Q: Fla. beach town tries to temper tourists gone wild

During sun-splashed spring and summer weekends, hundreds of college kids and young adults flock to the beach at the end of Minutemen Causeway to enjoy the sand and surf.

That's where "a small minority" of drunken, disorderly revelers -- mostly out-of-towners -- taints the downtown's image while racking up taxpayer bills for police patrols and trash pick-up, Cocoa Beach City Commissioner Kevin Pruett contends.

But that small minority has sparked efforts over the years to ban drinking on the beach altogether in Brevard County's busiest tourist town. Such efforts have drawn support from some locals who want a quieter, cleaner beach. But they also drew howls from other residents who enjoy having a cold one themselves on the sand once in a while or who worry that banning drinking would choke the city's visitor industry.

Trying to balance the desire of those two groups has been an ongoing issue in Cocoa Beach.

Pruett has spent the past year crafting a proposed beach management plan. The challenge: Control rowdy crowds, stop litterbugs and improve parking and aesthetics -- particularly between First Street North and First Street South -- while balancing the needs of longtime residents, tourists, surfers and spring breakers.

Pruett opposes banning alcoholic beverages from the sand, a move that was turned down in August 2010 by the Cocoa Beach City Commission.

"Why would you want to penalize the residents -- who use the beach probably the most -- for the actions or behavior of others?" Pruett asked.

"Think of downtown Cocoa Beach as a brand. How do you want to position your brand?" he asked. "We need to make the beach a nicer product."

Rules about drinking on the beach vary throughout the county, with alcoholic consumption banned outright in some areas and limited in others.

Cocoa Beach bears the brunt of Brevard's spring break and summer revelry-related problems, chiefly because of its proximity to Orlando and the abundance of hotel rooms in the city. An estimated 2.4 million day-trippers visit each year, according to the city website, helping to support local businesses, many of whom depend on the tourists for their livelihood.

On any given weekend, hundreds of people gather on the sand near downtown, the part of the city with the most parking available to out-of-towners. Those visitors tend to funnel their way to the beach via "The Ramp" -- where Minutemen Causeway ends, just between Coconuts on the Beach and the Beach Shack, two watering holes favored by both locals and visitors to the city.

Many, if not most, of the locals who gather there either walk or ride bikes to the area. If they drink at all, they likely have small coolers or buy their drinks from Coconuts or the Beach Shack.

But on sunny weekends, what looks like a traveling carnival tends to appear on the water's edge as out-of-towners -- typically younger than 30 -- set up tents, "beer pong" tables and various beach game apparatuses on the two-block stretch straddling Minuteman Causeway.

While most of those folks pass their time on the beach without incident, others do cause problems.

Emergency medical technicians often have to treat those overcome by the combination of too much alcohol and too much sun. When the throngs depart for their homes, some leave behind a wake of empty beer cans, cigarette butts and other litter.

And occasionally, fights break out on the sand or in nearby parking lots.

"They get real mean down here. I've seen it," said Cocoa Beach retiree Ron Flynn as he relaxed with a Budweiser at the Beach Shack oceanfront deck. "You've got guys flying around here, slugging, falling onto people's blankets on accident.

"They need cops walking around out here," Flynn said.

Over the years, the city has taken steps to limit rowdiness in the area. In 2005, it banned kegs of beer on the beach and limited alcohol to one-gallon containers.

In 2007, the city banned indoor furniture -- particularly sofas -- from the sand. Spring breakers that year had taken to setting up portable living rooms on the beach.

But a move last year to ban alcohol on the beach altogether failed.

"They've already got police officers and sheriff's deputies riding around on ATVs and lifeguards watching the beach. I think that's enough already," said Cocoa Beach construction worker Michael Alderman as he sat on the First Street South dune crossover.

"Just keep the glass off the beach," Alderman said.

Pruett's current efforts are focused on minimizing problems from the out-of-town visitors while finding more ways to beautify the area and generate more revenue for the city. Among his ideas:

•Hire "beach rangers" with limited code-enforcement powers to enforce bans on glass bottles, littering and dogs.

•Add an entryway feature -- perhaps an arched sign -- along with improved directional signage and lists of rules where Minutemen Causeway meets the sand.

•Charge visitors more for weekend downtown parking to reduce vehicular "chaos."

•Replace the city's blue plastic, lidless beach trash cans with improved receptacles.

•Let beachfront hotels serve food and alcohol to patrons on the sand bordering their property. In turn, hotels would assume responsibility for management and maintenance.

Pruett hopes to have a beach-management ordinance for Minutemen Causeway in place by year's end, with plans to re-assess the regulations in April and September.

Afterward, he believes varying regulations should be adopted for Alan Shepard Park, Lori Wilson Park, Cocoa Beach Pier and other areas.

Conjuring an analogy inside Coconuts on the Beach, Pruett pointed out one of the finishing nails attaching decorative bamboo poles to the exterior of the bar.

Pruett likened municipal beach regulations -- and their unintended negative consequences, such as reduced economic activity -- with the force that drove the nail into place. Should you lightly tap the nail into place, he asked? Or should you go overboard and sledgehammer the nail so the bamboo cracks?

"A one-size-fits-all won't work. You have to have different strategies to manage different segments of the beach," he said.
What are the most important parts of this text?

A: "A small minority" of disorderly revelers has sparked efforts to ban drinking on the beach in Brevard County's busiest tourist town.


Q: Police seeking men filmed fighting after road rage incident

August 06, 2014:It can start as a simple road incident, and quickly escalate into full blown rage. A Current Affair shows the extraordinary episode between a young motorcyclist and a young driver that spiraled out of control.

A motorcyclist's helmet camera has captured the heart-stopping moment he was nearly killed by a careless P-Plater on a quiet NSW road.

The vision, which was uploaded to YouTube, shows the cyclist riding down the road when suddenly a small red car enters from a side street without warning.

The motorcyclist swerves in order to avoid a crash and begins verbally abusing the driver and challenging him to pull over.

For eight dangerous minutes, the motorcyclist taunts the driver while riding on the wrong side of the road.

The young driver eventually stops and approaches the biker who appears a lot less aggressive once he can no longer flee on his vehicle.

"What's your problem?" the Kawasaki rider says as the young man walks towards him.

"You mate! You're the f------ problem!" the driver says before the pair trade blows.

After a four minutes of punching and wrestling the driver decides he has had enough and returns to his car and drives off.

"What a psycho," the bike rider says, muttering to himself that he will contact police.

NSW Police have since reviewed the footage and condemned both men's actions.

Police are now looking to speak with the pair.

Author: Natasha Lee, Approving editor: Nick Pearson

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A:

Show your work and conclude with the exact phrasing "Therefore, the final answer is [answer]." where [answer] is just the final number or expression that solves the problem.
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A motorcyclist's helmet camera has captured the heart-stopping moment he was nearly killed by a careless P-Plater on a quiet NSW road.