^S'VV ^ r . . ^ ; . . ; ; ; . • • • ; . , : i Page 2 • July 1990 • Solares Hill If Itbu Knew WhatTheyftltLike, You'd Be Wearing Them Now Birkemfock —footprints 610 Duval Street Old Town Key West i SUBSCRIBE j IsolareslMHl I I U O o S o "33 CO 00 J3 C3 © a u 3 U a* *̂ > j i ^ • • ^ * . .J, ^ • i '.*. i • j. * J * , •• f ; * 7 * , ~ « ; -, -f f- ; ; -• ILL kmi r Page 4 • July 1990 • Solares Hill vegetables in an airy, gaily decorated build- ing which previously served as an artisan's studio. However, according to Moodie, mainstream white locals will be the last to be convinced of the charms and legitimate opportunities in Bahama Village: "They have a perception about us, and perceptions are hard to change." Visitors, he stresses, are as safe on Petronia Street as anywhere else in town. "There are no muggings here, no bicycles stolen. When we have a problem we know about it immediately, and we take care of it ourselves." A step in the direction of easing public insecurity has been the hiring of Ambassador John Smith, whose $250-per- week salary is paid in part by the Pier House Resort. Smith patrols a four-block area. He is at the ready to help white tourists navigate their way back to Duval Street, where there is rarely a black face to be seen. White residents of Bahama Village agree there is truth to Moodie's claim of unwarranted fears about the dangers of venturing into Bahama Village. Residents there, both black and white, are also quick to attest to the pervasiveness of the crack industry, which is likened by one Key West businessman to "Miami Vice without the cops." Recently public relations coming from both the Key West Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriffs Office have focused on efforts to clean up crime in Key West—particularly in Bahama Village. Foot patrols from the sheriff's office were installed in the Village, only to be quickly mired in political baloneyism. Meanwhile, the city has been broadcasting pro-police department blurbs: "Key West hostelries saw a dramatic 30 percent drop in burglaries and a 23 percent drop in robberies in one month this spring, thanks to a special pair of Key West police officers." Room at the Inn? Hotels, the island's largest employer; have the most to gain by battling the opportunities for crime. Are they working to create viable economic alternatives for the black community in terms of employment? "The hotels are not listening," says a local accountant who formerly employed blacks in his taxicab business and requested that he remain anonymous. "Their problem is that they have to deal either with people who have skills but no desire to stay, or people who have great potential and a desire to stay, but no job skills." LU DC o 111 Hard, hot iabor: Blacks in Key West primarily occupy entry-ievei positions. WORLD FAMOUS The reality for the blacks, here and else- where, is that they occupy the entry-level positions of all career ladders. They are employed to clean rooms, wash cars, and attend parking lots, but in a job market such as Key West's, where there is a dearth of entry-level workers and a surplus of those seeking higher-paying jobs, blacks hold few management positions. "There is a great opportunity for employers in Bahama Village if they only knew how to take advantage of it," says the accountant. "Why not form an institute to train middle managers who are locals, rather than fly in people—many of whom leave after they come into contact with the cost of living? The black community can afford to stay here. They are not leaving. No one is giving them a shot, however. It's a white-only establishment." There are signs that prospects for local blacks in the hospitality industry may be improving. At least two area human resources managers are supporting local HOME COOKED FOOD AT LOCAL PRICES Noon to 9 pm • Daily Specials from $4.25 • T-Shirts • Live Entertainment From 5 pm til 2 am Daily • No Cover Charge • Happy Hour From 5 pm til 7 pm • • Wed. Night, Ladies Night (3 Free Drinks) • • Dan Mobley - Daily 6 pm - 10 pm • • Full Sail Band - Fit, Sat. & Sun. 10 pm - 2 am • Remember "Hog's Breath is Better Than No Breath At All" 400 Front St. Key West 's Q/tocc/ty Laurie • Nancy • Mary Still Your Complete Neighborhood Grocer BEER also WINE • CIGARETTES An Environmental Store OPEN 7 am to 11 728 SIMONTON 296-3891 719 Duval Street296-4222 talent for key positions, giving special attention to minorities, both in aggressive recruitment and in-house training. The latter, according to Evelyn Steinhauer at The Reach, is the key to improving the picture of blacks in the workplace. But, like the majority of personnel directors here, she has been at her job a short time—less than a year—and has been brought in from the outside. In Baton Rouge, where Steinhauer worked for eight years, she says she was highly successful in reducing turnover rate and attracting and promoting black personnel through in-house training. "It's expensive," she concedes, "but worth it." She also admits to having found the employee situation here "different." Even though employee turnover is very high, management, she says, had to be convinced of the merits of investing time and money in local workers. This summer The Reach will offer interested employees a free course in language skills. Though primarily directed at Spanish-speaking employees, such a course could also be invaluable to black employees, who are often kept at low-level jobs because of language differences. Beneath the landlords and the hospitality industry, job counselors and personnel directors confirm, lies a huge pool of unemployed or under-employed people, many of whom are black and none of whom show up in the statistics. Unable to progress beyond entry-level jobs, some turn to crime. "We didn't bring crack into Key West," says a local dealer. "We're just the Question: What Can I Do About Water? Answer: More Than You Think. You can really make a difference, you know. You can let your voice and vote be heard. You can learn more about our fragile environment. And, you can band together with others who share a love for life and a commitment to fight for this planet's survival. At Greenpeace we know there is strength in numbers. Join our numbers. We need your help. And we may have the answers to a lot of your questions. Visit our Environmental Gift Store. Of course, all proceeds support Greenpeace Environmental Campaigns. distributors." A frustrated businessman adds, "There is no risk of serious confinement, because there is no room in jail. Crime is big. Doesn't have to be, but it is the only alterna- tive they can see. They aren't the have-nots. They're the have-nevers." The owner of Dorothy's Grocery on Whitehead Street is skeptical about statistics which show there is plenty of opportunity for black employment on the island. "We hear there are jobs," she sniffs. Deceptive Figures According to Mary Ann Causley, manager of Job Services of Florida, the chances of a black applicant getting some kind of job in Key West are indeed very good. The 1980 census figures show the black portion of Key West's total population at 6 percent, while 9 percent of the appli- cants interviewed by Job Services are black. Moreover, 14.7 percent of its placements are of black persons, and over 30 percent of black applicants are placed in a job, as compared to a general placement rate of 29 percent. Yet figures can be deceptive, and the meaningful picture behind these statistics is the incredibly low unemployment rate in Key West—running at around 2.2 or 2.3 percent—which reflects the urgent demand for workers who will take entry-level positions. Indeed, so dire is the need several of the island's large hotels have resorted to import- ing their own employees—hard-laboring people from Poland or other countries who Men's & Women's Cotton Casuals Small To Xtra Large FREE PARKING Mon.-Fri. • 10-6 Sat. • 11-4 Hand Made Creative Gifts (305) 296-3317 Luani Plaza • Kennedy Blvd. • Key West, Florida 33040 Solares Hill > July 1990... Page 5 receive housing ̂ t r a i n i n g , in addition to wages. Ultimately, this importation strateev has helped to alienate the black commun'irv further. 7 Today the most outstanding fact of life in Bahama Village is that crime does pay An adolescent can make $200 per week as a spotter, or lookout. Paper delivery hardly seems a viable economic alternative especially in battling a value system which has been developed in front of a commercials-spewing television set. Further up the drug-dealing ladder, moreover, from spotter to runner to dealer, the money gets even better. In one case, a fifteen-year-old black youth decided to work for himself—that way, he said, if he was going to jail it was going to be for himself. When he was Are you in the laundry weeds? MON -FRI 9 to 7 SATURDAY 9 tO 3 CORNER CR1NNEIL & TRUMAN. KEY WtVI Rlbbonneer on Premises Let ms pkV you up ... 297.-1726 MICHAEL DONALD At AN HOIKUT El MESON de'PEPE Delicious Gourmet Spanish Cuisine Breakfast Special (until 11 am) $l-.-59 Complete Eggs • Hash Browns / Grits Ham / Bacon / Sausage • Toast Daily Lunch Specials for under $5.00 Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 7:30 am - 10 pm / 7 Days 1215 Duval St. Key West 296-6922 Closed Tuesdays for the Summer Where Locals Eat î^ Per Person from the price of every entree' on our menus. Early Bird prices start at $8.00 "-SKfcKS.fr SChfOOD . (AWNear the Airport Hot VaM wffh Oiher Spe&tk Page 6 • July 1990 • Solares Hill finally caught and turned over to the author- ities, he was earning $30,000 a year dealing crack. "I would say the crack industry touches just about every family in the Village," says Kevin Crean, a freelance photographer who lived there for several years. "It was all night—the constant clicking of ten-speeds past the windows. Just about anybody standing outside was whistling or calling to the people who come down there: 'Yo, yo— you lookin'? Whatcha need?"' Crean now works as a counselor's assistant at the Lighthouse Program, a county-funded drug rehabilitation project for adolescents. The Stock Island facility houses up to 13 youths, is co-ed, and was formerly a sheriffs annex and hospital. The job, he says, is frustrating but interesting. "Every other week I want to quit because I feel like I'm not doing any good," he says. "But then something positive happens, and my faith is restored." Are there any success stories? "More than successes," exclaims Crean. "We've had miracles! We get kids who have atti- tudes like you can't believe, so closed up in their own addictions that they don't want to hear anything from anybody. But after a couple of months of structured activity, some of them suddenly get the point." One of his clients got his GED (a high school graduation equivalency diploma) and is now out in the work force—at entry level. "The point is, the television is still in your living room because this kid has a job," Crean says. "This is the system that was in- vented for them." Crean and others who have worked with or in the black community agree that the situation is Kafkaesque. Blacks believe the situation will never get better. "They are the outlaws, the underlaws, and they truly know there is no shot for them," says the accountant. "It's like a handicapped person making an adjustment: He figures, "Well, I won't play football.' These kids figure out at an early age they are not going to be the mayor or on the bank board, but they can have that television materialism, the cars and the jeans. It's unfortunate—but that is the way we have oTIf OGUfl 42-5GREEW-sr 29.