defense expertise. seeking out and attending more DUI-
ed in his field that he not only travels became one." focused seminars, many of which at-
throughout Florida and across Ameri- As fate would have it, the class, tracted top scientists and trial lawyers.
ca to speak at DUI-defense seminars – Why? He admits his initial motiva- which was taught by former police of-
he's a widely recognized expert on the tion wasn't entirely professional. ficers, was sponsored by Head, his fu- The scientists taught the science of
breathalyzer – but he also testifies as an ture co-author. DUI. The trial lawyers taught how to use
expert witness in drunk-driving cases. "Partly it's because, my entire adult it. And Kessler was a sponge, soaking up
life, I tried to see America by seminar," "I met him and some of his staff, every drop of knowledge they offered.
"When I started out in criminal de- Kessler said. "If there was a place I and they were the most hard-working,
fense, I was just another guy," said wanted to visit, I tried to find a semi- hard-charging, over-achieving lawyers "I was a political science major who
nar there in my line of work so I could I had ever met," Kessler said, "and went on to law school, and I was cer-
tain that when I got to college I was
done with math and science," said
Kessler, a graduate of both the Uni-
versity of North Carolina and its law
school. "So I had to go back and re-
learn chemistry and biology.

"I never thought I was very good
at science, and I didn't really like sci-
ence," he added. "But the more I read
about it as an adult and as a lawyer, the
more I got it."

And he's still getting it.
"To show you that this can still be
a struggle for me," he said, "I took a
weeklong class – five days, 40 hours in
a crime lab in Chicago – and I've gone
back and taken the same class three
times to make sure that I've got it and
I can teach it."
It's Kessler's continued, post-grad-
uate pursuit of DUI-related, scientific
knowledge that separates him from
his peers and makes him so good at
what he does.
For those who don't know: He's not
only a founding member of the DUI
Defense Lawyers Association, but he
also has been identified as a "Super
Lawyer" the past four years by Law &
Politics Magazine.
And when baseball star Miguel Ca-
brera was arrested for DUI in Fort
Pierce in February 2011, his agent
called Head, who promptly referred
him to Kessler.
"If you're a criminal-defense lawyer,
you know that eyewitness evidence
is the least-reliable there is," Kessler
said. "Science, on the other hand, is
really reliable. Science doesn't belong
to the state or defense. It is what it is.
"So if you can build your case on sci-
entific testing – it was either done right
or it wasn't – it's a much more objective
way of doing things," he continued.
"The science is objective, but knowing
what I know about the science, I know
where to look for human error.
"A lot of my DUI clients can't afford
to hire a doctor, professor or scientist
to come in and challenge the govern-
ment's experts, so I had to become
good enough to rebut them through
cross examination without an expert,"
he added. "I like to go toe-to-toe with
the government's science witnesses."

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 3

NEWS

That might be because he knows the rested, at least officially, until they fail evidence gathering to be used in court." ability to see, hear, walk, talk, judge
biology and chemistry of DUI-related the roadside sobriety tests. Only then The real problem, he added, is that distances, operate a vehicle, make
cases better than they do. Or it might do police request that they submit to judgments and generally carry out the
be because he knows the science be- the breathalyzer. there's virtually no correlation be- mental and physical tasks of daily life.
hind the DUI-detecting machinery tween the exercises that comprise the
better than they do. And if you think the breathalyzer is roadside tests and a driver's faculties "It's an extensive list, but balance is
flawed . . . being impaired by alcohol. not on there and coordination is not
Kessler said the particular model on there," Kessler said. "If you look at
breathalyzer used by law-enforce- "In most cases, by the time the cop Kessler said the standard instruc- the roadside exercises and put it up
ment agencies in Florida is flawed in asks you to take the roadside test, he's tion given by judges to juries as to against that list of what constitutes
both its design and function, and it already decided that you're being ar- what constitutes "normal faculties"
too often produces false blood-alco- rested," Kessler said. "The test is just includes, but is not limited to, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
hol-content readings that are higher
than they should be. Exclusively John’s Island

The result is that people who weren't A boaters Paradise! This impeccable 4BR waterfront retreat, with picturesque
driving drunk have been charged with pool and spa, overlooks breathtaking panoramic views of JI Sound. Architectural
DUI. detailing and shell stone pavers accent the 9,600± GSF home. Features include
an island kitchen with private garden, desirable 2BR/1.5BA cabana with bonus
"One reason I need to be so good at office, outdoor kitchen, voluminous living room with fireplace, handsome study,
this is that more people get wrongly luxurious master suite, and two a/c double-car garages. An impressive boat dock
accused of DUI than every other crime with two lifts and ramp are sure to please. 630 Coconut Palm Road : $6,495,000
on the books," he said. "A lot of police
agencies have policies, written or oth- three championship golf courses : 17 har-tru courts : beach club : squash
erwise, that if you drink and drive, you health & fitness center : pickleball : croquet : vertical equity membership
go to jail. They're saying, 'It's our job
to get them off the road. Let the pros- 772.231.0900 : Vero Beach, FL : JohnsIslandRealEstate.com
ecutor worry about whether they can
convict them.'

"But it's not against the law to drink
and drive," he added. "It's against the
law to drink too much and drive."

Kessler said he is the only lawyer
in Florida who owns an Intoxilyzer
8000, which is the breathalyzer used
by police in this state, and detailed the
problems with its design and opera-
tions. Even when it works the way it's
supposed to, he added, it still can pro-
duce artificially high readings.

And get this: The 8000 is far better
than the previous model used by the
state – the Intoxilyzer 5000.

"My job in a breath-test case is to
show the jury why this reading isn't re-
liable, and I am capable of doing that,"
Kessler said. "But if I'm going to chal-
lenge these results, I better know how
this machine works and know where
the kinks are.

"The reason the manufacturer won't
sell to lawyers is because they know,
if we get them, we're going to do ex-
periments and look for what's wrong,"
he added. "The 5000 was an absolute
piece of junk, and there are problems
with the 8000, too."

According to Kessler, the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement-
purchased machine's flaws include:
allowing possible radio frequency
interference from cell phones; be-
ing unable to differentiate between
alcohol hydrocarbons and other hy-
drocarbons in someone's breath; and
missing distortions caused by stress-
related, elevated breath temperatures,
which can alter blood-alcohol-content
readings by as much as 25 percent.

"Florida intentionally uses a machine
that it knows reads too high," Kessler
said, "but it doesn't care because they're
not letting guilty people go – they're just
convicting some innocent ones."

Thing is, suspected drivers aren't ar-

4 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero exercise that requires suspects to stand he has been doing several times each "So, sure, there's a business aspect."
on one foot, keeping the other foot 10 year since 2010. But there is also a payoff that goes
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 inches off the ground and looking at beyond dollars.
their toe. This year, he already has taught at "Ambition is a big part of it," Kessler
normal faculties, nothing they test seminars in Scottsdale, Ariz., Columbus, said. "I don't care about being the best,
matches anything on that list." "Stand on one foot? Nobody does Ohio, and Key West. Over the years, his because I don't care if there's a bunch
that. Nobody practices that," he said. sessions have covered various aspects of of other people who are also very good
That's not the worst of it. "What they're really doing is, they want DUI defense, including roadside sobriety lawyers, but I take a lot of pride in my
"In every one of these exercises, the you to change your center of gravity and exercises, the breathalyzer, blood-testing work. I want to be among the very best
police ask you to stand in an artificial po- they want your head down because that and trial skills such as cross examination. at what I do.
sition or posture, in an abnormal stance, changes your balance, because now "I went to a seminar in New Orleans
and they ask you to perform an abnor- your leg is pulling you forward." He also has been conducting what several years back and, one morning,
mal activity," Kessler said. "And when he describes as a "DUI Boot Camp," at I heard from a legendary American
you can't do it to their satisfaction, they (Police officers who demonstrate the which he teaches DUI defense, free of trial lawyer named William Moffitt,"
say your normal faculties are impaired. maneuver know to slightly lean back at charge, to lawyers in the local Public he added. "He gave a lecture called,
"To start with, they have you stand the waist to help maintain balance.) Defender's Office, where he began his ‘Becoming a Lawyer to Be Reckoned
in that position – with one foot in front career 31 years ago. With,’ and that was it.
of the other and with your arms at your "Another thing," Kessler continued, "I decided that day: That's what I
side – while they read you their instruc- "is that there's absolutely no evidence Kessler, whose office is in Fort want to be. I don't want to be just an-
tions," he added. "Nobody stands that whatsoever of a correlation between Pierce, said about 70 percent of his other guy. I want to be recognized as a
way. And the walk-and-turn exercise? your ability to touch the tip of your clients are facing DUI charges. Some, great trial lawyer."
Nobody walks that way." nose with the tip of your finger with such as Cabrera, come to him through Inspired by Perry Mason as a child
For one trial, Kessler said, he found being impaired." referrals stemming from his participa- and entertained by Denny Crane as an
photographs on the internet of the tion in DUI defense seminars. adult, Kessler already has achieved that
world-famous Flying Wallendas and He paused for a moment, then goal. He is a small-town lawyer who has
used them to show a jury that not even added, "You can be totally sober and "It's certainly good for my reputation," earned the respect and admiration of
tightrope walkers walk heel to toe with completely innocent, and still fail the he said. "I'm becoming more known na- his peers here and national recognition
their arms at their sides. roadside test." tionally because I do this. And with Flor- as a top-shelf, DUI-defense expert. 
Kessler also challenged the roadside ida being a destination state, I get calls
Kessler teaches all of this when from all over the country from lawyers
asked to speak at DUI-defense semi- saying, 'I've got so-and-so in my office
nars, which he said are usually spon- and he got a DUI in Key West last week.'
sored by bar associations – something

Murder on South Beach olence. The father told police he had dog barking at my knock/bell. All ap- p.m., with dispatch sending the fol-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 spoken with his daughter on Satur- pears 10-4 here. Note left for Ms. Bet- lowing message to the evening depu-
day, which was Halloween night, but ts to contact Mr. (William) Betts. Also ties, “Father requests us to search the
what started as a routine welfare check that when he called back on Sunday attempted to look into the rear of the house good, he is very concerned for
and ended with the discovery of Real- and Monday, he got no answer on property and nothing appears out of her safety.”
tor Cynthia Betts’ dead body. either her cellphone or her landline the ordinary. NRN (No report neces-
phone. sary),” records state. Two units responded, the first ar-
The call report shows that Betts’ fa- riving eight minutes after being dis-
ther, William Betts, called police after The first deputy arrived at the Evidence discovered later, state- patched.
1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to ask them home on Seagrape Drive in the ments by Perkins, and medical exam-
to check on his 63-year-old daughter Oceanside subdivision about 1:53 iner reports indicate Betts was likely Court records state deputies “ob-
because he’d been unable to reach p.m. At 2:02 p.m. he reported back already deceased by the time the served that all the lights in the resi-
her. there was nothing immediately sus- deputy arrived – fatally shot by Per- dence were on” but that when a dep-
picious at the home: “No answer to kins at close range. uty “knocked on the front door the
The report indicates the father told door. No vehicles visible. Dealt with lights went off.”
the call-taker that Perkins was an al- these subjects before. Subjects are Still unable to reach his daughter
coholic with a history of domestic vi- known to have a little dog also. No as the day progressed, William Betts The arrest warrant affidavit states
called the Sheriff’s Office back at 6:30 the officer observed that the front
door was locked and that there were

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 5

NEWS

several packages on the front porch, check the residence out more closely. The deputy shined his flashlight “Perkins stated that Cynthia was
along with the note left by the other “When they entered the back yard, at the man, later identified as Per- with her family in New Jersey and
deputy that afternoon asking Betts to kins, and he came outside into the told the deputies to get off the prop-
please call her father. they saw a white male standing in backyard and spoke with the depu- erty. Perkins refused to allow the dep-
the living room near a computer. The ties, who told him they were there to uties inside to check the residence,”
A dog was barking in the house and computer screen was illuminating check on Cynthia Betts.
deputies went around to the back to the male,” records state. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

ALISFELEESCTTIOYNLOEF OPURROULPTREARLUTXIUERSY

Old Oak Lane $2.995 Million 675 Beachland Boulevard
Brown/Harris 772.234.5332 More Info: www.v164514.com
772.234.5555
Our Unrivaled Global Network
Premierestateproperties.com

Private Seagrove West Riverfront $3.795 Million Riomar Bay Riverfront Retreat $2.295 Million Little Harbour Riverfront $2.25 Million
O’Dare/French 772.234.5093 Info: www.v150013.com French/O’Dare 772.234.5056 Info: www.V164770.com Brown/Harris 772.234.5332 Info: www.v167260.com

6 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Murder on South Beach and “conducted a sweep of the resi- to use a combination to access.” chased the home as joint tenants in
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 dence.” “Perkins advised that Cynthia Betts October 2010. Perkins, whose trou-
bles with the law go back to 2004, was
the report states. “Perkins went back At 7:47 p.m., crime scene techni- did not know he was getting the gun subsequently arrested on two DUIs,
inside the residence.” cians were requested and deputies and did not know that he was ap- plus disorderly intoxication and do-
notified the Criminal Investigations proaching her with the gun before he mestic battery.
At 7:17 p.m. the Sheriff’s Office Division they would be bringing in a shot her. Perkins advised that after he
was back on the phone with William subject for questioning. shot her, he put plastic bags on her Sheriff’s Office units and crime
Betts, who assured them his daughter hands to stop the blood from run- scene activity reports go on through-
was not in New Jersey and also told At 7:49 deputies reported a “Signal ning all over the floor and used rugs out that Tuesday night, which hap-
them that “she would not leave her 7,” which means a dead person has to drag her into the laundry room. pened to be election night, up until
dog as she takes the dog everywhere been found. Perkins advised that he was going to 6:54 a.m. Wednesday morning when
with her because she did not trust put Cynthia Betts’ body in the trunk the final line states “All units cleared”
Perkins to care for the dog.” William Records show Betts’ body was of her car and then drive it into a lake from the scene of the murder.
Betts also told deputies Perkins had a found “wrapped in a carpet inside of but there were complications with
revolver. the laundry room” with garbage bags his plan.” Perkins was initially charged with sec-
tied over her hands. Court records ond-degree, non-premeditated murder
A supervisor was called in to assist, say Perkins initially claimed “Betts At 7:57 p.m. deputies called animal and entered a written plea of not guilty
with heightened awareness that the shot herself twice, once in the stom- control to pick up “a small dog.” on Nov. 30, according to court records.
man was likely armed. ach and once in the ribs while he was
sleeping outside.” Emergency medical services were But then in December he was indict-
The deputies had sent in the tag called and an ambulance from Sta- ed by a grand jury on the more serious
number of a vehicle spotted in the But reports say Perkins also repeat- tion 3 was dispatched. charge of first-degree murder, which if
garage and a driver license number edly said “he was going to prison for he is convicted, could lead to a death
and identified the man in the house as what happened.” Relief deputies came to the scene sentence.
Perkins by 7:28 p.m. and at 10:32 p.m. a message was sent
The report says Perkins was read saying that they had a “Prisoner at About two weeks after Perkins was
A sergeant responded to the scene and re-read his Miranda rights, and CID (Criminal Investigations Divi- arrested, court records show a full psy-
and made contact with Perkins at the that he said he no longer wanted to sion) door.” chological evaluation was ordered and
back of the house, while two deputies speak with the officers, but then he conducted.
stood ready to enter the front of the continued to talk to them. “Perkins While all this was going on, dis-
residence. made the following admissions: He patchers researched the individuals Assistant Public Defender Alan Hunt
shot his wife because she took money involved and found previous inci- was assigned to represent Perkins af-
When Perkins again denied entry out of their banking account with- dents at that address and involving ter he applied for and was granted in-
for a welfare check, the sergeant is- out his knowledge and she continu- their subject, Perkins. digent status. Assistant State Attorney
sued the order and the deputies en- ally nagged him. Perkins advised that Christopher Taylor is prosecuting the
tered the house, detained Perkins these acts drove him to remove a gun The couple, who married in 1991 case for State Attorney Bruce Colton’s
from a locked safe which he needed according to public records, moved office. 
to Vero from Boca Raton and pur-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 7

