August 2012 Blog Posts (111)

By Tim Pallesen

    

Citizens Insurance is notifying owners of homes valued over $1 million that their insurance coverage will be cancelled.

    Coastal communities are hardest hit, according to data released by the state insurer.

    Cancellation notices mailed as the hurricane season began leave south county coastal residents scrambling to find alternative insurance at higher costs.

    The mayors of two of the south county’s most affluent towns, Gulf…

Ryan Butts, the turtle rehabilitation coordinator at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, works with volunteers Sue Comoglio (from left),  Lloyd Wiener and and Connie Thomas-Mazur on Cindy, who was injured and lost her left flipper in a shark attack. Photos by Jerry…

By Tim Pallesen

The thrill in having a public golf course on the ocean isn’t measured by just dollars and cents. But the deficit to operate the Red Reef Golf Course in Boca Raton has been increasing in recent years. 

So much so, in fact, that the city of Boca Raton’s early estimate that the Boca Raton Beach and Park District might have to pay a $297,200 deficit this year sparked concern that the nine-hole oceanfront golf course might…

Boca Raton Police have charged a city parks employee with voyeurism after learning that he had video recorded a woman and her 10-year-old daughter as they changed clothing in the bathroom at Red Reef Park.

A day after his Aug. 21 arrest, Boca Raton fired 27-year-old Douglas Hughes. Hughes had worked since March 9, 2009, in the city’s parks department, first as a part-time employee, and then as a full-time groundskeeper since November 2011. He was not assigned to Red Reef Park,…

Town Manager Kathleen Weiser

By Steve Plunkett

The Highland Beach librarian says the town manager is “non-communicative” and has spurned invitations to meet…

Buildings named for the Count & Countess de Hoernle

Boca Raton Children’s Museum 

Rickards House upper floor

Acts Retirement Life Community

Hurricane shelter

American Red Cross

Service center

ARC of PBC

Lobby

Boca Ballet Theatre Company

Center of dance

Boca Raton Community…

Countess birthday events

Through Sept. 7: Community birthday card initiative. In preparation for the gala event, the community is invited and encouraged to sign birthday card panels that will be on display at locations throughout the city.  The panels will be assembled as one card for its debut at the gala event celebration on Sept. 24. 

Sept. 22: VIP Reception (by invitation only). Gala benefactors are invited to a VIP reception…

The Mark Gerretson Memorial Fishing Tournament, held Aug. 10-11, drew 40 registered boats. Total payout was $8,100. ABOVE: The largest overall fish, a 58-pound wahoo, was caught by the crew of Snowcones Revenge; it  paid $3,000. Pictured: Ryan Grotto, T.J.…

By Tim Pallesen

Boca Raton has begun talks with fire and police unions about the possibility of reducing the rising cost of pension benefits. “This will be one of our top priorities for the next fiscal year,” City Manager Leif Ahnell told council members at an Aug. 27 budget workshop.

“We have begun to have conversations.” Discussions about the proposed Lake Wyman restoration also have resumed as the council this month finalizes its operating budget and…

Former Mayor Ken Kaleel

By Margie Plunkett

Former Mayor Ken Kaleel’s study of Ocean Ridge’s possible switch to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for police services was cut short…

By Steve Plunkett

Renovations to Town Hall will wait at least a year following Police Chief Craig Hartmann’s decision to pull the $825,000 project from the proposed 2013 budget.

By then, however, voters may not have the power to approve or deny the expense.

“Though this [renovation] is still an important priority for us, it is more important for the fiscal health of the town to address the ongoing deficit to the town operating budget,”…

By Steve Plunkett

Advertising consultant Steven Engel…

By Tim O’Meilia

A 45-day-old effort to step up patrols by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in the two county parks in Ocean Ridge has been a success so far, Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi said last week.

The Sheriff’s Office added up to 400 patrols each in Ocean Inlet and Ocean Ridge Hammock parks in Ocean Ridge and Gulfstream Park in Gulf Stream since Yannuzzi formally requested more attention on the areas in late June.  

Crime has risen…

Top-ranked volleyball pro Steve Grotowski, returning from competing in the London Summer Olympics, was on hand for demonstrations and clinics to support the Beach, Barbeque & Books fundraiser held Aug. 18 at the Delray Beach Club.

Pictured: Jan Kucera, Tandy…

Unity School second-grader Gemma Ward of Ocean Ridge poses with Director of Educational Technology Dana Fritzinger. On the screen is a page from Gemma’s Scratch project that won the attention of the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the developers of the Scratch program. The…

By Tim O’Meilia

Former South Palm Beach Mayor Martin Millar’s claim that he was threatened by Police Chief Roger Crane was dismissed as unfounded by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Millar claimed that Crane approached him aggressively during a conversation at the Plaza del Mar in Manalapan July 11 and that he feared for his life. 

“Statements from independent witnesses do not support this contention … As such, this case is unfounded,”…

Paw-ty Time, a Boca Festival Days event, raised money and awareness for the Tri-County Humane Society on Aug. 12 at The Shoppes at Village Pointe in Boca Raton. Attendees checked out animals for adoption, showed off…

On July 16, the Florence Fuller Child Development Center’s Thrift Shop received a special makeover by Neiman Marcus’ Boca Raton employees and a host of dedicated volunteers. Pictured:  Neiman Marcus volunteers Jarrod Gac and Marissa Vinograd. Photo…

By Margie Plunkett

Waste Management retained its contract with Delray Beach in a 3-2 commission vote that allows renewal for the trash disposal company, rather than putting the contract out to bid.

Commissioners made their choice at an August meeting in which they also decided not to allow further public comment beyond that already collected at meetings, online and via email over the last few months.

Out-voted commissioners wanted the garbage…

A surfer spins back to the ocean after riding a wave churned up by Tropical Storm Isaac near Briny Breezes.  Aside from a few power outages and downed tree limbs, most of coastal Palm Beach County was spared damage by this storm.  Jerry Lower / The Coastal…