SPRING BREAK MADNESS

March is Spring Break time. The college kids storm the beaches. Key West jumps for 3-4 weeks.

The madness in the title is not attributed to the college students. Rather to Key West Commissioner Tony Yaniz. He wants to bring the Spring Break Court back.

I can recall ten or better years ago when spring breakers descended in mass upon Key West. They did not seem bothersome, except it was no time for locals to hit the beaches. The collegians covered them completely. Duval merchants were happy. Business boomed in the evenings. The motels happy, also. Rooms were filled, even though their might be ten people to a room.

Key West city fathers at the time decided that a different way of handling what they perceived as wrong doing was required. If the kids got in any trouble, they would be hauled before a special Spring Break Court. The punishment for whatever wrongdoing was generally eight hours the next day cleaning Key West streets.

My sense at the time was that there was an extra effort to apprehend alleged wrongdoers. There was a special court to deal with them and it should be kept busy. It was.

The Spring Break Court worked so well that college students stopped coming to Key West. Word spread rapidly through the college grapevine. Key West was not a good place for spring breakers.

Only a handful kept returning. Significant business was lost. The Spring Break Court had done its job well.

In recent years, college students have started returning. No where in the numbers they had years ago. But it is obvious more are on the way.

Key West Commissioner Tony Yainz wants to bring back the Spring Break Court. I believe he is wrong. Leave well enough alone. Let the usual police/court system deal with any problems. Permit the chicken that lays the golden egg to return. The college students were never that great a problem.

My blog talk radio show went well last night. Comments since the show aired indicate listeners were most interested in government waste. Items in the new Farm Law, the $5.4 million the State Department spent on new exquisite crystal glassware for U.S. embassy parties, and the $100,000 outhouse in Alaska seem to have attracted the most attention.

The Farm Law issues are dealt with in detail in my KONK Life column this week.

Tonight, Syracuse/Pitt. Going to be a tough game. Syracuse beat Pitt by several points at the Carrier Dome a couple of weeks ago. Tonight’s game is at Pitt. Difficult! The spread is 1.5 points, in favor of Pitt.

We shall see.

The game is at 7. I will be watching it at John Lukas’ Big Ten Sports Bar.

Finally, bocce returns! Tomorrow night!

Enjoy your day!