Fearing businesses would leave Delray Beach over soaring costs, Mayor Tom Carney successfully spearheaded the move for a city tax cut at a meeting where department heads said such relief would necessitate significant reductions in services.
“The people who actually made Delray Beach, who gave it the buzz and did all the stuff that everybody wants to come to, well we’re crippling them,” Carney said.
Commissioners Juli Casale and Tom Markert joined Carney all elected to the commission in March in rolling back the preliminary tax rate July 25 to just a tad over $5.90 for each $1,000 of taxable value to support the city’s projected $187 million budget. The city also has a small second tax rate to pay off voted debt.
The $5.90 per $1,000 rate is the city’s “no new taxes” rolled-back rate that’s
highlighted on tax notices that are sent out to property owners in August. Many cities lower their tax rates by a small amount from year to year to show their concern for taxpayers, even though they still rake in more tax revenue because property values have risen. That’s not what Delray Beach did.
“I’m freezing the taxes to at least what they were last year that is the goal,” Carney said in a July 27 interview.
The only new property tax revenue for
Along the Coast New flood maps to place thousands more in hazard zones; county objects
Long-term engagement with FEMA planned in effort to lessen burden on residents
By Anne Geggis
Beach/Highland Beach New A1A construction work, which began snarling weekday traffic on the Delray/ Highland Beach border in July, will continue south of Linton Boulevard for at least a year — only to be followed by more A1A roadwork in Delray Beach and Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star Story on Page 22
Crows bedevil turtle hatchlings and guardians
By Rich Pollack
The crows know.
Along our beaches, the loud and large black birds show off their smarts by tracking sea turtle monitors, waiting for a chance to scavenge what’s left of a nest that’s been ransacked by a raccoon or fox.
The flying predators are also
known to scoop up wayward turtle hatchlings scrambling to get to the ocean and have been seen trying to peek into the buckets rescuers use to carry new hatchlings to safety.
“If you walk away from your ATV and you have a bucket with a towel over it, they will try and pull the towel off,” says David Anderson, the sea turtle conservation
coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.
“They associate the bucket with something in it.”
Throughout southern Palm Beach County, fish crows — the more common type of crows in the area are proving just how
New flood maps expected to take effect later this year will put 5,800 new Palm Beach County coastal parcels in special hazard zones, and thousands more property owners will be required to elevate their homes to even higher levels if they want to rebuild or make major renovations.
The new maps are the first flooding hazard update since 1979 based on a full study. These results may have some property owners wishing they could turn back time.
“A lot of people are going to be significantly impacted by this,” said Palm Beach County building division director Douglas Wise. “Along the Intracoastal is where we’re seeing the biggest changes.”
The flood maps help determine who is required to purchase federal flood insurance and who has to meet higher minimum elevations when rebuilding or undertaking major renovations. Most South County homeowners near the coast must build to higher base elevations already. Many will see the levels rise another two to five feet. The changes are set to take effect in December, but the Palm Beach County Commission agreed at a July 9 meeting to fund a technical partnership
Crows check out a nest on the beach in Ocean
August 2024 Serving Hypoluxo Island, South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes, Gulf Stream and Coastal Delray Beach
Ridge.
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Coastal Stars
Boca besties unite to raise money for breast cancer research
By Sallie James
A lthough breast cancer has spared both their families, best friends Cristina Lewis and Alejandra Lippolis wanted to do something to help find a cure.
Help us shine a light on our community. Donate online: https://supportfloridajournalism.com/newspaper/the-coastal-star/
Editor’s Note
Enjoy the pace of our summer slowdown
Off-season seems like a misnomer. This is the time of year when impromptu living is very “on.”
Tickets to the theater or a concert? Just show up at the box office. Need some superchilled a/c? What’s better than a movie on a big screen? Want a stay-cation? Rooms are often available at our best local resorts and frequently with reduced summer rates. And best of all? No reservations! Suddenly feel like dinner out? Just go. Most of the time you can walk right in. These are some of the many joys of a South Florida summer. Take your umbrella, but go out. Enjoy it. Not only will you feel more independent than when the tourists are in town, but you’ll also be supporting local businesses and arts venues during their leanest time of year. If rain and heat advisories keep you inside, be sure to
peek out the window at sunrise and sunset. Rain showers very often create spectacular rainbows. And Saharan dust not only paints the clouds in astounding colors, but also suppresses the chance of hurricane development. At least so far. Africa is our friend this time of year. So although the National Hurricane Center is no longer stating “Tropical cyclone activity is not expected during the next 7 days,” there’s still time to get out and enjoy all that the “on-season” brings. And while enjoying these quiet days of early summer, be sure to keep an eye on the tropics and stock up on those hurricane supplies, just in case.
— Mary Kate Leming, Executive Editor
LETTERS: The Coastal Star welcomes letters to the editor about issues of interest in the community. These are subject to editing and must include your name, address and phone number. Preferred length is 200-500 words. Send email to editor@ thecoastalstar.com.
The two mothers recently combined forces to chair the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s Go Pink Challenge, a year-round initiative to raise money for research and to draw attention to prevention. The challenge culminates with the Go Pink Luncheon on Oct. 18 at The Boca Raton.
“Women who are in the highest age-range risk are between 45 and 55 years old, which is my age range,” said Lewis, who is 44. “I am starting to see a lot of friends being diagnosed, being treated and surviving. It’s hitting close to home.” She said they want to bring attention to the Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, “where all the funds get funneled.”
For anyone who has had experience with the disease, the words “breast cancer” can evoke paralyzing fear.
Take the case of Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty, whose death at age 53 on July 13 made national headlines. Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission in 2017. But the cancer recurred with a vengeance in 2020.
“Cancer does not discriminate. It can affect anyone. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what (kind of cancer) you have, your health can be taken away,” said Lippolis, 47.
Lippolis’ interest in breast cancer prevention and research is a bit of a family affair. Her mother-in-law, Debbie Lindstrom, a Boca Raton philanthropist who has supported the hospital foundation for years, got her involved with the cause in 2011 when Lippolis attended her first Go Pink luncheon.
Lippolis began volunteering and quickly found herself involved in the luncheon committee, the fundraising ball and just about anything else the foundation needed help with. Then she enlisted the help of Lewis, and the two have volunteered together for years.
They agreed to chair the Go Pink Challenge for the next two years.
The challenge has raised $192,000 this year as of July and more than $3.3 million since its inception in 2008.
The connections between the two women are extensive: Both are Latinas (Cristina’s family hails from Venezuela and Alejandra was born in Chile).
Their husbands, Tim Lewis Jr. and Bill Lippolis, are childhood friends who grew
Send a note to news@ thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.
up in Boca. And both women have three children, who are almost the same ages: Cristina and Tim have three sons: Billy, 12; Sebastian, 9; and Brayden, 5. Alejandra and Bill have three daughters: Alessandra, 10; Lily, 8; and Isabella, 5.
Bill Lippolis is the COO of Wietsma Lippolis, a Boca Ratonbased construction, architecture and design company that builds luxury custom homes. Tim Lewis is a professional race car driver in International Motor Sports Association events.
Cristina Lewis is a lifelong Boca Raton resident who attended Florida Atlantic University. She has a background in human resources and has helped hospitals, clinics, private practices and other health care organizations recruit candidates to fill ophthalmic positions. She also serves on the executive board of the Parents’
Association of Pine Crest School in Boca Raton.
Lippolis grew up in Parkland and attended Lynn University, where she majored in fashion marketing. But her heart wasn’t in it and she ended up working for her father, a major distributor for Hewlett Packard in Central and South America. She held the job until she got pregnant with her first child in 2011.
The two families socialize and vacation together and even shared a vacation getaway in Central Florida for a time until their expanding families made it too crowded.
“We have different things we can bring” to the Go Pink Challenge, “so it just works out perfectly,” Lippolis said. P
The Go Pink Luncheon is South Florida’s premier breast cancer awareness event; proceeds directly benefit the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute and Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute. Call Terrie Mooney at 561-955-6634 for more information.
Cristina Lewis and Alejandra Lippolis at the Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute. The background is from last year’s fundraising luncheon; this year’s is Oct. 18 Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Along the Coast Effort to hasten warnings on polluted waters, beaches hits pause after veto
By Rich Pollack
State Rep. Peggy GossettSeidman knew something was wrong after she leaped into the Intracoastal Waterway last year to cool off on the Fourth of July.
“It looked like green pea soup,” she said, adding that she washed off as soon as she got back into her boat.
What she didn’t know then was that the water she had jumped into just north of the Boynton Inlet was most likely contaminated by a sewage spill in Boynton Beach.
That incident led GossettSeidman to continue her efforts to hasten public notification of waterway spills and beach contamination and to introduce the Safe Waterways Act into the Florida Legislature.
The bill sailed through both the state House and Senate, but it didn’t make it past the veto of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who stopped it from becoming law with no explanation June 26.
Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, who says she is not sure what the governor’s objection is, plans to continue pushing for changes she says will improve the safety of those swimming and boating in the ocean and other waterways and using the beaches.
“The incident that happened last year isn’t the only incident,
it just highlighted what needs to be done,” she said, adding that she hopes to bring a revised bill back next session. “When I did the research, we found out that it was happening all over the state.”
Standing behind GossettSeidman are environmental lobbying groups including the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit that works to preserve and protect the world’s oceans and beaches.
“Everyone should be able to go to the beach and know if it is safe to get in the water or not,” said Emma Haydocy, a former Florida policy manager with Surfrider who now holds a national position with the organization.
Gossett-Seidman said her proposed legislation would have put more teeth into rules governing notifications of contamination in beaches and waterways that now come under the jurisdiction of either the Florida Department of Health or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, depending on where the contamination is. Beaches fall under the health department’s jurisdiction while inland waterways are the DEP’s jurisdiction.
Gossett-Seidman’s bill, which was co-sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Lori Berman,
D-Boynton Beach, would have required the Department of Health to issue a health advisory within 24 hours or the next business day “if water quality does not meet certain standards and must require the closure of beach waters and public bathing places if necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare.”
The bill, she said, would also officially give the Department of Health the authority to close beaches, something she says now happens on a local level once a health advisory is issued.
The current language, Gossett-Seidman says, uses the word “allows” instead of requiring the agency to act within 24 hours of a first spill. The process used by state agencies, she says, usually takes more than 24 hours before the public is notified.
The bill would also have included provisions for notifications by municipalities within 24 hours to the Department of Health any time water quality failed to meet state requirements, for notification to local television network affiliates when the department issues a health advisory against swimming, and for notifications for municipalities and private docks and marinas when contamination occurs.
In addition, the legislation
would have required the Department of Health to create a standardized sign to be posted and “maintained by municipalities and counties around waters they own and by the Department of Environmental Protection around state waters.”
“There are no strong requirements to post those signs,” Haydocy said. “There is no clarity on when that information has to be posted.”
In an email to The Coastal Star, the Department of Health’s Palm Beach County office said that local beaches are tested weekly and that if fecal bacteria levels are found to violate standards, a second sampling immediately takes place and a water quality advisory is issued. Lifting of the advisory depends on resampling and could take 24 to 72 hours.
Gossett-Seidman said that notifications don’t go out until the second test is conducted and the timing of when the results from that test come in depends on the location of the contamination and proximity to the testing site.
In its email, the Health Department said that it posts signs and issues a water quality news release, but GossettSeidman says those notifications need to go out sooner.
The state also has a process
for a sewage spill in which a wastewater facility is required to contact the FDOH and FDEP and issue a public health notification. In the event of an emergency, the Health Department works with local authorities and conducts an assessment and testing.
“The procedures sound good but they don’t always work in a smooth manner,” Gossett-Seidman said, adding that it took at least three days before the public was notified of the July 2023 spill in the Intracoastal.
Gossett-Seidman said earlier versions of her bill had other notification provisions that were removed during the legislative process. Those included setting up an emergency phone number to report a spill and putting responsibility for beaches and inland waters under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Protection.
“It makes sense to have all the clean water concerns in one place,” Haydocy said.
Gossett-Seidman said she would also like to see a joint website from the FDOH and FDEP that would be updated within 24 hours.
“People are driving two to three hours to get to the beach and when they get there they find out they can’t go in the water,” she said. P
Delray Beach
Ready, set, draw: Commission approves start-up money for Crest Theatre art classes
By John Pacenti
Delray Beach city commissioners positioned staff to begin programming at the Crest Theatre by allocating $118,000 for “rapid activation” of its Creative Arts School, intent on utilizing the building’s classrooms that are ready even if the playhouse is not.
With classes anticipated to start in midOctober, the project will be overseen by Communications Director Gina Carter, who has a master’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The measure was unanimously adopted at the commission’s July 9 meeting.
“We want to reduce the cost and we want to cut down on all the things that slow down the government, like hiring, contracts, all of these things. We want to move along as quickly as possible,” Carter told commissioners at the meeting.
The city will leverage available resources and key staff, such as Carter, her four-member staff, and some Parks and Recreation Department workers. Carter said the challenge is hiring a full-time program administrator at $80,000 annually and five art instructors who will work on a contractual basis.
Advertisements looking for local talent who could teach art classes at various levels went online July 17.
It’s the latest chapter in the saga of Old School Square, which includes the Crest Theatre, the Cornell Art Museum, the Fieldhouse and the Pavilion.
The smoke still lingers from the dispute between the city’s movers and shakers from
when a commission majority including then-Mayor Shelly Petrolia in August 2021 voted to sever the lease of longtime operator Old School Square Center for the Arts, citing alleged financial mismanagement.
The commission eventually turned over the keys of the operation to the Downtown Development Authority, except for the Crest Theatre. The theater itself remains in much disrepair after the former operator pulled out lighting and other equipment on the way out the door — but the building’s classrooms have since been renovated and are ready for prime time.
The Boca Raton Museum of Art earlier this year expressed interest in moving its art classes north to the Crest Theatre before withdrawing the proposal.
Carter foresees about 17 classes per term with approximately 20 students each — and the city netting $85,000 a year after paying for the administrator, instructors and supplies.
She wowed much of the commission with her presentation, but Commissioner Rob Long — a supporter of the former leaseholder, Old School Square Center for the Arts — expressed some misgivings.
“It’s crazy that we’re here. In my opinion, we’re out of choices,” he said.
He said he had full faith in Carter and her staff but didn’t understand why there was such a rush. The plan seems “frenetic, and dare I say, desperate,” the commissioner said.
Long told Carter, “You have a superdemanding job already, right? And we are just going to make you work like two full-time jobs?” P
Delray Beach News
City’s fireworks almost didn’t happen — For all the complaints on social media about the July Fourth fireworks in Delray Beach, residents were lucky to have any pyrotechnics at all. The barge that was supposed to be used for the display got stuck in the Gulf of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Alberto and then Hurricane Beryl.
City officials briefly considered the Delray Beach Golf Club and Old School Square as alternative sites for a display before deciding that a truncated show could be launched from the beach, where the city’s celebration with live music and food trucks was already planned on State Road A1A and Atlantic Avenue.
Mayor Tom Carney said City Manager Terrence Moore told him at one point that the prospect of fireworks appeared bleak when word came to the city that the barge was not making the trip.
“Which I responded, ‘We have to have fireworks,’” Carney said at the July 9 commission meeting. “Ten minutes is better than no minutes.”
Parks Director Samuel Metott said fireworks launched from the shore rather than the ocean are more expensive and require additional safety measures. The Fire Rescue Department spent the holiday watering down dunes, he said. The usual 20-minute show was cut in half and the city issued a release telling residents as much on June 28.
“We apologize to the public on our behalf that it wasn’t the show we wish it was. We look forward to another great show next year,” Metott said at the meeting.
Commissioner Rob Long said he had gotten an earful from upset residents — and mentioned the complaints leveled on Facebook pages dedicated to the city. “Cut us a little slack here. We still had an awesome event all day, right?” Long said. “A lot of cities don’t have anything like that.”
Commissioner Tom Markert said he didn’t mind the change of pace. “The shorter fireworks allowed me to spend more time with the food trucks,” he joked.
‘Game of Thrones’ on DDA — It’s certainly an eye-for-an-eye when it comes to some recent appointments to the Downtown Development Authority — a volunteer board chosen by city commissioners. By a 3-2 vote on July 16, the commission refused to extend gallery owner Mavis Benson the appointment it had awarded her a month earlier, before problems with her application surfaced. Rick Burgess, whose vacancy Benson sought to fill, had been ousted by the commission after Benson filed a complaint last year with the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics, saying Burgess lied on his DDA application when he said his business was in the “tax-qualified” area of the DDA. The ethics commission found that was the case and city commissioners removed him from the DDA in April.
After the commission appointed Benson to the DDA in June, Burgess wrote to City Attorney Lynn Gelin that Benson’s Avalon Gallery on Atlantic Avenue was not registered with the state, leading Gelin to conclude Benson’s appointment was not valid.
Benson told commissioners at their July 16 meeting that she rectified the registration and submitted an updated lease agreement. But Commissioner Rob Long, who previously nominated Burgess, said Benson failed to resubmit an application for the DDA position as requested. Commissioner Angela Burns said she was conflicted, but “to be fair and consistent, we have to do the same that we do for everyone.”
Long and Burns were joined by Mayor Tom Carney in voting no. Commissioners Tom Markert and Juli Casale were in the minority. Burgess had sued the city in May, seeking to have his removal overturned, but the case was dismissed by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Parnofiello on June 26.
Committee to consider how to spend city’s opioid settlement money — Delray Beach will form an advisory group to make recommendations on how to allocate the city’s share of opioid settlement money.
The committee is to consist of appointed professionals and community members, similar to numerous other advisory panels in the city, Assistant City Manager Jeff Oris told commissioners at their July 16 meeting. A formal policy is expected to come back to the commission for approval Aug. 19.
As of June, Delray Beach had netted $239,000 from the $50 billion settlement between the states and opioid manufacturers and pharmacies. The settlement — and future payments — could be affected by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling against Purdue Pharma, which invented the highly addictive OxyContin.
Of the 7,769 overdose deaths in Florida in 2022, 6,157 were attributed to opioids, according to the state Health Department’s latest report.
Maureen Kielian, the chair of a county advisory committee on the issue, has said cities should consider giving their portion of the opioid settlement money back to the county so that there would be a bigger pool to provide more substantial services.
— John Pacenti
TAX
Continued from page 1
the city would be from new construction completed in 2023.
Both Carney and Markert said they campaigned on cutting taxes, while Casale at the meeting floated the idea of charging non-residents $35 to park at the beach to make up for lost revenue.
Commissioners Rob Long and Angela Burns voted against proposing the lower rate at the meeting the commission’s third budget session in July.
Potential budget impact
In a dramatic show, Long asked Police Chief Russ Mager if under the rollback rate would he be able to have additional patrols, such as the one just added for the beach pavilion after June 21 gunfire there.
Carney and City Manager Terrence Moore tried to intercede, but Mager said, “If you cut my budget, it does not allow for me to do what I want to do, what’s necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our Police Department.”
Moore, at a budget workshop on July 16, said the rollback rate would result in a tax cut for residents.
A homesteaded property with a taxable value of $1 million last year would save about $278 in the property tax assessment tied to the city’s operating budget, bringing that portion of its tax bill to about $6,083.
Boynton Beach
“If you cut my budget, it does not allow for me to do what I want to do, what’s necessary to keep the city safe at a level that we are expecting from our Police Department.”
— Delray Beach Police Chief Russ Mager
Moore originally proposed a slight reduction in the city’s operating tax rate set at $6.36 per $1,000 of taxable value last year to roughly $6.26 per $1,000. The tentative rate the commission approved would eliminate almost $5 million in expected tax revenue, according to a city budget presentation.
Casale said her beach parking proposal for non-residents would generate $5.5 million — if all available parking spaces were taken by non-residents every single day of the year.
Moore had police, fire, parks and public works officials present proposed cuts that were politically painful at the commission’s July 25 meeting.
