Vero council opts for tax hike
to balance budget. P9
Toastmasters assist
speech-makers. P17
Pizza party celebrates
‘Moonshot’ momentum. P18
For breaking news visit
MY VERO County offices to
get replacement
BY RAY MCNULTY for leaking roof
Sheriff builds bridges
to black community
The screaming headlines An $8 million renovation and rebuilding of the island’s Beachland Elementary School continues. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL BY SAMANTHA ROHLFING BAITA
keep coming, alerting us to the Staff Writer
latest fatal shooting spawned Beachland report card: Lower scores, fewer students
by the growing tensions be- After conducting county
tween black America and the BY KATHLEEN SLOAN time as the percentage of by the district for years,” says business for nine years with
police. It’s understandable that Staff Writer students from low income Tiffany Justice, a candidate buckets on the floors to catch
Teddy Floyd, more than most families has increased. for school board who has drips, the County Administra-
of us, is sickened by the news. The student population three children at the school. tion complex will finally be
and key test scores have The statistics seem to be “Parents got frustrated with getting a new roof.
He's a black man. He's also a declined at Beachland El- related, according to parents the system.”
law-enforcement officer. And ementary, the island’s only whose children attend the In an emergency addition
his job as a deputy with the In- public school, at the same school. A parent who wishes to to the July 12 Commission
dian River County Sheriff's Of- agenda, County Attorney
fice, where he has worked for “Beachland was overlooked CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Dylan Reingold announced
more than 25 years, is as much Indian River County will re-
about community outreach as ceive $1.2 million in a media-
it is crime prevention. tion settlement, the success-
ful resolution of an almost
"I'm passionate about what 9-year effort to recover dam-
I'm doing, so much so that I ages from faulty roofs on Ad-
wake up every day and can't ministration Buildings A and
wait to go to work and serve B at the county government
our community," Floyd said. center.
"But seeing what's been hap-
pening around the country – The leaks were discovered
this disconnect between black as soon as employees moved
communities and law enforce-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Orchid Island broker to Premier Hiking trail with
great lagoon views
BY STEVEN M. THOMAS to debut next year
Staff Writer
BY STEVEN M. THOMAS
A few days after the sale of Staff Writer Seaplane company is sponsoring a beachside jitney. PAGE 10. PHOTOS BY PHIL SUNKEL
Orchid Island Realty closed
on July 1, the company’s Bob Niederpruem. PHOTO BY DENISE RITCHIE Island residents soon will
longtime broker, Bob Nie- have access to a new 2-mile
derpruem, moved his license hiking trail with spectacular
to Premier Estate Properties, views of the Indian River La-
where he plans to continue goon and access to kayaking
selling homes in the north
island club community while CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
July 21, 2016 Volume 9, Issue 29 Newsstand Price $1.00 Injured sea turtles
get TLC at healing
News 1-10 Faith 47 Pets 48 TO ADVERTISE CALL center. Page 12
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Books 44-45 Health 27-32 Style 53-55
Dining 56 Insight 33-52 Travel 46 FOR CIRCULATION
Editorial 42 People 11-20 Wine 57 CALL 772-226-7925
© 2016 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved.
2 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
My Vero tionship between the leadership of the undermined by intense feelings of dis- nal behavior in the community, some-
black community here and the Sher- trust, hostility and even hatred – we're times speaking privately with resi-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 iff's Office, I'd probably give it a B-plus blessed to have local black leaders and dents after meetings.
or A-minus," said Freddie Woolfork, a sheriff who have embraced a spirit of
ment – it just breaks my heart." director of public relations and facility cooperation. The Progressive Civic League of Gif-
He paused for a moment, then add- operations for the Gifford Youth Ac- ford is represented. So is the county's
tivities Center and one of the county's Indeed, they've made community Pastors Association, more than half of
ed, "I wish I could shine a light on what prominent black leaders. policing a priority, setting up monthly which is composed of black or predom-
we're doing in our community, so that meetings where black leaders and oth- inantly black churches. And, of course,
the people in these other places can "That's no accident," he added. ers in the community can take their is- there's the local NAACP chapter.
see how we do it." "That relationship wouldn't exist if the sues and concerns directly to Sheriff
community leaders and Sheriff's Of- Deryl Loar, who, by all accounts, en- "We have the ability to talk TO each
What's happening here, where the fice didn't make it happen." thusiastically attends these sessions. other and not AT each other," said
Sheriff's Office has forged a partner- Tony Brown, the local NAACP presi-
ship with leaders of the local black Unlike many other U.S. cities and He fields questions, explains policy dent. "This sheriff, unlike others in the
community, should not just be repli- counties – where anything resem- and, when necessary, absorbs criti- past, is a cop that will listen – and he
cated – it should be celebrated. bling a relationship between black cism. He also welcomes suggestions doesn't just listen, he hears you.
communities and law enforcement is and accepts information about crimi-
"If I had to give a grade to the rela- "Sheriff Loar comes to every meeting
and takes questions," he continued. "If
someone in the community has an is-
sue or a problem, he doesn't duck it.
He'll address it. And if he can't answer
your question, he'll make sure the per-
son who can is at the next meeting.
"The answer might not be what you
want to hear, but you'll get an answer,"
he added. "He's there, he's accessible
and, as far as I can see, he's transpar-
ent. People feel there's a relationship
there – that there's some level of re-
spect – and that's important.
"It's not a perfect marriage, but, like
most marriages, both parties are doing
what they can to make it work."
On a scale of one to 10, Brown said
he'd rate the relationship between local
black leaders and the Sheriff's Office as
high as 8.5, while the black community
at large probably would give it a 7.
That's better than some might ex-
pect, given the racial divide that still
exists in this county. Certainly, the re-
lationship is better than it was before
Loar took office in 2009.
"The big thing is that he's visible and
there's access, and that helps people
feel connected," said Joe Idlette, presi-
dent of the Progressive Civic League.
"That access is very important in de-
veloping trust and making people feel
comfortable.
"If people believe you're trying to
do the right thing," he added, "they're
more likely to talk to you."
If Loar falls short anywhere, it's in
the lack of black deputies on road-pa-
trol duty: There's only one, and he was
recently hired.
Loar claims the pool of qualified and
willing black candidates is shallow.
According to the sheriff, Floyd and
Sheriff's Lt. Milo Thornton – he's a
black detective who teaches at the
area police academy at Indian River
State College in Fort Pierce – most
of the local black candidates he ap-
proaches opt to work in a corrections
capacity at the county jail.
"I've tried to recruit local black
candidates, but some of them don't
know if they could arrest a friend or
someone they grew up with," Thorn-
ton said. "They don't want to do that
type of policing.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 3
NEWS
"That's why you see most of the Considering the prevailing anti- said they would urge patience, try to the sheriff would prevent a knee-jerk
Sheriff's Office's black employees cop climate in many black communi- prevent emotions from escalating – as reaction and help keeps things calm."
working at the jail," he added. "We ties across the country, Woolfork said they did in Baton Rouge, Baltimore
also have five black deputies, includ- he can’t predict what might happen and Ferguson, Mo. – and try to tamp All of us should.
ing one sergeant, working as school if there was a controversial shooting, down any community violence. We should hope we're not the next
resource officers. But it's extremely but he said an overwhelming major- national headline.
difficult to find black candidates who ity of our black community believes "We would surely make an effort to "The sheriff and community lead-
want to be road-patrol deputies." Loar is fair and would reward him for prevent anything like that, but I can't ers deserve a lot of credit, because all
his efforts. say what people would do, especially of this starts at the top," Floyd said.
Thornton said the Sheriff's Office younger people," Idlette said. "I'd "We're not putting up a wall. We're
loses promising minority candidates At the very least, local black leaders hope the relationship we have with building bridges.”
to law-enforcement agencies in Port St.
Lucie, Martin County and South Flori- Exclusively John’s Island
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patrol duty, both Thornton and Loar
said the opportunities are there but
willing candidates aren't.
"There's not a lot of interest,"
Thornton said. "They're happy where
they are."
Brown, Woolfork and Idlette said
they believe Loar is making an effort
to hire black deputies and they're sat-
isfied with his explanation.
"It's a concern for us, because we'd
like to see more black deputies on
the road, but it helps to have Teddy
in such a visible role and for Milo to
be a lieutenant in criminal investiga-
tions," Brown said. "I know it's a con-
cern for the sheriff, too, but it's not a
perfect world."
Regardless of race, Loar said he en-
courages his deputies to get involved
– either by working with non-profit
groups or coaching youth sports
teams – in the communities they po-
lice.
"Know us before you need us,"
Loar said. "I've always believed it
was important that the community
knows us as people, not just in a law-
enforcement capacity. Good com-
munity policing is about building
trust through relationships."
Loar said he speaks and takes
questions at gatherings in the black
community at least three times each
month. In addition, local black lead-
ers have both his work and personal
cell-phone numbers.
"I don't want there to be the kind of
disconnect we're seeing in other parts
of the country,” Loar said.
He believes the Sheriff's Office's re-
lationship with the local black com-
munity would go a long way toward
avoiding mass protests and violence if
an incident occurred here. He thinks
local black leaders have enough trust
to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'd like to believe there wouldn't be
any rush to judgment," Loar said.
4 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Hiking trail The Oyster Bar Marsh Trail. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL River Water Management District to Indian River County bought 96 acres
open the interior wetlands back up at the site in 2001, using bond funds
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and the plan is to make the pavilion a to the lagoon on a seasonal basis, re- and money from Florida Communities
kayaking destination, possibly with a storing the area as a water purification Trust, but was not able to acquire the
and wildlife. kayak launch/landing area.” system and nursery for game fish. rest of the property needed for the trail.
The Oyster Bar Marsh Trail, on the
The quiet protected waters in the “This is very important conservation The site lay fallow until 2015, when
river a mile south of the Moorings, will area between the Oyster Bar salt marsh property,” says Heuberger. “It wasn’t the Land Trust stepped in and bought
circle a 155-acre peninsula that con- and Round Island are one of the best just purchased for a public trail. Oys- an additional 30 acres that allowed the
tains a unique salt marsh and critical places on the coast to observe mana- ter Bar Marsh is the largest impound- trail and land restoration project to go
wildlife habitat, says David Heuberger, tees and dolphins and are loaded with ed salt marsh on the barrier island in forward. Another 30 or so acres on the
director of land protection at the In- game fish such as tarpon and sea trout. Indian River County. Hydrologic en- peninsula are still privately owned.
dian River Land Trust. hancement will improve its function as
The fish population should increase critical nursery grounds for estuarine The county commission approved
The project, which will be designed once the new project is complete. species and foraging area for wading the partnership in May and Land Trust
this year and built next year, is a joint birds. We are very excited about those personnel met with county staff mem-
venture between the Land Trust and The property was impounded – sur- aspects of the project, too.” bers in June to begin hammering out a
the county. rounded with an earthen dike – by the memorandum of agreement.
mosquito control district years ago,
“There will be a trail head on A1A and the Land Trust is working with the Land Trust Executive Director Ken
with an informational kiosk and park- mosquito control district and St. Johns Grudens says the project is moving
ing for approximately 15 cars,” says ahead smoothly, in part because the
Heuberger. “Further along the trail, agreement crafted when the county
there will be boardwalks along edge of and Land Trust created the Lagoon Gre-
water and into the central wetlands, enway on the mainland is serving as a
so you can see the wildlife that utilizes template for the current partnership.
that habitat.”
“That one took a long time to get
A little further along will be “a pavil- off the ground,” says Grudens. “But it
ion, essentially a covered observation proved to be wildly successful in the
deck. What is special about this is the end. That is our precedent.”
open water views.Visitors will be able to
look west and southwest across lagoon The cost for the trail project – not
at five miles of undeveloped shoreline including the cost of the land – is
that has already been protected by the $350,000, according to Grudens. The
county and the Land Trust. Land Trust will put up $100,000, the
county $250,000.
“Just south of the trail is Round Is-
land, where kayaking is very popular, “We will take lead in design and
engineering as we did with Lagoon
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 5
NEWS
Greenway,” Grudens says. “We’ll use Florida’s Recreational Trails Program der that we have a complete design and nearly 10 miles of lagoon shoreline.
our funds to hire an engineer for the that could defray half the county’s to present to FIND and Recreational Heuberger says the trail property is
parking lot and trail.” contribution. Trails Program,” says Heuberger.
named after the abundant natural oys-
The Land Trust will help the county “Those grants applications are due To date, including the Oyster Bar ter bars that were present in the area
apply for matching grants from Flor- next spring and survey and design Marsh Trail property, the Indian River when the mosquito impoundment
ida Inland Navigation District and work will be finished by then in or- Land Trust has protected 977 acres was originally constructed in 1964.
