The Palm Beach Zoo held Winter in July Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15. Sponsored by FPL with 40 tons of snow provided by Royal Palm Ice, the event featured jugglers, storytelling, animals, arts and crafts, games, live music and special guest appearances by the Snow Queen.
Pictured here, five-year-old Kassandra Blanco grabs a handful of Florida snow.
MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 23A
PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/ TOWN-CRIER
By Paul Gaba and Aaron Taslitz Town-Crier Staff Report
With more than 2,500 kilowatts of newly installed generator power, Palms West Hospital is primed and ready to take on any hurricane that threatens the western communities.
“Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne caused many problems here because our power plant was not up and running,” Palms West Hospital Chief Operating Officer Patrick Connor said.
“Since we got our power plant up and running, people here will tell you it’s like night and day.”
When hospital administrators analyzed the fallout from problems caused by 2004’s back-toback hurricanes, they decided a power supply on the premises would be crucial to providing service to the community. Parent company Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) aimed to make sure the situation did not arise again.
As a result, the hospital now
has two 900-kilowatt generators on the second floor of its power plant, plus a third 750-kilowatt generator on site.
“We have definitely improved our utilities power plant,” Connor said. “We have redundancy, and can run the entire facility on our generators now if we have to — every outlet, every piece of equipment.”
Hospital personnel are quick to point out they plan for hurricanes and other disasters yearround, and that hurricane season is just one aspect of the planning.
“We’re a critical part of the health and safety net of the community,” Connor said, adding some of the changes were made following Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on New Orleans.
“Our two 900s are on the second level, where they’re not as vulnerable to rising water,” Connor explained. “That was a lesson we learned from Katrina. In New Orleans, [hospitals] lost
the generators because they were on the ground floor.”
The improved power supply is one of several hurricanepreparation changes Palms West Hospital has made since the stormy 2004 season.
The hospital now has 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel in storage and has made arrangements with fuel companies for refueling. It has also installed a “quick connect” outdoor electrical panel, where a portable generator (if needed) can be hooked up to connect with the hospital’s electrical system. Connor said the hospital did not previously have such a hookup in place.
Palms West Hospital has also installed an emergency water connection, which can link a trailer-mounted water tanker into the hospital’s water system in the event water pressure is lost.
Connor said this allows the hospital to run its kitchen, provide water to floors, and deal
See HURRICANE, page 15A
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Wellington Village Council tentatively set the village’s millage rate for fiscal year 2008 at 2.57 mills Wednesday, lower than the village’s current rate but not as far a rollback as the State Legislature suggested.
At the rate set by the council, a homeowner would pay $257 in municipal property tax on every $100,000 of his or her property’s taxable value.
The State Legislature in special session last month produced a property tax reform package that mandates a rollback in municipal property tax rates to 2006-07 levels, with a further reduction among some municipalities ranging from three to nine percent.
Wellington’s reduction, plus the additional nine percent, would take the millage rate from 2.7, where it has remained for three years, to 2.33 mills. To set the “optional” rollback rate the council chose, which omits the nine-percent additional reduction, requires a supermajority vote of four of five council members, according to the legislative mandate. The council’s vote was unanimous.
Village Manager Charlie Lynn reminded council members that they were only setting the “truth in millage” or TRIM rate as a preliminary notice. It could then be lowered, but not raised before approving the 2007-08 budget in September.
The special meeting was the council’s seventh budget workshop so far this year. Mayor Tom Wenham told residents the council had originally planned the meeting for Aug. 2, but that the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser told the village it had to provide the information by July 23. “We have revised the schedule to meet their particular deadlines and to make sure the TRIM notices get out on time,” he said.
Lynn noted that village staff had been working hard since spring to find ways of reducing expenditures without cutting services to residents. The village had long been expecting an end to the years when it could rely on property taxes and impact fees to fund the business of village government, he said. “For many years, we have known this was going to be the year we would be at a crossroads. With or without tax reform from the state, we would have restructured our way of doing business,” Lynn said. “We have done that. We need to find out how to fund programs and activities that have been financially detached from our business model. We are embarking on a multi-year transition program.”
When the council reviewed its options on setting the assessment rate last week, many residents expressed fears that the village would make deep cuts to its recreation and leisure pro-
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
The Royal Palm Beach Village Council put some teeth in its attempt to keep safe public waterways under its jurisdiction Thursday night. The council unanimously voted to adopt an ordinance prohibiting swimmers from entering the water from public property, including parks, and prohibits swimming within 20 feet of public property. Although public safety was an overriding concern, the ordinance is primarily aimed at those young people who have been swimming unsupervised and at those youngsters who use the
boat docks in local parks as jumping ramps for their bicycles. The village has posted no-swimming signs along the shores of its waterways and ponds, but until Thursday night had no law to enforce the signs.
“This ordinance is not an attempt to try and limit those who are skiing in our waterways. I want to make that really clear,” Vice Mayor David Swift said. “All this is really trying to restrict are children from swimming in our canal system.”
Mayor David Lodwick also stressed that safety goes beyond simply swimming and riding bikes off docks. “The waterway
By Paul Gaba Town-Crier Staff Report
While they might not be seen as major players here in the western communities, gangs are having an impact on life in the region.
That was the message presented by representatives of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at a community forum hosted Wednesday by Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria at the original Wellington Mall.
“We have them here — in Wellington, in Royal Palm Beach, in The Acreage,” PBSO Lt. Mike Wallace said. “Fortunately, the western communities haven’t had any kinds of violence that the eastern communities have had.”
Gang awareness was the forum’s focus, and about 75 citizens spent two hours listening to information presented by Santamaria, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Wallace and Assistant State Attorney Michelle Santamaria.
“Ever since I came to the western communities, safety has been the most important topic as far as I’m concerned,”
Commissioner Santamaria said. “I was part of a group that started a neighborhood watch program in Royal Palm Beach several years ago. We have to be involved in protecting our respective communities; each and every one of us has a responsibility to be part of keeping our communities and streets safe.”
With growth comes more crime, Santamaria said. “You know what has been happening; every year it’s getting a little bit worse,” Santamaria said. “As our communities grow, crime’s on the increase. We’ve got to do something about it.”
One way to fight gang-related crime is through Operation Gangbusters, a local multi-agency initiative that started in January. Wallace said while most of Palm
Beach County’s 160 gangs and 7,000 estimated gang members are concentrated in Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth and Boynton Beach, other areas — such as the western communities — have gangs as well.
“Nationally, one percent of the population is a gang member,” Wallace, a Royal Palm Beach resident, said. “We have roughly 1.3 million living in Palm Beach County; one percent of that means the [7,000] number should double.”
Wallace added that locally based gangs are called “wannabes” because they aspire to be nationally recognized, like the Bloods, Crips and Gangster Disciples, which were originally based in California and have since expanded across the nation.
Lake Worth’s “Top 6” is a locally based gang that has spread its wings and achieved more national recognition. Wallace said gang members were involved in the Boynton Beach Mall shooting last Christmas Eve, the Lake Worth triplehomicide in March, and several other high-profile killings in the county. Top 6 has more than 500 members, mostly Haitian-American, now in places such as Orlando, northern Florida and even Atlanta.
Wallace said gangs go beyond interpersonal gang recruiting, using Internet sites such as the MySpace social networking interface and YouTube videos to glorify gangs. He said both sites offer the opportunity for gang members to flaunt money, guns and sex as perks of joining their organizations.
“There are predators on MySpace, not only sexual predators, but people looking to recruit for their gangs,” Wallace said. “They have no problem bragging about what they’re doing. They tell you who they are, they show their faces, they show the weapons they have, the money, the drugs.”
However, since Operation Gangbusters went into action, gang-related crime such as homicides has gone down more than 25 percent, Wallace said. Bradshaw said he started the $200,000per-month task force despite potential political fallout.
“It’s important to understand how we arrived at the problem. From November 2006 through mid-January 2007, we had an unprecedented level of violence,” Bradshaw said. “There were seven to 10 shootings a week. And everybody was asking, ‘how did gangs get to where they’re at today?’”
Bradshaw and Wallace said there were several reasons that gangs were able to sprout up and thrive like palmetto bugs. In part it was because the PBSO did not
focus enough on them; in part it was because of political pressure.
“In the mid-’90s, we had a couple of gangs in Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach, and we formed a task force with the federal government,” Bradshaw said. “Within 12 months, we had the major gangs under arrest and in federal prison. We sat back because everything was pretty good. We got involved with other issues, and then 9/11 happened and we switched to homeland security, putting gangs on the back burner.”
Local leaders, meanwhile, were not interested in the PBSO focusing on gang initiatives.
“Plus, it wasn’t popular for public official to talk about gangs — to say the
See GANGS, page 42A
It is a shame that the recently defeated proposal to put an assisted-living facility on the site of the old Palm Beach Polo stadium pitted Wellington’s senior citizens against its equestrian community. Both sides in the argument had legitimate points: Wellington has done a mediocre job providing for its seniors, but taking a highprofile corner out of the Equestrian Preserve Area would be a poor idea. As the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right.
Although village staff voiced their support for the so-called Hospitality Shoppes proposal, the plan received negative reviews from the Wellington Equestrian Committee and the village’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board, primarily because of the three most important words in real estate: location, location, location. Councilwoman Laurie Cohen, Vice Mayor Bob Margolis and Mayor Tom Wenham all cited some variation of that in rejecting the proposal, primarily because of the “slippery slope” it could create when dealing with future proposals in the EPA.
Wellington is still a fairly “young” community, with an average age of 37. But nearly nine percent of the population is 65 or over, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and this percentage is rising as the “baby boomer” generation begins to reach the traditional retirement age. And attorney Al Malefatto, who represented the Hospitality Shoppes before the council, said his clients are determined to build a much-needed senior living facility in Wellington — a
Wellington Council
Shuns Its Seniors
To Wellington’s mayor and council: I’m stunned that you have again denied village seniors access to services they desperately need.
I hope you are never faced with the decisions my family now faces after 15 years of living here. There are no necessary services for adult care, so we must travel daily to [get] any assistance or move
facility that even the politicians who voted against the idea agree is needed. But since that the proposal has gone down in flames, leaving some Wellington seniors disillusioned with their elected leaders, the question is what to do now. Given the cost of land in Wellington and the lack of available private sector land, there does not seem to be many options available for an assisted-living facility. Rocky Goins of Sunrise Senior Living claimed as much, telling council members that the site along South Shore Blvd. is the only suitable property they could find. There are two basic tenants at work here: (1) Wellington wants an assistedliving facility, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the already-established equestrian community, and (2) an assisted-living facility should be for those individuals who are already Wellington residents, not out-of-area seniors with the financial power to outbid locals.
In order to achieve both goals, clearly the village will need to be intimately involved in finding a solution — either through working with the private sector to find a suitable location or establishing a public-private partnership to make an affordable assisted-living facility a reality for Wellington’s seniors. Wellington, after all, has more access to land than private companies. If done as a publicprivate partnership, it might even become a future profit center as the village begins to eye other revenue sources as the community’s growth slows.
away and lose family and friends.
We have been, and still are, lifelong equestrians. Believe it or not, there are more important things in life than horses. We have a dog park, changed zoning where needed, have over 8,000 acres for equestrians, yet can’t find a small site to care for our elderly.
Seniors create few expenses, no police, no schools, even very little garbage. Yet our large and affluent village ignores us.
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Frankly, this is disgraceful neglect.
The owners of the neglected former polo stadium have the right to build 35,000 square feet of commercial use on their property, and I know of no other available site to include an assisted-living facility within the village.
Our council and mayor have chosen to disregard the positive recommendation of their own village staff and ignore the primary goal of the Seniors Task Force that they appointed.
Our council and mayor speak in favor of seniors, but their voting record certainly states otherwise.
Peter Granata Wellington
lage meeting and had to identify my name and address for the record — not my company — for me to be allowed to be a part of the process. Most citizens in the audience supported the request and felt dismissed as I did. If there is nothing to hide, be straightforward and identify. Once before, a certain corporation was embroiled in the Binks Forest debacle only to find out too late that the head person of that corporation was being investigated for felony charges. I, for one, do not want to find out that our village has been hoodwinked.
Janixx Parisi Wellington
As to the assumption of a constant millage rate, no crystal ball is available that will either support or reject that assumption. I contend that the awareness of voters has been raised by the property tax issue and that we can and will hold candidates more accountable for their position on taxes. We do have the power to elect local officials who will hold the line on taxes.
In his most recent letter, Mr. Alperstein claims that, if we vote for the super exemption amendment, “in the next 20 to 30 years, there will be no homestead [exemption].” Such a statement has no basis in fact. The super exemption, which is far more than the present $25,000 ($172,500 on a $350,000 value), will still be in effect.
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As a Wellington resident deeply involved in the goingson of the village, immediate past president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, a two-year president of the Wellington Rotary Club and [having] board seats on various charitable organizations, I have demonstrated my love of this village. Whereas I feel confident in the various levels of our local government, I am concerned about an issue that occurred Monday night, July 9 at an open forum put on by the “group” associated with the Section 34 showgrounds being proposed, and then again July 11 at the Wellington Equestrian Preserve Committee meeting, where I asked what I believe is a salient and critical question: “who are the people — names — involved with the corporations and LCLs that are moving the horse shows?” Both times, I received a rebuff saying they did not have to tell me.
The representatives simply stated the names of the corporations and refused to tell us the names of the people. One corporation is an offshore company. While I cast no aspersions against these entities (how may I without knowing who they are?), as a concerned citizen of Wellington, I feel it is imperative to know with whom we are setting up business dealings. In a day and age when offshore can imply anything, sometimes nefarious and sometimes not, shouldn’t these people be eager to publicly state who they are?
My chagrin goes deeper each time the question goes unanswered. I stood in the vil-
Morley Alperstein previously wrote to the Town-Crier detailing his objections to the proposed new “super exemption” amendment to the Florida Constitution. He also responded last week to a letter to the editor that I wrote the week before in which I gave a somewhat opposing view of his conclusions. Mr. Alperstein initially cited calculations presented in the Palm Beach Post showing that the super exemption would save homesteaders money for only four to eight years for two specific market values.
The Post made two fundamental assumptions in their calculations that made their projections questionable, at best. The first assumption was that the initial savings would simply be spent by the taxpayer and not used to offset later increases. The second was that millage rates would not change.
The Post has corrected the first questionable assumption. They have published tables that account for the initial savings.
Now their computations indicate that, for a home of $350,000 market value, super exemption would save money for 13 years, compared with the current Save Our Homes. How many of us will keep the same house for more than 13 years? And, if a homeowner thinks that they will keep their house that long, they can always take the option of retaining the Save Our Homes method of exemption.
The calculations for each individual’s situation are not simple. I have made my calculations, and they show considerable savings. If Mr. Alperstein’s calculations show otherwise for his case, that is his business. And he can keep the Save Our Homes version regardless of the vote on the amendment. I hope that he does not convince too many folks to vote against the super exemption. Such a vote will deny savings for those who would benefit and won’t help his taxes at all. Phil Sexton Wellington
This letter is in response to a recent letter written by Mr. Phil Sexton supporting the super exemption amendment. Mr. Sexton claims we should be in favor of the exemption, but he offers no convincing argument on why we should support it. He claims if our property values double, we should make our elected officials drop the millage rate. The key word there is should. You and I know they won’t and to wait around another four years to get a new liar in office will only make things worse. I say vote no and keep what you have now. I purchased my Wellington home in 2004 and pay high taxes, but I am not willing to give up my three-percent cap and $25,000
See LETTERS, page 5A
12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414; fax them to 793-6090; or you can e-mail to letters @goTownCrier.com.
The late comedian and film actor W.C. Fields once suggested that, upon his death, this epitaph be used: “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.”
One might argue why he didn’t consider Buffalo, N.Y. or Newark, N.J., but there was little doubt that he would have
continued from page 4A exemption to hope the officials drop the millage rate.
Craig Jacobson Wellington
In case some of our neighbors haven’t noticed, Loxahatchee Groves has been victimized by a rash of crimes. My own home was recently burglarized, a man on a bicycle was clubbed and robbed by three men in a car, a nursery employee was stabbed and robbed, and several businesses have been sacked by thieves.
This crime wave comes at a time when little progress appears to have been done to negotiate a contract between the newly elected Loxahatchee Groves Town Council and the Palm Beach County
been happier anywhere other than a grave. I can report from personal experience that I would, too. I actually had most of the past four months to consider other places I would rather be than the grave. Riviera Beach and Fort Lauderdale even made my list. Being near
Sheriff’s Office for police protection; one of the requirements approved by voters who approved the town charter. In fact, the only advice any council member has offered residents came from Councilman Dr. Bill Louda, who sent out an e-mail warning us, “don’t forget the Castle Doctrine! Get a [gun] carry permit and carry it!”
Are we to assume that his outrageous comment means that we must arm ourselves? What would he say if his neighbors were killed by a home robber in a shootout with a property owner who took Louda’s reckless, irresponsible advice?
The town council should make a sheriff’s office contract its top priority immediately. And Louda should refrain from throwing gasoline on an already explosive situation that is threatening our community.
Toni Vorsteg Loxahatchee Groves
death causes you to want to live — regardless of where that may be.
Yes, folks, I’m back... after surviving (for now) leukemia. Even the doctors were amazed that I pulled through, but they didn’t know about the hundreds of cards, e-mails and phone calls I received informing me of all the prayers being said on my behalf. Those prayers covered most of the major religions.
One of the few benefits of being at death’s door is discovering how many good friends we have. I hadn’t counted on some of them, but I’m going to fix that. Another is how precious life is, even if it isn’t going all that well. And we discover how precious family is and how important it is to stay better in touch.
When I left home four months ago, I never expected to be back. I had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with virtually no chance for recovery. I went to Wichita to be with my family for what I expected to be the last two months of my life. Providence sent me to the Kansas City Veterans Administration Hospital, where I first found hope and later recovery. After three months of extensive chemotherapy and hovering near death
By Don Brown
three times, my last bone marrow test showed no sign of the leukemia. My doctors cleared me to return home to Royal Palm Beach.
Now here I am trying to pick up my life where I left off. Much has happened during my absence, and I’m still trying to catch up. The one thing I know for certain is that my life will never be the same now that I have learned how precarious it can be. So many things just aren’t as important as they seemed a little more than four months ago.
I hope to take back this space on a regular basis. I’ll continue to try to amuse and poke a little fun at our community, its political leaders and their sometimes-wacky decisions. On the whole, I’d rather be in the western communities.
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
Developers may soon have a menu of choices when planning mixed-use projects in Wellington. The village’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board recommended approval of a set of changes last week to Wellington’s comprehensive plan that would create a series of five mixed-use designations, replacing the current single designation.
The “Mixed Use” designation was added to the comprehensive plan in 2004, intended to allow a variety of uses within a single development project to maintain the character of the community, deter urban sprawl and reduce traffic.
Since then, three mixed-use projects have been approved in the village, all on State Road 7, but the staff report noted that concerns were raised about the residential density in two of the projects.
The five mixed-use designations offered in the proposed amendment vary in the range of uses allowed as well as offering a range of maximum residential densities and methods of calculating density. One of the five categories rules out residential uses entirely. The other uses allowed in mixed-use projects include commercial, office, industrial, institutional and public facilities, parks, conservation and open space.
At the board’s July 12 meeting, Community Development Director Marty
Hodgkins explained that the proposed amendment answers concerns raised by the board and village council about the residential component of mixed-use developments and their impact on nearby services and infrastructure such as roads, schools, parks and recreation. It was hoped that the expanded range of uses would have less of an impact on services and would offer more choices to developers planning to use the mixeduse designation for either new developments or redevelopment.
Hodgkins said the range of five mixeduse designations was intended to give an applicant a broader range of uses within the mixed-use designation, while minimizing the impact of such developments on surrounding properties.
The proposed designations allow two uses on parcels of five to ten acres. The number of uses would increase to three uses on parcels of 10 to 30 acres and four uses on parcels larger than 30 acres. The designations would restrict any one use from occupying more than 60 percent of a mixed-use development’s site area.
