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Mickey Rooney dead at 93. Video

[Sewers] When you request a permit to bore an injection well that may adversely affect nearby property or the environment, the Florida Statutes require you to publish the DEP’s “Notice of Intent” to issue the permit in “a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected”. The DEP allowed that the statutory requirement was met by FKAA publishing the Notice in the Broward-Palm Beach County newspaper Sun-Sentinel. Am I alone in believing that the state agency FKAA intentionally circumvented the intent of the Florida Statutes to conceal from the public that they were going to use shallow injection wells where they are destructive to the environment? Am I alone in believing that state agency DEP will not only let state agency FKAA do whatever they want, but will even assist them in violating laws? Who regulates the regulators?

The FKAA’s Board of Directors seem oblivious or generally unconcerned with flagrant deceit and mismanagement at FKAA.

Our elected representatives don’t seem to give a damn, either. Maybe a judge will uphold the rule of law? Dump the Pumps, Inc. is taking DEP and FKAA to court to force enforcement of state and federal regulations. No doubt it will be expensive and this non-profit grass roots organization is totally dependent on contributions to fund the battle. You can donate to the cause with a check or credit card. Details are on their website http://dumpthepumps.com The battle is far from over. It has just begun in earnest. Please assist.

Late Sunday afternoon looking toward Cudjoe Key from the back country.

With a blinding hangover, guess which one I put in the Keurig coffee maker?

[Florida Blueberries] The humble blueberry is enjoying a bonanza in Florida. In the last decade, the area harvested with blueberries in Florida has tripled. This year’s crop is expected to reach around 25 million pounds. That’s small-time compared to top producer Chile, which exports about 174 million pounds, mostly to the United States.

But it’s not that far off U.S. blueberry leader Michigan, which produced about 87 million pounds in 2012.

Farmers say experts at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are behind the growth. Their Plant Innovation Program developed about 98 percent of the southern highbush berries now grown in the state. The UF version of the fruit are better, bigger, tastier and with a better yield.

There’s something else about blueberries that makes growers happy. Machine-picking them is easier than crops like strawberries, a benefit at a time when immigration reform is at a standstill, and farmers complain they can’t find enough harvesters in the United States.

Blueberries generated nearly $70 million in cash receipts in 2011 up from $39 million in 2007.

Fresh blueberries can be found in grocery stores year all long these days, but Florida is grabbing the market share from around March to June, coming in at the end of the South American harvest but before things warm up enough along the Atlantic seaboard and Pacific northwest. Farmers say they hope to expand their season even more in the coming years.

The Marathon Journal Interviewed Councilman John Bartus at Leigh Ann’s Coffeehouse.  We discussed how he was doing with his music, company store, and the quarterly magazine. I did learn that he was working on another CD due out near the end of the year; I’m looking forward to that. The magazine kept him busy. I know what that is like. His Keysy store is full of tropical stuff. His cigar shop is extensive as well.

I asked him what he brought to the table as a new councilman. He said that he could hit the ground running. He is independent, level-headed, and experienced. Not having to run for election increases his value to the council.

What’s his number one priority and how does it get solved? He answered city hall, the funding, the scope, and will it satisfy long-term goals. More than likely city hall won’t be completely built for two hurricane seasons, which is worrisome. Funding problems need a good long look. Building the best city hall to include Marathon’s own television channel is most important.

We discussed city charter changes. Prior to being appointed a councilman, John was the chairman of the charter committee. The two biggest issues is going back to seats for elections with each seat won by an at-large vote. Should a tie happen, then the winner is drawn by lot. The other important change is a mechanism to enforce the charter against violations.

I asked him for any last thoughts or comments. Bartus said the permitting needs to be fixed, simplified, and more user friendly. Permitting should be an adjunct to successful developments not an impediment for no good reason. Our local economy is dependent on successful developments. More are coming online, some old and some new.

[Slavery and Cotton] The story of African-Americans in Natchez, Mississippi, through the decades, tells how slavery and cotton allowed Natchez plantation owners to build some of the most palatial antebellum mansions in history.

Kind of sounds like today’s Walmart story, doesn’t it?

These stumps at Tarpon Belly Key are of the mangroves damaged during Hurricanes Wilma and Georges. It’s still beautiful out there!

[Sloan for Mayor] He would be a very good mayor, but who will vote for someone who hears voices and acts on those little voices? Sloan is very upfront and will tell anyone who will listen that those voices tell him what to do.

Suppose they tell him to do something terrible? That’s a scary thought that plays out in the news regularly.

We did have a gay mayor, I think he was the first gay mayor in the country,  maybe a coo coo one won’t be so bad.