-K/77 ».J3AT|K o-WANOPAI °XSLANP < UJ DC o UJ Neutralizes Am- bassador John Smith, based on the corner of Petronia and White Streets, patrols a four-block area. Hired, in part, by the Pier House, Smith's duties in- clude informing tourists about Baha- ma Village and help- ing them find their ways back to Duval Street. built the society." Bubbaism and Bensonhurst "Seems like here it comes down to who you know," says Mendel Mackey, a black GI who had no trouble getting part-time work at Sears, but complains that his wife, who has a degree in finance, is unable to find suitable employment. She has had no response from local banks. After an exten- sive search, she was offered a night audi- tor's job at Howard Johnson's at $5 per hour. Blacks who have been frustrated in their attempts to break into higher-level jobs frequently cite "Bubbaism" as the cause. Some employers are also frustrated by the inability of blacks to penetrate the job market at higher levels. According to Sunny Francis, a black woman who was brought by La Concha to Key West as the hotel's Human Resources Director, skilled blacks don't stay in the area. Or, if they are in demand—which is the case at Florida Keys Community College, where personnel director Billie Esquinaldo targets black applicants for priority treatment—they will tend to go elsewhere, turned away by Key ALL THE GW0VY STVFFtypO : U K MfM West's high cost of living. According to Esquinaldo, the college has been unsuc- cessful in attracting and keeping black applicants. Another factor which prevents blacks from finding their share of satisfying em- ployment, says David Hart of Vocational Rehabilitative Services, is their relatively high ratio of undetected or uncorrected dis- abilities, ranging from poor eyesight to severe emotional disturbances. For three years, Health and Rehabilitative Services has been attempting to rectify some of these problems—specifically for single mothers who need day care and transportation—with Project Independence. Unfortunately, the program has not been very successful, according to personnel from related agen- cies. It is currently out of funds. Public perception of blacks through the media is yet another factor, both pervasive and damaging, which has undermined their position in the workplace. As editorialist Walter Goodman pointed out in a recent article in The New York Times, media coverage of crime and racial encounters such as the Bensonhurst case "... is not .VENTURES advertising . marketing . public relations architectural renderings. business cards brochures . catalogues • copywritina demographic studies. flyers • forms ayout • design • logo development media planning • newslittersTpreTrlteases • resumes • reports & proposals special events. stationary. surveys One Key Lime Square • Key West, FL 33040 .__ (305)296-3609 racially motivated, yet it is made to order for racial provocateurs .... In the case of blacks, especially, viewers are presented every night with a universe split between examples of individual achievement and of group disappointment." The Few and Far Between Here in Key West, Jo Ann Davidson fits into Goodman's first category. A third- generation black Conch, she came back to Key West after studying fashion merchan- dising. She lives in the same house in which she grew up and works at La Concha's gift shop, where she is a visible asset to the tourist industry. "I love giving directions," she says enthusiastically. Davidson credits much of her success to keeping busy as a youngster and to the values taught her by her mother, who raised her family alone and also worked. Like Davidson, Cyrus Poitier, a 27-year-old black Conch employed at Avis, is an example of an individual who has transcended the system and proven its tenets wrong. For eight years he has been working for Avis, where he is now the most visible rental agent in Key West. However, when he first applied for work, the only position available was washing cars. He took it, and, he says, he was grateful to get it. Poitier says he was never aware of any race-related obstacles until he approached the job market in the months after his gradu- ation from Key West High School, where he was a good student and an outstanding band member. The unassuming poise, excellent lan- guage skills, and cheerful courtesy which make him such a good front-desk man seem the hallmarks of his character. Poitier credits his people skills to role models from the black community whom he met in his formative years. "We have some very talented people in the black community," Poitier says. "Maybe some feel they're not important, but they played an important role in my life. I'm speaking now of people such as Mr. Roosevelt Sands, who not so much advised me directly as gave me an example to fol- low, showing how a young black gentle- man should conduct himself." Poitier's mother raised her children alone after her divorce. However, both mother and father were active in two social organi- zations, the Roy alettes and the Sultan Royals, which Poitier says provided another key element in his development. (Davidson gives the same credit to the Elks Club, where she takes her 11-year-old daughter to participate in activities.) "What I learned from these social organizations," says Poitier, "was how a group can come together, have an idea and make it work. That concept was very, very important." After graduation, Poitier elected not to a contemporary clothing store HOT Key Plaza Shopping Center Key West, Florida 33040 (305) 294-6837 accept a music scholarship available to him through Florida A & M—a decision he now regrets. Instead, he approached the Key West job market, and here is where he first encountered the faces of hidden prejudice to which so many other blacks aspiring to the middle class allude. Poitier would be told that jobs had been filled only to see them still running as unfilled in the classified section of the newspaper, or additional job qualifications would be invented on the spot. He approached every bank and every hotel in town, also every travel-related business, as that was his interest. He had the same experience as his black friends: no help wanted—not from him, at least. "I remember getting really angry with this one travel agent. I knew I wanted to do something with travel, and I was willing to do any job. But there was something about her attitude. She said she wasn't interested in me because I wasn't 'trained,' but I knew that wasn't it." Did he feel discriminated against? "In a way, yes. But not to the point where it stopped me from continuing the hunt. How I got the job at Avis was that one of my friends was working at the airport. I applied at Avis, and the only thing they had was a car-wash position. Oh, I was glad to take it." Poitier smiles, a little sadly. "We had never had a car in my family; I didn't know anything about them. It was really good training for me." After a pause he adds, "At the time it struck me, it is really hard for a young black guy—even one who is willing to take anything." Recently Poitier traveled to Homestead to see a rodeo, and to New York City to see one of the last performances of Chorus Line. This summer, as he has for several past, Poitier is traveling in Europe. "Oh yes, I know Cyrus," says Moodie, glancing out the window at the still, sun-baked street. "Cyrus is different." Silver Linings Perhaps one day, if people like personnel director Sunny Francis, who recently held a picnic for Bahama Village youth on her own tab, have their way, the have-nevers will enjoy some real hope of integration into communities such as Key West. Then excellent achievers—Cyrus Poitier, for instance—will not be spoken of as "different" from other blacks but rather as "among the best." | i | The Market At Blue Heaven is Open 10am-6pm Daily Lunch Specials 296-8666 Corner of Thomas & Petronia PL's Secretarial & Bookkeeping In your home/office or mine Computerized accounting • Payroll/taxes/general ledger Set up and/or maintain books Letter/manuscript typing Notary 296-7410 Weddings Solares Hill ' J u l y 1990 • AN OCEANFRONT RESTAURANT DINING Indoors or Under The Stars. Entertaining Food and Drink. THE AfTERDECK A Transom's Height Above The Water. Cocktails. Enjoy All Of Our Views 11:3OAM-2AM 700 WADDELL • 294-1061 (Vernon & Waddell Oceanfront) "Where the Locals Relax" The Whistle Happy Hour 5-9, Daily THE BULL & WHISTLE BAR Corner of Duval & Caroline Streets "the most laid back bar in Key West" Page 6 • July 1990 • Solares Hill finally caught and turned over to the author- ities, he was earning $30,000 a year dealing crack. "I would say the crack industry touches just about every family in the Village," says Kevin Crean, a freelance photographer who lived there for several years. "It was all night—the constant clicking of ten-speeds past the windows. Just about anybody standing outside was whistling or calling to the people who come down there: 'Yo, yo— you lookin'? Whatcha need?"1 Crean now works as a counselor's assistant at the Lighthouse Program, a county-funded drug rehabilitation project for adolescents. The Stock Island facility houses up to 13 youths, is co-ed, and was formerly a sheriffs annex and hospital. The job, he says, is frustrating but interesting. "Every other week I want to quit because I feel like I'm not doing any good," he says. "But then something positive happens, and my faith is restored." Are there any success stories? "More than successes," exclaims Crean. "We've had miracles! We get kids who have atti- tudes like you can't believe, so closed up in their own addictions that they don't want to hear anything from anybody. But after a couple of months of structured activity, some of them suddenly get the point." One of his clients got his GED (a high school graduation equivalency diploma) and is now out in the work force—at entry level. "The point is, the television is still in your living room because this kid has a job," Crean says. "This is the system that was in- vented for them." Crean and others who have worked with or in the black community agree that the situation is Kafkaesque. Blacks believe the situation will never get better. "They are the outlaws, the underlaws, and they truly know there is no shot for them," says the accountant. "It's like a handicapped person making an adjustment: He figures, 