By Rich Pollack

    The number of serious crimes — what little there was — declined 23 percent for six small coastal towns in 2013 and local law enforcement agencies are crediting a more vigilant population for much of the drop.
    In all, there were 135 serious crimes, including burglaries, robberies and thefts in the six small oceanfront communities of Highland Beach, Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes, Ocean Ridge, Manalapan and South Palm Beach, according to statistics compiled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Last year the same agencies reported 176 serious crimes.
    Highland Beach, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge all saw drops in reported crime, while South Palm Beach and Manalapan each reported only one more crime than the previous year.
    Overall, Boca Raton reported a 9.3 percent decrease in serious crimes while Delray Beach saw a 5 percent increase. Lantana saw a 7.8 percent increase in the number of crimes reported. Breakdowns of the number of reported crimes that occurred east of the Intracoastal Waterway for those communities were not available.
    In Highland Beach, the number of serious crimes fell 25 percent from 2012 to 2013 while Gulf Stream had a 37.5 percent drop in the number of serious crimes. In going from 10 crimes in 2012 to 11 in 2013, South Palm Beach saw a slight increase in the number of crimes reported, as did Manalapan with 25 crimes reported compared to 24 in 2012.
    In Ocean Ridge, which also polices Briny Breezes and includes crimes there in its statistics, the number of reported crimes dropped from 74 in 2012 to 51 in 2013.
    “Obviously, we’re very happy with the numbers,” said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi. “It’s really a team effort involving our department and our residents.”
    Yannuzzi said his department is especially pleased with a 48 percent decrease in the number of reported burglaries, even at a time when staffing was down.
    “There were 25 burglaries reported in 2012 and just 13 reported last year,” he said.
    The number of larcenies in Ocean Ridge also dropped from 46 in 2012 to 28 last year. A significant number of those crimes, Yannuzzi said, took place at Oceanfront Park, owned and operated by the city of Boynton Beach but which is in Ocean Ridge so falls under the town’s jurisdiction.   
    Palm Beach County’s Ocean Inlet Park, south of the Boynton Beach Inlet, is policed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which has countywide jurisdiction.
    Burglaries also dropped significantly in Highland Beach, where 12 were reported in 2012 and only four were reported in 2013.
    Both Yannuzzi and Highland Beach Police Chief Craig Hartmann say increased awareness on the part of residents helped to minimize crime, especially burglaries.
    “We spent time getting the word out to our residents and letting them know they should call us if something doesn’t look right,” Hartmann said.
    He said the department works closely with residents, letting them know to notify the department when they’re away so the officers can keep an additional eye on the property.
    “Highland Beach has a reputation of being a safe town and we want to work with our residents to keep it that way,” he said.
    In Gulf Stream, Police Chief Garrett Ward says the department’s high visibility on State Road A1A and in other areas may serve as a deterrent to criminals.
    “Our focal point is high visibility patrols,” he said. “We use traffic enforcement as a crime prevention tool.”
    Ward said the department also works with residents to provide extra patrols when they are out of town.
Manlapan Police Chief Carmen Mattox says his department also provides extra patrols of homes when the residents are away. In addition, the department does regular checks of construction areas to make sure there are no unauthorized personnel on the site, especially after hours.
    Highland Beach, Gulf Stream and Ocean Ridge also offer residents free home-security checks to identify potential problems.
    Yannuzzi said his department also puts out a monthly newsletter that includes crime prevention tips and information about the latest crimes.
    “We’re constantly pushing crime prevention,” he said. “Our goal is to make Ocean Ridge more intimidating to criminals.

Crime Prevention Tips
• If you see something, say something. Don’t delay in calling police.
• Install alarms and keep them activated when you’re away. An alarm does no good if it isn’t activated.
• Secure your property. Keep home and car doors locked and garage doors closed when not in use.
• Illuminate the exterior of your home as much as possible.
• Give your house a “lived-in” look. Put lights on a timer and don’t leave newspapers in the driveway.
Source: Ocean Ridge Police Department

By Rich Pollack

    While Delray Beach considers whether to have Palm Beach County Fire Rescue provide its fire service, the town of Highland Beach is hedging its bets and planning discussions to determine the feasibility of having Boca Raton replace Delray Beach as its fire service provider.
    Currently, Highland Beach has a $3 million-a-year contract for Delray Beach to provide around-the-clock staffing for the town’s fire station.
    Highland Beach provides an aging fire truck and rescue vehicle that is used by Delray Beach Fire Rescue personnel for calls within the town limits.
    Although the contract runs until 2017, Highland Beach could have several options for fire service providers sooner, should Delray Beach choose to have the county provide its fire service rather than maintain its own department.
    “Our contract with Delray runs until 2017. However, if they consolidate, we will need to look at other alternatives,” Town Manager Kathleen Weiser said.
    One option would be contracting with the county, but late last month Highland Beach Mayor Bernard Featherman spoke with Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie about the possibility of Boca Raton providing fire services for the town. Haynie mentioned the discussion during a workshop meeting and all Boca Raton Council members were in favor of exploring the possibility.
    Highland Beach Town Commissioner Lou Stern also has spoken to Haynie about the issue.
    During a recent Highland Beach meeting, commissioners gave town officials the green light to contact Boca Raton staff members to study the feasibility of Boca providing fire service.
    Weiser said that the town is interested in hearing from Boca even if Delray does keep its own fire-rescue service, since the current contract will expire in less than four years.
    “This really is very preliminary,” she said. “It’s preliminary conversations between elected officials.”
    Delray Beach is scheduled to discuss the county consolidation proposal on June 12 in a special meeting.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue Chief Danielle Connor said that Delray Beach enjoys a collaborative working relationship with Highland Beach.
    “Our service has never been an issue,” she said. “It’s only improved since we began working together in 1993.”
    In earlier discussions with Delray Beach, Highland Beach official have explored the possibility of having Delray also provide a fire truck and a paramedic vehicle for an estimated $130,000 a year.
    Highland Beach’s 18-year-old fire truck has been repeatedly out of service in recent years.
    “Our fire truck is on life support, and our rescue vehicle isn’t far behind,” Weiser said.
“Under this proposal, we would get out of the equipment business and would pay a vehicle maintenance fee in return for Delray Beach providing equipment.”

By Rich Pollack

    A proposed $3.5 million sale of Highland Beach town-owned property in Boca Raton, which has been mired in bureaucratic red tape for almost a year, may soon become a done deal. But until it is, the town will receive $3,500 a month from a private developer.
    Last June, the town signed a contract to sell two parcels in northern Boca Raton (between Federal and Dixie Highways) — once used for a water treatment facility — to developer Douglas Durrett. He plans to build residential units on the larger property.
    After the contract was signed, however, Boca Raton city officials discovered that while the larger parcel was properly zoned for residential usage, Boca’s comprehensive land use plan had not been updated from the previous governmental-land usage, preventing the sale from closing.
    The town had approved a three-month extension of the agreement, but when a request from the developer for yet another extension came before the Town Commission last month, several commissioners had misgivings.
    Commissioner Carl Feldman, who said that the value of the property had probably increased during the past year, suggested the town consider putting both parcels back on the market if the buyer couldn’t close right away.
    “There might be someone out there who would be interested in the property at a higher price,” he said.
    That led to heated exchanges between attorney Mitchell Kirschner, representing the developer, and town commissioners, with Kirschner pointing out that the town has a binding contract.
    “This is either a political hot potato or you don’t understand where this matter is,” Kirschner said. “You sold us something you can’t sell and you advertised something you can’t advertise.”
    Kirschner reminded commissioners that Durrett had already put $70,000 in escrow to be taken out of the total sale price as a gesture of good faith.
    Throughout the discussions Kirschner and Town Attorney Glen Torcivia explained that if a lawsuit were filed the property would probably be tied up in litigation for some time.
    “If there’s a lawsuit pending no one is going to want to buy the property,” Kirschner said.
    Feldman, during the course of the discussions, suggested that the town grant the additional extension if Durrett were willing to pay $25,000 a month, which would not be refundable.
    Mayor Bernard Featherman agreed.  “I believe the $25,000 a month is fair,” he said.
    After Durrett balked at the amount, Torcivia proposed cutting it to $3,500 a month.
    “We are almost at the finish line,” he said, after he and Kirschner explained that the necessary changes are expected to come before the Boca Raton City Council in the next few months. “Let’s get past the rhetoric.”
    After hallway negotiations between Kirschner and Durrett with Torcivia, the developer agreed to $3,500 in monthly payments until closing in exchange for an extension until the end of November. If the closing doesn’t occur by Nov. 30, the contract will terminate.
    “Neither side got exactly what we wanted, but in the end it was a fair accommodation to all involved,” Kirschner said.

