KEY WEST, FLORIDA • JULY 20, 2007

Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
KEY WEST, FLORIDA • JULY 20, 2007
Kolhage Headed To Court HURRICANE WATCH
After His Dog Mauls Kids What Is Keys
Energy Doing
FAMILY HAD REPORTEDLY LEFT
DOG UNATTENDED FOR THE
To “Harden” the
WEEKEND
CHILDREN, 15 AND 10,
System?
SERIOUSLY INJURED. WILL
KWTN Team Report
City Commissioner Danny Kolhage has been ordered
to appear in County Court
on August 16 to face possible
charges after his 19-month-old
male French Mastiff weighing
more than 100 pounds, mauled
two children near his home on
20th Terrace last Friday.
According to witnesses, a
15-year-old girl, a visitor from
Pennsylvania, was standing in
front of her aunt’s house on 20th
Terrace shortly after 9pm, when
the dog, apparently roaming
the neighborhood unattended,
attacked her from behind.
Blayne Weller, who lives
on Riviera Drive, told police officers that he saw the dog jump
on the girl’s back, knock her to
the ground and begin biting
her face and arms. Weller said
he ran to the girl’s assistance
and, with some difficulty was
KOLHAGE PAY MEDICAL
EXPENSES? HE WON’T SAY
able to pull the dog off the girl.
Other witnesses said the dog
mauled the girl for more than
a minute before Weller could
pull him off.
The dog then ran down
the street, Weller said. But he
soon returned and attacked a
10-year-old boy, a cousin of the
girl who had been previously
attacked. The dog bit the boy
on the shoulder and took him
to the ground.
Weller said he pulled the
boy away and put him on top
of a nearby parked car to get
him out of danger.
Another neighbor, Alfred
Louis “Sonny” Knowles, said he
heard screaming in front of his
home. When he went outside
he saw a large brown dog running at him. He said he jumped
up into the back of his pickup
truck and grabbed his son’s
hockey stick. At that point, the
dog ran away.
Knowles said he then
ran over to where other neighbors— including a nurse—
were assisting the injured girl.
See DOG, page 6
EDITOR’S NOTE: For years, the Florida Public Service
Commission has been urging electric companies in the state to
do more to “harden” their systems in order to be more reliable
during storms. We asked Julio Barroso, Keys Energy’s Marketing Coordinator, to tell us what his company is doing. Here is
his report.
by Julio J. Barroso
With over 300 miles of electric lines and nearly 14,000 utility
poles, Keys Energy Services (KEYS) employees work 24-hours
a day to provide reliable electric service to over 27,000 customers from Key West to the Seven-Mile Bridge. While countless
preventive measures and programs help to ensure the lights
stay on, KEYS still faces challenges unique to the public power
utility that powers paradise.
KEYS (then City Electric System) began powering paradise
in 1943 with locally generated electricity that, while convenient,
was not always reliable. Daily power outages and rotating brownouts were a frequent occurrence for residents of Key West and
See POWER, page 7
page one commentary
Jose Menendez Has Got To Be the Dumbest
Commissioner In the History of City Government
MENENDEZ WAS THE SWING VOTE IN THE CITY
COMMISSION’S REJECTION OF A REFERENDUM ON
WISTERIA ISLAND BECAUSE HE HAD CONCERNS
ABOUT THE CLEANLINESS OF THE ISLAND.
WE DON’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
by Dennis Reeves Cooper
By a 4-3 vote, the City
Commission Tuesday night
refused to put a referendum
on the ballot in October that
would have allowed the voters
to weigh in on whether or not
the City should annex Wisteria
Island for the purpose of development. Right now, that vote
might not be of immediate imSee MENENDEZ, page 4
THE ISLAND’S OLDEST INDEPENDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
RHONDA
Kids Pay Price for Paradise
by Rhonda Linseman
Have you ever listened to
children when they think adults
either aren’t listening or don’t
care? Have you noticed an increase in free-roaming children
around Key West?
It has always gotten under my skin to hear children
putting each other down. I
especially hate variations on
“shut up” and “stupid” and I’m
trying to determine why these
words have historically hurt
my ears more than something
that would seem more egregious—cussing, for example. I
think it’s because they are direct
attacks on a child’s sense of self
worth. They say, in essence,
“You have no real value as a
human being and you’re not
worth my time.”
But since moving from
the Midwest, I’ve had a rude
awakening. Here in Key West
at the baseball fields where,
during baseball season, I spend
several of my non-working
waking hours, it isn’t uncommon to hear things like “You
bowt to go down, bitch” from
one eight-year-old boy to
another, whose parents aren’t
even at the ballpark. I think the
Midwestern translation of that
would be something along the
lines of, “Say, Billy, I’ve already
checked with my folks and
it’s okay with them to invite
you to engage me in a friendly
boyhood wrestling match, but
only if it’s okay with your folks.
Run along and get permission,
pal. I’ll stay here and practice
reciting my multiplication
tables while I wait--I’ve been
having the darndest time with
my twelves.”
I’m not insinuating it’s
better where I came from—quite
the opposite—I think children
raised in the middle of soy
bean fields can be debilitatingly
sheltered. But I do worry, here,
about what happens to children
when their parents need to work
several jobs to make a living in
this economy, leaving little time
and even less energy for active
parenting. I think youth culture
is changing very rapidly in Key
West and it is one of the direct
results of the economy.
Let’s be honest. Some
families in Key West are loaded.
Either they have family money,
or they’re fully able to comfortably support a family on one fat
income. In those cases, Key West
can be the island paradise they
moved here to experience. Hurricane-shmurricane--They’ve
got multi-million dollar fortresses and a summer homes in
Connecticut to which they can
escape the bothersome wind
and water. And they’ve got
people to clean up whatever
mess is made of their Key West
compounds.
Regular people, however,
who came here on vacation, fell
in love, and decided to move
their children here, have got
to do a serious reality check. It
doesn’t mean you don’t have
a right to be here, or that you
haven’t done your very best,
but how often do you seriously
contemplate what is happening to your children? You’re
working a day job and have
two nighttime bar tending jobs.
Do you even have time to take
them near the ocean you fell in
love with as you drove over the
Seven Mile Bridge to get here?
Do you make time to educate
them about the extraordinarily
special ecology of the place to
See RHONDA, page 3
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page NEWS BRIEFS
Law Enforcement
Agent Added To
Animal Control Staff
Charles Best, a former Animal Control and Cruelty Investigator in Broward County has been named Humane Law
Enforcement Agent for the Florida Keys Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (FKSPCA), the agency that manages
the animal shelter and provides animal control services in the
Lower Keys. Best will enforce animal-related laws here, as well
as provide education regarding responsible pet ownership, siad
Tammy Fox, animal shelter director. He will also investigate and
help prosecute animal cruelty cases, Fox said.
Rhonda
FROM page 2
which you’ve transplanted them?
If it’s winter you hate, there are plenty of warm but affordable alternatives to Escanaba and Cheboygan. Elected officials
have, so far, failed to adequately address the needs of working
class families in the Keys, but your children are only little for a
blink in time. Focus on them for these crucial few years, even
if that means moving to Suwanee, Papillion, or Apex. I’m not
insinuating that, as a community, we ought to allow Key West
to turn into Telluride, as is feared for good reason. I’m merely
suggesting that young families should consider, without guilt,
being selfish for a few irreplaceable years.
And if you love Key West, consider moving back after your
children are safely on scholarship at Duke, on their way to making
enough to buying a carefree Key West family compound.
www.kwtn.com
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
Menendez Was the Swing Vote On
the Failed Effort To Try To Allow
Voters To Weigh In On Wisteria
Annexation Question
MENENDEZ, from page 1
portance because the developers who want to build as many
as 166 units on that little 21-acre
scrap of fill land have at least
temporarily withdrawn their
request to have the Commission
annex the property.
Apparently, they were
not sure they could get the
four votes needed-- although
it seemed pretty clear that they
had Commissioners Harry
Bethel, Danny Kolhage, as well
as Mayor Morgan McPherson
tucked well into their pockets.
Of course, there was that
little scandal that erupted after
Bethel, Kolhage and Commissioner Clayton Lopez were
caught attending a lavish dinner with representatives of the
developers just days before
the final vote on annexation
had been scheduled. That vote
never happened because Mayor
McPherson and Commissioner
Mark Rossi were absent.
Since that time, Bethel has
returned $1500 in campaign
contributions from the Walsh
family, who had planned to
develop Wisteria if they could
get it annexed into Key West.
You see, right now the island
is located in unincorporated
Monroe County. Under the
County’s stringent development rules, they could only
build two houses out there.