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6 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Beachland Elementary the school a year ahead of what had Leaky roof the defendants correct all deficien-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 been scheduled. cies. Should they refuse, the county
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 would proceed with the roof work, the
remain anonymous said many “very- Because of inadequate facilities, abatement would end and the litiga-
involved parents” took their children lunch was served over three hours in into the palatial $54-million complex tion would proceed to trial.
out of Beachland and enrolled them in three shifts, making some students in August 2007, and the county never
North County Charter School, “where wait too long to eat, according to Jus- signed off on or accepted the work. Despite that seemingly decisive ac-
they feel welcomed.” tice, who says some kids “lost concen- tion, the matter dragged on into 2016,
tration before lunch.” General Contractor Turner Con- when the county finally issued a work
Buildings at Beachland, the oldest struction Company tried repeatedly order for engineering firm REI to over-
dating to 1957, fell into disrepair in Six classrooms were housed in trail- to repair the leaking roofs but was not see design, bidding and evaluation of
recent years and had problems with ers, which exposed children to rain successful. new roofs for the two buildings.
leaks, mold and rats, according to par- and weather when they went from
ent complaints. their class to lunch or other activities. In October 2011, the County hired Shortly afterward, on July 7, 2016,
A/R/C, an architectural firm special- nearly a decade after the faulty work
The school district has now under- Shortly after school closed in June, the izing in roof issues, to inspect and as- was completed, the defendants
taken an $8 million renovation and cafeteria/auditorium building and four sess the problem. The company con- reached an agreement with the coun-
rebuilding project at the school, but classroom buildings were torn down. A cluded the only remedy was a new ty, thus averting a trial.
the action may be too little too late, at new cafetorium will large enough for the roof, and county staff concurred.
least for some students and parents. whole school to assemble, “which is im- The $1.2 million will be paid col-
portant for school spirit,” Justice said. In November 2011, the county filed lectively, within 30 days of the date of
With falling test scores and rising pov- suit to recover its losses. the agreement, by: Sun Sky Roofing
erty, the overall grade assigned to the In the meantime, however, during – $330,000; Soprema Inc. – $330,000;
school by the Florida Department of Ed- the year-long rebuilding process, kids The suit named multiple defen- Donadio – $290,000; Turner Construc-
ucation dropped from an A to B this year. will be attending school in the middle dants, including Turner Construc- tion – $250,000.
of a construction site – not an appeal- tion, a New York company; Vero Beach
The number of students declined ing prospect for some parents. More architects Donadio and Associates, County Administer Jason Brown
from 615 in the 2012-13 school year to students will be moved into trailers Architects, P.A; Sun Sky Roofing, a calls the settlement “a good result for
494 in the 2015-16 school year. Dur- in the coming year and, at lunchtime, now-dissolved Florida limited liability the county.”
ing the same time span, the percent- food will have to be brought in from company; and three insurance com-
age of children qualifying for a free or Dodgertown Elementary. panies. REI is expected to have a cost esti-
reduced-cost school lunch increased mate for design-related work within
from 38 percent in 52 percent. North County Charter School’s stu- After filing, the county agreed to the next several weeks and Brown
dent population increased from 272 in abate the suit while the parties ex- says the work of removing the roof
Conditions at the school prompted 2014-15 to 319 in the 2015-16 school year. plored settlement options. structure to determine the extent of
protests from parents that eventually the damage could begin by year’s end.
caused the district to start renovating It got an overall A grade from the Eleven months later, in October
state in 2016, compared to the B grade 2012, with no agreement reached, the Final project costs cannot be known
given Beachland. county made a formal demand that until that task is completed.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 7
NEWS
Vero council increases taxes and boosts utility transfers
BY LISA ZAHNER than 30 percent higher than FPL rates of taxable value to $2.51 per $1,000 of terms, employees receive a lump-sum
Staff Writer and Vero is still heavily dependent on taxable value. That is 10 percent over payment for those unused benefits.
utility subsidies paid by non-city resi- the “rolled-back” rate that would have
Rather than make tough decisions dents. netted the same tax dollars as 2015 tax Indian River County, as a standing
about priorities, the Vero Beach City bills brought in. policy, has banked money to pay out
Council has decided to balance its Vero collected $5.3 million in prop- these parting gifts to county employ-
budget through a 10 percent increase erty taxes this year, but more than In real dollars, the increase will bring ees, but Vero has paid them as they go,
in the tax rate, while also voting to three quarters of its overall $22 million in an extra $13 per $100,000 of taxable as employees decide to retire, out of
boost the cash it pilfers from elec- budget came from other sources. value, so the owner of a property with the current budget year with no des-
tric, water and sewer customers by $500,000 in taxable value will pay $65 ignated fund to draw upon. In years
$200,000 more than initially budget- The transfers make Vero electric more on the municipal line item on when there are several high-level re-
ed. a “cash cow” for the city, according their tax bill. tirements of people who might have
to critics, but for the majority of the $50,000 to $80,000 accumulated in
Savings expected from the shutter- Mayor Jay Kramer-led city council, the With a bonus infusion of $329,000 in banked leave time, those unbudgeted
ing of Big Blue and trimming the util- transfers are a reasonable rate of re- property taxes, Vero will begin to sock payments can require some financial
ity staff by 13 people reduced the elec- turn that city residents glean as a ben- money away to cover what’s called maneuvering.
tric fund budget in the coming year by efit of owning the utility. “Other Post-Employment Benefits,”
$5.1 million. This lower budget figure which means perks it has promised This burden to taxpayers and rate-
would have reduced the amount of “We’re still coming down on the municipal employees who finish their payers is above and beyond the em-
money transferred from the utility to transfers, we’re just not coming down careers and are eligible to cash-out ployee pension plan, which the city
the city’s general fund, but the coun- as fast as the rates are dropping,” large banks of unused sick and vaca- pays into annually in attempts to fill a
cil during Friday’s budget talks vot- Kramer said, in an attempt to put a tion time. nearly $40 million hole of underfund-
ed instead to “stabilize” the transfer positive spin on the decision. ing. Recently, cities and counties have
amount at $5.4 million. The banking of that time is limited had to start noting the commitment
The extra money from utility bills going forward, but the city is honoring for Other Post-Employment Benefits
While the rake off is down from a will fund 1.5-percent salary increases commitments it made to long-term on their balance sheets.
high of $5.6 million back in the days for city employees, with Councilman employees who have for decades been
when Vero’s rates were 58 percent Dick Winger calling those raises “a carrying over hundreds and some- The obligation is viewed as a contin-
higher than Florida Power & Light, good investment” of the money. times even thousands of hours of gent liability – to be paid only if an em-
the city’s electric rates are still more paid leave time like a savings account. ployee never uses accrued time and
Should it survive upcoming public Should they retire voluntarily on good
hearings, Vero’s property tax rate come CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Oct. 1 will go up from $2.38 per $1,000
8 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
City Budget ance sheet. Of the nearly $35 million day budget workshops, with the coun- ation facilities and the employees who
in unused paid leave compensation cil telling Recreation Director Rob work in them. Aesthetic projects will
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 owed to employees, the city shows $15 Slezak to sift through the $420,000 of most likely get pushed off until next
million in unfunded liabilities on its capital improvements he’d asked for year or beyond – council members
stays on the job long enough to retire books. and identify only those repairs that saying they want that money for other
with benefits – so it doesn’t have to be are absolutely needed to protect the things, namely for scheduled road re-
booked in its entirety on the city’s bal- Recreation spending became a huge health and safety of the users of recre- pairs and repaving.
bone of contention during the three-
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 9
NEWS
Councilwoman Pilar Turner voted “I think it’s poor management for us
for the changes to the budget, but did to be expanding the size of our gov-
lodge her concerns about the plan to ernment when we can’t afford our in-
add nine positions to the city staff. The frastructure,” Turner said, noting that
total payroll will go down by a net four the city still has needed road projects
positions due to the loss of 13 electric and stormwater projects it does not
utility employees let go in the closure have money to fund.
of Big Blue, but the budget opens up
new public works, marina and clerical The public will get two chances to
positions, as well as adding a third at- weigh in on the proposed budget be-
torney to the staff. fore it becomes final, with hearings
scheduled on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20.
Orchid Island land Realty, has been re-organized
as an LLC run by a board of manag-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ers composed of club officers and the
broker. The board is looking for a new
also expanding his business into oth- broker/manager and expects to have
er parts of Vero’s dynamic real estate someone in that position by next win-
market. ter’s peak sales season. In the mean-
time, Broker-Associate Heidi Levy will
“We are very excited to have Bob manage sales for the company, which
join us,” said Premier Broker-Asso- has approximately 35 active listings.
ciate Cindy O’Dare. “Every office in
town wanted him and we feel very “I had a great 20-year run,” says Nie-
lucky he chose us.” derpruem. “I came to Orchid Island
when only 10 homes had been built,
“It was a hard decision,” says Nie- and feel I was instrumental in the sale
derpruem. “There are a lot of great and development of the club. I was
real estate companies here, but in the involved in the sale of more than 375
end I felt like a small boutique firm fo- homes and sold in excess of $300 mil-
cused on the luxury market would be lion during the time I was there. But the
the best fit for me. fact of the matter is the club wanted to
move in a different direction.
“That million and above [home cat-
egory] is the target audience I am going “I can’t look back at this point. I have to
after; it is a perfect fit for Orchid Island look forward, and I am very excited about
where I will still concentrate my efforts. this new opportunity. It is nice coming to
Premier has an excellent marketing an office with a lot of seasoned pros who
program, with their affiliations, that are all willing to lend assistance to get me
will be good for the folks up in Orchid.” headed in right direction.
Torwest, developer of Orchid Island “The move opens up new areas of
Golf and Beach Club and the neigh- operation for me. Before, I listed and
boring community of Windsor, sold sold property exclusively in Orchid
Orchid Island Realty to the club for Island. Now, while I will still have my
$250,000 in a deal that closed July 1. main focus in that area, if I have a cli-
ent who wants to look at an estate out-
Torwest had leased a suite of offices side of Orchid Island, I can show it to
for Orchid Island Realty in the com- them. I think it is going to be great!”
munity’s oceanfront clubhouse for
the past four years and the expiration Niederpruem has done “a great job
of that lease seems to have been the selling real estate since Torwest took
catalyst for the club’s purchase of the over development of Orchid Island
company with the aim of increasing and we wish him well with his future
sales and property values. endeavors,” said Albani.
“We are very excited about the op-
portunity this will give us to shape the
sales and marketing operations of the
business, which we believe will make
it even more effective in selling prop-
erties here at Orchid Island,” said Club
President Suzanne Albani in a pre-
pared statement.
“Going forward, we intend to put a
greater emphasis on marketing efforts
than has been done in the past, as well
as improve our relations with outside
realtors. One change we are planning
in this regard is to enhance our com-
mission sharing arrangement with
outside brokers in order to be consis-
tent with other real estate companies
in Vero Beach. This should encourage
outside brokers to show Orchid Island
properties to their clients.”
The business, still called Orchid Is-
10 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Vero seaplane company sponsors free ‘Beachside Ride’ jitney
BY RAY McNULTY senger vehicle best described as a golf In the meantime, the company's ting to the bars and restaurants more
Staff Writer cart on steroids – to promote their start- owners – licensed pilots and flight in- convenient, but we'll go from the Vil-
up business: Treasure Coast Seaplanes. structors Michael Hoover and his wife, lage Beach Market to South Beach
Have you seen the new "Beachside Sheena, actually met while teaching at and west to the Riverside Park area,"
Ride" jitney cruising along the Central Treasure Coast Seaplanes, which of- Flight Safety in Vero Beach and have a Hoover said.
Beach business district, carrying pas- fers seaplane tours and advanced sea- combined 30-plus years of flying expe-
sengers to and from local hotels, res- plane flight training, began operations rience – are hoping shuttle riders will "It's a regular route, but if we need to
taurants and shops? Monday. The company is awaiting become seaplane passengers. go off it a bit to accommodate some-
Federal Aviation Administration certi- one, we can usually do it," he added.
The owners hope so. fication to begin charter air service to "Our basic route is along Ocean "We also do special events."
They're using the free shuttle – a the Florida Keys, Bahamas and even- Drive, where we can help alleviate
sharp-looking, red-and-black, six-pas- tually Cuba. the parking shortage and make get- The Beachside Ride, which began
service in May, currently runs from
5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through
Sunday. During the busy winter
months, Hoover said the hours will be
expanded to 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.
The shuttle is equipped with a cus-
tom-installed, drop-down monitor
that shows advertisements for local
businesses. The "nominal fee" paid for
the ads helps cover the cost of operat-
ing the shuttle.
"So not only are we helping with the
parking shortage, but we're also help-
ing promote local businesses," Hoover
said. "We're also hoping Treasure
Beachside jitney owners Sheena and Mike Hoover.
Coast Seaplanes will give locals and
tourists an opportunity to experience
the adventure of seaplane flying."
The company currently offers lo-
cal seaplane rides on a single-engine,
six-passenger Cessna 206 that lands
at Blue Cypress Lake and in the Intra-
coastal Waterway.
"Every time I land in water, I re-
member why I do this," Hoover said.
"If I had the option to never land on
concrete again, I'd be thrilled."
