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               They call themselves Sundays at Five, and are a smashing 60’s – 70’s band ….  

               The members come from different neighborhoods ( mostly in Fort Lauderdale) …..

     ….. Maybe you will recognize some of the players in the video below.  Tonight, they played at five (on Sunday !) at probably the only non-gay bar in Wilton Manors, (Reds) –   though they won’t ever discriminate!  ….     now turn up your speakers !!          

                              

                    They are good, and play cheap ( tonight is was for whiskey

                    Call Tim if you need more info  …954-822-4727 !

   

      
       Last night was the ribbon cutting, and the community couldn’t have been happier!

       Businesses are finally coming back to the long delinquent 13th Street corridor. The opening last night was an upscale Auction House named   …………

                                            

        The Auction House is right at the FEC RR tracks and NE 13th Street.

        The room was packed, (the free draft beer, wine and snacks help !) and the ribbon was cut just in time for the fun two-hour auction that followed –

                   

           Those are the proprietors on the left, Rachel and Ray (yes, like the Chef), Mayor Seiler with the big scissors, former LakeRidge President Shannon Harmeling, President of South Middle River, Lawrence Rosen Jackson, and yours truly!

       They had gads of neat, different items –

                                            

         A lot of pricey things for sure, but I made off with a fancy Chinese planter for just $50!

         Former SMRCA President Sal Gatanio waited to the end for item #72 …..

                                              

            … a one of a kind –  bust of Romeo – entirely made out of nuts and bolts! Sal dug deep for the piece – $600 – but said it was a gift for his Romeo and worth every penny!

           ………   Curiosities has their auctions on Wednesdays, but are open daily to inspect the merchandise from 12 to 4  …   to get more info, give Ray a call on his cell … 310-291-1626 …. 

                  … tell him Tim gave you his cell number

     
            
                           

      

     
        I have been covering the major burglary problems in some of Fort Lauderdale’s neighborhoods a lot, and it’s nice to be able to say that things might finally be beginning to improve, at least for the first few months of this year.

       But that progress has not come quick enough for the former
                    President of the South Middle River neighborhood – Robert Alcock.

       This weekend, his house, at the hotbed intersection of NW 3rd Avenue and NW 11th Street was burglarized for the 10th time in 5 years.

                   

      This time, a small burglar smashed in a kitchen window and squeezed through.

      Alcock, a leader in the sustainable energy movement, lost one of his prize possessions – an electric bicycle.

                               

     Alcock is offering a $100 reward for the return of the bike.

     I’m offering another $100 for the burglar !!
   
    

      Former 22- year City Commissioner Carlton Moore is dead and gone, but deserves to be remembered.

                                        

      The man lived and breathed the Northwest. He fought tirelessly, convinced that the area he grew up in could be made right. He fought slum, blight, crime. He refused to accept the status quo, arriving at every City Commission meeting with renewed vigor, and a new idea.

     Many of the improvements to the area that we our now seeing can be directly tied to initiatives and battles Moore fought for during his long and hard tenure. He often closed his correspondences, “to progress”.

                                 Here is one suggestion

        Two of those many important improvements are along the same road, NW 20th Avenue, just off Sistrunk Boulevard.

      One of the improvements is what is missing – the trash transfer station. For years, we trucked our lawn debris, our defunct furniture, our general junk down Sistrunk to NW 20th Avenue to the “city dump”. Moore worked hard to get that closed, an important milestone.

                                     

        And then Moore fought an even tougher battle – to move the City’s building department (since the old building was unsafe and had to be abandoned) out Sistrunk to NW 20th Avenue. It was an unusually tough battle, with many residents opposing. But in the end, the tenacious Moore won out, and it has been a success.

                                

        How about we pay some due respect and rename NW 20th Avenue   ……..

                     Carlton Moore’s Way

        What do you say? 
            

      There is a new club in town that means business!

      It’s called the Middle River Terrace Improvement Club, and the mission of the club is to well, …….  improve Middle River Terrace (neighborhood) of course!

      ….. The President of the new club, Dave Justin, says what makes this new club different, is that they have one hard and fast rule –

                                                                NO MEETINGS!

                                                
                                                                 President Dave

         ……..    just improvement projects!

                            

         

                         

       Here is the happy group today after revitalizing an old neighborhood dock project that had fallen into disrepair    …… 

                           

                                                       Go New Group !!!

    

                  

                                     

              

         Services have been set for the late Carlton Moore, longtime Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and activist.

