The Rotary Club of Boca Raton’s Outstanding People and Leaders event recognizes city residents who have demonstrated a commitment to serve the community through educational, governmental, philanthropic and professional endeavors. ABOVE: (l-r) Neil Saffer; Dr. Kathy Schilling, this year’s winner in Medicine and Healthcare Leadership; and Peter Baronoff. Photo provided

The advisory board of FAU’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters welcomed Hal Linden, musician and star of Broadway, film and television, to a benefit for programs and scholarships at both the College of Arts and Letters as well as the School of the Arts. Linden was presented with the Making Waves Award. ABOVE: (l-r) Nancy Greenberg; Marta Batmasian, a member of the School of the Arts Advisory Board; Heather Coltman, dean of the College of Arts and Letters; Linden; and Marny Glasser, chairwoman of the School of the Arts Advisory Board. Photo provided by Jeffrey Tholl Photography

The Center for Family Services celebrated the efforts of many at the fourth annual fundraiser for those in need – themed “A Magical Evening.”  The honored recipients for 2016 included Dr. Roy Cacciaguida, Herme de Wyman Miro, Donna Mulholland and Beth Pine. ABOVE: de Wyman Miro and Lois Pope. Photo provided

The Spirit of Giving Network received $5,255.81 from the restaurant during its grand opening, when it earmarked all proceeds from desserts for the nonprofit, which supports needy children and families. LEFT: (l-r) Executive Director Karen Krumholtz and board President Ann Rutherford accept the check from Ricky Marcellini of The Little Chalet. Photo provided

Boca Raton philanthropist Yvonne Boice pledged during the annual Palm Beach State College event that her family foundation will endow a $150,000 scholarship fund for women studying science, technology, engineering, art or math. The announcement drew a round of applause from the audience of more than 500. LEFT: Ava Parker and Boice. Photo provided

More than 120 attended this season’s third Culture & Cocktails event, featuring a conversation with Terry Teachout, a critic, librettist and playwright. Teachout was interviewed by William Hayes, producing artistic director of Palm Beach Dramaworks. RIGHT: (l-r) Susan Hayes, Janet Smith and Diane Berk. Photo provided by Corby Kaye’s Studio Palm Beach

A new medical center has opened — a nonprofit health clinic dedicated to serving patients of all economic levels. The facility offers family care, routine check-ups, testing and urgent care for under-insured patients and those with no insurance. It also provides dental services and school- and sports-required exams. More than 50 guests took tours and enjoyed refreshments. ABOVE: James Gavrilos and Isabelle Paul. Photo provided by Studio Palm Beach

The Robert & Eugenia Strauss Lecture Hall was dedicated with the unveiling of a large portrait of the Strausses with their beloved pets in front of their landmark Manalapan home. The portrait and expanded lecture hall are a gift from their daughter, Kimberly Strauss, and the family’s foundation. ABOVE: (l-r) Manalapan Mayor David Cheifetz, Strauss and Larry and Roberta Mambrino. Mary Kate Leming / The Coastal Star

More than 900 movie buffs were on hand for the opening night of the 26th annual big-screen affair, the first feature of which was Dough, starring actor Jonathan Pryce and directed by John Goldschmidt. ABOVE: (l-r) Festival advisory committee members Jay Rosenkranz, Paula Lustbader, Linda Rosenkranz, Naomi Weissenberg, Marjie Konigsberg, Donald Ephraim, Renee Walden, Vivian Lemelman, Ronald Sider and Ellen Wedner. Photo provided by Corby Kaye’s Studio Palm Beach

The George Snow Scholarship Fund’s 23rd annual fund­raiser attracted more than 450 cowpokes and raised $88,000-plus to assist worthy students. in the community. ABOVE: Mary Ann Crabb and Pat Thomas. Photo provided

Men who care about sports as well as their community came together to raise funds for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. Four-time NFL All-Pro legend Jason Taylor shared his journey from football to philanthropy during a VIP meet-and-greet. RIGHT: (l-r) Chuck Lichtman, Taylor and Greg Gefen. Photo provided

