MF’er

19. January 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Community

I posted this on our internal web forum earlier today with the subject line “MF’er” (abbreviated, not spelled out, mind you):

I just had a gray mini-Jeep thing pass me — on the right, mind you — on Celebration Ave before Eastlawn. Tap of the brakes (no stopping) at the Eastlawn four way and then proceeded at 50-55 down towards and into Artisan.

Florida tag [redacted]… you suck, dude.

A few minutes ago I received a call from Town Hall saying that a number of people had called them complaining about my post. Not that I complained about a dangerous driver, not that I posted someone’s tag number, but that I used an acronym of a profanity. I was asked to retitle the post; I complied, as I didn’t get the impression it was subject to negotiation.

What’s telling here is that I doubt those same people would’ve bothered to complain to Town Hall about the individual driving in an erratic manner, ignoring traffic control devices, and exceeding the speed limit by 20+ MPH.

A quick search of the forums shows an instance of WTF and many uses of the word ‘ass’. WTF. I may be on shaky ground with my use of the word ‘suck’.

Arrest in Celebration murder

06. December 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Community, Events

There was an arrest today in the Matteo Giovanditto homicide case.

“A homeless man was arrested Monday afternoon in the first murder in the town of Celebration. David Murillo, 28, was taken into custody and charged first-degree murder.”

Based on the article it sounds like there’s a fair amount of physical evidence pointing to the arrested individual, but I’ll reserve judgment and let a jury decide. The arrest also confirms what the police had previously alluded to in that it was not a random killing.

Other links:

In the last week

05. December 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community, Events

There’s been a lot of media coverage on Celebration in the last week, including the NBC Nightly News and Today Show, CNN.com, The New York Times, and hundreds of other outlets that picked it up via a wire service.

So far, of the stories I’ve read, this one from the New Urban Network is probably closest to reality and treats the story in a less sensationalist manner than the other sources: News flash: Celebration is not perfect

Mr. Steuteville, if you’re out there, thank you for sharing your perspective on the events here. If you find yourself down this way, let me know and the first round is on me.

Matteo Giovanditto

02. December 2010 · 12 comments · Categories: Community, Events

By now you’ve probably heard of the homicide here in Celebration over Thanksgiving weekend. The murdered man’s name is Matteo Giovanditto.

I didn’t know the man personally, but he was a active participant in the Town’s residents-only message board called the Celebration Front Porch. The Front Porch is divided up into various categories, including Public Safety, Entertainment and Dining, Items For Sale, Real Estate, and so on. It provides a forum for residents to discuss anything and everything related to living in Celebration, such as Halloween crowding, police activity, skywriting, town events, and recommendations for service people.

In the time he’d been in Celebration, Matteo posted 521 messages. His last message, in a thread where someone was asking the community if there was a copy of “The Prince” by Nicolo Machiavelli to borrow, was:

Again, I didn’t know the man beyond the occasional message board conversations, but that message makes me sad. Whatever he did in life or whoever he pissed off, he was still a person with likes and dislikes and thoughts and feelings. He came across as intelligent and articulate, someone who cared about other people and the town.

The Associated Press put a story about the murder on the wire today, so now the story is national and appearing on sites such as CNN.com, Drudge Report, and the Yahoo! front page. They all have the same basic slant: that this is the first homicide in the community planned by Disney and that we usually don’t have murders here and by the way Disney used to own the land and… whatever. Seems like an opportunity to drag Disney — who haven’t been actively involved in the HOA or downtown for a number of years — through the mud for no reason beyond the fact the Disney name generates clicks. Fine.

Statistically, Celebration is still very safe by every measure, and it’s the safest place I’ve lived. We chose to move here and raise our son here due in part to that fact. I’m hoping law enforcement can find and bring the coward who performed this despicable act to justice as soon as possible so we can start putting this behind us.

Celebration homicide investigation

30. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community

I try to keep things upbeat and positive on this site, but I can’t ignore that the Osceola County Sheriff’s office is investigating a suspicious death in one of the condos on Water St. From the article:

The Sheriff’s Office hasn’t said whether they consider the case a homicide. But sheriff’s spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said the deceased person did not commit suicide. Evidence inside the unit led investigators to label the death suspicious. She would not elaborate.

They aren’t releasing many details at this time. More to follow.

Update 30-Nov 10:00am: The Osceola County Sheriff’s Department is asking for community assistance in locating a 2008 black Chevy Corvette with Florida tag G130FU. If you locate this vehicle, do not touch it. Contact the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office immediately at (407)348-2222.
Update 30-Nov 11:45am: The Sheriff’s Department is now classifying this as a homicide based on evidence in the apartment. Changing title. Very unsettling.
Update 30-Nov 5:15pm: The Sheriff’s Department has located the vehicle in Kissimmee.
Update 30-Nov 10:00pm: The victim has been identified but the individual has not been named yet by law enforcement officials, so I’m holding off posting it for now. I never thought we’d be discussing a Celebration murder, but here we are.
Update 1-Dec 12:00pm: Osceola County Sheriff’s detectives have released the name of the Celebration homicide victim as Matteo P. Giovanditto, 58.

