The death and rebirth of Tasty Tuesdays

Tasty Tuesdays' food trucks operated with impunity for months.

By Fred Lambert
flambert@valenciavoice.com

When hungry patrons converged on Orlando’s Milk District on the night of June 19, they were met with an empty street where local area food trucks had previously been lined every Tuesday for months.

The event, dubbed “Tasty Tuesdays,” had been shut down by Orlando Code Enforcement and the Orlando Police after an unknown business owner in the area complained about the trucks obstructing parking.

The event had been a popular local gathering where customers could pick their choice of food truck meals -- from chicken and waffles to sushi to Yum-Yum cupcakes -- and then chow down at one of many area bars where beer and other beverages were available. This symbiotic setup came to a halt after last Tuesday’s complaint.  

But it wasn’t enough to kill Tasty Tuesdays. Some area business leaders, like bar manager Brian Kane of The Milk Bar, took matters into their own hands by getting landowner permission to keep the bazaar alive for the next Tuesday in a different spot, circumventing the public parking space issue.

“So we can have them in our parking lot behind Milk Bar and Etoile, even if we can’t get them in the streets,” said Kane. “Whatever the code says, that’s what we’re doing.”
Kane figures that at least five trucks and a cart can fit into the rear-area parking lot. “That way, at the very least we can do our part to keep Tasty Tuesdays going, regardless of what happens with the front area,” he said.

The shut-down which caused the compromise was sudden.

After the complaint last Tuesday, it was found that the trucks were operating without the proper license to occupy public parking spaces. They were fined and ordered to disperse, with truck owners frantically reimbursing customers who had already placed orders that could not be finished.

The event left bitter rather than savory tastes in the mouths of would-be customers, who expressed chagrin at the sudden shut-down.

“I think it’s a nitpicky, underhanded tactic used by an angry business owner who is too ignorant to realize he or she is hurting their own business,” said Michael Gonzalez, who had attended Tasty Tuesdays four or five times.

A petition was crafted online by Tommy Barger of Spacebar, one of The Milk District’s locations, to revamp the event out on the streets. As of Saturday it had 1,298 signatures out of a needed 1,500. It can be signed at https://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-orlando-let-tasty-tuesdays-food-truck-event-back-on-the-street-2

According to Tasty Tuesdays’ Facebook page, a meeting will be held on July 2 to discuss the events of June 19. As well, The Daily City reports that Commissioner Patty Sheehan has said, “I do not think this is a bad omen for food trucks in general, just a hiccup with a group trying to promote an event that needs to be a little more familiar with our rules.”

The food trucks, which have multiple gatherings on differing days across Orlando, are mostly locally owned and operated -- one of the event’s highlight claims. Additionally, they brought in a slew of new business for local area bars in The Milk District, raising question as to who filed the complaint.

“Tuesday’s definitely been a boon to all the businesses that I know of,” said Kane. “Everyone that I’ve talked to has seen a drastic increase in sales. I know we definitely saw an increase, and that’s why we were happy to be a part of it and advertise it.”

Rangers defeat the Senators 1-0 in game three

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

The New York Rangers’ Brian Boyle scored the shot that won Monday’s match in Canada’s capital against the Ottawa Senators, 1-0, during the third game of the series.

The two teams stalemated throughout the first two periods, despite a heavier volume of shots by Ottawa; by the end of the second period they had 25 shots on goal compared to New York’s 16. Ottawa also scored higher in face offs and blocked shots throughout the first two periods, but neither team had made a goal yet.

Boyle’s goal came in the third period at 7:35 after an assist by Dan Girardi and Ryan Callahan, which sent the puck bouncing off the end-boards, allowing Boyle to find his opening.

Good defense by New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Ottawa’s Craig Anderson prevented most of the shots from landing in the nets throughout the night.

In one of the most frantic plays of the game, a move to block one of New York’s shots in the second put Anderson, along with Jason Spezza, off their skates and inside the net, preventing the Ranger’s closest shot in the game by that point.

New York’s Lundqvist was the Ranger’s saving grace, however, with 39 total saves.

“He’s been a rock all year,” said Ranger Rusian Fedotenko of Lundqvist.

This puts the count at two games won by New York and one by Ottawa; game four of the Stanley Cup series in on Wednesday night in Ottawa.

Brewers defeat Cubs 7-3 in game one

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

 Mat Gamel and superior hitting led the Milwaukee Brewers to victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, with Gamel making two hits and two runs out of four at-bats in a game where the Brewers outscored the Cubs 7-5.

The game went back and forth through the first five innings, with the Cubs’ Darwin Barney and Bryan Lahair hitting homeruns in the first and second innings, respectively.

LaHair, who hit 38 homeruns in the minor leagues last year, was the most successful Cub at the plate, with two hits out of four at-bats and one RBI scored.