Board Alternate Morley Alperstein asked if the mixed-use designations ever allow single-family homes, and Hodgkins said the designation would not permit them because they take up a lot of space.
Some of the board members recommended expanding the residential uses
within some categories, and staff said they would create subcategories that would allow for those uses.
After some further discussions, Board Member Carmine Priore III made a motion to approve the language with changes recommended by the board, which was seconded by Board Member Eugene DiFonte. It passed unanimously.
If adopted by the Wellington Village Council, the comprehensive plan amendment must be reviewed by the Florida Department of Community Affairs.
Also last week, Board President Alan Johnson raised the possibility of creating a permitted use inside the Equestrian Overlay Zoning District for assisted-living facilities for seniors. Johnson referred to the village council’s rejection two days
continued from page 1A system here is a stormwater runoff,” Lodwick said. “There are a lot of things in that water that people probably shouldn’t be exposing themselves to. I think it’s a fairly healthy water system, but when it stagnates, like after really heavy storms or hurricanes, you really don’t want to go into it.”
In that regard, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office District 9 Commander Capt. Tony Araujo said the water in the public waterways is so bad that if a
earlier of a proposal by developers to build such a facility, part of their “Hospitality Shoppes” project, on land now occupied by the dilapidated Palm Beach Polo Stadium on South Shore Blvd. Johnson said that because of the quality of the proposed facility, which Sunrise Senior Living had put forward, it was a shame that the village could not find somewhere else to put it.
“Perhaps with certain setbacks and acreage, there might be someone with a parcel of land where it won’t be so intrusive, and it could be something that the community could get behind, equestrian and non-equestrian,” Johnson said. “If it’s left in the Equestrian Overlay Zoning District as a permitted use, we are not chipping away at it.”
PBSO deputy falls into the water or must get into the water, the department considers him or her exposed to hazardous material and the deputy is required to go to the hospital for a decontamination procedure.
“Currently our officers are on the water patrolling,” Araujo said. “They take it one contact at a time. Most of our contacts are educational. If we get a call for service, or we see something, the officer’s first responsibility is for safety. Everything we’ve done so far with our patrol enforcement is to educate the public.”
By Jason Budjinski Town-Crier Staff Report
JULY 9 — A deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office substation in Royal Palm Beach arrested a man last Monday and charged him with identification fraud, driving an unregistered vehicle and drug possession. According to a PBSO report, the deputy was traveling southbound on Crestwood Blvd. when he initiated a traffic stop on a BMW for an improper headlight. The driver, who initially provided false identification information but was lat-
er identified as 37-year-old Michael Cetlinski, was discovered to have a suspended license. Following the arrest, the deputy further discovered Cetlinski to be in possession of cocaine. He was transported to the Palm Beach County Jail.
JULY 11 — A Lake Worth man was arrested last Wednesday and charged with drug possession following a traffic stop in Royal Palm Beach. According to a PBSO report, a deputy from the RPB substation was
traveling southbound on State Road 7 at approximately 8:30 p.m., approaching Belvedere Road, when he pulled over a Ford Ranger driven by 32-yearold Khai Lam Tam after learning that the license plate was not registered to the vehicle. After gaining consent to search the vehicle, the deputy discovered a plastic baggy containing 3.7 grams of cocaine, which was stashed beneath the driver’s seat. Lam was issued a citation for an unregistered vehicle before being transported to the county jail.
JULY 12 — A traffic stop on
Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is asking for the public’s help in finding these wanted fugitives:
• Morris Croudo is a white male, 5’10” tall and weighing 170 lbs. with gray hair and brown eyes. His date of birth is 09/27/42. He has a scar on her right shoulder. Croudo is wanted on the charge of selling or offering for sale counterfeit goods. His occupation is unknown. His last known address was Elkhorn Drive in Royal Palm Beach. Croudo is wanted as of 07/19/07.
• Joshua Walsh is a white male, 5’7” tall and weighing 160 lbs., with brown hair and brown eyes. His date of birth is 06/22/87. He has a tattoo on his upper right arm and a scar on his abdomen. Walsh is wanted for failure to appear in court on the charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling with assault or battery, burglary of a dwelling, burglary with battery and burglary of an occupied dwelling. His occupation is construction. His last known address was N. 58th Place in Loxahatchee. Walsh is wanted as of 07/19/07. Remain anonymous and you may be eligible for up to $1,000 reward. Call Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477) or visit www.crime stopperspbc.com.
THE INFORMATION FOR THIS BOX IS PROVIDED BY CRIME STOPPERS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, WHICH IS WHOLLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CONTENT.
Southern Blvd. led to a drug arrest last Thursday. According to a PBSO report, a deputy from the substation in Royal Palm Beach was traveling westbound on Southern Blvd. at approximately 10:25 p.m. when he observed a gray Dodge pickup truck stopped at a green light at the intersection in front of Palms West Hospital. The deputy further observed the light turn red and, a few seconds later, the driver crossing the intersection. Upon conducting a traffic stop, the deputy made contact with the driver, 52-year-old Glenn Canada of Tallahassee, who said he had worked 16 hours, which is why he fell asleep at the wheel, according to the report. The deputy gained consent to search the vehicle and found a plastic bottle containing marijuana stored in the driver’s-side door panel, as well as a pipe, which also contained marijuana. Canada was arrested and taken to the county jail.
JULY 12 — A resident of Summerwood Circle called the PBSO’s Wellington substation Thursday regarding a theft. According to the complainant, at some time between 10 p.m. on July 4 and 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday, unknown suspect(s) entered the master bedroom and removed three pieces of jewelry stored inside a jewelry box on the dresser. No DNA samples or latent prints were obtained from the scene. There were construction workers present during the time of the theft, though no contact had been made with the contractor at the time of the report.
JULY 13 — A deputy from the PBSO substation in Wellington was on patrol last Friday when he arrested a man for street racing. According to a PBSO report, the deputy was on Forest Hill Blvd. at approximately 12:50 a.m. when he witnessed two vehicles racing in the westbound lanes, traveling approximately 70 mph. The deputy stopped one of the drivers, 23-year-old Bradford Courson of The Acreage, who was in an unauthorized rental car. Courson was issued numerous violations and released with a notice to appear in court.
JULY 14 — A Torrington Avenue resident called the PBSO substation in Wellington last Saturday in reference to a burglary. According to the complainant, at some time between 6 and 7 p.m. unknown suspect(s) entered his garage and took an edger and drill. A neighbor told the deputy she witnessed a white or Hispanic male take the items and leave the scene in a red Toyota pickup truck. There was no further information at the time of the report.
JULY 15 — A man was arrested last Sunday for prowling near houses on Bob White Road in Royal Palm Beach. According to a PBSO report, a deputy from the substation in RPB was dispatched to the area at approximately 11:40 a.m., in response to a call from a resident. Upon arrival the deputy contacted the suspect, 20-year-old Kier Ferguson George of RPB, who said he was looking for his keys. George then gave contradicto-
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
Royal Palm Beach residents will see a new name on garbage trucks around the village when Republic Services takes over the village’s garbage, recycling and vegetation collection beginning Oct. 1.
But Dave Unversaw, Republic’s district general manager, said little else will change from service provided by current contractor Waste Management. Republic’s subsidiary Sunburst Sanitation will fulfill the five-year contract.
“For residents, there won’t be much change for their garbage or vegetation collection,” Unversaw told the Town-Crier this week. “The time of day might change because our routes might run slightly different, but service dates probably will not change. And some residents might see a change in their service days for recycling. We’re
still putting things together.”
The Royal Palm Beach Village Council awarded Republic Services the waste and recycling contract July 12 after the Fort Lauderdale company outbid three other companies, including Waste Management.
Republic Services bid $208,999.59 per month compared with $210,921.18 per month from Waste Pro of Florida, $236,526.60 from Waste Management and $356,316.00 from Veolia Environmental Services.
The contract allows for Republic Services to increase the rate in two of the contract’s five years based on the annual consumer price index. Neither increase, however, will be allowed to exceed three percent.
A publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RSG), Republic Services reported 2006 earnings of $279.6 million on revenue of $3 billion. Republic Services oper-
ates in 21 states with 13,000 employees. For the first quarter of this year, Republic Services reported earnings of $53.9 million on revenue of $765.6 million.
Republic Service’s local office is at Belvedere Road and Pike Road in West Palm Beach. Will Flower, the company’s vice president of communications, said Republic Services has 89 trucks and 182 employees in Palm Beach County. The company, Flower said, has waste removal contracts with Boca Raton, Lake Worth, Lantana and Palm Springs. It also has a contract for unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County.
“Our company really focuses on daily, quality service,” Flower said. “We see our business as a whole lot more than just collecting waste every day in all kinds of weather. We have a commitment to excellence that meets or exceeds each one of our customers’ expectations.”
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report
Palm Beach County must change its charter annexation ordinance to comply with a court order issued as a result of a lawsuit filed by Wellington and several other county municipalities.
The county commission put off setting a date for reviewing amendments to the controversial ordinance, which requires a municipality to gain county approval before annexing land into its boundaries, after the Palm Beach County League of Cities notified the county last week that it had ignored the court order to make the changes.
Palm Beach County League of Cities attorney Trela White told the Town-Crier last week that the county’s amendments to the ordinance do not meet the requirements set by the judge to make it agree with what the county offered voters in the referendum.
The county initiated the referendum after the Village of Wellington annexed the unpopulated Stormwater Treatment Area 1-East, which, coincidentally or not, made land owned by mining company Palm Beach Aggregates contiguous to the village. Shortly afterward, Palm Beach Aggregates requested annexation into Wellington, which the chagrined county thwarted by offering Aggregates higher density on its planned residential development if it agreed not to be annexed.
Voters approved the county’s annexation charter amendment in November 2004, and in April 2005 the county passed the ordinance requiring cities to obtain county approval before ini-
continued from page 6A ry statements regarding his whereabouts and what he was doing. Due to recent burglaries in the area and other suspicious activities, the deputy was not convinced that a crime did not or was not about to occur, and George was arrested, according to the report. The deputy not-
tiating voluntary annexations.
Wellington and several other cities sued, alleging that the ordinance went farther in its restrictions than the referendum promised voters, White said.
The judge struck part of the language from the charter and ordered the county to come back with a revised ordinance that complies with what the voters approved.
White wrote that the county’s proposed revision exceeds the limitations of Judge Jonathan Gerber’s order, which specified what it should change. After reading the draft ordinance, White said she had several problems, including its requirement of two public hearings by the county, when only one is required by state statute. Also, Gerber ordered that the ordinance should be amended to read that failure to comply “may be actionable,” but the county’s draft language reads “shall be actionable.” The difference might seem negligible but has profound implications in legal terms, White said.
“It had to be repealed and a new one adopted, but the new ordinance was not in accordance with the court order in my opinion,” White said.
White said she was also concerned that the league had not had a chance to officially review the draft ordinance. “Everybody agreed to postpone because the lawsuit is ongoing,” she said. “The county said it had already been to the league, but it has not gone to the general membership.”
The ordinance and court order both mandate that certain areas cannot be annexed, White said. The restricted areas are primarily west of Royal Palm
ed that George was on probation for strong-arm robbery; an additional charge of violation of probation was added. George was taken to the county jail. JULY 18 — A man was arrested Wednesday night and charged with drug possession after being caught smoking marijuana in the parking lot of the Wellington Marketplace.
CAFCI (Caribbean-Americans for Community Involvement) will host its 12th Annual Business Awareness Expo on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 1 to 7 p.m. at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center, 151 Civic Center Way. Companies and individual business owners are welcome to showcase their businesses. For more information, contact Amanayea Abraham at (561) 791-1618 or Ed Clarke at (561) 385-7224.
The Puerto Rican Organization for Cultural Enhancement and Reaffirmation (PROCER) is currently presenting two artistic programs at the Greenacres Community Center, 525 Swain Blvd. The programs include Puerto Rican-themed acrylic paintings and cuatro lessons (the “cuatro” is a musical instrument) and take place Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. For more information about PROCER, call (561) 7533632 or visit www.proceres.org.
Beach, she said, covering areas including Loxahatchee and The Acreage, which is defined as an unincorporated rural neighborhood.
Royal Palm Beach Mayor David Lodwick told the TownCrier last week that he can’t understand why the amendment includes those areas because his village has already agreed not to annex them.
“We actually passed a resolution saying we won’t do it,” Lodwick said. “We supported Loxahatchee Groves annexation. We said we’d never annex in The Acreage. I don’t know why the county is discussing it. We’ve taken a position that we’ll never do it.”
The fight in Palm Beach County also sent a red flag to the Florida League of Cities, which made defeating the efforts of counties to dominate municipalities a “superpriority,” Wellington Councilman Dr. Carmine Priore said.
Priore said the Palm Beach County ordinance only affects Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and the new Town of Loxahatchee Groves.
“Those are the only areas under that jurisdiction for voluntary annexation,” he noted.
The only areas open to annexation by Wellington are dwindling patches of land to the east, Priore said. “Those are in the urban service area, which is OK,” he said. “This whole referendum was to protect rural areas.”
Nevertheless, Priore said he regrets the county’s persistence in enacting the ordinance. “I wish the county would not create an ordinance,” he said. “It removes the right of municipal government to annex.”
According to a PBSO report, a deputy from the Wellington substation was on patrol at approximately 7:50 p.m. when he observed 38-year-old Robert Duvall of Wellington sitting in his vehicle and smoking from a pipe. He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana under 20 grams and paraphernalia.
Pictured here,
gets a sendoff from fellow council members
Councilman
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report
Some Indian Trail Improvement District supervisors are concerned about what they call a “bridge to nowhere” proposed by county engineers. The proposed two-lane bridge would replace an existing culvert crossing over the M Canal at 60th Street west of 180th Street where the M-1 Canal turns southwest.
A county engineering recommendation to move approximately $419,000 into a 60th Street bridge fund has been postponed twice on the county commission consent agenda after ITID supervisors questioned the type of bridge that should be there. At issue is whether it should be a span on pilings, which will ring in ultimately at $1.8 million, or the culvert currently used for other M Canal crossings at less than
half the cost. It will appear again as a discussion item on Tuesday, July 24.
ITID President Michelle Damone said she feels all the money should be redirected.
“If the county is cutting costs, shouldn’t they re-route that money?” she asked. “In my opinion, they should move that funding to the [State Road 7] reliever road and move it north.”
The current SR 7 plan takes the reliever road only as far as Persimmon Blvd. Damone said she wishes the road would connect again at 60th Street so as not to put the entire burden on Persimmon residents. She said road issues will be discussed at an Aug. 8 meeting at the ITID office with county representatives; the meeting will start at 6 p.m.
ITID Vice President Mike Erickson said he plans to be at the county commission meeting July 24 to learn what the
reasoning is behind the 60th Street bridge, which will be a municipal service taxing unit (MSTU) project funded by the county and City of West Palm Beach, which owns the M Canal right of way.
County staff’s reasoning is to create an 8.5-mile paved loop connecting 60th Street North from 200th Trail North to Seminole Pratt Whitney Road, 200th Trail North from Sycamore Lane to 60th Street North and Sycamore Lane from 200th Trail North to Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.
The bridge will be part of that loop providing a crossing over the M Canal to “put the roadway into proper alignment,” according to the staff report. An existing culvert crossing in the vicinity crosses the M Canal diagonally. The reconstruction of the bridge would also allow for expansion of the M Canal and provide improved
drinking water supply for West Palm Beach, which is bearing part of the cost for the project, according to the county staff report. But ITID supervisors said they question that reasoning, pointing out that the “bridge to nowhere” leads to the site of a planned residential development by GL Homes.
“If they won’t approve Callery, why would they approve a bridge to GL Homes?” Damone asked. “If the developer wants to develop, let him pay for the bridge.”
Erickson said he does not understand the concept of the 8.5-mile loop. “It’s more than a bridge to nowhere,” he said. “The road could be redirected to the greater good for the whole community. Why do they need the loop? The loop is almost a more important issue than the bridge.”
Erickson said he attended the North County Task Force meet-
ing two weeks ago with representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the South Florida Water Management District, ITID and other agencies.
“One of the things agreed upon was that the West Palm Beach Water Catchment Area will remain rain-driven. That will limit the amount of water flow going through the M Canal,” Erickson said. “Putting in another culvert crossing to align with 60th Street would cost about $600,000 compared to $1.8 million for a hundredfoot-long, two-lane bridge. We already have an existing crossing.”
ITID engineer Jay Foy said he met with county engineers on Thursday, July 12, where the center of discussion was the amount of flow through the canal, and they reached a figure of 450 cubic feet per second.
“For that flow, they don’t need a bridge,” Foy said.
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
The ITID Board of Supervisors approved its 2008 assessment rates and final budget for the coming fiscal year last Wednesday, with assessment rates in active units remaining basically unchanged from last year.
Supervisors praised the work of district staff, who managed to avoid increases while improving the level of
service for district residents.
ITID’s draft budget for fiscal year 2008 totals about $12.4 million and includes about $9.7 million in operating expenses and more than $2.6 million in debt service.
“We do not find money,” ITID
President Michelle Damone said.
“We have managed our money very well and are fiscally responsible so that we can ensure that our residents get the most services for their dollar.”
ITID assesses property own-
ers based on the services they receive in the district’s various development units, which vary from unit to unit. As a result, residents of some development units have taxes slightly increased while some have decreases.
Although there were more than two dozen residents at the meeting, there were no comments on the budget or assessments from the public.
Vice President Mike Erickson made a motion to approve both
the assessment rolls and the final budget. Supervisor Sandra Love Semande seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. In other business:
• Supervisors suggested a meeting of county officials, school board members and other interested parties to discuss the possibility of laying sidewalks along Seminole Pratt Whitney Road near Seminole Ridge High School to increase safety for students and
other pedestrians. “Our kids are in danger but the area that needs the sidewalk is outside our district boundaries,” Damone said. Semande, who has been the point person on school safety issues, added that everyone involved had a moral obligation to see to the safety of children.
• District Administrator Bob Mearns said Aug. 8 is the tentative opening date for the skateboarding/inline skating area at Acreage Community Park.
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
A Wellington resident leading the drive to build a new regional hospital in Belle Glade gave members of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce some insight Monday into the healthcare situation in the western reaches of Palm Beach County.
John Lacy, an executive with Merrill Lynch Financial Services, is also a trustee of the Glades Healthcare Foundation, which is raising money to build the new hospital. Introducing Lacy, Chamber President Joanna Boynton noted that he served as the chamber’s president in 1998 and has also served many committees and organizations in the western communities.
“He’s been a member of our organization since the early 1990s,” Boynton said. “Here is an individual who has stayed committed to us. He’s actively involved with the Glades Healthcare Foundation. He’s going to speak to us about Glades General Hospital. This is the only public hospital in the county that serves a region where one third of its residents live below the poverty level and without insurance. That’s what we face in the Glades.”
Lacy said it was good to be among old friends, and he hoped he could count on their support in his new mission. He said Glades General had joined the Palms West Chamber of Commerce as a way of getting the word out.
Lacy said the Health Care District of Palm Beach County re-
cruited him and other healthcare personnel and community leaders in 2006 as a “dream team” of professionals under the banner of the Glades Healthcare Foundation.
Scheduled to open in 2009, the 70-bed, state-of-the-art regional hospital is planned for a 50-acre site at the southwest corner of U.S. 441 and State Road 80 in the Glades, Lacy said.
But meanwhile, he said, the challenges of healthcare in the Glades are enormous.
“It’s the most challenging healthcare project I have ever had to contend with in my life,” Lacy said. “It’s a huge challenge to get people into an emergency room, and a lot of people use the emergency room like it’s their primary physician. We have physician recruitment that’s a significant issue. Just because we have different physicians doesn’t mean that the quality of care is not there. A lot of physicians who work at Wellington Regional Medical Center and at Palms West Hospital are actually providing services out there for us. We have some competitive advantages. This new project will be one of the most technologically advanced hospitals to be constructed. It’s going to be a premier facility.”
