Town-Crier Newspaper February 3, 2012

Page 1

SR 7 EXTENSION GETS KEY APPROVAL SEE STORY, PAGE 3

WRMC TOPS OFF NEW HOSPITAL BUILDING SEE STORY, PAGE 5

THE

TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE Volume 33, Number 5 February 3 - February 9, 2012

Your Community Newspaper

INSIDE

RPB RELAY FOR LIFE KICKOFF

Volunteer Leader Seeks Survivors To Join Acreage Relay For Life

Celebrating life one step at a time, two-time cancer survivor Diane O’Connor is looking for others to join her in a survivors’ lap at the Acreage/Loxahatchee Relay for Life on Friday, March 30 at Acreage Community Park. Page 3

The 2012 Royal Palm Beach Relay for Life hosted a movie-themed team party Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Madison Green Golf Club’s MarBar Grille. The event was an opportunity to bring together the current teams and add some new teams to the roster. The 2012 Royal Palm Beach Relay for Life will be held Friday and Saturday, April 14-15 at Royal Palm Beach High School. Shown above are the relay committee members. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY LAUREN MIRÓ/TOWN-CRIER

MarBar Debuts Giant ‘Loxahatchee Burger’

The MarBar Grille at the Madison Green Golf Club in Royal Palm Beach has added a new item to its menu with local color and flavor — the Loxahatchee Burger. And the restaurant, which is open to the public, challenges anyone to eat just one in order to have his or her name added to the MarBar Hall of Fame. Page 7

‘Jump For The Vote’

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County hosted “Jump for the Vote” on Saturday, Jan. 28 at Skydive Palm Beach in Wellington. League members jumped from an airplane in order to spread the word about voting. Page 20

OPINION Be Part Of Wellington’s Equestrian Lifestyle

The equestrian season is now in full swing. This year’s Winter Equestrian Festival is the biggest ever, and the high-goal polo season at the International Polo Club is bringing in the crowds. If you’re not a regular, be sure to stop by and learn about all this crucial industry does for Wellington, both equestrians and nonequestrians. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 3 - 13 OPINION .................................4 CRIME NEWS ......................... 6 NEWS BRIEFS........................ 8 POLO/EQUESTRIAN ............ 15 SCHOOLS ............................ 16 PEOPLE ................................ 17 COLUMNS .................... 25 - 27 BUSINESS .................... 29 - 31 ENTERTAINMENT ................ 32 SPORTS ........................ 37 - 39 CALENDAR ................... 40 - 41 CLASSIFIEDS ................ 42 - 46 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

Charter School Seeks RPB OK To Open At Old Albertsons Site By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Charter Schools USA has applied for approval to locate a school in the shuttered Albertsons grocery store building at the intersection of Southern and Crestwood boulevards in Royal Palm Beach. The application, for Renaissance Charter School, is on the Royal Palm Beach Planning & Zoning Commission agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 7. Charter Schools USA is an education management organization with 31 campuses in three states, with more planned. Many of the schools carry the Renaissance name. The organization is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, according to Vice President of Operations Richard Page. “Most of our schools are in Florida, throughout the state, although we have not operated in Palm Beach County until this year,” he said. “Our corporate board decided that the time is right to operate in Palm Beach, so we submitted applications this past August to open a school this coming fall.”

The charter will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade, Page said. “We have a network of very high-performing, quality schools throughout Florida, Georgia and Louisiana,” he said. “It’s a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum that provides a high-quality choice to parents in communities where we operate charter schools. It’s still a public school of choice, and our curriculum is standardsbased, but focused on college preparatory and individualized learning.” Class sizes vary depending on the subject matter, but fall within state guidelines, he said. “We focus on individualized education, so we put kids in smaller groupings depending on where they are and based on where our evaluation is showing how they are performing against the standards,” Page explained. “It’s not uncommon to have kids in smaller groupings in some courses, and some courses they are all together. It varies throughout the day.” The old grocery store, which has been closed for nearly two years, is a base that Renaissance

will build from to design a complete school, Page said, noting that they opened a school in Coral Springs last year in a former Target store. “It’s really great to see what we did there,” he said. “It won’t be dissimilar to what we’re planning on at the Albertsons, but we will create a whole recreational area off to the side on the site plan.” The size of the parcel will allow for easy drop-off and pick-up of students. “We will bring in traffic stacking so there will be three lanes of paving that goes all the way around so that when cars come in, they can circulate across the site and then drop off as well as pick up,” Page said. The interior will be modified to accommodate 1,145 students at full enrollment, he noted. Page explained that no tuition is charged at charter schools. “There are over 500 charter schools in Florida already,” he said. “Charter schools are public schools. There is no tuition, there’s no stipend; it’s just like a public school. The parent can just See CHARTER, page 18

Jazz Festival At Polo Club In Wellington Feb. 10-11 By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Saddle Up for Jazzfest Wellington will ride into the International Polo Club Palm Beach on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10 and 11. The event will feature some of the smoothest, coolest jazz to hit South Florida. Show organizer Jeff Wolfe said that Saddle Up for Jazzfest Wellington is built on the success of a similar festival he worked with in Panama City Beach for 12 years, and about 10 years in Destin prior to that. About 30 artists came to those shows every year. “I handled the sponsors and media and logistics for the show,” Wolfe said. Friday night will feature leading women in jazz, including Cindy Bradley, Nicole Henry and Mindi Abair. Saturday will include Richard Elliot, Nick Colionne, Sammy Figueroa, Jeff Golub, David Pack, Robert Harris, Urban Gypsy and Mindi & Friends. There will also be arts and crafts, gourmet food and a free morning show featuring the Palm Beach Central High School jazz band. Maureen Gross, director of development for the Palms West Community Foundation, is working with Wolfe on vendor booths and ticket sales. “There’s going to be food vendors and business

