The Way I See ItBy cj pollickParking Garage On Clearwater Beach - Just when one might have thought there was some real movement to build a parking garage on Clearwater Beach, a Clearwater Beach property owner presents another parking garage option. Avi Ovannin stated at a city council meeting that he would build a parking garage and retail shop on his beach-front property and, therefore, save the city $5 million. The city had planned to spend $5 million to purchase a property between Hamden and Coronado (5th and 7th Streets) for a parking garage as presented by beach realtor Mark Searcy. However, when Avi Ovannin suggested the city save the $5 million and work with him to build a parking garage, city council members considered this new option and agreed to consider the proposal. Clearwater city staff was given 30 days to present a general opinion about the new beach garage idea from Ovannin. A time period that city staff did not believe was enough time to weigh any new beach garage proposal. However, and if a new beach parking garage could be built and save city taxpayers $5 million, it could be well worth the wait to hear more from Ovannin --even longer than 30 days. After all, Clearwater citizens have been waiting for a new beach parking garage since former city commissioner Karen Seel said the city should have a new parking garage built before the Memorial Causeway Bridge was completed. Thus, another few months to review a new parking garage proposal is not a significant delay. Voters In Pinellas County Just Don’t Care – Only 12 percent of voters turned-out to vote in the primary election held on Tuesday. It was the lowest voter turn-out in many years. At the voting location on Indian Rocks Beach for Belleair Beach/Belleair Shore citizens, at 5 p.m. there were only 61 voters who had voted. State Farm Asks For Homeowner Rate Increase - State Farm Insurance Company asked the Florida State Insurance Office to support their request for an average 47 percent rate increase. Actually, rate increases requested by State Farm varied from a low of 19 percent increase for residents of Pasco County to 88 percent increase for residents of Flagler County. In Pinellas County, a $300,000 valued home would see premium rates increase from the average current rates of $6,944 to $11,772, a 70 percent rate increase, stated a recent article presented in the National Underwriter Magazine. The Florida Insurance Office rejected the premium rate increase requested by State Farm, however, it is likely that this rate increase request might take months to resolve considering possible Administrative Hearing and/or court challenges. Higher homeowner premium rates for Florida homeowners? What is amazing about all of this premium rate increase talk for homeowners is the fact that commercial property premium rates have fallen the past year. The Best Game In Sports -The Little League World Series (LLWS) was held at Williamsport, Pennsylvania last week. Little League baseball teams from around the world competed to earn a spot in the final game played last Sunday. For those readers who had the opportunity to watch some of the games on television last week, the games were incredibly exciting and played at a high level of competency. The sportsmanship and comments made by the young players were ... refreshing and uplifting. Hawaii (USA Division) beat Mexico (International Division) by a score of 12-3. However, the game was much closer than the final score. In the consolation game, Japan beat Louisiana 4-3 in a hard-fought game. It was estimated that about 26,000 people attended the final LLWS game. Imagine a youngster age 12 playing baseball in front of 26,000 screaming fans at the LLWS final game! Kudos to all the people who have helped to make Little League baseball so successful. Obama Made his Choice: Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware - Although the decision of Sen. Barack Obama to select Sen. Joe Biden as his running-mate on the Democratic Party ticket was not welcomed by Sen. Hillary Clinton fans, Sen. Obama believes he selected a running-mate who would not intrude on his role as President, if elected. However, supporters of Hillary Clinton have not accepted this snub as peacefully as Obama supporters might have desired. In a recent poll, about 26 to 30 percent of Clinton supporters stated they will not vote for Obama in the upcoming election. (They are coined the PUMAS!) If polling data can be trusted, McCain has gained ground on Obama. In fact, recent election polls show McCain with a slight lead over Obama. Has the news of Joe Biden helped to increase the excitement of voters for Sen. Obama? Time will tell, but in the next few days Sen. McCain is expected to announce his VP running-mate. If Sen. Obama selected Biden due to age and experience in government -- something he has criticized about Sen. McCain, then perhaps McCain might return the favor and select a younger running-mate. How about this line-up? Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Romney? Hillary Clinton’s Endorsement of Barack Obama – Grudgingly, DNC asked Sen. Hillary Clinton to be the keynote speaker at the DNP convention Tuesday evening. Clinton claimed the limelight, spoke about herself and mentioned Sen. Obama three times. That was Hillary’s endorsement of Obama, all in all, not a very good one. Warren Buffett Speaks About Our Economy - When billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett speaks about money, people listen. Recently, Buffett said that our nation's economy will not get better for several months and that the federal government might be forced to help "bail-out" Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Financial stocks, banking and insurance, have floundered and there could be more bank failures. However, Buffett also believes that in about five years things would have gotten better in America. How to make money in a down market? Better listen to this man from Omaha. European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization And The UN -Russia has recently proven that they could totally ignore threats from the UN, EU, and NATO, when planning to expand their territorial interests. Russia clearly is not afraid of the European Union (England, Germany, France, etc., etc.) Why? Russian oil, gas, weapons, money, and food supplies are some of the reasons why neighbors of Russia wish to remain "friends." Russia is clearly king of the Eastern European community (and might only fear becoming an enemy of China.) How did the U.S. react to the manner in which Russia invaded Georgia and captured some of its territory? We sent emails and letters asking them to retreat to the Russian side of the border. Putin, the ex-KGB trained leader of Russia, has plans to re-capture old boundries of the Russian Empire. Putin’s plans are nothing more than a throw-back to the earlier days of Russian/Communist imperialism of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Who can stop the Big Bear from exercising its will on small neighboring Baltic countries? Not the European Union, surely not Germany or France, clearly not England, and yes, not the US. Thus, the next few years could be perilous times for small Baltic nations who incorrectly thought the EU would come to their defense if Russia attacked. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. |