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ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP BANQUET 


Saturday, January 14, 2023 - 6:00 PM


Gifford Youth Activity Center 
4875 43rd Avenue, Gifford, FL
​
The Martin Luther King Committee of Indian River County holds this annual scholarship banquet to raise money to provide scholarships for graduating seniors. 
To purchase tickets, please send checks to
P O Box 1641 Vero Beach FL. 32960, and please select either Cornish Hen or Oxtail.  Ticket Cost:  $35

To reserve your seat at the Democrats' table, please RSVP to Sharon Kolor [email protected]




 
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MLK Day Parade

 
MONDAY, JANUARY 16, 2023

*This is your opportunity to help represent the Democrats of Indian River in the Martin Luther King Day Parade!

Parade Line-up Location: Vehicles – Route will start at 37th and 18th Place to Old Dixie Highway and continue on to 45th St, commencing at Gifford Park (Victor Hart Sr. Community Enhancement Complex).
Walkers Only – Meet in the Occulina Bank Parking lot across from
MLK Plaza (45th Street).
Parade Line-up time is 8:00 a.m. ; Parade will start promptly at 10:00 a.m.

The 2023 MLK Day Parade Participation Entry Form must be received by a committee member or volunteer no later than January 6, 2023.
​
2023 MLK PARADE ENTRY FORM - Available for Download!
2023_mlk_particpant_entry_form_official.pdf
 
 
CALENDAR


Friday, January 6, 2023

11:30 a.m. - TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION at the Vero Beach Yacht Club. FAU Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute scientist, Jordan Beckler, Ph.D. will speak. Reservations can be made on their website, $25.00. The lunch & meeting are open to the public.

Monday, January 9, 2023

10:00 a.m. - Centennial Celebration Committee meeting, 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958. For agenda and meeting information go to 
https://www.cityofsebastian.org/Calendar.aspx? 

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

9:00 a.m. – Vero Beach City Council, Council Chambers, City Hall, 1053 20th Place, Vero Beach 32960 : For agenda and meeting information go to https://covb.org/AgendaCenter  You can watch here: https://www.covb.org/341/CTYVB-13---City-of-Vero-Beach-Official-T
 
 
9:00 a.m. – Indian River County Commission, County Administration Offices, Council Chambers, 1801 27th Street, Building A, Vero Beach 32960. For agenda and meeting information go to https://ircgov.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
 

 6:00 p.m. – Sebastian Natural Resources Board, 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958. For agenda and meeting information go to 
https://www.cityofsebastian.org/Calendar.aspx?


Wednesday, January 11, 2023

6:00 p.m. – Sebastian City Council, 1225 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958. For agenda and meeting information go to 
https://www.cityofsebastian.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=343&month=2&year=2021&day=17&calType=0

Thursday, January 12, 2023

6:00 p.m. - Democratic Club Monthly Potluck meeting at the Irish Club, 1314 20th St, Vero Beach 32960


7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council, 22 S. Orange Street, Fellsmere, FL 32948 
For agenda and meeting information go to www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil

Saturday, January 14, 2023

6:00 p.m. - MLK Annual Scholarship Banquet, Gifford Youth Activity Center
4875 43rd Ave, Gifford, Florida 32967


Monday, January 23, 2023

6:00 p.m. - School District of Indian River County School Board Meeting at 6500 57th St. Vero Beach, FL. Speakers must arrive early to sign up with receptionist.
 

Interested in Serving on a Board or Commission?

 

The Board of County Commissioners is seeking volunteers to serve on a number of unique advisory boards and commissions that help to advise the Board of County Commissioners and staff with respect to specific governmental action by making decisions on the disposition of certain matters coming before the Board or Commission.


For more information and application form please go to: http://ircgov.com

 

Democrats of Indian River


Democratic Club of Indian River
 

Thursday, January 12, 2023 - 6:00 p.m.

Monthly meeting at the Irish Club, 1314 20th St, Vero Beach 32960. Join President Clay Wild, VP Elle Berbick, Treasurer Charlie Berbick and Secretary Caryl Zook in this TOWN HALL MEETING "What Do You Want the Club To Be?" This is your opportunity to share your concerns and ideas. We will also discuss our participation in the MLK Day events, Club Officer Nominating Committee, Democrats' office clean-up team and more.
Let's keep this Potluck will be simple - Finger Foods only: snacks, sandwiches, pizza, chips and dips and salsa, cheese and crackers... whatever you want to bring to share. Cash bar.


Democratic Club of Indian River and the DWC

Monday, January 16, 2023, MLK Day Parade To register to walk in the parade or register your vehicle, you can get a form online or in the Democrats office. Please wear a Democrats of Indian River t-shirt if you have one and bring signs to carry. We will carry our banners and flags, and we will have some vehicles in the parade for those who cannot walk the entire parade route. We have small flags to give to parade watchers and you can bring child-safe candy to share along the parade route.

Democratic Women’s Club


Saturday, January 14, 2023 - 11:30 a.m.
The DWC Luncheon at Bent Pine Country Club.  RABBI MICHAEL BIRNHOLZ from Temple Beth Shalom will speak. Please RSVP to [email protected]  or Julie Barone
718-916-0682 with your meal choice: Herb Crusted Chicken
Breast, Pan Seared Salmon Filet, or Vegetarian $30.00, payable by cash or check at the door.