        The viewing will be held Sunday, April 6, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at
Mizell-Kurtz Funeral Home, 1305 NW 6th St. in Fort Lauderdale.

       Services will be held Monday, April 7, at 1 p.m. at New Mount Olive Baptist Church, 400 NW 9th Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

         

     

      It was a most exciting week in Fort Lauderdale politics.

                                           

         Mayor Jack Seiler, counter to what most thought, entered the race for Governor of the State of Florida!

        Immediately after the announcement, both Commissioner Bruce Roberts, and  Commissioner Romney Rogers announced they would run for the Mayor’s seat!

                                                                                             

   
          Hearing the news, and feeling somewhat left out, Commissioner Bobby Dubose held a press conference to remind everyone that he was still running for the State House!

                                       

      And lastly, Commissioner Dean Trantalis ……  just opposed!

                         April Fools !! (well maybe) ….

     

     One of the oldest houses in Fort Lauderdale is …..
                                 
            The Annie Beck House, 1915, was saved twice from the wrecking ball. It was originally located at 334 Las Olas, then moved off Las Olas to SE 11th Ave, then moved  again all the way across town to the Middle River Terrace Park.

                         
                                           house on Las Olas – Annie and husband Alfred / 1916

         The Broward Trust for Historic Preservation owns the house, but recently gave up management of the house to the 13th Street Alliance ( a group of area neighborhood associations).

                                   

            The new group has wasted no time in repairing, repainting, and making new plans for the most historic house. The Alliance has offered meeting space to non-profits in the area, and is planning fun events at the house including a reprise of the play –

                                   A History of Fort Lauderdale

       ….which will take place at the house sometime this spring……

       Annie would be proud !

                   

      

     
           

          You might remember, that a little over a year ago, a part of our precious beach front,    …..  north of Sunrise Boulevard, went out with the tide !!!

                   

                                         

      Giving our City Manager Feldman, and our Mayor Seiler,  credit, – they swooped in and got a gob of money from the State of Florida to put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

        And looking at the beach this past week, a little over a year later,  there is only one thing that is still left missing  –  …

             

                                                the Beach ….. !

      From the last post, you know there is a real serious problem with juveniles breaking into our homes! But there does appear to be good news on the horizon –

              ………  I’ll get to that in a second!

                                       

      You also should know that most of the times, when juveniles crawl into your homes to steal your things, there is very little punishment for the juveniles.

      Look at the record below, and see how long it took – how many victims there were, before Cedric was finally given 6 months in a facility in North Florida  [bad news –  he was just released, probably headed back into our community!]

                  Charge                            Disposition

                  Burglary                          Closed with a diversion program

                  Battery                           Closed non-judicial

                  Burglary Vehicle            Committed to Program (Level 6)

                  L&P                                 Other judicial disposition

                  False Name to LEO          Other judicial disposition

                  L&P                                 Other judicial disposition

                 Resisting w/o                  Other judicial disposition

                 Burglary Tools                 Non-file               

                 L&P                                 Other judicial disposition

                 Poss. Of Marijuana          Other judicial disposition

                 L&P                                 Non-file

                 Robbery                          Committed to program (Level 6)

                 Burglary Dwelling            Committed to program (Level 6)

                 Burglary Structure          Committed to program (Level 6)   

                 Burglary Structure          Committed to program (Level 6)

                 Poss. Of Marijuana          Given a Judicial Warning

                 Petit Theft                     Committed to program (Level 6)

                 L&P                               Non-file                  

                 Robbery                        Committed to program (Level 6)

                 Robbery                        Non-file               12-134820                 

                Burglary Dwelling         Committed to program (Level 8)

                Resisting w/o                  Committed to program (Level 8)

                        But here is the good news

            ……..   Incessant complaining may be working!

         Lots of city residents in the affected areas have been waging a battle to get relief for some years….. ( special th
anks to Sal) …..   They have called Police 1000’s of times – complained to their City Officials, City Commissioners – the Mayor, the State Attorneys, and fought the re-election of too lenient Judges  ( and kept one off the bench!)….

            …….. and today, I hear that important people are listening! –

    Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider told me today that new rules for these juveniles are being processed and are expected to be unveiled “in days”.

      The Fort Lauderdale City Manager Lee Feldman says that a recent meeting he had with Schneider, the Mayor, and City Commissioner Trantalis seems to be producing results.

    Tougher sentencing standards for multiple offender juvenile burglars seems to be on the way   …….

                                   Stay Tuned  …. Tim