Finding a parking space at Gumbo Limbo can be a challange.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Expanded ocean views on Red Reef Park Executive Golf Course, safer pedestrian crossing on A1A at Red Reef Park, and increased revenue for Gumbo Limbo Nature Center are just some of the improvements that may be in the works in the near future.
    The Boca Raton Beach and Park District selected Miller Legg engineering, landscape and architecture consulting firm, to upgrade the park, golf course and adjacent nature center, all on A1A about 1 mile north of Palmetto Park Road.
    The contract for the work should be finalized by mid-June, said district acting director Art Koski.
    A master plan will be written after getting input from the public, district commissioners and the city, said Mike Kroll, Miller Legg vice president.
    The company has no firm directives for improvements, which could include anything from a restaurant at the golf course to parking meters at Gumbo Limbo.
    “Everything is on the table,” Kroll said. “We will be looking at existing parking, revenues generated from parking, the safety aspect of crossing A1A and many other possibilities including improvements at the golf course.”
    The nine-hole Red Reef Executive Golf Course stretches across A1A from the Intracoastal Waterway to the ocean, but houses obscure most of the water views on the Intracoastal side and trees and shrubs block views of the ocean.
    Promoted as an ocean course, golfers are often disappointed when they don’t see the water except for several glimpses through the trees and shrubs.
    “One of the things we want to do is to really embrace the oceanfront existence of the golf course,” he said. “That’s a unique element. Most courses on the ocean are private and not easily accessible. If you enhance the golf experience, you’re making it a more unique golf experience. All those things will be discussed. This is a great opportunity.”
    Golf course architect Harry Bowers of Signature Design, who worked on the redesign of the 18-hole Palm Beach Par 3 Golf Course, is on Miller Legg’s team and will be involved in the Red Reef course project, Kroll said.
    The Palm Beach course, 19 miles north of the Red Reef course on A1A, has views of the ocean and Intracoastal from every hole. Players often describe it as a “mini Pebble Beach,” and Golf Digest magazine called it “one of the best par 3’s you can play anywhere.”
    The Red Reef course has limitations that the Palm Beach course doesn’t, said Kroll.  
    “We’re dealing with very different conditions at Red Reef. It’s not conducive to people playing championship golf, but it has a great clientele of junior and senior golfers.”
    Would he be in favor of a restaurant on the course? “If the district said we should, we would,” he said.
    The new restaurant on the Palm Beach course pays the city $150,000 a year in rent.
Meanwhile the Red Reef course loses a quarter of a million tax dollars a year, and has a dwindling number of players.
    The time frame for the master plan is probably six to nine months, Kroll said, “depending on the amount of public involvement.”
    “We have presented some ideas and opportunities,” he said. “Some of the other things we want to address is the safety aspect of crossing A1A. We would work with DOT and make it safer within the park itself. Gumbo Limbo relies on donations and admittance fees. We will look at opportunities for generating more revenue.”
    And he wants to enhance the natural environment of the park, course and nature center.
    “While I was there, a 500-pound leatherback was on the beach. That’s a fantastic resource. We want to retain animal habitats and integrate recreation along with natural resources. We’ve done that at other coastal parks,” he said.
    Miller Legg’s projects have included Calypso Cove Water Park in Boca, Jensen Beach Riverwalk, Plantation Preserve and Golf Club, Rosemont Community Park in Orlando, Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club, and Sandy Ridge Sanctuary in Coral Springs.
    Resort clients include the Four Seasons at Emerald Bay Resort in Great Exuma, Bahamas; Royal Palm Resort in Curacao; Sugar Bay Plantation Resort in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and La Hacienda Resort in Egypt.
    Established in 1965, the company has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Port St. Lucie, Winter Park, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

By Sallie James
    
    The financially struggling Boca Raton Children’s Museum is hanging on by a thread, thanks to a stream of donations totaling about $7,500 that will enable the nonprofit to continue operating through June. Museum officials had hoped to raise $10,000.
    Donations began trickling in after museum Executive Director Denise St. Patrick-Bell issued a plea for help on April 22, when she outlined the museum’s dire financial straits at a Boca Raton City Commission meeting.
    St. Patrick-Bell proposed the city share museum costs by providing an annual $150,000 grant. However, the city has made no decision on her proposal.
    “Donations are still coming in and we are still encouraging people to donate,” St. Patrick-Bell said recently. “We are encouraged. These are tough times for everybody. We have gotten some donations as high as $500 but we are accepting whatever.”
    In mid-April, St. Patrick-Bell told city officials the museum would run out of money on April 30 because donations have been sparse and grants scarce. The museum operates on a $300,000 annual budget, with three full-time and five part-time employees.
    Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie said the city is prepared to take over the operation of the museum if no other solution can be found.
    Another nonprofit agency — so far not publicly unidentified — is evaluating the feasibility of partnering with the Children’s Museum to continue operations, Haynie said. Discussions are ongoing.

By Jane Smith

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Ingeborg Rand’s last wish was to die at home. At age 90, surrounded there by husband John and family, she died May 20 from complications from a fall.
    Known affectionately as Inge (IN-ga) to family and friends, Mrs. Rand was the consummate wife, mother and grandmother.
    On Feb. 26, Mrs. Rand had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night, when she fell in the bedroom and fractured her ankle. She had to have surgery, then weeks of rehab, during which she contracted pneumonia.
    The couple met more than seven decades ago at James Monroe High School in New York City. She had just moved into the neighborhood and when John saw her, he said, “I felt goose bumps and thought, ‘God, she is gorgeous’. ”
    She was born April 19, 1924, near Dusseldorf, Germany, to William and Frances Schmitz. The Schmitz family came to the U.S. when their daughter was 4.
    Her future husband proposed to her when they were 19. He wanted her to wait while he went into the Army to serve in World War II, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps in Burma and China. He bought her an engagement ring from his family jeweler, paying $15 a month for 10 months.
    They were married July 20, 1946, in St. Helena’s Church in New York City.
    “She was a fabulous dresser and everyone complimented her sense of style,” said her husband.
    After his career in banking in New York, they were ready to retire to Florida. His secretary suggested Highland Beach because she had a friend in Boca Raton who recommended it.
    Mrs. Rand was preceded in death by her son, Dr. John Rand.
    In addition to her husband, survivors are two daughters — Linda Ladolcetta and her husband, Gary, of Princeton, N.J., and Ingrid Sornesen and her husband, Michael, of Cape May Court House, N.J.; and six grandchildren — Michael Ladolcetta of Ohio, Lauren Ladolcetta of New York, and Susan, Elizabeth, Kelly and John P. Rand of California.
    The Glick Family Funeral Home of Boca Raton handled the arrangements. Mrs. Rand’s funeral service was private.

Barb Schmidt watches as her books roll down the line

at HCI Printing and Publishing in Deerfield Beach.

Photos provided

Barb Schmidt introduced her book, The Practice, during an event at Florida Atlantic University last month.

