⚠️ Animal shelter S.O.S.
Good morning. For you today, Animal Care and Control has an urgent challenge; the local Arthritis Foundation's home is no more; the answer to Pat's quiz; and how libraries can help your garden grow.
Today’s newsletter is a 4-minute read.
No room for dogs: County kennel resorting to euthanasia
A death row for dogs?
Not exactly, but a crowding crisis at Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control is forcing the public shelter to use euthanasia to clear space for dogs with the best adoption prospects, reporter Joe Capozzi writes.
The shelter at 7100 Belvedere Road has 144 dog kennels. But nearly every day this summer the dog population has swelled above 200. On Aug. 9, it hit an all-time high of 237.
That means two dogs are sharing cages designed for one, which officials say is neither sanitary nor humane.
Since the crowding started last year, officials have pleaded for the public to adopt or foster a dog. But the number of caged pups barely moved.
Now, a policy change of last resort is sending shockwaves through ACC’s network of dedicated volunteers.
Long-time canine residents with dim rescue prospects and dogs with certain medical and behavioral problems may be euthanized.
In other words: To free up cages for what at times has seemed like an unrelenting stream of new arrivals, the agency’s most vulnerable dogs are at risk of being humanely killed.
Those most at risk include dogs with heartworm or other medical issues, along with animals with no promising adoption or rescue prospects.
“It's the first time in several years that we’re having to euthanize because of overcrowding,” shelter Director Jan Steele said. “I am trying to keep from doing that. What I want to do is get out in front of this.”
Palm Beach County commissioners will consider buying land today to expand the shelter. The more immediate need, however, is for the community to help.
“If each family did just one foster every couple of years,’’ Steele said, “we would solve this problem.’’
For more: Joe expands on this story Wednesday at ByJoeCapozzi.com. Stet will share a copy of the full story Thursday.
🏥 A settlement with the National Arthritis Foundation ends fight to keep local HQ
When Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody two years ago filed suit to block the sale of the West Palm Beach headquarters of the Arthritis Foundation, those with the debilitating disease and the doctors who treat them cheered.
Those cheers evaporated this summer as word spread that the lawsuit had been settled, the two-story building on Hibiscus Street had been sold for $4.5 million and no money would be set aside for free clinics to help those who suffer from a vast array of degenerative joint ailments, reporter Jane Musgrave writes.
“It was terrible. It was a sham,” said Dr. Michael Schweitz, a rheumatologist who has been volunteering at the clinic for four decades. “The settlement basically gave us nothing. We basically are left out in the cold.”
The unusual lawsuit pitted Schweitz and other local rheumatologists against the national office of the Arthritis Foundation. In what local doctors saw as a money grab, the Georgia-based foundation in 2021 quietly put the 20-year-old building on the market, negotiated a sale with a Jupiter development company and evicted the local office from the building that bears its name.
ICYMI: Read Stet contributor Jane’s story to find out why the state settled with the National Arthritis Foundation here.
🍍 The juice
Fresh-squeezed news from all over
🏠 In a unanimous vote, Delray Beach’s city commission decided to follow the lead of the county and 18 other Palm Beach County towns and offer an extra homestead exemption to seniors. Residents 65 and older with an income at or below $35,167 are eligible. Roughly 774 homeowners are expected to benefit.
📬 A highly critical take by national digital news site Air Mail on The Everglades Foundation’s political support of Gov. Ron DeSantis was spotlighted on MSNBC's Morning Joe last week. Air Mail’s story also raised questions about whether a touted reservoir will help the river of grass. (Air Mail)
⚖️ Glenton “Glen” Gilzean Jr., the Florida Commission on Ethics commissioner under fire for taking a $400,000 public job without resigning from the ethics commission, as per its rules, is one of the four commissioners to twice vote to back a continued investigation into West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James. (Florida Bulldog)
🚫 A father and son in a rental car accidentally crossed active runways last week at Palm Beach International Airport and drove right up to the boarding gates. (WPBF/Channel 25)
🍪 Sweet deal: Nudging past almost 1,000 contenders, Jupiter’s Gringuita Cookies has been tapped to be part of Whole Foods’ Early Growth program. Just 10 early-stage food businesses are chosen for customized mentorship and the chance to be on Whole Foods shelves within a year. Gringuita is no lightweight — literally. Cookies can weigh in at a quarter-pound. May we suggest the Brown Butta Choco Sea Salt? (BusinessWire)
🫧 Quiz answer: Unidentified flying bubbles!
🛸 Last week we challenged you to identify white, car-sized, flying objects making their way over Southern Boulevard on July 7.
One-third of our eagle-eyed readers correctly spotted the answer: “Bubbles of an unusual size.”
The answer starts with a fire alarm at Signature Aviation on Perimeter Drive in West Palm Beach. Fire trucks arrived to find froth, not flames.
The foam system had “discharged,” spitting out ginormous bubbles.
This was no small amount of foam and no leisurely drift: At least a mile separates Signature Aviation and Cloud Lake City Hall, where Stet spotted the bubbles’ effervescent escape.
🌱 561 insider: Seed libraries help our community grow
🌽 Gardeners are unfazed by the hurricane center’s twice-daily tropical weather outlook. They’re focused on the fall growing season.
So are some librarians.
What’s happening: Two seed libraries opened this year inside public libraries for anyone to take home free vegetable, herb or flower seeds. (You don’t even need a library card.)
The Palm Beach County library’s Jupiter branch.
The Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach.
How it works: Gardeners can choose six seed packets each month at the West Palm Beach library; five from the Jupiter branch. And you never have to return them.
Seed librarians are stocking up now. September is a good time to get growing, Palm Beach County research librarian Diane Gilmore advises.
Flashback: Gilmore launched Jupiter’s seed library in February with support from a Palm Beach County library system grant. It allowed her to purchase a cabinet and seeds to get started.
Mounts Botanical Garden and the Abacoa Community Garden partnered with the branch to get things in the ground.
Pro tip: New seeds will be available on the first Monday of each month at the West Palm Beach library.
🗓️ What’s ahead: In Jupiter, a seed swap is planned for Oct. 15.
🎧 Joel listened to the ninth and final episode of iHeart Radio’s “Big Sugar” podcast, an in-depth look at the decades-long cane-cutter pay lawsuit. Also included: episodes on Palm Beach’s Fanjul brothers, sugar’s role in our diet and “the Battle of the Swamp” focusing on Everglades restoration.
❄️ Carolyn is tackling James Michener’s epic, “Alaska.” She thinks she will be fine if she gets to the part where people start showing up.
Correction: Our story last week about the death of vitamin mogul Carl A. DeSantis misstated his son’s position with Rexall Sundown in 2000. Damon DeSantis ran a division called Showcase, which was a direct distributor model to augment Rexall’s retail sales.
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