The magnetic device, on a fake hand, repels nurse sharks in the center’s pool. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes
 
   Shortly before 10 a.m. on a recent Saturday, four ninth-graders from Grandview Preparatory School in Boca Raton presented themselves at the Sandoway House Nature Center, ready to battle three sharks.
   Or baffle them, anyway.

Bennett Kubach, Tasman Rosenfeld,  Alexander Abbasi, and Albin Engstrom, inventors of Shark-X.  Engstrom hold the magnetic ankle strap. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

   Bennett Kubach, 14, of Ocean Ridge; Albin Engstrom, 15, of Boca Raton; Alexander Abbasi, 14, of Delray Beach; and Tasman Rosenfeld, 14, of Pompano Beach were neatly dressed in the school’s white polo shirts and khaki pants.
   Bennett was holding a human arm on a 6-foot pole.
   Not an edible human arm. This was one of those gag rubber hands with sleeve and cuff attached, made to be dangled from closed car trunks for the entertainment of fellow motorists and law enforcement officers.
   “We ordered it from Amazon,” Bennett explained.
   This morning, the wrist wore a waterproof neoprene bracelet enclosing three magnets. The magnets are small, only three-quarter-inch in diameter and eighth-inch thick, but still capable of lifting about 12.5 pounds each. Powerful enough that a single anklet, the boys believe, emits enough magnetic energy to deter sharks.
   They have dubbed their product “Shark-X.”
   If Shark-X works — and they are certain it does — those magnets will override the electromagnetic sensors in a shark’s nose, disorient the swimming beast and steer it away from tourists, swimmers and surfers.
   Tasman Rosenfeld, 14, who describes himself as “the inventor of Shark-X,” is a surfer.
   “The ampullary glands on a sharks’ nose are electro-receptors,” he told the members of the press. “It’s an inner compass, really, and sharks use it for navigation. Their nose knows where north is.”
   Wear one of his Shark-X anklets, Tasman promised, and its subtle magnetic pull will baffle the shark’s sense of direction and steer it away.
   “We haven’t tested them on a Great White yet, but they’re incredibly effective on stingrays,” he added. “It’s not going to keep you 10 feet away from a shark, but it’s going to keep you from losing a limb.”
   In at least one test, Shark-X has already proved itself a stunning success, besting a sock-monkey purse, gender-specific emergency kits and other inventions, to take first place in the school’s Entrepreneurial Fair.
   “We’re trying to tie our curriculum to real-world results, and this is a great example of that,” said Jackie Westerfield, Grandview’s head of school, watching proudly from the edge of the crowd.
   Recently, the four entrepreneurs tested Shark-X on some stingrays at what they describe as “an undisclosed location in Miami because it wasn’t pre-approved.”
   The stingrays responded dramatically, they reported, opening their mouths wide and changing direction almost immediately.
   “It’s like a flashlight shining in your eyes,” Bennett Kubach explained “It’s really irritating, so they want to turn away.”

Grandview Preparatory School ninth-graders Albin Engstrom, Bennett Kubach, Tasman Rosenfeld and Alexander Abbasi demonstrate their invention, Shark-X, at Sandoway House Nature Center in Delray Beach

   Now they would demonstrate the product on the three nurse sharks that rule in the Sandoway House pool.
   “Not a lot of people die from sharks, but a lot lose their arms and stuff,” Alexander Abbasi noted. “Would you like to take that chance?”
   As about 50 fathers, mothers and children gathered around the kidney-shaped pool for the morning shark feeding, Valentine Fine, the center’s weekend manager, confirmed Alexander’s assertion.
   “Sharks don’t eat people,” he assured the crowd. “They bite us by mistake. So it’s important not to confuse them. Do not pet sharks.”
   And they don’t bite us all that often, either, Fine agreed. Last year, he said, there were only 23 shark bites in Florida, and no deaths at all. In an average year, there are only five shark deaths worldwide.
   “However, there were 10 last year,” he noted.
   The trio of nurse sharks at Sandoway House would not require a bigger boat. They are only about 5 feet long, but frisky and sleek. As Fine dropped shrimp into their mouths, they sucked them in with a startlingly loud popping sound.
   “They’ve been around about 400 million years, and they haven’t evolved at all,” Fine marveled.
   At last the entrepreneurs were introduced as “the gentlemen of Grandview Preparatory School.”
   Tasman Rosenfeld, equipped with a headset microphone, acknowledged the applause.
   “I’m the inventor of Shark-
X,” he told the crowd, and delivered a brief discourse on the science behind his invention.
   The arm was lowered into the water.
   The sharks approached, slid within 2 or 3 feet of the hand, and turned away.
   The Shark-X bracelet was removed from the rubber wrist and dropped into a netted pool skimmer.
   The skimmer was lowered into the water.
   Again the sharks approached and retreated.
   A skeptic might wonder if perhaps it was the hand or skimmer that discouraged the sharks, but Tasman’s mother, Janelle Rosenfeld, had no doubts.
   “I think it does work,” she said. “Seeing the stingrays’ reaction was amazing, but for me, as a mom, the exciting thing is to see how he was able to take a scientific idea and turn it into a product.”
   Her son wants to solve the problems of the world, she said — and make a lot of money so he can be a professional surfer.
     Shark-X should sell for about $15-20 apiece, Bennet Kubach estimated. Boyond that, the boys’ marketing plan is still being developed.  They’re in the process of having the name “Shark-X” trademarked, but won’t be able to patent the product because the use of magnets and neoprene is not considered “novel” under current patent law.
     “I live right near Nomad’s Surf Shop,” Bennett said, “so I may ask them to carry them.”
   He doubted he’d be wearing one much, though.
   “I don’t swim a lot, but I like to run on the beach,” he said. “I’m more of a sand person. But I’m proud of what I’ve learned about sharks.”
   Albin Engstrom also was pleased with what he’d learned about sharks and magnets.
   “I want to become a doctor,” he said, ”but if you have this product, you won’t have to come to the hospital with a shark bite.”
   He paused to consider his words.
   “But it’s not sharkproof. It’s shark-repellent,” he added.
   “It’s not guaranteed.”  ;

Michael Pisano of Boca Raton, a sound mixer, listens to a scene between takes as actors prepare for action at the restaurant 3rd and 3rd during the shooting of After Midnight, an independent film being produced in downtown Delray Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Steven J. Smith

    Delray Beach has been selected as the setting and filming has begun for a new independent film called After Midnight, produced by Delray Beach production company Brave Man Media.
    Damian Fitzsimmons is directing the film, which is based on a true story, according to production manager Ian LaQua.
    “The two writers grew up on Long Island,” LaQua said. “It’s based on events from their childhood to the age of about 22. It’s a kind of timeless coming of age story, with comedy moments and dramatic moments. It’s true to life, about growing up in a small town in America.”
    LaQua added the film will primarily shoot at 3rd and 3rd, a restaurant and bar at 301 NE Third Ave. in the heart of the Artist District.
Other locations include Delray Beach Memorial Gardens Municipal Cemetery, several residential homes in the West Atlantic Avenue area of Delray Beach and a home owned by the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency.
    Delray native Vance Vlasek plays Liam, one of the movie’s three main characters. A 2010 graduate of Florida Atlantic University, Vlasek, 26, has performed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami and the Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs, among other venues. He said the movie will have a real Florida feel to it.
    “The movie is about three friends who grow up together in a small town called Seaside,” Vlasek said. “It takes place in 1972. The friends are bumming around, not knowing what to do with their lives. They’re working lousy jobs in a restaurant. Then one of the friends gets an opportunity to open a bar up for young people. It’s a fun and touching story.”
    LaQua said Fitzsimmons and former partner Tyler Ford, who now works in Los Angeles and New York, co-founded Brave Man Media six years ago.
    “We mainly do commercial work, documentaries and short films,” he said. “This is our first feature film, but we’ve been steadily moving toward this for the last five years.”
    After Midnight has a budget of about $500,000 and features a cast of unknown actors culled from south and central Florida talent and modeling agencies, as well as friends or people the producers saw on the street that they liked and auditioned. However, LaQua said the entire cast is very talented.
    “We’ve got great principals and a terrific supporting cast,” he said. “We’re really excited to see how it all comes together.”
    Vlasek agreed.
    “It’s been amazing,” he said. “Everyone is so professional. The director is super knowledgeable. We have a fantastic director of photography. And everyone is so friendly. It’s a great atmosphere, because everybody believes in the movie and wants to get it done. They’re relaxed but focused. The perfect balance.”
    The production is scheduled to film in the Delray area until the middle of September and post-production should be finished by the end of January, in time for the producers to start shopping it around the film festival circuit by next summer and fall.
    “At the end of the day we’re just happy to be doing a film here in Delray, which most of us call home,” LaQua said. “We’ve been really happy with all the support we’ve had from local governments, local businesses and local talent. We’re really excited about this project.” ;

By Thom Smith

After nearly two weeks of Teen Jeopardy competition, Alan Koolik of Boca Raton and Jeff Xie of Edison, N.J., surprisingly were tied with $54,200 in winnings. So on the Aug. 1 broadcast, for one of the few times in history, the winner was decided by a tie-breaker.
Category: The Civil War.
Clue: The battles Shiloh and Collierville were fought in this state.
    Both knew the question, but Xie buzzed in a few milliseconds quicker with “What is Tennessee?” to claim the $75,000 top prize. Koolik, 17, a senior at Pine Crest School, still kept his winnings and said the experience was “one of the most exciting moments of my life.”
    Koolik led through the semifinals, amassing $25,000, and added $29,200 in Final Jeopardy to total $54,200. Xie who had started the night with $15,000, wagered his entire pot, doubling his winnings to $39,200 and forcing the tie.
    The hardest part, however, may have been keeping a secret for four months; the shows were taped in March.   
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Paul Aho made it home in mid-August, if only for a few days — his daughter Eliza married Ben Elias on the beach in Delray Beach. The weather was great. He saw old friends. Everything was up … except the surf, which for Aho was a bummer, since he doesn’t see many waves near his new home in Paducah, Ky.
Surfers, however, are perennial optimists and Aho knows he’ll have other chances to catch waves, plus he’s stoked that his book, Surfing Florida, a chronicle of the sport and lifestyle in the state that was published last spring, is selling a few copies.
    “Sales are going as they should be,” Aho said, knowing his is a niche market.
    While his passion is surfing, the former Ocean Ridge resident is professionally an artist who has been recognized locally and internationally. He was the first recipient of the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County’s Ubertalli Award for Artistic Achievement. He twice received fellowships from the South Florida Cultural Consortium. For two years, he has served as dean of Paducah School of Art and Design at West Kentucky Community and Technical College and recently completed his first capital project, raising $2.5 million to match a state grant.
    So Aho is positive.  
    “I like it fine here,” said Aho of the campus that’s only a couple of miles from the Ohio River, “although I’d like it better if it were a thousand miles closer to the ocean.”
                                 