'Well, I won't play football.' These kids figure out at an early age they are not going to be the mayor or on the bank board, but they can have that television materialism, the cars and the jeans. It's unfortunate—but that is the way we have iS DC O z: Neutralize!1: Am- bassador John Smith, based on the corner of Petronia and White Streets, patrols a four-block area. Hired, in part, by the Pier House, Smith's duties in- clude informing tourists about Baha- ma Village and help- ing them find their ways back to Duval Street. built the society." Bubbaism and Bensonhurst "Seems like here it comes down to who you know," says Mendel Mackey, a black Gl who had no trouble getting part-time work at Sears, but complains that his wife, who has a degree in finance, is unable to find suitable employment. She has had no response from local banks. After an exten- sive search, she was offered a night audi- tor's job at Howard Johnson's at $5 per hour. Blacks who have been frustrated in their attempts to break into higher-level jobs frequently cite "Bubbaism" as the cause. Some employers are also frustrated by the inability of blacks to penetrate the job market at higher levels. According to Sunny Francis, a black woman who was brought by La Concha to Key West as the hotel's Human Resources Director, skilled blacks don't stay in the area. Or, if they are in demand—which is the case at Florida Keys Community College, where personnel director Billie Esquinaldo targets black applicants for priority treatment—they will tend to go elsewhere, turned away by Key 425 GREEW-sr 29*.4/77 O HMJOSAG-S o BAMDAA7A5 6TIB XSLANP ALLTuzaoovy 296-7/75T' West's high cost of living. According to Esquinaldo, the college has been unsuc- cessful in attracting and keeping black applicants. Another factor which prevents blacks from finding their share of satisfying em- ployment, says David Hart of Vocational Rehabilitative Services, is their relatively high ratio of undetected or uncorrected dis- abilities, ranging from poor eyesight to severe emotional disturbances. For three years, Health and Rehabilitative Services has been attempting to rectify some of these problems—specifically for single mothers who need day care and transportation—with Project Independence. Unfortunately, the program has not been very successful, according to personnel from related agen- cies. It is currently out of funds. Public perception of blacks through the media is yet another factor, both pervasive and damaging, which has undermined their position in the workplace. As editorialist Walter Goodman pointed out in a recent article in The New York Times, media coverage of crime and racial encounters such as the Bensonhurst case "... is not ES advertising •marketing • public relations a h r ^ h ? I U r a l r e n , d f ^gs • business cards brochures . catalogues • copywritina .^^g^Phicstudies«flyers .forms9 mpriEYrSJl* • e s i g n # | O 9 ° developmentmedia planning • newsletters. press releases resumes. reports & proposals special events. stationary. surveys One Key Lime Square . Key West, FL 33040 .___ (305)296-3609 racially motivated, yet it is made to order for racial provocateurs .... In the case of blacks, especially, viewers are presented every night with a universe split between examples of individual achievement and of group disappointment." The Few and Far Between Here in Key West, Jo Ann Davidson fits into Goodman's first category. A third- generation black Conch, she came back to Key West after studying fashion merchan- dising. She lives in the same house in which she grew up and works at La Concha's gift shop, where she is a visible asset to the tourist industry. "I love giving directions," she says enthusiastically. Davidson credits much of her success to keeping busy as a youngster and to the values taught her by her mother, who raised her family alone and also worked. Like Davidson, Cyrus Poitier, a 27-year-old black Conch employed at Avis, is an example of an individual who has transcended the system and proven its tenets wrong. For eight years he has been working for Avis, where he is now the most visible rental agent in Key West. However, when he first applied for work, the only position available was washing cars. He took it, and, he says, he was grateful to get it. Poitier says he was never aware of any race-related obstacles until he approached the job market in the months after his gradu- ation from Key West High School, where he was a good student and an outstanding band member. The unassuming poise, excellent lan- guage skills, and cheerful courtesy which make him such a good front-desk man seem the hallmarks of his character. Poitier credits his people skills to role models from the black community whom he met in his formative years. "We have some very talented people in the black community," Poitier says. "Maybe some feel they're not important, but they played an important role in my life. I'm speaking now of people such as Mr. Roosevelt Sands, who not so much advised me directly as gave me an example to fol- low, showing how a young black gentle- man should conduct himself." Poitier's mother raised her children alone after her divorce. However, both mother and father were active in two social organi- zations, the Royalettes and the Sultan Royals, which Poitier says provided another key element in his development. (Davidson gives the same credit to the Elks Club, where she takes her 11-year-old daughter to participate in activities.) "What I learned from these social organizations," says Poitier, "was how a group can come together, have an idea and make it work. That concept was very, very important." After graduation, Poitier elected not to a contemporary clothing store ' . . i i O I . K e y P l a z a S l i o p p i n g C e n t e r ';, '••';,, [''.^'•^'•••\~'•-.;. accept a music scholarship available to him through Florida A & M—a decision he now regrets. Instead, he approached the Key West job market, and here is where he first encountered the faces of hidden prejudice to which so many other blacks aspiring to the middle class allude. Poitier would be told that jobs had been filled only to see them still running as unfilled in the classified section of the newspaper, or additional job qualifications would be invented on the spot. He approached every bank and every hotel in town, also every travel-related business, as that was his interest. He had the same experience as his black friends: no help wanted—not from him, at least. "I remember getting really angry with this one travel agent. I knew I wanted to do something with travel, and I was willing to do any job. But there was something about her attitude. She said she wasn't interested in me because I wasn't 'trained,' but I knew that wasn't it." Did he feel discriminated against? "In a way, yes. But not to the point where it stopped me from continuing the hunt. How I got the job at Avis was that one of my friends was working at the airport. I applied at Avis, and the only thing they had was a car-wash position. Oh, I was glad to take it." Poitier smiles, a little sadly. "We had never had a car in my family; I didn't know anything about them. It was really good training for me." After a pause he adds, "At the time it struck me, it is really hard for a young black guy—even one who is willing to take anything." Recently Poitier traveled to Homestead to see a rodeo, and to New York City to see one of the last performances of Chorus Line. This summer, as he has for several past, Poitier is traveling in Europe. "Oh yes, I know Cyrus," says Moodie, glancing out the window at the still, sun-baked street. "Cyrus is different." Silver Linings Perhaps one day, if people like personnel director Sunny Francis, who recently held a picnic for Bahama Village youth on her own tab, have their way, the have-nevers will enjoy some real hope of integration into communities such as Key West. Then excellent achievers—Cyrus Poitier, for instance—will not be spoken of as "different" from other blacks but rather as "among the best." |i] The Market At Blue Heaven is Open 10am-6pm Daily Lunch Specials 296-8666 Corner of Thomas & Petronia PL's Secretarial & Bookkeeping In your home/office or mine- Computerized accounting - Payroll/taxes/general ledger Set up and/or maintain books Letter/manuscript typifrg Notary 296-7410 Weddings Solares Hill « July 1990 . p a g c . ? • : • : • : • : • : AN OCEANFRONT RESTAURANT DINING Indoors or Under The Stars. cafe Entertaining Food and Drink. THEMTEHDECSi A Transom's Height Above The Water. Cocktails. Enjoy All Of Our Views 11-.30AM-2AM 700 WADDELL* 294-1061 (Vernon & Waddell Oceanfront) "Where the Locals Relax" nuui 5-9, Daily THE BULL & WHISTLE BAR Corner of Duval & Caroline Streets "the most laid back bar in Key West" i I Page 8 • July 1990 - Solares Hill JLt appears that Key West Police Chief Tom Webster's days as the city's most ex- pensive employee ever, are numbered. But don't look for Webster's resignation—the city is merely requesting a termination date on his contract and new salary negotiations. City Commissioner Virginia Panico asked City Attorney Bob Gray to investigate the legality of Tom Webster's open-ended contract. Gray reported to the city com- mission, at a June 16th meeting, that the chiefs contract is, according to Florida case law, an indefinite contract. "The courts say that the term has to end at some point," Gray said. "This contract is silent with respect to term." Panico pointed out that the chiefs salary was going up year-after-year at an alarming rate. The base salary for the chief's position, when Webster was hired in 1987, was $45,600. Today, Panico said, the base pay has escalated to $80,314. With benefits, it exceeds $106,000. "It will continually rise," Panico said. "I don't think that a city of 28,000 people can afford to pay a police chief as much as the SWEET ^MISCHIEF Sportswear Exotic Swimwear Enticing Lingerie Whiting & Davis Accessories Custom Clothing & Swimwear & Alterations Gilt Certificates 335 Duval Street Key West, Fla. 296-0777 John the butler steam carpet cleaning upholstery water extraction oriental specialists SAME DAY SERVICE 296-8083 police chief of Miami." What's more, Key West's city code does not allow a depart- ment head to earn a higher base salary than the city manager. Felix Cooper, the city manager, makes an annual salary of $60,000; he receives an additional $8,400 in benefits. Meanwhile, the department's budget seems headed in the opposite direction from Webster's salary. The proposed 1990-91 budget for the police department is $9,674 million, up a healthy 89 percent from the 1989-90 figure of $5,168 million. On June 22, the Key West Crime Task Force ap- proved the budget, which includes 135 positions, .ten new police vehicles, a 16-foot boat with accessories, and two jet skis, among other items. To terminate the chiefs existing contract, Gray said that either the city or Webster may give reasonable