Friday, January 27, 2023 - 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The Book Group will meet at the Brackett Library on the IRSC Mueller campus and discuss “The Flag, The Cross & The Station Wagon:
A Graying American Looks Back At His Suburban Boyhood & Wonders What The
Hell Happened” by Author: Bill McKibbin. 
 
 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR



Indian River Lagoon offers a few hopes for 2023

 

I have endured another year of pollutants dumped into my waters. The end of my life may be near if changes don’t occur soon, as well as the lives of the creatures that depend on me for sustenance. I hope that in 2023:

  • Less nitrogen and phosphorous will enter my waters by connecting all septic systems to central sewer.
  • My humans will substitute native plants for turf grass to reduce run off of fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides into my waters.
  • People will stop throwing plastic cups, bottles, and other packaging onto the roads and landscape, which end up in the stomachs of my resident marine life.
  • Stormwater runoff of metals, chemicals, plant debris, and sediment that cloud my waters and accumulate muck will be captured and filtered.
  • Our elected leaders will find the courage to oppose special interests and pass legislation to fund projects to clean my water.
 

I ask this so that my humans may one day swim in clear waters over undulating seagrasses with healthy manatees, dolphins, and turtles and be able to catch a trophy fish that grew up protected in those same seagrasses.
 

Jean Catchpole, Vero Beach, an adviser to the board of the Indian River Neighborhood Association, wrote this on behalf of the Indian River Lagoon Estuary.


 

Thanks for explaining history of 'woke'

 

I applaud Treasure Coast Newspapers for a wonderful piece of educational journalism in Dec. 23's front-page story, "What does the word 'woke' mean? "I'm white, married, and was raised in New England. In short, I was somewhat sheltered (at least from southern U.S. history).So, when I first started hearing the word "woke," I took it as something positive — meaning to be concerned, open to learning, and empathetic.I am also familiar with how the word is used derogatorily to make people afraid of or feel threatened by marginalized folks. I had no idea "woke" had century-old origins and such a deep meaning to the Black community — not only to uplift and inspire, but to recognize and remember something that has happened in history (inequality, slavery, etc.) — and continues to this day.I would like to see more articles like this in our local newspaper. After reading it, I felt more informed, positive, and wanting to do the right thing.I also had better clarity about why some politicians might be using the word to benefit themselves instead of the public they're sworn to serve by "punching down." I won't be taking that bait.

Scott Francis, Vero Beach

 


To submit your letters to the Editor, go to:
LOCAL
 

Vero Beach City Council revives Twin Pairs plan to reduce lanes, add more parking downtown

 

The long-debated plan to reduce lanes along Twin Pairs, or State Road 60 in the downtown area, has moved forward once again.

Twin Pairs is split into two, one-way roads between 20th Avenue and Indian River Boulevard, with a total of seven lanes near downtown. The proposal could reduce it to four lanes — two going each way — in order to make space for more street parking and expanded bike lanes, which proponents argue would slow traffic and revitalize downtown. Opponents argue slowing traffic could negatively impact nearby neighborhoods.

The idea has been studied, scrapped and reevaluated numerous times over the years, even as recently as 2021. But the new City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to move ahead with the project, which first involves submitting an application to the Florida Department of Transportation and conducting another study that could cost up to $150,000.

"That's mostly due to the fact that they're not just updating the study, they have to start over," said Public Works Director Matthew Mitts. "We need the study to move forward with the application."

Opinion: Big change in Vero Beach; Moore now wants parking, fewer lanes through downtown

Train traffic: U.S. 1 overpass in Vero Beach is one of FDOT's options to address traffic congestion
The last study, which was started in 2013 and updated in 2017, is too old to be valid for a new application, Mitts said. The estimated cost for Vero Beach to do the project on its own, without the help of FDOT, was between $1.1 and $1.5 million, according to that study.

Along with a new study, the city must hold a number of public workshops as part of its application process. But that isn't the only roadblock; there's also a time crunch.

FDOT is nearing the beginning stages of a State Road 60 repaving project and is set to start the design phase this year. That's partly why the City Council aims to move the Twin Pairs idea forward Tuesday - so it could be worked into FDOT's repaving project. But it's unclear if that can happen at all, Mitts said.

As of now, FDOT has not said whether it's too late to include the Twin Pairs project in its repaving project, he said.

"I don't see a glaring technical factor that wouldn't allow it, but it's the state's road," Mitts said, adding Florida officials have to make that determination on their end.

Even if FDOT approves the application, however, it could delay the repaving project by up to 18 months, Mitts said.

Councilmember Tracey Zudans cast the sole dissenting vote.

"I think what we're not addressing here is that we need to go back and make downtown business-friendly, and community-friendly, and put a focus on changing the coding and zoning and density," she said.

Councilmembers John Carroll, Linda Moore and Rey Neville were all outspoken in their support for the lane reduction, pointed out the cost of doing it without FDOT aid and argued traffic calming measures could help revitalize downtown. A 2021 study, however, found speeding was not a significant issue on the road.

