Good Morning! Yes, we know, been away and enjoying time off, so we’ll get right to it.

We saw that one local newspaper covered the Saint Cloud meeting from Thursday night. Now, we’ll give you our version. Last Thursday, the Saint Cloud Council met and the Cyber Spot program was brought up for discussion because staff had gone out for bids to run the entire operation and wanted directions from the City Council. Plenty of discussion and little direction followed for almost 45 minutes when a motion was made by Council member Hopper to have staff negotiate with the best bid option. Since there was no second, the Mayor passed her gavel (don’t get excited, it was just for this motion) so she could second it. Then, there was even more discussion and public comments followed. The Mayor tried her best to persuade other council members to go along but in a 3 to 2 vote, (Or, guys vs the gals), the motion was voted down and the Cyber Spot will officially be pronounced done and gone in February. Those opposed made some good arguments regarding fiscal responsibility and even Mr. Fertic made some sense in his objections, but then lost all credibility afterward.(Explanation coming).

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What we thought was out of line was the Mayor stomping her feet down after losing the vote and speaking for 15 more minutes on the subject which had just been voted down. Usually, the smarter elected official knows what defeat is, no matter what form it comes in, and just moves on to the next item. Unfortunately for those stuck attending to the meeting, they were subjected to a lengthy time of whining, for absolutely no good reason. The votes were cast and the deal was done. Interestingly, the next item brought for consideration was the possible extension of the city’s pool hours and possible extension of heating. The Mayor simply said, “No, I’m not going there". and tried to rush the item through as a failed proposal without even a vote. Other Council members, we believe, were caught off guard by her display, and the item simply did go away.

On another item where we believe Mr. Fertic lost his fiscal responsibility credibility, along with Mr. Polachek, was when a person got up to ask for the city to sponsor and pay the fees for the rental hall on the lakefront for a 30 year reunion party
for former St. Cloud High Students who graduated 30 years ago, and many of who do not even reside in the area. Mr. Fertic was quick to make the motion to approve saying a 30 year reunion only happened once and was special. Mr. Polachek agreed, along with Mr. Griffin, and the item passed. We agree with the arguments by Ms Hopper and Ms Hart that the same logic applied to the Cyber program should be applied with this, as well. Plus, we believe, that anyone celebrating a 30 years reunion or anniversary, now has a precedent set, compliments of the gentlemen of the Council. The problem, as we see this, is there is no consistency with the City Council and their spending habits. IF they want to control spending, they need to do it across the board and not pick and choose items of personal interest or likes. The Council should set an example, regardless of political fears and set fees, such as the out of city resident fees, and stick to it. It isn’t fair for city residents to shoulder the additional costs those county residents may cause. The same for Kissimmee. It just isn’t fair, which is why the county first agreed to contributing the money to the city since the county doesn’t provide recreational activities to residents. It’s really an easy thing to do, and it has been done in the past. Set the fees and live with it. People adjust and make due. But a council, commission, or even committee must be consistent or they will surely lose what credibility they have when making statements about being “fiscally responsible". We hope all elected officials will become consistent.

Remaining in Saint Cloud, we had heard about a certain baseball coach who was harassing city staff, yelling and cursing at them whenever he didn’t get his way. Allegedly, it got really bad where some employees were afraid to deal with this guy. Several times, staff and Supervisors tried to work with him but he continued to complain and be very “difficult". Apparently, this behavior didn’t stop with the staff and several people said he was very rough with the kids on this guy’s team, an AAU ball team. We understand this behavior had been going on for way too long, approximately 3 months, and finally came to a head when a parent approached the “coach” over a situation involving the parent’s child and the coach’s attitude towards the players. Well, one thing gets to the other and the Saint Cloud Police, who were familiar with this “coach", arrived and ended up issuing this guy a trespass warning for the baseball fields! Wow, even Leo Duroucher or Casey Stengel never got a trespass waring at any field he coached so you know this guy has got to be rough around the edges! The only good news out of this ordeal will be that the “coach” is no longer welcome on the St. Cloud baseball fields and, hopefully, there’s a vacancy for a coach for this AAU team.
It’s one thing if you’re trying your best out there and fighting for the kids, BUT, you have to always remember that these programs are for the kids, and stepping out making threats to staff, or anyone, is not the example to set. Hopefully, staff will get a break from this guy and be able to do their jobs unmolested! No names mentioned here because this guy has a kid playing and the child should not be made to feel embarrassed, any more than he probably already is.