About 30 people turned out for the annual Valentine’s Day party at the Turtle Beach community in Ocean Ridge, where there was an abundance of food and laughter. ABOVE: (l-r) Party organizers Gail Bartelli, Gillian McMullin and Maureen Darcy. Photo provided

TToscana North in Highland Beach held a grand reopening party on Feb. 12  for its renovated fitness center.  The fitness center acquired state-of-the-art cardio and strength equipment. ABOVE: Linda Schmer, Nancy Wilkinson and Paulette Dale, residents of the building. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Forgettable.
Timolin and Casey Cole had such high hopes. The Grammy Awards show was going to honor their sister, Natalie. Her unexpected death New Year’s Eve had left a big hole in their lives and those of music lovers around the world, and the tribute dug it even deeper.   
Death played a prominent role in the Feb. 15 show, with salutes expected for Cole, the Eagles’ Glenn Frey, David Bowie, Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, B.B. King and Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister.
First up was Lady Gaga with a high-energy, over-the-top paean eight-song medley to Bowie, complete with flaming red hair. The Eagles with Jackson Browne saluted Frey with Take It Easy. With The Thrill Is Gone, former Grammy winners Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark Jr. joined first-time multiple winner Chris Stapleton to say farewell to B.B.  
Before announcing song of the year, Stevie Wonder and Pentatonix offered an a capella rendition of That’s the Way of the World for Maurice White. Wonder got a big laugh when he joked that only he could read the winner — the card was in braille. The award went to Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.       

Though Motorhead, founded in England half a century ago, was considered a seminal influence on heavy metal and punk, it won only one Grammy. Yet Kilmister received the full treatment, courtesy of the Hollywood Vampires — Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. Yes, that Johnny Depp, who cut his show biz teeth playing in bands in Broward County.
    Into the memorial clips and still nothing — Celine Dion’s husband, Rene Angelil, Lesley Gore, Ben E. King, Chris Squire from Yes, Paul Kantner from Jefferson Airplane, Lynn Anderson and many others.     