Hoover said Treasure Coast Air Ser-
vices, a fixed-base operator on the
north ramp at Vero Beach Regional
Airport, will be the home base for
Treasure Coast Seaplanes and provide
aircraft storage, avgas and other gen-
eral aviation pilot services.
"It's been a long, long road and
there was a lot of red tape to get
through along the way, but we're
ready to go and we're excited,"
Hoover said. "And the best part is
that it's a family affair.
"Not only do Sheena and I fly the
seaplanes, but it'll be me, Sheena or
my mother driving the shuttle."
2 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
My Vero tionship between the leadership of the undermined by intense feelings of dis- nal behavior in the community, some-
black community here and the Sher- trust, hostility and even hatred – we're times speaking privately with resi-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 iff's Office, I'd probably give it a B-plus blessed to have local black leaders and dents after meetings.
or A-minus," said Freddie Woolfork, a sheriff who have embraced a spirit of
ment – it just breaks my heart." director of public relations and facility cooperation. The Progressive Civic League of Gif-
He paused for a moment, then add- operations for the Gifford Youth Ac- ford is represented. So is the county's
tivities Center and one of the county's Indeed, they've made community Pastors Association, more than half of
ed, "I wish I could shine a light on what prominent black leaders. policing a priority, setting up monthly which is composed of black or predom-
we're doing in our community, so that meetings where black leaders and oth- inantly black churches. And, of course,
the people in these other places can "That's no accident," he added. ers in the community can take their is- there's the local NAACP chapter.
see how we do it." "That relationship wouldn't exist if the sues and concerns directly to Sheriff
community leaders and Sheriff's Of- Deryl Loar, who, by all accounts, en- "We have the ability to talk TO each
What's happening here, where the fice didn't make it happen." thusiastically attends these sessions. other and not AT each other," said
Sheriff's Office has forged a partner- Tony Brown, the local NAACP presi-
ship with leaders of the local black Unlike many other U.S. cities and He fields questions, explains policy dent. "This sheriff, unlike others in the
community, should not just be repli- counties – where anything resem- and, when necessary, absorbs criti- past, is a cop that will listen – and he
cated – it should be celebrated. bling a relationship between black cism. He also welcomes suggestions doesn't just listen, he hears you.
communities and law enforcement is and accepts information about crimi-
"If I had to give a grade to the rela- "Sheriff Loar comes to every meeting
and takes questions," he continued. "If
someone in the community has an is-
sue or a problem, he doesn't duck it.
He'll address it. And if he can't answer
your question, he'll make sure the per-
son who can is at the next meeting.
"The answer might not be what you
want to hear, but you'll get an answer,"
he added. "He's there, he's accessible
and, as far as I can see, he's transpar-
ent. People feel there's a relationship
there – that there's some level of re-
spect – and that's important.
"It's not a perfect marriage, but, like
most marriages, both parties are doing
what they can to make it work."
On a scale of one to 10, Brown said
he'd rate the relationship between local
black leaders and the Sheriff's Office as
high as 8.5, while the black community
at large probably would give it a 7.
That's better than some might ex-
pect, given the racial divide that still
exists in this county. Certainly, the re-
lationship is better than it was before
Loar took office in 2009.
"The big thing is that he's visible and
there's access, and that helps people
feel connected," said Joe Idlette, presi-
dent of the Progressive Civic League.
"That access is very important in de-
veloping trust and making people feel
comfortable.
"If people believe you're trying to
do the right thing," he added, "they're
more likely to talk to you."
If Loar falls short anywhere, it's in
the lack of black deputies on road-pa-
trol duty: There's only one, and he was
recently hired.
Loar claims the pool of qualified and
willing black candidates is shallow.
According to the sheriff, Floyd and
Sheriff's Lt. Milo Thornton – he's a
black detective who teaches at the
area police academy at Indian River
State College in Fort Pierce – most
of the local black candidates he ap-
proaches opt to work in a corrections
capacity at the county jail.
"I've tried to recruit local black
candidates, but some of them don't
know if they could arrest a friend or
someone they grew up with," Thorn-
ton said. "They don't want to do that
type of policing.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 3
NEWS
"That's why you see most of the Considering the prevailing anti- said they would urge patience, try to the sheriff would prevent a knee-jerk
Sheriff's Office's black employees cop climate in many black communi- prevent emotions from escalating – as reaction and help keeps things calm."
working at the jail," he added. "We ties across the country, Woolfork said they did in Baton Rouge, Baltimore
also have five black deputies, includ- he can’t predict what might happen and Ferguson, Mo. – and try to tamp All of us should.
ing one sergeant, working as school if there was a controversial shooting, down any community violence. We should hope we're not the next
resource officers. But it's extremely but he said an overwhelming major- national headline.
difficult to find black candidates who ity of our black community believes "We would surely make an effort to "The sheriff and community lead-
want to be road-patrol deputies." Loar is fair and would reward him for prevent anything like that, but I can't ers deserve a lot of credit, because all
his efforts. say what people would do, especially of this starts at the top," Floyd said.
Thornton said the Sheriff's Office younger people," Idlette said. "I'd "We're not putting up a wall. We're
loses promising minority candidates At the very least, local black leaders hope the relationship we have with building bridges.”
to law-enforcement agencies in Port St.
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patrol duty, both Thornton and Loar
said the opportunities are there but
willing candidates aren't.
"There's not a lot of interest,"
Thornton said. "They're happy where
they are."
Brown, Woolfork and Idlette said
they believe Loar is making an effort
to hire black deputies and they're sat-
isfied with his explanation.
"It's a concern for us, because we'd
like to see more black deputies on
the road, but it helps to have Teddy
in such a visible role and for Milo to
be a lieutenant in criminal investiga-
tions," Brown said. "I know it's a con-
cern for the sheriff, too, but it's not a
perfect world."
Regardless of race, Loar said he en-
courages his deputies to get involved
– either by working with non-profit
groups or coaching youth sports
teams – in the communities they po-
lice.
"Know us before you need us,"
Loar said. "I've always believed it
was important that the community
knows us as people, not just in a law-
enforcement capacity. Good com-
munity policing is about building
trust through relationships."
Loar said he speaks and takes
questions at gatherings in the black
community at least three times each
month. In addition, local black lead-
ers have both his work and personal
cell-phone numbers.
"I don't want there to be the kind of
disconnect we're seeing in other parts
of the country,” Loar said.
He believes the Sheriff's Office's re-
lationship with the local black com-
munity would go a long way toward
avoiding mass protests and violence if
an incident occurred here. He thinks
local black leaders have enough trust
to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'd like to believe there wouldn't be
any rush to judgment," Loar said.
4 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Hiking trail The Oyster Bar Marsh Trail. PHOTO BY PHIL SUNKEL River Water Management District to Indian River County bought 96 acres
open the interior wetlands back up at the site in 2001, using bond funds
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and the plan is to make the pavilion a to the lagoon on a seasonal basis, re- and money from Florida Communities
kayaking destination, possibly with a storing the area as a water purification Trust, but was not able to acquire the
and wildlife. kayak launch/landing area.” system and nursery for game fish. rest of the property needed for the trail.
The Oyster Bar Marsh Trail, on the
The quiet protected waters in the “This is very important conservation The site lay fallow until 2015, when
river a mile south of the Moorings, will area between the Oyster Bar salt marsh property,” says Heuberger. “It wasn’t the Land Trust stepped in and bought
circle a 155-acre peninsula that con- and Round Island are one of the best just purchased for a public trail. Oys- an additional 30 acres that allowed the
tains a unique salt marsh and critical places on the coast to observe mana- ter Bar Marsh is the largest impound- trail and land restoration project to go
wildlife habitat, says David Heuberger, tees and dolphins and are loaded with ed salt marsh on the barrier island in forward. Another 30 or so acres on the
director of land protection at the In- game fish such as tarpon and sea trout. Indian River County. Hydrologic en- peninsula are still privately owned.
dian River Land Trust. hancement will improve its function as
The fish population should increase critical nursery grounds for estuarine The county commission approved
The project, which will be designed once the new project is complete. species and foraging area for wading the partnership in May and Land Trust
this year and built next year, is a joint birds. We are very excited about those personnel met with county staff mem-
venture between the Land Trust and The property was impounded – sur- aspects of the project, too.” bers in June to begin hammering out a
the county. rounded with an earthen dike – by the memorandum of agreement.
mosquito control district years ago,
“There will be a trail head on A1A and the Land Trust is working with the Land Trust Executive Director Ken
with an informational kiosk and park- mosquito control district and St. Johns Grudens says the project is moving
ing for approximately 15 cars,” says ahead smoothly, in part because the
Heuberger. “Further along the trail, agreement crafted when the county
there will be boardwalks along edge of and Land Trust created the Lagoon Gre-
water and into the central wetlands, enway on the mainland is serving as a
so you can see the wildlife that utilizes template for the current partnership.
that habitat.”
“That one took a long time to get
A little further along will be “a pavil- off the ground,” says Grudens. “But it
ion, essentially a covered observation proved to be wildly successful in the
deck. What is special about this is the end. That is our precedent.”
open water views.Visitors will be able to
look west and southwest across lagoon The cost for the trail project – not
at five miles of undeveloped shoreline including the cost of the land – is
that has already been protected by the $350,000, according to Grudens. The
county and the Land Trust. Land Trust will put up $100,000, the
county $250,000.
“Just south of the trail is Round Is-
land, where kayaking is very popular, “We will take lead in design and
engineering as we did with Lagoon
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 5
NEWS
Greenway,” Grudens says. “We’ll use Florida’s Recreational Trails Program der that we have a complete design and nearly 10 miles of lagoon shoreline.
our funds to hire an engineer for the that could defray half the county’s to present to FIND and Recreational Heuberger says the trail property is
parking lot and trail.” contribution. Trails Program,” says Heuberger.
named after the abundant natural oys-
The Land Trust will help the county “Those grants applications are due To date, including the Oyster Bar ter bars that were present in the area
apply for matching grants from Flor- next spring and survey and design Marsh Trail property, the Indian River when the mosquito impoundment
ida Inland Navigation District and work will be finished by then in or- Land Trust has protected 977 acres was originally constructed in 1964.
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6 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Beachland Elementary the school a year ahead of what had Leaky roof the defendants correct all deficien-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 been scheduled. cies. Should they refuse, the county
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 would proceed with the roof work, the
remain anonymous said many “very- Because of inadequate facilities, abatement would end and the litiga-
involved parents” took their children lunch was served over three hours in into the palatial $54-million complex tion would proceed to trial.
out of Beachland and enrolled them in three shifts, making some students in August 2007, and the county never
North County Charter School, “where wait too long to eat, according to Jus- signed off on or accepted the work. Despite that seemingly decisive ac-
they feel welcomed.” tice, who says some kids “lost concen- tion, the matter dragged on into 2016,
tration before lunch.” General Contractor Turner Con- when the county finally issued a work
Buildings at Beachland, the oldest struction Company tried repeatedly order for engineering firm REI to over-
dating to 1957, fell into disrepair in Six classrooms were housed in trail- to repair the leaking roofs but was not see design, bidding and evaluation of
recent years and had problems with ers, which exposed children to rain successful. new roofs for the two buildings.
leaks, mold and rats, according to par- and weather when they went from
ent complaints. their class to lunch or other activities. In October 2011, the County hired Shortly afterward, on July 7, 2016,
A/R/C, an architectural firm special- nearly a decade after the faulty work
The school district has now under- Shortly after school closed in June, the izing in roof issues, to inspect and as- was completed, the defendants
taken an $8 million renovation and cafeteria/auditorium building and four sess the problem. The company con- reached an agreement with the coun-
rebuilding project at the school, but classroom buildings were torn down. A cluded the only remedy was a new ty, thus averting a trial.
the action may be too little too late, at new cafetorium will large enough for the roof, and county staff concurred.
least for some students and parents. whole school to assemble, “which is im- The $1.2 million will be paid col-
portant for school spirit,” Justice said. In November 2011, the county filed lectively, within 30 days of the date of
With falling test scores and rising pov- suit to recover its losses. the agreement, by: Sun Sky Roofing
erty, the overall grade assigned to the In the meantime, however, during – $330,000; Soprema Inc. – $330,000;
school by the Florida Department of Ed- the year-long rebuilding process, kids The suit named multiple defen- Donadio – $290,000; Turner Construc-
ucation dropped from an A to B this year. will be attending school in the middle dants, including Turner Construc- tion – $250,000.
of a construction site – not an appeal- tion, a New York company; Vero Beach
The number of students declined ing prospect for some parents. More architects Donadio and Associates, County Administer Jason Brown
from 615 in the 2012-13 school year to students will be moved into trailers Architects, P.A; Sun Sky Roofing, a calls the settlement “a good result for
494 in the 2015-16 school year. Dur- in the coming year and, at lunchtime, now-dissolved Florida limited liability the county.”
