The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 589

OD SUNDAY JUNE 25 1933 ID THE MIAMI HERALD REGIONAL NEWS Fair inspectors paid twice for work Rains came a little late but oh so wet CONNER POLITICAL BATTLE 78 Tom Dierking said "I why that assumption was At the height of the busy winter fair season some fair inspectors worked 60- and 70-hour weeks Rather than being paid overtime the inspectors were given time off during the slow summer months while still receiving their salaries By law nonmanagerial public employees must be paid overtime whenever they work more than 40 hours a week Time sheets submitted by one inspector show he worked more than 60 hours some weeks in 1988 But time sheets for many other weeks most of them in the summer show no time at work the fair season they worked just about around the said finance director Jack Walsh who processed the overtime payments the summer they had a lot of time they could take But Dierking denied the inspectors were paid twice for time off He said the inspectors were put on status to offset the extra time they worked meaning they would be available for work if needed They were paid for being on stand-by he said were given instructions to be available to go to Dierking said Neither Dierking nor acting fairs chief Lowell Parrish could say whether the inspectors had spent time inspecting rides or doing other while on stand-by status The fair inspectors could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts Payments raise questions The overtime payments raise questions about the workload of inspectors who must make sure amusement rides are safe and about management practices in the Bureau of Public Fairs and Expositions means they made a said state Sen Howard Forman D-Pembroke Pines who sponsored new fair-safety legislation this year what bothers me is that some of those people put in the inspection time they should have" The seven-person fair bureau has come under intense scrutiny since the Nov 23 amusement ride accident that killed 17-year-old Christie Schafale of Cooper City at the Broward County Fair in Hallandale State inspectors had checked the ride earlier but did not detect a crack in one of the tubular metal arms Report blasted bureau In a report on the accident released Thursday the Broward grand jury said the fair bureau under its former chief Wally Rich was crippled by mismanagement poor training and faulty paperwork The report called the record-keeping and disorganized" Rich resigned in February following reports of problems in his fair bureau and criticism of his business dealings with some amusement ride owners Rich could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts successor interim bureau chief Parrish said he could not explain the $41000 in overtime payments But Parrish said he keeps inspectors busy in summer by sending them to training seminars and having them work on inspection manuals Oh ye parched souls of little faith rejoice: the rains are come at last got a woman caller shouted into my ear Saturday ants all over the place In the bathroom On the porch Marching down the window sill What'll I Another driveway and the street beyond was hubcap deep in flood and rising brakes hold dangerous out CHARLES WHITED COLUMNIST By CHRISTOPHER WELLISZ Herald Staff Wntef Six inspectors for the amusement ride safety bureau which has been under fire since a fatal accident at the Broward County Fair last November have been paid a total of $41000 for overtime work stretching as far back as 1985 even though the inspectors earlier had been given time off as compensation Because of an error by the state Department of Agriculture the six inspectors in the Bureau of Public Fairs and Expositions were paid twice for 2900 hours of work: once when they were given paid time off a second time when they were paid overtime The windfall came about because administrators realize the law required them to pay inspectors overtime Instead they gave the inspectors time off only to realize they would get overtime pay for the same work made the incorrect decision or assumption that these folks were not subject to being paid overtime" Personnel Director We thought it would never happen again For months South Florida lay drying the Everglades parched and burning the metropolis covered with clouds of acrid smoke lawns turning to straw too passe on the way out says chain owner For this time the rains were really late I don't know why high pressure ridges prevailing winds that sort of thing Downpours that usually begin in mid- to late May arrive with intensity until this last weekend of June In nearly 30 years of South Florida living I remember it delaying this long But the rain is here at last And for all the inconveniences lightning slick streets flooded intersections ants mosquitoes mildew power outages phone disruptions cable TV glitches the change is more than welcome It shows that maybe things that abnormal after all that despite dark portents we yet facing doomsday droughts This is not to say that infernal meddling with nature having dire effects because it certainly is of Miami said while having dinner at the Pompano Beach Howard with her children Kelly 7 and Kevin 5 and their grandmother Lillian Kaltenbacher of Pompano Beach remember when I was growing up in New York we used to have hot dogs at Howard Kaltenbacher said was just something all do Clues of the changes to come already are visible The waitresses wear uniforms with Marriott not Howard emblazoned on the front shirt pockets And the familiar hot dogs even listed on the menu You can still get one if you ask the waitress but it will come on a plate with fries just like anywhere