vendors and artists on the sides of the polo field, the people will be in the middle, and jazz will be up on the stage,” Gross said. “It should be a really fun event.” A portion of the proceeds will go to the foundation, she said. The chamber will also run the refreshment booth, which will serve beer and wine in addition to non-alcoholic drinks. The Saddle Up for Jazzfest Wellington acts are in coordination with the Smooth Jazz Cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. “It enabled a higher caliber of performers than if it was just a first-year event,” Gross explained. “The jazz cruise has been established for years.” Dr. Michael Fagien, owner of Jazziz magazine based in Boca Raton, is another integral supporter of the festival, Wolfe said. On Friday starting at 5 p.m., saxophonist Mindy See JAZZFEST, page 18

Serving Palms West Since 1980

Equestrian Village Clears First Hurdle By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report After two days of debate and deliberation, the Wellington Village Council approved the first of several measures Wednesday that will set the stage for the proposed Equestrian Village project on the site of the old Palm Beach Polo stadium. The council voted 4-1, with Vice Mayor Matt Willhite dissenting, to approve a master plan amendment that would make official two existing access points connecting the 96-acre property to Pierson Road, as well as conditionally approve a third point of access to the site, while also designating it a commercial equestrian site. Currently, the only approved access to the entire site comes from the main entryway on South Shore Blvd., noted Planning & Zoning Manager David Flinchum. However, several other access points exist and have long been used. As the Town-Crier went to press, council members were slated to return Thursday morning to deliberate two more measures, including a compatible use determination that would allow for a commercial equestrian arena. Most controversial is the third item, a comprehensive plan change that would allow a five-story hotel on the property. Though

that item was to be discussed this week, it will have to come back before the council for a second reading later this year, followed by a zoning change. Equestrian Village is the current name given to the property on the northeast corner of South Shore Blvd. and Pierson Road. Many consider the site the gateway to Wellington’s equestrian community. The property is owned by Wellington Equestrian Partners and will be the sister site to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. It is slated to house a covered arena and world-class equestrian venue that will host high-level dressage competition. Accompanying plans to build a hotel and commercial retail space on part of the site have drawn opposition. People on both sides of the issue packed the Wellington municipal complex Tuesday night, waiting to weigh in as lawyers, consultants and experts testified in support of and against the project. Shortly after 11 p.m., the council adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. It wasn’t until 11 a.m. when council members cast their votes on the first of the three related items. They spent the rest of the day discussing the compatible use See MASTER PLAN, page 18

WCS HOMECOMING

Wellington Christian School kicked off its homecoming celebration Thursday, Jan. 26 with a parade and performance. Students spent months creating floats with a board game theme to showcase to the judges and school. Shown above are ninth-graders with their Monopoly float, which won Most Artistic. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY JESSICA GREGOIRE/TOWN-CRIER

Reps. Rooney, West Eye Different Seats By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Faced with new district boundary lines making their way through the legislature in Tallahassee, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-District 16) and U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-District 22) announced this week that they will be seeking reelection this year in different districts. The announcements came only days after the House Redistricting Committee approved several redistricting maps that will likely dramatically shift the area’s congressional boundary lines. Rooney announced Tuesday that if proposed districts remain unchanged, he will run for a seat in the proposed District 17, covering parts of central and western Florida.

“Barring significant changes by the courts through legal challenges, I will run for re-election in the new Congressional District 17,” he said. As proposed, District 17 will stretch from Okeechobee County to Charlotte County, essentially the western half of Rooney’s current constituency. Rooney’s current district includes the western rural areas, as well as large swaths of the Treasure Coast and portions of northern Palm Beach County, reaching down as far south as Wellington. On the heels of Rooney’s announcement, West announced that he would seek election to the seat originally expected to be Rooney’s new seat, in the proposed District 18, which covers all of See DISTRICTS, page 18

Bland Eng Leaves P.W. Hospital For Job In Brandon By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Palms West Hospital said goodbye to CEO Bland Eng last week. After four years at the helm, Eng has been transferred to Brandon Regional Hospital near Tampa. A going-away party was held Thursday, Jan. 26 at Palms West Hospital. “I have very mixed emotions as I leave my many friends and reminisce about the success at Palms West Hospital and the Children’s Hospital at Palms West over the past four and a half years,” Eng told the Town-Crier on Tuesday. “The patients in the Palms West area are very fortunate to have a hospital with such dedicated em-

ployees and a high-quality medical staff.” Eng began his new job this week, succeeding Mike Fencel as CEO of the 349-bed Brandon facility. “I’m looking forward to the challenges at Brandon Regional Hospital, but Palms West Hospital and my many friends will always continue to have a special place in my heart,” he said. Eng is credited with expanding and growing Palms West Hospital for the past five years. Both hospitals are part of Hospital Corporation of America. Based in Nashville, Tenn., HCA owns and operates about 164 hospitals and about 106 freestanding

surgery centers in 20 states and in London. Fencel left his job in December, taking a position with Health Management Associates, as CEO of its North Florida Division, which includes 11 affiliated hospitals in North Florida. Eng has been with HCA in Florida for 17 years. Prior to Palms West Hospital, he held positions as chief executive officer of Lake City Medical Center and chief operating officer of Central Florida Regional Hospital and Putnam Community Hospital. Eng holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and English from the University of Maryland, and See ENG, page 7

Farewell To Eng — Palms West Hospital Board Member Dr. Carmine Priore, with departing CEO Bland Eng and Chief Nursing Officer Silvia Stradi during a farewell party for Eng. PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.