01/21/2021 ISSUE 03

Shores likely to leave Vero Beach
water-sewer utility. P12
Pitches sought for
waterfront project. P10

Years ago, fired county deputy
handcuffed CBS icon Mike Wallace. P8

For breaking news visit

MY VERO New COVID-19
cases here lowest
BY RAY MCNULTY since New Year’s

School Board: Don’t be
bullied by anti-maskers

Don’t be bullied. BY LISA ZAHNER
That’s my advice to you, our Staff Writer
School Board members, who

are under attack from – and New COVID-19 cases in the

continue to be threatened by county were down significant-

– a vocal, tough-talking group ly last week from the previous

of parents who represent only two weeks and the daily hospi-

a small, wrongheaded frac- talization rate remained stable

tion of our community. in the mid to high 30s, with

Do not back away from your more than one-third of the

in-school mask mandate, which, beds in intensive-care units

until vaccines are readily avail- available.

able to all of us, remains our The daily positivity rate of

children’s best defense against COVID-19 testing here was be-

the spread of the still-spiking low 10 percent five out of the

COVID-19 pandemic. past seven days – the lowest it

Do not needlessly put our has been since New Year’s.

teachers at further risk by caving The good news, however,

to the ill-informed cries from was offset by a puzzling spike

people who selfishly complain Rosemary Huhnke receives her dose of COVID-19 vaccine with a smile at Pelican Landing. PHOTO BY BRENDA AHEARN in the number of cases in the
that your mandate infringes on public schools (see story be-
their “parental rights” – which, Assisted living residents finally getting vaccine low). No school officials could
of course, it does, but only to be reached by phone, text or

the extent where those rights BY MICHELLE GENZ month after the first vaccines from Walgreens arrived for email for comment on the
endanger the health and safe- Staff Writer were authorized for use, resi- the first of three vaccination surge because of the Martin
ty of others. dents and staff of Indian River clinics scheduled at Pelican Luther King holiday.

You acted boldly and re- Six weeks after long-term County assisted living facili- Landing Assisted Living and Meanwhile, the barrier is-

sponsibly under unprecedent- care facilities were given top ties are finally getting inocu- Memory Care, a 100-bed fa- land saw an uptick in cases as

ed circumstances, responding priority for the COVID-19 lated in significant numbers. cility on U.S. 1 in Sebastian. 32 more 32963 residents tested

in the best interests of our stu- vaccine, and more than a Monday morning, a team CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 positive, bringing the total of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Not going to see this racing through Vero before 2023 Public schools here experience worst week
since start of pandemic with 50 new cases
BY GEORGE ANDREASSI

Staff Writer antined as Indian River County
public schools experienced their
Indian River County residents BY GEORGE ANDREASSI
Staff Writer
won’t face any danger or incon- worst week of the pandemic

venience posed by Brightline’s A student and a staff mem- with 50 new cases.

high-speed passenger trains ber at Beachland Elementary Countywide, 37 students and

until at least 2023. School tested positive for CO- 13 staff members tested posi-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 VID-19 and 10 students quar- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

January 21, 2021 Volume 14, Issue 3 Newsstand Price $1.00 A week’s worth of
‘Wow!’ for Quail
News 1-14 Editorial 32 People 15-26 TO ADVERTISE CALL Valley Charities. P18
Arts 39-46 Games 35-37 Pets 66 772-559-4187
Books 34 Health 47-54 Real Estate 67-80
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CALL 772-226-7925

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

2 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

COVID-19 spikes in schools COVID-19 cases spiked at Sebastian Those cases caused 19 students and a represent a 33 percent increase, com-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 River High School, where 13 students staff member to quarantine. pared to the 39 cases during the first
tested positive for the virus and 120 half of the year. A total of 52 staff mem-
tive for COVID-19 between Jan. 8 and students were directed to quarantine. Looking back 10 days, since schools bers have tested positive for the virus
Jan. 14, the last day the school district That compares to 20 cases during the reopened Jan. 5 for the second semes- this school year.
posted an update on its website. entire first half of the school year. ter, a total of 43 students and 13 staff
members have tested positive for CO- Another 420 students and five staff
The 50 cases overall during the sev- The number of COVID-19 cases at VID-19. members have quarantined so far dur-
en-day period doubled the previous Rosewood Magnet School more than ing the second semester, compared to
high of 25 during the week of Dec. 14 doubled between Jan. 8 and Jan. 14 as Less than two weeks into the second 1,344 students and 30 staff members
to Dec. 20, district records show. six students and three staff members semester, the 43 student cases repre- during the first semester. Altogether,
tested positive for the virus. Another sent a 33 percent increase in total in- 1,764 students and 35 staff members
Another 370 students and five staff 78 students and one staff member fections, compared to the 130 positive
members were directed to quarantine quarantined. cases during the first half of the year. have quarantined this school year. 
between Jan. 8 and Jan. 14 after com- With the January surge, a total of 173
ing in close contact with people who Rosewood Magnet had four cases students have tested positive for CO- COVID-19 cases down here
tested positive. during the first half of the school year, VID-19 this school year. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
three students and one staff member.
The 13 staff cases since Jan. 5 also

island dwellers who have had the vi-
rus to 568. Countywide, 8,768 people
have tested positive since last March
and 564 have been hospitalized.

Deaths from complications of CO-
VID-19 exceeded last week’s record
of 16, with 18 newly reported in the
seven days prior to press time Mon-
day, bringing the county’s coronavi-
rus death toll to 196.

As of this week, only about one in
10 Indian River County residents has
either received at least the first dose of
a COVID-19 vaccine or tested positive
for the virus in the past few months.

That means roughly nine out of 10
local residents likely have zero immu-
nity to the 2019 version of the corona-
virus the world has been battling for
more than a year.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention predicted that a
new variant of the virus first document-
ed in the United Kingdom and seen on
the Treasure Coast would be “the pre-
dominant strain” infecting people in
the United States by mid-March.

Florida has one-fourth of the 88
documented U.S. cases of the new
variant, called B.1.1.7, with only Cali-
fornia exceeding the Sunshine State in
the number of cases.

Public health officials, worried that
people will let their guard down now
that two highly effective vaccines are
on the market and at least two more
are on the horizon, urge everyone
to continue social distancing, hand
washing, mask wearing, diligent
cleaning and staying home if exhibit-
ing symptoms.

Fortunately, manufacturers of the
two vaccines Vero residents are get-
ting expect their COVID-19 shots to be
effective for the B.1.1.7. variant com-
monly known as the U.K. strain.

Federal public health guidance on
coronavirus testing and vaccine dis-
tribution, meanwhile, switched this
week to direction by President Joe
Biden’s virus team. It’s unknown what
this changing of the guard will have
on the rollout of vaccine from federal
warehouses.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 3

NEWS

In response to Biden announcing he was scheduled to receive its first round ready received their first round of vac- The largest senior community in the
would immediately release all reserved of vaccine Thursday. Management cine, and said friends of his in senior county, Indian River Estates, run by
second doses of vaccine that federal learned of the date late last week. living management in Palm Beach and Acts Retirement-Life, has another week
officials had initially held back, Opera- Martin counties had already seen their to go before its assisted and indepen-
tion Warp Speed officials announced “We’ve been waiting on CVS like ev- communities get first doses. dent living communities get their first
they had already dispatched all the eryone else in the world, or Walgreens,” shots, slated for Jan. 28. Residents of
reserved doses to the states because said Eric Hammerquist, regional direc- “I’ve been in the industry a while, the community’s nursing home com-
they were more confident in the sup- tor of operations for Brennity. and all my friends that run buildings ponent, Willowbrooke Court, were vac-
ply chain, so there is no stockpile. are talking about the amount of shots cinated Jan. 7, along with facility staff.
Hammerquist said other Brennity they’re giving out now on the Treasure
Biden has also said he wants to pri- properties in his division – one in Tra- Coast,” said Hammerquist. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
oritize vaccinating inmate populations dition and one in Melbourne – had al-
in jails and prisons – a controversial
move as Florida’s elderly continue to
scramble to get an appointment for
their first dose of Pfizer or Moderna
vaccine.

Of the state’s 1.6 million cases and
24,000 deaths, only 213 deaths (less
than 1/10th of 1 percent) have been re-

ported in Florida jails and prisons. 

Vaccine gets to assisted living
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“It’s a light at the end of the tunnel,”
said the community’s executive direc-
tor, Kim Sviben.

Sonata Senior Living in Vero was
also getting vaccines Monday, with
follow-up clinics on Feb. 8 and March
1. Sonata runs more than 20 facilities
in the state and has partnered with
both CVS and Walgreens to deliver the
vaccines. In Vero, it was Walgreens giv-
ing the jabs this week.

“For the amount of residents we
have, it’s moving really good,” said So-
nata’s concierge, Savannah Brown. “All
the residents have been coming down,
everything’s going really smooth and
everybody’s doing good.”

Florida Baptist Retirement Center
was slated for shots on Tuesday from
CVS. That clinic included second dos-
es of vaccine for the center’s nursing
home patients, and first-round shots
for assisted and independent living
residents. Nursing home patients got
their first shots Dec. 29.

The Isles of Vero was not expected to
get its first vaccine doses until Thurs-
day, though corporate parent Holiday
Retirement announced in mid-De-
cember that it would be “among the
first communities in the country” to
receive the vaccine.

Two weeks later, in late December,
local management sent a letter to Isles
residents encouraging them to get
vaccinated at off-site locations if they
could, while the Isles continued to wait
for an on-site date from CVS. That date
finally came in an announcement last
week.

Follow-up doses are scheduled to
be administered at the Isles on Feb.
11, with a third clinic on March 4. The
Isles has more than 200 residents in
assisted and independent living.

The Brennity at Vero Beach also

4 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Vaccine gets to assisted living to get the shot after Walgreens has fin- not yet nailed down a date with CVS, its Health Department – just under the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 ished vaccinating HarborChase assist- selected partner, according to staff. wire for Miranda Hawker, the health
ed-living residents. department’s director, who in early
Other independent living facilities The pharmacy giants stand to lose November told the Vero Beach City
haven’t been so lucky, including Re- “So, all of us 90-year-olds are sup- those vaccine customers who haven’t Council she expected the vaccine “late
gency Park, owned by HarborChase. posed to figure out how to do all that been scheduled by the end of this week. in December.”
online stuff? We can’t get through to
“Our director told us a couple of days Cleveland Clinic. You try to call and it’s In a move that may have lit a fire un- Those first doses were administered
ago that Walgreens isn’t going to come busy, busy, busy,” said Albertson. der the pharmacies, Gov. Ron DeSan- to healthcare providers outside of the
here now because we’re not connected tis announced in mid-January he had hospital as well as to the general pub-
to the assisted living building,” said Mar- “I just feel like we’re slipping through contracted with another health entity, lic age 65 and over.
jorie Albertson, who lived for 25 years at the cracks.” CDR Health, to begin scheduling its
Sea Oaks before moving to Regency Park. own vaccination clinics with any long- When he expanded the pool of recip-
A call to Dan Ellis, head of market- term care facilities that weren’t already ients, DeSantis said more vaccine was
Albertson said she asked manage- ing for HarborChase, went to a full scheduled for a clinic on or before Jan. expected – even though the state was
ment to allow Regency Park residents voice mailbox. An email had not been 23 with CVS or Walgreens. already short a million doses of the 2
to “line up in our wheelchairs outside” returned by press time. million DeSantis had originally hoped
So far, none of the assisted living fa- for by the end of the year. He also was
As of Friday, Somerset House, the as- cilities reached by Vero Beach 32963 presuming that long-term care resi-
sisted living section of Oak Harbor, had have resorted to CDR, though the com- dents were already getting vaccinated
pany has held clinics in Palm Beach, through deliveries directly to CVS and
Broward, Miami-Dade and Hillsbor- Walgreens.
ough counties and was to expand to
other counties Jan. 18, according to the In fact, at that point, fewer than half
Agency for Health Care Administration. of Florida’s nursing homes had had a
vaccine clinic, the state surgeon gener-
The federal Pharmacy Partnership al reported at the start of the new year.
for Long-term Care program was first
announced in October, with pharma- As for assisted living facilities, as of
cy giants CVS and Walgreens commit- Jan. 1, only 34 of the state’s 3,400 facili-
ting to vaccinate all staff and residents ties had self-reported getting the vac-
in long-term care on site, and at no cine, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
out-of-pocket costs.
Each facility requires three clinics
That same month, the Florida De- in order to give the initial vaccination
partment of Health made public its plus a follow-up shot three to four
draft of a vaccine distribution plan weeks later, as well as a third clinic to
that put long-term care residents and take care of anyone who missed one of
staff at the head of the line for vac- the first two.
cines, along with healthcare workers.
There are five nursing homes in In-
In mid-December, as the Pfizer- dian River County, and 700 in Florida.
BioNTech vaccine won emergency use Altogether they house around 70,000
authorization, with the Moderna vac- people. There are 25 assisted living fa-
cine following a week later, the state cilities in the county among 3,000 state-
began vaccinating seniors in a pilot wide with a total 100,000 residents.
program in nursing homes in Broward
and Pinellas counties. In addition, the staff of those facili-
ties must also be vaccinated along with
In a burst of optimism, then-Sec- outside providers, including private-
retary of Health and Human Services duty nurses and essential caregivers.
Alex Azar said all nursing homes could The state estimates total long-term
be vaccinated by Christmas. That care residents and staff to be more than
didn’t happen. 300,000.