In addition to Mager’s presentation, Acting Fire Chief Kevin Green said he would decrease the number of men per truck for some shifts. And events such as the Christmas Village would need to be curtailed.
“Instead of cutting one big event that might get people upset, it’s just reducing all of the events a little bit, right across the board, to pull them all back a little bit, and we can save upwards of $175,000 by doing that,” said Parks Director Sam Mettot.
After the commission’s decision was made, Moore said he was determined to make Carney’s plan work without substantial cuts and proposed an Aug. 13 workshop.
Long fears services will have to be cut to balance the budget, which he said is not what residents want.
“The integrity of our events impacted, and our maintenance impacted, potentially, our tourism economy impacted, I’m going to guess they’d be willing to pay that extra eight or nine bucks a month,” he said.
Now is the time, mayor says Carney defended his plan, saying the upcoming fiscal year may be the only opportunity for the city to give tax relief because the previous commission approved a new fire employee contract that will cost an additional $22 million next year.
“We’re taxing people to death,” Carney said. “It’s got to stop. This is not a sustainable way to continue by just keep raising taxes every year without going in with a very sharp pencil and seeing what we can cut.”
The approved tentative rate is all but
set in stone. The commission, before formally adopting the budget in September, could raise the rate but it would need to pay to have new tax notices mailed out to all city taxpayers and give them additional time to weigh in.
Property values are skyrocketing throughout South Florida, so keeping the tax rate unchanged isn’t enough to hold the line on taxes. Even making small cuts to the tax rate can still result in tax increases.
Delray Beach saw a nearly 10.9% increase in property value citywide in the past year. Homesteaded properties catch a break because Florida caps their assessed value increases at 3% a year. Businesses, rental properties and second homes are on the hook for more, with their annual assessed value increases capped at 10%. Those costs are often passed on to the diner and the renter. “We are going to price them out of the market,” Carney said.
Resident Joy Howell said property owners are also getting hammered with increases in property insurance. “I had one property that went from $12,000 to $18,000 a year in insurance for this year. That’s outrageous,” she said. Carney who was previously mayor in 2013 said services don’t have to be cut. He said the city has about 30 open positions that have been advertised for more than a year and are fully funded.
“That’s a million dollars a year,” Carney said. “They would have been cut in every other municipality.” P
FBI probes death threat against mayor; a commissioner also reports threats
In wake of tumult, commission changes public comment policy
By John Pacenti
Boynton Beach Mayor Ty Penserga said that the FBI is investigating a death threat made against him in July.
City Commissioner Thomas Turkin said he has also been the target of threats.
The threats came after a contentious July 2 commission meeting where Penserga cut off public comments from two women who believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, leading Turkin to criticize the
mayor for not letting them speak. Commissioners abruptly adjourned the meeting as one of the speakers who refused to stop talking was being led out of the chamber by police on orders from the mayor.
Penserga said he was enforcing a policy that public comments had to pertain to items that are within the purview of the City Commission — a policy
that commissioners agreed to do away with July 30 in the aftermath of the meeting meltdown, the threats that followed and an unsuccessful staff attempt to delay public comments until late in the commission’s regular agendas.
Penserga’s actions at the July 2 meeting led Turkin to shout at the mayor that he felt citizens had a First Amendment right to address the commission as they saw fit. When some in the gallery applauded, Turkin said, “Don’t clap, because I don’t agree with a lot that has been said.”
One of the women — Candace Rojas, a former candidate for Palm Beach Town Council and the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District — is a well-known, vocal election denier who has appeared before many area commissions. She told the commission she was speaking to “restore the republic.”
“As a sovereign American I am putting you on notice,” Rojas said before being cut off by Penserga and escorted out by police when she refused to leave the lectern.
While officials would not comment on the specific threats, the video of the July 2 meeting was removed from the city’s YouTube and website pages after threats were made to city commissioners, Boynton Beach spokeswoman Chelsea Sanabia said July 17. The threats were under police investigation, she said.
Police spokeswoman Holly Piccano told a reporter from The
Coastal Star to make a public records request when asked if the threats stemmed from the July 2 meeting.
The first public mention of a death threat occurred when a speaker mentioned it during public comments at the July 16 commission meeting. Penserga and Turkin were absent from that meeting.
Penserga, returning a phone call July 26, said he was reluctant to speak further about the death threat without consulting the FBI. He did elaborate that the threat was made in an anonymous voicemail.
Turkin, who said he also received threats, responded July 24 to a text message seeking comment:
“Due to the plethora of investigations that are ongoing internally and with other threeletter agencies pertaining to multiple threats/conspiring actions against myself and other members of the commission, I will refrain.”
At the commission’s July 16 meeting, new public comment rules created by staff caught commissioners by surprise.
The three commissioners in attendance at that meeting balked at the changes and chose to follow the commission’s past practices until they had an opportunity to discuss any changes in how they do business.
The new rules would have pushed public comments from near the beginning of commission meetings to near the end. They also would require
each resident who wanted to speak to fill out a comment card and file it with the city clerk.
“I was disappointed they were added to the agenda without having input from my colleagues,” Vice Mayor Aimee Kelley said at the meeting.
“I was blind-sided by this and I don’t like it,” Commissioner Woodrow Hay said.
At the July 30 workshop, commissioners agreed to remove the limitation that speakers must address city issues and to allow comments —as Penserga said — to be about “basically anything and everything.”
They also agreed to keep public comments at the start of the commission meeting, allow online comments and not to require public comment cards.
Penserga and Turkin, though, complained about a July 29 community meeting where they said they were defamed.
“Lies were said about something I did last meeting. I wasn’t even here,” said Penserga, who told residents to “ask for receipts” when they hear criticism of him.
He said he doesn’t set the agenda and can’t get funding for causes without consensus of the commission.
Turkin said that free speech is all fine and good but the commission would not tolerate personal attacks or hate speech.
“We’ve seen what such political rhetoric does. We’ve seen it at the highest level, an attempted assassination on the former president.” P
Mager
Turkin Penserga
Gulf Stream
Town not at all happy over virtual halt in road, drainage work
By Steve Plunkett
Work on the Core district’s road and drainage project was at a near-standstill in July as Gulf Stream’s contractor and consulting engineer waited to receive a “dewatering permit.”
“The contractor is in the process of obtaining a dewatering permit. Schedule for next week is TBD,” www. corearearoadwork.com, the site created to inform residents weekly, reported on July 10.
The South Florida Water Management District issues dewatering permits to make sure, among other things, that water from construction sites does not muck up lakes or the Intracoastal Waterway. Roadway Construction LLC, Gulf Stream’s contractor, has finished some work by pumping extra water into a pond at The Little Club under a different
dewatering permit.
But, Town Manager Greg Dunham told town commissioners on July 12, “The Little Club golf course said that they would not like for them to do that anymore.”
Mayor Scott Morgan was outraged.
“We knew there was going to be water. You found it on Day One — Day One you found the water,” Morgan said. “To rely on a country club to dump all this water seems, I’m not going to use the word ‘negligent’ but certainly ill-advised. But we’re in a situation now where you just stopped work, right? I mean, there’s nothing you can do. Is that what you’re telling us?”
Thomas Weeks Jr., Roadway’s senior project manager, said the company had dug test holes on Bermuda Lane, comparatively higher ground, but ran into water too close to the limit. The
new piping requires a dry trench at least 4 feet deep.
Other options suggested by commissioners, such as pumping water into a tanker truck and driving it somewhere else, would still need a dewatering permit, Weeks said.
Phase 1 of the project, on and west of Polo Drive, started in late April and was supposed to be completed by mid-February 2025. Phase 2 east of Polo would then begin and end the
following December.
But three months into the 20-month schedule, the update website said only 3% of the work was done. Weeks said he expected the water management district to issue the permit in three or four weeks. Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers told commissioners in May a new permit was needed.
Before work began, the schedule was changed to start construction in the north end of
the Core district, along Wright Way and Old School Road, instead of on Golfview Drive in the south. The north end is the lowest part of Gulf Stream and more susceptible to the rainy season and king tide flooding.
The website skipped a July 17 update then said July 25: “The contractor is working on drainage installations on Wright Way and Old School Road. Schedule for next week is TBD.” P
Tax rate makes repeat appearance in town’s proposed budget
By Steve Plunkett
For the third year in a row, Gulf Stream will likely levy the same property tax rate: $3.67
per $1,000 of taxable value.
Also, like last year, resurfacing roads and improving drainage in the Core district consumes the bulk of
the town’s proposed FY 2025 budget. Town Manager Greg Dunham set aside $10 million in the general fund and $2 million in the water fund for the capital improvement project.
And he anticipates borrowing perhaps $7 million this fall to keep the town’s unrestricted reserves above $4 million as construction continues and as the town prepares to switch its water provider from Delray Beach to Boynton Beach.
Otherwise, the budget he and Mark Bymaster, his chief finance officer, presented July 12 to town commissioners was fairly ho-hum.
“This is very much like the seven previous budgets that I’ve presented to the town,” Dunham said. “I will say this from the outset, this is really a normal Gulf Stream budget.”
Included are $132,500 to buy two police cruisers and $40,000 to repair the sea wall at the town’s bird sanctuary south of the Hidden Harbour neighborhood.
After surveying other towns, Dunham is recommending a 4% cost-of-living adjustment to town workers’ paychecks. He said he prefers giving COLA raises over handing out merit raises, which typically require an end-of-year evaluation.
“This is a small town, 20 employees,” he said. “I do an assessment of everybody on every day of the week.”
Town commissioners tentatively approved the $3.67 per $1,000 rate, which will bring in roughly $400,000 more in tax revenue than the $6.1 million that Gulf Stream collected the previous year. The owner of a house with a $1 million taxable value would pay $3,672 in town property taxes in addition to county, school and other levies. Commissioners can lower that rate but not raise it at public hearings they scheduled for 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 13, after their regular monthly meeting, and on Sept. 24. But to do so, they said, would require dipping into reserves.
“I like running the surplus up,” Commissioner Michael Greene said. P
South Palm Beach
Council signs design contract for Town Hall project
By Brian Biggane
In a significant turn of events, South Palm Beach Town Attorney Ben Saver said at the regular Town Council meeting on July 9 that he was “cautiously optimistic” that negotiations with CPZ Architects of Fort Lauderdale would soon result in a design contract for the long-delayed Town Hall project. And he was right.
During a special meeting on July 30, the council voted
unanimously to sign off on the contract.
Joe Barry, vice president of CPZ, told the council service would be divided into phases, the first being programming and site analysis. Other phases include schematic design, design development, construction documents and specifications, construction bidding and construction administration.
“We’ll move you forward at your pace,” Barry said. And his firm will have regular meetings
South Palm Beach News
New generator will take time — After months of discussion, the Town Council authorized Town Attorney Ben Saver to draw up a request for a competitive bidding process on a new backup generator for the town’s lift station. Saver said that based on preliminary figures, the cost will be approximately $125,000 and that his research indicated it will be another 12 to 18 months after a new generator is ordered that it will be up and running due to a shortage on the market.
PBSO gets new contract — The town agreed to a new one-year contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office with a 2% increase in compensation over the old contract. Mayor Bonnie Fischer called the ongoing agreement with PBSO one of the best decisions the council has made in recent years.
Council hopes to cut tax rate — The council adopted a maximum preliminary tax rate of $3.40 for every $1,000 of assessed value — the same rate as the current year — in hopes that it can be brought down to $3 per $1,000 of taxable value when the council sets a final rate in September. “It’s a good year to give the residents a break,” Vice Mayor Monte Berendes said, though Fischer cautioned that projects such as the Town Hall may make that difficult.
Town manager evaluation coming — The council agreed to work up an evaluation regarding Town Manager Jamie Titcomb for action at its August meeting. Council member Elva Culbertson distributed a more thorough evaluation than has been used in the past; the council agreed to decide on what form it will use at a future meeting.
Manalapan
Town to keep manning guardhouse 24 hours, sets proposed tax rate
By John Pacenti
Manalapan is pressing pause for now on cutting back the 24/7 hours of guards at the entrance of Point Manalapan, Assistant Town Manager Eric Marmer said.
“There’s no formal decision. We got a lot of feedback from residents. They didn’t want to decrease the hours of the guards at the gatehouse,” Marmer said. “We budgeted for the full amount for the year. It seems that’s the way it is going to go.”
The town has allocated $270,000, an increase of about 2%, in the current proposed budget to man the guard gate.
Police Chief Carmen Mattox has said the guard house serves as a crime deterrent.
At a July 23 meeting, Commissioner David Knobel suggested making the guards more visible in the guardhouse
with individual council members for their input.
Public input will also be sought, possibly through charettes.
“This is just a boilerplate, stuff just to get us going,” Vice Mayor Monte Berendes said of the contract. “All ideas are good ideas right now.”
Saver, who spent four months in fruitless negotiations with Moonlight Architecture of Cincinnati before the council approved a move to CPZ in June, said he and Town Manager Jamie Titcomb had a “very productive” phone conversation with two top CPZ officials, including Barry, on July 1.
Saver said CPZ was asked to submit its fee schedule for the project, which he said he received the morning of July 9, hours before the monthly council meeting. His plan was to review it, incorporate it into a standard contract and send it back to be signed.
The council plans to start soliciting construction bids at its Aug. 13 meeting.
But the news wasn’t all good. When CPZ submitted its first designs for the project as part of its presentation last February, it based its drawings on a 10,000-square-foot building that would house council chambers, a coffee shop, administrative offices
and a community center — costing about $400 per square foot.
Saver said CPZ, due to its cost increases, now estimates the project will cost $550 per square foot. With a $4 million total budget, Saver said the adjusted square footage would now be in the range of 7,000 to 7,500 square feet, or a building that would be up to 30% smaller than earlier proposed.
Council members said it was too early to get caught up in specifics.
“I think 7,500 is more than doable,” Berendes said, adding that the current Town Hall is just under 7,000 square feet.
“It’s premature to know what the cost is going to be,” Mayor Bonnie Fischer said. “I just want to make sure we’re still using SIPs,” or structural insulated panels. Barry, at the July 30 meeting, assured her SIPs would be used.
Council member Elva Culbertson had been reluctant to give up on Moonlight as she considered its expertise in SIPs to be superior to that of CPZ. Moonlight deals almost exclusively in SIPs while CPZ stated it had only a SIP manufacturer on its team.
Toward that end, the council still hopes to have Eric Schuermann, a SIPs expert based in Fort Lauderdale, brought in as its owner’s rep.
Fischer said she was also not happy with the initial design for the building CPZ offered in its February proposal.
“It’s kind of a Key West style, which to me that doesn’t flow with the town,” she said.
Berendes dismissed that, insisting it was “just an idea.”
Culbertson said her bigger concern was that, just as the cost of materials and workers has risen during the delays of the past several months, so will other costs associated with the project.
“We need to figure out all the expenses sooner rather than later,” she said. “For example, is it going to cost money to house the people who are going to be working here? That’s not five dollars. All of it costs money, and that’s not in the budget.”
Titcomb said it will be important going forward for the council to study the plans of how the architects allocate space, and Berendes agreed.
“We have to sit down with them and see things like, how big an office does Jamie need? How big is the restaurant? Maybe it’s 8,000, maybe 6,000. I would like it to be smaller, so we can afford it.
“We’ve done well financially. We’re in a good place right now.” P
Mary Thurwachter contributed to this story.
for even more of a deterrent effect.
In setting the proposed budget, Marmer said commissioners used the same tax rate on residents as last year, $3 per $1,000 of taxable value. Residents will still pay more because property values have gone up but not as much as in other municipalities in South Florida.
Unlike many municipalities that saw property values go up 10% or more, Manalapan saw increases of about 5.3%, excluding new construction, Marmer said.
A homesteaded parcel worth $2 million with its tax value capped under state law would pay an increase of $180 in Manalapan taxes. A similarly valued commercial, rental or second home that matched the town’s 5.3% value increase would see an increase of $318. P
— Brian Biggane
Lantana/South Palm Beach
Longtime landowner: I could have solved lagoon project dispute but was overlooked
By Mary Thurwachter
Residents of north Hypoluxo Island and South Palm Beach, who for decades have been navigating through La Renaissance channel for deepwater access to the Intracoastal Waterway, weren’t alone in being blind-sided this year by news of the construction of Bonefish Cove in the middle of the channel.
Also in the dark was Gail Martucci Klewicki, who lives on the south side of Hypoluxo Island. She and her sister Judi Martucci Hildebrandt own the submerged land in the central Lake Worth Lagoon beneath what has become known as La Renaissance channel. The land has been in the family since the mid-1960s.
Klewicki first learned about the lagoon project as she read the April edition of The Coastal Star, where a story told of the island residents’ battle to retain use of the channel, which — if plans had gone as designed — would have been buried under the middle of three Bonefish Cove islands. Boaters would have had to travel farther north to gain deep-water access through an unmarked, narrow and potentially dangerous passageway.
Bonefish Cove is a partnership between Palm Beach County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed to create valuable habitat for flora and fauna that had otherwise been lost or degraded because of past dredge and fill activities, stormwater discharges and shoreline hardening.
In February, residents on the northeast end of Hypoluxo Island received flyers in the mail about the project a few weeks before construction was scheduled to start.
Klewicki didn’t get one of the flyers. But when her community newspaper arrived, her eyes were drawn to the story — especially as she saw the words
Gail Klewicki and her sister own submerged land west of La Renaissance (in the 1960s, top right) in the Intracoastal.
“La Renaissance channel.” She hadn’t heard of that before, but she was very familiar with La Renaissance condo at 3230 S. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach.
“Our father, Frank Martucci, and grandfather Carmine Martucci built La Renaissance in the mid-1960s,” she said.
“They were true pioneers in the early development of condominiums in Palm Beach along the Atlantic Ocean.
“These adjacent parcels were planned for townhouses in the Intracoastal with a guaranteed path to the beach,” she said.
At one time, consideration was given to using some of that submerged land across A1A in the Intracoastal for building a condo resort extending over the water much like what is now called the Palm Beach Resort, parallel to the Lake Worth Bridge.
“We actually owned a time share there (Palm Beach Resort) that we just used in trade and travel,” Klewicki said, “but someone bought it about two years ago.”
She says the town of Palm Beach would still allow for docks to be built and she has the required survey.
Both her father and grandfather owned units in La Renaissance facing the Intracoastal, although they have since been sold. But Klewicki, who was renovating her grandfather’s unit decades ago, recalls routinely seeing
LEFT: At least two barge-loads of sand are being deposited every day to create the two new islands in a restoration project called Bonefish Cove. The red buoys and yellow silt curtains help to contain the sand and sediment until the islands are complete and ringed with limestone boulders.
Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
boats cruising north up the Intracoastal and making a turn west of La Renaissance. She realized a channel was there.
“Turned out it’s got a name — La Renaissance,” she said. “It’s not on charts, but it has a name.”
Caught off-guard
Klewicki said she was “surprised” not to have been kept in the loop by the county, the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers because they had been in touch years before when efforts were made to allow docks in the Intracoastal Waterway across the street from La Renaissance.
While the boatyard never came to fruition, the plan did get approval from the town of Palm Beach. And throughout discussions on the matter, she was cc’d by officials from the county, water district and the Army Corps.
Had she been aware of the Hypoluxo Island boaters’ dilemma earlier, she said she could have offered another solution.
“I could have just sold the parcel to the boaters and they would own it and never have to worry again,” Klewicki said. She had read how Hypoluxo Island boaters were getting ready to hire an attorney to fight the loss of the channel and said she would have likely been able to sell the submerged land for less
than the cost of a high-priced litigator.
“Of course, now there seems to be resolution, but that could have been the easy answer,” she said. The resolution involved eliminating the middle island and making the north and south islands of Bonefish Cove larger.
Klewicki and her husband, Raymond, have lived on Hypoluxo Island for 26 years. Until he died recently, her father, Frank Martucci, lived a few doors away from them.
