Since 2002
Published Tuesdays and Fridays. Letters to the editor with pictures.
| Click here to send in a post or something. Contact Us |
[“Sign pollution”] The Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to remove roughly a dozen signs along U.S. 1 after residents complained about them being visual clutter on a designated Scenic Highway. In the past year, signs promoting the 511 phone number, which alerts motorists about traffic and other travel notifications, began popping up on U.S. 1 |
 |
| [Glen Campbell Dead] Singer, sessions guitarist and TV host who achieved crossover success succumbs to Alzheimer’s disease. Video |
Watch the partial solar eclipse from the Keys safely. Link |
| [High Cost of Beer] Looe Key Tiki Bar has raised their draft beer price to $2.09 for a 12-ounce plastic cup (you actually only get between 10 and 11 ounces). I thought bars lowered their prices during happy hour? It’s bad enough that they give you a smaller cup during happy hour, but $2.09 for, basically, 11 ounces of beer is a bit much. |
 [Godzilla] Japanese actor Haruo Nakajima, who played iconic movie monster Godzilla across 12 films through the 1950s and 70s, has died at the age of 88. Video
Blue Oyster Cult — Godzilla |
| [“Sewer connections”] I’m using a different company then some of my neighbors. Some are using the same company, but they are backed up 12 months or more and are still taking deposits. When they arrive in your neighborhood hire the one of your choice but do not feed the deposit frenzy. It’s been 9 months for me; longer for some neighbors. What a money-making scam. Keep your money in the bank. (Ed: This person thinks this is so important he sent it in FIVE times today!) |
 |
| Once upon a time, you could tell satire, ignorance, and blatant lies apart. Now? I’m not so sure. |
[Niles Channel Bridge] Well, after a few months of warning signs, there finally is construction work occurring on the Niles Channel Bridge. Cones go up about 9 am, shifting the lanes, so slow down and allow extra time. |
| [Developer] Key West businessman Joe Walsh has withdrawn his request for all 31 units and will plan to try and make the project work with roughly 15 to 18 units on his Big Coppitt Key project. It’s the old “developer bait and switch” where the developer asks for the world and accepts less, which is still more than he reasonably expected.
In March, the Planning Commission rejected his plan for a 160- unit worker housing project on Summerland Key. In April, it shot down his 20-unit worker housing project in Key Largo. |
 |
| Do any other old timers out there remember WFSO AM radio out of Clearwater/St Pete? If I remember correctly they went off air at sunset and every night at sign off would play “Bumpin’ On Sunset” by Brian Auger and the Oblivion Express. Mid 70’s. I was working as curator of cats at the AquaTerrium on St Pete Beach. The beginning of the end of the “old” Florida in the 70’s. What a great time!
Brian Auger´s Oblivion Express — Bumpin´ on Sunset |
 |
| [Crook] Ariel Espinosa-Siverio, 42, of Marathon was charged with possession of snook out-of-season, possession of speared snook, possession of over-the-bag-limit of mangrove snapper and operating an unregistered vessel. He was also cited for having no fishing license, no snook stamp, no registration decal and no registration numbers displayed. |
Thank you FWC and colleagues for the continued enforcement of resource protections during lobster mini sport season and the regular season. |
| Chicago Live (1970) — 25 or 6 to 4. A song about LSD and this great guitar solo shows it! Video |
 [“Two tons of ivory destroyed”] First I am against killing of elephants period, but destroying the ivory was stupid. Anyone who ever took Economics 101 knows about basic supply and demand. If the supply of something goes up then the price declines. If the supply of something goes down then the price goes up.