INSET BELOW: Cover of 'The Practice'

By Mary Jane Fine

    Like so many little girls whose role models were Cinderella and Princess Grace, Barb Schmidt grew up believing that happily-ever-after was a birthright. Would fairy tales lie? Would movies? Of course not.
    So why, then, at the ripe old age of 18, was she still searching, searching for the elusive happiness that seemed always beyond her reach?
    There were reasons; there always are.
    “As a child, I grew up in a very dysfunctional home,” she says. “I was the oldest of five. Both my mother and my father were alcoholics. I felt disconnected, unhappy, alone … on the outside, looking in.”
    Looking at television, too, lots of it, as a way of passing the hours. And she was attending the Catholic Church to which her family was devoted.
    In high school, she worked four jobs, including her favorite, at a local McDonald’s. The fast food became a fast salve for her misery. She ate the fish sandwiches. She ate the french fries. She ate the hash browns. She ate and ate.
    But maintaining her trim size — 5-foot-6, 125 pounds — was no problem. After eating, she’d duck into the ladies room and vomit.
    “I was very secretive then. I’d go into one of the cubicles and throw up.” She got so good at it, so fast, that no one ever caught her at it.
    A decade passed before she realized that her unhealthy behavior — “I didn’t eat a meal that I didn’t throw up” — was a disease: bulimia.
    More years passed before she could look back, collect her thoughts and write a book about her path from there to here, about ending her binge-purge addiction, about learning to navigate beyond unhappiness, about finding a mooring that offered both physical and spiritual health.
    The Practice: Simple Tools for Managing Stress, Finding Inner Peace, and Uncovering Happiness had its official launch last month at Florida Atlantic University’s Libby and Harry Dodson Auditorium in the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.
    In the preface of The Practice, Schmidt recalls how, on an October morning in 1984, she read a newspaper article about the death, a year earlier, of Karen Carpenter, one of her favorite singers, from anorexia.
    Schmidt had stayed home from work that day, something she rarely did, and immersed herself in the paper. The story about the anniversary of Carpenter’s death, the reason for it, hit her hard: an eating disorder, a dangerous one. And on the other side of the printed page was an ad for a center that treated anorexia and bulimia.
    “This voice just clicked within me,” she says. “It said, ‘You need help. You need to go and get help.’ ”
    The very next day, her then-husband, Mickey — she’d married at 19 — drove her across the state, from their Coral Springs home to the treatment center in Naples. She stayed six weeks. Group therapy. A 12-step program. Inspirational reading. Spiritual instruction. And, yes, recovery.
    “By the end of my stay,” Schmidt writes, “I had an incredible desire to live a more spiritual, more meaningful life.”
    She had accomplished much by then, but those six weeks had led her to view her successes as the wrong ones.
    “According to society’s measurements, I had achieved all the external things I could possibly want: six (McDonald’s) franchises, a handsome husband, a social life, money, and an attractive appearance. However … I did not feel happy. Most of the time, I felt incomplete.”
    The path to feeling “complete” had begun in Naples. The birth of her daughter, Michelle, in November 1985, extended that path. “I instantly felt more patient and more loving,” she writes.
    Her spiritual search continued. She read inspirational books — M. Scott Peck’s The Road Less Travelled and Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love — and went on spiritual retreats.

During a retreat in Pura Vida in March, Schmidt meditated regularly.
Photos provided

When the Dalai Lama came to FAU in 2010, Schmidt met him.

    The push-pull puzzle of her Catholic childhood — “Should I be a nun or be rich and famous?” — snapped into clear focus. There needn’t be an either/or, she told herself. She needn’t listen to, as she says, “that little Catholic voice about going to hell.” She could have material things. She didn’t have to “go live in a cave.” She could enjoy a balanced life.
    Balance came in a number of ways. She and her first husband divorced. He later introduced her to Dick Schmidt, whom she married in 1992. By then, she’d sold her McDonald’s franchises and immersed herself in yoga and meditation, spiritual retreats and religious studies. More years passed. She felt the completion she’d sought, the happiness. The next step was to share with others some of what she had learned.
   And share she did. In 1988, just a few years after her recovery, Schmidt co-founded Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities of South Florida. In 2001, she and Dick hosted a holiday party and asked guests to each bring a toy for a needy child. That request resulted in 600-plus toys, and those toys, over time, resulted in the Spirit of Giving Network, a non profit collaborative group, a forum for sharing information and resources to help children and families in South Palm Beach County. And there was more. The Schmidts and the Schmidt Foundation, already supporters of FAU’s Peace Studies Program, in 2005 helped launch a community-outreach series that has evolved into Barb Schmidt’s non profit Peaceful Mind, Peaceful Life, which is “dedicated to funding speakers, teachers and projects that spread peace and love throughout the world.”
    “I’d been on a 30-year search,” she says. “I’m always a student, but now I’ve become my own teacher.”
    And the teacher of others. She began giving workshops, giving back what she’d been given. The Practice was a natural outcome. Undaunted by the plethora of self-help books and spiritual advice in bookstores, Schmidt wrote her own.
    “I felt like I needed to tell my story,” says Schmidt, who now lives in Boca Raton. “I felt I could connect in a very simple, direct way. We never take time to sit with ourselves for just a minute, to let thoughts come and go. Every day, you can connect with that spark inside, to know how capable you are, not at the mercy of the world.”
    Her book presents what she calls “a set of practical tools that can be used throughout the day to guide us along our life’s path … a compilation of the great Truths taught by authentic teachers and masters throughout the centuries from various religious and spiritual traditions.”
    Meditation. Mantras. Readings. Reflection. The daily routine she titled “the practice” because, as she notes in the book, quoting the late modern dancer Martha Graham, “Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire.”
    Schmidt’s desire is to share her experience and her path to fulfillment with her readers, to help them achieve what a friend told her, not long ago: “Your life is like Mission: Impossible, to go from where you were to where you are today.”

The Practice: Simple Tools for Managing Stress, Finding Inner Peace, and Uncovering Happiness (Health Communications, $12.95) is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com and other sites.

Florida Federation of Garden Clubs president Sue Angle (left) honors

Boca Raton Garden Club president Carol Brown with the state

Garden Club of the Year award.

Photo provided

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
 
    Carol Brown, president of the Boca Raton Garden Club, had her hands full when she returned from two conventions in St. Petersburg in April.
    She was carrying five prestigious awards for the group, including two Garden Club of the Year certificates.
    These were from the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, made up of almost 200 clubs statewide as well as the Deep South Region of National Garden Clubs that includes the clubs in six states.  
    “These awards show people how hard we’ve worked. I couldn’t be prouder,” says Brown, who finishes her two-year term as president this month. The club also received an award for the Town Hall talk it presented at the Boca Raton Historical Society and Museum in October to celebrate the group’s 60th anniversary. And it won top honors for its garden therapy program offered through FAU to those suffering Alzheimer’s disease.
    Brown, who has been a club member since 2009, received a leadership award from the FFGC thanks to member Marion Tieniber, who filled out a 12-page application putting her name forward.
    “We have really strong momentum now,” Brown says of the 160-member club that is attracting new people. “I’m hoping it will continue.”

The Ocean Ridge Garden Club celebrated the 90th birthday of one

of its longtime members, Dottie Morrison, at its year-end luncheon May 7

at the Ocean Club of Florida in Ocean Ridge. Club president Kristine de Haseth

presents Morrison with an orchid as member Julia Walker looks on.

Photo provided

Angler Rich Slipspil holds one of three wahoo caught aboard the Wish List last July

using bonito strips pulled behind trolling planers. Capt. J.P. Wolf found

the wahoo in about 185 feet of water just north of Hillsboro Inlet.

