Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Federal St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission Meets Here July 18, 2011
The Department of the Interior and the City of St. Augustine issued announcements today that the St. Augustine 450th Commemoration Commission will meet on Flagler College's campus commencing July 18, 2011. The Commission will be asked to endorse a St. Augustine National Historical Park, National Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway, National Civil Rights Museum and National Indigenous Native American Indian Cultural Center. See www.staugustgreen.com
St. Augustine Underground Reports on False Arrest by Feds at Behest of St. Johns County Sheriff, in Retaliation for Concerns About Hate Websites
The June issue of the St. Augustine Underground has exposed MICHAEL GOLD’s hate websites, including the related recent false arrest of a local “activist” who dared criticize Sheriff DAVID SHOAR and hold him accountable for his promises about asking GOLD to “knock it off” – e.g., GOLD’s libel of people speaking at public comment during public meetings – libel on Republican apparatchik and bagman’s MICHAEL GOLD’s hate websites.
The Milwaukee Journal’s new venture is giving the St. Augustine Record some needed competition. In its June issue, the St. Augustine Underground reports that everything it and other local news media were told by the Sheriff’s Department about the Tennessee Supreme Court was false, including the false account of a phantom Tennessee Supreme Court justice planning to hold a “hearing” on my “extradition” about a non-existent “warrant.”
The Underground reports about how SHERIFF SHOAR misused the power of the Justice Department -- United States Marshals showed up and arrested the activist (that would be me) at the behest of the St. Johns County Sheriff, DAVID SHOAR. There was no warrant.
The article ends, “to be continued…..”
Will the WRecKord recant its libel and print the truth? Will we be hearing from MORRIS PUBLISHING’s insurance adjuster? Will Sheriff SHOAR apologize? Will MICHAEL GOLD recant from his hate websites and stop trying to pretend he is a journalist?
What do y’all reckon?
Friday, May 27, 2011
St. Augustine Record Letter: Letter: All-embracing 'park' -- best gift for the 450th
Letter: All-embracing 'park' -- best gift for the 450th
By ED SLAVIN
Created 05/27/2011 - 12:00am
Summary:
Editor: Ken Burns' 2009 PBS documentary quoted Wallace Stegner, who called America's National Parks our "Best Idea."
Editor: Ken Burns' 2009 PBS documentary quoted Wallace Stegner, who called America's National Parks our "Best Idea."
For our 450th birthday, let's ask for an "emerald necklace of parks" -- St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway, with a National Civil Rights Museum and Museum of Indigenous Native Americans. www.staugustgreen.com
The land is already ours -- federal, state and water management district land. Let's preserve and protect more than 130,000 acres of land, in one national park and seashore, connected with trails and battery-powered trolleys.
Take the Castillo de San Marcos, Fort Matanzas, add water (county beaches, including the beach where civil rights wade-ins and arrests occurred). Add state parks, forests and water management district land in two counties and what do you have? St. Augustine National Historical Park and Seashore, which will capture the imagination, reconnect us with our history and nature, preserve wetlands and prevent erosion, while preserving endangered and threatened species.
A 2003 National Trust for Historic Preservation study found environmental and historic tourists spent more money -- good to grow our tourist-driven economy.
Our 450th birthday is a "teachable moment": the National Park Service will share and interpret St. Augustine's 11,000 years of history, including indigenous (Native-American), African-American, Spanish, French, Minorcan, Greek, Cuban, Haitian, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, British, American, Civil War, military, nautical, Flagler-era and Civil Rights history and Northeast Florida's contribution to American history.
Finally, we need an Interstate-95 interchange for West Augustine and West King Street -- call it the "here we right a wrong" interchange, remedying 1960s discrimination.
We love St. Augustine. We're blessed to live here.
Let's preserve and protect St. Augustine forever. Your grandchildren (and their grandchildren) will say "thank you" for the 450th birthday present -- parks, preservation and teaching peaceful ways, while fully realizing this economic opportunity for our collective good.
Ed Slavin
St. Augustine
Progress in St. Augustine, Florida, a City That is Now All About Healing
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
--Robert F. Kennedy, Day of Affirmation, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1966.
Look around you and see the progress.
There’s a lot of progress in St. Augustine and St. Johns County, of which we are justly proud.
Where once there was bigotry, there is healing.
Where once there was secrecy, there is accountability.
Where once there was pollution and environmental injustice, there is growing sensitivity that we are environmental stewards, there is only one Earth, and as JFK said at American University, "We all breathe the same air and we are all mortal."
Riberia Street is being built properly for the first time in St. Augustine’s history. The entire street is being replaced, not just the part in the white area, as once proposed.
Sewers will be provided for West Augustine, where African-American families have long suffered from health effects of septic tanks and wells.
Our city and county public officials are now listening to the people, instead of ripping them off and violating our civil rights.
Our Founders, including Thomas Jefferson, believed in the power of human beings to change.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, let’s “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
Our City of St. Augustine has recently dedicated one Civil Rights Monument, to the Civil Rights Footsoldiers. On June 11th, we get a second one, honoring Ambassador Andrew Young, who led the courageous Civil Rights Footsoldiers here, changing our world for the better.
We’re looking forward to establishing a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway, to include a National Civil Rights Museum and an Indigenous American Indian Cultural Museum. www.staugustgreen.com
In the words of the Prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
--Robert F. Kennedy, Day of Affirmation, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1966.
Look around you and see the progress.
There’s a lot of progress in St. Augustine and St. Johns County, of which we are justly proud.
Where once there was bigotry, there is healing.
Where once there was secrecy, there is accountability.
Where once there was pollution and environmental injustice, there is growing sensitivity that we are environmental stewards, there is only one Earth, and as JFK said at American University, "We all breathe the same air and we are all mortal."
Riberia Street is being built properly for the first time in St. Augustine’s history. The entire street is being replaced, not just the part in the white area, as once proposed.
Sewers will be provided for West Augustine, where African-American families have long suffered from health effects of septic tanks and wells.
Our city and county public officials are now listening to the people, instead of ripping them off and violating our civil rights.
Our Founders, including Thomas Jefferson, believed in the power of human beings to change.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, let’s “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
Our City of St. Augustine has recently dedicated one Civil Rights Monument, to the Civil Rights Footsoldiers. On June 11th, we get a second one, honoring Ambassador Andrew Young, who led the courageous Civil Rights Footsoldiers here, changing our world for the better.
We’re looking forward to establishing a St. Augustine National Historical Park, Seashore and Scenic Coastal Parkway, to include a National Civil Rights Museum and an Indigenous American Indian Cultural Museum. www.staugustgreen.com
In the words of the Prayer of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
Robert Kennedy -- Full text and Excerpts from June 6, 1966 Day of Affiirmation Speech in South Africa
Listen to speech here:
Excerpts of the speech
Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the life of ease -- a man like the Chancellor of this University. It is a revolutionary world that we all live in; and thus, as I have said in Latin America and Asia and in Europe and in my own country, the United States, it is the young people who must take the lead. Thus you and your young compatriots everywhere have had thrust upon you a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived.[1]:.
Futility:
First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation. Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers are making a difference in the isolated villages and the city slums of dozens of countries. Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Expediency:
The second danger is that of expediency; of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course if we must act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing that President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feeling of young people across the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspiration, and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs -- that there is no basic inconsistency between ideals and realistic possibilities -- no separation between the deepest desires of heart and of mind and the rational application of human effort to human problems. It is not realistic or hard-headed to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgement, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief; forces ultimately more powerful than all the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Timidity:
A third danger is timidity. Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change. Aristotle tells us "At the Olympic Games it is not the finest or the strongest men who are crowned, but those who enter the lists. ... So too in the life of the honorable and the good it is they who act rightly who win the prize." I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.
Comfort:
For the fortunate amongst us, the fourth danger is comfort; the temptation to follow the easy and familiar path of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who have the privilege of an education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. There is a Chinese curse which says "May he live in interesting times." Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind. And everyone here will ultimately be judged -- will ultimately judge himself -- on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.