Carroll and Moore, who were elected in November, tipped the scales in favor of the project. Mayor John Cotugno, meanwhile, continued to express reservations about the plan: namely, overturning the past City Council's decisions, and how slowing traffic could impact nearby neighborhoods.

Still, Cotugno cast his vote in favor of the plan Tuesday.

"I agree that potentially reducing the lanes, and making it a more walkable downtown, is the essence of reviving downtown," Cotugno said. "But it's only part of the issue. The other part of the issue ... is to get people to not only go to downtown, but to reside in downtown."

City Manager Monte Falls said Feb. 6 is the soonest that the plan, including cost of the study for the application, will come before the City Council for final approval.


Thomas Weber
Treasure Coast Newspapers
 
 
STATE
 

Descendants mark racial violence that razed Rosewood Florida 100 years ago

 

Lizzie Robinson Jenkins’s living room walls are covered in neat rows and columns of early 1900s history. Tables are littered with artifacts from her aunt, including frayed handkerchiefs and a metal coin purse — family heirlooms almost lost to hate.

The 84-year-old’s expression changed as she remembered details passed down by her mother about one of Florida’s darkest moments from 100 years ago. It was a story about Rosewood, a town in Levy County in north-central Florida. And how that town, once known as a haven for Black Americans, was decimated by racial violence throughout the first week of January 1923.

Like many people, Jenkins had never heard of a town called Rosewood, just a half-hour from her home in Archer, near Gainesville. But when she was 5 years old, her mother entrusted her with a lifelong mission: Keep Rosewood alive.

“Mom said you must research, authenticate, tell the truth,” said Jenkins, the founder and president of the Real Rosewood Foundation Inc. — a small nonprofit founded to preserve public awareness of those terrible days. “Never attack anybody for what happened in Rosewood because the people living today did not create Rosewood.”

The violence in Rosewood mirrored some of America’s infamy of racial violence — including lynchings and mob attacks — in the years after World War I that included Chicago, Tulsa, Omaha and East St. Louis. In Florida, the Black communities in Ocoee and Rosewood were stained by historic violence in 1920 and 1923, respectively.

This week, during the centennial anniversary of the violence, descendants and impacted communities will commemorate the Rosewood Massacre and honor the lives lost, acknowledge trauma shared and celebrate the promise of a better future during a time of re-emerging racial tensions and reckoning.
Eight families are direct descendants and remain to tell the story of the Rosewood Massacre: the Bradleys, the Carriers, the Colemans, the Edwardses, the Evanses, the Goinses, the Halls and the Robinsons. Jenkins tells the story of her aunt Mahulda Gussie Brown Carrier, the local Rosewood schoolteacher who was raped for telling the truth.

John Henry Monroe, left, and Martine Goins, right, kneel at the funeral of Eli Waldron, Goins' brother-in-law, in 1900 in Rosewood, Florida. Behind them stand Sophie Goins Monroe, her mother and Lydia Goins, the sister of Eli Waldron.


By Isabella Douglas and Zachary Carnell

For more on this report, please go to:

Remembering Rosewood: Violence razed Florida town 100 years ago (sun-sentinel.com)


FEDERAL

 

Abortion Pills Can Now Be Offered at Retail Pharmacies, F.D.A. Says

 

Mifepristone, the first of two drugs in medication abortions, previously had to be dispensed only by clinics, doctors or a few mail-order pharmacies. Now, if local drugstores or chains like CVS agree to certain rules, they can provide it.

For the first time, retail pharmacies, from corner drugstores to major chains like CVS and Walgreens, will be allowed to offer abortion pills in the United States under a regulatory change made Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration. The action could significantly expand access to abortion through medication. Until now, mifepristone — the first pill used in the two-drug medication abortion regimen — could be dispensed only by a few mail-order pharmacies or by specially certified doctors or clinics. Under the new F.D.A. rules, patients will still need a prescription from a certified health care provider, but any pharmacy that agrees to accept those prescriptions and abide by certain other criteria can dispense the pills in its stores and by mail order.

The change comes as abortion pills, already used in more than half of pregnancy terminations in the U.S., are becoming even more sought after in the aftermath of last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning the federal right to abortion. With conservative states banning or sharply restricting abortion, the pills have increasingly become the focus of political and legal battles, which may influence a pharmacy’s decision about whether or not to dispense the medication.

In about half the states, abortion bans or restrictions would make it illegal or very difficult for pharmacies to provide abortion pills.

In states where abortion remains legal, pharmacies may face customer demand for the medication or public pressure from abortion rights advocates and health providers. National chains could decide to offer the medication in those states while not providing it in their stores in restrictive states.

 
 

For more of this report please go to:

Pam Belluck
The New York Times
 
VIDEO of the WEEK

Stephen Colbert on Kevin McCarthy failure to secure Speaker of the House job.

https://youtu.be/YWoMk7D_lxQ


 
 

 
 
Office Hours
 
 Monday through Friday 10am to 3pm
  
 2345 14th Ave. Suite 7
 Vero Beach 32960


 (772) 226-5267 

[email protected]  

 




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