Florida Atlantic University’s Caring Hearts Auxiliary, of the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, raised more than $210,000 at the ninth annual walk. The fun-filled event brought together nearly 400 participants to raise money for scholarships and caregiver-support programs. Attendees were encouraged to exercise their minds by playing brain-stimulating games. ABOVE: Anne and Louis Green. Photo provided by Downtown Photo

The Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum had its 18th annual event celebrating those who have been leaders in shaping the future of the city. ABOVE: Andrea Garcia, honoree Connie Siskowski and sponsor Alyce Erickson. Photo provided

Stiletto Race: Fashion Week, Delray Beach – Jan. 23

The third annual Vince Canning Stiletto Race took place along Southeast Fourth Avenue in downtown Delray Beach, with registration proceeds going to the Achievement Centers for Children and Families.
ABOVE: Mark Denkler of Vince Canning Shoes wows the judges with his ‘Sexy Strut.’
BELOW: Amanda Denkler, left, of Delray Beach, and Ashley Michaels are neck and neck in the ‘Women’s 75 Meter Dash.’ Denkler won the first-place trophy. Photos by Tim Stepien/ The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

     Forse Lantana dovrebbe cambiare Ocean Avenue in Italiano Avenue. Translation: Maybe Lantana should change Ocean Avenue to Italian Avenue
    All of a sudden, after almost four years of vacancy, two restaurant sites on Ocean Avenue are again in business, and both are Italian.
     If all goes according to plan, Henry Olmino, no stranger to ristoranti, will open Mario’s Ocean Ave in early February. Olmino, taking over what was Suite 225, will offer typical Italian fare as well as pizza and a bar. On the south side, Paesano, an Italian steakhouse, opened in mid-January. They join Pizzeria Oceano on the north side, which specializes in gourmet personal pizzas accompanied by salads and small side plates.  
    Olmino is no stranger to South Florida. Way back in 1973, he opened Mario the Baker in Sunrise. He moved north with Mario’s of Boca in ’85 then hit hot Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale with Mario’s Italian Restaurant. Later came Henry’s Brick Oven Pizza in West Palm Beach, but it closed a couple of years ago.
    Paesano’s Facebook page recalls an Italy of the 1950s when life was easy and fun, amore was plentiful and the food was great. “We’re doing a traditional Italian, mostly Tuscan menu, using only the top ingredients,” owner Fiorenzo Trunzo said. “Everything will be fresh daily. We’ll use ingredients from local farms and only black angus beef.
    “In the ’50s, everything was still natural, no chemical additives. That’s what we want here.”
    In the restaurant business since he was 14, Trunzo will oversee the Lantana site as well as his signature Dal Toro restaurants in Miami Beach, Aruba, Curacao and Las Vegas. In a unique arrangement, the desert Dal Toro, located in the Palazzo hotel, teamed with Lamborghini to create an all-Italian experience of shopping, dining and motoring.
    On occasion, Trunzo gets behind the wheel of a 500-plus horsepower Gallardo, but, he adds, “our company car is a Ferrari.” Ciao.
                  ***                        
    The time is almost right, says Pizzeria Oceano boss Dak Kerprich, who hopes to have an offspring of his Lantana wood-fired brick oven gourmet pie shop open in Delray Beach this spring. A site is being eyed at Northeast Third Avenue and Second Street, pending city approval. This baby, to be called Swell Pizza, will be even less glamourous than the Ocean Avenue site’s half-dozen inside counter stools and equally limited, umbrellaed outside tables. Pizza and salads only, with the same locally harvested organic and freshly caught ingredients, but take-out and delivery only.
                                           ***
Max’s Social House has finally opened in mid-January in the old Falcon House site on Federal Highway in Delray Beach. Creator Dennis Max has designed “Soho” as a crafty establishment with craft cocktails and beer and finely crafted menu items including house-made pickles and a Kobe-tyle hot dog, bahn mi style with sriracha aioli, crispy onions and jalapeño.
                       ***                   
Santos American Buffet has opened a new location at 3400 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, in the former Gary Woo’s location. The menu combines traditional Japanese sushi dishes and modern American cuisine. Brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, served from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., features organic eggs and all-you-can-drink $7 mimosas. Call 923-9378.

***
     Surfing is at once both kinetic and artistic. Anyone who’s seen the peripatetic Palm Beach County Surfing History Project that just wrapped up a run at the Delray Beach Historical Society can appreciate the dynamic interaction of physics and individual expression as well as its historical importance to the Palm Beaches. So there is much excitement surrounding the project’s plans to open its Surfing Museum at 255 NE Sixth Ave. in Delray Beach. The museum will house photos and artifacts in a 3,500 square foot gallery leased to the project by Ocean Ridge resident Matt Gracey, a local surfer since the 1960s. The collection represents 110 years of surfing in Florida. A gallery store is included in the museum plans with high-quality, ocean-related photography and art. Visit surfhistoryproject.org.
                                               ***
Circe (a Southern slang term for a gift or something special) and SWAG have added a touch of Louisville to Atlantic Avenue  in Delray Beach.
The boutique at 401 E. Atlantic Ave. (next to Fresh Produce) offers unique women’s contemporary fashions and southern men’s casual clothing, as well as furniture and home accessories.
A grand opening event is planned for 6-9 p.m. Feb. 12.  For more information call 270-7933, or visit circeswag.com.
                                               ***
    Somethin’s Coming.  
    For those who may have missed it, the ninth annual Festival of the Arts BOCA is only a month away. The festival opens at 7:30 p.m. March 6, at Mizner Park Amphitheater with a special screening of the Oscar-winning classic West Side Story.  In an unusual twist, the original lyrics and dialog will be accompanied by a live score provided by the festival orchestra conducted by Jayce Ogren. Prior to the screening, Jamie Bernstein, daughter of composer Leonard Bernstein, will offer insights into the movie and its influence on modern culture.
    The music bill includes banjoists Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn (March 7); flutist James Galway, pianist Conrad Tao and violinist Arnaud Sussman with the festival orchestra, Constantine Kitsopoulos, conducting (March 13); and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City performing a program of contemporary music plus Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with members of the Master Chorale of South Florida and the Festival Orchestra.
Girl Rising is a documentary that examines the lives of nine young women as they try to escape the barriers to education and freedom raised by forced marriage, domestic slavery, sex trafficking, gender violence and discrimination, and poor health care. (Cultural Arts Center, 3 p.m. March 7)
    International Stars of Ballet: American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Washington Ballet dancers (Amphitheater, 7 p.m. March 8).
    Last but not least, men and women of letters:
    “Let Me Be Frank With You”: Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford (4 p.m. March 8).
    “The Cancer Puzzle”: Physician, researcher, Pulitzer winner Siddhartha Mukherjee (7 p.m. March 9).
    “Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better”: Technology expert Clive Thompson (7 p.m. March 10).
    “That Used To Be Us”: Journalist and Pulitzer winner Thomas Friedman (7 p.m. March 11).
    “Saving Paradise”: Journalist and author Michael Grunwald (7 p.m. March 12).
“Love and Politics”: Pulitzer winner, journalist and author Lucinda Franks (4 p.m. March 14).
    “Alex’s Wake”: Broadcaster and author Martin Goldsmith (4 p.m. March 15). See festivaloftheartsboca.org.
                                           ***
    His nickname, “Steady Rollin’,” is appropriate. In the spirit of peripatetic blues singers such as Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, Bob Margolin is back on the road, going where the music takes him. After bouncing from Memphis to Atlanta in recent weeks, he’ll visit Arts Garage on Feb. 7 then play two dates in Iowa, one in Kansas City, two in Saskatoon this winter, then head back 2,000 miles to Tallahassee, and on and on.  
    Just hitting his prime at 66, Margolin heads an impressive blues lineup at the Garage. Johnny Rawls, whose Red Cadillac won the Living Blues Award critics poll in 2013 for best soul blues album and outstanding blues singer, plays Feb. 13. A day later, Berkelee-trained singer and sax player Vanessa Coulter offers a blues Valentine and Danny Brooks, billed as the Texassippi Soul Man, offers at blend of country, gospel, roots and R&B on Feb. 21.
    A week later, ardent supporters of Arts Garage will gather for the third annual Grunge & Glamour evening of art, food and friends with a healthy dose of West Coast jump blues and swing bolstered by body guitars, reverb tanks, upright basses, harmonicas, pianos and organs from Toots Lorraine and The Traffic. Produced by the Arts Garage Guild, the event raises money for the Garage’s programming and educational initiatives. Tickets are $100 each, $550 for a table of six. Sponsorships are welcome. (artsgarage.org)

