By Steve Plunkett

Former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s felony trial will not start before next year.

His defense attorney, Marc Shiner, and Assistant State Attorney Danielle Grundt both agreed this month to the postponement — the trial’s third delay. Circuit Judge Charles Burton rescheduled the case for February 2018.

Shiner also complained that Police Officer Nubia Plesnik’s lawyer, Richard Slinkman, has made it impossible for him to conduct a crucial deposition.

Plesnik, one of the arresting officers, filed a civil lawsuit against Lucibella claiming he intentionally pushed and injured her. That means Slinkman “is not a party” to the criminal case and can only make objections if a question infringes on attorney-client privilege.

“Slinkman repeatedly objected on numerous other grounds,” Shiner said. “He interrupted the proceedings to the point that it was not possible to proceed with the deposition.”

Shiner is asking the judge to prohibit Slinkman from attending the deposition or order him to follow court rules on objections.

Lucibella, 64, is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence — both felonies — and a misdemeanor count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. He has pleaded not guilty.

Plesnik, fellow Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s home Oct. 22, 2016, after neighbors heard gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.

They later determined the confiscated handgun belonged to Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, their supervisor, who was with Lucibella during the incident. Both men were “obviously intoxicated,” they said.

Lucibella’s criminal trial was originally set to being in April, then pushed back to June and then October to give Grundt and Shiner time to question all the witnesses.

Burton will have a calendar call on the case Feb. 9.

The Coastal Star will be photographing the King Tides in October/November and sharing photographs from our coastal communities.

As you see flooding in your neighborhood, we hope you'll share your photos as well.

Please send to news@thecoastalstar.com.

We will update this gallery as photos are received.

    King tides is the nonscientific term for the highest tides of the year, according to the NOAA website. The king tides will occur again at 8:41 a.m. Nov. 5 and 9:32 a.m. Nov. 6.

Oct. 4

A jogger makes his way down the beach in Ocean Ridge as rough waves and wind kick up foaming conditions at high tide.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Sweetwater Lane in coastal Boca Raton floods during the King Tide. Photo provided by Jessica Gray

Oct. 5

A woman looks around a recently built duplex at the border of Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes to see if it’s possible to continue her walk down the beach.  She chose not to continue. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

King Tide conditions in the parking lot of the Boynton Beach Marina block access to the Banana Boat restaurant. Tim Stepien /The Coastal Star

Brooks Lane in southern Delray Beach is flooded by the rising King Tide. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

This home on Brooks Lane in Delray Beach is surrounded by water during the King Tide.  Tim Stepien /The Coastal Star

The Lady K Drift boat appears to be sitting in the flooded parking lot of Sportsman Park in Lantana.  Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

Oct. 6

Boca Raton resident Ralph Marazzo uses a towel to dry out the rear foot-well of his rental car parked at the west end of Sweetwater Lane in Boca Raton. Not only did the high water created by the annual King Tides drench the inside of the car, it also shorted out the battery.  Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

The Intracoastal Waterway spills over the seawall at Veterans Park in Delray Beach. The city recently began replacing the seawall and docks at the park. Michelle Quigley/The Coastal Star

The Lady Atlantic cruises past Deck 84's flooded docks along the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach. Michelle Quigley/The Coastal Star

Marine Way along the Intracoastal Waterway sees some of the worst flooding in Delray Beach. Looking north (above) and south (below.) Michelle Quigley/The Coastal Star

Water overflowing from a storm drain flows around piles of Hurricane Irma's debris on NE 1st Court in Delray Beach. Michelle Quigley/The Coastal Star

Lake Boca Raton crested over the sea wall and breached the Por La Mar neighborhood in Boca Raton (above) giving mullet and other marine life access to the streets and yards of homes (below). Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

The north end of Marine Way in Delray Beach during the October King Tide. Photo provided by Eugenia Deponte

Related story: A Line in the Sand: At issue is whether building should continue east of the Coastal Construction Control Line

By Steve Plunkett

    The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District is considering dusting off its power of eminent domain to block construction on the beach of a four-story house and a four-story duplex.
    District officials also would negotiate with the owners of two long-occupied, neighboring properties, seeking to raze the structures and connect the undeveloped parcels to Ocean Strand, 15 acres stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway they have been saving for a future park.
    The vacant parcels are 2500 N. Ocean Blvd., which has permission from the state but not yet the city to build a four-story residence east of the Coastal Construction Control Line, and 2600 N. Ocean. The city is awaiting a final report from its environmental consultant on the duplex planned at 2600 N. Ocean.
    The district also has its eyes on a duplex at 2330 N. Ocean Blvd. Longtime resident Al Petruzzelli lives in the northern side; Philip Gori, who lives in the Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club, owns the southern half.
    Petruzzelli’s nephew David, who lives on nearby Lago Mar Lane, said his uncle was not aware of the district’s proposal and that the property has been in the family for more than 70 years.
“I don’t think his position has changed at all,” David Petruzzelli said. “He is not a willing seller.”
Lawyer Keith Poliakoff, who represents Natural Lands LLC, owner of 2500 N. Ocean Blvd., said the state found its proposal will have no environmental impacts and his client has the “absolute legal right” to develop the parcel.
“In the event that the [district] attempts to ‘take’ this property, my client will not hesitate to protect its legal rights,” Poliakoff said. “The [district] will have the herculean effort to demonstrate that this taking has a legitimate public purpose or necessity.”
Boca Raton City Manager Leif Ahnell sparked the discussion on eminent domain, calling it “an option available to acquire properties for public use, when there is not a willing realistic seller.”
    “As you know, the city has a strong desire to preserve oceanfront properties in the city for public use,” Ahnell wrote in a late August email.
    District commissioners asked Arthur Koski, their executive director and lawyer, to investigate the process. At their Sept. 5 meeting he reported “significant pre-suit requirements” must be met, chief among them getting an appraisal of each parcel and sending it along with a notice of intent to the owner.
    Then both sides negotiate, with the district filing a lawsuit to condemn the property only if they cannot settle on a price.
    “If there’s going to be a fight over it, that’s what the fight will be — over the valuation,” Koski said.
    The district also must show a need to take ownership of the property, “which could very well be the simple desire to acquire beachfront property or the preservation of the dune, protection of A1A,” Koski said.
    Beach and Park Commissioner Susan Vogelgesang worried about the occupied parcel.
    “One of these properties does have a home on it,” she said. “How does that work? Do you condemn it and just move the poor person out of his home?”
    Koski said one solution would be for the district to take title but agree to let the property owner stay in the home for the rest of his life.
    “I am in favor of doing whatever can be done to acquire those properties,” said Golden Harbour resident Al Zucaro, who leads the BocaWatch website. “The beach is important, it needs to be preserved, and the general sentiment that I’m aware of across the board in the city of Boca Raton is that it’s a travesty that buildings are going to be built on the beach.”
    Because 2500 N. Ocean and 2600 N. Ocean are undeveloped, they would be subject to a “quick taking,” in which the district takes possession of the properties and a jury sets their value afterward. The district has the power of eminent domain in its 1974 enabling legislation, but has never used it.
    Mayor Susan Haynie asked the district in December 2015 to investigate buying any undeveloped beachfront parcels a week after she and the rest of the City Council reluctantly granted a zoning variance allowing the home at 2500 N. Ocean to be built. That same month furious residents formed the Boca Save Our Beaches group to fight the proposal.
    The state issued 2500 N. Ocean a “notice to proceed” in October 2016, ruling that the project would not “weaken, damage or destroy the integrity of the beach and dune system.” 

Working day and night Sept. 11-17

ABOVE: Linemen work to restore power at the intersection of A1A and Ridge Boulevard in Ocean Ridge.  Many crews worked 12 to 16 hours a day to restore power.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

BELOW: These linemen from Toronto drove 1,500 miles in 17 trucks to restore power in Highland Beach. In one day, the 23 men put an end to a week of no electricity. Residents delivered doughnuts, sandwiches and cookies to the workers.
Photo by Peggy Gossett-Seidman

Related Stories: Majority of turtle nests had hatched before Hurricane Irma arrived | Libraries provide refuge after storm | Delray ponders changes after residents don’t get message to save water | Irma blows beach project off projected timeline

More photos from the storm: Sept. 11 |Sept. 12| Sept. 13 & 14 | Briny Breezes aerial | Photos from our readers

By Henry Fitzgerald

    That was a close call.
    After Hurricane Irma glanced off the northern coast of Cuba and headed north toward South Florida on Sept. 9, it appeared we were going to get clobbered.
    But it jogged west, with the eye doing major damage to parts of the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of more than 130 mph.
It then struck the Naples/Fort Myers area as a Category 3, sparing us on the East Coast the brunt of the devastating hurricane-force winds, flooding rain and storm surge.  
    More than 520,000 power outages were reported in Palm Beach County — 70 percent of FPL’s accounts there.
But as for damage, it was mostly shattered trees, uprooted shrubbery and minor damage to homes and condos.
Keep reading for synopses of what happened during the storm and what’s still going on in our South County coastal communities.