NEWS

Pelican refuge eyesore may come across a silent concrete ami auctioned off the acreage in De- planning department. “It’s an odd
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 street called Brown Pelican Way lined cember 2014 after the developer filed place [for a 10-lot subdivision] and
with land mostly cleared of trees on for bankruptcy in Maryland. The win- an odd proposal.”
swimming pools overlooking a pris- the west side of A1A – a visual gouge ning bid was $852,500, said auctioneer
tine wildlife preserve remains in limbo into the thick collection of native up- Jim Gall, who owns Auction Company One “odd” feature to the proposed
eight years after the project faltered, land plants and protected trees. of America. O’Haire said the sole bid- houses, recalled Blum, the project’s
an eyesore with a future fate unknown. der was project lender PNC. A PNC former engineer, was the idea of hav-
Despite the pavement, utility boxes spokeswoman said the company ing rooftop pools.
The Great Recession left Florida lit- and plated lots, no housing was ever doesn’t comment on foreclosures.
tered with foreclosed subdivisions and built after the former developer, Pas- County staff had recommended
never-realized housing projects where kor, LLC of Toronto, won approval Six months later, in May 2015, Paskor cluster the housing units and
vacant lots and desolate streets over- for the project from the Indian River Bancshares, LLC bought the land for create “large open space, native con-
grown with weeds serve as a sad legacy County Planning and Zoning Com- $515,100, according to county prop- servation areas,” county planning
of the corruption, greed and specula- mission in 2005. erty appraiser records. O’Haire said official Stan Boling wrote in a July 8,
tive mania that fueled the biggest Bancshares is affiliated with PNC. 2005, memorandum to the planning
housing bust in history. Engineer John Blum, of Carter As- Bancshares could not be reached for and zoning commission.
sociates in Vero Beach, recalled the comment.
There was far less of this on the bar- project’s partners were architect and But Paskor declined and forged
rier island than elsewhere in Florida – developer Attila Hollohazy of Toronto O’Haire believes the current owner ahead with a conventional subdivi-
with housing and lot prices here now and Amile Korangy, a Maryland physi- will not sell or develop the property sion plan that wiped out 70 percent
back above their pre-2007 levels – but cian, who owned a chain of radiology until the investment can be recouped to 90 percent of the protected trees
this particular 3.71-acre failed subdi- centers in the Baltimore area. – which may be a long wait. on site, according to county records.
vision is no ordinary empty property.
After the development faltered, PNC The subdivision plan seems to have “Because the site is less than five
Subdivided into 10 lots a stone’s foreclosed on the mortgage it held on been ill-starred from the start. acres in size, the county’s native upland
throw off of A1A, the site abuts the the land, and the lender is still waiting set-aside requirement does not apply,”
famed Pelican Island National Wildlife for a buyer to come along so it can re- More than a decade ago, before the Boling wrote in that 2005 memo.
Refuge, the nation’s first wildlife refuge coup its investment, said Vero Beach county approved the 10-lot subdivi-
founded in 1903. President Theodore lawyer Michael O’Haire, who repre- sion, Indian River planners advised Hollohazy, who designed the lay-
Roosevelt created the sanctuary be- sented Hollohazy during the permit- Paskor, LLC to try and sell the land out, was upset the county would not
cause plume hunters were wiping out ting and approval process. to the federal government as a natu- allow him to build multifamily hous-
birds such as egrets. Nowadays, 15,000 ral extension of the Pelican Island ing, so he submitted a plan that maxi-
birders and other nature aficionados “It’s just sitting there having been refuge, said John McCoy, chief of the mized the number of house lots on
enjoy the serene haven annually. foreclosed,” O’Haire told Vero Beach county’s current development plan- the site, Blum recalled. The required
32963. O’Haire said he quit the project ning section. minimum lot size was 12,000 square
But besides exotic birds, visitors after not getting paid. feet and the proposed lots came in at
“It’s a little out of place,” McCoy 12,026 square feet, records show.
Auction Company of America in Mi- said in an interview at the county
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

8 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Pelican refuge eyesore These days, the federal government ‘Project manager’ ent once that’s fully investigated and
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 has no interest in trying to buy the CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 known.”
property because “it doesn’t have any
Hollohazy did negotiate with the natural resource value for us because of ing two on the island, all of whom In addition to the criminal charges
federal government to designate the the road and most of the land has been hired Murphy’s company, Absolute upon which Murphy was arrested, and
site’s west side as a buffer and conser- heavily disturbed from making it into a Building and Restoration. later released on bail, the contractor is
vation easement. In return for receiv- subdivision,” said Oliver van den Ende, embroiled in a variety of civil, small-
ing the conservation easement, the a restoration coordinator who works at Jones was arrested here in Septem- claims cases, including one with south
refuge granted the developer drainage several federal sites including the Peli- ber 2014 on two felony charges. The barrier island resident John Kane. Kane
rights in the wildlife haven. can Island National Wildlife Refuge. state ended up not prosecuting him says he is finally having his home re-
on a charge of “uttering a forged bill, modeled by a different contractor after
Those rights were never exercised The refuge is not interested in using check or draft,” but Jones was found losing more than $50,000 paid to Mur-
though, as no homes were ever built. land for building purposes because guilty in a jury trial in March of second- phy for the job.
it’s already building an office and resi- degree grand theft (at least $20,000 but
“After 2008, after the housing indus- dence next to Wildlife Way, a narrow less than $100,000). “In March of 2015 Mr. Murphy
try collapsed, that’s when the project dirt road off A1A, van den Ende said. provided to us invoices in excess of
was stopped and we never heard from It is not clear if Jones was already $50,000.00 along with a list of material
Hollohazy,” said Blum. Vero Beach 32963 was not able to working for Murphy at that time of he was to purchase with these funds.
reach Hollohazy for comment.  the events that resulted in the felony Let me make it clear, these funds were
charges, or if he went to work for the provided to Mr. Murphy ONLY for the
contractor after being arrested, be- purpose of buying our material,” Kane
cause both Jones and Murphy have wrote to investigators who pursued the
declined to be interviewed by law en- case.
forcement, according to sheriff’s Lt.
Milo Thornton, who investigated the “Mr. Murphy requested we wire the
Murphy case for more than a year with funds to his account at Wells Fargo im-
State Attorney Bruce Colton’s office. mediately so he could get all of our ma-
terials ordered by week’s end and not
Murphy’s defense attorney Bobby to delay our job. We wired the funds
Guttridge said Jones is no longer em- (and later paid an additional $8k to
ployed by his client’s company and purchase siding – which he also stole.)
that he was terminated after the crimi- That is the last we saw of our money. No
nal allegations against Jones came to money No material we were ROBBED!”
light.
Kane has been on a bit of a crusade
Jones has not been charged in the to bring Murphy to justice, and alerted
case involving money collected for Vero Beach 32963 to Murphy’s arrest
home renovations never completed. after the warrant was issued.
Thornton said Murphy, as the state-
licensed general contractor, is the one “Mr. Murphy promised time and
legally responsible for fulfilling com- time again, our items were ordered, we
mitments to his clients. would be getting an accounting ‘next
week’, Mr. Murphy went so far as to lie
Guttridge said last week that Jones’ and provide false statements showing
involvement in the company explains material had been paid for when it had
how a longtime honest businessman not. Clearly an attempt to defraud us,”
became mired in the complaints that Kane wrote to investigators.
led to criminal charges. Jones, Gut-
tridge claims, directly led to Murphy’s “Mark Murphy stole our money, he
downfall. had no intent to purchase this mate-
rial or he would have ‘that week’ as he
“We will show that Mr. Murphy has stated several times. This was money
actually been victimized by Charlie we had saved for years, money we
Jones, and so have other contractors,” had budgeted to complete the renova-
Guttridge said, adding that the allega- tion of this home we had purchased to
tions occurred within a “narrow time share with our children, our friends,
frame” when Jones was employed by our family,” Kane wrote.
Murphy and that “before that and after
that there hasn’t been any problem.” Kane said he became aware, after the
fact, that Jones had a criminal record.
“The claims are either exagger-
ated or untrue,” Guttridge said. “And Guttridge declined to comment on
the facts are going to look very differ- any of the related civil or license issues
involving Murphy, as he is only repre-
senting him in the criminal case. 

High speed trains project designed to whisk tourists
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 from Miami to Orlando and back,
agencies tasked with protecting our
revenue bonds, but county and city of- natural resources must sign off on
ficials want to stop the train itself from plans to demolish and rebuild the
rolling – ironically, using as their weapon train tracks over the St. Sebastian Riv-
the same big-government regulations er from Roseland to Micco.
and processes these small-government
conservatives moan about on a regular Several daunting bureaucracies –
basis. namely the St. Johns River Water Man-
agement District and the U.S. Army
Even if the money eventually ma- Corps of Engineers – have the power
terializes to fund the 32-train-a-day to approve, reject, amend, delay or
stop work that the railroad needs to do

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 9

NEWS

on and around environmentally sensi- All Aboard Florida’s permit applica- als for work along the rail line that All crossings, track and quiet zones in the
tive land and water in the train’s path. tions did not sail through the permit- Aboard Florida has submitted to them. unincorporated area and city counter-
ting process. Water district staff asked parts on the county staff and consult-
Besides a new St. Sebastian bridge, the company for more information on Both Vero and the county are also ing payroll are busy scouring those
AAF must gain permission to work on which to make a decision, prompting asking for the Army Corps to hold a lo- documents as well for any concerns.
three crossings over relief canals which AAF to ask for a three-month exten- cal hearing before making a decision,
also are under St. Johns jurisdiction. sion and giving the county a window so Indian River County residents and In an April 21 letter to project man-
during which to strategize. governments can express their oppo- ager Andrew Phillips, the County At-
All Aboard Florida may have sition to the project. All of this coordi- torney’s office wrote urging the Corps
scooped up all or nearly all of the “At this point, we are analyzing the nation takes time. to allow more time for interested par-
land and rights of way it needs for the information contained in AAF’s appli- ties to comment on the train proposal.
project, but without the permits from cation to SJRWMD. George Kulczycki “The City of Vero Beach is uniquely “The intense controversy surrounding
those massive bureaucracies, work is assisting the County with its review situated in the path of this project and the proposed project is readily ap-
could come to a screeching halt. And of the data relating to wetlands,” Cot- is directly responsible for mitigating parent from the fact that over 15,400
the place where AAF’s march north- ner said in an email. effects of stormwater and wetlands written comments were submitted on
ward may be slowed or halted is the management,” Mayor Jay Kramer the Draft Environmental Impact State-
old single-track railroad bridge over Any landowner or developer who wrote on April 25 to the Corps. “We ment,” Cotner wrote to Corps.
the St. Sebastian River. has ever dealt with St. Johns on even a believe a local hearing on this permit
small project or retention pond knows will help clarify possible impacts on “Almost two-thirds of those com-
“All Aboard Florida will eventually that its permitting process can be ex- our community. ments expressed opposition to the
need to apply for permits to rebuild haustive; its staff members charged proposed project and many of those
the bridge over the St. Sebastian River,” with protecting natural resources are “We would like to respectfully ask comments directly addressed issues
Assistant County Attorney Kate Pingolt dedicated, detail-oriented and not in- that the Army Corps hold a local hear- that the ACOE must consider in its
Cotner said in an email. “Specifically, clined to be rushed. ing on the matter to help explain the permit review, including wetlands,
AAF will need to secure a permit from project to the public and to help local water bodies and threatened and en-
the Coast Guard and from St. Johns Now, the county’s consultants and Governments in understanding how dangered species.”
River Water Management District.” attorneys are examining every piece of this project will impact our local re-
paper filed back and forth, commenting sponsibilities.” To date, Vero has passed several res-
Even if AAF had all the required per- where appropriate and generally taking olutions and sent letters opposing the
mits in hand today, it would be a stretch full advantage of the system, on behalf Vero on May 5 finally received 100 fast train, and for a time the city had
to build a new bridge over the St. Se- of Indian River County taxpayers. pages of detailed design and quiet- an advisory commission charged with
bastian in time for the advertised 2017 zone crossing plans, which its staff examining plans for the train, but the
launch of service. Indian River County Last month an even bigger agency engineers and attorneys are reviewing city has not officially committed any
Commission saw an opportunity to de- came into play. The City of Vero Beach, and preparing comments. The City dollars to fighting AAF. Indian River
rail the train’s progress by hiring a con- the Board of County Commissioners Council has not yet had an opportunity County has budgeted nearly $3 mil-
sultant to keep a very close eye on per- and the Sebastian City Council peti- to discuss those plans or how they may lion for legal, consulting and lobbying
mit applications the railroad files with St. tioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impact the city. Counterparts at the efforts to try and derail the train. 
Johns River Water Management District. for more time to comment on propos- county also received a set of plans for

10 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Water hog: Okeechobee power plant to use 9M gallons daily

BY KATHLEEN SLOAN using about the same amount as the ensuring withdrawals do not negative- year period, beginning in 2021.
Staff Writer power plant, 9 to 11 million gallons a day. ly impact others in the area]. If the re- The power plant will use seven wells
quest were a threat to the county’s po-
Florida Power & Light is planning to Concerned about possible impacts table water supply, the permit would to begin with, one existing and six new
pump a staggering 9 million gallons of on the water supply, the county enlisted not be issued,” St. Johns River Water ones, all drilled to the depth of the up-
water per day out of the same aquifer the aid of St. Johns River Water Manage- Management District spokesman Ed per Floridan aquifer. The permit re-
that supplies most of the drinking wa- ment District to ensure its water source Garland wrote in an email. quires the power plant to drill deeper,
ter for Indian River County to cool and is safe. The water district added provi- into the Avon Park Permeable Zone,
generate steam at its huge proposed sions to the power company’s water-use FPL applied last September to con- replacing one well per year from 2021
power plant in Okeechobee County. permit at the county’s request. struct and operate a natural-gas-fired to 2028. The Avon Park water is lower
generating plant on 2,800 acres just quality, having more particulates,
Indian River County gets most of its “You will see that we place condi- across the Indian River County line in which makes it less desirable for plant
water from the upper Floridan Aquifer, tions on the applicant [such as using Okeechobee County. It will provide 1,600 cooling, but there are several geologi-
the lowest quality source of water and megawatts, enough to power 300,000 cal layers separating it from the upper
homes for about 744,000 people, FPL Floridan, ensuring the county’s supe-
spokesman Dave McDermitt said. rior water source is preserved.

