So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. . .

No matter what happens Tuesday, this will happen Friday.

7:00 PM

I’ll be broadcasting from the Cyberbusiness Center downtown tonight.  Drop by and say hello!

The Beach!

We spent a couple of hours at the beach this afternoon.  Lot’s of people, big waves, and kids having fun.

And In This Corner. . .

There’s A Lot To Like About Lake Worth, Weekends.

I haven’t posted much yesterday and today, I’m too busy enjoying our City. Yesterday was a great example why Lake Worth is a great place to live. The Green Market, the event at the Cultural Plaza, a fair at Sacred Heart and just walking around town.  Here are some pictures of the day.  I have already taken a great walk this morning and maybe later I will head to the beach.  For all our fussing about our City’s issues there is indeed a lot to like about Lake Worth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost in Translation?

I may have missed this if it was in the Palm Beach Post, but the Spanish language free newspaper, La Palma published by the Post has an article about the protest at the Lake Ave. Publix last week. Click here to go to the article.  Here is a translation (note I used the web-based Google Translator and while the grammar is not great, you can get the gist of the story) :

Por ANA M. VALDES
La Palma

Friday, November 13th, 2009

For the Guatemalan peasant Salucio Cross, the weighing approximately 32 pounds a bucket full of tomatoes would not be so heavy if each would receive a few pennies more.

As part of a delegation of peasants from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Salucio went to Lake Worth last weekend to ask officers Publix supermarkets to pay a penny more per pound.

“If we pay 40 or 45 cents a bucket, would be 72-77 cents. There is almost nothing, but mostly it’s a relief we are asking employees,” said Salucio, 24, who has been picking tomatoes in five years the fields of Immokalee.

The protest on November 7 at Publix in Lake Worth Road gathered dozens of protesters carrying placards with the words “Oppression” and “Support to rural families.

The demonstration was one of several visits by the South Florida who performed as part of the Month CIW Protest Publix.

CIW wants Publix joins companies like Taco Bell, Subway and Burger King in the Campaign for Fair Food, which demands a higher price for the crops to ensure better wages and working conditions for farmers.

In an email, the manager of media and public relations for Publix Miami Division, Kim Jaeger said “Publix has made a practice not to intervene in labor disputes between a supplier and its employees and union.”

“Publix does pay fair market value for tomatoes, but not our place to determine what price should be, so this is a labor dispute to be settled between the workers and company culture,” said Jaeger.

Salucio said that if a farmer earns $ 50 for a day of work under the current prices, the worker must carry more than 2 1 / 2 tons of tomatoes, or about 150 cells.

“Wages are stagnant for 30 years,” he added Salucio.

CIW is preparing a statewide tour starting on Tuesday until 25 November.

Then what will Salucio described as a “great action” against Publix corporate offices in Lakeland on December 6.

“It is encouraging people to learn a little of our campaign,” said Salucio.

In another area of Lake Worth, the City Commission approved the construction of a new Publix supermarket near the center of the city.

The commission withdrew earlier doubts and gave it to a new Publix in Art Deco style Dixie Highway, between Second and Third Avenue North.

It is hoped that the new store employs 40 workers full time and 50 part-time workers. During construction, is expected to create about 100 jobs.

Despite the CIW protest against the Publix at Lake Worth City Commissioner Cara Jennings said it decided not to question the company about its policy of buying tomatoes because he realized that the city needs to store and jobs they provide.

“Welcome to Publix with open arms,” said Jennings, adding that the Community Redevelopment Agency of the city agreed to reimburse the company $ 500,000 for public improvements around the new store.

If all goes as planned, the company plans the building of $ 9 million next year and open in the spring or summer of 2011.

Willie Howard contributed to this report.

Guest Blogger, Hola Rene Part II

This was just submitted by the Dubai 28 rappers.

Hola Rene. . .

And The Winner Is. . .

The judge for the word bubble contest has rendered their decision.  If it were up to me I would have awarded first place to each and every entry, of course with the first place prize being the winner buys me a drink that would be the perfect outcome!

Truly they were all good, and I know the judge deleberated long and hard.  Also since this was so much fun we have decided to make it a regular feature and are already at work selecting pictures to add word bubbles to.

Okay, without further adu the winners are:

Two way tie for first place:

And I (Tom McGow) have decided to award the Annie L. Retentive Memorial Award to Thomas Stockmann for the best researched thought bubbles.

Click image to enlarge

Nuts. . .

Our friend Skip feeds the squirrels in Bryant Park almost every morning.  We often find ourselves walking through the park right after Skip has made his rounds.  This morning we spotted this guy with a mouthful!