Maybe one day, we’ll have our own brewery here in Tallahassee. In the meantime, the Saint Somewhere folks in Tarpon Springs are about the closest local brewery. Their beer is yummy.

Beer label image from http://www.usbeerstuff.com

The service is provided by Feedburner, a Google company. I promise that if you sign up for email updates, I’ll keep your email information private. Feedburner says they’ll do the same. My experience with Google is that they don’t spam.

Known as the “Rockaway” project, this proposed development will allow up to 500 residential units in a rural area currently zoned for 50.  If you’re tired of more traffic, more pollution, more overcrowded schools and more taxpayer dollars needed to pay for the impacts of poorly planned growth, then take action today at:

http://progressflorida.org/page/s/mahanmassacre

Thanks!

The podcast opens with the call of a red shouldered hawk.  It comes from the University of Florida bird sound audio archive at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/birds/sounds.htm

Music on todays podcast is from the excellent “Look A-Yonder Coming” CD collection from the Florida State Library and Archives.  You can find this music free for downloading by visiting http://www.floridamemory.com/collections/folklife/.

The first tune is “Going Down That Road Feeling Bad; a traditional song performed by Mike and Polly Johnson and performed at the 1977 Florida Folk Festival.  The second tune is Orange Blossom Special; a great Florida train song (one of two I know) performed by Chubby Anthony and Claude Bedenbaugh

This coming Saturday, join me and a bunch of other folks who love our local rivers for a cleanup day on the Wacissa.  If you have a canoe or kayak, bring it to the Wacissa river on Saturday (July 12th) morning.  The fun starts early and goes until 2 PM.  If you don’t have a canoe or kayak, there will be some available for rent in the park.  You find the Wacissa by going south on SR 59.  Soon after you cross US 27, you arrive in the town of Wacissa.  SR 59 turns to the west, but you should go straight ahead through the little town and into the city park at the river.

Click here to see a copy of the poster (art by Bill Oterson).

The podcast includes Dave’s rant on why we need passenger rail here in Florida.

Chinese Privet is a very invasive species.  This is an excellent time to cut it back before it flowers and sets seeds for the birds to spread around.

Remember that bicycles belong.  Share the road and ride your bike.

-0-

When he was packing up and hitting the road after the end of the show, he shook my hand again and said, “David; you tell people that you know Diddley.” I just did.

Bo Diddley made some crazy guitars and some crazy music. I wish I could play you one of his tunes on a podcast, but I can’t. That doesn’t stop you from seeking out a recording of the master.

Bo Diddley died in Jacksonville.

Image is from WikiMedia Commons and is covered by a Creative Commons Share Alike license.

The image with this posting was found on WikiMedia Commons and is in the public domain.

Last night, at approximately 8:00PM, the Tallahassee Police Department responded to the intersection of Aplachee Parkway and Magnolia Drive in reference to a crash involving a bicyclist.  Due to the serious nature of the crash, Investigator Joe Giangrosso, from the Tallahassee Police Department’s Traffic Homicide Unit responded to the scene.  The investigation revealed that the bicyclist, later identified as twenty two year old Jarryd Brown, was traveling north on East Magnolia Drive (west side of the roadway).  According to witnesses, Brown attempted to cross Apalachee Parkway although northbound traffic did not have the right of way due to a red light.  A 1998 green Chevrolet Blazer, driven by William Wiehagen, was traveling west on Apalachee Parkway as Brown attempted to cross the street.  Wiehagen’s vehicle struck Brown, causing Brown to be ejected from the bicycle.  Brown succumbed to his injuries at the scene.  The investigation continues, but charges are not pending.  This is the first bicycle related fatality the Tallahassee Police Department has investigated this year.

Tonight, a memorial bike ride was held.  One participant in the ride estimated that over 200 people participated.  

This image is a “ghost bike“. Ghost bikes are memorials to cyclists killed on our highways. A bike is painted white and chained to something solid close to where the cyclist was killed. This image is from flickr user Kamaru and is distributed under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Last night, at the intersection of Apalachee Parkway and Magnolia, Jarryd Brown was killed in an accident with a car. Jarryd was my neighbor and my friend and leaves behind a community who have lost too many young people to the highways.

Jarryd went to SAIL and was currently enrolled at TCC. As the father of one bicycle commuter, the brother of another and an occasional bike commuter myself, this hits me even harder.

I was unable to reach anyone at TPD this morning regarding the current status of the investigation. I don’t know if the traffic cameras at the intersection caught a license number or of there is a description of the vehicle or the driver. As soon as a description is available, I’ll be posting it here. Look for updates in the comments. It’s important that this, and every traffic incident where a cyclist is injured or killed is treated seriously by law enforcement.

There are a couple of memorials planned for Jarryd. The local bike community is holding a ride of silence in honor of Jarryd. It starts at 7PM in front of Krank It Up in Railroad Square. There is a post-ride bonfire planned in Jarryd’s community.

There is a brief article about the accident on TDO. It didn’t make the front page - look for it under “more local news” . Local bike blog, “TallyCat.org” has a very active discussion thread on the accident.

The best memorial to Jarryd is for each of us to raise our voice to our local bureaucrats and politicians. It’s time that bicycle transportation is taken seriously in our community, and that our traffic and transportation plans treat bikes and pedestrians as equals to automobiles.

The planning department is currently considering the development of a new “multimodal” transportation district in downtown Tallahassee. We’re not talking Madison (Wisconsin), or Davis (California) here but it’s a start. You can download the proposal here. The planning department’s point person for this initiative is:

Cherie Bryant, AICP
Special Projects Manager
Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
(850) 891-6400

Read the plan and let Cherie know what you think about it. For me, the big issues are intersections, on-street parking, secure bike parking, and fair enforcement of bicycle/automobile issues.

Keep Jarryd’s dad, Scott, in your hearts and please, share the road. Cyclists belong.
Updated to correct earlier inaccuracy.

It looks like the building at 605 West Gaines Street is scheduled to be razed in the coming weeks. It’s an amazing building that would make a wonderful bar. The new building is apparently going to be a combination of three story row houses with some retail space on the first floor.
Link to somebody’s photobucket site with a sketch of the new building here.
Link to the demolition permit here.
Link to the property record here.

I’m sad to see the old building, which has a rich history, go, but the new row houses will help infill the downtown area. I just hope that greed and yuppie/buppie design arrogance won’t run off all the small businesses that make the Gaines Street area so interesting. I’m sorry about the on-street parking, which I hope is a temporary measure. The area would be better served by transit, bike and pedestrian access. I suspect that once the area gets some resident owners, the on-street parking madness will be revisited and a more human friendly solution adopted.

1000 imaginary TallyCast points and a free TallyCast coffee mug to the commenter who provides the most complete history of the present building at 650 West Gaines. Extra points awarded if you know what was there before the current building.