Good morning, LWBI subscribers, and Happy Anniversary!
Lake Worth Beach Independent founder/reporter Joe Capozzi here….
Has it really been a year since I hit “publish” on my very first post?
Today, looking back on the first 12 months, the overwhelming feeling I have is gratitude to you, the more than 1,000 subscribers who have trusted me as your local news source.
A special round of applause to the more than 10% who signed up for a paid subscription. Your generous support fuels our mission to deliver trustworthy fact-based news about Lake Worth Beach.
Thanks to everyone who shared story tips, feedback and messages of appreciation for news you learned only here and not anywhere else.
Your investment is a gift I do not take for granted.
We delivered 175 stories in our first 12 months, an average of three per week. We told you about the massive proposal, pitched by a former city lobbyist and later withdrawn after public outcry, to build hotels at the beach and golf course.
We told you about the proposed city charter changes, before they were overwhelmingly rejected at the polls, that would have stripped voters of their right to have final say on long-term commercial leases at the beach and other public lands.
We told you about the green giant that fell in College Park, the dive-bar dinosaur pinched by code officers, the comings and goings of your favorite restaurants and downtown destinations, and how our elected officials are spending our tax dollars and behaving at the dais.
We’ll continue bringing you more stories like that over the next 12 months, including updates on a plan to cancel the city’s only Hispanic culture festival, the Gulfstream Hotel renovation delays, and the shuttered casino swimming pool.
About the “we” I keep mentioning here…
Although the LWBI is a one-person staff, Lucy and Ginger play key roles, as all great dogs do, offering unconditional support and companionship in our College Park home office, especially when their favorite watchdog journalist works during lunch.
But they’re just two of many behind-the-scenes contributors. Thanks to, among others, Tom Johnson and Leonard Bryant for their photographs, and Jim Kovalsky for technical guidance.
A special shout-out to veteran journalist Joel Engelhardt, co-founder of Stet News Palm Beach County. He has generously edited and shaped many LWBI stories and then “juiced” them in Stet’s must-read Tuesday newsletter.
Joel and I worked together at The Palm Beach Post for 25 years before we both left in December 2020, disheartened by industry-imposed newsroom changes.
When I joined the Post in 1989, Lake Worth had its own newspaper and received regular coverage not just in the Post but the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When I left 31 years later, it was just the Post (barely) and the Lake Worth Herald covering the city. (The Herald would fold on Jan. 2, 2025, after 112 years.)
In 2021, I launched ByJoeCapozzi.com, part vanity project, part news website, and started sharing stories about people and events across the county. I won a few awards but soon realized a more rewarding opportunity.
By 2025, most of my website stories were about Lake Worth Beach, my home since 2011. Encouraged by my amazing wife Liz (a Stet News co-founder), I shifted gears and rebranded through Substack as the Lake Worth Beach Independent.
When launching on Aug. 12, 2025, I added an archive of Lake Worth Beach stories first published on ByJoeCapozzi.com from 2021-2025. That’s why our LWBI archives start in March 2021.
A few words about paywalls, those annoying digital barriers that prevent you from reading web content without a paid subscription. We all hate them. But reliable journalism has value and takes time and money to produce.
That’s why a paid subscription is necessary to read many Lake Worth Beach Independent stories. It is an investment in the rigorous, fact-based reporting our community needs to stay informed.
To celebrate our anniversary we are offering a 50% discount through Sept. 1 to new monthly paid subscribers. Click here for more information. And tell your friends and neighbors.
I’m so glad to have you aboard! Whether you have been here since day one, joined somewhere along the way, or just subscribed this week, thank you for giving my reporting a home in your inbox.
Congratulations Joe! I became a paid subscriber yesterday! It's wonderful to have a veteran journalist who cares about Lake Worth Beach delivering thoughtful news about our community. Thanks for doing the homework so I don't have to.
Congratulations on your first year! You’re contributing a lot to the community!