As we told you last week, the Sun Rail train was approved in Tallahassee by Legislators who know little, or less on what their constiuents are thinking and wanting. BUT, it is important to remember that after the vote was completed, most of those voting sure did feel good about themselves. If you have any doubts, just ask them and they will tell you in a heartbeat.
The following is a breakdown of costs, which was issued in February 2009, by the Florida Dept. of Transportation.

CSX/Commuter Rail Transit Funding
FY 2007/08-FY2035/36

FUNDING SOURCE COST ESTIMATES(in Millions)

CSX MASTER AGREEMENT $491.0
FDOT–State Funding 318.0
Fixed Guideway Bond Funds 173.0

COMMUTER RAIL TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT(capital) 615.4
FDOT–State Funding 153.9
Local Funding 153.9
Federal Funding 307.7

CRT OPERATIONS and MAINTENENCE (over 30 years) 947.7
FDOT- State Funding 64.1
Local Funding 175.9
Federal Funding 197.4
Fare Box 510.3

CAPITOL PLAN RESERVE 397.4
FDOT - State Funding 24.0
Local Funding 195.9
Federal Funding 177.5

DEBT SERVICE–FIXED GUIDEWAY BONDS 339.9
FDOT-State Funding 102.0
Local Funding 237.9

CRT- SUPPORT COSTS 42.2
FDOT State Funding 41.5
Local Funding .7

TOTALS 2660.6
FDOT-State Funding 703.4
Local Funding 764.3
Federal Funding 682.6
Farebox 510.3

FIXED GUIDEWAY BOND FUNDS 173.0

**Totals may not add due to rounding
CSX will receive $432 million in total compensation and will be required to invest $282 million of that compensation in Florida to benefit the state’s economy.
The reserve is to fund the future overhaul and purchase of rolling stock.
Support costs include engineering and design, project management, project management oversight, start up costs, financing costs., etc.
To insure the $173 million original bond issue is not double counted we did not include it in the “Totals” calculation at the bottom of the column. Total estimated debt service for the 30 year bonds FY 2010-2039 is $339.9 million.

Not sure about all of you, but our heads hurt when we finished reading this! What really stinks is these are NOT to correct figures because since this was issued, the project died, and now with its rebirth, a whole new set of numbers must be worked.
For those answers, we had a friend contact Sunrail Liason, Marianne Gurnee for the answers. It took about 5 days to receive an answer and our friend tells us she simply forwarded them a web link to SunRail! Our guess is she’s over her head already! But the friend wrote again and maybe this time she’ll understand. If any of you would like to contact her, the name is Marianne Gurnee and her email is mgurnee@cfl.rr.com. Her telephone is 407-492-0836. We wish you well on that one!

Our thoughts, bottom line here is, we should NOT expect this to be any type of an economic answer, or boost for Osceola County, at all. It will be many, many, did we mention many years before this project even reaches our county. Osceola is the very last piece of the system, which means rights of way from Deland to Orlando, tracks, and whatever else is needed will be handled FIRST. Orlando Mayor, Buddy Dyer, a career politician has been very open on how this new train system will work. Now, our question to the County Commission is, are you really going to give there people our share of the costs up front before the first right of way is even considered in Osceola County? Can the manager really be serious in suggesting a full nickel additional gas tax on us in January to subsidize this flawed project, which we will not see for at least 10 to 15 years? We believe ANY county commission majority following the current commission can kill the deal once they delve into it and realize the numbers are not realistic for this still rural county. If that happens, what happens to any funding already handed over to the boys on the North side of Osceola? Sorry, too many unanswered questions and too much money to be playing “globally” for this county.