Aho’s previous recognition includes the All Florida Juried Exhibition, the oldest juried event in the state, that runs through Oct. 18 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. His work is not included this year, but among the nearly 100 entries are several from local artists. Donna Hixson, Malanie Hurwitz and Florence Roghaar from Boca; Sharon Lee Hart (Boynton Beach);  Lynelle Forrest, Isabel Gouveia and Clarence “Skip” Measelle (Lake Worth) and Suzanne Scherer and Pavel Ouporov plus Robert Vail (Lantana).
    Wayne Thornbrough, also from Lantana, claimed one of five merit awards and $500 for his inkjet print Outside Looking In. Miami artist Tony Vazquez won best in show for his 160-pound sculpture depicting decrepit aluminum espresso pots made from bitumen, a petroleum byproduct.  
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Rick Marshall, Mark Pafford and Steve Michael

    Surprisingly, Sundy House in Delray Beach hasn’t come up with a dish that includes sawgrass, but the abundant sedge did get a mention recently. New owners Steven Michael and Rick Marshall hosted a reception for the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades to introduce its new boss and announce plans for its annual gala.  
    Marshall CEO Mark Pafford is best known now as a member of the Florida House of Representatives for West Palm Beach. Previous jobs included senior coordinator for the village of Royal Palm Beach, legislative assistant to then Florida Rep. Lois Frankel and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association Southeast Florida Chapter.
    Early in his career, he worked as a naturalist at a Miami public park and he’s ready to fight the good fight to protect Florida’s fragile environment. That means raising money, much of which comes from the River of Grass Gala, which this year will be held Dec. 6 aboard the 167-foot yacht Lady Windridge (233-9004 or email info@marshall.org).
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    Unless you just have to shop in the vicinity, you might save some aggravation by avoiding the area in Delray Beach around Federal and Linton on Sept. 5 and for a few weeks after. That’s the day Trader Joe’s arrives, and if everyone shows up who said they would, the streets will be impassable. The soon-to-open Boca Raton store is still accepting crew member applications through Sept. 13. Interested individuals must apply in person at the store, 855 S. Federal Highway, Boca Raton, and can obtain an application on site or online at www.traderjoes.com/pdf/employment_application.pdf ;
                                 ***
    At the age of 9, Leslie Uggams was the opening act at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater for the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. As a teenager, she won a ton of cash — “$12,500’’ on Name That Tune and caught the eye and ear of Mitch Miller who put her on Sing Along With Mitch. She won a Tony for Hallelujah, Baby!, had her own show on CBS and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role as Kizzy in Roots. And beginning Dec. 4, at the perfect age of 71, she’ll play the legendary Mame at The Wick in Boca Raton, Tickets will go fast (995-2333).
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    “It will be bittersweet … it will be filled with fun … we will laugh through our tears,” proclaimed a Facebook statement from Evening Star Company for opening night (Aug. 22) of its production of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors at Sol Theatre in Boca Raton. The show opened as planned, just as director Laura Ruchala intended. A mainstay in local theater with the Miami Shakespeare Company, Florida Shakespeare Festival and Outre Theatre Co., Ruchala collapsed during an Aug. 10 rehearsal and never regained consciousness. She died from a brain aneurysm a day before her 36th birthday.
“This is a terrible blow,” friend and fellow thespian Missy McArdle said, “especially after losing Kevin Crawford (a founding member and director of the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival) last December. We’ll miss her.”
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 On Sept. 13 Arts Garage will present “Havana Nights,” a celebration of Cuban music and mojitos, plus dancing and hors d’oeuvres to benefit Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. Reservations at 450-6357.
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Dance, dance, dance. Led by plastic surgeon Albert Dabbah and Bloomie’s manager Paula Pianta, the 10 competitors in the seventh annual Boca Ballroom Battle (SEE PHOTOS) raised more than $210,000 for the George Snow Scholarship Fund. Boca’s answer to Dancing With the Stars was held Aug. 16 at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. For their performance, each contestant was paired with a professional dancer from Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Boca, but unlike previous years, no awards were given for footwork, only for legwork in raising money.
    “Everybody had a great time and the money’s still coming in,” fund spokeswoman Gabriella Snow said. Once again former WPTV reporter and now mother of twins Paige Kornblue returned from Texas to emcee and was joined by Tony Dovolani of Dancing with the Stars.
    Established in 1982, the fund has awarded more than $6 million in educational grants. Last year 73 students received $580,000.
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Long-vacant Old Calypso, on the east side of the Intracoastal in Delray Beach, will reopen in mid-October as Hudson at Waterway East. Concept: classy, casual, contemporary American with a menu featuring seafood, steak, and pasta, washed down with craft beer, spirits and wine.
    The proprietor, new to the area, is identified as Sam Bonasso,  former proprietor of an Outback Steakhouse in Mason, Ohio, a bedroom community about 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati.
    According to county property records, the property was bought in July 2013 for $2.75 million by Walnut Grove Investment Partners in Boynton Beach. Walnut Grove’s address is the same as that of Bevan Behn Wilson, known to hockey fans as Behn Wilson, a defenseman for nine seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks. He retired in 1988.   
                                    ***
    Restaurant wizards Dennis Max and Rodney Mayo are at it again. Max has been cooking up a storm in one form or another since the ’80s, Mayo followed suit a few years later and both are expanding their operations in Delray Beach.
    Max’s Harvest, the popular farm-to-table spot on Northeast Second Avenue, will be joined by Max’s Social House in the old ’20s era cottage at 116 NE Sixth Ave. Head chef will be Scott Pierce, presently sous chef at Max’s Grille in Boca Raton.Max grabbed it after Tampa-based Ceviche closed July 31. An upscale gastropub, it will feature four “Fusion Towers” — large chrome-and-glass drink-making machines that can infuse a beer or cocktail with just about anything a customer might desire.
    For Mayo, who also has a stake in Tryst and Dada in Delray Beach, the concept is much simpler — coffee and doughnuts. He’s teaming with Boca restaurant broker Tom Prakas to turn the former Atlantic Smoothies shop at 123 E. Atlantic into Subculture Coffee. The big difference: the coffee beans will be fresh-roasted and the pastries from Prakas’ new venture, Rhino Doughnuts. Prakas sells fresh-roasted fair-trade coffee at his Rhino shops, but the beans aren’t roasted in-house.
    Rhino’s website lists a future location at 126 NE Second St. in Boca’s Mizner Plaza, formerly Beany’s sandwich shop. It’s just a short walk from Mayo’s Dubliner pub and Kapow! Noodle Bar in Mizner Park and even closer to another new Mayo-involved venture, Shaker & Pie. An Italian gastropub, anchored by flying pizzas and hip cocktails, it’ll be next door to iPic and its hip Italian bistro, Tanzy.
                                     ***
And another: This establishment used to be the Clearview Lounge. Then it was Ted Teddy Bear’s. Now, after a transformation by its new owner, Ryan O’Riordan, it opened up in July as the Vintage Tap, a “juke joint” beer garden featuring live music, 20 craft brew taps and full bar. It’s at 524 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach.
                                     ***
    It was inevitable that football fans would be reminded permanently that Howard Schnellenberger played a major role in establishing the football program — actually the entire athletic program — at FAU. On Aug. 20 the school’s trustees voted to name the field at FAU stadium in his honor, made possible by a contribution from an anonymous donor. Dedication will come Sept. 13 at FAU’s first home game, against Tulsa.
    Too bad they couldn’t name the stadium for Howard, although S-C-H-N-E-L-L-E-N-B-E-R-G-E-R might not fit on the wall facing I-95.
    Plus, stadium naming rights are a different animal. Remember the fuss last year when the trustees tried to cut a $6 million deal with private prison operator GEO Group. Big embarrassment that cost FAU President Mary Jane Saunders her job. If only IBM hadn’t packed up and left, but Boca is home to other big companies. How does Office Depot Stadium sound?
    Howard, whose autobiography, Passing the Torch, was published Sept. 1, calls it the highlight of his coaching career, although he’s still short one milestone — the College Football Hall of Fame.  
    The sticking point: his won-lost record. At Kentucky and Alabama, where he was responsible for signing Joe Namath, he was an assistant coach, so “credit” went to Bear Bryant. No credit either for helping Don Shula build the Dolphins.
    The University of Miami, formerly known as “Suntan U,” became a national powerhouse, as his teams went 41-16 and won its first national championship. He turned also-ran Louisville into a contender and built FAU from no program to bowl-bound in five years.
    But as a head coach, his teams were 158-151-3, barely .500, and National Football Foundation rules require a hall-of-fame candidate to have a .600 winning record. Unless …
    A special committee that examines “unique cases” could recommend induction. Look in Webster’s. Next to the definition of unique is a photo of Howard.    
    Meanwhile, the FAU stadium will host a bowl game Dec. 23. A creation of ESPN, it will feature Mid-America Conference and Conference USA champs. Of course, FAU would love to represent Conference USA.
    The city and the county will split a $240,000 production fee to ESPN, but it still needs a name. For $200,000 the city can acquire naming rights, and the “Boca Raton Bowl” — thanks to the weather plus two 30-second pro-Boca commercials — would mean good PR.

***
                                 
    The ALS Bucket Challenge has dominated the headlines in recent weeks, in some cases pushing other causes that also need to raise millions into the shadows. Alzheimer’s is one. As with ALS, the suffering is eased only by death. For the first time, the National Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held in Boca Raton. The walk, set for Oct. 11, starts at Mizner Park Amphitheater. To register or to volunteer, go alz.org/walk or call 496-4222. Unless it rains or you choose to jump into a fountain, you won’t get wet.