Photo courtesy of Tony DiGiulian, IGFA School of Sportfishing

By Willie Howard

    Most people who fish the Atlantic waters off South Florida have trolled for dolphin and possibly wahoo, too.
    But as anglers with decades of offshore experience know, there are many small tips to keep in mind that can make the difference between a dull day of trolling and a memory-making offshore fishing trip that produces delicious fish for dinner.
    Fine points of offshore trolling were shared by instructors Mike Theis and Tony DiGiulian during a May 6 class on dolphin and wahoo fishing at the International Game Fish Association’s School of Sportfishing.
    Theis said anglers should start by assembling the right rods for the job: trolling rods that hold 20- to 30-pound-test line and two or three spinning rods holding 15- to 20-pound-test line. (The spinning rods are for pitching baits to dolphin that appear near the boat.)
    Also, choose the right size trolling bait. For dolphin, use a ballyhoo, squid or lure that is about the right size for the fish you’re expecting to find. If you troll an extra-large “horse” ballyhoo, for instance, an average dolphin might not hit it. If your goal is to catch the largest dolphin you can find for a tournament, however, troll some large baits.
    Tie a loop in the end of the line on the trolling rod and tie a 40- to 50-pound leader to the loop, then connect the leader to the snap swivel that will attach to the bait. The extra leader length allows fish to be lifted into the boat without breaking the line.
    Thaw frozen trolling baits the night before you go fishing and salt their bellies with kosher salt to make them tougher. Salted baits last longer before washing out, increasing fishing time. (Trolling baits made from bonito belly strips and squid also are effective for dolphin.)
    Troll south against the north-flowing Gulf Stream current, but make loops to the east and west to find deep blue water that might even appear “purple.”
    Signs of good dolphin-trolling water include a slightly warmer temperature, mats of floating Sargasso weed and floating debris, such as tree branches. Floating objects that have small baitfish around them are ideal. Troll by them. If that doesn’t work, stop and toss out a few chunks of sardine, squid or ballyhoo to bring the fish to the boat.
    Consider ocean current reports by providers such as ROFFS (www.roffs.com) or Hilton’s Real Time Navigator (www.realtime-navigator.com). Ocean forecasts are not free, but neither is fuel.
    Fish with only as many rods as you have anglers, Theis said. If three rods are hit by dolphin at the same time and you have two anglers ready to handle them, the result might be that you catch none of them.
    Stagger baits at different distances behind the boat to avoid tangles in turns. A typical spread might include baits trolled at 100 and 150 feet behind outriggers, a short bait 50 feet behind the transom and a bait trolled on a downrigger or planer that takes it below the surface.
    When trolling for wahoo, DiGiulian and Theis recommended a planer rig. The planer is attached to the rod to take the trolling bait below the surface. When a fish hits a line attached to a planer, it comes up to the surface.
    DiGiulian likes to rig planers with 60 to 100 feet of line leading from the planer to the bait. He recommends 80- to 100-pound-test line for the “shock cord,” but will fish as light as 60-pound to get more bites, despite the greater risk of losing a fish.
    A key point: The line leading from the planer to the bait must be brought in by hand. That means one person on the boat needs to be ready to pull in the line holding the wahoo with gloved hands, being careful not to give it any slack, while the boat continues to move slowly forward.
    When a wahoo nears the boat, bring it on board with a gaff and stand clear. A wahoo’s teeth can cause serious injury. Put the fish on ice for a few minutes and let it die before holding it up for photos.
    To make the strip bait, use double 6/0 or 7/0 hooks tied to about 6 inches of No. 6 fishing wire. Add a “sea witch” that will dangle over the bonito strip while trolling, then finish the rig with a swivel, which allows the strip bait to be tied to the trolling line.
    Measure the hooks against the bonito strip before threading it onto the hooks. Make sure the strip lies flat after the two hooks are inserted.
    DiGiulian likes to poke the hooks through the meat side of the strip (as opposed to the silvery skin side) first. The first hook goes into the large part of the bonito strip; the second near the center. The thin, tapered end of the strip is what trails behind, flapping as it moves through the water.
    There’s no need to troll fast with a strip bait towed behind a planer. Five to 7 knots (6 to 8 mph) is fine.

    In South Florida waters, DiGiulian likes to troll for wahoo in summer. He trolls over structure such as drop-offs and wrecks. He likes to fish for wahoo around the full moon and likes to troll very early in the morning — and on an outgoing tide if possible.
    Typical wahoo trolling depths are 100 to 300 feet. Some wahoo-fishing veterans focus their trolling time in depths of 150 to 250 feet. When a wahoo hits, note the depth and continue to fish in that depth.
Discover long-term fishing trends by writing down the details of your catches in a logbook.
                                       
    The IGFA School of Sportfishing will begin a new round of classes in September. Look for the schedule in August on the IGFA’s website, www.igfa.org. Classes are limited to 24 students and are held at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum,  just west of Interstate 95 at Griffin Road in Dania Beach. Tuition is $100 per class for IGFA members and $150 for nonmembers. (It’s worth joining the IGFA at $40 for a regular membership or $15 for an e-membership to get the member discount.) For more information on the IGFA School of Sportfishing, call Anthony Vedral at (954) 924-4254 or email him at: Avedral@igfa.org.
                                       
Noteworthy
    • The Boynton Beach Fishing Club will hold its annual fishing tournament June 28 at the clubhouse building next to the boat ramps at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park. The entry fee is $25. The captain’s meeting will follow the club meeting set for 7:30 p.m. June 24. Fishing will be from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m., followed by a weigh-in near the boat ramps from 1 to 2 p.m. and a barbecue. For details, go to www.bifc.org.
    • The annual Lake Worth Fishing Tournament is scheduled for June 28. It begins with a captains meeting and late registration at 6 p.m. June 27 at Tuppen’s Marine and Tackle, 1002 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth. The weigh-in will be 1 to 3:30 p.m. at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo. The awards and barbecue will be from noon to 5 p.m. June 29 at Dave’s Last Resort in downtown Lake Worth. The entry fee is $175 per boat through June 22 or $250 thereafter. For details, go to www.lakeworth fishingtournament.com.
    • Capt. George Mitchell will share tips for catching dolphin and tuna in the waters of South Florida and the Bahamas during the June 25 meeting of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the club, 201 Fifth St., West Palm Beach. It’s free. Call (561) 832-6780.
                                       
    Tip of the month: Fish over reefs for yellowtail snapper. The traditionally calm seas of early summer create good conditions for fishing offshore. Drift a chunk of cut sardine or ballyhoo on a 4/0 circle hook tied to 25- to 40-pound fluorocarbon leader. Use just enough weight (1 to 2 ounces) to reach the bottom, and continue to let line out slowly to keep the bait near the bottom while drifting. Longer leaders tend to work better in strong current.  If the current is too strong, move into shallower water. Alternative: Anchor near a reef or ledge in about 50 feet of water. (Be careful not to anchor on the reef.) Hang a chum bag or two over the side so the chum draws in snapper from the reef. Drift back small chunks of ballyhoo or pieces of squid on small jigs (or small hooks) to catch yellowtail snapper on light spinning rods. The anchor-and-chum method is fun for kids and doesn’t require much boat fuel, though it often makes for a messy boat. No boat? Try fishing from one of the drift boats that run out of Boynton Inlet such as the Sea Mist III, Living on Island Time or the Lady K.

Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.

A polydactyl cat stands on a desk near Ernest Hemingway’s typewriter at the Hemingway House in Key West.

Photo provided

By Arden Moore

    Sporting a ZIP code from Palm Beach County certainly makes you the envy of those stuck in lackluster locations, but when you look for a getaway, where do you go to find a paradise of equal or greater value?
    Key West. Especially if you are a fan of felines.
    Admit it, the sunsets seem more stunning, the pace more leisurely and the margaritas more delicious in Key West than in any city in Palm Beach County.
    Although this place draws people from all over the globe, locals tell me that Key West remains the go-to destination for South Floridians looking for a two- or three-day reprieve from I-95 traffic and work deadlines.
    Recently, I returned to Key West to check out the multi-toed cats doggone lucky to live within the brick-walled compound known as the Hemingway House.
    My guide was Jessica Pita, a fourth-generation “conch”  (Key West native), who followed in the footsteps of her grandmother to be on staff at the Hemingway House.
    For me, this was a double treat. I have long been a fan of Hemingway’s succinct writing style and I’ve been a lifelong lover of cats. Love or loathe Hemingway for his hard-drinking ways, but this macho guy never hid his undeniable affection for cats.
    His love affair with all things feline is rumored to have begun with a white cat named Snowball.
    In the 1930s, when Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline, moved into this gracious island home, a ship captain gave him a special cat — one with extra toes. Most cats sport five toes on each front paw and four on each back paw, but Snowball had six on each front paw.
    Legend has it that cats with extra toes (referred to as polydactyl cats) were coveted by ship captains in the 1800s and early 1900s because the extra toes enabled these sea-faring cats to handle the ship’s rocking motions and thus, made them better mousers to rid the ship of disease-carrying rodents.
    Today, about 45 of Snowball’s descendants live the cat-napping life of luxury inside the Hemingway House. Sure, there is nearly invisible netting draped above the brick wall encasing this one-acre compound, but the main door where tourists purchase tickets is usually open.
    Rarely has any Hemingway cat opted to venture outside the premises.
    Seriously, why would they? They get stellar veterinary care, nutritious meals, lots of photo ops with tourists and plenty of places inside the home and on the beautifully landscaped grounds to safely explore or snooze without the threat of any d-o-g-s or other predators.
    Polydactyl cats can be of any breed, but Maine coons for unknown reasons are more prone to having extra toes.
    They are also referred to as “mitten cats” and “cats with thumbs.” It is a gene mutation, but there have not been any medical problems associated with having extra toes.
    The Hemingway cats I met were all laid back and happy to receive chin scratches and to pose for photos.
It is tradition for these cats to be given names of famous people, which explains why I got the chance to hang out with Greta Garbo, Lionel Ritchie, Etta James and my personal favorite, Hairy Truman (not a typo).
    Before I bade adieu to Jessica Pita and the Hemingway cats, I made a stop in the gift shop and left with a unique T-shirt sporting a watercolor rendering of a polydactyl cat with a raised front paw declaring “Gimme 6!”

    Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first aid instructor. Each week, she hosts the Oh Behave! show on PetLifeRadio.com. Visit www.fourleggedlife.com.

If you go to Key West
    If you are new to Key West, I recommend you hop on one of the trains operated by a few different companies. You can hop on and off throughout the day and learn Key West lore unleashed by drivers sporting names like Captain Jack.
    You will discover why the roofs are made of tin, why roosters scamper everywhere and why the margaritas are sipped best inside Sloppy Joe’s while listening to a talented piano man.
    If you bring your well-mannered dog, you’re in luck as there are many pet-welcoming eateries and lodgings. Go to www.bringfido for specifics. Also, consider taking in a movie with your cool canine at the Tropic Cinema located downtown at 416 Eaton St.
    Save time to tour the Hemingway House, open 365 days a year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For ticket info and more details, visit www.hemingwayhome.com or call (305) 294-1136.

More than 600 Jews and Christians walk in solidarity on Holocaust Memorial Day, April 27 in Boca Raton.

The march began at Boca Raton Christian School and ended at Temple Beth El.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

INSET BELOW: Greg Weisman and Jessica Brockman; Shawn Stafford

By Tim Pallesen

    More than 600 Jews and Christians walked Boca Raton streets in solidarity on Holocaust Memorial Day to say “never again.”
    “I can’t begin to express to you how moved I am to see this rainbow of people of different ages and religions together,” Rabbi Dan Levin of Temple Beth El told the April 27 crowd.
    The march from Boca Raton Christian School to Temple Beth El culminated with a candle-lighting ceremony in which Holocaust survivors lit candles to remember the 6 million Jews who died.
    “The Holocaust has never been far away,” said George Salton, one of the survivors.
    Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie told the interfaith gathering that the City Council declared a Week of Remembrance “to join all the people of America and Israel in a solemn vow to fight anti-Semitism.”
    Pastor Tye Riter of Reveal Fellowship in Lake Worth helped organize the march and ceremony.
    “Even though we have strong theological differences, we stand together to say that anti-Semitism is wrong in all its forms,” he said.  
                                       
    Christians and Jews have met with Muslims to assure that the community will embrace a new mosque to open in Boynton Beach this month.
    The Al-Amin Center at 8101 Military Trail drew opposition from some neighbors at next-door Gateway Palms when it got zoning approval in 2011. Opponents called the dome on the mosque an eyesore.
    So pastors and rabbis gathered on May 11 to hear what the Muslims will do as the new neighbors.
    “We want to do community good by taking care of the children and the old people,” Al-Amin spokesman Sidney Mahbob said afterward. “We are all talking about the same thing.”
                                       
    The love that St. Paul’s Episcopal gives to the Haitian neighborhood that surrounds its historic Delray Beach church now includes home building.
    Twenty volunteers, ages 16 to 68, helped Jean and Lila Cyril and their three children on May 3 to complete the required work hours to qualify for a new home through Habitat for Humanity.
    “The three children are a delight to have in our after-school program,” said Kathy Fazio, the director of Paul’s Place, which provides a safe haven, a nutritious meal and tutoring for 27 neighborhood children.
    “The parents are hardworking and determined to make a better life for their children,” Fazio said in explaining why the congregation pitched in.    
    Habitat for Humanity has empowered 111 South County families to achieve the dream of owning a home.
                                       
    Two Boca Raton rabbis led a prayer circle in a Publix tomato aisle when they were hosted by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers last month.
    Rabbis Greg Weisman and Jessica Brockman of Temple Beth El joined others from T’ruah: The Rabbinical Call for Human Rights on the three-day mission to Immokalee to learn how farmworker issues might concern Jews in Boca Raton.
    The farmworker group helps prosecute farm slavery cases and works with corporations to eliminate exploitation of workers. The rabbis prayed in the tomato aisle because Publix won’t agree to farmworker requests for them to join their Fair Food Program. The program asks companies buying tomatoes to pay a cent more per pound, which goes to the farmworkers.

                                        
    The aborted attempt by the Journey Church to open at two new Boynton Beach locations for Easter has created intrigue over the fate of the unopened east campus on South Federal Highway.
    The congregation worshiped at Park Vista High School when the aging members of Grace Community Church in 2012 gave them their church building at 715 S. Federal Highway to be their sole permanent location.
    But while the congregation spent $1.7 million to renovate the east Boynton location, another ready-to-use church building at 6201 Military Trail became available.
    “This property was ready to go, so it was all hands on deck for this opportunity,” Journey Church executive director Shawn Stafford said.
    The congregation had announced in February that both locations would open for Easter.
    “It was in God’s hands,” Stafford said. “We chose to slow everything down on the east campus and said ‘Let’s get up and running on our west campus.’ ”
    More than 3,500 people attended four Easter services at the west Boynton location. Nobody knows how many will worship at the east Boynton church when it opens later this year.
    “Some folks are going to want to go to the east campus,” Stafford said. “But we’re not certain of that number.”

Kalyn Buteyn, Aleishka Rodriguez and Marrisse Taylor show some of the bounty

from the Ebenezer Garden at First Presbyterian Church in Boynton Beach.

Photo provided

                                      
    A teenage girl’s idea for a garden at First Presbyterian Church inspired a community to feed the poor.
    Kalyn Buteyn, then 15, suggested a garden to feed the Boynton Beach poor after learning about urban gardens on a youth mission trip last summer. “I got thinking, why don’t we have a garden?” she said.
    Kalyn applied for and received a $1,000 grant to grow a vegetable garden in a corner of the church playground in Boynton Beach.    
    She chose Ebenezer Garden as its name.
    Merchants such as Green Cay Farms and Home Depot donated lumber, composted soil and vegetable plants. Neighbors gave advice and support.
    This spring, the youth group harvested a bumper crop of tomatoes, potatoes, beans, peppers and other vegetables that it donated to the Boynton Beach Soup Kitchen.
    Adults at First Presbyterian say the youth project has helped their congregation bond and has also pointed more people toward Christ.
    The teenagers will buy a wheelbarrow and a garden tool to dig potatoes before they plant next year’s garden. “We’re going to work on the garden every year,” Kalyn promises.

    Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com

Flip Traylor with a bonefish caught around Little Torch Key

in the Florida Keys. The photo dates to the 1960s.

INSET BELOW: Fishing has been a family affair; Flip's wife,

Barbara Traylor, poses with a sailfish caught at Walkers Cay, Bahamas.