Before the storm Sept. 5-8

After hearing days of forecasts predicting major impact from Irma along our coast, some residents tried securing their homes by taping their windows and closing their blinds.

Briny Breezes residents meet with their board, mayor and police, who remind them the town is in a mandatory evacuation zone.

Brian Silverstein (left) and Phil Wotton, division chief for Delray Beach Ocean Rescue, work to disassemble Silverstein’s sailboat mast before Irma’s arrival.

Photos by Tim Stepien and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Boca Raton
    Although the city was spared the devastation that happened on Florida’s west coast, its beaches suffered some damage.
The storm eroded sand placed on the beach as part of the renourishment project and likely will cost millions to restore, said Coastal Program Manager Jennifer Bistyga. She added that the city’s dunes and the beaches were “deflated,” losing height and width.
    “You can see the sand bar just sitting offshore and I am confident some of the material lost will come back. Similar to Hurricane Sandy [in 2012], the loss of height on the beach is usually not recovered naturally by wave action, while the beaches will regain some of the width as the waves work the sand back onto the shore,” Bistyga said. “The recent beach renourishment project acted as it was supposed to. There were losses, but if we had not had the renourishment project, the beach conditions and the structures adjacent to the beaches would be in much worse shape.”

• • •

    Spanish River Park in particular had extensive damage, city spokeswoman Chrissy Gibson said. “The entrance to the tunnels [under A1A] could barely be found.”
Officials planned to reopen the northern portion of the park and its popular dog beach on Oct. 6, but the central and southern portions were to remain closed.
“It could be a few more weeks,” Gibson said.
Boca Raton contracted on a preliminary basis to spend $6.4 million on debris removal.
“That’s the initial. We expect these costs to escalate,” City Manager Ahnell told City Council members at the Sept. 26 meeting.
The city also spent $182,000 on emergency tarps, reconstruction of traffic lights, and food and supplies for emergency response employees.
Still to come are “significant” personnel overtime costs and other expenses, Ahnell said.
“We’re probably going to be in the $10 million-plus range for what was a fortunate sideswipe of a hurricane,” he said.
Most all of it should be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

• • •

Pilots and passengers hoping to take advantage of the new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility at Boca Raton Airport might have to wait a little longer, thanks to Irma.
    Already slightly behind schedule due to turnover in contractor West Construction’s field supervisors, the project suffered another setback when work had to be discontinued because of the storm.
    Originally scheduled to open in late summer, the new Customs facility is now projected to be ready for use by the public in late November or early December.
    “We expect the majority of work will be done by the middle of October,” said Boca Raton Airport Authority Executive Director Clara Bennett.
    Once substantial construction is done, teams will begin moving equipment in and putting final touches on the building.
    While the construction site fared well in the storm, some water did get into the building, causing minor damage to flooring, some of which will have to be replaced.
    Once it’s open, the new $4.3 million station will make it easier for air passengers — as well as boaters — coming from outside the country to clear Customs.
    Now, planes coming from outside the country planning to land at Boca Raton Airport must first stop at an airport with a station, such as Palm Beach International Airport or Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
    Overall, Boca Raton Airport suffered minimal damage and was open for use Sept. 11, the Monday after the storm. By the next day, tower operations returned to normal.
    The airport’s two service providers, which operated on generators while electricity was out, also resumed regular operations once power was restored.


Boynton Beach
    The city’s employees did an “amazing job with everything associated with Hurricane Irma,” Mayor Steven Grant said on Sept. 21.
    Because residents had three or four days’ warning prior to Irma, some placed sofas and other large items on the street for bulk pickup, along with tree trimmings and palm fronds. City workers couldn’t pick up all of the items before the storm, he said, leading to complaints from those residents after the storm.
    As soon as the winds were down to 40 mph or lower, city crews cleared a path through the debris to allow Florida Power & Light and its contractors to restore residents’ power, the mayor said.

• • •

    Jeff Livergood, the city’s public works director, said it would take between 45 and 60 days to pick up all of the hurricane debris. City crews began clearing the debris on Sept. 12. He estimates a total cost of $2.1 million.
    Residents should separate the vegetation debris from other storm debris, he said. They can bag the leaves, but the bags will be picked up later.
    In addition, the city spent $400,000 cleaning up its parks and golf course, according to Livergood. The city’s five waterfront parks, including Oceanfront Park, opened on Sept. 15, he said.
    City buildings sustained $100,000 in damage, Livergood said.
    The hurricane didn’t affect the Town Square plan, said Colin Groff, assistant city manager. Staff is on track to finish analyzing the plan in late October and have a presentation the commission can vote on in November, he said.

        Briny Breezes
    The majority of the town’s mobile homes were unaffected by Irma.
Town Council President Sue Thaler said she knew of only one resident who rode out the storm in his home. Most evacuated well ahead of Irma’s arrival.
    Thaler said the town was pleased by the constant presence of Boynton Beach police patrols during the event and the performance of Able Tree Service, the contractor charged with debris removal.
    “Able did a good job cleaning things up after the storm,” Thaler said.

During the storm – Sept. 9-10

Palms swayed in the wind Sept. 9 as Hurricane Irma approached Boynton Beach. This view looks east across the Intracoastal Waterway from Harry Woodworth’s backyard during one of the gusts. ‘Many times we could not see even the two boats less than 250 feet away!’ Woodworth said.

The Colony Hotel in Delray Beach proved to be a popular spot with people seeking shelter from Irma.  Not only is the historic building well built, it is pet-friendly.
Photos provided

Delray Beach
    The City Commission on Sept. 26 gave interim City Manager Neal deJesus approval to increase the rate paid to debris haulers in an effort to keep them working in the city.
    Gov. Rick Scott allowed the Florida Department of Transportation to hire debris-hauling contractors without going through a bidding process, de Jesus told city commissioners. Scott wanted to quicken the pace of hurricane debris cleanup in the Keys and Miami-Dade County.
    As a result, contractors left Palm Beach County cities where they were making $7 per cubic yard to earn as much as $18 per cubic yard hauling debris in Miami-Dade. The local AshBritt representative was paying the difference to keep his haulers in Delray Beach and other cities, but he now wanted to renegotiate the rate, deJesus said.
    Commissioners unanimously agreed to pay $14.50 per cubic yard with an added minimum of at least nine trucks initially, and then 15 trucks within 96 hours of signing the contract.
AshBritt wanted the extra money, Commissioner Shelly Petrolia said, but it could not agree to provide extra haulers. As a result, the city has only a few haulers picking up debris.
In addition at the Sept. 26 meeting, commissioners agreed to have haulers clear debris from the city’s gated communities. Normally, deJesus said, FEMA requires a pre-storm ordinance for it to reimburse cleanup on private property unless the agency thinks it poses a public-safety hazard.
    “It’s hazardous,” deJesus said.
    Residents in the gated communities need to move the debris into the swales for pickup, he said.
    He told commissioners the $1 million extra cost might not be recoverable, but they approved it anyway. The city could make a case that hauling costs also increased for other local and county governments.
    At the start of the meeting, two men who live in gated communities asked for the debris pickup because they are taxpayers and deserve this city service.

• • •

    Delray Beach fared OK during Hurricane Irma, Mayor Cary Glickstein said after Irma’s winds damaged trees and downed power lines.
    “I’m very pleased with how staff handled the pre-, during and post-storm activities,” he said. “We had no serious injuries.”
    The dune at the city’s beach did its job, said Rob Barron, the dune management consultant.
    “It doesn’t look pretty with all the seaweed and salt on it,” he said on Sept. 12, “but in another month, the plants will be thriving.”
    The seaweed helps to fertilize the plants, he said.
    Delray Beach staff started clearing debris at 2 a.m. Sept. 11, just after Irma swept through the city.
    “Nearly 75 percent of the city’s major arteries were blocked by storm debris,” deJesus told commissioners at a special meeting on Sept. 13. Public works, utilities and fire rescue staff worked in the wind and rain to trim trees and help clear a path through the storm debris to allow police and fire-rescue vehicles to respond to emergencies.
    Commissioners will further discuss the hurricane response at their Oct. 10 workshop.