notice. Then, if the city manager so chooses, a new contract, with a time-specific designation, can be drawn up. "I say that reasonable notice is 30 days," said Gray. "I want to be very clear on what we're discussing here," said Panico. "We're discussing term of contract. This contract—as it is now—is not in the best interests of the citizens or this city. There has been a lot of discontent about this. Now it's up to the city manager to take appropriate measures." Mayor Tony Tarracino, in a telephone interview from his hotel room in Chicago, where he is attending the Annual Con- ference of Mayors, offered strong support for Webster hours before the last city com- mission meeting. "Now that Sheriff Allison DeFoor is gone, and not around to make the chief look bad anymore, let's give Webster the funding he needs and let him prove himself," the mayor said. "The chief is his own man. I think he may turn out to be the best police chief that this city has ever had." The question is: Will Webster agree to the terms of a new contract? To request a copy of Chief Webster's current contract (it's public information), or to express con- cerns and/or suggestions to City Manager Felix Cooper, whose job it is to draw up provisions for the new contract, write to him at: P.O. Box 1409, Key West, FL 33041. Singh in the News Joel Achenbach, who writes for the Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine, is busy at w«*u work on a story on Truman Annex devel- oper Pritam Singh. Local Herald reporter Warren Getler, who spent a recent weekend at Singh's Vermont farm, is co-authoring the piece, which is rumored to follow a light-and-lively format. The article is scheduled to appear in the July 1 issue of Tropic Magazine. All Over But the Tears The Festival of the Continents, a wildly ambitious scheme to bring international and top-name entertainment to the Florida Keys, is finally dismantling, after three unglorious seasons. "It's not official yet," said FOC president Frank Romano, "but my recommendation at the next board meeting is going to be that this will be our last season. I think the board has reached burnout." "There wasn't the interest for our performing arts festival," said former FOC president Richard Heyman. "It certainly was no fun for a small group to work very hard, to underwrite events, and to not have com- munity support." The FOC has been criticized by local arts organizations for, among other reasons, receiving funding from the Tourist Development Council. Members of local theaters, in particular, believed the money should have been allocated to events using local talent. The FOC program featured groups and entertainers imported from areas outside the county—even outside the country, in some cases. "The only time the FOC got TDC money was this [its third] year, and those TDC funds had to be paid to Tinsley Adver- tising," explained Heyman. "The adver- tising wasn't worth a thing, in my opinion. Tinsley made us this ridiculous jingle commercial that didn't have anything to do with the festival. The money was totally wasted." Critics have also frowned on the festival's artistic director Parvan Bakardjiev for hiring his ex-wife Margaret Pent as executive director of the festival. Resigning in May 1989, she was employed for two of the festival's three seasons. Peter Ilchuk, who serves as secretary on the board of directors of the FOC, says the festival proved that there is a market here for musicals, opera, symphony and ballet. Ilchuk believes that several local theaters have dared to raise their ticket prices since the FOC's been around. "People want these things and they are Key West's Premier Restaurant, located over the water, is the island's best seat for Sunset, and the recipient of the 1989 South Florida Magazine Critics Choice Award and the coveted 1990 AAA Four Diamond Award for Fine Dining. We re the home of Key West's World Famous Key Lime Pie - join us/ For reservations call 296-4600, ext 555. willing to pay for them," says Ilchuk. "Whatever you say about Parvan, he has created a stimulation in the arts community that has produced some very positive results." Parvan Bakardjiev, who originally came up with the idea of the FOC, recently renewed his contract with Monroe County and will stay on as executive director of the Fine Arts Council—a fact that has opened a huge can of worms. A Cadillac Pool At the June 19 city commission meeting, Assistant City Attorney Ron Herron out- lined to commissioners three possible courses of action in the repair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Pool. Earlier this year the city received one bid for the job of fixing up the facility. The first proposal is that the city rebids the project—that means starting all over again from scratch, which Herron says will take no less than 45 days. A second choice is to accept the only bid received, which means work would begin much sooner. The problem is, Keevan Construction's bid is high—$437,000. The city set aside $250,000 of the city's new one-cent sales tax for the pool project. So Keevan was asked to find ways of lowering his bid. The $437,000 bid was pared down to $330,000—still high. Further, at the lower price, the city wouldn't be getting what Herron called a state-of-the- art pool. "It's the difference between buying a Buick and buying a Cadillac," Herron explained to the commission. "The pool will be functional for $330,000 but will not be of the quality we had planned." Commissioners asked Paul Mitchell, the city engineer, for his opnion on which choice he favored. "We feel the need to be responsible for your dollars," said Mitchell, who said he thought the single bid of $437,000 was higher than it should be. Mitchell said he would do a "scope of service" contract in the rebid, which would require a breakdown of all costs in the reconstruction project. "I feel terrible about this," said Commissioner Sally Lewis. "It breaks rrry heart that the kids don't have a pool this summer." All four commissioners (Mayor Tar- racino was out of town) agreed to go for the quality—the Cadillac pool. The pool won't be ready at the end of November, as originally hoped, but maybe by the begin- ning of January. Commissioners are bank- ing on the finished product being worth the wait. Eye on the Money Monroe County Attorney Randy Ludacer has requested a legal opinion from Florida Attorney General Robert A. Butterworth on whether it is legal for TDC funds to be used to fund police protection and/or to fund extra police protection during special events like Fantasy Fest and Spring Break. In a letter response, Butterworth wrote: "Any expenditure of revenues derived from the tourist development tax must be Solares Hill • July 1990 • Page 9 primarily for tourism, and any expenditures may only be used to promote and advertise tourism. Since the provision of law enforce- ment by the county is a general govern- mental function owed to the public at large such revenues may not be used to generally fund law enforcement within the county or to fund such functions during special events or holidays." •""*""• Go Hollymotfd^— ,, In, OrSan'do v/ DISCOVER TRAVEL , Your Link To The World . 517 Duval Street • 296-1585 % DYNASTY A CULINARY JEWEL Authentic Chinese Cuisine Indulge Yourself in Sizzling Hunan, Cantonese & Szechuan Specialties Open Nightly from 5:30 pm Reservations Suggested 918Duva!St. Key West 294-2943 Take Out Available Saint Mary, Star of the Sea Windsor Lane & Truman Ave. MASS SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil: 6 pm Sunday: 8 am, 10 am and 11:30 am (bilingual) Monday-Friday: 8 am Monday, 10:30 am at Senior Citizen Plaza Holy Days: 7 pm Vigil 10 am Holy Day Very Rev. Eugene M. Quinlan, VF Pastor & Dean of the Keys Rev. Mr. Kirby McClain • Permanent Deacon Religious Articles Shop Open before & after weekend Masses and Friday & Saturday - 10 am-Noon 10% Discount with this ad Tuesday thru Sunday 9 P.M. to 1 A.M. at the We Have The Largest Selection And Highest Quality Fresh Fruits And Vegetables In The Florida Keys WlTERFRQN T The Quality And Service You Expect 201 William Street Wholesale 294-8418 Free Parking Retail 296-0778 Key West Realty, Inc. Managing and selling the finest properties in Key West ** SPOTLIGHTS ** A Congratulations from Rick & Dana, Owners of Key West Realty, Inc. to Mr. and Mrs. John Nash for the sale of their property located at 1324 Seminary Street. ACTION speaks louder than words alone. Call Rick and Dana TODAY if you need ACTION on your property. SINGLE FAMILY 915 Comish Lane 2/1 renovated lane cottage 5178,000 1616 Seminary Street 2/1, tile & Tarazzo Fls. Large Yard 1187',500 716 Elizabeth Street 4/3, veTy spacious CBS in Old Town $192,500 1401 Atlantic Boulevard 3/1, Ocean View, Huge Yard & more $270,000 822 Georgia Street 3/3, 2 L/R, Dip Pool, The Meadows $325,000 MULTI-UNIT 524 Margaret Street 4 income producers on HOT Block $295,000 123-125 Ann Street 2 House compound w/ large courtyard J '^J? 611 William Street 3 units on Wonderful Street, check it out «5nSnn 311 Elizabeth Street 3 units, 2 trans., Lie Pool, location SiJU.OUu CONDO'S 1600 Bertha Street 2/1 first floor. Close to Beach and More $100,000 COMMERCIAL Specialty Magazine, 9th year, Great opportunity Curry House Guesthouse, S units + owners, pool, Jacuzzi Alexanders Guesthouse 9 units + owners, pool and more Curry House Plus 4/3 owners house, great package, pool 523 Eaton Street, restaurant operation, plus property i v / S nm Package Store, restaurant, bar, water view, #1 location 4I,auu,uuu "HISTORIC HIDEAWAYS" WHAT A DIFFERENCE WHERE YOU STAY MAKES WEEKLY, MONTHLY & YEARLY ACCOMMODATIONS 619 EATON ST., KEY WEST, FL 33040 (305) 294-3064 Page 10 • July 1990 • Solares Hill m o a i Blowing at Garrison Bight: A taste of the windy conditions that sprung up suddenly the afternoon before Hurricane Donna. Romancing the Storm Hurricane experts say leave Keys or flirt with disaster A Tragic but true: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 claimed hundreds of lives. by Kip Blevin As the hurricane surge began to break against his Upper Matecumbe home, Buck Grundy knew he had run out of time. The wind and rain and seawater pelted the win^ dows like bullets, finally crashing through in a deafening roar of spray and broken glass. Suddenly the electricity went off, and within minutes the water level inside the house was neck-deep. With his wife, Grundy made his way to the family car through a window near the carport. It was September 9, 1960, and the Grundys had decided not to evacuate. -O uck Grundy probably knew as much about hurricanes in the Florida Keys as anyone. He had lived through the infamous 1935 blow that ended Monroe County's railroad era. He was confident he could weather Hurricane Donna, the 1960 storm considered the second-most intense hurricane ever to pass through the Keys. His decision not to evacuate put him in the same boat, so to speak, as 44 percent of present-day Lower