Update: The E-Trash Story

WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE OLD
COMPUTERS YOU DROPPED OFF AT
THE RECYCLING FAIR? GLEE
OFFICIALS SAY THEY HAVE
PRACTICED DUE DILLIGENCE TO
ENSURE THAT DISPOSAL IS SAFE
AND GREEN

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Two weeks ago, Key West
The Newspaper (KWTN) published
a feel-good feature story
about a recycling fair at Key
West High School being sponsored
by GLEE– Green Living
& Energy Education. One of the
services being offered at the fair
was the free collection of old
computers and other electronic
equipment. The collection
service was being provided by
Recycled PC Parts out of Miami,
a division of Scrap Integrated
Recycling (SIR), based in Sao
Paulo, Brazil.

The story praised GLEE
and SIR for providing the service
in an effort to keep this “ewaste”—
and the toxic materials
that much of this equipment
contains— out of landfills.

Computers are sleek,
high-tech marvels, but inside,
they contain poisons like lead,
cadmium, mercury, chromium,
and polyvinyl chlorides. Experts
say that all these materials
have known toxicological
effects that range from brain
damage to kidney disease to
mutations and cancers.
After the story appeared,
a number of readers alerted
KWTN to a recent “60 Minutes”
broadcast that alleged
that a number of big recycling
companies— rather than safely
recycling all of the e-waste they
collect— are illegally shipping
some of it overseas to toxic
waste dump sites, where it is often
dismantled by low-income
workers, including children.

document.write("<sc"+"ript language='JavaScript1.1' src='http://rover.ebay.com/ar/1/711-53200-19255-109/1?campid=5336153973&toolid=7115320019255109&customid=&mpt=&quot; + Math.floor(Math.random()*999999999999) + "&adtype=3&size=468×60&mpvc='></sc"+"ript>");

It’s Beginning to Look

a Lot Like
Christmas

PHOTO: NUTCRACKER KEY WEST OPENS TONIGHT.

A classic holiday ballet,
recast as a unique interpretation
of Key West’s seafaring history,
coral reef environment and free-ranging
rooster population, is
set for a 13-performance run
in the island city beginning
tonight, Friday, Nov. 28.

“Nutcracker Key West”
is the brainchild of Key West
resident Joyce Stahl, a classically
trained dancer who performed
“The Nutcracker” and
other ballets with New Jersey’s
American Repertory Ballet for
38 years.

Stahl’s Paradise Ballet
Theatre production, which
was first performed in 2005,
transforms the timeless story of
young Clara’s visit to the land of
the Sugarplum Fairy into an island
fantasy featuring dancing
snowy egrets, phosphorescent
sea anemones, shimmering reef
fish and even a conch shell.

Discounts on Tickets

The Nutcracker Key West is announcing a Holiday
Help Campaign. Ticket buyers for any performance who
bring approved items receive a $5 discount on their theater
tickets. Recipients are the community programs Toys For
Tots, Just For Kids and St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen.
Ticket buyers need only bring either a toy, an article
of children’s clothing, or a can or box of food, and will
receive a voucher that is good for $5 off their Nutcracker
Key West ticket for that day’s performance.

Michael Shields, Executive Director of the Paradise
Ballet Theatre, says “The Holiday Help Campaign is our
effort to recognize the growing and critical need for aid
to children and the homeless and also a means to offer
reduced cost to attend this fantastic holiday ballet which
is all about childhood.” The production opens the day
after Thanksgiving, November 28 through December 7,
at the Tennessee Williams Theatre. Those donating to this
campaign can only take advantage of this directly at the
Box Office on the day of performance, beginning an hour
before each show to receive their voucher, where ballet
reps will handle their donation, and cannot be transacted
through the online ticketing service, Keystix.com.

For
more information, call Michael Shields 394-3804, michael@
javastudios.org, or go to http://www.nutcrackerkeywest

GUEST COMMENTARY

Did Court Clerk Kolhage Change Website
to Try to Help Incumbent State Attorney?

WHEN CITIZEN WATCHDOG
STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS,
KOLHAGE CALLED HIS BOSS
AND ASKED THE SHERIFF
TO INVESTIGATE HIM

by Matt Gardi

Can anyone ultimately
ever prove motive? The only
method people have to assess
motives, are facts they can
prove. That is why I have no
alternative but to believe that
staff from the county clerk’s
office removed information
from their public website, in an
attempt to help State Attorney
Mark Kohl win re-election, and
County Clerk Danny Kolhage
condoned it.

