Letters to the editor with pictures since 0202. Published on Big Pine Key’s garbage days, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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[Mexico] My family and I traveled throughout Mexico, Central America and South America and have written travel booklets about places we visited. We have also written warnings to the US Government about how those areas are becoming so over populated, so undeveloped more so each day. The corruption and decadence are becoming so bad that the highest cultures are the drug lords and the natives still hidden in the jungles. Please Mr. President, build that wall as fast as possible to keep that infection from spreading. |
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| I’m Walt Drabinski, a candidate for the Keys Energy Board Seat D which will represent customers in the Lower Keys. I am a 20 year Cudjoe Key resident and many may recall my involvement in key community issues. When the County proposed a massive high pressure sewer system, using grinder pumps, I sued the County and with a group other lower Keys residents were able to both reduce the number of grinder pumps that the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) would install by thousands. We also were able to get approval of many technical improvements to the pumps that were installed. Many residents don’t know about design changes that included generator attachment, electrical safety improvements, better covers, a remote monitoring system, additional pump redundancy, a commitment to enough generators to handle electrical outages and other minor design changes.
I was also active in getting the post Irma burning of waste on Cudjoe Key stopped through my contacts in the Governor’s office and with the Secretary of Agriculture. (I would note that our most recent County Comprehensive Plan specifically banned burning, but this document has largely been put on a shelf where it gathers dust.) As I prepare for my campaign, I have used my electrical engineering, utility operating and consulting experience, and my financial analysis background to do a deep dig into Keys Energy’s cost, reliability, organization and salary structure. What have I learned so far? Keys Energy has the highest rates of any utility, municipal or investor owned, in all of Florida. It has spent almost $50 million on Irma repairs and while it is working to recover these funds from FEMA, management has admitted that not all funds will be recovered. Many of its senior personnel are eligible for retirement and recruiting qualified replacements is difficult due to the cost of living in the Keys, despite very competitive wages. When I analyze all of the reliability measures used in the industry, I find a number where Keys Energy does not do well. In future postings to the CT, I will go into depth on each of these issues, and describe what I will propose as a Board member to mitigate them. |
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| [Health Insurance] Kentucky just cut dental and vision care for 460,000 people. So what? Why is the State paying for those services in the first place? Why does any State or Government pay for any health care at all? It seems to me, as one who has worked all my life to buy my own medical, life, auto, home, and liability insurances, that everybody should buy and pay for their own insurance. If you can not afford insurance or can not pay the doctor bills it’s called culling! Enough of the freeloaders filching off the working productive citizens. |
[“Painless needles”] The mosquito story about a search for painless needles brings to mind the whole crew at Dr. Griders office. I have regular injections for a variety of reasons and every nurse and even the Dr. himself have given me completely painless injections, even my by monthly intramuscular ones. If you have a needle phobia these are the people to see. |
| [Bubba System] Millions of dollars of wasteful spending.’ A look at Gov. Scott’s post-Irma debris deals. One of the companies selected had no previous emergency debris removal experience, while more qualified firms were prevented from even submitting bids. Video |
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| Day 136 without sex. I’ve officially lost hearing in my right eye. |
[Fire Fighters] What he told his wife was, “I had the usual shift at work.” What he didn’t say was, “I almost didn’t make it home.” May God bless and protect America’s fire fighters! |
| July is the deadliest month for boaters. Here’s how to stay safe this week. Last July, for instance, Miami-Dade County had 11 boating-related fatalities. In 2017, 66 people died in boating accidents in Florida. Most of the deaths stemmed from drinking or lack of safety equipment. Link |
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| Cataracts are the third biggest cause of blindness. Religion and politics remain the first two. |
[Ass] The most complicated word in the English language. Video |
| [“Sliver of Marathon that is part of the lower Keys”] I’ve wondered about that because after the bridge, the first street is 12th Street. What happened to 1 through 11? Isn’t gerrymandering against the law? |
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| Towing service in Mexico. Oops! Video |
[The Johnsons Insurance Agency] Happy 4th of July! Wishing you and your family a happy and safe Independence Day! In observance of the holiday, we will be closing at 3pm on Tuesday, July 3rd and will be closed on Wednesday the 4th. We will resume normal business operations Thursday morning. Thank you for your business. |
| [Dead Workers] Contractor faces back-to-back fines. D.N. Higgins, the contractor fined for workplace safety violations in the deaths of three workers in Key Largo and another in Naples last year, now faces $18,659 in proposed penalties by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for continuously exposing employees to cave-in and other hazards. Link |