ing the same time span, the percent- food will have to be brought in from company; and three insurance com-
age of children qualifying for a free or Dodgertown Elementary. panies. REI is expected to have a cost esti-
reduced-cost school lunch increased mate for design-related work within
from 38 percent in 52 percent. North County Charter School’s stu- After filing, the county agreed to the next several weeks and Brown
dent population increased from 272 in abate the suit while the parties ex- says the work of removing the roof
Conditions at the school prompted 2014-15 to 319 in the 2015-16 school year. plored settlement options. structure to determine the extent of
protests from parents that eventually the damage could begin by year’s end.
caused the district to start renovating It got an overall A grade from the Eleven months later, in October
state in 2016, compared to the B grade 2012, with no agreement reached, the Final project costs cannot be known
given Beachland. county made a formal demand that until that task is completed.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 7
NEWS
Vero council increases taxes and boosts utility transfers
BY LISA ZAHNER than 30 percent higher than FPL rates of taxable value to $2.51 per $1,000 of terms, employees receive a lump-sum
Staff Writer and Vero is still heavily dependent on taxable value. That is 10 percent over payment for those unused benefits.
utility subsidies paid by non-city resi- the “rolled-back” rate that would have
Rather than make tough decisions dents. netted the same tax dollars as 2015 tax Indian River County, as a standing
about priorities, the Vero Beach City bills brought in. policy, has banked money to pay out
Council has decided to balance its Vero collected $5.3 million in prop- these parting gifts to county employ-
budget through a 10 percent increase erty taxes this year, but more than In real dollars, the increase will bring ees, but Vero has paid them as they go,
in the tax rate, while also voting to three quarters of its overall $22 million in an extra $13 per $100,000 of taxable as employees decide to retire, out of
boost the cash it pilfers from elec- budget came from other sources. value, so the owner of a property with the current budget year with no des-
tric, water and sewer customers by $500,000 in taxable value will pay $65 ignated fund to draw upon. In years
$200,000 more than initially budget- The transfers make Vero electric more on the municipal line item on when there are several high-level re-
ed. a “cash cow” for the city, according their tax bill. tirements of people who might have
to critics, but for the majority of the $50,000 to $80,000 accumulated in
Savings expected from the shutter- Mayor Jay Kramer-led city council, the With a bonus infusion of $329,000 in banked leave time, those unbudgeted
ing of Big Blue and trimming the util- transfers are a reasonable rate of re- property taxes, Vero will begin to sock payments can require some financial
ity staff by 13 people reduced the elec- turn that city residents glean as a ben- money away to cover what’s called maneuvering.
tric fund budget in the coming year by efit of owning the utility. “Other Post-Employment Benefits,”
$5.1 million. This lower budget figure which means perks it has promised This burden to taxpayers and rate-
would have reduced the amount of “We’re still coming down on the municipal employees who finish their payers is above and beyond the em-
money transferred from the utility to transfers, we’re just not coming down careers and are eligible to cash-out ployee pension plan, which the city
the city’s general fund, but the coun- as fast as the rates are dropping,” large banks of unused sick and vaca- pays into annually in attempts to fill a
cil during Friday’s budget talks vot- Kramer said, in an attempt to put a tion time. nearly $40 million hole of underfund-
ed instead to “stabilize” the transfer positive spin on the decision. ing. Recently, cities and counties have
amount at $5.4 million. The banking of that time is limited had to start noting the commitment
The extra money from utility bills going forward, but the city is honoring for Other Post-Employment Benefits
While the rake off is down from a will fund 1.5-percent salary increases commitments it made to long-term on their balance sheets.
high of $5.6 million back in the days for city employees, with Councilman employees who have for decades been
when Vero’s rates were 58 percent Dick Winger calling those raises “a carrying over hundreds and some- The obligation is viewed as a contin-
higher than Florida Power & Light, good investment” of the money. times even thousands of hours of gent liability – to be paid only if an em-
the city’s electric rates are still more paid leave time like a savings account. ployee never uses accrued time and
Should it survive upcoming public Should they retire voluntarily on good
hearings, Vero’s property tax rate come CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Oct. 1 will go up from $2.38 per $1,000
8 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
City Budget ance sheet. Of the nearly $35 million day budget workshops, with the coun- ation facilities and the employees who
in unused paid leave compensation cil telling Recreation Director Rob work in them. Aesthetic projects will
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 owed to employees, the city shows $15 Slezak to sift through the $420,000 of most likely get pushed off until next
million in unfunded liabilities on its capital improvements he’d asked for year or beyond – council members
stays on the job long enough to retire books. and identify only those repairs that saying they want that money for other
with benefits – so it doesn’t have to be are absolutely needed to protect the things, namely for scheduled road re-
booked in its entirety on the city’s bal- Recreation spending became a huge health and safety of the users of recre- pairs and repaving.
bone of contention during the three-
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 9
NEWS
Councilwoman Pilar Turner voted “I think it’s poor management for us
for the changes to the budget, but did to be expanding the size of our gov-
lodge her concerns about the plan to ernment when we can’t afford our in-
add nine positions to the city staff. The frastructure,” Turner said, noting that
total payroll will go down by a net four the city still has needed road projects
positions due to the loss of 13 electric and stormwater projects it does not
utility employees let go in the closure have money to fund.
of Big Blue, but the budget opens up
new public works, marina and clerical The public will get two chances to
positions, as well as adding a third at- weigh in on the proposed budget be-
torney to the staff. fore it becomes final, with hearings
scheduled on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20.
Orchid Island land Realty, has been re-organized
as an LLC run by a board of manag-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 ers composed of club officers and the
broker. The board is looking for a new
also expanding his business into oth- broker/manager and expects to have
er parts of Vero’s dynamic real estate someone in that position by next win-
market. ter’s peak sales season. In the mean-
time, Broker-Associate Heidi Levy will
“We are very excited to have Bob manage sales for the company, which
join us,” said Premier Broker-Asso- has approximately 35 active listings.
ciate Cindy O’Dare. “Every office in
town wanted him and we feel very “I had a great 20-year run,” says Nie-
lucky he chose us.” derpruem. “I came to Orchid Island
when only 10 homes had been built,
“It was a hard decision,” says Nie- and feel I was instrumental in the sale
derpruem. “There are a lot of great and development of the club. I was
real estate companies here, but in the involved in the sale of more than 375
end I felt like a small boutique firm fo- homes and sold in excess of $300 mil-
cused on the luxury market would be lion during the time I was there. But the
the best fit for me. fact of the matter is the club wanted to
move in a different direction.
“That million and above [home cat-
egory] is the target audience I am going “I can’t look back at this point. I have to
after; it is a perfect fit for Orchid Island look forward, and I am very excited about
where I will still concentrate my efforts. this new opportunity. It is nice coming to
Premier has an excellent marketing an office with a lot of seasoned pros who
program, with their affiliations, that are all willing to lend assistance to get me
will be good for the folks up in Orchid.” headed in right direction.
Torwest, developer of Orchid Island “The move opens up new areas of
Golf and Beach Club and the neigh- operation for me. Before, I listed and
boring community of Windsor, sold sold property exclusively in Orchid
Orchid Island Realty to the club for Island. Now, while I will still have my
$250,000 in a deal that closed July 1. main focus in that area, if I have a cli-
ent who wants to look at an estate out-
Torwest had leased a suite of offices side of Orchid Island, I can show it to
for Orchid Island Realty in the com- them. I think it is going to be great!”
munity’s oceanfront clubhouse for
the past four years and the expiration Niederpruem has done “a great job
of that lease seems to have been the selling real estate since Torwest took
catalyst for the club’s purchase of the over development of Orchid Island
company with the aim of increasing and we wish him well with his future
sales and property values. endeavors,” said Albani.
“We are very excited about the op-
portunity this will give us to shape the
sales and marketing operations of the
business, which we believe will make
it even more effective in selling prop-
erties here at Orchid Island,” said Club
President Suzanne Albani in a pre-
pared statement.
“Going forward, we intend to put a
greater emphasis on marketing efforts
than has been done in the past, as well
as improve our relations with outside
realtors. One change we are planning
in this regard is to enhance our com-
mission sharing arrangement with
outside brokers in order to be consis-
tent with other real estate companies
in Vero Beach. This should encourage
outside brokers to show Orchid Island
properties to their clients.”
The business, still called Orchid Is-
10 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
NEWS
Vero seaplane company sponsors free ‘Beachside Ride’ jitney
BY RAY McNULTY senger vehicle best described as a golf In the meantime, the company's ting to the bars and restaurants more
Staff Writer cart on steroids – to promote their start- owners – licensed pilots and flight in- convenient, but we'll go from the Vil-
up business: Treasure Coast Seaplanes. structors Michael Hoover and his wife, lage Beach Market to South Beach
Have you seen the new "Beachside Sheena, actually met while teaching at and west to the Riverside Park area,"
Ride" jitney cruising along the Central Treasure Coast Seaplanes, which of- Flight Safety in Vero Beach and have a Hoover said.
Beach business district, carrying pas- fers seaplane tours and advanced sea- combined 30-plus years of flying expe-
sengers to and from local hotels, res- plane flight training, began operations rience – are hoping shuttle riders will "It's a regular route, but if we need to
taurants and shops? Monday. The company is awaiting become seaplane passengers. go off it a bit to accommodate some-
Federal Aviation Administration certi- one, we can usually do it," he added.
The owners hope so. fication to begin charter air service to "Our basic route is along Ocean "We also do special events."
They're using the free shuttle – a the Florida Keys, Bahamas and even- Drive, where we can help alleviate
sharp-looking, red-and-black, six-pas- tually Cuba. the parking shortage and make get- The Beachside Ride, which began
service in May, currently runs from
5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through
Sunday. During the busy winter
months, Hoover said the hours will be
expanded to 11 a.m. until 9 p.m.
The shuttle is equipped with a cus-
tom-installed, drop-down monitor
that shows advertisements for local
businesses. The "nominal fee" paid for
the ads helps cover the cost of operat-
ing the shuttle.
"So not only are we helping with the
parking shortage, but we're also help-
ing promote local businesses," Hoover
said. "We're also hoping Treasure
Beachside jitney owners Sheena and Mike Hoover.
Coast Seaplanes will give locals and
tourists an opportunity to experience
the adventure of seaplane flying."
The company currently offers lo-
cal seaplane rides on a single-engine,
six-passenger Cessna 206 that lands
at Blue Cypress Lake and in the Intra-
coastal Waterway.
"Every time I land in water, I re-
member why I do this," Hoover said.
"If I had the option to never land on
concrete again, I'd be thrilled."
Hoover said Treasure Coast Air Ser-
vices, a fixed-base operator on the
north ramp at Vero Beach Regional
Airport, will be the home base for
Treasure Coast Seaplanes and provide
aircraft storage, avgas and other gen-
eral aviation pilot services.
"It's been a long, long road and
there was a lot of red tape to get
through along the way, but we're
ready to go and we're excited,"
Hoover said. "And the best part is
that it's a family affair.
"Not only do Sheena and I fly the
seaplanes, but it'll be me, Sheena or
my mother driving the shuttle."
12 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
Injured sea turtles get TLC at zoo’s healing center
BY MARY SCHENKEL
Staff Writer
Weakened or injured sea turtles that Christine Gamblin with ‘Fred’ the turtle. PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
reach our shores have a better chance
of survival these days thanks to the Sea five in the state equipped to treat tur- ‘Sybil’ heads for the ocean.
Turtle Healing Center at the Brevard tles with the contagious virus. The av-
Zoo, which opened in April 2014 in erage stay for a debilitated turtle is four nerable to additional boat strikes. On the mend now, Johnnie was
partnership with the Sea Turtle Preser- or five months, but it could be a year for “If the boat strike doesn’t kill them, it fluttering his flippers and making it
vation Society. a turtle with FP. known he wasn’t happy being on the
causes all their tissues to saturate with examination room treatment table.
In recent months four turtles re- The tumors, which must be surgi- air throughout their body cavities,”
habilitated at the center have been cally removed, most often grow on soft said Stadler. “If they float like this we “We only take them out of the water
released back into the ocean – two tissue such as on the face and flippers can’t release them back into the wild.” when we’re working with them,” she
each at the Archie Carr National Wild- but can also spread to internal organs. said, daubing him with a gentle an-
life Refuge Barrier Island Center and First spotted in the 1970s in the Keys, Archie’s fate will depend on his FP tiseptic before giving him antibiotic
Round Island Beachside Park. the virus is primarily found in green and whether his buoyancy resolves. injection. “We have some wide spec-
turtles, which spend more time in the If he can’t be released they will work trum antibiotics that we know work
“These were debilitated turtles, Indian River Lagoon eating algae than to find him a permanent home. “He’s for greens and then specific ones if
covered in barnacles and algae,” ex- the other turtles. a fun turtle; he likes attention,” said needed.”
plained Sea Turtle Program Coordina- Stadler affectionately.
tor Melanie Stadler, showing off Chad “We know it’s correlated to the qual- Before heading to the tanks to view
to a crowd of well-wishers at the May 17 ity of the water, caused by agricultur- “Johnnie came to us as a debilitated the other patients, Stadler displayed
BIC release. A juvenile green sea turtle, al and wastewater runoff, including turtle. He didn’t have any obvious in- multiple fishing hooks removed from
Chad flapped his flippers like an ea- chemicals, fertilizer, pesticides and juries, but he wasn’t moving a lot. He two turtles rescued from Port Canav-
ger youngster ready to leave the nest. paint,” said Stadler. was weak, emaciated and skinny, and eral, a popular fishing jetty. She said
“As soon as he heard the waves he was covered with algae and barnacles. the fisherman who hooked one of the
ready to go.” Stranded turtles are generally re- Usually that means he has some sort of turtles did the right thing by calling
ferred to STHC through Florida Fish body cavity infection,” she explained. FWC instead of cutting the line.