After the storm – Sept. 11-12

The well-shuttered Gulf Stream Golf Club withstood the winds, but the tops of the club’s coconut trees were ravaged.

The historic Australian pines along A1A in Gulf Stream fared better than predicted, and town employees and police were on hand to clear the road.

Briny Breezes resident Phil McQuilling takes a break as he and his wife, Barb, try to get back into their mobile home.  The town’s tightly clustered mobile homes appeared relatively unscathed.

Days of turbulent seas suspended sand in the ocean water flowing through the Boynton Inlet.  One veteran police officer at the scene said the color reminded him of a mint milkshake.
Photos by Jerry Lower/
The Coastal Star

Gulf Stream
    Mayor Scott Morgan gave a heartfelt thank-you to police officers “for selflessly staying in this town, staying here in the Police Department, camped out in this commission meeting room and in offices throughout Town Hall, at a time when it appeared to be a very serious, destructive storm on its way.”
    Morgan, opening a rescheduled Town Commission meeting Sept. 18 after nearly a week without electricity, said the officers’ sacrifices were something he and all town residents “are very, very grateful for.”
    Town Manager Greg Dunham, who also stayed at Town Hall, agreed.
    “They were really working beyond what most people would ask of them, and they did it without any complaints,” Dunham said.

Objects akimbo – Sept. 11-12

Irma’s hurricane-force gusts had their way with everyday objects.

The cupola from a beach gazebo and sailboat found new locations along Old Ocean Boulevard in Ocean Ridge, and sand swallowed this chair (BELOW) in Gulf Stream.

The brick facade of the Ocean Lodge in Boca Raton tumbled during Irma.

Numerous tires settled on the beach in Highland Beach and Boca Raton.

Photos by Tim Stepien, Michelle Quigley and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star and Lois Haymes in Highland Beach

Highland Beach
    Town commissioners were hot under the collar — literally and figuratively — because residents in the influential southern portion of town didn’t get electricity restored until almost a full week after Irma.
    During a recent commission meeting, town leaders said they wanted to know why it took so long for power to be restored to the area, when other sections of the town had electricity much sooner.
    “I want answers,” said Vice Mayor Bill Weitz. “I want an executive from FPL to come to the town to explain why it took so long.”
    Weitz is one of several commissioners who were left without electricity until early Sept. 16, the Saturday after the storm.  
    Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker said she’d like to explore the feasibility of having underground lines for electricity, cable and telephone services.
    “I think it’s something we should investigate,” she said.
    In addition to the calls for action from commissioners, Town Manager Valerie Oakes sent a letter Sept. 21 to the town’s FPL account manager requesting a meeting to address specific questions regarding the status of a utility pole-hardening project and a tree-trimming project conducted by the power company.

• • •

    As  it raced up the Florida peninsula, Irma left a little bit of rubber in its tracks.
    Residents living along the coast in Highland Beach peered out their windows several days after the storm and saw dozens, maybe even hundreds, of tires scattered along the beach.
    Distributed with one here and one there, rather than in large groups, the tires appeared almost as if someone had placed them deliberately.
    “I was shocked to see all those tires on the beach,” said resident Lois Haymes.
    Where the tires came from is a bit of a mystery, although one of the most plausible theories is that they broke away from an abandoned artificial reef created in the 1970s off Fort Lauderdale’s beach.
    The reef, which included an estimated 700,000 tires, is being disassembled because it never quite lived up to expectations as a welcoming habitat for marine life and actually resulted in the destruction of natural habitat as loose tires scraped the ocean floor.
    Where some of the tires are going, however, is more certain.
    Clayton Peart, president of Universal Service Corp., which is contracted to clean private beach properties in Highland Beach as well as the Delray Beach public beach, said his teams had scooped up between 40 and 50 tires and taken them to the solid waste transfer station several days after the storm.
    In addition to whitewall tires and regular tires, some covered in barnacles, Peart’s crews found a set of large truck tires that might have come off a sea wall or a boat.
    Although Irma is long gone, it may be a while before all the tires are picked up, since it appears that more are being covered by the sand and may vanish from view until another strong wind blows through.

Hypoluxo Island/Lantana
    Immediately after the hurricane, Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart drove through the town, street by street, and gave this assessment:
 “I saw no damage to buildings, a lot of landscaping in disarray, and at the beach we lost part of the road.
    “We never lost water pressure and had only one sewer issue in our town.”
    While there was some flooding on the streets, including on Beach Curve Road on Hypoluxo Island, and at the parking lots at the boat docks, Stewart said it was less than during the king tides.
    “We all really dodged a bullet,” he said. “I was really proud of staff, they went out at 2 a.m. and cleared roads so emergency vehicles could pass. It was very good that the county set up a curfew before and after. We could get where we needed to go without having sightseers.”
    The beach reopened and has more sand than it did before the storm, according to Councilman Ed Shropshire.
    Volunteers helped clear vegetation in Lantana parks, including the Nature Preserve, which should be back in shape for the annual Halloween party on Oct. 20.
    Municipal offices were open Sept. 11 after the hurricane, and both the Town Council meeting and budget hearing were held as scheduled. Attendance at both meetings was slim, although all five council members were there.

• • •

    The Carlisle retirement community on Ocean Avenue in Lantana had power Sept. 13 following Irma and had staffers working to dry out apartments on the east side of the building that had water damage. Also, a few trees limbs littered the east parking area.
    Residents were able to return starting Sept. 14.

Manalapan
    Town Manager Linda Stumpf said damage was minimal, though some residents had to wait 10 days after the storm to get their power restored.
“We lucked out,” Stumpf said. “There was no major damage, most of the people here evacuated and there was no problem with curfews.”

Ocean Ridge
    Police Chief Hal Hutchins estimated that somewhere from 10 percent to 20 percent of the town’s permanent residents ignored calls to evacuate the island during Irma and rode out the storm in their homes.
    That was more than enough people to keep Hutchins’ department busy. The chief said his dispatchers were answering about 400 calls during their 10-hour shifts as Irma blew through, roughly 20 times the usual rate.
    Often the calls were mostly about making a human connection and getting the reassurance that someone was on duty to respond in case the worst happened — which Hutchins and his officers were.
    “Considering how many new residents we had here,” the chief said, “I think we did as well as we could.”
    Hutchins said he drew on nearly four decades of law enforcement experience to help guide the town through the storm.
    He stationed officers and employees in Town Hall the day before Irma hit so they’d be rested, in place and ready to go when the storm arrived. Two of his officers, one from Ohio and another from Connecticut, had never been close to a hurricane before, the chief said, so preparation was especially important for them.
    Hutchins coordinated street patrol strategy with neighboring police departments to ensure access to bridges was controlled. And after Irma passed and the bridges opened, he made what seemed an unusual request to Boynton Beach officials.
    “It’s something I’ve never done before,” Hutchins said.  “I called Boynton and told them they should come and open their park. People needed a place to go, and I didn’t need them to be driving around. I could corral them in the park.”
    With Boynton’s Oceanfront Park open, residents from both sides of the bridge who had been hunkering down for days had somewhere safe to go to release stress.
    Though Irma was a pain, the town had no significant incidents of human misbehavior or injury, and property damage was minimal.
    “You fly by the seat of your pants,” Hutchins said. “I was pleased with the way things came out.”
    Hutchins and his department won unanimous praise from the Town Commission during its meeting Sept. 19, and so did Town Manager Jamie Titcomb.
    “Jamie was always here,” Commissioner Gail Aaskov said. “He was working his butt off the whole time. I think we all appreciate that. I think he did a tremendous job.”

Restoring order – Sept. 11-17

Crews remove debris from Cocoanut Road in Boca Raton more than a week after Hurricane Irma passed.

Omar Gonzalez picks up tree limbs and other debris at the Mayfair House condominium in South Palm Beach.
Tim Stepien and Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

South Palm Beach
    Police Chief Carl Webb said the town “fared very well” during the storm and the beaches actually looked better after it.
    “It looks like the beaches gained some sand,” Webb said, “though it probably will blow back out.”
    The chief said he was pleased that residents took Irma more seriously than last year with Hurricane Matthew, when many ignored calls to evacuate.
    “A lot less folks stayed this time,” he said.