***
                                           
    Dana Leong’s musical skills are hardly typical. A multi-instrumentalist known for his jazz, pop and classical work with trombone and cello, he has collaborated, produced and performed with the likes of Ray Charles, Wynton Marsalis, Kanye West and Yoko Ono.
    The Plumosa School of the Arts Foundation believes Leong’s versatility is ideal for inspiring the school’s students to develop their talents. He and his trio will headline the foundation’s “Shooting for the Stars,” concert at the school auditorium Feb. 20. For tickets, $35 to $75 (VIP), go to plumosafoundation.org.
                                           ***
    On the large-scale party scene, it’s garlic in Delray Beach or grapes in Boca Raton. The 16th Delray Beach Garlic Fest kicks off Feb. 6. Besides all things garlic, the party includes spicy music at Old School Square with the saucy brass of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on Feb.7. Providing lead-in at 6 p.m. for Shorty will be longtime local favorite Fabulous Fleetwoods. Details at  dbgarlicfest.com.    
At Broken Sound in Boca, the first week of the month is taken over by the ninth annual Allianz Championhip, with a 54-hole tournament featuring 81 Champions Tour veterans and a full schedule of golf and social events, including Grapes on the Green, Feb. 7. For $70, guests join the competing golfers for dinner prepared by Oceans 234, The Flaming Greek, Kanpai Sushi, Potions in Motion and Amazing Chocolates and wines from David Frost.
    The 2014 event provided an estimated $15 million economic impact on the region,  a sizable chunk going to 19 charities and service organizations, including Boca Raton Regional Hospital; allianzchampionship.com.
                                           ***
    Buoyed by the arrival almost a year ago of new president John Kelly, the Owls of Florida Atlantic University are “soaring to new heights,” and on March 21 will celebrate his first year at the FAU Foundation’s annual gala —not in a hotel ballroom, but at the FAU stadium … on three levels of suites, club rooms and outdoor areas, with a gourmet meal, live entertainment, a silent auction and fireworks.
     Kelly and wife Carolyn chose to forgo a formal inauguration and instead inaugurated the new Kelly Family Scholarship Fund with a personal donation. Net proceeds from the gala also will go to the fund and they are urging other supporters to contribute as well. See faugala.info.
                                          ***
On the anniversary of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, Lynn University held its annual Knights Unite Day of Caring to continue the work of the 14 members of the Lynn family who were in Haiti that day. The 12 students and two faculty members traveled there on a January term course, “Journey of Hope.” Eight members returned home safely. As part of the Knights Unite Day of Caring, the Lynn University community has packaged more than 140,000 meals for children in Haitian orphanages.
                                               ***
Here and there:
    It’s only rock ’n’ roll. With some free time on his hands before opening his 2015 tour at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, Billy Joel spent much of it “hanging out” between Lake Worth and Delray Beach. Rumors had the Piano Man looking for a home in Palm Beach or Manalapan. That would make sense, as he was believed to be staying at Eau Palm Beach, which in its incarnation as a Ritz-Carlton offered solitude for the Rolling Stones and The Who.
Joel previously owned an 8,800-square-foot pad on La Gorce Island in Biscayne Bay, which also has been home to Ricky Martin, Cher, Lil Wayne and Shakira. He sold it a year and a half ago for $13.75 million, only $175,000 more than he paid for it in 2006.
He did stop by Old Key Lime House to dine at the bar and checked out Delray’s Atlantic Avenue, even posing for photos with passersby.                                                
Emmy winner Linda Evans speaks Feb. 26 at the Reflections of Hope Luncheon for Jewish Family Services (852-5013 or ralesjfs.org) at Boca West and author, TV show host and Hollywood resident Brad Meltzer headlines the 29th annual dinner dance for the Jewish Association for Retarded Children March 8 (558-2572 or jarcfl.org).

Reach Thom Smith at thomsmith@ymail.com.