Keys residents if we experience a similar hurricane, according to a recent telephone survey. The University of South Florida behavioral study telephone poll found that 76 percent of Middle Keys residents and 78 percent of those in the Upper Keys said they'd evacuate in a major storm. But many Lower Keys natives, namely Key Westers and especially Conchs, said they wouldn't. They continued to express skepticism about Key West ever being hit. History provides little support for their views. Dennis Henize, meteorologist in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Service in Key West, points out that the island was hit by a hurricane of Category 4 proportions in 1919. The storm caused great property damage. He notes that many of the so-called storm-proof Conch houses didn't make it. And now, he postulates that some of these old homes, after years of termite infestation, wiould not last through a strong wind. Welcome to Hurricane Season 1990. Though hurricane experts are predicting that chances of a significant storm hitting our area are good, the only winds blowing so far have fortunately been rhetorical and political. Billy Wagner is beginning his second decade as Monroe County's Civil Defense Director after almost single-handedly running the county's hurricane preparedness program throughout the 1980s. Recently Wagner was buffeted by charges of negligence and incompetence. Doug Jones, the county's notoriously out- spoken commissioner, is posing the most serious challenge, calling for Wagner's dismissal or at least the reorganization of his department under the command of the sheriff. Jones claims the hurricane expert has not done his job, and that, as a result, the lives of Keys residents are in jeopardy. The county's hurricane expert, a highly-sought speaker at various storm conferences around the state, was defended by County Administrator Capt. Tom Brown. The only "dismissal" was of Solares Hill • July 3990 • Pace 11 Fixing the aqueduct: Water came to the Keys charges brought about by a "disgruntled employee," as Brown described Bill Loudin, Wagner's former assistant, who initially stirred up the controversy when he resigned from his position. Loudin said he could no longer work in good conscience by barge for a week until the pipeline was fixed. under Wagner, whom he referred to as incompetent. Though the debate was primarily another hot-air session with plenty of media atten- tion for Jones, it did raise some contro- versial points about the county's ability to cc LU Q z o Q Instantly homeless: This family lost all its material possessions except a few treasures salvaged in a blanket. f L- Page 12 • July 1990 • Solares Hill handle a hurricane situation. For one, the feisty commissioner criticized the feasibility of evacuation. * "My feeling is that if you are going to evacuate, you can't," Jones said. He is con- vinced that only residents of the Middle and Upper Keys are going to evacuate, with half going to Miami and half to Key West. He says he has yet to see The Plan, and if he did, "anyway, it wouldn't work." Secondly, he laments the county's lack of safe shelters, and is convinced that those who are sent to shelters—basically people who do not evacuate when requested to or those who are caught on the highway at an inopportune moment—will be, in effect, handed death sentences. The structures, which dot the Keys, are not equipped with hurricane shutters or generators. "We are guaranteeing they will die," Jones says, "while we should take all reasonable effort A holy mess: The blow of 1919 whipped the tops off several Key West buildings, includ- ing A.M.E. Zion Church. "You are living in an area with a high probability of being affected by tropical storms or hurricanes. The Keys is one of the most hurricane-prone areas in the United States," announces Monroe County's hur- ricane preparedness brochure. "Be warned that Monroe County— especially Key West—does not have sufficient shelter space," the text continues. "Your safest option is to evacuate early to the mainland." Evacuation. The word does not rest cozily in the minds of Keys residents. And understandably—it is the one community event which much be accomplished with no practice under great duress. Fortunately, there are sources of information that, if utilized, can help people endure evacuation with some confidence and an under- standing of the procedure. A Hurric.ine Watch is the first advisory, issued when hurricane conditions become threatening. Timewise, this is within 36 hours before the storm's eye is forecast to make landfall. (County Civil Defense Director Billy Wagner, you should remember, says a full evacuation will take more than 30 hours.) Next, and decidedly more urgent, is the Hurricane Warning, issued when winds of at least 74 miles per hour, high water and storm surge are all expected to reach an area within 24 hours. These advisories are essential to estab- lishing time frames for evacuation along to protect them." As for Jones' search for The Plan, Wagner says that there is a plan, or more accurately just an outline. He says that all the details from all the plans around the county would occupy an immense volume. "There are over 50 agencies and they all have their own damn plan," he said. The county's plan does need updating, adds Wagner, but he'd need an additional full-time employee to accomplish that task. Wagner says with certainty, and Brown backs him up, that evacuation provides the only reasonable chance of saving lives. Both argue that a preoccupation with shelters would give Key Westers in particular a false sense of security, making it extremely difficult to get them to evacuate. The Grundys managed to get inside their car and felt comparatively safe, as it was on higher ground and moderately dry inside. This, however, was a miscalculation that Grundy would live to regret. Almost as soon as he and his wife began to settle into what they took to be a safe haven, the car rapidly filled with water. The elderly couple nearly drowned. foommon sense lends credibility to the evacuation argument. The best course seems to be to convince people to leave the Keys voluntarily before a hurricane actually arrives. But, given human nature, the scenario would most likely entail panicked drivers in a traffic jam anxiously squeezing up U.S. 1 in an effort to beat the clock. Because of the vast number of variables —speed, barometric pressure, road condi- tions, accidents, communications, and the like—in calculating a hurricane's path and the potential for evacuation, the experts U.S. 1, movements of boat traffic and related draw-bridge openings and closings. During watches or warnings, listen to local radio, cable television Channel 5, Channel 26 and NOAA weather radio. Call 911 in emergencies only. Be aware that evacuation can come to a screeching halt when gale-force winds reach 39 miles per hour or a storm surge begins to flood the road, as could be expected in the Upper Keys. Because of the many uncertainties of storm direction, changes in intensity, for- ward speed and the constraints of U.S. 1, experts suggest a number of evacuation strategies are needed to avoid the last-minute rush as the storm approaches. According to Monroe County's Hurricane Emergency Plan, handicapped and institutionalized people will be the first to leave through "selective evacuation." County Administrator Capt. Tom Brown recently said that the county expects to move many of these residents by helicopter. Others who should consider a early exit, the plan recommends, are those in mobile homes and aboard boats in high-risk areas. One of the more curious recom- mendations is geared toward evacuating "those close to the water," which should basically mean every Keys resident; and the removal of "non-essential persons," a term which refers to people not directly involved in coordinating the evacuation. Women in the first two trimesters of pregnancy or those who absolutely cannot leave the county may seek shelter in one of the special care shelters in The Galley Building in the Truman Annex in Key West; Stanley Switlick School in Marathon or Key Largo Elementary School. Evacuation recommendations will be in- fluenced by the wind speed of the hurricane, as defined in Categories 1 through 5. Category 1 is characterized by wind speeds of 74 to 95 mph, with damage potential list- ed as minimal. The recent skirting by Floyd, which left many residents crowing that they are now hurricane veterans, was such a storm. Category 2 carries winds of 96 to 110 mph, with moderate potential for damage; Category 3, 111 to 130 mph, extensive damage; Category 4, 131 to 155 mph, extreme damage; and Category 5, in excess of 155 mph, catastrophic. County officials say that neither they nor state nor federal officials can guarantee anyone's safety in a shelter above a Category 2 level storm. For more detailed information, the public is encouraged to contact Monroe County Civil Defense, 5192 Overseas Highway, Marathon, Florida 33050; or call 294-9581 in the Lower Keys; 872-2002, extension 245, or 743-7686 in the Middle Keys; or 664-8238, extension 245 in the Upper Keys. >-*f •*•> offer a range ot opinion as to how long an . evacuatioon might take. "Right now, it would take 30-plus hours to get [people] out in a major storm," says Wagner, "depending on what scenario occurs." Meteorologist Dennis Henize gives the best-case scenario that evacuation time can be cut to 24 hours for a total evacuation, 38 hours during high tourist periods. Jones' non-expert opinion is that evacuation can occur in between 24 and 32 hours. He admits the difficulty in predicting precisely where a hurricane will hit, although he says that their size makes the bigger storms more predictable. September 2, 1990, will be the 55th anniversary of the Keys' worst-ever hurricane. The Labor Day storm of 1935 hit before the invention of the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Category Scale. But no one doubts it was a Category 5—the most deadly. As that one passed over the Keys, it produced a rise in water levels ranging from 11 to 18 feet for a distance of around 21 miles to the right of the storm center. With winds speeding in excess of 155 miles per hour, civil defense and hurricane experts have a one-word description of a Category 5's damage potential: Catastrophic. Loss of life was heavy. Many believe Henry Flagler's historic Overseas Railroad Co. contributed to much of the destruction. The company built trestle overpasses, which blocked normal tidal flows, forcing an unnatural buildup of water on one side of the causeway. When the water finally broke through, it uprooted the rails with the fury of a broken dam, sweep- ing away railroad cars and hundreds of people in the midst of evacuation. Memories of the 1935 disaster have faded with time, but many residents continue to be haunted by the specter of ; •••/,' ; ' : -V '•;. RedRoast P o r k y ; ^ ^ y y : y 7 ; : : y y ; f ' r S •'. ,, y y : : .