Carmine Martucci, her grandfather, was 104 when he died in 2007.
The father/son team opened the luxurious seven-story La Renaissance in 1968.
Bonefish Cove update
Mayra Ashton, the county’s point person on the Bonefish Cove restoration project, said Palm Beach County continues to collaborate with the Army Corps on a design modification that leaves the traditional navigational route to the Intracoastal Waterway unaffected.
“Once a drawing of the new configuration is finalized by
the Corps we will share it,” said Ashton, senior environmental analyst with Environmental Resources Management. “We’ve also maintained open dialogue with the municipalities and residents to keep them updated with status and information as it has become available.
“Sand to build the intertidal mangrove islands and oyster reefs will be transported from Peanut Island’s dredge material management areas and barged to the Bonefish Cove restoration project location south of the Lake Worth Avenue bridge,” Ashton said. “Once the intertidal islands are created, they will be stabilized with limestone rock breakwaters.”
She said yellow turbidity curtains (silt barriers) are in place around the northern portion of the active work area “to contain and minimize any turbidity plume resulting from placement of the sand within the turbidity curtains.”
Boaters aren’t likely to have problems crossing the channel during construction, but it’s possible.
“While permanent impacts to the locally preferred navigational route are expected to be eliminated with ongoing efforts to modify the project, short-term disruption due to staging of equipment is always a possibility as the project is constructed,” Ashton said.
The project is managed by Army Corps, so the construction schedule and work areas are not designated or approved by the county.
“Boaters should take extra precautions since it is an active construction site with construction activities planned both to the north and to the south of the local preferred route,” Ashton said. “To further prioritize safety, USACOE has committed to appropriate signage as needed in any areas temporarily requiring avoidance during construction. The current work area is well to the north of the route Hypoluxo Island boaters use.”
The first barge-load of sand was delivered to the project July 8.
Work hours will be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, as approved by
La Renaissance
Lake Worth Beach
Coastal Star graphic
E. Ocean Ave.
Hypoluxo Island
Ocean Ridge
Third case of postal fraud in two years disrupts town’s business
By John Pacenti
Ocean Ridge discovered to its chagrin that the days of the trustworthy postman are a thing of the past. For the third time in two years, it has been the victim of alleged fraud by postal workers pilfering checks.
A $40,000 check on July 16 was stolen and washed from a Boynton Beach postal branch, said Town Manager Lynne Ladner. The latest fraud followed a minor incident where two checks were stolen in August 2023 and a fraud of about $100,000 in June 2022.
Ladner said the $100,000 fraud occurred when a postal worker picked up checks inside Town Hall. Ocean Ridge then started hand-delivering checks to Seacrest Boulevard and Boynton Beach Boulevard postal branches, she said.
“We’ve used both of them and it doesn’t seem to matter,” Ladner said.
The latest fraud disrupted town business. “We ended up having to stop payment on the other two checks that we sent out that day because we didn’t know if they all got pulled,” she said.
After the first two incidents, the town moved to electronic payments in recent months except only for when a printed check is necessary.
The fraud was discussed during the July 25 Town Commission meeting as commissioners followed up on their previous approval of transferring the town’s accounts from City National Bank of Florida to TD Bank.
Ladner, who discussed the fraud after the meeting, said City National took a year to reimburse Ocean Ridge for the 2022 fraud.
“We had, at any given time, between $5 (million) and $8 million in their bank and we can’t even get people to pick up the phone to talk to us,” Ladner said.
When Ocean Ridge installed a new financial management system, City National didn’t
Continued from page 16
the town of Palm Beach. Construction of each island will take several months, with the contractor scheduled to complete construction of all the islands and oyster reefs and planting mangroves by summer 2025.
“When completed the islands and oyster reefs will provide critical habitat for threatened shorebirds and protected native mangroves, while below water sea grass and oysters will colonize, improving water quality,” Ashton said. P
update its contacts promptly, Ladner said. “They failed to process our payroll so none of our employees got paid,” she said.
City National and the post office did not immediately reply to email messages seeking comment.
Criminals see snail mail as a gold mine these days.
Delray Beach police announced on July 16 that they had arrested five people in connection with a ring that would rob postal workers at gunpoint to get the keys that opened cluster mailboxes and blue collection boxes.
Investigators say they identified at least 2,000 victims who were defrauded of at least $800,000. P
Commission plans to add lobbyist and code enforcement officer
By John Pacenti
Ocean Ridge’s proposed $10.4 million budget includes money for a lobbyist and a part-time code enforcement officer.
Town Manager Lynne Ladner told commissioners at their July 25 meeting that a $30,000 appropriation for a lobbyist would be money well spent.
“That is not something we’ve done the last couple of years,” Ladner said. “But we’re continuing to ask for grants from the state and for potential legislative appropriations.”
Commissioner Carolyn Cassidy said the state Legislature this year granted Ocean Ridge a $250,000 appropriation to find, fix or replace buried water valves. Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, vetoed it.
“It was made very clear to us that without a lobbyist you are not going to get through the governor’s office,” Cassidy said.
A code enforcement officer would be added by expanding the town’s professional services agreement with Hy-Byrd Inc. Inspections, which currently provides services for the building department, Ladner said.
The code enforcement officers would work between 12 and 20 hours per week, relieving police from having to write up residents for dirty roofs or unmowed lawns.
Commissioners worried that the hourly rate agreement could lead to abuse and told Ladner they wanted to cap the contract at $40,000.
The commission will meet on Aug. 5 to hammer out further details of the budget.
Ladner proposes that the tax rate stay the same as last fiscal year at $5.40 per $1,000 of taxable value. Residents can still expect higher bills next year, though, because property values rose 9.6%, excluding new construction, she said. Homesteaded properties, however, are capped at a 3% increase under Florida law, while business, rental property and second homes are capped at 10%.
That means the owner of a second home or rental property with a $1 million taxable value last year, which also matched the town’s 9.6% growth in value, can expect to pay about $518 more in taxes to Ocean Ridge. However, for most residents, the homesteaded rate for the same $1 million home would be $162 more. P
10 Questions
SMEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Steve Bernstein
teve Bernstein was well on his way to becoming a successful entrepreneur in the cell-tower industry more than 20 years ago when he came across HomeSafe, a nonprofit geared toward helping at-risk children.
“I always wanted to give back,” said Bernstein, 63, “and children’s charities are important to me because I really believe that how we raise children factors into society and what they become as adults.
“I did some research and found there are a lot of neglected children just in Palm Beach County as well as everywhere else. So, as I met the management team at HomeSafe I got inspired to help out.”
One aspect of HomeSafe that hit home with this coastal Boca Raton resident was that each child, who typically shared a room with another child at that time, was given a footlocker with permission to decorate it however he or she wanted.
“Everything they owned was in that footlocker. And it just broke my heart. So from that point I got involved, and I brought my daughter, Abby, into the loop because it was important for her to see and give back.”
Abby has turned that introduction into a career of her own, working as a certified mental health therapist.
“She also has two kids, so it’s important to me she has taken that route,” Bernstein said.
Steve and Abby — now Abby Bernstein Henderson — will team up again next January when they become co-chairs of the 2025 Rock ’n’ Roll Classic Party.
“HomeSafe relies on about $2 million of donations every year and this is our biggest fundraiser,” Bernstein said. “This event alone raises about $500,000, which goes a long way.”
Since Bernstein has gotten involved, HomeSafe has grown to four campuses throughout Palm Beach County and gone from two beds to a room to one in the newer campuses.
“It’s better for children with behavioral problems to have their own room,” he said. A campaign launched in 2021 strives to make that a reality on all four campuses.
The renovated campus on Ipswich Street in Boca Raton hopes to open in December. It is named the Bernstein Family Foundation Campus.
“The foundation is our charity and we give to several nonprofits, and HomeSafe has always been on the top of our list,” Bernstein said.
“When they were redoing campuses, I walked through our Boca campus and said we have to redo this one, too, so we made a significant gift toward that campus. But it’s not just us, there are other donors as well.”
Bernstein said the gift was $1 million.
He enjoys golf and tennis and walking on the beach as well as spending time with his grandchildren and his fiancée, Lori Keezer.
— Brian Biggane
Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A: I grew up in New York City, and at the age of 14 our family moved to Sarasota, which was quite a culture shock since at that time Sarasota was full of rednecks and retirees. I attended
Steve Bernstein of Boca Raton and his daughter, Abby Bernstein Henderson, have teamed up to co-chair the 2025 Rock ‘n’ Roll Classic Party to benefit HomeSafe, which helps neglected children. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
the University of Florida and majored in real estate. I was selling houses to the parents of fraternity brothers. I always liked the freedom of being my own boss and the ability to make money based fully on my own efforts. I was always very entrepreneurial.
Q: What professions have you worked in? What accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: One of my first jobs out of college was with MCI, the first pure longdistance phone company, and I was assigned to a division that was trying to obtain the very first cellular phone licenses.
As a real estate specialist, it was my job to travel across the country to lease properties and secure zoning for
40,000 towers in more than 13 countries.
Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?
A: When in college, know what you want to do early and find internships or jobs in your field. You want to set yourself apart from the rest when you graduate, and having experience in your field is the best way to do it.
If you are entrepreneurial, work for someone in your field of interest, and focus on obtaining all the knowledge, experience and most importantly contacts that you can, so you can prepare for going out on your own.
Q: How did you choose to make your home in coastal Boca Raton?
A: I started my business in Pittsburgh, but since I was working all over the country, I could headquarter anywhere. Boca seemed to have the best of everything: lifestyle, climate, beaches, etc.
Q: What is your favorite part about living in coastal Boca Raton?
A: I’m an avid golfer, tennis player and beach walker. Where else can you get all those 365 days a year!
Q: What book are you reading now?
A: I’m into historical fiction lately, so I’ve been reading a lot of Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth, Fall of Giants, etc. History repeats itself and I’ve always been a history buff. The climate today is such that we ought to learn from our mistakes.
Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?
A: I’m a classic rock listener, which can go anywhere from relaxed to inspiring. Because of my age I’m still stuck in ’70s classic rock. I don’t listen to anything else; I try to but I really don’t. So Eagles, Rolling Stones, Billy Joel. Just using him as an example, he has songs that are mellow and relaxing and also has songs that are upbeat, that tell a story.
Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
cellular tower sites. Over time, as the cellular industry grew, I saw a great opportunity to capitalize on a niche business, and provide site acquisition, zoning and construction services to the cellular industry.
I started the business with credit card cash advances, and over time became the largest provider of these services to the cellular industry. With the continued growth of cellular providers, I transitioned the company to owning tower sites for ourselves and renting them to all the different carriers.
Today, SBA Communications — which originally stood for Steven Bernstein and Associates — is an S&P 500 public company with a market cap of $20 billion; we own approximately
A: When I started my business, I used to have to drive three hours to Harrisburg and back to Pittsburgh once a week to do zoning hearings. Back then, I had a cassette player in my car and had listened to the Anthony Robbins 30-cassette tape series — and that really motivated, inspired and gave me tools for success.
Q: Is there something people don’t know about you but should?
A: I have a new side hustle — I enjoy renovating and building homes. So, Lori and I buy, build, fix, decorate and sell homes.
Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?
A: I recently read the book Shoe Dog by Nike founder Phil Knight, which talks about his early days of starting Nike and all his trials and tribulations. Then I saw the movie Air, which again highlighted the early days of Nike and making their deal with Michael Jordan. Ben Affleck did a great job of playing Phil Knight, so I pick him to be me.
Delray
Dismissed fire chief’s lawsuit includes texts from city attorney disparaging city manager
By John Pacenti
Former Delray Beach Fire Chief Keith Tomey is gone, but the drama is not.
In his whistleblower lawsuit against the city filed on June 25 over his dismissal, Tomey includes a 2022 text message exchange between himself and Delray Beach City Attorney Lynn Gelin in which she disparages City Manager Terrence Moore.
Tomey was fired May 1, one day after an investigation found no evidence to support his accusation that Moore inappropriately touched and groped him. He claims in the lawsuit the firing was retaliation for making a formal complaint against Moore.
The text exchange included in the lawsuit allegedly occurred Oct. 18, 2022. Tomey told Gelin that Moore had repeated his request to demote Craig Mahoney or get him to step down. Tomey had recently promoted Mahoney — the president of IAFF Local 1842, the firefighters union — to division chief of logistics without telling Moore first.
In the text exchange, Gelin said if Tomey did what Moore was asking, Mahoney would sue for retaliation. “It’s a stupid argument that reflects poorly on Terrence.”
Tomey had said he felt pressure to demote Mahoney because Moore was his boss.
“And stop referring to him as your boss, Lol,” Gelin said in the same text, court documents show. “He’s your boss in title and nothing else. Every time he opens his mouth he confirms how incompetent he is.”
Screenshots of the text exchange are included as an exhibit in the lawsuit.
When asked if the city, Gelin, or Moore would comment on the lawsuit or the text exchange cited, spokeswoman Gina Carter said as a policy Delray Beach does not comment on pending litigation.
But the city didn’t waste any time seeking a dismissal.
Attorney Tonja Haddad Coleman, outside counsel retained by Delray Beach, wrote in a July 17 motion that Tomey’s complaint recites “discursive and conclusory unsubstantiated facts.”
Tomey does not meet the definition of a whistleblower under state law for a multitude of reasons — such as the former fire chief never made an official complaint of harassment until March 2024 while under investigation for his actions, Haddad Coleman wrote.
Tomey was fired for his decision to allow on-duty firefighters to participate in the annual Guns and Hoses softball game in November, compromising the city’s readiness, according to Moore’s
termination letter to him. An on-duty firefighter was injured in the game and filed a workers compensation claim.
“I believe residents will find there is ample support for Mr. Tomey’s termination,” said City Commissioner Juli Casale. “It is unfortunate that a random text sent out of frustration is being used to bolster a claim that has already been found to be meritless by an outside investigator.”
Tomey was hired in 2016 and named chief in April 2020.
Moore became city manager in August 2021 and Gelin has been the city’s top attorney since 2018.
The city employed an outside law firm to investigate Tomey’s sexual harassment complaint, finding there was no evidence to support the claim.
Tomey’s attorney, Isidro M. Garcia, said Gelin’s texts “speak for themselves.”
“There is some disconnect there between the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney’s Office, especially when it comes to the Mahoney
thing,” Garcia said. There have been other incidents as well.
Tomey received a traffic ticket on June 17, 2023, from the Florida Highway Patrol on Florida’s Turnpike for unknowingly driving on a suspended license, according to court records. At the time, Tomey often drove city-owned vehicles.
The lawsuit also revisits Tomey’s five-day suspension for not promptly reporting an Oct. 26, 2022, fender-bender on Interstate 95. While on paid leave as the city investigated the incident, Tomey suffered a stress-induced atrial fibrillation which resulted in a hospital stay, according to the lawsuit.
Tomey was denied workers
compensation and sued the city and won, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit claims the firing violated the state’s Whistleblower Act. Tomey reported Moore made sexual advances toward him on Aug. 3, 2022, as the two drove in Moore’s car to and from the Arts Garage. Tomey said Moore “rubbed up his thigh and just briefly made contact with his groin area.”
Tomey claimed in the lawsuit that Gelin was dismissive of his report of sexual harassment, which he first mentioned to her in August 2022. “As long as he doesn’t rub anyone’s knees I’m cool,” she allegedly said about Moore in a text from that time that is included as an exhibit. P
Tomey
Gelin Moore
intelligent and adaptable they are.
Members of the corvid family of birds, which includes ravens and blue jays, crows are known for their cognitive ability. They are also known for their excellent memories, problemsolving skills and their ability to recognize human faces and behaviors.
“These skills make them incredibly adaptable,” according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists who responded to The Coastal Star questions in an email.
It also makes them formidable predators.
Fish crows feed on coastal species such as marine invertebrates, as well as eggs and young shorebirds, seabirds and sea turtles.
In South County, fish crows on the lookout for easy meals are common sights on the stakes marking sea turtle nests and often on limbs of Australian pines and other nearby trees.
Joanne Ryan, the FWC permit holder for the volunteer Highland Beach Sea Turtle Team, remembers the early morning not long ago when a female green sea turtle nesting high on the dune drew a crowd of avian spectators on the top of an adjacent 14-story high-rise, perhaps hoping for a fresh egg breakfast.
“I was guarding the turtle with my life,” she said.
Jackie Kingston, executive
FEMA
Continued from page 1
with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address what county officials believe is a bug in FEMA’s calculations that produced the maps.
Wise doesn’t think so many of the existing buildings need to be raised as the new maps show they should be if the owners go
director of Sea Turtle Adventures, which monitors beaches in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and part of Ocean Ridge, says crows are always on the lookout for a quick meal.
“We’ll have our head down in a nest and when we look up, they’ll be circling all around,” she said.
Kingston, Ryan and Anderson do their best to keep crows away from hatchlings, but they’re not always present to protect them.
The birds will patrol the line of seaweed on the beach looking for errant baby turtles and have been seen snatching them up and taking them to nearby trees.
The birds that catch hatchlings are quick.
“It happens in the blink of an eye,” Kingston said.
Anderson said he has also seen a crow grab a hatchling and
to make upgrades or repairs to structures on these parcels.
“We don’t agree with the science,” he said.
County Commissioner Marci Woodward agreed that the county should make the investment to try to alleviate the impact of the new maps on residents — even if it might be several years before the technical partnership project gets completed and the new
bury it, almost as if it is hiding it for a later meal.
Kingston said she’s seen crows bury eggs as well, on the rare occasions when the sea invades a nest and the eggs start washing away.
“They’ll get one and then come back and get another,” she said.
Although crows are a threat to sea turtles, Anderson said they are much less of a problem than some of the other major predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks and coyotes, which have been known to rummage through nests looking for eggs or hatchlings while damaging everything in the way.
A bigger avian threat, both he and Ryan say, are yellow crown night herons, which pluck hatchlings from the beach often before daylight.
View your property on FEMA flood-risk map https://maps.co.palm-beach. fl.us/cwgis/?app=floodzones
minimum elevations can be revised.
Funding the technical partnership will cost the county $500,000 initially and determine whether further study could result in significant changes in the mapping that could lessen the overall impact on residents.
“Crows are way down on the list,” Anderson said.
Though the birds can be pesky, both Anderson and Ryan have developed a respect and dialogue with the crows.
“I talk to them all the time,” says Ryan. “They’re very cool birds and they’re very smart.”
Crows, like other corvids, have been known to use tools to solve problems. They have been documented, for example, dropping stones into a glass tube of water in order to get the water level to rise to where they can reach it.
Crows are also cooperative breeders, according to FWC biologists, meaning offspring from past nests help their parents raise new young. Individuals can work together to solve problems and identify unusual resources, such as food sources especially
Flood insurance discounts
South County residents are eligible for FEMA flood insurance discounts based on actions their municipalities have taken to mitigate potential flooding. Here are the discounts by municipality as of April
2024:
Boca Raton: 15%
Boynton Beach: 25%
Briny Breezes: 0%
Crow facts
• There are two types of crows — fish crows and American crows. Fish crows are more common in coastal Palm Beach County.
• Crows are members of the corvid family whose members are known for cognitive ability. They are also very social.
• Crows can recognize human faces.
• Fish crow populations in Florida appear to have grown from 2012 to 2022.
• Fish crows have a distinct nasally call.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
present in urban landscapes.
Because they are opportunists, crows can often be attracted to trash and food not in their natural diet, and that, say FWC biologists, can have a negative impact on shorebird and seabird colonies as well as turtles because predators will linger in the area.
People can help minimize the predation by crows and other animals by cleaning beaches of trash and by not feeding them and other wildlife, the FWC team says.
Over the years Anderson, Kingston and Ryan have found that people and crows on South County beaches can be friends.
“They’re our companions on the beach,” Anderson said. “We have a fun love-hate relationship.” P
County, Boynton Beach comes the closest with a 25% discount.
