Camp Alternative for Margate Kids
The Sawgrass Nature Center & Wildlife Hospital’s “Camp Wild” is for children from ages 6-12. Camp will be held during Spring Break from March 29- April 2, 2010 and during the Summer from June 14- August 6, 2010. Camp runs from 9 am to 3 pm daily with extended hours available on request.
Click here to read more.
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Time for Term Limits in Margate?
Unlike numerous other Broward cities, Margate has no set term limits for City Commissioners. Incumbents can run as many times as they like and, as long as they continue to win elections, they can spend decades representing Margate voters – as several current commissioners have.
Critics of term limits, mostly politicians, lobbyists and the special interests they represent, will tell you that the election process is the ultimate ‘term limit,’ in that taxpayers decide by majority vote who will and who won't be ‘termed out’ of office at election time.
Click here to read more.
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Post Office Almost Cancels Christmas
Using privacy concerns and high labor costs as a crutch, the U.S. Postal Service decided in November to stop answering letters addressed “Santa Claus, North Pole.” Members of Congress quickly intervened and the pseudo-government agency reversed its decision.
“We never wanted to spoil people’s Christmas,” an agency spokesman said. (NY Times)
Click here to read more.
Explore North Pole, Alaska on Google Earth.
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Hats off to the Red Shirts
You see them everywhere. D.E.E.S. and Public Works employees in red shirts maintaining and repairing all things that keep Margatonians safe and healthy. Sewers, water lines, medians, trees, roads, parks, pests and potholes – anywhere you go in Margate, you’re bound to run into a guy in a red shirt.
Click here to read more.
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Help Margate Clean up the Neighborhood
Due to the rising number of abandoned and foreclosed homes in the city, Margate Police are urging residents to report abandon and un-kept properties to the Neighborhood Policing Division at 954-972-1232.
Since the inception of the city’s abandon property ordinance, code compliance officers have identified almost 600 vacant or abandon properties in Margate and believe many more exist.
Click here to read more.
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Get Married for Free!
At a time when money problems are the number cause of divorce, it doesn’t have to be that way for weddings. Margate residents can get married at City Hall by none other than the Margate City Clerk, Leslie Wallace May, at no charge. Out-of-towners pay $10.
Click here to read more.
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Turning Margate into a Certified Wildlife Habitat™
Margate Resident, Ted Allman, has decided to take his yard to the next level. He’s joined thousands of wildlife enthusiasts across America creating a habitat for neighborhood wildlife in their very own yards.
Click here to read more.
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Vicious Dogs: Who owns them and why?
Florida Headlines in 2009 read:
6-Year Old Girl Recovering After Pit Bull Attack
Baby Boy Hospitalized After Family Dog Attack
Fort Lauderdale man pries open jaws of dog attacking little girl
Pit bull attacks 5-year-old boy
Click here to read more.
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Making 'cents' of the proposed FPL Rate Hike
Florida, Power & Light (FP&L) is one of five investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in Florida. IOUs are state-regulated monopolies that exist to make a profit for their stockholders while serving the public. Similar to any other publicly traded company, FP&L raises operating capital through stock sales, taxable bonds and operating revenues.
Of the five IOUs that serve Florida, FP&L is the largest, serving approximately 4.2 million customers, or roughly 62 percent of customers served by the five IOUs.
Click here to read more.
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Group Home in Margate Fails Inspection
Just days before 73-year-old Alzheimer’s resident, Anna Smith, went missing on June 13 from the Embassy Retirement Home in Margate, the assisted living facility failed its biennial inspection by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).
Embassy Retirement Home is one of several group homes in Margate licensed by AHCA. Every two years, Embassy undergoes an audit of resident and staff records and reports, staff standards and emergency management procedures in order to qualify for re-licensure.
This year, the home failed to meet re-licensure criteria and has until July 3, 2009 to make corrections.
Click here to read more.
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Group Homes in Margate
A move by Florida lawmakers to disband large, understaffed and under-qualified assisted living facilities in Florida has resulted in group care facilities popping up in single-family neighborhoods across the state.
Although one could hardly argue that mentally-challenged citizens, the disabled and elderly, and those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction deserve access to quality residential living...
Click here to read more. Article updated on June 8, 2009. See updated paragraph in italics.
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Margate Jobless & Foreclosures
South Florida’s ten percent jobless rate and the fact that one in every 254 homes in Broward faces foreclosure mean little to the average Margatonian. Most Margate homeowners still have their jobs and their homes and our city continues to move forward fixing roads, promoting community redevelopment and attracting small business.
Click here to read more.
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