At the same time, the state’s pilot It is not an exaggeration to say that
program apparently went into a stall each day of delay getting vaccines into
when health departments turned to long-term care facilities could have a
CVS and Walgreens for help. dire cost. Active COVID-19 cases among
long-term care residents in Florida
Making matters worse for nursing have risen by a third since a month ago,
homes, in Florida, two days before to 3,651. That translates to 2.63 percent
Christmas, DeSantis suddenly opened of the 138,633 residents statewide.
vaccine eligibility to anyone 65 or older.
Cases among staff are not as high,
According to the CDC’s vaccination according to state reports. There were
plan as well as Florida’s own – which 2,762 cases among staff at the start of
somehow never got beyond the draft the week.
stage – long-term care residents and
frontline health workers were to be As of Monday, there were 108 active
first in line for the vaccine. But the COVID-19 cases in Indian River Coun-
pool of recipients expanded by 4 mil- ty’s long-term care facilities, including
lion under DeSantis’ new order. 63 residents and 45 staff members.

On Dec. 21, the first doses of vac- According to state figures reported
cine arrived at Cleveland Clinic Indian by the facilities themselves, there have
River Hospital, and that same day, the been 61 COVID-19-related deaths in
hospital began inoculating frontline five nursing homes in the county –
caregivers. Another shipment, this with 20 each in Consulate and Palm
time the Moderna vaccine, was ex- Garden – and 35 deaths in nine as-
pected later that week. sisted living facilities. That includes
seven at HarborChase and five at the
Then, on Dec. 29, a batch of vaccine
arrived at the Indian River County Brennity. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 5

NEWS

My Vero public-health emergency that is killing masks or be allowed to expose their class- A similar suit, filed in Hillsborough
thousands of Americans every day. mates and teachers to a deadly virus. County by the same Tampa-based
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 attorney handling this one, was dis-
Stand by your decision. Unless Circuit Judge Janet Croom missed last month. Also, challenges
dents, district employees and commu- Don’t fret over that lame lawsuit filed allows herself to be swayed by the po- to school district-imposed mask man-
nity. by a handful of local moms who claim litical winds of the day – and there’s no dates failed in Palm Beach County
the mandate violates their right to de- reason to believe she will – next week’s
You did what needed to be done in a cide whether their children should wear hearing is going nowhere. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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6 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

My Vero to remove you from your legally elect- It’s mind-boggling, really, that there Do these people really believe masks
ed offices if you don’t begin to phase are still people who believe they know restrict the oxygen intake of the stu-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 out the mandate. more about pandemics than Dr. Antho- dents who wear them? Or that Cleve-
ny Fauci, the nation’s foremost author- land Clinic recommends wearing
last summer and St. Lucie County last “We don’t want to do it,” said Jennifer ity on infectious diseases, and an over- masks because the company makes
week. Pippen, chairman of the Indian River whelming majority of credible experts. money on them? Or that Miranda
County chapter of Moms For Liberty, Hawker, the state’s public health offi-
As Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes a “parental-rights" organization co- There’s plenty of scientific evidence cer in this county, is a “liar” who “ma-
stated in his Palm Beach County order founded by former School Board mem- that wearing masks, along with wash- nipulates data?”
upholding the mandate there: “We do ber Tiffany Justice, “but unfortunately, ing our hands and practicing social dis-
not have a constitutional right to in- we may have to do it for our children.” tancing, slows the coronavirus’ spread. How about the mom who referred
fect others.” But the anti-mask crowd, armed with to the “rhetoric of Samuel Adams
For our children? alternative facts and listening to the and Patrick Henry and so many more
Likewise, you shouldn’t worry your- The mask mandate protects our wrong people, refuses to believe it. of our forefathers” as an example of
selves over the do-it-or-else threat children – and everyone else on cam- the individual freedoms at stake in
made at your meeting last week, where pus – which is why this ridiculous More than a few of the remarks made the group’s fight against mandatory
one of the group’s leaders promised to threat isn’t likely to get any more trac- by mask opponents at last week’s meet- masking?
launch a petition for a recall election tion than the lawsuit. ing had no basis in reality.
Perhaps she was unaware that the
patriots who signed our Declaration
of Independence in 1776 mutually
pledged to each other their lives, for-
tunes and sacred honor to create this
nation. They risked execution as trai-
tors and undertook for the common
good much more onerous tasks than
donning a simple cloth or paper mask
to help slow the spread of a deadly
contagion.

Then there was this doozy: Mandat-
ing that children wear masks in school
during a pandemic, one mom said, is
“tyranny.”

The same woman, by the way, cit-
ed as a reason mask mandates aren’t
needed Florida Department of Health
statistics that she said showed CO-
VID-19 had killed only five children
under the age of 14 in our state.

“Apparently, it doesn’t matter,” she
said. “We’re still going to wear masks
because? Can anybody give me a rea-
son why our children are masked?
Anybody?”

The pending lawsuit prevented you
from responding, but there were four
obvious answers:

 We don’t want to risk any of our

children becoming seriously ill, even
if death is unlikely. Thousands of stu-
dents have been sickened by the virus
in Florida, disrupting their education
and the education of others quaran-
tined after contact with them.

 Children can spread the virus

among themselves and then to sib-
lings, parents, grandparents and oth-
ers outside of school, contributing to a
severe public health crisis.

 We still don’t know the long-term

effects of the virus on internal organs,
such as the heart and lungs.

 Even if only five died, that’s too

many.
And what about kids who are be-

tween 15 and 18 years old? They go to
school, too.

A recurring topic was your super-
intendent, Dr. David Moore, saying
in November that he’d produce in De-
cember a plan to phase out the mask
mandate – if public-health conditions
allow for such measures to be taken.

At no time during the past three

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 7

NEWS

months, however, has the pandemic Brightline route, as required by Federal Railroad Brightline operated 32 trains per
subsided to a point where the School Administration regulations. day in South Florida at its peak in ear-
Board could even consider phasing CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ly March 2020, 16 northbound and 16
out the mask requirement. Instead, it “Our service has been suspended southbound.
has gotten worse in terms of new cas- Confirming what has seemed obvi- because of COVID, but we’re work-
es, hospitalizations and deaths. ous to many observers, Brightline ing at getting it back up and running,” If that schedule is put in place for
says it will not be able to meet its goal Mitzner said. “In the meantime, we are the Orlando extension, the dual tracks
One father suggested you could be- of starting train service between West actively working on Positive Train Con- Brightline is building in the Florida East
gin to phase out the mandate now, as Palm and Orlando in 2022. trol implementation from West Palm Coast Railway right-of-way through In-
COVID-19 vaccines are being made Beach down to Miami.” dian River County could carry 32 pas-
available here to people ages 65 and The company now hopes to com- senger trains at up to 110 mph and 20
over. Unfortunately, the pace of distri- plete track construction and start test Positive Train Control is a computer- freight trains at up to 60 mph each day,
bution is inexcusably slow, and there’s runs by late 2022 and begin service ized system designed to automatically for a total of more than 50 trains.
not yet enough of the vaccine to meet sometime in 2023. stop trains to prevent collisions with
the local demand. other trains, derailments caused by There are 32 railroad crossings on the
Brightline has completed nearly half speeding, incursions into work zones tracks in Indian River County, which
It might be months before we begin the work on 170 miles of new high- and movements through misaligned generally run parallel to U.S. 1 and Old
inoculating children. speed tracks between Orlando and switches. Dixie Highway.
West Palm Beach, railroad spokes-
Look, none of us enjoys wearing woman Katie Mitzner said Friday. A computer in the locomotive re- Brightline plans to develop stations
masks. We’re all looking forward to the ceives and analyzes data about track on the Treasure and Space coasts with-
day we’ll be done with them. Every- “We are looking to complete the conditions, giving the engineer time to in five years after starting the Orlando
one, especially our kids, wants to get tracks in the last quarter of 2022,” reduce speed or stop the train in case to South Florida service, but hasn’t
back to our pre-pandemic normal. Mitzner told the Treasure Coast Re- of an emergency on the tracks ahead. picked the locations, Mitzner said.
gional Planning Council. “We will then
But to reduce COVID-19 infections begin the Federal Railroad Administra- If the engineer fails to take correc- “Nothing has been decided in terms
in the schools and diminish the virus’ tion testing and expect to have regular tive action, the system automatically of specific locations, but those are
spread to other segments of our com- service starting in 2023.” applies the train brakes and brings the the two areas we had committed to,”
munity, the kids must wear masks in train to a controlled stop. Mitzner said.
class. Brightline began service between Mi-
ami andWest Palm in 2018 but shut that However, the system does not pre- City officials have reached out to
It’s not tyranny. It’s common sense route down last March at the onset of vent vehicle-train accidents at railroad Brightline in hopes of getting a sta-
– public policy put in place for the the pandemic. The company’s passen- crossings, or stop trains when people tion in Vero Beach, and two of Indian
public good. It’s also the right thing to ger trains have not operated since then. are walking on the tracks. River County’s representatives on the
do, and you know it – no matter how regional planning council – County
many times you’re threatened with Restarting Brightline service in Brightline trains killed 43 people Commissioner Laura Moss and guber-
lawsuits and recall elections. South Florida hinges on complet- while operating between Miami and natorial appointee Doug Bournique
ing the installation of Positive Train West Palm Beach from January 2018 – said they’re looking forward to the
So stand up to the bullies. Control technology along the 70-mile through March 25, 2020, when service
stopped. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Don’t back down. 

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

NEWS

Brightline Deputy, fired here for pepper-spraying inmate,
once handcuffed Mike Wallace after traffic stop
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
BY RAY MCNULTY forcement job after a headline-grab- spectors questioning the driver and got
completion of the Brightline project. Staff Writer bing incident in 2004 in New York. into the back seat and waited. When the
Their support for the project is dia- questioning dragged on, Wallace got
The corrections deputy arrested and While working as an inspector for New out of the car to see if he could settle the
metrically opposed to the position of a fired by the Sheriff’s Office last week York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commis- matter so he could get home with his
majority on the County Commission, for pepper-spraying an inmate three sion, Keefe Roman arrested and hand- dinner, which was getting cold.
which has spent nearly $4 million in times during a December dispute at cuffed CBS News icon Mike Wallace – of
legal fees in an unsuccessful effort to the county jail lost his first law-en- “60 Minutes” fame – after a traffic stop Wallace told the Times that he spoke
derail the $2.7 billion extension. outside a Manhattan restaurant. politely to the inspectors, but one of
them barked, “Get back in the car.”
“The fact I was elected is indicative The commission dropped a disor- The hard-nosed newsman refused,
of the fact not everyone in Indian River derly conduct charge against Wallace, and when he continued to ask ques-
County is against the train,” said former then 86, after an in-house investiga- tions, one of the inspectors threatened
Vero Beach Mayor Moss, who won the tion determined the two inspectors him, suggesting it might not be safe to
on the scene made errors in judgment remain outside the vehicle.
District 5 commission seat last fall.  and that Roman hadn’t yet been au-
thorized by the New York Police De- “Suddenly,” Wallace said, “one of
partment to make arrests and write them came behind me and put my arm
summonses. behind my back in a hammerlock.”

