Town-Crier Newspaper September 2, 2016

Page 1

WELLINGTON BALLOT QUESTION PASSES SEE STORY, PAGE 3

LOBBYIST: CHANGES IN TALLAHASSEE SEE STORY, PAGE 6

THE

TOWN-CRIER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

Your Community Newspaper

INSIDE

Microbreweries On Tap For Consideration In RPB Retail Areas

Volume 37, Number 34 September 2 - September 8, 2016

Serving Palms West Since 1980

‘JAMAICA ALIVE!’ ON STAGE IN RPB

Microbreweries might be added to the list of allowable uses in Royal Palm Beach’s commercial retail areas. Vice Mayor Jeff Hmara said that at recent strategic planning sessions, council members and staff had discussed novel ways to revitalize run-down shopping centers. Page 3

Whole Foods Reception For Artist Toni Willey

Whole Foods Market in Wellington sponsored an artist’s reception for Wellington Art Society member Toni Willey on Friday, Aug. 26 in the café. Appetizers and wine were served, and there was live music and door prizes. Page 5

With Accreditation, Business Is Blooming At Wellington Florist

Longtime local business Wellington Florist, founded by Melinda and Dean Varvarigos, recently received a special honor when Melinda was accredited by the American Institute for Floral Designers. Page 7

Our Kids World Family Fun Fest At The South Florida Fairgrounds

The 14th annual Our Kids World Family Fun Fest, presented by the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, took place Saturday, Aug. 27 and Sunday, Aug. 28 at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Youngsters had the opportunity to meet many television characters and enjoy all-new bounce houses and more. Page 15

OPINION

Times Change, But The American Work Ethic Remains Strong

Many people strive in their lives to find meaningful work — something that gives them pride of purpose, puts food on the table and a roof over their heads. This is a fairly recent development. For the longest time, workers devoted themselves to a specific employer, spending all of their days there until retirement. While that idea is becoming rarer with each passing year, what hasn’t changed in the American work ethic. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS...............................3 - 10 OPINION.................................. 4 NEWS BRIEFS....................... 10 PEOPLE................................. 12 SCHOOLS.............................. 13 COLUMNS.......................14, 21 BUSINESS..................... 22 - 23 SPORTS..........................27 - 29 CALENDAR............................ 30 CLASSIFIEDS................ 32 - 35 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

The Eagles Theatre Troupe from Jamaica presented “Jamaica Alive!” sponsored by the Royal Palm Covenant Church on Saturday, Aug. 27 and Sunday, Aug. 28 at the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center. “Jamaica Alive!” was a dramatic portrayal of the history of the Jamaican people and culture from before the arrival of Columbus until the present day using narratives, colorful costumes, song and dance. Shown above, Paulos Simpson portrays famed Jamaican singer Bob Marley with Althea Bell-Grant and Racquel Russell. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 17 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Top Vote-Getters In ITID Head To General Election

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The race for two seats on the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors will continue until November after none of the candidates garnered 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday. For Seat 2, it appears that incumbent Supervisor Gary Dunkley and challenger Steve Roberts will face off in November after Dunkley garnered 38.87 percent (1,808 votes) and Roberts took 24.04 percent (1,118 votes), edging challenger Ryan Bernal, who got 23.54 percent (1,095 votes). Tim Sayre finished in fourth place with 13.55 percent (630 votes). A recount in that race is likely, which could put Bernal in the runoff instead. For Seat 4, challenger Betty Argue tallied 41.90 percent (2,004 votes) to incumbent Supervisor Michelle Damone’s 38.26 percent (1,830 votes). Keith Jordano received 19.84 percent (949 votes) and was eliminated. Argue and Damone will go head-to-head in November.