“I responded to the stranding for Mr. and Wildlife Conservation, the Sea “Johnnie also has an unusual carapace
President,” said BIC Director Donna Turtle Conservation Association and (shell). His scoots tell us this turtle is “You will not get in trouble for hook-
Lee Crawford of the other juvenile volunteers with the Sea Turtle Preser- possibly a green turtle/hawksbill hy- ing a turtle; it’s a very common thing.
green released that day. “A fisherman vation Society. brid. We sent blood samples to FWC to The turtle sees a fish or squid dangling
found him being pounded into the see if he’s a hybrid; we are seeing more from the line and goes for it.”
shoreline at Melbourne Beach. It was “We’ve taken in about 21 this year of them.”
on Presidents Day; that’s how he got so far; we took in maybe 50 last year,” CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
his name.” said Stadler during a visit to the facility
where she was treating Johnnie, from
Those two were too small to tag in St. John’s County and Archie, rescued
the usual fashion, and instead were from the Archie Carr refuge. Stadler
given internal tracking devices, similar was assisted by Annie Buschner, an
in size to the identification chips given intern with the Sea Turtle Intern Pro-
to household pets. “This way, if they gram which began in April.
ever come back up on the beach, we’ll
be able to scan them and see where In addition to an old boat-strike
they came from,” said Stadler. wound, a missing flipper and FP, Ar-
chie has what they call “bubble butt
Like most extinct or threatened spe- syndrome” and can’t stay under the
cies, their demise can be credited to surface of the water, leaving him vul-
humans, with oil spills and water pol-
lution, plastics, including plastic bags
and balloons, commercial and recre-
ational fishing, boat propellers, poach-
ing, coastal development and global
warming among the top culprits.
Although the Brevard and Treasure
Coast beaches are among some of the
highest sea turtle nesting areas in the
world, the closest facility equipped
to treat turtles with the fibropapil-
loma virus (FP), which causes tumors
to grow inside and outside the turtle’s
body, had previously been the Gumbo
Limbo Environmental Complex in
Boca Raton, more than 100 miles away.
Stadler, who has a master’s in marine
biology from Florida Atlantic Universi-
ty, worked for a while at Gumbo Limbo
before being hired to run the STHC.
With 12 individual tanks, the
2,400-square-foot STHC is one of only
14 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
‘Mr. President.’ PHOTOS: DENISE RITCHIE
Melanie Stadler
with ‘Chad.’
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 ing very well, having had a very large Indian River Lagoon. She’s doing really this time he had some sort of infection,
tumor on her back flipper surgically well; she’s right at 100 pounds.” possibly pneumonia,” Stadler said.
They also get numerous small tur- removed six months ago.
tles, six months to a year old, with lit- Isaac, also missing a front flipper, Stadler said adult turtles are not
tle bits of plastic in them, but she adds, Jaws, who got her name after being was found with a PIT tag that, when common in rehab, possibly because
“Unfortunately a lot do not survive. attacked by a shark, was missing most scanned, showed he had been reha- they spend more time away from
The impaction is too severe and their of her front flipper and had lacerations bilitated at SeaWorld in Orlando in humans. “A lot of times smaller tur-
little bodies just can’t handle it.” to her other flipper and her shell. “UCF 2012. “That time he had a fishing line tles live closer to shore. We are their
brought her to us; she was found in the wrapped around his neck and flipper; biggest threat.”
Over in the tanks Toni is now do-
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 15
PEOPLE
Turtles exposed to pollution can develop tumors.
The Brevard Zoo’s sea turtle program is the closest healing center for injured turtles. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS
Melanie Stadler and Annie Buschner.
Melanie Stadler cleans ‘Johnnie’ the sea turtle’s carapace with a gentle antiseptic.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 17
PEOPLE
Now we’re talkin’! Toastmasters make speaking easy
BY MARY SCHENKEL Raliyah Dawson, Doug Borrie and Jessica Schmitt. PHOTO: DENISE RITCHIE me over the years.”
Husband John Pate was the first to
Staff Writer “I wanted to continue a gathering of “Coming into Toastmasters was quite
people with a single mindset of being an experience for me,” said Angela Pate, join Toastmasters and she attended as
Some people thrive on public speak- the best they could be. We have been a a Realtor and interior designer, who re- a guest for about six months before de-
ing, but to many the very idea of speak- Distinguished Toastmasters Club and members fainting dead away as a child ciding to join.
ing in front of a crowd is a fate worse Distinguished President Club for over a in an elementary school program.
than death. For more than 90 years decade; we keep achieving the highest “I was nervous about getting up; I
Toastmasters International, a nonprof- levels of success,” said Silvestry. “What “When I was very young, I was fairly wasn’t sure if I would be comfortable
it organization, has been providing tips I think is most important is the com- quiet and introverted,” said Pate. “All I and I thought about and chewed on it
and tools to help its members gain con- passionate understanding that we have can remember is that we were standing for a while. I give credit to Toastmas-
fidence in their personal and business of what it is that each person needs in up there to do our parts, and the next ters for making me feel really confi-
lives by improving their communica- order to feel safe and relaxed when thing I knew I was on the ground. It dent. It is something you work on for
tion skills. speaking in public. We’re masters of set a tone for speaking in front of other years; it’s hard to overcome that sort of
being caring enough to help each and people. That kind of feeling was with thing,” said Angela Pate, who has since
Indian River County boasts three every one. That’s the way you transfer completed several of the advanced “de-
clubs: The Beachsiders, Vero Beach and your knowledge to always be the best grees” in the program. She now feels
Sebastian/Fellsmere Toastmasters. you can be.” perfectly comfortable giving book re-
And while the meeting dates, locations views for the Junior League Sustainers
and members may differ, each follows Vero Beach Boys and Girls Club Book Club or piano recitals as a mem-
the same principal rules and curricu- member Raliyah Dawson, an invited ber of the Vero Beach Duet Club.
lum which encourage excellence in guest at the meeting, was one of those
public speaking. asked to answer a table topic ques- “Toastmasters truly is an amazing
tion. Poised and confident, Dawson organization,” said Amy Gullikson, an
A recent Beachsiders gathering is impressed the group with her inspira- assistant branch manager at Harbor
typical of their club’s weekly meetings, tional response, leaving no doubt as to Community Bank, who froze when
with the agenda set that day by 28-year why she had been chosen as Boys and speaking in public. Although she had
Toastmasters member Jan Thomas act- Girls Club Youth of the Year at the state to drop out due to time constraints she
ing as Toastmaster of the Day. Other ro- competition. hopes to rejoin. “I’d like to be able to
tating positions include an “ah” coun- finish my speeches. I can do that now;
ter, grammarian/word master, speech “Before she heads to Atlanta [to com- I couldn’t before.”
timer, and table topics master. Mem- pete for the title of Southeast Regional
bers also take turns as speakers and Youth of the Year], we’re trying to in-
evaluators, two each per meeting. crease the community’s awareness of
her success while also trying to get her
Thomas explained that new mem- prepared for the many interviews and
bers receive a manual outlining 10 speeches she will complete at the com-
timed, assigned speeches that fo- petition,” said Jessica Schmitt, B&GC
cus on breaking the ice, organizing director of donor relations.
a speech, getting to the point, using
creative words, body language, vocals, “Mentoring is an important aspect
researching a topic, using visual aids, of the Toastmasters program, not only
persuasion and inspiring the audience. within our club,” said John Pate, who,
As members advance, subsequent with fellow member Doug Borrie, also
manuals build on those skills. twice visited Dawson at the B&GC to
give her some one-on-one mentoring
“Each speaker will have an evaluator sessions. “It is a service that we are de-
who will note how the speaker did with lighted to provide for very deserving
their assignment,” said Thomas. “We people, both young and old, outside our
use what we call the sandwich meth- weekly club meetings.”
od. We start out with nice things, then
some suggestions for improvement, A week later, Schmitt announced
and then finish out with some more that Dawson won the regional title
positive comments.” and in September will vie for National
Youth of the Year, competing against
Evaluators listen for such common five finalists in Washington, D.C.
conversational errors as “er,” “ah,”
“um,” “you know” and “like,” as well as
general grammatical errors, and later
critique the talks. After the prepared
speeches, the designated table topics
master calls on random members as
a way for them to practice impromptu
speaking skills.
“I wanted to achieve the highest ex-
cellence I could achieve for myself,”
said Lydia Silvestry, creator of the “In-
finite Dress” and founder of the Beach-
siders club. She had previously affili-
ated with other clubs and comfortable
with public speaking, she wanted to
mentor others.
18 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
PEOPLE
Pizza party celebrates ‘Moonshot’ momentum
BY CHRISTINA TASCON
Correspondent
Marilyn Avila, Marie O’Brien and Madeleine Bouldin. Oliver Justice with Corey and Colin Alexander. PHOTOS: LEAH DUBOIS Children and their parents enjoyed
Bonnie Swanson and Willie Finklin. some summertime fun with a little
Maurice and Faith O’Neal with Alaina McCloud. learning on the side last Thursday
at the second annual Moonshot Mo-
ment Family Pizza Party hosted by
The Learning Alliance, the School
District of Indian River County,
Moonshot community partners and
the National Summer Learning As-
sociation.
The Beach Party Bonanza-themed
party at the Vero Beach Heritage Cen-
ter celebrated National Learning Day,
in line with the Moonshot goal to
have 90 percent of children reading
proficiently by the end of third grade.
It was steaming hot outside but
comfortably cool indoors, where kids
gobbled up pizza and moon pies,
played games, made small crafts,
danced the limbo and enjoyed a fun-
filled beach party minus the sand and
blazing sun.
Artist Cat Faust had designed large,
colorful fish which hung from the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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20 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 PEOPLE Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
Jessica Mott with Cat and Adam Faust. Police Chief David Currey. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
stage against an ocean backdrop.
Husband Adam Faust, principal at
Glendale Elementary School and the
event’s master of ceremonies, kept
the mood light by dancing and cut-
ting up in his surfing attire.
Children gathered excitedly on
beach towels in front of the stage and
interactively participated as com-
munity leaders, including Vero Beach
Mayor Jay Kramer, Sebastian Mayor
Bob McPartlan, Fellsmere Police
Sgt. Scott Newsom and Vero Beach
Police Chief David Currey read vari-
ous books which were acted out by
the drama troupe from Indian River
County Charter High School.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Currey af-
ter reading “Where the Wild Things
Are,” by Maurice Sendak.
“It is really important for all of us
to help the kids learn to read better
and know that we are here to support
them.”
The idea behind the event is to keep
children excited about reading as a
way to avoid the “summer slide,” the
problematic step back in learning
skills often experienced during the
summer break.
“We have seen tremendous strides
with the kids because of this effort,”
said Marie O’Brien, TLA director of
community outreach. “We visited our
summer camps and saw about 350
kids today. We have seen how much
gain the kids have made in not just
reading, but also in math.”
“I know the Moonshot Moment is a
big thing here and I wanted to come
to support it,” said attendee Jessica
Morgan, a mother of two. “I have no-
ticed that the summer reading and
the Moonshot Moment program have
really helped. When my daughter was
first in kindergarten she was really
shy about reading aloud and would
not even read in front of her father.
And now she is reading to her brother,
in class and is a lot more confident.”
“I was so amazed after the first year
with Moonshot Moment programs.
But after the second year the kinder-
gartners writing and forming their
sounds was just incredible,” said Bon-
nie Swanson, former principal of Vero
Beach Elementary. “It used to take
about a month to get the kids back in
the routine after summer slide and
was such a waste of time. So this is so
invaluable.”
At last year’s event students were
given free books, but a new bookmo-
bile now brings the books to them in
their neighborhoods.
“We stopped around town and the
kids got to shop for age-appropriate
books. The parents could not believe
that they did not have to buy the
books,” said Swanson. “We even carry
some books for the parents, too.”
22 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
Cohoe’s photography ‘lens’ itself to discerning viewers
BY ELLEN FISCHER
Correspondent
Fine art photographer Jim Cohoe Vero Beach Power Plant. Jim Cohoe.
is serious about his art, and he wants
his audience to get serious about it, neglected structures; from time to PHOTO: LEAH DUBOIS
too. As serious at the Christie’s vice time he also takes an interest in the
president specializing in photogra- seashells and drift seeds that com-
phy who in 2013 selected one of his monly pop up on the beach.
works for a show in Soho.
A striking composition of jagged
“I’m driven by what I see with my
photography. It’s very important to
me. I’m passionate about it,” he says.