Speaking of playing globally, Commissioner Ken Smith did a one man sympathy show at last week’s commission meeting, tying up staff and other professionals while he recalled, yet another of his stories about a “young man, err juvenile” he saw in the courthouse years ago. After he was done, about 10 to 15 minutes later, most people were scratching their heads asking, what did he say? Well, we’ll try to help you. Mr. Smith is ready to SPEND your tax dollars on some kind of intervention program to slow down the juvenile crime rates, which, according to Mr. Smith, are rising every minute and jamming our jails. WRONG!
Mr. Smith is so far off his statements it isn’t even funny, even for him. The Florida State Juvenile Justice Program, announced a slow, but steady decline in juvenile crimes, all over the state. Where Mr. Smith gets his figures is unknown to us but we are sure the Sheriff’s office isn’t supplying them to him.
Another dreamworld creation of Smith is that he claims juveniles are crowding our jail. That’s just a bold faced li—–well, okay, he’s just very, very, badly mistaken. Juveniles go to the detention center, run by the state, on Simpson Road and they do NOT get booked into an adult facility in our county. Over the past year, we’ve tried to overlook ALL of Mr. Smith’s errors and mistakes. Well, we tried maybe, but it’s so easy to point them out on him. His big clean up of roads is an example of how he’ll insist on sending clean up crews to 535, a STATE roadway and then not say anything about the filth along Neptune Road,a COUNTY road from St Cloud to Kissimmee. Mr. Smith’s little tirade made good opera, however, it wasn’t good for the commission or audience who were forced to listen to his tired and old rhetoric. His suggestion to spend and come up with yet another political committee might have merit if his alleged facts were just that, factual. They aren’t so we believe his rantings should not be listened to, nor should he be allowed to continually be disruptive to future commission meetings.

Finally, we received some email, none posted on the blog, regarding another political blowhard named Jay Wheeler. “Why do you pick on him all the time” we were asked, and “poor Jay was really trying for the kids". IF you were to read his entire 12/06/09 jayO’gram, you’d read about fantasy, you’d know there were untruths that can come close to lies but he’s a master at stretching truth, and then there are the statements proving his absolute lack of respect for rules, laws, and doing things properly. It was Dr. Grego who notified the principals to take the signs down. Mr. Wheeler has absolutely no authority to tell a principal, or any staff member for that matter, what they are to do. Period.We KNOW Dr. Grego TOLD Mr. Wheeler the signs were coming down, and there was no choice, at all for disagreement. He claims he’ll pay out of his pocket for new signs. Well, that’s nice, but all that proves is his complete lack of understanding that it is his political office which would prohibit him from placing any signs on school property, disclaimer or not. There should never be any signs on school property promoting an individual, unless it;s a hero or welcoming the President or something of that nature. No, Mr. Wheeler you surely are NOT a hero in this community and certainly not(thank God) the president. So, to those who do not understand why we mention these things all we can respond in saying is, if you believe he is doing everything he claims he is, in the name of the school system, then Osceola has hundreds of acres of wetlands available for sale! Perhaps we’ll talk about why he’s viewing sanitary sewer systems in the Ft Lauderdale area and what has that got to do with Osceola’s Public Education? Exactly. We rest our case, but we also know it won’t be the end for this guy, or us.

And now, some good announcements from our friends. Read them and maybe they’ll help !

Kissimmee, Fla. (December 7, 2009) – The Kissimmee Police Department’s SWAT Team placed 8th overall at the SWAT Round Up International Competition that took place November 30 – December 4, 2009 at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Gun Range in Orlando. Over 50 teams from around the United States and Europe competed at the event.

The competition included events such as tower scramble, officer rescue and an obstacle course. The Kissimmee team scored well in all of the events leading them to a top 10 overall finish.

SWAT Round Up International celebrated its 27th year of competition. The week-long event included education and training seminars, a trade show along with the competition.

