Second robbery

From The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

An armed man robbed a West Palm Beach convenience store Wednesday, making it the second holdup in about a week at the shop, police said.
The robbery at Dixie Food & Beverage happened shortly after 1 p.m.
The store clerk told police that a man wearing a yellow polo shirt and a black baseball cap with the word "Security" on the front walked around the counter, aimed a gun at him and demanded money.
The man, who has closely cropped dark hair, is 25 to 30 years old. He is 6 feet tall and weight 180 to 200 pounds.
On June 12, two men robbed the store and shot clerk Mohommad Rahman in the arm.

COLLISION TONIGHT INJURES TWO, TIES UP TRAFFIC ONE BLOCK SOUTH OF CHURCHILL RD.

A two-car collision Wednesday night tangled up traffic at Dixie Highway and Palmetto Rd. and sent a driver and passenger away in ambulances.
Witnesses standing on the northeast corner of the intersection said a black, two-door Toyota Celica was traveling south on Dixie about 8 p.m. The passenger was in the front seat.

When the Toyota turned east onto Palmetto Road, it collided with a Range Rover traveling north on Dixie. The impact sheared the front bumber off the dark blue Range Rover. The bumper and Range Rover ended up about 20 feet apart on the east side of Dixie, in front of Dixie Food & Beverage. Witnesses said the driver of the Range Rover was uninjured.
The Celica, with a deep dent in the passenger's side and three flat tires, came to a stop on Palmetto Rd., about 20 feet east of Dixie Highway. Several police cars and two ambulances were on the scene, as were about 25 rubber-neckers. No information was available on which driver was at fault.
"They both must have been moving pretty fast. Look how bad they were hurt," said one man, as the yellow and red lights flashed on his face.

Talkin' bout my generator

This just in from neighbor Barry!

And now, sure to bore even the most ardent Churchillian fan:

Run Your Generator on Natural Gas!

I made the plunge last week and ordered a natural gas conversion kit
for my little Coleman generator. Now I can run on gasoline or natural
gas, which I already have installed in my house. You could also use
propane. Added bonus; there are almost ZERO emissions! I installed the
kit in about and hour and had the thing fired up today. It was a little
harder to pull start, but it sure beats lugging those 5 gallon gas cans
around!

Alternate Fuel Technologies, Inc.
1-877-425-8383 Rich
http://www.ProPaneCarbs.com
This is the only place on-line that I found where you can actually TALK
to someone. And there are great installation photos on the web site.
The "dual fuel" kit was $187.

Blimp sighting!!

This morning, around 9:45, a rare scene on Churchill Road.
The Goodyear Blimp!
One of the blimps in the three-member fleet was sailing north along the Intracoastal Waterway - right past the Churchillian.
Headed to the World Cup, perhaps? Nah.

SEVEN MONTHS AFTER WILMA, EARLY-MORNING CREWS FIX CHURCHILL RD. STREETLIGHT

West Palm Beach and FPL crews were at work on the west end of the 300 block before 9 this morning. (Left photo)

And -- 20 minutes later -- they were gone.

Tonight, the light is shining -- and Churchill Road is whole again, seven months after Hurricane Wilma. (Right photo)

Movie update!

Palm Beach Post's Thom Smith reports this morning:
There is a deal for a Marley and Me movie.
The film producer is Gil Netter, whose credits include My Best Friend's Wedding, two Naked Guns, Fever Pitch and the soon-to-be-released Flicka, a remake of My Friend Flicka, starring Tim McGraw.

Which means Mr. Netter has to be on a first-name basis with Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore.
This is good news for Barry.

Food and Beverage clerk shot and robbed

From The Post's web site - www.pbpost.com

WEST PALM BEACH — Police officers responded to the Dixie Food and Beverage Convenience Store at 5914 South Dixie Highway on an armed robbery call at 1:15 this morning.

The store is one block south of Dixie Highway and Churchill Road.

Police found 51-year old Mohommad Rahman, the store clerk, with a bullet wound to his left arm.