Today, Cohoe is showing his work
at the Main Street Vero Beach Gallery
in downtown Vero.
Cohoe digitally photographs ordi-
nary objects close up to record the
unique variations in their surface
textures and color. After a bit of fine
tuning in Photoshop, the images that
he presents to the world are ethereal
abstractions that have little to do
with their unremarkable subjects.
Cohoe’s stock in trade is the time-
worn, cratered, peeling, scarred,
splintered and rust-accreted exteri-
ors of junked autos, boats and other
Antique
Boat Hull.
Boat Hole.
shards of color began as a weath- Sea Bean.
ered prow silently rotting away in
a Fort Pierce boatyard; what looks
like a flaming fireworks display is a
detail of rusty cracks on a car hood;
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 23
ARTS & THEATRE
an apparent view of Mars, its surface protuberance in Riverside Park) be- tounded because he was right.” Gallery in New York City. He was rep-
scored with canals and veined with came the starting point of Cohoe’s Cohoe also studied on his own, resented by his print of a sea-sculpt-
ivory mountain ranges, started out as series of storm-tossed seascapes, ed conch shell.
a sea coconut, its husk webbed with photographic images that are no perusing books about painting and
barnacles. less romantically poetic than J.M.W. drawing as well as photography, to The juror, Laura Paterson, is a vice
Turner’s painted tempests. learn how the masters composed president and specialist in the pho-
“I’m trying to stop people in their pictures and used color. tography department at Christie’s,
tracks and make them look and Cohoe paired the photos with New York. She selected 40 images for
think,” Cohoe explains. “I’m taking brief accounts of historic gales in Those years of study paid off. Since the show from a field of over 1,000
pictures of things that are not warm his book, “Great Storms of the Great 2006 Cohoe has enjoyed exhibiting entries from photographers in 35
and fuzzy. Warm and fuzzy you forget Lakes.” locally in both solo and group shows. states, including Alaska and Hawaii.
in a second.” His work has also been included in
“I lived on the Great Lakes for 30 regional and national photo com- It’s a big deal, Cohoe says.
Cohoe likes to work in series. In many years, so the storms were an petitions; he has won 18 awards for A selection of Cohoe’s photographs
photography, the practice of using important part of our lives,” he says. his work. as well as his work in pottery can be
many pictures to describe a single en- seen through this month at the Main
tity goes back to photographer Alfred Born in Detroit, young Cohoe used Cohoe is particularly proud of his Street Vero Beach Gallery at 2036 14th
Stieglitz, who insisted that a series to visit the Detroit Institute of Art, 2013 inclusion in the 18th National Ave., Suite 103.
of his photos of his wife, the paint- where his aunt was a docent. Back Photo Competition at Soho Photo
er Georgia O’Keeffe, be viewed as a then he was awestruck by the Insti-
composite portrait. Stieglitz used the tute’s enormous fresco cycle by Mex- WHAT’S UP,
same technique when he attempted ican master Diego Rivera. The mural
to photograph the essence of “cloud” depicts the automotive industry at DOC?
in his “Equivalents” series. its prime with a particular emphasis
on the workers that toil in the steely An artful combination
The humble sea coconut is a far cry entrails of the Ford Motor Company. of found objects and
from Stieglitz’s lofty subject matter. ceramic sculpture, our
The golf ball-sized brown orb comes “It’s as much a stunner as Picasso’s one-of-a-kind Rabbit
from trees that line the Amazon; “Guernica” was to me when I saw it
walking on Vero’s beach you will oc- in Spain,” he says. “Just knocks your is an uncommonly
casionally find one washed in on the socks off.” charming character.
tide. Cohoe used several of the nuts in
various states – laced with barnacles, After studying marketing and
cracked and withered – as the subject business at several small colleges in
of a self-published picture book he Michigan (he never got the degree),
titled “The Great Balls of Indian River Cohoe went to work for himself as
County,” or “Balls” for short. the owner of a gift shop and custom
framing store. Having started taking
In the book’s preface Cohoe pon- pictures as a hobby in his 20s, his
ders the case of a friend who had shop was the first place he exhibited
found so many of the nuts on the his prints. That was back in the gela-
beach that he dismissed them as “not tin silver days.
so great.”
Later on he was the editor of his
Cohoe, however, thought them own small-town daily, The Cheboy-
compelling enough to bring some gan News. He was not only an editor
home, where he photographed them but the main columnist, the photog-
in the natural light of late afternoon. rapher, and the person that takes the
paper off the press. He didn’t have to
Set on a black piece of cloth, the develop and print his film, however;
balls were individually scrutinized by he contracted that out.
Cohoe’s lens to reveal each one’s mi-
nutest surface detail. By scattering a Cohoe began to develop his pho-
few grains of sand on the backdrop, to-documentary skills into a fine art
the artist transformed a ball into a form after he and his wife Jeannine –
planet in a galaxy of stars. Photo- who goes by Jeany – began spending
graphed as a group, the balls became winters in Vero. They became full-
moons in flight; placed on a crinkled time residents a little over a year ago.
piece of aluminum foil, they were
space travelers from an alien world. Cohoe credits two local photogra-
phers with helping him develop an
“I don’t know why, but I always go artist’s eye.
back and go back and go back to the
same subject” Cohoe says. One of them, Louis J. Ciszek, is
a successful wedding and portrait
It’s the same story with the scrap- photographer. Cohoe took photo
yard cars Cohoe photographed every classes from him early on at the Vero
summer near his home in Saginaw, Beach Museum of Art.
Michigan. An old boatyard in Fort
Pierce is another of Cohoe’s favored “Louie’s two things were ‘Look
photographic hunting grounds; its for the light’ and ‘Think outside the
owners allow him the run of the place. box.’ He kept pushing the latter.”
“I try to exhaust my subject so I Cohoe studied privately with com-
don’t miss anything at all. I’ll go back mercial and fine art photographer
and shoot the same boat dozens and Aric Attas for about eight years. He
dozens of times, under different light later took Attas’ Photoshop classes
conditions.” at the museum.
Even the brushed steel doors of an “Aric would see things in my work
electric service box (a bunker-like that I never saw or understood,” Co-
hoe says. In critiquing his work, At-
tas “told me who I was. I was just as-
24 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
‘Go’ see Amanda Cox make modern-dance magic
BY MICHELLE GENZ performance. Friday at 7 p.m. in “We’ve invited every
Staff Writer non-profit we know of that
the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s has something to do with
Being the daughter of a magician teenagers.”
had its advantages for Amanda Cox. Leonhardt auditorium, five danc-
She understood that when her dad, In some cases, she gave
who went by Wild Willy Woo Woo, ers – including Cox – plus two away $10 tickets to the or-
practiced sawing her in half, it was ganizations’ directors, and
only to make his act more convincing. musicians and an actress will they in turn encouraged
their staff members to go.
Today, it is Cox herself who is re- perform “Let Go,” a work of mod- By last week, they had 75
hearsing how to give a convincing tickets committed; the the-
ern dance set to a poem enacted ater holds around 250.
Barker hopes to offer the
on stage. program to non-profits next
year and intends to add a
“Let Go,” a collaborative work PamCHphOuoaTsOrwict: LeeiaErrAnfSHusclDahpUnoBiedOocIlSaedcoatonnrcsseerrlsef-,heesatreseem. workshop given by a psychologist.
that centers on a theme of self- “We want to really explore these nega-
acceptance, came about after tive voices in our heads and help peo-
ple turn them around,” she says. “We
Cox, a graduate in should be speaking more positively to
dance from the University of South ourselves.”
Florida, spent the past year in Vero Meanwhile, Barker is enjoying bear-
as artist-in-residence at Indian River ing witness to the artistic process: The
Charter High School, her alma mater. kids in the show have crafted much of
their movements themselves, con-
For the end-of-the-year production, tributing their own interpretations to
she and her students created a piece Portia Nelson’s poem “Autobiography
that crossed multiple disciplines to in Five Short Chapters,” recited as a
convey the self-doubts that plague monologue during the dance.
adolescence. “What inspired me was being back
at Charter this past year,” says Cox,
Staged at the end of April in sell-out who replaced modern dance instruc-
performances, the theatrical dance tor Cher Bounds while she was away
so impressed two women in the audi- caring for a family member.
ence that they decided to sponsor a “This is my first piece that I’ve done
public performance at the museum. with collaboration like this. I learned
that here at Charter. Every year, we
Leigh Hursh, a Vero psychothera- did a collaboration at the end of the
pist, and Linda Barker, a retired orga- year that involved acting, music
nizational development consultant, and dance. It inspired me to see that
brought together a small group to again.”
cover the rental of the auditorium – Barker too finds the program in-
the event is not part of the museum’s spiring. “At AAUW, we’re always in-
programming. Both are involved with terested in the development of female
the local chapter of the American As- artists, and now we’re watching it
sociation of University Women. happen,” says Barker. “It’s so excit-
ing.”
In January, the AAUW sponsored Apart from her residency this past
the screening of “Girl Rising,” a doc- year at Charter, Cox is living full-time
umentary about nine young girls in in Orlando. There she is part of a mod-
different countries dealing with chal- ern dance company called Red Right
lenging circumstances. The screen- Return. She also teaches dance and
ing was a fundraiser; held at the Ma- yoga at the Dr. Phillips Center Florida
jestic Theatre, the proceeds were used Hospital School of the Arts and Well-
to buy the rights to show it again at the ness, part of the center’s complex of
county’s three high schools. performance spaces and museums,
where everything from ukulele to im-
At the Charter High screening, provisation is taught – and magic as
Barker noticed posters for “Let Go,” well.
called her friend Leigh and went to While Charter’s VAPA program
see it. – short for Visual and Performing
Arts – doesn’t yet offer magic, it has
“We were bowled over,” Barker says. an extensive dance program. That is
As the performance ended and the what convinced the then 13-year-old
lights came up in the school’s black Amanda to join her mother, Barbara
box theater, Barker overheard a wom- Boblitz, in Vero Beach.
an say what she was already thinking:
“This needs a wider audience.”
“It’s an amazing story,” says Barker.
“It’s an amazing performance. Aman-
da is brilliant and she’s tapped into
the real feelings of her dancers.”
Because the theme has to do with
adolescence, Barker thought it would
interest a number of non-profits
whose work involves that age group.
So she set about filling seats with that
specific audience.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 25
ARTS & THEATRE
Boblitz moved to Vero after di- persuaded Amanda to move south Cox started out dancing with an to me,” gushes Cox. “Dr. (Ray)
vorcing from Amanda’s dad; she has and live with her. Chris Dale Sexton, Charter’s original Adams, Ms. Aversa, the various
worked for more than a decade as dance director. Then, in 2004, Hedi teachers – this school supported me
concert administrator for the Indian “I’ve always loved to dance,” says Khursandi was recruited by Charter unbelievably,” she says. “I probably
River Symphonic Association. When Cox. “But I couldn’t afford lessons director Cindy Aversa, once a serious would not have gone to college if not
Boblitz discovered Charter High and more than once a week. As you get of student of dance herself. for this school. I am a strong believer
its arts program, she immediately older, you need much more than that. in Charter.”
Here, I was able to dance for free.” “Ms. Aversa is like the ideal wom-
26 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
ARTS & THEATRE
Coming Up: Scintillating symphony; Art After Dark
BY MICHELLE GENZ Stravinsky’s ballet “Petrushka,” will Jurica, who does the weekend
Staff Writer be performed at 3 p.m. at Vero’s Com- weather for WFTV (Channel 9),
munity Church. earned a degree in music at UCLA,
1 Conductor Aaron Collins has and worked in TV news in L.A. cover-
picked some mostly familiar and The concert marks the first Master- ing the Yugoslav wars (her family is
works concert of the group’s seventh Croatian) before going back to school
entirely beautiful music for his all- season. And, with luck, sunny skies for a master’s degree in meteorology.
are ahead for the orchestra: Orlando But she never gave up singing, taking
Russian concert with the Space Coast TV meteorologist Marina Jurica has opera roles with the Orlando Philhar-
hired the group for the debut of her monic and in a number of musicals.
Symphony Orchestra this weekend. new light opera company.
Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances,” Rach-
maninoff’s “Isle of the Dead” and
Conductor Aaron Collins and the
Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.
With her love of both operas and
musicals, operettas are close to her
heart. In founding Orlando Light Op-
era, she claims to have created one
of the few operetta companies in the
world today. Even more remarkable
is that she’s starting in a city that has
struggled mightily to keep opera a
part of its cultural offerings.
Billed as a summer festival is the
company’s first work, “The Student
Prince,” a classic of the genre. Perfor-
mances take place at the Annie Rus-
sell Theatre at Rollins College in Win-
ter Park next Thursday July 28 through
Sunday July 31.
2 Last week’s profile of Richard
Crowell, Riverside Theatre’s new
production manager, mentions his
long association with Lou Tyrrell, a
major figure in theater in Palm Beach
County, and in all of South Florida,
for that matter. Tyrrell’s Florida Stage
closed in 2011, but he has since started
Theatre Lab, a resident company on
the campus of Florida Atlantic Uni-
versity in Boca Raton.
