July 2012 Blog Posts (50)

Store Location: Publix at Sunshine Square

501 SE 18^th Ave.

Boynton Beach, Florida 33435

(561) 292-4080

Date of Opening: Thursday, August 2, 2012

 Time of Opening: 7 a.m.…

By Angie Francalancia

Another budget year approaches in Boynton Beach, and another round of discussions has begun on closing Fire Station #1 that handles calls in Ocean Ridge.

During the second day of Boynton Beach’s budget workshops, Commissioner Steven Holzman said the city could almost balance its fire department budget by closing Station #1 and laying off six of the firefighters that now staff it and moving the other three to Station #4 on Federal Highway…

By Tim Pallesen



The Caron Foundation wants coastal Delray Beach residents to testify how they blocked Caron’s attempt to house recovering addicts and alcoholics near the ocean.

Caron attorney Jim Green told a federal judge in April that trial testimony will reveal a “a hostile and organized community reaction to our attempt to locate in an affluent area near the ocean.”

    Court papers show Caron has listed 72 potential witnesses in its federal…

Named for its smooth, rubbery skin.

Status: Critically endangered

Size: The largest and deepest-diving of the sea turtles, ranging 4 to 8 feet long and weighing 700 to 1,500 pounds.

Range: Lives in the open water of the temperate and tropical Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Nests in tropical and subtropical regions, including beaches from Melbourne to Fort Lauderdale, from March to July.

Food:…

By Steve Plunkett



Town police, who monitor a 20 mph speed limit throughout Gulf Stream, will install six stop signs and establish a school zone on Gulfstream Road to slow motorists even more.

Delivery trucks and construction vehicles combine with the town’s lack of sidewalks to create a dangerous situation for pedestrians, Police Chief Garrett Ward said.

The stop signs, both northbound and southbound, will go up on Gulfstream Road and Polo Drive at Middle…

By Margie Plunkett

    

A tsunami of visitors has boosted attendance at Delray Beach’s beach to record highs.

    The surging number of beach-goers grew by more than 200,000 last year alone, a “phenomenal” performance that brought the total to 1.7 million in 2011, according to Ocean Rescue Superintendent James Scala. Three quarters into fiscal year 2012, attendance has reached 1.4 million.

A count is done twice per day at lifeguard stands along the city…

By Steve Plunkett

    

Proposals to have sheriff’s deputies patrol Manalapan and Ocean Ridge crept ahead in June while a similar offer in Boynton Beach screeched to a halt.

    Boynton Beach commissioners directed city staff June 19 to not move forward with a plan by the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office to provide police services. The proposal would have meant a $5 million savings in each of the first two years while cutting almost a third of the city’s 165 police…

Mary Kate Leming, Editor

“Sweeping action may be gratifying and may create the aura of strong leadership, but its unintended consequences may lead to costs that are too high to bear.”

— Teresa Sullivan, reinstated University of…

By Steve Plunkett

A $750,000 proposal to revamp Town Hall would allow people to get from the main lobby to commission chambers without going outside and consolidate the Police Department at the rear of the building.

Architect Mark Marsh of Palm Beach-based Bridges, Marsh and Associates gave commissioners a tour of the plan at their June 26 workshop. The renovations would cover part of the north wing, the central area and the south wing, which…

By Tim O’Meilia

Until now, beach protection was an exercise in putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Everyone had a piece but maybe that piece didn’t fit with their neighbor’s.

South Palm Beach condo owners fretted over how to get groins and breakwaters to save their rapidly eroding beach. Lantana wanted to protect its newly built seawall. Northern Ocean Ridge residents worried over getting enough sand around the Boynton Inlet to protect its shoreline. Manalapan…

Businesses at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd. can stay at least until June 2014.

Town commissioners decided to grant building owners Orlando and Liliane Sivitilli one extra year before they must move their tenants and convert the building to townhomes. The Sivitillis had asked for a three-year extension. “We should not be continuously extending this agreement,” Commissioner Zoanne Hennigan said.

Commissioners also sent the issue of whether the town should abandon its 1969 ban on commercial…

By Steve Plunkett

Roads in Point Manalapan will get their first new coat of asphalt since the 1960s.

Delray Beach-based Hardrives Inc. submitted the winning bid of $293,140 to resurface all the roads on the Point. Four other companies bid $325,000 to $370,000 for the work. 

The state maintains the condition of South Ocean Boulevard. Mayor Basil Diamond said the Point’s roads had not been refurbished since their original installation. The…

Dr. Thomas Balkany is a cochlear implant surgeon and researcher. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

 By Paula Detwiller

Dr. Thomas Balkany of…

Noah Yablong, 23, is Paralympics bound. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Emily J. Minor

When he was a kid…

Kate, the leatherback sea turtle who has a problem nesting,

heads back into the Atlantic Ocean after a failed attempt to

lay eggs along the beach in Ocean Ridge. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star…

By Margie Plunkett

Motorists will have hundreds of new parking options each evening and on weekends in Delray Beach.

Mayor Woodie McDuffie got the word that the city can open the County Courthouse parking garage for use after hours seven days a week as city lawmakers and staff continue puzzling through creation of a viable parking plan and how to pay for it.

The additional garage spaces, part of a 500-space parking complex near the library,…

Bill Koch and his wife, Mary Lou, with polo stars

Del Carroll, Buddy Combs, Russell Firestone and William Mayer.

 By Ron Hayes

If the people of Gulf Stream…

Pamela Goodman

By Tim Pallesen

Pamela Goodman fought hard for redistricting as a League of Women Voters leader.

So the Gulf Stream resident says it makes sense for her to become a…

By Tim O’Meilia

Rex Taylor’s seventh anniversary as South Palm Beach town manager is this month and to mark the occasion his employers will review his performance for the first time. 

But not before he does it first. Then next year, the council will come up with a permanent evaluation form and process. 

“The charter requires an evaluation,” said Councilwoman Stella Jordan, who first brought up the topic in May. “I’m more interested in getting…