By destroying the ivory, the existing supply was decreased so the price of the remaining ivory (including the ivory on live elephants) just became more valuable. This means that the poachers will now receive more money for their ivory, so poaching just became more profitable! What should have been done was to sell the ivory. This would increase the supply of ivory and the price of ivory would go down (giving the poachers less money for their ivory, and the money received for the ivory, that was previously destroyed, could have been used to hire more people to stop poaching. |
 |
| [Climate Change] A friend asked me if I believe in global climate change. I said I did and then told him why. The planet has been warming and cooling in cycles since creation. We have had ice ages and warming periods. Sea levels rose and fell. There is evidence of seashells on mountain tops and evidence of land creatures in what now is an ocean bottom. Sure, the climate is changing. It’s what has happened over the eons of the orb’s existence. |
What kind of a roadster was Grace Kelly driving in the movie “To Catch a Thief”? Video |
| [Image] The Keys go to a great deal of trouble and spend lots and lots of money to maintain their image as a vacation paradise. Yet they store the sheriff’s “Bomb Squad” van directly across from the doors to the departure level of the Key West airport. What are they thinking? |
 |
| [“Controlled burn”] I note with interest that Parcel A and Parcel B for the upcoming controlled burn are very close to the area where the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service burnt down a good chunk of our island a few years ago, leading to the evacuation of an entire neighborhood. Do we have any reason to believe they are any better at it now than they were then? |
I may have to search for something other than OJ for my morning glug. Big numbers here! Link |
| Nova Scotia’s great white sharks may hold key to species’ survival. Video |
Send old guys to war, not young ones. Here’s why. Link |
| [Friday Joke] A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer stopped to help a stranded motorcycle rider standing beside a stalled motorcycle in the mountains. It was extremely cold, and the rider was heavily dressed in a helmet, balaclava and snowmobile suit. In a muffled voice, the rider told the Mountie that the carburetor was frozen. “Well, pee on it,” the Mountie said. “Can’t,” replied the rider. The helpful Mountie unzipped his fly and proceed to pee on the carburetor himself, and the bike soon fired up. A few days later, the local department received a thank you note from a father, grateful for the roadside assistance his young daughter had received from the RCMP. |
 |
| Big Pine Key Winn Dixie’s Weekly Ad |
[“Lighthouse for sale”] Have deep pockets? This couple bought Graves Light in Boston Harbor for 1 million in 2003. Link |
| [Florida Keys Country Club] A golf driving lesson on how to get distance in your drive. Tom Kochensparger – Golf Pro. Video |
[Immigration] Sneaking into the country disguised as the “Wall”. |
| I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.” ~Groucho Marx |
 |
| The next meeting of our Big Pine Computer Club is coming up this Saturday, August 12, 10 am at the senior center. Hope to see you there. Full Menu > Ongoing Events |
 [15th Century Europe] The people were thought to have no rights which a noble was bound to respect. They lived in hovels, hardly superior to those which a humane farmer now prepares for his swine. The only function they fulfilled was, by a life of exhausting toil and suffering, to raise the funds which the nobles expended in their wars and their pleasure; and to march to the field of blood when summoned by the nobles. In fact, history has hardly condescended to allude to the people. We have minutely detailed the intrigues and the conflicts of kings and nobles, but little is ever mentioned of the people.
It will readily be seen that all these wars and intrigues had but little reference to the welfare of the masses of the people. They were hardly more thought of than the cattle and the poultry. The only purpose they served was, by unrelenting toil, to raise the wealth which supported the castle and the palace, and to march to the field to fight battles, in which they had no earthly interest. The written history of Europe is only the history of kings and nobles— their ambitions, intrigues and war. The unwritten history of the dumb, toiling millions, defrauded of their rights, doomed to poverty and ignorance, is only recorded in the book of God’s remembrance. |
[Navy Jet Crash] An F-5N Tiger II from VFC-111 crashed during routine training this afternoon in the ocean 20 miles southeast of Naval Air Station Key West’s Boca Chica Field. The pilot was quickly recovered in good condition. The Commander Naval Air Force Reserve, which is your contact for additional information. Norfolk, VA 757-322-5662 |
| My wife was not in good humor so I suggested a nice drive in the country to cheer her up. She was really grouchy and not speaking much to me. When we passed a pig farm she said, “Relatives of yours?” I said, “Yes, in-laws.” That’s when the fight started. |
 |
| You need to believe it to achieve it. |
 For the past 17 years the Big Pine and Lower Keys Rotary has sponsored the beautiful lighted Holiday Ornaments that decorate 40+ light poles along US 1 from Big Pine Key through Cudjoe Key (we’re expanding!). Volunteers from our Club handle the maintenance of the ornaments, cover the costs for electricity, work with Keys Energy to get them put up and taken down. We have invested in new /additional ornaments, thanks to those of you who sponsor these ornaments.
We are offering our local businesses and neighbors the opportunity to help the Lower Keys shine by sponsoring these cheerful ornaments on a first come/first served basis. You may sponsor as many lighted ornaments as you wish at just $150.00 each. Each ornament will have a two-sided banner with your name. In addition, you will be recognized as a supporter of our organization in the “Thank You” display in the News Barometer and our Facebook page. The ornaments are up for a full six weeks, giving our sponsors considerable recognition. If sponsorship is not a possibility at this time, we welcome any donation you can make to help us in maintaining this beautiful tradition. 100% of the funds collected will be used for the benefit of these lighted ornaments. Attached please find the sponsorship form. For additional information, please call Rotary President, Steve Miller at 305-394-1779 – or reply to this email. Thanks in advance for your help in making the Lower Keys shine! Sponsor FORM 2017 ~Steve Miller, President |
 |
| Spanish word of the day: “Juicy” Yo, Jose. I’m gonna eat Juan’s burrito, tell me if juicy him. |
| Submit anything but National Politics to island@bigpinekey.com For National Politics go directly to that page, log in, and post your comment. NATIONAL POLITICS |