As power plants go, Florida Power & However, the permit is written in such
Light’s Okeechobee Clean Energy Cen- a way that the power plant can continue
ter will be one of the more energy and to use the upper Floridan if the Avon
water efficient in the world, McDermitt and other water sources prove too poor
said. But it will still be a water hog. in quality for efficient plant operation.

It is in such a remote area it can’t re- The power plant is designed to cycle
use treated waste water from a county each gallon five times through the sys-
or municipal source, as many power tem, the water becoming more concen-
plants do to conserve water through- trated with particulates due to evapora-
out the U.S. tion with each use. If the water starts out
with a higher concentration of particu-
McDermitt said the site was chosen lates, it won’t be usable for the five cy-
because Florida Power & Light already cles. Also the pipes and workings of the
owned the 2,800-acre property, it’s plant could corrode or get gunked up by
close to power transmission lines and sulfur and other particles in lower-qual-
it’s convenient to State Road 60. There ity water, undermining energy efficien-
is also room to put up solar panels in cies and forcing the use of more water,
the future, which don’t use water. defeating water conservation goals.

The power plant will use an average Therefore the permit forces the power
of 9 million gallons a day, but some- plant to search for and prove the useful-
times up to 11 million gallons a day. ness of alternate water sources, allow-
The water district capped upper Flori- ing it to fall back on the upper Floridan
dan Aquifer withdrawal to 9 million if they are not “economically, environ-
gallons a day, forcing the company mentally, or technologically feasible,”
to find an alternate water source for which is a standard requirement of the
times when usage is greater. water management district.

At the county’s request, the water Asked why the plant doesn’t drill to
district permit stipulates the power the Avon Park layer to begin with, Mc-
plant must study a water source com- Dermitt referred to the answer given to
ing online in about five years, the the Evan’s property question: They’re
Grove Land Reservoir and Stormwa- committed to giving full consideration
ter Treatment Area, which is about 8.5 to alternate water sources.
miles southeast of the proposed plant,
on land owned by Evans Properties. So far the power plant impacts have
only been modeled by computer us-
McDermitt was vague when asked ing existing well data, paid for by Flor-
if Florida Power & Light has done any- ida Power & Light, but approved by the
thing so far to determine the viability water district. The plant plans to draw
of this alternate water source. “We are about 40,000 gallons a day from surface
committed to give full consideration water, which will not dry out plant life
to any new water source that may be or have other impacts, according to the
available during the operating life of model.
the FP power plant,” he said.
But the draw from the upper Flori-
County Commissioner Tim Zorc, who dan Aquifer poses some risk to exist-
took the lead on studying the power ing private wells close to the proposed
plant’s possible impacts on the county, plant site.
said Florida Power & Light would have
to pay the private owner for water use, FPL will have to conduct pumping
acknowledging this alternate water tests to confirm the model. The tests
source would be more expensive. will determine how fast and how much
water moves horizontally and vertically
At the county’s request the water through the geological layers and if the
district also added a provision requir- confining layers protect one aquifer from
ing that the power plant wean itself another. The likelihood or existence of
off upper Floridan water over a seven-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 11

NEWS

salt-water infiltration will be determined. ferent results from the model, if the exist- Not all the water will be used up in creasingly concentrated with particu-
FPL has two years after operations start ing wells are affected, if already existing the cooling and steam-making pro- lates, nutrients and chlorides, will be
to complete the pumping tests. Opera- legal users are affected, FPL is required cesses. Of the 9 million gallons used injected into the “boulder zone,” sev-
tions are slated to begin 2019. to fix the problem. Otherwise, their water per day, 7 million will evaporate. But eral layers down from the upper Flori-
use permit will be pulled. the remaining 2 million gallons, in- dan Aquifer. 
At every juncture, if the tests reveal dif-

South Beach Property Owners group ends legal battles

BY RAY MCNULTY cer positions in the past resigned from Taylor said. "I'd like to get them back." Beach property values and quiet sub-
the board and decided not to run for According to Lamborn, 78 percent urban lifestyle.
Staff Writer re-election.
of the 20-plus individual property In his letter, Lamborn, now the vice
With his term as South Beach Prop- "I was very much involved over the owners associations that comprise president, referred to the election as
erty Owners Association president years, but I don't see that happening the South Beach Property Owners As- a "turning point and a new page for
concluded and a newly elected board again," he added. "I certainly don't sociation membership voted in favor the SBPOA as it put behind us the very
of directors in place, George Lamborn see myself on the board again, or even of the seven nominees in the April 27 grave threat posed by a group of illegal
has dropped the lawsuit he filed in being involved in any future positions election. Castaway Cove voted against directors ..."
March to prevent what he claimed was with the association." the nominees. Pelican Lane abstained.
an "illegal takeover" of the organiza- Joining Conway, Lamborn and Tay-
tion by a dissident faction of the board. Through the years, Burns served Miles Conway, one of South Beach's lor on the board are: Carol Lewis-Buf-
seven terms as the South Beach orga- most visible and vocal opponents to fum, Cheryl Gerstner, Jose Lambiet
In a May 2 letter to Association mem- nization’s president and one as its vice short-term vacation rentals, succeeded and William Liedholm.
bers, Lamborn wrote that we was "happy president. Lamborn as the president of the board.
to report all legal matters have ended" The SBPOA charter requires at least
and he expressed hope that his succes- Taylor said that once the eight de- This is significant because the rift five directors, but the board can grow
sors "never have to resort to" similar mea- fendants had resigned and didn't between Lamborn and the dissent to as many as 15. Though there will not
sures to protect the association's integrity. seek re-election, and a new board was board members was fueled in large be another general election until next
voted in, the lawsuit became "moot," part by disagreement about how pub- year, Taylor said the board can elect
The suit, which was filed in Indian Riv- because the issues having to do with lic and forceful the board would be in additional members in the interim.
er County Circuit Court, never reached the defendant board members actions opposing short-term vacation rentals
the courtroom. and legitimacy had been resolved. in private homes, an activity Lamborn "And I can assure you, that's going
and others view as harmful to South to happen," Taylor said. "We're not
Lamborn could not be reached "The lawsuit did accomplish what it looking in the rear-view mirror." 
for comment, but Association Trea- set out to do,” Taylor said.
surer Carter Taylor said the suit was
dropped two weeks ago, shortly after In his suit, Lamborn argued that
the association held its Annual Gen- Merselis, De Wahl, Cooper and DeWa-
eral Meeting, when it elected a new, ters were ineligible when they were
seven-member board that is expected elected to the board in March 2015,
to grow in the coming months. because they hadn't fully paid their
annual dues and, thus, weren't mem-
None of the eight defendants named bers in good standing.
in the suit – John Burns, George Bryant,
Frank Spitzmiller, Thomas Browne, He also contended that the four alleg-
Steve Merselis, David De Wahl, Victor edly illegitimate directors joined with
Cooper and Robert DeWaters – sought Burns, Bryant, Browne and Spitzmiller "in
re-election to the board. an effort to undermine the authority" of
the president and a majority of the board.
In response to the lawsuit, in fact, all
eight resigned their positions before Taylor, who headed the nominations
the election. committee, said he "reached out" to
some of the departed board members
"The impact of the lawsuit?" Burns in hopes of persuading them to seek
said. "Four people who were longtime re-election. But none chose to do so.
members and who had served in offi-
"We did lose some good people,"

12 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Groups organize to clean up litter on spoil islands

BY RAY MCNULTY Yacht Club, which already has contact- brought up the possibility of helping," ing groups for an "Island Clean-up
Staff Writer ed the Florida Department of Environ- club spokesperson Michele Holling- Party" – something that he said could
mental Protection's Spoil Island Project worth said. "We're a small club, so we turn into a weekend event.
Several local volunteers have begun to inquire about adopting an island. might need to join with some other
organizing groups to help clean up group. We're exploring our options. No date has been set, but Kelly, a re-
the spoil islands in the Indian River A group of yacht club members tired teacher and coach, said he has spo-
Lagoon in response to a Vero Beach plans to meet soon to discuss ways "But the spoil islands are a natural ken to Vero Beach High School athletic
32963 story and photographs calling to contribute to the clean-up, and the treasure," she added, "and we're very director/football coach Lenny Jankows-
attention to a litter problem. club also has invited a representative concerned." ki, Fellowship of Christian Athletes
from the Friends of the Spoil Islands to chapter president Joe Moore and church
The volunteers range from a retired speak to its membership. Meanwhile, local kayaker Paul Kelly, youth groups.
teacher/coach to a college freshman, who referred to the April 14 story as a
and the groups include the Vero Beach "We saw the article in the newspa- "call to action" and an example of the He said the front-page story and pho-
per and several of our members have "power of the press," has been recruit- tographs have "gotten people's atten-
tion" and they want to help.

"I'm happy to report that many
people will be taking positive action
on this much needed project," Kelly
said, adding, "We cannot help but be
excited about the response."

Apparently, some concerned resi-
dents already have begun tackling the
problem.

Kelly said he paddled out to one of
the islands last week and was "thrilled
to report that 98 percent of the trash"
had been removed. He said he checked
with the county's Public Works De-
partment and was told it was not done
by county workers.

He said he saw a pontoon boat at
the island the day before.

"This was obviously a private group,
and I can only guess your article and
pictures provided the motivation,"
Kelly said. "When we went out the next
day, there was still some trash there,
but it was a lot cleaner.

"So let's keep it up."
That's exactly what Dalton Connel-
ly, a Vero Beach High School graduate
and University of Florida freshman,
has done.
In the midst of studying for final ex-
ams in Gainesville, Connelly said he
came across the story on the littered
spoil islands and was "disgusted" by
what he read – so much so that he im-
mediately decided to rally his buddies
to the clean-up cause.
Connelly, an island resident, and
several friends, including some mem-
bers of this past season's Vero Beach
football team, went to a couple of the
islands where young people tend to
gather and removed the trash left be-
hind last week.
"As a sophomore and junior in high
school, I spent a lot of time on those is-
lands, camping with friends and fam-
ily," Connelly wrote in an email. "I was
always known as the guy who would
never shut up about cleaning up the
trash before we left.
As for taking preventative measures,
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion has said it will step up patrols of
the islands to try to catch the litter-
bugs in the act. 



14 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Youth is served — thanks to generous GYAC donors

GYAC Reception participants. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

Poised and self-assured children 1 2 3
and teen ambassadors of the Gifford
Youth Achievement Center shook GYAC CAPTIONS GYAC PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 ly effective, with each of the 22 teens
hands and greeted supporters of the improving academically and behav-
organization at a Donor Appreciation 1. Norm and Peggy Rickard with Gabrielle Manu. “Look to see Xaria on Broadway,” iorally.
Reception last Wednesday evening at said Perry, adding that Reason will be
Northern Trust Bank. 2. Xaria Reason, Angelia Perry, and Wayne Farmer. in the upcoming RCT production of “I joined Boys to Men to Great-
“Aladdin.” ness two years ago, in 2014. It’s really
“A more impressive group of young 3. Craig Carter, Malcolm Dix and Isaiah Wilkerson. changed my life,” said Farmer. Shar-
people I don’t believe I’ve seen in a “This current school year, we serve ing that he was formerly reserved and
long time,” said Northern Trust Bank to Men to Greatness. 208 students,” said Perry. She said 98 shy, Farmer is now dually enrolled
Wealth Strategist Mike McGee. “The In addition to working on home- percent have improved their grades as a senior at Sebastian River High
human condition is a phenomenal in one or more classes, 100 percent of School and a sophomore at Indian
state of mind. And when people are work and science projects after school, their students in the Moonshot Mo- River State College. He has been of-
taught that they can be anything, and Reason, a student at Sebastian River ment program have made gains in fered a scholarship to Bethune-Cook-
can accomplish anything and they see Middle School, also attended Science reading, and partnerships with River- man University, where he plans to
the value of that within themselves, Institute of Discovery last summer, side Theatre and the Vero Beach Mu- study psychology, and credits GYAC
then it’s great to see the look in their where they worked on STEM projects seum of Art have exposed all the chil- for keeping him on the right track,
eyes when you get a chance to talk and visited the Kennedy Space Center dren to cultural activities. saying, “GYAC keeps moving forward
with them.” and FIT. But her face truly lit up when in everything they do.” 
talking about the acting, singing and The Boys to Men to Greatness initia-
Adam Bolinger, current board presi- dance classes she has taken at River- tive, which pairs black male mentors
dent, offered appreciation to the do- side Children’s Theatre. with teen boys, has been tremendous-
nors who make it possible for hun-
dreds of children to participate in the “During this time I discovered that
many after-school and summer-camp I have great passion for acting and it’s
programs offered by GYAC. really fun,” said Reason, who has per-
formed in several RCT productions, in-
“We are so blessed and apprecia- cluding one that took them to Atlanta.
tive of the support that we have from
those of you in this room tonight,”
said GYAC Executive Director Ange-
lia Perry. “As a product of the Gifford
community, I grew up knowing that
I’d go to college, based on what was
instilled in me by my parents. But for
many of the students that we serve,
college is unrealistic and therefore not
a goal.”

At GYAC, they strive to expose stu-
dents to new opportunities, thoughts
and ideas, she said, noting that they
were the first organization in Indian
River County to implement Kids at
Hope, a belief system that all children
are capable of success – no exceptions.

Guests heard from two remarkable
teens – Xaria Reason, an after-school
participant, and Wayne Farmer, a par-
ticipant in their newest initiative, Boys



16 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

GYAC PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 4 5 6

78

9

10
GYAC CAPTIONS

4. (back) Andy White, Tianna Heppern and Trudie Rainone; (front) Brian Carter, Deon Collins and Tyler Donley.
5. Sandy and Randy Rolf with Peggy Gibb. 6. Barbara McKenna, Geoguilima Phamhile, Emard Walton, Janet
Baines and Dr. David McKenna. 7. Mayenga Francillon, Raliyah Dawson, Alma Lee Loy, Nancy and Herb
Whittall. 8. Lonnie Ingram, Helen Dodds, Nick Melnick and Jim Dodds. 9. Adam Bolinger and Anne Marie
Tolmo-Foster. 10. Laura Trujillo with Laura and Bill Shucart.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 17

PEOPLE

11 12

13 14

15

16
GYAC CAPTIONS

11. Rock Tonkel, Freddie Woolfork, Judy and Bill
Schneebeck. 12. Bill Moller, Gerry Reilly, Freddie
Woolfork, Chris Evans, Millicent Carpenter and
Nick Evans. 13. Donna Lindsay and Neil Stalter.
14. Gildamar Tait, Betsy Tait and Bill Tait. 15.
Ginger and Dick Winkler. 16. Deon Collins,
Tyler Donley, Lucas Boecker, Brian Center and
Jermaine Williams.

18 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Robbie Saxton and Carrie Trooboff. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE Bonnie DeWaters, Ann Marie McCrystal and Mugs Hollifield.

Was VNA Golf-A-Thon a ‘hole’ lotta fun? Of course!

