Archive for January, 2010
I’m sure, in ancient Rome, too, there were grouches like me who wouldn’t go near the Colosseum. Why pay $2000– reported by The Miami Herald to be the cheapest price for remaining Superbowl tickets next week– to watch a sport whose main contribution this season has been to evince admission that its gladiators suffer extraordinarily high rates of brain damage from repetitive concussions? You
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I reported on this property in Florida City in March of 2009. I went back to see it because somehow the County was involved with it. The sign mentioned Miami-Dade Affordable Housing Foundation. Did we give the developer a grant from taxpayer funds?I found that little had changed except now some of the units have their front doors forced open. And, there was a hearing by Code Enforcement for the
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NightWatch is a recgular feature about bars and clubs by nightlife columnist Tara Nieuwesteeg.Mickey’s 19th Hole Bar & Grill2739 E Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale Call 954-561-1…
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Please check out the editorial in the Miami Herald regarding the accident which occurred on the Rickenbacker Causeway two weeks ago that killed bicyclist Christopher Le Canne. Three residents ring in with their opinions.
Michael Muench from Miami calls for improvements to the design of the Rickenbacker Causeway, which include physically separated bicycle lanes. Physically separated bicycle lanes may not necessarily be the best solution as Mr. Muench suggests. One thing is for sure, as long as we insist that it is OK to have a highway next to a bicycle lane accidents will occur. Road design certainly contributed to the accident and will continue contributing to future accidents. We cannot allow the current roadway design to remain. Major improvements need to be made; the current design is too dangerous for all users of the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Bruce Nachman from Miami, correctly points out that the Fire-Rescue response time needs to be improved. Unfortunately, this will not solve the underlying problem. If a pedestrian or bicyclist is hit by a car going 60 mph the chances of surviving are less than 10%.
Lastly Janis Ball from Miami Lakes is outraged by the fact that the driver was set free on bail. Carlos Bertonatti should never have been driving in the first place, but to set bail so low for such a horrific crime is unacceptable. We need to start taking hit and run crimes a lot more seriously.
If you believe that the design of the Rickenbacker Causeway contributed to the accident please send Mrs. Esther Calas, Director of the County Public Works Department, an email asking for a safer Rickenbacker Causeway @ ecalas@miamidade.gov
President Obama — at a snowy Saturday afternoon basketball game between Georgetown University and Duke University — provided about seven minutes of nationally televised hoops commentary in the second half of the matchup at the Verizon Center near the White House.
The pool reports notes that Obama before signing off, said "thoughts should be with the troops in the field and with those helping victims of the earthquake in Haiti."
Today was my first day back on the road bike since the deadly accident two weeks ago on Bear Cut Bridge. Quite frankly, I was a little spooked by the accident and it has taken me a couple of weeks to build some courage to ride again.
As usual hundreds of bicyclists and pedestrians were on the Rickenbacker Causeway enjoying the gorgeous day. I noticed that there were more police officers present on the Rickenbacker Causeway than usual. This is certainly an encouraging sign. Both Miami Dade County and Miami Police officers were noticeably present. Enforcement certainly is a step in the right direction, but it is not the solution for our speeding problems on the Rickenbacker Causeway. As long as we have a roadway designed to induce speed, the speeding will continue and bicyclists and pedestrians will continue to get hurt. Even with increased enforcement I noticed several cars on the William Powel Bridge traveling in excess of 65 mph.
My ride was going fairly well until I caught up to a small group of riders on Virginia Key. I was ridding in the back of the group (10-15 bicyclists) when all of the sudden a bicyclist in the group clipped the rear tire of the rider in front of him. He took the rider behind him down with him; somehow I avoided crashing too.
The first cyclist to crash landed head first into the asphalt. Although he remained conscious he most likely has a slight concussion, his helmet was cracked in half. The second cyclist to crash walked away from the accident with a little road rash, but was OK. Fire-Rescue was called and within 10 minutes they arrived.
In all fairness, this group was riding slowly and they were not ridding aggressively as some groups do. This really was just an unfortunate accident. Nevertheless, it was the 6th accident in the past 6 months that I have personally witnessed while riding in groups/pelotons. I will no longer ride in large groups and quite frankly I believe something needs to be done regarding aggressive groups/pelotons which ride irresponsibly. I am not sure what can be done. If you have any suggestions please let us know. This problem needs to be addressed asap.
About ten minutes after witnessing this accident and still a little shook up, I was nearly t-boned by a car that was attempting to turn into the Marine Stadium. I was traveling in the bike lane heading north back to the mainland, when a car traveling south bound on the Rickenbacker Causeway attempted to make a left turn into the Marine Stadium entrance. Rather than waiting for me to pass, the driver tried to make the left turn; I yelled and he stopped halfway through his turn. Luckily for me there was a Miami Police officer right behind him. He witnessed the entire incident and pulled the car over. I turned around to thank the officer and then continued back home. I’m not sure if the police officer gave the driver a warning or a ticket. My hope is that he was ticketed. Regardless, I am happy to see that the Miami Police department is being proactive and is pulling over drivers for reckless behavior.