Kissimmee’s SWAT team is a part-time specialty unit that has over 20 members, of those, ten make up the competition team.
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St. Cloud Fire Rescue personnel install 86 smoke alarms

St. Cloud, Fla. – City of St. Cloud Fire Rescue recently received a $12,297 fire prevention grant, provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. A total of 336 smoke alarms were purchased under the FEMA grant. These grants are awarded to fire departments to enhance their ability to protect the public and fire service personnel from fire and related hazards.
Part of the grant was used to assist St. Cloud’s senior citizens living in mobile homes. Fire Rescue personnel conducted, upon request, door-to-door visits December 1-3 at St. Cloud’s Mark Mobile Home Park installing 86 smoke alarms with 10-year lithium batteries.
According to National Fire Protection Association Fire Analysis and Research Division statistics, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm, but almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, batteries were missing or were disconnected.
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New Partnership Provides High School Students In Osceola With Free Online Tutoring Help

Students in Osceola’s nine high schools now have access to free SMARTHINKING online tutoring services as part of an innovative college readiness program. SMARTHINKING connects students to e-structor®-certified tutors for assistance in math, writing, science, and business on any Internet-connected computer.
The SMARTHINKING service helps students succeed in their current courses, be better prepared for college coursework, and become comfortable with online learning. Osceola students have already accessed 500 hours of tutoring assistance for courses including Algebra, Calculus, Physics, and Writing.

When a student needs help, they can visit the SMARTHINKING website for free at www.smarthinking.com and log in to their own account using their personal username and password they get from the school. Students can choose between two options:

Live one-on-one help: Students can work online live with an expert tutor in a variety of different subject areas for homework help and studying.
Help writing papers: Students can access the help of SMARTHINKING writing instructors who are prepared to provide feedback on how to improve their papers.
“By implementing the SMARTHINKING online tutoring service for our high school students, we are expanding our toolkit of resources designed to help students achieve at higher levels,” said Dr. Michael A. Grego, Superintendent of the Osceola School District. “The experienced tutors at SMARTHINKING provide our students extra assistance in improving basic skills 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, free of charge. I encourage parents and students to utilize this extremely valuable resource.”

While the Osceola School District is the first K-12 school district to participate in SMARTHINKING’s partnership with the Florida Distance Learning Consortium, more than 30 Florida community colleges, including Valencia Community College, and four-year universities provide SMARTHINKING’s online academic support to their students.
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KUA Board Votes to Rescind Rate

KISSIMMEE, Fla., December 10, 2009 – Following a public hearing, the Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) board of directors on Wednesday voted to rescind a conservation rate for its small commercial customers, effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Originally designed to provide rate relief and reward energy conservation, the conservation rate was approved by the utility board on Oct. 7. The rate, which went into effect on Nov. 1, lowered by 10 percent the energy costs of small businesses which use 1,500 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or less per month and raised by 2.9 percent the rate for the remaining businesses that use more than 1,500 kWh.

Because of falling fuel costs since that time and concern that the new electric rate unfairly penalized some customers, the board at its Nov. 4 meeting authorized a rollback of the new rate. The utility notified the Florida Public Service Commission of its intent to rescind the rate and scheduled a public hearing at KUA on Dec. 9.
Customers charged the higher rate will receive a full credit in their January or February bills.
Founded in 1901, KUA (www.kua.com) is Florida’s sixth largest community-owned utility providing electric and telecommunication services to 62,000 customers in Osceola County, Fla.
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Registered Sex Offender Arrested for Possessing and Manufacturing Child Pornography

Kissimmee, Fla. (February 24, 2009) – Kissimmee Police arrested a registered sex offender for possessing child pornography.

On February 23, 2009 a woman came to the Kissimmee Police Department with eleven video cassettes she had retrieved from the home of Michael Schneider (DOB 8/11/78) at 2454 Oak Hollow Drive in Kissimmee. Schneider is an acquaintance of her children’s father. Schneider is a registered sex offender who was charged in 1998 for Lewd and Lascivious on a child under 16 in Orange County.
Prior to coming to the police department, the woman viewed one of the tapes and saw that it contained acts of child pornography, including images of her six year old daughter. She had also seen pictures of her eleven year old daughter on Schneider’s computer.