So, annexation is critical to the
owners of the island if they ever
hope to develop it.
Bethel is not running for
reelection to the City Commission. He is running for a seat
on the Utility board. His opponent in that race is Charles
Lee, a Realtor and the former
Chairman of the Citizen Review
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Board. Lee’s campaign slogan is
“A Name You Can Trust”. What
could he possibly be suggesting
with such a slogan?
Both Bethel and Kolhage
are under investigation by
the Florida Commission on
Ethics for their participation
in The Dinner. Lopez was not
included in the complaint. All
three, however, have denied
any wrongdoing.
Those who spoke against
the referendum at the meeting
Tuesday argued that the “annexation issue is dead. Why
do we need a referendum?” Of
course, it is not dead. It will be
back, just like the monster in a
horror movie.
Our position here at
KWTN has not been an antidevelopment position. Our
opposition to the apparent rush
to annexation is based on the
fact that no one has presented
any compelling evidence that
annexation would be beneficial
to the taxpayers of Key West.
Of course, we do know what
the benefits are for the owners
and developers of the island
would be. They stand to make
millions of dollars. But what’s
in it for the taxpayers who are
being asked to provide fire and
police protection and other
services to the island were it
to become part of the City? No
one has definitively answered
that question.
But had a referendum on
annexation been placed on the
CONTINUED on next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
Menendez Said He Couldn’t Vote
In Favor Of a Referendum On
Wisteria Annexation Because the
Island Had Trash On It. That’s
Really What He Said
MENENDEZ, from page 4
October ballot, that would have
given both proponents and opponents time to document and
present their best arguments.
Also, with a referendum
on the ballot, it is likely that
all the candidates for a seat on
the City Commission would
have been expected to take a
stand on the issue. But we feel
sure it will become an election
issue anyway, even without a
referendum on the ballot.
The Tuesday evening
debate on the referendum gave
those who watched, either in
person at Old City Hall or on
television, another opportunity to see Commissioner Jose
Menendez in action. If you
have watched any of the Commission meetings over the last
three years, you know why we
headlined the commentary you
are reading now, “Jose Menendez Has Got To Be the Dumbest
Commissioner in the History of
City Government.”
Menendez actually said
Tuesday evening that he could
not consider a vote on the referendum question because he had
seen some photos showing that
the island had a lot of trash on it.
What does this have to do with
allowing the people of Key West
to participate in a non-binding
referendum? We don’t know.
But, apparently, somewhere in
Menendez’ clouded mind, there
must be a connection.
When it was time to vote,
Menendez voted “no”, along
with the Walsh family’s boys,
Bethel, Kolhage and McPherson. That was enough to kill
the referendum. Rossi, Lopez
and Commissioner Bill Verge
voted “yes”.
We are now hearing reports that Menendez is telling
friends that he wasn’t sure what
he was voting on.
He does this all the time.
It is not unusual, when an issue
is being discussed at a Commission meeting, for Menendez to
not have anything to say. But,
then, when a new issue is on
the floor and the Mayor calls on
Menendez, he launches into a
discussion of the previous issue.
Those who must watch this are
embarrassed for him. But he
doesn’t seem to notice.
When we were writing
about the upcoming vote on
the referendum for last Friday’s
KWTN, we told you that our
tentative vote count was 4-3
for a referendum— because
Menendez had been quoted in
the Key West Citizen as saying
he intended to vote for a referendum. But we also warned
you that we had absolutely
no confidence that Menendez
would even remember the
question, much less how he
answered it.
And sure enough . . .
Jose Menendez is a nice
old man. But he has no business
sitting up there voting on laws
for us. The good news is that
he is up for reelection and at
least one credible candidate has
signed up to challenge him.
He won in 2003 by only a
few votes. And there were lots
of questions about possible vote
fraud. We predict that, this year,
he will be turned out to pasture.
Enough is enough!
NOTE: We told a longtime City Commission watcher
about how this commentary
was going to be headlined and
he argued that Jose Menendez
may not be the dumbest Commissioner in the history of City
Government. And he ticked
off the names of a few former
Commissioners who might
compete for the title. If you have
a nomination, send it to us at
[email protected].
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
The Kolhages Initially Told Police That the
Dog Had Never Bitten Anyone Before. But
Cops Already Knew That the Dog Had Bitten
Another Neighbor Six Months Earlier
DOG, from page 1
Knowles told officers that she
was bleeding profusely from
bites on her face and neck.
Knowles said he then
heard more screaming and he
saw the dog attacking the boy.
He said he ran over and hit the
dog on the head with the hockey
stick as hard as he could. The
dog released the boy, but then
tried to attack Knowles. So
he hit the dog again with the
hockey stick.
The dog then ran down
the street and Knowles said he
attempted to follow him, but
was unable to keep up. But other
neighbors took up the chase.
Key West Police officers
were able to locate the dog and
hold him until the arrival of an
animal control officer.
The two victims were
transported by ambulance to
Lower Keys Medical Center.
According to police reports, the 15-year-old girl had
severe puncture marks on the
right side of her face and next to
her ear, and multiple puncture
marks under her chin. Her right
hand also had multiple bite
marks and she had abrasions
on her legs from being pulled
to the ground.
The 10-year-old boy had
puncture marks on his right
shoulder and his right arm,
along with abrasions to his
legs from being pulled to the
ground.
This is not the first time
that the Kolhage dog has bitten a neighbor. Knowles’ son
showed officers a scar left when
the dog bit his arm six months
ago. That incident had not been
reported.
The dog also got out of
the Kolhage’s yard earlier this
month and was picked up by
Animal Control as a stray. The
Kolhages retrieved him from
the animal shelter.
At press time, Kolhage
had not responded to a request
for comment, but he reportedly
told police investigators that he
and his wife had left town on
Thursday and had planned to
be gone until Sunday. Their son
was supposed to be taking care
of the dog, but he reportedly left
town Friday, leaving the dog
unattended.
In Det. Diane Lipinsky’s
report, the Kolhages are quoted
as telling her that they had never
had any problems with the dog.
“They said he has never bitten
anyone,” Lipinsky wrote.
Lipinsky then told the
Kolhages that she had already
received information about the
dog biting the Knowles boy six
months earlier. Mrs. Kolhage
then said she recalled the incident, but said that Knowles had
taunted the dog with his skateboard, according to Lipinsky’s
report.
The dog is currently in
quarantine at the Society For
Prevention of Cruelty To Animals shelter. He is scheduled to
be euthanized Tuesday.
Commissioner Kolhage
was cited by Animal Control
Officer Charles Best on Monday and ordered to appear in
County Court on August 16.
KWTN sent Kolhage a fax
asking if he had offered to pay
for the medical expenses for the
two children. At press time, he
had not responded.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
Efforts Being Made To Improve
the Reliability of the “Extension
Cord” That Went To Sea”
POWER, from page 1
the Lower Florida Keys in the
mid-part of the 20th Century.
The construction of the
Transmission Line (or TIELINE)
in 1987 saw an immediate
increase in reliability once electricity could be transported
along the ‘extension cord that
went to sea’ from the mainland. Additionally, redundant
spans of the TIELINE were later
added along U.S. Highway 1 to
increase capacity and reliability
into the Keys should a fault occur on the original span.
However, while the
TIELINE has greatly increased
the reliability of power, it still
remains highly vulnerable to
electrical faults.
In 2006, KEYS customers
experienced 12 outages due to a
fault on the TIELINE. Of those
12 faults, six originated in the
Florida Keys Electric Co-operative territory (Marathon to Key
Largo), four in KEYS service
area, and two in the Florida
Power & Light territory on the
Florida mainland.
To combat and prevent
faults, KEYS has been tracking
power outages since the early
1990s. Aside from providing
benchmarks for reliability, the
outage statistics help to: identify
and target problem areas/zones
and faulty construction materials, assist in planning areas
for tree trimming and capital
improvement allocations, and
identify areas susceptible to
weather outages.
While most faults that
result in power outages are
out of KEYS’ control, and often outside of its service area,
efforts are taken to ensure the
continued reliability of electrical facilities within the Utility’s
service area.
Reliability efforts include:
Utility Pole Inspections/Hardening:
Since January 2007, KEYS
has been performing an extensive pole and facility inventory
check which includes more than
14,000 power poles and other
electrical equipment. Results of
the inspections will help KEYS
better implement a multi-year
utility pole refurbishment project that is expected to last five
years and see approximately
3,000 wood utility poles replaced with stronger concrete
poles.
Helicopter Survey:
Every two years KEYS
performs a helicopter survey
of the TIELINE to visually
inspect poles, hardware, lines,
and insulators, not visible from
ground-level, of the span of
TIELINE between Key West
and Marathon. The survey
was recently conducted in the
spring of 2007 and its results
have aided in the scheduling
of repairs to keep the TIELINE
at its maximum capacity and
integrity.