This summer, Vero residents don’t
have to drive all the way to Boca to see
new plays in development, Tyrrell’s
signature effort. The Norton Museum
of Art in West Palm is staging Theatre
Lab’s readings of one-act plays and
musicals at its Thursday night Art Af-
ter Dark events. The series starts this
Thursday (July 21) with a staged read-
ing of a new musical “13 Things about
Ed Carpolotti,” with book, lyrics and
music by Barry Kleinbort, based on a
monologue from the Jeffrey Hatcher
play, “Three Viewings.” The reading
features a multiple Carbonell Award-
winning actress, Laura Turnbull, who
has appeared on Broadway and on
national tours; and Caryl Fantel, a
veteran Palm Beach pianist and mu-
sic director who has performed off-
Broadway and at Carnegie Hall.
28 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
HEALTH
Are custom-built replacement knees the next thing?
BY TOM LLOYD used to replace natural knee joints to- order to make those off-the-shelf parts tween 20 percent and 40 percent of pa-
Staff Writer day isn’t always a perfect fit. fit. As Ware points out, “Most knee sys- tients having the procedure are com-
tems will have [only about] eight differ- plaining about residual knee pain long
Knee replacement surgery – or knee In fact, it rarely is. ent sizes.” In the operating room, those after their operations, which would
arthroplasty – has become incredibly Since 1968, manufacturers of re- replacement joints can’t be cut to fit so amount to 200,000-400,000 sore knees
commonplace in this country in recent placement knee joints have produced the only option has been to cut the pa- out of a million.
years. only a limited number of different sizes tient’s bone.
of those joints and that has forced or- Since the American Academy of Or-
And so have patient complaints. thopedic surgeons to adapt (saw off) Now, however, there is another op- thopedic Surgeons estimates the num-
Dr. Anthony Ware thinks he knows more parts of a patient’s natural femur tion. Ware is the first orthopedic sur- ber of knee replacement procedures
why: The hardware most frequently and/or tibia than they’d have liked in geon in Indian River County to employ will likely exceed the 3 million a year
a “custom-built” approach to knee re- mark by 2030, the number of patient
placements. Specifically, the Confomis complaints is almost certainly going
iTotal G2 system. to grow exponentially over the next 14
years.
“With this knee replacement sys-
tem,” Ware explains, “the parts are Unless, that is, Ware is right and the
custom-designed for each patient so new approach to knee replacements
[the surgeon] doesn’t have to drill into solves a significant problem with the
the femur or the tibia like with a lot of hardware currently being used by most
other implants.” of his colleagues.
The knee is the largest joint in the hu- With the Conformis system, a CT
man body. It is consists of the lower end scan is made of the existing knee joint
of the thighbone (the femur), and the and a 3-D image of that knee is then
upper end of the shinbone (the tibia), sent to a Conformis manufacturing
along with other structures, and every plant in Massachusetts, where a pre-
knee is unique in both size and – most cise match to that individual’s anatomy
particularly – shape. is built. 3-D printing is used to form
the molds for the metal alloys, cobalt
Healthy knees allow people to per- chrome and high-density polyethylene
form all their everyday tasks but if the parts of a new, tailor-made knee joint.
knee is damaged by osteoarthritis or
rheumatoid arthritis, injury or con- Because these joints are individually
genital bone defects, tasks as seem- crafted for the patient’s existing anat-
ingly simple as walking, climbing a omy, there’s less blood loss when the
small flight of stairs or even getting in joint is surgically implanted, Ware says.
and out of a chair can become a painful
and sometimes downright dangerous Ware, who served his residencies in
ordeal. general surgery and orthopedics at the
University of Florida Shands Hospital
To remedy those situations, many in Jacksonville and received his fellow-
physicians today recommend knee re- ship training in foot and ankle surgery
placement surgery – an operation that at the Mayo Clinic, is confident the
has been around for nearly five decades custom-built approach is the very best
– to relieve that pain, correct joint de- knee surgery option available.
formities or injuries and increase mo-
bility. This year the Centers for Disease Dr. Anthony Ware is with Sebastian
Control and Prevention projects that River Medical Group. His Vero Beach of-
close to 1 million knees will be surgi- fice is at 1300 36th Street, Suite H-1. The
cally replaced in the U.S. phone number is 772-563-0146. His Se-
bastian office is at 8005 Bay Street, Suite
The problem is that anywhere be- 2. That number is 772-589-0331.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 29
HEALTH
Fit bit: Only 2.7 (!) percent of
U.S. adults are truly healthy
Dr. Charles Celano.
PHOTO: LEAH DUBOIS
BY MARIA CANFIELD achieves all four of these behavioral
Correspondent characteristics.
Quick quiz: If you were asked to Charles Celano, MD, a cardiologist
name four behaviors that health ex- associated with Indian River Medical
perts say define a “healthy lifestyle,” Center, is not surprised that less than
what would you say? 3 percent achieve what is considered
a healthy lifestyle; he says the degree
The answer is a good diet, moderate of difficulty varies among the four
exercise, a recommended body fat per- characteristics. “It’s easier to be a non-
centage, and being a non-smoker. You smoker than it is to meet the definition
may not have identified all four, but we of moderate exercise (150 minutes per
bet they’re all pretty familiar; most of week), and sustaining a healthy diet
us have been given this advice by our over the long-term can also be diffi-
health care team numerous times. cult.”
Familiarity has not led to compli- While Dr. Celano, who is board-cer-
ance, however – recent research from tified in both cardiology and internal
Oregon State University and the Uni- medicine, wasn’t surprised by the re-
versity of Mississippi shows that only sults, the researchers themselves were.
2.7 percent of the U.S. adult population
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
30 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
HEALTH
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 occur together: increased blood pres-
sure, high blood sugar, excess body fat
Ellen Smit, senior author of the study around the waist, and abnormal cho-
and an associate professor in the OSU lesterol or triglyceride levels. Metabol-
College of Public Health and Human ic syndrome increases the risk of heart
Sciences, says “the behavior standards disease, stroke, and diabetes.
we were measuring for were pretty rea-
sonable, not super high. We weren’t The study results were based on a
looking for marathon runners.” group of 4,745 people who participated
in the National Health and Nutrition
These four lifestyle characteristics Examination Survey, a program of
do not exist in a “nice to have” vacuum; studies designed to assess the health
they are associated with a lower risk and nutritional status of adults and
of cardiovascular disease and other children in the United States. The re-
health problems. Vero’s Dr. Celano searchers say part of the value of the
says non-adherence to these charac- study was that it did not just rely on
teristics can lead to “metabolic syn- self-reported information (which can
drome,” a cluster of conditions that
A good diet, moderate exercise, a recommended body fat percentage and being a non-smoker are four
behaviors that health experts say define a “healthy lifestyle.”
be inaccurate for both intentional in the blood.
and non-intentional reasons); it also So if only 2.7 percent of the study
included several measured behaviors:
participants achieved all four healthy
• Measurements of activity were behaviors, how many had three of
done with an accelerometer, a device the four? That number – 16 percent
people wore to determine their actual – is also low (37 percent had two, 34
level of movement. percent had just one, and 11 percent
had none). One of the few pieces of
• Blood samples were done to verify encouraging news from the study is
a person was a non-smoker. that 71 percent of participants did not
smoke.
• Body fat was measured with so-
phisticated X-ray absorptiometry, not A few more words about exercise:
just a crude measurement based on Dr. Celano tells his patients that,
weight and height. while exercising 150 minutes each
week (5 days at 30 minutes per day)
• A healthy diet was defined in this may be difficult to achieve, any sort
study as being in about the top 40 of physical activity is good. “A casual
percent of people who ate foods rec- walk, water aerobics, golfing – even
ommended by the USDA. (Dr. Celano with a cart – all have health benefits,”
says that most of the diet plans that he says. “Just because your level of ac-
wax and wane in popularity have a tivity doesn’t meet the textbook defi-
few things in common – controlled nition of moderate exercise doesn’t
portions, low fat, and the inclusion of mean it doesn’t have value.”
“good carbs” such as leafy and color-
ful vegetables and fresh fruits, ber- Dr. Celano strongly believes in a
ries, nuts and seeds.) “team” approach to health; team
members include the patient, their
The lifestyle characteristics were primary care physician and nurses,
then compared to “biomarkers” of their specialists, and, if applicable,
cardiovascular health, the most fa- their nutritionist and trainer. He says,
miliar being blood pressure, choles- “The partnership is really important
terol and glucose levels. Comparisons to identify root causes of health prob-
were also made to more sophisticated lems, and not just treat the symp-
biomarkers that can provide evidence toms.”
of cardiovascular risk, such as C-re-
active protein (substance produced Dr. Celano’s office is located at 3607
by the liver that increases in the pres- 15th Avenue in Vero Beach; the phone
ence of inflammation in the body), number is 772-562-8522.
and Triglycerides, a type of fat found
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 31
HEALTH
Keeping you up on caffeine: What’s real, what’s myth
Hydration: Caffeine is a known body composition, water intake or much. But one study, published in
diuretic, meaning it increases the physical activity. Although the long- the European Journal of Clinical
passing of urine, although that does held assumption that caffeine is de- Nutrition in April, looks promising:
not seem to have a significant effect hydrating may not be accurate, that Researchers compared the daily
on overall fluid balance. A study in doesn’t mean coffee should replace consumption of caffeinated bever-
2013 with individuals drinking the water. You want to drink enough to ages between individuals who had
equivalent of five cups of espresso or make your urine clear. maintained weight loss (greater than
seven servings of tea found that caf- 5 percent of total weight lost and
feine does not alter fluid balance in Weight loss and maintenance: maintained for over a year) and in-
healthy male subjects, regardless of Caffeine’s role in weight loss and
maintenance hasn’t been studied CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
BY JAE BERMAN
Washington Post
It is often assumed that caffeine is
not good for you. Many view it as a
guilty pleasure, addicting, unneces-
sary and certainly not pro-health.
There are so many questions around
caffeine: Does it burn fat? Is it dehy-
drating? Will it improve my athletic
performance? Will it prevent me from
sleeping?
It seems important to understand
what studies are saying about caf-
feine, considering most American
adults have at least one cup of a caf-
feinated beverage per day.
Exercise performance: Caffeine
has long been associated with im-
proving endurance. How does it work?
Caffeine makes it easier for the body
to use fat as fuel. Thus your body can
use both its glycogen reserves and its
fat stores to fuel its efforts. This allows
for longer periods of aerobic endur-
ance (cardiovascular exercise such
as running, cycling or swimming). In
addition, the stimulant properties of
caffeine can improve cognitive func-
tion, so users show more alertness,
faster reaction times and decreased
perception of pain.
32 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
HEALTH
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31 of sleep as well as quality of sleep. black coffee and tea. But not all coffee caffeine products are a booming in-
Some of this may vary based on genet- cups are equal, for more reasons than dustry, there are pre-made mixes, on-
dividuals in the general population. ics and age, as well as typical caffeine just caffeine. It is crucial to know what the-go drinks and caffeinated bars
The weight-loss maintainers reported consumption, but it is clear that if you is in your beverage that might hinder that are full of calories and processed
consuming significantly more caf- are not sleeping well, your caffeine in- your efforts to maintain a healthy ingredients.
feine than the other group. take should be investigated. lifestyle. Many of us add sugar and fat
to our beverages, causing the calorie Still confused about caffeine? Not
The cause of that connection wasn’t Calories: Yes, it’s true caffeine has count to rise quickly. Also, because sure if you should take that drink? Re-
clear, though researchers suggested zero calories on its own — same for member the following: Start with hon-
it might be related to a metabolic ef- esty. Measure how much coffee you
fect, an appetite-suppressing effect or are having. A serving is an 8-ounce
a caffeine-related rise in energy ex- cup. Most small sizes in coffee shops
penditure. More research is needed, are 12 ounces. If you are trying to as-
but according to the study’s authors, sess whether caffeine is affecting your
“Consumption of caffeinated bever- sleep, exercise performance or weight,
ages might support weight loss main- it is always essential to know your
tenance.” baseline.
Type 2 diabetes: Scientists are sug- Consider your goal. People want to
gesting that coffee consumption is consume or quit caffeine for a variety
linked to a significant decrease in of reasons. Get clear on your goals,
Type 2 diabetes. Much more research and understand whether drinking
needs to be done to clarify the data, or not drinking will support you in
but one study found that when cof- achieving them. If you think caffeine
fee consumption was increased on might be unhealthy, define what is
average by 1.5 cups per day, the risk of “unhealthy” to you. Take a closer look
Type 2 diabetes decreased by 11 per- at the specific health concerns that
cent. Another found that every addi- are your priorities.
tional cup per day may decrease dia-
betes risk by 7 percent. Do not go cold turkey. If you do
decide to cut out caffeine, slowly
Sleep: This is one area where all wean yourself off coffee for a week
evidence seems to show we should be and then go off all caffeinated bev-
cutting back on caffeine. Studies show erages for 30 days. Assess how you
a correlation between caffeine con- feel and then decide how much, if
sumption and impaired sleep, which any, you want to add back to receive
is no surprise. Because caffeine is a the many benefits of coffee.
stimulant, it can decrease total hours
In the early summer of 1976, the engineers and dental president, occupied the White House, facing Gentry Lee was one of the young, brash, long-
scientists of NASA’s Viking mission hoped to do a stiff challenge on his right flank from Ronald Rea- haired engineers dedicated to the mission. He would
something no one had ever done before: land a fully gan. The Democrats were poised to nominate a pea- later gain fame as a science fiction writer. First, he
operational spacecraft on Mars. nut farmer and one-term Georgia governor named had to help land two spacecraft on Mars.