Finally, the last clip — the Unforgettable video. Forty-five seconds of Natalie singing in a virtual duet with her legendary father, Nat King Cole, who died in 1965. The original video of Nat singing was recorded in 1951. The duet, cut in 1991, won three Grammys, including Song of the Year.
Those Grammys had special significance because they marked Natalie’s triumphant recovery from drug addiction and cemented her place among the great pop singers.
Nevertheless, Cole’s sisters, who live in Boca Raton, thought more would have been done, and should have been done, declaring the 45-second video “a forgettable tribute.”
“Words cannot express the outrage and utter disappointment at the disrespectful tribute, or lack thereof …,” they said in a written statement.  
“It’s very bittersweet,” Timolin said. “We were hoping that there will be some sort of actual tribute to her fitting of her artistry and stature. She had 21 Grammy nominations and nine wins. She was such a force in the music industry and she transcended genres. … I think she should be recognized for the impact she has had.”
 The show’s producer, Ken Ehrlich, who attended Natalie’s funeral in Los Angeles, countered that he had spoken with Timolin before the show and thought the family was OK with the clip. They discussed a live performance, he said, but the last 45 seconds of that clip “where her father throws her a kiss, she throws him a kiss, and then she turns to the audience and throws everybody a kiss” was the perfect ending to the farewell segment.  
“I hadn’t looked at that clip in several years,” Ehrlich added, “but when I saw it again, I knew it was right.”
As the situation cooled, the sisters tempered their comments, stressing that Natalie be remembered not for a brief TV salute but rather for her work and her music.
That hole left by Natalie posed major problems for the Boca West Foundation. She was scheduled to headline an April 5 lawn concert at the sprawling development that would raise money for 22 children’s programs, including Nat King Cole Generation Hope, which provides musical opportunities to children who don’t have the resources.  
    But the show must go on, so organizers got together with Timolin and Casey and found a last-minute replacement. Ladies and gentlemen, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin! For tickets, $175, call 213-8209 or info@natkingcolegenhope.org.
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    The show will go on, too, at Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on March 25. Earth, Wind & Fire continues its tour and no doubt will celebrate its leader and founder, Maurice White, with more than a few horn flourishes, enhanced by the presence of a second headliner, Chicago. A cool mix of Got To Get You Into My Life and You’re the Inspiration. Hot show.  
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Unfortunately, the show is over at Jazziz Nightlife in Boca. Michael Fagien’s dream combination of classy supper club with classy music at the south end of Mizner Park is history after barely two years.
Fagien, however, can fall back on his day job — he’s a radiologist — and he still has Jazziz magazine, which boasts a readership of more than half a million and gives readers two compilation CDs with each quarterly issue.
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    Imagine if some headliners at the 10th annual Festival of the Arts Boca had seized the opportunity to drop by and perhaps sit in at Jazziz. The festival will showcase the musical talents of Herb Alpert and Lani Hall (March 6), Joshua Bell (March 16) and the Grammys’ newest and youngest star, Joey Alexander (March 11).
Nominated for Jazz Instrumental Album and Improvised Jazz Solo, Alexander didn’t win an award, but his 70 seconds of improvisation on the Steinway won a standing ovation.
Alexander is all of 12. Born in Bali, he first caught the attention of jazz great Herbie Hancock four years ago during Hancock’s visit to Indonesia for UNESCO. A year ago, his family moved to New York so he could pursue his muse. During a segment on 60 Minutes in February, Wynton Marsalis, director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, just shook his head as he declared Alexander a prodigy in the true sense of the word.
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    Another standing ovation … for Kathi Kretzer-Sayler. She’s been selling pianos in the area since 1985 — her store now is in Jupiter — but her mission is much greater than sales. For 12 years, the Kretzer Kids, a group of gifted young musicians, have played more than 50 concerts a year in nursing homes, hospitals and similar facilities. Since 2002, her Music for the Mind program has provided more than 10,000 young musicians the opportunity to perform monthly concerts at CityPlace while raising more than $550,000 to support music programs in the schools.  Keyboard for Kids, soon to begin at the Center for Creative Education, will provide group piano lessons for 72 inner-city schoolchildren.
 In return, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County is honoring Kretzer-Sayler with its Muse Award as Outstanding Civic Leader. She and other recipients will be honored during a special awards program and show at the Kravis Center on March 31. (For tickets: www.palmbeachculture.com/muse)
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We hardly knew ya. More than three years ago, Kevin James, who’s been doing pretty well as a mall cop, began buying up property on A1A across from the beach at the north end of Delray, paying just under $23 million. He was Delray’s new favorite son, dining along Atlantic, posing for selfies, showing up with the kids at St. Vincent Ferrer Church.  
But on Feb. 22, the entertainment press blurted that James is selling the estate — a main house and guest apartment totaling more than 26,000 total square feet, eight bedrooms and nine full baths and three half baths, pool, tennis court, finished basement, gym, spa and massage suite, children’s playroom, walk-in wine cellar. It all fits on 2.77 acres. Only drawback: It isn’t on the water.  Still he wants $28.8 million.
No word on his post-Delray plans, but maybe he’s headed up to Manalapan. It offers more privacy, but still offers an easy drive to dining and entertainment spots and airports. Plus his bud Billy Joel owns three properties there: his residence on the ocean, and two others on the Intracoastal. The Intracoastal estate and the lot are on the market for a reported $29 million. And it boasts 150 feet on the waterway!  
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In 1959, Bethesda Memorial Hospital began accepting patients in Boynton Beach, the county’s first hospital south of West Palm Beach. It opened with 70 beds, 32 physicians, 65 employees and a  foundation that had already been raising money for three years.
    On March 5, the Bethesda Hospital Foundation will flash back to those days of early rock ’n’ roll, when cars had fins bigger than the marlins caught offshore, telephones were black and had dials and presidential candidates were chosen at conventions. The theme for the 61st annual ball at The Breakers is “Palm Beach Revisited, An Evening on Island Time.”
 Palm Beach is famous the world over for its charity galas, but it wasn’t the first. Boynton Beach, surprisingly, was a year ahead with the Hospital Ball held at what was then the Boca Raton Hotel & Club.       