After issuing an apology to Wallace In an interview with the Post, Ro-
for its agents acting “somewhat over- man said Wallace posed a safety risk
zealously,” a commission spokesman when he wouldn’t comply with an or-
told the New York Times that Roman der to move away from his partner.
and his partner, veteran inspector
Richard Mattaliano, “could have cho- “Our threat level went from dealing
sen other better options.” with just the driver to now dealing with
the driver and the passenger,” Roman
Roman, a 23-year-old rookie inspec- said, claiming that Wallace “had alco-
tor with only “provisional” status at hol on his breath.”
the time, was taken off the streets, as-
signed to a communications dispatch An initial statement from the com-
position and, according to the New mission stated that Wallace lunged at
York Post, was promised by his super- one of the inspectors, but the internal
visors that his job was safe. investigation turned up witnesses who
rebutted that claim.
Three months later, however, Roman
was fired – after 1 ½ years on the job and Wallace, who was taken to a nearby
just one month before he was scheduled police station before being released,
to be sworn in as a “special patrolman,” was still upset about the incident the
fully approved to carry handcuffs, make next day, the Times reported.
arrests and issue summonses for the
commission. “I’ve seldom seen as angry a man
as that guy,” Wallace said, referring to
“This was done because of the Mike Roman. “This guy could have been a
Wallace incident,” Roman told the Post killer. This is a very angry man. I think
in November 2004, after being notified he needs therapy.”
by mail that his employment with the
commission had been terminated. “It Even then-Mayor Michael Bloom-
really bothers me.” berg questioned the need to manhan-
dle, handcuff and arrest Wallace.
A commission spokesman told the
Post there were “multiple other di- “Why a man in his 80s was so threat-
mensions” beyond the Wallace inci- ening that they had to arrest him,
dent that prompted the agency to fire when they normally don’t arrest any-
Roman. body, certainly gives you cause to ask
the question,” Bloomberg said, adding
To this day, however, Roman main- that he “never thought of [Wallace] ...
tains that he did not recognize Wal- as a particularly threatening person.”
lace, who died in 2012, and didn’t act
improperly in making the arrest. The commission’s investigative re-
port recommended that both Roman
“There were no other issues,” Ro- and Mattaliano be retrained in conflict
man’s Jacksonville-based attorney, Don resolution.
Pinaud, said Monday.
For his part, Roman told the Post his
According to news reports, the training as a peace officer gave him the
drama unfolded after Wallace picked authority to make arrests, and that his
up a takeout order of meatloaf from commission supervisors issued him
an Upper East Side bar and grill, and handcuffs, Mace, a baton and multiple
returned to his limousine, which the summons books.
car-service driver had double-parked
outside the restaurant. “The directors of training are the ones
at fault,” Roman said. “If they give us
Wallace saw the commission’s in- the equipment to do the job, then we’ll

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

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10 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Vero seeks development pitches for riverfront project

BY LISA ZAHNER als, the applicants will not compete in mittee has spent the last few months as on large-group activities and indoor
Staff Writer a bidding process, but should demon- narrowing down what it wants includ- dining and drinking establishments.
strate the experience, resources and ed in the development, working from
After meeting informally with devel- references to show they could credibly a version of the master plan designed Committee members reached a
opers since October, the City of Vero tackle developing all or a portion of by consultant Andres Duany of DPZ consensus that the site needs to have
Beach will issue a Request for Qualifi- the 38-acre riverfront parcels. Co. in June 2020. a “waterfront promenade” to create
cations so that anyone hoping to de- a destination residents and tourists
velop portions of the riverfront util- City Manager Monte Falls also said Duany scaled down his maximum- alike will visit repeatedly. This means
ity sites frequently referred to as the the project needs a much better name development master concept plan mixed uses and fairly intense develop-
“Three Corners” can make their pitch. than Three Corners, so hopefully cast- somewhat, in response to the CO- ment, by Vero standards.
ing for proposals will net a winner. VID-19 pandemic’s impact on the local
Different from a Request for Propos- economy and the hotel industry, as well “Anyplace with vibrancy has an in-
Vero’s Three Corners Steering Com- tensity of use, vibrancy is what we want
here,” said Vicky Gould, who chairs the
Three Corners Steering Committee.

Elements the committee spoke fa-
vorably about wrapping into the proj-
ect include: recreation, restaurants and
retail, an entertainment venue, a ho-
tel and/or cabins, ample parking, and
space for various events, from festivals
to food trucks to farmers markets.

The focus should definitely be on
the unique feature of the river, with
boat access, day or overnight slips,
possibly a water taxi and a Youth Sail-
ing Association facility for training,
competition and the maintenance and
storage of boats.

Steering committee members
would like to include some sort of
public water feature, possibly a wad-
ing pool, splash pad or fountain. Cul-
tural opportunities and some sort
of Indian River Lagoon educational
aspect are other items that got nods
from members.

Residential units could be a part of
the development, as there’s definite-
ly a demand in the market and that
would bring needed revenue into city
coffers to fund maintenance of the
public areas.

But the committee would prefer
moderately priced rental apartments
located on the second and third floors
above restaurants and shops, with
residents living there year-round, as
opposed to luxury condominiums in
standalone buildings, or single-family
detached homes.

Former mayor Harry Howle, who
serves on the steering committee, urged
everyone to remain open and flexible as
the proposals come in, and not get too
wedded to particular elements of the
plan as drafted. “This board has got-
ten into the minutiae of what we want,”
Howle said.

This spring the committee will re-
view the applications, incorporate the
details of proposed elements into the
existing concept plan and send a rec-
ommended master concept plan to
the Vero Beach City Council for a vote
this summer.

The goal is to get a ballot question
finalized in August so that it can be

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12



12 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

NEWS

Riverfront project Fired deputy had NYC history Three months later, surveillance being charged with battery and fired
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 videos captured him pepper-spray- from his job.
ing inmate Brandon Kormanec dur-
sent to Supervisor of Elections Leslie do it. It bothers me that they tell you to ing a confrontation at the jail. Kor- Sheriff Eric Flowers said in an agen-
Swan to be posed to voters as part of do your job, and you get the short end manec had complied with Roman’s cy-released video that Roman’s actions
the November municipal election. of the stick. order to sit down on a bench and and use of force were “inappropriate.”
was not doing anything physically
The referendum would not ask vot- “You end up getting the raw deal.” threatening when he was repeatedly Pinaud disputed the misdemeanor
ers if they wish to sell the parcels, but The job application Roman submit- pepper sprayed in the face. A month- charge, saying Roman’s actions were
to lease them long term, perhaps with ted in December 2019 to the Sheriff’s long investigation resulted in Roman “defensive measures” that were justi-
a 99-year lease, ensuring public access Office here lists only his two most-re- fied because the inmate repeatedly
to the riverfront and the amenities de- cent previous jobs: Before becoming a
veloped on the property. state corrections officer in Orlando in threatened to harm him. 
March 2018, he worked for 10 months
Big Blue is still the big question mark as a site supervisor for a private secu- Indian River Shores says it likely will
in the plan. City officials hope some- rity company firm in Melbourne. leave Vero water-sewer utility in 2027
one will want to repurpose the historic He did not mention his stint with New
building into an urban-chic resort and York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commis- BY LISA ZAHNER Ironically, the Shores’ move to re-
conference center with a rooftop bar sion. ject Indian River County’s pitch for
taking advantage of the lagoon-to- Roman also responded “No” to ap- Staff Writer the town’s utility business and stick
ocean views. plication questions asking if he had: with Vero Beach Utilities in 2012 killed
Indian River Shores Councilman talks about consolidating the city and
But after initial meetings with devel-  Been dismissed or asked to resign John McCord told Vero Beach officials county utilities then.
opers, a bit of reality has set in about last week that the town will likely leave
financing challenges and delays of up from a job or resigned or left a job by the Vero water-sewer utility in 2027, The Shores’ decision bought Vero 15
to five years until the market is ready mutual agreement. potentially crippling plans to move more years during which it could con-
for that type of project, the sewer plant off the river. tinue transferring $3 million annually
 Been subject to disciplinary action from utility revenues to the general
If Big Blue is torn down, Vero and the McCord recommended a solution to fund, $1 million in direct transfers,
developer will need to deal with the from any employer. this threat of losing a sizable chunk of plus $2 million for City Hall overhead.
time and expense of whatever environ- the city’s customer base and revenues
mental cleanup needs to be done. Falls  Applied or performed paid or un- – merge with Indian River County NEWS ANALYSIS
said about initial studies performed Utilities. But Vero says consolidation
by Florida Power & Light around the paid services for a law enforcement is a non-starter and would cost more Two major factors give Indian River
power plant and the former substa- agency not listed as an employer. than relocating wastewater treatment Shores more leverage now than the
tion, “FPL says it looks good. I’m hope- operations to the Vero Beach Regional town possessed in 2012. The exit terms
And somehow the background Airport. of the current franchise agreement are
ful.”  check conducted by the Sheriff’s Of- much more favorable to the Shores,
fice uncovered nothing to prevent Ro- This discussion takes place amid a transferring ownership of nearly all of
man, now 39, from being hired in Sep- pending breach of contract suit be- the utility infrastructure to the town
tember to work in the jail. tween the Shores and Vero over utility upon termination.
rates. McCord, who joined the Shores
A STEADY HAND IN TURBULENT TIMES town council in November, is a re- Also, with Vero Electric sold to Flor-
Over a Century of Combined Expertise tired energy executive with decades of ida Power & Light and the city’s huge,
high-level experience in utility regula- riverfront electric plant no longer
Uncertainty calls for a disciplined approach to managing your financial future. tory matters. He was recruited to run functioning, Vero is under pressure
We’ve spent decades providing professional advice to Vero Beach families. for office to help negotiate the water- to dismantle both Big Blue and the
Let’s have a conversation. sewer dispute with Vero. neighboring sewer plant.

Investment Management • Trust & Estate Services • Financial Strategies The Shores could be serious about Moving sewer plant operations off
terminating the franchise, or it could the Indian River Lagoon and out to the
be angling to cut a deal – like it did Vero Beach Regional Airport complex
in 2012 when the town council chose is a key element of the city’s plans to
Vero over Indian River County Utilities
in exchange for major rate reductions.

Barbara E. Magee, Charlene Padgett Tucker, Sue M. Tompkins,
Alexander S. Batt and Thomas J. Rollando

772.494.7660 l 3055 Cardinal Dr, Suite 305, Vero Beach, FL 32963
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Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 13

NEWS

develop commercial, recreational and Should the Shores break with Vero’s line for the plant project, but Vero offi- irrigation water rate demands now,
cultural amenities on the two river- sewer and irrigation water service, cials don’t know at this point how much Vero will lose hundreds of thousands
front utility parcels. Vero’s remaining ratepayers would the new sewer plant will increase rates. in revenue annually, with no guaran-
shoulder the entire cost of the new tee the Shores won’t leave the utility
The new plant will cost $50 million or sewer plant, plus all the fixed costs of “We are working with our consul- system in 2027 anyway.
more to build, and Vero needs every wa- running a utility. tants on a high-level analysis of the
ter-sewer ratepayer it has to help fund rate impact of the debt service,” Law- Vero City Attorney John Turner has
that effort, including those in the Shores. Converting septic system owners son said. “It is not yet complete, so said the city has a solid case and will
into Vero sewer customers through I don’t have a calculation of the total defend its position in the lawsuit and
Indian River Shores’ major beef the installation of STEP systems will rate impact or the individual elements Vero officials held a closed executive
is that Vero has not matched Indian spread costs over a greater number of of the rates impacted.” session last Friday to talk strategy, as
River County Utilities reuse water households, but it will not make up allowed by Florida laws.
rates for Shores customers, as agreed for losing all of the high-consumption This puts Vero in a very precarious
in 2012. For the past two years since customers in Indian River Shores. negotiating position going into litiga- Attorney Paul Berg represents Indian
the county reduced what it charges for tion. If Vero stands its ground, or wins River Shores, and Vero has hired attor-
reuse irrigation water, Shores custom- At last Tuesday’s Utilities Commis- the lawsuit, the Shores likely will ter- ney Thomas Cloud, who heads up the
ers have paid Vero 46 cents more per sion meeting, member John Cotugno minate the franchise in 2027. utilities division for the Gray Robinson
1,000 gallons than the county charges asked for a solid cost estimate and time-
its customers. But if the city gives in to the Shores’ law firm, to handle the city’s case. 

If the parties cannot work things
out, that 46 cents will seem like chump
change.

According to Vero Finance Director
Cindy Lawson, Indian River Shores ac-
counts for nearly one fifth of the water-
sewer utility’s $17.4 million in annual
revenue. “The current percentage of
total revenue from all sources (water,
sewer, irrigation and re-use) is just under
20 percent,” Lawson said of the Shores
portion. That’s about $3.4 million.

Over the past decade, Utility Direc-
tor Rob Bolton has trimmed costs,
automated and privatized functions
where possible, cross-trained employ-
ees, and paid off debt, reducing annu-
al operating expenses by $4 million. In
other words, the “fat” has already been
trimmed from the water-sewer utility.

Indian River Shores, bound to Vero’s
water-sewer service since the 1980s,
was wary of signing another 30-year
commitment when town officials bro-
kered the current franchise agreement
in October 2012, so they settled on a
15-year deal, which could be renewed
for 15 years. The first 15 years of that
agreement expires in 2027.

Vero committed in 2020 to take the
lagoon-front sewer plant offline in five
years, so debt payments on $50 million
or so the city needs to borrow for a new
plant won’t even start until 2025.

If Indian River Shores comes out of
the current breach of contract lawsuit
less than satisfied with the result, or if
Vero refuses to broker a consolidation
deal with Indian River County, town
officials will likely give the required
formal notice in 2023 that the town
will exit Vero Beach Utilities in 2027.