Lacy said Glades General was originally commissioned by the Department of Agriculture in 1944 as a 45-bed facility, which was later expanded to its current 73-bed capacity. Sold to the Tennessee-based Province Health Care over a decade ago, the Palm Beach County Health
Care District reacquired the hospital in 2004 and invested more than $3.5 million in improvements to the aging facility, which has suffered hurricane damage since then. The need for a new hospital in the area became obvious, Lacy said.
“We paid $1.4 million for it,” Lacy said. “It was a bargain. We did not inherit a hospital that was in good shape. We began rolling up our sleeves to get that ship turned back around because it was so desperately needed. The mission is to reflect a greater vision of this new campus and this hospital.”
Lacy said Glades General provides care to about 50,000 residents in Clewiston, Belle Glade, Pahokee and South Bay. More than a third live below the federal poverty line, more than half lack health insurance, half of pregnant women do not get medical care in their first trimester, one in ten newborns is underweight, and the infant mortality rate is double the Palm Beach County average. Many patients speak no English.
“We have to provide quality healthcare to everybody regardless of insurance or not,” Lacy said. “It’s not uncommon we will have a patient who will run out of Medicare and Medicaid and exhaust all other avenues of funding. The hospital will not turn them away. We do not turn people away. We have been known to run deficits that exceed a half a million dollars for one patient. We take care of them all no matter what language they speak.”
Glades General Hospital CEO
David Zechman continued the presentation, saying the new facility would be constructed with the privacy and care of its patients in mind.
“It will be a more familyfriendly atmosphere,” Zechman said. “We will have all private rooms. Right now, we have dual occupancy rooms that create challenges of putting people in rooms. The new rooms will be bigger for each individual patients than when we have shared rooms for patients. Our intensive care unit is a four-bed ICU with no privacy at all. We will go from four beds to six beds with all private bays. We will have absolute confidentiality for both the patient and the family in our emergency room. We have five labor and delivery rooms now. We will go to six,
and all of them will be private rooms.”
Zechman said the population in the Glades, contrary to what people might think, is getting younger. The population is younger than the county average, with only eight percent older than 65. Because of the younger population, the number of births is on the rise, and 550 to 600 babies are born every year. The hospital has 3,400 admissions, 15,000 outpatient visits and over 20,000 emergency room visits annually, he said.
“People think it’s a sleepy little emergency room,” Zechman said. “It is not. It is busy. It’s like an inner city teaching hospital.”
Zechman also said the hospital has dedicated and caring staff
See CHAMBER, page 12A
By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report
Loxahatchee Groves Town Council members have invited experts to speak about the positive aspects of horse manure at a workshop next week.
Councilman Dennis Lipp said he suggested the workshop after hearing complaints from neighbors about manure dumping in both authorized and unauthorized areas in the town.
Lipp said Loxahatchee Groves has been on the receiving end since 2000, when Wellington enacted an ordinance regulating removal of horse manure from the village. Permitted manure haulers moved the manure, as much as 300 tons a day during equestrian season according to some estimates, to three authorized areas in Loxahatchee Groves. Last year, one of the receivers let it pile up so high, Lipp said, that the county shut it down as an unauthorized composting facility.
The object of the workshop, Lipp said, is not necessarily to seek a ban on ma-
nure dumping but to find more creative solutions and at the same time protect the town’s water resources.
Lipp said he would like to look at the issue as more than a nuisance. “I have tried to look beyond the manure issue and see how to turn it into something you can use,” he said.
There are several solutions in the works. For example, Lipp said he has heard that U.S. Sugar has reached a deal to have manure hauled to its sugar fields where it would be composted and used for fertilizer. Another landowner with 1,800 acres 45 minutes west of Wellington is trying to get a permit to compost manure there, Lipp said, adding that some haulers don’t want to drive that far and would like to see local dumping areas permitted.
Councilman Dave Autrey said several speakers have been invited to the workshop, including U.S. Department of Agriculture representative Bob Clark, stormwater engineer Jay Foy, Wellington Equestrian Alliance Executive Director Dean Turney, U.S. Sugar representative
Judy Sanchez, local manure haulers and a marketer of composting equipment.
Wellington passed its manure ordinance to comply with best management practices mandated by the Everglades Forever Act’s requirement to reduce phosphorous in stormwater runoff heading into the Everglades, but Autrey said he feels the village’s solution of hauling it elsewhere was shortsighted.
“Manure dumping is nothing new,” Autrey said. “Wellington, in horse season, generates an enormous amount of manure. They passed an ordinance in Wellington that no one can keep manure on their property, so it got shipped to Loxahatchee Groves.”
Loxahatchee Groves is governed by the same restrictions as Wellington, Autrey said, and he does not want to put Loxahatchee Groves residents in the position of having to pay to clean up their water. “The problem is not manure, but the potential problem with nutrients discharging into our water,” he said. “Manure is not a bad thing. It just needs to be regulated. It’s really about water qual-
ity. We need to protect our water and hold it in the Groves.”
Composting is a $12 billion industry, Autrey said, and he would not want local residents to miss an opportunity to turn the issue into something positive.
“I’m hoping what we don’t do is add to the burden of the residents,” he said, by allowing the issue as it exists currently to grow into an expensive water cleanup problem.
“We cannot have an agricultural area and not have manure,” Autrey said. “The South Florida Water Management District has said the biggest contributor to phosphorous is urban development and stormwater runoff. It’s a real opportunity for Loxahatchee Groves to show how you can have these kinds of uses and not place a hardship on them.”
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 24 at 7 p.m. at Loxahatchee Groves Water Control District headquarters, 101 West D Road in Loxahatchee Groves. For more information, call the Loxahatchee Groves town office at (561) 793-2418.
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
The Indian Trail Improvement District’s Recreation Committee finalized the wording of a new recreation provider agreement Tuesday.
ITID has not had formal agreements with recreation providers for several years, and the current ITID Board of Supervisors requested the committee make enacting them a priority. The goal is to formalize the relationship between the district, which provides facilities, and the providers, which run the programs.
Supervisor Ralph Bair, the board’s li-
aison to the committee, said that the wording would now be submitted to the board, subject to a few minor changes, as well as attorney approval.
“We haven’t had an agreement in place for years,” Bair said, “and we have the responsibility to provide facilities in the district. For example, all providers will now be responsible for damages to facilities.”
District Administrator Bob Mearns said that over the past two years, there had been “repetitive problems” concerning damage. Under the new agreement, providers would be held liable to pay for such damage. “If a provider does not
sign the agreement,” Bair said, “they will not have access to our facilities.”
In other business:
• The committee approved the request of Cub Scout Pack 122 and Girl Scout Troop 122 to adopt several district parks. The scouts will clean up Downers, Sycamore and Coconut parks, earning required service hours, all under adult supervision. “Although our lawyers will have to look into the agreement,” Bair said, “I can’t see why the board wouldn’t agree. This will make the parks look better, increase the kids’ awareness of the environment and save money.”
• Although at past meetings commit-
tee members had discussed sending out a youth survey to decide on new programs, the committee decided to recommend that service providers do so instead, since they would be the ones to produce new programs.
• The committee decided not to recommend any immediate further additions to current recreation facilities beyond those already in process. Currently, the district plans a grand opening of the Acreage Community Park expansion on Thursday, July 26 and the opening of a new skateboarding/inline skating area of the park on Wednesday, Aug. 8, both at 5 p.m.
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
NewsChannel 5 meteorologist
Dean Tendrich spoke about South Floridians’ favorite summertime weather topic — hurricanes — at the Wellington Chamber of Commerce Luncheon held Wednesday at the Players Club.
Tendrich showed videos of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004.
“This is not New Orleans or Mississippi, but our own back yard,” Tendrich said. “This was 2005. In 2004, we had Jeanne and Frances, and that was a nightmare in a two-week timeframe. We got hit one day, and two weeks later we got hit at the same spot. We had another landfall with another hurricane.”
Before 2004, hurricanes were not as big a worry for county residents.
“We had not been hit directly by a hurricane in 30 years in Palm Beach County,” Tendrich said. “That does not mean we will not get hit by a hurricane. At that time, we got hit twice. There is nothing we can do to stop them.”
Tendrich focused on the genesis of tropical storms and the different stages of hurricane development and formation. The first step is a tropical wave, which is nothing more than a puff of wind of 20 mph. A tropical depression has 30-mph winds, and anything above 73 mph is a hurricane. Hurricanes
do not typically form in June or July, but later in the summer months, with September being the peak of the hurricane season. Tendrich also noted “Bermuda highs” and other factors that could influence whether or not hurricanes will hit the area.
Given the fact that 2004 and 2005 were such active seasons, Tendrich said forecasters thought the season would be repeated in the years to follow, but they were wrong. Last year was a bust, but that doesn’t mean the same thing will happen this year, he said.
Forecasting is not meant to scare everyone, he said. “From a public standpoint, once the information is there, I can’t tell the guy how to process the information. What matters is he gets hit,” Tendrich said. “We had Jeanne, Frances, Charley and Ivan [in 2004]. Jeanne was the slow one. It was horrendous. It was difficult, and it was sad.”
Tendrich noted that the population of Palm Beach County has increased dramatically since his family moved here in the 1980s, swelling from less than 600,000 to well over a million. Therefore, if a hurricane hits, there is more potential for economic damage.
He warned residents to be prepared for the worst. It is sobering, Tendrich said, to consider that New Orleans did not get a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina. Despite all the damage, it was a sideswipe. It is beyond imagination what could have happened if that city were to get a direct hit, he said.
Tendrich closed by saying the best thing to do was be prepared — and that does not mean going out and shopping when a hurricane came calling, but stocking up well ahead of time on medications, food, water and other supplies.
“If you don’t prepare, you will be on the outside looking in,” he said. “When a hurricane comes, it will be a real mess. Our county and our state is the best in the country in dealing with this, yet you can’t expect the government to do everything for you. You have to be proactive. You have to take it upon yourselves to be ready. Be prepared and nobody gets hurt.”
In other chamber business, President Darell Bowen focused on the Wellington Village Council’s special meeting that was to be held that evening to set the TRIM (Truth in Millage) rate (see related story, page 1A ). Bowen read a Wellington Chamber resolution supporting the state’s mandated position to lower the millage rate.
“The Board of Directors of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce stands in support of the lower millage rate and of property tax reform in general,” Bowen read. “We respectfully ask your support in this matter. We offer our assistance in our individual areas of expertise in balancing the budget and achieving your budgetary goals. We feel strongly that the taxes need to be reduced. Businesses are suffering. A lot of it has to do with taxes and insurance.
Tax revenues have been skyrocketing over the last few years.”
The sponsor for the luncheon was Wesley Hamilton of the family-owned Apex Automotive, located at 3141 Fairlane Farms Road, Suite 4, in Wellington.
Hamilton said his business is family-owned and operated and has ASE master certified technicians. Apex services all makes and models, and meets all automotive needs, including factory-scheduled maintenance, oil changes, brake and transmission service, wheels and tires, major engine overhauls and more.
“We do service to all makes and models,” Hamilton said, “including vehicles under factory
warranty. You don’t have to drive to I-95 and Okeechobee Blvd. to have your vehicle serviced. A lot of times people approach the extended warranty, and we offer all extended warranty contracts. We also offer pickup and delivery service if you can’t find the time to come to us.”
Hamilton stressed his competitive rates, about $80 an hour compared to $100 to $120 charged by some dealerships. For more information about Apex, call (561) 798-9787 or visit www.apexauto.biz.
For more information about the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, call (561) 792-6525 or visit www.wellington chamber.com.
The Mid-County Democratic Club met Monday night at Tree’s Wings & Ribs in Royal Palm Beach. The main speaker was State Rep. Shelley Vana (D-District 85), who discussed the recent legislative session and the legislature’s concerns about gangs and related issues. Attorney John Cohen and Wellington activist Tony Fransetta spoke about HR 676 and how it would establish single-payer health insurance in the United States, and other health insurance issues. For more information about the Mid-County Democratic Club, call (561) 784-9973 or e-mail gwynneac@comcast.net. Pictured here, Vana
cetner) and Fransetta (above right) address club members.
continued from page 9A members, and needs to attract more of them. “We have to make it good for them and attractive for them to practice medicine,” he said. “When you have a payer mix that does not pay very well, it becomes a huge challenge.”
Zechman said his goal is to make the hospital more of a community institution with outreach and education programs.
“Finally, we need to promote community education and to better integrate wellness and education,” Zechman said. “We
don’t have space in the hospital to have those kind of meetings. We are going to begin providing them now. The other thing I am excited about is community education. We will have five rooms dedicated for meeting and community education. My dream is when this hospital opens, the parking lot has cars seven days a week. I’m not talking just about families visiting patients. I’m talking about people coming there for meetings in the community. Our commitment will enhance the health of the community we serve.”
Nicole’s Village Tavern in Wellington both sponsored and
hosted Monday’s luncheon. Nicole’s owner Ron Miranda, the husband of chamber executive director Jaene Miranda, said 2007 has been a tough year for area restaurants, with several having closed or in the process of going out of business, causing him to reconsider how to serve customers.
“2007 has not been a banner year,” Miranda said. “I’ve talked to a lot of restaurant owners in the area, and they say 2007 has been a little difficult. We, like other businesses, need to go on and re-engineer and think of other ways to do business and make ourselves profitable. What
we are introducing to our businesses and the business community is our corporate catering program. It’s a takeout service for businesses designed to be quick and easy for you. You get in and get out. It’s a good way to maintain our business.”
For more information about all Nicole’s has to offer, call (561) 793-3456. The chamber’s next luncheon is scheduled for Aug. 13 at Tequila Cancun in Greenacres, featuring a presentation by state senators Dave Aronberg and Jeff Atwater. For more info., call (561) 790-6200 or visit www. palmswest.com.
795-1404
By Carol Porter Town-Crier Staff Report
The Loxahatchee Groves Town Council has hired the firm Calvin, Giordano & Associates to perform code enforcement work in the new town.
Calvin, Giordano, a large engineering and consulting firm with offices in several Florida cities, has several decades of experience providing a range of services to municipalities and other government entities.
George Keller, the firm’s director of government services, told the council Tuesday his firm wanted to offer the town a barebones approach to code enforcement.
“We understand that code enforcement is a very sensitive matter,” Keller said. “In your case, less is more. The important thing is to get compliance where you want to through education.”
The town will pay the company a fixed fee of $1,500 per month, with the option of hourly rates if necessary.
Loxahatchee Groves currently uses the codes established by Palm Beach County, and Keller stressed the importance of developing a set of codes that apply specifically to the town.
“Over time you adopt your own codes and you tailor them to your needs,” Keller said. “From an enforcement standpoint, everyone is responsible for their own property. That’s why it’s important to have standards so they can be applied equally throughout. If not, you can get into an uncomfortable position.”
Keller said new municipalities usually rely more on code staff at the beginning of the process, and less as time passes.
Interim Town Attorney David Tolces emphasized the effectiveness of gaining compliance through education instead of punishment.
“You would have a process of educating the community,” Tolces said. “You would not be going straight to notices of violation. You could be adopting ordinances that would be deleted or adding provisions that you would want for your commu-
nity — ‘you need to correct this or you get a violation.’ You will have the process all worked out, and it is able to be enforced uniformly, quickly and fairly.”
Councilman Dave Autrey made a motion to approve Calvin, Giordano & Associates as the town’s code enforcement agency, which was seconded by Councilman Dr. Bill Louda. It passed unanimously.
In other business:
• Mindful of the need to collect revenue for the new town, the council approved the imposition of two taxes, a public service tax and a communications service tax.
Tolces said the public service tax had previously been imposed on the purchase of electricity, water service, metered natural gas, metered or bottled liquefied petroleum gas, and metered or bottled manufactured gas prior to incorporation, with the revenue going to the county.
Although Autrey and Louda both expressed concerns about imposing the public service tax, Mayor David Browning said the town should take advantage of all available sources of revenue available to keep the property tax rate down.
“Our leanest year will be the first one,” Browning said. “We are already paying for it. I’m committed to keeping things as low as possible. If we don’t need it, we can repeal it. It helps a bit. Until we get a comprehensive plan set up, I’m all in favor of going on with it.”
Louda made a motion to approve the ordinance on first reading, which was seconded by Vice Mayor Marge Herzog. It passed unanimously. The second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for Aug. 7. Following adoption, the tax goes into effect Jan. 1, 2008.
The communications service tax is being collected by Palm Beach County through December. Tolces said in order to insure the continued collection of the CST, the council must adopt the ordinance and forward it to the Department of Revenue by Sept. 1. Herzog made a motion to approve the ordinance, which was seconded by Autrey. It passed unanimously.
• The council held off on choosing a service agreement with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office until next month.
Interim Town Manager Dr. Irv Rosenbaum told the council they had two service alternatives: paying $518,232 annually, which would guarantee one deputy within the town boundaries round the clock, or paying $240,000 annually for full police services, supplemental coverage and special needs but without the guarantee of a deputy assigned exclusively within the town at all times. The specifics of the law enforcement service agreement would be supplied when an option is chosen, he said.
Council members said they supported the lower figure, and some suggested an hourly rate should other services be needed.
Autrey said the second option offered the same service they always had, and he didn’t feel the higher rate was advisable, because it would eat up the funds the town garnered through revenue sharing. Autrey said if the town went with the higher figure, the millage rate would likely go up.
Tolces said he and the staff of management company New Community Strategies could evaluate the current types and volume of calls for service. If there is a need for more services, they could advise the option of more enforcement.
Tolces said the agreement must be executed by Oct. 1, so it would be good idea to get a decision to the PBSO by sometime in August. Autrey also said it would be helpful to hear from a PBSO representative at the next meeting to get feedback.
Interim Town Clerk Matt Lippman noted that the council could go with the higher figure and then back off during the budget discussions.
Councilman Dennis Lipp asked members of the public to tell the council which option they felt was more appropriate. Residents at the meeting voiced support for the lower figure.
The council tabled the Law Enforcement Service AgreeSee CODE, page 42A
continued from page 1A with basic water-specific needs and necessities.
A major adjustment was the inclusion of dialysis centers as a “first tier” medical need. In the aftermath of Frances and Jeanne, Connor said, county emergency personnel realized it was a bigger issue than many originally thought.
“We had a lot of patients coming in who said they hadn’t had dialysis in days and that they couldn’t get in touch with their dialysis center, or their center had no power,” Connor said.
“As a result, we got them in the queue in the first list of places.”
To make sure that never happens again, emergency managers now know that dialysis centers, along with hospitals and nursing homes, must be among the first to get power restored.
“They’re key, critical lifesaving services,” Connor said.
Some things remain the same, though. The hospital still does several emergency drills a year, covering situations ranging from hurricanes to an avian flu epidemic. The facility has contracts with pharmacies to supply additional medication in advance of a storm, fuel companies to top off and refill diesel tanks, and food vendors to ensure at least a week’s worth of rations are available. The hospital also has access to the HCA warehouse in Miramar, where linens, batteries, flashlights and basic medical supplies are stored.
Palms West Hospital also has contingencies with area pharmacies to dispense prescriptions after a storm if the pharmacies are not powered up and running.
“If a patient comes in and says they absolutely need them, knowing the status of Walgreens and Albertsons, we’re able to work with them,” Connor said. “They’ve been very cooperative.”
In addition, hospitals work together, even if they are not part of the same corporate network. Wellington Regional Medical Center may be a corporate competitor to Palms West Hospital, but all that is put aside during an emergency, Connor said.
“It is a team effort — not just us, the whole community, law enforcement, other hospitals, other healthcare providers and county folks as well,” he said. “I’m very glad to see our peer facility in Wellington is doing major upgrade to their generators... We may be competitors, but we’re all in this together.”
Administrators are in constant communication with personnel from other hospitals and the county. Connor said conference calls are incorporated into preparation for storms, while local news and the Weather Channel become suppliers for information junkies. And if a storm becomes imminent, additional personnel are contacted.
“If we can’t staff the hospital through, as well as after, the storm, we can’t be the resource to the community that is necessary,” Connor said. “We arrange
staff ahead of time; most departments have ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams, with the ‘B’ team expected to relieve the ‘A’ team poststorm.”
The hospital is also a shelter for personnel families. Connor said day care is provided, and sleeping arrangements are coordinated. This is because personnel will work 12-hour shifts, and during a storm are unable to leave the premises.