Family photos

By Willie Howard

    Fishing around the Boynton Inlet helped Flip Traylor feed his family some 80 years ago, and the longtime Ocean Ridge resident still rises before dawn on fair-weather mornings to run his boat through the familiar narrow passage to the Atlantic Ocean.
    His introduction to fishing and the ocean started during the Great Depression, when young Flip and his friends fished with makeshift rods on the jetties at Boynton Inlet in hopes of bringing something home for their families to eat.
    His boyhood fishing rod was fashioned from a piece of bamboo, its wire line stripped from the windings of an electric motor.
Traylor remembers putting a steel rod on the end of his fishing pole and walking the jetty with a live fiddler crab in hand. He would scrape barnacles from the pilings with the metal pole. When a sheepshead would come up to eat the scrapings, he would drop down a fiddler crab on a hook and catch it.
    He and other boys dug clams from the little island they called the “sand bar” on the north side of the jetty — the island later named Beer Can Island, now known as Audubon Island.
    During the winter months, Traylor’s father gathered fresh oysters from the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway where the Palm Beach Yacht Center is located today.
    “We had no money, but we had fish, oysters, clams and sea turtles,” Traylor said during an April 28 reunion of aging Boynton Inlet fishermen at Ocean Inlet Park.

A youth of fishing and music
    Philip Bryan Traylor was born in a bridge tender’s house in Deerfield Beach where his father was working in July 1929 — three months before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression.
    Traylor said he remembers fishing all day for sailor’s choice (pinfish) while he helped his father, Burt Traylor, build a dock at Inlet Village near Boynton Inlet.
    While walking home, Traylor and a friend sold the string of about 20 fish to a passing motorist for 25 cents. He offered the money to his father to help feed the family and was delighted when his dad let him keep it.
    If he caught pompano in his net, Traylor said, he sold the delicate, tasty fish. He and his family would eat moonfish instead.
    Traylor attended high school in Key West. He learned to play the drums and started playing in Key West bars at age 15. Seeing young Flip work in bars didn’t please his mother, who sent Traylor to a parochial school in Mount Vernon, Ga., for four years.
    “I thought I was in another world,” said Traylor, who still keeps a drum set in the garage of his home on North Harbour Drive.
    Traylor attended the University of Florida in the 1950s, but said he ran out of money and came back to Palm Beach County, where he returned to his roots as a fisherman by working on boats in the Boynton Inlet charter fleet.
    Traylor met his wife, Barbara, in the mid-1950s at the South Ocean Club, a live-music nightclub near Lake Worth Beach. They’ve been married for 58 years.

Boynton and the Caribbean
    One summer, a wealthy man asked Traylor to run his boat. He wound up working as a captain for the boat owner for 20 years — a job that led him to billfish tournaments in the Bahamas and inspired him to learn to fly a seaplane.
    After his wealthy employer died in the 1970s, Traylor became a real estate broker, selling resort property on the west side of the Turks and Caicos islands. The job allowed Traylor to capitalize on his skills as a seaplane pilot.
    Traylor continued to sell real estate until recently, when he allowed his license to lapse for health reasons. Barbara is now a retired certified public accountant who founded the Boynton Beach accounting firm Traylor, Gratton & Beaumont in 1974.
    The Traylors’ son, Greg, and granddaughter Ashton Krauss, live in Boynton Beach. Their daughter, Pamela Anwyll, lives in McLean, Va. They also have a great-grandson living in Boynton Beach.

Still greeting the day
    Traylor nourishes his thin frame with a feeding tube, his body ravaged by treatments for the skin cancer he has been fighting for decades.
    He keeps his boat, MLB (My Little Boat) behind his house and, with help from a younger man, runs it out the Boynton Inlet to fish on the ocean every day the weather permits.
    On fishing days, he often dresses in denim shorts, a loose shirt, floppy hat and weathered deck shoes.
    Traylor said he still enjoys seeing the sun rise up from the Atlantic Ocean when he heads out the inlet before dawn.
    “It’s different every day,” Traylor said of the sunrise. “It looks like a cocktail glass.”

Flip Traylor of Ocean Ridge grew up in Boynton Beach during the Great Depression.

At 85, he still enjoys fishing as often as possible on his boat, MLB

(My Little Boat), despite health problems related to skin cancer.

Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Tim Pallesen

    The lights on First Presbyterian’s steeple are among those that must be dimmed, shielded or shut off if Delray Beach adopts the county’s sea turtle protection law.

    Oceanfront businesses and residences also would get darker so sea turtles hatchlings can find their way from the beach to the ocean.

    The strict sea turtle protection law is necessary for the city to be eligible for county money to pay for dune restoration projects.

    “I don’t see where we have any choice,” Mayor Cary Glickstein said at an April 8 workshop where staff proposed the sea turtle law.

    “This program is going to impact a lot of businesses,” code enforcement officer Al Berg warned commissioners. “First Presbyterian’s steeple also attracts turtles.”

    Commissioners passed the ordinance unanimously on first reading on April 15. A final public hearing is set for May 6.

    The law bans during turtle nesting season — March through October — decorative lighting visible from the beach if it is not necessary for human safety or security.

    Sea turtle hatchlings emerge from nests at night, recognizing the sea by its naturally bright open horizon. Artificial lighting visible from the beach leads the baby turtles inland where they will not survive.

    “This law isn’t only good for the sea turtles,” said Jacey Biery, a county environmental resources management analyst. “It also brings back the starry skies.”

    The Marriott hotel, the Sandbar tiki bar and other businesses on Ocean Boulevard near Atlantic Avenue may be required to turn off signs and other unnecessary lights to comply, city and county officials said.

    “We will work with them the best we can for a solution,” Biery said. “But lights can’t be visible from the beach either directly or indirectly by causing illumination.”

    Some violators may be given the opportunity to retrofit existing lighting fixtures by adding sheet metal shields so stray light doesn’t reach to the beach. Amber LED lightbulbs also may be substituted at some locations to reduce glare.

    The law also requires that all beach furniture be removed each night to make movement easier for sea turtles. A turtle surveyor must give approval each morning before the furniture can be returned to the municipal beach.

    Coastal municipalities have the option to either let the county enforce its turtle protection law on their beaches or to adopt a municipal law that is equally strict.

    Manalapan opted into the county law and Ocean Ridge is working to do the same. Boca Raton chose to adopt and enforce its own law.

SOURCE: Delray Beach Police.

Map by Bonnie Lallky-Seibert/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    During the past three years, traffic accidents along a stretch of East Atlantic Avenue have increased, according to a Coastal Star analysis of city and county traffic records. 

    Along the road between Federal Highway and A1A, accidents bottomed out at 29 in 2011, during the economic downturn, and rose to 49 in 2013, when tourism rebounded. 

    Most of the wrecks were rear-end collisions resulting in minor damage, but a few of the 2013 East Atlantic Avenue accidents resulted in injuries. 

    One hit-run crash in early October at Gleason Street sent two tourists who were crossing the avenue with their children in a stroller to the hospital. The husband’s leg was broken, the wife received cuts and bruises, but the toddlers escaped injury. 

    The 24-year-old driver was traveling 50 mph in a 35 mph zone, and allegedly ran a red light, hitting the tourists, according to the crash report. 

    The driver was found about a mile from the scene, where she blew .263 percent and .265 percent on breath tests, more than three times the limit at which a Florida driver is considered too impaired to drive. 

    At press time, no trial date was set for her felony DUI case, according to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

    In another wreck last September, a speeding Toyota Tacoma pickup spun out after leaving the wet drawbridge.

    The pickup jumped the curb and struck a 37-year-old male, who was taken to the hospital with injuries. The pedestrian survived, and the 26-year-old driver was cited for careless driving.  

    Another October wreck was caused by an 88-year-old woman who was cited for careless driving after a four-car pileup waiting for the drawbridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to lower. She was stopped behind three cars in her new Mercedes SL550 when she mistakenly put her foot on the gas instead of the brake, causing the chain reaction. 

    That wreck occurred near the site of the recently approved $200 million Atlantic Crossing complex, a mixed-use development of 82 luxury condos and 262 apartments, 83,000-square-feet of Class A office space and 76,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Study anticipates increased traffic

    While the intersection of West Atlantic Avenue and Military Trail and West Atlantic and Congress avenues record the city’s top accident numbers, East Atlantic Avenue will see considerably more traffic when Atlantic Crossing comes on line, a study shows. 

