The Potato Farm

"The Activity Board has established a policy that we will inform all musical groups that if they are performing any patriotic type routine," it says, "for instance at the end of a dance, they are not to perform 'The Star Spangled Banner' or 'O Canada,' but are required to use 'God Bless America.'"

When I asked what this was all about, Van Tassell politely explained that the board had gotten complaints from several American citizens who don't want to hear "O Canada."

"They say this is the United States," and so Canada's anthem shouldn't be played, he said.

To appease them without obviously snubbing the Canadians, Van Tassell and his board worked out what they thought was a fine compromise: Stop using any national anthem.

I had to ask Van Tassell how "God Bless America" was chosen as the song to make everyone happy. He said it seemed best because "America" refers to all of North America. And that includes Canada.

FORT LAUDERDALE —

The residents won.

A center to feed the homeless will not be located near Holiday Park following protests from people insurrounding neighborhoods.

City commissioners instead decided Wednesday to consider a site in an industrial area off Sunrise Boulevard. They also are exploring whether they can ban feeding in public parks outright and want to work with Broward County and Hollywood city officials to create a broader solution to the homeless problem.

The city has long sought to redirect the throngs of homeless who gather each day in Stranahan Park next to the downtown library. But officials have met with resistance and hurdles with each idea explored over the past couple years.

"You just can't ignore the homeless problem in Fort Lauderdale," Mayor Jack Seiler said. "The problem is not going away and we need to address it and find a way to do something with the help of the faith-based community."

Last month, the city had zeroed in on a small office building a block from the entrance to Holiday Park as a site where groups could distribute food to hundreds of homeless on a daily basis. Church groups involved in feeding the homeless favored the site, and the city could have leased it for less than $8,000 a month.

Residents of Flagler Village and Victoria Park feared a feeding center there would drive the homeless into their communities. They told commissioners that they would be concerned about an increase in crime and vagrancy.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100704/COLUMNIST/7041043/2256/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

Amber's hometown representin'!

Man killed as he lies in West Palm Beach road
Driver of vehicle fled

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

2:35 p.m. EDT, July 25, 2010

A 24-year-old West Palm Beach man who was apparently lying in the roadway on Military Trail was killed early today when he was stuck by a vehicle that did not stop.

Darrell JeanRenaud was pronounced dead on the scene about 4:30 a.m., according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said their "investigation determined that for unknown reasons" JeanRenaud was lying in the right through lanes of southbound Military Trail, south of Roebuck Road, when he was struck.

No other information was immediately available.

Fourteen-year-old Joshuah Lamb sits in a Juvenile Detention center after beating up a 22-year-old white man for listening to music by rapper Gucci Mane. The attack was triggered because Lamb didn't think white people should listen to rap music. Now the local State Attorney's Office is deciding whether or not to charge Lamb with a hate crime.

The incident started when David McKnight, a white man, was listening to Gucci Mane's hit "Wasted" which features Ft. Myers rapper Plies. McKnight was blaring the song on his boom box while listening to the radio, while Lamb was walking down the sidewalk.

"You shouldn't be listening to rap music because you're white," Lamb said according to a police spokesperson.

McKnight replied that he can listen to whatever music he wants. The argument escalated to a fight. That's when Lamb punched him, and attacked McKnight. About seven other boys eventually joined the fight.

Surfside Masturbator John A. Posse Finally, Um, Busted