Infrared Photographic
Studies:
On a yearly basis, KEYS
identifies, and repairs, heat
anomalies, or “hot spots”,
with an infrared study of
Transmission and Distribution
equipment. During the study,
a special infrared video camera
is used to detect heat anomalies
which are a red flag for future
equipment failure. In 2006, 179
“hot spots” were identified, and
repaired, which would have
resulted in potential power outages if left uncorrected.
FREE Tree Trimming
Services:
Keeping trees trimmed
away from electrical lines helps
KEYS provide reliable electricity. Customers are urged not
to trim tree limbs intruding on
electrical lines, but rather call
KEYS so a trained tree trimmer
can safely trim the limbs away
from electrical lines. Tree Trimming requests can be submitted
at (305) 295-1010, or by logging
on to www.KeysEnergy.com.
Despite efforts to the
contrary, power outages can,
and will, occur— especially
given recent active hurricane
seasons.
While KEYS works to
reduce the overall number and
duration of power outages with
numerous reliability efforts,
residents can help by making
sure trees are not planted near
electric facilities and that mature tree are trimmed back if
they are already encroaching
on power lines. Additionally, if
residents hear or see something
that could potentially help
identify a fault that caused,
or could potentially cause, a
power outage they are urged
to report it to KEYS Dispatch
Center at (305) 295-1010.
The overall length of a
power outage is the result of
the time it takes to identify and
subsequently repair an electrical fault. While restoration
times vary greatly, residents
can be assured KEYS is working
hard to get, and keep, paradise
energized.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page www.kwtn.com
film
What’s On At the Tropic?
Able Body Fitness Center is proudly
registered with the State of Florida as a
Health Studio. Registration No. HS4729
“HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD: MUSIC FROM
THE MOVIES”
The EVENT of the Summer. An unforgettable blend
of Movies, Music, Moore and
Nesbitt. The Tropic Cinema
proudly presents Key West’s
own dynamic duo Bruce
Moore and Bobby Nesbitt live
in concert. Hollywoods’s most
memorable moments come
alive through music and film
clips on the Tropic Cinema’s
grand stage and screen.
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
TUESDAY, JULY 24 at 8:00pm.
$50/person. Premier Seating
Spa Manicures & Pedicures
CISSY @ HEADLINES
Acrylics, Pink & Whites
1075 Duval Street • 305-296-6373
[email protected]
(includes Complimentary Catered Champagne Reception)/
$25 General Admission
Advance Tickets at the
Tropic Box Office or online at
TropicCinema.com
FEATURED FILMS
Opens Friday on the big
Carper screen!
EVENING
This deeply emotional
film illuminates the timeless
love that binds mother and
daughter, seen through the
prism of one mother’s life as it
crests with optimism, navigates
a turning point, and ebbs to
its close. Two pairs of real-life
mothers and daughters—Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha
Richardson, and Meryl Streep
and Mamie Gummer—portray,
respectively, a mother and her
daughter and the mother’s best
friend at different stages in
life. Co-starring Glenn Close,
Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy,
Claire Danes and Toni Collette.
Screenplay by Pulitzer Prizewinning author Michael Cunningham (The Hours), based on
the best-selling novel by Susan
EVENING
Minot. English-language debut
for director Lajos Koltai (Fateless). The ultimate chick-flick
“engineered to liquefy moviegoers, specifically middleage female moviegoers who
miss their mothers.” (Houston
Chronicle)
“It resonates with gleaming ferocity as it unspools a story
of regret, longing and resolution
in two generations of women.”
Miami Herald
“The film, like the book,
is clear-eyed without being
clinical, reflective but never
maudlin” Chicago Tribune
Rated: PG-13. Runtime
1hr 53mins. Showtimes (in
Carper): Daily at (2:45), 5:15,
7:45, except Saturday, July 21
at 5:15 & 7:45pm; and Tuesday,
July 24 at (2:00) & 4:30pm
* * *
Last week. Last chance!
SICKO
It’s rare that a movie is
front page news, but Michael
Moore has that way about
him. As the 2008 political season looms ahead, he’s made
a movie that one has to see, if
only to share in the discussion.
You don’t have to love Michael
Moore to like SICKO, the movie
that has drawn new attention
to this country’s broken health
care system. “SICKO is socko”
says Time Magazine. Sticking
to his tried-and-true one-man
approach, Moore sheds light
on the complicated medical
affairs of individuals and local
communities alike, giving us “a
movie of robust mind and heart.
You’ll laugh till it hurts,” says
Rolling Stone. “Sicko is the least
controversial and most broadly
appealing of Mr. Moore’s movies. (It is also, perhaps improbably, the funniest and the most
tightly edited.),” agrees the
New York Times
Rated PG-13 Runtime:
1hr 53min. Showtimes (in Taylor): Daily at (3:00), 5:30 and
8:00pm
* * *
Last week!
PARIS, JE T’AIME
A who’s who of celebrated
filmmakers from around the
world come together to show
CONTINUED on next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page What’s On At the
Tropic?
FROM previous page
Paris in a way never before
imagined. Through a kaleidoscope of stories about joy,
separation, unexpected strange
encounters and of course—
love—their films capture both
the reality of contemporary
Paris as well as the enchantment one feels as a visitor. It’s
an omnibus celebrating the joys
and sorrows of love and Paris,
organized by neighborhood.
“Builds into something
quite wonderful,” says the
Washington Post. “The result
is that after two hours one gets
the sense of having seen a panorama of human experience, of
having witnessed a moment of
time in all its true fullness.” San
Francisco Chronicle
Rated R. Runtime 1hr
56min (partially subtitled).
Showtimes (in The George):
Daily at (2:30), 5:00, 7:30
* * *
SPECIAL EVENTS
Free Matinee Movies
for Kids! Every Saturday at
12:30pm
Saturday, July 21
Big Top Winkle
Journeying along the
railroad tracks, Mr. Winkle (a
real dog!) arrives in the mythical town of Waggsville. He
innocently upstages a ragtag
gypsy circus. Each member of
the desperate circus troop at-
tempts to capture and exploit
Mr. Winkle, but he continually
eludes them in hilarious and
surprising ways. (Live action,
ages 5-12)
and
The Prince and the Pauper
When a strange turn of
events brings the unlikely pair
together, they are amazed to
find that their appearances are
identical. They mischievously
trade places by swapping
clothes, but soon find that returning to their true lives is not
so easy. With a little help from
a wisecracking court jester and
a cranky donkey, the two work
to ensure that everyone in their
land will live happily ever after.
Features all new songs and music. (Animated, ages 5-12)
All Films are provided by
KIDS FIRST! (a program of the
Coalition for Quality Children’s
Media) Doors open at 12:00 ~ All
children must be accompanied
by an adult
www.kwtn.com
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 10
www.kwtn.com
guest commentary
hal o'boyle
Is the City’s Independent
Auditor Really Independent?
Rituals Of
Atonement
by Dennis Reeves Cooper
Back in March, we profiled Kathryn “Kat”
Watts, the City’s new Internal Auditor, in a page one
piece headlined “City Government’s Classy In-House
Detective”. We parroted what she told us— that she
was going to independent and let the chips fall where
they may. But recent developments have caused us to
wonder if she is really independent. Case in point:
You may recall that after former City Manager
Julio Avael fired Chief Code Enforcement Officer
Jim Young last October for— gasp— daring to cite
projects owned or managed by friends and relatives
of City Commissioners and other influentials, Julio
was forced to go into damage control bigtime. He
couldn’t admit that he fired Young because a couple
of City Commissioners told him to, so, in typical Julio
fashion, he started to make stuff up.
We reported to you last February, in a page one
commentary headlined “The Snake In the Grass Strikes
Again,” about a malicious email Julio had sent the
Mayor and City Commissioners which suggested that
Young may have, at least, misused, if not stolen public
money while conducting undercover investigations.
Here’s an excerpt from that email:
“Heads up. With respect to undercover work by
(Code Enforcement), Mr. Klitenick has concerns that
the City has established a phantom company and credit
card without my knowledge and the Commission’s
knowledge. Credit charges amounting to nearly
$20,000 were paid to hotels and bed and breakfast
establishments via the phantom company and credit
card during the investigations if the transient rentals.
It was placed in the budget but the reason for the
request was not explained.”