Lantana’s rating was upgraded in 2020, so that FEMA flood policy holders were eligible for a 10% discount on their bills, instead of just 5%. It was given because of the town’s efforts to preserve open spaces, shore up flood-prone structures and manage stormwater, among other items, according to Nicole Dritz, Lantana’s development services director.
“We have the best option, with this room full of experts, all of our different districts, to actually make these maps the most accurate, so that the rates and the building codes and everything that goes into this will be accurate,” Woodward said. “Honestly, I believe we are the only ones that can do this.
“Any local area is going to do a better job than the feds on this, because they have to look at it from such a high level,” she added.
Delray Beach: 20%
Gulf Stream: 0%
Highland Beach: 0%
Lantana: 10%
Manalapan: 10%
Ocean Ridge: 20%
South Palm Beach: 10%
Source: Palm Beach County
“The savings is a tangible result of the flood mitigation activities that the town implements to help protect lives and reduce property damage,” Dritz said.
Commissioners in Highland Beach, which qualified for a 10% discount in the past but now does not, voted 5-0 July 23 to tentatively approve an ordinance that has changes officials hope will again qualify the town’s property owners for a discount.
For now, though, the new maps — and new insurance and building level requirements — will take effect in December.
And the $7.7 billion worth of property that FEMA insures in South County is likely to grow — anyone with a federally backed mortgage who is in one of the high hazard zones is required to purchase the flood insurance.
The cost for homeowners depends on location.
The average premium cost ranges from $724 for property that lies between Military Trail and El Rio Canal in Boca Raton to the $1,377 average for Delray Beach parcels that lie between Dixie Highway and the Atlantic Ocean.
The premium cost can be reduced by up to 45% depending on how much a community does to ameliorate its flood risk, according to parameters that FEMA has set. The actions involve better planning and educating residents.
No municipality in the county has earned the maximum 45% discount that the program offers, but in South
Currently, town homeowners can split a major renovation into separate work over two years, so the work in any one year does not exceed half the structure’s value, the point at which the home’s base elevation is required to be raised. Under the proposed ordinance, that would no longer be the case. It would require the higher elevation when any cumulative renovations over as many as five years exceed half a building’s value. P
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
Seven crows gather at a turtle nest in Gulf Stream. They can associate the nest markers with the possible presence of hatchlings or eggs. Photo provided by Sea Turtle Adventures
Boynton Beach
City preparing for new marine headquarters along Intracoastal
By Jane Musgrave
When you think about firefighters and water, forget hoses. Instead, think boats.
Boynton Beach Fire Rescue is expanding its land-based operations and moving to the water with the purchase of a $400,000, 28-foot boat and the construction of a $250,000 dock it will share with the city’s Police Department.
The city also plans to spend $1.8 million to renovate a 1950s-era building in Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park to create a 24-hour-a-day marine headquarters where three firefighters will be stationed, Fire Chief Hugh Bruder said.
Although several fire rescue agencies, including Palm Beach County, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, have boats, Bruder said the idea of a marine unit was initially viewed with suspicion.
“When I started the bandwagon four years ago everyone looked at me like I was from another planet,” he told the City Commission in July as he explained why he
Briny Breezes
will need $37.3 million to run the department in the year beginning Oct. 1. That is a 16.6% jump from this year.
Calls for service justify the expense of the marine unit, Bruder said.
“The number of water rescue calls are staggering,” he said.
The agency receives an average of one water rescuerelated call a day — up 50% from four years ago.
Bruder recalled the day in June when ocean rescue crews and firefighters were summoned to help other agencies find an 8-year-old boy who fell off the south jetty at the Boynton Inlet while fishing with his father.
Within an hour, rescuers realized that there was little chance of finding the West Palm
Town tentatively keeps recommended tax rate
The Briny Breezes Town Council tentatively set the property tax rate for the coming fiscal year at $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value, the same rate as the current year and the one Town Manager Bill Thrasher recommended.
At the council’s July 25 meeting, Thrasher noted that the town’s tax base had risen 11.3%, to $95.2 million, but he advised the aldermen not to lower the tax rate.
Briny Breezes is in the
process of borrowing millions of dollars to fix its sea walls and redo its drainage system as a defense against rising sea levels.
“In my opinion we’re going to need all the revenue that we can garnish going forward from this point,” Thrasher said.
The town’s first public hearing on its budget and tax rate will be at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 12 with a final public hearing at the same time Sept. 26. The new budget takes effect Oct. 1.
— Steve Plunkett
Council workshop will tackle fires on the beach
Should bonfires be allowed on the beach?
The Briny Breezes Town Council will wrestle with the issue once again, this time in a workshop set for 4 p.m. Aug. 15.
Alderman Bill Birch and Alderwoman Kathy Gross had missed the council’s May 23 discussion, so the topic was postponed so they could participate.
“We’ve spent a lot of time on this already, so if we do a workshop, can we pretty much finalize it at that workshop?” Birch asked during the council’s July 25 meeting.
The answer was no, that the council cannot vote on legislation in a workshop, so a vote on proposed changes to the town’s code on fires and lighting restrictions near the beach will wait even longer for a regular
The new boat will address what Chief Hugh Bruder calls a ‘staggering’ number of water rescue calls. Photo provided
Beach boy alive. Even though firefighters aren’t typically involved in recovery operations, they stayed until the body of Saul Cerrato-Vasquez was found, Bruder said.
“We stayed to give the family closure and we stayed because it was the right thing to do,” he said.
To offset the increased costs of running the department, Bruder said he is beginning to renegotiate contracts with municipalities that receive fire service from Boynton Beach. Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes are among them.
Costs to municipalities will increase, Bruder said. For instance, under a proposed 10year contract with the Village of Golf, it would pay 10% more each year, putting an extra $30,000 annually in Boynton Beach’s coffers, Bruder said.
Ocean Ridge Town Manager Lynne Ladner said the town will pay nearly $1.6 million next year to Boynton Beach for fire protection. While the contract doesn’t expire until Oct. 1, 2028,
it is up for a 4-year review this month.
She said she hadn’t been contacted by Boynton Beach officials about renegotiating the contract.
Under the existing agreement, the cost to Ocean Ridge increases about 4% each year, she said.
Bruder said he is also working to improve the department’s rating from the Insurance Services Office. An upgrade would decrease insurance rates for homeowners, including those who live in municipalities that contract with Boynton Beach for service.
The department wasn’t able to get a Class 1 rating this year, largely because of water pressure problems, Bruder said. He voiced confidence the agency would get the top rating when it is reinspected in 2025.
The fire boat is to arrive this month. What is being called the “public safety dock” is to be completed in March. A grant is covering half of the construction costs with the city kicking in the rest.
Money for the renovation of the city building the U.S. Coast Guard was using in Harvey Oyer Park is to be generated by increasing the annual fire assessment from $120 to $145. The flat fee, separate from property taxes, is paid only by Boynton Beach residents and
business owners.
The increased assessment would generate $1.46 million annually. That money would be used to repay a $13.1 million, 15-year bond. The loan would also pay for other projects, including the estimated $10 million replacement of a 40-year-old fire station on Congress Avenue and Miner Road.
City commissioners tentatively approved the fee hike. But, Commissioner Angela Cruz said she may ask that it be trimmed to $140 during budget hearings in September. Commissioner Thomas Turkin said he wants it to be reduced once the loan has been repaid.
Overall, Cruz said, the proposed tax rate of $7.80 for each $1,000 of taxable value, down from a rate of $7.85 per $1,000 this year, represents the biggest tax rate cut the city has had in years. However, because property values in the city increased 8.7% overall, the city will rake in nearly $4 million more in property taxes.
As proposed, the city will spend $130 million next year, a 9.4% increase over this year.
The tax rate, if approved, would find the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 after exemptions paying $3,120 for city services next year, not including the fire assessment. P
council meeting.
Town Attorney Keith Davis originally proposed updating the ordinance partly to correct the start of sea turtle nesting season in March. The ordinance says nesting starts in April.
But aldermen do not yet agree on whether bonfires should be allowed outside of nesting season and if so, exactly how to regulate them. Police Chief Scott McClure has said the existing contract for police services would have to be changed if Briny Breezes wants his Ocean Ridge officers to enforce fire regulations as well.
Separately, the council scheduled a single regular meeting for 4 p.m. Dec. 12 in place of its Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 meetings to avoid conflicts with the holidays.
— Steve Plunkett
Delray Beach/Highland Beach
A1A project begins with eye on traffic safety
No sweat! Machines stand in for flag people
By Rich Pollack
As crews on the State Road A1A repaving project head south from Delray Beach, they’re bringing two bright orange devices that replace vest-clad workers spinning octagonal “stop” and “slow” paddles to guide cars through the construction zone.
Complete with large red and yellow traffic lights and a gate arm that drops down across the roadway, the mechanical flaggers are designed to keep traffic flowing smoothly with minimal human intervention and to prevent cars from crashing into one another when traffic is forced into a single lane.
Touted as being safer and more efficient than traditional flagmen, the solar-powered “automated flagger assistance devices” are an important piece of the $8.3 million Florida
Lantana
Stormwater
Department of Transportation’s road project, which is scheduled to continue for more than a year.
That project, which began on July 10 and will stretch from just south of Linton Boulevard to the Highland Beach border with Boca Raton, includes road resurfacing, the creation of 5-foot bike lanes on either side of A1A and drainage improvements on the swales.
The coastal traffic nightmare is just beginning. Once work is completed on the 3.3-mile stretch, it will soon be followed by a resurfacing project on another portion of Delray Beach’s stretch of A1A and then a similar project on Boca Raton’s portion.
The current project will come with frustrating delays caused by lane closures during weekday hours.
Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie hopes the mechanical flaggers will ease some of that frustration while saving walkie-talkie flagmen (and flagwomen) from baking in the hot sun.
“In a sense they make for a more controlled traffic environment that drivers are accustomed to,” he said.
For much of the project, the devices will be in Highland Beach and will be the sole red-light signals in town, although this is not the first time they have been used there. Similar automated flaggers were used by FDOT contractors for a short time during a drainage improvement project in fall 2022.
utility fee on way to be added to property tax bills
By Mary Thurwachter
Lantana residents will see something new this month when they receive notice of their proposed taxes from the county property appraiser — a stormwater utility fee for drainage projects. That will amount to a $72 annual assessment for the typical single-family home.
The Town Council adopted that preliminary rate — which equates to $6 a month for the average homeowner — during its July 8 meeting. Workshops to discuss the topic were held on June 10 and July 22. The second workshop was open for public comment, but only six residents attended, and no one said a peep.
Town Manager Brian Raducci says the cost of stormwater management has continued to grow and he anticipates it will be a larger part of operations in the future.
“Just to be clear, this is because things are changing,” Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason said. “The weather is changing. We have more rain. We’re having to get more pumps out there — trucks to pump water out to eliminate the flooding. We can’t stand behind and be reactive. We have to be proactive.”
Lantana’s annual stormwater operations and maintenance costs are $320,030, according to a study done by the engineering firm Chen Moore and Associates.
That study showed that the average monthly rate of utility fees for 130 Florida municipalities is $9.
The fee is assessed based on the impact of stormwater generated from property within
the town. The impact is calculated based on the amount of impervious area (land area covered or paved), and this is shown as an Equivalent Residential Unit or ERU.
In Palm Beach County, monthly stormwater rates range from $4 in Palm Springs to $19 in Wellington, with an average among eight municipalities of $8.91 (Palm Springs, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, North Palm Beach, West Palm Beach and Wellington).
The fee structure is tiered.
The average single-family home, which is less than a quarter of an acre, will be paying $6 a month or $72 a year, according to Brent Whitfield, a Chen Moore project manager. For homes greater than a quarter of an acre, the fee is $12 a month or $144 a year.
The final rate can be less, but not more, than the rate listed in the mailed notices, called Truth in Millage or TRIM. The TRIM notice also includes all proposed property tax rates affecting a property.
A $6 fee would collect $546,280 a year. If the rate were reduced to $5.75, the amount the fee raises would be $523,519.
The extra money collected by the tax — above the expected $320,030 in expenses — will be set aside for costly capital stormwater projects which will be needed in the future.
“If you’re not putting away at least $200,000 a year, you’re not really preparing yourself for what’s coming,” Whitfield said.
First and second readings of the ordinance adopting the new tax are set for Aug. 12 and Sept. 9. P
Although the machines aim to keep cars moving, A1A traffic did come to a standstill on July 17 when crews accidentally ruptured a gas line, forcing a complete closure that was fixed within a few hours.
Labadie and FDOT leaders are urging motorists to plan for delays on A1A between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Labadie acknowledges the frustrations but believes the end result will be a significant improvement for motorists and better drainage along the road.
One area where the improvement will be most noticeable will be at the intersection of A1A and Linton.
Included in the new project is an almost quadrupling of the length of the left-turn lane for northbound cars heading west over the bridge, from 75 feet to 275 feet.
The current turn lane accommodates only about three cars. That will expand to about 11 vehicles once the work at the intersection is complete. P
Lantana News
Lifesaver wins national hero award — During the July 8 Lantana Town Council meeting, Vice Mayor Mark Zeitler presented 17-yearold Jakob Thompson with a Carnegie Hero Award for saving a 35-year-old woman from drowning at the Boynton Inlet on Nov. 30.
As he and his girlfriend were driving along State Road A1A, Thompson observed a group of people trying to help the woman as she struggled to swim about 60 feet from the sea wall as a strong, outgoing current was carrying her toward the inlet’s opening to the Atlantic Ocean. He drove on a bridge crossing the inlet to the nearby parking lot.
Carnegie medal winner Jakob Thompson. Mary Thurwachter/The Coastal Star
As Thompson saw the woman floating toward the middle of the inlet, he pulled off his shirt, took a running jump from the sea wall and landed feet-first in the water. Thompson swam about 90 feet to the woman and grasped her around the chest. She was breathing heavily and nearly exhausted, he said.
He towed the woman back to the sea wall and held her to the wall until two men pulled her to safety atop the wall.
After first-responders assessed the woman, they took her to a hospital.
A Lantana resident with plans to become an EMT, Thompson said he doesn’t have any formal lifesaving training but spends a lot of time boating and feels very comfortable in the water.
The Carnegie Medal is given throughout the country and Canada to people who risk death or serious injury to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
Sunsetting surtax — Town Manager Brian Raducci told the Town Council that Palm Beach County’s infrastructure surtax, or penny sales tax, is due to sunset Dec. 31, 2025, when it is expected to have raised the maximum $2.7 billion authorized by county voters. Lantana joined other communities in asking for an extension — municipalities have been receiving 20% of the revenue — but Raducci said there didn’t appear to be enough support for that effort on the county level.
“Obviously, it’s had a large impact on communities like ours,” Raducci said. “We stand to lose about $1 million” annually.
Raducci said the county is looking instead into proposing a transportation surtax. Either surtax would have to be approved by voters.
Lantana has used surtax money for the ADA ramp at the beach, wooden decking and railings at the beach park, replacing Town Hall windows, renovating the Town Council chambers, paving projects, and constructing classrooms and an emergency operations center at the Police Department.
— Mary Thurwachter
Solar-powered arms open on a timed schedule, directing traffic to one lane. Rich Pollack/The Coastal Star
Budget proposal outlines swap of waterfront land for property near library
By Mary Thurwachter
Lantana’s to-do list for the coming year includes pursuing a land swap of town-owned waterfront property on North Lake Drive for the old bowling alley land owned by Michael and Tony Mauro at 200 N. Third St.
The recently renovated library at 205 W. Ocean Ave. is quickly outgrowing its space and could use more room for community events, according to Town Manager Brian Raducci. The town is interested in constructing a recreation center on the Mauro property, which is a short walk from the library.
A swap may require a voter referendum and a review of language in the Town Charter, Raducci said at a budget workshop in July.
The town paid $965,000, a bargain
Business
Spotlight
Iprice, for the lots at 206, 210 and 302 N. Lake Drive in 2012. At the time, the mayor, Dave Stewart, said buying the land was an opportunity similar to the $4,000 Lions Club 1940s land purchase, which eventually gave Lantana a beach and preserved waterfront property for future generations.
Also on the to-do list for the year ahead, as outlined in the budget:
Redeveloping downtown’s Ocean Avenue properties. Twelve decrepit cottages on the north side of the avenue between Oak Street and Lake Drive were demolished this summer. The goal is to replace them with a mixed-use planned development with residential and commercial space.
In their pursuit of a developer, town officials have said they will be flexible on building heights — possibly allowing
as much as five stories. Mayor Karen Lythgoe says the town is “not expressly wanting” five-story buildings “but doesn’t want to turn away plans before the council can evaluate them.”
Beefing up the beach. Town leaders are giving thought to removing the old pavilion and exploring cost sharing opportunities to build new facilities on the beach without endangering the sea turtles. Raducci says the town may consider moving the Dune Deck Café to the former pavilion site and rebuilding the current restaurant into a second restaurant. Building a pier is a consideration for the future.
Partnering with a third party to rent kayaks and paddleboards and snorkel equipment at Lyman Kayak Park Adding a small sundry shop and guided tours are also being considered.
Adding dock lifts at Sportsman’s Park . Vice Mayor Pro Tem Kem Mason proposed this idea at a visioning session in April. The 10 to 20 dock lifts could be leased out and create revenue for the town. Raducci says the town would ensure that costs do not exceed benefits, such as costs of permitting, construction, maintenance and dockmaster.
This project, Raducci says, would need to be a long-term plan in light of the Ocean Avenue Vulnerability Analysis, which considers raising the sea walls.
Improving the North Third Street parking lot in accordance with the town’s master plan. This would involve replacing the fence with a masonry wall and a new landscape plan.
All of these projects are highlighted in the FY 2025 budget. Public hearings on the budget are set for Sept. 9 and 18. P
Gulf Stream estate sells for record-breaking $39 million
n a record-breaking $39 million deal for Gulf Stream, Debra A. Levitetz, the former wife of Purity Wholesale Grocers founder and chairman Jeffrey A. Levitetz, sold her eight-bedroom, 12,717-totalsquare-foot oceanfront estate at 3223 N. Ocean Blvd. in June.
The buyer, RSPS 3223 North Ocean LLC, is a Delawareregistered company. Candace Friis and Phil Friis, Corcoran Group agents, brokered the deal. Debra and Jeffrey Levitetz bought the home together for $12.5 million in 2001, and the home was deeded directly to her name two years later.
Built in 1995, the home is on a 2.15-acre lot with 200 feet directly on the ocean.
The mother-son Friis team also handled the previous record-setting deal for Gulf Stream: the $33 million sale of 3545 N. Ocean Blvd. in 2022.
The State University System board of governors has adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of tax-exempt debt up to $117.75 million by the Florida Atlantic University Finance Corp. to finance the design, construction and equipment of a new seven-story, 670-bed, 204,000-square-foot student housing facility on the university’s main campus.
The unit mix will be singleoccupancy three- and fourbedroom semi-suite units with shared bathrooms and a kitchenette.
The university is working with Coral Gables-based HKS Architects and has yet to select a general contractor.
It estimated the project would break ground in December and be open in time for the fall 2026 semester. The project’s $160,500 per-bed cost would be the highest for student housing at a state university, according to Florida board of governors staff. The university attributed that to inflation and current market conditions in Boca Raton.
Florida Atlantic University
A
had 5,185 on-campus residents in 2024 out of more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It has six campuses.
A feasibility and demand study conducted by Brailsford
& Dunlavey estimated total demand through fall 2026 at 1,066 beds, exceeding the proposed 670 beds, and recommended the university meet such demand via a
phasing-in of several housing projects in the coming years.
Brandon Waller was hired by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County as the federation’s new community security director.
Waller is assuming this role from Alan Poland, who was elevated to the Jewish Federation of North America Secure Community Network’s Florida regional director.
Waller previously served as a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2003 to 2024. He served as a SWAT operator for more than 12 years while assigned to New York.
The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County is part of a network of Jewish federations and communities that have partnered with Secure Community Network to launch or build upon existing community-wide security programs.