The Plate: Chicken Tacos
The Place: The Beach Club on the Waterfront, Lake Worth Golf Course, 1 Seventh Ave. N., Lake Worth; 585-8976 or beachclublakeworth.com
The Price: $10.95
The Skinny: If you haven’t been to the Lake Worth golf course, you need to pay a visit to the clubhouse.
It’s laidback, and the scene — on the Intracoastal Waterway just north of the Lake Worth Bridge — is beautiful.
The evening of our visit, we were starved, and we weren’t interested in being too healthful when it came to ordering dinner. But we were interested enough in our coronary health to skip the burgers and fries, and at least try for something lighter, so we opted for chicken tacos.
The chicken, ordered blackened, was delicately seasoned and was wonderfully flavorful and tender. It was combined with peppers, onions, Monterey jack and Cheddar cheeses, salsa and was served with spicy mayo on the side.
Also on the side: Rice and black beans that were topped with more of that mild salsa.
— Scott Simmons

By Tao Woolfe

    After 50 years of standing behind local artists and their work, the Delray Beach Art League is stepping out to celebrate its own creation.
    It will do so in high style, of course, with a four-day art festival — from Feb. 26 to March 1. Exhibits and performances of all kinds, and even a feast, will fill the Delray Center for the Arts with color, music and movement.
    Because art can’t be contained, the festivities — street performances by jugglers and dancers, exhibits of artists old and new, contests, kids’ activities, food vendors and portrait artists — will spill out onto the grounds and courtyard of the arts center at 51 N. Swinton Ave.
    Outdoor light was crucial for certain Impressionists known as plein air painters. The French term en plein air, or “in the open air” describes an artistic style that continues to this day.  
    The festival will open with its own plein air competition, Thursday, Feb. 26, during which artists will paint outdoors until 3 p.m. Those works will be on exhibit from 4 to 7 p.m., and will be awarded judges’ prizes totaling $2,000 at a 5 p.m. ceremony.
    “This is a big celebration of the league’s 50th anniversary, but it’s also designed to get people to come out and see great art,” says Manny Jomok, a watercolorist and chairman of the 16-member celebration committee. “There will be all kinds of things going on for all ages.”
    On Friday, Feb. 27, a big banquet will be held in the art center’s gymnasium. Besides gourmet food, live music and dancing, the event will feature raffles, a silent auction, and guest speakers. Tickets, which cost $40, will be sold to the public on a first-come-first-served basis.
    During the day Friday, a portrait art exhibition will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This multimedia exhibit features works of oil, watercolor and acrylic, plus sculpture and photographs.
    Saturday and Sunday the work of young artists, competitions, and live music will be showcased from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A few local artists formed the Delray Art League in 1965. It now represents more than 230 members whose juried works can be seen at regular exhibits in Veterans Park, Old School Square and Delray Beach City Hall. 
Many of the artists’ works are on display in galleries around the country, says Jomok, who became a noted watercolorist and art teacher after retiring from the U.S. Postal Service in 2008. He credits the league with helping him blossom into his new career.
    The league donates thousands of dollars in scholarships to art students at Florida Atlantic University, Atlantic High School, Milagro School and the Plumosa School of the Arts Foundation. The league also helps Delray Beach elementary and high schools buy art supplies and equipment.
    “A percentage of all our sales goes to our education fund,” Jomok says. “A big part of our mission is to support art and develop art education in the community. The festival is a great way to do that.”

    For more information, visit www.delrayartleague.com.

The International Kinetic Art Exhibit will fill downtown Boynton Beach with art in motion.

By Jane Smith
    
Fine art will meet hard science when Boynton Beach hosts the International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium Feb. 7 and 8. The event and yearlong exhibit, which cost about $120,000, is free and open to the public.
    Kinetic art is art that moves — by wind, water or touch — to achieve its greatest effect.
    The city already has 16 outdoor artworks installed in its downtown core, bordered by Boynton Beach Boulevard on the north, Seacrest Boulevard on the west and Federal Highway on the east. Most sit along Ocean Avenue.
     “We want to push the boundaries of traditional art forms,” said Debby Coles-Dobay, public art manager for Boynton Beach. “We want to help people expand their minds when they see how art blends with technology, other than it is whimsical and fun to look at.”
    An exhibition tent will be set up along Seacrest Boulevard. Inside will be a variety of kinetic art works, including mobiles, said Coles-Dobay.
    The tent also will contain a site-specific installation inside its peak. “Lumens and Candelas” was created from flex neon lights, Fresnel lenses, LED fans and Plexiglas by Texas artist Adela Andea. The artwork — 24 feet long by 8 feet wide — will hang from the ceiling so that visitors will be able to walk underneath it.
    The city’s majestic kapok tree, at the corner of Ocean and Seacrest, will be adorned Feb. 5 with swirling strands created at Kinetic-Connections workshops. The sessions were held all over the county, including three at the Boynton Beach Library. Kids, women and men brought found items, such as keys and buttons, and then attached the objects to cardboard pieces that volunteers later used fishing line to string together to create swirling strands.
    The 16-foot strands will be sold for $150 each, with a percentage returning to the Art in Public Places program, Coles-Dobay said. The city commissioned kinetic artist Elayna Toby of Palm Springs to oversee the project.
    A highlight will be the Selfie Station, a video loop of selfies made by participants in the Kinetic-Connections. The video will be displayed on a computer screen under the kapok tree.
    About 80 kinetic artworks produced by artists from seven countries and 12 states, as well as local ones, will show their works, Coles-Dobay said.
    The symposium, the education part, will feature eight presentations focused on the history, present and future of kinetic art. Presenters include working kinetic artists and educators such as Jerzy Kedziora, a Polish artist whose work is on display at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach. He will speak about “Whimsical Kinetic Artforms.” The talks will be held in the Civic Center.
    Also in the Civic Center, HackLab North Boynton will have a “Daft Booth,” inspired by the Grammy Award-winning group Daft Punk. Inside the booth, participants will transform into DJs by using buttons, lights and sounds.  
    Kids and their parents are invited to create solar butterflies at the Children’s Schoolhouse Museum and Learning Center. French solar kinetic artist Alexandre Dang will lead two one-hour workshops each day to help participants construct dancing solar butterflies that they will attach to solar mechanisms and place in the museum’s courtyard.  
    “It’s fine art connected to STEAM,” Coles-Dobay said. “Everyone talks about STEM education, we think art should be part of it,” creating the STEAM acronym that stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math.
    The event will wrap up Sunday with an awards presentation. The Kinetic Art Organization will award three prizes in its International Kinetic Art Competition. In addition, participants who walk around the festival will be given a sheet of paper to rank their top three artworks. The results will be tallied in time to present the People’s Choice Awards.
    With the educational aspect and the chance to talk with the artists, Coles-Dobay said, “It’s beyond your normal art fair.”