Enjoying the aftermath – Sept. 15

A surfer takes to the waves south of the Lake Worth Pier after Hurricane Irma had passed. Tom Warnke/The Coastal Star

Getting assistance
    For those who suffered damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Boynton Beach at the Carolyn Sims Center, 225 NW 12th Ave. It is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Representatives from multiple government agencies are available to answer questions or help people apply for assistance.
    People who need help may also register for FEMA assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362. For hearing-impaired people or those with speech disabilities who use a TTY, call 800-462-7585.
 Help is available in most languages, and information on the registration process is available in ASL at: www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/videos/111546.

    Willie Howard, Sallie James, Dan Moffett, Steve Plunkett, Rich Pollack, Jane Smith and Mary Thurwachter contributed to this report.

SEPT. 15: On the morning of his release, a loggerhead turtle, named George Bush by his rescuers, swims in a holding tank at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

    On the Friday after Hurricane Irma’s assault on Palm Beach County — a morning so wonderfully blue and breezy you almost needed those fallen trees to convince you it had really happened — a white Ford Explorer left the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton and headed south to a private dock in Lighthouse Point.
    Riding in the back was a 206-pound loggerhead turtle named George Bush.
    Compared with what that turtle had already been through, it turned out the hurricane wasn’t that big a deal to him.

• • •

     Nearly four months earlier, about 8 o’clock on Sunday morning, May 28, two paddle-boarders had been resting maybe 300 yards off Delray Beach, when a stranger joined them.
    Will Vacha and Bryan Rydzewski are old friends and ardent oceangoers.
    “The north end of Delray Beach is our home,” Vacha recalled. “We were just sitting on our boards talking when this turtle came up to us and surfaced and stayed there, checking us out.”
    Vacha spotted a trail of blue fishing line dangling from the turtle’s left front flipper. They had no tools, but using the key to Vacha’s truck, Rydzewski was able to cut some of the line free.
    The turtle sank to the ocean floor and stayed there.
    “He’s pretty weak,” Rydzewski told Vacha. “He’s probably not going to move and eventually he’ll be prey to something bigger.”
    Rydzewski adjusted his goggles, swam down and helped the turtle to the surface once more. As they debated what to do, Vacha spotted two jet skiers approaching. A pair of pliers was offered and still more line removed.
    Now Vacha and Rydzewski tried to lift the turtle onto a paddleboard.
    “Not knowing much about sea turtles, I was impressed that he wasn’t aggressive at all,” Vacha said.
    After failing to get the turtle to ride the board, Rydzewski decided they should swim him to shore. As he pushed the turtle from behind, Vacha paddled alongside.
    “He’s not fighting me at all,” Rydzewski said.
    “We would rest every couple of feet, but at no point did it seem he was trying to get away,” Vacha recalled. “He was very cooperative.”
    On shore they flagged down Sgt. Bernard O’Donnell of the Gulf Stream Police Department, patrolling on his ATV. Joan Lorne, a longtime volunteer turtle monitor, happened by and called for help.
    “While we were waiting, we were able to really look at the damage done,” Vacha said, “and it wasn’t just a single line. A steel cable had wrapped itself around his armpit, basically.”
    Whitney Crowder, the turtle rehabilitation coordinator at Gumbo Limbo, was home in Boca Raton when the call came. She and her husband, Andrew, a marine biologist, drove up to Delray Beach. They loaded the loggerhead into the back of O’Donnell’s four-wheel ATV and went as far as the Sandoway Discovery Center, where they transferred the turtle to Crowder’s Toyota.
    Caitlin Bovery, also a rehab coordinator, met them in the Gumbo Limbo parking lot. The turtle was lifted onto a gurney and wheeled into the rehabilitation area. Dr. Maria Chadam, the center’s primary veterinarian for the past six years, was on the way.
    The badly injured turtle had no name at that point. But he had been rescued almost directly off George Bush Boulevard.

MAY 28: Will Vacha and Bryan Rydzewski coax the loggerhead to the beach so others can deal with his injured flipper. Photo provided by Joan Lorne

(l-r) Caitlin Bovery, Ali Courtemanche, Taylor Roe and Avion Gourdeen use a crash cart to wheel George Bush from the parking lot to the treatment center at Gumbo Limbo. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Andrew Crowder and his son Finlee watch as veterinarian Dr. Maria Chadam, Courtemanche and Roe work to remove the fishing line tangled around George Bush’s flipper (below). Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

• • •

    When George Bush arrived at Gumbo Limbo, he weighed 190 pounds and was estimated to be about 20 years old, a young adult. A healthy loggerhead can live to be 80.
    The admittance notes said, “Lethargic. Severe entanglement around left shoulder. Prognosis on flipper poor.”
    An X-ray of the left flipper found no broken bones, and Chadam was able to remove all the fishing line, but the deep cuts had become infected.
    “This is a very lucky turtle,” Crowder reported a day or two later. “If we didn’t get him in when we did, he would definitely have lost his flipper.”
    She spoke too soon.
    By Tuesday, June 6, about 75 percent of the flipper had become infected and a wound culture found a flesh-eating bacteria attacking it.
    The turtle was transferred to the Palm Beach Zoo, where Chadam performed a partial amputation, which took about an hour.
    “A full amputation is a lot more invasive and difficult,” she explained. “We’re trying to save some part of his limb for help with steering, but we worry about the infection getting into the shoulder and bone and joint.”

     Five weeks later, on July 11, he was back at the zoo for a second operation.
    “The tissue had died off too much,” Chadam said.
    The second operation, to remove the entire flipper and humerus bone, took two hours because a loggerhead’s muscles are so firmly attached, the tendons and ligaments so tough that cutting through them takes time.
    “These guys are built like a pit bull,” Chadam said. “I must have dulled three scissors.”
    George Bush was put under a general anesthetic and a tube was placed in his trachea, then attached to a breathing machine while the remaining flipper and bone were removed.
    “He doesn’t like me too much now,” Chadam said when Bush was back in his tank and recuperating at Gumbo Limbo. “I’m the one who looks at his wounds and does things he doesn’t like. They’re not smart, but they’re instinctively intelligent.”
    A turtle can navigate with only three flippers, she said. “But he may have trouble mating. They use their front flippers to hold on to the female.”

JULY 11: George Bush undergoes a second surgery, for a full amputation of the wounded flipper. The PVC pipe in his mouth protected the breathing machine tube that kept him going. Photo provided by Caitlin Bovery 

     On Friday, July 28, the sutures came out.
    “He still has a bit to go with the healing process,” Chadam reported, “but he did eat one squid, so he’s feeling better.”
    Through it all, George Bush was treated with antibiotics. His wounds were flushed with chlorhexidine, a disinfectant and antiseptic. Raw honey, a natural antibiotic, antimicrobial and antifungal, was applied.
    Slowly he recovered. He ate. He began to move about his tank. He weighed 206 pounds now.
    Finally, Chadam pronounced him well enough to go home. After nearly four months at the rehab center, George Bush would return to the sea on Friday, Sept. 15.
    And then Hurricane Irma struck.
   

JULY 28:  Dr. Maria Chadam removes sutures from George Bush’s surgery. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
 
• • •

    “The turtles are going to be evacuated,” Crowder announced. “It’s going to be exhausting.”
    On Friday, Sept. 8, as residents wondered just where in Florida Irma would strike, the staff at Gumbo Limbo loaded up seven patients, including George Bush and a second loggerhead named Kraken, and drove them to the city’s Sugar Sand Park, well inland on Military Trail.
    The smaller turtles were each placed in a tub in a large, windowless room. Nearby, a plywood corral was constructed for the two big loggerheads. A board down the middle kept them apart.
    “We separate them because the males will kill each other,” Chadam said matter-of-factly. “They’re very mean.”
    Gumbo Limbo survived without any major damage, and on Monday afternoon, George Bush and his fellow evacuees returned to the center.
    Four days later, he was in the back of that Ford Explorer and on the way home.
    He was not alone, however.
    Following the Explorer was a white Ford minivan with thousands — thousands! — of hurricane refugees inside.

• • •

    When Hurricane Irma struck, the waves off our coast were alive with hatchlings, newborn turtles, not 3 inches long, swimming like mad for the weed line, those thick islands of floating sargassum eight or 10 miles out.
    The weeds mean safety. The brown algae provides a camouflage against predators. The tiny shrimp and crabs that lurk there provide a meal.
    “It’s called washback,” Caitlin Bovery said. “When the hurricane struck, they all got kicked back onshore by the storm surge. The fact that they’re even alive now is amazing.”
    After the storm, Gumbo Limbo got a call from the state Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Dedicated volunteers from New Smyrna Beach to Boca Raton had been gathering the stranded hatchlings off their beaches. Could the center help these hurricane refugees finally reach the weed line?
    The collected hatchings were delivered and inventoried, placed in 15 plastic bins and loaded into the minivan.
    On that sparkling Friday morning after Irma, two Gumbo Limbo vans set out for Lighthouse Point, bearing 2,523 baby turtles and one big loggerhead with only three flippers.