“It’s not the Ritz,” Connor said. “It’s almost like a MASH [mobile army surgical hospital] unit, because you want to provide continuity of care with our patients, while dealing with all the other situations that have to do with things like: can staff get here? Who has gas for the car? Who doesn’t? Is relief here?”
Connor added the hospital has a key physician requirement. The chief of the hospital’s medical staff works to ensure a general surgeon, obstetrician and several emergency physicians are in house at all times.
In advance of a storm, Palms West Hospital also attempts to discharge patients who do not absolutely need to be there. This reduces the number of patients the hospital must staff for, and opens up beds for transfers from potentially more endangered coastal hospitals, Connor said.
Hospital personnel are on hand during a storm to ensure that problems are taken care of promptly, he noted. Engineering department personnel, such as electricians, plumbers and maintenance staff, are in the building to spot-check for leaks
or broken windows or help evacuate portions of the hospital if needed.
“We have processes in place for evacuation,” Connor said. “We have fire compartments behind double doors, and would evacuate from compartment to compartment, which is more secure, depending on what the situation is.”
Connor said only the first floor is equipped with hurricane shutters, since they are the most likely to be impacted by flying debris. He noted the hospital’s
landscaping company comes out in advance of a storm to trim trees, while hospital personnel clear trash cans from the parking lot and clear the hospital roof of potential flying objects. After a storm, the landscapers come out to help clear branches and other material that might be obstructing the pathway into the hospital.
The overall goal, Connor said, is to ensure that Palms West Hospital is up and running for its community before, during and after a major storm.
On Saturday, July 14, the Cultural Trust of the Palm Beaches hosted “One Night Stand Up” at the South Florida Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. The featured comedians were Richard Lewis, Kevin Pollak and Chelsea Handler. There were drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and more than enough blue humor to go around. After the show, some lucky people got to mingle with the comedians. For more information about the Cultural Trust, call (561) 333-4948 or visit www.cultural trustpb.org.
I’m so excited. I’ve been waiting and waiting. The anticipation is killing me. But Saturday’s the big day — the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series comes out. I’ve pre-ordered mine, just like tens of millions of other fans in the U.S. alone.
Aren’t you proud of author J.K. Rowling? Didn’t she just do everything correctly? First of all, she somehow got kids to use their thumbs to turn pages instead of click video game buttons. Second, she made sure the inevitable movies were true to her vision. Third, she gave her approval for an Orlando theme park. If anyone deserves more money than the Queen of England, it’s Rowling. Due to England’s taxes, she will probably become an American citizen soon, however. Every time a new Potter book comes out, her majesty sends an auditor over to Rowling’s house.
In her latest book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling has said two main characters die. I know there are people out there who read faster than I can, but they better not tell me which characters kick the bucket. I want to find out for myself. We Potter fans are all worried for our favorites.
Personally, I’m still reeling from Professor Dumbledore’s death in the last book. In his magical world, however, there may be a way for him to come back. She didn’t mention if anyone revives. In a way, that would be a little too “Hollywood” for me — kind of contrived. But we’ll see.
It’s so nice to have the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to escape to, even if it’s just through reading. It’s the Monday Night Football of the literary set. We don’t have to participate, but we can get all wrapped up in it
just the same. We’re armchair wizards. Unlike my children’s real schools, I am in no way required to participate. I didn’t have to join the Hogwarts PTA, bake magical cupcakes or buy any pumpkin-themed wrapping paper. Even if Professor Snape is the most evil teacher ever, I don’t have to write the school board. I don’t even pay taxes to support Hogwarts beyond the cost of the book.
When I have my husband Mark trapped in the car on a long trip, I read him Harry Potter. He doesn’t mind. When we were first married, I read him books with more of an adult theme, but we kept having to pull over. Whomping Willow and giant spiders aside, Harry is safer.
I’m still debating whether to attend the bookstore’s Harry Potter party where they crack open the first cases of the book at midnight. I want my book right
away but I don’t want to be the tallest kid in the room. I may not have to worry. My flight attendant sister says grown men sitting in first class read it. They may be in line, too. Of course, as the cases are opened, there may be pushing and shoving and the perpetrators would be hauled off by the police. I’d hate for that to happen. I won’t be able to get my book if I’m locked in the back of a patrol car.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth movie in the very successful series, continues the trend of growing up from earlier movies. Of course the movies, like the books, really have little to do with witchcraft (who ever heard of witches celebrating Christmas the way these do?) and far more to do with a filtered look at modern life.
In Phoenix the focus is on terror, both large and small. The government (Ministry of Magic) refuses to acknowledge the return of its great enemy, “He Who Must Not Be Named.” Newspapers, catering to the government, call those who want action foolish and possibly insane, even as the audience knows the government has its head in the sand.
Look at Britain right now and watch events reflect the Rowling story. A group of doctors planned out and conducted a bombing in Glasgow. The government
spokesman mentioned the “diversity” of the plotters: one from Pakistan, one from Egypt, etc. Britain now has “The Religion That Must Not Be Named.” Talk about life imitating art! Not surprisingly, the government has also decided to remove Winston Churchill from the national secondary school curriculum. The man the British themselves voted the greatest Briton ever stood up to terrorism. The current government seems to ignore the reality of its own security situation.
The film focuses on other kinds of terror, my favorite being that of the school system. The seemingly sweet teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts tells her students that they will be learning “the theory of defense” rather than learning how to do it. That sounds like the defense of the “new math” where the slogan was, “it doesn’t matter if you
solve the problem right as long as you understand it.” Of course, that marked the end of most real math instruction in many schools. It also provides the reason most schools of education are a waste of time. I have had more than a few professors with similar ideas.
The teacher, Dolores Umbridge (and Rowling has a genius for naming people) has no problem torturing Harry Potter and turning the school into a prison. Her title is the Inquisitor and her helpers, made up of the most rotten students, are called the “Inquisitorial Squad.” Again, a perfect name.
Too often, we sugarcoat horrendous things and create euphemisms for them. Supporters of the most outrageous ideas not only defend them but demand an end to any debate, declaring the issue settled. Unfortunately, far too often the schools seem to fall into that trap. I remember
By Leonard Wechsler
years ago when teachers were expected to always present two sides of an argument, even when one seemed obviously right. That way, students could learn both sides and judge for themselves, a very high form of learning. It was not always easy to present two sides: imagine trying to defend something like slavery. But when the arguments given by white southerners at the time were presented, students could poke holes in
See WECHSLER, page 42A
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The Royal Palm Beach library (500 Civic Center Way) presented the Harry Potter-themed event Hogwarts Fun on Saturday, July 14. Children ages five and up enjoyed Harry Potter stories, trivia, prizes and diplomas. Delray Beach entertainer, story teller and magician Suzy Hammer, dressed as Hogwarts’ Professor Minerva McGonagall, entertained the youngsters. For more information about programs at the Royal Palm Beach library, call (561) 790-6030. For more information about Suzy Hammer, visit her web site at www.suzyhammer.com.
“Professor McGonagall” casts a spell.
A collection of Harry Potter books at the library.
Okeeheelee Nature Center day campers spent the day at Lion Country Safari Tuesday, July 17. The young campers rode a tour bus through the seven sections of the wildlife preserve and saw many animals, including wildebeests, rhinos, antelopes, lions, zebras and chimps. After a picnic lunch, the children went to the Safari Splash to play in the water and cool off. Then they set off for a walk around Safari World, visiting the petting zoo and lory aviary, rode paddleboats, fed giraffes and more.
PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER
FPL Sunshine Energy Program Director of Operations John Holtz, marketing manager Julie Kreafle and residential representative John Lozier offer information on green energy.
On Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15, the Palm Beach Zoo held Winter in July. Sponsored by FPL with 40 tons of snow provided by Royal Palm Ice, the event featured jugglers, storytelling, animals, arts and crafts, games, live music and a special guest appearance by the Snow Queen. In addition to giving South Florida youngsters a chance to frolic in snow, Winter in July educated the children about sun safety. With help from FPL, the zoo was “carbon-neutral” for the two-day event, offsetting carbon dioxide emissions created by the use of electricity. Fossil fuels were substituted with clean fuel sources such as wind and solar power. For more information on alternative energy, call FPL’s Sunshine Energy Department at (877) 529-2610 or visit www.fplsunshineenergy.com.
The Snow Queen greets Samantha Schwartz of Lake Worth.
From Wednesday, July 11 through Friday, July 13, Royal Palm Covenant Church in Royal Palm Beach hosted its popular Youth Explosion. The three-day event kicked off last Wednesday with an open forum for youngsters to ask questions of their teachers, counselors and peers, discussing issues that affect their lives. The following day featured a workshop with representatives from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, as well as teachers and counselors, who were there to discuss topics such as gangs, drugs and safe driving. The event concluded Friday with a bounce house, face-painting for younger children and a faith-based concert with dancing performed by church groups from throughout South Florida. Royal Palm Covenant Church is located at 660 Royal Palm Beach Blvd. For more info., call the church at (561) 793-1077.
The Wellington Warriors 13and-under travel baseball team won the United States Youth Baseball Association World Series on June 27 in Knoxville, Tenn. The title win topped off a successful 14-1-1 regular season.
The Warriors’ season in the highly competitive South Florida Premier League, combined with last season’s 16-0 regular season record, gives the team a 30-1-1 record in travel league play in the last two seasons.
The Warriors concluded their travel league regular season by winning the South Florida Premier League 13-U Championship, defeating the highly ranked Weston Hawks 7-3 in the semifinals to advance to the championship game.
In the championship game, the Warriors beat the previously undefeated and numberone-seeded Deerfield Dynamite in a well-played, hardfought championship game.
Jacob O’Keefe dominated a strong Deerfield lineup, allowing two runs over six innings to earn the complete game victory.
A key two-out, bases-loaded triple by Darren Hansen in the top of the fifth inning erased a 2-1 deficit and put the Warriors on top, securing their first Florida Premier League Championship.
At the United States Youth Baseball Association World Series, the Warriors competed in
the opening ceremony skills competition, taking first place in the Home Run Derby and in the Around-the-Horn competition.
The Warriors quickly established themselves as the team to beat as they completed pool play undefeated and entered the double elimination championship bracket as the number-twoseed.
The Warriors defeated the Saline Storm from Michigan 111 in the semifinal game. Hansen pitched a complete game and Dakota Mitchell came through with a clutch two-out double to lead the Warriors to a 5-3, come-from-behind win against Team Knoxville to reach the championship game undefeated.
The Warriors dominated in the championship game, overpowering Team Knoxville 18-4 in five innings. Peter Rivera, J.J.
Rodriguez and Dean Lockwood led the Warriors offense, each going three-forfour at the plate, including a monster two-run home run by Lockwood that cleared the 325-foot fence in right field. Outstanding pitching and strong defensive play from David Koos, Jared Tosner, O’Keefe and Chase Depastino allowed the Warriors to go undefeated throughout the tournament, the first time in the nine-year history of the tournament that has ever been accomplished. The Warriors finished the year with an overall record of 68-9-1.
The Warriors will hold tryouts for the upcoming 14-andunder fall season on Aug. 17 at Wellington Village Park. Call Coach Mike Koos at (561) 301-9726 for more information and to register.
Acreage resident Keith Grieser, who three weeks ago swept the West Palm Beach Bodybuilding Championships, has now made it two in a row by sweeping his division again.
Grieser won the Men Over 50 Lightweight class and overall in the Over 50 at the Southern States Bodybuilding Championships held Saturday, July 14 in Fort Lauderdale. The Southern States is sanctioned by the National Physique Committee of the USA Inc.
Grieser is now preparing for the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association Nationals in Pennsylvania on Oct. 6, with the opportunity to represent the United States in the Mr. Universe Contest in London, England, and the World Games in Essen, Germany.
Bible School At
P.W. Presbyterian
Palms West Presbyterian Church will hold its annual Vacation Bible School Aug. 6-10 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. each day. The program is for children in grades pre-K through eighth. They will explore the “Great Bible Reef” and enjoy music, stories, games, crafts and snacks. The cost is $8 per child and $16 per family. Parents are encouraged to register their children. For more information, call Candi McLeod at (561) 7951854. Palms West Presbyterian Church is located at 13689 Okeechobee Blvd.
Allstar Martial Arts Academy winners include (front row, L-R) Andrew Rosenblatt, Jonathan Rosenblatt, Maggie DeMars, Lexy Cintron, Julia Cesare, Saahas Rajendran, Nidiyan Rajendran, Daniel Weinstein and Robert Waite; (second row) Dane Dorsainvil, Briana Yewell, Paul Goldstein, Joey Bellows, Jared Buhrman and Alex Hovannesian; (back row) owner/ instructor Jack Lord, Alexa Ragusa, Philip Ragusa, Christian Dooley, David Rosenblatt, Joseph Nelson, Andrew Weinstein and owner/instructor Jodi Lord. Not pictured are Hailey Lord, Hannah Lord and Matthew Lord.
Students from Allstar Martial Arts Academy in Wellington competed recently at the I.C.M.A. National Championship Tournament in Coconut Creek. Under the instruction of owners/instructors Jack and Jodi Lord, students competed with others of the same age and rank and demonstrated their skills as they brought home lots of winning trophies.
Every competitor from Allstar Mar-
tial Arts Academy placed and won trophies in the categories of forms, self defense and sparring.
Allstar Martial Arts Academy is located in the Kobosko’s Crossing shopping center, 9124 Forest Hill Blvd.
For further information about martial arts training at Allstar Martial Arts Academy, call (561) 790-5422 or visit the company’s web site at www.amaa wellington.com.
The American Legion Post 258 17-andunder baseball team finished its 2007 season with a record of 18 wins and 11 losses and placed third in the district playoffs held last week.
The Wellington-based team entered the tournament in third place out of seven area teams.
In Post 258’s first game against East Boca Post 245, Jake Meiers pitched a one-hit shutout to win 3-0.
Post 258 won the next game 6-4 against Santaluces Post 164, which was in first place. In this exciting comeback game, Dusty Wilson picked up the win in relief from starting pitcher Matt Solomon. Bryan Clark brought in the winning run with a hit off the left center field fence. Mike Garifine added an insurance run with the final RBI.
Post 258 was eliminated with losses
to Lake Worth and West Boca. In earlier games, Post 258 defeated Post 47 of Lake Worth 7-5 and won the second game of the doubleheader 6-2.
The Lake Worth game was a continuation of a rain-shortened game from Saturday, July 7. The game was picked up in the top of the sixth inning with the score tied 5-5.
Post 258 scored two runs in the sixth as Bryan Clark drove in the winning runs, and Travis Hollaway pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
In the second game against Seminole Ridge Post 367, left-handed pitcher Dusty Wilson pitched a complete game while Phil Downey had some excellent defensive plays, as well as two hits.
T.J. Malone drove in a run and center fielder Mike Garifine had a good day at the plate.
Saturday, July 21
• The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare by the Sea XVII will continue through July 21-22 at Carlin Park in Jupiter. Admission is free. Visit www.pbshakespeare.org or call (561) 963-6755 for more information.
• The Lake Worth Playhouse (713 Lake Ave.) will continue The Rocky Horror Show from July 21 through July 28. Tickets cost $21 to $50. For more info., call (561) 586-6410 or visit www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.
• The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach) will continue the mod musical Shout! through Aug. 5. Shout! brings together five groovy girls who celebrate the music of Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield and Lulu, performing new arrangements of hit songs that made England swing in the ’60s. Tickets cost $21 to $50. Call (561) 8327469 for more info.
• On Saturday, July 21 from 9 a.m. to noon, Mounts Botanical Garden will offer a succulent wreath-making workshop. The cost (including materials) is $45 for members and $55 for non-members. Mounts Botanical Garden is located at 531 N. Military Trail in West Palm Beach. For more info., call (561) 233-1757.
• The Okeeheelee Nature Center (7715 Forest Hill Blvd.) will hold a Deer Walk on Saturday, July 21 from 9 to 11 a.m. for ages nine and older. Participants can elevate their appreciation of nature as they learn about whitetail deer behavior and see the herd up close. RSVP to (561) 2331400.
• On Saturday, July 21, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office will be stationed outside Pediatric Associates’ Royal Palm Beach office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to inspect that car seats are properly installed. There is no charge for the inspection and they
will be done on a first come, first served basis. Pediatric Associates is located at 1017 N. State Road 7. For more info., visit www.pediatric associates.com or call (877) 3345437.
• Salsa Caliente Dance Company will present Salsa Bash III on Saturday, July 21 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Palms Ballroom (543 N. State Road 7, Suite 101, Royal Palm Beach). Music will be provided by DJ Joey G, with performances by Salsa Caliente of West Palm Beach and Salsa Ardiante of Miami. Admission is $12. Call (561) 204-2404 for more info.
Sunday, July 22
• Students from the Junior Conservatory will perform the hit Broadway show The Wiz on Sunday, July 22 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Maltz Jupiter Theater (1001 East Indiantown Road, Jupiter). Call (561) 575-2223 for more info.
Monday, July 23
• Grand Evangelistic Crusade with Yiye Avila, one of the most famous and respected evangelists in Latin America, will be at Expo East at the South Florida Fairgrounds (9067 Southern Blvd.) Monday and Tuesday, July 23-24 at 6:30 p.m. Call (561) 6422782 for more info.
Tuesday, July 24
• The Acreage/Loxahatchee Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at 7:29 a.m. at Sneaky Pete’s Restaurant in the Grove (Winn-Dixie) Plaza on Seminole Pratt Whitney Road. For more information, call President Richard Helton at (561) 792-5379.
• The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training will hold an informational meeting on Tuesday, July 24 at 6 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center (12165 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). To register for a meeting or to learn more about TNT, call (561) 775-9954, visit www.teamintraining.
org/pb, or e-mail michelle.mohamed @lls.org.
• The Royal Palm Beach branch library will present a Teen Poetry Workshop Tuesdays, July 24 and 31 at 6 p.m. for ages 12 and up. Awardwinning poet Stacie Kiner will lead the workshops, which include readings, suggestions and techniques. To preregister, call (561) 790-6030.
Wednesday, July 25
• Marilyn Manson and Slayer will kick off their North American tour on Wednesday, July 25 at 6 p.m. at the Sound Advice Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Tickets cost $25 to $49.50 and are available at www.livenation.com or by calling TicketMaster at (561) 966-3309.
Thursday, July 26
• The Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County will host Ladies Nite Out on Thursday, July 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Lake Worth. The night will begin at the Lake Worth Playhouse (709 Lake Avenue) with networking and a film (The Cats of Mirikitani). Afterward, participants will walk next door to L’Anjou French restaurant for a three-course meal with 12 choices of entrees. The price for members is $35 and $40 for non-members. Pre-paid reservations are accepted until July 23. RSVP to (561) 253-0236.
• The Palms West Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business program will hold a buffet dinner and presentation on Thursday, July 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the IDEAL School in Royal Palm Beach (400 Royal Commerce Road). Host Wendy Soderman will share her inspiring story of how she and her husband Kris began the school. The cost, which includes a light supper, is $25 for members and $40 for non-members. For more info., call Anitra Harmon at (561) 790-6200 or e-mail specialevents@palms west.com.
Friday, July 27
• Florida Classical Ballet Theatre will present Something Classic, Something New on Friday, July 27 at 9 p.m. at Palm Beach Community College’s Eissey Campus Theatre (11051 Campus Drive, Palm Beach Gardens). The ballet Les Sylphides, as well as new choreography, will be presented. For additional information, call (561) 6308235.
Saturday, July 28
• A Gigantic Garage Sale is set for Saturday, July 28 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the South Florida Expo Center at the South Florida Fairgrounds. A portion of the admission will be donated to the South Florida Fair Scholarship Fund. For more info., call the South Florida Fair at (561) 793-0333 or visit www.southfloridafair.com.
• The Petapalooza Adopt-a-thon will take place Saturday, July 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, 3200 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach. Reduced adoption fees will be offered. Call (561)
686-3663 or visit www.hspb.org for more info.