[edit] References
Full text:
Robert F. Kennedy
University of Capetown
Capetown, South Africa
June 6, 1966
(News Release Text)
I came here because of my deep interest and affection for a land settled by the Dutch in the mid-seventeenth century, then taken over by the British, and at last independent; a land in which the native inhabitants were at first subdued, but relations with whom remain a problem to this day; a land which defined itself on a hostile frontier; a land which has tamed rich natural resources through the energetic application of modern technology; a land which once imported slaves, and now must struggle to wipe out the last traces of that former bondage. I refer, of course, to the United States of America.
But I am glad to come here to South Africa. I am already enjoying my visit. I am making an effort to meet and exchange views with people from all walks of life, and all segments of South African opinion, including those who represent the views of the government. Today I am glad to meet with the National Union of South African Students. For a decade, NUSAS has stood and worked for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - principles which embody the collective hopes of men of good will all around the world.
Your work, at home and in international student affairs, has brought great credit to yourselves and to your country. I know the National Student Association in the United States feels a particularly close relationship to NUSAS. And I wish to thank especially Mr. Ian Robertson, who first extended this invitation on behalf of NUSAS, for his kindness to me. It's too bad he can't be with us today.
This is a Day of Affirmation, a celebration of liberty. We stand here in the name of freedom.
At the heart of that Western freedom and democracy is the belief that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of value, and all society, groups, the state, exist for his benefit. Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any Western society.
The first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of speech: the right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart from the dumb beasts of field and forest; to recall governments to their duties and obligations; above all, the right to affirm one's membership and allegiance to the body politic - to society - to the men with whom we share our land, our heritage, and our children's future.
Hand in hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard, to share in the decisions of government which shape men's lives. Everything that makes man's life worthwhile - family, work, education, a place to rear one's children and a place to rest one's head - all this depends on decisions of government; all can be swept away by a government which does not heed the demands of its people. Therefore, the essential humanity of men can be protected and preserved only where government must answer - not just to the wealthy, not just to those of a particular religion, or a particular race, but to all its people.
And even government by the consent of the governed, as in our own Constitution, must be limited in its power to act against its people; so that there may be no interference with the right to worship, or with the security of the home; no arbitrary imposition of pains or penalties by officials high or low; no restrictions on the freedom of men to seek education or work or opportunity of any kind, so that each man may become all he is capable of becoming.
These are the sacred rights of Western society. These were the essential differences between us and Nazi Germany, as they were between Athens and Persia.
They are the essence of our differences with communism today. I am unalterably opposed to communism because it exalts the state over the individual and the family, and because of the lack of freedom of speech, of protest, of religion, and of the press, which is the characteristic of totalitarian states. The way of opposition to communism is not to imitate its dictatorship, but to enlarge individual freedom, in our own countries and all over the globe. There are those in every land who would label as Communist every threat to their privilege. But as I have seen on my travels in all sections of the world, reform is not communism. And the denial of freedom, in whatever name, only strengthens the very communism it claims to oppose.
Many nations have set forth their own definitions and declarations of these principles. And there have often been wide and tragic gaps between promise and performance, ideal and reality. Yet the great ideals have constantly recalled us to our duties. And - with painful slowness - we have extended and enlarged the meaning and the practice of freedom for all our people.
For two centuries, my own country has struggled to overcome the self-imposed handicap of prejudice and discrimination based on nationality, social class, or race - discrimination profoundly repugnant to the theory and command of our Constitution. Even as my father grew up in Boston, signs told him that No Irish Need Apply. Two generations later President Kennedy became the first Catholic to head the nation; but how many men of ability had, before 1961, been denied the opportunity to contribute to the nation's progress because they were Catholic, or of Irish extraction? How many sons of Italian or Jewish or Polish parents slumbered in slums - untaught, unlearned, their potential lost forever to the nation and human race? Even today, what price will we pay before we have assured full opportunity to millions of Negro Americans?
In the last five years we have done more to assure equality to our Negro citizens, and to help the deprived both white and black, than in the hundred years before. But much more remains to be done.
For there are millions of Negroes untrained for the simplest of jobs, and thousands every day denied their full equal rights under the law; and the violence of the disinherited, the insulted and injured, looms over the streets of Harlem and Watts and South Side Chicago.
But a Negro American trains as an astronaut, one of mankind's first explorers into outer space; another is the chief barrister of the United States government, and dozens sit on the benches of court; and another, Dr. Martin Luther King, is the second man of African descent to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent efforts for social justice between races.
We have passed laws prohibiting discrimination in education, in employment, in housing, but these laws alone cannot overcome the heritage of centuries - of broken families and stunted children, and poverty and degradation and pain.
So the road toward equality of freedom is not easy, and great cost and danger march alongside us. We are committed to peaceful and nonviolent change, and that is important for all to understand - though all change is unsettling. Still, even in the turbulence of protest and struggle is greater hope for the future, as men learn to claim and achieve for themselves the rights formerly petitioned from others.
And most important of all, all the panoply of government power has been committed to the goal of equality before the law, as we are now committing ourselves to the achievement of equal opportunity in fact.
We must recognize the full human equality of all of our people before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this, not because it is economically advantageous, although it is; not because of the laws of God command it, although they do; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do.
We recognize that there are problems and obstacles before the fulfillment of these ideals in the United States, as we recognize that other nations, in Latin America and Asia and Africa, have their own political, economic, and social problems, their unique barriers to the elimination of injustices.
In some, there is concern that change will submerge the rights of a minority, particularly where the minority is of a different race from the majority. We in the United States believe in the protection of minorities; we recognize the contributions they can make and the leadership they can provide; and we do not believe that any people - whether minority, majority, or individual human beings - are "expendable" in the cause of theory or policy. We recognize also that justice between men and nations is imperfect, and that humanity sometimes progresses slowly.
All do not develop in the same manner, or at the same pace. Nations, like men, often march to the beat of different drummers, and the precise solutions of the United States can neither be dictated nor transplanted to others. What is important is that all nations must march toward increasing freedom; toward justice for all; toward a society strong and flexible enough to meet the demands of all its own people, and a world of immense and dizzying change.
In a few hours, the plane that brought me to this country crossed over oceans and countries which have been a crucible of human history. In minutes we traced the migration of men over thousands of years; seconds, the briefest glimpse, and we passed battlefields on which millions of men once struggled and died. We could see no national boundaries, no vast gulfs or high walls dividing people from people; only nature and the works of man - homes and factories and farms - everywhere reflecting Man's common effort to enrich his life. Everywhere new technology and communications bring men and nations closer together, the concerns of one inevitably becoming the concerns of all. And our new closeness is stripping away the false masks, the illusion of difference which is at the root of injustice and hate and war. Only earthbound man still clings to the dark and poisoning superstition that his world is bounded by the nearest hill, his universe ended at river shore, his common humanity enclosed in the tight circle of those who share his town and views and the color of his skin.
It is your job, the task of the young people of this world, to strip the last remnants of that ancient, cruel belief from the civilization of man.
Each nation has different obstacles and different goals, shaped by the vagaries of history and of experience. Yet as I talk to young people around the world I am impressed not by the diversity but by the closeness of their goals, their desires and their concerns and their hope for the future. There is discrimination in New York, the racial inequality of apartheid in South Africa, and serfdom in the mountains of Peru. People starve in the streets of India, a former Prime Minister is summarily executed in the Congo, intellectuals go to jail in Russia, and thousands are slaughtered in Indonesia; wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere in the world. These are differing evils; but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfections of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, the defectiveness of our sensibility toward the sufferings of our fellows; they mark the limit of our ability to use knowledge for the well-being of our fellow human beings throughout the world. And therefore they call upon common qualities of conscience and indignation, a shared determination to wipe away the unnecessary sufferings of our fellow human beings at home and around the world.
It is these qualities which make of youth today the only true international community. More than this I think that we could agree on what kind of a world we would all want to build. it would be a world of independent nations, moving toward international community, each of which protected and respected the basic human freedoms. It would be a world which demanded of each government that it accept its responsibility to insure social justice. It would be a world of constantly accelerating economic progress - not material welfare as an end in itself, but as a means to liberate the capacity of every human being to pursue his talents and to pursue his hopes. It would, in short, be a world that we would be proud to have built.
