PAGE ONE COMMENTARY: Reserved Parking for Residents of Old Town Neighborhoods: Is the Problem Unsolvable?

A NEW ORDINANCE IS ON THE WAY WHICH COULD, JUST MAYBE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE

by Dennis Reeves Cooper

Two weeks ago, our page one commentary was about new efforts being made to, somehow, give Old Town residents some priority when it comes to parking in their neighborhoods.

We pointed out the obvious:

There are simply not enough parking spaces reserved for Old Town residents. And the residential parking ordinance passed into law by the city commission 10 years ago has been an abject failure.

In researching our commentary, we asked Alyson Crean, the city’s public information officer to provide us some background information. She did that— but we ran out of time and space to include much of what she sent us. That sometimes happens in the newspaper publishing business.

Fred Needs a Forever Home

From the FKSPCA

Imagine just starting off in life and not being able to see the world as others see it. That’s the challenge facing young Fred, an adolescent Australian Shepherd at the FKSPCA shelter on Stock Island.

Born with a congenital condition (sadly, a common occurrence in Aussies as a result of certain breeding) Fred can only see a little out of one eye and may eventually lose his vision completely, according to the specialist the we took him to recently. His condition is irreversible and surgery cannot provide a solution.

LETTERS: Key West the City that loves the use of Bleach

Dear Editor:

First of all I really love this place but as we all know the constant use of bleach will eventually destroy all the coral and lots of the underwater life for ever!

I see the Key West has become the city that loves to use bleach the boat is washed down with bleach and detergent on the regular. The citizens love bleach too keep the front of their home’s clean by using bleach  to wash the side walk. Just like the use of bleach will destroy all the coral . The City commissioners and their wisdom are trying to destroy and sanitize the streets of Key West . The things they have voted on and passed will hurt and have hurt all the street performers and artist (vendors)

LETTERS: Please continue to kill the cats

Dear Editor:

Please continue to kill the cats, along with the other animals that reside in the Florida Keys. The birds are especially annoying early in the morning with their loud chirping. Hopefully the developers will level the remaining tropical hammocks and eradicate the lingering nesting sites of these annoying creatures.

Perhaps the lighted cigarette butts and fecal ridden diapers tossed from passing vehicles will aid in eliminating our islands of these troublesome creations. They smash into vehicles and generate a distressing experience. These animals are a nuisance. Bicyclists must be dealt with next.

We are paving paradise and putting up a parking lot for those who desire the fruits of denser and expanded development. In their myopic pursuit of the almighty dollar, they are systematically denigrating the attractiveness of the very environment that they are marketing. It’s a rather obtuse and self-defeating position to take. After the damage is done, they will move on, scarifying anything else that gets in their way.

LETTERS: Forced Eviction: Some Salt Pond Condo Residents to be Kicked out into the Street

Dear Editor:

How can this be right?

I am a homeowner at the Salt Ponds Condominium. I bought a unit in 2003 and have paid my mortgage, condo fees, utility bills, homeowner’s insurance and property taxes on time, and in full, ever since. I’m an adjunct instructor at FKCC, where I teach both day and night ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes for the Continuing Education Dept.

In early February, in a letter taped to my door, I was notified that waterproofing of the walkways had been scheduled, and I needed to “vacate my unit” for five days— at the height of tourist season when there were no rooms to be had in Key West.

And then I heard nothing until another letter, dated March 7, again signed by “Roger Holtkamp/ Condo Manager,“ was taped to my door stating that I needed to leave my home from 8 a.m., May 16 to 6 p.m. on May 20, and “make alternate arrangements,” but adding, “of course this work is based on weather permitting.”

BITCHIN’ PARADISE: Movin' On Up

by Kimberley Denney

T-minus 23 hours and counting to my move, but by the time you read this, I’m hoping the drama will be done. Approximately 10 of the 23 hours will be dedicated to finishing deadlines at work.

I’ve also got to pack up my entire apartment, fit in an hour or two to defend my title at the monthly Stiletto Society contest at Vino’s, hopefully sleep a few hours, wake up and trick my cats into carrier to transport them to my new house, then come back and greet six angels on earth (a/k/a my volunteer movers). Cakewalk, right?

Yeah. I’m one walking, talking, procrastinating ball of stress. I’m so stiff that I can’t move my head to the left. I wish someone would come slather me with Icy Hot. I mean it, I love the stuff.

RHONDA: Good Hare Day

by Rhonda Linseman-Saunders

There was no shortage of godless Easter fun at our house this year. And we accomplished that without even having to color eggs. Three of the kids are too old to care about coloring eggs. One of them is too young to care about coloring eggs. And the middle child— the one who IS all about coloring eggs— was at her dad’s house for egg coloring/countertop staining, and she kindly brought her beautiful eggs over for the rest of us to enjoy.

The two youngest had a blast hunting eggs and tearing into their smartly done baskets on Easter morning. The Rabbit wised up this year and took the dollar store approach to secular Easter amusement. As you know, Easter trinkets end up on the bottom of the toy bin in a few weeks whether or not they cost just a buck. The teenagers, however, prefer the cash equivalent of a basket’s worth of rabbit kipple. Easy enough.

MICHAEL BARNES: War on Terrorism

Part 2 of a series

A few weeks ago, we talked about the past and present roots of terrorism. It may be helpful to try to find a copy of that article, if you missed it, to best follow what is presented here. If you can’t catch up, in much abbreviated form, I said. . .

The Muslim countries used to be great. By almost any standard, they are now failures. By contrast, we have wildly succeeded. Our success cannot be reconciled by searching the Koran. The root cause of their failure is found in the “Seven Deadly Sins,” described below, found in countries destined to fail. Those who have declared as our enemy have them all.

Those sins, as set out by author and former Army officer Ralph Peters are:

• Restrictions on the free flow of information.

What’s on at the Tropic

by Phil Mann

It’s a clean sweep as the Tropic clears the decks with new films in all four theaters. Robert Redford’s period drama, THE CONSPIRATOR, will be on the Carper Theater screen. Robin Wright stars as Mary Surratt, a woman accused of aiding John Wilkes Booth’s plot to assassinate Lincoln.

With passions running high, her public defender before a military tribunal (James McAvoy) has a challenging task, made all the more difficult because his client is more concerned with protecting her son (Johnny Simmons) and daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) who are more implicated than she is.

Redford has had an interesting career as a director, with several triumphs including Ordinary People and Quiz Show. The Conspirator is his first foray into history. One suspects that the parallels with current events — use of a military tribunal rather than a regular court, widespread prejudice against anyone even accused of association with Booth – may have influenced his selection of this story. As you might expect, the details, like a courtroom lit by candlelight, are perfect. And the story is a compelling human drama that gives us much to think about after we leave the theater.