• Sean’s Dance Factory will present Big Bang VII Saturday, July 28 at 7 p.m. in Dreyfoos Hall at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach). Call (561) 832-7469 for info.
• The third annual Dreher Park Dash 5K & Cookout will take place Saturday, July 28 at 7 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the Home Team of the Lord’s Place. The family-friendly event will include a 5K race at 7 p.m. followed by Kids’ K (.74 mile) at 7:45 p.m. and a barbecue dinner provided by Park Avenue BBQ. Registration fees are $22 for Running Club members, $25 for non-members who preregister and $30 on race day. Registration for students is $15 and $5 for children participating in the Kids K. Dreher Park is located at 1301 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach. For information, call (561) 838-9424 or visit www.runpalmbeach.com.
• The Palm Beach Idol Talent Show will take place on Saturday, July 28 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre (1001 East Indiantown Road, Jupiter). Prizes will be awarded in three age groups for the most talented individuals in the area. Call (561) 575-2223 for more info.
• Wellington Parks & Recreation will present its Dive-In Movie Night series on Saturday, July 28 at 8 p.m. at the Wellington Aquatic Center (12165 W. Forest Hill Blvd.). Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. Call (561) 753-2484 for more info.
• On Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29, the South Florida Fairgrounds will be the site of the Great Train Expo, a traveling show that caters to model railroad enthusiasts. Model train dealers will be there to offer a variety of products. Admission is $7 for adults. Call (561) 793-0333 or visit www.southfloridafair.com for more info. Sunday, July 29
• Shark Week will take place at the South Florida Science Museum (4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach) from Sunday, July 29 to Aug. 5. From noon to 6 p.m. each day, there will be expert weekend lectures, comparing shark jaws, making your own sharktooth necklaces and other bite-sized activities. Call (561) 832-1988 for more info.
Tuesday, July 31
• Dan Waugh of Edward Jones will present “How To Raise a Money-Smart Child” from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 31 at La Vita Bella Restaurant (12793 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite A and B, Wellington). Seating is limited. Reservations are recommended. For more info., call Waugh at (561) 798-6184 or e-mail dan.waugh@ edwardjones.com.
Send calendar items to: Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414. FAX: (561) 7936090. E-mail: news@gotowncrier.com.
The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) will host a healthcare forum on Monday, Aug. 13 at the South County Civic Center in Delray Beach. From 2 to 4 p.m., the group will discuss vital information about healthcare for today’s retired Americans. FLARA’s goal is to implement policies that ensure seniors and people with disabilities have access to affordable prescription drugs. The purpose of the forum is to discuss how the United States can establish a single-payer healthcare system. The South County Civic Center is located at 16700 Jog Road. For more information, call (561) 792-8799.
The Village of Wellington’s property values and maintenance standards are among the highest in Palm Beach County. The village’s land development regulations require that village residents maintain specific aesthetic standards. Among these is the requirement to hedge the outside of all fences and walls adjacent to a major thoroughfare.
On June 20, the Architectural Review Board adopted a new list of approved hedge material for thoroughfare fencing. The approved thoroughfare hedges are: Florida privet, green buttonwood, green cocoplum, Jamaican caper, red-tip cocoplum, Sandankwa viburnum, Simpson stopper, southern red cedar, Spanish stopper, Walters viburnum and Yaupon holly.
Additional landscape requirements are as follows:
• Property owners shall hedge the area outside fences and walls which are adjacent to the street
• Property owners shall hedge all chain-
link fences, including side and back yard
• The landscaped area shall be irrigated
• Plants shall be a minimum 36 inches high at time of planting
• Plants shall be installed 30 inches on center for five-gallon material or 36 inches on center for seven-gallon material
• It shall be the responsibility of the property owner to maintain the hedge material at a height not less than the height of the fence or wall. Material shall be five feet in height within 12 months of planting and six feet in height within 24 months of planting.
Call the Planning and Zoning Division at (561) 753-2430 for more information.
The Palm Beach Zoo recently received a $400,000 grant from Boston-based Jane’s Trust. The grant was made to support the development and implementation of the zoo’s conservation medicine and conservation science programs. This two-year grant will help startup operations for the zoo’s Center for Conservation Medicine, a central component of the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Animal Care Complex which broke ground on May 29. The Center for Conservation Medicine will strive to link animal, human and environmental health and welfare in the southeastern United States.
“This is a very prestigious gift and a major contribution to the development of our conservation vision,” Palm Beach Zoo President and CEO Dr. Terry Maple said. “While our zoo is not large by national standards, we are increasingly achieving recognition for our leadership in advancing conservation as an integral part of our mission. This generous grant from Jane’s Trust is another endorsement of our tremendous potential here at the Palm Beach Zoo.”
The health and welfare of people, animals and the environment are linked. Conservation medicine is an interdisciplinary field which has emerged in the past 20 years to address these connections and involves professionals from many different disciplines such as veterinarians, physicians, biologists, ecologists, psychologists, anthropologists, educators and conservationists. The Center for Conservation Medicine will be a collaborative center for education, conservation and scientific research. Scientists and students from Florida Atlantic University have been invited to participate in the center’s field activities.
Jane’s Trust was created in 2002 and awards annual grants of approximately $9 million in Florida and New England. Grants are made to support a variety of objectives, including interdisciplinary efforts to understand links between human and animal health and welfare. The Palm Beach Zoo joins other notable Jane’s Trust grantees such as 1000 Friends of Florida, Mote Marine Laboratory and the National Wildlife Federation. For more information, visit www.palmbeachzoo.org.
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has approved financial support of more than $140,000 to 11 sports events taking place in the 12 months following Oct. 1.
The “Big Three” golf majors — the Honda Classic (Feb. 25 through March 2, 2008), ADT Championships (Nov. 1318, 2007) and Allianz Championships (Feb. 4-10, 2008) — all received $25,000 of support from the commission. In return, the county receives exposure through hours of TV time on the major networks, dedicated ad spots, millions of dollars into the economy and more
than 5,000 total room nights. The continuing success and support of the Big Three reinforces the tourism message that Palm Beach County is the home of golf in the United States. Additionally, Optimist International received a $1,000 grant for its Tournament of Champions (Nov. 16-18), which brings together top junior golfers from around the country.
The National Horse Show (Dec. 5-9) and the Winter Equestrian Festival (Jan. 30 through March 23, 2008) will bring new opportunities in new media advertising through event web casts, plus considerable media exposure nationally and in Europe. An independent economic impact report done in 2005 estimates that the event brings in more than 85,000 room nights to our area annually. The festival underpins the equestrian community and consequently fuels much of the economic activity in Wellington.
The American Youth Soccer Organization, Section 14 will host its State Games (Jan. 18-21, 2008) at Village Park in Wellington. More than 100 teams are expected, with 800 room nights and more than $400,000 in economic impact.
Spring Fling Lacrosse (March 1-31, 2008) continues to consolidate in Palm Beach County, bringing around 3,000 room nights and $2 million to the local economy. Top women’s college teams including Yale, Notre Dame, Amherst, UMass and Dartmouth are among the more than 100 teams that traditionally attend.
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission is a non-profit organization that contracts with Palm Beach County to bring in and support sports events that put people into hotel rooms, to maximize the positive economic impact of these events to the county and to market the image of Palm Beach County as a tourist destination nationally and internationally. For more info., visit www.palmbeach sports.com or call (561) 233-3124.
Send news items to: The Town-Crier, 12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 31, Wellington, FL 33414. Fax: (561) 793-6090. E-mail: news@goTownCrier.com.
Why leadership
As organizations struggle to adapt to rapid changes, they look to leaders who are effective in today’s fastpaced global environment. Whether you head a business, non-profit, religious or governmental agency, or aspire to that role, the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership provides you with the knowledge, disposition
with the and abilities required to succeed.
• Learn to appreciate your leadership skills and abilities
• Develop an understanding of your organization’s needs
• Accomplish objectives through working with groups
• Become more effective at influencing others and teams
• Learn the importance of embracing change
• Develop skills to build sustainable ethical leadership
The Master of Science in Organizational Leadership is a 36-credit hour program and can be completed by most
students in six semesters.
“The Organizational Leadership program at PBA is amazing and has allowed me to think critically about decisions I make not only in the workplace but in every situation in life. I strongly recommend the program to anyone who wants to grow in leadership and impact the world around them.”
How are the classes offered? are for to come from your immediately and will grow in confidence in
Republican Party of Palm Beach County
Courses are offered one evening a week from 6 - 10 p.m. to accommodate your work schedule. Graduate level programs are designed for learning to come from your fellow students as well as your professors, textbooks and class assignments. You can apply your new skills on the job dence in your leadership abilities as you go through the program each week.
How much will it cost?
Tuition for the graduate programs is calculated per credit hour. Your total cost and your cost per semester
will depend on several factors:
• Full-time or part-time student status
•Eligibilityforfinancialaid
• Eligibility for financial aid
• Tuition assistance from your employer
• GLADES DAY SCHOOL founded in 1965, offers a balance of academic, athletic and extracurricular programs. Serving students from K-3 through grade 12, Glades Day School provides the opportunity for students to develop to their fullest potential. Accelerated math and science programs are offered to advanced students and all students are offered a full range of programs from computer technology and foreign language to the performing arts. Registration for the new school year is on-going and financial aid is available to those who qualify. Glades Day School is located at 400 Gator Blvd., Belle Glade. For more information call (561) 9966769 or visit www.gladesdayschool.com.
• WELLINGTON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL is a Christ-centered, Bible-based school that is accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Christian Schools of Florida. Students from early childhood education through high school will experience a rich academic environment taught by certified teachers whose goals are to achieve superior scholastic results. Students will also be enriched with foreign language, music, art, choral band, drama and varsity sports programs. The school is located at 1000 Wellington Trace. For more information and to schedule an appointment to visit our campus please call us at 793-1017.
• SUMMIT CHRISTIAN SCHOOL is an independent non-denominational Christian school that has been educating youth in our community for over 30 years. Serving children from six weeks of age to grade 12, we train students to think critically and biblically and act morally and responsibly — in a learning environment that gives them security and significance. Summit Christian offers a cohesive and systematic collegeprep curriculum, the most unique fine arts programs available and an extensive athletic program that includes varsity football. “Summit Saints” athletic offerings begin in K-5 and continue through high school. Summit Christian School is also home to Summit Productions, our school’s film and television program. Busing, extended care, fine arts after-school programs and summer camps are also available. For more information, call (561) 686-8081 ext. 319 or visit www.summitchristian.com.
• TEMPLE BETH ZION RELIGIOUS AND PRESCHOOL — “My First Jewish Experience” is a fun, Montessori-style experience for children ages 5 and 6 including vocabulary games, art, musical activities, Jewish holidays, prayers and customs. “More Jewish Experiences” (ages 6 and 7) is a continuation of MFJE, learning to read and write in Hebrew. At our preschool, children of all faiths learn and play together. For more information call (561) 798-8888 or go to our web site at www.templebethzion.net. We are located at 129 Sparrow Drive in Royal Palm Beach.
• PLANET KIDS a family owned and operated child care center for 25 years, offers a safe, fun and educational environment for children from six weeks thru eleven years. Their state-of-the-art facility includes a theatre, computer/library, science/ art, music/gymnastics, multiple intelligence discovery class, Spanish/French, and specialty rooms. Your child will learn foreign languages as well as sign language. The three safe, age-specific playgrounds are the coolest in town. They offer a creative, hands-on curriculum to prepare your child for Kindergarten. The staff is warm, loving, and specifically trained for each age level. Planet Kids has five convenient locations in Palm Beach County.
• DILLON COUNTRY DAY is an accredited non-denominational private independent college preparatory school serving the western communities since 1995, Grades 6 thru 12, providing the “bridge” to high school & college. Individual attention is given with a low student/teacher ratio of 5 to 1. Music, fine arts, marine sciences – scuba & surf, are just a few of the unique and interesting programs we offer. We participate in the McKay Scholarship program. Our motto is “Leadership Through Service and Commitment.” To find out more, call us today at (561) 798-4748.
• UNITY FOR KIDS EARLY INTERVENTION CENTER is a non-profit non-denominational preschool and therapeutic center for children with and without special needs. Our inclusive setting allows children to learn, play and socialize together. Children can realize their full potential and achieve high levels of self-esteem. We are a center where school readiness skills such as phonics, reading, numbers and language skills are stressed. Some of our important activities include Spanish, sign language, computer, music, drama, arts and crafts. We will be a voluntary pre-K program beginning in August, as well as a family central provider. Many special-needs children can receive speech, physical and occupational therapy right at our center. We are accepting sponsors for some children who otherwise would not be able to attend our program. For further information please call Sharon Green at (561) 478-7477 or visit us at the center located at 1063 N. Haverhill in West Palm Beach.
Poinciana Day School students in grades three through eight recently participated in their final theater arts presentations.
The middle school theater arts students performed the play Sir Slob and the Princess, a modern version of the Cinderella story. The students were directed by the awardwinning theater professional Bruce Unser.
The cast worked with Mr. Unser over the past two years. The student actors include Zachary Campbell (West Palm Beach), Lauren Harpster (West Palm Beach), Nicole Hebron (Royal Palm Beach), Shelbie Heisler (West Palm Beach), Trevor Lang (Jupiter), KJ Longhurst (Palm Beach Gardens), Gabriel Mangione (Lantana), Olivia Northrop (West Palm Beach), Joseph Scugoza (Jupiter) and Gabriel Senzatimore (West Palm Beach).
The third-grade students presented the musical Ozquest, a unique presentation of The Wizard of Oz as a video game.
Amar Maharaj (West Palm Beach) was engrossed in playing his video game following Dorothy (Violet Jeffries of West Palm Beach) through her adventures in Oz. Each level of the game led to new encounters for Dorothy.
Dorothy and Toto (Jonah Baumgartner of Jupiter) meet the Munchkins, represented by the Lullaby League (Lavinia and Olivia Gladstone of Palm Beach) and the Lollipop Guild (Maeve A’Hearn and Madison Sacks of
West Palm Beach). Glinda the Good Witch (Kaitlyn Rivers of West Palm Beach) sends Dorothy and Toto off to follow the yellow brick road. In their travels, they meet the Scarecrow (Cole Fendrich of Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter), the Tin Man (Blake Clement of Lake Worth) and the Lion (Juianna Cooper of West Palm Beach) — all of whom are looking for something.
The Wicked Witch of the West (Ariana Russo of West Palm Beach) tries unsuccessfully to thwart the travelers on their journey. Finally, the heroes make it to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz (Stevie Olsen of North Palm Beach) tries his best to help everyone.
The entire performance was under the direction of elementary performing arts teacher Nina Alter. Many families helped with costumes, set design and construction, and props.
Located in West Palm Beach, Poinciana Day School is an independent school for kindergarten through eighth-grade students with class sizes of less than 15 students.
The Montessouri based curriculum includes hands-on learning opportunities in all grades. Students are constantly challenged to maximize their learning potential.
Every student participates in a well-rounded curriculum including performing arts, visual arts, sports and fitness, Spanish and technology. For more information, call (561) 6557323.
Dan Waugh, a financial advisor from the Edward Jones office in Wellington, will host an educational seminar titled “How to Raise a Money-Smart Child” on Tuesday, July 31 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center (12165 W. Forest Hill Blvd.).
The seminar is designed as a collaboration between Ed-
ward Jones and the Money Savvy Generation, an organization devoted to children’s financial literacy. The centerpiece of the program is the Money Savvy Pig piggy bank, which includes four chambers: one for saving, one for investing, one for donating and one for spending.
Waugh said seminar is a great way to provide parents and
grandparents the tools to teach children the basics of handling money, an essential lifelong skill that will become more important as they grow older.
The seminar is free, though seating is limited.
For more information, call Waugh at (561) 798-6184 or e-mail dan.waugh@edward jones.com.
Wellington High School graduateturned-designer Hassan Pierre recently launched his own clothing line at a fashion show at Tantra Restaurant & Lounge in Miami Beach.
Although Pierre has moved to Miami and now attends Barry University, he has stayed true to his Wellington roots. The clothing line, VIP Couture, was showcased in Pierre’s first fashion show by three of his Wellington friends: former WHS classmates Rachel Kirby and Nicki Silver, and Cardinal Newman High School graduate Felicia Marquez.
“Luckily, I have great-looking girl friends,” Pierre said.
Hassan’s fashions are a representation of glam-styled rock ’n’ roll. The harsh blacks and whites he pairs with metallics,
along with the images of skulls and wings wearing crowns, appeal to the rebellious trend-setter.
“Hassan and I still go to school together so we have stayed very close,” said Marquez, who works as a hostess at the lounge. “Putting the show together for him was more fun than it was work.”
The show turned out to be quite a success. About 80 people attended the standing-room-only fashion debut.
Tantra Manager Paul Darcq, who hosted the event along with Marquez, said he plans to host more of Hassan’s shows.
“It brings all sorts of new people into the restaurant and plays up the avantgarde, trendy feel,” Darcq said. “The show was sexy, but tasteful.”
Wellington Fleet Maintenance Supervisor Louis “Jay” Miller II recently earned certification through the American Public Works Association (APWA) Certified Public Fleet Professionals program.
Miller was among the first 22 candidates certified under the new credentialing program, which was launched by APWA in September. The program is designed to ensure individual competency and promote excellence in fleet management by advancing the knowledge and practice of public fleet professionals. The certification process includes an eligibility application, an examination and a re-certification process.
Miller has been employed with the village for more than 25 years. He began his career as a maintenance
worker, eventually working as both a light and heavy equipment operator.
After attending trade schools at night and studying automotive repair, heating and air conditioning, engine tuning and timing, rebuilding, bodywork and brakes, Miller eventually became supervisor of the village’s maintenance shop.
After attending further classes at Palm Beach Community College and receiving supervisor certification from the Florida Institute of Government, Miller was made village fleet maintenance supervisor.
“He has worked diligently for the village over the last quarter century and has been instrumental in the rapid growth of his division,” Director of Environmental & Engineering Services Gary Clough said of Miller.
Carolyn Kolbe of Wellington received a law degree from Loyola University’s New Orleans College of Law on May 11. Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh gave the commencement address. The school has an enrollment of approximately 800 students and 43 faculty members.
Edward Jackson Walls was born in New Castle, Penn., on April 25, 1923 and died peacefully on July 12. A World War II veteran, Walls retired from the United States Navy after a distinguished 20-year career.
A recipient of the Purple Heart, Walls was proud of his service on the maintenance and support crew for the Blue Angels. He completed two additional careers with Grumman Aircraft in Long Island, New York and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in West Palm Beach.
A resident of Palm Beach County since 1971, Walls loved riding his bike, sitting on his back porch, living by the sea and spending time with his family. Walls was a devoted husband, dedicated father, patriot and was loved by all who knew him.
Born to Edward Lowery and Lillie Jane Walls, Walls leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Virginia, and their two daughters, Shirley Sillan (husband John Sillan) of Wellington and Jacqueline Walls of Lake Worth; four grandchildren, Randall K. Sillan, Edward Matthew Farr, Leslie Sillan Plum and Jackson Polston; and one great grandchild, Jakob Sillan. He is also survived by his brother Edward Lowery Walls
Jr. (wife Katherine) of Charlotte, North Carolina.
A celebration of his life was held July 14 at Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home in Jupiter. He was laid to rest at Riverside Memorial Park in Jupiter. His family extends their heartfelt gratitude for the exceptional compassion and care shown to him in his final days by Hospice of Palm Beach County. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33407.
On Thursday, July 12, the Autism Project of Palm Beach County held a fundraiser at Clematis by Night in West Palm Beach. Indian Trail Improvement District supervisors volunteered along with Acreage residents to help the Autism Project, a local non-profit organization, raise $1,700. ITID President Michelle Damone is program manager. (Above) Acreage children about to get their faces painted. (Right, L-R) ITID Supervisor Carol Jacobs, Kim Fahey, Acreage Horseman’s Association President Celeste Hathorne and ITID Vice President Mike Erickson.
Royal Palm Beach pediatrician Dr. Melissa Singer recently was named National Woman of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2007 Man & Woman of the Year campaign. In ten weeks Dr. Singer raised over $289,000 to help the society fund lifesaving research and provide services to patients and their families.