• • •

    Capt. Tom Campbell is a retired marine engineer with a 38-foot fishing boat called the Sand Dollar and an even bigger heart.
    He is volunteering his boat today without charging Gumbo Limbo. He never does.
    On board are Chadam, Whitney Crowder, Caitlin Bovery and the center’s rehab technicians Rebecca Mannen and Emily Mirowski, along with some family and friends.
The hatchling bins are stacked in the bow and George Bush at the stern, resting on a canvas tarp with straps for easy lifting.
    “It’s super flat today,” Capt. Tom says as the Sand Dollar passes a 60-foot yacht that’s been tossed on its side by the storm.
Once through the inlet, he blasts the radio, The Beach 102.7, rock sounds loud enough to be heard above the engines.
    The Sand Dollar bounds over the waves, then slows to a purr at the third reef out, a mile offshore.
    At 11 a.m., Chadam,  Mirowski, Mannen and Capt. Tom’s friend Carmine Genovese each take a strap and lift George Bush to the side of the boat.
    “One! Two! Three!” someone calls, and George Bush is gone, sliding into the murky water and disappearing beneath the waves without so much as a goodbye wave.

SEPT. 15: In 70 feet of water near a hospitable reef, George Bush is released over the side of Tom Campbell’s boat and is home again.| Video

Photos and Video by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

    A half-hour later, the boat is nearly 8 miles offshore. The tower of the Boca Raton Resort & Club is a tiny pink finger against the blue sky, and the sargassum is thick here.
    Chadam, Bovery and a half dozen others leap into the sea and tread water as the bins are handed overboard, floating like small plastic lifeboats on the waves.
    The rescuers gather round and place the hatchlings on the surface and watch them paddle frantically toward the weeds. Handful after handful until all 2,523 babies are in the water, in the weeds, home.
    “That’s it!” And a cheer erupts.
    They climb back aboard, and as Capt. Tom steers the Sand Dollar toward land, his radio starts blasting Celebration, by Kool & The Gang.

SEPT. 15: After the crew released loggerhead George Bush near shore for easy access to a safe reef, the boat traveled nearly 8 miles offshore from Boca Raton for the next release. These greens were among more than 2,500 turtle hatchlings released near mats of floating sargassum. Hatchlings naturally seek out sargassum for cover and food.  

Five of the seven species of sea turtles were represented in this release. Clockwise from the smallest one at top: loggerhead, hawksbill, green, Kemp’s ridley and leatherback. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

• • •

    On the trip back to Lighthouse Point, Chadam sits at the stern in a floppy straw hat and dark sunglasses, watching in silence as the weed line shrinks in the distance.
    What are the chances the hatchlings will make it, she is asked.
    Well, she says, the experts estimate that only one out of every 1,000 sea turtles survives to adulthood.
    Predators get them. Hurricanes get them. Blue fishing lines get them.
    Of the 2,523 baby turtles they’ve just released, she says, only two or three will live to be as old as George Bush.

By Rich Pollack

It’s official — Highland Beach residents will have a chance in March to give town leaders the green light to spend as much as $2.1 million to replace a 3-mile-long walking path and improve surrounding areas.
Details of what that $2.1 million would pay for, however, are still not final since the scope of the plan needs to be fine-tuned and the overall project would require Florida Department of Transportation approval.
“The referendum in March is just to approve the money,” said Mayor Carl Feldman. “Once that happens, we’ll have public meetings to determine the specifics of what will be in the project.”
Following three months of discussion, the town’s Ad Hoc Citizens Streetscape Committee recommended a conceptual plan, which includes spending close to $1 million to replace the aging asphalt sidewalk on the west side of State Road A1A with a 5-foot-wide, decorative-concrete walking path.
The committee also recommended replacing gateway entrance signs on the north and south ends of town, and adding new signage, lighting and about $350,000 worth of landscaping. In addition, the recommendation includes the installation of four, 12-foot decorative posts for street signs that would include the town’s logo.
In its report to the commission, the committee suggested the town spend $109,300 as well on pedestrian-activated flashing crosswalk signs that would be installed at each of eight crosswalks along State Road A1A.
During an Oct. 3 commission meeting, however, commissioners agreed to pull the solar-powered crosswalk lighting measure from the streetscape project and instead set the wheels in motion to get town staff working on it sooner.
The decision was made to have the town attorney draft a resolution allowing the staff to expend funds for a crosswalk lighting project pending approval by FDOT.
Commissioners approved — via a 4-1 vote with Commissioner George Kelvin dissenting — after more than half a dozen residents spoke out in favor of doing something as soon as possible to improve safety at crosswalks.
Residents cited several near misses and said motorists often fail to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
“This is an accident waiting to happen,” said resident Marilyn Morgan. “We need solar powered lighting.”
Also speaking out in favor of getting the lights in places as quickly as possible were Commissioners Elyse Riesa and Rhoda Zelniker.
“It’s time to get the crosswalk lighting done,” Zelniker said.
Once the commission approves a resolution expending funds for the project, town staff would begin determining costs for the flashing yellow pedestrian-activated lights at crosswalks.
The resolution, if approved, would also make it possible for staff to begin collecting bids for the project.
Even though the town is willing to foot the cost of putting up the crosswalk lights, which would be on either side of A1A, Feldman warned there’s no guarantee they will be put up quickly.
Approval for those lights would have to come from FDOT, which has oversight of any improvements on state rights of way. The existing 3-mile-long sidewalk/walking path is in that right of way as are all of the other improvements in the streetscape plan.
“This is not going to be a cakewalk,” Feldman said. “We can fight but the FDOT has the final say.”
Earlier this year, the state hired a consultant to conduct a road safety audit along State Road A1A in Highland Beach to determine if lighted signs were warranted. Following the audit, FDOT officials agreed to implement signs with flashing yellow lights at one location at the south end of town on a trial basis.  
That pilot project, which will measure pedestrian and motorist compliance before and after installation, is expected to begin in January.
With the crosswalk lighting issue pulled from the streetscape proposal, commissioners were able to come up with language for the referendum that will be presented to voters in March.
In the end, commissioners voted to include language in the referendum asking residents to allow the town to spend up to $2.1 million to fund streetscape improvements “consisting of constructing a new walk path, upgraded signage, landscaping, lighting and other similar accessories.”  
Highland Beach’s charter requires a referendum, or voter approval, to spend more than $350,000 on a single project. Because the cost of the crosswalk lighting project is expected to fall below the cap, the issue would not need to go before voters.

In other news, Highland Beach town officials are lending their support to a proposal by Zelniker to create an interfaith prayer service in conjunction with St. Lucy Catholic Church for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting as well as those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
“This is an opportunity for our town to come together and remember those who died, are injured and their families,” Zelniker said. “It’s a chance to renew our bonds as Americans and stand together.”
Town officials said they will communicate details of the service once they determine a time and date. 