The 2024 Palm Beach Solar Co-op initiative, organized by the national nonprofit Solar United Neighbors in partnership with local organizations, including the city of Boca Raton, aims to bring accessible clean energy and storm resilience to the Palm Beach County community. This nonprofit has completed 85 solar co-ops across Florida since 2016, including four previous ones in Palm Beach County — in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022 — in which 400 Palm Beach County households enrolled. Homeowners, nonprofits and small businesses in the county can still join for free until Sept. 6. To sign up, go to solarunitedneighbors.org/ palmbeach.
Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@ gmail.com.
Gulf Stream estate (center), which sits on more than 2 acres and has 200 feet of beachfront, sold for a town-record $39 million in June. Photo provided by Living Proof Photography
Paws Up for Pets
As short season and demanding market topple dining spots, new ones arrive Cabana
Special services abound for four-legged pals. Page AT8 On the Water August brings wahoo in abundance. Page AT9
Snowbirds returning in the fall will need to update their maps for their favorite dining spots. A plethora of restaurants have closed, moved or have refurbished their concepts.
New ones are opening as well, as a sort of tidal sweep of the dining scene takes place not just in South Palm Beach County, but all around South Florida.
Gone are Lionfish, Avalon, and the decades-old Cabana El Rey on Delray Beach’s Atlantic Avenue. Salt 7 and the recent Delray Beach Market food hall concept are out. In Boca Raton, Fries to Caviar was renamed and scaled back to Phil’s Place, but still couldn’t make it. And Farmhouse Kitchen’s owner brought back Coal Mine Pizza’s menu to its Royal Palm Place restaurant, hoping diners who missed the pies will return.
Several new Asian spots, including Kapow!’s third outpost, in Delray Beach, and the expansion of Alleycat in Boca Raton, are incoming or already open.
Upscale Italians are on the way from the Northeast: Gabriella’s Modern Italian from New Jersey is scheduled for a fall opening in Delray Beach.
Opinions differ on the reasons some long-timers have shuttered, or those newer to the area failed.
Lisabet Summa, chef/partner in the Elisabetta’s and Louie Bossi chains by Big Time Restaurant Group, has been involved in the county’s hospitality scene since 1983. She’s watched quite a few
ABOVE: Patrons at the Bounce restaurant and sports bar inside the redesigned Delray Beach Market.
RIGHT: In July, Subculture Coffee opened on northbound Federal Highway in Delray Beach.
Photos by Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star
Philanthropy Notes
Boca West Children’s Foundation gives $1.7 million to charities
The 2023-24 fiscal year culminated in $1.7 million in donations from the Boca West Children’s Foundation to its more than 30 charity partners.
The grants will help fund projects ranging from providing cribs and diapers, to early childhood education and after-school care, to tutoring and counseling.
“All of this was made possible due to the hard work and dedication of our board of directors, members of Boca West Country Club and donors in our community,” said Pamela Weinroth, the foundation’s executive director. “We have raised a total of $19 million since the launch of Boca West Children’s Foundation in 2010.”
Added Richard Zenker, the foundation’s chairman, “The funds we grant to our charity partners directly help children and families in need, from providing backpacks with food, to diapers, beds, aftercare, tutoring, summer and sports camps, counseling, college scholarships and so much more.”
For more information, call 561-488-6980 or visit bocawestfoundation.org.
Boca twins’ cereal drive nets 8,000 boxes Cereal4All, an annual drive organized by 16-year-old twins Jett and Luke Justin, of Boca Raton, will enable Boca Helping Hands to provide more than 8,000 boxes of cereal to its clients. The brothers aimed to gather 4,000 pounds of cereal for Boca Helping Hands and instead ended up with 10,619.
“We created Cereal4All to
fight hunger around America’s breakfast tables because millions of American families suffer from food insecurity, which means they can’t always afford enough meals for everyone in their homes,” Luke Justin said. “Those families depend on food banks to help ease their hunger issues. Since breakfast food is one of the least donated items to food banks, that means pantry bags of meals distributed to families in need are often missing breakfast food.”
The drive’s impact has grown beyond Palm Beach County, with student ambassadors expanding its reach through more than 40 schools in Florida, 25 schools in other states and one in Canada.
“The other part of Cereal4All’s mission is to make students more aware of food insecurity in their communities,” Jett Justin said. “The happy connection young people have with cereal makes the sad facts of food insecurity more personal for them. Students can clearly imagine what it means to have an empty bowl.”
For more information about Cereal4All, call 561-289-1378 or visit cereal4all.org. For more information about Boca Helping Hands, call 561-417-0913 or visit bocahelpinghands.org.
JARC Florida names five new members to board
Th ree members and two honorary members have been added to the leadership of JARC Florida, a Boca Raton-based organization that educates and empowers people with
developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Summer Faerman, Harry Posin and Jonathan Greenhut join honorary members Rabbi David Baum and Debra Hallow at JARC Florida.
Faerman is director of the Meryl and Ron Gallatin Tzedakah, Learning and Chesed program at B’nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton.
Posin is founder and president of Label & Co. home builders.
Greenhut is an entrepreneur who has started multiple businesses in the health, wellness and beauty industries.
For more information, call 561-558-2550 or visit jarcfl.org.
David Waldshan fund expands mission at FAU
W hen Ben and Liz Waldshan pledged a gift to the Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at Florida Atlantic University, the purpose was to deepen knowledge of the Holocaust and human rights.
The David Waldshan Educational Endowment Fund will amplify the mission of the center by providing learning opportunities to professional educators in South Florida to combat prejudice and indifference.
“The Florida Atlantic Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education, championing education as our best hope against hatred, is a perfect fit for us to honor my father’s greatest wish — to ensure that atrocities like the Holocaust never happen again,” said Ben Waldshan, noting that the gift was made in memory of David Waldshan, a Holocaust survivor. “In today’s current environment, where antisemitism is troublingly on the rise, we feel it’s more important than ever to support the center for its hard work and to accelerate its impact.”
David Waldshan died in 2023.
For more information, call 561-297-3000 or visit www.fau. edu/artsandletters/pjhr/chhre.
Special fundraiser will benefit Spady Museum
A Spady Cultural Heritage Museum fundraiser has launched online as part of Give 8/28, a national day of philanthropy organized by the Young, Black & Giving Back Institute.
The museum in Delray Beach will use the funds for the Martin Luther King Jr. Brunch in January.
To donate, visit give828. org/donate/expanding-andpreserving-our-culturalheritage.
“At a time when our state funding has been eliminated, it is support from our local donors, members, friends, representatives and partners that allow us to continue important work, like educating and empowering our young people and providing cultural and historical information to everyone,” museum director Charlene Farrington said. “Now more than ever, it is important for anyone who supports education, the arts and history to support the programs of the Spady Museum.”
The fundraiser comes as Black-led organizations across the country highlight the fact that they receive 2% of institutional dollars from foundations. Give 8/28 seeks to empower those organizations working in areas such as education and mentoring, health and wellness and more.
The Spady Museum specifically is employing Give 8/28 to make up for $27,244 cut from its operating budget due to the governor’s veto of artsand-culture grants statewide for fiscal year 2025.
“The funding gap left by the state of Florida means we have to work extra hard and be super creative,” Farrington said. “We welcome the public’s support and invite them to come experience what the Spady has to offer.”
For more information, call 561-279-8883.
Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@ bellsouth.net.
Boca West Children’s Foundation leaders (l-r) Arthur Adler, Christina Irving, Pamela Weinroth, Richard Zenker. Photo provided
Posin
Celebrations
Dinner at Dusk
Trump International Golf Club, West Palm Beach May 17
A benefit for TriCounty Animal Rescue ended up being an enchanting evening under the stars as supporters and their four-legged guests experienced an exquisite meal and live music at the indoor and outdoor affair. Highlights included shopping at pop-up boutiques, photos with pets, and a silent auction.
HomeSafe welcomed 100 golfers (many from the Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club) to work on their short games for a cause that goes a long way. The event in its second year raised a recordbreaking $100,000 that will go toward preventing abuse and helping thousands of children and families who have endured trauma.
ABOVE: (l-r) Patty Larkin, Logan Shalmi, Fern Schmidt, Jim MacCutcheon, Brooke Qualk and Phil Engman.
TOP RIGHT: (l-r) Jeanette Austin, Jayne Malfitano, Michelle Bernardo and Jori Farrell.
MIDDLE RIGHT: (l-r)
Rochelle LeCavalier, Michele Desjardins, Kerrie Milligan and Kristine Miller.
BOTTOM RIGHT: (l-r)
Genevieve Murphy, Aileen Farrell, HomeSafe CEO Matt Ladika, Kathleen Long and Lisa Addeo.
BELOW: Kimberly and Joe Scaggs.
Photos provided by Tracey Benson Photography
restaurants come and go.
She said it’s possible that the latest ones to close, several of which were corporate-owned eateries from the Northeast U.S., might have had too-high expectations in dealing with the South Florida season.
“I figure you have five good months, probably, January to May. Then a couple of transitional months,” said Summa, whose original Elisabetta’s is in Delray Beach. The season starts again in late fall, albeit slowly. But summer is typically very slow, she said.
Restaurant owners make most of their money in season, and squirrel away the profits to tide them over during the dead months. Some put staff on hiatus and abbreviate menus to cut costs.
Lease renewals are a big “aha” moment. Rents are up all over, but particularly on Atlantic Avenue as the Delray Beach downtown has been labeled a hot spot.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority spokeswoman, Melissa Perlman, says the DDA area has 160 restaurants with roughly 18,000 dining seats. It’s a lot of competition.
Chas Prakas, a restaurant real estate broker focusing on the area, says Delray Beach and Boca Raton remain hot entertainment spots.
“It wasn’t a dead area before, but it’s boomed post-COVID. This is the place to be. We had some of our strongest years before COVID. After the shutdown [ended], Palm Beach County just exploded,” he said.
Prakas and his staff have watched Wall Street companies relocating here swell the population as well, bringing diners with big cash to spend, he said. Steakhouses and sushi restaurants and high-end Italian have proliferated.
“There’s still a big influx from the Northeast, Texas and Georgia,” Prakas said. “In the big cities, there’s only a finite amount of property. Not a lot of choices in New York City.”
Bigger corporate owners with good concepts and who are well funded can afford the rents and are moving in.
But, “the small profit margins of restaurants make this a tough business,” he said.
For small owners, the skyrocketing rents, insurance and labor costs are crushing. Some restaurateurs, he said, must move out of Palm Beach County to have a chance. But Prakas says that isn’t always a bad thing. “I personally drive all over the place for good food and good bar programs.”
Gary Rack owns two Farmhouse Kitchens — one in Boca Raton and another on the busy East Atlantic Avenue/ Second Street corner in Delray Beach. He sees rents going up as well.
“When I opened my first restaurant nine years ago, I was paying $125 a square foot.
A worker is busy transforming the former BurgerFi in Delray Beach into Pura Vida, a health food cafe.
Coming and going in Delray Beach
Atlantic Avenue, a premier Palm Beach County dining destination, and its nearby side streets are seeing a gastronomical upheaval. Among the changes:
Pura Vida All Day Cafe, a Miami and NYC favorite for health food aficionados, is building out a space at 6 S. Ocean Blvd. — the old BurgerFi location. Opening early fall.
Boca Raton-based Kapow! Noodle Bar is taking the former Salt 7 space at 32 SE Second Ave. A fall opening is expected.
Geronimo Tequila Bar & Southwest Grill will move into Atlantic Avenue’s Cabana El Rey spot, which closed in July after a 20-year run. The new Southwest concept is from Connecticut. No opening date was set as of late July.
The Standard, an American restaurant and bar in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, opened a Delray Beach sibling at 166 SE Second Ave. in July in the former OG space.
Lefkes Greek opened inside the redesigned Delray Beach Market in July. It joins Bounce Sporting Club, a sports bar/club that has livened up the former food hall that never gained momentum. Owners have split the huge space at 33 SE Third Ave. into five spaces, focusing on “eatertainment,” with clubs and bars to come by 2025, including a 1970s-inspired disco, Good Night John Boy
Roka Hula is a new modern Asian concept from the True Grit Hospitality Group (Voodoo Bayou, Calaveras Cantina). It’s changing up the former Taverna Opa space on Atlantic Avenue. Plans are to open by the end of the year.
Gabriella’s Modern Italian, a sibling of a New Jersey restaurant, is scheduled to debut in October in Atlantic Crossing.
Early fall, look for Jerk and Lime at Nicole’s House. The family-owned Jamaican fusion restaurant will be at 182 NW Fifth Ave.
Subculture Coffee opened a new location in July at 302 NE Sixth Ave. It has several other locations, including one in Mizner Park.
The Bridge Cafe expanded into a vacant spot next door this summer. It is at 814 E. Atlantic Ave.
Tony’s Market now has Johnny’s Deli inside, serving up sandwiches and more near the Delray Beach Tennis Center on West Atlantic Avenue.
Everybody said I was crazy.”
It’s now close to the norm.
Lowest base rents average $100 per square foot on Atlantic Avenue, Prakas said. That doesn’t figure in taxes or insurance or other fees.
Rack is staying. He says that the Delray Beach location is busy year-round, a big plus. Outdoor bar seating and bright neon signs make his wraparound spot visible and with a ready-made vibe.
But in Boca Raton, at Royal Palm Place where dining is slower paced, he’s bringing back house favorites from a former
burrata bar, pizza sandwiches, three new pasta dishes, and more.
Rack’s former chef, Demetrio Zavala, came back two years ago as director of culinary for the restaurant. A whimsical redesign of the bar area spruced things up as well.
“The response has been amazing so far,” Rack said.
A nother huge draw is the summer early bird: From 3 to 7 p.m. daily, diners take 50% off most of the menu, including alcohol. The only exceptions are pizza and the burrata bar. The deal runs through September. Rack is expecting a swell in patronage as word gets around, boosting summer numbers for him. “We’ll take ’em,” he said.
Nicolas Kurban is owner of the Mediterranean Amar on Atlantic Avenue, another small venue, and agrees the seasonal dining crowd makes things tougher here, unlike in bigger cities that have year-round visitors.
But offering something unique and providing a satisfying dining experience can make a difference, he said. “You have to be consistent, with good food and service to back it up. It can’t be for just the season, but all year.”
His is a family-run restaurant, another plus for him, he said. “I’m here, my daughter works for me and my son-in-law. We are part of the community.”
Kurban is bullish on Delray Beach and after contemplating a move for expansion, decided to stay. He’s leased the former Bar 25 space (and former Mellow Mushroom) on Sixth Avenue, and will move Amar by the end of October. The new space will have 175 seats, an increase of 130.
“We’ll have a full bar, something that was missing before. Delray’s a drinking crowd — they love a happy hour, and craft cocktails,” he said. “I’ll get to open for breakfast and lunch, something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Kurban intends to keep the space on the Avenue, however, turning it into Gesto, a “cozy, wood-fired pizzeria,” something he says the street is missing.
Chicago chef Jonathan Fox and Michelin-starred restaurateur Takashi Yagihashi have teamed to open Kasumi in Boca Raton’s Waterstone Resort, they hope in September.
It will be a full-service Asian-themed restaurant based on the omotenashi servicefocused art of hospitality from Japan. A completely new buildout for the 90-seat restaurant at the resort on the Intracoastal Waterway is underway.
“The ownership wanted to create a destination with Kasumi,” Fox said. He feels the resort and restaurant are the perfect match.
“This particular restaurant is refined but approachable,” he said. Noting the many other Asian restaurants in the market, Fox said this will be a refined experience, though “not fine dining.”
The menu will be structured for sharable food with sushi, raw dishes, and hot and cold appetizers.
The cuisine is authentic, Yagihashi said, and chefcreated. “The menu is coming from the kitchen. In most sushi restaurants the chefs do the same things with imported fish, or from Toyosu from Japan. We want to have one more step.”
He plans to work with local fishermen to bring in fresh catches and provide seasonal fish on the menu. “Right from the water,” Yagihashi said.
The traditional items will be mixed with local ingredients, he said, but will “taste like Japan. We mix them with unusual ingredients, say, blood oranges, fennel, hyssop.”
“With the beautiful new dining room, and foodfocused plate, it’s going to be an experiential restaurant,” said Manuel Bornia, founder of In House Creative, Kasumi’s management company.
A nother Asian restaurant has reformatted and opened with fanfare on East Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton.
menu, and working to entice diners who used to come in multiple times per week. A static menu gets boring, he said.
“I opened with Coal Mine Pizza, and we’re bringing it back. I won the No. 2 pizza in the worldwide contest in France with my truffle pie,” he said.
Guests have requested it, but it was a nudge from his spouse, Videl, that pushed him to fire up the pizza oven again when he contemplated a new menu.
“She said, ‘Why don’t you just bring back what you started with?’” Rack said.
The restaurant also has a new
Tired concepts with a lot of copycats are one of the reasons for failures, he thinks. “Italian, Mexican and steakhouses are all over,” he said. “I think that’s why Amar is successful. The visitor from Idaho or New Jersey can get Italian or Mexican, but Lebanese food might not be accessible where they are.”
A nother local, however, couldn’t make it. Philipp Hawkins changed the upscale Fries to Caviar bistro in Boca Raton on North Federal Highway into a casual Louisiana-themed restaurant, Phil’s Place. After failing to bring in the diners even on Father’s Day, he wrote on a local food blog that he was closing. “I just can’t afford the place anymore.”
Taking a chance
Several others from out of town are taking a chance.
Alleycat, from chefs Eric Baker and David Bouhadana, is now an Izakaya bar with loads of sharable small plates. It is high energy as expected from Baker, creator of the Rebel House, with modern American takes on dishes such as handroll tacos. The nori taco shells are made in-house.
The food covers all bases: brisket noodles, tableside-grilled Wagu beef, unagi and foie gras sushi, and an omakase platter. Vegetarian dishes and more common sushi are on the menu as well.
Tuna Tuesdays are a big hit with the crowd. The chef breaks down a giant fresh tuna as a demo, serving up dishes made from the fresh fish. Reservations are a must for that one. Visit alleycatboca.com. P
Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at
Virtual Reality
www.palmbeachartspaper.com
Music
‘Infinite’ spaces
Kravis Center’s VR show explores the universe in spectacular style
which is running through Sept. 2 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. Photo by
By Jan Engoren Contributing Writer
Imagine yourself as an avatar of pulsating lights, sporting a virtual reality (VR) headset and joining an international crew of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
You can do just that at the 3-D immersive experience, Space Explorers: The Infinite, now at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts through Sept. 2.
The state-of-the-art, virtual 3-D replica of the ISS allows viewers to float in space alongside the astronauts and witness the vastness of space and the Earth’s sphere, which only that vantage point — 250 miles above Earth — allows, all without ever leaving the ground.
“We are proud to bring this exclusive
encounter to Florida,” says Diane Quinn, CEO of the Kravis Center. “‘Space Explorers: The Infinite’ beckons, ready to take you on an awe-inspiring journey
through the cosmos.”
Conceived and produced by Felix & Paul Studios of Montreal, the film is an extension of the Primetime Emmy Awardwinning immersive series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience
Other Felix & Paul projects have included Jurassic World Blue, Cirque du Soleil: Through the Masks of Luzia, and The People’s House: Inside the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama.
A collaboration with Time Studios, the U.S. ISS National Laboratory, NASA and five international space agencies, Space Explorers: The Infinite was filmed over three years, capturing footage onboard the space station using specialized VR camera systems designed to work in microgravity.
Divided into four sections — adapting
See THE INFINITE on AT6
By Bill Meredith ArtsPaper Music Writer
Certain musical gigs that were once frequent have become rare in South Florida. The area nightclub scene is now mostly dominated by open mics, jam nights, karaoke, trivia, stand-up comedy, and singing guitarists who are sometimes accompanied by pre-recorded backing tracks. In essence, anything that requires paying only one host or performer.