The only purpose for writing this email was to
try to undercut any support Mr. Young may have had
from members of the Commission. Other than that,
Julio was simply lying. Again. He even got the name
of the “complainant” wrong. When we checked with
Attorney Richard Klitenick, he told us that he didn’t
know what in the hell Avael was talking about. Avael
See AUDITOR, page 22
ON THE SONNY SIDE
Looking Back: Old Key West
by Charles “Sonny” McCoy
As a young Architect, working on the mainland,
I heard about plans to demolish the century old
Convent in my home town of Key West and knowing of the Architectural and Historical value of this
remarkable Island land mark, I wanted to join with
others to save and preserve these wonderful structures. It appears that the Bishop of this Archdiocese
had been convinced that this Parochial School was
in disrepair and was not worth saving. The Bishop
ordered the structures demolished to make room for
more modern class rooms and living quarters for the
Nuns that taught there.
Despite all the efforts of many respected families
who had seen their mothers and daughters matriculate
at this school and how this Convent had been used as a
hospital in times of crisis and how this Order of Nuns
had served as teachers and nurses in times of need; it
appeared that the Convent was to be sacrificed to a
simplicity that called for removal and renew. But the
removal of this grand and classic piece of architecture
was to stir in the minds of the Island’s families and
would be part of the Island’s need and motivation to
preserve its architectural heritage
Jessie Porter, a granddame here on the Island,
recruited Micthel Wolfsom a Key Wester who had
made it big in Miami, to invest in the restoration of a
house now known as the Audubon House. Audubon
would come to Key West as a guest of Captain Geiger to study the Islands bird life and the house and
grounds are now a part of that history.
Success begets success and preservation of our
colorful past and architecture came into vogue, with
the restoration of the homes of Ernest Hemingway
and Tennessee Williams. But besides the obvious attraction of famous authors there where the structures
such as the Oldest House, the Old Custom House on
Clinton Square and the Old, Old Custom House on
Duval Street. Then there is the Little White House
where
President YOUR
Truman lived
on his many visits to
WHAT’S
OPINION?
Key West.
Send
us a Letter
Some of my most challenging, yet satisfying work
To
Editor.
Email:
was
in the
restoration.
There where
serious structural
[email protected]
concerns
about St. Paul’s Church, Old City Hall, San
Carlos
Theater, and others that
challenged the normal
305-292-1882
Fax
methods of restoration. Because many of the people
PO Box 567, KW FL 33041
entrusted with the decision making on how to solve
these problems where not trained in this area, the
simple solution was to demolish and rebuild with
something not in keeping with our heritage. But fortunately for the future, Key West was blessed with
many citizens that understood the value of maintaining the historical ambiance of this unique Island City
and fought to preserve it.
Sonny McCoy is a Monroe County Commissioner and a former five-term Key West Mayor.
by Hal O’Boyle
EDITOR’S NOTE: This column first appeared in
Key West the Newspaper in August 2004.
The Old Testament describes a ritual of atonement. The Jews call it Yom Kippur. The ceremony
features a luckless goat, chosen by lot, on whom the
priests symbolically place the sins of the community.
The priests then toss the “goat of removal,” or scapegoat, over a cliff to his death. Thus are the nation’s
iniquities atoned. Thus are things put right with The
Almighty.
The ancient Greeks used human scapegoats. The
righteous citizens stoned the “pharmakos” to death. In
so doing they believed they cleansed their community
of sin. It is from this barbarous ceremony of healing
that we derive the word “pharmacy.”
Our society has developed its own brutal ritual
of atonement, the War on Drugs (WOD). It involves
casting out and persecuting a tiny subclass of our
own whose problems before the WOD were private,
harmless to others and, ironically, easily solved at
any pharmacy.
Drug users and addicts are perfect modern scapegoats. They are a politically and socially insignificant
minority. Their numbers include many successful and
influential individuals, but even the powerful dare
not protest. This defenseless and indefensible little
See O'BOYLE, page 23
Key West
West
Key
T H E
N E W S P A P E R
Key West The Newspaper is published every
Friday, all year 'round, 52 weeks a year.
Free distribution weekly: 9,500
News tips and letters to the editor are welcome.
Phone: (305) 292-2108. Fax: (305) 292-1882.
Editorial and advertising office:
422 Fleming Street
Mail: P.O. Box 567, Key West FL 33041
E-mail: [email protected]
Subscriptions: $35 for six months
Editor/Publisher Dennis Reeves Cooper, Ph.D.
Associate Editor Rhonda Linseman
Entertainment Valerie Ridenour
Photography Richard Watherwax
Art Director Art Winstanley
Advertising Byron Gronvold
Contributors Michael Barnes, Bob Smith,
Hal O’Boyle, Sonny McCoy, Barbara Bowers,
Meryl Berman, Harry Skevington
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 11
www.kwtn.com
ENTERTAINMENT • EATING & DRINKING • NIGHTLIFE • ATTRACTIONS • EVENTS • ARTS • SHOPPING • MAP
Scarekrow Back
At Cowboy Bill’s
Brass, Hot Latin and
Off the Wall Art At the Parrot
SCAREKROW IS BACK IN TOWN— at Cowboy Bill’s tonight and
tomorrow night, Friday and Saturday, July 20-21, starting at 10.
Live Music On the
Island! Complete
Listings & Info
Pages 11-20
MIKE EMERSON’S
SOUTHERNMOST BRASS BAND,
above, will be at the Green Parrot
Bar this afternoon, Friday, July 20,
for a special 5:30 “sound check”—
and then they’ll be back for a big
nighttime show, starting at 10..
CARIBE, right, will be in the house
Saturday night.
Don’t miss the famous Off the Wall
Sidewalk Art Show Sunday
Noon ‘til 7. See page 21.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 12
www.kwtn.com
more more
entertainment
entertainment
The Moose Is
Back At
Schooner Wharf
MOOSE & THE BULLETPROOF BLUES BAND are back at the
Schooner Wharf Bar tonight and tomorrow night, Friday and
Saturday, July 20-21, 7 ‘til 11.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 13
more entertainment
Joe Dougherty Back At
Finnegan’s Wake
JOE DOUGHERTY will be back at Finnegan’s Wake tonight and tomorrow night, Friday and
Saturday, July 20-21.
www.kwtn.com
OILY’S AUTO REPAIR
MIKE YOUNG, CERTIFIED ASE TECHNICIAN
5669 5th AVE, STOCK ISLAND• 296-6656
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 14
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Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 15
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Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 16
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what’s hot
Raven and Bubba
RICHARD WATHERWAX
by Valerie Ridenour
If you’ve never seen and
heard Raven Cooper and Bubba
Lownotes, you’ve missed the
best. You can correct that
mistake by going to Schooner
Wharf on Tuesday at noon.
These are two of the most talented people anywhere, world
class all the way! Raven is an
obvious star in the making, and
so is Bubba. Their guitars and
voices are simply magnificent,
with harmony to die for. Raven sings in flawless Spanish
and Italian. She began with a
Cuban song. Then they gave
us an island feel on “I Would
Give Everything I Own” with
great harmony.
When you believe you’ve
heard the best, it’s a shock to
realize your favorite act has actually improved, but Raven and
Bubba are even better than they
were the last time I heard them.
Now we hear a Mexican tune,
“La Bruja”. Just as we succumb
to pure romance Raven delivers
a deep, bassy, masculine voice,
sung and spoken for Johnny
Cash’s “I Did It One Piece At
a Time”. You will crack up, I
guarantee!
Raven plays luscious guitar, and Bubba is one of our most
popular instrumentalists. “I’m
Sorry” is elegantly beautiful.
Blues, you ask? Yes indeedy!
Raven is totally soulful on “Wild
Women Don’t Get the Blues”.
Ask for this one. Bubba plays
great lead. Both are playing
acoustic guitars. “Pennies From
Heaven” puts us in an easy jazz
framework. “Our Town” has
both voices thrilling us. This
is pure romance.
Raven and Bubba do
Jerry Douglas’s classic, “Don’t
Look Now, Mama’s Got Her
Boobs Out”, which describes a
drunken woman’s total lack of
discretion and/or control. It’s
a scream! There’s a dirty song
too about “What the f… Were
We Thinking When We Said I
Do”. Raven and Bubba’s show
ranges from beautiful to hilarious with both wonderfully
done. If there is a perfect duo,
this is definitely it. But read on
into the Ridenour Report. There
is a DVD you need to own. It
has these two plus two more
superstars. Curious? And did I
tell you they are both gorgeous?
Stay cool.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 17
www.kwtn.com
RIDENOUR REPORT
by Valerie Ridenour
As I said in What’s
Hot, there’s a fantastic DVD available you
will treasure. It’s titled
“Honey Mouth, featuring Raven Cooper”.