 “I was told that everything was handmade,” Bethesda communications director Paula Henderson said. “They did pots of flowers for their centerpieces.”
Nationally known entrepreneur and philanthropist Warren G. Grimes served as chair for the inaugural in 1955 and again a year later. Palm Beach’s first bash, the Heart Ball, was held on Valentine’s Day in 1956. Perry Como and Dinah Shore served as king and queen.
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For several years, something fishy has been going on in Boynton Beach, thanks to Tim Collins and his dad, Tim. They own The Fish Depot, one of the few genuine fresh seafood markets in South Florida. Whole fish, fillets, steaks, fresh-made salads, shellfish, shrimp — you name it, they sell it in what was once an old restaurant with a faux windmill on the roof at 1022 N. Federal Highway.
But for a while now, young Tim has been getting a little antsy: Let’s open a restaurant, he prodded the older Tim. Only one problem, they needed a location. He didn’t have to go far to find it. Six blocks south on an alley just west of Federal, the owners of the Backyard Lounge were looking for a tenant. The deal was cut and in mid-February The Twisted Fish was in the boat.
The tiki hut atmosphere bar and live entertainment will remain, but Tim and Tim intend to emphasize fresh seafood and the raw bar.
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    Rumors are hot around Boynton Beach that Pro Football Hall of Famer and TV sports personality Michael Irvin is part of a group interested in opening an upscale soul food restaurant on South Federal. Stay tuned.
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Florida’s longest dining table returns to Delray Beach March 21. Guests will pull up to a table stretching five blocks along Atlantic Avenue for the eighth annual Savor the Avenue. Four-course meals with appropriate wines will be offered by 18 restaurants.
The menus can be viewed at bocamag.com/savor; reservations must be made with each restaurant no later than March 18. The Delray Beach Historical Society will receive $3 for each reservation.
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South Inlet Park in Boca Raton was closed in late February. No riptides, no man-o-war, no tar. It was lights, camera, hunks as a film crew shot scenes in and around Boca Raton Inlet for Baywatch, the movie version of the ’90s TV series.
The TV series may have been a California phenomenon, but the movie stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who happens to live in Broward County.         

The plot, according to Internet Movie Database, has two unlikely prospective lifeguards vying for jobs alongside the buff bodies who patrol a beach ... in California?
Joining Johnson are Zac Efron and 5-foot-8-inch Alexandra Daddario, in the female lead of “Summer,” which Johnson has promised will be “iconic.” Billions actress Ilfenesh Hadera plays Johnson’s love interest while Kelly Rohrbach, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie of the Year in 2015, fills the Pamela Anderson role. Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) directs.
According to a lifeguard at South Inlet Park, shooting was going smoothly as the crew shot a scene where Johnson’s character rescues a kite surfer who crashes into the jetty rocks. But when a windsurfer, apparently oblivious to the moviemaking onshore, lost control of his board and floundered, the director had to yell “Cut!” No harm done but filmmakers must have total control, so the hapless windsurfer’s intrusion will end up on the cutting room floor.
By the way, the guy hitting the water to “rescue” the movie kitesurfer was not Johnson. That was Tanoai Reed, stunt doubling for The Rock since his film debut in The Scorpion King in 2002.
Born in Honolulu, Reed, like Johnson, played college football — at the University of Hawaii — and is a live ringer for Johnson, who happens to be his cousin.
Look for a May 2017 release.