Just to the north of here are lands of challenge and opportunity rich in natural resources, land and minerals and people. Yet they are also lands confronted by the greatest odds - overwhelming ignorance, internal tensions and strife, and great obstacles of climate and geography. Many of these nations, as colonies, were oppressed and exploited. Yet they have not estranged themselves from the broad traditions of the West; they are hoping and gambling their progress and stability on the chance that we will meet our responsibilities to help them overcome their poverty.
In the world we would like to build, South Africa could play an outstanding role in that effort. This is without question a preeminent repository of the wealth and knowledge and skill of the continent. Here are the greater part of Africa's research scientists and steel production, most of its reservoirs of coal and electric power. Many South Africans have made major contributions to African technical development and world science; the names of some are known wherever men seek to eliminate the ravages of tropical diseases and pestilence. In your faculties and councils, here in this very audience, are hundreds and thousands of men who could transform the lives of millions for all time to come.
But the help and the leadership of South Africa or the United States cannot be accepted if we - within our own countries or in our relations with others - deny individual integrity, human dignity, and the common humanity of man. If we would lead outside our borders, if we would help those who need our assistance, if we would meet our responsibilities to mankind, we must first, all of us, demolish the borders which history has erected between men within our own nations - barriers of race and religion, social class and ignorance.
Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress.
This world demands the qualities of youth; not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. It is a revolutionary world we live in, and thus, as I have said in Latin America and Asia, in Europe and in the United States, it is young people who must take the lead. Thus you, and your young compatriots everywhere, have had thrust upon you a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived.
"There is," said an Italian philosopher, "nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." Yet this is the measure of the task of your generation, and the road is strewn with many dangers.
First, is the danger of futility: the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills - against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's greatest movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant Reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the thirty-two-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal.
"Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers are making a difference in isolated villages and city slums in dozens of countries. Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
"If Athens shall appear great to you," said Pericles, "consider then that her glories were purchased by valiant men, and by men who learned their duty." That is the source of all greatness in all societies, and it is the key to progress in our time.
The second danger is that of expediency; of those who say that hopes and beliefs must bend before immediate necessities. Of course, if we would act effectively we must deal with the world as it is. We must get things done. But if there was one thing President Kennedy stood for that touched the most profound feelings of young people around the world, it was the belief that idealism, high aspirations, and deep convictions are not incompatible with the most practical and efficient of programs - that there is no basic inconsistency between ideals and realistic possibilities, no separation between the deepest desires of heart and of mind and the rational application of human effort to human problems. It is not realistic or hardheaded to solve problems and take action unguided by ultimate moral aims and values, although we all know some who claim that it is so. In my judgment, it is thoughtless folly. For it ignores the realities of human faith and of passion and of belief - forces ultimately more powerful than all of the calculations of our economists or of our generals. Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes great courage and takes self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
It is this new idealism which is also, I believe, the common heritage of a generation which has learned that while efficiency can lead to the camps at Auschwitz, or the streets of Budapest, only the ideals of humanity and love can climb the hills of the Acropolis.
A third danger is timidity. Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change. Aristotle tells us that "At the Olympic games it is not the finest and the strongest men who are crowned, but they who enter the lists.... So too in the life of the honorable and the good it is they who act rightly who win the prize." I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world.
For the fortunate among us, the fourth danger is comfort, the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who have the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. There is a Chinese curse which says "May he live in interesting times." Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone here will ultimately be judged - will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort.
So we part, I to my country and you to remain. We are - if a man of forty can claim that privilege - fellow members of the world's largest younger generation. Each of us have our own work to do. I know at times you must feel very alone with your problems and difficulties. But I want to say how impressed I am with what you stand for and the effort you are making; and I say this not just for myself, but for men and women everywhere. And I hope you will often take heart from the knowledge that you are joined with fellow young people in every land, they struggling with their problems and you with yours, but all joined in a common purpose; that, like the young people of my own country and of every country I have visited, you are all in many ways more closely united to the brothers of your time than to the older generations of any of these nations; and that you are determined to build a better future. President Kennedy was speaking to the young people of America, but beyond them to young people everywhere, when he said that "the energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."
And, he added, "With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
Thank you, Governor Scott, for vetoing gator-killing bill
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott has made amends with animal rights activists.
(Associated Press)
They had been unhappy with his alligator hide boots.
They also were displeased by his recent comments that alligators were his least favorite Florida animal and that he wouldn't mind shooting one.
But on Friday the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida issued a news release praising Scott's line item budget veto of $150,000 to promote alligator products.
Spokesman Don Anthony says the foundation is happy that Scott "recognizes in a difficult year, marketing the meat and skin of alligators killed in Florida" should not be a state priority.
(Associated Press)
They had been unhappy with his alligator hide boots.
They also were displeased by his recent comments that alligators were his least favorite Florida animal and that he wouldn't mind shooting one.
But on Friday the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida issued a news release praising Scott's line item budget veto of $150,000 to promote alligator products.
Spokesman Don Anthony says the foundation is happy that Scott "recognizes in a difficult year, marketing the meat and skin of alligators killed in Florida" should not be a state priority.
Jacksonville, NC Daily News: Blackbeard's anchor recovered from Atlantic Ocean after 300 years
Blackbeard's anchor recovered from sea floor
May 27, 2011 11:47 AM
JANNETTE PIPPIN
CARTERET COUNTY — The largest artifact recovered to date from the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck off the Carteret County coast made its public debut Friday after nearly 300 years on the sea floor.
A burst of cheers rang out as the anchor reached the water’s surface and was hoisted aboard the research vessel Dan Moore and a camera-carrying crowd gathered later at the Crystal Coast Visitors Center in Morehead City to see the first anchor raised from the site.
“It’s fascinating to have the shipwreck offshore and to know it has survived all these years,” said Jill Dischler, who stopped by the visitor’s center for a peek at a piece of the area’s maritime history.
Dischler was vacationing in the area from New Jersey and was excited to see the anchor, especially since they’d miss the June 11 opening of the Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort.
“We heard this might get delayed to Wednesday so we were really glad that it didn’t,” she said.
Unfavorable sea and wind conditions delayed the recovery of the anchor for a day but everything went well Friday morning as two 2,000 pound lift bags were inflated and used to raise the anchor from the underwater home it has had since 1718, when the flagship of the infamous pirate Blackbeard ran aground in Beaufort Inlet.
“It couldn’t have gone any better,” said QAR Project Director Mark Wilde-Ramsing.
The recovery of the anchor was the focus of a spring dive expedition at the site by the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Underwater Archaeology Branch and its partners.
As the anchor head to the conservation lab, the QAR team will continue the dive next week.
“We’ll be using the time to bolster reference stakes and mooring lines and infrastructure that can really take a beating in the coastal environment,” he said.
It will mean less preparation work on future dives as the QAR team reaches its goal of full recovery of the site by 2013.
“We’re slated to get everything up by 2013 and that’s what we’re going to do,” Wilde-Ramsing said.
Also this dive, they are placing aluminum rods called sacrificial anodes on all of the remaining anchors and cannons that do not have them. The anodes help slow and possible reverse the corrosion of the artifacts while they are still underwater, which will reduce conservation time once they are recovered.
As the 2013 goal nears, recovery efforts will focus more and more on an artifact pile with another anchor and eight cannons still to be raised.
“At some point we’ll have the fireworks and hopefully by 2013 there will be lots of days like this,” Wilde-Ramsing said.
N.C. Maritime Museums Director Joseph Schwarzer said the timing of the anchor’s recovery helps build interest in the upcoming Queen Anne’s Revenge exhibit, which brings the project full circle, from recovery of artifacts at the shipwreck site to interpretation of that maritime history for the public.
“What’s exciting is that this (recovery of the anchors) shows the first step and the exhibit will be the final step of putting the story together,” he said.
The exhibit will be the most comprehensive exhibit of QAR materials to date and the Maritime Museum has renovated a third of its space to accommodate the exhibit.
And while the popularity of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie fuels the interest in pirates and Blakbeard, Schwarzer said the exhibit will be about much more.
“It’s not a question of glorifying pirates, it’s about a better understanding of our Colonial past,” he said.
The artifacts recovered from the QAR site help give better insight into early 18th century marine activities in the New World, including naval armament and warfare, ship construction and repair, colonial provisioning, shipboard life and the West African slave trade, according to QAR information.