Bubba is on it, also
New York session trumpet player Ken Fradley,
and the ultimate blues,
boogie, rock and roll
pianist, Barry Cuda.
That is four stars on one
disc. They do Bill Withers’ “Use Me Up”, Ray
Charles’ “Drown In My
Own Tears”. “Una Nota
Di Napoli”, “La Paloma
Negra”, “Pennies From
Heaven”, a Raven Cooper original “In the Back
Of My Truck”, the Johnny Cash
craziness, and others. The
amazing thing about this creation is that it was filmed and
recorded live at Hog’s Breath.
The blend of instruments and
voices is awesome. Watch it
with someone you love. It is
so intimate and romantic, you’ll
watch it again and again. There
are small technical glitches, but
they don’t matter at all. This is
more than entertainment; this
is art. You’re gonna owe me for
this one! Thanks will suffice.
You can get them from the players or from barrycuda.com.
For those of you who
remember Brian Evans, his recording of “It Had To Be You”
will be on “So You Think You
Can Dance” this week. For you
who don’t, Brian is the Vegas
RICK STEFFAN
performer who decided Key
West didn’t have any celebrities, so he’d bring us some. He
enticed a few. Wayne Newton sang one song. William
Shattner said “Hi”, and a few
others showed up. I finally
convinced Brian that we have
always had more than our
share of famous folks, frequent
visitors like Elizabeth
Taylor, Walter Cronkite,
and Truman Capote
plus folks who lived
here year around Roy
Scheider, Calvin Klein,
Leonard Bernstein, nine
Pulitzer Prize winners,
and so many others. He
finally quit, but he still
didn’t get it. Oh well,
some do, some don’t.
The Fabulous
C.W. Colt is in town.
You can find him at
Rick’s and other places.
You can read about
him next week, and the
news is good!
Our old friend
Rick Steffan is in Hawaii
. . . on his honeymoon!
He and Cindy finally did it.
Much happiness, folks! He’ll
be back with us when the Parrotheads hit town.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 18
www.kwtn.com
NOW PLAYING
PLEASE NOTE: Entertainment schedules are always subject to last-minute changes and, sometimes, club schedules are
not available at press time. TBA stands for To Be Announced.
NAPT stands for Not Available At Press Time. Band times are
noted before the names of the bands in each listing. Please alert
Valerie Ridenour to errors and/or schedule changes. 872-1561.
[email protected] NOTE: Schedules are subject to change
without notice. To be sure the band of your choice is playing,
you may want to call the venue before you go.
AQUA: SAT, 3:30 – 6: 30,
Mike Emerson Trio * TUES – MON,
the Aquanettes
BEAR BOTTOM BEACH
CLUB: FRI & SAT, 6 – 10, Randy
Mac; 10 – 2, Matt Avery * MON &
TUES, 5 – 9, Acoustic Johnson *
WED, 5 – 9, Taz; 9 – 1, Matt Avery
BLUE HEAVEN: FRI, Chris
Case * SAT,9:30 – 2, Mustapha;
Mary Spear * SUN, brunch, Mary
Spear
B.O.’s FISH WAGON: FRI,
6pm, Barry Cuda & the Sharks
BOONDOCKS: FRI, 40ft
Sharpie; SAT, Howard Livingston
& MM24* SUN, Gillis & Gordy
* MON, Barry Cuda & Friends *
THURS, Biggest Lobster Contest,
Howard Livingston & MM24
BOTTLECAP: FRI, Chris
Case, Ray Spence, & Richie Ciavolino * SAT, The Reifersens * WED,
Beef Chili & the Con Carnes
THE BULL: FRI, 1 – 5, Yankee Jack; 6 – 10, Jeanie Falcone; 10
– 2, Caffeine Carl * SAT, 1 – 5, Yankee
Jack; 6 – 10, Jeanie Falcone; 10 – 2,
40ft. Sharpie * SUN, 1 – 5, Yankee
Jack; 6 – 9, Elvis; 9 – 1, 40ft, Sharpie
_ MON, 1 – 5, Yankee Jack; 8 – 12,
Baby T * TUES, 1 – 5, Yankee Jack;
8 – 12, Dawn Wilder * WED, 1 – 5,
Jeanie Falcone; 8 – 12, Dawn Wilder
* THURS; 1 – 5, Yankee Jack; 10 – 2,
Jeanie Falcone
CAPTAIN TONY’S: FRI &
SAT, noon, Rob Sweet; 4:30 Gary
Hempsey; 9 – 2, Carl Peachy Band *
SUN, noon, Bed Taddiken; 4:30, Tim
Bender; 8:30 – 12:30, Gary Hempsey
* MON, noon, Liz O’Connor; 4:30,
Rob Sweet; 8:30 – 12:30, Carl Peachy
Band * TUES, noon, Rob Sweet;
4:30, Gary Hempsey; 8:30 – 12:30
Gary Hempsey * WED, noon,
Ben Taddiken; 4:30, Tim Bender;
8:30 – 12:30, Carl Peachy Band *
THURS, noon Liz O’Connor; 4:39,
Gary Hempsey; 8:30 – 12:30, Carl
Peachy Band
CHEESEBURGER: FRI,
Nick Norman; SAT, Hershel Lester;
* SUN, Alphonse * TUES, Jim Wist *
THURS, Jim Wist; Rob & Tom
CONCH REPUBLIC SEAFOOD RESTAURANT: FRI, 2 – 6,
Joel Nelson; 7 – 11, Black & Skabuddah * SAT, 2 – 6, Joel Nelson; 7 – 11,
Zack Seemiller * SUN, 6 – 10, Melvin
Newton * MON, 6 -10, Zack Seemiller * TUES, 6 – 10, Melvin Newton
* WED, Din Allen * THURS, 6 – 10,
Black & Skabuddah
COWBOY BILL’S; FRI &
SAT, Skarekrow * WED & THURS,
Tim Cooper & the Midnight Ride
DANTE’S: FRI, 4 - 8, Yvon
Agbo * SAT, 1:30 – 5:30, Bubba
System * SUN, 1:30 – 5:30, Monks
Of Funk
DURTY HARRY’S: FRI
& SAT, 8:30, Durty Rita * MON
& TUES, Duo * WED & THURS,
Durty Rita
FINNEGAN’S WAKE: FRI
& SAT, Joe Daugherty
GARDEN OF EDEN: FRI
– THURS, DJ’s Timber & Lars
GEIGER KEY MARINA:
No music till fire damage repaired
GREEN PARROT: FRI,
5pm sound check, 10 – 2, Mike
Emerson’s Southernmost Brass
Band * SAT, 10 – 2, Caribe * SUN,
noon – 7, Off the Wall sidewalk
art show
GUY HARVEY’S ISLAND
GRILL: SUN, 9 – 1, Chris Case *
MON, 3 – 6, Chris Case * THURS,
3 – 6, Jimmy
HALF SHELL RAW BAR:
FRI, 5 - 7, Caffeine Carl * WED, 5
– 7, Caffeine Carl
HOG’S BREATH: FRI &
SAT, noon - 4, Kenny & Cuda Show;
5 – 9, Bruce & Red; 10 – 2, Hugo
Duarte & Full Sail * SUN, noon 4, TBA; 5 – 9, Bruce & Red; 10 – 2,
Hugo Duarte & Full Sail * MON
& TUES, noon – 4, Corey Heydon;
5 – 9, Bruce & Red; 10 – 2, Carter
Brothers * WED, Joel Nelson; Bruce
& Red; Carter Brothers * THURS,
noon – 4, Joel Nelson; 5 – 9, Debloise; 10 – 2, Carter Brothers
HOGFISH: FRI, Mile Mark-
CONTINUED on next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 19
www.kwtn.com
NOW PLAYING
FROM previous page
er 24 * SAT, Dave Aaron * SUN,
Larry Baeder
ISLAND DIG: FRI – SUN,
George Victory * THURS, Barry
Cuda
IRISH KEVIN’S: FRI, 11 – 3,
Dan Ligouri; 3 – 7, John Solinski; 7
– 11, Matt Quinton; 11- close N.Y.
Pauly * SAT,11 – 3, George Victory; 3
– 7, Nick Norman; 7 – 11, N.Y. Pauly;
11 – close, Matt Quenton * SUN,
12 – 3;30, Zack Seemiller; 3:30 – 7,
Nick Norman; 7 – 10:30, NY Pauly
10:30 – close, John Solinski * MON,
10:30 – 2:30, TBA; 2:30 – 6:30, Nick
Norman; 6:30 – 10:30, John Solinski;
10:30 – Close Matt Quenton * TUES,
10:30 – 2:30, Reddawg; 2:30 – 6:30,
Nick Norman; 6:30 – 10:30, N.Y.