Roger Newman, Heather Groody
and Mickey Groody

RAIL TRAIL 5K TRACKS DOWN
FUNDS FOR LOCAL NONPROFITS P. 24

16 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

‘Substance Abuse Free’ coalition: Join our cause if you can

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

The latest data from the 2020 Flor- SPD Off. Donald Hart; IRSCO Sgt. Ross Partee, SAFIR chair; IRSCO Dep. Jessica Ogonoski; Barbara Pearce, SAFIR vice chair;
ida Youth Substance Abuse Survey Phyllis Schneider, SAFIR coordinator; Kyleigh Savoie, Tobacco Free Partnership IRC facilitator; Carrie Lester,
(FYSAS), a semiannual survey, is
out, and is currently being analyzed Substance Abuse Center executive director; Michele Buldo, SAFIR director; and VBPD Lt. Phil Huddy. PHOTO: KAILA JONES
by the Substance Awareness Center
and the community-led Substance tial because it is data driven, focus- ents taking medical marijuana, so the problem, they have started a
Abuse Free Indian River Coalition, ing on local problems that require they’re thinking if it’s legal, how “Most Teens Don’t” campaign with
which falls under its auspices. local solutions. Prevention is a could it be harmful.” brochures indicating that in Indi-
partnership that works,” said Carrie an River County, 84 percent don’t
The Substance Awareness Center, Lester, executive director of SAC. However, she explained that drink alcohol, 91 percent don’t
which celebrated its 30th anniver- “We cannot do this work alone, and young people are more apt to have smoke marijuana and 84 percent
sary in 2020, has programs for both through the SAFIR Coalition we can their still-developing brains “hi- don’t vape.
students and adults. Prevention strengthen collaboration among jacked” by addiction, whether it be
Works offers school-based programs our partners to reduce youth sub- alcohol, tobacco or marijuana. The pandemic has curtailed some
to all fifth- through ninth-grade stu- stance use in our community.” of their activities, but they hope to
dents about the harmful effects of “It’s that pleasure-seeking prin- get back to doing small fundraisers
substances and in risky behaviors; The 2020 FYSAS survey of Indian ciple that they’re getting, so the as well as presentations and forums
indicated prevention programs for River County included 389 mid- brain craves more and more. When to educate students and the general
youth who have already engaged in dle school students and 425 high they can’t get satisfied with mari- public.
risky behaviors; and community- school students. Indications are juana anymore, they go to stronger
based prevention through SAFIR. that alcohol remains the No. 1 sub- drugs like heroin and cocaine,” said SAFIR members meet monthly
Their Recovery Works initiative for stance abused by teens locally (15.9 Schneider. (virtually for now) in six workgroups:
adults with substance use disorders percent), followed closely by vap- underage drinking, prescription
includes day and outpatient treat- ing nicotine (14 percent). The next “If you can delay that onset of drugs, marijuana, tobacco/vaping,
ment as well as recovery assistance three highest areas of concern are when they start trying and experi- youth advisory and sustainability.
for housing and recovery support. marijuana or hashish (11.5 percent), menting with drugs, you have a Their general coalition meetings,
vaping marijuana (10.6 percent) and much greater chance of preventing held every other month, are open to
The SAFIR Coalition works in tan- binge drinking (8.2 percent). an addiction or a misuse or disorder anyone in the community.
dem with SAC in terms of preven- later on in life,” said Schneider.
tion and is comprised of key lead- “We are seeing certain trends, but “We are always looking to recruit
ers in such community sectors as I think the biggest one is that the Pre-pandemic, Buldo and Schnei- key leaders in our community and
law enforcement, school personnel, perception of harm by marijuana is der would regularly visit the high the general public to help with our
parents, faith-based organizations, going down. So, more kids are not schools and Freshman Learning mission,” said Buldo, adding that
government agencies, businesses, seeing the harmful effects of mari- Center for a “Chat and Chew,” tak- they would particularly like more
media, healthcare agencies, youth, juana as an issue,” said Buldo. She ing along their “carnival wheel.” parents to get involved.
other organizations working to re- noted that a contributing factor Students spin the wheel and land
duce substance use, youth-serving could be a result of states beginning on such categories as alcohol, mari- “We try to use whatever strengths
organizations, and volunteers. to legalize it for medical or recre- juana, prescription drugs, smoking or passions they have,” said Schnei-
ational use. and vaping. der. She noted that membership
“Our focus is on reducing youth forms are available on the SAFIR
substance abuse. Our main priori- “Michele and I usually go to the “Whatever they land on we ask website.
ties are underage drinking, mari- lunchrooms of high schools to en- them a question and if they answer
juana use, prescription drug mis- gage with the youth, and it’s one of correctly, we have little giveaways. For more information about
use, and we work very closely with the things we hear over and over,” We just engage with them,” said SAFIR, visit safirc.org. To view the
QuitDoc, which is the Tobacco Free said Schneider. “A lot of these kids Schneider. She adds that they are 2020 FYSAS report, visit the Florida
Coalition, so that’s smoking and see their grandparents or their par- amazed at how frequently the stu- Department of Children and Fami-
vaping,” explained Michele Buldo, dents’ answers are incorrect. lies website at myflfamilies.com. 
SAFIR Coalition director. “We’re
more about education, awareness, To put a more positive spin on
and trying to change social norms,
and we advocate for putting policy
changes in place.”

As an example, Phyllis Schneider,
SAFIR Coalition coordinator, said
they produced a brochure about the
harmful effects of marijuana and
driving under its influence that is
now being given out at the DMV to
students seeking learner’s permits
or driver’s licenses.

“So that’s a policy change; it’s
something that we do as a commu-
nity to target a larger amount of peo-
ple rather than somebody individu-
ally,” said Schneider.

“A community coalition is essen-



18 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

A week’s worth of ‘Wow!’ for Quail Valley Charities

Charity Shoot

Colton Peirce and Mark Peirce. Mike Curley and George Fetterolf.

BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer

“Quail Valley Charities has a new Guest Chef Brian Jones and Quail Valley Executive Chef Joe Faria. Kathy Mulvey and Steve Jackson. River Club Wine Dinner
look and feel this year,” said Kathy
Mulvey, CEO/owner of Quail Valley local nonprofit organizations which safe. “We can’t thank them enough.” Patricia and Mark Ashdown with Catherine Pommersheim.
Golf Club, last Monday evening, at the have a focus on children and educa- A week’s worth of themed Chef
first of a series of Wine Dinners to ben- tion, and to staff scholarships. an online auction of 31 “over-the-top”
efit the nonprofit, which raises funds Wine dinners, at the River Club and at items valued at $1,000 or more to re-
to support local children’s charities. “We are fortunate to have a very gen- the Pointe, featured a Mediterranean place the typical in-person auctions.
erous membership and we all have the Night with Guest Chef Brian Jones,
Although events had expanded over same common goal and that is to fund French Bistro with Sous Chef Rodney “We are truly blessed that our mem-
the past 19 years from a two-day golf the 37 children’s charities that benefit Smith, a New Orleans style meal with bers have been so very receptive, kind
tournament to a multi-week affair, ev- their education and wellbeing in In- Sous Chef Ted Faulkner, and a Night in and generous,” added Rainone. “We
erything needed to be modified a bit dian River County,” said Mulvey. She Portugal with Executive Chef Joe Faria. must remember that our 37 charities
this year because of COVID, but the also expressed appreciation that all that we donate to are more in need
enthusiasm for the cause was not the through the pandemic, the Quail Val- Adhering to pandemic precautions, this year than ever before.”
least bit diminished. ley team and its members have stepped guests were asked to wear facemasks
up to do all they can to keep everyone except while amongst their own small As there could be no large gathering
“One of the things that makes Quail groups, and tables had been well dis- for a celebratory gala this year, win-
Valley Charities unique is that we can tanced to accommodate seatings of 42 ners were chosen Saturday evening at
only give our charities what we raise by diners or fewer. the newly opened Martha’s Market for
our events, donors and sponsors,” said 50/50 and raffle drawings.
Wanda Lincoln, event chair. “The chal- The two-day golf tournament went
lenge was, how are we going to raise ahead as planned, albeit with stag- Martha Redner, executive director
as much money as we need with fewer gered tee times to preclude having too of Quail Valley Charities, said they
events? The need did not go away, but many people in the clubhouse at any were fortunate to have a beautiful
our ability to raise the money has been given time. 2021 Toyota Venza generously donat-
more difficult.” ed by Quail Valley members Bob and
Among other modifications, for the Joanne Quaile of Toyota of Vero Beach.
Since its inception, $8.2 million has annual 5K Kickoff, participants were
been distributed to the programs of encouraged to run or walk a 5K at the “We’re excited because this is the
course of their own choosing, and first year we’ve ever had a car donat-
bridge was held virtually, with three ed. We’ve sold 650 tickets, so that’s
options to entice players. And because $65,000 going to the charities,” said
the tennis tournaments are always Redner.
such a big draw, they have been post-
poned until March 17-20. “As we wind down this exceptional
year, all of us are looking forward to
“We have had to think outside of the next year, when we can return to our
box; we had to be creative,” said Trudie normal format of events and the plea-
Rainone, who oversaw donations for sure we get from raising the money,
attending the events and seeing ev-
eryone again,” said Lincoln. 

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 19

PEOPLE

Chuck and Marybeth Cunningham with Ryan Pallas. John and Barbara Fargnoli with Sue and Tom Elznic. Larry and Norma Noesen with Kathy and Chuck Entrekin.

Lela and David Memmert. PHOTOS: STEPHANIE LABAFF Dena and Sam Lombardo. River Club Wine Dinner

Jean and Jim Kelly.

Peter and Jan Calfee. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Matilde and Dale Sorensen.

PHOTOS CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 The Pointe Wine Dinner
Susan and Bob Kintner.
Gary and Susan Ball.

20 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

PHOTOS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19
Harold and Lianne Cordner with Catherine and Kyle Stevens.

George and Sue Sharpe. Tom and Barbara McKelvey.

Cathy and Bill Cronin. Diane and George Henninger.

Dick and Janice Christen. The Pointe Wine Dinner

Dave and Sally Lurie.

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 21

PEOPLE

Frank Blaisdell. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES Keith Kite and Joe Salerno. Golf Tournament

Bob Rose.

Kathy Mulvey, Wanda Lincoln and Carol Fischman.
Kristen Redner, Trudie Rainone and Martha Redner.

Facebook Live

22 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

wImapyatcotm10ee0t treeagmionh’assnweeildls,

Gladys LaForge and Meredith Egan. STORY CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

BY MARY SCHENKEL to $43,373 for the remaining 99 percent.
“Low-wage jobs dominate the em-
Staff Writer
ployment landscape in Indian River
Gladys LaForge, Indian River Impact County,” said Egan, noting that half of
100 president, hosted a virtual roundta- all jobs pay less than $13.60 per hour.
ble discussion last Wednesday on ‘The “Today, an individual needs to work
Need is Now’ during which Meredith 83 hours per week at a minimum wage
Egan, CEO of United Way of Indian job ($8.46/hour) in order to afford a
River County, highlighted critical ar- fair-market-value, two-bedroom apart-
eas of need, and Mary Blair, chair of the ment in Indian River County.”
Impact Grants Committee, stressed the
importance of additional members to The cost of living in the county is
meet the increased demand for grants. $63,145 for a family of four, making it
easy to see why 50 percent of house-
“Today we need you all more than holds are living at the draconian fed-
ever,” said event sponsor Robin Lloyd eral poverty level ($26,200 in 2020 for a
of Robin Lloyd & Associates, PA, at the family of four) or one paycheck away.
start of the roundtable.
The United Way has identified hard-
It was a sentiment later echoed by working residents living above the pov-
Blair, who said the number of applica- erty level, but struggling paycheck to
tions for 2021 grants was double that of paycheck, as the ALICE (Asset Limited,
the previous two years, adding, “I look Income Constrained, Employed) pop-
at that as an opportunity to double our ulation. With little or no savings, Egan
impact on the community.” said they live daily on the brink of di-
saster, and have been particularly hard
Egan spoke about the 2019 Commu- hit by the pandemic.
nity Needs Assessment, a 12-month
project that ran from the spring of 2019 Persistent challenges such as a lack
to the spring of 2020. The data collected, of safe and affordable housing, quality
all pre-COVID, identified critical needs pre- and afterschool care, and medi-
in the areas of children, economic op- cal, dental and mental health care have
portunity and employment, health, been exacerbated by the pandemic.
housing and seniors.
“Indian River County is very fortu-
“The research provides the backstory nate to have both small and large do-
as to why the COVID-19 crisis is having nors that are very generous with their
such a devastating economic impact,” time and financial support,” said Egan.
said Egan. “As we wade through the recovery ef-
forts, we must keep generosity at the
The Needs Assessment shows that forefront as a targeted approach to ad-
the income gap here, already the 10th dress many of the inequalities identi-
highest in the country, is increasing. fied in the Needs Assessment, and also
She pointed out that in Indian River take into consideration some of the les-
County, the average annual income for sons learned in the COVID experience.”
the 1 percent is $2.9 million, as opposed