After the second incident I decided to call it a day and cut my ride short; too many close calls for a Saturday morning.
fyi: A little road rash makes you look tough.
From today's White House pool report: President Bush 41, with former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush rolled up to the White House at 9:35 for a meeting with POTUS. At 10:09, the two emerged to fat, driving snow flakes. Responding to a called question, 41 said only, "Good meeting. Good meeting."
The Associated Pressreports it was a social call.
A New York Times story says the military halted Haitian medical-evacuation flights to Florida after a dispute with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist over who pays for care.
Here's the problem: It looks like a one-sided dispute. Crist doesn't look like he threw down any gauntlet at all.
Instead, on Jan. 27, three days ago, he sent HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius a letter that asked her to activate the National Disaster Medical System to help coordinate the state-side response, provide states more more federal financial and for the feds to start sending Haitian earthquake victims to other states because Florida hospital emergency rooms can't continue handling a flux of earthquake victims.
Crist even signed the letter in his blue Sharpie with an enthusiastic "Great to talk with you yesterday!"
How this letter could be misinterpreted is a testament to the fog of managing a disaster and/or a severe case of bureaucracy run amok by President Obama's administration or the military or both. There's also the possibility the Times got the story wrong, as Crist suggested this morning, but it looks as if the paper just reported the facts at hand. And HHS doesn't look like it was much help in talking to the reporter.
Crist just sent out a statement saying that, just last night up to 80 Haitian orphans arrived in Florida. "Let me be clear – at no time has Florida closed our doors to those impacted by the earthquake in Haiti," Crist said.
Here are excerpts of his letter:
Unfortunately, communication with an appropriate federal lead agency and the lack of coordination by federal authorities has been challenging. However, Florida’s “Operation Haiti Relief” team has done everything we can to ensure repatriated citizens are smoothly transitioned through international airports, their medical evacuation flights are coordinated, and they are directly admitted into Florida hospitals.
As a result, Florida’s health care system is quickly reaching saturation, especially in the area of high level trauma care. We will not be able to sustain these efforts alone. Therefore the State of Florida is respectfully requesting that you activate the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to assist in distributing these critically ill medical patients to other state and ensure states are appropriately reimbursed for their services…..
Florida’s “Operation Haiti Relief” team has worked with deployed staff, 24 hours a day at key sites throughout the state. This is an effort of unprecedented scope and the following is a snapshot of Florida’s activity to date:
*15,411 repatriation passengers on 660 flights
*436 have been admitted to hospitals, greater than 90% of these patients have been multiple trauma
*25% of these patients have been under the age of 18
Recently, we learned that federal planning is underway to move between 30-50 critically ill patients per day for an indefinite period of time. Florida does not have the capacity to support such an operation.
Additional factors complicate Florida’s current healthcare system capacity and we are at current peak from winter tourism and seasonal residence migration.Florida has fully supported the federal mission during this crisis, but we need you to assist us by establishing a process through NDMS to better manager and support these critically injured patients…
Download 2010 1 28 Operation Haiti Relief – Secretary Sebelius
When Jeb Bush left office four years ago, his public appearances were as scarce as bi-partisan man hugs.
He didn't want to upstage his successor in the governor's mansion nor his brother in the White House. Instead, he quietly cashed in by joining corporate boards and an elite speakers bureau, penned public policy essays and gave infrequent interviews to conservative media outlets.
But in recent months, as the Republican Party of Florida has grappled with a leadership vacuum, Bush's political profile has grown as fast as the national deficit.
He headlined a fundraiser for Bill McCollum's gubernatorial campaign, starred in a YouTube video touting Jeff Atwater's campaign for state chief financial officer and helped install state Sen. John Thrasher as the state party's heir apparent – all the while looming on the sidelines of the fierce Republican Senate primary between Gov. Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio.
The capper came Thursday when, at the top of the 7 o'clock hour, right after Vice President Joe Biden, Bush made a rare network television appearance on NBC's Today Show. The intensely private Bush's interview with the overly familiar Matt Lauer rattled Florida political circles.
Was this the beginning of a Jeb juggernaut that would culminate in a 2012 presidential bid?
Full column here.
I finally dragged myself away from tracking the indignities inflicted by politics on the environment to see the highest grossing movie of all time, James Cameron’s "Avatar". Last week, the worldwide box office total for the movie was a boffo $1.859 billion, and judging from the youthful, enthusiastic crowd at an IMAX 3-D theater in Miami last night, it ain’t over. (If you can pull an audience
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