By Mary Hladky

    Tri-Rail officials are launching a new study to evaluate a proposed second Tri-Rail station in Boca Raton, a step forward in station planning that started in 2007 when the commuter rail identified a possible location near Glades Road and Military Trail.
    The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates Tri-Rail, held “kickoff” meetings on Aug. 29 and 30 at the Spanish River Library to let the public and elected officials know about the study, possible station locations and a schedule for next steps.
    Developer Crocker Partners wants the new station, which would benefit its desire to create a large “live, work, play” development on a large area west of Interstate 95 and east of the Town Center at Boca Raton.
    Crocker envisions adding 2,500 residential units in an area where none now exists in a development where new residents would walk or take a shuttle to their jobs at nearby office buildings or retail stores, and head out after work to restaurants and nightlife.
    Tri-Rail could transport them around South Florida, while people who live elsewhere could ride the commuter train to the area to work, eat or shop.
    At the meetings, SFRTA officials showed seven possible station locations along the CSX railroad tracks from just north of Glades Road to just north of Palmetto Park Road. One parcel is owned by the city, another by the Florida Department of Transportation, and five are privately owned.
    Crocker owns four of those parcels, including the site of the former King’s Deli at Northwest 19th Street.
    SFRTA’s tentative timetable shows a project development and environment study taking place this year, followed by station design in 2018-19, right of way acquisition in 2018-21 and construction in 2022.
    A 2016 study determined that a new “kiss and ride” station with no parking lot is feasible and the approximately 1,000 weekday riders who are projected to use it is a sufficient number to support construction. The number of riders is expected to increase if Crocker builds new residential units.
    SFRTA, though, is not yet committed to building it.
    County Commissioner Steve Abrams, who chairs SFRTA’s governing board, said before the meetings that the station “probably would not be as high a priority” if Crocker doesn’t get approval to build.
    City Council member Andrea O’Rourke outlined a number of concerns at the Aug. 30 meeting.  The biggest, or the “elephant in the room,” she said, was the perception of some residents that SFRTA is considering a station largely because Crocker wants it and new residential units would boost ridership.
    “The perception is Midtown depends on the Tri-Rail station being built,” she said after the meeting. “Which came first, the chicken or the egg? That is the question in the community.”
    SFRTA officials said that the station was under consideration before Crocker first proposed Midtown about four years ago. Its possible location was first identified in 2007 and included in a long-range plan in 2008, SFRTA deputy executive director C. Mikel Oglesby said after the meeting.
    That led to funding by the state DOT and the county’s Metropolitan Planning organization. Those two agencies have made available $18.5 million so far.
    That amount wouldn’t cover all the costs of planning and building a station, Oglesby said. SFRTA is updating cost estimates and will have a better idea of how much more it will need next summer.
    Crocker Partners has floated the idea of donating land for the station. SFRTA officials confirm they were approached about this, but it was premature at the time to discuss the matter. They said they will do so when they have a firmer idea of where the station should be located.
    The busiest Tri-Rail station along its 72-mile line is the existing Boca Raton station at Yamato Road.

By Steve Plunkett

City Council members agreed to lend the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District $24 million for its planned purchase of the private Ocean Breeze golf course in the north end of the city.
At a Sept. 26 joint meeting, Arthur Koski, the district’s executive director, promised the acquisition would transform the property into “a public golf course with a private course atmosphere.”
The district will rename the course Boca Raton National, he said.
The city will issue municipal bonds to finance the purchase; the district will repay the city out of its property taxes. It is the same process the two governments used to buy the Ocean Strand and Sugar Sand Park properties.
The golf course, at 5801 NW Second Ave., weaves around the Boca Teeca condominiums. It was recently appraised at $22.7 million, a figure below the district’s negotiated purchase price with Lennar Homes LLC of $24 million.
The $1.3 million gap did not deter council members.
“This is your deal. We’re here in a supporting role,” Mayor Susan Haynie said.
Council member Scott Singer said the district is paying “a pretty penny” for Ocean Breeze.
“Please make it a pretty course,” he said. 

By Steven J. Smith

    BOCA RATON — Smashing glass ceilings was Adelaide Van Winkle’s specialty, as she made purposeful strides in her life at a time when most other women could only dream about such success.
“Adelaide was a person who meant what she said and did what she said she was going to do,” said her stepdaughter Linda Watkins. “She was a woman who followed through and was well liked by everyone because of that.”
    Adelaide (Shaffer) Van Winkle died at her Boca Raton home Aug. 27 after a brief illness. She was 100.
    Predeceased by her husband, Arthur, in 2001, she leaves behind a legacy of generosity, love and a determination to succeed, Watkins said.
    Mrs. Van Winkle was born in Hackensack, N.J., on Jan. 21, 1917, the only daughter of Louis and Adelaide Shaffer. Upon graduating from Hackensack High School in 1934, she attended Lasell College, and then Columbia University in 1941.
    “A dorm at Lasell was later named after her,” Watkins said, “because she had been so philanthropic to that college.”
    In 1946, Mrs. Van Winkle joined her father’s real estate firm and eventually became president and sole stockholder after he retired in 1971. Along the way, she recorded an impressive series of firsts: first woman president of the Central Bergen County Board of Realtors; first woman president of the New Jersey Association of Realtors; first woman vice president of the National Association of Realtors; first woman to hold the member appraisal institute designation of the Appraisal Institute, and the first woman to hold the senior property appraiser designation. In addition, Mrs. Van Winkle was the only woman director of the Garden State National Bank in New Jersey.
    “She was especially proud of her MAI designation,” Watkins said. “That’s like having your BA in real estate.”
    After retirement, the Van Winkles decided to winter in Boca Raton, away from their Mystic, Conn., home.
    “They loved Florida and the warm weather,” Watkins said. “And I think they liked the fact that there’s no state tax in Florida, which ultimately helped convince my mother to live in Boca full time by 2015.”
    Even as a snowbird in Boca Raton, Mrs. Van Winkle never let up in her pursuits to serve her new community.
    “She was president of the Women’s Club of Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club and president of the Sabal Ridge Condominium Association,” Watkins said. “In 2011, she was knighted by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, as dame of grace. They’re an extremely philanthropic organization that helps out needy, poor individuals. And it’s quite an honor to be asked to join them.”
    Watkins summed up Mrs. Van Winkle as a woman of many accomplishments who was held in high regard by everyone she met.
    “She was a consummate lady,” she said. “She is — and will be — greatly missed.”
    Mrs. Van Winkle is survived by her three stepchildren, Joan V.W. Cunningham, of Severna Park, Md.; Daniel H. Van Winkle (Elizabeth) and Linda V.W. Watkins (Thomas) of Mystic, Conn.; eight step-grandchildren and 12 step-great-grandchildren, and a cousin, John (Pat) Bennett of Manchester, Vt.
    Funeral services were held at the First Presbyterian Church of Hackensack on Sept. 9.

Members of the Boca Raton Garden Club are looking forward to opening their clubhouse and gardens to the public for their annual Holiday House from Nov. 3-5.
Anyone looking for unusual handmade decorations and gifts will find a complete and inexpensive selection, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas items.
     “We’d like everyone to come and shop — or just browse and enjoy the holiday atmosphere in both our clubhouse and surrounding garden,” said Holiday House chairperson Janine Savitch.
     The members have been handcrafting the gift items since June using natural materials such as palm fronds, pine cones and seashells.
    In addition to offering crafts, the members will host a sale of plants cultivated by their own “dirt gardeners,” who volunteer to maintain the club’s grounds.
The sale will include herbs, orchids, succulents and a wide variety of natives, said landscaping chairperson Carol Rice. Gardening tools, accessories and ornamental pieces also will be available for purchase.
    And it wouldn’t be the Holiday House sale without cookies, pies, quiche and cakes baked by club members. For the best selection, come early as the baked goods tend to sell out, said bake sale co-chairperson Mary Kaub.
    The Boca Raton club has been meeting for more than 60 years.
This event helps fund college scholarships, scout activities and garden therapy for Alzheimer patients as well as other programs. 

—  Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

 If You Go
What: Holiday House Crafts, Plants and Bake Sale
When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 3, 4 and 5.
Where: Boca Raton Garden Club Clubhouse & Gardens, 4281 NW Third Ave., Boca Raton
Information: 395-9376; www.bocaratongardenclub.org

By Sallie James

The Boca Raton Planning and Zoning Board recommended that the City Council approve a proposed ordinance requiring nursing homes to install permanent emergency generators that could power the facilities for up to 96 hours.

The measure, which the Planning and Zoning Board approved at its Oct. 5 meeting will now go to City Council for consideration.
The proposed ordinance comes just weeks after the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills in Broward County lost air conditioning for three days after Hurricane Irma and 12 residents died as a result of sweltering conditions.

It's unclear if any of the retirement facilities in the city were notified of the Planning and Zoning Board agenda item. A representative from Banyan Place assisted senior living said he learned of the meeting by chance and voiced concern over a requirement that a diesel generator be used instead of natural gas. Storing large amounts of diesel fuel would be costly and pose a safety hazard, he said.

Board member Kerry Koen said the ordinance needed additional vetting and agreed that retirement facilities should be included in the process.

One resident lauded the Planning and Zoning Board action, calling the measure "good governance" and "pro-active leadership."

Board member Larry Snowden said he felt a sense of urgency that the board move the measure forward, even if the council was to tweak the ordinance.
The generator requirement would apply to adult congregate living facilities, nursing homes and convalescent centers. The generators would have to be installed by June 2018.
The primary purpose of the proposed ordinance is to ensure the retirement facilities are “self-reliant in the event of an emergency such as a hurricane event where there could be an extended time period with a loss of power,” according to a city memo.