••••. .Stirf^ Beef with.Ot45ter:5auceyyy):l;:y.c;7yiyyS iCeq West Conc^ Patt ies;W^ 2 7.95 5:30-10:00 P.M.: BVBBMS BUFFET BEIJING EMMA'S SEAFAREAT THE I K ^ j SIMONTON STREET AT tttE OCEAN l i r Solares Hill - J u l y 1990 • Page 25 Page 20 • July 1990 • Solares Hill Life's a Beach—and Then You Renourish It by Gregg Lasky Jvebuilding Key West's shoreline, en- larging its beaches and constructing a new White Street pier would seem to be worthwhile projects, appealing to local of- ficials, conservationists and citizens alike. But questions about how much these pro- jects will cost and concerns that they are aimed more toward enhancing Key West's tourism industry than protecting its environ- ment has polarized the groups. Even as local and state permitting agen- cies consider approval and funding for the proposals, a local grassroots campaign fuel- ed by conservationists and concerned citi- zens could hold up the beach renourishment process. It's a situation that has plagued this and similar proposals since the 1970s. Few disagree that something must be done to improve water flow along the shore- lines of Smathers, Higgs and Rest beaches. Environmental activists say they are worried that Key West's environmental well-being continues to be sold out to developers who want to exploit the island's tourist industry and that some local officals are allowing that to happen. "The [officials] think Key West needs big sandy beaches to increase the tourist industry," says Curtis Kruer, a marine biologist and vice president for conservation of the Florida Keys Audubon Society." A feeding beach [for birds and sea life] has been turned into a tourist beach with heavy machinery," Kruer says, referring to bull- dozers which drag the beaches each morn- ing to gather seaweed which has washed ashore. City officials and engineers involved in the projects, however, see it differently. "It's a shame people think that way," says City Commissioner Virginia Panico, who heads the local Beach Advisory Committee. "I think it will enhance the quality of life for people who live here." The latest proposals include spending more than $8 million to buy and lay down 8.3 acres of Bahamian sand along Smath- ers, Higgs and Rest beaches, realign the shoreline and raze and reconstruct the White Street pier. The city is hoping to secure commit- ments from federal and state sources to pay for between 50 and 75 percent of the beach projects and a portion of the White Street pier project. Already the House Appro- priations Committee approved $193,000 to complete the planning for the beach pro- jects. Congress had appropriated this fund- ing several times before, according to an article in the'Citizen, but the Reagan and Bush administrations refused to spend it on a "pork barrel" recreation project. Now it's up to the Senate to make the final funding approval. The proposed changes would create a new 135-foot-wide beach at Smathers fora stretch of 3,000 feet from Bertha Street east along South Roosevelt Boulevard toward East Martello Tower. The purchase and ap- plication of a special sand, Aragonite, is es- timated to cost about $2.8 million. Panico says the city is hoping the federal government will eventually pay for half of the project, or $1.4 million, with 75 percent of the $1.4 million balance being funded by the state. According to the proposal, the Monroe County Tourist Development Coun- cil would pick up the remaining $350,000 tab, she says. Moving a small segment of Higgs Beach back and increasing the Rest Beach side to even the shoreline would cost an additional $202,000, for which the city hopes to secure state funding, Panico says. But critics worry about erosion. "We have an objection to putting sand down because it will erode, and when it does erode, it'll be carried out to the grass beds where birds feed," says Joan Borel, a local activist. The city should straighten out the shoreline but not look to increase the size of the beaches, she says. But Karen Kennedy, a biologist with Post, Buckley, Schuh and Jernigan, Inc., the city's engineering firm, says the Ara- gonite fill was chosen because it is a heavy grade of sand and resists being washed out to sea where it would cover the sensitive feeding beds. "We would like to not have to do it but we have to lay down 100-foot-wide beaches KWF ALL TALK RADIO" ) AM 1600 Your Station For • Paul Harvey 8:30 a.m., 12:06 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. • Larry King 11:00 p.m. til 5:00 a.m. • The Florida Keys Bargain Line 12:30 to 12:45 p.m. • Lively Talk and News from 7:00 til 9:00 Every Weekday Morning with Dr. Jeff Ellis WKWF-AM 1600 • 7 MacDonald Ave.. Key West, FL 33040 (305) 294-1600 • FAX: (305) 296-0588 " - - - • • • - V" » i_" * j _ ; r FAJITAS MARGARITAS i -i1' * lift f IV y V Wednesdays at Emma's Seafare $1295 Chicken or Sieak Fajiias and a piicher of Margaritas. The Reach Simonlon Street al the Ocean 296-5000 to cover the rock put in in 1960 or else there will be more erosion," Kennedy says. "If it had been built differently in 1960, maybe we would have had other options, but that's the way it is." But the bulk of the plan's cost—about $5 million—lies in the razing and recon- struction of the White Street pier, the 30-year-old edifice that inhibits natural water flow and threatens area sea life be- cause it is a depository for seaweed and man-made debris. The plan calls for demo- lition of the existing 500-foot-long roadway to the rectangular platform, which would re- main, replacing it with a 16-foot-wide, 13-foot-high handicapped-accessible road. The new walkway would allow water to flow freely beneath it. In addition, an identi- cal roadway would be built on the other side of the platform, extending an additional 775 feet out to sea. But even Panico concedes that the federal government is not likely to approve funding for the new pier, so the city is looking to the state to supply as much as three quarters— or $3.75 million—of the $5 million project. The remaining $1.25 million would have to be paid for with TDC funds, which are generated from tourist taxes, she says. OVERSEAS FRUIT MARKET Fancy Fruits & Vegetables Wholesale or Retail JUICE BAR Fresh Made To Order... Fruit Juices & Smoothies Fruit Salads & Vegetable Juices 929 Truman Avenue • 296-9742 JAPANESE CUISINE 722 DUVAL KEY WEST 294-2288 NEW SUMMER HOURS LUNCH MON-FRI 12:00-2:30 PM DINNER MON-SAT 7:00-11:30PM TAKE OUT AVAILABLE But critics say this is the crux of the problem. "The project has been slowed down because it's been so ambitious," says Borel. Kruer agrees. "The bottom line is we feel some amount of work on Smathers Beach is okay. It's the scale that's the problem," he says. "The fact that Rest Beach is the last remnant of [natural] shoreline in Key West is a statement in itself. Protecting Rest Beach is really protecting the last vestige of shallow-water shoreline." Panico vows to continue the push for the three-pronged plan. Solares Hill • July 1990 - P a g e 21 "We've waited long enough," says Panico, who remembers a $6 million beach restoration plan that came close to approval in 1980 and eventually fizzled out "'I'm ing to fight tooth and nail on this." 051 Where Your Friends Meet serving SUN. BRUN'CH Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner and... e AM. 3 PM Sunday Brunch 1211DUVATL'ES.-SAT. a AM-8 P M CLOSED MON. is«orr With Coupon 294-7227 HttKYUW LUNCHEON BUFFET only $6.95 Offering a Stir Fry of the Day Fresh Bread & Homemade Soup Complete Salad Bar Serving from 11:30 to 3 pm Monday-Friday ^ W Dinner Sun.-Thur. 5:30-10 • Fri. & Sat. 5:30-11 rffW ' ASK ABOUT OUR CATERING SERVICES /L&- 1990 Roosevelt Blvd. • 294-6912 Northern Italian Cuisine 615 Duval Street • 294-6565 7 to 11 p.m. • Visa, MC • Catering Available Closed Wednesday r Page 22 • July 1990 • Solares Hill Custom Gift Baskets For All Occasions ft Try Our New Casual Island Menu Come and try our DINNER SPECIALS or enjoy our Appetizers & Cocktails with a View! Welcome Back Locals! 2 FOR 1 HAPPY HOUR with Free Appetizers 4:30-6pm Nightly • Dinner Nightly from 6pm 'Barrelhead Bar (The Raw Bar -Lower Deck) Try our New Frozen Rum Runners and 2 FOR 1 HAPPY HOUR with Free Munchies Enjoy our Harbor View featuring Live Entertainment Come try our New Spicy Menu Featuring Fresh Baked Breads & Pastries Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner 1 7 am to 10pm Waterfront Dining 711 Eisenhower Drive • 294-9343 KCVJ West 8-KHgJits W^Mf^M^.Mf^.M/*:^ Bill ICE COLD BEERI And other frozen beverages p - indigenous to the tropics Happy Hours 10am-l pm and 4-7 pm Live Music Sat. Nites Bill Blue & The Nervous Guys Infinite Tolerance (Bands alternate Sat. Nites) MiMidnight at Dan, Dan, the Ice-cream Man's Flamingo Crossing Eat-More-And- Get-Thin Frozen Yoghurt Caravansarai. Mab and I are at the corner table outside, discussing the movie, "Pretty Woman." The nightly Duval Street parade streams by: friends and less friendly ex-lovers, waiters, firemen, Italians, Iranians, Bulgar- ians, Denny Johnston on his way to his shop, Denoit ... young Japanese guys just off their fishing boats, the debonair Paul Keener with Floy, Countess Thompson, Judge Sandra Taylor with her husband, she in her Minerva guise, looking beautiful and wise, Champion Jack Dance with a Bird of Paradise on his shoulder ... jongleurs, troubadors, Labradors, bright young urine- analysists and off-duty models dressed like Salvation Army rejects, not-so-pretty women dressed to rival Mab (he's in sequins and lame' tonight, a lot of glitter in the hair) ... California people from the Goldie Hawn movie set in the Eden House, nifty Teddy Rand with Ed, Frank and Lou and the other boys who march in her band, married druggie lawyers and their hot female clients just back from dirty weekends in Maine ... unemployed writers demon- strating angst, Dade County Swingers in low-rent red Alamo cars demonstrating noise ... and now arm-in-arm, our own Conch version of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Sore Loser and the There- There Machine, in demonstration too, public marital happiness, private marital pain. A . Silver Shadow Rolls—Texas plates— turns the Virginia Street corner, and stops. Betty Bennett gets out from behind the wheel and joins us at the table. The poet, Jim Palm, is with her. They've just seen the movie too. * "You know what this flick immediately makes me think?" Mab says. "Another Depression is corning on. You know those 1930s movies you see when you're trying to decide not to commit suicide at 3 a.m.? All about the sorrows of being rich? Those Hollywood writers, they figure ninety percent the audience is up to the tit in debt; they like the wish-fulfillment glamor of seeing how billionaires live, but don't want to be made jealous watching richies laugh- ing with happiness they ain't poor. So they give us Richard Gere, young and hand- some, rich enough to outspend the Penta- gon, and guess what? He's Not Having A Good Time." "When I was about sixteen," Jim Palm said," a friend of mine, Freddie, stole a car and we went for a ride. The Virginia Beach shore: People on yachts dancing and throw- ing martini glasses into the sea. An en- gagement party on a country-club lawn, the reception in a green-and-white tent, an or- chestra playing. Butlers, champagne, fash- ionable clothes, chauffeured cars. Million- aires. Freddie says, 'They can't all be unhappy.'" "I loved the picture," Mab said. "Who wouldn't want to be in a fairy tale with Richard Gere? But do you believe anybody would still make a picture about a hooker with a golden heart? And looking like that? t*00000®000®^^ Specializing In 100% Cotton Children's Clothing Preme to 7 in Boys • Preme to 4 in Girls Gift Certificates Available * Free. Gift Wrapping Open Mon.