Lauren Hermley, maritime heritage development officer for the Department of Cultural Resources, said the QAR project and events such as the anchor’s recovery are invaluable parts of North Carolina’s maritime history.
“It’s a fabulous thing for Carteret County and for North Carolina,” she said. “Anything that has the ability to generate interest in the collective maritime history of the state is a good thing. We’re also fortunate to have the N.C. Maritime Museum to interpret this history for the public.”
After the anchor was offloaded onto a truck at the State Port in Morehead City it was taken to the Crystal Coast Visitors Center for a brief viewing for the public and then transported to the QAR Conservation Lab in Greenville
FBI Press Release: "Corruption will no longer be tolerated!"
Department of Justice Press Release
For Immediate Release
May 26, 2011 United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Louisiana
Contact: (504) 680-3000
Jury Convicts Mark St. Pierre on All 53 Corruption Counts
NEW ORLEANS, LA—MARK ST. PIERRE, age 47, a resident of Belle Chasse, was convicted today on all counts of a 53-count indictment charging him with conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and FBI Special Agent in Charge David Welker.
Based on the evidence introduced at trial, the jury specifically found that ST. PIERRE committed conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering in connection with his bribery and kickback scheme involving two City of New Orleans public officials, Gregory Meffert and Anthony Jones. Both Meffert and Jones were chief technology officers for the City of New Orleans spanning 2002 - 2008 under then-mayor C. Ray Nagin.
Today’s superseding indictment maintains the charges from the previous indictments against MARK ST. PIERRE and also includes new charges addressing the criminal conduct where MARK ST. PIERRE allegedly bribed former City of New Orleans official Anthony Jones. Specifically, today’s indictment includes 10 additional substantive counts which charge MARK ST. PIERRE with bribing Anthony Jones from May, 2006 to February, 2007. Finally, the new indictment also includes additional overt acts of the criminal conspiracy undertaken by MARK ST. PIERRE.
Speaking to today’s conviction, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten stated: “Mark St. Pierre bought his way into New Orleans City Hall with money, yachts, dancers, parties, credit cards, and more. For his ultimate greed, avarice, and arrogance, he will now pay a high price to the citizens he stole from. Today’s verdict is extraordinarily important because through the outstanding work of the investigation and prosecution team, the citizens of this city and the region were permitted to see the ugly workings of a scheme by a businessman to corruptly buy wealth, power, and influence through equally corrupt high government officials. It is also important, because it sends a clear and unmistakable message to those corrupt business people out there who would attempt to similarly purchase influence corruptly, that no government is for sale in the Eastern District of Louisiana. This investigation continues.”
Special Agent in Charge David Welker, FBI, stated: “The only things needed for public corruption to flourish are greed and opportunity and an apathetic public. This verdict sends a clear message that it is no longer business as usual in the City of New Orleans. The public has spoken in the form of the jury—corruption will no longer be tolerated!”
James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New Orleans Field Office, added: “We are pleased with today’s verdict. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively work with the United States Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and our other law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those individuals who violate the public trust through investigations that ultimately lead to violations of the tax or money laundering statutes.”
The U.S. Attorney expressed his deepest gratitude to the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the U.S. Attorney’s Office support personnel; to the men and women of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations Division; and to Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux and his investigators who worked seamlessly together for untold hours to uncover evidence of the intricate relationships and transactions of this critical case.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, and the New Orleans Inspector General’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Coman, Richard Pickens, Jon Maestri, and Matthew Chester.
Press Releases | New Orleans Home
For Immediate Release
May 26, 2011 United States Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Louisiana
Contact: (504) 680-3000
Jury Convicts Mark St. Pierre on All 53 Corruption Counts
NEW ORLEANS, LA—MARK ST. PIERRE, age 47, a resident of Belle Chasse, was convicted today on all counts of a 53-count indictment charging him with conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and money laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and FBI Special Agent in Charge David Welker.
Based on the evidence introduced at trial, the jury specifically found that ST. PIERRE committed conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering in connection with his bribery and kickback scheme involving two City of New Orleans public officials, Gregory Meffert and Anthony Jones. Both Meffert and Jones were chief technology officers for the City of New Orleans spanning 2002 - 2008 under then-mayor C. Ray Nagin.
Today’s superseding indictment maintains the charges from the previous indictments against MARK ST. PIERRE and also includes new charges addressing the criminal conduct where MARK ST. PIERRE allegedly bribed former City of New Orleans official Anthony Jones. Specifically, today’s indictment includes 10 additional substantive counts which charge MARK ST. PIERRE with bribing Anthony Jones from May, 2006 to February, 2007. Finally, the new indictment also includes additional overt acts of the criminal conspiracy undertaken by MARK ST. PIERRE.
Speaking to today’s conviction, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten stated: “Mark St. Pierre bought his way into New Orleans City Hall with money, yachts, dancers, parties, credit cards, and more. For his ultimate greed, avarice, and arrogance, he will now pay a high price to the citizens he stole from. Today’s verdict is extraordinarily important because through the outstanding work of the investigation and prosecution team, the citizens of this city and the region were permitted to see the ugly workings of a scheme by a businessman to corruptly buy wealth, power, and influence through equally corrupt high government officials. It is also important, because it sends a clear and unmistakable message to those corrupt business people out there who would attempt to similarly purchase influence corruptly, that no government is for sale in the Eastern District of Louisiana. This investigation continues.”
Special Agent in Charge David Welker, FBI, stated: “The only things needed for public corruption to flourish are greed and opportunity and an apathetic public. This verdict sends a clear message that it is no longer business as usual in the City of New Orleans. The public has spoken in the form of the jury—corruption will no longer be tolerated!”
James C. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, New Orleans Field Office, added: “We are pleased with today’s verdict. The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation will continue to aggressively work with the United States Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and our other law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those individuals who violate the public trust through investigations that ultimately lead to violations of the tax or money laundering statutes.”
The U.S. Attorney expressed his deepest gratitude to the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the U.S. Attorney’s Office support personnel; to the men and women of the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigations Division; and to Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux and his investigators who worked seamlessly together for untold hours to uncover evidence of the intricate relationships and transactions of this critical case.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division, and the New Orleans Inspector General’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Coman, Richard Pickens, Jon Maestri, and Matthew Chester.
Press Releases | New Orleans Home
Re: West Augustine getting sewers -- here, we right a wrong
Our city and county governments neglected West Augustine until Ken Bryan was elected to County Commission. Kudos to Chairman Bryan and City Manager John Regan. Environmental Justice is being done. Environmental racism has gone out of style.
Ten cheers!
Ten cheers!
St. Augustine Record editorial re: getting sewers for West Augustine, remedying historic discrimination
Our view: West Augustine's success depends on city and county cooperation
Created 05/26/2011 - 12:01am
Summary:
Although St. Augustine and St. Johns County officials may disagree from time to time on some joint-use projects, the two governments are united in their goal to build up West Augustine's residential and business viability.
Although St. Augustine and St. Johns County officials may disagree from time to time on some joint-use projects, the two governments are united in their goal to build up West Augustine's residential and business viability.
The St. Augustine City Commission and the St. Johns County Commission moved forward Tuesday toward the goal of hooking up residents to city water and sewer, the root of a better quality of life and new business growth. At a joint workshop, each commission expressed their desire to revitalize West Augustine.
Bringing a utility trunk line along West King Street, from Masters Drive via Palmer Street to Holmes Boulevard, has been the longtime goal. In 2010, city and county officials worked together on a master plan for a $23.5 million expansion project. There was an effort to get the county to buy out the city's utility service area for $6 million but the county could not afford it. Another effort to swap service areas did not work out either. But the cooperative spirit has continued.
It's hard in this economy for some West Augustine residents to afford the hookups, but the city has set up a plan whereby the residents can pay for their hookups with nothing down and as a low as $25 a month for 10 years. For potable water, the city hookup fee is $3,694.97 and for sewer, $3,824.29. So if a resident could only afford the $25 a month cost, they might have to do one and then the other. To do both at the same time, according to City Manager John Regan, would be about $75 a month because there is a small interest fee charged. For some families, $75 a month is a lot.