Based on this information, Kissimmee Police Major Crimes Detectives obtained two search warrants and immediately executed them. A large collection of suspected child pornography, video and photography equipments, children’s clothing and additional items were recovered.
If anyone’s children have had unsupervised contact with Schneider you are encouraged to contact the Kissimmee Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit at 407-846-3333 or by email at seeitsayit@kissimmee.org. We are seeking to identify the unidentified children from his seized items.
“The Kissimmee Police Department is committed to protecting the most vulnerable of our citizens, our children,” said Captain Warren Shepard of the Criminal Investigations Division, “We will be exploring all options for prosecution against Mr. Schneider to ensure that our community is protected.”
Schneider was arrested and is currently being held at the Osceola County Jail without bond. The investigation is on-going.**
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******Sentencing Update:
On December 10, 2009 Michael Schneider was sentenced to life imprisonment followed by 262 years.

Say good bye to this dirt bag where he will serve the next 262 years with some of his boyfriends!!
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Xerox is doing something nice For Armed Forces Members!

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.
How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them.
This takes just 10 seconds and it’s a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you’s.
Thanks for taking to time to support our military!
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3 Suspects Arrested for Trafficking Prescription Drugs

Osceola County – On December 10, Osceola County Investigative Bureau agents conducted an undercover drug operation. Agents set up a meeting with three suspects to purchase hundreds of Roxycodone pills. Nichols Allen Heiser, Stuart Edward Sims and Robert Scott Haggard met with agents and were arrested. They are charged with Trafficking Oxycodone. All three were booked into the Osceola County Jail with $100,000 bond.
Nichols Allen Heiser (DOB 6/23/83), 3402 Beechwood Drive, Apopka
Stuart Edward Sims (DOB 8/19/86), 1410 Abigail Drive, Apopka
Registered Felon: Robert Scott Haggard (DOB 7/13/78), 429 Citadel Drive, Altamonte Springs
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3 Suspects Arrested for Trafficking Cocaine

Osceola County – On December 10, Osceola County Investigative Bureau agents conducted an undercover drug operation. Agents received information three suspects were receiving cocaine from Puerto Rico. They located the suspects and obtained a search warrant for 2331 Andrew Valley in Kissimmee. Agents recovered cocaine and arrested Carlos Vasquez, Rafael Santiago and Juan Aponte Narvarro. They were charged with Trafficking in Cocaine over 400 grams and were booked into the Osceola County Jail.
Carlos Vazquez (DOB 11/30/68), 410 Greenwich Court, Kissimmee
Rafael Santiago-Rivera (DOB 5/16/58), 2331 Andrews Valley Drive, Kissimmee
Juan Aponte-Navarro (DOB 10/372), 2331 Andrews Valley Drive, Kissimmee
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Boggy Creek Road Culvert Replacement, Detour

Osceola County, Florida – Osceola County Public Works will be replacing two culverts under Boggy Creek Road beginning December 14, 2009. Work is scheduled to be completed by January 4, 2010.

Boggy Creek Road will be closed between Eagle Bay Boulevard and Pebble Point Way for the duration of the project. Traffic will be detoured onto Buenaventura Boulevard and Osceola Parkway (map attached).

Variable Message Signs (VMS) have been placed on Boggy Creek Road just north and south of the culvert locations to notify motorists of the upcoming roadway closure. Additional VMS/signs will be placed on Osceola Parkway and Buenaventura Boulevard with detour information one week prior to construction.

For more information, contact the Osceola County Public Information Office at 407-742-0100.
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As Christmas gets closer, remember this is the time we all should feel good about saying “Merry Christmas” as that is the true name of the Holiday we celebrate. For those offended by this, quite frankly, too bad.
So, in the spirit of that we’ll say to all, right now, and right here, MERRY CHRISTMAS! and we’ll repeat it as we so choose!

God Bless you all. Be healthy and please, always stay safe.