I’ve shared some of my own thoughts about the deceased in this entry.

Links:

Community Vision

29. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community

Celebration residents have an opportunity to provide valuable feedback to our newly-elected Osceola County officials. Community Vision is conducting a survey, wrapping up December 4, and will present the results to Osceola County leadership. From their web site mission statement: Community Vision is a community-based organization committed to the protection and preservation of Osceola County’s natural resources, effective growth management efforts, and the education and training of the county’s citizens.

The survey can be completed online, and only takes a few minutes of your time to provide guidance on some of the strategic direction for the county.

To participate, please click this link. Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard.

Holiday Home Tour 2010

29. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Community, Events

The Women’s Club of Celebration is holding their Holiday Home Tour this weekend. The proceeds from this great event benefit local needy charities, so your participation is welcome!

The tour hours are:

  • Saturday, December 4 from 3:00 to 9:00 pm

  • Sunday, December 5 from 1:00 to 5 pm

Pre-sale tickets are available at the following locations: Confetti, Soft As A Grape, Sanrio, The Spa at Mirasol, Advanced Nutrition Store (ANS), Salon 720, and Platinum Dance Academy. They are also available on the day of tour (at a slightly higher price) at the ticket tent in front of the Post Office on Market Street.

You may also download a PDF flyer for the event. If you’d like more information, refer to the contact page for the Women’s Club, or you may mail us at blogmail@celebrationblog.com and we can send your question along.

Celebration AMC movie theater gone, what now?

28. November 2010 · 10 comments · Categories: Businesses In Celebration, Community, Real Estate

Celebration AMC
Today is the last day for the Celebration AMC 2. The space is showing as available for lease. (hat-tip to the Celebration History Center for the link)

There’s been a lot of lively discussion on the internal Celebration residents message board, with a lot of “how could they do this to us?” sentiment. I’m not happy the theater is leaving, but I won’t pretend that I’m surprised, either.

AMC, the movie theater company, is a business. Lexin Capital, who own the downtown buildings, is a business. These businesses will do what they feel is best for their shareholders, within the confines of whatever business partnerships and/or contracts they’ve signed. AMC is ultimately accountable to their shareholders. First and foremost, their shareholders want to earn a return on their investment. This is done by having revenues that exceed expenses across the enterprise. If a theater is proving to be a drag on the earnings, and there’s no other reason to keep it around (like prestige or good will), then they should be looking to close it. While this isn’t Government 101, it’s certainly Business 101. It may even be a better long-term decision for a company to break a contract and incur short-term pain (or judgments) if it nets a benefit in the long-term.

Does AMC have a responsibility to the community? No! With an interest in 5,000+ screens, why should they devote any time to trying to make two of them profitable? Put another way, consider this: say they’ve earmarked $500,000 for amenities upgrades in the Orlando market. Where should they invest that? Where are they likely to see a return on that investment, of course. Celebration? Where they can barely get enough people into the theater to fill a single row? Not likely.

What’s Lexin’s role in this? Same as AMC’s: to provide the highest possible return to their shareholders. There may be internal disagreements about how to accomplish this goal, but not about the goal itself. Plus, it gets a little murkier with Lexin, as some of its moves are strategic and may not have immediately obvious benefits, but the benefits are there. It’s more trickle-down with them. They sponsor an Oktoberfest concert that brings people into the downtown who provide revenue to merchants that enables those merchants to keep paying rent. Or fireworks. Or snowfalls and carolers.

In the end, who wants a shiny theater in their downtown that nobody ever goes to? How does that serve the community?

So now what? I truly believe an alternative, Enzian-style theater could be sustainable here. Previously the theater had to compete not just with the outstanding sister theater over at AMC Pleasure Island 24, but also with all the other entertainment options available in one of the busiest tourist areas in the world. But I do believe there’s a niche that could be filled.

Thoughts?

Snow!

27. November 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Community, Events, Photos, Uncategorized

We missed the tree lighting because the little one decided to nap until 5, but went down after and decided we hadn’t missed much activity. There were a ton of people down there and everyone seemed well-entertained. The “snowfall” seems greatly improved, too. The lampost boxes seem much more productive now… they seem to spit out more “snow”, for longer.





Ice is back with a brand new location

24. November 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Businesses In Celebration, Community, Events, Photos

The “ice” rink is back, though in a different location this year. Here’s a refresher from last year if you don’t know what I’m talking about.


Market Street looking down towards Front Street.

There are a few interesting results from this move. Market Street will be closed for more than a month, which I believe is a first. The “snow” fall will be next to the “ice” rink, which does make some sense — and has to please the rink owners. The Sunday Farmers Market will move to Bloom St. for the duration, which should be interesting seeing as winter is the busy time for the Market and Bloom St. is narrower than Market.

« Older articles
Newer articles »