Pauly; 10 -30 – close
LA TE DA: Cabaret, FRI &
SAT, Broadway Three Ways Piano
Bar, FRI – SUN, Debra & Patrick
* MON, Bobby Nesbitt * TUES
– WED, Black & Skabuddah *
THURS, Debra & Patrick
LAZY GECKO: FRI, Parachute Adams * SAT, John & Red *
TUES, Parachute Adams * WED,
Zack Seemiller * THURS, Nick
Norman
MARGARITAVILLE: FRI
-SUN, Kabang * MON, TBA; TUES
– THURS, Nikki Bar
REDFISH/BLUEFISH :
SAT, Brian Roberts * THURS,
Dave Aaron
RICK’S: FRI, 2 – 6, C.W. Colt;
8 – 12, Uncle Bob * SAT, 12 – 4,
C.W. Colt; 4 – 8, Ben Taddiken; 8
– 12,Uncle Bob * SUN, 8 – 12, Ben
Taddiken * MON, 11am, Pete Frazier; 8 – 12, Ben Taddiken * TUES,
11 - 4, C.W. Colt; 4 – 8, Uncle Bob *
WED, 8 - 12, Uncle Bob * THURS,
noon, Alphonse; 8 – 12, Uncle Bob,
Every night, Karoake
RUM BARREL: FRI, 4pm,
Zack Seemiller; 8 – 12, Queen &
Yvon * SAT 4pm, Philo Logrande;
8 – 12, Moose Boles * SUN, 4pm,
Vinnie Mustache; 8 – 12, Corey
Heydon * TUES, 8 – 12, Raven
& Bubba * WED, 7 – 11, Moose *
THURS, 4pm, Yvon Agbo; 8 – 12,
Larry Baeder
SCHOONER WHARF:
FRI, noon – 5, Michael McCloud
& friends; 7 – 11, Moose & the Bulletproof Blues Band; 9 – 1, Magic
of Frank Everhart * SAT, noon – 5,
Michael McCloud & friends; 7 – 11,
Moose & the Bulletproof Blues
Band; 9 – 1, the magic of Frank
Everhart * SUN, noon – 5, Michael
McCloud & friends; 7 – 11, Calypso
Latin Party; 9 – 1, magic of Frank
Everhart * MON, noon – 5, Michael
McCloud & Friends; 7 - 11, Caffeine
& Pepper; 9 – 1, Magic of Frank
Everhart * TUES, noon – 5, Raven
& Bubba;7 – 11, Corey Heydon,
9 – 1, magic of Frank Everhart *
WED, Michael McCloud & friends;
7- 11, Gary Hempsey; 9 – 1, magic
of Frank Everhart * THURS, noon
– 5, Michael McCloud & friends, 7
– 11, Unpaid Bartabs, 9 – 1, magic
of Frank Everhart
SLOPPY JOE’S: FRI 12 – 4,
Black & Skabuddah; 5:30 – 8:30,
CONTINUED on next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 20
www.kwtn.com
Behind Bars
RICHARD WATHERWAX
BARTENDER
OF THE WEEK
Dee Dee is a bartender at
Finnegan’s Wake. Her specialty drink is “The Special”.
Tell us who your favorite
drink server is. PO Box 567,
KW 33041. Fax 292-2108.
Email: kwtnblue@bellsouth.
net
now playing
Fremont John Trio; 10 – 2, Poptart
Monkeys * SAT, 12 – 4, ZackSeemiller; 5:30 – 9:30 Fremont John Trio;
10 -2, Poptart Monkeys * SUN, 12
– 4, Barry Cuda; 5:30 – 9:30, Bubba
System; 10 – 2, Pop Tart Monkeys
* MON, 12 – 4, Barry Cuda; 5:30
– 9:30, Black & Skabuddah 10 – 2,
Candiflyp * TUES, noon – 4, Brian
Roberts; 5:30 – 9:30, Black & Skabuddah; 10 – 2 Candiflyp * WED,
12 – 4, Terry Cassidy; 5:30 – 9:30,
Chris Case; 10 – 2, Candiflyp *
THURS, 12 – 4, Terry Cassidy; 5:30
– 9:30 Zack Seemiller Band; 10 – 2,
Candiflyp
SUGARLOAF LODGE:
TIKI: SAT, Gary Hempsey
SUNSET PIER: FRI, 1 – 5,
George Victory;6:30 – 8:30, Robert
Albury; 8:30 – 10, Raven Cooper
* SAT, 1 – 4, Caribe; 6:30 – 10:30,
Raven Cooper * SUN, 1 – 5, George
Victory; 6:30 – 8”30, Robert Albury;
8:30 – 10, Raven Cooper * MON, 1
– 5, George Victory; 6:30 – 8:30, Joel
Nelson * TUES, 6:30 – 8:30, Rolando
Rojas; 8:30 – 10:39, Joel Nelson *
WED, 1 – 5, George Victory; 6:30
– 8:30, Robert Albury; 8”30 – 10:30,
Raven Cooper * THURS, Robin &
James
TURTLE KRAALS: SAT,
Dave Aaron Band * THURS, 5 – 7,
Brian Paul
VIRGILIO’S: FRI & SAT,
Larry Baeder Band * MON, Marty’s
Party * TUES, Skipper’s League Of
Crafty Musicians, Kathleen Peace,
Peter Diamond, Tim McAlpine, Joe
Dallas, & Skippo; WED, George
Victory * THURS, Caribe
WILLIE T’S: SAT, 5 – 8,
Barry Cuda
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 21
art
Green Parrot Hopes To
Change Art Image With
Off The Wall Show Sunday
O n S u n d a y,
Jay and his assistant
July 22nd , from noon
Jeff Gibbons will work
to 7pm, the Green
their Raku magic for
Parrot will host the
all to see. Jay’s exhilatest of their “Off
bition this year will
The Wall’ Sidewalk
also include A “PigArt Shows. Billed as
Off” pitting a whole
a part of Hemingway
roast pig from Jay’s
Days, the purpose of
Cuban Box against
the “Off The Wall”
pork shoulders from
SidewalkArt Show
The Big Green Egg
is to showcase local
of Richard Talmedge
artists in particular
from The Restaurant
and help nurture art
Store. A tasting will folawareness in genlow with all proceeds
eral.
from the pork going to
Because of the
benefit the Key West
Parrot’s sometimes
High School Pro Start
willy-nilly method of
Culinary Program.
curating its’ eclectic
As if that weren’t
collection of mostly
enough for one Sunday
“found” art objects,
afternoon there will
the Whitehead Street
be a fundraiser to help
saloon has long been
new parents Tim and
known to locals as
Lisa Grandy defray
‘The Home of Great
the expense of new
Drinks and Bad
daughter Jacquelyn’s
RICK WORTH & THE GREEN PARROT
Art’.
6-week stay in a Miami
Manager John Vagnoni Worth, Bob Orlin, Caiman Mar- Neo Natal Care unit.
says, “Hopefully these art tin-Smith and Will Fernandez
Parrot employees have
shows, featuring the work of
In addition Tony Grego- been scouring the island tiresome wonderful local artists ry’s Art Attack will feature the lessly for weeks collecting
will make The Parrot ‘The hand-made jewelry of Christine prizes from local businesses to
Home of both Great Drinks, Scarcella plus whatever Tony fuel the raffle said Master of
and Great Art’ and also help has created that day.
Ceremonies Joe Weed.
cement our reputation as a
Also available for sale
There will be also be
Cultural Hub of the working will be the work of those art- prizes, drink specials and
class in Key West”.
ists currently displaying their non-stop music from 2 til 7pm
“Cultural hub…are you work in Parrotphenalia, the featuring Soul Man Robert
kidding”, added night man- Green Parrot retail store, in- Albury, Blues Rocker Caffeine
ager Pat Lonergan, “This place cluding Carrie Disrud, David Carl and firt-time Parrot aphas got more culture than my Wegman, Katherine Doughty, pearances fromThe Michael
refrigerator.”
Louie Hughes, Donnie Speers Dixon Band and Roots Rockers
Represented at this year’s and Bob Kennedy.
Butcher Hollow.
show on the sidewalk outside
As a special attraction,
the venerable gin mill will be, in what has been the highlight
among others: David Klein and of past shows, the front yard
Roger Doucette from Stone of Parrotphenalia, the Green
Soup Gallery, Creations in Parrot retail store will be transBamboo by Madek and Esther, formed into Jay Gogin’s Mud
woodworker Tom Avery and Pi Studio for a day, complete
artists Malley Weaver, Rick with potter’s wheels where
www.kwtn.com
Local Favorites
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 22
www.kwtn.com
Is the City’s Internal
Auditor Really
Independent?
