Town-Crier Newspaper May 20, 2011

Page 1

PBC FINALIZES ANTI-CORRUPTION RULES SEE STORY, PAGE 3

MBSK PRESENTS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS SEE PHOTOS, PAGES 12 & 13

THE

TOWN - CR IER WELLINGTON • ROYAL PALM BEACH • LOXAHATCHEE • THE ACREAGE

Your Community Newspaper

INSIDE

Volume 32, Number 20 May 20 - May 26, 2011

WELLINGTON HOSTS RELAY FOR LIFE

Gypsy’s Horse Dinner Supports MBSK Trust

Gypsy’s Horse Irish Pub in the original Wellington Mall hosted a beer and wine pairing dinner to benefit My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper Charitable Trust on Sunday, May 15. There was a four-course dinner with diners choosing from suggested beer and wine selections to accompany each course. Page 2

Wellington residents came out to walk for a cure during the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on Saturday, May 14 at Village Park on Pierson Road. Participants stayed up overnight walking the track to raise money. Shown here, cancer survivors carry a banner as they star t the relay with an honorary lap. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 5 PHOTO BY LAUREN MIRÓ/TOWN-CRIER

YouTube Star Ricky Ficarelli Of Wellington Wraps Up 27-City Tour Meteorologist Kait Parker Offers Storm Tips At Chamber Lunch

As hurricane season approaches, Wellington Chamber of Commerce members got safety tips from WPTV NewsChannel 5’s Kait Parker, the keynote speaker at the chamber’s luncheon Wednesday, May 18. Page 3

Women’s Club Presents Fashion Show At Binks

The Wellington Women’s Club held its “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” brunch, fashion show and auction May 14 at the Binks Forest Golf Club. Page 14

OPINION Advice To The Graduates

For Palm Beach County seniors, the coming week will be their last as high school students. As they come to the end of the first major chapter of their lives, now is a time for reflection, considering all they’ve accomplished and deciding where to go from here. It can be a confusing time. Because of this, every year the TownCrier offers advice to help add some perspective. Page 4 DEPARTMENT INDEX NEWS ............................. 3 - 15 OPINION ................................ 4 CRIME NEWS ........................ 6 NEWS BRIEFS .......................8 SCHOOLS .....................16 - 18 PEOPLE................................19 COLUMNS .................... 27 - 28 SUMMER CAMPS ........ 29 - 32 ENTERTAINMENT ................33 BUSINESS ...................35 - 37 SPORTS .......................41 - 44 CALENDAR...................46 - 47 CLASSIFIEDS ...............48 - 53 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM

Emerging Star — Wellington teen Ricky Ficarelli has entertained millions on YouTube, and last week wrapped up a 27-city tour.

By Chris Felker Town-Crier Staff Report A Wellington teenager may be on the verge of hitting the big time in the music business after having performed in YouTube’s first nationwide Digitour, a series of concerts featuring the Internet video channel’s most popular youthful performers. Ricky Ficarelli, 17, is the youngest of several YouTube sensations — including headliner Dave Days, Destorm, the Gregory Brothers (a.k.a. AutoiTune the News), David Choi, Christina Grimmie and the “MysteryGuitarMan” Joe Penna — who have been touring since April 12, when the six-week, 27-city series of shows began in Los Angeles. It ended Sunday, May 15, with a last stop in Fort Lauderdale at the Culture Room. For Ficarelli, it was nice to end the month-long tour with “a coming-home concert.” “We’ve done shows with a hundred people, we’ve done shows with a thousand people, and this one was somewhere in the middle,” he said. The teenager loves playing See FICARELLI, page 20

Economic Task Force Aims To Put Focus On SR 7 Extension By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report Gathering community support for the extension of State Road 7 to Northlake Blvd. will be among the priorities for the Palms West Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Task Force after discussion of the issue arose at its Thursday, May 12 meeting. Greenacres Mayor Sam Ferreri noted that the Florida Department of Transportation would be considering the extension this coming fall and that it would meet opposition. “The State Road 7 [issue] is going to come to a boil,” Ferreri said. “The new mayor of West Palm Beach, who is an Ibis resident, is dead set against this road. They’re already meeting.” Callery-Judge Grove General Manager Nat Roberts wondered what the next step toward approving the road was. “Are we playing defense or offense?” he asked. Ferreri said that opponents of

the plan are bringing up environmental factors and costs to combat the extension. “They say that the cost that is in the budget is not accurate,” he said. Ferreri noted that those opposing the road extension are already amassing residents to attend the FDOT hearings. “I have seen a lot of meeting signs and notices popping up along the [road],” he said. “They’re having these meetings to prepare to have a mass turnout at the hearings and giving out information.” Ferreri said that the power of social media helps spread the word but can also spread inaccurate information. “Social media can help people amass huge crowds through a lot of misinformation or not full information,” he said. Regarding Roberts’ question of whether supporters were on offense or defense, Task Force Chairman Carmine Priore III not-

ed that the western communities would need to be aggressive on the issue. “We need to be sure that the right information is out there,” he said. “We need to be out there and provide the right information to residents.” Scott Brown of the Palms West Chamber told the task force that the chamber had already begun contacting representatives from the area to support the issue. He noted that several are not taking a stance. Royal Palm Beach Village Manager Ray Liggins wondered whether the chamber could contact its membership and give them directions on what they need to do to support the extension. “That’s the next step,” Brown said. Palms West Chamber CEO Jaene Miranda suggested sending letters to the area representatives to encourage them to support the extension, but Roberts said that See SR 7, page 22