else no longer carefully inserted into an oblong white paper container believe really going to said Ruth Virzi of Cincinnati She and her husband were visiting the Pompano Beach restaurant on their annual trip to Florida Some orange roofs though will remain 19 of them in Florida including two in Broward County one in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and the other in Deerfield Beach owned independently by a group of franchise holders who banded together to try to preserve what they could of the empire that numbered 1040 restaurants when Howard Johnson the son of the original Howard Johnson sold the company in 1979 Herald staff writer William Labbee contributed to this report HO JOS FROM IB vantage for us that the restaurant will stay she said Mary Snyder whose father Frank Deely owns the restaurant in Vero Beach said Hojo fans can continue to tickle their fancy in Indian River County regardless of plans who wants the best clam and fish fry around can come see us up here in Vero not going First in Orlando The first Florida already is open in Orlando and others are now being renovated Those in South Florida are soon to follow a new restaurant with trendy menu items priced more like and Big said corporate spokesman Rick Sneed features a teal burgundy and cream decor and projections of very high profits: Pilot restaurants in San Diego have increased business by as much as 45 percent since opening last year according to Marriott has to go through new training Saiger said all really excited about The million-dollar renovation plan calls for a complete makeover for all the Howard more seating capacity redesigned kitchens and new exteriors It affect the motels which are not owned by Marriott Patrons were surprised and saddened to hear the news guess it had to happen but Claudine Kaltenbacher The old South Florida where vast reaches of sheetwater evaporated into clouds and returned to earth repeatedly as rain throughout the summer exist any more The advance of inland saltwater intrusion from so much canal-digging and drainoff to build suburbs is real As waterholes dwindled and turned to dust our spring bird masses fled Everglades National Park You even hear theories that all this urban paving covering the earth and radiating heat has disrupted rainfall patterns forever PHIL LONG Miami Herald 2 Palm Beach stations expand local coverage ON THE CRAWL: Mike Horton and Kelly Campbell Virginia Tech endangered-species management students measure a crawl turtle season shows more nesting monitor says By PHIL LONG adds Barbara Schroeder who works with the Indian River Bureu Chief sea turtle protection project in Port St Lucie VERO BEACH Nine-year-old Brian Church There are more than 35000 new nests a year in pressed closer for a better look as Verl Bell lifted six Florida officials say cream-colored eggs from the damp sand and put The most densely populated area for turtle nest-them in his cooler ing Schroeder said is a stretch of Brevard County night when all grown said beach not far from Melbourne The entire Treasure Bell the turtle-nest monitor gently handing Coast of Martin St Lucie and Indian River counties one of the half-dollar-size eggs to the boy is a relatively dense nesting site might come back here and the turtle inside Though loggerheads have been known to nest that egg might be laying a whole batch of eggs like from North Carolina to the southwestern coast of Florida most nest on beaches between Broward The nest located at the edge of the Reef County and Brevard County seawall was the fourth found that morning Be- While Bell was busy giving a field biology lesson cause it is in a heavily traveled area subject to me- to Church and several other people on a remote sec-chanical beach raking and not in the dune Bell relo- tion of beach between Wabasso and Sebastian three cated the 133 eggs to a hatchery operated by the city endangered-species management students from Vir-on South Beach ginia Polytechnic and State University were roaming So far this nesting season May 1 through Sep- on all-terrain cycles looking for tember Bell has found more than 90 nests along a Friday Mike Horton Kelly Campbell and Ann four-mile stretch of city beaches about 30 Ripley found 14 crawls indicating that 14 of the 200-more than this time last year to 300-pound giants had tried to lay eggs As turtle season approaches its peak now is the The researchers measuring the size of the nest time to walk the beaches late at night to catch a and the crawl temperature climate conditions and glimpse of sea turtles laying eggs Some take as long other statistics as three hours Others scratch out a sandy nest Turtles will start hatching during the night and about 18 inches deep and deposit their eggs early morning starting in July Bell said sometimes 150 per nest in 45 minutes days get a lot of false Bell Though about 85 percent will hatch and return to said come out then get spooked by some-the sea is estimated that only about one in 1 000 thing and not lay their of these will reach adulthood and Bell Turtles will mate and nest then go perhaps two said or three years without mating and nesting again Bell No one is exactly sure what the survival rate is said say they are receiving calls almost every day from Channel 34 employees looking for new jobs Spain and general manager Lynwood Wright were out of town last week and unavailable for comment thought they might be making the big announcement that cutting news all together" said Lee Polowczuk news director of Channel 25 in Palm Beach Gardens His station hopes to open a Fort Pierce bureau in the next two months and now is negotiating a lease for an as yet unspecified