[“I miss the sky report pictures showing us what to look for in the night sky”]  I’m sending, but Ed hasn’t been interested. (Ed: Sorry, but my email was screw up for over a week and I missed a lot of things. Please send them again. I miss them too. it’s like having our very own Jack Horkheimer)

Boat lifts are set at an angle. This means that as you lower the lift, the arms go further out into the canal and depending on the lift, this could be several feet. If you leave it down, there is now an underwater obstruction wider than your boat sticking out from your seawall. It’s easy to hit one of these because a passing boat has to be looking to the side of your canal to notice that the lift is down and guess at how big it is. I too heard that in a lawsuit, the lift owner is at fault, but who cares, it’s aggravation for both parties. Be a good neighbor and don’t get yourself sued even if you heard on the CT that your not liable.

Leave it up.

2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport. Runs good. Cylinder head job done 20,000 miles ago, plus radiator, water pump. $3000 or best offer. Marathon 305-395-2538

[South Pacific] Today in 1949 Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize winner, South Pacific opened on Broadway.

I’m Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair

[Genocide] Today marks 20 years to the day that Hutus started killing Tutsis in Rwanda, Africa. They killed about 800,000 in just 100 days. Often they would lure the frightened Tutsis to centers where they told them they would be protected only to be massacred by Hutus in their relentless effort to rid the country of the minority Tutsis.

The only way I can remember if Hutu or Tutsi was the victim is to borrow a line from Eddie Cantor, “Tutu Tutsi, good bye!”

The Great Egg Hunt & Wild Bird Show  last weekend at the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden on Stock Island.

[Earth Day 5K Run/Walk] Saturday April 12th 8am at McCoy Indigenous Park in Key West – White and Atlantic streets. All proceeds benefit FAVOR – Florida Keys – the Refuges’ friends group. Sponsored by Southernmost Runners Club of Key West. You can register online at www.southermostrunners.com, in person at the National Wildlife Refuges’ Visitor Center on Big Pine or at the race venue race day or the evening before. For more information call Nancy Events

On Sunday a true believer in anthropogenic climate change wrote: “Deer Republicans, please try to read this and maybe just look at he (sic) words as it involves science. Global warming is primarily man made. I’d cite sources, but they all speak in scientific terms that confuse (sic) you, so I’ll just kept (sic) it simple, Global warming is primarily man made.”

FTR’s response: I wonder why the poster felt compelled to be sarcastic, I wonder why so many people who are convinced that “global warming” is man caused. Hells Belles, even the term “global warming” has been discarded by the scientific community. The term du jour is anthropogenic climate change.  

The term “global warming” has fallen into disuse. Why? Perhaps because there is substantial, credible evidence that earth has not warmed since ’97-’98. You’ve got to wonder why so many people have clutched the “global warming” mantra to their breast as if it were a religion, a paean to a supreme being.

Especially when there is nothing even close to the issue being settled. What follows is a quote from Forbes which cites the peer reviewed publication Organization Studies: “Only 36 percent of geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a global warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the peer-reviewed Organization Studies. By contrast, a strong majority of the 1,077 respondents believe that nature is the primary cause of recent global warming and/or that future global warming will not be a very serious problem.

The survey results show geoscientists (also known as earth scientists) and engineers hold similar views as meteorologists. Two recent surveys of meteorologists (summarized here and here) revealed similar skepticism of alarmist global warming claims.

According to the newly published survey of geoscientists and engineers, merely 36 percent of respondents fit the “Comply with Kyoto” model. The scientists in this group “express the strong belief that climate change is happening, that it is not a normal cycle of nature, and humans are the main or central cause.”  Man cause global warming is a dead issue in the scientific community. Now the scientific community is split on the issue of anthropogenic climate change. There are several different theories, but no settled science.

By the way, (sic) means a misuse of a word, an error, misspelling, or faulty grammar.

Part 2) Sunday’s smartphone edition had a great article by Marcia Heroux Pounds, dated March 27th. It was titled “States robust recovery outpaces nation, adds workers.”  The article stated that Florida’s economy is leading the nation in job growth and overall recovery. That according to a prominent University of Central Florida economist.

Despite terrible economic performance under Governor Crist, Florida is no longer a sad straggler lagging far behind other states, Florida is now the front-runner thanks to a declining unemployment rate, payroll increases and overall economic activity. Payroll in the state has jumped about 2.6 percent in 2014 and increased over 2 percent in 2013 while the nation’s growth has remained sluggish at about 1 percent. Sales tax revenues, which are up 7 percent so far in 2014 and jumped 6.5 percent a year ago.

During the single term of Charlie Crist as Governor, Florida was one of the first to feel the pain of the recession. Job losses started in April 2007, several months before other states. When the national recovery began in June 2009, Crist was still governor. But Florida lagged behind the pace of the U.S. economic recovery for several years. But under the Governance of Rick Scott beginning in 2011, and a Republican legislature, South Florida, employment is expected to grow by 2.3 percent each year through 2017. Unemployment is forecast to moderate to an average of 5.7 percent. The south Florida region could see a 2.9 percent wage hike as the state’s recovery continues and average annual wages will grow to $55,200, according to the UCF economist.  You can read all the really great news at: Link

Ooops I almost forgot to mention that Governor Scott is cutting your auto tag fees that were raised by Governor Crist. The cut will be about $25 for most motorists. Thanks Governor Scott.