BY MARY SCHENKEL last Monday at the 26th annual Golf- contribute on behalf of their respec- The members watch what the others
Staff Writer A-Thon to benefit the VNA Hospice tive pros at what has become the VNA’s are doing and try to see if they can beat
Foundation. This year John’s Island single largest fundraiser. Organizers them.”
Most people would consider it in- Club hosted the event for the first announced Monday evening that the
conceivable to play 135 holes of golf time, inviting the pros to play at its event had raised $305,000, but they Other than some good-natured ri-
in a day, but that’s just what 12 pros challenging West Course. were still hoping to best last year’s valry among the pros and a chance for
from local golf clubs managed to do record-breaking total of $340,000. The bragging rights, there was no award
Members from the various clubs event has grown considerably since for low score. The only true competi-
its first year, when four pros tested tion among the dozen players came at
out the links of the then-new Orchid the very end, with a shoot-out (best of
Island Golf Club course, playing 100 three) on No. 13, a par-3, 135-yard hole.
holes and raising $26,000. John’s Island’s own Ken Weyand made
his members proud, hitting closest to
This year’s players were Ken Wey- the pin.
and, John’s Island Club; Pat Cerjan,
Pointe West Country Club; Matthew “I think the most important thing is
Challenor, Windsor Club; Pat Gor- they have such fun; they love the idea of
man, Bent Pine Golf Club; Randy playing 135 holes in one day,” said Car-
Hedgecock, Vero Beach Country Club; rie Trooboff of John’s Island Club, who
Joe Kern, Indian River Club; Casey co-chaired with Robbie Saxton from
Cox, Hawks Nest Golf Club (Moor- Indian River Club. “Once they start do-
ings); Don Meadows, Quail Valley Golf ing it, they don’t want to give up their
Club; Frank Mentzer, Grand Harbor spot to another pro at their club.”
Club; Bela Nagy, Sandridge Golf Club;
Mike Schuette, Riomar Country Club; “They get to play with their fellow
and Rich Waage, Orchid Island Golf pros, which is something they don’t
Club. generally get to do,” added Saxton.

“Ba Stone brought this idea from Saxton describes their role as that of
Connecticut. Pat Gorman from Bent liaison, “the glue that puts it together,”
Pine is the only pro who has par- noting that more than 100 volunteers
ticipated in all of them,” said Kerry help out in one fashion or another.
Bartlett, foundation vice president. Some relish the chance to zip around
the course with each player, taking
“I love playing golf and the inter- turns in two-hour shifts as “pro caddy”
action with the other pros, the VNA drivers.
staff and the support I get from the
Bent Pine members all make for a “There’s another golf cart with two
great day,” said Gorman. “The VNA is volunteers in it from any club, follow-
a great organization. I have firsthand ing along raking bunkers and fixing
experience because my mother was divots, which is very important,” said
at Hospice House. The care was so in- Trooboff. “The guys are driving like 100
credible that I’ll always be indebted to miles per hour nonstop; they don’t even
them.” stop for lunch.”

“These members love their club Funds raised through the event
pros. The opportunity to support help enable the VNA to provide com-
them is the reason they participate,” passionate care to everyone they
said Bartlett. “It’s kind of competitive. serve and continue with its mission
to never turn a patient away because
of an inability to pay. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 19

PEOPLE

Randy Hedgecock. Don Meadows
Joe Kern tees off with Casey Cox and Frank Mentzer.
Rick Waage, Matthew Challenor
and Randy Hedgecock

Mike Schuette, Don Meadows and Ken Weyand. Marilyn Case and Mariclaire Beggy.

Sue Olitsky, Glade Gracey and Cynthia Van Tuyl.

Joe Kern, Casey Cox and Frank Mentzer.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Gator Nation toasts area UF scholarship winners

Katie Profeta with Wesley and Elisa Mills and Will Schlitt. Scholarship recipients Samra Rashid, Alexia Cepeda, Janie Graves-Hoover with Suzy and Amanda Gard
Fredline Beauge and Corina De Leon. and Suzanne Schmidt.
PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS
Richard Giessert and Shelley Adelle with Linda and Sam Block.
BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Staff Writer

Nineteen scholarships were present- Doug Vitunac and Katie Profeta with Vanessa and Justin Larson.
ed to future attendees of the University
of Florida at the 2016 Gator Toast Din-
ner hosted by the Treasure Coast Gator
Club last Tuesday evening. Mike Hill,
UF executive associate athletics direc-
tor for external affairs, was the guest
speaker at the event, which was held at
the Moorings Yacht & Country Club.

Gator Nation camaraderie was un-

CREATIVE FLOORS Amy Speak, Mandy Robinson and Kerry Bartlett. Katy Block-Faires, Curtis Head and Lenora Ritchie.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF PROVIDING
THE BEST PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

CARPET • WOOD • TILE • VINYL • AND MORE Kedisha Christie with Rosemond and Richmond Fabien. Valerie and Hamp Elliott.
Katina Barriner with Fredline and Terrance Beauge.
CREATIVE FLOORS CARPET ONE mistakable as alumni celebrated with
1137 Old Dixie Hwy. • Vero Beach, FL 32960 one another and gave some back-pat-
ting encouragement to the students
772-569-0240 • www.CarpetOne.com who would soon be attending their
alma mater.

As always, UF’s blue and orange
– standard apparel in every Gator’s
wardrobe, according to Toast Chair
Katie Profeta – were the fashionable

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

colors of choice for most of the guests.
“As Gator alumni, to come back to

Indian River County and be able to give
back to our local students who are go-
ing up to Gainesville is priceless,” said
Lenora Ritchie. “We hope that these
students are going to one day give back
to the next generation here, so there is
a sense of pride in knowing that this
community supports them.”

Parents of the scholarship recipients
were both proud of their children’s
achievements and grateful to the Ga-
tor Club for the financial support they
were providing.

“My son has wanted to go to UF prac-
tically since he could talk,” joked Trac-
ey Kinsley, Justin Kendrick’s mother.
“Out of the 150 people who applied he
was one of the lucky recipients. The
scholarship will 100 percent pay for his
books for the year, which would have
been quite a substantial cost for us.”

Each recipient receives a $1,500
scholarship from the organization,
which has awarded more than $150,000
over the nine years it has been in exis-
tence. Students must be from either St.
Lucie County or Indian River County
and must have already been accepted
or currently attending UF.

Many of the students said that the
cost of college would be out of their
grasp if it weren’t for scholarships, and
most had applied for more than just
one. Scholarship recipient Amanda
Gard entered and won the Miss Hi-
biscus Pageant last year specifically
for the scholarship awarded with the
crown.

“I also applied to eight other schol-
arships and just received one from
the Indian River Scholarship Founda-
tion and am now waiting to hear from
others,” said Gard. “It would be really
helpful for us since there are so many
fees beyond tuition, like housing and
books.”

“My wife and I are both CPAs and it
is encouraging to know what a good
education can do for you,” said Gator
Club President Will Schlitt, whose wife
also attended UF. “Our teachers there
taught us life lessons, how to learn and
how to grow on our own.”

Hill spoke directly to the students,
telling them they were now becoming
part of a really special family at a uni-
versity where people take care of one
another.

“University of Florida is aspiring to
be a Top 10 public university and are
right on the cusp of doing that,” said
Hill.“The fact that you have been ad-
mitted to that school speaks volumes
about you. As much pride as you
should feel by being awarded these
scholarships, the Gator Club should
also take tremendous pride in what
they are doing by helping these kids
realize their dreams.” 

22 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

23

1

DERBY PARTY CAPTIONS

1. Denise Jiruska, Amanda Jiruska, Kitty Wagner, Vickie Penly, Diane Parentella, Cassie Ford and Michelle

Penly. 2. Joan Swidersky and Louise Swidersky. 3. Sterl Shinaberry, Bob and Judy Van Saun and Jeff

Zachary. 4. Sheri Scarpinato, Laurie Blakelock-Rodriguez, Katie Klapsa and Stacey Della Femina. 5. Jill

Jaynes, Beth Powell, Melanie Neach and April Wright PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

45

Hats entertainment! Derby party comes up roses

BY MARY SCHENKEL for in heart. The former 4-H show ance, motor skills and muscle tone,
Staff Writer horse – known as Queen Elsa at her as well as social skills including ver-
day job as a Special Equestrians of balization and communication.
She may not be as fast or famous the Treasure Coast therapy horse –
as Nyquist, winner of the 142nd was the guest of honor at last Satur- “We just got back from the State
Kentucky Derby, but what she lacks day evening’s fifth annual Kentucky Special Olympics south of Ocala,”
in speed, the lovely Elsa makes up Derby Party at Blue Star Brasserie, said Vickie Penly. “We got every
medal I think you can get; three out
Cassie Ford, Elsa, Michelle Penly and Vickie Penly. of four students came in first, sec-
ond or third. They did really well.”
hosted by owner Kitty Wagner to
benefit the nonprofit. Inside, revelers enjoyed the Derby
traditions of icy milt juleps and, of
“I love the Derby Party,” said Wag- course, festive hats. Twenty contes-
ner, who was donating 10 percent of tants entered the field this year with
food and drink purchases all night their original creations, including
long to SETC. “Everyone I haven’t one brave man, Bob Van Saun, and
seen in forever comes out.” 94-years-young Derby fan Louise
Sw ider sk y.
Elsa, gussied up with a saddle of
roses and sporting additional roses Artist and recycling advocate
along her beautifully braided mane Melanie Neach sported a Cinco
and tail, serenely posed with guests de Mayo-turned-Derby creation
who stopped to admire her, dipping topped with a glittery skull, and her
her head between shots to munch sister’s lovely hat was covered in
on a special hay treat. pink roses and feathery boa pieces.
“I had all the girls come over and I
Elsa is one of eight horses at SETC, got out my craft items. We just had a
which provides therapeutic horse- lot of fun,” laughed Neach.
back riding for children and adults
with physical, developmental or Others opted to remain hatless,
emotional disabilities. Programs including Marjorie Tibbetts, who
are geared toward improving physi- explained with a smile, “I watched
cal attributes such as posture, bal- Secretariat and owner Penny
Tweedy did not wear a hat. I figured
if she wouldn’t, I wouldn’t!”

With her characteristic enthusi-
asm, Anna Valencia-Tillery emceed
the hat contest, announcing the
winners after the annual Run for
the Roses. “It’s good energy,” she
said. “And people get to learn more
about Special Equestrians.”

“This is a fabulous event,” said
contest winner Judy Van Saun. Sec-
ond and third place went to Kerry
Bradshaw and Susan Krull. “I am
meeting so many outstanding and
generous people.” 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 23

PEOPLE

6 78

9

10

11
DERBY PARTY CAPTIONS

6. Liz Murray, Dorothy Ryan and Carol Garneau.
7. Lara Watkins and Grace Anderson. 8. Beth
Powell. 9. Kitty Wagner and Bruce Jackson.
10. Melissa McSulla and Lisa Rose. 11. Jim and
Nancy Kelly.

24 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Treasures galore at McKee Fairy & Pirate fest

1

BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Staff Writer

234

5 that boundless energy play fighting
with swords. Many children headed
FAIRY AND PIRATE FEST CAPTIONS the Gnome Depot, where they could
build mini houses for woodland crea-
1. Kids run around the maypole. 2. Juan and Guadalupe Garcia ring a bell together. 3. Naomi Guanch plays tures using natural construction ma-
terials collected by volunteers.
at the Fairy and Pirate Festival. 4. Scarlett Clohessy builds a fairy house. 5. Lua Rivera plays by the water.
“With Patrick Dougherty’s Stick-
6. Kaelyn Connor colors a picture. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS work installation called ‘The Royals’
standing in the garden, the children
More than 1,500 spritely pixies, tures enticing crowds to come out in 6 can use that as their inspiration to
swashbuckling pirates and cheerful droves to enjoy one of McKee’s most build their gnome houses in the gar-
adults filled the grounds of McKee popular fundraising events. ing a wonderful time racing around den,” said Hobart of the three sap-
Botanical Garden last Saturday at the the lush pathways exploring all sorts ling structures the artist had built for
sixth annual Fairy and Pirate Festi- “Gardens are known to house the of new adventures, dancing around McKee earlier in the year.
val, enjoying a family-friendly day spirits of fairies,” said Executive Di- the Maypole and hanging notes on a
filled with crafts, treasure hunting, rector Christine Hobart, sporting a wishing tree. Adorably-dressed gar- Adults weren’t left out either, with
an entertaining parrot show and a delicate fairy outfit herself. “That is den sprites could also get fairy mani- photographers dotting the shores of
magical parade promenade as the fi- supposedly what makes the gardens cures or have their faces painted, the ponds taking photos of the beau-
nale of an enchanted day. The weath- grow. The pirates are to include those and fierce pirates worked off some of tiful lilies for the June 18 Water Lily
er was perfect, with sunshine and who prefer pirates to fairies.” Photo Contest.
slightly cooler than normal tempera-
There is always something new to “Approximately 125 photographers
see at McKee and little ones were hav- will enter the contest and an inde-
pendent panel will choose winners in
three categories,” explained Hobart.

“This was unexpected, I didn’t
know this was going on when I got
here and then saw all the kids,” said
photographer Shelly Stang, who has
won the contest’s color category for

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 25

PEOPLE

the last three years. “It was fantastic ted throughout the entire grounds. mother to 11 children, said she year,” said Goldsmith, wearing a
because I don’t think many of them Even more than fundraising, the hopes that bringing them to events huge bonnet made of flowers. “Over
would come here if it wasn’t for this hope was to encourage more people at the garden will instill a love and the years the faces have changed but
event.” to become lifelong members of the appreciation of nature and ecol- I bring different fairies to the garden
beautiful and historical garden. ogy that will last for the rest of their all year long. We all talk about the
The festival has long been a fa- lives. history of McKee and why we should
vorite but this year drew the largest Tanya Goldsmith, a master gar- protect and preserve it.” 
crowd ever with more activities dot- dener, McKee member and grand- “I bring the children here every

26 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Girls have a passion for fashion at PEER party

BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Staff Writer

The Vero Beach Country Club Brooklyn and Charlotte Beasley. O’Hara and David Anthony McKenna.
served as the elegant backdrop for
The PEER (Parents/Families Educat- Hillary Selzer, Maria Colontrelle
ing & Exchanging Resources) Group and Patricia Moody.
of Indian River County at its fourth
annual Breakfast at Tiffany’s High done a lot of fashion shows over my
Tea Party, hosted in association with 30-year career and these girls are such
The Arc of Indian River County. a delight to work with. It is amazing

As guests arrived in their high tea
finery, they perused a fine art show
of works created by students at Indi-
an River Charter High School, while
listening to classical music by mu-
sicians Christian Shemo and Jason
Street.

Later, friends and family mem-
bers sipped international teas and
nibbled on dainty finger sandwiches
and sweets with their children while
enjoying a fashion show of clothing
and accessories primarily from Eliza-
beth’s Fine Consignments.