Reach Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: Red Pizza.
The Place: Jerk Oceano, 201 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana. Daily menu is available at www.jerkoceano.com.
The Price: $20; cash only.
The Skinny: Looking for pizza in Lantana? If you’re at Jerk Oceano on the right night, it’s the place to be.
For those who thought Dak Kerprich’s had gone by the wayside in Lantana when he opened Swell Pizza in Delray Beach, he’s back.
According to his brother Jay, Kerprich has given up his Swell Pizza space and pies are reappearing at Oceano.
Pizza is not always on the menu, but when it is, what a glorious thing it is.
We ordered a Red Pizza, with a wonderfully smoky roasted tomato sauce, lots of onion and plenty of mild heat courtesy of the smoked chili oil that infused the pie.
Good, and, for a change, pizza that’s good for you.
Let’s talk about that crust, too. As always, Kerprich’s crusts are lighter than air — he adjusts his recipe according to the weather conditions.
This one was no exception, and it’s why his pizza just may be the best in the area.
— Scott Simmons

Story and photos by Mary Thurwachter  
Mizner Park, with its Spanish-styled courtyard, 44 shops and restaurants, art museum, amphitheater, iPic Theater, fountains and large gazebos, has been around for 25 years and continues to enjoy wide appeal. Visitors can view art, attend concerts, take cooking classes, furnish their homes with beach-themed decor, score fashionable clothes and shoes, and mull over what to see next while dining on a gourmet lunch or dinner. Here are five places not to miss:

Our Boat House III 

Homeowners who seek to capture the drama and mood of the sea to create their own sea-inspired retreat won’t want to miss Our Boat House III, a showroom at 42 Plaza Real that’s filled with nautical furniture, lighting and home accents. You’ll see how adding pops of watery blues, sandy neutrals and seaglass green can create a beachy, relaxed feel. You’ll also see how a giant seahorse made of reclaimed wood, or huge wooden letters on the wall urging folks to “BE SALTY” can set a cool coastal tone for your home.

Lord & Taylor 

It’s hard to miss Lord & Taylor at the south end of Mizner Park. It is the center’s largest and only two-floor store. Opened in 2013 and known for its dress department, this department store, at 202 Plaza Real, has all the luxury brands, from Michael Kors to DKNY. There’s even a men’s lounge with comfy couch and big-screen TV for husbands waiting on their shopping spouses, and a complimentary personal stylist service so you can get advice to suit your style and tailored to your taste. We like how well the store uses a collection of artsy, long-legged mannequins to display fashions.

Sloan’s   
It’s hard not to be drawn in by the delightful aroma of freshly baked waffle cones, cookies and brownies. We couldn’t resist. And, yes, the chocolate cookie dough ice cream in a waffle cone is worthy of the caloric splurge! This place has real candy (in bulk) and eye candy, too. The walls are pink, chandeliers are twinkling and the toy trains are chugging. Owners say this shop, at 329 Plaza Real, is where fantasy becomes reality — and it is, at least in the sweet  dreams department!

Max’s Grille
There is no shortage of good restaurants in Mizner Park, but we like Max’s Grille, at 404 Plaza Real, because the food (brunch, lunch, dinner) is good and the location is ideal for people-watching, sometimes even famous people-watching. Long before Adele was chanting “Hello from the other side,” she could be found chowing down at Max’s, which has been in Boca since 1991. Try the blackened salmon quesadilla with goat cheese, scallions, spinach and roasted corn guacamole. Yum!

Sur la table
A cook’s playground, Sur la table, at 438 Plaza Real, is stocked with kitchen tools, dinnerware, premium cookware and specialty food. Another big draw are the cooking classes that share recipes and techniques on how to make everything from Thai to Texas barbecue. Students get to eat what they make, of course, and go home with class recipes, a list of needed tools and helpful notes.

This is the fourth in a series of five shopping areas The Coastal Star will feature this season. Next up: Royal Palm Place in Boca Raton.

By Steve Pike  

“If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.