The Brewers held the lead by the end of the fourth after ex-Cub Aramis Ramirez hit a sac fly in the first, sending Nyjer Morgan across the home plate, Rickie Weeks hit a homerun in the third and Shaun Marcum brought Alex Gonzalez home on a squeeze bunt.

The Cubs evened it out in the fifth when Blake DeWitt pinch-hit for starting pitcher Chris Volstad, knocking a sac fly into right field that brought Geovany Soto in from third.

The tie didn’t last, though, as the Brewers scored two RBIs in the sixth thanks to a triple by Gamel and a sac fly by Lucroy that brought Hart and Gamel home.

In the seventh a double to center field by Ramirez allowed an RBI by Ryan Braun, and in the eighth Gamel scored again after Carlos Gomez sacrificed to the pitcher with a bunt, putting the score at 7-3, Brewers.

Two final runs in the ninth inning by Ian Stewart and Soto weren’t enough for the Cubs, and the Brewers took the game at 7-5.

Game two of the four game series will be at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m., Eastern Time.

New York Islanders beat the Pittsburg Penguins 5 to 3

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

The Pittsburg Penguins statistically dominated the New York Islanders in their Tuesday night home game, but still lost the match at 5 to 3.

New York finished the first period with a two-nothing lead, which the Penguins matched in the second period after Pascal Dupuis deflected a shot off of Tyler Kennedy’s stick and James Neal scored at 4:10 in.

This rapid catch-up was not enough to gain an advantage. The Islanders seized the lead again when Kyle Okposo snatched up the puck after a bad pass by Pittsburg that bounced off of the siding, rocketing it past Penguin goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Pittsburg never regained the initiative, despite 32 shots on goal by the end of the second, compared to New York’s 18.

“They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower,” said New York’s Dylan Reese about the Penguin’s hustle.

New York scored their final two goals in the second after David Ullstrom hit the puck in during a power play and Frans Neilsen knocked Fleury’s helmet off getting the Islander’s fifth point.

The Penguin’s scored a third point in the third period and made 22 shots over New York’s 7, but the superior effort didn’t help.

“With the momentum these guys have right now and how well they’ve been playing,” said Reese of the Penguins in between the second and third periods, “it’s important for us to establish ourselves as a franchise that can compete every night.”

Rollins Tars beat Bentley Falcons 7-2

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

Rollins College beat Bentley University 7-2 on Friday night’s baseball game at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park, marking the second victory for the Tars over the Falcons in as many days. 

The Falcons drew first blood in the fourth inning; pitcher Nate Witkowski hit a single toward right field that took Bryant Johnson from second base to home. 

But the fourth is also where the Tars made their bread and butter. Loading the bases twice, Rollins was able to upstage Bentley with five runs when their turn to bat came. It was a lead the Falcons weren’t able to surpass for the remainder of the game. 

“We took a lot of pitches that inning,” said Rollins’ Head Coach Jon Sjogren. “When we swung the bat we were in deep counts. Their pitcher threw close to 40 pitches that inning and just started getting tired and left the ball open a little bit. I think we did a good job not swinging at his better pitches early. He was throwing five or six pitches per hitter, and then as we started getting bases he started getting tired and making more mistakes and we were able to attack.”

Infielder Kevin Mager, who ended the 2011 season with a .381 batting average, was one of the top scorers for the Tars on Friday, with two hits, three RBIs and one run.

“Kevin played well,” said Sjorgren. “He had two big hits and two big spots in that fourth inning and then had another one at the end that really helped; it probably kind of goes on singing, but he was able to let us relax a little bit.” 

Mager was put on the 2012 Tino Martinez Award Watch List and holds the record for triples in a season in Rollins’ baseball program.  He attributes the fourth inning runs to good hitting and “team chemistry.”

“Hitting is contagious,” Mager said. “We just got it going and were able to take advantage of some pitches in the zone.”

Hunter Mayfield also drove in the first of two RBIs in the fourth that sent Anthony Figliolia and Brian Lattanzi across the home plate, as well as scoring two runs in the game. 

Pitcher Taylor Smith was also praised for his ability to keep the Falcons from hitting. “Taylor Smith threw just over 100 pitches in eight innings, and only gave up five hits,” said Sjorgren. “You get stats like that and you’re going to win games.”

“Taylor gave a great performance tonight,” said Mager. “A lot of the rest of us are in the bull pen for the next two games. Our hitting has been there and I think it’s going to get better.”

This is the second victory over the Falcons for Rollins; Thursday’s matchup had the Tars winning at 10-4. The next two in the four game series are on Feb. 18 and 19, once again at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park.

UCF women’s basketball guard Aisha Patrick makes record

By Fred Lambert
flambert@valenciavoice.com

Knights women’s basketball guard Aisha Patrick led her team in points on Sunday’s game against the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Blazers, but she’d already proved her meddle in scoring.

Patrick was honored on Jan. 12 with a commemorative team ball, recognizing her as the 15th UCF women’s basketball player in school history to score an accumulative 1000 points. The recognition came during an away game at UAB when she hit her mark. The awarded ball had “1000 points” and her name printed on it.