“The girls are so much fun,” said
Elizabeth Johnson, who had provided
the fashions last year as well. “I have

The Art & Science
of Cosmetic Surgery

SPECIALTIES INCLUDE: Nancy Moody and Pat Martin.
• Minimal Incision Lift for the
Face, Body, Neck & Brow how they turn on their charm when “The event also provides information
• Breast Augmentations & Reductions they see themselves in the mirror and and education to the families who are
• Post Cancer Reconstructions they start smiling. It is the greatest here and lets them know where they
• Chemical Peels • Botox feeling to watch as it changes their can go for useful resources. It also al-
• Obagi Medical Products • Laser Surgery whole attitude and demeanor.” lows the girls like Patricia to feel in-
• Liposculpture • Tummy Tucks cluded.”
• Skin Cancer Treatments The show also included two unique
designs by artist Katie Henderson, “All of the models today have spe-
Celebrating Over 25 who has Down syndrome. cial needs and they just feel so beau-
Years in Vero Beach tiful when they are in our fashion
“I have seen Katie just blossom show,” explained Pat Martin, event
3790 7th Terrace from these shows,” said her mother, chair and PEER chairperson. “They
Suite 101 Ruth Henderson, who works with her get to pick out pretty dresses and be-
daughter to create the clothes based come the center of attention for to-
Vero Beach, Florida on Katie’s artistic designs. “She takes day. So many times they are shunned
such pride in her designs and see- in the community so here they get to
772.562.5859 ing the girls wear her clothes. Like experience things they usually don’t
all girls they just enjoy going out and get to experience in school. When
www.rosatoplasticsurgery.com showing off their fashions.” they are in the fashion show it makes
them feel wonderful.”
Ralph M. Rosato The models for the show, all daugh-
MD, FACS ters of PEER members, relished sa- It was a special time for everyone
shaying through the dining room to as well as an occasion to raise money
pumped-up music, just like a New and awareness for The PEER Group,
York haute couture fashion show. an educational, advocacy and sup-
port organization that assists the
“Everyone has a lot of fun,” said families of children and adults with
Nancy Moody, an originator of the developmental disabilities. 
group whose daughter Patricia is an
active and visible advocate of The Arc.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 27

1 PEOPLE
2
3 6

4 8
5
PEER PARTY CAPTIONS

1. Ruth Henderson and Elizabeth Johnson

Thomas. 2. Letty Hurst, Tori Rossi, and Gayle

Rossi. 3. Penny Odiorne, Mary Ellen Replogle,

and Caroline Gann. 4. Katie Henderson and

Jamie Buckwald. 5. Sasha ZeBryk, Mike Moody,

and Kristy Corrigan. 6. Dillon Roberts, Justin

Isaac, and Curtis Carpenter. 7. Tina Bielecki,

Lacy Warren, and Kailee Snellgrove. 8. Sonja

Bielecki with Erin Grall and daughter Aleska

7 Bielecki. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE

28 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Power of prayer lifts Military Moms – and soldiers

BY CHRISTINA TASCON Friends of Military Moms join in prayer.
Staff Writer

In 2006 a core group of women
came together to form the inter-
denominational Military Moms
Prayer Group, praying for their sons
who were serving in or about to
serve in Iraq. The initial group, all
with strong connections to Saint
Edward’s School, was made up of
Pam Proctor, Margy Kulczycki, Lin-
da Colontrelle, Gail Reams and Mi-
chele Scales. Their sons – Michael
Proctor and Scott Reams, Marine
Corps; Garrett Kulczycki, Navy;
and Danny Colontrelle, Army – had
all graduated in 1998 from St. Ed’s,
where Scales and Kulczycki teach
and where Colontrelle had served
as a dean.

“I had a sense that God was nudg-
ing me to start a prayer group,” said
Proctor. “And when I saw Margy
at Publix I asked her if she wanted
to start one. She immediately said
yes and the need has continued to
grow.”

Lenore Wolaver, Pam Proctor and Christi Wade. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS

That strong base of continuous Beach and is open to everyone.
support has grown into a commu- “The feeling I got when I went into
nity-wide movement to back our
service men and women through that prayer group that very first time
prayer, care packages and letters. was like a weight that was on my
The group meets at 5 p.m. every shoulders was now shared with all
Thursday at Christ Church in Vero these other women and was lifted,”
said Lynne Marie Saint-Vincent,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 29

PEOPLE

who has two military sons. Bryce nesses were given small decorative- the packages and then pass them on It is so special for them to get them
currently serves in the Air Force ly wrapped bottles of sand that had to others,” said Kulczycki. “They are during the holidays but also when it
and Austin is a Navy veteran. “It was been collected by Proctor from the all such brothers. We have received is not a special occasion, so they know
nothing short of miraculous.” beach at Normandy. thank-you letters from them and they that they are being thought of all the
are just so gracious and so grateful.” time.”
Last Thursday evening the group Remembering their first Christmas
hosted a Cinco de Mayo party at mailing, then known as Treats for the St. Edward’s students were the first “They don’t want to be forgotten. It
the home of Linda Colontrelle to Troops, Colontrelle said, “The whole to tuck personalized notes into the warms their hearts just knowing that
thank members of the community community came together full force. boxes, an activity now joined by all people are reaching out to them,” said
who have supported their efforts. The postage alone cost us $13,000 but the schools in the county. Kulczycki. “When you pray as a group
Numerous businesses have partici- this community came through for us.” it is very powerful. We lift these sol-
pated in their Holidays for Heroes “They’re humorous, they’re whim- diers up and it gives us comfort too
outreach to the troops, opening The packages are sent to the sons sical. It’s kids talking about what’s in and changes our worry into hope.”
their stores as holding centers for and daughters of the group who then their hearts,” said Colontrelle.
the many boxes filled and sent over- distribute them to others in their The occasion also introduced a new
seas during the holidays and offer- units, particularly those who don’t “They absolutely love the letters slate of officers, with Proctor, who has
ing financial support for postage receive any mail or packages from from the kids and they hang them all served as president since the group’s
costs. Representatives of the busi- home. over the walls of their tents to remind forming, turning over the reins to
them of home,” said Jennifer Budde. Colontrelle. 
“They all share and go through “My son Michael was in Afghanistan.

Helen and Mike Quach with Robbie and Debbie Walker.

Lynn Marie Saint-Vincent and Linda Colontrelle. Bev Kummerling and Cathy Laite.

MILITARY MOMS PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
Bishop John and Joyce Miller with Herb Fini.

30 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

Sandra and Scott Redfield. Rick and Sharon Morgan.

MILITARY MOMS PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
Margy Kulczycki, Gail Reams and Michele Scales.

Janice Paruolo, Phyllis Leonard and Jane Fini.
Renee Freeman, Jennifer Budde and Laura Kuiken.



32 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

Surf photographer cAaRpTSt&uTrHeEsATmRE agic in Vero’s waves

BY MICHELLE GENZ to meet Camden’s mom, Marilu Rice, a friend taught him how to surf. "Vero is a brilliant
Staff Writer former gallery owner in Chicago, Bos- “I never looked back,” he says. “I fell
ton and New York. place to shoot surf. It
When surfing photographer Na- in love with the ocean.”
thaniel Harrington dropped by an is- As a result of that visit to a stir-crazy In California, he met his wife Tatum; has the most unique
land home to cheer up a young fan of kid, Harrington, 29, is now showing a
his photos, he wasn’t prepared to get a selection of his photographs in a show everyone calls them Nate and Tate now. waves I’ve ever shot..."
boost himself. here organized by Rice. Tatum, a model, is on a recent cover of
Portfolio magazine riding a dirt bike. – Nate Harrington
Camden Rice, 15, a water sports fa- Mostly self-taught, Harrington, 29, Her husband shot the photo.
natic, was recovering from a six-hour has been shooting action sports since open and a shallow depth of field, he
surgery for progressive scoliosis. House- the age of 15 when he borrowed his The couple were in Hawaii when they has learned how to best capture the ef-
bound and in pain, he had been follow- dad’s camera and started taking pictures learned Tatum was pregnant. Daughter fects of light reflected off the water, the
ing Harrington’s surfing photos on Ins- of snowboarders around his hometown River, now 2, is the reason they moved changes as daybreak brightens and the
tagram and was stunned to see he lived of Sunrise, Minnesota. to Vero, where they are closer to Tatum’s hues coming off the sky.
in Vero. parents in St. Pete.
By 18, he was selling his photos to “Vero is a brilliant place to shoot surf.
A mutual friend connected the two, snowboarding shops and, eventually, It was in Vero that Harrington’s pho- It has the most unique waves I’ve ever
thinking Harrington might also want to magazines and catalogues. Then, on tography took a turn toward fine art. shot, the way they break, the form that
a trip to Laguna Beach, California, a Used to shooting surfers in California the waves get, is unique to this area,” he
and Hawaii, he became fascinated with says.
shooting the lapping waves along the
quiet shoreline here. With his Canon 7D “It’s everything from the outer reefs to
in burst mode, he would lie or swim in the sand bars to the trough and steep-
the shallows along the water’s edge and ness of this beach. And it has everything
in less than a second, capture up to half to do with Vero’s wind. When it’s blow-
a dozen frames as the tiny barrel of the ing hard up north, we’ll have zero wind
wave broke over him. in Vero. It’s not so good for surfing, but
it’s good to shoot surf.”
Back home on his computer, he
pored through the downloaded images By the time Harrington met Marilu
often with more excitement than when Rice, “he had over a thousand images,”
he shot the waves themselves. “It’s the she says. Picking a few choice shots, she
most exciting part, because you re- urged Harrington to do signed, limited-
member every wave,” he says. “There’s edition prints on aluminum to make
a million things that can go wrong with
water photography. It’s like, yes! You did
it. Or you didn’t.”

Despite their startling color and clar-
ity, Harrington’s photos are not ma-
nipulated. Keeping the aperture wide

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Jesse Alexander, Nate Harrington, Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 33

ARTS & THEATREand Marilu Rice. PHOTO BY DENISE RITCHIE

space would be the busiest, she could ing not salsa but rum punch. It was the
rotate the works of artists of her choos- third of Harrington’s receptions. Fifty
ing on a quarterly basis. Happy to have people dropped by, she says.
fresh art on his walls, Alexander agreed.
As Harrington mingled with the
“I think of it as a sort of pop-up,” she crowd, Rice kept up a steady patter pro-
says. The art would be seen in the pri- moting his work to their guests.
vate events of Alexander’s clients, and
open to the public during gallery strolls. “He’s literally like a mermaid,” she
told one visitor. “He’s constantly in the
In March, Harrington became her water getting pounded by these waves.”
first artist.
And so is Camden, she is happy to re-
Last Friday, Rice got the last of her port. He has fully recovered and is surf-
licenses to sell her salsa at the Ocean ing again, just as Nate had predicted.
Drive farmer’s market. “It took six
months,” she says with exasperation. “You’re going to be back in the water
in no time,” Harrington had told Cam-
That night at the gallery stroll, in Or- den as he left the house that day. “I’ll see
chid Gourmet’s kitchen, she was mix- you in the waves.” 

the work look more like liquid. 2010, and the next year began providing
She told Harrington, “This is a breath- the food for Hawk’s Nest Golf Club.

taking series of abstract art.” A year ago, Alexander invested in a
“I never thought about it that way my- run-down property on 14th Avenue in
the downtown arts district. By Decem-
self, but I really liked the way it looked,” ber, he had transformed it into Orchid
says Harrington. Gourmet’s new home.

Meanwhile, while taking care of her The tidy dark gray building set back
son – and his ever-rambunctious twin from the road contains a commercial
brother Ethan – Rice herself had been kitchen in the back and a large, loft-like
creating. Not art, though. Salsa. Using space in the front. Available for events,
a lime-intensive recipe of her husband there is a sound system, a bar and a
David, she was determined to sell her farm table that seats 18.
product at local farmer’s markets. To
do that, she needed a commercial When Rice heard about the space,
kitchen, and scouting the market at she thought about her salsa making.
Windsor one day, she approached a When she visited and saw the blank wall
private chef and caterer, Jesse Alexan- space, she thought about art.
der, who has spent a decade cooking
for Guy and Dede Snowden. It had been years since she organized
an art show. But before she married
Alexander, a graduate of the Universi- and had the twins, Marilu Lannon had
ty of Florida in business, learned cook- opened cutting-edge galleries in Bos-
ing at the Royal Palm Pointe restaurant ton, New York and Chicago, a pioneer of
Ellie’s, working as sous-chef for two art districts in unlikely neighborhoods.
years before it closed in 2004. The fol-
lowing summer, he started as personal While she didn’t want to start her own
chef to the Snowdens. He opened his gallery again, Alexander’s space seemed
catering business, Orchid Gourmet, in the perfect compromise: During sea-
son, when Orchid Gourmet’s rental

34 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Coming Up: Trio of shows, and hey, hey … it’s the Monkees!

BY MICHELLE GENZ player before he become a theater critic,
Staff Writer has written biographies of Armstrong
and, more recently, Duke Ellington. He
1 The Vero Beach Theatre Guild has has also written books on George Bal-
secured the rights to “Deathtrap,” anchine and H.L. Mencken, and has
written the libretti to three operas.
after production problems caused the
The play runs through June 12.
group to cancel “The Nerd,” scheduled

to open this week. Now “Deathtrap,” a

mystery thriller, won’t be opening until 2 Sunday there’s another Live in HD
screening at the Majestic, but of
June 9. But there are two community

theater productions in Brevard County an orchestra this time. Andris Nelsons,

to check out, and a fine professional the famed young Latvian conductor

production in West Palm Beach. who is currently the music director of

“Big Fish,” the musical based on Tim the Boston Symphony Orchestra, con-

Burton’s movie, plays through May 22 ducts the Berlin Philharmonic. Nel-

at the Henegar Center on New Haven in sons gives his international simulcast

Melbourne; and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s audience a taste of the new production

“In the Heights” is at the Cocoa Village “Satchmo at the Waldorf,” performed by Barry S. Henry, is of “Percival,” the Wagner opera he’ll
coming to the Palm Beach Dramaworks this Friday.
Playhouse through May 15. be conducting in June at the Bayreuth

To the south of us, Palm Beach Festival. For this screening, he offers

Dramaworks is putting a nationally Teachout’s “Satchmo at the Waldorf” Satchmo is played by Barry Shabaka two selections: the Prelude and the
premiered in Orlando in 2011 and has Henry, who starred in a recent produc-
known critic to the test when it raises played off-Broadway and around the tion in Chicago. Karfreitagszauber. The simulcast starts
country. The one-man play is set in
the curtain Friday on “Satchmo at the Louis Armstrong’s dressing room at the In this one-man play, Henry does all at 12:55 p.m.
grand Waldorf Astoria hotel. There, the the talking, but he does no playing or
Waldorf.” The play is not only written legendary horn player and grandson of singing. He does assume other roles, If you’re craving live performance, the
a slave is not only performing but stay- though, including that of Miles Davis
but directed by Terry Teachout, the- ing, four months before he died. and his manager. 100-voice community choir of Brevard

ater critic of The Wall Street Journal Teachout, a professional jazz bass County sings Verdi’s “Requiem” in its

who has reviewed several Palm Beach annual spring concert Saturday night

Dramaworks productions, as well as in Melbourne. The 60-year-old volun-

Riverside Theatre’s “Les Misérables.” teer group, founded in 1969, regularly

Motherhood ...

“To be or not to be?”