24 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

PEOPLE

STORY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22 out through the entire community. RfuanildTsrfaoirll5oKcatlrnaocnksprdoofwitsn
To anyone thinking of joining or re-
Blair is coordinating the efforts of BY STEPHANIE LaBAFF
52 panel members in eight teams who newing their membership in Impact Staff Writer
are reviewing applications and mak- 100, Blair reiterated that the need is
ing site visits. There is also a rigorous greater than ever. Participants in the third annu- Cathi Dorn and Paul Croake
financial review undertaken by emi- al Rail Trail 5K Run/Walk to ben- with Colleen and Ivan Scerri.
nently qualified Impact members. “As I mentioned before, we have efit the Executive Roundtable of
double the amount of grants this year Indian River County traversed a Aimee Hill, ERIRC executive
Of the nonprofits, Blair said that than we have received in previous rather unique trail last Saturday director. “It takes the thinking
37 percent had previously received years,” said Blair. Additionally, she morning. The event took runners from at-risk youth to at-hope
$100,000 Impact grants and 21 percent noted that nonprofits are operating across the I-95 Central Railroad youth.”
had received merit grants. The rest with less money in their coffers as the Greenway Pedestrian Overpass,
had either never been a finalist or were pandemic has caused them to cancel the bridge that connects North Five Indian River County
new to Impact. their fundraisers. County Regional Park and the schools have already received
Fellsmere Trailhead Preserve. training, and Hill said they hope
While some questioned whether The Impact model calls for “One to eventually branch out to the
previous recipients should be consid- Woman, $1,000, One Vote,” meaning Neither fog nor cooler temper- rest of the community.
ered, Blair explained, “I look at it as a the number of members determines atures could dampen the spirits
wonderful indication. The continuity the number of $100,000 grants that of the participants as they raced “We want to be anywhere that
of relationships with our nonprofits, I can be distributed. Over its 12-year through forests of pine trees and kids can hang out. You never
think, is more impactful in general in history, Impact 100 has provided al- saw palmettos. The 5K took them know who that one person in a
Indian River County.” most $6.7 million in grants to local along the path of the Dinky Line, child’s life will be that can iden-
nonprofits. with runners chugging along un- tify their treasures and help
Without identifying any nonprofits, der their own steam rather than them succeed,” said Hill.
she mentioned a few of the grant proj- “I would love to be able to know, aboard one of the former Trans-
ects they are reviewing: an all-inclu- come April, that there’s enough money Florida Central Railroad trains The organization has pro-
sive access to care program for low-in- in the bank that we might give out at that in the early 1900s ran the vided funding to the Treasure
come families; a mobile medical unit; least four or maybe five grants to these route connecting Sebastian and Coast Food Bank, Gifford Youth
a pre-school booster program; and an deserving organizations,” said Blair. Fellsmere. Orchestra, Special Equestrians
afterschool vocational training pro- of the Treasure Coast and the
gram for low-income youth. “I would hope that all of you would The Executive Roundtable Kindergarten Readiness Col-
consider joining Impact 100,” said La- was founded in 2011 by a group laborative; has sponsored the
Blair said her consistent message to Forge in closing. “We are in a unique of nonprofit leaders represent- Superintendent’s Art Gallery;
the panel was to look for sustainable position to fund $100,000 grants and ing education, law enforcement, and has served as an oversight
high-impact projects, meaning pro- to make a difference.” health, welfare and community committee for the Department
grams that have the potential to ripple administration, and obtained of Juvenile Justice Civil Citation
For more information, visit impac- nonprofit status in 2014. Its mis- program.
t100ir.com.  sion is to “identify solutions that
will protect and enhance the Most recently, they formed a
Professional Cabinet lives of Indian River County resi- Census Complete Count Com-
Design Available dents, and their families, with an mittee to help boost the Census
emphasis on children.” response rate in Indian River
CARPET ONE Creative Floors & Home has more for your County.
CREATIVE FLOORS entire home from the floor up! With Flooring, Proceeds from the Rail Trail 5K
Tile, Cabinets and even vacuum cleaners! enable the Executive Roundtable Jake Kramer took first place
& HOME to support local nonprofits that overall in the 5K with a time of
772.569.0240 serve children and families in 17:40, and Jennifer Goodall came
the community. in first in the women’s division
1137 Old Dixie Hwy • Vero Beach with a time of 23:07.
creativefloorscarpet1verobeach.com A large part of their effort is
focused on introducing Kids at For more information, visit ex-
Hope to the community. Its stra- ecroundtableirc.org. 
tegic framework engages the
community by training adults
to be “intentional in believing,
engaging and connecting with
children.”

“It’s a culture change that
teaches adults and people in
children’s lives to believe that all
children are capable of success,
without exception,” explained

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 25

PEOPLE

Jeffery Otis, Lee-Anna Otis, Susan Worthen and Brandon Dambeck. PHOTOS: KAILA JONES

Rhonda Smith and Logan Smith. Carrie Lester, Aimee Hill and Caryn Toole.

Linda Slate, Chris Perretta and Ann Broadwell. Brandon Keller and Alexis Daley.

Madeline Mosher and Eddie Mosher. Don Crawford and Holly Crawford.





The avenue will
become greener
and more pedes-

trian-friendly.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo last week plan, envisioned by architects PCA– for completion by 2030, is arguably ly criticized in France for being pollut-
gave the green light to a dramatic Stream, will roughly halve the space overdue. While the street still largely ed, congested, pricey and – thanks to
makeover of the French capital’s most allotted to cars, greatly increase the retains its international tag as the brand saturation and heavy tourism –
famous avenue, the Champs Elysées. area’s tree cover and seek to encour- “world’s most beautiful avenue,” the even “ringarde,” a term probably best
age more small-scale shops along the Champs Elysées’ reputation among translated as “passé.”
Promising to turn the 1.4-mile strip avenue’s flanks. Parisians has been low for some time.
from the Place de La Concorde to the The current lack of love among lo-
Arc de Triomphe into an “extraordi- The project, dubbed “Re-Enchant- Despite its grand buildings and dra- cals for the Champs Elysées is an open
nary garden,” the city’s $305 million ing the Champs Elysées” and due matic vistas, the avenue has been wide-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

A greener, Place de la Con-
calmer Arc de corde will also
Triomphe could be rejuvenated.
be en route.

30 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 INSIGHT COVER STORY Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 More room for rather arid plaza, marooned behind
bikes and walk- lines of traffic, will be visually reshaped
secret. A 2019 survey found that 30% ers, less room for by planting. What is now a vast tract of
of Parisians disagreed with the “most cars, and a lot paving stones will be filled with tree-
beautiful” tag – a proportion that rose shaded lawns bracketing the square’s
the closer respondents lived to the av- more trees. fountains like a pair of open lips. A ma-
enue itself – with 71% dismissing the jor road on the square’s southern edge,
street as “touristy.” Capping a meanwhile, will be buried, its surface
sunken roadway planted with grass and bushes.
Even the city, in its proposals for the will create even
renovation, acknowledged the street Sweeping views across the square
was currently known as an assembly more green will likely be lost at several points,
point for “big international chains space. but the space stands to feel more ac-
perceived as antiseptic and scarcely cessible to pedestrians. By joining up
distinguishable.” existing gardens, it will eventually be

Most major cities have a bland- A DESIRE TO MAKE
but-popular commercial hub with a THE AVENUE MORE
similar function – New York’s Times OF A MONUMENT
Square or Amsterdam’s Leidseplein AND LESS OF A
spring to mind. A specific problem of MALL SEEMS LIKE
the Champs Elysées, however, is that it A PROMISING SIGN.
is both ringarde and too expensive to
be truly accessible. possible to walk from the Louvre all
the way to the Arc de Triomphe under
Even emporia for domestic brands, leafy cover, breathing cleaner air in a
such as a huge Louis Vuitton flagship, green space strewn with benches and
make the street’s retail offerings feel water fountains.
like a very expensive airport. Stroll-
ers don’t come here just to shop, of The businesses along the avenue
course, but with heavy vehicle traffic should be due for some changes too.
and large expanses of heat-radiating Public consultation found that citizens
asphalt, it isn’t an ideal spot for café wanted a “more authentic and more
terraces either. French retail offer,” according to the
city, one “emphasizing French art of
As a result, locals are staying away. living, savoir-faire and gastronomy.”
PCA-Stream’s investigations into flows
of people in the area found that, once Given the popularity of the street
you discount people working in busi- with visitors – and high commercial
nesses along the street, only 15% of rents that oblige businesses to have a
pedestrians on the Champs Elysées high turnover to survive – this guide-
came from Greater Paris. line might risk creating a theme-park
version of French culture that could
A desire to make the avenue more of itself still have ringarde aspects to it.
a monument and less of a mall seems A desire to make the avenue more of
like a promising sign. a monument and less of a mall none-
theless seems like a promising sign.
The new makeover won’t automati-
cally make the street hip, but will cer- And yet a calmer, more car-free
tainly make the avenue a more pleas- Champs Elysées may still come as a
ant place to linger, much along the shock. This is, after all, a multi-lane
lines of other greening, car-calming thoroughfare where traffic has long
projects conducted already elsewhere been part of the scene.
in Paris.
Back in the days before cars were
Current renderings (still potentially more widely acknowledged as harm-
susceptible to later adaptation) show ful, the tangle of Citroëns and Renaults
sidewalks roughly doubling in width
while car lanes will be reduced to four
– even around the Place de L’Étoile, a
multi-spoked intersection connecting
all the avenues essential for north-
western Paris’ circulation.

Generous bike tracks will flank both
sides, while the remaining vehicles
are shown in renderings (somewhat
optimistically) as mixing peacefully
with pedestrians, suggesting an as-
yet-unannounced reduction in speed
will also be introduced. This pedes-
trian space will be shaded by a newly
doubled line of trees, and the paving
beneath them partly cleared to create
a more rain-absorbent surface.

It’s at the avenue’s eastern end, at
the Place de la Corcorde, however,
that the greatest change will be seen
– a change that, unlike the rest of the
project, should be in place before the
2024 Olympic Games.

Here, the currently spectacular but

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 31

INSIGHT COVER STORY

weaving around the Arc de Triomphe a great axial avenue no longer primar- That still rankles some New Yorkers But if the car-free wave continues –
was considered a quintessentially Pa- ily dedicated to movement. nostalgic for bygone bustle, and Hidalgo and developments in other Europeans
risian spectacle – proof that city life may find certain Parisians likewise resis- cities, including Brussels and Madrid,
was loud and dirty but also dynamic More than a decade ago, a some- tant to banishing cars along this boule- suggest it can – more grand urban
and vibrant. Few may want to preserve what similar transformation swept the vard; her multi-year campaign to rid the spaces could look forward to a less fre-
this scene, but a Champs Elysées sans crossroads of an American metropo- city of automotive domination has been netic future. 
cars will be a notably different place – lis, New York City’s partially pedestri- marked by such pushback in the past.
anized Times Square.

32 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT OPINION

For much of the past decade, the pace of innova- tion” might be ending. First is the flurry of recent dis- nology now extends to medical diagnostics, logis-
tion underwhelmed many people – especially those coveries with transformative potential. The success tics, biotechnology and semiconductors.
miserable economists. of the “messenger RNA” technique behind the Pfizer-
BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and of bespoke an- Such is the market’s optimism about electric ve-
Productivity growth was lackluster and the most tibody treatments, shows how science continues to hicles that Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, who also runs a
popular new inventions, the smartphone and social empower medicine. rocket firm, is the world’s richest man.
media, did not seem to help much. Their malign
side-effects, such as creation of powerful monopo- Humans are increasingly able to bend biology to The third source of cheer is the rapid adoption
lies and the pollution of the public square, became their will, whether that is to treat disease, edit genes of new technologies. It is not just that workers have
painfully apparent. or to grow meat in a lab. Artificial intelligence is at last taken to videoconferencing and consumers to e-
displaying impressive progress in a range of contexts. commerce – significant as those advances are, for
Promising technologies stalled, including self-driv- A program created by DeepMind, part of Alphabet, example to easing the constraints on job-seeking
ing cars, making Silicon Valley’s evangelists look naive. has shown a remarkable ability to predict the shapes posed by housing shortages.
Security hawks warned that authoritarian China was of proteins; last summer OpenAI unveiled GPT-3, the
racing past the West and some gloomy folk warned best natural-language algorithm to date. The pandemic has also accelerated the adoptions
that the world was finally running out of useful ideas. of digital payments, telemedicine and industrial au-
Spectacular falls in the price of renewable energy tomation. It has been a reminder that adversity often
Today a dawn of technological optimism is breaking. are giving governments confidence that their green forces societies to advance. The fight against climate
The speed at which COVID-19 vaccines have been pro- investments will pay off. Even China now promises change and the great-power competition between
duced has made scientists household names. Promi- carbon neutrality by 2060. America and China could spur further bold steps.
nent breakthroughs, a tech investment boom and the
adoption of digital technologies during the pandemic The second reason for optimism is booming in- Alas, innovation will not allow economies to shrug
are combining to raise hopes of a new era of progress: vestment in technology. In the second and third off the structural drags on growth. As societies get
optimists giddily predict a “roaring Twenties.” quarters of 2020, America’s non-residential private richer, they spend a greater share of their income on
sector spent more on computers, software and re- labor-intensive services.
Just as the pessimism of the 2010s was overdone search and development (R&D) than on buildings
– the decade saw many advances, such as in cancer and industrial gear for the first time in over a decade. Decarbonizing economies will not boost long-
treatment – so predictions of technological Utopia are term growth unless green energy realizes its poten-
overblown. But there is a realistic possibility of a new Governments are keen to give more cash to scien- tial to become cheaper than fossil fuels.
era of innovation that could lift living standards, espe- tists. Having shrunk for years, public R&D spending
cially if governments help new technologies to flourish. across 24 OECD countries began to grow again in Although the private sector will ultimately deter-
real terms in 2017. Investors’ enthusiasm for tech- mine which innovations succeed or fail, governments
In the history of capitalism, rapid technological ad- also have an important role to play.They should shoul-
vance has been the norm. The 18th century brought der the risks in more “moonshot” projects.
the Industrial Revolution and mechanized factories;
the 19th century railways and electricity; the 20th The state also has a big influence over how fast
century cars, planes, modern medicine and domes- innovations diffuse through the economy. Govern-
tic liberation thanks to washing machines. ments need to make sure that regulation and lobby-
ing do not slow down disruption.
In the 1970s, though, progress – measured by over-
all productivity growth – slowed. The economic im- If governments rise to the challenge, then faster
pact was masked for a while by women piling into the growth and higher living standards will be within
workforce, and a burst of efficiency gains followed their reach, allowing them to defy the pessimists.
the adoption of personal computers in the 1990s. Af- The 2020s began with a cry of pain but, with the
ter 2000, though, growth flagged again. right policies, the decade could yet roar. ■ 

There are three reasons to think this “great stagna- A version of this column first appeared in The
Economist. It does not necessarily reflect the views of
Vero Beach 32963.