Serving Palms West Since 1980

K-Park Back Among Options As College Eyes Campus Sites By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Wellington’s K-Park is back in the mix as a possible Palm Beach State College campus site, along with four other sites that will be considered at a PBSC Board of Trustees workshop at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24. The 66-acre parcel on State Road 7 south of the Mall at Wellington Green was included at the request of Wellington Mayor Darell Bowen, a longtime advocate of a campus being located there. Two years ago, the idea became hotly contested by opponents who were against leasing the property to the college for $10 a year, because it had been purchased by the village as future parkland. Discussions were dropped when the economy went sour and state financing for the campus was vetoed by former Gov. Charlie Crist. PBSC recently announced it has

renewed its search after the legislature this year approved $7.3 million for a fifth campus, which is still subject to veto by Gov. Rick Scott, according to Palm Beach County Legislative Affairs Director Todd Bonlarron. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce recently sent a letter to Bowen and the Wellington Village Council supporting a PBSC campus at K-Park. “Our mission is to develop entities in Wellington to get more jobs in Wellington and do as much as we can to promote Wellington,” Chamber President Michael Stone said. “The establishment of higher education has proven in other locations to have been a great way of getting more jobs and keeping the economy moving.” The college’s board approved bids for construction management and architectural services earlier this month, according to Director See CAMPUS, page 22

Negotiation Session Moves Callery-Judge, Town Closer To Deal By Lauren Miró Town-Crier Staff Report The Town of Loxahatchee Groves inched closer to a settlement agreement with CalleryJudge Grove after both sides came to a compromise Tuesday on several points of negotiation. After three hours of discussion, council members unanimously agreed to limit new housing to an initial 179 homes with an additional 20 homes each year for 15 years. The issue of whether to support a four-lane rural parkway on Okeechobee Blvd., however, divided the council 3-2, with councilmen Tom Goltzené and Jim Rockett opposed. A third decision about future non-residential growth along Okeechobee Blvd. was postponed until a special meeting Tuesday, May 31 so that each party’s lawyer could review the issue and draft language that pleased everyone.

Over the past 18 months, the two entities worked in closed sessions to settle Callery-Judge’s long-running challenge to the town’s comprehensive plan. The council ultimately rejected the settlement after residents objected to several key points, including opening new road connections to the town and major changes to Okeechobee Blvd. But last month, both sides agreed on a few key points of future negotiation that had a potential for compromise. In a letter addressed to the council, Callery-Judge Grove General Manager Nat Roberts addressed the items, which included the building of new homes and the widening of Okeechobee Blvd. Roberts said that to settle the issue of forming connector and reliever roads, Callery-Judge would be amicable to an agreement of no more than 200 new See SETTLEMENT, page 22

ART SOCIETY SCHOLARS

The Wellington Art Society presented scholarship awards at its meeting Wednesday, May 11 at the Wellington Community Center. The students who received scholarships must be pursuing art in their continuing education at college or art school. Pictured above is Brittany Bennett with her charcoal drawing Interaction With Hands: Grief. MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN/TOWN-CRIER

Indian Trail Voices Support For ‘Garden Of Hope’ Idea By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report The Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors last week asked for a group of residents to work with district staff on a “Garden of Hope” as part of the Acreage Community Park expansion. It is envisioned as a place where families who have lost a loved one can go to contemplate. Resident Diana Demarest, who sat on the Acreage Community Focus Group that met last year to review possible causes for a suspected “cancer cluster” in the community, presented the idea to the board at its May 11 meeting. “One of the things that we’ve

been talking about that we would like to see is some public garden, a Garden of Hope, an area within the park that will allow families, people who have lost loved ones, whether to disease or by accident, to be able to reflect,” she said. Demarest said the area would not need to be large, but would help ease the minds of people who have lost family members or friends, or have fought a disease and won. “We would like a small area of the park to set up a place where people can come and reflect… and maybe get to share with other people who are sitting there in the park,” Demarest said.

All costs would be covered through donations and the sale of engraved bricks, she said, showing a rough drawing of how she thought the park might look. Demarest said the Seminole Ridge High School Construction Academy has offered to build park benches for $50 each. In addition to selling engraved bricks, she suggested that flower seed packets could be sold for dispersal at the park. “This is something we would like the board of supervisors to consider,” Demarest said, adding that she also wants to work with the Acreage Landowners’Association on the project.

Demarest said that if the board is amenable to the idea, she could give a more complete report sometime in the future. She added that high school student advisers have told her they could get students out there to help build and maintain the park. “They would allow them to come out on Saturdays to build a gazebo and do the digging,” Demarest said. “We would award them community service hours for doing this. We don’t expect any tax dollars to go toward this whatsoever.” She said the park might be appropriate as part of the Acreage/ Loxahatchee Relay for Life,

which is held annually at the park, although the Garden of Hope would be for anyone who has suffered a loss, not just for those related to cancer. “It would be for anybody and everybody,” Demarest said. ITID President Michelle Damone said she liked the idea. “I love to see community involvement, and everything you’ve presented this evening touches community involvement, all the way down to the high school,” Damone said. “I think having a brick fundraiser and any other fundraiser that you do gets the whole community involved. It does take a lot See GARDEN, page 22


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Town-Crier Newspaper May 20, 2011 by Wellington The Magazine LLC - Issuu