Come in and let us create a masterful blend of function HUMANISTS OF THE TREASURE COAST
and esthetics for the kitchen of your dreams.
present:
f e at u r i n g :
Marcia Drut-Davis, author,
Established 18 Years in Indian River County
“Confessions of a Childfree Woman”
• The Treasure Coast’s most Comprehensive, Professional Showroom
• Extensive Collection of Styles and Finishes to Meet Your Budget Roberta Synal,
• Convenient Hours or By Appointment • Remodeling specialists
Local advocate for reproductive justice
(772) 562-2288 | www.kitchensvero.com
3920 US Hwy 1, Vero Beach FL 32960 MONDAY, MAY 16TH, 6:30 P.M.

Open to public, free of charge.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach
1590 27th Ave. at 16th St. - Door “D” - Choir Room

HUMANISTS

of the Treasure Coast

A secular group guided by compassion and reason.

CONTACT: Roberta Synal - 772-223-0222, [email protected]
Joe Beck - 772-284-1119, [email protected]
www.humtc.com

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 35

ARTS & THEATRE

the Beatles and the Rolling Stones
combined.

The lone Englishman in the group,
Davy Jones, died of a heart attack in
2012; he had played the Artful Dodger
in “Oliver!” on Broadway, and his per-
formance aired on “The Ed Sullivan
Show” the same night as the Beatles.
As for the others – Micky Dolenz, Mi-
chael Nesmith and Peter Tork – they
last toured together in 2014. This time
around, although all three perform on
the album, the tour only includes Do-
lenz and Tork.

4 Monday night, RuPaul’s Drag Race
Extravaganza Tour takes over Or-

lando’s PlazaLive theater. The show

The Monkees’ 50th anniversary tour is includes past winners, finalists and
coming to the King Center May 19.
audience favorites from the Logo TV

Bill Maher is coming to the channel reality show of drag queens on
King Center Sunday.
Bill Maher drops in for a night of com- series, cast from more than 400 appli- which RuPaul serves as judge. On tour,
tours Europe in the summer and often edy and a liberal dose of his trademark cants responding to ads for “four in-
accompanies the Brevard Symphony political commentary. sane boys” to sing “folk and roll.” Don the show is hosted by another judge,
Orchestra. It is led by Dr. Robert Lamb, Kirshner helped develop the Monkees’
professor of music at Eastern Florida early music, since they at first couldn’t Michelle Visage. Since my basic Dish
State College. even figure out who should play what
on the show. Among their 12 Top 40 plan doesn’t include the Logo chan-
The concert is at 7:30 p.m. at the King hits, the group had three go to No. 1
Center. 3 The snark should have dissipat- – “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Be- nel, I mostly know the Atlanta-born,
ed by Thursday night, when the liever” and “Daydream Believer.”
Sunday night, the tone shifts dramati- 55-year-old RuPaul Charles for his MAC
cally for the King Center audience when It’s staggering to think that at one
Monkees – that eternally-PG, made- point in 1967, they were outselling lipstick recommendations as well as his

for-TV rock band – stop in Melbourne. long-time work for AIDS awareness.

They’re on tour celebrating their 50th But clearly, he knows fabulous when

anniversary of music-making with a he sees it, which is what “Drag Race” is

new album – their first in 20 years. all about. Doors open at 8 p.m., and the

The group was created for a 1960s TV show starts at 9 p.m. 

36 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Summer arts camps set to launch soon at Museum

BY MICHELLE GENZ bugs and the veins of leaves.
Staff Writer The last week’s session merges art

With the school year starting a week and architecture, with kids creating
earlier than last year, summer camps structures out of clay and toothpicks.
may fill up sooner.
“I have my daughter here every day,”
TheVero Beach Museum of Art’s sum- says Sophie Bentham Wood, director of
mer camp is offering one less weeklong media relations for the museum. “I go
session but still expects 700 kids to sign into my office and I say, ‘She’s all yours.’
up this summer. In the past three years, She thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.”
the schedule has dropped from nine
weeks to only seven. This year, the art camp is bring-
ing back traditional art instruction
This year, the museum has a particu- in what are dubbed “Master Classes
larly kid-friendly exhibit in the main for Junior Artists.” Those classes will
gallery: NASA is lending 71 examples of focus on the techniques of painting,
space-themed art that it’s been collect- pottery and drawing.
ing since 1962.
The museum’s summer camp is for
Opening the last week of June and children ages 4 to 16. It is divided into
running through most of September, one-week morning or afternoon ses-
the show is inspiring much of the sions beginning June 15 and going
camp curriculum in those weeks, with through July 29. Some need-based
themes like “Around the Galaxy” and scholarships are available. With extend-
“Time Warp” to inspire the kids’ art ed hours in the morning and afternoon
projects. and an optional lunch provided, the
camp can serve as an 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Other sessions involve nature day-care option for working parents.
themes, including the Everglades and
the Indian River Lagoon. Another ses- The price of a week of half-day ses-
sion, “Holy Macro,” involves looking sions is $100 with the exception of the
at the smaller things in nature, like Pottery class, which is $200.

There is a 20 percent discount for

museum members. To register online, For children age 4 to 6, there are
go to verobeachmuseum.org. weekly morning sessions based on fa-
miliar fairy tales and kids’ movies.
Meanwhile, a few hundred feet away
in Riverside Park, Riverside Children’s And for the tiniest kids, age 3 to 4,
Theatre is welcoming a new director of there are three-day morning mini-ses-
education, Jim Van Valen. He’ll be ar- sions of singing and storytelling.
riving in early June, just in time for the
swarms of kids at its annual summer An enrollment form and scholar-
camp that starts June 6. ship application is available on River-
side’s website under Youth Classes and
Riverside has staggered start dates Camps, at riversidetheatre.com.
depending on the program. This year,
the annual Rascals Revue features mu- Wood says the two organizations
sic from the 1980s, and a new Rascals have been in discussion on how to best
for younger kids is being launched serve their shared pool of students.
this year.
Last month, the museum offered the
The Disney kids’ musical will be theater a table to promote their camp
“Aladdin Jr.” And the recently added in- at the Children’s Art Festival. And Riv-
tensive program for older kids focusing erside apprentice actors staged the the-
on concert performance features “13 ater’s original musical “Poodleful” at the
the Musical,” the show that launched museum’s Children’s Art Festival. “They
pop star Ariana Grande. packed the house,” Wood says.

There’s a session involving reader’s “We’re in conversation about how we
theater with a goal of helping young can swap out with Riverside, and bet-
actors in training focus on delivery ter crisscross,” says Wood. “We know
and character without the help of sets we both have kids that are interested in
and costumes. cultural arts, so we’re in conversation
about how we can maximize that.” 



38 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT COVER STORY

People in pain write to Jennifer Doudna. They Scientist Jennifer Doudna biochemists reported recently in Nature that they
have a congenital illness. Or they have a sick child. Or had found a way to target a single letter in a genome
they carry the gene for Huntington’s disease or some peutic purposes, that’s on the horizon. So are worri- in the laboratory experiment.
other dreadful time bomb wired through every cell in some scenarios involving genetic enhancements and
their body. They know that Doudna helped invent an purely cosmetic applications. This is all happening with dizzying speed. CRISPR
extraordinary new gene-editing technology, known has spawned two contentious, parallel debates, with
as CRISPR. The technology is still being honed. Two Harvard Doudna squarely in the middle of both.

But they don’t all seek her help. One woman, the The first is the ethical issue raised by the mother
mother of a child with Down syndrome, explained: of the child with Down syndrome: How far should
“I love my child and wouldn’t change him. There’s we go in editing the human genome? The new tech-
something about him that’s so special. He’s so loving nique potentially enables changes in the human
in a way that’s unique to him. I wouldn’t change it.” “germline” cells, which could entail changes not
only to a single person’s genome but also to that of
The scientist tears up telling this story. any of the person’s descendants. Many ¬researchers
“It makes you think hard about what it means to say they worry about unintended consequences with
be human, doesn’t it?” she says. long-term effects.
Doudna (pronounced DOWD-na) has been doing
a lot of hard thinking lately as she ponders the con- The second debate covers the tricky matter of
sequences of CRISPR. who exactly invented CRISPR and thus should be
The world of molecular biology is mad for this new awarded the patents. Big money is in the balance.
form of genetic engineering. Scientists have turned Prestigious science institutions are doing battle with
a natural bacterial defense system into a laboratory one another. Invective flies on social media. Mes-
tool for cutting or reordering genes in a cell – an inno- sage: Science is a business.
vation that could be used to target genetic mutations
linked to numerous diseases. Both issues are so prickly that it’s easy to overlook
CRISPR is not the first method for manipulating the way CRISPR has already changed how countless
genes, but it’s by far the cheapest, easiest, most ver- scientists do basic research. Thousands of them are
satile. Its many attributes have generated incredible using it to understand the genetic origins of diseases.
excitement as well as apprehension. While the ap- This isn’t the future; this is now.
proach hasn’t been applied yet in humans for thera-
Soon, CRISPR could lead to genetically modified
plants that wind up in your grocery store. It already
has been used to develop a mushroom that won’t

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 39

INSIGHT COVER STORY

turn brown as quickly, which the U.S. Department of French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier 2012 paper showing how the CRISPR system could
Agriculture has decided doesn’t need regulatory ap- Scientist Feng Zhang be exploited to cut genes in a test tube and create a
proval because no genes from other organisms were new method of gene editing.
required for its creation.
Soon after that breakthrough, a young scientist
Doudna is a party to the patent battle even as she’s named Feng Zhang, of the Broad Institute of Mas-
among the most outspoken figures in the ethical de- sachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard,
bate. published a paper showing how CRISPR could be
applied to mammalian cells. George M. Church, a
“It’s a bit of a crazy life right now,” she says. flamboyant geneticist at Harvard Medical School,
The 52-year-old Doudna is highly conscious of be- published a similar result at the same time.
ing a woman in a male-dominated scientific profes-
sion. She never used to be, though. She kept her head Perhaps inevitably, patent applications gener-
down. She did her lab work. She published. She was ated a tremendous battle, pitting not only Doudna
promoted and lauded. But as she became more well and Charpentier against Zhang but also lofty insti-
known, and routinely cited as a possible winner of a tutions, notably UC Berkeley and Broad/MIT/Har-
Nobel Prize, she noticed all the glass ceilings above vard, against one another. The two sides have tried
her and most women generally: “Seeing boardrooms to settle their fight, they revealed in an April 11 filing.
that have no women in them. Seeing upper levels of But it could drag on for years.
administrations that have no or few women in them.”
Doudna was born in the nation’s capital. Her fa- The scientists also have equity stakes in start-up
ther, a speechwriter for the Air Force, got the itch to companies that want to commercialize the CRISPR
become a professor of English and, after getting a technology. Doudna, for example, is the co-founder
doctorate at the University of Michigan, moved the of three – Caribou Biosciences, Intellia Therapeutics
family to the one place that offered him a job: the and Editas Medicine.
University of Hawaii at Hilo, on the Big Island.
Young Jennifer never imagined being a scientist. There’s a lot of money flying around. Doudna and
In grade school she didn’t think she had any particu- Charpentier each received a $3 million Breakthrough
lar knack for it. But she did take interest in the natural Prize in Life Sciences in 2015. They’ve been repeated-
world. ly mentioned as possible Nobel laureates – an honor
“We had special kinds of toads that were only on that also comes with a seven-figure sum. But Zhang
our island. We had all kinds of plants that had evolved has a claim, as do Church and potentially many oth-
in this kind of environment. There were blind spiders ers. The Nobel, by rule, can go to no more than three
that lived in lava tubes,” she recounted. She asked people for any single discovery.
herself: How did that happen? How did these things
evolve? Eric Lander, head of the Broad Institute, pub-
A 10th-grade chemistry teacher, Miss Wong, en- lished a long, almost novelistic article titled “The
couraged her. A vocational test told her she ought to Heroes of CRISPR” in January in the journal Cell. He
go into civil engineering, whatever that meant. She dispersed credit for CRISPR widely, starting with an
still didn’t see herself as a scientist. obscure Spanish scientist who first started looking at
“I had this impression from the media that sci- these palindromic repeats in the 1990s.
ence was for old white guys, people who looked like
Einstein, that it wasn’t for people like me,” she said. A major kerfuffle ensued. The article carried no
At Pomona College, she studied biochemistry. conflict-of-interest statement, because Lander didn’t
Though doubtful of her prospects, she applied to have a personal financial stake in the ongoing patent
Harvard Medical School. She got in and earned a fight. Critics howled that Lander’s review didn’t give
doctorate in the lab of Jack Szostak, an eminent fig- Doudna and other scientists enough credit and was
ure in origin-of-life research. Her path eventually led subtly slanted in favor of his colleague Zhang. Lander
to her own laboratory at the University of California insisted he wasn’t trying to stiff anyone.
at Berkeley. And then CRISPR came along.
She didn’t invent CRISPR; bacteria did. It’s an But this is science today: People are edgy. Re-
amazingly nifty immune system that testifies to the search is not just about the high-minded pursuit of
innovations that emerge from Darwinian natural se-
lection. CONTINUED ON PAGE 42
In the genetic code of bacteria are repeated se-
quences that until recently were viewed as junk
DNA. Scientists who studied them began to refer to
them as clustered regularly interspaced short palin-
dromic repeats – CRISPRs.
Researchers gradually figured out that these se-
quences were akin to copies of DNA segments in
viruses that had previously attacked the bacteria.
At its core, life is built around information, and the
humblest bacterium keeps a record of bad stuff that
has previously come down the pike.
The CRISPR system takes fast action. When a virus
shows up, the system identifies the invader as famil-
iar and then directs molecular machinery to slice up
and disable it.
How this natural system became leveraged by hu-
man beings as a laboratory tool is a controversial
tale that is keeping patent lawyers busy. The narra-
tive prominently features Doudna. She co-authored,
with French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier, a

75 Properties Sold/Under Contract Since January 2016

Life on John’s Island, a magnificent private paradise surrounded by miles of Intracoastal Waterway and pristine beaches.
Embodying the island’s beauty and spirit, the 1,650± acre community offers three championship golf courses, 17 Har-tru tennis
courts, professional squash, pickleball, croquet, health & fitness center, spectacular Beach Club, vertical equity memberships
and more. All treasured by families that live and play here. Come discover why John’s Island is simply the right place to be.

Exclusively John’s Island | www.JohnsIslandRealEstate.com

JIRE Food Drop-off Location Robert M. Gibb, Broker : Judy Bramson : Jeannette W. Mahaney : Ba Stone : Terry Crowley : Michael Merrill : Kristen Yoshitani
Open 7 days a week : 1 John’s Island Drive : Vero Beach, Florida 32963
Until May 20, JI residents planning
to clean out their pantries before Follow us on
leaving for the summer, or full-time
residents simply reorganizing their
pantries, can help provide food to
IRC families in need by dropping
off non-perishable food donations
at the JIRE office.