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

© 2021 Vero Beach 32963 Media, all rights reserved The good news is that two COVID-19 vaccines have officially CCuHrrAeLnLtlEyNthGeEreSis limited availability of COVID-19 vaccine. Also
been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for
emergency use in the United States. Pharmaceutical company both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines need to be kept
Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine (for ages 16 and higher) is re- at below freezing temperatures, -94F and -4F respectively. Facil-
portedly 95% effective; Moderna’s (for ages 18 and up) has a ities that hold the vaccines must be equipped with freezers that
94.5% effective rate. have the capability to keep the vaccines at these temperatures.
Both require two doses (shots). According to the CDC (U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the minimum TFhOeRfeNdeOraWl government’s goal is to vaccinate 380 million Ameri-
time between shots for the Pfizer vaccine is 21 days; the mini-
mum time between shots for the Moderna vaccine is 28 days. cans. Rather than taking years to develop, review and begin dis-
There is no maximum interval between the first and second tribution like other vaccines, the COVID-19 vaccine has come to
doses for either vaccine. fruition in nine months – a feat never achieved before.
Additional pharmaceutical companies, such as AstraZeneca and Over the next months, more doses will become available as ad-
Johnson & Johnson, have vaccines under development in clinical ditional companies gain approval by the FDA for their vaccines.
trials that will hopefully be approved and ready for distribution Also, as detailed coordination of this complex operation becomes
in 2021. more predictable, access will become more routine. Eventually,
COVID-19 vaccines are designed to trigger an immune response down the line, pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens will likely
in a person’s body that will protect him or her from getting a be able to also administer the vaccine.
coronavirus infection.
WIf yHouAaTreTaOreDsidOent of Indian River County, register into the coun-
TDhIeSTfeRdIeBrUal TgIoOveNrnOmFenCtOpuVrIcDha-1se9s VthAeCvCaIcNcinEe and distributes
ty’s alerting system at www.alertindianriver.com. While that web-
it to the states. Each state partners with county health depart- site is not an appointment system or waiting list for the COVID-19
ments, healthcare organizations, and even Publix, to develop vaccine, it will keep you posted with official information about
and implement logistics for distribution. upcoming vaccination clinics and appointments. Another good
In Florida, long-term care facility residents and staff, persons 65 resource is the county’s website (www.ircgov.com).
years of age and older, and healthcare personnel with direct pa- Beware of scammers! Indian River County Sheriff’s Department
tient contact are the first priority. The state also allows hospital has issued a scam alert about websites that are charging fees for
providers to vaccinate people who they deem to be extremely vaccine appointments. Indian River County receives its vaccine
vulnerable to COVID-19. allocation from the state and does not charge individuals who
meet Florida’s guidelines for COVID-19 vaccines.
Stay positive, be patient and persevere. Keep yourself and oth-
ers safe. Continue to wash your hands, limit social engagement,
maintain physical distance and wear your mask.
Your comments and suggestions for future topics are always wel-
come. Email us at [email protected].

34 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BOOKS

The first character any novelist creates is himself. A Richard Greene ity, a rapt listener to his anec-
biographer’s task is to close the gap between this sur- dotes about Ho Chi Minh and
face image and a mosaic of messy subterranean facts. plays down previ- Castro. When I proposed to
Like an undercover operative, Graham Greene mined draw on these stories and do a
his diaries, letters and interviews with misinforma- ous biographies that profile of Greene for Playboy
tion to foil literary snoops. My sympathy goes out to magazine, he gave me the go-
Richard Greene, who, after editing the English novel- “focused to a remark- ahead, with the proviso that I
ist’s collected correspondence, now chronicles a life as not mention his last mistress,
crazed as a hall of cracked mirrors. able degree on the
Yvonne Cloetta.
At school, Graham felt torn between his classmates minutiae of his sexual Playboy rejected my ar-
and his father, who was the headmaster. Sometimes
he betrayed both sides to stay faithful to himself. As life, provoking some ticle, complaining it was
a college student traveling in Europe, he offered to too much like one author
spy for German intelligence. Simultaneously he was reviewers to regard schmoozing with another.
willing to act as a double agent for other nations. Later I placed the profile
During World War II he joined England’s Secret Intel- parts of the works as in the Nation and the Lon-
ligence Service, and even after he resigned from the don Magazine, happy to
SIS, he continued to file secret reports while working prurient and trivial.” have it in print and show
as a journalist. He wrote sympathetic copy about his it to Greene. In response,
friend Kim Philby, who spied for Russia, then passed About Norman Sher-
Philby’s correspondence to the SIS and debriefed the he shot back an apoplec-
agency after visiting Philby in Moscow. ry’s three-volume au- tic letter, accusing me of
multiple mistakes and
At age 16, Greene underwent psychoanalysis and thorized biography, he expressing “real horror. I
was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. His cycles of don’t think that any jour-
anxiety and acedia grew so acute that suicide seemed says: “In the later stag- nalist has done worse for
the only escape. He claims in his memoir, “A Sort of me than you. … I have
Life,” that he played Russian roulette half a dozen es of [Sherry’s] project annotated every page of
times. Decades later, when he met Fidel Castro, even The London Magazine and pro-
the Cuban dictator was familiar with the tale and mar- he was developing de- pose to sell it for a large sum.”
veled that Greene hadn’t killed himself. Ultimately, Greene permitted me to republish
mentia. His third and the profile in Italy and Spain and to include it in
But Richard Greene, who is not related to the nov- my collected essays. Later, when Penelope Gilliatt
elist, indicates in “The Unquiet Englishman” that “A final volume, published plagiarized the piece in the New Yorker, recycling
Sort of Life is not entirely reliable on some important material that Greene had disowned, I accepted a fi-
points. It is reasonable to believe that this story is at in 2004, was strangely nancial settlement from the editor, William Shawn,
least embellished, that Graham Greene did play Rus- but wondered whether Greene hadn’t indulged
sian roulette but with blanks, or, more likely, empty incoherent.” Usually once again in mythomania and unspooled the
chambers.” Still, “Russian Roulette” is the title of the same stories to Gilliatt.
British edition of “The Unquiet Englishman,” and the meticulous with foot- This minor incident in Graham Greene’s career
biographer stresses that Greene “did many things at contains much of what I remember about the man:
least as dangerous as Russian roulette. … It is not sim- notes, Richard Greene his quickness to anger, his almost physical need to
ply a tall tale but a personal myth, a story that allows start arguments, then just as abruptly his recovery of
Greene to explain a recurrent pattern.” cites no source for this equilibrium and his forgiveness. As “An Unquiet Eng-
lishman” maintains, Greene was a product of his po-
In chapter after chapter, Richard Greene drama- information. litical and cultural context. But what made him truly
tizes this pattern, showing the novelist’s death-wish remarkable was his ability to transcend that context
penchant for putting himself on the spot wherever He maintains that and his personal quirks to create literature that is, to
poverty, political violence and religious persecution quote Ezra Pound, “news that stays news.” 
terrorized the population. Critics dubbed these set- with the emergence
tings Greeneland, as if the squalor and trauma were THE UNQUIET ENGLISHMAN
pure invention. But “The Unquiet Englishman” em- of new research mate-
phasizes the accuracy of Greene’s portraits of Mexico A LIFE OF GRAHAM GREENE
in “The Power and the Glory,” Africa in “The Heart of rial, the “landscape of [Greene’s] life has
the Matter,” Vietnam in “The Quiet American” and BY RICHARD GREENE | W.W. NORTON & COMPANY. 608 PP. $40
Haiti in “The Comedians.” a different outline,” and his aim is to study “the polit- REVIEW BY MICHAEL MEWSHAW, THE WASHINGTON POST

ical and cultural contexts” of Greene’s novels. In large

measure, this approach enriches the perspective.

Recounting Greene’s excursions to Central America,

where he seemed to chum around with brutal cau-

dillos, Richard Greene reveals that even as he aged,

the novelist didn’t only continue to write. He served

as a go-between during kidnapping cases and revo-

lutionary negotiations.

Sometimes, however, this focus on “political and

cultural contexts” comes at the expense of attention

to Greene’s private behavior. “The Unquiet English-

man” contains many examples of his charity to wor-

thy causes, generosity to relatives and friends – he

supported ex-mistresses long after their affairs ended

and bought one a house – and assistance to writers he

admired. But perhaps to avoid any charges of pruri-

ence, Richard Greene lets a stream of prostitutes and

lovers flow through the book as one-dimensional as

shapes in a shooting gallery. Greene’s promiscuity is

mentioned but seldom delved into.

Where depression is usually defined as anger

turned inward, Greene was apt to turn it outward and

pick fights. Of this I speak from experience. For 20

years I was a recipient of his kindness and hospital-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 35

INSIGHT BRIDGE

FIND ONE CARD TO UNCOVER ANOTHER WEST NORTH EAST
3 K 10 8 5 2 96
By Phillip Alder - Bridge Columnist QJ865 94 A K 10 3
Q743 A 10 8 652
Alexander Graham Bell said, “Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve 852 Q J 10 A743
the cooperation of many minds.”
SOUTH
Maybe “invariably” is a slight overbid, but when someone has a good idea, it will often AQJ74
be honed by others. That definitely applies in bridge. Even something as classic as 72
Blackwood has appeared in several versions. KJ9
K96
In this deal, though, there is a different discovery that is important. South is in four
spades. West leads the heart queen, top of touching honors. East takes the second Dealer: East; Vulnerable: Both
trick with his heart ace (a harmless falsecard) and exits with a trump. How should
declarer continue? The Bidding:

Advocates of the Losing Trick Count would insist on game with the North hand. It has SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST OPENING
only seven losers (one spade, because you deduct one loser for a 10-card or better Pass
fit, two hearts, two diamonds and two clubs), which is the game-force number. 1 Spades Pass 3 Spades Pass LEAD:
4 Spades Pass Pass Pass Q Hearts
South has three top losers (two hearts and one club), so must find the diamond queen
to make his contract. However, rather than just guess, declarer should first go on a
voyage of discovery. After drawing trumps, he should find out who holds the club ace.
When it proves to be East, West must have the diamond queen. Why?

East has already turned up with 11 points (heart ace-king and club ace), but did not
open the bidding as dealer. He cannot also have a queen.

If you want to be one of the top players in your circle, count high-card points on all
deals. You will be amazed how often “guesses” become certainties.