Dr. Singer, of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, reached this goal by receiving more than 400 donations from more than 25 states and eight countries. In the past, the highest amount that had been raised nationally by a candidate was $159,000.
Cara Catalfumo from Catalfumo Construction and Development raised more than $141,000, which earned her the title of runner-up National Woman of the Year. Catalfumo, a Palm Beach County native, has been actively involved in the community since childhood.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Its mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the society has invested more than $483 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
For more information, call (561) 775-9954.
Don Dufresne, an attorney with the law firm Greenspoon Marder, has been elected chairman of the Wellington Equestrian Preserve Committee.
The Equestrian Preserve Committee advises the Wellington Village Council, the Planning Zoning & Adjustment Board, and village departments and staff on matters relating to the protection and preservation of land in the Equestrian Preserve.
The chairman is elected annually by fellow appointed committee members, who are leaders in the equestrian community. As chairman, Dufresne will work with committee staff in setting the agendas of the committee and conducting meetings.
At Greenspoon Marder, Dufresne’s primary areas of practice include residential and commercial real estate, general business law, planning and zoning, and equine law. He also assists his clients in domestic and international transactions.
Dufresne received his bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and his law de-
gree from the University of Miami School of Law. He is a member of the Florida and Washington, D.C. bar associations.
Dufresne is the president of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission and serves on the Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building Commission. He is also a member of the Forum Club and a graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County.
The Riverwalk Toastmasters Club elected a new slate of officers for the next year.
David Moore was elected president; Gina Rascati, vice president of education; Susan Rascati, treasurer; Marco Egoavil, vice president of membership; Robert Champion, vice president of public relations; George DeMoya, secretary; and
Dr. Dean Mammales, sergeant at arms.
Toastmasters offers an effective way for people to improve their communication skills. By participating in a fun and supportive environment, members become better speakers and gain the confidence needed to succeed. For more information, call Susan at (561) 682-3630.
Three local youths represented the Fifer George Weissenfels Society Children of the American Revolution during the 57th Southeastern Regional Meeting July 10 and 11 in Birmingham, Ala.
The meeting was held at the at the Hilton Birmingham Perimeter Park Hotel. Participating in the meeting were State President April Pearson, 17 of Deerfield Beach; State Historian Keilly Pike, 13 of Wellington; and her brother, Zachary Pike.
Keilly Pike was personal page for the Southeastern Regional Senior Vice President Lois Swan of Jacksonville. Zachary Pike was Florida State Flag Bearer during the meetings. Pearson was a member of the executive panel for the meetings.
The highlights of the weekend included a tour of the American Village near Birmingham. The village has replicas of several key historical buildings including Mount Vernon — George Washington’s home, the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg and the Oval Office.
Members took the Oath of Allegiance at an encampment for Washington’s troops and listened to stories about Patrick Henry’s life as a member of the House of Burgesses and eventually governor of Virginia.
They also had conversations with a Thomas Jefferson reenactor. Members also learned the Virginia Reel, a Colonial-era dance.
Meetings concluded each night with a traditional pool and pizza party.
On the final meeting night, a
formal gala ball and grand march procession followed the dinner banquet where members danced late into the night.
The 58th Southeastern Regional Meeting is now being planned, which is to be held in Florida during the summer of 2008.
The two-day meeting was presided over by Florida’s Kelly Knight of the Princess Malee Society in Jacksonville, who is Southeastern Region vice president.
Other members of the Florida delegation included Florida State Senior President Dr. Charlene Herreid of the Fort Brooke Society in Tampa and Southeastern Region Chaplain Abaca Dowling of the Princess Malee Society.
For more information, call Martha Pearson at (954) 4812996 or visit www.nscar.org.
The Wellington Travel Baseball organization has been maintaining Pierson Road between Fairlane Farms Road and 120th Avenue under Wellington’s Adopt-a-Road program.
The Warriors’ players and coaches volunteer four times a year in an effort to keep Wellington a beautiful place to live by picking up trash and litter from the street and green areas near Village Park.
Wellington Travel Baseball seeks competitive baseball players ages 14 and under. The teams will hold tryouts on Aug. 17. For information about specific times and locations, call Brian Wilder at (561) 722-2608 for eight and under,
Matt Morse at (561) 713-9943 for nine and under, Craig Brown at (954) 325-0599 for 10 and under, Dave Smith at (561) 7146328 for 11 and under, Keith
Canavan at (561) 248-2230 for 12 and under, Rob Cusenza at (561) 758-6260 for 13 and under, and Mike Koos at (561) 301-9726 for 14 and under.
The James Ryan Rivera Muscular Dystrophy “Golf for the Cure” will take place at the Links of Madison Green on Monday, Aug. 13.
James, who lives in Wellington, is a bright-eyed, energetic five-year-old who enjoys most things kids his age do: Spider-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and drawing. On March 29, James was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that weakens the muscles that help the body move. There is currently no cure for the disease.
Participation in Golf for the Cure will help raise funds needed to send James to Philadelphia Children’s Hospital in Pennsylvania to receive necessary medical treatment and therapy. The cost is $100 for a single player or $400 for a foursome, and includes pre-event food and lunch. Hole sponsorships are also available for $100.
The format includes a putting contest, team awards, door prizes, a raffle, longest drive, hole-in-one, closest to the pin and an after-game awards buffet.
Registration starts at 7 a.m. with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Call Terri Wescott at (561) 253-4724 or Dawn Dallin at (561) 309-5864 for more info.
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
The Acreage Horseman’s Association is planning to clean up the Indian Trail Improvement District’s eastern trail network on Sunday, July 29 in cooperation with several other groups, businesses and volunteers.
Association member Celeste Hathhorn told the Town-Crier Monday that Acreage equestrians are experiencing a groundswell of support.
“The horse people of The Acreage have been working toward having a real system of trails,” she said, “and we’ve gotten a lot of help from the ITID supervisors. Now we’re getting together
so we can really start creating a good system of trails for all of us.”
Volunteers will meet at Hamlin Equestrian Park at 8:30 a.m. and begin cleaning up debris that has built up along the path of the existing multipurpose trail.
“We’ll be clearing away brush and a lot of things that have been lying around,” Hathhorn said. “Horses are optional because there are some places where we’ll be using four-wheelers and even a backhoe to clean. The best thing to do is use good judgment. If a horse is very gentle and has a strong rider, there probably will not be a problem.”
For more information, visit www. acreagehorseman.com.
The Mod Sixties are back in style!
A talented cast strutting the toe-tapping songs of the beautiful British divas that made England swing in the Sixties is now at Kravis Center’s Rinker Theatre with all the glitter, knee-high boots and miniskirts that made Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark and Lulu famous on both sides of the Atlantic.
Yellow (Holly Burton), Green (Toni Carrington), Red (Nancy Emerson), Blue (Lauren Fjol) and Orange (Georgia Hair) are the five girls defined by their color, not their name. Their vocals captivated the sellout audience, who applauded throughout the show and gave them a standing ovation at the end.
Shout! The Mod Musical is a throwback to when both English and American women began redefining
themselves in the face of changing attitudes about gender.
Shout! songs travels in time from 1960 to 1970 in swinging London, reflects that change, as this talented cast of five actresses performs the most unforgettable music of the time: “To Sir With Love,” “Downtown,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Goldfinger,” among many others. With its irresistible blend of footstomping psychedelic dances and eye-popping sets and costumes, this fun, groovy musical will make you want to throw your head back and shout!
So come on now, give Kravis a shout at (561) 832-SHOW for a great night of musical history. Tickets are only $30 — the entertainment is priceless!
The annual Kids Fishing Day will take place Tuesday, July 31 through Thursday, Aug. 2.
Hundreds of underprivileged children from throughout Palm Beach County will learn about the marine environment through a hands-on encounter with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Marine Touch Tank.
The event is sponsored by the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, and members of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club.
Residents and business people can help take a kid fishing by sponsoring one or more children.
A tax-deductible donation of $35 will help cover the cost of one child’s participation. Larger donations are greatly appreciated and will help cover significant expenses such as charter fees, Tshirts and rental expenses.
Each child will receive a T-shirt, lunch, drinks, dessert, an official certificate of participation and a new fishing rod and reel. “Big fish” awards are presented to those lucky enough to catch a whopper. In addition, each child will walk away with special memories of a fun day on the water and a better understanding of the marine environment.
For more information about Kids Fishing Day, call (561) 832-6780.
By Leonard Wechsler Town-Crier Staff Report
The Acreage Landowners’Association reviewed three non-residential projects proposed for the Indian Trail Improvement District area at its meeting Tuesday.
Bob Bentz of the planning firm Land Design South presented the projects.
The largest project is on what is called the Sluggett property at the northwest corner of Southern Blvd. and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road.
“This site has always been designated as a site for commercial property,” Bentz
continued from page 1A grams to comply with the state rollback. On Wednesday, consultant Lyle Sumek told the council the public forums they had suggested last week would begin at the end of next week, with the collected feedback coming back to them in August.
“The forum process will involve a brief presentation and could break out into eight sessions with various groups over a two-day period of time,” Sumek said. “We would be looking at two hours, and it would be an opportunity for everyone to have their say. It’s a time to have dialogue with citizens about their priorities and have staff facilitators working to capture the data about those priorities.”
Many Wellington residents were on hand Tuesday, some urging the council to spare services from the chopping block, others advocating a lightening of their tax burden.
Ruth Martinez-Este, president of the Girls’ Fastpitch Association, was one of several residents who told the council the recreation programs do much to keep Wellington’s crime rate low. She urged the council to keep the millage rate as high as possible.
“Most of the burglaries and criminal mischief are being done by adolescents,” Martinez-Este said. “Recreation keeps them involved and keeps them active. This applies to every single recreation program in the community. You need to do something for these children. It teaches them sportsmanship. It provides the community with a small-town feeling. Those children are the best advertisements in the community. These girls are your future.”
Resident Steve Sparks said he moved his family to Wellington for the sports programs. “Nobody is patting themselves on the back with the real estate boom,” he said. “This is about tomorrow. We’ve had hurricanes. My neighbors both moved away. Their tax rate was nothing. They moved away because of the storms. I would like to see the highest cap we can have. I don’t want to cut a single service.”
But Wellington Chamber of Commerce President Darrell Bowen told the council they should stay within the state’s mandated millage rate for the sake of businesses in Wellington.
“I don’t have to tell you how the businesses are hurting,” Bowen said. “You can come out to Commerce Park. There are vacancies all over the place for those businesses that are gone. These are the same businesses supporting the sports teams. If we don’t do something, there will be a trickle-down effect. We need tax relief for businesses.”
continued from page 14A ment until their Aug. 7 meeting.
• The council set the town’s millage rate for ad-valorem property taxes for the coming fiscal year at 1.5 mills, the rate suggested for year one in the town charter. Louda made a motion to accept the rate, which was seconded by Autrey.
said, “and we need it now. Right now, its acceptance has been delayed because Palm Beach County staff wants the Sector Plan approved before this is done.”
The project, as currently outlined for land use designation purposes, would use 64.48 acres for a shopping center of 250,000 square feet, all of it on the southern end of the property. None of the stores there would be larger than 60,000 square feet, the size of a large supermarket.
To the west is the M-2 Canal and a 200-foot easement. On the north is a water retention area.
Several residents questioned the size
Realtor Mike Kleinrichert suggested the village support its recreation programs by charging user fees to those from outside the community. “It has been suggested that the sports programs keep them out of trouble,” he said. “I say that parental involvement keeps them out of trouble. It would be political suicide to vote for it, and it would not be forgotten at election time. Do the right thing. Set the millage rate at 2.33 and make the cuts.”
Councilwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto said the village is trying to achieve a balance and maintain its quality of life, but has to make sure the parks and recreation programs can stand on their own.
“No matter what action we take tonight, it will be a tax cut,” she said. “We have projections for five years. We have concerns about the action the legislature will take next year if there is an additional uprising. It might not be enough of a fix.”
Councilwoman Laurie Cohen said she could understand both sides of the issue, but urged public input on finding ways to lower taxes without cutting services.
“I think it’s possible to go ahead with the 2.33 and not cut services,” she said. “I think everyone can get what they need. We need your input and good ideas on how to formulate the best plan. I hope you will work with us toward that end.”
Mayor Tom Wenham recalled moving to Wellington 26 years ago, when it had a population of 7,800 but no park facilities. The village must change with the times, he said. “We have to make sure we are doing things right,” Wenham said. “The manager has laid out a great plan for moving this forward. What happens next year and the year after, we don’t know, and I’m not sure the legislature knows. I can support 2.57 or 2.54.”
Councilman Dr. Carmine Priore said he was willing to go with 2.57 on the understanding that the council would work at lowering it. “I can’t support going above that rollback number,” he said. “That would put us in such a hole from which we would never be able to recover. Families in the community are having a difficult time. In Wellington, we have one of the highest foreclosure rates in Palm Beach County.”
Priore made a motion to set the preliminary millage rate at 2.57 mills, which was seconded by Benacquisto. It passed unanimously.
“I want to say I hope everyone realizes that this is the TRIM rate,” Cohen said. “We start at 2.57, and it’s my intent to get to as close as we can 2.33. There will be no cutting the recreation programs. We can do it and still provide the businesses and others what they are demanding. I am supporting it with the intent we will adopt a lower millage rate when we finalize the budget.”
It passed 4-0 with Browning absent. The council also set Sept. 4 as the date of the town’s first budget meeting.
• Regarding the county’s Sector Plan, Tolces said he filed a petition for the town to gain intervenor status, and an administrative law judge had granted the town the ability to intervene in the process as the county resolves state objections to the plan.
of the lake and whether it might be moved to the south end of the lot. Bentz said that while the size of the lake might be changed from approximately ten acres, its location would not. After the meeting, he told the Town-Crier that the principal entrance to the shopping center would be on Southern Blvd., and putting the lake there would block traffic.
Land Design South is also the agent for two properties along Northlake Blvd., one just east of 140th Street North and the other farther east between 130th Street and Coconut Blvd., both on the south side of the street.
continued from page 3A
‘g word’,” Bradshaw said. “It wasn’t good for downtown, it wasn’t good for some of the neighborhoods, and they didn’t want to scare people. And lo and behold, gangs got a foothold in Palm Beach County.”
Now that they are here, defeating gangs will likely be a long and difficult fight.
“For the past 15 years, nobody wanted to say there were gangs in Palm Beach County,” Wallace said. “Unfortunately, it was that attitude and mentality that allowed the gangs to gain a stronghold. Gangs are for kids and adults looking for a sense of belonging, a sense of hope and feeling needed, that they’re not getting at home or school. The gang becomes their family. That’s what ended up happening.”
Bradshaw likened gangs today to organized crime. “Do not think for one minute this is a bunch of kids hanging out that like to wear the same type of clothes and maybe steal a car once in a while. This is organized crime, plain and simple. It’s all about the money, and territory equates to money. That’s why they kill each other, it’s a corporate takeover. Eliminate the competition, get more territory, get more money. And they don’t care how they get it — drugs, prostitution, human trafficking, stealing cars, armed robbery. Whatever it is, it’s all about the money.”
Most of the drug trade in Palm Beach County is directly related to gangs, Wallace said.
By working with federal law enforcement agencies, Bradshaw said gang members can be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. RICO is a United States federal law that provides for extended penalties for criminal acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. Under RICO, a person or group who commits any two of 35 crimes — 27 federal crimes and eight state crimes — within a 10-year period and, in the opinion of the United States Attorney bringing the case, has committed those crimes with similar purpose or results can be charged with racketeering. Those found guilty of racketeering can be sentenced to 20 years in prison. In addition, the racketeer must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business gained through a pattern of “racketeering activity.”
“It’s not going to go away overnight, but however long it takes, we’re going to go after every single one of them, take the major gangs and put them in federal prison, so they won’t come back here again,” Bradshaw said. “Shootings are
continued from page 18A them and even debate some of them, forcing them to think… something that school is supposed to promote.
White southerners before the Civil War argued that poor white workers in the north were also badly treated, and that led to further debate. Even the great black scholar W.E.B. DuBois supported that argument. I do not recall ever having any student wind up supporting slavery, but
The more easterly site will be used as a commercial development, while the one next to 140th will be primarily civic/industrial.
“This would be a good site for churches, for a fire or police station or a library,” Bentz said, pointing out that a pedestrian walk on the northern end of the properties and an equestrian path on the south were among the conditions for development.
In other business, ALA President Robert Trepp requested nominations for next year’s board of directors to be submitted at the ALA’s next meeting, set for Tuesday, Aug. 21.
down to one or two every 10 to 14 days, which is still not acceptable, but certainly not the level it was. And that’s because of the pressure we put on them through this task force. And we’re not going to stop. Your safety is first on our minds every single minute of the day.”
While gang awareness was the primary focus presented during Wednesday’s forum, it was not the only topic. Bradshaw talked about his department’s 2008 budget and the many questions that surrounded its creation, while Michelle Santamaria, Commissioner Santamaria’s daughter, discussed citizen participation in the legal process.
all had to think about it. Today, we just tell students it was wrong, present a list of reasons and expect memorization.
The characters in Phoenix had to think and reason in order to survive. So will our children. We need our government to be more forthcoming in its arguments, and its opponents must do the same and allow a reasoned debate. Even more important, our schools should teach our children the skills to be able to judge, which means learning to think. And the best way to do that is by insisting that all sides are heard and that truths be told.
We’ve worked hard at developing a business model that will provide a sustainable future with high levels of service. The results and information gathered in this forum will be used to finalize our strategic business plan and next years Budget and Tax Rate
Thursday, July 26, 2007 at Village Park Gymnasium 11700 Pierson Road
11:30 am – 1:30 pm Sports Providers
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Local Businesses, Chambers of Commerce and members, Hospitals and Mall
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Schools, Education Committee
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm Village Boards, Committees & Volunteers
Friday, July 27, 2007 at Village Park Gymnasium 11700 Pierson Road
9:00 am – 11:00 am Horse Show/Equestrian Community
11:30 am – 1:30 pm Seniors
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm Community, Charitable and Religious Organizations
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Neighborhood Associations Homeowner/Property Owner Associations
Saturday, July 28, 2007 at Wellington Community Center 12165 West Forest Hill boulevard
9:00 am -11:30 am Open Residents Forum
By Lisa Gartner Town-Crier Staff Report
Not too long ago, in a town not so far away, daycare went something a little like this: mom called the babysitter, a disgruntled teenager whose worldly rebellion consisted of black clothing and a temporary tattoo. The kids did some puzzles. The Goth Wonder microwaved dinner. If it was a good day, she brought the big box of crayons. You know which one — 96 shades of glory and a sharpener on the back to boot.
Today’s daycare is savvy. It’s colorful. It applies theories of intelligence developed at Harvard. It is none other than Planet Kids, an innovative hybrid of preschool, after-care, infant care and summer camp founded by Manny Sarria.
“When I was 14 years old, I used to bag somebody’s groceries who was in the childcare business and I became fascinated; I thought, wouldn’t that be cool?” Sarria said. “For me, it was like going to play.”
Sarria, who has lived in Wellington 17 years, started Planet Kids after selling his first chain in Palm Beach County, Pixie Private School. He describes Planet Kids, which he said is on
a much larger scale, as the “Breakers of daycare.”
Planet Kids has five centers in Palm Beach County, and Supervisor Julie Fox at Planet Kids’ Lake Worth Road location can list the daycare’s services faster than you can fire the babysitter. “We have Spanish, we have French, we have sign language, music, art,” she said. “We also have the specialty rooms and the teachers to go with it, so the children don’t end up sitting in the same room all day.”
The specialty rooms are designed to appeal to all types of interests. One of the specialty rooms boasts a theater with a stage for the children to perform plays. “A special program we have is based on the Howard Gardner multiple intelligences program from Harvard,” Fox said. “Parents love that their kids are going into kindergarten so advanced.”
Fox said the children especially enjoy doing yoga and working on computers. “Their favorite room would have to be the media room,” she said. “It has big book stories, flannel boards, puppets, books with CDs, listening centers, computers and all sorts of soft areas where the children can sit. It’s certainly my favorite room.”