But there is a way to help those residents indirectly; grants. The more the city and county can get grants to pay part of the expanded services, the less residents will pay for hookups. That prospect was encouraging as commissioners listened to a presentation by consultants Black and Veath, a Jacksonville engineering firm that specializes in finding federal and state grants and private funding for infrastructure.
With that kind of help, West Augustine's redevelopment goal is attainable. St. Augustine and St. Johns County have shown in this initiative that teamwork is the key. That cooperation, we are certain, will not be lost on prospective businesses either.
The project's estimated time is approximately three to five years. That's not bad considering there was no goal at all for a long, long time; just talk.
Regan said it starts with "one building, one block, one project." County Administrator Michael Wanchick said, "It's taken longer than we wanted ... nobody's given up on the goal."
The ultimate goal is a healthy residential community and new businesses that will help our tax base grow. The end is in sight.
Created 05/26/2011 - 12:01am
Summary:
Although St. Augustine and St. Johns County officials may disagree from time to time on some joint-use projects, the two governments are united in their goal to build up West Augustine's residential and business viability.
Although St. Augustine and St. Johns County officials may disagree from time to time on some joint-use projects, the two governments are united in their goal to build up West Augustine's residential and business viability.
The St. Augustine City Commission and the St. Johns County Commission moved forward Tuesday toward the goal of hooking up residents to city water and sewer, the root of a better quality of life and new business growth. At a joint workshop, each commission expressed their desire to revitalize West Augustine.
Bringing a utility trunk line along West King Street, from Masters Drive via Palmer Street to Holmes Boulevard, has been the longtime goal. In 2010, city and county officials worked together on a master plan for a $23.5 million expansion project. There was an effort to get the county to buy out the city's utility service area for $6 million but the county could not afford it. Another effort to swap service areas did not work out either. But the cooperative spirit has continued.
It's hard in this economy for some West Augustine residents to afford the hookups, but the city has set up a plan whereby the residents can pay for their hookups with nothing down and as a low as $25 a month for 10 years. For potable water, the city hookup fee is $3,694.97 and for sewer, $3,824.29. So if a resident could only afford the $25 a month cost, they might have to do one and then the other. To do both at the same time, according to City Manager John Regan, would be about $75 a month because there is a small interest fee charged. For some families, $75 a month is a lot.
But there is a way to help those residents indirectly; grants. The more the city and county can get grants to pay part of the expanded services, the less residents will pay for hookups. That prospect was encouraging as commissioners listened to a presentation by consultants Black and Veath, a Jacksonville engineering firm that specializes in finding federal and state grants and private funding for infrastructure.
With that kind of help, West Augustine's redevelopment goal is attainable. St. Augustine and St. Johns County have shown in this initiative that teamwork is the key. That cooperation, we are certain, will not be lost on prospective businesses either.
The project's estimated time is approximately three to five years. That's not bad considering there was no goal at all for a long, long time; just talk.
Regan said it starts with "one building, one block, one project." County Administrator Michael Wanchick said, "It's taken longer than we wanted ... nobody's given up on the goal."
The ultimate goal is a healthy residential community and new businesses that will help our tax base grow. The end is in sight.
County, city bless West Augustine utility plan
County, city bless utility plan
By PETER GUINTA
Created 05/25/2011 - 12:01am
West King trunk line would help draw in business
Summary:
A handful of West Augustine homeowners, cheered at the prospect that a sewer line would be built in their neighborhood in a few years, told a joint meeting of the St. Augustine and St. Johns County commissions Tuesday that they're worried already what hooking up will cost.
A handful of West Augustine homeowners, cheered at the prospect that a sewer line would be built in their neighborhood in a few years, told a joint meeting of the St. Augustine and St. Johns County commissions Tuesday that they're worried already what hooking up will cost.
The rare joint meeting was planned to discuss several items that affected both city and county, but the one that seemed most likely to improve West Augustine was the sewer question.
Construction of the lines, projected to cost $23.5 million, would eliminate septic tanks of roughly 1,250 homes in West Augustine and enable businesses to open there, providing jobs and an improved tax base.
Tami Ray, a project director at Black & Veatch, a global engineering firm with an office in Jacksonville, said that company specializes in finding federal, state and private funding for public utility and other infrastructure projects.
"(Financing) using only rates and connective fees means slow growth," Ray said, adding that Black & Veatch can formulate financial plans, apply for grants and handle the project's "comprehensive and time consuming" administration duties.
Black & Veatch has already handled projects totaling $4 billion, she said.
County Commission Chair Ken Bryan -- who has tried to keep this issue center stage since his election -- said the first gravity sewer in West Augustine, built in 1999, was a combined city-county project.
"In 2009, we renewed the commitment (to build a complete system) and determined strategies," he said. "The first of those (strategies) was to develop a master plan. We've come a long way. There's been a lot of discussion about this, with the entire community trying to get a handle on what's going on here. It's good to see the county and city pulling together. That gives us a better chance on getting grants."
Ray said the master plan can be leveraged to apply for various state and federal grants.
"Our job and our goal is to bring funding to our clients," she said. "You've already taken the critical steps necessary to prepare for the project."
Another B&V consultant, Tom Bryant, said King Street needs to be done first.
"Once that is done, they can chip away at other streets," he said. "This (master) plan is a great baseline. That document will be well-used."
Its health benefits, "green" aspects and new technology would help with certain applications, he said.
City Manager John Regan, another official pushing for more action than talk, said a connection policy for homeowners requires both carrot and stick.
"State law says that if a sewer line is in front of your house, you have 12 months to connect," he said, pointing to the city's experience on Butler Avenue, where 300 properties along that road had access to sewer service, but very few homeowners connected.
"It's a building by building, block by block process," he said.
Ray said the financing paperwork could be completed by June or July 2012 and after comments on he project by 13 agencies, design and permitting, construction can then be scheduled.
Three to five years is one estimate tossed around for completion.
The city's initial plan was to sell the entire utility territory to the county for $6 million.
However, the county didn't have the money and explored swapping coverage areas with the city, but that didn't work out.
County Administrator Michael Wanchick said, "We'd all like to see this a modern utility. The best approach seems to be the one outlined her today.
"It's taken longer than we wanted, (but) nobody's given up on the goal."
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
By PETER GUINTA
Created 05/25/2011 - 12:01am
West King trunk line would help draw in business
Summary:
A handful of West Augustine homeowners, cheered at the prospect that a sewer line would be built in their neighborhood in a few years, told a joint meeting of the St. Augustine and St. Johns County commissions Tuesday that they're worried already what hooking up will cost.
A handful of West Augustine homeowners, cheered at the prospect that a sewer line would be built in their neighborhood in a few years, told a joint meeting of the St. Augustine and St. Johns County commissions Tuesday that they're worried already what hooking up will cost.
The rare joint meeting was planned to discuss several items that affected both city and county, but the one that seemed most likely to improve West Augustine was the sewer question.
Construction of the lines, projected to cost $23.5 million, would eliminate septic tanks of roughly 1,250 homes in West Augustine and enable businesses to open there, providing jobs and an improved tax base.
Tami Ray, a project director at Black & Veatch, a global engineering firm with an office in Jacksonville, said that company specializes in finding federal, state and private funding for public utility and other infrastructure projects.
"(Financing) using only rates and connective fees means slow growth," Ray said, adding that Black & Veatch can formulate financial plans, apply for grants and handle the project's "comprehensive and time consuming" administration duties.
Black & Veatch has already handled projects totaling $4 billion, she said.
County Commission Chair Ken Bryan -- who has tried to keep this issue center stage since his election -- said the first gravity sewer in West Augustine, built in 1999, was a combined city-county project.
"In 2009, we renewed the commitment (to build a complete system) and determined strategies," he said. "The first of those (strategies) was to develop a master plan. We've come a long way. There's been a lot of discussion about this, with the entire community trying to get a handle on what's going on here. It's good to see the county and city pulling together. That gives us a better chance on getting grants."
Ray said the master plan can be leveraged to apply for various state and federal grants.
"Our job and our goal is to bring funding to our clients," she said. "You've already taken the critical steps necessary to prepare for the project."