    By 2017, when the nine-acre, mixed-use project opens at Federal Highway and East Atlantic Avenue, rush hour traffic will slow to a crawl, according to a study commissioned by the Florida Coalition for Preservation. 

    The coalition sought the study because Atlantic Crossing’s developer was required only to study traffic patterns within the project, not surrounding neighborhoods. That was because the city had designated the project site exempt from surrounding traffic studies many years ago in an effort to encourage redevelopment in rundown parts of the downtown.  

    “That project sits at Main and Main in Delray Beach,” said Robert Ganger, president of the coalition. And if the traffic congestion becomes too severe, he said, it could make Atlantic Crossing an undesirable destination, “which would hurt Delray Beach’s image.”

    Andrew Katz, vice president of the Beach Property Owners’ Association and who lives on South Ocean Boulevard, was more measured in his response.  

    But during the season, he avoids East Atlantic Avenue by driving south to Linton Boulevard to reach other parts of the city. 

    “It already has significant issues in the season, with the bridge openings twice an hour for seven, eight minutes each time. That means there are significant parts of each hour that traffic is not moving on Atlantic Avenue,” said Katz. 

    The BPOA helped pay for the traffic study along with private donations and money from a local garden club. 

    Delray Beach is in the process of hiring a traffic engineering consultant to study traffic on East Atlantic Avenue, said Randal Krejcarek, city environmental services director. The last study was done in 2009, he said. 

    When the project received approval in January, it did not include two access roads promised in exchange for the city abandoning a section of Northeast Seventh Avenue, charges a lawsuit filed in late February by the neighboring Harbour House homeowners association. It wants the court to force the city to require the developer to build the access roads to handle the 11,000 cars expected daily and not let the project’s traffic clog neighborhood streets. At press time, a hearing date was not set.

    Atlantic Crossing’s development team sees the issue differently. 

    “As far as the claim that we have reneged on an agreement to provide an internal east-west street, this is patently false,” said Don DeVere, vice president of the Edwards Companies, a partner in the project. 

    “This street was part of a prior plan approved by the city in 2009. In 2011, we put forward a new plan with many improvements, which never included this street. This new plan has gone through all appropriate review and approval processes, and has been approved by the city as the new site plan for Atlantic Crossing. We feel fully confident that the city will prevail on the merits of this case.”

    Ganger said the Coalition will continue to monitor the situation. 

    “As a barrier island public service entity, we are still involved because it is a quality of life issue,” Ganger said.

By Dan Moffett

    Joan Orthwein spent the last two years in the crosshairs of Gulf Stream’s legal battles, serving as the town’s mayor during the stormiest period in its history.
    At the Town Commission’s April 11 meeting, she told a chamber crowded with well-wishers that it was time for someone else to take the helm.

    “I’m not going to lie. It’s been challenging,” Orthwein said. “But you know what, the citizens have been wonderful and very supportive and caring of me. It is a wonderful community.”
    The commission unanimously approved newly elected Scott Morgan as the town’s new mayor and Commissioner Robert Ganger as vice mayor, with Orthwein moving aside to a commissioner’s seat.
    The reorganization is significant. Morgan, a lawyer and former chairman of the Architectural Review and Planning Board, campaigned on a platform that called for an aggressive legal defense against the town’s detractors.
    Gulf Stream faces more than 20 lawsuits and numerous public records requests filed by Martin O’Boyle and Chris O’Hare, two residents who have charged the town with violating their constitutional rights. During the election campaign, O’Hare put signs disparaging Orthwein on a boat and anchored it behind her waterfront home.

    Morgan didn’t waste time beginning his aggressive defense against the town’s critics. He called a special meeting of the commission for April 14 to consider an ordinance against overnight parking at Town Hall — regulation aimed at vehicles displaying political signs that criticize town officials.  The commissioners unanimously approved a first reading of the ordinance, which restricts parking from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and then made it law at another  meeting on April 29.

    O’Boyle and O’Hare objected, saying the ordinance violated free speech and also illegally restricted beach parking.

    During the special session, Morgan and commissioners also scheduled a budget workshop immediately following the regular May 9 Town Commission meeting. Morgan said he wants to find residents willing to serve on an ad hoc financial committee to help the town deal with dwindling reserves and rising expenses.
    Four uniformed police officers were on duty during the April 11 meeting, a testament to the uneasy climate in the town these days. Commissioners have had to hire outside counsel to fight the suits and have set aside an additional $190,000 to cover legal fees.
    Morgan says “an aggressive, proactive approach to the lawsuits is necessary to prevent further harm to our town.” He praised Orthwein’s work as mayor. “You stepped into a job at a time that was very difficult, probably the most challenging period for the town since its founding,” Morgan said. “You worked both publicly and privately to resolve the many issues we face, whether it be underground electric wires or more importantly, the onslaught of public records requests and litigation that followed. And all the time you had the best interests of the town at heart. But more than that, you did it with grace.”
    Orthwein said Morgan is ideally suited to guide Gulf Stream through its legal obstacle course. “The way things are today, I don’t know why all politicians aren’t lawyers,” she said smiling.

    “Scott’s a great leader who is a lawyer and a litigator. He will help streamline the legal problems we’re having, and they’re huge. I’m not an attorney. Scott brings a great deal of wisdom, leadership and respect to the party.”
    Ganger said the town still will need Orthwein’s contributions as a commissioner because of her extensive experience and understanding of the town’s history.
    “She’s held her head high,” he said. “She’s served us well. We’re not saying goodbye to a mayor; we’re saying thank you for all you’ve done.”
    Orthwein, who came to the commission in 1995, is the second-longest serving elected official in Palm Beach County behind Cloud Lake Mayor Patrick Slatery, who has held office for 36 years.

    She says moving forward with the project to put the town’s utility wiring underground is her biggest achievement.
    “That was a dream of mine,” she said. “I have to say I was so excited and proud of this community when they voted for it. The underground wiring is such a positive thing.”
    One of Orthwein’s last acts as mayor was presiding over the commission’s unanimous approval of a decorum policy for meetings that prohibits verbal attacks and abusive language. O’Boyle and O’Hare spoke against the measure, criticizing it as too vague and too much like an ordinance with enforcement consequences, rather than a declaration of policy with no punitive provisions.
    “The town has shown great resilience,” Orthwein said. “We’ll get back to normal some day.”

In other business:
    • Engineering consultant Danny Brannon told commissioners they will need about $30,000 to pay for construction work on the Town Hall’s rear entrance to make it compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The entrance will need a new access ramp, handrails and reconfigured parking. Ú
    • Town Manager William Thrasher said the town is creating more portals on its website to make public records available online.

    Twelve years ago, SAFE (Safety As Floridians Expect) led a successful effort in persuading FDOT to build bike lanes and fill in sidewalk gaps in Delray Beach. 

    Since then, pedestrian and bike traffic have increased geometrically along SR A1A in all of Palm Beach County.

    Now, local police departments are giving warning tickets to motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists when they violate state laws. However well-intended this activity is, it does not address the root problem. 

    Bicyclists and pedestrians should have their own travel lanes where there is sufficient right of way — that means sidewalks and bike lanes. 

    SAFE suggests that FDOT build bike lanes where there is sufficient right of way, provide as wide a paved shoulder as possible where there is not, and reduce the speed limit to 25 MPH through narrow roads — like Gulf Stream, sections of Manalapan, etc. — by installing speed tables. 

    Until sidewalks and bike lanes are built, there will be no peace among motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.And, pedestrians and bicyclists are being denied full consideration and safe access.

 
Charlie Bonfield & Jim Smith

SAFE

Delray Beach

Bernard Finkelstein was named president and chairman at Florence Fuller Child Development Center.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

    For 17 years, Bernard Finkelstein worked in Cleveland, Ohio, and relaxed in Highland Beach.

    And then, in 2002, he retired.

    “Cleveland was too cold,” he says.

    Bernard and Sonia Finkelstein sold their Coronado condo, bought another in the new Toscana development and moved here permanently.

    He had found a climate to warm his body. And then he found a calling that warms his heart.