If you go
What: 2015 International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium
Where: Downtown Boynton Beach and various public venues: City Hall, Civic Center and Children’s Schoolhouse Museum and Learning Center.
When: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
Information: www.IntlKineticEvent.org

Students at a past Pink Shirt Day at South Olive Elementary School in West Palm Beach. Photo provided

By Shelley Gilken

On Feb. 25, there will be a sea of pink in South Florida. In classrooms, at businesses, at parks and government offices, pink shirts will dominate the wardrobe in an organized effort to raise awareness on bullying. In addition to wearing pink, teachers and other participants will lead educational activities that help build character in kids to limit the impact of a bully.
“Children and adults, the media, everybody has a chance to wear pink that day and create a sea of pink to raise awareness for issues related to bullying. Compassion. Empathy. Fostering friendships. Teaching respect and responsibility. It really is addressing social topics,” said Kristin Calder, chief executive officer of the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County, the organizer of Pink Shirt Day for the last four years.
The concept of Pink Shirt Day originated in Canada when a boy was bullied for wearing pink to school. Older boys intervened and conspired to wear pink the next day as a sign of solidarity.
The effort has evolved into thousands of people wearing pink shirts on this day. The pink shirts  signify a commitment to stand against bullies and refuse to be a silent bystander.
Over the past few years, Calder said the Literacy Coalition has found that it has a positive impact as much on the adults as the kids.
“We all know bullies in every aspect of life,” Calder said.
The theme this year is “Happiness comes from within.” The concept is that encouraging children to think happy thoughts and use kind words with others gives them better confidence and control in how they react if someone is using harsh words with them.
It is an effective way to reduce the impact of a bully to teach potential victims how to focus on positive thoughts to neutralize the negative ones, said Calder.
“Some kids don’t know what a compliment is at home. They have to be taught,” she said.
Not only does it help the children get better grounded by developing a strong character, but also parents are often influenced by the positive messages and anti-bullying-themed books.
One activity at schools is that children draw with chalk outside the school a “Pathway to Happiness.” Parents walk down that path as well and are uplifted by the idea of seeing happy images.
“The reason people bully other people is because they’re not happy themselves. There’s a focus on being happy and your own happiness. How full is your bucket?” Calder said.
For example, one of the activities for students is to write down negative thoughts and then go through the process of ripping up and throwing them in the trash. Positive thoughts are written down and placed in a recycling bin.
“Our curriculums get so busy everything they need to learn and need to be taught that often there isn’t time for character education,” she said. 

If You Participate
Pink Shirt Day is Feb. 25.
If you commemorate Pink Shirt Day with a unique twist or if you have questions or pictures to share, email info@literacypbc.org.Additional events to support literacy include:
Feb. 28: Loop the Lake for Literacy on Lake Okeechobee
March 12: Love of Literacy Luncheon at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach
April 18: American Girl Fashion Show at the Boca Raton Marriott
For more information, visit literacypbc.org.

Ocean Ridge Police Chief, Chris Yannuzzi, addresses the standing-room-only audience during a special meeting Jan. 15.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Dan Moffett

      A tumultuous week of anger and allegation ended in hugs and farewells as Ocean Ridge said good-bye to its police chief on Jan.15.
      Chris Yannuzzi and town officials agreed on a settlement deal that will cost the chief his job but should save both sides the high cost of meeting in a courtroom. Whether it helps heal the wounds exposed in the town in recent weeks is anybody’s guess.
       As the standing-room-only audience exited Town Hall, residents armed with clipboards collected signatures for a recall petition aimed at Commissioner Richard Lucibella, whose feud with the chief had led to his resignation.
      Yannuzzi, who became chief in 2010, said he was humbled by the outpouring of support he had received but believed resigning was his only choice. “It is greatly appreciated, beyond belief,” he told his supporters. “Did I make a mistake? Yes, I did.” Referring to his misinterpretation of a state statute regarding found property.
      Others suggested another mistake was recording an eight-minute phone conversation with Lucibella in November without his knowledge during an investigation of a stolen credit card that was found on the commissioner’s property. When Lucibella refused to turn the card over, Yannuzzi  took the recording to the State Attorney’s Office, the Inspector General’s Office and the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics.

     Florida statute allows law enforcement officers to record telephone conversations when "the purpose of such interception is to obtain evidence of a criminal act." Yannuzzi said the recording was necessary because the case involved theft and stolen property; Lucibella and his supporters say recording the call was overkill, unwarranted and an attempt to undermine a town commissioner.
    Yannuzzi has insisted he was acting within the law and that he treated Lucibella as he would any other citizen, despite months of contentious relations between the two over the department’s handling of trespassing on the beach.
      “This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” Yannuzzi said of resigning. “The people I’m letting down are the people I’m looking at. And I really feel bad about it. But I cannot stay under these conditions. I cannot be worried about simply tripping over a crack and somebody jumping on me again.”
      Under terms of the separation agreement the commission unanimously approved, the town will pay Yannuzzi about $82,000. The chief will leave office Jan. 16, but his resignation will take effect on March 1.  He will receive $10,400 in severance pay and another $43,800 to do consulting work for the town as a civilian for the next five months. Yannuzzi will get about $28,000 more in vacation and unused sick pay.
      As part of the deal, Town Manager Ken Schenck, who recommended Yannuzzi’s termination, will put a “positive evaluation” in his file. Both sides are to refrain from disparaging comments, and more important, neither Lucibella nor Yannuzzi are to take legal action against each other or the town.
      “There have been so many inaccuracies, misstatements and out-and-out lies that I don’t have the time, the ability or the desire to address them all,” Yannuzzi told the commission. “I can tell you that on the day of this incident I was dealing with a citizen, not a commissioner.”
      The commission’s vote for the settlement was unanimous, though Vice Mayor Lynn Allison and Commissioner Gail Adams Aaskov opposed the chief’s firing. Aaskov called the dispute “an embarrassment to the town,” and Allison made a motion for Schenck to rescind termination Thursday night but withdrew it after Yannuzzi announced his resignation.
      “I still don’t understand — why not a reprimand or a grievance,” Allison said of sanctioning Yannuzzi, whose record as chief had been unblemished until the recent dispute. “Why we went from zero to termination, I don’t understand.”