Dunkley, wrapping up his first four-year term, thanked the people of The Acreage for their vote of confidence. “I will continue looking out for our community’s welfare, safety and happiness with all my efforts,” he said. Although he has to continue the campaign through November, he said he is ready for the challenge. “What I got is what I got,” he said. “I’m very happy. I have no regrets. My focus is trying to save money, keep our focus on ITID as a drainage district; infrastructure, roads and drainage are our core functions. As for parks, I would like to complete the [Acreage Community Park] expansion. We started it so many years ago, and I would like to complete it without any more hesitation. We voted on it, we passed it and let’s complete it. I don’t like leaving things incomplete.” Roberts said he did not want to comment on the outcome until the results are finalized. Argue is pleased with the results See ITID RACES, page 16

Willhite And Bennett Advance In District 86 Election

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report When the Florida Legislature convenes next year, there will be new people representing the western communities. Who those people will be became clearer when the primary election results came in Tuesday night. In the race to replace termlimited State Rep. Mark Pafford in District 86, which includes all of Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee Groves and several communities to the east, Democrat Matt Willhite will face Republican Laurel Bennett in November. In the Democratic primary, Willhite, a former Wellington councilman, defeated Royal Palm Beach businesswoman Tinu Peña. Willhite took 56.29 percent (5,451 votes) to Peña’s 43.71 percent (4,233 votes). In the Republican primary, Bennett, a Royal Palm Beach busi-

nesswoman, defeated Wellington educator Stuart Mears. Bennett took 52.71 percent (2,951 votes) to Mears’ 47.29 percent (2,648 votes). Willhite is excited and happy to be the Democratic nominee. “Obviously, it was a good race; it was a good, contested race. I appreciate my opponent Tinu Peña’s candid debate and hard work. I think she’s an asset to the community and I appreciate her staying on the issues during the campaign. I look forward to working toward the general election on Nov. 8 and becoming the new state representative for District 86.” He thanked his family, his campaign team and all of his supporters. “They know, as I do, we worked a good, hard race. We were successful because the issues important to us are important to our residents in District 86. We’re going to the stay the course, and

we’re going to stay working on the issues that I think are very important to them,” Willhite said. “Just because one election is over doesn’t mean that these issues go away. We’re going to keep working on these issues.” Bennett described her feelings about the election results as “elated, wonderful, happy.” She plans on taking a few days off before hitting the road and continuing her campaign. “We’ll campaign just a little bit harder with a little bit more knowledge than we had before,” Bennett said. “I’m hoping to make sure that the two bills that I’m pushing get some attention for the veterans. I want to make sure that these bills go through that will enable them to get covered. These are Vietnam veterans that I’m trying to make sure get the benefits they were promised a long time ago.” She also wants to make con-

Matt Willhite (center, holding a sign) celebrates with supporters at World of Beer in Wellington after the election returns came in. nections, get educational bills started, help repeal Obamacare and see how she can help serve in Tallahassee. “Thanks to my team and the voters and the people who believed

PHOTO BY JULIE UNGER/TOWN-CRIER

in me and helped me along on this journey,” Bennett said. “They are what made this possible. I can do all of the work, as far as the bills and the legislature, but I represent See STATE RACES, page 16

Bradshaw, Haughwout, Jacks Alejo New Principal And Bucher Win County Races At Pierce Hammock

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report The countywide constitutional officer races on the ballot Tuesday saw three incumbents returned to office. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Public Defender Carey Haughwout and Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher all secured new four-year terms. In the race to replacing retiring Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits, Chief Deputy Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks defeated County Commissioner Shelley Vana. In the sheriff’s race, three-term incumbent Ric Bradshaw won 65.72 percent (104,112 votes) against challengers Alex Freeman (17.76 percent, 28,143 votes), Rick “Rosco” Sessa (9.57 percent, 15,165 votes) and Samuel Thompson (6.94 percent, 11,002 votes). Bradshaw is happy with the percentage of the vote he received. “It’s really about how well the

sheriff’s office is doing. If people are happy with what you’re doing, and they’re getting good service, and they’re affecting the quality of life in the neighborhoods, then people are going to show their appreciation and give you another chance,” he said. “I think that is what they’re trying to tell us, that we’re doing a good job.” However, Bradshaw isn’t overlooking those who did not vote for him. “They have issues, and I think that this is a very good opportunity to reach out to the segment of the community that has issues that they want to talk about and make them inclusive going forward here for the next four years,” he said, “and say, ‘What is it that’s bothering you about how we’re doing things, or that we’re not doing things that you’d want us to do?’ and try to get the entire community to support us and go forward.”