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.

By Greg Stepanich

     Her colleagues in the music industry had suggested for years that she consider performing the songs of Joni Mitchell, but when it came time to do it, jazz singer Tierney Sutton found the idea somewhat daunting.
    “I knew how great she was, and then I was intimidated … it was not an easy thing to go about doing,” Sutton said. “Once I was into it, it was pretty clear what to do and how to go about it. But quite literally the 20 years leading up to it were intimidating, because I thought, ‘I want to do this right if I do it.’ ”
    But tackling the music of the great Canadian songwriter turned into a joyful process for Sutton, one that resulted in an elegant album released last year called After Blue, which she recorded not with her longtime band but with guest collaborators such as the Turtle Island String Quartet, singer Al Jarreau and flutist Hubert Laws. After Blue was nominated for a Best Jazz Vocal Grammy Award this year, Sutton’s sixth such nomination.
    This month, Sutton will perform songs from her Joni Mitchell project in four shows at Jazziz Nightlife in Boca Raton, two each on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10. She will be accompanied by guitarist Serge Merlaud and bassist Kevin Axt, who play with her on her newest album, Paris Sessions, which comes out a week after the Boca Raton concerts.
    A native of Milwaukee who grew up in the REO Speedwagon era but fell in love with jazz via artists such as pianist Bill Evans instead, Sutton, 51, said she was familiar with some of Mitchell’s music — the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young version of Woodstock, for instance — and knew there were some songs that had already been covered by many other artists, such as A Case of You and River, that she was not going to revisit.
    But as she investigated Mitchell’s work more thoroughly, she found herself wanting to pay attention to “Joni’s jazz roots,” and that led her to more unusual choices for the album such as The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines, which Mitchell wrote to a tune composed for her by jazz bassist Charles Mingus. And then there were discoveries such as Little Green, which Mitchell wrote after giving up her baby daughter for adoption in 1965.
    The mother of an 18-year-old son named Ryan, Sutton felt that song’s lyrics (“There’ll be icicles and birthday clothes/And sometimes there’ll be sorrow”) deeply, and considers it Mitchell’s most important song. And it’s been one that audiences have responded to with the same kind of emotion.
    “The first time I sang a little bit of the song, I found myself tearing up as I sang it,” Sutton said from her home in Los Angeles. “The lyrics of that song are a fantastic example of her mastery of the songwriting form. The images with which she tells that story, it just chills me … And I will say, in touring this material and performing the songs, the number of times that I’ve had people audibly sobbing have been not a few.”
    Mitchell’s work has come in for serious scholarly study in the past few years (McGill University musicologist Lloyd Whitesell’s The Music of Joni Mitchell, from 2008, is particularly notable), chiefly because Mitchell writes complex, jazz-inflected harmonies that make this music ideal for jazz exploration. Sutton’s version of Woodstock, with pianist Larry Goldings, is treated moodily, with Goldings providing a Debussy-with-a-beat accompaniment, and in Big Yellow Taxi, she scats the tune over drummer Ralph Humphrey’s light brushwork. In Be Cool, she joins Jarreau for a charming, witty duet, decorated by Laws and Goldings’ funky Hammond B3.
    It’s a tasteful, intelligent way to treat these songs (the record includes two standards Mitchell sang on her 2000 orchestral album, Both Sides Now: Don’t Go to Strangers and Answer Me, My Love), and sheds fresh light on the work of this artist.
    Mitchell, 71, who has concentrated primarily on her painting for the past two decades, is, like Sutton, a resident of Los Angeles, though the two haven’t met.
    But Sutton already knows what she thinks about her fellow singer’s legacy.
    “I think as honored and respected as she is, she’s an underappreciated figure,” Sutton said. “She really is up there in the pantheon of great songwriters and great artists, at the very, very top. I really can’t think of anybody — anybody — who has her combination of compositional skills, lyrical skills, and skill as a performer and singer.
    “All of those things together in one person: I think she’s singular.”
    Tickets for the shows, which begin at 7 and 9 p.m., range from $35 to $75. Call 300-0730 or visit www.jazziznightlife.com.
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    More jazz: September is shaping up to be quite a month for jazz in the southern part of the county, with Todd Barkan, who ran the Keystone Korner jazz club in San Francisco in the 1970s and since 2001 has been the director of Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, joining the staff of Delray Beach’s Arts Garage as its programming chief.
    Barkan’s imprint has turned the Garage lineup into a powerhouse September, beginning with the English jazz singer Polly Gibbons, who makes her North American debut at Arts Garage on Sept. 12, accompanied by a trio helmed by the terrific jazz pianist Shelly Berg, whose day job is as head of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
Gibbons, who follows her appearance in Delray with concerts in New York and Boston, was nominated for a BBC Jazz Award in 2006 and her first album, My Own Company, was released last month. Gibbons has a bluesy, smoky alto (you can hear her do a good wee-hours reading of Avery Parrish’s After Hours on her website) and a stellar sense of swing, and likely has a long career ahead of her.
    A week later, the jazz-fusion pioneer Larry Coryell plays two dates (Sept. 19 and 20) at the Arts Garage. One of the finest guitarists in jazz history, a confidante of Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and Gary Burton, and a prolific composer whose opera, Scenes from War and Peace, is scheduled for a December premiere in Slovenia (of all places), he’s made more than 100 recordings, and also is the author of an excellent book about improvising that jazz students should hold close to their hearts. Now 71, Coryell is as busy as he ever was, and being able to see him in the confines of the Arts Garage offers an opportunity to see a fretboard legend in an intimate space.
Finally, the Garage has scored a big win with the splendid jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut, affectionately known as “The Nutman,” who will appear Sept. 27. Chestnut, a native of Baltimore, is one of the most important jazz pianists currently working, a virtuoso with an Oscar Peterson-style feel for melodic improvisation and a rock-solid sense of swing.
    Tickets for all these shows, all at 8 p.m., begin at $25, and patrons can bring their own refreshments. Premium seating for parties of six range from $190 to $240. Call 450-6357 or visit www.artsgarage.org.
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    Music note: Joanna Marie Kaye, who was known simply as Joanna Marie in her years as host of Classical Variations on WXEL radio, has returned to South Florida after two years at WQED in Pittsburgh. Newly married to The Symphonia Boca Raton artistic director, Jeffrey Kaye, she has been named director of the Festival of the Arts Boca for its ninth iteration, which will be held March 5-15 at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. No word on who might be coming to the festival, but the lineup will be officially announced Nov. 14 with a media event that will feature Time for Three, the string trio that bills itself as a “classically trained garage band.”
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Peter Hove Oleson’s image from the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan is at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre in downtown West Palm Beach. Photo provided

    Art: Last month, the National Press Photographers Association held a two-day confab in West Palm Beach in which winners of the association’s 2014 best photo contest were honored, and some 60 of the nation’s top photojournalists were on hand to meet with fellow members of the camera-wielding “tribe,” as the group likes to say.
    An exhibit of their work, Best of Photojournalism 2014, was scheduled to close Aug. 30 at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, but organizers have decided to extend the free exhibit until Oct. 31.
    “It’s become one of the most popular exhibits we have had in the museum. People are just coming out of the woodwork to see this show,” said Fatima NeJame, the center’s CEO. “We’re attracting people that have never been here before, and they’re leaving us comments like: ‘How long is this show going to be here, because I want to bring my friends.’
    “When you have a winner like that, why not make more time for it?” she said.
    The show contains about 100 images from more than 60 photographers, and touch on subjects such as the Boston Marathon bombing and the fracking boom that has transformed North Dakota.
    “These are images that people have seen in the media, and they are stories that connect with people,” NeJame said, adding that the exhibit also has been remarkable for another reason. “It’s so amazing: Usually, there is a clear favorite in the exhibit, but with this, they are going through the whole show, and they’re saying it’s the best show we’ve ever had.”
    NeJame said the center is talking to the NPPA about holding the Best of Photojournalism conference annually in West Palm Beach, perhaps moving it to May or June rather than August (the awards are announced in March).
    “Photography is about touching people’s lives, and people are able to relate to these images,” NeJame said. “It’s current, it’s topical and it touches them.”
    Showing exemplary photojournalism seems especially important now, with the brutal execution this past month of photojournalist James Foley at the hands of the murderous Islamic State. Although journalists have come in for decades of politically motivated criticism that has served to weaken the public’s sense of this profession’s importance, people like Foley and his colleagues risk their lives in the absolute worst parts of the world so that vital information can be brought to the rest of humanity.
    It’s not for nothing that dictatorial governments such as that of Russia’s Vladimir Putin make sure they muzzle the press first, and it’s worth stopping by the center in downtown West Palm this month to take a look at the images these gifted artists have captured, and remember that we would all be in a much darker world without them.
    The center is at 415 Clematis St. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Call 253-2600.

***
                                 
    Moon over Norton: For the ninth year in a row, the Norton Museum of Art presents its Moon Festival this month, a celebration of the Chinese holiday and the museum’s collection of Chinese art. The event lasts from noon to 5 p.m. Sept. 6, and includes a tour of the collection, a porcelain-making demonstration and children’s lantern-making workshop, and a 3 p.m. concert by Liu Fang, a performer on the pipa, the Chinese lute. After the concert, it’s moon cakes for everyone.
Admission to the museum is $12, but the festival is free to Palm Beach County residents because it falls on the usual free-admission day of the first Saturday of the month. Info at 832-5196 or www.norton.org.

By Willie Howard

      A 25-foot boat that capsized July 27 in the ocean off Delray Beach was taking on water before it rolled over, killing a Lantana man.

      According to a preliminary report by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, three men were fishing about 5 miles south of the Boynton Inlet when the boat, a 25-foot Mako, began taking water over the stern.

      It’s not clear why the boat was taking on water, though the FWC is still investigating.

      The operator of the boat, Alaxandre Lopes of Boynton Beach, tried to start the engines of the 16-year-old boat but could not get them to run.

      All three men moved to the bow in an attempt to balance the boat, then tried to bail it out with a 2-liter bottle, but the boat kept taking on water, the FWC report said.