Exclusively John’s Island

NEW LISTING NEW CONSTRUCTION

Timeless 4BR/6.5BA Lakefront Retreat With Lush Landscaping Exceptional 5BR+Office Retreat On Quiet Cul-de-sac Beautiful 4BR/5.5BA Retreat Along 4th Fairway of North Course
8,878± GSF, Tropical Pool w/ Fountain & Spa, Handsome Library 5,332± GSF, Breathtaking Pool, Fairway & Lake Views 5,179± GSF, Lush Tropical Landscaping, Pool/Spa, Screened Porch
Courtyard Design By Clem Schaub, Built By JC Welton Gracious Living Room w/ Fireplace, Vaulted Ceiling Island Kitchen
Updated Island Kitchen, 3-Car Garage, 2nd Floor Guest Suite
150 Sago Palm Road : $3,900,000 280 Pelican Way : $3,300,000 581 Sea Oak Drive : $2,450,000

NEW PRICE NEW PRICE

Exquisitely Renovated 4BR Lakefront Retreat w/ Cabana Beautifully Updated 4BR/5.5BA Lakefront Retreat Desirable Location! 3BR/4BA Home Nestled On End Lot
4,028± GSF, Serene Pool & Lake Views, Hardwood Floors 4,651± GSF, Stunning & Private Lake & Pool Views 3,917± GSF, Private Pool & Golf Views, Expansive Lanai
Open Floor Plan, Gourmet Island Kitchen, Custom Finishes
New Island Kitchen, Refinished Cherry Floors Living Room w/ Fireplace, Virtually No Neighbors
601 Indian Harbor Road : $1,980,000 551 Indian Harbor Road : $1,875,000 460 Sea Oak Drive : $1,525,000

Desirable, Updated & Furn. 3BR/3BA, 2-Story Townhouse Beautiful 3BR/2BA End Unit Oceanside Condominium Desirable 2BR+Office/2BA Golf Cottage
1,900± SF, Golf Views, Private Entrance, 1-Car Garage 1,825± SF, Desirable Southern Exposure, Ocean Views 1,750± SF, Gorgeous Fairway Views, Lanai
Conveniently Next To Tennis Courts, Café & JI Club Tray Ceilings, Bright Interiors, Near S. Gate
111 John’s Island Drive #12 : $775,000 Custom Millwork, Private Pool & Beach Access
600 Beach Road #240 : $925,000 341 Silver Moss Drive : $750,000

772.231.0900 : www.JohnsIslandRealEstate.com
luxury estates : condominiums : homesites : townhouses : cottages

It’s your lifetime. Spend it wisely.

42 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 INSIGHT COVER STORY

knowledge. Breakthroughs are lucra- Doudna of the University Berkeley professor of biochemistry,
tive, and just about everyone has skin of California at Berkeley, and asked, “How soon will it be until
in the game. helped invent a revolution- someone tries this in a human em-
ary gene-editing tool that bryo?”
In laboratories around the world, has triggered heated ethical
CRISPR has quickly become molecu- and legal debates. Doudna found herself increasingly
lar biologists’ favorite tool. They can troubled. She had a particularly aw-
toy with genes in a mouse, for exam- times, it would be unlikely to change ful dream (first recounted in the New
ple, and see how a mutation can lead humanity as we know it. But if done Yorker) in which a colleague wanted
to a tumor. widely, it could change the species. her to explain CRISPR to a man with
a funny little mustache – a man she
“I am absolutely confident that Eliminating terrible diseases, such suddenly realized was Adolf Hitler.
with CRISPR we are going to accel- as Huntington’s, would seem a no-
erate the rate at which we develop brainer. But most diseases and hu- In early 2015, Doudna was among
treatments that can control cancer, man traits have a complex genetic those pushing for boundaries on
and cure some,” said Phillip Sharp, origin that’s hard to understand fully. applications of CRISPR research.
an MIT biologist and Nobel laureate. The scientific community realized it
“It’s totally cool.” In early 2014, Doudna read a paper needed to come together in a manner
detailing how researchers for the first similar to the famous 1975 conference
CRISPR offers the promise of some- time had manipulated the genomes at Asilomar State Beach in California
day being a great tool for gene ther- in monkey embryos. that put restrictions on research us-
apy. But the scientists admit they’re ing gene-splicing techniques.
not ready to do this yet. For starters, She turned to her husband, a
gene therapy has a troubled history. The 2015 version of Asilomar oc-
You make a mistake and the patient curred at the National Academy of
could die, which happened in the Sciences in Washington in Decem-
tragic case of 18-year-old Jesse Gels- ber. For three days, scientists from
inger in a clinical trial in 1999. Europe, China and North America
discussed CRISPR.
The bigger concern comes with
germline editing in human beings. They talked about the history of
If you knock out or modify a gene in eugenics. They heard from bioethi-
a very young embryo, all the cells in cists. They considered the promises
that human being, including their of the new technology.
reproductive cells (sperm and eggs),
will carry the genetic modification. At the end, they hammered out
guidelines, allowing research to go
That then gets passed along to all forward cautiously.
descendants. If it happened just a few
The scientists said, for instance,

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 43

INSIGHT COVER STORY

that CRISPR should not be used to Of course, a scientific agreement misuse of CRISPR, Doudna paused. Knowledge tends to be unidirec-
edit genes in human embryos in- has no enforcing mechanism. Differ- “That’s a tough question,” she finally tional, whether the subject is the se-
tended to establish a pregnancy. They ent countries have different laws. You said. crets of the atom or the marvels of
stressed that any tinkering with hu- can’t do CRISPR with a child’s chem- DNA. Scientific discoveries can be ex-
man germline cells should come only istry set, but it also doesn’t require a Then: “Let’s just take a step back for plosive. Doudna ultimately answers
after a “broad societal consensus” massive laboratory. a second. Couldn’t we be having this her own question: “You can’t unlearn
that such editing is a good idea. discussion about any powerful tech- it. You can’t put it away.” 
Asked how the world could stop the nology?”

44 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT EDITORIAL

Should I vote in November for the lesser of 2 evils?

This is a question we expect to hear many times in about the legitimate disagreements, there's an awful "pure" and not vote for the "lesser evil," you're not help-
an election year where many people are not happy lot of illegitimate disagreement. The problems are so ing, and other people have no interest in helping you.
about their choices? An interesting answer was of- hard that most problems get phrased in terms of "the
fered last week by Joshua Engel, founder and senior other guys are so awful and everything they want is You do have to live with the result one way or the
software developer at Highfleet, Inc.. First posted on bad". It's easier to vote against something than for it. other. You can either take the trivial action of pull-
Quora, a question and answer website, this provoca- And it's way easier to hear a bad thing about some- ing a lever and making people's lives better, or you
tive response was provided by The Washington Post body and to stop thinking about the problem. can stay home and make people's lives worse. Your
Writer’s Group. We welcome other replies to the ques- choice. But there are consequences to not being a
tion from 32963 readers, and may post some of them This particular election is baffling because there are faithful ally to people who need your help.
on our VeroNews.com website. some candidates that are agreed on by large majorities
to simply be horrible people. That's not usually how Be on the inside, and you get a voice in making it
Is voting for the lesser of 2 evils justified? It's not this works. Don't be misled. It's a proper thing to re- better. Opt out, and you're out. If you want to pretend
just "a good reason;" it's the only reason. consider who your allies are, and wondering if maybe there's a choice that involves no thinking and no hard
it's time to re-jigger your alignments. work of disagreeing with people who agree with you in
If you're voting for a candidate you're absolutely part, then you get what other people give you, some
100 percent happy with, the system has failed. But in the end, you need help. If you want to be all of it very, very bad. It's that simple, and no simpler. 

Democracy isn't about easy choices. Democracy is
about hard choices. If we had easy choices to make,
we'd already have made them. Actual problems are
always complex and multi-faceted, and there are
thousands of different options to choose from. No
two voters want the exact same thing. You can't pos-
sibly make more than one voter completely happy;
the odds are effectively zero that that voter is you.

Problems that have really wide support don't get
voted on. Nobody needs to go vote on not bombing
Canada or preventing people from dumping nuclear
waste in Central Park. We agree on those things. We
don't vote on them.

Instead, we go find hard stuff, like how much mon-
ey to spend on education, and what kinds of guns
we're going to allow people to own. There are legiti-
mate disagreements. There are lots of options, and
your best hope is to find somebody whose legitimate
disagreements with you are minor. And that means
taking responsibility for things that weren't your first
choice, but which you can live with.

For starters, that means carefully listening to your
intended allies. If you think your allies are "evil,"
you've got two choices:

1. They really are that bad, and you really are the
one and only smart person in the room.

2. People are under constant attack, much of it
false, and maybe your allies have been maligned.

See, the problem is this: While I've been talking

BRAIN ATTACK, PART I HEMORRHAGIC STROKE
Occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks leaking
What is a “brain attack?” Similar to a heart attack which occurs blood into the brain. Hemorrhagic strokes account
when blood flow and oxygen to the heart are blocked, a brain for 13 percent of all strokes, yet are responsible for
attack occurs when vital blood flow and oxygen to the brain are more than 30 percent of all stroke deaths.
cut off.
WHAT IS A TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACK (TIA)?
A brain attack is a stroke. A stroke can happen to anyone at any
time, regardless of race, sex or age. Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are “mini-strokes” that occur
when the blood supply to part of the brain is briefly interrupted.
SOME STARTLING STATISTICS A TIA occurs suddenly and lasts only a few minutes. Most symp-
toms disappear within an hour, although they may persist for
In the United States… up to 24 hours. The prevalence of a TIA increases with age. Up
 Approximately 795,000 strokes will occur this year, one to 40 percent of all people who suffer a TIA will go on to experi-
every 40 seconds, taking a life approximately every four ence a stroke.
minutes
 Strokes kill nearly 130,000 people each year, and are a SYMPTOMS OF STROKE AND TIA
leading cause of serious, long-term adult disability
 Approximately 55,000 more women than men have Symptoms of stroke and TIA can include:
a stroke each year  Numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especial-
 African Americans have almost twice the risk of a first- ly on one side of the body
ever stroke  Confusion or difficulty in talking or understanding speech
 There are an estimated 7,000,000 stroke survivors in the  Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
U.S. over age 20  Difficulty with walking, dizziness, or loss of balance and
 From 1997 to 2007, the annual stroke death rate fell coordination
34 percent, and the number of deaths fell 18 percent
 The estimated direct and indirect cost of stroke in 2010 TIME IS BRAIN
was $73.7 billion
Recognizing symptoms and acting FAST to get medical atten-
Source: American Stroke Association tion can save a life and limit disabilities. “Time is brain.” Call 9-1-1.

Two million brain cells die every minute during a stroke, in- Few Americans know the signs of stroke. Learning them –
creasing risk of permanent brain damage, disability or death. and acting FAST when they occur – could save your life or the
life of a loved one. Remember that stroke strikes FAST and you
TYPES OF STROKE should too.

There are two types of strokes: Next time we’ll share a clever way to remember how to recog-
ISCHEMIC STROKE nize and respond to the signs of a stroke. 
Occurs when arteries are blocked by blood clots or by the
Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always
gradual build-up of plaque and other fatty deposits. About welcome. Email us at [email protected].
87 percent of all strokes are ischemic.
© 2016 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved

46 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOK REVIEW

On April 12, 1981, 20 years to the day after Yuri White explains how and why NASA built it, how it was ate it, lofted into orbit atop a Titan III rocket. When it
Gagarin blasted into space, John Young and Robert supposed to be a “space truck” to carry satellites and was canceled by President Richard Nixon in 1969 be-
Crippen lay on their backs inside the flight deck of the people into orbit, and how many of the early shuttle cause robotic spacecraft could do the job just as well,
space shuttle Columbia, by far the most sophisticat- astronauts were originally selected for a canceled the Air Force offered the MOL astronauts to NASA,
ed human-carrying spacecraft ever built. As Colum- secret Air Force space project. Despite the shuttle’s which took half of them, based on their birthdates.
bia roared into a blue Florida sky, it marked the first somewhat sullied reputation, White demonstrates
time the United States had launched a partly reusable just what an amazing engineering accomplishment The MOL astronauts then spent more than a de-
rocket. It was also risky in another way: Every time it was. cade working on the shuttle development. As many
NASA had previously launched astronauts into space, of NASA’s Apollo-era astronauts retired in the 1970s,
such as during the Apollo missions to the moon, it Any initial design of a complex machine involves a the MOL astronauts moved up the ladder. Their skills
had tested the rockets unmanned first. fair amount of guesswork and hope. For example, the made them highly useful not simply as pilots but as
shuttle used an untested heat-shield technology in- part of the shuttle’s development team. Crippen, for
But as Rowland White makes clear in his new book, volving lightweight ceramic tiles, more than 24,000 of instance, had some computer experience and became
“Into the Black,” the shuttle had been tested and them, glued onto its body.When engineers at Rockwell an expert on the shuttle’s computer system. Although
tested and tested again in simulators, test chambers International in Palmdale, Calif., first started filling in primitive by today’s standards, it was not all that cut-
and even with glide flights off the back of a 747 with the details on the shuttle design, they were not exact- ting edge at the time, either, chosen more for proven
two pilots at the controls. Engineers had worked for ly sure how to secure the tiles to the airframe, which reliability than power. The pilots wanted the comput-
nearly a decade trying to wring out myriad problems flexed as the orbiter flew into and out of daylight and ers to display graphical data like bar charts, but when
and design challenges in the big machine, and astro- could crack the tiles. Once technicians started apply- Crippen took that wish to the engineers, they usu-
nauts had not only helped with the technical stuff, ing them, they started falling off, requiring the de- ally replied that the best they could do was to display
they had also developed procedures for the orbiter, velopment of new adhesives and materials to secure numbers on cathode ray tubes, pushing the burden of
which didn’t so much fly as fall in a forward direction them. To test their strength, technicians used suction interpreting the data back on the astronauts.
with all the grace of a winged brick — its wings and cups to pull on them to see whether they came loose.
flat belly provided a bit of lift for the heavy spacecraft, But one NASA official asked: How did they know that While devoting most of his pages to the pilot astro-
but nothing like conventional airplanes. pulling on the tiles did not leave them looser than nauts, White barely mentions the scientists, women
when they started? The answer was to attach micro- and minorities who entered the astronaut corps in
One of those procedures, which Young and Crip- phones to the airframe and listen to the faint sound of the late 1970s, redefining the right stuff and open-
pen hoped they would not need, was “RTLS,” the “re- the adhesive coming unstuck. Problems with the tiles ing space to a broader segment of humanity. White’s
turn to launch site” abort, which involved flipping the added a year to the program’s development. Prob- occasional Britishisms can also be confusing. At one
orbiter over while its rocket engines were still firing lems with the orbiter’s thoroughbred, high-efficiency point he describes a rocket engine turbopump, which
and flying it backward, first bleeding off velocity, es- rocket engines added another. Originally slated to fly forced liquid hydrogen and oxygen into the combus-
sentially stopping it far out over the Atlantic Ocean, in 1978, the first flight came almost three years later. tion chamber and had to go from a standing stop to
then heading back to the Florida coast for a landing. 38,000 rpm in less than a second, as about the size of
This procedure, Young once said, would require “six White tells an engaging story with a remarkable a “Christmas cake,” whatever that is.
miracles followed by an act of God.” Fortunately, over number of new details about the events leading to
the course of 135 flights in the shuttle program, no as- the first mission. Young and Crippen’s flight, for in- And despite the book’s introduction of a number of
tronauts had to attempt it. stance, did not go without incident. The acoustic new details about the intersection of the worlds of re-
energy — that is, thunderous noise — that reflected connaissance satellites and NASA, there are still quite
The shuttles are all in museums now, the program off the launchpad and back onto the vehicle at liftoff a few mistakes about the former. The KH-11 Kennen
having ended 30 years after it began. The two tragic was far greater than predicted and damaged the or- was built by Lockheed, not TRW, as White asserts. The
accidents, Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003, biter. Young, who had walked on the moon in 1972, Corona satellite eventually had two film-return cap-
not to mention the program’s unmet promise to make later said that if he had known about that at the time, sules and much better resolution than 50 feet. White
spaceflight cheap and easy, have created the impres- he probably would have ejected from the spacecraft refers only to the single-capsule version and the poor
sion that the shuttle was a failure. The shuttle was NA- rather than try to land it. resolution, ignoring that the designers constantly im-
SA’s next big manned-spaceflight project after Apollo. proved it. And the first attempt to launch a spy satel-
But the real drama occurred when Columbia lost lite, nicknamed Discoverer Zero, did not blow up on
some of its heat-resistant tiles on its rear fuselage dur- the pad in 1959; it nearly did so, suddenly smoking
ing that first flight, prompting ground controllers to and making a lot of noise and scaring the crap out of
worry that far-more-critical tiles on the shuttle’s belly the Air Force ground crew working on it, who scram-
had also come off. So they enlisted the help of the bled to get away in their thick protective suits. That
then-secret National Reconnaissance Office and its near-disaster proved highly influential in shaping the
KH-11 satellites to take photographs of the shuttle’s procedures used by the spy satellite community.
underside, proving that all the tiles were still there. Al-
though this incident was long rumored to have hap- White lists his sources, but there are no footnotes,
pened, White provides more detail about it than pre- making it hard to determine where the new informa-
viously available. tion — and the mistakes — came from and how much
is real vs. author speculation. But it’s a great read, a
White’s inspiration is clearly Tom Wolfe’s classic rollicking yarn about magnificent men and their
“The Right Stuff,” and his focus is on the test pilots rocket machine. 
who started out flying hot jets in the military and saw
the shuttle as the ultimate challenge. Many of the INTO THE BLACK: THE EXTRAORDINARY UNTOLD STORY
early shuttle pilots were originally selected as astro- OF THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA
nauts for the secretive Manned Orbiting Laboratory
program of the 1960s. The MOL spacecraft was a big AND THE ASTRONAUTS WHO FLEW HER
tube with a large reconnaissance camera inside and a BY ROWLAND WHITE
pressurized compartment for two astronauts to oper-
Touchstone. 445 pp. $29.99.
Review by Dwayne A. Day, The Washington Post

