All Blog Posts (2,824)

Members of the Greater Federated Women’s Club, Boca Raton Chapter,

celebrated the installation of new officers and a unique designer fashion showing

at Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Joining in the…

Julia Vassalluzzo served as hostess for an event featuring shopping, hors d’oeuvres,

wine, entertainment and door prizes, all for the benefit of the organization’s

Southeast Florida…

By Thom Smith

    

Don’t think for a moment that Mary Jane Saunders’ resignation as president at Florida Atlantic University will allow the campus to resume its persona as a tranquil haven for higher education.

    Granted, her departure was inevitable, a fall necessitated not only by…

By Tim O’Meilia



    Gulf Stream town officials are girding themselves for a long battle with unhappy resident Martin O’Boyle by dipping into town reserves for an extra $100,000.

    Eight O’Boyle-related suits have been filed against the town since April 15, including a federal suit in late May over his paintings of town officials as cartoon characters, monsters and KKK-like members on the sides of his house.

 Although they didn’t announce it publicly,…

Members of the mass choir swirl their flags during the performance. Photo by David R. Randell

By Ron Hayes

    

Devin Dykstra is an apple. His brother, Blake, is a…

The spring luncheon that raised $15,000 for Quantum House honored its 2013 nominees:

Grand Matriarch Sydelle Meyer, along with Melissa Potamkin Ganzi, Rosemary Krieger and Ruth Young.…

By Tim O’Meilia



    The Palm Beach County Inspector General has begun an audit of the financial operation of the town of Briny Breezes.

    A representative of the Inspector General’s audit division has met several times with the town staff in April and May. Documents and a recording of one of the meetings were subpoenaed in early May.

    The chief of the Inspector General’s audit division, Dennis Schindel, declined to reveal why the audit is being…

By Tim Pallesen

    

Coastal residents fear the Sandbar tiki bar might test the limits of Delray Beach’s new noise ordinance.

    Ocean Properties, the owner of the tiki bar adjacent to Boston’s on the Beach, is asking the city for a conditional use permit to allow an outdoor DJ.

    Neighbors say the Sandbar already has become a biker bar with motorcycle noise as disruptive as the music. They fear an outdoor DJ will make matters worse.

    “DJs know how…

Workers from Traffic Control Devices and The Florida Department of Transportation work on the wiring that controls the stop lights at the intersection of Woolbright Road and A1A on May 28.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal…

The National Society of Arts and Letters’ Florida East Coast Chapter presented Daniel Biaggi,

general director of the Palm Beach Opera, with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership and Artistic Excellence.…

By Tim O’Meilia

    

Ocean Ridge police will see a handsome difference in their paychecks under a new two-year contract approved by the Town Commission May 6.  

    The nine officers and four sergeants will receive an immediate 3 percent pay increase, a 3 percent cost-of-living increase in the new budget year beginning Oct. 1 and a 5 percent merit increase on their next anniversary date after that if they attain a satisfactory or better evaluation.

    “I…

By Tim O’Meilia



The newest plan for saving South Palm Beach’s fast-eroding shoreline is a series of seven buried groins dotting the beach from the Tuscany condominium to the Ritz-Carlton resort.

At least, that’s what the computers say.

“There’s enough sand down drift from Palm Beach to feed the beaches north of the Tuscany,” Leanne Welch, Palm Beach County’s environmental program supervisor, told the town council May 28.

The groins would be coupled…

By Tim O’Meilia

    

The Manalapan Town Commission will try to settle a lawsuit over $158,000 in building permit fees for an oceanfront mansion that was never built.

    Commissioners indicated they would likely return the bulk of the fees paid by the owners of 1020 S. Ocean Blvd, listed as Cielo Madera Land Trust, after Town Manager Linda Stumpf calculates the town’s building and legal expenses on the project.

    The trust is seeking a $120,000 refund…

Artist Mark Sparacio shows off a work in progress to Gulf Stream School students, who also check out a cover illustration from a Captain America comic book. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack

  …

By Tim Pallesen

    

Mike Novatka, the cabana guy on Delray Beach’s city beach, has become the first victim of a City Commission initiative to undo contracts renewed without competitive bids.

    “All I care about is providing excellent service to our customers,” Novatka said. “I try to leave the political stuff to the politicians.”

    A former city manager renewed Novatka’s contract for another three years last year. Novatka pays the city $170,000 annually…

By Emily J. Minor



    SOUTH PALM BEACH — Henry Sullivan “Harry” Cahill, a corporate accountant who retired young and moved to Florida so he could golf every day, died May 4 at home with his wife of 67 years. Mr. Cahill was 98.

“He was a good man,” said Eleanor Cahill, who married Mr.…

By Ron Hayes

    DELRAY BEACH — Edwina Rhodes Charyk, a resident of The Landings since 1985, died peacefully on May 6. She was 87.

    “We had 67 wonderful years together,” said her husband, Joseph V. Charyk, who served as the first director of the National Reconnaissance Office under President Kennedy. “That’s a long time, but also a wonderful collection of years.”

    During her husband’s time in Washington and beyond, Mrs. Charyk was admired for her…

By Ron Hayes



    MANALAPAN — Margaret Cole Kotsko, who loved art, books and fashion, died peacefully at her home in the Little Pond complex on May 19, surrounded by her husband of 56 years, Francis R. Kotsko, and other family members.

    Mrs. Kotsko was 81, and had lived…

Retired Ocean Ridge Town Manager Bill Mathis, who was called back twice to be the town’s top administrator, died May 11 in Belle Glade. He was 79.

Mr. Mathis, whose given name was Delano William Mathis, was a police officer, police chief and town manager in Belle Glade for more than…

John Kujawa lived and worked a variety of jobs around the world before returning to Delray Beach to settle, raise a family and start his LED lighting company, Lumitec. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Lumitec’s offices are both…