Latest news with #PalmBeachCivicAssociation
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-ambassador: Trump foreign policy will upend US role as international beacon of freedom
The Trump administration's foreign policy will upend the United States' position as an international beacon of freedom, former U.S. ambassador to Brazil Elizabeth Bagley said during an appearance this month in Palm Beach. 'We have been leaders of the free world, and now we are not, clearly,' she said in response to a question from the audience at a March 13 breakfast lecture hosted by the Palm Beach Civic Association at the Beach Club. Bagley, who has held a position in every Democratic administration since President Jimmy Carter's told the audience that since the Cold War, international aid programs have been an essential part of U.S. foreign policy. Since the administration of John F. Kennedy, the United States Agency for International Development and other programs funded by the U.S government have served to "develop friends through persuasion," Bagley said. That has helped the U.S. avoid pursuing foreign policy goals through the military, she said during the discussion moderated by Civic Association CEO Michael Pucillo. Such programs, and U.S. diplomacy are referred to in policy circles as "soft power" that can help the U.S global standing and serve as an invaluable tool to prevent volatile situations from escalating into armed conflict, Bagley said. She recalled that Jim Mattis, secretary of defense during Trump's first term, said, "if you cut development, then I'm going to need more soldiers." Since the beginning of Trump's second term on Jan. 20, the administration has cut more than 80% of the programs under USAID and fired thousands of workers and placed others on administrative leave. On March 18, a federal judge for the district of Maryland blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from firing any more USAID workers or terminating USAID contracts. On March 10, a federal judge ruled that the Trump Administration is not allowed to freeze funds Congress had already directed to be spent on foreign aid. Bagley told the audience that America's foreign policy had historically been bipartisan, as it was important for the country to speak to the world 'with one voice.' Bagley noted the diplomatic work the bipartisan President's Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy accomplished during her tenure on the board during the President George W. Bush's administration. She questioned whether bipartisan advisory commissions would continue to exist under the polarized politics of the Trump administration. Bagley also expressed concern over the current administration's treatment of longtime allies. She noted the administration's hostile rhetoric to Canada, Mexico, Ukraine and the European Union, and its softened stance toward Russia, a historic rival. She cited the Feb. 24 United Nations General Assembly Meeting, where the U.S. voted against a European-drafted resolution that called for the end of the war in Ukraine. Because Ukraine did not remove the statement noting Russia's invasion, "we vetoed the resolution,' she said. The countries that voted against the resolution include Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, "all the good guys," she said sarcastically. During that meeting, U.S. also abstained from voting on its own resolution that called for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, after Europeans led by France successfully amended the resolution to make it clear that Russia was the aggressor. Bagley also spoke about her time in the Carter administration as the Congressional liaison officer for The Panama Canal Treaties that returned the canal and its surrounding land to Panama, as the ambassador to Portugal under President Bill Clinton's administration, and as the ambassador to Brazil during the President Joe Biden's term. Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Ex-envoy: Trump foreign policy will upend US role as beacon of freedom
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Palm Beach's search for traffic solutions takes the spotlight at town hall forum
Palm Beach officials have sent out a survey to local businesses to gauge interest for a town-wide shuttle service for town employees and the employees of local businesses. A shuttle service was among the potential policies and actions to combat traffic discussed Tuesday during "Moving Forward: Traffic Solutions 33480," a public forum co-sponsored by the town and the Palm Beach Civic Association. That list includes restriping of Bradley Place between its intersections with Royal Poinciana Way and Sunrise Avenue, raising the threshold of Palm Beach's "town-serving" requirement for businesses and a temporary mortarium on single-family residences and certain building additions, Town Manager Kirk Blouin said. But he cautioned that residents interested in the shuttle idea should temper their optimism. 'Frankly, I'd be surprised that the demand is there, because people aren't going to do that unless it improves their workday,' Blouin said during the forum at Town Hall. Joining Blouin on Tuesday's panel were Palm Beach Police Chief Nicholas Caristo, Public Works Director Paul Brazil, town attorney Joanne O'Connor and Planning, Zoning and Building Director Wayne Bergman, with Civic Association CEO Michael Pucillo serving as moderator. Staff also spoke about the policies already enacted, with Blouin highlighting the temporary changes made to the hours for to landscapers and construction workers. In December, Town Council voted to change landscape hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with the first 30 minutes limited to quiet work. On Feb. 11, the council voted to change the construction hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with the first hour limited to quiet work. 'So, in concept, if they are able to get on the island before the peak rush hours in the morning or leave after the peak rush hours in the afternoon, it should have some effect on the traffic,' he said. 