With three playgrounds, entertaining the children isn’t a difficult task. Sarria said incorporating fun into learning has made Planet Kids a success with parents, too.
“If you make the learning fun, they’ll want to do it. They see computers as a challenging, fun thing, so they’ll do that and learn,” he said. “That’s the reason for the new ideas of Discovery Quest.”
Discovery Quest is the next big step in Sarria’s daycare enterprise. Still in the works, it will be “everything a child could possibly imagine,” Fox said. “There will be baking and cooking if they want to do baking and cooking. Karate. Ballet. You name it, they’ll have it there.”
Sarria plans to incorporate Discovery Quest into three of the nine additional locations he hopes to open in the next four years, all in Palm Beach County. “My dream is to make Palm Beach County the education capital of the world,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be something?”
Planet Kids has locations at 9135 Lake Worth Road in suburban Lake Worth and 5700 140th Ave. North in The Acreage. Other locations are in eastern Lake Worth, Lantana and West Palm Beach.
Planet Kids is open Monday through Friday from 6:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Summer camp costs $190 per full week or $155 per three-day week. Infant care is $235 per week for infants under 12 months and $220 for infants 12 to 24 months. Tuition for two-yearolds is $190 per full week or $155 per three-day week. Tuition for pre-school (3, 4 and
pre-K) is $180 per week or $145 per three-day week. Discovery pre-K is $215 per week. Afterschool care is $85 per week. Registration and annual curriculum fees apply. For more information and pricing, call Planet Kids at (561) 434-9098 (suburban Lake Worth), (561) 784-0078 (The Acreage) or visit www.planet kidsworld.com.
By Steve Pike Town-Crier Staff Report
Jeff Stranger lives and does business by the good neighbor policy. That’s why he moved his Abbey Carpet & Floor business from Delray Beach to Royal Palm Beach. Seems that Stranger couldn’t find many good neighbors in Delray Beach, where he first opened Abbey Carpet & Floor in 2006.
“It was a disaster,” said Stranger, who grew up in the family flooring business in New York and Connecticut. “The first person in here was nicer than any person I dealt with in Delray Beach. We’ve been open here for three weeks, and it’s been great. I always liked this area — the demographics and the people.”
Abbey Carpet & Floor is a nationwide chain of privately owned and operated retail showrooms. Stranger’s 7,500square-foot showroom features full-size carpets, area rugs, remnant carpets, ceramic tiles and hardwood flooring.
“We buy at the best possible price and pass everything along to our customers,” Stranger said. “In addition, being locally and individually owned we can give the people the individual service that only a local store can give. We’re not a big box where our guys sell carpet one day and toilets the next. Our people know carpet; our people know wood; our people know tile.”
But Stranger said that within the world of flooring, he can
cater to any taste or budget. “We have a little bit of everything,” he said. We go after low, middle and high-end customers. We have a lot of cash-and-carry carpets and a lot of very highend remnants for next to nothing. We have binding machines so we can custom-bind rugs for people so they can put it over tile in a family room instead of going wall-to-wall. An area rug doesn’t have to be traditional. It’s a good look and a lot less money. Our biggest customers so far have come from The Acreage.”
Stranger listens to his customers and uses more than three decades of experience to help them decide what will work best in a room or a house. He and business partner Tony Raimondo also employ a design consultant.
“I have to find out what you want, what your family is like and find out what your animals are like,” Stranger said. “We believe the difference between us and anybody else is our service. We have our own installers, and we do our own measures. We’re here for the long run. If we take care of you, then you’re going to talk to 20 people about us.”
Stranger said he guarantees his customers’ satisfaction.
“We have a policy that if we put a rug down and you don’t like it, you pay just labor, and we’ll replace it with any carpet,” he said. “Almost nobody else does that. We can go from carpet to tile or tile to carpet, whatever you need.”
Stranger added that wood and laminates have been Abbey Carpet’s biggest sellers in the first few weeks. “More than half the business thus far, but I think we expect it to be about one third of our business, carpet one third and tile
about one third,” he said. “We’ll take it any way we can get it, but the wood is very big now.”
Abbey Carpet & Floor is located at 100 Business Parkway in Royal Palm Beach and is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, or by appointment for private showings. For more information, call (561) 422-2032 or visit www. abbeycarpet.com.
By Paul Gaba Town-Crier Staff Report
Glenn Serrano and Jeffrey Donahue have been in business less than four months, but they’ve already heard every crank phone call in the book, including (but not limited to):
“You guys must really know your [stuff]!”
“You guys have a pretty [lousy] job!”
The pair takes it in stride. After all, even though some of the calls they receive are jokes, it means their business is being noticed. And their business — U Lucky Dog — is taking care of your dog’s “business.”
That’s because U Lucky Dog is one of the area’s first professional dog-waste removal companies. And that’s no joke.
“Some are very creative, to be honest,” Donahue said, adding that being called the Turdherders or the Turdinators would be a different way to define themselves professionally.
The duo spent more than six months researching and investigating the pooper-scooper business before taking on their first client. Since then, they have only increased their education and improved their approach to the job.
The job itself can be fairly simple. Prior to cleaning a yard for the first time, U Lucky Dog has customers fill out a questionnaire, which includes information such as the size of the yard; the number, names, breeds and ages of dogs in the household; and veterinary numbers. They also ask whether an electric
fence or doggie door is on site, the number of gates to the yard and the type of fencing. This is in part for insurance reasons — Serrano and Donahue need to know all of this prior to working the property.
Some of the information requested may seem strange at first — for example, why would U Lucky Dog need veterinary information? Donahue said it is because they represent a “second set of eyes for dog owners.”
“If we see worms in the dog waste, and we know it’s not from fly larvae — if we know it’s digestive — we contact the owner, and if we can’t get in touch with them, we call the veterinarian and let them know we saw something in the dog waste that doesn’t look good,” Donahue said. “And if it’s a small toy or string, and there’s no blood in the stool, we’ll call the customer to let them know what we found.”
The pair uses a Rubbermaid lobby dustbin with a 13-gallon kitchen trash bag inside, and a small wooden rake. The lightweight equipment is easier to manage and causes less physical stress on the men than metal tools would.
In addition, they have a 4.5gallon backpack with a water and deodorizer mixture; the backpack includes a hand pump sprayer pressurized to 90 psi to disinfect and deodorize the area after the dog waste has been removed.
“We’re the only company we know of that will deodorize during their weekly service,”
Donahue said. “There are companies that will deodorize, but they go by square footage, and that’s once every month or whenever. Ours is included every single time.”
Donahue said he takes a methodical approach to his work. “We will police the entire yard,” he said. “We make quadrants of our customers’ yards. We walk the yard back and forth in a threefoot span; we zigzag the entire yard and pick up whatever we find. And when we’re done, we put the waste into plastic bins in back of our truck, and we dispose them at the dump.”
“We try to organize your yard,” Serrano added.
While U Lucky Dog will not take care of horse waste, it will take care of raccoon waste, miscellaneous trash, and even waste from neighboring pets deposited on the customer’s lawn.
Donahue noted that U Lucky Dog may expand to cater to owners of horses and other animals in the future. Serrano said they are still investigating if — and how — to handle a specific customer inquiry: pot-bellied pigs.
“We’re not sure how to get rid of that waste,” Donahue added. “[Dog waste] is a toxic waste; you have to have permits for it, which we do. We can’t go over our permits and what the law provides.”
While the service may seem innovative — at least in this area — Serrano said similar businesses have proven successful in areas such as California, Missouri, Ohio and New England,
PHOTO BY PAUL GABA/TOWN-CRIER
as well as in the Tampa and Sarasota areas in Florida.
Donahue said while they could have gone with an established franchise, the duo opted instead to work as independent contractors. Before they opened for business, they hired a corporate attorney, set up legal contracts and their corporate books, and began marketing by having a mutual friend distribute flyers to nearly 40 dog-friendly businesses, including veterinary clinics and animal hospitals.
“It has been very hard getting started up,” Serrano said. “Nobody knows about this kind of business. It’s going to take some time to really build up and get people to understand what this business is about.”
“This is really similar to when
the landscaping companies started up in the 1970s,” Donahue added. “I mean, no one came to my father’s house to cut the grass when I was a kid, because he had three boys living at home. But after we were gone, he had a landscaper come. The same thing with a pool; he had to have a pool company come to clean our pool when no one was home. We’re hoping this is going to explode the same as those services. Nothing in either man’s background suggested a move into the dog waste disposal business. Serrano moved to Florida from Costa Rica, and has been in the personal protection business for 13 years. “I’m very tired of the security business, doing it ev-
See DOG, page 6B
On Thursday, July 12, more than 100 Wellington Chamber of Commerce members were treated to a summer member mixer hosted by Newtek Business Lending and the Lake Wellington Professional Center. The event featured food donated by Field of Greens and ice cream donated by Bruster’s Ice Cream, as well as live music and sunset boat rides around Lake Wellington.
Newtek Business Lending, located in the Lake Wellington Professional Center, is distinguished for utilizing the federal government’s Small Business Administration loan program to its fullest extent. Newtek makes loans to both startup and existing small businesses nationwide and is dedicated to serving small businesses. For more information on Newtek, call Scott Shulman at (561) 227-1542.
The Lake Wellington Professional Center is an executive suite center with all
continued from page 4B
ery day, all day,” he said.
Donahue and his wife moved to Florida from Massachusetts two years ago, after a 20-year stint with the United States Postal Service. He and his wife, also a postal employee, saved money for five years before moving to Florida, and had visions of opening their own business.
Chance turned to doggy destiny when Donahue moved into the same condominium complex as Serrano. The two met, realized they had similar visions, and the brainstorming began.
“We looked into landscaping, but the overhead was too much, and there’s too many landscaping businesses here already,” Donahue said. “We thought about pool cleaning or local car washing.”
amenities ranging from administrative services to high-tech boardroom services in the very best of office suites located in the heart of Wellington. For more information, call Diane Brockway at (561) 227-1500.
To try out one of the great selections from our gracious community donors, stop by and visit Field of Greens, located at 10140 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in the Pointe at Wellington Green. Call Debbie Lakow at (561) 795-4345 for more information. Bruster’s Ice Cream is located in Wellington Green Square at 10680 W. Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 240. Call Joan Smith at (561) 793-7511 for more info.
These Wellington Chamber of Commerce members are dedicated local business owners who go above and beyond to support the local business community. For more information about upcoming chamber events, call (561) 792-6525 or visit www.wellingtonchamber.com.
“Then we started talking about doing something different — something simple, something that didn’t require us to first-hand hire people,” Serrano added.
And that’s when U Lucky Dog was born.
The pair envisions hiring employees after they reach the 100-client mark. Currently it’s a two-man show, and a software program coordinates service for clients in the same general area. They also attempt to provide their service prior to any lawn service work the owners may have scheduled.
U Lucky Dog carries $2 million in liability insurance, and will not do any work inside the home — all work is done outside. While currently based in Boynton Beach, U Lucky Dog covers Wellington and Royal Palm Beach. For more information call (561) 234-0371 or (561) 2143115, or visit their web site at www. proremoval.com.
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The Palm Beach County School District is joining with community partners Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach, the Technical & Enterprise Development Center and the South Florida Water Management District to host a Matchmaker Conference and Expo on Sept. 18.
Minority- and women-owned businesses can access one-on-one sessions with purchasing agents from the host organizations, and participate in workshop sessions such as “How to Obtain a Small Business Loan,” and “How to Do Business with the School District, Palm Beach County, South Florida Water Management District, and the City of West Palm Beach.”
The event will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center (650 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach). Registered participants will also enjoy a continental breakfast, a luncheon with keynote speaker, communicator and social commentator Tony Brown, and a closing reception.
Participants can register online at http://wwwasp.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/ matchmaker. Interested sponsors and vendors should contact Bruce Lewis of LB Limited at (561) 833-8080. For more information, contact Diversity & Business Practices Director Dr. Otelia Dubose at (561) 434-8508.
The Quantum Group Inc. recently announced that P.L. “Pete” Martinez has joined the company as vice president, chief technology and innovations officer. Martinez was vice president of global business services and senior location executive for IBM South Florida until his recent retirement from the company.
Quantum Group President and CEO Noel Guillama stressed the importance of Martinez’s position with the company.
“As we built the foundation of what is today the Quantum Group Inc., we professed the critical role technology would play in our revolutionary structure,” Guillama said. “Today, I can say we are making a huge leap forward in this regard with the announcement that Pete Martinez is joining our senior management team. Pete’s innovative approach, wealth of knowledge and experience, as well as his pioneering spirit make him a perfect addition to our team.”
Throughout his 32-year career with IBM, Martinez led numerous successful entrepreneurial businesses. From a leadership position in IBM’s original PC business to pioneering the first electronic services on the Internet and the creation of e-business consulting, he has been an innovator in both business and technology.
Most recently, Martinez led a 1,700-person organization composed of consultants, hardware and software developers, industry specialists and sales leaders.
In 2003, Martinez led the formation of IBM’s largest human resource business transformation multi-client center, which opened a multi-billion dollar outsourcing business. Previously, he led the formation of business consulting and system integration services in Latin America,
a 2,000-person, $200 million business. He was also the first executive of IBM’s e-business Strategy Consulting and Consulting Profession Leader for the Americas. Martinez led the IBM University Consortium LA Grid (Latin America Grid) and the advanced pandemic global research initiative Project Checkmate.
With a strong technology foundation, Martinez has been able to define creative solutions to business problems. He has worked with banks, manufacturers, governments, biotech firms, hospitals, academia, media firms and retailers in defining new strategies for cost containment, growth and transformation of processes and market channels.
er architecture, robotics, optical disks and display technology.
“Healthcare is one of the few remaining industries that have not leveraged the new business models, processes and technologies of the 21st Century,” Martinez said. “The opportunity to significantly accelerate cost reductions while improving quality of care is real and mandatory. I believe that the Quantum Group has a laser sharp focus matched with a pragmatic vision of the benefits of coupling technology to care. The potential is very exciting.”
Martinez is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC News, the Economist, Univision and CNN. He has more than 20 patents and technical publications in the areas of: comput-
Martinez is a member of the board of directors for several organizations in business development and healthcare, and he serves on the advisory boards of the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, the latter for which he is also a visiting professor. In addition, Martinez is chairman elect of the Florida Research Consortium.
Based in Wellington, the Quantum Group is one of Florida’s largest community-based healthcare provider systems. In conjunction with its subsidiary companies, including Renaissance Health System of Florida, Quantum provides administrative and support services to the Florida managed care industry as well as to the physicians of Florida. For more information, call (561) 798-9800 or visit www. quantummd.com.
Attention all dessert makers: now through Thursday, Aug. 16, the Art of Life Gallery & Frame Shop in Wellington is holding its second annual dessert-making contest.
Any and all types of desserts are eligible for entry; they simply must be homemade. There will be many prizes for the top ten desserts. Last year more than $1,000 in prizes were awarded.
This year’s giveaways include more than $2,000 in fabulous prizes: gift certificates to Panera Bread Company, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Dean Anthony’s Express, Strathmore Bagels and Field of Greens; a wine tasting party for you and your friends at Winestyles, a 30-day membership to L.A. Fitness, and much more. Each contestant gets an $18 gift certificate to the
Art of Life (limited to two per family).
All contest entries must arrive at the Art of Life during regular business hours of 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Art of Life is located at 10120 Forest Hill Blvd., Suite 170, at the Pointe at Wellington Green. For more info., call (561) 793-8888.
Quiznos Sub — The Palms West Chamber of Commerce recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Quiznos Sub in the Courtyard Shops in Wellington. Open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., all Quiznos products are made fresh daily. Using premium quality ingredients, Quiznos offers better-tasting food through creative, chef-inspired recipes to give you an experience that’s truly “a cut above” all the others. For more info., call (561) 2041063. Quiznos is located at 13860 Wellington Trace. Shown here are Quiznos General Manager Eddie Matias, Manager Javier Feliciano and employees with chamber ambassadors.
Let There Be Lights — Located at 128 Black Olive Crescent in Royal Palm Beach, Let There Be Lights Inc. specializes in landscape lighting, holiday lighting and architectural/specialty lighting. The family owned and operated company is run by David Lockey. As company president, Lockey takes his work very seriously and uses the best products available to ensure quality services for his customers. Let There Be Lights strives to excel in custom designs, installations and maintenance. For more information, call (561) 7533353 or toll-free at (866) 544-4819. Pictured here is Lockey with chamber ambassadors.
Summertime fun — barbecues, trips to the beach, picnics, the Fourth of July and taxes. That’s right, taxes. The summer is a great time to start preparing for next year’s tax filing season. Being aware of the tax issues and preparing yourself for some tax breaks will make that summer vacation even more enjoyable. That is why the Internal Revenue Service has offered tax tips for newlyweds, working students, parents with children at day camp, people with vacation homes and those who are moving.
It may not be high on the list of wedding planning activities, but there are a few, simple steps that can help keep tax issues from interrupting newly wedded bliss. There are some practical things to attend to when the honeymoon’s over and you start balancing that new joint checking account.
• Report any name change to the Social Security Administration, so your name and social security number will match when you file your next tax return.
• Report any address change to the U.S. Postal Service — they’ll forward your mail and let the IRS know. You may also notify the IRS directly by filing Form 8822, “Change of Address.”
• Report any name and address changes to your employer to ensure receipt of your paychecks and Form W-2 during tax season.
• Check your withholding status using the automated “IRS Withholding Calculator” available on the “Individuals” page at the IRS web site.
• Consider whether you’ll file joint or separate tax returns.
• If you’re buying a home, find out which expenses may be deductible and which are not.
TIPS FOR WORKING STUDENTS
All employees have income tax withheld from their pay, right? Not neces-
sarily. You may be exempt from withholding if: you can be claimed as a dependent (usually on a parent’s return); your total 2007 income will not be over $5,350; your unearned income (interest, dividends, etc.) will not exceed $300; and you had no income tax owed for 2006.
You’ll still have to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, but skipping unnecessary income tax withholding will put more money in your pocket now. Read Form W-4 carefully before filling it out for your employer.
If customers tip you, those tips are taxable. You must keep track of the amounts, include them on your tax return, and — if they total $20 or more in a month — report them to your employer by the middle of the next month.
Check out IRS Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income, IRS Publication 1872, Tips on Tips (for food or beverage industry workers), and Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate (with worksheets to figure how many allowances to claim).
Many working parents must arrange for care of their younger children under 13 years of age during the school vacation period. A popular solution — with favorable tax consequences — is a day camp program. Unlike overnight camps, the cost of day camp counts as an expense towards the child and dependent care credit. Of course, even if your childcare provider is a sitter at your home, you’ll get some tax benefit if you qualify for the credit.
Check out IRS publication 503, “Child and Dependent Care Expenses.”
The mortgage interest and real estate taxes you pay on a second home may be deductible. If you rent your vacation home fewer than 15 days per year, that income may not be taxable.
JOB-RELATED MOVE
Moving expenses may be deductible if your move is job-related and you meet
certain tests. If your employer reimburses you for moving expenses, that amount may be taxable income. Generally, up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 filing jointly) from the sale of your home is not taxable. New homeowners, be aware that mortgage interest, points and real estate taxes may be deductible. See IRS publication 523, “Selling Your Home,” and IRS publication 521, “Moving Expenses.”
For more information and to access IRS forms and publications, visit www.irs.gov. Also, forms and publications can be ordered by calling (800) TAX-FORM (1-800-829-3676).
The web site Business.gov — “the official business link to the U.S. government — continues to expand its offerings of resources and tools to help small businesses comply with federal government regulations. Responding to feedback from its business community users, Business.gov has developed a tool that helps businesses determine their license and permit requirements. The site also has expanded the content and context of the information contained in its compliance guides and developed relationships with other government and non-governmental organizations to provide more in-depth compliance resources.
Business.gov’s new “Permit Me” feature provides a single source for obtaining federal, state, and local permits and professional licenses for businesses. While every business in the United States is required to obtain a permit, professional license or identification number to operate, finding the right license can be a major challenge for potential business owners. Although some states offer assistance to help individuals understand their local permit and license requirements, not all provide federal information.
