Letters

Editor's Note: The right to vote: Still a thing after 250 years

Patriotic fervor is on full display this month, with Fourth of July fireworks extravaganzas up and down the coast — including in Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton —  and even a reading of the Declaration of Independence as part of D

Reporter's Note: Newspapers with local focus help build community

It has been 50 years this month since I began my newspaper career here in Palm Beach County, a wet-behind-the-ears Jimmy Olsen hired as a reporter for the weekly Delray Beach and Boynton Beach News Journal. 

Back then, Delray Beach was known among us

Publisher's Note: Elevated homes a big step forward in Briny Breezes

I have been a property owner in Ocean Ridge now for 40 years and in Briny Breezes for more than 20 years. Change has been gradual in both communities over those decades, mainly because most of the homes had already been built by the time Mary Kate

Editor's Note: New Boca, South Palm council majorities face challenges

Two maxims stand out from South County’s March 10 municipal races: Elections have consequences and every vote counts. Those maxims were true in one of the area’s smallest towns and in its biggest city.

Boca Raton voters squashed plans for a major pri

Editor's Note: With mature trees threatened, the answer isn’t more palms

Related: Lantana/Hypoluxo Island: Out on a limb: Hypoluxo Island residents grapple with how to protect their tree canopy

Related: Lantana: Tales from a Tree City

Related: Delray Beach: Fight to preserve massive banyan at golf course pits city against

Editor's Note: Voters don’t get much say when few run for office

Turtle time is coming, so let’s talk elections.

March marks the start of the annual sea turtle season, when beach lighting dims and stakes marking buried turtle nests begin sprouting along the shoreline.

It’s also municipal election season, when loca

Editor's Note: New curator takes over philanthropy news

One of my favorite sections of the paper is philanthropy.

It’s not just pictures of happy, smiling people — although many of those photographed are indeed happy, smiling and looking good. 

The section is consequential because it keeps tabs on massive

Editor's Note: Office cat has a new home; some people aren’t so lucky

She’s a petite pescatarian with green eyes and perky ears. Her brown hair is highlighted with streaks of black and apricot. Something about her staggering gait is endearing.

She’s a cute little cat with thyroid and neurological issues and she rece

Editor's Note: Boca, Delray deal with summer of discontent

The summer of ’25 will be remembered as a time when the heat — political heat, that is — reached a boiling point along the coast here.

In Delray Beach, impatient Florida officials demanded the city remove its colorful Pride intersection in downtown’

Editor's Note: Read all about us; we’re writing all about you

Related: The Coastal Star captures top honors nine times in annual competition

Here at The Coastal Star, we think a byline says a lot.

If you’re not familiar with newspaper lingo, a byline is the name at the top of a story telling you who wrote it.

Publisher’s Note: New shareholder comes on board as The Coastal Star looks to its future

We are delighted to share some good news about the future of The Coastal Star.

We’re welcoming Harvey Oyer III as a shareholder in the ownership of our publishing company. Our newspaper has been locally owned and operated since we published our firs

Editor's Note: Soak up the off-season’s best — and by that we don’t mean sweat

This time of year, when I set foot in my backyard, I’m greeted with the most beautiful floral bouquet — a large and magnificent frangipani tree. Fragrant five-petal white flowers adorn the tree. Some fall gracefully to blanket

Editor's Note: Be careful in paradise and you’ll be all right

Riptides at the beach. Strong currents in the inlet. Distractions on State Road A1A.

And, oh yeah, hurricane season has arrived. Can’t you feel them circling, honey?

Be careful out there.

Since A1A is now officially the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highwa

Editor's Note: How Intracoastal neighbors smoothed troubled waters

With the completion of the Bonefish Cove Restoration project only months away, we look forward to visiting the mangrove islands and oyster reefs in the central Lake Worth Lagoon north of Hypoluxo Island. American avocets, black skimmers and royal te

Editor's Note: As snowbirds depart, turtles take their place on the beach

Publisher's Note: Brush up on lifesaving skills

Did you ever think you really knew something, something vitally important? Only to find out the things you thought you knew were not only out of date, but also bordered on dead wrong?

I took a basic lifesaving class when I was in college and thought

Editor's Note: Railroad crossing gates: Let’s cover all the lanes

Totally unnecessary, that is, if only you could trust people to use common sense.

But then a fire truck being driven

Editor's Note: So long, farewell, adieu (but not goodbye)

I’m retired. Yep. There I said it.

As of Jan. 1, I turned the editorial reins of this newspaper over to the talented and competent people my husband and I have

Editor's Note: Why the holiday season is a special gift to enjoy

Reciprocity. A word that might be hard to pronounce, but whose definition seems especially appropriate during the holidays. If we understand that the giving of gifts almost always initiates a reaction, and we listen to, or observe, that response, we

Editor's Note: 16 and counting — with your help

Sweet 16! The Coastal Star is growing up. …

Sixteen years ago — November 2008 — our first edition was delivered to homes and condos in the South County coastal area stretching from Manalapan through Delray Beach.

As other print publications stopped