Another B&V consultant, Tom Bryant, said King Street needs to be done first.
"Once that is done, they can chip away at other streets," he said. "This (master) plan is a great baseline. That document will be well-used."
Its health benefits, "green" aspects and new technology would help with certain applications, he said.
City Manager John Regan, another official pushing for more action than talk, said a connection policy for homeowners requires both carrot and stick.
"State law says that if a sewer line is in front of your house, you have 12 months to connect," he said, pointing to the city's experience on Butler Avenue, where 300 properties along that road had access to sewer service, but very few homeowners connected.
"It's a building by building, block by block process," he said.
Ray said the financing paperwork could be completed by June or July 2012 and after comments on he project by 13 agencies, design and permitting, construction can then be scheduled.
Three to five years is one estimate tossed around for completion.
The city's initial plan was to sell the entire utility territory to the county for $6 million.
However, the county didn't have the money and explored swapping coverage areas with the city, but that didn't work out.
County Administrator Michael Wanchick said, "We'd all like to see this a modern utility. The best approach seems to be the one outlined her today.
"It's taken longer than we wanted, (but) nobody's given up on the goal."
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
St. Augustine Music Festival to Run For Full Week this Year, Starts Juneteenth (June 19th) at Cathedral
ST.AUGUSTINE MUSIC FESTIVAL
Sunday, Jun. 19 – Sunday, Jun. 26, 2011
38 Cathedral Place
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Website: http://www.staugustinemusicfestival.org
Don't miss the opening performance of the 2011 edition of the St.Augustine Music Festival! Featuring a different concert daily Sunday through Friday, the festival includes musicians from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Ritz Chamber Players joined by guest artists to offer a variety of classical compositions. All of the festival's performance takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the beautiful Cathedral Bascilica of St. Augustine.
Location: Cathedral Basilica
Hours: 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Admission is free, but donations are welcomed
Sunday, Jun. 19 – Sunday, Jun. 26, 2011
38 Cathedral Place
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Website: http://www.staugustinemusicfestival.org
Don't miss the opening performance of the 2011 edition of the St.Augustine Music Festival! Featuring a different concert daily Sunday through Friday, the festival includes musicians from the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and the Ritz Chamber Players joined by guest artists to offer a variety of classical compositions. All of the festival's performance takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the beautiful Cathedral Bascilica of St. Augustine.
Location: Cathedral Basilica
Hours: 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Admission is free, but donations are welcomed
Florida company fined for unsafe trench practices, resulting in injury to worker in trench
Trade News Release Banner Image
Region 4 News Release: 11-712-ATL (245)
May 25, 2011
Contact: Michael D'Aquino Michael Wald
Phone: 404-562-2076 404-562-2078
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov wald.michael@dol.gov
Largo, Fla., excavation company cited for safety violations
following 2 worker injuries, fined nearly $54,000
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – All American Concrete Inc. in Largo has been cited for two safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an incident that injured two workers who were installing a storm water culvert at 27 Avenue and Park Street in St. Petersburg. Proposed penalties total $53,900.
In February, a bucket was removed from a back hoe and placed at the edge of an excavation. Two employees were working in the excavation when the bucket fell into the trench, crushing the leg of one worker and bruising the back of another.
The company was cited for one willful safety violation, with a penalty of $49,000, for failing to slope the excavation correctly. Management had prior knowledge of the OSHA requirements related to trenching and excavation hazards. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
All American Concrete also was cited for one serious safety violation related to the incident, with a penalty of $4,900, for allowing the bucket to be at the edge of an excavation where it could pose a hazard by falling or rolling into the excavation. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
"This employer knew OSHA's rules with regard to excavations and trenching but chose to cut corners to save time, exposing the workers to potential injury or death," said Les Grove, OSHA's area director in Tampa.
Detailed information on hazards and safeguards related to trenching and excavation is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Tampa Area Office, located at 5807 Breckenridge Parkway, Suite A, Tampa, Fla. 33610; telephone 813-626-1177. To report workplace incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call the agency's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
###
Region 4 News Release: 11-712-ATL (245)
May 25, 2011
Contact: Michael D'Aquino Michael Wald
Phone: 404-562-2076 404-562-2078
Email: d'aquino.michael@dol.gov wald.michael@dol.gov
Largo, Fla., excavation company cited for safety violations
following 2 worker injuries, fined nearly $54,000
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – All American Concrete Inc. in Largo has been cited for two safety violations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an incident that injured two workers who were installing a storm water culvert at 27 Avenue and Park Street in St. Petersburg. Proposed penalties total $53,900.
In February, a bucket was removed from a back hoe and placed at the edge of an excavation. Two employees were working in the excavation when the bucket fell into the trench, crushing the leg of one worker and bruising the back of another.
The company was cited for one willful safety violation, with a penalty of $49,000, for failing to slope the excavation correctly. Management had prior knowledge of the OSHA requirements related to trenching and excavation hazards. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
All American Concrete also was cited for one serious safety violation related to the incident, with a penalty of $4,900, for allowing the bucket to be at the edge of an excavation where it could pose a hazard by falling or rolling into the excavation. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
"This employer knew OSHA's rules with regard to excavations and trenching but chose to cut corners to save time, exposing the workers to potential injury or death," said Les Grove, OSHA's area director in Tampa.
Detailed information on hazards and safeguards related to trenching and excavation is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/trenchingexcavation/index.html.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The site was inspected by staff from OSHA's Tampa Area Office, located at 5807 Breckenridge Parkway, Suite A, Tampa, Fla. 33610; telephone 813-626-1177. To report workplace incidents, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, call the agency's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
###
Gnarly List of Questions for DAVID SHOAR, Attorney GEORGE McCLURE -- Questions That Are Still Unanswered, Nearly Twelve Months Later
Local journalists need to ask these questions every time SHERIFF SHOAR holds a press conference. Like any good diplomat, let's not take "no" for an answer? What do you reckon? As William F. Buckley once said, "why does the baloney reject the grinder?"
Questions for Sheriff Shoar, and Attorney George McClure
Posted: June 19, 2010 - 11:03pm
By PETE ELLIS
St. Augustine Record
We have invited St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar to meet with us to answer questions that remain in the wake of the Tom Manuel case.
Manuel, a former St. Johns County commissioner, was sentenced in January for accepting two bribes totaling $60,000, and is now in prison serving a 21-month sentence followed by three years probation, including 16 months of house arrest.
We started asking for an interview with the sheriff in January before Manuel's sentencing when one of our reporters called him. Since then, our associate editor, our editorial page editor and I have spoken with the sheriff and asked him to meet with us.
Our publisher has communicated with him several times, and I met with him informally for two hours in April to discuss having a formal meeting with our Editorial Board and a reporter, after which he said he would meet with us.
Shortly after that, the sheriff reiterated to our publisher that he would meet with us and added that he would bring George McClure, an attorney, with him. McClure first went to the sheriff with concerns about the legality of Manuel's actions.
Since May, the sheriff has not responded to our publisher's requests for a meeting.
Each of our conversations has been cordial, with the sheriff being polite, yet not agreeing to answer our questions.
Yet the questions remain, so today I am sharing with you the questions we have for the sheriff:
Question No. 1:
What did McClure and Bruce Robbins, a developer's representative from Atlantic Beach who was the confidential informant who gave Manuel the money, tell you that made you decide to go to the FBI?
In our conversation in April, you said that Manuel was involved with a Jacksonville businessman who was part of the scheme that led you to the FBI. What was that man's role, and are other arrests possible in this case?
Question No. 2:
One of the issues that came up in the Manuel case was whether you had authorization to confirm that Manuel was the target of an FBI investigation. Manuel's attorney had argued that by making the case public you damaged his chances to cooperate with the FBI and earn a lower sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hackenberry Savell told the judge at Manuel's sentencing that: "People were coming to Sheriff Shoar and told him what was going on and he made the decision (to make it public); That was not approved by the FBI or our office. He had no authorization of disclosure."
You have said that the FBI did give you permission and you have said that you are an experienced law enforcement officer who knows that to reveal an investigation without permission would have been an obstruction of justice. Also, you pointed out that if you had obstructed justice, you would have been arrested by now.
Yet Savell has not retracted her statement, which is a very serious charge.