      City lifeguards and firefighters responded to a distress call from the sinking boat at 3:56 p.m. The boat was off the beach between Casuarina Road and Atlantic Avenue, according to Delray Beach Fire Rescue.

      Lopes and the other two men, Nelson Luna Berroa of Lantana and Supelcio Luna-Espinal of Lantana, put on life jackets before the boat capsized.

      Luna Berroa was thrown away from the boat and began to drift away in the current. Lopes and Luna-Espinal were under the boat.

      Lifeguards with Delray Beach Ocean Rescue, who reached the boat on water scooters, pulled the two men from under the boat and recovered the third man from the water with help from a passing boater.

      Luna-Espinal, 82, was not responsive after being pulled from the water, according to the FWC report. Lifeguards performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Luna-Espinal, but he was pronounced dead after being taken to Bethesda Memorial Hospital.

      Lopes and Luna Berroa were not injured.

Hudson at Waterway East, a new restaurant and upscale tavern owned by Sam Bonasso, will open mid October at 900 East Atlantic Avenue #22, in Delray Beach — the site of Old Calypso. The style and concept of Hudson will be classy casual contemporary American with a menu that features seafood, steak, and pasta. A bar will serve craft beer, craft spirits and offer a wine list. Bonasso formerly was the proprietor of Outback Steakhouse, in Mason Ohio.

— Christine Davis

Researcher Janet DeVries channels her inner Nancy Drew to unearth the roots of a photo collection that portrays a Florida lost to time. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Mary Thurwachter

    In her search to learn the provenance of a century-old photo album, Janet DeVries uncovered stories of shipwrecks, sailors, suicide and a whole lot of coconut palm trees.
    DeVries — a historical researcher, author and president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society — calls her latest project “Clues in the Crumbling Album,” a takeoff of an old Nancy Drew title.
    Indeed, she found several clues on the fragile pages of the old photo book she discovered on eBay. The photographs were taken between Palm Beach and the Hillsboro Inlet and most were shot in Manalapan.
    “Since the images were most interesting, I hoped to learn more about the provenance,” she said. “The album is truly a gem and seems to be one of the earliest and most compelling illustrative accounts of coastal central Palm Beach County. The images portray a Florida lost to time and development and provide a glimpse into the flora and fauna of coastal Palm Beach County pre-1926 and 1928 hurricanes.”
    The book came to her wrapped in tissue.
    “It is literally falling apart,” she said. Each time she turns a page to look at a picture, paper fragments fall into her hand. She already has scanned each photo for preservation.
    Texas archaeologist Bob Wishoff, who grew up in Florida and sold the album to DeVries, found the photographs at an estate auction in Texas several years ago.
    “I realized they were pretty historically relevant and I wanted to find out who the people were,” he said. “I didn’t think I would be able to find out myself and it was important to me to sell them to someone who would appreciate their value.”

This photo is one of two known images of the old Boynton Beach Hotel cottages. Photos courtesy of Janet DeVries

    What initially piqued DeVries’ interest in Wishoff’s find was an image of the old Boynton Beach Hotel. That photograph, which actually was of some cottages connected to the hotel, was part of another, smaller album. While talking with Wishoff about those pages, she learned of a larger “crumbling” album and another collection of old pictures taken in Florida and other states.
    “The Boynton Beach Historical Society does not purchase artifacts,” she said. “The organization relies on donations. Occasionally, I purchase postcards and other ephemera with my own money to share with our (Historic Boynton Beach) Facebook fans. I like to think of it as ‘bringing these items home.’ ”
    The purchase was a splurge for her ($150), but her friend and fellow researcher, Ginger Pederson, encouraged DeVries to buy the book as a birthday gift to herself.
    “When the artifact was delivered and I touched the delicate paper, I could barely bring myself to open it,” DeVries said.
    “What I found inside delighted and amazed me,” she said. “Not only does it illustrate the tropical beauty of coastal Palm Beach County prior to development, it portrays aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss in Palm Beach with his seaplane. (He would come to Florida every winter and give those who could afford it plane rides to Cuba, Bimini or just for a short trip into the wild blue yonder). There also are references to President Theodore Roosevelt and World War I.”
    By sharing images on Facebook, DeVries has been helped by viewers familiar with some of the locations portrayed. Eventually, she plans to donate the book to the Historical Society of Palm Beach County.

Aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss would fly people to Bimini and beyond in his seaplane.

What the clues revealed
    But who are the people in the pictures? Who were the crumbling album’s original owners?
    DeVries, a researcher at Palm Beach State College who is working on a master’s degree in library science from Florida State University, called upon her sleuth skills to find answers.
    “I’ve always liked solving mysteries,” she said. “I read all the Nancy Drew books growing up. I guess it’s in my blood, too, because my great-great-grandfather was the house detective for the biggest hotel in Cleveland in the 1880s.”  
She has written five local history books.
    In the course of her research, DeVries searched historical databases and land records and spent countless hours online. She made trips to the Palm Beach County Historical Society headquarters in West Palm Beach and tapped into community knowledge via Facebook.
Her initial clue was on the four pages of the first of three albums, she said. It included a photo labeled Boynton Beach Hotel Cottages.
“This piqued my interest,” she said, “because I’ve only seen one other image of the cottages at the Boynton Hotel in all my time as archivist for the city of Boynton Beach and as president of the Boynton Beach Historical Society and in all my research and collecting. The hotel was torn down in 1925, though some of the cottages remained.”
    Other images labeled “Manalapan” followed by notations such as “walk to dock” and  “boat house” and “lake side view” led her to believe the home was located between the ocean and Lake Worth, which now is part of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    A few images — labeled “Hillsboro Light,” “Canal to Delray” and “Dinner Stop at Lake Worth” — convinced her these were local images and that the people in the pictures lived here.
    The names appearing on the pages were unusual — Madeleine, Romey and Leila, DeVries said.
    “This combined with the term Manalapan cemented the deal that the family was the Piersons, and the home pictured within the crumbling albums was the 1894 structure built by Elnathan T. Field of Manalapan, N.J.”
She noted pictures of a coconut grove and read about pioneer George Charter (one of the barefoot mailmen) planting the coconuts.
    “The story really became enchanting,” she said.

The Pierson family bought this house north of Boynton Inlet in Manalapan in 1912. It was torn down by developers in 2000.

    “Some of the images were mystifying,” DeVries said, “especially the one of the house with what appeared to be a cistern.
“Fans of our Facebook page, Historic Boynton Beach, provided additional clues as I posted images. Several people said the water tower in the picture was along A1A north of the inlet. This confirmed what I already suspected. With each photo I posted, more fans chimed in with memories of the old A1A (mostly washed out in 1947) and even the stretch of the beach that is north of the Boynton Inlet.”
    DeVries tracked down the entire line of Pierson descendants, including granddaughter Nancy Pierson Sands Tilton, who died around 2000. There is a great-grandson living in Texas.

A woman, likely Leila Pierson, leans against a coconut palm in this photograph from the album Janet DeVries purchased.

Shipwrecks, sailors
and suicide
    The Piersons, of New York and New Jersey, bought the house at 1780 S. Ocean Ave. in Manalapan in 1912, according to a 1933 story in which Leila Pierson was interviewed in The Palm Beach Post.
    There were two known owners before them. One of them was George Charter, a barefoot mailman. He and his brother built a hunting shack on the property, then 126 acres along 2 1/2 miles of ocean ridge in what now is Manalapan), with timber — the remains of a shipwreck — they scavenged on the beach.
    “Charter planted all those (several thousand) coconuts after the wreck of the Providencia,” DeVries said.

Palms were planted from coconuts that spilled from the wreck of the Providencia.

    But besides coconuts, the bodies of two sailors washed ashore from the wreck. The Charters buried them beside the sea, according to Leila Pierson’s account.
    Between Charter and the Piersons, the property belonged to Elnathan T. Field, who built the house on a bluff 15-25 feet above the ocean. Field came from Manalapan, N.J., and named the house on stilts “Manalapan Cottage” after a New Jersey Indian tribe. Manalapan is an Indian word for “pleasant waters.”
    The Piersons weren’t immune to tragedy.
    “A. Romeyn Pierson Sr. and his daughter, Dorothy, both died of the deadly 1918-19 fever,” DeVries found. “And the son, A. Romeyn Pierson, died of alcoholism in 1929.” The Piersons left the property to their granddaughter, Nancy Tilton, who sold it off gradually. In 2000, after Tilton’s death, a developer razed the house.
    But while Mrs. Tilton was still living in the house, one of her houseguests made headlines when, in 1977, he killed himself with a 20-gauge shotgun. The man, a Russian-born French teacher, was an associate of Lee Harvey Oswald and a crucial witness in the congressional investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

State Road A1A ran directly along the beach in the early part of the 20th century. It mostly washed out in 1947.

Every picture tells a story
    “The discovery of this old album was a little like paradise found for me,” DeVries said. “I encourage people to keep or donate old photos rather than tossing them. Every picture tells a story.”
DeVries, a newlywed who lives in Lantana, is still uncovering stories. That’s what happens when you’re a historical researcher, after all. The more you dig, the more you find.
In this case, she found a historical treasure. ;
    To reach DeVries, email boyntonhistory@gmail.com. Her history blog is found at www.boyntonhistory.org/author/jdevries/.