“The significant thing about me getting a thousand points is that I don’t look to be a shooter; I like defense,” said Patrick after the Knights’ victory over the Blazers. “I try to get the steals and I get the easy points, and teams don’t look at me as a scoring threat.”

The tally after Sunday’s game puts her at an added total of 1,109 points. Patrick, whose played for the Knights since 2008, holds the number nine spot in total points for the school’s women’s basketball program, along with number three for most rebounds at 770, number four for assists at 343, number two for steals at 270 and number six for most free throws made at 243.

A 5-foot 9-inch senior from Rockledge, Fla., Patrick averages 13.9 points per game. She scored 12 for her team in Sunday’s matchup, along with 10 rebounds.

“Really proud of Pat, because she led the way tonight,” said Knight’s coach Joi Williams. “She played 40 minutes and no turnovers, a double-double – we couldn’t ask for more from her.”

Sunday’s double-double puts Patrick in the top five slot for UCF’s women’s basketball program’s all-time double-double list.  She is the only guard out of six players in the Conference USA to record at least 10 double-doubles, and she’s led her team in steals for eight out of the last 12 games.

Outside of point scoring, Williams gave Patrick high praise on defense, leadership and rebounds.

“I’m just extremely proud of her,” said Williams. “She’s meant a lot to our program since she was a freshman. For her to be able to achieve that milestone means a lot, and she’s a player that does a lot of different things. The ball was for a 1000 point scoring, but she affects the game in so many different ways, so it’s really neat to see her get that award.”

Journalism can be gritty indeed

By Fred Lambert
flambert@valenciavoice.com

Patrick May has seen a lot. Before he became a staff writer for the San Jose Mercury News, in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, he was a college drop-out train-hopping and hitchhiking. 

Drifting through Boston, Alaska and Oregon, and eventually all over the world, working odd jobs like guitar-playing and cab-driving, May would ultimately find himself covering gritty crime beats and international news.

“Basically I get paid to write, which I love,” May said.

It started when the Oakland native headed to Europe with $8000 of saved taxi fares from working in Seattle.

“The one thing I really wanted to do was see the world,” May said. “I didn’t want to go back to another university, but I wanted to have my university in my mind.”

After meeting an Iranian on the plane over and agreeing to help deliver a new car to Amsterdam, Holland, May commenced a seven-year cyclone of travelling through Europe, Turkey, Iran and North Africa. He eventually met an Australian journalist at a youth hostel in Greece.

“He was on assignment, and he was being paid to write and travel,” May said. “I always liked writing stuff – journals, letters back home – and I loved travel, so I asked, ‘How do I become a journalist?’”

Following the Aussie’s advice, May finished his “around-the-world” trip, returning to obtain a degree at San Francisco State University.

“By then I was 30, so it was harder to get a job – there was a lot of competition,” May recalled. “I applied to about 250 newspapers all over the United States. I got one response.”

This started May’s time as a police reporter in Jacksonville, Fla. His work at the Florida Times Union is something May describes as a “crazy adventure, covering plane crashes, homicides, and a lot of mayhem and death.”

Next was the Miami Herald, a 15 year job that had May covering stories like Hurricane Andrew, the Gulf War, and the “cocaine cowboy days” of violent Cuban immigrant crime.

May was hooked. He returned closer to home in San Jose, but is still plugged into major events and oddities throughout the American news scene.

Covering 9/11, he claimed that the smell of death hung in New York for weeks. While 9/11 was bad, his worst experience was reporting on famine-ravaged Kurds in Northern Iraq after the Gulf War.

“It was like a scene in a weird movie,” he recalled. “All these fathers were bringing their dead kids – who’d died the night before – to put them in this big grave. I was just surrounded by death, and I’d never been in a situation like that before.”

His favorite was a human interest story about a recently deceased hobo in Miami, which May spent five weeks putting together. “I pieced together his whole life, and the top editor read it and killed it. He said it glorified alcoholism.”

May also writes business news. He compares covering Apple to dealing with CIA secrecy. “They don’t tell you anything,” he said. “They are masters at manipulating the media and masters at getting people all hyped up for the next product launch.”

After covering crime and war and I-Phones, May is still in the business. Now he deals with a changing industry. “About ten years ago the newspaper industry started to really get into trouble and shrink,” he said, explaining how Craigslist’s free advertising killed the traditional classified ad revenue of local papers.

“We started having layoffs. We’re getting really lean; everybody’s working a lot harder.” he said. “You’re now expected to write at least a story a day, sometimes more, as opposed to the old days when you could spend a week working on one story. Those days are gone. Everything is going online.”

In any case, May’s portfolio will speak on its own – he’s never shrunk from the tough news. On seeing violence and death, he claims that there’s a sense of getting used to it.

“I know it sounds kind of macabre,” he said, “but those make the best stories.”