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| German 12-year-old boy plants 1 million trees, takes over UN program to plant a trillion more. Link |
 The Rotary Club of Key Largo has new leaders for the year beginning July 1. Left to right: Key Largo Rotary 2016-17 president Diann Barber, 2020-21 president Dan Cornell, 2019-20 president Laura Lietaert, district governor Drew Monaghan, 2018-19 president Jennifer McComb, 2017-18 president Dennis Caltagirone, and directors Isis Wright, Bob Thomas, Don Fanelli and Henry Menendez. Directors not pictured: James Boilini, Jennifer Miller and John Stuart. |
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A brief history of psychedelia. The first album to define its own contents as psychedelic was the debut album by Texas garage rockers The 13th Floor Elevators, in October 1966. Within a year, psychedelia had exploded across the music scene like a giant paint bomb, turning everything from monochrome to technicolor almost overnight and inspiring 1967’s epochal Summer of Love. Link |
| [Birth of a Planet] For the first time in history, scientists have captured a picture of a planet being born. The international team of researchers made the robust detection of the young planet, named PDS 70b, cleaving a path through the planet-forming material surrounding a young star. Link |
[New Listing] Small tropical island for sale. Fixer-upper. |
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| [Chinese Navy Big Problem for US Military Power in Asia] Not your grandfather’s navy any longer smells like kimchi, but with some WW3 added! Video |
 [Wasp Spray vs Pepper Spray] It’s as close as your grocery store or hardware outlets, doesn’t cost a lot and is guaranteed to put your assailant out of commission until medical help arrives. What is this device? a new gun? a taser? pepper spray? a phaser? No, nothing so exotic, just some old-fashioned wasp spray. This stuff is deadly and will shoot a stream of very nasty chemicals up to 30 feet. Some of those chemicals are kind of similar to those found in some very nasty military weapons. A person thus put down with wasp spray needs an antidote applied at a hospital. So buy yourself a can because there’s a lot of bad people out there and no licensing is required. Video |
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| Thailand cave rescue: medics reach boys – live updates. Video |
[Yoga] In the Upper and Middle keys, a handful of skilled yoga instructors are offering guidance for all yogis for free. Yoga is a personal journey that changes every day. A yogi’s focus can be on postures or asanas, breathing, meditation or sweat, and steeped in self-discipline and compassion in varying degrees. Link |
| [Argument] I found there are only two ways to win an argument with my wife, unfortunately neither of them work. |
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Former firefighter is an unfallen hero. After nearly succumbing to toxic fumes in an attempt to save the lives of three workers inside a stormwater drain, Leonardo Moreno said he’s lucky to be alive. On Monday morning Jan. 16, 2017, Moreno was on duty with the Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department and responding to a call in Sexton Cove with men reportedly drowning inside a water-filled manhole. Link |
| [“Sliver of Marathon that is part of the lower Keys”] Over 20 years ago due to political corruption 534 voters were corruptly moved from the lower Keys (historically from Big Coppitt Key to the south end of the 7 Mile Bridge) to a very tiny sliver of the south end of Marathon enabling someone who has absolutely nothing to do with the lower Keys to run for our representative on the County commission.
We have seen George Neugent, a City of Marathon resident and former business owner, systematically doing everything in his power over his rein of terror to run down the lower Keys making sure that it is last in line for County benefits and upgrades. He is never in his office on Big Pine. Do we need another ‘machine’ candidate from the city of Marathon who has nothing to do with the lower Keys dis-representing us like King George has done over the past 20 years? Not no, but, hell no! ~genenanay@icloud.com |
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| [Drunken Sailors in 1646 Same as 2018] About the middle of May this year, three men of war entered the harbour. The Captain’s name was Thomas Cromwell, and he had captured several prizes from the Spaniards in the West Indies. He had a Letter of Marque from the Earl of Warwick. Aboard his vessel were about 80 strong young fellows, but very unruly, who, when they came ashore, so distempered themselves with drink that they became like madmen; and though some of them were punished and imprisoned, they could hardly be restrained; but in the end they became more moderate and orderly. They remained here about a month or six weeks, then going on to Massachusetts; in the meantime scattering a great deal of money among the people. |
Does anyone have the contact info and/or phone number for SammySam the TV Man? He installs satellite dishes. (Ed: 305-896-3017, samkeysdtv@yahoo.com) |
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| [Court] When you go to court you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who couldn’t figure out a way to get out of jury duty. Those that live by the sword get shot by those that don’t. |
[Doesn’t Like Mexico] After a two-week trip through Mexico, I will back up the President and even volunteer to carry the bricks to build that 100 foot high wall and stick broken glass on top. Mexico is the perfect definition of shithole. Never again will I or my family go there. I can only imagine what Southern California is going through being invaded by dysfunctional, useless, ugly, eaters from that dump of a country. Ugh! |
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