The annual affair organized by Bethesda Hospital Foundation will benefit the Center for Women & Children at Bethesda Health through the purchase of a state-of-the-art, realistic mother and baby birthing simulator. ABOVE: (l-r, seated) Yvonne Boice, Claudia Cabral, Jacqueline Moroco Maloney, (standing) Linda Heneks, Kirsten Stanley, Kimberley Trombly-Burmeister and Tammy Culmer. Photo provided by Downtown Photo

Andrew Chea, 17, plans to participate in the Buddy Walk with his brother, Nicholas, 9, and their father, Thomas Chea. More than 2,000 are expected to take part. Photo provided

By Amy Woods
    
The co-chairwoman of the 23rd-annual Buddy Walk has seen the event grow from a grassroots gathering of Gold Coast Down Syndrome supporters to an energetic event that draws upward of 2,000 from around the county.
    Daniela Chea, whose 17-year-old son, Andrew, has the disorder, said the walk has been a part of his life since he was a toddler.
    “He definitely knows that it’s for him and for people like him,” Chea said. “When I say, ‘You have to go to bed early because the Buddy Walk’s tomorrow,’ it’s no problem. He looks forward to it.”
    Chea became involved with the organization soon after moving to Boca Raton when Andrew was 2½. She volunteered as an outreach ambassador, going to churches and schools and recruiting participants.
She then took charge of refreshments — a big job in that the walk includes both a continental breakfast and a barbecue lunch.
    Now, she heads the whole thing.
    “I can’t miss it,” she said. “It is almost as important as my son’s birthday to me.”
    The walk is set for 8 a.m. Oct. 15 at John Prince Park in Lake Worth. The family-fun festival features a 1-mile walk and activities that include bounce houses, a dunk tank, face painting, a petting zoo, pony rides, a rock wall and youth games.
    There also will be dancing and entertainment, and a raffle and a silent auction.
    Princesses and superheroes will greet the little ones.
    “It’s just a very welcoming, warm walk,” Chea said. “The kids love it because they’re having a lot of fun and they’re supporting people with Down syndrome.”
    Proceeds benefit the nonprofit’s advocacy, education and social programs while promoting the abilities of those with Down syndrome.
    “A lot of people from the community support this walk,” executive director Anne Dichele said. “I have to say, really, the feedback is wonderful. It’s a pretty large walk, but when you come there, it’s like a cozy day. Even if you didn’t know a soul, you would feel immediately at home.”

If You Go
What: Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization’s Buddy Walk
When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 15
Where: John Prince Park, 4759 S. Congress Ave., Lake Worth
Cost: $20
Information: Call 752-3383 or visit www.gcdso.donordrive.com.

Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank, an innovative endeavor that fosters community improvement by local students, is accepting applications through Nov. 12.
Change-makers in the seventh through 12th grades are invited to apply for grants that will help them address issues and problems. To date, 16 youth-driven solutions backed by $200,000 from investors have been made possible through the program.
“We hope the community has seen the benefits of our program,” said Executive Director January Romero Reissman. “We’ve seen the remarkable impact that our winners have had in Palm Beach County, bettering the lives of more than 4,000 people here.”
For more information, visit philanthropytank.org/apply.

Boca West Foundation donates record $1.5 million
Twenty-five local charities have received a total of $1.5 million from a Boca Raton country club’s philanthropy, a record for the club’s fundraising event.
The five major gifts by the Boca West Foundation were made to the Caridad Center ($130,700); the Florence Fuller Child Development Centers ($115,675); the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County ($108,590); Boca Helping Hands ($100,700); and the Eda & Cliff Viner Community Scholars Foundation ($100,350).
Since its inception in 2010, the foundation has raised $4.8 million, making it one of the most-generous country clubs in the United States. This year’s fundraiser featured superstar Jennifer Hudson.

PNC awards ‘Arts Alive’ grants, sponsorships
In September, PNC Foundation’s “Arts Alive” awarded $125,000 in grants and sponsorships to eight local arts organizations as part of its three-year program.
Four organizations will share $67,500 in grants, while the remaining four will receive $57,500 in sponsorships. The funding will allow them to improve access to visual- and performing-arts activities for children.
 Grant recipients included Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Miami City Ballet, Milagro Center and Mounts Botanical Garden of Palm Beach County. Sponsorship recipients were Digital Vibez, Kravis Center, Norton Museum of Art and Palm Beach Symphony.

Publix supports YMCA event
Publix Super Markets Charities presented the YMCA of South Palm Beach County with a check for $17,000 to support its “Halloween at the Y” event in October, as well as the DeVos-Blum Family Y’s “Breakfast With Santa” event in December.
For Halloween, both branch facilities will offer activities for children, including haunted houses, games and trick-or-treating. The DeVos-Blum Family Y will host its event Oct. 20, while the Peter Blum Family Y event will take place Oct. 21.
“Breakfast With Santa” on Dec. 3 will feature hot cocoa, train rides, a pancake breakfast and, of course, Santa.
For more information, visit www.ymcaspbc.org.

U.S. Sugar presents $5,000 to children’s choral group
Young Singers of the Palm Beaches has received a sweet gift from U.S. Sugar — a $5,000 grant – which will be used to support programming, directly benefiting participating children.
Receiving the check were CEO Beth Clark, board Vice President Dave Frankland, director Shawn Berry and singers Pamela Contreras and Angelo Pena. Presenting it were Jennifer Black and Stacey Copeland.
Young Singers of the Palm Beaches is an award-winning community choir with a mission of teaching life skills through music by giving children an atmosphere of artistic excellence.

Community Caring Center plans 30th-anniversary event
The Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach celebrates its 30th anniversary with its fundraising “Dreams Come True Gala” on from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Nov. 16 at Benvenuto, 1730 N. Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. Tickets are $125 or $1,000 for a table of 10.
For more information, visit cccgbb.org.

Sixth-annual Volunteer Delray scheduled for Oct. 27
Those who want to get involved in their community but don’t know where to start or what organization might be the best fit are invited to Volunteer Delray.
The Oct. 27 expo at Old School Square will feature more than 50 nonprofits serving the city, each having its own booth where visitors can learn more and sign up. The expo runs from 5 to 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
“Volunteer Delray is one of those rare and rewarding opportunities to connect with local nonprofit organizations, meet the inspiring people who run them and find out about incredible projects happening right in our own community,” said Kirsten Stevens, chairwoman of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Nonprofit Council, which runs the expo.

The Delray Beach Initiative’s take on the popular television show raised more than $5,000 for Miracle League Palm Beach County, a nonprofit that gives all children, regardless of their disabilities, a chance to play baseball. Proceeds were earmarked for keeping the league free for the upcoming season. ‘We want to thank all those who came out to support us in our goal,’ said Allison Turner, chairwoman of the initiative, whose goal is to enhance the lives of youths while raising awareness about their needs locally. ABOVE: (l-r) Jim Nolan, Stephen Greene, Don Schneider, Carol Eaton, Turner, Ronnie Dunayer, Ted Hoskinson, Eric Greenberg, Allen Glass and Chuck Halberg. Photo provided by Emiliano Brooks/Studio B2

The Junior League of Boca Raton named fashion designer cinq a sept as the headliner for its Woman Volunteer of the Year Luncheon and fashion show scheduled for Oct. 5, as well as the 42 nominees for the award. The Junior League celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. TOP: (l-r) Amy Kazma, Mary Lavalle, Tricia Anderson and Kristen Ross-Majhess.  ABOVE: (l-r) Helen Ballerano, Susan Brockway and Laura Stoltz. Photos provided by Munoz Photography

Tom McClure, past president of the Boynton Intracoastal Group, presented Boynton Beach Assistant Police Chief Joseph DeGiulio a check for $1,000 to support the department’s ‘Shop With a Cop’ program and an additional $1,000 to Fire Chief Glenn Joseph for child safety seats. The funds came from two golf tournaments. RIGHT: McClure, group President Mary Nagle and Fire Chief Joseph. Photo provided

The 64 members of the incoming Class of ’17 in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU each received a doctor’s white coat in a ceremonial rite of passage. The event formally marked their entry into the profession. ‘The power of the symbolic white coat resides in how you conduct yourself while wearing it as a medical student and later as a physician,’ college Dean Dr. Phillip Boiselle said.  ‘It is a constant reminder of your professional and ethical obligations as a physician.’  ABOVE: (l-r) Dr. and Ellen Boiselle, with Dr. Patricia Anastasio and Elaine Van der Put. Photo provided

ABOVE:  During IBM’s heyday in Boca Raton, more than 10,000 employees designed and manufactured the world’s first personal computers. BELOW: Most residents who were not employed with the company never got close enough to appreciate the architecture of the facility.