Have you filed a complaint with the U.S. Attorney, the Florida Bar or any other legal ethics group about Savell for making the statement in court that you say is not true?
Question No. 3:
Former State Attorney John Tanner has said you never asked him to investigate Manuel, contradicting your statement, "Tanner told me, 'I'm going into an election and quite honestly, we're not really equipped to deal with these cases, and he suggested calling the FBI." You said that on March 8.
Tanner told one of our reporters that he first learned of Manuel's problems when he read about them in The Record. That was more than a year after the investigation began. Tanner also said law enforcement people often seek out federal investigations because they have tougher penalties and are more difficult to win.
In January, the Ponte Vedra Recorder quoted you as saying, "I could have gone to Florida Department of Law Enforcement but they have a lot of local ties."
So which is it: Did you go to the state first, either Tanner or the FDLE, or did you go directly to the FBI?
And if you first went to Tanner before going to the FBI, have you filed a complaint with the Florida Bar Grievance Committee or any other lawyer ethics group against Tanner for making a statement that you say is not true and could harm your reputation?
Question No. 4:
McClure, the attorney and FBI confidential informant, said the FBI asked him to tape his telephone conversation with you on June 11, 2008. You have said you were not a target of an FBI surveillance because you said the FBI was already taping McClure's phone. "You can't just turn a wiretap off," you said.
The tape shows that McClure tagged the surveillance tape before you picked up the phone with these words: "Call to David Shoar, 9:35 p.m., June 11, 2008." That makes it appear that McClure did tape Shoar deliberately, as he said he did.
Are you trying to divert attention from why the FBI wanted this conversation tape recorded? Has the FBI told you why they were taping your conversation?
Also, you have told people that you knew you were being tape recorded. If that was the case, why did you say things, such as criticizing some public figures?
Question No. 5:
You have acknowledged that you have bridges to build with the FBI because of your statement to FolioWeekly: "(An FBI spokesperson) is going to give you (the) 'Traditionally we don't do that (response).' Well, traditionally you dumb bastards don't get observed in a restaurant taking a guy into custody, either."
When we met, you told me that you went to the FBI and sat around a table with 12 people and apologized for your statement.
Having a good working relationship with the FBI is important to your ability to do your job as sheriff. What success have you had so far in improving your relationship with the FBI?
Question No. 6:
Tom Manuel was sworn into office on Nov. 21, 2006. The next day your schedule listed you as having a two-hour luncheon with Bruce Robbins, the developer's representative for Twin Creeks and the FBI confidential informant who gave bribes to Manuel in April and June 2008. Your calendar said the purpose of the luncheon was to discuss a "land donation" at the intersection of County Road 210 and U.S. 1. Why would you, the sheriff, meet with a developer's representative to discuss a developer's possible land donation?
Question No. 7:
In the course of our reporting for the series of stories we ran earlier this year, we interviewed Ron Chapman, a well-known criminal attorney from West Palm Beach. Here's what he told us:
"What is the informant getting in exchange for his noble deed? Some informants, they get a set amount of money per case. They rarely do it as a community service. It's more likely they're working off charges (against themselves) or getting paid. It may have been that he is just doing his civic duty, and he should be commended for that. Or maybe, he had an axe to grind. Maybe he hated this guy (Manuel). I would definitely want to know if he's getting any type of preferential treatment at all."
Was Robbins compensated in any way? Did Robbins have an axe to grind with Manuel? Did Robbins receive any leniency for any potential charges that could have been brought against him?
The following questions are for George McClure:
You have said that you taped the June 11, 2008 conversation with the sheriff because the FBI wanted to know what Shoar and Manuel had said earlier that day in a telephone conversation. On that day, Manuel was an informant for the FBI himself and said he taped that conversation and had already turned it over to the FBI by the time you spoke with Shoar. We know for a fact that Manuel taped that conversation because we have a copy of that tape.
Why did the FBI ask you to tape the conversation with Shoar? Did they ask you to tape any other conversations with Shoar and, if so, why?
* n n
I've been a journalist for 38 years, and I have never before done what I'm doing today: Sharing with readers questions that an elected official won't let us ask him.
Before I wrote this, I called Kelly McBride, an ethicist at Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, and asked her if sharing these questions with readers was ethical.
Absolutely, she told me. Public officials have an obligation to answer legitimate questions from the public and the press. I think these are legitimate questions.
I am also concerned that it will appear that we're picking on the sheriff and McClure by asking these questions. As background, these inconsistencies came from the sheriff's statements, not from us. We feel an obligation to follow up on the questions that the sheriff and McClure have raised.
*
Pete Ellis is editor of The Record and welcomes your comments. He may be reached at (904)819-3517, peter.ellis@staugustine.com or by commenting at the end of this column on our website, www.staugustine.com.
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Comments (20)
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Dr.MacMantazas
The Shoar and McClure Non-interviews
By Dr.MacMantazas | 06/19/10 - 11:26 pm
The questions and accompanying commentary with respect to The Manuel case appear to be relevent, fair, and insightful. I think it is the type of journalism that critical readers expect from their local newspaper. If responses are not forthcoming from Sheriff Shoar and Mr. McClure, than the Record's readers should share the benefits that those seeking more indepth understanding, receive by reviewing information disseminated on the Record's website.
Dr.MacMantazas
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paradisefl1
More To The Story
By paradisefl1 | 06/19/10 - 11:52 pm
This is going to be interesting. Any wagers on "No" answers for the questions by Either party?
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anastasia
Excellent Questions Mr. Ellis
By anastasia | 06/20/10 - 10:31 am
As Dr. Mac stated this IS the type of reporting a community expects from its local newspaper. I wouldn't hold my breath for answers from these two but keep stoking the coals; truth has a way of eventually finding its voice!
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Hepzibah
No "championing" going on
By Hepzibah | 06/20/10 - 01:02 pm
I don't think the paper is "championing" Manuel.
The issue is who ELSE involved in the situation has broken the law.
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stjctaxpayer
Why you ask?
By stjctaxpayer | 06/20/10 - 01:20 pm
Because, if we have an elected official in office that may have participated in questionable acts, they need to answer for them.
Furthermore, if by dodging these questions in hope these issues go away, Mr. Shoar need to understand his future as an elected official rests on answering these questions.
The public needs to trust its elected officials, especially our Sheriff.
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citizen
Manuel's problem...
By citizen | 06/20/10 - 02:31 pm
...human nature.
Nice guys finish last, but they do finish.
Hyper-arrogant guys like Manuel are just so easy to dislike that they virtually paint targets on their own backs. If you were not a staunch Manuel supporter, you were viewed as the enemy - there was no middle ground. When the enemy is pushed to the wall, they will strike.
And so it was with Manuel. Its akin to the old investing adage, "Bears make money, bulls make money, pigs get slaughtered." Mixing metaphors, Tom wasn't the nice guy who finished last, he was the pig that got slaughtered and didn't finish at all.
Did the others involved break the law? Maybe so, and its worth looking into. But somehow I feel that justice was served by giving Tom just enough rope to hang himself.
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lonnya
Questions seem reasonable.
By lonnya | 06/20/10 - 03:02 pm
Why would the Sheriff of St Johns County need a lawyer with him to answer questions from the media? Was McClure coming at the request of the Record to also answer your questions -- or as an attorney representing Shoar? Your article is unclear, and the difference is very significant.
Quoting the Record --
"Shortly after that, the sheriff reiterated to our publisher that he would meet with us and added that he would bring George McClure, an attorney, with him."
In the phone transcript between McClure and Shoar, published earlier by the Record, the two seem to be friends but there was no doubt McClure was playing Shoar like a violin. I've often wondered what was going on, why the call was made and seemed so scripted.
"Every One Is Entitled To Their Own Opinion But Not Their Own Facts. Facts Withstand Scrutiny, Opinions Often Do Not"
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newspicstaug
Thanks for the summary
Unpublished
By newspicstaug | 06/20/10 - 03:59 pm
I'll forward this to Attorney General Bill McCollum . Maybe HE can get some answers.
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BCC Watcher
Finally! The RECORD is capable of intelligent journalism !!!
