Members of the Poinsettia Heights Civic Association recently announced that the February edition of its monthly neighborhood newsletter will be its last, following a trend for many neighborhood publications that are struggling for revenue.

And the reason, association president Mike Vonder Meulen said, is simple: tough economic times.

“We just don’t have enough advertising to cover the cost of publication,” Vonder Meulen said.

The newsletter, which Vonder Meulen used to edit himself, circulated 400 copies by mail and consisted of articles about the neighborhood.

One alternative, Vonder Meulen said, is an online newsletter or an “e-letter.” The neighborhood association already has a Web site that is still in the process of getting a makeover.

“There are people who simply do not want their e-mail addresses published," he said. "But anyone who wants to receive the newsletter could sign up for an e-mail ‘blast’ from us [instead].”

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By midmorning on a recent Saturday, George English Park in Fort Lauderdale had already gone to the dogs. And that was just the way some Coral Ridge residents liked it.

“Most of the dogs [here today] are shelter dogs,” said social director Pam Cushman. “[They] make the best kind of pets [because] they’re grateful.”

This is the opening of the Coral Ridge neighborhood’s sixth annual Dog Festival, an event that includes unique and creative competitions — a sort of tongue-in-cheek take on flossy kennel shows — in categories like “Longest Ears,” “Prettiest Eyes,” and “Owner Look-Alike.”

“This is a great opportunity for people to come together,” said City Commissioner Christine Teel, who served as one of the festival's judges. “Dogs are always a common element.”

But there was only one candidate in the “Owner Look-Alike” category: a purebred Labrador retriever named Champer Roberts. Like his owner, Janet Missner, he was blond and wearing jungle camouflage.

“And we’re both stubborn,” Missner said.

With more than 70 dogs and 150 owners in attendance, Cushman called the festival a pure success. All proceeds went to benefit the Humane Society of Broward County.

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After a majority vote to reopen an alleyway in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, town officials are now asking two business owners for some changes before the reopening and are even discussing installing beach restrooms there instead.

The parking lot directly in front of Anglins Pier in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea currently has one opening for vehicles to enter and exit off of Commercial Boulevard. On Jan. 28, the owners of the parking lot, Spiros and Louis Marchelos, were given permission to have vehicles exit through a 34-foot alleyway only if the brothers replaced the current fence and had a parking lot attendant physically open and close a chain barrier before each car exits the lot.

“We are talking to engineers and architects now about costs [of making these changes],” Marchelos said.

All that effort could be foiled anyway if an idea proposed by Vice Mayor Jerry McIntee at a recent commission meeting to install beach restrooms in the alleyway goes through.

At the Feb. 10 commission meeting, Town Manager Ester Colon and Mayor Roseann Minnet said that if they determined that vehicles are going to be exiting through the alleyway, bathrooms would make more sense at El Prado Park.

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In the city's Poinciana Park neighborhood, police have been working on two types of business: drugs and prostitution. Both have been ongoing problems, according to some residents.

“These [crimes] have always been a thorn in our side,” said the neighborhood’s civic association president, Ray Dettman.

Fort Lauderdale’s Lt. Jacob Marcus elaborated on the department’s efforts to combat drugs and prostitution at a recent association meeting last week. In recent months, police have used undercover prostitution stings to nab 10 johns around the neighborhood, mostly on Federal Highway north of 20th Street.

Marcus also said that police were considering planning a surveillance operation, perhaps in the form of a vacant property where they could mount surveillance.

Poinciana Park also saw nine cases of “part one” crimes — which are categorized as any crimes against persons and properties — last month, according to Sgt. Jeff Burll.

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A law recently passed in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea will remove the blue bags from parking meters, forcing drivers to again pay to park in town, but there may be more changes on the way.

In a 4-1 vote on Jan. 27, commissioners passed a second ordinance required to change the town code, which forces drivers to pay parking meters. The bags have been on the meters since March 2007, town spokesman Steve d’Oliveira said. There are 480 meters in town.

The cost to park varies depending on location: Closer to the beach is $1.25 per hour, including Town Hall, El Mar Drive and the business district; meters along Bougainvilla Drive are 50 cents per hour, and along Commercial Boulevard, rates are 25 cents per hour.

Commissioner Stuart Dodd suggested replacing current meters with others equipped for credit card transactions, while Commissioner Birute Ann Clottey said she wants to offer residents a discount card to park in these spaces.

“The expense is pretty high for upgrades,” said Commissioner Jim Silverstone. “We’re trying to do the best we can to find a resolution.”

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Five times a year, the city’s oldest book club gathers for lunch inside the city’s oldest hotel. And although all of the club’s members are women, nothing in the rule book puts a ban on men.

Known as Fort Lauderdale Bookfellows, the club is less of a discussion group than it is a book reviewer lecture series.

“We’re a voluntary association,” said club president LaJuan Burgett, “[and] an audience for our guest reviewers.”

Since 1944, the group of bibliophiles — which began with only 15 members — has gathered all over the city for the luncheon reviews. Since 1995, the club has had its luncheons at the Riverside Hotel on Las Olas Boulevard.

The club now boosts about 70 members, and the menu always features a knowing commentary on a recently published book, often a notorious one.

“We’re not really one of a kind,” said 15-year club member, Edna Salg. "But this is special.”

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Less than three weeks after Fort Lauderdale police found the body of 26-year-old Erik Trimarelli on Jan. 17 inside his home on Northeast 16th Court, residents of the Middle River Terrace neighborhood are doing all they can to help police and provide crime updates to fellow neighbors.

Days after the murder, Middle River Terrace resident Michael O’Brien sent an e-mail to area residents and neighbors with news updates. O’Brien also asked residents to call police if they have information about the case.

“I for one am tired of living with the constant threat of crime and violence in my neighborhood, of building walls and installing bars and blocking off streets and paying for security systems and streetlights,” the e-mail said.

O’Brien, who also runs an environmental information network, is a former head of the Middle River Terrace Neighborhood Association. Additionally, O’Brien began setting up an information mailing list and discussion group on Google, where members “[could] post information about any crimes or suspicious activity they see.”

“We’re isolated in our homes [now], knowing maybe two or three people in our neighborhood,” O’Brien said. “This is a way of keeping us connected.”

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