36 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT GAMES

SOLUTIONS TO PREVIOUS ISSUE (JANUARY 14) ON PAGE 69

ACROSS DOWN
1 Young whale (4) 2 Knockout drugs (12)
4 Husky (6) 3 Sudden desires (7)
7 Hoppy drink (3) 4 Hair dye (5)
9 Admonish (4) 5 Performed (5)
10 Rent unit (anag.) (8) 6 Move (5)
11 Swindle (3) 8 Bit policeman (anag.) (12)
12 Italian white wine (4) 14 Unlace (5)
13 Try for role (8) 15 Fury (3)
16 Muscle treatment etc. (13) 17 Irritate (3)
19 Disciplinarian (8) 18 Use again (7)
23 Quote (4) 20 Fool (5)
24 Freezing cold (3) 21 Enormous (5)
25 Purchased (8) 22 Crest (5)
26 Young wolves (4)
The Telegraph 27 Mousse (hair) (3)
28 Globe; field (6)
29 Regular (4)

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

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 37

INSIGHT GAMES

ACROSS 100 Bobbie Gentry’s first hit, e.g. 57 One-time Queens stadium The Washington Post
101 See 64 Across 58 Spanish blanket
1 Pinnacle 102 Sung syllable 60 Peg that elevates a cello
5 Bean town? 103 Cleopatra’s last pet 61 Most minuscule
9 Scaler’s spike 104 Hake or haddock, e.g. 62 “... in ___ form
14 Maryland college 107 Bonn-born: abbr.
108 Crime writer Rule a more perfect union ...”
footballer 109 Like hotel pools 66 Cinema computer
18 Cubs’ home 112 Milton Berle sponsor, once 67 Someone to
19 Cheese that’s made 114 Advice to Mr. Grey
at 1 a.m.? cheer for
backwards? 117 Editorial? 69 WWII prison camp
20 Muse of love poetry 119 Musical work 70 Very earnest
21 Sikorsky and Stravinsky 120 Fred Mertz’s wife 73 Temple University player
23 Key to Palmer’s swing? 121 Picnic playwright 74 Sun Maid product
25 Ate some paste? 122 Persia before ’35 75 Pickle juice
27 Ford’s first bestseller 123 London art gallery 76 Chief Pontiac’s people for
28 George M.’s family 124 Peruses
30 Taiwan ending 125 Bivalve in your sauce whom a city is named
31 Sculptor’s degree: abbr. 126 Results of acid dissociation 81 Dendrite counterpart
32 Dictionary abbr. 82 Literary tentmaker
33 Marine slogan word DOWN 84 Yale player
35 Org. for the Andrews 87 1960s group that sang “Wild
1 Hertz rival
Sisters 2 Chocolate cousin Thing” (with “the”)
36 Make, as lace 3 Behaves 88 Leave with a posse
37 Match 4 Cleveland’s lake 89 Laws of Motion notion
38 Detective writer who 5 Flatt of Flatt and Scruggs 91 Spoken
6 President McKinley’s wife 92 Slaves
tends to write in chunks? 7 Mr. Antony 94 Heist job
44 Muckraker Sinclair 8 BBs, e.g. 96 Cloud’s number
47 Citizen X star Stephen 9 Flying horse 97 Goose’s mate
48 Packaging safeguard 10 Adirondacks resource 98 “Shovel it in”
49 Was on TV 11 Keep ___ on (monitor) 99 High regard
50 Sulk 12 NYC betting sign 104 Where Aïda premiered
51 SeaWorld whale 13 Mrs. Sprat’s rule 105 The Indian, for one
53 Drop out 14 Current event? 106 Churchill ___
56 Condition caused by 15 It’s a chick thing 108 Busy as ___
16 “Is there ___ 109 Joke response
eating too much cheese and 110 The Aeneid, for one
chocolate? one more?” (latecomers’s line) 111 Frontiersman Boone, to pals
58 Car style 17 Biography 113 The next-to-last Louis
59 Herr von Bismarck 22 Practiced one’s lutzes 115 Baseball’s Mel
63 Asian holiday 24 Like leprechauns 116 Summer, on the Somme
64 Alien co-star 26 Part of “how are you,” in 118 Tour grp.?
65 Expo for dentists?
68 Come up Spanish Y NOT? By Merl Reagle
70 Hang-glides 29 “What?”
71 Locate anew 34 Pop art’s pop
72 Try out a car’s horn? 36 City of Spain
75 Swine with tusks 38 They don’t know
77 Be evasive
78 Sicilian city, or a queen their limit
backwards 39 Kingdom
79 Danish poet Johannes 40 ___-shanter
80 What even the rarest 41 West Pointers
breed of dog is? 42 Old King Cole?
83 Nielsen of Airplane! 43 Perish one by one
85 Goes out 44 Albany, to a Manhattanite
86 Fog 45 First button to push, often
87 Victim’s second ordeal 46 Money for college
90 Plant ailment 51 Candle holders
93 Soap ___ rope 52 Incalculable
94 Division of a long poem 54 Philosopher ___-tzu
95 What a cyborg might feel after 55 Catches illegally
a hearing-organ transplant?

The Telegraph

38 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

INSIGHT BACK PAGE

Amid a pandemic, keeping your distance is an act of love

BY CAROLYN HAX putting self-interest and wishful thinking ahead
Washington Post of pandemic necessity. Don’t succumb and make
it easy for them to maintain their denial. Exist as
Dear Carolyn: I am doing my counterpressure, even just through your absence.
This is a hard ask, and I’m sorry. But you get it,
best to stay home and not risk get- and anyone who grasps pandemic reality bears
the added responsibility of living it.
ting COVID. My dear husband
For another thing, as your grocery-employed
works in a grocery store but is faith- husband proves, some don’t have the luxury of
living the epidemiologist’s dream. And the alter-
ful about mask-wearing. So far, native is not to throw up our hands and declare
the effort hopeless – it’s to recognize that when
so good. I have faith in masks but all precautions aren’t possible, the possible pre-
cautions become all the more urgent. People who
think it may still be possible to catch the virus while can be vigilant must be for those who can’t. Or
won’t.
wearing one.
If it helps, here’s the we-Americans-apparently-
My problem is that my mother-in-law wants us to like-to-think-we-live-in-our-own-silos version: Think
of each discrete COVID risk we take as a brick, and
come to dinner every two weeks or so. I think she be- imagine stacking these bricks on each other each
time we take such a risk. A stack of zero may be im-
lieves God has His hand over us and we are safe. I don’t possible, but keeping our own stacks as small as pos-
sible, choice by choice, day by day? That is possible.
share that conviction. She is starting to resent me for And it helps.

speaking up and refusing to come. So keep taking your spread-prevention mea-
sures, every one you can.
And, really, what difference does it make if my hus-
And boost your communication, in writing, with
band goes over and then brings the virus back to me? your mother-in-law: a newsy daily email, a run-
ning group text, Zoom visits with an assist from
She is pro-mask but won’t wear one. She is also deaf the chat feature? Impairments compound isola-
tion, so please offer her safe ways to ease it. 
and gets irritated with me when she can’t understand

me through the mask. My husband, father-in-law, There is a virus and there are facts and you’re right.
That’s why you’re not “being an ass” when you hold
and sister-in-law are no help. They have always ca- your ground – you’re being a hero. A loving, sensible,
rational, brave, patriotic, strong-as-hell warrior.
tered to her demands. I am sorry your mother-in-law’s weakness, and
the others’ even weaker weakness in the face of her
What do I do? I’m not trying to have a power play weakness, mean your heroics are being undermined,
possibly someday negated, once per fortnight.
here, but I don’t want this virus and I don’t want her But that doesn’t mean you should cave.
For one thing, your strength is an important ex-
to get it, either. I feel like I’m being an ass when I hold ample, a standing opportunity for the others to stop

my ground, but I also believe it is the right thing to do.

– Damned if I Do, Sick if I Don’t

Damned if I Do, Sick if I Don’t: It is the right thing
to do. There’s no belief element to it.

CAROL STAUB’S EXPERIMENTAL ART
IS UP TO THE CHALLENGE





42 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

Carol Staub.

PHOTOS BY KAILA JONES

CAROL STAUB’S EXPERIMENTAL ART IS UP TO THE CHALLENGE

BY ELLEN FISCHER | COLUMNIST Gallery 14, alongside that of ceramic
sculptor Walford Campbell, mixed-
On display through January, the media sculptor Mia Lindberg and
work of mixed-media painter Carol painter Sandy L. Ford.
Staub is in a special exhibition at
In preparing for the exhibition ti-

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 43

ARTS & THEATRE

‘One step for me THE LAUGHING DOG GALLERY | CELEBRATING
leads to another. I
never know where HOT GLASS
I’m going, but I know
how to get there.’ The Treasure Coast’s largest collection of
contemporary glass and one of America’s
– Carol Staub Coolest Stores, right here in Vero Beach.

tled Fabulous Four, Staub knew that washed-out aquamarine and buff- 2910 CARDINAL DRIVE, VERO BEACH • 772-234-6711 • THELAUGHINGDOGGALLERY.COM
she would have to up her game to colored surface looks as though the
show well alongside the offerings of object has rolled about in the surf for
her “fab” colleagues. More than with a couple centuries, gaining an incrus-
fellow painter Lindberg, however, tation of salt and sand. Its similarly
Staub’s work shares a number of the colored companion in the show, “Sea
qualities usually reserved for sculp- Pod,” is a rotund lidded vessel with a
tors, including the surface finishes gold-washed pumpkin finial.
and textural flourishes that Staub de-
scribes as “painterly.” “To me, they are very beachy,” says
Staub, who marvels that the colors
Standing before her diptych, “Just in both her painting and Lindberg’s
Beachy,” in Gallery 14’s central dis- sculptures contain the same blue
play room, Staub says “it’s very inspir- hues. They did not plan it that way;
ing to see other people’s work.” the use of blue is novel for both artists.
According to Staub, she and Lindberg
“I love Walford’s work,” she says, saw each other’s ocean-themed works
indicating the three vessels by Camp- for the first time in late December,
bell that are grouped on pedestals in when the show was hung.
the center of the room. Something
about them suggests fleshy female “This is different for her. Usually,
forms – their generously modeled Mia uses earthy neutral colors, as do
curves, the earthy brown stains they I,” Staub says.
wear, and the smoothed-down dabs
and light score marks on their bod- The blues in her own “Just Beachy”
ies that attest to Walford’s hand-built are cerulean, ultramarine and blue-
technique. toned Payne’s gray.

Staub then proceeds to praise Lind- Says Staub, “To me it’s definitely
berg’s work. Two of the latter’s ceram- a beach, abstracted into my world. I
ic vessels bookend Staub’s diptych. should have called it ‘Lila,’ because
Lila told me she wanted ‘beachy col-
“Those Who Wait” is a tall cylin- ors,’ and I was up for the challenge.”
der capped with an array of seal cor-
als that fairly spring from its lid. Its Lila Blakeslee is another of Gallery
14’s resident artists. Of late, she has also
painted some sand and surf scenes.
In large paintings like “Bahama Bay”
or “Caribbean Sea Spray,” Blakeslee
shows us what the beach looks like. In
“Just Beachy,” Staub shows us how the
beach feels underfoot.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

44 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 the differences between
the pictures.
Mounted side by side, its two pan- The top third of each canvas bears
els have matching compositions with a watery-looking expanse with a
slight variations in each. Viewing the crunchy irregular path of ivory col-
painting is a little like seeing a stereo- ored surf beneath it. The bottom two
scope card writ large. Your eyes want thirds of each painting bear an inky
to bounce back and forth from left indigo circle of pigment about the
side to right and back again, gauging

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 45

ARTS & THEATRE

size of the bottom of a quart-sized in a fine art piece. They can end up “If that makes any sense.” sition, three black cylinders echo the
paint can. In each painting the circle looking really crafty.” Stepping away from her beach orientation of the bars; above them is
is placed a little left of center, accom- painting to an adjacent wall where a horizontally placed bundle of furled
panied by a spill of small gravel that Staub says that for her, the original three square canvases hang, Staub book pages.
makes its way to the bottom edge of purpose of the non-art materials she says, “This is more me.”
the canvas. uses matters not when she is work- The paintings to the left and right of
ing in her studio. She is in a constant Hung in a tight row, the canvases this central canvas are mirror book-
“Those are rocks that you might dialog with the art she is making, and relate to each other as a single art- ends. They are primarily composed of
find in an aquarium,” notes Staub, the groove she is in tells her what to work, and seem to have been painted torn paper collaged to the canvases’
who says that she added them to the do next. as such. Staub titled them “The Trio,” surface. A freely brushed black stripe
painting last. even though each canvas is priced runs down the center of each com-
“One step for me leads to another. to sell as an individual work ($2,000 position, which also bears a vertical
“It’s a challenge to me to take some- I never know where I’m going, but I each, or three for $5,000). grouping of red and black cylinders.
thing like pebbles, and make it work know how to get there.
Their predominant colors are black, Staub describes “The Trio” as “an
white and red, and use a variety of exercise in simplicity and intrigue.”
media, including acrylic paint, paper
and specialty mediums that produce A couple of snippets of text are
different surface textures: a cracked readable on these rolled pages, in-
egg pattern here, a lava flow there. cluding “I failed miserably the first
For all the materials she is prone time I tried to fly the kite.” Do these
to attach, smear, glue or brush onto hold a clue to the artist’s intent?
her canvases, Staub’s compositional
sense can be quite formal. Each of “Not in this painting,” says Staub.
the paintings in “The Trio” is a grid- For her, completing a work of art is a
ded composition, with an empha- joint effort: She makes the art, and it
sis on vertical elements. In the cen- is up to you, the beholder, to interpret
tral primarily black canvas, evenly it. That could be a chancy proposi-
spaced, crackled white stripes might tion, depending upon the viewer. But
remind you of bars that seem to warn then, taking chances with her art is a
you that no illusionistic space will be big part of Staub’s practice.
found behind them, or in “The Trio”
as a whole. So, you’d best make do With proud assurance she says, “I’m
with the work as an object that occu- a master signature member of the In-
pies the same reality as you. ternational Society of Experimental
Affixed to the center of this compo- Art, which is right up my alley. And
that’s what ‘The Trio’ is to me. You are
not going to see this anywhere else; I
am sure of it.” 