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 47

INSIGHT BOOK REVIEW

We live in a culture short on wisdom but reaches an estimated 1.5 million listeners worldwide. translate aspiration into action.” Most of the virtues
swamped, and nearly stupefied, by chatter. News, Originally called “Speaking of Faith,” the program gave she surveys would have been familiar to the Buddha,
ads, gossip, speculation and opinion flow from ev- rise to Tippett’s first book, which bore the same title Confucius, Jesus, Muhammad, Maimonides and oth-
ery medium of communication, every hour of the as well as a revealing subtitle: “Why Religion Matters er great teachers of right living. In chapters organized
day, rarely with much context and often with little — and How to Talk About It.” Published in 2007, the around the themes of language, flesh, love, faith and
concern for veracity. These free-floating tidbits — book, like the show, offered sane and searching voices hope, Tippett and her conversation partners advo-
maybe true, maybe false — have earned their own from diverse spiritual traditions as a counterpoint to cate compassion, forgiveness, humility, hospitality,
skeptical label: “factoids.” Amid this outpouring, the religious zealots featured on the daily news. gratitude, cooperation and mindfulness.
we must search hard to find coherent visions that
might help us make sense of the random fragments, Tippett followed “Speaking of Faith” with “Ein- Versions of this catalogue appear whenever and
help us distinguish the significant from the trivial, stein’s God: Conversations About Science and the wherever humans think about how they might live
help us find direction for our lives. Human Spirit” (2010), which pays tribute to her in harmony with one another and with their sur-
other chief inspiration: the painstaking, evidence- roundings. “So much of what we discover, when we
For more than a dozen years, Krista Tippett has based, self-correcting, centuries-long effort by sci- aspire to be wise,” Tippett concedes, “are things hu-
sought to redress this imbalance as host of the Pea- entists to elucidate how the universe works. man beings have known forever but then forgot.”
body Award-winning NPR show “On Being,” which is
now carried by more than 300 public radio stations and In “Becoming Wise,” Tippett delves into both re- While these virtues may be traditional, “Becoming
ligion and science while exploring the perennial hu- Wise” presents them in terms that reflect our times.
man questions that have guided her long-running For example, in the desolation of Detroit, a couple
show: What is a good life? How should we treat one named Myrtle Thompson and Wayne Curtis, who
another? How should we treat Earth and its creatures? garden in one of the city’s tens of thousands of va-
How should we face death? Does the universe have a cant lots, tell her, “We’re not just growing food, we’re
meaning? If so, what role might humans play in its un- becoming part of … the whole ecological system that
folding? If not, how can we give meaning to our lives? exists not just in the garden, but has existed since
the beginning.” A physicist named Arthur Zajonc
To engage those questions, Tippett draws on the appeals to chaos theory and quantum mechanics
hundreds of conversations she has conducted, on-air to carve out, within an otherwise deterministic uni-
and off, with astronomers and neuroscientists, rab- verse, a “space for freedom” in which we might dis-
bis and priests, poets and philosophers, historians cover a “moral compass.”
and psychologists, community organizers and con-
flict mediators, along with people from many other “Becoming Wise” challenges all forms of dogma, in
backgrounds. science, politics and philosophy as well as religion, and
it affirms the holiness of the body and the glory of the
In an appendix to “Becoming Wise,” she lists more inquiring mind. While our dominant media suggest
than 400 individuals as “Conversation Partners, 2003- that humans are incorrigibly selfish and greedy and
2015.” Some are widely known — Maya Angelou, Jim- cruel, Tippett and her conversation partners demon-
my Carter, Barbara Kingsolver, Desmond Tutu and strate that the longing to lead a good life, a moral life,
Elie Wiesel, to name a few. But most of the conversa- remains powerful and pervasive in our day: “I experi-
tion partners quoted in the book are less celebrated, ence the soul of this moment — in people young and
if no less thoughtful. Outside the limelight, they have old — to be aspirational. This is something distinct
been going about their work in classrooms, laborato- from ambitious, though the two may overlap. I’d say
ries, monasteries, houses of worship, war zones, in- it this way: we want to be called to our best selves.” 
ner cities, hospitals, concert halls and urban gardens.
Regardless of their pursuits, they have intrigued Tip- BECOMING WISE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE MYSTERY AND
pett because, in their words and actions, they shed ART OF LIVING
light on what it means to be human.
BY KRISTA TIPPETT
The book is framed, she explains, in “the language Penguin Press. 288 pp. $28.
of virtue — an old-fashioned word, perhaps, but one Review by Scott Russell Sanders,
that I find is magnetic to new generations, who in-
stinctively grasp the need for practical disciplines to The Washington Post

COMING ATTRACTIONS! RECOMMENDED CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND VERO BEACH BEST SELLERS

CAPTAIN FIZZ TOP 5 FICTION TOP 5 NON-FICTION BESTSELLER | KIDS
1. The Little Paris 1. No Dream Is Too High 1. Stick Cat BY TOM WATSON
presents 2. Look to the Stars
Bookshop BY NINA GEORGE BY BUZZ ALDRIN
UNCHARTED 2. Gone Again BY BUZZ ALDRIN
WATERS 2. The Rainbow Comes and
BY JAMES GRIPPANDO Goes BY ANDERSON COOPER & 3. Danger! Tiger Crossing
The Life and Times of (Fantastic Frame #1) BY LIN OLIVER
Captain Fizz 3. Extreme Prey GLORIA VANDERBILT
4. Hypnosis Harry
BY JOHN SANDFORD 3. Old Age: A Beginner's
Guide BY MICHAEL KINSLEY BY CATHERINE BAILEY
4. The Nest
4. Love That Boy 5. Splat! Another Messy Sunday
BY CYNTHIA D'APRIX SWEENEY (Fantastic Frame #2) BY LIN OLIVER
BY RON FOURNIER
5. A Man Called Ove
5. Gratitude BY OLIVER SACKS
BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

Filled with humorous and thought-provoking stories along with great photos and
information about Carl Fizmer’s Spanish Main Treasure Company, plus intriguing
adventures covering his forty year quest of researching and recovering artifacts
and treasure from Spanish Galleons lost in time beneath the surface of the ocean.

392 Miracle Mile (21st Street), Vero Beach | 772.569.2050 | www.verobeachbookcenter.com

48 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT TRAVEL

Airlines’ foot-dragging on refunds getting worse

BY CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT “We were assured by Aeroméxico
The Washington Post staff that we would receive a refund for
the difference between the first-class
Next time an airline promises you a fare and the coach fare,” says DeKellis, a
refund, you might want to ask, “How psychologist in Berkeley, Calif.
much?”
It didn’t happen. Initially, the airline
Gayle DeKellis forgot to do so when balked, saying her fare wasn’t eligible
Aeroméxico downgraded her and her for a refund. Then it offered the couple
husband from business class to econo- $100 apiece, claiming that it calculated
my on a recent flight from Mexico City the refund based on fares on the day
to San Francisco. of their trip — math that worked to the

airline’s advantage, because economy- federally regulated — at least not yet.
class fares typically rise just before a These fees are an enormous business,
flight departs. with North America’s airlines reaping
almost $11 billion in what are called a
By DeKellis’ calculations, they were la carte fees in 2015 — a 24 percent in-
owed $416, the difference between crease over what was collected a year
economy class and business class on before. Airlines aren’t keen on surren-
the day they purchased their tickets. dering this revenue, because if you give
up enough of it, there goes your profit.
Airlines have never been quick to is-
sue refunds, but they’ve become partic- In other words, they don’t have to give
ularly reluctant in cases involving extras it back, and they don’t want to.
such as upgrades, luggage fees and seat
assignments. Some airlines consider The mechanics of refunds are virtu-
these fees non-refundable, no matter ally the same whether it’s a refund for a
what happens. There are economic rea- ticket or a fee, according to James Fils-
sons for this hesitation, and, as always, inger, the chief executive of the airline
other travel companies are following price-tracking website Yapta. There are
the airline industry’s lead. some differences on the back end that
should not affect the passenger.
Bottom line for customers: Getting
your money back doesn’t mean you’ll One of the reasons fee refunds take
be getting all of your money back — at longer is that the computer systems
least for now. used to handle tickets are old and not
up to the task. “They didn’t anticipate
An Aeroméxico representative said the airline practice of extracting more
the carrier conducted an “extensive in- fees for what some would consider ba-
vestigation” on DeKellis and her hus- sic, inclusive services, such as upgrades,
band’s tickets and that it had acted ap- preferred seating or checked baggage,”
propriately. But it agreed to process a Filsinger says.
refund of an additional $416 to honor
the verbal promise made by one of its But beyond technological failures,
employees. refund foot-dragging has always been a
travel industry tradition.
In the case of canceled flights, federal
regulations require airlines to refund Now it seems to be getting worse,
the price of the ticket. But airlines don’t and consumers suspect the companies
do so automatically. Why not? There’s a are just playing a waiting game, hoping
good reason: Most passengers on that their customers will eventually give up
canceled flight will still want to reach and go away.
their destination, and the refund will
go toward their new booking. So the In the end, it may be up to the govern-
policy at American Airlines, the world’s ment to fix this. The latest Federal Avia-
largest airline, is that money doesn’t get tion Administration reauthorization bill
refunded unless the traveler specifically contains a provision that would require
asks for it. airlines to promptly and automatically
refund any ancillary fees paid for ser-
“If the passenger requests a refund vices that the passenger did not receive
due to a canceled flight, we will pro- on a scheduled flight, on a subsequent
cess that refund for the portion of the replacement itinerary or on a flight can-
trip not used,” says American Airlines celed by the passenger.
spokesman Ross Feinstein. “But most
travelers, when a flight is canceled, call Expect more laws like it, stipulating
us to look at other options.” exactly what an airline must refund. It’s
regrettable that regulation is necessary,
Airlines are even more reluctant to but to the tens of thousands of custom-
issue refunds for fare differences or for ers who are at this moment still waiting
so-called ancillary fees, which are not for their money back, it’s about time. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 49

INSIGHT GAMES BRIDGE

THE LEAD REQUIRES CAREFUL LISTENING WEST NORTH EAST
987 QJ52 10 4
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist 97 AQ62 J 10 8 4
A Q 10 8 74 532
Imelda Marcos said, “I get so tired listening to one million dollars here, one million Q J 10 8 A63 K974
dollars there; it’s so petty.” Today, I suppose it is a trillion dollars here and there.
SOUTH
At the bridge table, though, it pays to listen closely to the bidding and to analyze what AK63
it is telling you. Look at only the West hand and the auction in this deal. What should K53
West lead against four spades? KJ96
52
When North jumped to four spades, he showed four trumps and opening strength. If
South had had extra values, especially with 4-3-5-1 or, even better, 4-3-6-0 distribution, Dealer: South; Vulnerable: East-West
he would have proceeded toward slam.
The Bidding:
The club queen would be a popular lead choice. Then, declarer would most likely win
on the board and play a diamond to, say, his jack. West will win and probably shift to a SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
trump. South wins in the dummy and plays a second diamond. That also loses to West 1 Diamonds Pass 1 Hearts Pass
and another trump is returned, but declarer wins in his hand, ruffs a diamond, plays a 1 Spades Pass 4 Spades All Pass LEAD:
heart to his king, and ruffs his last diamond. Then, though, South must be careful. He ??
needs to get into his hand to draw West’s last trump, so should concede a club trick. A
moment later, declarer ruffs a club, cashes his spade ace, and claims.

Yes, West could have defeated the contract after winning the first diamond by shifting to
a heart, but who would ever find that play?

There is a much simpler solution for West. Because he is so strong in declarer’s first-bid
suit, he should lead a trump at trick one. Then the defenders would be in control.

50 Vero Beach 32963 / May 12, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (MAY 5) ON PAGE 70
INSIGHT GAMES & CO.

ACROSS DOWN
7 Dusk (8) 1 Spasm (6)
8 Finished (4) 2 Height (8)
9 Demand (6) 3 Boaster (7)
10 Logo (6) 4 Hide (5)
11 Legacy (7) 5 Fluctuate (22)
12 Source (5) 6 Keep hold of (6)
15 Summary (5) 13 Tenant (8)
17 Waterfall (7) 14 Adept (7)
20 Heat (6) 16 Cause (6)
22 Plea (6) 18 Plays (6)
23 Excursion (4) 19 Hovel (5)
24 List of days (8) 21 Additional (4)

The Telegraph

How to do Sudoku:

Fill in the grid so the
numbers one through
nine appear just once
in every column, row
and three-by-three
square.

The Telegraph