    Shortly after arriving in Highland Beach full time, a friend invited him to join the planned giving committee of the Florence Fuller Child Development Center in Boca Raton.

    Five years later, he joined the board, and on Jan. 1, he became its president and chairman.

    Back in Cleveland, he was Bernard A. Finkelstein, a certified public accountant with Ernst & Young. To the 625 boys and girls at Florence Fuller, he’s “Mr. Bernie.”

    “I had a great career,” he says, “and now it’s time to give back. In Cleveland, I’d been a life trustee with the National Conference of Christians & Jews and also was active with a group called Economics America, bringing economic education to the lower grades. Florence Fuller seems to play into both those things — diversity and education.”

    Founded in 1971 to help disadvantaged toddlers prepare for kindergarten, the Florence Fuller Center now serves children from infancy to fifth grade at its original home on Northeast 14th Street, as well as a west center at State Road 441 and Yamato Road.

    “I’ve always felt we’re the best-kept secret in Boca Raton,” Finkelstein says, “but it’s difficult.”

    Despite government grants, he notes, the center still has to raise about $1.7 million every year to meet its $6 million annual budget.

    And the ZIP code doesn’t help.

    “There’s a great deal of wealth in Boca Raton,” he says, “but also a great deal of poverty, so when we ask for grants and donations, there’s a mental block we have to overcome. People wonder, ‘Why would anyone in the 33432 ZIP code need funding?’ ”

    By careful planning, they make the budget, Finkelstein says. What’s lacking is emergency reserves.

    “The standard rule is that you should have enough money for three months’ expenses in case of an emergency,” he explains. “We’re just under that, and we should be well over it, given our age.”

    A welcome gift arrived on April 10, when Impact100, a South County philanthropy for women, donated $100,000 to the center’s Family Preservation Program, which provide crisis intervention, parenting skills and individual counseling for 500 family members. 

    “This is the first time we’ve gotten it, and it’s fabulous,” says Finkelstein. “It’s real recognition of what we contribute to the community at large. The Family Preservation is an extension of what we do. We take care of their kids and now we’re trying to move in to a new phase of family support, so this is a real tribute.”

    Soon, the center hopes to begin a capital campaign to build a much-needed multipurpose building at the west location, but if the retired accountant’s worried, it doesn’t show. At 69, he likes where he’s living, and loves what he does.

    “Highland Beach is the best of all worlds,” he says. “You’ve got quiet, peaceful surroundings while also being close to anything you could ever want.”

    When he’s not working to improve the lives of the 625 children at the Florence Fuller Child Development Center, Finkelstein plays — with his own grandchildren. He  has six, and three of them live in Parkland.

    “I’ve got two herniated disks,” he says. “I can’t play golf, I can’t play tennis, so I play with my grandkids. Because I traveled so much in my working life, my wife, Sonia, gets all the credit for raising our two daughters and I try to make up for it with my grandkids.”

    Not long ago, he took those grandkids for a day at the Palm Beach Zoo, where Finkelstein spotted a parade of familiar T-shirts.

    A class from the Florence Fuller Center just happened to be there, too — wearing their T-shirts, walking hand-in-hand, staying in line.

    “Take a look at this,” Mr. Bernie told his granddaughters. “There’s a lesson here.”

For more information, visit www.ffcdc.org, or call 391-7274.

On April 28, signs remained posted and Manalapan police were warning people

to stay off the beach north of the Boynton Inlet.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

    For four days in April, the golden sand to the north of the Boynton Inlet was off limits to the public. This made some people happy, but made many others fuming mad. And although some agencies agreed on how to proceed, others waved flags of warning. As a result, the access was re-opened one day before a scheduled media event to discuss “new public safety signage” at the inlet. So how did this boondoggle occur?

    Was the northern access closed because the inlet’s refurbished sand-transfer plant is more dangerous than it was before? Did it happen because more people are using the north side of the jetty when the guarded south side fills up? Did it happen as a way to satisfy those Manalapan residents who complain of bad behavior displayed on their beach? Or maybe it happened as a way for the county to sell a need for additional parking spaces at Inlet Park to the residents of Ocean Ridge. 

    Who knows? Maybe it’s simply the byproduct of an improving economy bringing more and more residents to our area, and subsequently more and more to our beaches.

    I suspect those who acted to close the access were influenced a bit by of all these things.

    This not an isolated situation: Many of these same issues will be discussed at an Ocean Ridge town meeting on May 6. In this instance, it’s about the public beach access at the end of Beachway Drive just across the Woolbright Road Bridge. An increase in population across the bridge is causing concern for a handful of residents who live near that beach access point.

    If towns like Ocean Ridge respond to vocal and well-funded pressure and choose to limit public access — joining South Palm Beach, Manalapan, Gulf Stream and Highland Beach as coastal towns with virtually no public beach access — isn’t the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council going to have a difficult time honestly depicting a long, romantic stretch of  “public beach” as they work to attract even more tourists?

    And what’s the sales pitch to companies who might want to expand or relocate to this area? Surely, it’s not that their employees can easily spend a day at the beach, because that’s becoming harder and harder to do.

    With “Dog Beach” long gone — and that area rumored to soon become luxury townhomes with private beach access — there will be even more public pressure to access the remaining “public” beaches, even where they don’t provide parking or facilities. 

    Call it a sign of the times. Call it unintended consequences. Call it a shame.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Editor's Note: Confusion about beach access abounds

By Dan Moffett

    Ocean Ridge residents will get their chance to weigh in on a number of contentious public beach access issues at a much-anticipated workshop scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on May 6 in the Town Hall.

    “The time is here,” said Mayor Geoffrey Pugh at the Town Commission’s April 7 meeting. “Everyone who has an opinion about it can show up, we can hear their ideas and go from there.”

    The commission had decided months ago to postpone setting a date for the workshop until after the March elections and the seating of two new commissioners, James Bonfiglio and Richard Lucibella. The commission also discarded a proposal to kick the beach access debate down to the town’s Planning and Zoning board for guidance.

    Vice Mayor Lynn Allison had led the opposition to that idea, arguing that it was the Town Commission’s responsibility to handle the matter, after first soliciting the input of residents at the workshop.

    “We need to be aware of what your suggestions are,” Allison said of the importance of a workshop to get residents’ comments, “so we can combine them with what we think as well.”

    How to manage public beach access has been a divisive issue in the town for the last six months, growing out of a dispute over what signs on the beachfront walkways should say. 

    Property owners along the beach complain that the town should not advertise beaches as public because it encourages people to come to places that have no facilities and no lifeguards. The property owners say there are too many out-of-town beachgoers who wonder onto private backyards, litter and misbehave.

    Unlike several neighboring coastal towns, Ocean Ridge has no ordinance prohibiting alcohol consumption on the beach. Some oceanfront residents think it should.

    On the other side of the access issue are residents who believe that the town makes itself vulnerable to lawsuits if it does not use signage that makes it clear the beaches are open to the public. These residents argue that public beaches should be exactly what the name implies, and that beachfront property owners are acting out of self-interest by exaggerating the cases of misbehaving out-of-towners.

    Caught in the middle is the town’s Police Department. Chief Chris Yannuzzi has increased his officers’ beach patrols at the request of town officials and says that has decreased the number of patrols elsewhere — a development that has stirred up more controversy recently.

    An early April break-in at a home on Harbour Drive South has led some residents to conclude that police are spending too much time on the beaches and not enough time patrolling the neighborhood streets. 

    Yannuzzi has told commissioners the increased beach presence hasn’t uncovered any serious criminal activity and little in the way of inappropriate behavior.

    Commissioners hope to learn enough at the May workshop to come to a consensus on a new beach access strategy later this year that will satisfy all sides of the debate.

In other business: 

    The commission unanimously approved Pugh for another term as mayor and Allison for another as vice mayor. Pugh has served on the commission since 2003 and is beginning his second year as mayor.

    “I love this town. I think it’s paradise between a lot of hustle and bustle,” Pugh said. “I think we have a gem here and that we can keep it as a beautiful safe haven that we can all love and cherish.”