By Ron Hayes
 
  

In the beginning, there was only “Sigafoo”— an orange and white ambulance with No. 41 on the side, nicknamed after the manufacturer.
At 2:23 p.m. on July 19, 1974, Sigafoo answered its first call, a fire alarm at the Boca Raton Hotel.
    And before the hour was out, the fire department’s first Mobile Intensive Care Unit had also responded to its first medical emergency, transporting a patient to the hospital from 1935 NW Second Ave.
    Boca Raton’s Advanced Life Support system began with that one EMS unit and 15 firefighters fresh from grueling paramedic classes in Miami.
    Today, there are 17 EMS units and every one of the department’s 207 firefighters is also a trained paramedic.
    On July 18, about 110 of the city’s current and former firefighter-paramedics gathered at the Police and Fire Complex on Congress Avenue for a luncheon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Sigafoo’s first call.
    There was a pipe and drums corps marching to Scotland the Brave. There was a prayer. There were Advanced Life Support trophies adorning each table in lieu of floral centerpieces. There was pasta and chicken and two kinds of cake. There were speeches.
    Mostly, of course, there were memories.
    “We were a ragtag bunch at first. We had to learn each other’s idiosyncrasies,” Bob Owens remembered. “We had to cover 36 square miles, so we were on the road almost all the time.”
    Owens was 31 when he came to work for Boca Raton in 1973, a West Palm Beach native and already a veteran of six years in the Palm Beach Fire Department. He’s 71 now, retired since 2002, and the man who nudged Fire Chief Tom Wood into organizing the event.
    “Oh, boy,” Owens said, “we handled everything from heart attacks to fingers smashed in a car door to delivering babies.”
    He remembered the woman in advanced labor, lying in the middle of a king-sized bed.
    “She had a vacuum sweeper on the floor by the bed and I stepped on it and turned it on and we couldn’t find the off switch. Well, she eased on over like a crab, reached down and shut it off, repositioned herself and the baby came.”
    Owens laughed at the memory.
    “We had a father and daughter pass away at Clint Moore Road and Military Trail,” he recalled. “It came in as a one-car crash, but when we got there it was two. Not all the cars had seat belts back then, and the dad had been thrown across the car and his weight crushed his daughter to death.”
    As Owens somberly reminisced, a hand reached for his and he looked up to see a familiar face.
    Retired Lt. Dave Appleton of Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue had driven up to join the celebration. Forty years ago, he was the veteran who trained Owens and the rest of that first crew at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami.
    “When you see a person on the ground,” Appleton taught them, “don’t just stand there and talk. Get down on your knee to talk to them.”
    As a slide show of faded snapshots played on the wall at her back, Mayor Susan Haynie reminded the crowd that she had come to work for the city’s engineering department in the same year Sigafoo first rolled.
    “When I represent the city in other parts of the state,” she said, “I tout our beauty and economic development. But without safety and security, we have nothing.”
    Chief Wood put the paramedics’ contribution in perspective.
    “In that first year, we handled an average of 56 emergency calls a month,” he told them. “In 2013, we had an average of 921 calls a month.”
    Today, the city’s Fire-Rescue department handles more heart attacks than fires.
    And then, as the old-timers gathered up front for a group photo, Assistant Chief Michael LaSalle watched from the side of the room. LaSalle was 24 when he joined the department in 1991. He’s 47 now.
    When the men having their pictures taken first brought emergency rescue services to Boca Raton, LaSalle was 7.
    “I’m honored to be here,” he said, “because these are the guys who paved the way for me and the guys in the future.”
    But Bob Owens said it best.
    “A lot of people are walking around the city today who may not have been here if not for the service we provided.”

ABOVE: Boca Raton’s first EMT Class photographed in 1973. TOP ROW: (l-r) Daryl Hurlburt (deceased). Reily Cooney, Don Dailey (deceased), Ken Gelboe, Bernie Tillson and Dave Cloran.  BOTTOM ROW: (l-r) Jim Slowiak, Bob Owens, Herbie Rothwell, Bruce Silk, John Eddinger, Lee Kingsmill, Bruce Kole and Bob Fosson. Photo provided

ABOVE: Boca Raton EMT Alumni photographed in 2014. (l-r) Bruce Silk, Dave Forsyth, Jim Slowiak, Ken Gelboe, Bruce Kowal, Herb Rothwell, Bob Owens, John Eddinger, Lee Kingsmill, Dave Cloran and  current Chief Tom Wood. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

ABOVE: (l-r) Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie, FAU President John Kelly, National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation Director Frank Wojick, FAU Provost Gary Perry and Professor Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., of the the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science’s Department of Biological Sciences celebrate a ribbon-cutting to rededicate the research facility. The National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation provided $50,000 to fund the remodeling of the FAU Marine Biology Research Laboratory and Visitors’ Viewing Gallery. Originally built in 1984 as part of the engineering school, the building is now dedicated to marine research. Upgrades include new equipment, furniture, lighting and paint. Additionally, the visitors’ gallery, which overlooks the tanks that hold sea turtles, sharks and marine plants, received upgrades such as a new railing that children can see through as well as new displays and carpeting. The lab and gallery are one of Gumbo Limbo’s major attractions — more than 100,000 people pass through annually — and had not been remodeled since opening more than 20 years ago. BELOW:  An energetic 3-week-old leatherback swims constantly, so it is tethered to a support that keeps it centered in its tank and prevents the turtle from banging against the side of the tank.  Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioners were blindsided by news that their plans for building Phase 2 of the district’s biggest and newest project, Spanish River Athletic Facilities at DeHoernle Park, may not get the green light from the city.
    Art Koski, the commission’s acting director, said City Manager Leif Ahnell told him that the Phase 2 land might not be available because it has been used as a disposal area for hurricane cleanup.
    “It’s the first time I’ve heard anything about a hurricane disposal area and we’ve been talking about Phase 2 for a number of years,” said Koski. “The implication I got from this conversation was there was some reluctance on the part of the city to go forward with Phase 2.”
    And there was more bad news about Phase 2 development from the city, Koski told commissioners at the July 21 district meeting.
    Koski said he told city officials that the district agreed to share more of the burden of beach renourishment, from 30 percent to 50 percent of future beach restoration;  and the district would immediately reimburse the city $2 million for a prior beach renourishment project. And, the commission was also eager to move ahead with Phase 2 of Spanish River.
    Koski said he was stunned to get a verbal reply from the city that denied their biggest wish — completion of Phase 2.
    The city wanted the inter-local agreement for beach renourishment that increases the level of funding and they wanted the $2 million for the beach renourishment, said Koski. Then, they said, they would “talk about the other items.” Which meant Phase 2 was up in the air.
    “Right now we’re being told that we will only have that discussion upon the district agreeing to the other two items,” said Koski.  “I hope the city’s commentary does not mean that they have put this aside. I don’t know whether it’s gamesmanship or bargaining or what they want.”
    Koski said the proof of the district’s determination to move forward on all issues is in the budget.
    “We have in our budget $2 million to reimburse the city and $6.6 million to build Phase 2 of DeHoernle Park. If that’s not an expression of what we want to do, I don’t know what is,” Koski said.
    The athletic fields planned for DeHoernle Park are badly needed, said Koski.
    “With the number of youths participating in our organization, these fields and the demands made upon these fields are a community priority,” said Koski. “We have designers ready to begin the final design process for this facility.”
    An offer of space for athletic fields has been made by Florida Atlantic University, said Koski. “We have been in informal talks with FAU to consider opportunities that may exist on their campus for construction of athletic facilities. FAU has extended to us at least a willingness to use their campus if Phase 2 is not available.”
    Commissioner Robert Rollins noted that the district has built five fields with FAU “with no complications, no problems. We’ve had a partner who’s been good to us. But Phase 2 is the ideal location, and I would certainly like to do that.”
    Commissioners agreed that new fields should be built soon.
    “Spanish River is in constant use,” said Rollins.  “We need more facilities. We can’t wait a whole lot longer for this to come together.”
    “The ideal solution for us as far as getting more recreational space is to build Phase 2, but seeing the obstacles that currently are there toward getting that off the ground, maybe we should pursue more serious talks with FAU,” said Commissioner Steve Engel. ;

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Wildlife at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is in peril because of long-standing problems with pipes and tanks, Boca Raton Beach and Park District commissioners were told at a commission meeting July 21.
    “Several weeks ago, there were catastrophic failures of all the pump systems that were Band-Aid systems put on in the last few years,” said Michele Peel, spokesperson for Friends of Gumbo Limbo.
    Peel said more animals may die if the city continues dragging its feet on making needed repairs at the center.
    “Two years ago, the city decided to take on the project to address that system,” she said. “We still do not have either a short-term or long-term solution to a problem that was identified four years ago.”
    In an impassioned plea to the commission, she said, “I’m asking for continued support in finding a way to help the city turn this project into a reality so that we stop losing wildlife in the tanks.”
    Peel later said no sea turtles have died at Gumbo Limbo because of equipment failure, and she didn’t know what wildlife was lost. (Buddy Parks, deputy director of recreation services for the city of Boca Raton, later said a few fish and a moray eel had died after a pump failed.)
    The district spent $67,000 last fall for piping that was a temporary fix to make sure the proper mix of saltwater was delivered at the times and quantities necessary to maintain marine life, district acting director Art Koski reminded commissioners.
    And more importantly, $1.5 million for fixing the facility’s equipment problems is included in the district’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.
    Koski said he met with representatives from the city and Gumbo Limbo, and a consulting engineer in March to discuss what needed to be done to preserve the facility for the long term.
    The “intermittent failures” of the pumps were discussed at the meeting along with potential hydraulic and construction solutions, he said.
    “We left the meeting with an understanding that there would be an attempt made to get this project at least started from a design point of view and a construction point of view,” said Koski. “We told the people attending that meeting that the Beach and Park District would do whatever was necessary financially and otherwise to assure the longevity and continued operation of this facility.”
    Koski said the city officials promised the project would get started.
    “We’re now going on five months after the meeting took place and absolutely from what I can see very little if nothing has been done with regard to an overall solution to the problem,” he said.
    He said he was later told by the city there was “difficulty in the procuring process, that is, having the design consultant be put under appropriate work orders in order to accomplish the design.”
    Koski said he told the city that the district already had a contract with Miller Legg consulting firm to work on improvements to Red Reef Park and Gumbo Limbo, so the district could get the Gumbo Limbo project moving.   
    The answer from the city, he said, was thank you but no thank you.
    “We weren’t looking to take anything away from the city of Boca Raton,” he said. “Their input from all their departments would still be exactly the same as if they were doing the project — the utility department, the environmental department, the recreation department, everybody would be able to have the same amount of input and the same amount of control over the project.”
    Koski told Peel that although the district reimburses the city for the operation and maintenance expenses at Red Reef Park, it is the city’s property. “If the city of Boca Raton elects not to have us involved, then that is their decision.”
    District commissioners decided to send the city a formal letter reiterating their offer of money and a consultant.
    “We all have to keep our fingers crossed that some major occurrence doesn’t take place that will be extremely harmful to this facility that’s one of the most popular attractions in the city,” said Koski. ;