Ocean Ridge Commissioner, Richard Lucibella, speaks during a Jan. 15 special meeting at town hall. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

 Allegations of personal agenda

     Through two long meetings, some three dozen Yannuzzi supporters rose and asked commissioners that question and others. Who baited whom during the eight-minute recording was a point of contention.
      Former Commissioner Ed Brookes suggested there was an agenda to get rid of Yannuzzi over the beach enforcement issue. Brookes said he spoke with Schenck a week ago and the town manager told him Lucibella “had the votes” to oust the chief. Brookes claimed Lucibella baited Yannuzzi.
      Commissioner James Bonfiglio thought that the chief was baiting Lucibella by dragging the call out. Worse, Bonfiglio said, Yannuzzi misunderstood the statute governing stolen property. “It was a created crime by the police chief,” Bonfiglio said, and the chief’s behavior undermined the separation of powers between the commission and police department in the town.
      Lucibella said he was “proud” of his stand during the phone call, and the chief was wrong to make a “clandestine recording.” He said the chief had all he needed the first two minutes of the conversation. Toward the end of the recording, Lucibella said he would go after Yannuzzi’s job: “You want to play this will battle? I’ll tell you what, Monday, the first week of the month, I’m going to make a motion that we let you go, that we separate. I don’t think I have a second. I probably don’t have three votes. But I only have to win once, chief. I’ll make that motion every single month.”
    Lucibella denied any agenda, however. “It’s no secret that I’ve been a critic of Chief Yannuzzi,” he said. “But I bear him no ill will.”
    Nan Yablong, who was collecting signatures Thursday, said the movement to recall Lucibella was progressing well: “We’ll get all the signatures we need.”
     In the end, neither the State Attorney’s Office nor county ethics officials have found reason to get involved in the lost credit card case — taking no action against either Lucibella or Yannuzzi. The card, which belonged to a Broward County woman, was canceled shortly after it was stolen.
      “It saddens me that a town this small would become so divided over an issue like a credit card,” said Mayor Geoff Pugh, who lamented the lack of “humility” on both sides. “What’s deeper than that is that this town has two people in this room that didn’t think about the one thing that matters most. And that’s the people of this town. It doesn’t matter about your ego…It’s about the town and its people. That’s the whole point.”

Ocean Ridge resident, Joelen Merkel, hugs Chris Yannuzzi following a Jan. 15 special meeting to approve an employment settlement as part of his resignation as Ocean Ridge Police Chief. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

WPTV Report with audio excerpts

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge town commissioners appear poised to fire Police Chief Chris Yannuzzi at Monday's commission meeting.

Yannuzzi's ouster comes at the urging of Commissioner Richard Lucibella, who has feuded with the chief over a number of issues during the last year — most recently and most heatedly over his handling of an incident in November.

On Nov. 8, Lucibella reported to police that he had found a Visa credit card belonging to a Broward County woman under a beach chair on the deck of his oceanfront home.

Yannuzzi called Lucibella and asked that the card be turned over to the department. Lucibella refused, according to the police report, and said “found property on my property is mine.” The commissioner said he had spoken to police in Broward and they were handling the investigation.

The clash between the two men deteriorated from there: Yannuzzi suggested that Lucibella might be violating the law by keeping lost property and not cooperating with Ocean Ridge police. Lucibella charged that Yannuzzi had failed again to deal with trespassing on the beach and protecting property rights and that it was time for the commission to fire him, according to police reports.

Lucibella has apparently lined up the two other votes needed to dismiss the chief, according to Town Manager Ken Schenck, who polled commissioners this month.

“Richard has the votes to do what he needed to do,” Schenck said. “Richard feels that Chris was after him for something he didn't do and took offense to it.”

Schenck said he offered Yannuzzi the option of retiring or being terminated, but the chief chose neither.

On Monday's agenda, commissioners now will vote to approve Yannuzzi's firing, effective Jan. 16, as outlined in this recommendation from Schenck:

“Over the past few weeks there has developed a contentious situation between the police chief and one of the commissioners. This has escalated so that it is creating problems in the daily duties,” the town manager wrote. “Unfortunately, I don't see the conflict ending and I'm not sure where it's headed. It is not a good situation for the workplace.

“Another conflict is the tension between the officers and the chief. This makes for uneasiness with the officers, which trickles down to their work ethic and interaction with the residents. It seems the only way to correct both issues is to replace the police chief, as he is heavily involved in both issues.”

Yannuzzi, 58, joined the Ocean Ridge department in 2006 and became chief in 2010, succeeding Edward Hillery. He has been instrumental in several multi-agency police efforts including a project to implement license tag cameras on the barrier island.

The Ocean Ridge town meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Jan. 12 at Town Hall.

By Rich Pollack

Highland Beach Town Manager Kathleen Weiser agreed to leave her position immediately on Jan. 6 in return for a severance package that includes 20 weeks of pay valued at close to  $53,000.

Commissioners, in a 4-1 vote, accepted the agreement, with Vice Mayor Ron Brown dissenting.

Weiser, who served as town manager since 2011, came under fire from some commissioners following a negative Palm Beach County Inspector General’s report.

The report concluded the town didn’t follow its own charter when it approved funding for a close to $1 million renovation of the town hall without bringing the issue to voters.

The announcement of Weiser’s agreement to step down came soon after commissioners appointed resident Rhoda Zelniker to the commission seat left vacant following the December death of Dennis Sheridan. Zelniker will serve in the position until the March 10 municipal elections.

Zelniker and other commissioners agreed to appoint Town Clerk Beverly Brown as interim town manager and plan to discuss a search for a new town manager later this month.

By Willie Howard

    Two women were arrested in the penthouse of the Marina Village condominium at Boynton Harbor Marina on Dec. 12 after meeting an undercover police officer in the parking garage and offering him sex and drugs.
    According to a Boynton Beach police report, an undercover officer called a woman who arranged for him to meet her that Friday afternoon in the Marina Village parking garage.
    The woman, later identified as Samantha Marx, 27, introduced him to another woman she described as her roommate.
    After going upstairs to the penthouse, the officer found mirrors, razor blades, pipes and a bottle containing an “off white rock-type substance,” the police report said.
    As a result, Karen Sue Maldonado, 54, of Boynton Beach, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a controlled substance and renting space for prostitution.
    Marx was charged with soliciting prostitution.
    Their arrests confirm complaints by Marina Village residents that the lower floors of the parking garage, which are set aside for public parking, have been used for drug deals and prostitution.