Quality acts ranging from duos to full bands used to get house gigs, or residencies, one to five nights a week. Most of those nights are now occupied by the cost-cutting elements described above. Yet exceptions are still made for talents such as Twocan Blue, the Friday happy hour entertainment at the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton.
That venue celebrated its 13th anniversary in mid-July; Twocan Blue has been there for 12 of those years. Their free 5-7 p.m. weekly appearances usually occur before shows by ticketed featured artists.
In its 30th year, the Boynton Beach-based duo of keyboardist/ vocalist Tess Schmidt and vocalist/ multi-instrumentalist Richie Schmidt were a literal duo even earlier, having married in 1990.
Theirs is a true Florida tale, one of Fargo, North Dakota, native Tess meeting New York City-born Richie on the road before they relocated to the Sunshine State to pursue further musical endeavors.
“We actually met in Minnesota,” Richie says. “A vacancy had opened up in the band I was in there, and Tess joined before we migrated down to Florida in 1983 when the guy who was running things said he had
Powerful photos at Boca Museum spur difficult conversations
By Jan Engoren
Contributing Writer
Five distinctive photographic voices are now on view at the Boca Raton Museum of Art in an exhibit called Myths, Secrets, Lies, and Truths: Photography from the Doug McCraw Collection
The show, which opened last month and runs through Oct. 13, features the work of Sheila Pree Bright, Liesa Cole, Karen Graffeo, Spider Martin and Hank Willis Thomas. McCraw is the founder of the FATVillage Arts District in Fort Lauderdale, now under renovation with plans to reopen in 2027.
“‘Myths, Secrets, Lies, and Truths’ ...
delve into and illuminate many aspects of life,” Irvin Lippman, the museum executive director, said in a prepared statement.
“We are grateful to Doug McCraw for this collection of photography that stimulates conversation,” he said. “All of these images resonate powerfully today.”
The exhibit was created by the museum’s senior curator, Kathleen Goncharov.
In addition to Thomas’s work, other images exploring themes of social justice include photographs by The Birmingham News photojournalist Martin, who snapped thousands of images during the civil rights movement, including the historic 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march.
Over the course of his assignment,
Martin faced beatings and death threats from those opposed to desegregation.
Three of his black-and-white images were reshot in high resolution and enlarged to 38-by-58 inches by Graffeo, who has worked with the Spider Martin Civil Rights Collection to restore his original negatives to form the centerpiece of this exhibition.
Brothers in Arms depicts Martin Luther King Jr. and a group of Black men wearing “We Shall Overcome” buttons, the American flag flying behind them; The Prayer features a group of Black men holding hands in prayer, a church steeple in the background; and Two Minute Warning
Miss Anita, by Liesa Cole, is part of the photographic exhibit. Photo provided
Viewers are transfixed during a showing in March 2022 of ’Space Explorers: The Infinite,’
Melissa Taylor
Experience what it’s like to be an astronaut. Photo provided
THE INFINITE
Continued from page 5
to the space environment, doing the work of space exploration, cooperating with international partners and looking ahead to the future — the film is experienced differently by each person, depending on which modules they activate.
Ten international astronauts are featured, including Americans Anne McClain, Jessica Meir, Christina Hammock Koch, Nick Hague, Andrew R. Morgan and Victor J. Glover; Canadian David Saint-Jacques and Italian Luca Parmitano, who spent one of the longest times in space, with a total of 366 days.
Also on view is a spacewalk performed by Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) as they maneuver outside the ISS to install a support bracket for a new set of solar arrays.
The specialized 360-degree camera, designed to withstand the harsh environment of space, was mounted to the station’s robotic arm, allowing viewers to watch the spacewalk as if they were right there, working alongside Hoshide and Pesquet.
“This is the first time ever something like this was attempted,” says Félix Lajeunesse, chief creative officer of Felix & Paul Studios. “It’s the most ambitious project filmed outside of the Earth.”
In January 2019, crews began filming, documenting the daily lives, work and relationships on six NASA missions to space,
PHOTOGRAPHS
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captures the moment Alabama state troopers dressed in riot gear are poised to attack peaceful marchers who have crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma into Dallas County on March 7, 1965.
The incident was the catalyst for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and became known as Bloody Sunday.
“Seeing these images enlarged is incredible,” says McCraw, an Alabama native who began collecting art 35 years ago, beginning with hand-sewn quilts by AfricanAmerican artists from Alabama, such as Lonnie Holley, Thornton Dial and artists of the Gee’s Bend community, known for their unique patchwork style quilts.
“Anywhere I find talent, I have an interest in collecting,” McCraw says. “It’s an eclectic process.”
One of those collected artists is Graffeo, a choreographer, installation artist, photographer and professor emeritus of art at University of Montevallo in Alabama.
“It’s an honor to be a part of Doug’s art collection and to be shown at the Boca Raton Museum of Art,” she says. “It’s a
culminating with the first-ever spacewalk filmed in cinematic VR.
Lajeunesse gives credit to the astronauts’ willingness to participate in the project, despite the rigorous demands of their jobs. He also credits their decisions to provide access to the filmmakers.
“The astronauts opened the doors of the ISS to us and through us to the public,” he says. “They shared a lot of their experiences and perspectives and what it’s like to be one of the 400 people in human history who have gone into space.
“We owe a lot to these astronauts,” he adds.
As the director, Lajeunesse encouraged the astronauts to speak directly to the camera and share their perspectives on the mission, as well as their thoughts and feelings of living in space, especially while the coronavirus pandemic was raging on Earth.
How does it feel to be a part of a community living in close
quarters for a year? How does it feel seeing the planet through the window of the cupola? How does it feel being away from home and family for up to a year?
With more than 250 hours of virtual-reality footage, and the positioning of the cameras, visitors sense the astronauts are looking and speaking directly to them.
While most of the scenes were planned, Lajeunesse says the astronauts sometimes went off-script.
In one such instance, the astronauts created a special atmosphere by lighting candles, preparing appetizers and playing jazz music over dinner.
“We were blown away by their initiative,” Lajeunesse remembers. “They took our simple request and turned it into something more creative and interesting.”
The film opened in Montréal in 2021, and has since traveled to Houston, Seattle and San Francisco before touching down
Celebrate, by Hank Willis Thomas, is one of the conceptual photographer’s works on display. Photo provided
good circle to be in.”
On display are five of her documentary photographs from her Cuba series, including Santero: Saint Maker, taken in Cuba in 2020 and depicting Afro-Cuban religious rites, LGBTQ images and quotidian images of life in Cuba, and Roma Girl and other portraits of Roma refugees in Europe. Graffeo has visited various Roma communities for 15 years and says, “I found a warm and valuable humanity among the Roma.”
In 2015, on her first visit to Cuba, Graffeo rented an apartment in central Havana and was welcomed with a gift of a live chicken, a cut-up pineapple, a glass of juice and a slice of birthday cake.
“I didn’t know what it was,” she remembers, “but I knew it was the story I wanted to learn.”
She learned it was part of a Santeria ritual and began documenting the rituals and practices.
In addition to the people, her Cuba series highlights the
If You Go Space Explorers:
The Infinite runs through Sept. 2 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach. Note: Children younger than 8 will not be admitted. Ages 8-12 will require a waiver signed by a parent/guardian before admittance.
Tickets: $45 and up for adults; $25 and up for ages 8-12; $35 for students Info: kravis.org
Viewers can customize their experience by choosing different modules of the show.
Photo provided
in West Palm Beach.
After Florida, the experience heads to Charlotte, N.C., and by the end of this year, an estimated 500,000 people will have seen and experienced what it’s like to live and work on the ISS.
“You need more than one visit to see it all, and every time you come you will see something different,” says Myriam Achard, a spokewoman for Felix & Paul Studios.
“In our lifetime, only a limited number of people have the opportunity to go up into space,” she notes. “This is the closest most people will come to experiencing what it’s like.”
Achard says she hopes people come away with a feeling of awe and say, “I’m thrilled that I was able to go into space and see the universe. What a beautiful journey.”
Besides the wonders of space, what was most impressive for Lajeunesse was the dedication and commitment the astronauts bring to their mission.
If You Go
The Boca Raton Museum of Art is at 501 Plaza Real in Boca Raton. Info: For hours and admission prices, visit bocamuseum.org.
vibrant designs, colors, patterns and textures of the island.
“Art is my spiritual transport and an elegant cultural mediator,” she says on her website.
A sixth piece on display is a 10-foot-tall installation titled Havana/Bama: Reconstructing a Shared Horizon, comprised of more than 300 items and miniature female images, “prizes” that came with Cuba’s tobacco products from the 1800s to the 1950s, collected from flea markets around the island.
Other photographs in the exhibit include Bright’s photographs from her Young Americans series, in which she invited millennials/Generation Y-ers to pose with the flag while recording their personal stories of what the flag means to them. Thomas, a conceptual artist whose series Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America, focuses on identity and pop culture, reconceptualized images from advertising campaigns aimed at a Black
“It’s unbelievable,” he says. “It’s a dangerous endeavor and an enormous commitment. These astronauts live in a risky environment away from their family and loved ones for extended periods and accomplish extraordinarily difficult missions.
“It’s very inspiring,” Lajeunesse says.
Looking ahead, he hopes to collaborate again with NASA on the Artemis program, which will reestablish a sustainable presence on the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 and explore Mars and the rest of the solar system.
Now that he’s had a firsthand glimpse into life on the ISS, would he like to go into space?
“For sure,” Lajeunesse says. “If access to space were easier, I’d be the first to sign up.”
market between 1968 to 2008 to show how the ads exploited stereotypes and disrespected African Americans.
Liesa Cole’s photographs, projections and installations explore those who share secrets and those who keep them. Her show, Secret Keepers: The Secrets We Keep. The Stories We Tell, premiered at FATVillage in 2020.
A “fun, interactive exhibit,” according to McCraw. “Liesa’s work is powerful, brilliant, funny and sometimes dark.” So taken with it, McCraw purchased the whole series, including a secrets booth and video feed, This is Life, both on display.
“Viewers will have a moving, powerful, engaging experience with these works,” says McCraw. “Some are funny, some serious, others more moving and inspirational.
“Some will punch you in the gut,” he says. “It’s all of these things and more. No one can view all these images and not have a visceral experience. The work speaks for itself.”
Also at the museum and running through Oct. 20 is Sunshine, by Hudson, New Yorkbased artist Julie Evans. Known for her paintings, watercolor and collages, Evans began making ceramics in 2019.
TWOCAN
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some family in Hialeah.”
“That band was called Mystique,” says Tess. “It was the ’80s Top 40 act that introduced us, and we were part of it for about six years.”
Now a fixture at the Funky Biscuit, Richie (who’s appeared onstage there singing and playing guitar, flute, harmonica, mandolin and violin) is also part of the club’s talented house band, which hosts Monday night jams featuring special guests. The Funky Biscuit Allstars will headline on Aug. 10, and his long-standing blues band The Fabulous Fleetwoods, with Tess guesting, stars in its Old Boca Music Fest 11 on Aug. 17.
The couple is also part of a new venture called Blue Eyed Souls, which makes its debut playing vintage Motown and Stax Records material across town on Aug. 25 at the Boca Black Box Center for the Arts.
In Twocan Blue, Richie is the primary vocalist and soloist, with Tess mostly providing backing vocals; atmospheric piano, organ and synthesizer chords on her Yamaha keyboard, and essential lefthand bass lines that make the duo sound like more than two people.
“Tess has such great skill with her left hand,” Richie says. “We’ve had lots of players, including several very respected bassists, come up and comment on how well she plays those bass lines.”
Drawing from an estimated 300 songs, Twocan Blue performances showcase a variety of influences from the Beatles (cited by both) to Richie’s mentions of blues titans the three Kings (Albert, B.B. and Freddie), fusion guitar icon Allan Holdsworth, progressive rock members of Yes (Steve Howe) and Genesis (Peter Gabriel), and seemingly immortal rocker Keith Richards.
Tess’s nods include her five musical brothers while growing up, plus a member of both The Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (Graham Nash), pianistic pop singer Carole King, iconic soul artists Chaka Khan and Stevie Wonder, and Steely Dan leader Donald Fagen.
As part of the Funky Biscuit’s 13th anniversary
If You Go
Twocan Blue plays Friday happy hours at the Funky Biscuit, 303 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton.
When: 5-7 p.m. Aug. 9, 23, and 30
Info: 561-395-2929, funkybiscuit.com
weekend, Twocan Blue showcased many such influences and beyond, including songs by Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, The Kinks, Taj Mahal, the Doobie Brothers, and Keb Mo. The versatile duo covered ground where most twosomes would fear to tread, including The Fab Four’s “Strawberry Fields Forever” and Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” medley. Later, Richie would simultaneously sing and play guitar and harmonica on the Beatles’ “I’m a Loser,” and alternate between guitar and flute on the Blues Project instrumental “Flute Thing.”
The CSN&Y medley of “Just a Song,” “Carry On” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” closed the first set with a flourish of the Schmidts’ vocal harmonies and Richie’s feverish picking. The couple traded lead lines on King’s composition “Up On the Roof,” and Tess torched a rare lead vocal of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” with Richie dropping in tongue-in-cheek snippets of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” during his solo. A rousing medley by The Who of “Pinball Wizard,” “Sparks,” “I Can See for Miles” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” closed the second set, coaxing a welldeserved encore of The Band’s “The Weight.”
The cover-song duo also delves into original songwriting, the latest results of which could be made available soon.
“I just broke through some technical hurdles to get our home studio functioning,” says Richie. “We’re putting some time in and hope to have some songs to present. We’ll just hand them out to the people who keep putting money in our tip jar.”
“We’re terrible marketers, so any recordings will be gifts to family and friends,” Tess says. “Years ago, we had T-shirts and hats made with our logo, and we just ended up giving them away.”
Arts Calendar
Editor’s note: Events listed through Sept. 6 were current as of July 26. Check with the presenting agency for any changes. Ticket prices are single sales unless otherwise specified.
ART
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens: Open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission: $15; seniors: $10, members admitted free. 253 Barcelona Road, West Palm Beach. 561-8325328. Info@ansg.org
Armory Art Center: Summer art camps run through Aug. 2. Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, Saturday 9 am to 12 pm. Closed Sunday. Free admission. 811 Park Place, West Palm Beach. 561-832-1776, www. armoryart.org
Boca Raton Museum of Art: Through Oct. 13: Myths, Secrets, Lies and Truths: Photography from the Doug McCraw Collection, images by Hank Willis Thomas, Spider Martin, Sheila Pree Bright, Liesa Cole, and Karen Graffeo that take a close look at how untruths can affect our perception of reality. Tony Oursler: Creature Features, a multimedia installation, including a film, by the New York artist that looks at hoaxes such as the Cardiff Giant; through Oct. 20: Julie Evans: Eating Sunshine ceramic works and drawings by the Hudson, N.Y.-based artist; Admission: $16, seniors, $12. Hours: 11 am to 6 pm Wednesday through Sunday, except Thursday, open 11 am to 8 pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday. 501 Plaza Real (Mizner Park), Boca Raton. Call 561-392-2500 or visit www.bocamuseum.org
Cultural Council for Palm Beach County: Through Aug. 2: Roots and Remnants, sculptures by Sarah Knouse; The Cultural Council is open Tuesday-Friday from 12-5 p.m., and the second Saturday of each month in the summer. Admission is free at the council’s headquarters at 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Visit palmbeachculture.com/ exhibitions
Flagler Museum: At Whitehall, home of Florida pioneer Henry Flagler. One Whitehall Way, Palm Beach. Admission: $28, $14 for children ages 6-12. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; Sunday, noon to 5 pm. Call 561-655-2833 or visit flaglermuseum. us for more information.
Lighthouse ArtCenter: Through Aug. 2: Artistry Through the Ages: 60 Years of Inspiration, a retrospective of the gallery’s six decades in northern Palm Beach County, with works by Ralph Papa, Manon Sander and Eduardo Gomez Rojas; Stitching Spectacular: Textile Tales from Summer Camp, an exhibit of 36 embroideries by Irem Yazici for a children’s book, plus textiles from Lighthouse summer campers. Hours: 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Thursday; 9 am to 4 pm Friday; 10 am to 4 pm Saturday; closed Sunday; 373 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta. Admission: $5 for non-members. Call 561-746-3101 or visit lighthousearts.org for more information. Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens: Through Oct. 6: Musha-Ningyo: Avatars of the Samurai Spirit, more than 50 “warrior dolls” evoking Japan’s samurai culture. The western Delray Beach museum at 4000 Morikami Park Road is open from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday. Admission: $15; seniors, $13; children, $9. Call 495-0233 or visit morikami.org
Norton Museum of Art: Through Sept. 1: Rose B. Simpson: Journeys of Clay, works by the potter based at the Santa Clara Pueblo in New Mexico. Through Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; Friday, 10 am to 10 pm, Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. Closed Wednesday. Admission: $18 adults, $15 seniors, students, $5, children 12 and under, free. 1450 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach. Call 561-832-5196 or visit www. norton.org.
Society of the Four Arts: The society is at 102 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach. Admission: $10. Hours: 10 am to 5 pm, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; Sunday 1 to 5 pm. Open Tuesday for members only. Call 561-655-2766 or visit fourarts.org for tickets.
JAZZ
Saturday, August 17
Yvette Norwood-Tiger: The award-winning South Florida jazz vocalist who conjures up Ella and Billie appears with her jazz ensemble in the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County’s Summer Jazz Series. 7 pm, 601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. $20-$25. Call 561471-2901 or visit palmbeachculture.com Friday, August 30
Paquito D’Rivera: The eminent Cuban jazz (and classical) clarinetist and composer, who has 16 Grammys to his credit, appears with his sextet at Delray Beach’s Arts Garage. 8 pm, Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach. $65$75. 561-450-6357 or artsgarage.org.
POPULAR MUSIC
Friday, August 2-Saturday, August 3
Jonas Brothers: The Disney Channel’s favorite boy band of Joe, Nick and Kevin is touring this year in support of The Album, the brothers’ 2023 release. 8 pm both shows, Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. $95 to $205. ticketmaster.com.
Friday, August 9
Def Leppard: The English power-pop band that broke big in the early 1980s (“Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Photograph”) was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2019. 8 pm, Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. $69 to $259. ticketmaster.com.
Sunday, August 11
Lauryn Hill and the Fugees: The pioneering female rapper and social activist has stayed out of the limelight for years, but has reunited with her band and is back on tour. 8 pm, iThink Financial Amphitheatre, 601 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach. $59-
$217. livenation.com.
Sunday, August 18
Maren Morris: The country-pop star has one Grammy win and a shelf full of awards from the Country Music Association to go with her three albums and her multi-platinum collaboration with Zedd. Anna Graves joins her on the RSVP Redux Tour. 7 pm, Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. $56 to $106. ticketmaster.com.
Friday, August 30
Bush: The British grunge band that first rose to fame in the early 1990s reunited in 2010 after an eight-year breakup, and since have five more albums. With special guest Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. 7 pm, Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. $65 to $145. ticketmaster.com.
THEATER
Opens Friday, August 23
A Chorus Line: The groundbreaking 1975 Michael Bennett musical about the lives of Broadway dancers, with a now-classic score by Marvin Hamlisch (“One,” “Kiss Today Goodbye”). Sixteen performances through Sept. 15 at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9 th St., Delray Beach. $45. Call 561-2721281 or visit delraybeachplayhouse.com.
Richie and Tess Schmidt, the duo Twocan Blue, in a recent performance. Photo by Bill Meredith
Paws Up for Pets
Growth of pet parenting has unleashed a pack of innovative services
In 1999, I left the newspaper and book publishing world to cover what’s happening in the pet world.
Back then, no one referred to themselves as pet parents. Cat daddies didn’t exist. The professional pet sitting industry was still in its infancy. Dogs competing in surfing events or celebrating “yappy hours” were unheard of.