'It may be small, but we're looking at everything.' The town also has rescheduled town capital improvement projects that could negatively impact traffic, senior project engineer Julie Parham said. She said residents can head to the "Planned Traffic Impacts" page on the town's website to view a map and schedule of upcoming town projects. Those changes came after Palm Beach recorded its largest recent uptick in the yearly growth of traffic. Kimley-Horn transportation engineer Adam Kerr said the rate of growth increased from a five-year average of 2.7% to 6.3% in the last year. That amounted to roughly 60,000 cars coming to and from the island every day, Kerr said. That translates to about 19,000 daily trips on Flagler Memorial Bridge, 27,000 daily trips on the Royal Park Bridge and 12,500 daily trips on the Southern Boulevard Bridge, he said. While Blouin emphasized that the town's traffic woes were caused by a range of factors, he said the two most impactful factors have been bridge openings, and the U.S. Secret Service's mandated closure of South Ocean Boulevard while the President Donald Trump is at Mar-a-Lago. He noted that while the Coast Guard controls the bridges leading into town, Mayor Danielle Moore had successfully lobbied to reduce bridge openings from two to one an hour during the town's morning and afternoon rush hour. However, that does not include the unscheduled bridge openings caused by the barges going to and from Palm Beach County's Bonefish Cove Project. 'We asked them to delay the project, to work in the off hours, to work at night ... all those requests were denied but the meeting and the communications did not stop,' Blouin said. During the town's last meeting with the project's lead, the Army Corps of Engineers, Blouin said Corps officials acknowledged that they did not expect the negative traffic impact caused by project's schedule. But there is some positive news. Blouin said the town saw a 16% decrease in traffic on the Flagler Memorial Bridge and a and 23% decrease on the Royal Park Bridge when the Secret Service lifted the South Ocean Boulevard closure. Palm Beach County's ever-increasing levels of tourism and growth have also played a role in the town's traffic woes, Blouin said. 'There's been an explosion of tourism and growth here in Palm Beach County, record setting numbers year over year,' Blouin told the over 60 in attendance. 'That's certainly not helping with the traffic, not only in Palm Beach County, but here in the Town of Palm Beach.' Palm Beach County has also experienced a nearly 3% growth in traffic along its main roadways leading to West Palm Beach and the Town of Palm Beach, Kerr said. However, residents could expect improvements by 2026, Blouin said, noting that the county is in the midst of updating its traffic signals, which should help reduce traffic traveling to and from the island during rush hour. Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Town pitches shuttle service, building moratorium during traffic forum
USA Today
13-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
NBC's Richard Engel says tumultuous change is coming to the Middle East
NBC's Richard Engel says tumultuous change is coming to the Middle East Show Caption Hide Caption Trump says US will take over war-torn Gaza Strip President Donald Trump said during a news conference with Israel's prime minister that the U.S. should "takeover" the war-torn Gaza Strip. The Middle East is in a historic period of uncertainty, NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said Monday during a question-and-answer session hosted by the Palm Beach Civic Association at The Breakers. "Lebanon has a new government, Syria has a new government, Israel still has plans for reshaping the Middle East," Engel said. "So, I think right now we're going to get another historic period of flux." Responding to a question from Civic Association Chairman and CEO Michael Pucillo, Engel said the current moment represents what he considers to be the sixth most notable period of historic change in the region. Engel has reported on the region since moving to Egypt as a recent college graduate in 1996. 'So, I took $2,000 in cash, literally in cash ... I got a one-way ticket to Cairo, said goodbye to my parents and started there as a journalist,' he recalled of his move to the region. Since then, he has covered nearly every major event that has impacted the region, including the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and the civil war in Syria. Most recently, Engel has led NBC's reporting on Israel-Hamas War that followed Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. "What happened was a ferocious response that has leveled Gaza, really destroyed it," said Engle, who visited the area with the Israeli military. "It is uninhabitable now; the infrastructure has been completely ripped up." Pucillo asked whether a two-state solution was still a viable option, noting that President Donald Trump's recent proposal of permanently resettling Gazans in the neighboring Arab countries marked a significant shift from America's historic support for a two-state solution. There are only two other options outside of the two-state solution Engel said. Israel could absorb Palestine and grant Palestinians Israeli citizenship. However, Engel said that plan has little popularity in Israel as it would transform Israel from a Jewish state to a secular state with an Arab majority. The other option, like Trump's proposal, is to remove the Palestinians from the land, 'which would be as ugly, and look as ugly as it sounds,' he said. Engel also spoke about the recent fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, and the unique story behind the rise of Syria's current President Ahmed al-Szara, from a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member to a revolutionary who now denounces the militant organization and has a more moderate political vision. "He'll be an amazing biography one day," Engel said. "But he has one big fundamental decision, what kind of country does he want? Does he want a country that is Muslim, a country run by Muslim laws, or does he want it to be a truly international country." Monday's breakfast event also saw the civic association award its annual William "Bill" Brooks Community Service to Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation co-founders John Scarpa and Tim Moran. Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@