Rahman said the suspects never said a word and were about 5'9 to 5'11 with medium builds, weighing 160-170 pounds.

Detectives are checking the store's video surveillance cameras and are also trying to determine if this crime is connected to other local convenience store robberies/shootings within the last month.

Rahman was treated at St. Mary's Medical Center. His injuries are not life-threatening.

SHARON STONE OR SANDRA BULLOCK?

OK, so John Grogan, best-selling author and Churchill Road's most famous former resident is a big shot. In fact, you can read his blog.
And, guess what? So is the cheddar cheese house.
Hollywood is hammering on the guy's door. The Churchillian has learned they are talking about making a movie.
Don't believe it? Barry was on a website that confirms a Grogan groupie made a pilgrimage from her timeshare in Pompano Beach to Churchill Road. Just to bask at the mangy mutt's former homestead.



Still don't believe it? Go on the web and try to buy a copy of THE LAST HOME RUN, a hard-to-find movie that features Marley and a mystery Churchill Road resident.
Copies are going for more than $100 -- if you can find one.


Barry is featured in the book Marley and Me as the "fearless single woman" across the street who helps try to chase down a criminal.
She recently wrote in.
That's why Churchill Road residents are all asking -- who'll play Churchill Road's fearless heroine in the movie?

RECHARGABLE HURRICANE FAN

Barry writes from the cutting edge:

Now that you've been threatened with bodily harm if you let your generator run all night long, here's something to help you get through those sweltering, A/C-less nights.

Two summers ago when I was sleeping in a hammock, 15 feet up in a tree seeking a lofty breeze, all I wished for was a fan. ANY fan. My mini-model threw but a whisp past my forehead and lasted a mere 3 hours on 4 C-cell batteries. No good. So this year I decided to do better.

With a little internet research I found the hitherto-unknown-to-man TEN INCH battery powered fan. This thing actually moves some air! Thing is, you have to stuff it with 8 (EIGHT!) D cell batteries which they claim will run the thing for a whopping 72 hours.

Skeptical?

Me too. So here's my solution to never ending fandom.

I sacrificed an old 12volt power converter with an adapter end which fit the fan (probably from an old portable phone - and since I save EVERYTHING I had several) and cut the power supply end off. If you're not a pack-rat like me, you can use the power adapter that comes with the fan.

Separate and strip the wire ends and attach a pair of alligator clips, making sure to get the polarity of the tip correct; positive to the tip, negative to the outside. Often the wires are marked or you can use a continuity device. Hook up to a big ole lawnmower, motorcycle or car battery and sleep knowing the thing isn't gonna quit on you at 3 am. During the day use your generator and a battery charger to keep the battery up to snuff.

This method should keep you AND your neighbors cool, since your generator won't be getting anybody hot under the collar. Plus, your gas supply will last at least twice as long! (An unopened fridge will stay cold all night long and will maintain ice when run intermittently during the day as long as you're not staring into it wondering what's good to eat.)

Sources:
O2 Cool fans sold at CVS, Walgreens, Publix & more. $19.99
http://www.o2-cool.com

Technical advice: Harry Tuttle, heating engineer, 329 Churchill Rd.

Our favorite, Frangies

We love the Frangipani trees that dot the landscape on Churchill Road.
(The scientific name is Plumeria and the tree is native to tropical and subtropical America.)
Here is the one on the corner of Churchill and Olive.



The trees' flowers are most frangrant in the evening in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. According to Wikipedia, Frangipani flowers have no nectar, and simply dupe their pollinators. The flowers are pollinated as the moths transfer pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar.
The trees are surprisingly easy to grow. They reach full size of around 30 feet tall in about five years.
Just take a ripe cutting of a small, leafless branch in spring and allow it dry at the base. Then, plant it.
We can't resist the delicate colors of the flowers on the various trees. You don't see that in the Midwest. In Hawaii, the exotic-looking flowers are used to make leis.