Bradshaw feels it will give him an opportunity to learn how the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office can improve and have the support of the entire community. Over the next four years, he wants to continue what the PBSO has been doing, such as keeping violent crime down by continuing the ongoing process of fighting gangs. “Nobody really does anything as much as we have to fight the gangs in this state; we’re the leader in that,” he said. The PBSO shut down pill mills, including one in Wellington, and is now focusing on heroin abuse, which Bradshaw called an “epidemic.” He wants to dramatically reduce the number of heroin overdose deaths. Homeland Security is also of concern, and is a big part of making sure the county is safe, he said. “Our priority is to make the See COUNTY, page 16

By Julie Unger Town-Crier Staff Report Just days before the new school year began, Ariel Alejo received the news that he was going to be the principal at Pierce Hammock Elementary School in The Acreage. For the last three years, Alejo was the supervising principal working for the Palm Beach County School District in the Department of Charter Schools. “My job was primarily to provide technical assistance to approximately 25 charter schools within our district,” he said. “Prior to that, I was a middle-high school principal for close to six years at Pahokee Middle/Sr. High School. Prior to that, I was the principal of Belle Glade Elementary School for close to three years.” Alejo has two sons, an eighthgrader at Western Pines Middle School and a fourth-grader at

Royal Palm Beach Elementary School. His wife, Andrea, is a media specialist at Hope Centennial Elementary School. They recently moved to the Acreage/ Loxahatchee area. “I’m really excited about the students. I have now visited every single classroom. I’ve been able to observe all of the wonderful teachers that we have here and all of the students that we have,” said Alejo, who replaced John Carvelli as principal. Currently, Alejo is working on building relationships with parents, teachers, students and staff. During the parent-teacher meet and greet, he was impressed with the parent turnout and parent generosity with supplies for their children and the classroom. “I met a lot of the parents here, personally, and I was just thrilled to see that we have such wonderSee ALEJO, page 16

Several Major Road Projects Underway In Wellington

By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Several major road construction projects are underway in Wellington, including Forest Hill Blvd. south of Wellington Trace, which has led to some traffic delays, and the long-planned Saddle Trail Park water main and paving project. Assistant Village Manager Jim Barnes said the Forest Hill Blvd. culvert project is due for substantial completion by Nov. 29. He said two weeks were added to the project because of work the village added, but the lane reduction now in effect will be done before that. The $1.257 million project has narrowed the existing four-lane section to two lanes to enable

construction, which is taking place Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with occasional evening utility projects. Work is suspended on Sundays. Residents are advised to use extra caution in the area. Local and pass-through traffic is encouraged to use Wellington Trace or Big Blue Trace as alternatives to avoid the construction. The Forest Hill project includes the replacement of the existing culvert and filling an accompanying low-lying area near the culvert. The project also will replace an existing, failing 30-inch culvert with a new 60-inch reinforced concrete culvert, and reconstruct about 820 feet of roadway, including striping and signage, concrete curbing and

sidewalks, drainage piping and structures, landscaping, irrigation, grading and sodding. The project remains on budget. The Palm Beach County Traffic Division was notified of the need for additional green light time for southbound Forest Hill’s approach to Wellington Trace and agreed to increase it. Traffic was reported to be moving more smoothly through the intersection since the adjustment was made. The Saddle Trail Park paving and water main project is behind schedule because of inadequate allocation of work crews, who were laying only about 100 feet of water line a day, according to Village Manager Paul Schofield. “That number is now up to

between 400 and 500,” Schofield said. “They put more crews out there, and they’re going to a sixday workweek.” Schofield said he met with the project engineer to get the project on schedule and coordinate with the residents. He is now having weekly team meetings with the contractor and has put a full-time inspector on the project. “We’ve got some survey work being done to ensure that the rough grading is in the correct place,” he said, explaining that some residents had questioned some bridle trails being only 8 feet wide. “That has something to do with trees being next to the right-of-way and fences. We’re out physically knocking on doors

again telling folks, ‘If you don’t take your fences down, we’re going to remove them.’ This will be the third time that we’ve done that, but we need to get them done.” Schofield said the water line is more than 50 percent complete, all the water drainage structures have been replaced and put in correctly, and the subgrade is in place. “We’ve got some of our own survey work being done on those bridle paths to make sure that they are where they need to be,” Schofield said. “The critical point from the staff’s standpoint on Saddle Trail is the configuration off the bridle path. They need to be 14 feet wide as the plan calls for, and See ROADS, page 16


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