Editor’s Corner
Englewood Edge Editor Mark Chapman’s musings.
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Through the Looking Glass
Ah, autumn. The air cools, the humidity all but vanishes and, in Northern climates, the leaves begin to fall from the trees.
In some Southern regions, it seems, it is sanity that falls. Or maybe just reason. And decorum.
This weekend brought a double dip of of illustrative happenings to the Edge via e-mail. One came from treasured columnist Todd Tracy, a gentleman and deep thinker with whom I agree about 50 percent of the time, and respect 100 percent of the time.
Continue reading this story…Life across the footlights
Ah, the footlights.
Theater buffs know that footlights are lined up at foot-level across the lip of the stage (the front, or downstage, edge) — sometimes recessed into the stage — to help illuminate the actors and help take the curse off shadows under the jawline cast by the ellipsoidals and Fresnels and par cans and scoops hanging in the grid high above the performers.
Pill problem
Charlotte County’s Sheriff’s Office will be accepting old drugs at the San Casa office Sept. 25, and I hope every home in Englewood takes advantage.
Misused prescription drugs account for so many deaths and hospitalizations, so much crime. Just take a look at the Edge arrest logs. The majority of crimes seem to be related to possession, use or sale of controlled substances for which the offending party has no prescription.
Englewood’s got talent
Nick Hanfelder got a last-minute call from Englewood Idol director Jennifer Kelly the other day: One of the 10 finalist chosen through auditions for the fund-raiser based on the TV show “American Idol” had withdrawn, and she needed a singer. She needed a singer who could step in on short notice and hold his or her own against the nine people who won their spots through auditions.
Nick is one of Kelly’s former students, an important part of the theater department at Lemon Bay High for four years. His talent was well known to Kelly and to many others around Englewood who had heard Nick sing at karaoke nights and assorted small venues.
Storm clouds
We ‘re entering the heart of hurricane season, and, as in 2004, the most ominous storm clouds seem to be gathering over Charlotte County.
But these are not hurricane clouds. These clouds are man — and woman — made, and the storm threatens to leave more lasting damage than Hurricane Charley.
Charlotte County government is in an uproar. Morale, by all accounts, is at the sub-basement level. In the past year, the Board of County Commissioners — a dysfunctional bunch by their own public pronouncements — have cleaved more than 380 employees from the payroll. That’s wonderful news for those who believe the government is bloated, but not such good news for 380 people who found themselves unemployed in one of the worst job markets in most of our lifetimes.
Community spirit
Less than two years ago, it was beginning to look like community spirit was dying in Englewood.
Relay for Life had hit the skids, the Fourth of July fireworks show wound up being called off for lack of donations, and the annual Pioneer Days parade and activities were headed for oblivion.
But apathy is not what Englewood is about.
Beeting a ded horce?
OK, I admit it. Sometimes Evil Mark comes out of the box, and I just can’t seem to get him back in until he does his deed.
In this case, it is the Stephen R. Deutsch County Commission Campaign that is stirring the passions of the Evil One.
A few weeks ago I took whoever wrote the candidate’s campaign press releases to task for not knowing how to spell Rotonda. It also seemed as if the person didn’t know that “from the Sarasota line to the beach communities” was part of Englewood.
So Thursday night, this arrived:
Are storm clouds brewing?
Back on Feb. 7 I wrote a bit about the weather. More specifically, I wrote about the hysteria surrounding some big snowstorms up North, and then about the ridiculousness of the pre-season hurricane hand-wringing that goes on in the mainstream media every year.
In December the forecasters were predicting a higher-than-normal number of named storms this year, but things have gotten off to a relatively slow start.
So what to do?
Well, NOAA decided to update its predictions: It’ll be worse than originally thought.