You’ve come a long way, doggy and kitty. Today, pets are unapologetically regarded as beloved family members by many of us. This growing love for our four-leggers has unleashed innovative pet services. To find examples, you need to look no further than right here in Palm Beach County.
You may spot a state-ofthe-art mobile grooming van parked on your street. Inside, dogs are being treated to a sugar cookie spritz.
The next wedding you attend may include the couple’s well-mannered dog sporting a canine tux and participating in the ceremony.
Or you may notice a French bulldog being escorted onto your plane by a professional pet concierge expert.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these specialized pet services:
Mobile grooming
Amy Addington left the corporate world 20 years ago to cater to dogs. She and Leslie Barron launched Woofie’s, a premium mobile pet service company in Ashburn, Virginia, that offers grooming, pet sitting and dog walking. They eventually franchised, with Woofie’s operating in states across the country. One of the newest is here in Delray Beach, where Amy now resides.
“Back then when we quit our corporate jobs, people thought we were crazy,” Addington says. “But we saw this as a way to elevate the pet profession by offering the convenience of mobile services, including grooming, inside a state-of-the-
art mobile van. Our grooming tables feature hydraulic lifts to easily raise and lower a dog.”
In some cases, pet parents get to come inside to witness their shaggy, dirty dogs transform into well-manicured, nice-smelling canines.
Liz Gibbs, who sports an animal science degree from Rutgers and worked for a decade at zoos and dog boarding facilities, is the general manager for the Woofie’s in Delray Beach. Woofie’s has partnered with Pet Vet Connection, a telehealth company that gives clients 24/7 access to veterinarians via video or phone chats.
“With our Pet Vet Connection, any pet under our
care — be it for pet sitting or grooming — has 24/7 access to veterinary care,” Gibbs says. “In doing a snout-to-tail inspection on a dog, one of our groomers may find a hot spot or a tick or a lump or bump. Having immediate access to veterinary telehealth services gives our clients that much-needed peace of mind.”
Here comes the dog
These days, dogs, cats and other family pets are being invited to once no-petsallowed events, like lavish weddings. Recognizing this trend motivated Jill Merjeski, owner of Jill’s Next Door Dog Walking and Pet Services, to add wedding pet attendant services for her clients.
“We offer different wedding packages, from just doing the pet transport back and forth to the ceremony to getting the pet cleaned, brushed, time to arrive early to sniff and explore the wedding location and working with the wedding photographer to include the pet in the pictures,” Merjeski says.
“And, if they want their pet to stay through the reception, we are there for them and we also offer honeymoon pet care options.”
Merjeski, from Highland Beach, recognizes that everyone is dressed up for the ceremony. Being in charge of the pet ensures that the wedding becomes memorable and free of pet disruptions.
“One of our first pet wedding services was for a couple with a yellow Labrador named Cody,” she says. “I have walked Cody for years, so I knew him, and he knew me. He has a good temperament and wore a bow tie that made everyone’s day at the wedding.”
Word of Jill’s pet wedding services landed her an invitation to be a vendor at a major bridal and wedding expo held in West Palm Beach.
“This new generation getting married is really focusing on their pets as family members, so I see this being a pet service more people will want,” she says.
By air, ground or to the vet
Matthew Darnall, who is best known as Matty, is also a pet trend-setter. He spent
Learn more
Here is how to contact the three companies featured in this column:
Woofie’s of Delray Beach: www.woofies.com/delraybeach or 561-709-6870
Jill’s Next Door Dog
Walking and Pet Services: www.jillsnextdoor.com or 561-544-7297
Totally Pawsome Pet Transport: www.tpptsoflo. com or 336-471-7478
about 25 years in the hospitality industry, mainly at country clubs and luxury resorts, but his prime passion has been pets. He has become a certified pet first aid/CPR instructor and volunteers about 500 hours a year helping animals at TriCounty Animal Rescue in Boca Raton.
Th is has led him to pivot his concierge talents to pets by starting the Totally Pawsome Pet Transport company based in Boca Raton. Playing off the feminine term nanny, he offers transport pet services on airplanes, by vehicle for family relocations and even trips to the veterinary clinic and groomers for his pet clients. He refers to his services as Air Manny, Ground Manny and Vet Manny.
“My niche is that I only do solo and VIP trips,” Darnall says. “My motto is safely delivering smiles, one pet at a time.”
He specializes in chaperoning cats and small dog breeds with door-to-door service to and from major airports within the continental United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On a recent flight he accompanied a senior cat named Meeko, who needs daily thyroid medicine. Her pet parent was moving from Boca Raton to the Philadelphia area and didn’t want Meeko stressed by the movers and from enduring a three-day car ride to Philly, Darnall says. “I picked up Meeko from her house a day before the movers arrived.”
Matty also drove a parrot named Simon safely from Coral Springs to the owner’s new home in Orlando.
“I am able to transport beyond dogs and cats to include birds and reptiles,” he says. “I was expecting Simon to say some words on the drive, but he just made some bird noises, and the trip went smoothly for the both of us.”
Arden Moore is an author, speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Learn more by visiting www. ardenmoore. com.
ABOVE: Matthew Darnall, owner of Totally Pawsome Pet Transport, with a client. RIGHT: A dog is ready to be beautified in a Woofie’s mobile grooming van. Photos provided
TAugust ’s full moon brings prime conditions for wahoo fishing
he days leading up to and following the full moon in August are a prime time to catch wahoo. No one really knows why that is, and anglers really don’t care. They love being able to catch the speedy, often elusive, extremely tasty fish.
This year the full moon is Aug. 19.
Capt. Skip Dana of Deerfield Beach prefers to fish “three to four days before a full moon and then a few days after. The day of the full moon is usually slower, with the best bite at midday.”
Capt. Tony DiGiulian of Fort Lauderdale said that the absolute best times to hook a wahoo can be when the moon rises and sets during those days, as well as when the moon is directly overhead.
Websites provide that information. For example, according to www.timeanddate. com, in Boca Raton the moon sets at 6:34 a.m. Aug. 19, 7:42 a.m. the next day and 8:49 a.m. the day after that.
Tactics for catching wahoo range from trolling high-speed lures, to slow trolling with live bait, to kite-fishing with live bait, which is Dana’s preference.
“You get more bites live-bait fishing than any time of year. I’d rather catch one on live bait than 10 trolling a lure on a planer,” Dana said.
He starts fishing in the morning by putting up two fishing kites, each with three lines. The kites get the baits away from the boat and suspend them at or just below the surface. Dana also puts out two flat lines with live baits that are allowed to swim wherever they want, along with two lines with sinkers to get those baits down deeper.
“Once the sun is up, I’ll start slow-trolling for them. I’ll go out to 200, 300, 400 feet and put out goggle-eyes, blue runners, speedos, little bullet bonitos. All you’re doing is bumping the motors in and out of gear to keep the lines tight as you move,” Dana said.
DiGiulian said trolling bonito strips and ballyhoo behind removable planers, which are clipped to the line to get a bait 30-50 feet below the surface, is effective for wahoo.
But he added that more and more local anglers have been high-speed trolling for wahoo, as is commonly done in the Bahamas.
“Here, we gear everything down,” he said. “In a centerconsole, we’ll fish three lines, and instead of 130- or 80-pound outfits, you could go down to a 50- or 30-poundclass outfit with 50-pound braided line. The lower profile you can be with everything
— leaders, hook size, swivels — the more bites you get.
“Instead of using big 42-ounce high-speed trolling leads, gear down to 16- and 24-ounce leads. Instead of heavy 400-pound leaders, go down to 100-, 130- or 150-pound leaders at the heaviest.
“And instead of the bigger lures that you use in the Bahamas, use smaller pointyheaded lures or little bulletheaded lures that produce a lot of smoke (bubbles) with 6/0 or 7/0 hooks instead of 9/0 or 10/0 hooks.”
DiGiulian recommended trolling those lures at 11-12 knots instead of 15-17 knots. He puts one line down the middle, 250-300 feet behind the boat. The other two lines, which can be fished out of rod-holders on each gunwale or out of the outriggers, are 140 and 180 feet behind the boat.
Those distances can be adjusted based on how the wahoo react.
Outdoors Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 7/24. Please check with organizers for any changes.
AUGUST 3
Saturday - 8/3 - Coast Guard Auxiliary Boat America: A Boating Safety Course at Spanish River Park HQ Building, USCG Auxiliary Classroom, 3939 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Boating terminology, boat handling, navigation rules, federal & Florida regulations, more. Course provides knowledge needed to obtain a boating certificate; possible insurance discount. 9 am-5 pm. $35/adult; $5/teen. 561-391-3600; peauxboca@gmail.com
8/3 - Family Fun Snorkel at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Snorkel shallow intracoastal waters, study animals sheltered/protected from ocean’s dangers. Bring your own snorkel, mask, water shoes (no fins allowed). Age 10-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Held again 8/18 9-10:30 am. $15/member; $19/non-member. Registration required: 561544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
8/3 - Outdoor Marine Aquarium Feedings at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. All ages; child must be accompanied by an adult. Daily 12:30 pm. Free. 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar. aspx?CID=47
AUGUST 4-10
Tuesday - 8/6 - Regular Spiny Lobster Season Opens; remains open through 03/31/25. Myfwc.com Saturday - 8/10 - Intracoastal Adventures: Intro to Canoeing at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Age 12-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/member; $25/non-member. Advance reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
AUGUST 11-17
Sunday - 8/11 - Intracoastal Adventures: Advanced Kayaking at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Includes short talk about South Florida’s unique animals/ecosystems. Age 7-adult; each child under 13 must be
accompanied by one adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/resident & member; $25/non-member. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
Friday - 8/16 - After-Hours Guided Tours at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Guided tour through Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Facility, outdoor aquariums, open-air butterfly garden, nature trail; ends w/sunset views of the Intracoastal Waterway from the beach by the Seminole Chiki. Age 7-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 6:30-8 pm. $10/ resident & member; $13/non-resident. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
AUGUST 18-24
Saturday - 8/24 - Intracoastal Adventures: Intro to Kayaking at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Includes short talk about South Florida’s unique animals/ecosystems. Age 7-adult; each child under 13 must be accompanied by one adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/resident & member; $25/non-member. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/ calendar.aspx?CID=47
AUGUST 25-31
Sunday - 8/25 - Intracoastal Adventures: Advanced Canoeing at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Short talks about South Florida’s unique animals/ecosystems. For experienced paddlers age 13-adult; child under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 9-10:30 am. $20/ member; $25/non-member. Registration: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar. aspx?CID=47
Saturday - 8/31 - Seining the Lagoon at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Explore grasses/flats of the Intracoastal Waterway behind Gumbo Limbo. Wear clothes that can get wet. Closed toed shoes required. Age 7-adult; child must be accompanied by an adult. 9:30-11 am. $15/ member; $19/non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar. aspx?CID=47
He trolls single- or doublehooked bonito strips and ballyhoo at 9-11 knots behind No. 6 and No. 4 planers with monofilament shock cords of at least 100 feet.
The daily bag limit is two wahoo per angler. DiGiulian said wahoo is “arguably my favorite fish to eat,” and the firm, white flesh is versatile.
DiGiulian fillets wahoo instead of steaking the fish because it gives him multiple options: He can eat thin slices sashimi-style with soy sauce and wasabi; sear a loin on all sides in a pan with olive oil, butter and soy sauce; or prepare bigger pieces on the grill — all of which is reason enough to go fishing the week around Aug. 19 for wahoo.
Outdoors
writer Steve Waters can be reached at steve33324@aol. com.
TOP: Capt. Tony DiGiulian shows off a nice wahoo caught in local waters. ABOVE: The daily limit per angler is two wahoo.
Photos by Steve Waters/The Coastal Star
Health & Harmony Water safety goes so much deeper than learning to swim
With a recent spate of Florida drownings in the ocean due to rip currents, as well as the June 13 death of an 8-year-old boy who fell off a sea wall and drowned in the Boynton Inlet — what better time to talk about water safety, especially for children.
With the sea and so many backyard pools surrounding us in Florida, keeping kids safe in and near the water is of prime concern.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drownings are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 — and Florida leads the country in drowning deaths.
In Palm Beach County, according to the Florida Department of Health, between 2016 and 2019, adults ages 20 to 25 had the highest drowning rate based on population, followed by seniors 75 and older and children ages 1 to 4.
Keri Morrison, 47, and her husband, Roarke, 52, founded the Live Like Jake Foundation to raise awareness about childhood drowning prevention after their son, Jake, drowned in a pool in 2013, just shy of his third birthday.
Since then, the Palm Beach Gardens couple have dedicated their lives to the cause.
“We want to keep people from making the same mistakes we did and to see a day where one more child
doesn’t drown,” says Morrison, who notes that Jake would now be 13.
She also has two girls, Josie, 9, and Julia, 10, both of whom she enrolled in Infant Swimming Resource classes before their first birthday.
The Live Like Jake Foundation encourages other parents to do the same and provides financial and emotional support for families who have experienced a drowning. It also offers scholarships for Infant Swimming Resource lessons.
Morrison says children’s drownings can be prevented via the following measures: effective supervision, erecting permanent four-sided pool fences with self-locking gates, alarming doors and windows leading to the pool, enrolling kids in lessons such as from Infant Swimming Resource, and knowing CPR.
The classes teach infants as young as 6 months old techniques such as rolling onto their backs to float, rest and breathe. Toddlers can learn to swim a short distance, rotate onto their backs to float, turn over to continue the sequence until they are rescued or reach the shallow end of the pool.
“All the layers must be in place,” says Morrison, who does not recommend children use flotation devices or puddle jumpers, because she says they provide a false sense of security
Keri Morrison started a drowning-prevention foundation with her husband after their 2-year-old son, Jake, drowned.
Photo provided
and kids may over-rely on them.
According to the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County, the No. 1 cause of drowning in both the county and the rest of the country is unsupervised water activity.
“Drownings do not discriminate, and drowning is everyone’s responsibility,” the coalition states on its website.
“Expect the unexpected while engaging in water activities,” says Anna Stewart, manager of the coalition. “Even accomplished swimmers can drown.”
The coalition has a list of prevention recommendations on its website (discover.pbcgov. org/drowningprevention). For adults, they include to not swim alone and to swim in front of a lifeguard.
Stewart also encourages
people not to jump right into the water to rescue someone in distress, but to “reach, throw, don’t go.”
Whether you are on a pool deck or in a boat, this means using your body weight as an anchor and throwing a rope or pole into the water for the person to grab.
Libby Moon, associate director of water safety at the YMCA of South Palm Beach County, says “we’re blessed to be surrounded by so many beautiful beaches here in South Florida. But, remember, regardless of age, race, gender, socioeconomic background and swimming capability, a drowning incident can occur.
“First of all, it’s important to know how to swim,” she says.
According to the CDC, almost 40 million adults (15.4%) in the United States do not know how to swim and over half (54.7%) have never taken a swimming lesson, with the rates higher in minority communities.
The CDC also recommends wearing Coast Guard-approved life jackets during water activities, especially boating and swimming.
“Make swimming be your first sport,” and learn how to do it well, Moon says. “It’s a sport and one that will save your life.”
She also emphasizes the importance of knowing how to use CPR when waiting for paramedics to arrive.
She agrees with Morrison about not using floaties or water wings. Further, Moon suggests that kids not wear goggles — because children need to know how to get to safety with or without them — but do wear brightly colored bathing suits so they can easily be spotted.
Water safety is more than just learning to swim.
It’s also important to heed warning signs, such as flags at the beach indicating which areas are safe to swim in, to know if a lifeguard is on duty, and to know about jellyfish or shark alerts, rip currents or other hazardous conditions.
And using alcohol, drugs or even prescription medications during water-related recreation can be a risk factor for drowning deaths.
“We want to be in the water and enjoying it,” Morrison says. “And we want children to be safe and have fun in the water, too.
“Just take these few extra steps of precaution to ensure everyone’s safe and having a good time.”
For more information on the foundation, visit livelikejake. com.
Jan Engoren writes about healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@ hotmail.com.
Health Notes
Delray Medical innovates its ER
Delray Medical Center has opened a new seven-bay Vertical Emergency Room to speed up care for patients with less serious health issues.
In this new emergency room, patients can relax in recliners while being treated.
“We recognized the need for a more patient-centered approach when it comes to providing emergency care for people with less acute health needs,” said Dr. Peter Kaplan, facility medical director and chairman of emergency services at the hospital.
“The Vertical ER enables us to offer more focused and streamlined care to patients who qualify for this approach, with the goal of ensuring they receive the attention they need more quickly and more efficiently,” he said.
Delray Medical Center also has unveiled a renovated EMS lounge, which offers EMS personnel a comfortable space with seats, a TV, free food and other refreshments when they are on the job.
Triangulate Labs entered into a licensing agreement with the Mayo Clinic to develop its Skinmap technology, an artificial intelligence-powered
photography system that helps dermatologists find and cure skin cancer earlier.
The system uses a mobile device to capture hundreds of high-resolution images of a patient’s skin in less than a minute. From there, its algorithms review each image pixel and matches it to the location on the body, making it possible to create a detailed 3D map of the skin.
Under terms of the deal, the Mayo Clinic will offer guidance to Triangulate Labs and remove barriers to patient access.
Founded in 2022, Triangulate Labs is based at the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
New York University’s Langone Health acquired Florida Cardiology Group in Atlantis.
Dr. Benjamin Saketkhou and Dr. Hedayatollah Zaghi remain with the medical practice, along with key team members.
The group plans to add an interventional cardiologist to the practice. Renamed NYU Langone Cardiology Associates, the practice is at 110 JFK Drive, Suite 110 in Atlantis.
Heather Havericak was appointed as chief executive officer of Delray Medical Center. Havericak was previously CEO of the Broward Health Medical Center, which includes the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital.
Amber Deckard was appointed Caron Treatment Centers’ director of neuropsychological and psychological services. Her expertise supports Caron’s expansion of its brain health program, which includes a neurocognitive assessment for individuals struggling with cognitive, behavioral or emotional dysregulation. Her office is at Caron’s Keele Medical Center, 4575 Linton Blvd., Delray Beach.
Harbour’s Edge, a Lifespace Communities senior living facility in Delray Beach, promoted Nicki Anno to assistant executive director. Anno, an expert in health care administration and financial management, joined the organization in March 2023 as administrator.
Health Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 7/24. Please check with organizers for any changes.