FROM page 22
later had to admit that he really
meant to report that Attorney
Tim Koenig had complained.
One of Koenig’s clients reportedly got caught in the sting.
The truth is that, even
when he wrote that email,
Julio knew that the investigation fund had already been
audited— at Commissioner
Harry Bethel’s request— by
City Finance Director Roger
Whittenberg, who found all
expenditures on the up and up.
He also knew that Kat Watts
had been asked to conduct
another audit and that her initial review had also found no
wrongdoing.
Jim Young has been asking for a copy of Watts’ final
audit report for weeks. As you
might imagine, he wants to clear
his name. Julio Avael clearly
slandered him.
And we here at Key West
the Newspaper have also been
asking for the report. We want
to wrap up the story we broke
back in February. Thirty days
ago, Kat told us that the final
report would be available in
30 days. And sure enough, her
presentation of that audit report
was scheduled to be presented
to the City Commission last
Tuesday night. And she was
ready to present it. She had a
final report in hand when she
showed up at Old City Hall
Tuesday night. And we expected to be able to get a copy
the following morning.
But at the last minute,
Commissioner Danny Kolhage
pulled it off the agenda. You
may recall that Kolhage, along
with Bethel, were outspoken
critics of Code Enforcement
under Young. And that criticism
was instrumental in the firing
of Young.
When we asked for the
report on Wednesday morning,
we were told by City Attorney
Shawn Smith that we couldn’t
have it because it is not considered “final” until it is presented
to the City Commission.
We asked Smith why Kolhage pulled the report off the
agenda. He said he didn’t know.
But we think we know. We think
the report will undermine the
efforts who want to smear Jim
Young’s reputation. And there
is a reason they want to do that.
Jim is set to sue the City for
wrongful termination and to
sue Avael for slander.
We asked Smith when
the report will be presented
to the City Commission and,
therefore, become officially
“final”. He said he didn’t know
that either.
So, do you see how it
works? By simply preventing
the “independent” Internal
Auditor from presenting this
report to the City Commission, Kolhage can keep that
report from becoming a public
record indefinitely. We are not
surprised that Kolhage would
do something this unctuous,
but we would be surprised if
the City’s “Classy In-House
Detective” is a willing party to
something like this.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 23
www.kwtn.com
O’Boyle: One of the Founders of
Johns Hopkins University Was a
Drug Addict
FROM page 10
group is a godsend for grandstanding politicians. From the
moment drugs were banned,
any politician who found
himself outflanked on the right
could become a champion of
law and order by turning a
righteous wrath on drug users.
Fortunately for political demagogues, making drugs illegal
caused a dramatic increase in
crime, both by definition, and in
crimes of property and violence
associated with the subsequent
black market.
Congress first tried to
control opiates in 1914 with the
Harrison Act. Addicts in those
days were mostly middle class,
productive citizens, generally
of two types. The first was a
white, middle class female,
usually living on a farm. She
was hooked on patent medicines which contained up to
50% morphine and carried no
warning labels. The second was
a long-term patient who had
become dependent on opiate
pain killers while undergoing
treatment.
Addicts at the time could
go to any pharmacy and buy the
morphine, heroin or laudanum
necessary to maintain their addiction for no more than the cost
of a tobacco habit. They did so,
not to get high, but to avoid the
horrors of withdrawal.
Addiction to opium does
not incline its victims toward
crime or violence. Addicts with
an affordable, reliable supply
of drugs are not more likely to
be thieves or murderers than
anyone else. Many successful
individuals have been lifelong
addicts. Among the most accomplished is William Stewart
Halstead, a brilliant surgeon
and physician, and one of the
founders of Johns Hopkins
University.
Mr. Halstead injected 180
milligrams of morphine daily
for over 40 years. His colleagues
were unaware of his habit. Dr.
Halstead’s addiction had no
effect on his work or his private
life. His surgical technique
was admired as particularly
deft. Had Dr. Halstead had to
maintain such and addiction
in modern America, he would
have been a hopeless street
junkie, not a famous surgeon.
The only way to turn
a productive, middle class
morphine addict into a “dope
fiend” is to cut off the legal
supply of morphine. Congress
did that with the Harrison Act.
It was a masterpiece of unintended consequences.
So why, you might ask, is
O’Boyle slogging around in the
sticky goo of drug prohibition
history rather than urging us
to arm our toddlers? Let me
tell you.
I was holed up as usual
in my little office. I had just finished an article in this month’s
Second Amendment Hotties on
how to load 45 caliber semiauto magazines without ruining your manicure. Suddenly I
stumbled across a short report
of a recent decision by the usually loopy-liberal Ninth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Ninth Circuit is the
most liberal and most often
reversed pack of robes in the
country. But in this particular
case they made an uncharacteristically good decision based on
a legal concept so long ignored
that it is almost quaint ― limited
federal jurisdiction.
In Raich v. Ashcroft the
Court ruled the federal government does not have the constitutional authority to regulate
or forbid the use of medical
marijuana that does not involve
interstate commerce. (The decision raises interesting questions about everything from
the income tax to federal toilet
tank regulations, but we’ll leave
that for later.) If the Supreme
Court confirms in an appeal,
legal medical marijuana use
in individual states will be
See O’BOYLE, next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 24
www.kwtn.com
O’Boyle: We Have the Same Number of Drug Addicts
Today As We Had Before We Started Locking Them Up
FROM page 23
safe from federal prosecution
in all 50 states. Otherwise only
those in the Ninth Circuit (the
west coast mostly) will be left
in peace.
This decision is remarkable because it readdresses an
issue that first came up when
the Harrison Act was passed.
Congress knew that intrastate
drug prohibition stood on
shaky constitutional ground.
That’s why they disguised it as
a tax. They did the same with
the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.
Judges treated it as a tax and
violations as tax evasion.
The first case reached the
Supreme Court in 1916. Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
wrote the opinion for the court
trashing the government’s case
for lack of federal jurisdiction.
The defendant, a doctor who
had prescribed morphine for
an addict, was released as were
many other addicts, doctors
and druggists who had been
imprisoned.
But the Treasury Department wasn’t going to let a little
thing like the Supreme Law of
the Land interfere with their
impossible mission to wipe out
drug addiction. They agitated
in Congress for more laws.
They controlled the medical
profession with bullying and
intimidation. In the next few
years Treasury indicted over
35,000 people but didn’t bring
any of them to trial. Treasury
agents terrorized doctors and
pharmacists, using fear to keep
the medical profession in line
without risking a setback in
the courts.
Eventually they found
a doctor who was so wildly
irresponsible that even Justice
Holmes recognized him for the
dope peddler that he was. His
conviction was upheld by the
Supremes. The rest is history.
When the Harrison Act
became law there were what
many considered a high number of morphine addicts relative to our population. The
best estimates put the total
around 250,000 in a population
of around 75 million. That’s
about 3 addicts per thousand
Americans. Today, according
to the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, there are between 750,000 and 1,000,000
addicts in the United States.
That’s still about 3 addicts per
thousand Americans.
Eighty years of drug
prohibition has done nothing
to reduce addiction. But that
is not to say that it hasn’t had
any consequences, nearly all of
them unintended ― nearly all of
them bad.
Every other measure of
social pathology has skyrocketed with our increasing efforts
to suppress drug consumption.
The murder rate is five times
higher. The murder rate among
young men of drug consuming
age, 18 to 30, is over ten times
higher. Theft, assault, drug
related fatalities and police
corruption are all many times
worse than they were when
drugs were legal.
Today one in 75 American
men is in prison. One in every
four black men is either in
prison or under the supervision of the penal system. Here
in the Land of the Free we
lead the world in the number
of prisoners and in the rate of
imprisonment, yet we have the
same number of addicts as we
did before we began locking
them up.The wreckage caused
by the War on Drugs gives us
more to atone for than any damage that drugs ever caused. The
recent decision by the Ninth
Circuit Court is a welcome
move toward a sane rethinking
of our failed drug prohibition
policies, and a good first step
toward ending the scapegoating of a sad minority whose
problems need medical, not
criminal solutions.
On a historical note, the
Supremes overturned the rare
good decision by the Ninth
Circuit, trampling the rights of
both the sick and well throughout the land. Their decision in
Raich overturned long standing of legal precedent that limits Federal power to interstate
commerce.
O’Boyle writes from the
suburbs of Costa Rica. His
articles are archived at www.
the-extremist.com. Email him
at [email protected].