By Ron Hayes

OCEAN RIDGE — As a boy in the tiny mountain village of Pietracamela, Italy, 90 miles east of Rome, Orlando Sivitilli learned to love the warmth of a good story well told.
“The snow could be 8 feet high, so people there gathered indoors, kept warm around the fireplace and amused each other with tales of the past,” remembers Liliane Sivitilli, his wife of 53 years.
    When he emigrated to Canada, Mr. Sivitilli brought that tradition of storytelling with him. And when he retired to Ocean Ridge in 1994, the stories came, too.
    “He loved to take walks along Old A1A, and when he met people along the way, he’d talk their ears off with stories about things from his life,” remembers his son, Rob.
    Mr. Sivitilli died Dec. 8 at Bethesda Memorial Hospital with his wife and children at his side. He was 83 and had battled cancer.
    Now friends and neighbors are remembering a man who always greeted them with a smile and a yarn.
    “He was such a friendly man,” said Amy Estra of Ocean Ridge. “We would run into Orlando and Liliane walking on Old A1A and always enjoyed hearing about Orlando’s adventures in life.”
    Mr. Sivitilli was born on Dec. 31, 1931, and came to Canada at 22, a young man seeking his fortune.
    He found it in the real estate and construction industries, building a thriving business that made him one of the best known and respected names in Toronto.
    “My dad’s company stamp, Sivi, could be found on almost every street,” said his daughter, Lisa Sivitilli, who became the company’s chief administrative officer in the 1980s.
    The Sivitillis began vacationing in South Florida in the 1970s and later bought a home in Gulf Stream, where they spent the winters.
    At his retirement in 1994, Mr. and Mrs. Sivitilli settled in Ocean Ridge, where the long walks and old tales continued. He also stayed active as an investor, managing the multi-unit property at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd., which he bought in 1982.
    “He sure knew how to tell a story,” said his longtime friend and weekly dining partner, Jim Foster. “Those tough mountain winters must have trained him well.”
    In addition to his wife and two children, Mr. Sivitilli is survived by his sisters, Giuseppina Filippi and Teresa Gianvito of Toronto. A funeral Mass was celebrated Dec. 13 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach.
    Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org.

By Rich Pollack

HIGHLAND BEACH —    Funeral services were held Dec. 15 for Highland Beach Town Commissioner Dennis Sheridan, who died Dec. 11 following a recent illness. He was 77.
Mr. Sheridan was elected to the Town Commission in 2011 and served three years before being re-elected in March of this year.
    A licensed funeral director for 42 years, Mr. Sheridan moved to Highland Beach from Mineola, N.Y., more than 20 years ago and was an active member of St. Lucy Catholic Church.
Before being elected to the Town Commission, he served on the  town’s Planning Board and Census Board. He also served as president of the Monterey House Condominium Association for more than a decade and previously served as the association’s vice president and secretary.
    Unable to attend Town Commission functions since late October, Mr. Sheridan underwent surgery in November to remove a tumor from his stomach but never fully recovered.
    In a letter to other commissioners that was read at the town’s November commission meeting, Mr. Sheridan called for civility and an end to bickering among the commissioners as well as by residents.
    “I truly feel the town is blessed with a dedicated Town Commission that is willing to work hard for the betterment of our residents,” he wrote. “It is my wish … that this commission along with our residents can work together for the good of our town and stop all the negativity of these past months. Let us all work together and restore the feeling I first had when I came on the commission, one of friendship, progress and commitment.”
    Mr. Sheridan is survived by his wife of close to 55 years, Barbara, four children and 12 grandchildren.
    A funeral Mass was held at St. Lucy Catholic Church in Highland Beach.

By Steven J. Smith

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Joseph Boscove made his mark as a career engineer with technology giant IBM. But his daughter, Joy Boscove, said his friendliness, generosity of spirit and the ability to guide her and her siblings in life were the endearing traits for which she will always remember him.
    “He was the nicest man I knew in my life and not because he was my Dad,” she said. “He was nice to everybody. You never heard a mean word come out of him. He loved taking walks and riding his bicycle all through the community, up and down A1A. He’d say hello to everybody. Even when he was sick in the hospital, the nurses would tell me how much they enjoyed taking care of him.”
    Mr. Boscove, 86, died on Dec. 9 at his Highland Beach home, where he lived with his wife, Katrinka “Kitty” Boscove, for 44 years. The couple were married for 64 years. Other surviving  relatives are children Gay Lee Bigman and Van L. Boscove and four grandchildren. Services were held Dec. 13 in the remembrance chapel at Boca Raton Mausoleum.
    Joy Boscove said her father was born in New York City and achieved notoriety in engineering circles for designing computer systems used in automobiles.
    “He has four patents for those,” she said. “His systems helped diagnose problems in cars. He made many trips to General Motors on behalf of IBM, because he was their consultant for in-car computer systems.”
    Ms. Boscove added he was an all-around handyman who could fix anything around the house.
    “He was self-taught,” she said. “Plumbing, electricity, woodworking. You name it, he could fix it. He would help his neighbors fix things, too. He was also very active in the community. He was on the Highland Beach planning board for many years.”
    His daughter said her father was dedicated not only to her and her siblings in their formative years, but to her own children as well.
    “Growing up, he took his kids everywhere we needed to be for school, projects, whatever,” she said. “He was always there to take care of us. Also when I became a single mother, he became more of a father to my own kids and encouraged me to manage my money well. He always taught us to put our family first. He was a wonderful man.”

Charterboat captains listen to a presentation by CRA staff on Dec. 9.  Photos by Jerry Lower and Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

