đŹ Circling the runway
Stormy Tuesday. For you today, airport growing pains, Sunset Lounge not yet set, artificial intelligence meets local news and a window into South Florida's underwater world.
âïž How big is big enough?
To meet growing demand at Palm Beach International Airport, officials are proposing parallel runways. But what happens if even thatâs not enough?
Thatâs the question an advisory committee broached last month as it contemplated the start of a 10-year process to create two parallel runways for commercial jets at the landlocked airport.Â
Why itâs important: A post-pandemic boom has airport numbers flying through the roof, buoyed by private jet traffic. Even if growth slows, officials say the airport will reach flight capacity by 2028 to 2032. That is several years, they say, before the second runway can be expanded.
Whatâs happening? The in-city airport is close to thriving neighborhoods. It predates Interstate 95, which forms its eastern border. Neighbors worry that continued growth will endanger their homes.
The second runway, now 3,214 feet long and 75 feet wide, would be expanded to 8,000 feet long and 100 feet wide to run alongside the existing 10,000-foot main runway, as Stet News reported April 23 here. A crosswind runway would be reduced by nearly half to 4,000 feet.
How it helps: While parallel, the runways would be too close together to enable simultaneous takeoffs and landings. But a second commercial runway would speed things up, avoiding debilitating delays, airport officials say.
âAs demands increase, delays grow exponentially,â airport consultant Dave Ramacorti told the Citizens Committee on Airport Noise (CCAN) in unveiling the plan. âA 10 percent increase in demand could double or triple the level of delay at the airport.â
As long as thereâs capacity, the airport canât turn away commercial and private aircraft, Airports Director Laura Beebe said.Â
What theyâre saying: âWhat troubles me is that the doors are open to everybody and anybody who wants to come here. As long as you can gate them, you can take them,â CCAN Chairperson Nancy Pullum said. âThere is no end point.â
Added board member Lew Crampton: âThis is going to get hot and heavy.â
đ
Another try to seal a deal for the Sunset Lounge
A divided West Palm Beach Commission was unable to agree Monday evening on whether to continue negotiations with West Palm Beach-based Vita Lounge to operate the historic Sunset Lounge.
 Whatâs at stake: The city has a $20 million investment in buying and improving the music venue in the historic Northwest Neighborhood.
Operating costs for the closed building are more than $25,000 a month.
Commissioners Shalonda Warren, Christy Fox and Joseph Peduzzi voted to continue discussions. Mayor Keith James and Commissioners Christina Lambert and Cathleen Ward voted to terminate.
âBasically, we are in limbo,â James said after the two motions failed, 3-3.
Whatâs next: Warren proposed a special meeting with Vita for commissioners to ask more questions. The mayor said he would consider it.
đ©đ»âđ» A human wrote this
Last month, some Palm Beach Post stories started appearing with items at the top summarizing the story and a disclosure that the âKey Pointsâ were created using artificial intelligence.
Last week, the union that represents reporters and photographers at The Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News, called on owner Gannett to stop the practice.
Why itâs important: Cash-strapped mainstream publishers may see artificial intelligence (AI) as a way to increase efficiency and reach, but the lack of transparency in AI systems raises worries about bias and errors creeping into local news stories.
There is also the risk that artificial intelligence will replace reporters, undermining independence, accuracy and credibility.
Whatâs happening: A letter from the Palm Beach News Guild asks for the pause because it wants to protect membersâ jobs. Guild leaders also object to the use of their journalism to train the algorithm without a labor contract or separate agreement on the practice.
Hereâs the disclosure that appears at the end of stories with the AI highlights:Â
The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI. Learn more.
What theyâre saying: âThis pilot program was extremely concerning to us because it was rolled out absent of an agreement between the union and the company on AI,â local guild leaders said in a statement to Stet.Â
The local union, formed four years ago, has gone the entire time without a contract. Negotiations continue.Â
Flashback: Gannett paused its AI experiment with high school sports stories last year after some mistakes appeared in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.
The other side: Post Executive Editor Rick Christie referred questions about AI policy to Gannett, which described the AI feature as optional and up to each reporter on whether to use it.
Yes, but: The Palm Beach News Guild leadership said on Friday that it has documented recent instances when the technology was used without the writerâs knowledge, consent or ability to review before publication.
đł The juice
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đïž Two county building officials falsified payroll records, Inspector General finds. (Palm Beach Post $$$)
đŠ Two Red Lobster restaurants in Palm Beach County are on the list of low-performing stores that might be closed: 6638 Lake Worth Road and 2201 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
đ FAU restarts presidential search. (University Press)
đš Three finalists vie to replace the Martin Luther King Jr. mural in downtown Lake Worth Beach. (ByJoeCapozzi.com)
đ More than 2,200 people visited the Flagler Museum last week for Founderâs Day, the Palm Beach Daily News reported. Other museumâs free days this month:
The Norton Museum of Art: Palm Beach County residents get in free on summer Saturdays.
The Boca Raton Museum of Art: Admission is free through June 30.
đ 561 insider: Paul Dabill dives deep into our natural wonders
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Zooming in with his camera-toting drone, Paul Dabill spots some of the stars of his videos swimming in the turquoise waves off Coral Cove Park in Tequesta.
âThere. Three sea turtles. And look! A school of tarpon. Thereâs a bull shark,â he said, pointing to the screen on his drone control showing the creatures barely a football field offshore.
Why itâs important: The Tequesta resident has turned his underwater and photography passions into popular social media pages that celebrate Palm Beach Countyâs waterfront wonders. He has more than 250,000 followers on Facebook and Instagram and videos that have drawn millions of views.
Whatâs happening: Moonlighting from his day job making sandwiches â Dabill and his brother, Tom, own five Jimmy John's franchises in Palm Beach County â the Minnesota native launched Paul Dabill Photography in 2013.
His stages are the piers in Lake Worth and Juno Beach and the reefs in between, where he drops waterproof cameras into the waters when they are clearest at high tide. Cast members are graceful dolphins, swift sharks, sharp-toothed bluefish and silvery snook.
The aha moment: Dabill got the notion one day to attach a GoPro camera to his spear gun. Lobsters, moray eels, dolphins and sailfish were suddenly closer.Â
A drone was the next revelation. Online followers love his overhead videos. More joined his page.
âIf you have good content, people will find it,â said Dabill, a fit 49-year-old whose eyes light up when he talks about his adventures.
Most exciting: âA mile out of the Jupiter Inlet, we saw the floating carcass of a 250-pound goliath grouper. Tiger sharks were feeding on it. Two of us got in. I had my speargun ready. I shot a 25-pound cobia. I got it in the boat. It was a wild, wild moment. My adrenaline is still pumping,â says a breathless Dabill on the video from the boat.
Stunning stats: About 500 followers join his Facebook page daily.
One video â a mullet run off Delray Beach â has drawn 19 million views.Â
Videos, averaging about three minutes, get the most engagement.
Dabill does not use scuba tanks; his tools are a face mask, fins and a snorkel. He has free-dived to 141 feet.
What else? Dabill said he is often recognized around town. He and his wife Joy, an interior designer, have three young children.
What he says: âI get such satisfaction showing off the underwater beauty of my home.â
â Bill DiPaolo
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