Photos provided

By Thom Smith

In the mid-1960s, sleepy Boca Raton was waking up. It finally had a hospital; it had a tourist attraction, Africa USA; the Boca Raton Resort and Club was bustling; visionary businessmen had persuaded the state to turn the old Army Air Force base into Florida Atlantic University and assorted business ventures.
    The resort was owned by Arvida, the company founded by millionaire Arthur Vining Davis. Arvida controlled much of the real estate in and around what was yet to become a city and was pushing development of large parcels that now are home to University Park, Town Center and Boca West.
    In 1965, two men walked into Arvida’s Miami offices and asked if property promoted in a 3-year-old sales brochure was still available. Only after the Arvida executives pledged total secrecy did the men identify their client, and even as negotiations continued, the buyer was not revealed — not even to Arvida’s board of directors.
    Nevertheless, the deal was approved: 550 acres in the boondocks (west of what is now I-95 and south of what is now Yamato Road) for $1.4 million, about $2,500 an acre.
    In December 1966, the purchase was announced by the buyer — IBM. A few months later, IBM Chairman Thomas Watson Jr. revealed the company’s plan, a manufacturing plant.
Designed by international architects Marcel Breuer and Robert Gatje, the original site grew from 620,000 square feet to a peak of 3.6 million with 10,000 employees in more than 40 buildings.
    Although the formal dedication wouldn’t be held until March 1970, 400 employees began producing small main-frame computers in leased space in October 1967. Fourteen years later the first PCs began to roll off the assembly line and history was made.
    Half a century later, IBM has moved most of the projects from the Boca Raton operation to other sites, but this month the city will salute its 50th anniversary in Boca Raton with two events.
    On Oct. 14, a 50th anniversary celebration featuring displays and speakers will be held at the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (the former IBM site) at 5000 T-Rex Ave. from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch and tours will be provided, but guests must RSVP at www.ibmsfqccaa.org/50th.htm.
    From 5-8 p.m. on Oct. 19, the Boca Raton History Museum (71 N. Federal Highway) will host an IBM birthday party, with a display of vintage computers and the inventors who created them, plus birthday cake. Reservations required at 395-6766, Ext. 301.
    Why Boca Raton? One entirely plausible story claims an IBM vice president who had a second residence nearby, possibly Palm Beach, made the suggestion. IBM retiree Pete Martinez cites several factors: The company preferred to place plants where the distractions of large cities could be avoided and employees could be part of the IBM “family” but they still had access to shopping, transportation, good schools and health care. Boca Raton certainly offered all that.
    “Employees were considered employees for life,” said Martinez, a native of Cuba who came to the United States in the early ’60s, joined IBM in 1975 after graduating from the University of Miami and retired as a senior executive. “Florida was clearly growing. They always considered the proximity of talent. The space program was a tremendous source; a lot of my fellow employees came from the Cape. Boca Hospital was important. But the decision has always been, ‘Where’s the talent?’”
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    Not far away, on Military Trail just north of Yamato, Park Place is the newest destination shopping center with Boca foodies in mind — with a Habit burger joint, Chipotle, Phenomenom nitrogen-chilled ice cream and a Fresh Market. It did have a Rappy’s Deli, but founder Burt Rapoport reconfigured it as Park Place Deli, which soon will be replaced by a throwback. Rapoport and old partner Dennis Max are bringing back Prezzo, an Italian concept from the late ’80s.
    The original Prezzo was in West Boca in a small center just opposite the turnpike entrance at Glades Road. Running the kitchen was a promising young chef named Angelo Elia, who moved on to national prominence with outlets in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Delray Beach.
    No Elia this time, but the new chef is no stranger to South Florida.
    Before he ventured into Boca Raton, Dennis Max made his mark at Café Max in Pompano Beach with another promising chef in his kitchen: Mark Militello became a charter member of South Florida’s legendary “Mango Gang” that put “Floribbean” cuisine on the culinary map.
Militello made the rounds, opening restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, South Beach, West Palm Beach, Mark’s at Mizner Park and The Office in Delray Beach. He also took up consulting, and after a hitch on Long Island found his way to a town not especially regarded for its cuisine — Boynton Beach.
    Steve Setticasi, who has owned Josie’s in Riverwalk Plaza just west of the Intracoastal since the early ’90s, hired Militello as a part-time consultant to help transform the restaurant into a dining destination and mentor his son, Sebastiano, the chef de cuisine. Militello, however, soon found an apron and was working alongside Sebastiano, not looking over his shoulder.
    Sebastiano will be on his own now. “Mark is now full time with us,” Rapoport said. “It’s a blast working on the menu with him and Dennis.
    “Prezzo is exciting! Should open the end of November. It’s gonna be cool!”
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    Brewzzi is history. After two decades, the prize-winning microbrewery and restaurant in Boca’s Glades Plaza has been sold. The bright brass brewing tanks reportedly are history, to be replaced by a private dining room, although the reputed buyer specializes in brew pubs. A name mentioned in the transaction is Eric Clark, who once was involved at Deck 84, one of Burt Rapoport’s restaurants.
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    Kevin Scully had a takeout kitchen in his old market, but he’d never run a restaurant, until he opened the appropriately named Scully’s 15 years ago on South Federal in Boynton Beach. His plan was simple: Hang on until he turned 62, when he would be eligible for Social Security.
    “That was always the goal,” Scully said. “I’m 100 percent in the clear and sold it 15 years to the day from when I opened. Still it took five years to sell the place. I had a lot of buyers and close calls, but it all worked out. Every single employee still has his/her job. And I’m sure the new guy will do it better than me.”
    The new guy is young, 31, but Jimmy Everett, who bused tables at Atlantis Country Club as a teenager before entering Culinary Institute of America, has been refining his craft from New York to Hong Kong. Most recently he was chef de cuisine at Valentino Cucina Italiana in Fort Lauderdale.

TOP: Coach Lane Kiffin during FAU’s home opener against Navy. MIDDLE: Owls fans show support for the football team’s new coach. BOTTOM: Legendary former coach and FAU football patriarch Howard Schnellenberger with his wife, Beverlee, prior to the Owls’ home opener. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

It’s still early. Lane Kiffin may be a coaching genius, but patience has to be the key word for FAU football, where the new coach didn’t see a win until the third game of the season.  
The Owls opened with losses to two top teams, 42-19 against Navy, a 2016 bowl team, and 31-14 at ninth-ranked Wisconsin. They finally showed some potential with a 45-0 win against Bethune-Cookman, only to follow up with a close 34-31 loss at Buffalo.
The future? If the first few weeks are any indicator, they’re in for a wacky season. Most of the 28,481 fans, third-largest home crowd in school history, had left before the Navy game finally wrapped just before 2 a.m. thanks to three lightning delays.   
“We were bunkered down,” Kiffin said when asked if he considered abandoning the game early. “We were staying for the long haul. That’s just how our program is. That’s how we want our players to think.”
Still, Kiffin admitted, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”  
The next week, Irma made an impact, distracting the Owls before their game at Wisconsin and forcing them to remain in Madison until the following Wednesday. FAU took out a full-page ad in The Wisconsin State Journal to thank the Badgers for their hospitality.
The following weekend, FAU finally hit the win column against Bethune-Cookman before an Irma-reduced crowd of 16,743 at FAU Stadium.
Kiffin didn’t come to FAU without baggage accumulated at colleges and with NFL teams, but Athletic Director Pat Chun remains patient. He’s been pleased with the home attendance and community involvement. As for the team, he will give Kiffin time. After all, previous coaches have been kept around at least three years, and the present schedule gave the Owls four games to settle in before beginning their Conference USA schedule.
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    One day Greenland could be green — or more likely brown. Possibly sooner than we think if global warming continues its wretched pace. Justin Brice Guariglia knows firsthand and he’ll make his case at 3 p.m. Oct. 8, not at a scientific symposium but at the Norton Museum of Art.
    Guariglia’s appearance and exhibit “Earth Works: Mapping the Anthropocene,” originally scheduled for Sept. 7, was postponed by Hurricane Irma.
    A professional photographer based in New York, Guariglia made a series of flights with NASA scientists in 2015 and 2016 to photograph Greenland’s icy terrain. Those photos, some room sized, offer persuasive evidence that surface ice is disappearing.  Admission is free.
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    With “men, dating, love, sex, relationships, plastic surgery, friendship, female jealousy, money, celebrity and more” on the table Oct. 11, Bravo channel’s “real” New Jersey housewives Siggy Flicker and Dolores Catania and host “Becky in Boca” should have plenty of dish at the first show of the season at Boca’s Mizner Park Cultural Center.
    Thom Smith is a freelance writer. Reach him at thomsmith@ymail.com.