RELATED STORY: Arrests confirm residents' fear

By Willie Howard

    Free public parking at Boynton Harbor Marina could become a thing of the past.
    The board of the Marina Village condominium, which owns the parking garage, plans to charge drivers $5 each to park in the public parking section of the garage Thursday through Sunday beginning Jan. 15 — unless the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency is able to devise another plan that satisfies Marina Village managers.
    Money raised by parking fees would pay for attendants who would manage traffic flow and watch for “undesirable activity” that has been reported in the garage in recent months. They would not valet park cars.
    The parking fee proposal drew a strong response from the owners of boats that offer diving and fishing charters to the public as well as marina restaurant owners because it would effectively increase their prices and discourage them from coming to the area.
    The Sea Mist III drift boat, for instance, charges $40 a person for four hours of fishing. Adding $5 for parking pushes the price up 12.5 percent.
    The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency is looking for an alternative to the parking fee, but it has no control over the final outcome because the garage is owned by the Marina Village and controlled by its master association board.
    During a discussion of the parking problems at the Dec. 9 CRA board meeting, Mayor Jerry Taylor sided with marina tenants in opposing the public parking fee.
    “I’m totally against charging $5 for people to park in there,” said Taylor, chairman of the CRA board. “The CRA needs to budget money to oversee that garage and keep it open to the public.”
    It would cost the CRA about $54,000 annually for attendants to control traffic and police the parking garage as proposed by Marina Village.
    The CRA board voted 6-1, with member David Merker dissenting, to have the agency’s staff come back with a plan that would eliminate the $5 daily parking fee. The staff is expected to present its plan during the Jan. 13 CRA board meeting. That’s two days before Marina Village is scheduled to begin charging the parking fee.
    As proposed, the fee would be levied from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.  Thursday through Sunday. Boat owners who rent marina slips would be assigned one free parking space each, though two spaces would be assigned to the 72-foot Sea Mist III.
    The CRA designated 122 spaces on the lower floors of the garage for public parking. Rights to those spaces stem from CRA’s purchase of the fuel dock property along the Intracoastal Waterway from the Marina Village developers.
    Marina Village residents use the upper floors of the garage. A gate separates public parking spaces on the lower two floors from those reserved for condo residents.
    During the Dec. 9 CRA meeting, Marina Village residents said trucks have trouble turning around in the garage, causing traffic jams, and careless drivers can make walking in the garage dangerous.
    “We have had numerous accidents in the garage,” Marina Village board member Peter Armor said. “We have had people walking in the garage who have almost been run over. The residents of Marina Village cannot afford to be hurt.”
    Taylor said he has received reports of people throwing up, defecating and committing sex acts in the parking garage.
    Marina Village Property Manager Rick Dunstan said the undesirable activities point to the need for attendants to monitor the garage, but marina tenants suggested the oversight could be accomplished with surveillance cameras.
    Captains of dive and fishing charter boats told CRA board members that the $5 parking fee would hurt their businesses.
    “Instructors will not bring their (dive) classes there,” said Craig Smart, owner of the Starfish Enterprise dive boat.
    Kevin Metz of the Underwater Explorers dive boat said he might move his boat elsewhere if the parking fee hurts his business.
    “Dive Boynton Beach is my website,” Metz told CRA board members. “Today I reserved another one: Dive Lantana.”
    Adding to the parking squeeze is the CRA’s decision in November to designate a dozen parking spaces near the boat slips as a loading zone.
    “We are determined to get those spaces behind our boats back,” said Karen Pratt of Geno IV Charters, noting that she has disabled customers who must walk 187 yards from the disabled parking spot in the garage to the Geno IV.
    “They’re ghost spaces,” said Capt. Paul Fasolo of Ham ‘R Time Sport Fishing Charter Service. “There’s nobody there.”
    Pratt said she had gathered about 400 signatures on a petition opposing the $5 parking fee as of mid-December.
    Kim Kelly, owner of the Hurricane Alley restaurant just west of the marina, said free public parking spaces at the marina were helping the city build some semblance of a downtown. “We don’t have a viable downtown,” Kelly told the CRA board. “We’re trying to build a downtown, and you’re taking it away.”
    The CRA is taking heat over the parking fee proposal, but the agency has no control over the fee, Executive Director Vivian Brooks said.
    “The Marina Village Master condo association was kind enough to involve the CRA and Two Georges in their decision-making process,” Brooks said. “The only owner of the garage is Marina Village.”
    Members of the condo’s master association board said it’s clear that there simply are not enough parking spaces at the marina to serve all users, especially on weekends during the winter season.
    Vice Mayor Joseph Casello, who serves as vice chairman of the CRA board, suggested a parking ticket validation system that would allow customers visiting restaurants and boats at the marina to be reimbursed.
    Brooks said it’s possible that 64 parking spaces on the south side of Ocean Avenue could be used by employees of the Two Georges and Banana Boat restaurants to reduce congestion in the parking garage.
    Banana Boat restaurant owner Luke Therien said in a Dec. 16 letter to the mayor that parking problems at the marina could be solved by doing three things: Finding alternative parking places for restaurant employees so they would steer clear of the garage; hiring a security guard to monitor the garage four nights a week; and adding surveillance cameras in the public parking section of the garage.
    “Our city has made it abundantly clear the downtown and Marina District are a very important part of the future of Boynton Beach,” Therien wrote. “We need to come together to succeed and to compete against other cities that are working just as hard to build their downtowns.”

The captains used to park near their boats at Boynton Harbor Marina until the spaces alongside the slips were designated as a loading zone in November.

Glenn Chapman enjoys working a stone’s throw from his home and family. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

     Every day as he headed to the office, Dr. Glenn Chapman drove by the two-story building on State Road A1A, just a stone’s throw from his home in the county pocket across the street.
    Then, not long ago, Chapman noticed one of the offices in the former bank building was available for rent.
    It didn’t take long for him decide to take a big leap forward and open his own practice — Surfside Non-Surgical Orthopedics Sports Medicine and Pain — right then and there.
    “I knew if I passed it up, I would regret it every day on my way to work,” he said.
    For Chapman, 45, the opportunity to have an office he could practically roll right out of bed into was only part of the allure of the new location. Having the office close to home makes it easier for him to spend more time with his wife and two children, 6 and 3.
    There was also the visibility on A1A, making him the only doctor for miles on the coastal roadway.
The fact that he could be the neighborhood doctor, the one everyone in the area knows, was yet another benefit.
    Then, of course, there is the proximity to the ocean.
    An avid surfer, whose personalized license tag is N2WAVES, Chapman is thrilled his office is close enough to the beach for him to check out the surf at any time.
    “The fact that I can get up and surf until 8:30, shower and be at work by 9, that’s the Promised Land,” he says.
    He jokes that if the waves are just right, visitors to the office might just see a sign on the front door saying: “Closed for Religious Reasons: Six Foot and Glassy.”
    A longtime Florida resident, Chapman moved to the area in 2006 after his residency. A year later met his wife, Marie, who lived across the street.
    “My dad lived here and I came back to visit,” Chapman said. “I realized what a gem this little sliver of land is and I decided to stay.”
    It was his father, a medical doctor, who several years earlier tried to talk Chapman out of becoming a physician because he saw the way the health care system in America was changing.
    “He wanted to save me the hassles,” Chapman said.
    The path away from medicine led Chapman to study architecture and later anthropology. After graduation, he did anthropology fieldwork in South America and ran an underwater archeology project in the states.
    But at 28, after reading Dr. Andrew Weil’s book Spontaneous Healing, Chapman decided to change careers and a year later was in medical school.
    “Being a doctor is what I’m meant to do,” he says.
    A doctor of osteopathy, Chapman is board certified in neuromuscular medicine, sports medicine and pain medicine. He also teaches at three medical schools, including Nova Southeastern University.
    While his practice is specialized, Chapman is still somewhat of the local doctor to his neighbors in the county pocket just south of Briny Breezes.
    “I’ve sewed up neighborhood kids on my kitchen table,” he said.
— Rich Pollack

    Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Titusville in central Florida and went to school at University of Florida and University of Central Florida. I’m still trying to figure out how they influenced me.