-Fri. 10 am-5 pm, Sat. 11 am-4 pm ' Closed Sun. JAou/xy • LINGERIE BOUTIQUE • Featuring Silks and Cottons by Dior, Jezebel, Bob Mackie and More! See Our New Line of Large Sizes. Kama Sutra Products A MATERNITY AND CHILDREN'S BOUTIQUE 1023 White Street • Key West • 294-3865 Frances R. Rouse h jpgfajtpb ̂ ffffc- fl^h.jffh|tf*^irf^rf^hrf^^rf^rf^^ JfP^ jtffc ttQfK jiWJLtf^jtfBlLijffTl JQfc dff^jtftL^fcjrf^^jflPfc^^hjffEL Solares Hill • July 1990 • Page 25 She's not a junkie, no AIDS, no pimp, a lot of naive enthusiasm and when she goes to the john it's not to do coke or rifle his wallet, but to floss her teeth." Jim Palm was wearing a T-shirt that said something I couldn't read because he had it on inside out. He began to take it off. "What brings back those old-time movies to me," Jim began, the shirt halfway over his head, Betty Bennett beginning to strip down to her bra. "What brings them back," Jim said again, "was how they had to show that salvation for Richard Gere was in finding out the best things in life are free." "Bing Crosby died a millionaire singing that one," said Mab. Jim had the shirt off by now and handed it to Betty. "What they did," he said, "was show he finds out that he loves to walk barefoot in the grass. Good clean fun money can't buy. In the 1930s movies, they always had to show that even though Katherine Hepburn was a virgin beyond belief, all she cared about was not stuffy debutante balls or even getting married, but having fun." "Good clean fun" Betty said, "which means: anything you can do with your knees together." "Even after June Allyson married Dick Powell in the Great Radio Broadcast of 1937," Jim said, "she remained a virgin." "How reminiscent of the men I meet today," Mab said. "June Allyson was ahead of her time." Betty took a generous breath. Hand- somely displayed across her chest, the T-shirt said, "Ah, Heaven, Divorced At Last!" Mab giggled. Betty did sang froid. "Remember Doris Day," she said, "always talking Rock Hudson into sitting in the bleachers in the rain? Judy Garland standing up Mr. Penthouse to return a lost dog to a sick kid? Picture after picture, how to make you believe Rita Hay worth wearing one sock black, one sock red to a party was more fun than taking Clark Gable to bed." PLANT NURSERY Orchids • Fruit Trees Houseplonfs Landscaping Plants Succulents Hibiscus Ofher Exotics CITY ELECTRIC EATON JAMES 9 AM - 6 PM 7 DAYS 916 JAMES ST. • KEY WEST 292-0272 "Not a pretty woman alive," Mab said, pursing his lips in a hand mirror and wield- ing a pointed camel's hair brush over a tiny jade pot of lip rouge. "Somewhere, some man's.glad he finally got rid a her." Jean was working for Dan that night. She came out now in her side-slashed black satin giggle pants. "Anybody want a taste of tomorrow's special?" Jean said. "What's that?", Betty said. "Palm Beach Death-By-Chocolate Cake," Jean said. Mab said: "Non-prosecutable under the Florida Penal Code, a victimless crime?" "Good night, good night," we said, and went home. HTI Solares Hill » July 1990 • Page 23 V | THE PINK VAC SALES ' SUPPLIES ' REPAIRS KIRBY - HOOVER - ELECTROLUX EUREKA - PREMIER - RAINBOW Small Appliance Repair 294-8563 1102 White St. Key West Paul & Renee Richardson MUSEUM SHOP;uJ tuM SHUP- 812 CAROLINE ST. OPENVJITES AND SATURDAY 296-0785 V . . • • ; . • - • . • • • : ; ' - • ' • • • • ' • • - r • • / • • " - . . . : • • • • • ' . • % If We search the world... ' We select, we match, we assemble to create the beautiful 1 and the unique. , & CARDS Special Orders Promptly Handled Tasteful Selection of Greeting Cards Sunday NY Times Gay Studies Section 817 DUVAL STREET KEY WEST, FL 33040 (305) 296-3508 m Quality Dry Cleaning NOW OPEN! Most Modern Plant In The Keys! Come In And Check Our Low Prices... Dresses $6.50 & up 2 Piece Suit $7.00 Blouses $2.75 Shirts $2.25 Keys Cleaners Perry's Plaza (next to McDonalds) 292-1112 Ernest Hemingway Home and Museym A Registered National Historical Landmark OPEN DAILY 9:00 A.M. TO 5:00 P.M. 907 WHITEHEAD STREET, KEY WEST, FLA. Take a leisurely tour of the home and gardens of the fate Nobel Prize winner, Ernest Hemingway. It was here that Mr. Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, Green Hills of Africa,. A Farewell to Arms, The Fifth Column, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and The Macoftber Affair. Mr. Hemingway was the first important writer to dis- cover and make Key V\fest his home. He owned the home from 1931 to 1961. Covets One Acre Including Pool & Quest Housa r Page 24 • July 1990 • Solares Hill Nature Notebook Pandemonium of Frogs by Carl Weekley, Jr. iJorae go tink! like a Lilliputian gong, some honk like Mack trucks stuck in traffic, and some sound like frogs ought to sound. With the beams of,our flashlights we pick them out, hundreds of mustard-yellow frogs clinging to the huge oval leaves of the shoulder-high aroid which dominates the swamp undergrowth. We are on the San- dero Cantarrana—Trail of the Singing Frog. Despite the full moon, little light reaches the dense vegetation on either side of the boardwalk, for it is filtered through the canopies of 100-foot-tall trees, the titans of the rain forest. Suddenly, a tree frog hops onto Orlando's face; it is chartreuse with white spots on its flanks and red eyes and feet. When the hilarity subsides, Orlando explains that there are more than ten species of frogs in this postage stamp of a swamp. Most remain unseen. But their din, ampli- fied by the buttress roots of surrounding trees, swells and slackens. This pandemonium of frogs is emblem and exemplar of the mind-boggling richness ISLAND ILLNESS SUMMER WELLNESS IN KEY WEST CHILDREN'S PLAYSHOP ( 6-12years ) TEENAGE WELLNESS PARTY( 13-19years) RtFLEXOLOGY S MASSAGE THERAPY WORKSHOPS IYENGAR YOGA . T Al CHI CH' UAN: METAPHYSICS HEALING CIRCLE. VIDEO NIGHT SELF HYPNOSIS- GA.'.lf.lA - a gay men's gathering MASSAGE THERAPY:: JUICE BAR :: HAIR SALON 530 Simonton Street, Key Wast 236-7353 and diversity of tropical life. It hits you smack between the eyes: how can there be so many kinds of living things in one small place? A day earlier it had been a different story: no rain, no swamp, no frogs. Nobody knows where all these frogs go when it is • dry, Orlando explains. Overnight it had rained four inches (ten percent of Key West's annual rainfall), and as if by magic the frogs had appeared. Two nights later when we visited the Cantarrana again, it was still a swamp but the frogs were gone. The aroid leaves glistened with slimy mass- es of frog eggs. Orange cat-eyed snakes slithered through the vegetation, alert for a snack. Our group consisted of ten students of Tropical Ecology and our instructor, Dr. Suzanne Koptur, Associate Professor of Botany at Florida International University. It was early May, just at the interface be- tween the dry season and the wet. We were at La Selva Biological Station on the Carib- bean slope of Costa Rica. La Selva was established in 1968 as an ecological reserve by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of Costa Rican and U.S. universities. The station comprises 3750 acres rang- ing from 100 to 650 feet above sea level. The annual rainfall is 12 to 13 feet, mostly from May to October. Thanks to recent ac- quisitions, La Selva now abuts the 110,000 acre Braulio Carrillo National Park, thus constituting a large continuous stretch of lowland and montane rain forest. This is especially important for carnivores such as the jaguar, which requires ranges two or three times the size of La Selva. Although La Selva encompasses several habitats, the most important is the lowland rain forest. This was the ecosystem Darwin had in mind when he called the tropics "one great wild, untidy luxuriant hothouse, made by nature for herself." It's not just the frogs. In an area two-thirds the size of Big Pine Key, scientists recognize over 1800 species of vascular plants (including 450 trees), 57 species of snakes, over 400 species of birds (one-half the number found in all of North America above Mexico), and about 130 species of mammals (85 of which are bats). But it is the insects that run the place. Ant biomass alone exceeds the biorriass of all the vertabrates—from frogs to tapirs to monkeys—combined. There is no exact count of the number of moths and butterflies at La Selva, but Costa Rica, a country about the size of South Florida, has more species of butterflies than all of Africa. Will and I, the birders in the group, are up at five. In the morning haze, we hear more birds than we can see and we see more than we can name. Sometimes we get lucky: Scarlet-rumped tanager! Chestnut-mandi- bled toucan! Snowy continga! A small flock of Montezuma oropendolas passes over- head, dark big-billed birds with golden tails. By seven we are crossing the swinging bridge which spans the Rio Puerto Viejo, GREAT FOOD. GREAT FUN. THE WHARF. 