    True to Dr. King’s words, Lee DiPietro knows only one direction — forward. It’s what’s guided her through more than 30 years of racing — and winning — some of the world’s most grueling events, from marathons to ironman triathlons.
Whether it’s running along A1A near her home in Ocean Ridge, along the rugged shoreline in her family’s summer home in Newport, R.I., or doing the ironman race in Hawaii, DiPietro knows only head-on forward motion, even if it means pushing her lean, 6-foot frame against the wind.      

And, as DiPietro explains in her book Against the Wind, against the odds.
In the 267-page book (her first), published by Skyhorse Publishing, DiPietro details her love of running, but more important, her love of family, and how each helped sustain her through her husband Lee’s battle with cancer and at the same time, her eldest son Tim’s rehabilitation from an off-road vehicle accident that nearly cost him his legs and his life.
The book is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble, as well as at Gulf Stream Pharmacy and the Boynton Beach Postal Center on East Woolbright Road.
    Against the Wind is an inspiring story of one woman’s determination to hold herself and her family together during a time — from 2010 through much of 2011 — that threatened to crumble them. DiPietro tells much of the story through emails she sent and received during those tough times. For a first-time author, DiPietro is a terrific storyteller.
    “As the emails began to spread and be forwarded to family and friends, people kept writing me back saying I should write a book because (the emails) were so touching and beautiful,’’ said DiPietro, who won the women’s division of the 2008 Palm Beach Marathon at the age of 50.  
“They thought it would just help people know that you can face so many things and get through it.’’
Most of those people don’t have the same refuge that DiPietro has in her running, but the message, she said, is still the same.
“Running is where I go for my strength,’’ DiPietro said. “But whether it’s running, writing or something else, find whatever you can to keep motivating you to put one foot in front of the other. You can find a place to find your inner strength. You can’t look back and ask why something happened. There always is something in your life that you can find, you just have to find it.’
    Even if it means running against the wind.

By Steve Pike

    Ann Purcell remembered the first time she met the maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Seelisberg, Switzerland, in 1974.
“I had to walk up eight flights of stairs to get to a meeting room,’’ said Purcell, whose book The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment was published last May and is available through her website (www.enlightenmentforeveryone.com) and Amazon.com.
    “I had no idea of protocol or anything. I remember myself walking into the room and immediately calming down. I became very quiet.
“The maharishi was very concerned about my mother because my father had just passed away. I was only 20 years old and he wanted my mother’s blessing (for her daughter to continue teaching and learning). That made a big impression.’’
    The maharishi, who died in 2008 at the age of 90, made an impression on millions, from the Beatles and Beach Boys to mere mortals and their journeys to enlightenment through transcendental meditation. It’s what the maharishi called, “the glory of the nature of the self.’’
    Purcell’s book, published by Green Dragon Press of Lake Worth, chronicles her journey from growing up in Delray Beach to her introduction to TM as a freshman at Alvescot College in Oxford, England, to becoming a full-time teacher of transcendental meditation since 1973.
“It’s actually the most practical state of living,’’ Purcell said of TM. “It’s not just something to enjoy, but a state where people can accomplish the maximum in life.’’
    Purcell, who splits her time between Delray Beach and Livingston Manor, N.Y., has taught TM around the world. She also has worked on curricula and course development for universities and continuing education programs. She has a bachelor’s and a master’s of the science of creative intelligence from Maharishi European Research University in Seelisberg, and a PhD in supreme political science from Maharishi University of World Peace, Vlodrop, Netherlands.
    The book is Purcell’s second attempt to write about (and defend) the world and benefits of TM.
Purcell originally tried to publish it two years ago under the title Let Your Soul Sing: Enlightenment is for Everyone, but the publisher suggested including transcendental meditation in the title. The decision paid off, as it received a Books for Better Living Silver Award from IndependentPublisher.com in 2015.
    Purcell refers to the book as “timeless’’ in its message to get across her points that enlightenment is a “possibility for everyone’’ and should be the most “natural state’’ that everyone can achieve.
    Like transcendental meditation itself, Purcell’s book may not be for everyone, but it’s a good glimpse into a world that most people don’t understand.