location Two news crews will cover the Treasure Coast with one permanently stationed in Fort Pierce Channel 12 hopes to have its Stuart office open in about a month spending an average of three hours a day in driving time covering that Polowczuk said just gives us that much more flexibility to have people right there when the news breaks" CH34 FROM IB cal he said Channel strategy since going independent has stumped the analysts Owner Frank Spain a resident of Jupiter who also owns the NBC affiliate in Tupelo Miss put the station up for sale Nov 1 He subsequently took it off the market A Maryland-based developer James McDonald made a pitch for the station but that deal appears to be dead The station announced it would expand its news coverage adding a 10 pm show to its noon 5:30 pm and 11 pm weekday newscasts It also expanded its news staff to 44 Within months it had dropped the noon and 10 pm weekday newscasts and the 11 pm weekend shows The news staff now stands at 25 Many former employees now work for rival stations Weekend news staff members will be moved to weekday hours Managers and news directors at the other stations Still nature is out there working bringing the warms and the wets to what was dry and parched bringing new life and splendors of seasonal change from dry winter through a dry spring to summer And hopefully rain And rain And more rain Being human of course we all tend to accentuate the negatives Thus summer means cloying heat humidity pests blasting sunshine Mosquitoes come swarming up from the South Dade salt marshes hungry for urban blood To escape such discomforts many South Floridians close up their windows and retreat to the controlled climate of air conditioning as if they lived in thermos bottles And then there are eccentrics like those at my house who rarely use air conditioning at all When it gets hot you turn up the fans another notch Heat-sensitive friends who feel they survive postpone their visits till fall At night the fans rumble and hum as if the house were ready to take off in flight For every annoyance however each season has its splendors Right now across this city the giant royal poinciana trees are in final stages of bloom They were stunning a couple of weeks ago great canopies of scarlet and orange arching high above streets and yards set against the dazzling backdrop of blue subtropic sky Nothing in nature exceeds the grandeur of these mighty trees-set aflame by spring But rainy season of itself brings other unique sights South majestic cloud formations go marching overhead glowing pastel at night scudding and building darkening coloring breaking apart Great silent presences they are phantoms in endless chase of light and form There is no spectacle more dramatic than billowing afternoon thunderheads on a far horizon lightning-flecked and threatening storm In an hour will be replaced by sunset vibrantly awash in orange and blood-scarlet and blues colors splashed upon own pallet And if you think this is exciting wait a while Next come the cinchbugs 7 arrested in drug probe One year later Martin officials firefighters prepare same battle phis Tenn was arrested in Volusia County and Perrin Shappley 42 also of Memphis was arrested in Tampa Both were charged with conspiracy to traffic in more than 400 grams of cocaine Also arrested Friday was Crystal Arvick 18 of Sebastian She was charged with conspiracy to traffic in more than 28 grams of cocaine Vanessa McNeil 31 of Micco was charged with conspiracy to traffic in more than 400 grams On Saturday Frances Pate and Michael Bartlett both 26 and both from Brevard County were arrested They were charged with trafficking in and conspiracy to traffic in more than 400 grams of cocaine VERO BEACH Seven people were in the Indian River County Jail Saturday night on drug charges officials said A five-month investigation by the Vero Beach Police Department and the Indian River County Sheriffs Department culminated with arrests Friday and Saturday and the seizure of five kilos of cocaine said detectives Pete Lenz and Don Dappen The leader of the ring Lenz and Dappen said was James Joseph Bissey 56 of 2025 Spring PI on North Beach near the Wabasso Causeway He was charged with conspiracy to traffic in more than 400 grams of cocaine John Jack Johnson of Mem The firefighters are asking the county to raise their salaries in three increments in the coming fiscal year which begins Oct 1 By next April they propose that beginning firefighters in Class One make $1928759 a year Firefighters want raises based on time with the county not merit The evaluation system to determine what merit raise is warranted between 1 and 5 percent is riddled with subjectivity they argue And they want to be able to do longer-term financial planning which a step system would allow Though the firefighters are dis gruntled about their wages most of them stay with the county Only two have left since the County Commission decided the last wage negotiations in March lot of guys have been born and raised Davidson said want to work here they want to live here not the big bad he said just asking for fair And Davidson said if the guys get much out of this negotiations go right back at it again" FIRE FROM IB pay classification study done by Peat Marwick Main Co an accounting and management consulting firm According to the study which Brangaccio said probably will be the basis of the negotiating position beginning firefighters in Class One should make at least $16620 a year $420 above the current salary Beginning firefighters in Palm Beach County make $710 and hour or about $18460 a year In St Lucie County first-year firefighters earn $17833 a year i mm mm.