I’ll be straight up about
one motive I had. I wanted to
see State Attorney Mark Kohl
replaced because I felt he was
soft on crime. For the last few
years, I forwarded any example
of this to Free Press reporter
Robert Silk. One particular
morning in the heat of the recent election cycle I had the
chance to read in the Key West
Citizen about a charming Mr.
Dieter in Marathon who allegedly
beat up his wife and
her son with a golf club. Mr.
Dieter it appears, according to
my review that morning of the
sheriff’s and clerk’s websites,
had previously been arrested in
2004 for attempted murder and
numerous other charges.

According to the clerk’s
website on the morning that
story broke, the state charged
him with five counts ranging
from aggravated assault to
battery, and dropped three of
the five charges, while Dieter
plead to two counts. He was
sentenced concurrently to a max
of 11 months and 29 days, and
received credit for three months
and a day served. And he was
out on the street, violating his
probation, within six months.
As I had done on othr occasions,
I sent that information in an email
to Mr. Silk.

Peter Diamond

at the Pier House

Saturday Night
PETER DIAMOND
performs with Larry Smith
in the Wine Galley
this Saturday night,
November 29, starting at 9.

var addthis_pub = 'Saratica';
<!–
google_ad_client = "pub-1472808066473521";
/* KWTN single line */
google_ad_slot = "8334349535";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>

SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Who’s Afraid of
Merry Christmas?

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

When you put up your
tree this year, and decorate it
and put presents under it, what
are you going to call it? “Holiday
Tree,” perhaps? Or maybe,
simply, your “House Tree?”
It’s a Christmas Tree, of
course, and that’s what most
people call it.

So why, then, are Key
West city officials calling the
big tree that they’re putting
up in Bayview Park the “Key
West City Tree?” And why
are they calling the annual
Christmas Parade the “Holiday
Parade?”

Are these same politically
correct officials also going to ban city employees from putting
up Christmas decorations
in their offices or order them not
to call out “Merry Christmas!” when they pass each other in
the hallways at city hall?
A press release we received
last week from the city
announced that the lighting of
the “City Tree” will take place
this coming Monday, December
1, at 6pm. And, according to the
release, “Santa is flying in from
the North Pole for the event.”

At the Parrot:

Locos Por
Juana Presents Experimento
and Bong Hits for Geezers

LOCOS POR JUANA
PRESENTS EXPERIMENTO will be at the Green
Parrot, starting with a 5:30
“sound check” this afternoon,
Friday, November 28. then they
return for full gigs on both
Friday and Saturday nights,
starting at 10.

 BONG HIT FOR GEEZERS.
COM return to the Parrot on
Sunday afternoon for a 5:30
“sound check.”

var addthis_pub = 'Saratica';
<!–
google_ad_client = "pub-1472808066473521";
/* KWTN single line */
google_ad_slot = "8334349535";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>

Wanna Put Your Yacht

in the Lighted
Boat Parade?

Want to enter your boat in 18th annual Schooner Wharf/
Capt. Morgan Lighted Boat Parade on Saturday night, December
18? If so, you can get all the info by calling Evalena at 292-
3302 or visiting http://www.SchoonerWharf.com. Vessels of all sizes
are welcome— kayaks, dinghies, fishing vessels, sailing ships,
private yachts and charter boats. This year’s cash awards and
prizes total more than $20,000 and and 12 winning places will
be awarded.

var addthis_pub = 'Saratica';
<!–
google_ad_client = "pub-1472808066473521";
/* KWTN single line */
google_ad_slot = "8334349535";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>

Free Tows

Offered to
Those Who Party Too
Much over Holidays

AAA Auto Club South and Alex’s Auto Wrecking & Towing
will be offering a free ride home and free towing of the car
of an intoxicated driver over the holitfays, from Thanksgiving,
November 27, until New Years, January 1. The number to call
is 1-800-AAA-Help. You do not have to be a member of AAA to
use this service.

var addthis_pub = 'Saratica';
<!–
google_ad_client = "pub-1472808066473521";
/* KWTN single line */
google_ad_slot = "8334349535";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>

Chili Cook-Off

There will be a Chili Cook-Off Contest this Sunday, November
30, at Bobby’s Monkey Bar, 900 Simonton Street. Entry
forms are available at the bar. Sample the entries for $5. Proceeds
benefit the Xena Fund, which provides help to pets and pet owners.
Info: gsechen@keywestbank.cc.

var addthis_pub = 'Saratica';
<!–
google_ad_client = "pub-1472808066473521";
/* KWTN single line */
google_ad_slot = "8334349535";
google_ad_width = 468;
google_ad_height = 15;
//–>