AUGUST 3
Saturday - 8/3 - Morning Beach Yoga at The Seagate Beach Club, 401 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. Every Sat 8-9 am. $20/person. Tickets: 561-330-3775; eventbrite.com/e/sunrisebeach-yoga-tickets-336433921917
8/3 - Saturdays @ Sanborn: Yoga Class at Sanborn Square, 72 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 8:45 am registration; 9 am class. Free. 561-3937703; downtownboca.org
8/3 - Zumba Class at South Beach Park Pavilion, 400 N State Rd A1A, Boca Raton. Every Sat 10 am. Free. 561-393-7703; downtownboca.
org
8/3 - Yoga Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every Sat 9 am. $5/ class. 561-588-8889; southpalmbeach.com
8/3 - Yoga at the Beach at Red Reef Park West, 1221 S Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Held on grass overlooking the Intracoastal. No cash accepted on-site. Every W 6:30 and 1st & 3rd Sat 10-11 am. $10-$12.50/class; 60-day membership $65/resident, $81.25/nonresident. 561-393-7807; myboca.us
8/3 - Judo Class at Boca Raton Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd. Warm-up exercises, instruction, practice, tournament training. W 6:30-8:30 pm mixed ages/ranks; Sat 10 amnoon all groups. Per month $21.50/resident; $27/non-resident. 561-393-7807; myboca.us
8/3 - AA Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. Every Sat 5:30 pm. Free. 561-2765796; unityofdelraybeach.org
AUGUST 4-10
Sunday - 8/4 - Coco Connections Market at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Monthly wellness market: 30 local vendors, health/wellness professionals w/ various healing modalities; live music; 2 free yoga, meditation or fitness classes per event. Held again 9/1. 9 am-2 pm. Free. 561-870-4090; thecocoyogi.com/market
8/4 - Yoga at the Beach at Red Reef Park East, 1400 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Held on grass overlooking the Intracoastal. No cash accepted on-site. Every Sun 4:30 pm. $10-$12.50/class; 60-day membership $65/resident, $81.25/non-
resident. 561-393-7807; myboca.us
Monday - 8/5 - Zumba Cardio at Boynton
Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Adults. Every M/W 5:30-6:30 pm. $10. 561-7426221; boynton-beach.org
8/5 - Adult Zumba Class at Boca Raton
Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd. Every M through 8/26. 7-8 pm. $6-$7.50/1 class. 561393-7807; myboca.us
Tuesday - 8/6 - Tai Chi Class at Boca Raton
Community Center, 150 Crawford Blvd. Beginner through advanced. Age 16+. Every T 6-8 pm. $8-$10/class. 561-393-7807; myboca.us
8/6 - Al-Anon 12-Step Study at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. Every T 7 pm. Free. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Wednesday - 8/7 - Tai Chi Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall Chambers, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every W 9 am. $5/class. 561-588-8889; southpalmbeach.com
8/7 - Stretch & Strengthening Mindfulness Class at South Palm Beach Town Hall, 3577 S Ocean Blvd. Every W/F 10:30 am. $5/class. 561588-8889; southpalmbeach.com
8/7 - Wellness Wednesday: Yoga at Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. Every W 11 amnoon. $5/class. Registration: 561-654-2220; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events
8/7 - LGBTQ+ AA Meeting at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. Every W 7 pm. Free. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Thursday - 8/8 - Alateen Meeting at St. Mark’s Catholic Church, 843 NE 4th Ave, Boynton Beach. Every Th 7:30 pm. Free. 561278-3481; southpalmbeachafg.org
AUGUST 11-17
Sunday - 8/11 - Yoga at the Museum at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. 9:30-11 am. $15/member; $30/non-member. 561-3922500; bocamuseum.org
AUGUST 18-24
Wednesday - 8/21 - Brain Health w/ Baptist Health Florida at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 2-3 pm. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary.org
8/21 - Scripps Research Front-Row Lecture Series: Delivering Medicines for a Global Population w/ Arnab Chatterjee, Ph.D. 1-hour virtual lecture. 7 pm. Free. Register for link: frontrow.scripps.edu
Religion Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 7/24. Please check with organizers for any changes.
AUGUST 3
Saturday - 8/3 - C-Kids Shabbat Program at Boca Beach Chabad, 120 NE 1st Ave. Every Sat 10:45-11:45 am. 561-394-9770; bocabeachchabad.org
AUGUST 4-10
Sunday - 8/4 - Blessing of the Backpacks at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. 10-11 am. Free. 561-276-6338; firstdelray.com
8/4 - Zoom Bible Study at Ascension Catholic Church, 7250 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. Every Sun 7 pm. Free. Zoom link: communications#accboca.net; 561-997-5486; ascensionboca.org
Monday - 8/5 - Women’s Bible Study via Zoom at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. Every M 10 am. Free. 561-276-6338; firstdelray.com
8/5 - Rosary for Peace at St. Vincent Ferrer Family Life Center, 840 George Bush Blvd, Delray Beach. Every M 5:45-6:15 pm. Free. 561276-6892; stvincentferrer.com
Tuesday - 8/6 - Tuesday Morning Prayer Service at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. 10 am. Free. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Wednesday - 8/7 - Men’s Spirituality Hour via Zoom at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd, Boca Raton. Every W 8 am. Free. For link: 561-395-8285; stgregorysepiscopal.org
8/7 - Wednesday Evening Meditation Service at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. Led by Rev. Laurie Durgan. 6:30 pm. Free; love offering. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
Thursday - 8/8 - Thursday Morning
Taking the month off Our religion columnist will be back in September.
Telephone Prosperity Coffee presented by Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. Led by Charlene Wilkinson. Phone meeting (605-4756006, passcode 3031030). Free; love offering. 561-276-5796; unityofdelraybeach.org
8/8- Men’s Fellowship at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. Every Th 8:30 am. Free. 561-276-6338; firstdelray.com
8/8 - Women’s Bible Study at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church, 100 NE Mizner Blvd, Boca Raton. Every Th 1 pm. Free. 561-395-8285; stgregorysepiscopal.org
Friday - 8/9 - Legion of Mary at St. Vincent Ferrer Family Life Center, 840 George Bush Blvd, Delray Beach. Every F 9:30-11 am. Free. 561276-6892; stvincentferrer.com
8/9 - Bible Study w/Dave Kirk at Advent Boca Raton Fellowship Hall, 300 E Yamato Rd. Every F 10-11:30 am. 561-395-3632; adventboca.org
8/9 - Virtual Shabbat Service at Temple Sinai of Palm Beach County, 2475 W Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach. Every F 7:30 pm. Free. 561276-6161; templesinaipbc.org
Sunday - 8/11 - Blessing of the Backpacks at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 10 am. 561-276-4541; stpaulsdelray.org
Sunday - 8/18 - Muffins & Mimosas at Temple Sinai, 2475 W Atlantic Ave, Delray Beach. Meet members and clergy of Delray's only Reform Jewish Congration. 10am-Noon. Free. RSVP: 561-276-6161, Ext. 124 by 8/10.
Thursday - 9/5 - Islamic Center of Boca Raton Open House at 3480 NW 5th Ave, Boca Raton. All welcome. Refreshments, tour of the mosque, Q&A. 1st Th 7-9 pm. Free. 561-3957221; icbr.org
Friday - 9/6 - Adoration & Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Mark Chapel, 643 NE 4th Ave, Boynton Beach. 1st F 9 am-3 pm. Free. 561-734-9330; stmarkboynton.com
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook. com
Tots & Teens
By Brian Biggane
St. Andrews Club in Delray Beach will host the South Florida PGA Links Tour on Aug. 18 in an event for junior golfers ages 6 to 18.
The nine-hole event is designed for children who have never had a tournament experience. The field will consist of 48 players and be broken down into four divisions. Prizes will be awarded to first- and secondplace finishers.
“This is for kids who are just getting into golf,” said Haley Dunn, SFPGA director of junior golf. “The atmosphere is based more on having fun and enjoying the game rather than try to shoot the lowest score.
“The kids are competitive, but the goal with this is that
the kids are having a great time and enjoying playing golf, so they continue to do it down the line.”
Dunn said St. Andrews reached out to the SFPGA with the goal of promoting junior golf in the area. “This year their schedule permitted them to help us out with an event and it happened to be this one.”
Play will be from the first tee of the par-3 course for all players, with an 8 a.m. start. Free parking will be provided for family members of participants.
Spots were still available as of mid-July. Players must become South Florida PGA members to participate. P Visit sflpgajr.bluegolf.com/ bluegolf/sflpgajr24/event/ sflpgajr2480/index.htm
Tots & Teens Calendar
Note: Events are current as of 7/24. Please check with organizers for any changes.
AUGUST 3
Saturday - 8/3 - Splash Back to School Party at John H. Denson Pool, 225 NW 12th Ave, Boynton Beach. 12:30-4:30 pm. Free w/ pool admission. 561-742-6645; boynton-beach. org/290/Pool
8/3 - Sandoway Discovery Center at 142 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. All ages. Shark & stingray feedings 1 pm; aquarium feedings 2 pm; animal encounters 3 pm. T-Sat. Free w/$10 admission. 561-274-7263; sandoway.org
AUGUST 4-10
Sunday - 8/4 - Young Scientists Series - Turtley Awesome August at Sandoway Discovery Center, 142 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. Outdoors, limited to 15 children. Age 3-9. Held again 8/25 1:30 pm. $10/nonmember. RSVP: 561-274-7263; sandoway.org
Tuesday - 8/6 - Teen Tuesday at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Age 13-17. Every T 5-7 pm. Free. 561-742-6393; boyntonlibrary.org
8/6-7 - Sensational Story ‘n More at Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center, 129 E Ocean Ave, Boynton Beach. Children’s books come to life through singing, movement, props. Age 2-5. Every T 10-10:45 am & W 3-3:45 pm through 8/14. Free w/paid admission. 561-742-6780; schoolhousemuseum.org
Wednesday - 8/7 - Bilingual Outdoor Storytime at Boynton Beach City Library under the banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. May be cancelled in inclement weather. Held again 8/21 & 9/4. 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Saturday - 8/10 - Discovery Series: Turtley Awesome August at Sandoway Discovery Center, 142 S Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach. Outdoors, limit 5 families per class. Held again 8/24. Ages 3-5. 10 am. Child: $12/non-member, $2/member; Adult: $10/non-member, free/ member. RSVP: 561-274-7263; sandoway.org
8/10 - Drop-In Family Storytime at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Up to age 5. Every Sat 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
8/10 - Play & Learn for Storytime at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Age 3-5. Every Sat 10:30-11 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
AUGUST 11-17
Wednesday - 8/14 - Outdoor Storytime at Boynton Beach City Library under the banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. May be cancelled in inclement weather. Held again 8/28 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Thursday - 8/15 - Make & Take at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Age 5-12. 4:30-5:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Saturday - 8/17 - Little Wonders at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. Hike, crafts, stories. Ages 3-4 w/adult. 10-10:45 am. $8/resident & member; $10/nonmember. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.
us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
8/17 - ART Tales Story Time at Boca Raton Museum of Art, 501 Plaza Real. Literacy/visual arts program; Boca Raton Library joins w/book readings. Special art project follows. Ages 4-8 w/guardian. 10:30-11:30 am. $15/member family; $25/non-member family. Registration: 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
8/17 - Nature Detectives at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, 1801 N Ocean Blvd, Boca Raton. New mystery each month. Ages 5-6 w/an adult. 11:30 am-12:15 pm. $8/resident & member; $10/non-member. Reservations: 561-544-8605; myboca.us/calendar.aspx?CID=47
8/17 - Bones to Books at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Children read to friends from Bonafide Therapy Dogs. All ages. 1-2 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
AUGUST 18-24
Monday - 8/19 - Science in Action at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Held on the front outdoor patio. Age 7-8. Every M through 9/23 4-4:45 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/19 - Family Fun Night at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. 5-6:30 pm. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Tuesday - 8/20 - Toddler Tales at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Literacy enrichment class: stories, music, movement. Age walking to 23 mos. Every T 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary. org
8/20 - Play & Learn for Toddlers at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Learn literacy skills during playtime. Age walking to 23 mos. Every T 10:30-11 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Wednesday - 8/21 - Reading & Rhythm for 2-3s at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Literacy enrichment class: stories, music, movement. Child must be accompanied by an adult. Every W 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/21 - Play & Learn for 2-3s at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Help your child learn literacy skills during playtime w/ literacy-based toys. Every W 10:30-11 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/21 - Ocean Exceptional Explorers at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Held on the front outdoor patio. Age 7-8. Every W through 9/25 4-4:45 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/21 - Explore The Art of Painting at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Age 9-12. Every W 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Thursday - 8/22 - Drop-In Family Storytime at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Up to age 5. Every Th 10-10:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org 8/22- Play & Learn for Storytime at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 3-5. Every Th 10:30-11 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/22 - My First Book Club at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 4-6. Child attend independently. Every Th through 9/26 4-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968;
bocalibrary.org
8/22 - Create-a-Comic! at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Ages 13-17. 6-7 pm. Free. 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Friday - 8/23 - Baby Bookworm at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Storytime for infants accompanied by an adult. Age 0 months to non-walking. Every F 11-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7852; bocalibrary.org
8/23 - Play & Learn for Babies at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Learn literacy skills during playtime. Age 0 months to nonwalking. Every F 11:30 am-noon. Free. 561-3937968; bocalibrary.org
AUGUST 25-31
Monday - 8/26 - Audition for Broadway Show Program: Frozen Jr. at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Ages 7-16. Required prior to 8/26 class enrollment. 4-7 pm 8/19; callbacks 4-7 pm 8/20. 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com 8/26 - Broadway Kids & Teens Show Program: Frozen Jr. at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Ages 7-16. Must have prior show experience or have taken musical theater kids class. Every M through 12/9 (no class 11/25-29). 4:30-7:30 pm. Auditions required (8/16). $985. 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
Tuesday - 8/27 - Booktastic Book Talk: Can You Survive Storm Chasing? by Elizabeth Raum at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Free copy of book upon registration. Child attends independently. Ages 7-8. 3:30-4 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
8/27 - Musical Theater Kids at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Ages 7-13. Every T through 12/10. 4:30-6 pm. $400. 561272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
Wednesday - 8/28 - Fun Camp All-Stars at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Ages 6-12. Every W through 12/11. 5-6:30 pm. $400. 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse. com
Thursday - 8/29 - Brick Builders: Lego Challenge! at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. 4:30-5:30 pm. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Saturday - 8/31 - Creation Station at Boca Raton Museum of Art Grand Hall, 501 Plaza Real. Limited seating. Noon-4 pm. Free w/ admission. 561-392-2500; bocamuseum.org
SEPTEMBER 1-6
Wednesday - 9/4 - Bilingual Outdoor Storytime at Boynton Beach City Library under the Banyan tree, 100 E Ocean Ave. Stories, rhymes, more. May be cancelled in inclement weather. Held again 9/18 & 10/2. 10-10:30 am. Free. 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org Friday - 9/6 - Bright Minds Storytime: An Autism Spectrum Disorder Storytime at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Age 2-5. Every F 9-9:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org 9/6 - Hurricane Chasers at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Age 6-8. 3:304:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7968; bocalibrary.org
Boca Chamber Festival Days. Benefits Speak Up for Kids and foster children in Palm Beach County. 5:30-7:30 pm. $35/advance; $40/at the door. 561-395-4433; bocaratonchamber.com
8/26 - Monday Movies - Feature Film: Good Time at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 5:30-8 pm. Registration: 561-3937906; bocalibrary.org
8/26 - Actor’s Workshop 101 at The Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th St. Musical theatre class for seniors. Age 18+. Every M through 12/9 (no class 11/25-29). 7-9 pm. $380. 561-272-1281; delraybeachplayhouse.com
Tuesday - 8/27 - Workshop: Gelli Plate Printmaking at Arts Warehouse, 313 NE 3rd St, Delray Beach. 10:30 am-2:30 pm. $90. 561330-9614; artswarehouse.org
8/27 - Your Guide to the 2024 Presidential Election w/ Robert Watson at Florida Atlantic University Friedberg Auditorium, 777 Glades Rd, Boca Raton. 12:30-2 pm. $60/annual membership; $35/member; $40/non-member & one-time guest pass at door. 561-297-3185; olliboca.fau.edu
8/27 – Socrates Café at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Philosophical discussions. Every T 1:30-3 pm. Free. 561-3937852; bocalibrary.org
8/27 - Protect Yourself Against Scammers, Spammers & Hackers at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Adults. 3-4:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-742-6390; boyntonlibrary.org
Wednesday -8/28 - Trivia Night at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 6-7:30 pm. Free. 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
8/28 - AACY Game Night at Biergarten Boca, 309 Via e Palmas, Suite 90, Boca Raton. Part of Boca Chamber Festival Days. 6:30-9:30 pm. $40. 561-395-4433; bocaratonchamber.com
Thursday -8/29 - Image Compositing w/ Adobe Photoshop Class at Delray Beach Public Library, 100 W Atlantic Ave. 10-11:30 am. Free. Registration: 561-266-0194; delraylibrary. org
8/29 - Sewing: Intermediate Project at Boynton Beach City Library, 100 E Ocean Ave. Learn basics of hand sewing & machine sewing. Adults. 5-7 pm. Free. Registration: 561-7426390; boyntonlibrary.org
8/29 - Centenarian Wisdom: Mildred’s Mindset with Mildred and Gayle Kirschenbaum at Boca Raton Public Library,
400 NW 2nd Ave. Part of the Thursday Night Speaker Series. Adults. 6-7:30 pm. Free. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
8/30 - Party in Paradise: Delray’s Tribute to Jimmy Buffett at Old School Square Amphitheater, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 5-9 pm. $60/VIP; $20/general admission; $5/ kids 12 & under; free/kids 1 & under. 561-2431077; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events
8/30 - 2nd Annual Black Business Pop-Up Shop at Boynton Beach Arts & Cultural Center, 125 E Ocean Ave. Celebrating Black Business Month. 5:30-8 pm. Free. 561-742-6221; boynton-beach.org
8/30 - A Night of Entertainment
Celebrating Bob Marley at Carolyn Sims Center, 225 NW 12th Ave, Boynton Beach. Age 18+. 7-9 pm. $15. Advance registration by 8/9. 561-742-6640; boynton-beach.org
8/30 - Divas On Stage at Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave. Ages 18+. 8 pm. Call for tickets: 561-586-6410; lakeworthplayhouse. org
8/30-31 - Queen of Comedy - Sommore at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Two shows: 7 & 9:30 pm. Tickets start at $35. 561-203-3742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com
Saturday - 8/31 - CPR/AED/1st Aid
Certification Class at Sims Center, 225 NW 12th Ave, Boynton Beach. Age 18+. 1-5 pm. $60/resident; $75/non-resident. Registration: 561-742-6640; boynton-beach.org
8/31 - Fort Lauderdale Youth Ballet: Sleeping Beauty at The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum, 7901 N Federal Hwy, Boca Raton. 2 pm. $25-$45. Reservations: 561-9952333; thewick.org
8/31 - The Dirty Doors - A Tribute to The Doors at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $40-$45. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
SEPTEMBER 1-7
Sunday - 9/1 - Summer Smash - Boca Raton Championship Wrestling at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. 5 pm. $35-$125. 561-203-3742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com
9/1-30 - 9th Annual Downtown Delray
Beach Restaurant Month at multiple locations. Multi-course prix-fixe lunches/ dinners; happy hour & brunch specials; culinary experiences from restaurants, cafes, fastcasual eateries. Check website for restaurants/ eateries, dates, costs: downtowndelraybeach. com
Tuesday - 9/3 - Book Talks - Modern Literature: The Other Mother - A Novel by Rachel M. Harper at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. 2-3 pm. Registration: 561-393-7906; bocalibrary.org
9/3 - Beginning Portuguese - An Introductory Course at Boca Raton Public Library, 400 NW 2nd Ave. Adults. Every T through 12/17. 6-7:30 pm. Registration: 561393-7906; bocalibrary.org
9/3 - Comedy Night at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8-10 pm. $5-$10. 561-4506357; artsgarage.org
Thursday - 9/5 - Jazz and Java: Fundamental & Roots of Jazz at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. Adults. Every Th through 9/26 10-11:30 am. $100. Registration: 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
Friday - 9/6 - First Friday @ 5 Concert: The Brenda Johnson Band at Centennial Park & Amphitheater, 120 E Ocean Ave. Featuring food trucks, artesian market, children’s activities and music. 5-9 pm. Free. 561-742-6024; boyntonbeach.org
9/6 - Exhibition Opening: Nature’s Palette: Art Inspired by the Earth at Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 6-9 pm. 561-654-2220; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events
9/6 - First Friday Art Walk at Cornell Art Museum, 51 N Swinton Ave, Delray Beach. 6-9 pm. Free. 561-654-2220; delrayoldschoolsquare.com/events
9/6 – The Art of Laughter with Headliner Jimmy Shubert featuring Ricky Cruz at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $45. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
Saturday 9/7 - Ruben Studdard: The Masterpiece Tour at The Studio at Mizner Park, 201 Plaza Real, Boca Raton. Two shows: 6:30 & 8:30 pm. Tickets start at $40. 561-2033742; thestudioatmiznerpark.com
9/7 - Dialogues with Dion Kerr - A Debut Album at Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave, Delray Beach. 8 pm. $35-$40. 561-450-6357; artsgarage.org
The next edition of The Coastal Star will be delivered the weekend of Sept. 7