111 mj» -<:m;.ir r r v | Relaxed Gulf View Dining & Banquet Facilities Happy Hour 4-7 p.m. • 2 For 1 Drinks Buffalo Wings 100 Each Open 7 Days - 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Featuring Nationally Known Comedians. ' Open Wednesday thru Saturday Showtime 9 p.m. Tickets $6 Call today for information on our "" ni-Vacation Package Plans. They start at only $99! Inn & Suites 296-5700 Restaurants 294-8882 Coconuts 29HURRY 2400 North Roosevelt Blvd. • Key West Major Credit Cards Accepted Open For Cocktails Wednesday thru Sunday 6 p.m. to Midnight There's Always Something Happening at. - the linking the main compound to the rain forest. As we tromp across with boots and books and ponchos, binoculars, cameras and canteens, the bridge ripples and writhes like Galloping Gerty. One hundred feet be- low on a log in the brown water there is a caiman, and at a respectable distance two basking turtles. It doesn't rain always, only often. But the canopy is so dense, 80 to 120 feet above our little awed heads, that we hardly get wet unless it is raining hard. The tallest trees— gavilan and kapok and Dipteryx—are called emergents. Below them are many strata comprising hundreds of other species including over 30 palms. Little sunlight reaches the forest floor. Many vines and plants seem vaguely familiar—common house plants like philo- dendrons and dieffenbachias are tropical rain forest species adapted to growing in low-light situations. Everywhere there are epiphytes, plants growing on other plants: ferns, bromeliads, orchids, mosses and lichens. Gaudy butterflies and brilliantly irridescent hummingbirds, their tiny wings a-whirr, chase one another among the heliconias' fantastic flowers. We walk on planks nailed to pegs set in the sodden earth and covered with wire mesh to provide traction. "Please Stay On The Trail," the guidebook asks. Respect for the fabled bushmaster, coral snake, fer-de-lance and the arboreal eyelash viper keeps us honest. A big brown-and-yellow festiva lizard quickens our pulses. Everywhere we see the tidy causeways of the leaf-cutter ants. Guarded by soldier ants, the leaf-cutter workers transport tidbits of leaves, flowers and fruit over trails a few inches wide and cleared of debris—broad clay-red ribbons through the forest. Smaller workers ride on the bits of vegetation to protect the transport workers from the depredations of parasitic flies. At the nest, which may be up to several hundred square feet, the ants deposit their burdens. They don't eat the cut leaves; in- stead they mix them with saliva and feces to cultivate a fungus, which grows no where else than in these nests. Up to five million ants occupy a single colony. We all know this story well, but every time we find a column of leaf-cutters we pause to marvel and reflect. We explore, perform experiments and do projects. We look and listen and smell and count. We devote our free time to reading, rummaging about the forest, or conducting primary research on The Effect of Periodic Immersion in Water Cooler than the Ambient Temperature on the Well-being of the Neo-tropical Traveler. The tropical rain forest has been called a living laboratory of natural selection. No- where else on earth are there so many kinds of living things. But why does bio-diversity matter? Why are biologists so concerned about the loss of biodiversity—the extinction of species and the destruction of habitat? The most pragmatic answer is that even seemingly insignificant species may have beneficial medicinal, agricultural or indus- trial uses. Of the estimated 30 million species of life only about six percent is named by science and only a fraction of these have been studied. Yet, a third of modern medicines are derived from plants and molds. Many economic enterprises rely on the smooth functioning of complex ecosystems and on such taken-for-granted processes as photosynthesis, insect pollination, nutrient recycling and pest control. We are enmeshed in a web of relationships with other living plants and creatures and are dependent on them for the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, the jobs we do, the medicines we take. And, most biologists would add, we rely on biodiversity for much of our aesthetic pleasure and intellectual stimulation. There is beauty and wonder and awe, the argu- ment runs, in even the humblest of nature's creatures and they are all worth knowing —even if no practical use is ever found. A world without birds and butterflies and Solares Hill • July 1990 • Page 25 orchids and 500,000 different kinds of beetles would be a poorer place. Finally, there is the argument that takes as its starting point the history of life rather than the momentary concerns of a single species. Man is one species among legions and a Johnny-come-lately at that. To think that the world was made for us or that we have dominion over it is a pitiful conceit. We are not the crown of creation, but one small recent twig on a luxuriant bush of life. Having claimed for ourselves the species- epithet sapiens, the wise, it behooves us to act the part. Tropical Ecology is a course offered every spring by Dr. Suzanne Koptur. It is an excellent and intriguing way to acquaint oneself with the tropical rain forests of La Selva and Monteverde, Costa Rica. Those interested in the course can contact Suzanne Koptur through the Department of Biological Sciences at FIU, or by calling (305) 348-3103. 32 GO KARTS ARCADE 7 Days A Week OPEN TJL MIDNIGHT • 294-1617 Party Rates Available 3029 N. Roosevelt Blvd. (Across From Ames) "Peace Begins With Me" LNTTSd •',. .OF THE KEYS Sunday Service 11A.M. Sunday School & Nursery Sunday Evening Service 7 P.M. -- Big Pine Visit our Metaphysical Bookstore Monday-Saturday 1-6 Call 296-5888 for other weekly activities Dial a Prayer 296-7217 3424 Duck Ave. BLOSSOMS GROCERY and A & A DISTRIBUTORS OPEN 7 DAYS MEATS •GROCERIES FRUITS • VEGETABLES DELI & BAH-B-QUE BEER & WINE COMPLETE LINE OF PET FOOD FOR HORSES • DOGS • CATS • CHICKENS'* RABBITS ETC 296-9474 4O8 WHITE ST. Page 26 » July 1990 » Solares Hill Community Notes Once is too much...precycle. Municipal Service District's Recycling Program wants residents to precycle before they recycle. Precycling means buying items with less packaging, avoiding disposables, and most importantly, being aware of purchases. Examples of good precycling buys: bar soaps instead of liquid hand soaps; toothpaste tubes instead of "pumps"; and cardboard egg cartons instead of styrofoam. If consumers use their buying power to stop waste, manufacturers will follow. Kudos to FKCC. Fifteen percent of Florida Keys Community College's stu- For The Dive Of Your Life Exclusively thru Captain's Corner "Tropical Mike" PADl-OWSI 38679 Zero Duval St. Key West, FL 3304CK Open Water Certification thru Assistant instructor Novice Resort Dives Ask About Group Rates Underwater Guided Tours (Bus) 305-296-8865 Re fe r ra l s (Res) 305-296-7410 AR & A C C E S S 0 R I E S 515 FLEMING STREET KEY WEST 33040 (305) 296-8700 Where the Newest Wave in Siip-Ons is Making a Big Splash! dents received recognition recently when the Dean"s List and President's List for the spring term were released. The 207 students maintained grade point averages of 3.5 or higher, even though most have jobs and/or families.Overall enrollment at FKCC in- creased 10 percent from last year. Growth through compost. Back in 1971, Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences plowed municipal gar- bage, compost into a four-acre forest site and planted one-year-old slash pines. After 16 years of monitoring, IFAS found the com- posted area yielded trees 25 percent larger in diameter, 9 percent taller and 70 percent heavier in dry weight than those grown without the compost. The institute found no toxic residue. Next it will determine how much compost can be applied to soil without endangering water tables with infiltration from chemicals in composted garbage. Just Say No. Sixth-graders from Stan- ley Switlik Elementary and Middle Schools and Horace O'Brien Middle School recently graduated from a Drug Abuse Resistance Education class sponsored by the Monroe County Sheriffs Department. The 17-week course, taught by sheriffs deputies, teaches students how to resist peer pressure. Anyone for a swim? The 14th Annual Swim Around Key West will begin at 8:05 a.m. on July 7, beginning and ending at The Reach Beach. Each participant in the 12.5-mile swim must pay an advance registration fee of $12 and provide a support boat and crew. There will be a "carbo" dinner at Aunt Rose's restaurant the night before the race. The race winner will re- ceive a "weekend getaway" at The Reach. This year's race is dedicated to June Rice, a former participant, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the June Rice Scholarship Fund. For information, call 745-1331 or 296-5000, ext. 698. The Hundred Club. One-hundred dollars is the ticket price for membership to this club which was formed locally to aid families of law enforcement officers and fire fighters killed in the line of duty. If an officer or fire fighter is killed, the club will deliver $1000 to the family within 24 hours, to cover immediate expenses. After a month, the club will meet with the family again to alleviate further financial dif- ficulties. Applications for membership are available at most county banks. New Business Guild Officers. Key West Business Guild elected new officers and board members at its general meeting. Tom Schmitt of the Rooftop Cafe was named new president. Other officers are Rick Van Hout of Key West Realty, vice president; Mary Quinn of 416 Cafe, secretary; and Tom Lockhart of Lotsa Pasta, treasure. New board members are David Wagner, Marion Senelis, Linda Cavalieri, Alan Beaubien, Alan Melnick, Tom Born, Henry Abalos, Mike Stewart and Dennis Beaver. The guild's activities range from AIDS support, anti-violence and political involvment to guild events and promotion. For information, call 294-5135. Land Use map. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners will sponsor three workshops this month on the Future Land Use map. The workshops are designed to receive public comment on the Plan in preparation for the public hearings which begin July 23. The first workshop will be held at the Plantation Key Government Center, Courtroom A on July 3 from 7 to 10 p.m. The second will be at Sugarloaf School Cafeteria on July 9 from 7 to 10 p.m., and the final workshop will be held at the Marathon Jaycees Building on July 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. Employee of the Quarter. Raymond Williams, a 27-year employee at City Electric System was honored as the outstanding employee for the first quarter of 1990. Williams, a results section foreman, rated highly in attendance, attitude, effici- ency, initiative and job performance. He will receive $100 and a day off. Tacos for Tarpon. Key West Taco Bell teamed up with Reef Relief last month of June.Taco Bell donated 25 cents from each sale of certain foods to Reef Relief. In addition, a Reef Relief education and mem- bership center was set up in the restaurant, and the windows were painted with reef scenes. Reef Relief challenge. The Nature Conservancy has offered Reef Relief a challenge grant of $2500 to reprint the colorful coral reef brochures. As soon as Solares Hill • July 1990 • Page 27 JAY GRANT Woodworking Jay Grant: Custom Woodworking specializing in exposed dovetail and through mortise and tennon joinery. Any dimension. From fine custom jewelry boxes to blanket chests and boat cabinets. Examples available at Gallery Mendo- za on Whitehead St. or by appoint- Use of native Keys and imported rnent (after 6PM hardwoods 2 96-2 873 ^ Q o Fine Antique Furnishings 6- Collectabtes From Around the World 414 Qreene St. Key West, FL 33040 294-0082 -vLocal Discount EFFECTIVE LOGOS COLORFUL BROCHURES DYNAMIC TYPOGRAPHY FRESH AD IDEAS INSTANT STAT CAMERA WINNING POLITIC^ QUALITY SUPPORT SERVICES FOR FREELANCE ARTISTS A • - - t •+

1990-07 Solares Hill Newspaper, Vol. 18 No. 7, July 1990

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Florida Keys History Center

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