This information gap results in an additional burden to business owners as they must locate, research and understand federal, state and local government resources separately and then compile the information to gain a comprehensive understanding of their regulatory requirements. “Permit Me” allows businesses to navigate to a single destination and presents a list of licensing and permit resources across all the federal, state and local domains.
Business.gov has also added “Feature Topics” that focus on common business concerns and that will be continually updated on a timely basis. Featured Topics provide context to the compliance information provided on the site and help business owners understand in plain language the regulatory requirements their businesses face.
Regulatory information is typically written from the individual agency’s perspective and can fail to adequately explain the impact of the requirement on business operations or the steps required to comply. The failure to develop compliance assistance information that addresses the practical concerns of the business community adds to business’ owners compliance problems.
The Content Partners program has been established to formalize relationships with government agencies, trade associations and professional organizations to develop compliance assistance tools and resources for small and mediumsized businesses. Content Partners will provide domain specific compliance information to Business.gov ultimately to develop compliance resources that will be featured on the site’s Featured Topics and Compliance Guides pages.
Business.gov is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration in partnership with 21 other federal agencies and is part of the President’s Management Agenda. Originally launched in 2004, the web site provided information on starting, growing and managing a small business.
Congregation B’nai Avraham, Wellington’s new Conservative synagogue, opened its doors to the community last Sunday. Located in Suite 6 of the original Wellington Mall (12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd.), the congregation celebrated its grand opening from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with an open house for interested guests to meet the board members and Rabbi Dr. David Abrams. Rabbi Abrams performed a special dedication ceremony for the new space, and community members discussed the congregation’s goals and membership opportunities over bagels and coffee. Congregation B’nai Avraham will hold Shabbat services every other Friday night. For more information, call the synagogue at (561) 793-4347 or visit www.congregation bnaiavraham.com.
A couple of weeks ago I had to go to Jacksonville for about four days. At that point, the only time I had been near Jacksonville was on I-95 either heading to or coming from the Big Apple. Jacksonville was just another road sign on the highway to me.
But that all changed on this visit. I got to know Jacksonville up close and personal. First, let me tell you about the people I met. They reminded me of the people I met when I first moved into the western communities more than 24 years ago. Everyone I passed in the street or in the hotel I was staying at always had a hello and a big smile for me (no, they weren’t hookers). They were just nice people. Even when I was wearing my Grumpy shirt (I have three of them) I got the smile-and-hello treatment.
When I saw how nice everyone in this city was I decided I would press my luck a little further. I have a cousin living in Jacksonville I had not seen or spoken to in over 30 years. Growing up, she was my favorite cousin. We are only a year apart. I always thought she was the most beautiful girl I knew. I just felt bad I couldn’t ask her out on a date. No, not because she was my cousin, but because her father was a boxer in the military. I knew that even though he was about 25
With Ernie Zimmerman
years older than me, he would be able to take me with one hand tied behind his back. This fine gentleman was my uncle, who died about a month ago.
So I said to myself, “self, wouldn’t it be a nice thing to call your cousin and give her my condolences on the passing of her father?” I then called my mother and she gave me my cousin’s phone number.
At first my cousin didn’t recognize my voice and of course I didn’t recognize hers. But after about a minute or so we both knew who we were talking to. It was like we never lost touch in the last 30 years. We just picked up where we’d left off.
The next night we met for dinner and talked. And talked. We talked nonstop for over six hours. After
all, we had a lot of catching up to do.
As it turns out my little cousin became a doctor. Not just any type of doctor, she is a cancer and blood specialist. But to me she was still my very pretty little cousin. For some strange reason she looked about 20 years younger than me (remember, we are only a year apart). At this point I was getting very jealous of her husband. He married a beautiful young-looking doctor. What else can a husband ask for in a wife?
My visit turned out to be a very good trip. I reunited with my long-lost cousin. I also found Jacksonville a great city to visit. I expected it to be the size of West Palm Beach, but it is much larger. My hotel room was on the 17th floor. I haven’t been on a 17th floor since I left New York City. The view from my hotel room was great. There were a lot of buildings taller than my hotel. I had fun riding the elevators. It brought back many memories. I did learn a good trivia question while in Jacksonville, and I expect to win a few bucks whenever I ask it: what is the biggest U.S. city in terms of area? And the answer is Jacksonville. Needless to say, I had a good time there. If you have a few extra days you may want to spend them in this great city. You won’t be sorry.
During the summer months many people enjoy an abundance of fruit, and you don’t always have to buy them because many types can be grown right here.
Many tropical fruits mature during the summer months, and those that are in season right now include mangos, avocados, bananas, pineapples, guava, papaya, carambola among a long list of others. If you didn’t think these fruits would grow well here, check out the area around your home because these are often found in neighborhood settings. Some are also grown commercially here in our county, a few miles inland.
If you want to try growing fruits in the landscape, local retail garden centers have an abundance of types of fruit trees available in a variety of sizes and price ranges. Most small trees even will at-
tempt to bear within one year after planting so you don’t have to sit back and wait for many years to enjoy picking your own fruit.
Fruit trees typically need very little attention compared to other landscape plantings. Fertilizing two to three times a year is all that’s required for most fruit trees to keep them in good growth and heavy production. Once-a-week watering or twice if they are small would suffice for most tropical fruits.
Granted, some fruits like more water, such as bananas. I think few people ever give bananas enough water or enough fertilizer. They suck it up like a sponge. Other fruits don’t like lots of water at all, though, and in fact they can be injured by too much water, a good example being papaya. All it takes is 24 hours
of flooded conditions around papaya roots and the whole tree dies, so you have to be careful with a few of the water-sensitive tropical fruits.
Most of our summer tropical fruits will go all the way into early fall or longer depending on the type, so if you’re doing vacations or are not around the whole summer you’re still not likely to miss out on enjoying some of your tree’s production. Most types of tropical fruits will bloom and fruit over a several-month season and some, like papayas, can fruit all year long.
If you’d like to see examples of tropical fruits grown in the area, visit the Mounts Botanical Garden at 531 N. Military Trail in West Palm Beach. Some of their specimens are over 50 years old. Also, the Rare Fruit Council meets the
second Friday of each month at 8 p.m. at the Mounts Building Auditorium at the same address. They have very interesting speakers and you can also learn anything and everything about growing tropical fruits in our area.
If you have questions about growing your own fruit, get valuable free advice from the Palm Beach County Extension Service at (561) 233-1750.
New home 3/2/2 - Nicely landscaped on 1.15 fenced acres. Low move in Costs. $1600/MO. Cheryl Wagner, Continental Properties. 561-723-3140
GRANDVIEW AT CRESTWOOD - spacious 3/2/1 CG in security gated community. Includes water, cable and all amenities. Located near shopping and schools. No Pets. $1,400/mo. 561-3296078 GREENWAY CIRCLE —
1 BD/1 BA Condo $850/Mo. and THE TRAILS — 2 BD/2BA Condo $1,250/Mo. 561-422-2910
VILLA FOR RENT - Near Polo Grounds 2/2 vaulted ceiling, tile, split bedroom plan, utility room w/washer/dryer. Walk to schools. Fenced courtyard with storage. $985/MO. 561-775-0717
WELLINGTON PLACE TOWNHOUSE — 3/2/1CG, screened patio, walk to New Horizon and High School. Available immediately. Call for details. $1,375/Mo 954-494-3020
SEMINOLE LAKES TOWN HOUSEFurnished room with private bath, gated community, Female, $600/MO. Includes utilities. No pets. 561-722-5660
2 ROOMS FOR RENT — 1 in Royal Palm Beach and 1 in West Palm Beach. Both with private bath. $750/each. 561422-2910
$18-$25/HR — Teachers/Tutors P/T. All subjects PreK to Adult. Certification/Experience required. Palm Beach County Areas Fax 561-828-8128 or E-mail Tutorking@adelphia.net
HELP WANTED/BOOKKEEPER EXPERIENCED; Familiar with QUICKBOOKS - Full-Time position. Pay commensurate with experience. Fax resume to A. Silver - 561-432-2825
CLEANERS RESIDENTIAL FT — Car required, Pd. Training. North and West Palm Beach Cty. Up to $10/hr Start. 561-756-2282
RECEPTIONIST — For Lawyer and Accounting Office. Fax resume to 561793-1470
NEEDED: Experienced home care providers for a 65-year old woman with health problems. Flexible part-or-fulltime/9AM--5PM. Must have references and driver’s license. Spanish-speaking preferred but not required. Wellington 561-793-2903 HELP WANTED Earn $800 - $3200 Monthly to drive brand new cars with ads placed on them. www.AdCarDrive.com WORK FROM HOME NO EXPERIENCE
LOWEST PRICES! — Nobody beats our Price! Free Est. Complete A/C units from $1,150. Repair Specialists. Lic./ ins. 561-795-1130 toll free 888-981-9815
Air Conditioning Special — REDUCE
ELECTRIC BILL!! ALL POINT TUNE-UP
Including: Freon, Relay, Air Flow, Voltage & Ampage Draws, Cooling Loss, Condenser Coil, Drain Lines, Calibrate Thermostat. FREE Reusable Filter. BEAT THE HEAT CALL NOW! 561-333-7274. AIR CONDITIONING Repairs • Installation • Immediate Services. Mazella Mechanical Inc. Lic. #CMC1249709
JOHN C. HUNTON AIR CONDITIONING & REFRIGERATION, INC. - Service & new installation FPL independent participating contractor. Lic. CAC 057272 Ins. "We are proud supporters of the Seminole Ridge Hawks" 561-798-3225. Family Owned & Operated since 1996.
COMPLETE AUTO SHOP LOCATED IN THE MIDDLE OF LOXAHATCHEE!!Services provided; Brakes, Steering and Suspension, Belts and Hoses, Complete Engine Repair, Oil and Filters, Motor Tune Ups, Custom Exhaust Systems, A/C Repair, And Much More!!! Pick-up/Deliver Mark Hamilton Auto Repair "ASE Certified" Office: 561-793-1010 o Cell: 954-605-8416 MV#62390 Visa/MC/Amex accepted.
The only non-profit petting zoo in the area. - featuring parrots, mini horses, ponies, pony rides, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and Llamas and more and farm club. 561-792-2666
HOUSE CLEANING AVAILABLE — Over 13 yrs. experience. Great references. Very Dependable. Karen. 561-632-2271
HOUSE CLEANING — Available flexible hours/No Job too Big or Too Small. References upon Request. Please call Dina 561-951-2770
MAURILIA - CLEANING SERVICE - 561985-4137 Houses, new & used. Also stalls cleaned. Dependable & Honest. References Available.
CLUTTER FREE CLOSETS — For all your organizing needs. Custom closets. NOW OFFERING THE AMAZING BOOKSHELF BI-FOLD CLOSET DOOR. Robert Powell/Owner. FREE ESTIMATES. 561-422-7999 Lic. & Ins.
D.J. COMPUTER — Home & office, Spyware removal, websites, networks, repairs, upgrades, virus removal, tutoring. Call Jeff 561-333-9433 or Cell 561252-1186 Lic’d- Well. & Palm Beach
MOBILE -TEC ON-SITE COMPUTER SERVICE — The computer experts that come to you! Hardware/Software setup, support & troubleshooting www.mobiletec.net 561-248-2611 $25 Off Labor Home & Office e-Masque InteractiveHas your computer gotten slow? Do you get unwanted Pop-Ups? Does your computer seem to have a mind of its own? Would you like to connect multiple computers to the internet? Spyware & Virus Removal•Repairs •Websites•Networking Upgrades•Programming•Security call: 561-795-0559 we do make house calls www.e-masque.com
CONCRETE RESURFACING — Pools, decks, patios, & interior floors, spray deck, kook deck, stone design, Paver Repair & Resealing. 561-790-4588
ROCKANDRECORD.COM - A professional DJ and Videography Service. Disc Jockey • Music • Entertainment • Professional
repairs, upholstery services, chair regluing, antique repairs, kitchen cabinet refurbishing. 753-8689
HOME STANDBY GENERATORS — Complete packages including fueled system - Best Prices & reliable new Generator systems installed from 15 to 200KW “More Practical and much quieter” Maintenance & Service for all types of generators. Factory Authorized Dealer. 561-707-0575 Palm Beach. Tropical Power Systems, Inc.
CAN FIX IT — build it, move it, plant it, and more. Call Bruce, 793-2494. TFN
BILLY’S HOME REPAIRS, INC. — Interior Trim, crown molding, rottenwood repair, door installation, minor drywall, kitchens/cabinets/countertops, remodeling, wood flooring. Bonded/Insured U#19699. 561-791-9900
I’M A HANDYMAN — Rent me hourly/ job. Slightly used craftsman practicing all trades while designing & constructing own home. Any job from hanging a fan to remodeling.Textured walls, painting, flooring, cabinets/vanities etc. Make your repair honey-do-list, free estimates, Greg. 561-531-3141
"I'LL DO IT HANDYMAN SERVICES — All interior/exterior. Repairs and renovations. Painting & Plumbing. Affordable & professional. 561-452-5033.
ANMAR CO. –James’ All Around Handyman Service. Excellent craftman Old time values. Once you’ve had me! You’ll have me back! Lic. Ins. Certified Residential Contractor CRC 1327426 561-248-8528
ATLANTIC SHORE HOME IMPROVEMENT — Kitchen & Bathrooms/Remodel, Ceramic & Wood Floors, Carpentry & Handyman Services, Doors & Windows. References upon request. 561-756-0428 Anthony Palermo Lic. #CGC057252 Ins.
MCA CUSTOM WOODWORKING, INC.
— “Make your home standout from the rest” Call us for all your home improvement needs. Kitchen & bathroom remodeling, custom wall units, design your home office, cabinetry, tile & drywall repair. Lic. #U-19564. Bonded & Ins. 561-723-5836
QUALITY HOME IMPROVEMENTS Affordable Prices — Painting Interior & Exterior, Drywall, Knockdown Texture, Fire & Water Rest., Crown Moldings, Bathroom Remodeling, Kitchen Remodeling, Tile & Marble. AND MUCH MORE... 10% OFF with this ad! One Stop Shop. Creative Concepts Construction 561-471-7874 Lic. & Bonded Home repair. Quality Work. Free estimates. Fast on time service. "For all your home improvement needs" Lic. & Ins. 561-685-5360 561-308-6677.
LITL AUDIO/VIDEO SERVICE — specializing in Home Theatre Installation Satellite Services and communications.
“I will Beat Retailer’s cost & Installation fees”! Call George for immediate service at 954-263-4189 561-784-4858 Office. Res./Comm. Lic. & Ins.
COMPLETE IRRIGATION — PVC/PIPE supplies.Citrus ,Vegetables, Power units. Water Wheels, design services, Fairways Polo fields, Pumps/Engines mowing of all types. 1-863-675-6333.
UNIVERSAL IRRIGATION SERVICE & INSTALLATION — New Installations sprinkler repair pumps/Time Clocks. We Service all brands. Monthly Maintenance. Fast Response. Lic. #U-10740 Bonded Insured. 561-795-9735
FRANK’S BUSHHOG SERVICE — Lot mowing, Lawn Maintenance, Landscaping, Lot cleaning and TREE TRIMMING, reasonable rates. 722-4403 Lic.& Ins. TNT LANDSCAPING & LAWN CARE 561-644-8683 — Lic. & Ins. Landscape design, low maintenance gardens, professional plant installation, mulching, monthly property maintenance, sprinklers maintenance & repair, expert hedge & tree trimming.
EVERGREEN LANDSCAPING INC. Let us take care. Residential & Commercial, Lic. & Ins. Professional landscape design & installation. Reasonable & reliable. Waterfall & Ponds, exotics, landscape & flatstone. Butterfly gardens, tropical and Mediterranean. www.evergreensgardens.net 561-7236166
LAWN MAINTENANCE CARL SAMUELS LAWN CARE — Complete lawn maintenance, mowing, edging, trimming & much more. Free estimates. Quality work at affordable prices! Lic. & Ins. 561-633-3687
ARMENTO PAINTING & SONS, INC. ––Painting, Interior, Exterior. Pressure cleaning. Custom painting, faux art. Lic. No. U14736. 798-8978. BD
JOHN PERGOLIZZI PAINTING INC. ––– Interior/Exterior, artistic faux finishing, pressure cleaning, popcorn ceiling, drywall repair, & roof painting/cleaning. Free est. Call 798-4964. Lic.#U18473
LARRY’S PAINTING & WALLPAPER — Licensed • Bonded • Insured. Interior/ Exterior painting. 561-309-2845. Wallpaper - Luanne 561-801-2018
Painting • Residential • Commercial • Historical Restoration • Faux Finishing • Stucco Repair • Roof Painting • and Pressure Cleaning • Sand Blasting • Mold Removal. FLEISCHER’S PAINTING • 561833-6661.
LET US AD A LITTLE COLOR TO YOUR LIFE — Residential/Commercial. Licensed • Bonded • Insured. Owner/Operator. Ask for Paul 561-309-8290.
COLORS BY CORO, INC. — Interior/ Exterior, residential painting, over 20 years exp. Small Jobs welcome. Free estimates - Insured. 561-383-8666. Owner/Operated. Lic.# U20627 Ins. Wellington Resident. RJA PAINTING & DECORATING — interior, exterior, custom colors, faux artwork, all work guaranteed. Lic. Bonded & Insured. 561-616-2255
MMP PAINTING - Pressure Cleaning, Interior/Exterior Painting, Paver Sealers, Driveways, Ins.&Bonded. Lic. #U-18263. Office 561-790-4026 Cell 561-719-0516 Exterior Savings Call For More Details.
561-601-4707 THE DOG NANNY — Wellington and individualized pampering for Wellington &
Bonded & Ins. Serving the Western Communities Since 1990
NEED HELP DEALING WITH THE IRS? — IRS Tax Mediation Services, specializing in all collection matters. Including liens, levy, installment agreements and offers-in-compromise. Business or Personal 561-313-3955 Free Initial Consultation. Authorized to practice before the IRS. TGK TILE & GROUT — Get rid of dirty grout lines forever! Tile and Grout experts. Tile Cleaning & Sealing, Grout Cleaning, restoration, color
arrange pet grooming, vet visits, flea & tick products, Holistic/Natural pet foods. Come home to a well stocked fridge & your plants alive. Upscale services for all your beloved four legged friends. Bonded & insured. 561-791-2086
“You dealt with the rest now deal with the best” maintenance and repairs. Inquire about 1 months FREE service. 561-7915073 ELITE POOL CLEANING
J&B PRESSURE CLEANING — Established in 1984. All types of pressure cleaning, roofs, houses, driveways, patios etc. Commercial & Residential.Call Butch 561-309-6975 BD
PRIMROSE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, LLC — Full Service. Residential Home Care for full or part time residents. Weekly inspections, repairs, Monthly reports. Reasonable rates. 561-602-6857 or email: primrosepm123@aol.com
MINOR ROOF REPAIRS – Roof painting. Carpentry. License #U9 865. 9675580. BD SHAKE ROOF SPECIALISTS –– New roofs, repairs, preservation. License #CC025465. Shake Masters, Shake Chem. Members of Shake Bureau. 4396668 BD
ROBERT G. HARTMANN ROOFING ––Specializing in repairs. Free estimates, Bonded, insured. Lic. #U-11006.790-0763 or 641-4592. BD ROOFING REPAIRS REROOFING ALL TYPES — Pinewood Construction, Inc. Honest and reliable. Serving Palm Beach County for over 20 years. Call Mike 561309-0134 Lic. Ins. Bonded. CGC-023773 RC-0067207 BD A ROOFING REPAIR SPECIALISTS INC. — All work guaranteed. 40 years exp. Family owned & operated. Radio dispatched 791-8855 BD JOHN’S SCREEN SERVICE –– Pool & patio rescreening. Stay tight, wrinklefree, guaranteed!Lic.#9001390.798-3132.
ROLL DOWN SHUTTERS — Accordion shutters, storm panels and rolling shutters...prices that can’t be