By BCC Watcher | 06/20/10 - 08:23 pm
I've no idea why the Record suddenly deviated from years of milquetoast reporting (e.g. the entire Local News section today seems to have been devoted to archaeology items) ........... but no matter, more power to your elbow.
But why bury this important Shoar/McClure issue on the unread "Opinion" page alongside readers' thoughts on euthanizing shi-tzus and syndicated Flag Day generic feel-good pap from Garrison Keillor? Get it out there where people (and politicians) can see it. Tell us on the FRONT page what responses are received, if any. Maybe the Record's circulation will go up if people see that their local paper, despite years of evidence to the contrary, can actually produce news. If Peter Ellis gets comprehensive answers to the Record's excellent questions it will go a long way to dispel any notion that the Record has so far been frightened to hold the feet of elected officials (and their FBI-informant cronies) to the fire of public accountability.
Backsliding and procrastination should not be allowed. Don't let Shoar et alia slither away from answering your questions. The fact that the Sheriff has another two years before he faces the electorate should not be a reason for him to slough off giving truthful public responses to the queries you posed.
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skurvey
HAPPY THE COLONIES WON...
By skurvey | 06/21/10 - 10:31 am
BBCWatcher,
If you think the Opinion and Op-Ed pages go largely unread, you need a big reality check. Perhaps that's the way they do things across the pond, but you're in the Colonies now.
The Record is as its name implies: the record of what happens in St. Augustine. Diverse local news is why I subscribe to the paper.
The editorial page is the first section I turn to daily, without fail. Even before the obituaries. The editorial page is where a column based upon politics belongs. Ellis did not write a news story, but an opinion piece from his perspective as the paper's editor and as a reporter.
His column most certainly does belong on the Op-Ed page. Ask around. You will learn something: those pages are the best read in the paper.
Perhaps print journalism isn't for YOU.
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BCC Watcher
I'm also happy the Colonies won. but .....................
By BCC Watcher | 06/21/10 - 12:39 pm
Skurvey -
It's
BCC
Watcher, not BBC (though I will confess to having watched Masterpiece Theater from time to time) !!!
"Perhaps print journalism isn't for YOU."
Perhaps not ....... so I guess I won't have to turn you down when you apply for a job as my proof-reader!
:)
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Qwerty
Not the First Time
By Qwerty | 06/21/10 - 12:44 pm
This wouldn't be the first time Shoar has said he would do something and then hasn't done it. He's like any other politician.
Qwerty
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DavidWiles
The Record Reflects an Changing Culture
By DavidWiles | 06/21/10 - 12:47 pm
You get the sense that there is a transformation underway in the politics of St. Johns County. A political culture at least a decade strong seems in the process of dissolving. The culture is one of closed politics, closed to those not GOP in partisanship and, even more so, closed to those who are not the selected representatives of mega developers. If you look at the County Commission races from 2000 through 2008 you will see the pattern of GOP and large scale developer domination. The Commission elections resulted in approvals of more than thirteen Developments of Regional Impact and Town Centers, which in turn created a supersaturated backlog of approved developer rights and a public service municipality without any bonding capability.
During this past decade there have been only sporadic hints of power dynamics behind the scene. In 2004, there were charges of a Jacksonville oriented ‘Issues Group’ that selected and supported developer candidates. In 2008, Commissioner Tom Manuel was indicted and found guilty of a felony in public corruption (accepting a bribe) by a federal sting operation.
Now Peter Ellis publishes questions he wishes to ask Sheriff David Shoar and lawyer George McClure concerning the Manuel matter. Question 6 for Mr. Shoar goes to the heart of what role law enforcement personnel play in St. Johns politics; “ Why would you, the sheriff, meet with a developer's representative to discuss a developer's possible land donation?” Although the Sheriff is elected by popular vote, the office is a Constitutional (state) one, separate from the general municipal government of the County. Like the tax collector, Clerk of the Court and Supervisor of Elections, the sheriff is normally thought to be ‘above politics,’ especially any influences to land use or water resource decisions. The suggestion that David Shoar might be involved with either Tom Manuel’s election or the Twin Creek DRI that Bruce Robbins represented seems to violate his apolitical role. Further, it psychologically connects David Shoar with previous St. Johns Sheriff Neil Perry who was part of the earlier Issues Group controversy and claims of developer influence peddling.
George McClure raises questions about his role as FBI informant that, in turn, raises the larger concern of whether this lawyer for major developers used (or uses as he still processes applications before the county PZA and Commission) law enforcement role in his persuasion tactics. Again, McClure was the lawyer for the Twin Creek DRI and it was a disputed land parcel in that development that led to the Manuel bribe and indictment.
Helping St. Johns readers in June 2010 NOT forget Tom Manuel and the curious remaining questions surrounding Sheriff Shoar and Lawyer McClure is only one interesting change going on. In the past week Merrill Roland withdrew as a candidate and created an ‘open primary.’ In effect he changed the normal strategy of blocking all voters but registered GOP by withdrawing as an independent (No Party Affiliation) candidate. This chnage allows Democrats and Independent voters to vote in the District #2 and District #4 GOP Primary races.
The ‘extra’ 40-50,000 voters may well alter the outcome for previous Commissioners Karen Stern and Jim Bryant. You cannot talk of mega development approvals or St. Johns GOP dominated politics during the past decade without mentioning Karen Stern and Jim Bryant.
Karen served as Commissioner from 2002-2006 while Mr. Bryant served from 1996-2008. Both are running in the 2010 GOP primary and could win and become Commissioners for 2010-2014 in Districts #2 and #4. As both are largely responsible for leading the majority approvals of DRIs and Town Centers between 2002-2006, their candidacies stand as proxies for the Amendment 4 state-level votes in November.
Their primary themes in 2010 are ‘leadership’ and rewinding the ‘quality of life’ character that seems to have departed St. Johns in the past three years of retrenchment and belt tightening.
Loyal hard core GOP and the remaining investors in large developments may like the Stern and Bryant spiel but the larger number of open primary voters may be a different story in Fall 2010.
Like questions of Shoar and McClure, it is the opening up of the closed political situation in St. Johns County. Further erosion might occur if we could figure out the LLC campaign bundling mechanism and why the Democratic Party chooses to be permanant 'back benchers' in County-level politics.
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huckleberry
King Maker #6
By huckleberry | 06/21/10 - 02:56 pm
Question No. 6:
Tom Manuel was sworn into office on Nov. 21, 2006. The next day your schedule listed you as having a two-hour luncheon with Bruce Robbins, the developer's representative for Twin Creeks and the FBI confidential informant who gave bribes to Manuel in April and June 2008. Your calendar said the purpose of the luncheon was to discuss a "land donation" at the intersection of County Road 210 and U.S. 1. Why would you, the sheriff, meet with a developer's representative to discuss a developer's possible land donation?
Add
When did Robbins donate $2000 to Shoar's campaign?
Why meet on November 22?
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skurvey
What the heck is "BCC"?
By skurvey | 06/21/10 - 03:29 pm
I stand corrected, BCCWatcher. Is it "blind carbon copies" that you watch, then? Do tell.
Won't be applying for the position of "proof-reader," but might be interested in being your proofreader. I'm available Monday only, my day off.
:)
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paradisefl1
Not Asked Of Me
By paradisefl1 | 06/21/10 - 03:30 pm
but a long time ago I had to ask the same question.
BCC= Board Of County Commissioners
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BCC Watcher
Thank you Paradisefl1
By BCC Watcher | 06/21/10 - 05:38 pm
I didn't bother to change my nom de plume from BCC to BOCC when the county changed acronyms.
skurvey - for your Monday edification and enlightenment try
http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/111/Proofreader.html
:)
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paradisefl1
YVW
By paradisefl1 | 06/21/10 - 06:25 pm
BCCWatcher :-)
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skurvey
BCCWatcher (Do you really and how often?)
By skurvey | 06/21/10 - 08:39 pm
There are enough acronyms around to make alphabet soup, but I am glad to be in the know now. (Thanks to paradisefl1, also).
About your suggestion for my new Monday-only career from the link you posted...
"Proofreaders must have good eyesight, even if they must wear glasses."
I think I failed that requirement, reading "BBC" as I did, but you are kind to think of me.
:)