By Christine Davis

    Fans of Trader Joe’s are ready, waiting and hungry for the Boca Raton store to open at 855 S. Federal Highway. And, while they thought they might be waiting even longer when an onsite problem with power lines cropped up, the Sept. 26 opening date still stands.
    The city requires that power lines be buried at new development sites because its safer in severe weather — and it looks better. That’s the bottom-line story, and the city is sticking to it.
    Problem was, burying the lines meant fewer parking spaces, explains Charles Siemon, the lawyer representing the site’s developer, 8ST, LLC.
    “The number of spaces that would be lost, compared to the benefits of burying the power lines, that tradeoff wasn’t worthwhile; but the city decided they wanted them underground, nevertheless.”
    Trader Joe’s will be the anchor at East City Center, but there will also be a bank building and some office and retail space. Originally, 130 parking spots were planned, and burying the lines will do away with six of them.
    At this point, “We will still have a little more than the required number, but due to the popularity of Trader Joe’s, we were trying to provide as much parking as we could,” Siemon says. “My client thought this was an important issue, but the city considered burying the lines more important.
    “We’ve been working with the city and we have an understanding of what we are going to do, the sequence of events, open on time, and get those lines underground. We’ve resolved the issue.”
    The city, he adds, has been analyzing parking, and it might be that some nearby public parking on the street may be allocated to one-hour public parking, and that would benefit shoppers.
    Mayor Susan Haynie said, “The developers made the request for relief from burying the power lines, asking to be heard on tonight’s agenda (City Council meeting, July 22), but they withdrew that request last week, so burying the lines continues to be a condition of approval. They spoke to members of the council individually, and I assume that there wasn’t much support to keep the lines overhead.”
    As of July 22, she said, lines were still standing and she hadn’t seen any activity.
    While Haynie has never shopped at a Trader Joe’s, she said, “Everyone I know who has is very excited about it being here. Trader Joe’s has quite a following for a grocery store. I’m looking forward to them opening. And burying their power lines.”
    Bottom line (unburied): Trader Joe’s has confirmed its opening date in Boca Raton: Friday, Sept. 26. ;

By Cheryl Blackerby

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District adopted a proposed tax rate of .97 for every $1,000 of assessed value for 2014-15, the same rate as last year, at the district’s meeting July 21. Only property owners with a keen eye will notice the increase in taxes. Property values are expected to rise about 5 percent, lower than many adjacent beach communities, but enough to increase the district’s overall tax revenue.
    The taxable value of property in the district is about $21 billion, and the total net taxes to be received by the district are about $20.2 million.
    Overall, the district is proposing a budget of about $38 million that includes major expenditures for athletic fields and park improvements, including $6.6 million for Phase 2 construction of fields at Spanish River Athletic Facilities at DeHoernle Park.
    Other district capital projects in the budget include construction of Sugar Sand Park’s Science Playground, $1.1 million; and improvements and master plans for the Swim and Racquet Center, about $2.8 million, and Patch Reef Park, $550,000.
    Red Reef Park is slated to get about $1.6 million — $50,000 for a Red Reef Park master plan and $1.5 million for pumps, tanks and piping at Red Reef’s Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. The district also will pay for two additional employees, vehicles and maintenance equipment at Gumbo Limbo.
The district had budgeted $1.7 million for beach renourishment at central beach in 2014, but that money will now be carried over to the next budget after the city postponed the project. The city had hoped a central beach sand replenishment project could be done at the same time as the city’s north beach renourishment in 2014, but that project had to be postponed after several work stoppages due to bad weather. Renourishment of central beach is expected to start in 2016.
The district continues to pay for a deficit at Red Reef Executive Golf Course, which last year was about $250,000 in the red. In the budget, the district lumped the golf course bill with maintenance for Mizner Park, for a total of $356,000.
    The largest expenditure for 2015 is $14 million for park operation and maintenance by the city of Boca Raton.
    The first public hearing on the district’s budget will be at at 6 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the Community Center in Sugar Sand Park.
    “We will have a full budget agreed upon which will be presented to the public at that time,” said district acting director Art Koski.
    A tentative date of Sept. 23 was set for the second public hearing. ;

By Sallie James

    The municipal property tax rate in Boca Raton won’t be going up this year.
    And the way Boca officials see it, low taxes are just one more reason to brag about how great their city is. A recent survey by CreditDonkey.com named Boca Raton the No. 1 city in Florida to live and work, based on the odds of being a victim of violent crime, commute time, income, college and restaurants per capita.
    Add to that the lowest municipal tax rate (for a full-service city) in Palm Beach County and you’ve got… well, paradise?
    “The city of Boca Raton has a really great new title: the No. 1 top-rated city to live in, in the state of Florida,” Deputy Mayor Constance Scott bragged during the July 22 City Council meeting.
    “I think it’s continued testament to the leadership of the city manager in maintaining world-class services while maintaining the lowest tax rate in the county for any full-service city,” City Council member Scott Singer said.
    And with that sort of branding, coupled with the good news on taxes, what’s not to like?
    The city is proposing a tax rate of $3.71 per $1,000 of assessed value for 2014, slightly lower than last year’s rate of $3.72 per $1,000 of assessed value due to a slight decrease in debt service.
    Under this proposal, a taxpayer with a $250,000 home and a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $742.52 in municipal property taxes.  The city’s non-ad valorem fire services assessment will also remain at the current sum of $85 per residential property.
    Singer said it’s all due to good fiscal management.
    “I’m very reluctant to raise taxes as a general matter,” he added.
    In addition to municipal property taxes, tax bills also include sums paid to the Palm Beach County School Board, the South Florida Water Management District, park districts and other entities.
    The city will give final approval to the proposed tax rate in September when the city budget is adopted.  The city has tentatively scheduled a budget hearing for 6 p.m. on Sept. 11.
    Assistant Boca Raton City Manager Mike Woika said the city made a number of changes early in the past recession, such as cutting positions and trimming other costs, which enabled the city to hold the line on property taxes.
    “This put the city in a solid fiscal position during the recession despite the financial environment,” Woika said. The city’s finances continue to be strong, he added, noting that Boca Raton has received AAA financial ratings from all three of the rating agencies for its sound fiscal practices.;

By Mary Thurwachter

A report from the Palm Beach County Inspector General’s office calls into question the procedure Highland Beach used to raise its spending cap in 2012.
The cap had been $350,000, but commissioners raised it to $1 million through an ordinance rather than a referendum. Then, the town approved an $850,000 project to renovate town hall and the police department.
Raising the spending cap was proposed by the town’s Charter Review Committee in 2012. And according to a legal opinion at the time from Town Attorney Glen Torcivia, the “funding limitation” could be amended by ordinance.
But Torcivia didn’t have all the facts, he said. He was not aware of a 1991 referendum that would have resulted in a different opinion.
As part of his firm’s analysis of whether the amendment required a referendum, he requested copies of all referendums that amended or readopted the town’s charter since the adoption of the Home Rule Powers Act (1973). “If the funding limitation was adopted by referendum, then a referendum is required to amend it,” he said. “None of the referendums provided to us by the clerk adopted the funding limitation.”
Torcivia wrote in a July 29 letter to the commission that he and Town Manager Kathleen Weiser and Finance Director Cale Curtis had been informed that a complaint had been filed with the Inspector General’s office in three matters.
For the first two — the purchasing policies for the renovations of the police department and town hall, and the town’s sale of property it owns in Boca Raton — the IG found the town had acted appropriately.
For the third matter, concerning the adoption of the charter amendment for a  spending cap, the IG concluded “that the failure to provide his (Torcivia’s) office with accurate information (i.e. a copy of a 1991 referendum) was attributed to human error.”  
The IG said, according to Torcivia, that the legal analysis his office provided to the town when considering the 2012 amendment was correct, but the facts were not.
Based on the information, Torcivia recommended the Town Commission “not enter into any other contracts for projects that exceed the $350,000 threshold unless a referendum is held to approve such a contract.”
He also recommended that the commission consider an ordinance that repeals the ordinance that improperly amended the funding limitation.
Vice Mayor Ron Brown said he’d like to see the spending limit referendum issue on the November ballot. Others said the matter should hold until March when more residents are in town to vote.
The IG report will be released in a few weeks, Weiser said. The commission will discuss the report at its Aug. 5 meeting.
Regarding the renovations of the Town Hall and police department, Torcivia said he agreed with the IG report that “the best course of action is to continue the renovations to completion.”
In other business, the commission agreed to seek bids for solid waste and recycling collection, based on the recommendation of the town attorney and town manager. The current contract, with Waste Management Inc., will expire at the end of the year.
“It’s a 15-year-old contract,” Torcivia said. While the town could extend the contract, he said, “the better course is to go out for bids.”
The town spends about $480,000 on solid waste and recycling collection each year.
Several commissioners said they wished they could extend the contract, since none of them has heard a single complaint about Waste Management Inc.
“I know of no one who is unhappy with Waste Management,” Commissioner Louis Stern said.  “However, I have to take the recommendation of our manager and attorney.”
“I think we have to go out on RFPs (requests for proposals),” Commissioner Dennis Sheridan said. “Let the chips fall where they may. I’m pretty sure they will fall where they should.” ;