By Rich Pollack

A decision by Delray Beach City Commissioners to add a 20 percent administrative fee to a proposed 10-year fire service contract with the town of Highland Beach is causing a rift between the two neighboring communities and leading some town leaders to consider starting their own fire department.

On Feb. 2, Delray Beach commissioners refused to accept a long-negotiated agreement to continue providing fire service and equipment to Highland Beach for an estimated $3.3 million, saying the city would likely lose money under the proposal.

Instead, after much discussion Delray Beach city commissioners voted to add the administrative fee along with a laundry list of conditions that would allow the city to recoup any unplanned costs.

Delray officials had planned to bring their counter-proposal back to Highland Beach, but commissioners in the smaller town say they’re no longer interested in talking to anyone from Delray Beach about the contract.

“We should close this by saying ‘Delray, goodbye,’” said Commissioner Carl Feldman.

Feldman and other Highland Beach commissioners said they were outraged and insulted by Delray Beach’s decision to reject a contract that had been negotiated over the course of 18 months.

“This is nothing but an attempt by, unfortunately a sister city, to utilize Highland Beach resources to cover their own internal mismanagement and debts,” said Vice Mayor Bill Weitz.

During the discussion in a special commission workshop held two days after Delray’s decision, several members of the Highland Beach commission said it was Delray Beach that brought the agreement to their town and thus should have an obligation to accept it once town leaders signed off on it.

 “I feel this is completely immoral,” said Highland Beach Mayor Bernard Featherman.

Town commissioners said they were offended by a reference to their community as “a town with wealthy people,” made by Delray Beach Vice Mayor Shelly Petrolia.

Town attorney Glen Torcivia, who was deeply involved in the negotiations rejected the notion that Delray Beach would lose money with the agreement.

“To say they’re losing money is a farce,” he said. “The agreement fully covers the administrative costs.”

With the current contract expiring in about 18 months, Highland Beach town officials are now looking for an alternative fire-service provider or the possibility of creating their own fire department.

“I say we have to go on our own,” said Commissioner Lou Stern.

Under the current agreement, Delray Beach provides fire-rescue personnel to the town, which has its own fire station and fire truck. The town also pays Delray Beach $8,500 a month for use of a ladder truck.

In addition to instructing Torcivia and Town Manager Beverly Brown to begin exploring other options, commissioners also gave Torcivia the green light to explore the possibility of recouping the town’s legal expenses incurred during the drawn-out negotiation process.

“We should take action,” Feldman said. “We’ve been negotiating for a year and a half.”

Xanax addiction, withdrawal and treatment
Xanax is a brand name for alprazolam, a central nervous system depressant prescribed to treat anxiety and panic disorder.

Xanax can be addictive, even after relatively short-term use at recommended doses. Risk and severity of dependence increase with higher doses and longer periods of use. Long-term use of Xanax can increase tolerance.

Withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, restlessness, agitation, anxiety, abdominal pain, muscle cramps, vomiting, sweating, tremors and seizures.

Withdrawal symptoms appear one or two days after a person stops use of Xanax and continue for two to four weeks or longer.

Dependence is treated by gradually reducing the dosage. Inpatient or hospital treatment may be necessary for addicts who have a high tolerance or have had seizures during withdrawal.

Overdose symptoms include drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, diminished reflexes and coma.

Xanax overdose can be fatal, but most Xanax deaths are caused by a combination of Xanax with alcohol and/or other drugs, which can dangerously enhance the effects.

The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies Xanax as a Schedule IV drug, with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence. Other Schedule IV drugs include Soma, Darvocet, Valium, Ativan and Ambien.

Sources: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization Clinical Guidelines for Withdrawal Management and Treatment of Drug Dependence in Closed Settings.
— Compiled by Michelle Quigley