Jimmy Carter. Watergate and Vietnam were fresh,
They wanted to do this on July 4 – the nation’s bi- painful memories. “I spent seven years of my life averaging 60 hours a
centennial. week working on Viking,” Lee said recently at NASA’s
Space travel was in a lull. The last Apollo landing Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. “I had no life.”
And then they wanted to detect life.
They had placed three science experiments on had been four years earlier, and the space shuttle was 2011
board the Viking 1 lander, each of which would ana- still years from its inaugural flight. But Viking had the
lyze Martian soil for signs of microbes. The lander potential to inject new life into the space program. MARS ROVER CURIOSITY
also featured two cameras, which were life-detection
instruments in their own right. A single image might The Viking mission launched two spacecraft, one He remembers how astronomer Carl Sagan, an-
solve the ancient mystery of extraterrestrial life. No trailing the other. Viking 1 went into orbit around otherViking team member, would “filibuster” during
one could completely rule out the possibility that a Mars on June 19; Viking 2 was due to arrive in early planning sessions. Sagan, a Cornell astronomer, had
Martian creature might go hopping by. August. Each carried a robotic lander. already gained fame for his appearances on Johnny
“There was almost hanging in the air the possi- Carson’s “Tonight Show.” It was Sagan who thought
bility of people becoming famous overnight if we Viking should be outfitted with an external light be-
did discover life,” says Ben Clark, who worked for cause Martian creatures might be attracted to it.
Martin Marietta, the company that built Viking un-
der a NASA contract. “There could have been Nobel
Prizes.”
Forty years later, the Viking mission remains leg-
endary – both for its triumphs and disappointments
– and continues to cast a shadow over Mars explora-
tion.
When rovers trundle across Mars today, they do
not carry any life-detection instruments. That’s not
because of a presumption that Mars is sterile, but be-
cause Viking showed that scientific questions have to
be framed carefully. Viking’s error might be described
as scientific overreach.
Forty years ago, the scientists and engineers tried
to do too much too fast. But it was such a heady time,
when so many boundaries had already been crossed,
so many rules broken, so many truths shattered. If
you weren’t overreaching, you weren’t really trying.
1976 was not only the nation’s 200th birthday, it
was also an election year. Gerald R. Ford, an acci-
1976
VIKING
Lee, exasperated by Sagan’s loquaciousness, cut a miles away from the control center here in Pasa- ployed, then were discarded. Thrusters fired again.
deal with him: Come to my office any time and talk dena. A spacecraft cannot be joysticked at such a The journey to the surface took more than three
to me as much as you want, but let other people talk distance. hours, and the JPL flight team could do nothing but
in the meetings. Sagan agreed. wait and hope.
Landing on the planet is tricky because of the at-
Relatively little was known at the time about the mosphere, which is too thin to be of much help in And then: “Touchdown!”
surface of Mars. Long gone was the imaginary Mars braking a vehicle with parachutes but thick enough The signal arrived at mission control indicating
of Percival Lowell, the influential astronomer who to cause turbulence or overheating. The Soviets had that Viking had landed safely, settling on three legs
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had insisted with footings shaped like lily pads.
that he could see, through his telescope, canals on 2008 In The Washington Post, reporter Tom O’Toole
the surface – built, no doubt, by a Martian civiliza- wrote, “Tears ran down the face of Mission Planning
tion. PHOENIX LANDER Director B. Gentry Lee, who pulled at his hair, which
had grown to his shoulders since Viking left Earth 11
Sagan had been among those who figured out that tried three times to land a robotic vehicle on Mars; months ago.”
seasonal variations on the Martian surface – which only one landed intact. It transmitted meaningless Then came the first image from the surface. It
some scientists thought were signs of vegetation – data for a few seconds before going silent forever. showed . . . rocks. And on the right side of the frame,
were caused by dust storms. one of the Viking footpads. It was a spectacularly bor-
On July 20, 1976 – the seventh anniversary of the ing image, except that it was Mars. Mars! Everyone
The first clear view of the surface had arrived in first moonwalk – the Viking lander separated from now knew: That’s what Mars looks like.
1965, when NASA’s Mariner 4 probe flew by and cap- the mother ship and began its descent toward the Lee said recently: “I still get goose bumps just
tured images of craters – a surface much like Earth’s surface. Thrusters fired briefly. Parachutes de- thinking about it. All of a sudden, humanity had
moon. A later Mariner mission revealed huge volca- done something that would have been considered
noes and a canyon that could eat Earth’s Grand Can- preposterous just 20 years earlier.”
yon for breakfast. Lee explained why the first image showed the
footpad: to see how far Viking might sink into the
The Viking team had picked out a landing site, but surface. “One-third of the scientists thought the con-
Viking 1 relayed images showing the site to be rough, sistency of Mars might be like that of shaving cream,”
probably covered with boulders. The July 4 date was he said.
scrapped. The team spent 17 days, working around The next big event was the search for life. But
the clock, trying to figure out where to land. something went wrong. A robotic arm was sup-
posed to reach out and scoop up some soil. But the
They finally chose a location called Chryse Plani- arm wouldn’t budge. Viking couldn’t do a thing! Lee
tia (the Chryse plain), not because it looked optimal remembers uttering an exclamation that cannot be
but because Viking 2 was rapidly approaching Mars published in a family-friendly article.
and they knew they couldn’t actively manage both Eventually the team realized that they had forgot-
spacecraft. ten to load the software code for unlocking the arm.
They beamed the instructions to the computer of the
“We were exhausted,” Lee said. His wife was due spaceship on Mars.
to have their first child at the end of July, and Lee re-
calls her saying, “Can you get the thing to land so I CONTINUED ON PAGE 38
can bring the baby into the world?”
The feat of landing on Mars would have to be
achieved through preprogrammed, computer-
controlled maneuvers, for Mars was millions of
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38 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 INSIGHT COVER STORY
Over the course of many days, Vi- Astronomer Carl Sagan and Viking. they are getting from the first Viking
king performed the science experi- soil samples may be the result of a to-
ments. The spacecraft had been baked tally strange soil chemistry on the Red
at high temperature before leaving Planet,” O’Toole wrote.
Earth to kill any stray microbes that
might contaminate the results. The most influential scientists on
the team, including Norman Horowitz
All three experiments essentially of the California Institute of Technol-
looked for Earth-like life, by adding ogy, leaned toward a non-biological
organic material to Mars soil that explanation. Horowitz saw a planet
could potentially be gobbled up by without any obvious liquid water, or
microbes. organic molecules, or an ozone layer
to protect the surface from radiation.
The results, which would be repeat- He concluded that Mars was covered
ed later by the second Viking lander with oxidizing molecules that steril-
after it touched down in September, ized the surface in the same way that
were confusing. The most promising
result came from what was called the high too fast. The most damning evi- Gentry Lee poses for a
Labeled Release experiment, designed dence came from a device called a gas portrait in the Mars Science
by Rockville, Md.-based scientist Gil- chromatograph mass spectrometer,
bert Levin. which looked for organic molecules – Laboratory at the Jet Pro-
the kind of complex molecules neces- pulsion Laboratory at the
Radioactive nutrients were added sary for life on Earth. It found none. California Institute of Tech-
to the Martian soil. A large amount of nology in Pasadena, Calif.
radioactive gas quickly erupted – as if “Mars Soil Activity: Does It Signal
organisms had metabolized the nutri- Presence of Life?” read a hedged, but
ents. very large, headline on the front page
of the Aug. 1, 1976 Post.
Then duplicate soil samples were
heated to kill these (hypothetical) mi- “Life may have been found today
crobes. Nutrients were then applied, in the red sands of Mars, but scien-
and this time no gas emerged – as if the tists cautioned that the responses
heating had killed the micro-Martians.
Levin’s conclusion: Mars was teem-
ing with life.
But there were contrary indicators.
The “biological” reaction was suspi-
ciously pronounced, spiking way too
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 39
INSIGHT COVER STORY
hydrogen peroxide can disinfect a cut lar system, it is now virtually certain Viking had been a screaming suc- “It kind of went from riches to rags,”
in your skin. that the Earth is the only life-bearing cess at the technological level, but Ben Clark, the former Martin Marietta
planet in our region of the galaxy. We the scientific results landed with a employee, says of Viking. “The science
In his book, “To Utopia and Back,” have waked from a dream. We are thud. Life roots for life. No one fanta- community was left with this kind of
Horowitz gave a grim assessment of alone, we and the other species, ac- sizes about sterile planets. Not until bland picture of a uniform planet.”
life beyond Earth: “Since Mars of- tually our relatives, with whom we 1997 did NASA land another probe
fered by far the most promising habi- share the earth.” on Mars. John Grunsfeld, until recently the
tat for extraterrestrial life in the so-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 41
40 Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39 INSIGHT COVER STORY
Spacecraft engineers Matt Robinson, left, NITY, which landed on Mars in 2004. On
and Wesley Kuykendall stand with a group the right is a Mars Science Laboratory test
of vehicles providing a comparison of three rover the size of that project's Mars rover,
generations of Mars rovers developed at CURIOSITY, which is on course for landing
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasa- on Mars in August 2012.
dena, California. The setting is JPL's Mars
Yard testing area. Sojourner and its flight spare, named Ma-
rie Curie, are 2 feet long. The Mars Explo-
Front and center is the flight spare for the ration Rover Project's rover, including the
first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed "Surface System Test Bed" rover in this
on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars PATH- photo, are 5.2 feet long. The Mars Sci-
FINDER Project. On the left is a Mars Ex- ence Laboratory Project's Curiosity rover
ploration Rover Project test rover that is a and "Vehicle System Test Bed" rover, on the
working sibling to SPIRIT and OPPORTU- right, are 10 feet long.
Viking
Viking 1 was more than 200 million miles from Earth
when it became the first operational spacecraft to land on
another planet. Members of the Space Flight Operations
Facility are shown in the control room on July 20, 1976.
The cameras began taking images
immediately after landing. The Viking 2
Lander operated on the surface for 1,281 Mars
days and was turned off on April 11, 1980,
when its batteries failed.
Your Vero Beach Newsweekly ™ Vero Beach 32963 / July 21, 2016 41
head of NASA’s science directorate, INSIGHT COVER STORY
said, “I think for 20 years that put the
damper on the Mars program.” 2008 traordinary claims require extraor-
dinary evidence. Life on Mars is an
Levin, however, hasn’t changed his PHOENIX LANDER extraordinary claim. Viking’s evidence
assessment of his Labeled Release ex- was ambiguous at best.
periment. “I’ve been working on that 2004
for 40 years. We are completely confi- Since Viking, NASA has not tried
dent we detected life,” Levin said last ROVER OPPORTUNITY to detect life on Mars directly. Cynics
week. would say that’s a case of don’t ask if
you don’t want to know the answer. But
Most of the Viking scientific team it’s also a reflection of post-Viking sci-
found Levin’s case unpersuasive. In entific modesty.
the years since, new evidence has pe-
riodically nudged the debate one way NASA’s strategy has been to take a
or the other. step back and look for potentially hab-
itable environments, places where wa-
The Phoenix lander in 2008 found ter can remain in a liquid state.
the chemical perchlorate, an oxidant
that might explain the sterile surface. The next rover, scheduled to be
The Curiosity rover, however, found launched in 2020, will cache soil sam-
organic molecules when it drilled a ples and leave them on the surface.
few inches into the soil. And last year, That’s in anticipation of a future sam-
NASA produced tentative evidence of ple-return mission, but such a mission,
ephemeral liquid water seeping along though high on the wish list of scien-
sandy, sun-warmed slopes. Optimists tists, remains unfunded.
hold out hope for “cryptic” life beneath
the surface. There is one other unresolved issue
about Viking: Whatever happened to
Mars could have hosted life a few the two orbiters?
billion years ago, when the planet was
warmer and had seas and rivers. That They functioned for several years
was a different Mars, before it lost most before going silent. But they were in
of its atmosphere and became parched a high orbit, where Mars’s thin atmo-
and rusty. One lesson from Mars explo- sphere would provide very little drag.
ration is that bad things can happen to The engineers at JPL, who have done
good planets. calculations, think they may still be in
orbit.
Sagan famously declared that ex-
Dead satellites.
Artificial moons, built by Earthlings,
circling a desert world.
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