By Sallie James

    Motorists who park downtown may eventually have to feed a meter. But not yet.
    The city is mulling a variety of options to deal with a downtown parking crunch that has become problematic, due to a mix of construction workers using existing spaces and high numbers of vehicles during the seasonal influx of visitors.
    Exactly how to deal with the issue was the focus of a June 21 meeting of Boca Raton’s Community Redevelopment Agency. And so far, signed enforcement of time-limited spaces seems to be the way the city is leaning. For now.
    Longer-term options could include construction of a $2.5 million parking garage and the use of a shuttle service to ferry people from downtown to off-site parking.
    “There are two reasons for waiting,” said Scott Singer, CRA chairman and a city council member. “We haven’t put signage up throughout downtown and I would like to see how demand goes in the winter months. We do expect to have higher demand but we also expect some of the construction projects to be complete. It makes sense to incorporate the high part of the season before we make a decision.”
    In April 2014, the CRA agreed to implement a short-term parking enforcement plan that included the installation of signs that designated parking times in the Sanborn Square and Royal Palm Place areas. As of June 30, 184 tickets were issued, 86 of which were timed parking violations, or 43 percent, according to City Manager Leif Ahnell’s report.
    The consensus was that the efforts improved customer parking but employee parking in the areas was still in short supply.
    Without additional staff, they went from 364 to 529 monitored spaces under the temporary parking enforcement program, according to Ruby Childers, the CRA’s downtown manager. However, revenues dropped by 12 percent due to staffing reassignments, she added. The system requires the manual marking of vehicles.
    “We reallocated staff from metered areas and that minimizes the ability to help customers with the meters and minimizes a presence to help encourage compliance,” Childers explained.
    Additional funds have to be budgeted to restore full enforcement, she said.
    Intermediate solutions include:
    • Purchasing license plate recognition software to determine which cars have overstayed their allowed parking limits, $25,000
    • Restriping and numbering existing parallel parking spaces, $25,000
    • Installing additional signage, $25,000
    • Long-term solutions for downtown parking, in the next three to five years, include the construction of a parking garage and the installation of meters, according to Ahnell’s report.
    According to Assistant City Manager Mike Woika, city staff and the Downtown Advisory Board agreed to post and enforce two-hour and three-hour parking limits on some streets in the downtown area to see if it made a difference.
    ”The medium- and long-term phases were what was discussed at the CRA/workshop meeting and could include off-street parking (garages), shared-use parking, additional on-street parking, and enhanced enforcement,” Woika said. “Downtown seems to have the most parking concerns. Mizner Park and Palmetto Place each have some parking challenges.”
    Ahnell’s take on the overall issue: Parking will be an evolution.

By Rich Pollack
    
While Highland Beach residents are likely to see a slight reduction in their municipal tax rate on their property tax bill in the next few months, the amount of taxes they pay for municipal services could actually increase.
    A proposed budget presented to town commissioners last month recommends keeping the town’s operating tax rate at $3.95 per $1,000 of assessed property value for the third consecutive year.
    Thanks to a retirement of a 20-year-old bond, however, Highland Beach’s proposed debt service tax rate will drop by 19 percent. As a result, the proposed overall tax rate could drop from the current $4.80 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $4.64 in the coming fiscal year — nearly a 3.5 percent drop in the overall tax rate for town services.
    An increase in property tax revenue of about $430,000 over last year — resulting in large part from an increase in property values throughout the town — is helping town officials keep the tax rate from increasing.
    While the tax rate may go down, many property owners may see the taxes they pay to the town go up as a result of higher assessed values.
    “This proposed budget gives us the opportunity to do some capital projects that have been put off for many years without having to raise the tax rate,” said Town Manager Kathleen Weiser.
    Among projects included in the proposed budget are the enclosure of the town library’s terrace, replacement of some older town vehicles and enhancements to the town’s water meter reading system that will make it easier to detect leaks.
    “This budget makes it possible for us to address a lot of issues that have been on hold because of reduced property values,” says Vice Mayor Ron Brown. “Now, we have the ability to improve our town and the quality of life for our residents.”
    The town’s proposed $11.35 million general fund budget shows a decrease in expenses of about $360,000 from the current $11.72 million budget due in large part to the retirement of a 2004 $2 million bond used for library improvement.
    The proposed budget also shows a drop of $557,000 in capital expenditures from the current budget, which included $850,000 for Town Hall renovations.
    The proposed budget reflects a 5 percent increase in personnel expenses due in part to merit raises for town employees. It also reflects increases in retirement and health insurance costs.
    “This proposed budget is balanced without any major spending cuts to personnel or operations,” Weiser said.
    The town has scheduled a budget workshop for 6:00 p.m., Aug. 5 and a tentative workshop, if needed, for Aug. 26 following a regularly scheduled Town Commission workshop meeting.
    Public hearings on the budget are scheduled for 5:01 p.m., Sept. 9 and Sept. 23

A female marl pennant, an unusual species that breeds in brackish ponds and often along the coast, perches in Ocean Ridge. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

See more photos of dragonflies

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Here’s one reason to love dragonflies: They eat mosquitoes. Lots of them. One can eat hundreds in a day.
    Dragonflies probably are not as popular as butterflies as a recreational pursuit, but their beauty and diversity are just as mind-boggling — from the cobalt-blue spangled skimmer to the brilliant scarlet skimmer, as red as a fire engine, and the hot pink roseate skimmer.
    
They’re easy to spot since Florida has more than 150 species of odonates, which include three families of damselflies and six families of dragonflies.  They’re found near water at all times of the day, especially the cocktail hour when the mosquitoes emerge. More importantly to scientists, dragonflies are an excellent gauge of the health of the environment.
    “They are really good indicators of high-quality wetland environments, which usually mean a greater diversity of damselflies and dragonflies.
They seem to be susceptible to those problems that damage wetlands such as degradation by herbicides and runoff from agriculture fields,” said Jaret Daniels, associate curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.
    “Many dragonflies are declining because of declining wetlands,” he said.
    He  has noticed increased interest in dragonfly watching. “They’re showy and popular for viewing,” he said, adding that it will take patience finding one that will pose long enough to snap a photo.

Big eyes and strong bodies
    Dragonflies are fascinating creatures. The have six legs but can’t walk. They can perch and fly, and mate while flying. Their front pair of legs is shortest and the back longest. “The legs form a large net for capturing prey,” Daniels said.
    Their bulging compound eyes are made up of many smaller lenses that greatly magnify the movement of their prey and make them excellent visual hunters. Their eyes take up nearly the entire head.
    A strong body supports a massive musculature that propels the large broad wings that are transparent or elaborately patterned. Wingspans range from 2 to 5 inches. Unmatched as fliers, dragonflies are studied by engineers who calculate how they hover like helicopters and propel themselves in six directions — upward, downward, forward, back, right and left.
    Damselflies and dragonflies are similar but their differences are easily distinguishable.
    “Damselflies are more dainty, and they hold their wings over their backs, unlike dragonflies that hold their wings straight out. Damselflies have vibrant colors, iridescent black and opaque colors. They tend to perch and are easy to watch.”
    Male dragonflies are generally more colorful. “There are shades of gray, blue, and red, and they may have bands of colors on wings,” he said.
    They live adjacent to aquatic environments and lay eggs in the water. The eggs hatch into naiads. When a naiad is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs out of the water. The skin splits behind the head and the adult dragonfly crawls out of it larval skin. Its four wings come out, and they dry and harden over the next several hours to days. Lifespans range from a few weeks to a year.
    Dragonflies are often seen over large blacktop parking lots, which experts think they mistake for open bodies of water.
    Besides mosquitoes, they also eat flies, ants and wasps, and they themselves are preyed upon by birds, lizards, frogs, spiders and fish.
    Coastal residents can’t plant flowers to attract dragonflies as they do to draw butterflies. But a steady supply of mosquitoes along with healthy wetlands will keep them coming.
    “We encourage people to watch them. They’re so unique and amazingly beautiful creatures,” Daniels said.
    And there is only one way to protect them, and that’s protecting Florida’s wetlands, he said.

Dragonfly facts
• Large dragonflies such as hawkers have a maximum speed of 22–34 mph, with an average cruising speed of about 10 mph.
• There are more than 5,000 known species of dragonflies.
• Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. Fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to 2 feet.
• Scientists have tracked migratory dragonflies by attaching tiny transmitters to wings with a combination of eyelash adhesive and superglue. They found that green darners from New Jersey traveled an average of 7.5 miles per day.
• A dragonfly called the globe skinner has the longest migration of any insect — 11,000 miles back and forth across the Indian Ocean.
— Smithsonian Institution

Feast of the Sea’s third Maestro del Mar Chef Challenge took place July 24 at Salt 7 in Delray Beach. Chefs from four Delray Beach restaurants competed, presenting a signature dish that included mahi-mahi. The dishes were created in less than 60 minutes and judged on visual appeal, taste, creativity, execution and overall presentation. Atlantic Grille Executive Chef Adam Gottlieb was the winner.  Feast of the Sea will present the final competition as a free general admission seafood festival on Sept. 13 in West Palm Beach. For more information, visit www.feastofthesea.com.
ABOVE: (l-r) Chefs from Dada (Sous Chef Scott Randazzo and Executive Chef Bruce Feingold) and Executive Chef Adam Gottlieb from Atlantic Grille pull together at the last minute.  BELOW: Pan-seared mahi with corn relish and a compound butter sauce from Vic & Angelo’s.  Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star

Soccer sensation Jozy Altidore (right ) poses with Boca High School student Michael Vanaki, and a signed American flag at Waterstone Resort & Marina.  Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Thom Smith

     Twenty minutes into the U.S. Team’s World Cup opener against Ghana, Jozy Altidore tore a hamstring. Never played another minute.
“It was lousy; I didn’t get to contribute anything,” he said, itching to return. But until the experts with the U.S. Mens National Team and the Sunderland Association Football Club in England decide he’s ready, he can only play around. So the 2013 U.S. player of the year served as an analyst for Fox Sports’ coverage of the World Cup final, promoted a new adidas golf shoe and cut an impressive fashion figure in indigo Kenneth Cole and black leather tie at ESPN’s ESPY awards, before coming home to visit family and friends and pick up an accolade or two.
“One of the most favorite things I get to do as mayor is to proclaim ‘days,’ ” Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie said as the sun set at the Waterstone Resort July 18, “so I’m going to proclaim Jozy Altidore Day.”
 Haynie was introduced by Boca Raton Tribune Publisher Douglas Heiser, an unabashed soccer fan who organized and promoted the event.
Much has changed in the decade since Jozy was a skinny kid at Boca Prep. Now, 6-foot-1, he could easily model for Kenneth Cole. He pulls in more than $2 million a year as a player, and endorsements are starting to add up, too; but he remains focused on scoring goals.
“I’m fine; I can’t wait to get back on the field,” Altidore said, between hugs and handshakes from family, fans and old teammates from youth soccer and Boca Prep.
But perhaps not so fast as he would like, his father Joseph cautions: “He’ll play when they say he can play. He tore a hamstring. They don’t want him to go out too soon and just tear it again.”  
Though many Boca Ratonians claim him as their own, Altidore actually has never lived in Boca Raton proper. He was born in New Jersey and grew up in Loggers Run, a large development two miles west of the turnpike in unincorporated Palm Beach County. Nevertheless, he’s a keeper.
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The Wanderer goes to sea. Headlining Holland America’s Malt Shop Memories Cruise Nov. 2 aboard the Eurodam will be Boca Raton’s own Dion. Joining him on the seven-day stroll to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Key West will be such Bandstand legends as Lloyd Price, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Herman’s Hermits, The Duprees, Brenda Lee, Peggy March and the Mike Love version of The Beach Boys with Bruce Johnston and Jeff Foskett.
Of course, Dion DiMucci’s music has never been just for the malt shop gang. His edgy 1989 album, Yo Frankie, included cameos by Paul Simon, Lou Reed, k.d. lang, Patty Smyth, Bryan Adams and Dave Edmunds. He is the only performer on the cruise to have earned a Grammy nomination in this century — for his 2006 collection of blues and country standards, Bronx in Blue.
Tickets, at maltshopcruise.com, start at $1,875.