Q. What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
    A. Of course my osteopathic medical degree. I believe in the tenets of treating the body as a whole and I love the idea of using human hands to heal humans.

    Q. Why did you decide to locate your business on A1A?
    A. The easiest answer is because it is across the street from my house so I can walk to work. The lack of doctors in the area and great visibility are an asset. But, also being the doctor who lives local and literally serves his community appealed to me. The fact that I can check the surf every day on the way to work did not escape me.

Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?  
A. Find out what kind of work you want to do or what lifestyle you want to lead and then get training for that. A random degree rarely gets you anywhere today, and every dream job becomes work at some point, so think practically.
    Q. How did you choose to make your home in the county pocket?
    A. My dad lived here and while visiting I realized what a gem the pocket and surrounding areas out here on the island were.
    
Q. What is your favorite part about living in the pocket?  
    A. The pedestrian nature of the pocket so you can see your neighbors out and about.
    
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?  
    A. The approach to music in Jerry Garcia’s guitar work I find inspiring, but when I really want to relax I will listen to Ray Lamontagne or Jack Johnson.

    Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
    A. I know it’s easy to say one’s father, but he was truly my greatest mentor and inspiration. His approach to medicine, people and life in general still inspires me today, even years after his passing.
    
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Matthew McConaughey — successful but laid back with an easygoing smile. Damn good-looking and six-pack abs, too.

    Q. Who/what makes you laugh?
    A. The silly mistakes my kids make while being obvious rookies to the world and the English language in general, and jokes. I love a new joke and I am known to always have a new one to share. Just ask.

By Mary Thurwachter

    Last year, Lantana completed a drainage and paving improvement project for the parking lot at the beach. This year, new light poles will be added.
    At the Dec. 18 Lantana Town Council meeting, a $48,000 contract with Municipal Lighting Systems Inc. for 16 new light poles and fixtures was approved.
    The rusty old poles, which had to be removed for the paving project, couldn’t be reused, said Town Manager Deborah Manzo.
    Operations Director Mike Greenstein said the new poles will be a similar design to those installed on Ocean Avenue with the new bridge, but more energy efficient.
    The new fixtures will also be sea turtle friendly, Manzo said.
    In other action, the council voted to spend $29,440 to repave a section of the Third Street parking lot north of the Benny’s Restaurant parking area and near the town library.
    Council members debated whether the money should be spent on the lot.
While it needs repair, Mayor Dave Stewart said it serves little public purpose since the bowling alley closed and has been used by neighbors for car repairs.
    There was some discussion about putting in some type of parking meters, and town staff will look into options.
    The repaving will be done by M&M Asphalt Maintenance.

By Rich Pollack

    A long-time employee of the Gulf Stream Bath & Tennis Club was struck by a car and killed as she crossed State Road A1A during a heavy rainstorm.
    Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Mariana Jean, 65, of Delray Beach, who according to police had worked at the club for more than 20 years, left shortly after 4 p.m. on Dec. 26. The accident occurred as she was walking toward her car, parked near tennis courts on the west side of North Ocean Boulevard.
    According to police, she was holding a piece of cardboard over her head to protect her from the rain as she crossed the road and was struck by a southbound Ford Fusion driven by a 23-year-old Delray Beach resident. The driver, who police said was unable to avoid striking Jean, remained at the scene.
    Florida Highway Patrol troopers said the investigation is continuing but that charges against the driver seem unlikely.

Joey Weiss started Joey’s Home Bakery — Gluten Free in Boynton Beach — because her husband,
Victor, has celiac disease that makes him allergic to gluten.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steve Pike

    Urgent necessity, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes said, “prompts many to do things.’’
    Meet Joey Weiss. Out of necessity she taught herself the world of gluten-free foods that led her and her husband, Victor, to create Joey’s Home Bakery in Boynton Beach. The bakery, which celebrated its first anniversary in December, prepares and sells only gluten-free baked goods — from breads and cakes to bagels and pizza. It’s all gluten-free, wheat-free, whole grain, with no trans fats or preservatives, made at the bakery’s location on 1532 SW 8th St. in the Home Depot shopping center.
    About 15 years ago Victor Weiss was diagnosed with celiac disease. If people with celiac disease eat foods with gluten — a type of protein found in the grains wheat, barley, rye, and triticale — it damages their small intestine so that it can’t normally absorb nutrients from the food.
    “It became difficult to eat out and even eat at home,’’ Joey Weiss said. “There weren’t a lot of health food stores like there are now, so we ordered a lot of things online and paid a lot of money for shipping. When they came in, they didn’t taste that great, so we decided to do things ourselves and make own gluten-free breads and cookies and treats and pie dough. It took a long time, but after five or six years I got a hold of it.’’
    It helped that before getting into the baking business, Joey Weiss traveled the world as a marketing consultant to various companies for trade shows. That might seem like a strange bedfellow to gluten-free baked goods, but not so for her.
    “I traveled to a lot of different countries, so I know the cultures and what they eat,’’ Joey Weiss said. “They use a lot of different flours in different countries. It exposed me to a lot of different cooking styles and the flours they use.’’ One of the first decisions Joey Weiss made was not only to be gluten-free, but also preservative-free. Many mass-produced gluten-free products, Victor Weiss said, contain a laundry list of preservatives and additives that adds to their shelf lives but not to taste and nutrition.
    “We don’t sell anything that’s pre-packaged,’’ said Victor Weiss, who retired from the printing business and moved with his wife from Hong Kong to South Florida in 2006. “Everything is made by our team here. We work very hard to make things in small batches and do it every day.’’
    The Weisses started their business three years ago with a booth at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket before business got so good they decided to move to a retail location. From that store, Joey’s Home Bakery serves walk-in customers as well as doing catering and mail orders. Product is shipped via USPS two-day service Wednesday and Thursday, Victor Weiss said, so it doesn’t have to sit on a shelf over the weekend.
    “We’re serving a big group of customers with dietary needs,’’ Joey Weiss said. “Whether you need a birthday cake, anniversary cake or some other function, we can cater to their diets.’’