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 25
www.kwtn.com
BARNES LAW: Q&A
Mediation— Part 2
How Can Mediation
Help Me?
by Michael Barnes
Last week we explored
what we mean be mediation. If
you missed that article, we told
you that mediation is a process
in which a neutral person helps
two opposites sides in a dispute
reach an agreement. This week
we’ll look at the advantages.
There are many advantages to mediation. One of
the most important is that in
mediation, the parties, for the
most part, get to make their own
agreement and chart their own
future. Many times, the future
result of a Court decision is uncertain. Often the parties would
rather agree, on their own, than
have a decision made for them
by a judge or jury.
Mediation is usually less
expensive than a full resolution by a judge or jury. The
parties will split equally the
hourly cost of the mediator. If
mediation resolves the matter
entirely, less attorney’s fees and
cost will be required than if the
dispute winds its way through
the courts. Mediation is usually
faster than a full trial on the
merits. This advantage enables
the parties to more quickly get a
dispute behind them and move
on with their lives.
Other advantages of mediation include providing an
opportunity for cooperation
between parties in a dispute,
minimizing the potentially
traumatic emotional and psy-
chological effects of the adversarial process and helping with
the exchange of information,
ideas, and alternatives for settlement between the parties.
An important, if not
critical, part of the process is
the mediator. The role of the
mediator is to reduce obstacles
to communication, assist in the
identification of issues, help in
the exploration of alternatives,
and facilitate voluntary agreements resolving the dispute. It
is important to remember that
the ultimate decision-making
authority, however, rests solely
with the parties.
In selecting a mediator, the parties should pick
someone with whom they
can establish a good working
relationship. The mediator
should be a person acceptable
to both parties. A certified mediator will have gone through
extensive training in the area
of dispute resolution.
A mediator does not replace attorneys and attorneys
usually attend the mediation.
Mediators do not give legal
advice to the parties. Mediators
may express an opinion on how
the law will view a particular
position of a party but may not
offer a personal or professional
opinion as to how the court will
resolve the dispute. A mediator
may, however, point out possible outcomes of the case and
discuss the merits of a claim
or defense. Many times this
information helps streamline
MICK BARNES
the issues.
Mediation is a flexible
process. It can even be used,
by agreement, before there is
litigation as a way to simplify
the issues, explore settlement
or eliminate issues that must
be tried in Court.
The matters discussed
in mediation are confidential.
The mediator is required to
maintain confidentiality of all
information revealed during
mediation except where disclosure is required by law. If
an impass results, the mediator
only describes to the Court that
there was no agreement. Offers
made during mediation that are
not the subject of agreement do
not bind a party and they may
not be used in a later Court
proceeding as evidence.
If you think that mediation may assist you, contact an
attorney of your choice for
more information or look in the
Yellow Pages under AttorneysMediation Services. Mediation
has many advantages and few
risks. Remember, in mediation,
no one can force you to make
an agreement against your will.
The small investment in time
and money can pay large dividends in minimizing your time
and money spent in Court.
Michael R. Barnes practices law in Key West, Florida.
His comments are provided as
a community service and are
not offered as legal advice for a
particular set of circumstances.
If you are concerned that you
may need a lawyer, you are
encouraged to contact one and
follow his or her advice for your
individual situation.
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 26
www.kwtn.com
MILITARIA WANTED
Civil War, Spanish American,
WW1 & 2, swords, medals,
helmets, daggers, uniforms,
old guns, any country. Silver
dollars, too. Cash, Collector.
Contact John 296-9899.
Help Wanted For
Busy Kitchen
OILY’S AUTO REPAIR
MIKE YOUNG, CERTIFIED ASE TECHNICIAN
5669 5th AVE, STOCK ISLAND• 296-6656
Line Experience with
Knowledge of Grill
& Sautee.
Apply at Finnegan’s Wake
320 Grinnell St.
the community
If your club or organization has something
special happening, let us know:
• [email protected]
• PO box 567, Key West FL 33041
• Fax 305-292-1882
To help us help you, try to get the
information to us by noon on Tuesday before
Friday publication.
FLORIDA KEYS SOUTHERNMOST CAR CLUB--Monthly Show & Shine. Sun, July 22,
noon-4pm at Shanna Key, 1900
Flagler. Adults and children
welcome. Info: 942-1758 or
304-2752.
HEMINGWAY DAYS 5K
SUNSET RUN--Sat. July 21,
7:30pm. Race will begin at the
Southernmost Point. Register
at active.com or at booth during
street fair at Duval & Fleming
between noon and 4pm. Info:
296-7182
DIVE ALIVE LOBSTER
RODEO AND EXPO—Mon., July
23, 10am-7pm at the Dive Campus
of FKCC. Free event to help recreational divers refresh their dive
skills and knowledge in a fun and
controlled environment. SCUBA
and snorkeling skills stations,
games, and safety briefings. More
info: www.divealive.org
BOATING SKILLS & SEAMANSHIP COURSE—Aug. 4
& 5 at Florida Keys Community
College. $55 fee for course materials. To register call Elsie at
305-745-8355.
SURVEY SEEKING
HEALTH CARE ANSWERS—
WomanKind is seeking volunteer
to log on to www.womankindkeywest.org to complete a brief survey
that will help determine ways to
design diagnostic and wellness
programs to benefit employees
of businesses and individuals
without health insurance. Survey
takers’ identity will remain confidential.
KEY WEST POPS NEEDS
VOLUNTEERS FOR 9TH SEASON—all different skills can be
utilized. To volunteer or for more
info: 305-296-6059 KWPopsInfo@
comcast.net
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
AT TROPIC CINEMA—All areas
of operation. Flexible schedules,
free passes, pop-corn, and t-shirts.
Info: Lori Reid, 305-433-4183 or
[email protected]
CITIZENSHIP CLASSES-Literacy Volunteers offers free
Citizenship classes for intermediate English as a Second Language
students. Info: 294-4352.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
AT WILDLIFE CENTER--Key
West Wildlife Center has reopened to accept injured animals.
Volunteers and donations are
needed. Questions and info: 305292-1008.
WANT TO BE A LITERACY VOLUNTEER? More than
100 students waiting to be tutored.
You do not have to speak another
CONTINUED on next page
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 27
www.kwtn.com
the community
FROM previous page
language to be a tutor. Info: Mary
at 305-294-4352.
GRANTS AVAILABLE
TO WRITERS, MUSICIANS,
ACTORS, ARTISTS--Contact the
Florida Keys Council of the Arts,
305-295-4369.
BOATING COURSES--The
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary conducts boating courses throughout
the year. Info: 1-888-470-5566
FREE SPAY/NEUTER
CLINICS--The Florida Keys SPCA
free spay/neuter clinics are held
at the FKSPCA Animal Shelter,
5230 College Road , Stock Island.
Microchips for $5 and free rabies
vaccinations are available for all
pets. Cats and dogs in heat or
pregnant and puppies and kittens
as young as eight weeks can be
spayed or neutered. Appointments are required for rabies and
for spay/neuter. Call 292-4600 to
register. The clinic is sponsored
by Key West Kritter Patrol and the
Florida Keys SPCA.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED-AIDS HELP, INC. needs volunteers to help with transportation,
office work, special events, etc.
Call 296-6196.
THE YMCA of Key West
offers a variety of programs for children, adults and families, including
skating, bocce, computer classes
and more: The YMCA Center is
located at 1011 Virginia Street .
Call for info: 305-295-YMCA.
LA LECHE LEAGUE—
Free monthly meeting for pregnant and breastfeeding moms;
mother to mother support with
accredited volunteers who give
current information and encouragement in the art of breastfeeding.
Non-denominational, non-profit.
Held 5 - 6 p.m. the second Tuesday
of the month in the auditorium at
the Key West Library, 700 Fleming
Street . Info: Liz 294-4463 or Eva
295-8597.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED-The local unit of the American
Cancer Society seeks volunteer
drivers to provide transportation
for cancer patients to treatments
and licensed cosmetologists, or
hairdressers, to help cancer patients
feel good about their appearance
while undergoing cancer treatment. Info: 292-2333 x 112.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE-To find out when the bloodmobile
will be at a location near you, call
your Community Blood Center at
305-294-7668.
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS--on Tuesdays at 6pm ‘til 7
and Saturdays 10-11am, at United
Methodist Church (Old Stone),
600 Eaton Street. Info: Mary at
305-294-6931.
WOMEN’S SUPPORT
GROUP--Facilitated by counselors
in confidential, safe environment.
Relax with a cup of tea while helping yourself and others with problem solving stress reduction. Free,
5:30 to 7 p.m. every Wednesday;
for location and information, call
WomanKind, 305-294-4004.
Hemingcat
Key West THE NEWSPAPER July 20, 2007 Page 28
www.kwtn.com