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If basketball in Cleveland doesn’t work out, maybe LeBron James can come to Boca Raton, and pull a few spin moves . . . in the kitchen.  His latest off-court move is a stake in Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, a California chain whose “pizzasmiths” spin pies in three minutes. The first South Florida store opens in Fort Lauderdale in September, followed by a Boca Raton operation just north of Fifth Avenue Shops in the fourth quarter, and Davie later.  
According to celebritynetworth.com, LeBron, despite no college education, is worth about $270 million. This year he earned $19 million from the Miami Heat and some $53 million from endorsements. To ease his tax burden, he invests. He reportedly owns 10 percent of Cannondale, the bike company, and made $30 million from his stake in Beats by Dre headphones when Apple bought the company.  His investment in Fenway Sports Group (formed by Boca Raton resident and Boston Red Sox majority owner John Henry) gives him a stake in the Sox, Roush Fenway Racing (NASCAR) and even the Liverpool Football Club.
Blaze’s owners include Maria Shriver, movie producer John Davis (Chronicle; I Robot; Predator; The Firm, and coming soon, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) and — what a coincidence — Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner.
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Still on the subject of pizza, or perhaps off the subject, California Pizza Kitchen just had another grand opening, so to speak. Its restaurant at Boca Raton’s Town Center has been opened up to make the pizza chefs more visible, and the menu has been restructured. For a California twist on pizza, flatbreads are hot: The Bianco California version is layered with whipped truffle cream, Gorgonzola and mozzarella and topped with garlic and sage leaves; while a New England twist on the lobster roll stuffs the flatbread with, natch, lobster meat.
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 Hello, again . . . almost . . .  Boca Raton old-timers (anyone who lived here in the late 1900s) remember fondly La Vieille Maison, a French dining treasure in a nifty old house on East Palmetto Park Road that closed in 2006. Arturo Gismondi hasn’t forgotten. The owner of Arturo’s Ristorante on North Federal, Trattoria Romana on East Palmetto Park Road), two Cannoli Kitchen takeouts and Biergarten in Royal Palm Place has now added La Nouvelle Maison. It’s in the 5 Palms Building, 455 E. Palmetto Park Road, just three blocks west of the old house.
As for La Vieille Maison, the property proved more valuable than the food, so after 30 years, founder Leonce Picot sold it in 2006 for $2.6 million.
Thomas Giles, an engineer for Boca creator Addison Mizner, had built the old house in 1927 and after the family sold it in 1953, it was converted to apartments, then into a real estate office. Picot sold it to 770 PPR, a trust owned by developer Gregory K. Talbott. The building and Talbott’s financing fell into disrepair and after subsequent bankruptcy litigation, the property passed to TJCV, a New York-based Land Trust. Proposals to landmark the building were resisted because of its condition and finally squelched when it was bulldozed in 2011.   
The grapevine is again abuzz. The website chabad.org reports that the land was bought by Irving Litwak, a Boca Raton businessman and philanthropist and will be the site of Chabad Center of East Boca Raton.
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In a whirlwind 15 months, 3rd and 3rd, which is at the corner of Northeast Third Street and Third Avenue, became one of the hottest little restaurant/bars in Delray Beach. Then on May 30, owner John Paul Kline announced that the restaurant would be closing the next day to “maintain ourselves” and reportedly make some renovations before reopening in September.
There was a time in South Florida when many restaurants closed for the summer. The tourists were gone and itinerant staffers would relocate to gigs in the Northeast for the season. Such was the case at Testa’s in Palm Beach, but it’s now open year-round, because the summer business is decent and the owners don’t want to lose good staff.
Kline already has gone through several chefs, the newest coming on board only a few weeks before he shut down. Staffers, who don’t like being out of work for three or four months, reportedly signed on elsewhere. But Kline may have an ulterior motive.
Brave Man Media, a Delray Beach-based production company, has announced plans to shoot a movie, After Midnight, in August and September throughout Palm Beach County, but primarily at the long-closed Arts Warehouse and the newly closed 3rd and 3rd.  Nothing specific, except that the story is set in 1972, when nothing, absolutely nothing, was happening in Delray. Stay tuned.
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Someone in the food and beverage business, however, has found a job. That would be Bill Blakeman. From 1990 until it closed in 2000, he managed the Colony Wine & Liquor Shoppe in Delray. Then he went to work for a wine wholesaler — his territory primarily Delray, with a regular stop at Caffe Luna Rosa.
Now it’s permanent. On Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, he’s Luna Rosa’s evening host.
“From the front of the house to the back of the house, there’s an amazing chemistry,” he said. “It’s like synchronized swimming in a restaurant.”
So, too, for the guests, apparently, as he’s already recognized several dozen diners who were customers at The Colony.
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Maybe some of those 3rd and 3rd folks will find some temp work at two Delray Beach street parties – at Tastemakers of Delray or On the Ave.
Tastemakers, from 5 to 10 p.m.  Aug. 7 and 8,  offers a $30 passport that allows guests to sample specialties and beverages from 13 restaurants: 50 Ocean, Cabana El Ray, Caffe Luna Rosa, Deck 84, DIG, El Camino, FYI Yogurt, LemonGrass, Mussel Beach, The Office, Solita, Vic and Angelo’s and Ziree. The passports can be bought at the participating eateries and also include special dining promotions at each for three months.
With a “Back to Cool” theme, On the Ave runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Aug 21 at Elizabeth Wesley Plaza at Southwest Fifth Avenue. On the bill: Entertainment by Double Trouble, Drew Tucker and Plaid Blazer; food trucks and children’s activities. No passport required.
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Goodbye, hello, Part 1: Prime, a fixture on Atlantic Avenue for years, has moved, too, but only around the corner.  Owners Steven Pellegrino Sr. and Jr., decided to combine operations with their nightclub Il Bacio on Southeast Second Avenue. Order up a steak or a choice lobster in the supper club, then head out to the courtyard for a little jazz.    
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Goodbye, hello, Part 2: Sometime in September, Delux will turn to Honey. Gone is the high-energy, decibel-saturated hangout, to be replaced by, as co-owner Scott Frelich tells it, a “sexy, intimate, and beautiful club” like never before in Delray Beach, a new standard for mood, music and service.
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Goodbye, hello, Part 3: Bizarre Ave. Cafe is now The Island Restaurant & Lounge.  
A Lake Worth dining destination for more than a decade, its demise was, to say the least, bizarre in its haste, although recent online reports suggest that quality had slipped drastically. In its place, The Island arrived almost as mysteriously as its predecessor departed. Mysterious as voodoo. A splash of Spanish Main, a jigger of rum, a coconut conundrum: The folks running the place want to bring some real “island life” to the west shore of Lake Worth with a truly pan-Caribbean menu and live music.
Managing director Celeste Marcks is a lawyer who lives in Hypoluxo. But the “island life force” is provided by entrepreneur Blair Webb, who hails from the island of Dominica. “This will be totally different than any other island-style restaurant in South Florida,” said Webb, who claims formal culinary training in Provence. “We’re offering Caribbean fusion, lots of fruits and seafood, all fresh, every day, lunch and dinner.”   
And live music every night: reggae Sunday, jazz Monday, then Latin, pride, ladies, Caribbean and club on Saturday.  
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What a surprise! After Steven Maklansky was sacked as executive director of the Boca Raton Museum of Art last winter, the museum’s board named Irvin Lippman as interim director and also as chairman of the search committee to find a new boss. Lippman had excellent credentials, having run the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art until he retired in 2012.
So much for retirement. On July 14, “Interim” was dropped from Lippman’s title. His goals: “Bring a larger and more diverse audience to our Art School, offer more opportunities for local artists to meet and share their talents through our Artists Guild, and make sure that the museum is a forum for dialogue, conversation, and self-education.”  
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In just two seasons with the Washington Redskins, Alfred Morris, an unheralded running back out of Florida Atlantic University, has attracted considerable attention. He was the No. 4 rusher in the NFL last year, selected for the Pro-Bowl and rewarded with a four-year, $2.2-million contract.
His car of choice? “Bentley.” . . . No, not that British symbol of excess. Bentley is his pet name for his 1991 Mazda 626. Morris may be only 25, but his advice to “Drive a Safe, Practical Car” scores the lead-off TD in a feature titled 10 Frugal Habits of the Rich and Famous, on the website for the American Association of Retired Persons, better known as AARP.
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Off the gridiron, FAU students are making noise, too!  Sean Darch is majoring in commercial music; Chris Bazelais is majoring in political science with a commercial music minor. Under their stage names, Sean Dough and Chris Felix, they won the 2014 American Songwriting Award for best hip-hop song. Bazelais wrote the music and Darch the lyrics to Change Your Mood, originally released  on CompOWLation Volume 3 by FAU’s Hoot/Wisdom Recordings L.L.C. The song was produced, mixed and recorded in the campus studio.
The American Songwriting Awards is the most prominent international competition recognizing songwriters, both known and unknown.

Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Contact him at thomsmith@ymail.com.