46 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

ARTS & THEATRE

COMING UP! Guild’s ‘Over the Tavern’ quenches comedy thirst

BY PAM HARBAUGH Games are cash only. Music entertain-
Correspondent ment includes “Hairpeace” 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. Thursday, “Cobblestone Road” 6
1 As we crawl out of our caves, p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, “Golden Ukes” 1
we’re finding a lot more to do. At p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, “Justin Mason
& Blue Knight” 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Satur-
the top of the list this weekend is the day, and “Blue Cypress Bluegrass” 1
p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission to
comedy “Over the Tavern,” on stage the festival is free, and parking is free.
All guests are asked to wear face cov-
through Sunday at the Vero Beach erings and to practice social distanc-
ing. Organizers are also encouraging
Theatre Guild. The Chicago Tribune those who are more vulnerable to CO-
VID-19 to stay home. There are also
has called the play “a hilarious and drive-through/takeout options for the
dinners. The Fellsmere Frog Leg Festi-
touching depiction of 1959 Ameri- val will be held at 22 South Orange St.,
Fellsmere. Call 772-571-3022 or visit
cana” and a “laugh-out-loud com- FrogLegFestival.com.

edy.” Set in the Eisenhower years,

it concerns 12-year-old Rudy, who

rebels against his parochial school’s

Sister Clarissa. Directed by Alex Mar-

tinez, the show’s opening last week

received a standing ovation from its

entertainment-thirsty audience. The

Theatre Guild’s artistic director, Jon

Putzke, said it’s got a good buzz going 3 A new exhibition opens Satur-
day at the Vero Beach Museum
on and is edging close to sell-out sta-

tus. “They are such a strong, energet- of Art. “Poetry of Nature: Hudson Riv-

ic cast, I found it really fun,” Putzke er School Landscapes from the New

said. “We have a great season-opener feet apart, carpeting is gone, the lob- must wear their masks. “Over the York Historical Society” runs Jan. 23
by tripled in size and there is plenty Tavern” performs 7:30 p.m. Thursday,
on our hands.” Patrons will notice a of room outdoors for social distanc- Jan. 21, and Friday, Jan. 22; and 2 p.m. to May 2, 2021. It comprises more than
ing. Also, there’s no paper program, Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24.
lot of effort made to keep them virus- it’s all-digital. Moreover, audiences Tickets are $15 to $30. The Vero Beach 40 paintings by 25 artists of the 19th
Theatre Guild is at 2020 San Juan Ave.
safe. Half the seats have been re- Call 772-562-8300 or visit VeroBeach- century. The exhibition explores the
TheatreGuild.com.
moved, rows have been adjusted to 6 famed Hudson River School, a group

of New York City artists who painted

highly romanticized visions of Amer-

ican landscape along virgin areas in

the Catskills, Adirondacks and White

2 The 30th Annual Fellsmere Frog Mountains. Admission to the galler-
Leg Festival opens today, Jan. 21,
ies is $8 general, $7 seniors and free

and runs through Sunday, Jan. 24. Last to children under 17 years of age. It

year, the Southeast Tourism Society is also free to museum members. For

designated this festival as one of its those who want to learn more about

top 20 events. The event offers food, the genre, consider streaming “Glo-

carnival rides, entertainment and rious Marvels of the Land,” a lecture

vendors. The food part of this includes featuring historian and curator Karen

E. Quinn. She will speak, in part, on

the Hudson River School’s significant

role in the unique American vision

and its decline after the Civil War. The

lecture, which will be streamed 4:30

p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, is part of the

VBMA’s International Lecture Series.

Livestream broadcast single lecture

tickets cost $80 for museum members

and $95 for non-members. You can

also see the lecture at the museum

for the same price. Seeing it at the

museum will also get you entrance to

the galleries so that you can view the

work. When you visit the museum, be

sure to leave time to view “Chul Hyun

Ahn: New Light,” an unusual light art

frog legs, gator tail (do they really taste exhibition on view through April 30.
like chicken?), plus a host of typical
festival fare. Buy tickets for $1.25 each Facemasks required, temperatures
or $20 for a bundle of 18. Then trade
those tickets in for food or rides. Rides taken, social distancing observed and
will cost three to four tickets; food will
cost four to 10 tickets. If you love the hand sanitizers available. The Vero
rides, you’ll be interested in the $20-
$25 for all-you-can-ride armbands. Beach Museum of Art is at 3001 River-

side Park Dr. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30

p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays,

and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Call 772-

231-0707 or visit VBMuseum.org. 

‘ROCK STEADY BOXING’ LETS
PARKINSON’S PATIENTS
FIGHT BACK

48 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

‘Rock Steady Boxing’ lets Parkinson’s patients fight back

BY KERRY FIRTH Dr. S. James Shafer. someone who knows they are never
Correspondent to get better, putting on boxing gloves
PHOTO: KAILA JONES and punching a bag gives them the
Dr. S. James Shafer, founder of opportunity to fight back.”
Vero Beach Neurology and Research GUM SURGERY
Institute in Vero Beach, doesn’t be- WALK-INS WELCOME Dr. Shafer teamed up with Gus and
lieve in just managing a neurological FINANCING AVAILABLE Macy Curren, owners of House of
disease, but instead is a proactive ad- Champions Gym in Vero Beach, about
vocate. In some cases, he advises pa- four years ago to offer the Rock Steady
tients to literally fight back for their Boxing Program to area patients.
quality of life.
The program was founded in 2006
Such is the case with many of his by a young patient who wanted to
patients suffering from the debili- challenge his disease through ex-
tating effects of Parkinson’s disease, ercise and hired a boxing trainer to
which brutally attacks one’s motor develop a personal training regimen
skills, balance, speech and sensory designed to gain strength and agility.
functions. Interestingly, these are He noticed drastic improvement and
the same motor skills that boxers formed a nonprofit to help bring the
train to perfect. That’s exactly why program to others. Today there are
Dr. Shafer recommends that Parkin- more than 600 affiliates worldwide,
son’s patients box to improve their serving 3,600 patients.
motor skills.
“Locally, we currently have about
“While most people rightfully 50 patients who train at the gym, al-
equate boxing with a cause of Par- though we’ve had several hundred
kinson’s and not a treatment, studies participants over the past few years,”
have shown that non-contact boxing explained Dr. Shafer. “The exercises
dramatically improves hand-eye co- combine physical activity and the
ordination, agility and daily function- learning of new skills, requiring the
ing for patients,” said Dr. Shafer. “For brain to adapt to new challenges. Rock
Steady Boxing is designed for Parkin-
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The patient and any other person responsible for payment has a right to
refuse to pay, cancel payment, or be reimbursed for payment for any other
services, examination, or treatment that is preformed as a result of and
within 72 hours of responding to the advertisement for the free, discounted
fee, or reduced fee service, examination, or treatment.

1225 US HWY 1, VERO BEACH, FL 32960

Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 49

HEALTH

son’s patients but is open to anyone University of Miami at Jackson Memo- and study coordinators at Vero Beach medical treatment is always necessary,
suffering from a movement disorder. rial Hospital in Miami, followed by an Neurology & Research Institute con- but this is one way for them to fight
We have participants from all over Internal Medicine internship at Jack- duct clinical trials in therapeutic ar- back.”
who are referred to us from numerous son Memorial Hospital. eas including MS and Parkinson’s dis-
practices. Many seasonal residents ease from their offices in Vero Beach. Dr. Shafer and House of Champions
make signing up for the program one He completed his residency in Adult Gym are co-sponsoring an online semi-
of their first priorities. Not only is it Neurology in 1997 at the University of “We’re always looking for a better nar on Parkinson’s disease on Feb 16. The
fun and socially engaging, but it also Florida at Shands Teaching Hospital. treatment or ultimate cure for Par- event is open to all and features Michael
increases independence and self- He is affiliated with Cleveland Clinic kinson’s disease,” said Dr. Shafer. “I’m S. Okum, MD chair of neurology, profes-
confidence as well as the physical im- Indian River Hospital, where he serves convinced that there is no pill or sur- sor and executive director of the Norman
provements.” as department chairman of Neurolo- gery than can replicate the benefits Fixel Institute for Neurological diseases
gy and Psychiatry and medical direc- for Parkinson’s patients that are re- at the University of Florida Health Col-
Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that tor of the IRMC Stroke program. He is ceived from participation in the Rock lage of Medicine. Information and reg-
leads to shaking, stiffness and dif- the founder and medical director of Steady Boxing program. istration can be found at the Alzheimer’s
ficulty with walking, balance and the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Vero and Parkinson’s Support Group web-
coordination. According to the Par- Beach that has cared for thousands of “The workouts basically wake up site: www.alzpark.org. Dr. Shafer can
kinson’s Foundation, nearly 1 million MS patients worldwide. the brain and I’ve seen patients who be reached at Vero Beach Neurology Re-
people were living with Parkinson’s couldn’t walk when they came in, be- search Institute, 772-492-7051. 
disease in the United States in 2020, He and his team of investigators come mobile again. There’s no doubt
more than the combined number of
people diagnosed with multiple scle-
rosis, muscular dystrophy and Lou
Gehrig’s disease (Amyotrophic Lat-
eral Sclerosis).

Another 60,000 Americans are diag-
nosed each year, and worldwide over
10 million people suffer from the dis-
ease.

Symptoms generally develop slowly
over years and differ from one person
to another. Some patients will notice
a slight shaking or tremor in a fin-
ger, hand or chin while resting, loss
of smell, one side of the body moving
slower than the other and loss of bal-
ance. Others will have difficulty mov-
ing or walking due to a stiffness in the
body, arms and legs, causing them to
shuffle their feet. As the disease pro-
gresses, cognitive functions including
forgetfulness and trouble with con-
centration may arise. An estimated 50
percent to 80 percent of those with the
disease may experience dementia.

“Unfortunately, there is no cure for
Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Shafer.

“Symptoms can be managed with
dopamine-based medications and
physical therapy. The biggest change
in treatment within the past decade
is in the advancement of deep brain
stimulation (DBS) procedures that
enable surgeons to go into the brain,
map its circuitry live and then zap lit-
tle areas to stimulate and ablate parts
of the brain that control the move-
ment.”

During DBS surgery, the surgeon
places thin metal wires in the brain
and those wires send electrical puls-
es to the brain to help control motor
symptoms. The electrical signals in-
terrupt the abnormal signaling pat-
terns in the brain that cause the motor
control issues. While it’s not a cure for
Parkinson’s and does not stop the pro-
gression of the disease, many patients
experience a significant reduction in
their symptoms.

Shafer, a Vero Beach High School
graduate, graduated summa cum
laude at the University of Florida and
received his medical degree from the

50 Vero Beach 32963 / January 21, 2021 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™

HEALTH

How to keep your sadness from turning into depression

BY JELENA KECMANOVIC Don’t wait to feel like textbook “Cognitive Behavior Therapy:
The Washington Post going for a walk or to Basics and Beyond.”
be in the right mind-
Across the spectrum, mental health set to call a friend. But an important difference exists
problems seem to be on the rise. One- between having depressive symptoms
quarter of Americans reported moder- – such as sadness, fatigue and loss of
ate to severe depression this summer motivation – and a full-blown major
and another quarter said they suffered depressive episode that can affect your
from mild depression, a recent study ability to function at work and home
reported. These findings are similar for weeks or months. The amount and
to surveys done by the Census Bureau duration of the symptoms, as well as
and the Centers for Disease Control and the degree to which they impair one’s
Prevention. life all play a role in diagnosing clini-
cal depression. Extensive research sug-
Former first lady Michelle Obama gests that certain ways of thinking and
highlighted the problem for many when behaving can hasten the plunge into
she said in August that she has been clinical depression, while others can
dealing with “low-grade depression.” prevent it.

As a psychologist, I hear almost daily As we head into winter, which can
how the combination of coronavirus, stress the coping skills of many people,
racial unrest, economic uncertainty here are some strategies that can help
and political crisis are leading many you resist the depressive downward
people to feel a lot worse than usual. spiral.

“It is not at all surprising that we are 1. Reduce overthinking.
seeing the significant increase in dis- When we feel down, we tend to think
tress. It’s a normal reaction to an abnor- about the bad things repeatedly, often
mal situation,” said Judith S. Beck, pres- trying to figure out why they’ve hap-
ident of the Beck Institute for Cognitive pened. Research shows that some peo-
Behavior Therapy in Philadelphia and ple are especially prone to this kind of
author of the widely used mental health “depressive rumination.” They overan-