By Henry Fitzgerald

Boca Raton has joined several other cities in a lawsuit filed against the state, fighting “super penalties” against municipalities and elected officials who push for local gun laws.
Council members at their April 10 meeting voted 4-1 to join the suit, which names Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and other state officials.
The lawsuit, filed April 2 by the city of Weston in Broward County and nine others, challenges a 2011 state statute, backed by the gun lobby, that sets penalties such as a $5,000 fine and removal from office for elected officials who try to enact local gun laws.
Boca Raton isn’t seeking to immediately pass any gun laws, but since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, wants the right to do so without state punishment.
“Our home-rule authority has been under attack, and this last legislative session was probably the most egregious attack on home rule for counties and cities that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Mayor Susan Haynie. “This particular statute with the super penalties is really over the top. I feel that the cities need to come together to have our voices heard and the state of Florida needs to stop preempting local laws.”
The lawsuit states that the Florida law is invalid and unconstitutional, and that the governor should not be able to remove an elected official for supporting or enacting local gun laws.
“I’d rather take a wait-and-see approach,” said council member Jeremy Rodgers, who cast the lone no vote, adding that the $10,000 fee to join the lawsuit isn’t fair to taxpayers. “This is going forward with or without us. I [can’t] support this at this time.”

By Steve Plunkett

The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District has abandoned plans to seize four oceanfront parcels by eminent domain after being told the City Council will not pay for the properties.
Arthur Koski, the district’s executive director, said City Manager Leif Ahnell told him April 30 that council members do not want to spend city tax dollars to acquire the properties.
“The city has advised me today that they are not of the appetite to put up the money for us to do any eminent domain work on the beach,” Koski told beach and park commissioners that night. “And I think our budget probably precludes us from doing that on our own.”
Koski said appraisals he ordered on the parcels “were somewhere in the vicinity of approximately $20 million.”
District Chairman Robert Rollins said he thought all along the city would finance the deal.
“They’re the ones who requested us to explore the possibility,” he said.
But Koski said Ahnell did not explicitly say the city would pay in his Aug. 24 email.
“There certainly was an expectation that that would happen,” Koski said.
The targeted beachfront properties were vacant 2500 and 2600 N. Ocean Blvd. and long-occupied 2330 N. Ocean, which occupies two parcels.
The City Council ignited a firestorm of controversy in 2015 when it gave a zoning variance for 2500 N. Ocean, whose owners propose building a four-story home east of A1A and the Coastal Construction Control Line. The site got permission to build from the state Department of Environmental Protection but still needs final approval from the city.
The owner of 2600 N. Ocean has submitted a plan for a four-story duplex.
To use its power of eminent domain, the beach and park district would have sent its appraisal to each parcel owner along with a notice of intent. Then both sides would have negotiated, with the district suing to condemn the property only if a price could not be agreed on.
Instead, district commissioners decided Koski can close his file on the process.
Commissioners and City Council members will meet May 9 to discuss the district’s recent purchase of the Ocean Breeze golf course in north Boca Raton. Commissioners said they will ask council members to use some of the $65 million the city will get from selling its municipal golf course west of Florida’s Turnpike to pay for redesigning Ocean Breeze and building a new clubhouse.
The joint meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center behind City Hall.

By Steve Plunkett

The city and its consultant will work up a plan to restore the canoe trails and rebuild the boardwalk at Rutherford Park, but will drop an idea to add boat ramps for now.
“There’s universal demand for opening up these canoe trails there, for opening up, reopening the boardwalk, making it safe again, making it usable,” City Council member Jeremy Rodgers said at the council’s April 9 workshop. “I don’t see a driving need to decide what goes on this green blob here that could be either more paths or future boat ramps.”
The green blob was on a map Jennifer Bistyga, the city’s coastal program manager, prepared where she and consultant Applied Technology and Management Inc. proposed building two double-boat ramps. That idea sank at a Feb. 26 public outreach meeting when residents came out in force against it.
Bistyga said 100 attendees signed in at the outreach and 87 filled out a city survey: 86 said they were Boca Raton residents and 52 said they owned a boat; 32 boat owners said they had bought a pass to use the launch area at Silver Palm Park.
Asked whether they would use the proposed boat ramp at Rutherford Park, 16 said yes, one said maybe, 56 said no. The survey takers’ primary concerns were traffic on Federal Highway, boat trailers entering and leaving the park and boaters conflicting with other park users.
Fifty-five of those surveyed owned a kayak or canoe (24 did not), and of them, 56 said they would use a kayak/canoe trail at the park, 51 would use a kayak trail launch area, 55 would use the restroom if one were built and 20 would like a launch area giving nonmotorized craft access to the Intracoastal Waterway.
In other areas, 44 people said they currently use Rutherford Park, 71 said they would use the boardwalk if it is renovated and 72 said they would use a proposed pedestrian trail. Bistyga called the last two responses “a strong overwhelming yes.”
Respondents were also questioned on the Silver Palm boat ramp downtown. Forty-four said they currently use the ramp. And if a boat ramp were built at Rutherford, it would be the preferred launch area for nine people; eight people said they would use both it and Silver Palm; 35 said they would prefer Silver Palm.
Asked if they would like to see the Silver Palm ramp converted to some other use if ramps were built at Rutherford, 61 said no.
Mayor Susan Haynie, who attended the outreach session, called it “a very passionate crowd.”
“Everyone loves Silver Palm boat ramp. It’s very close to the inlet. It’s just a really special amenity for us,” Haynie said.
Rodgers, colleagues Scott Singer and Andrea O’Rourke and then-council candidate Monica Mayotte also went to the outreach.
Singer was not entirely convinced by Bistyga’s survey. He sent out a survey of his own to 200 people with boat permits and got 57 responses that were “a little bit different than what we saw” in Bistyga’s survey.
Of them, 39 said the city should continue plans to build boat ramps at Rutherford, 11 said no and seven were not sure, he said. He suggested proceeding with Rutherford ramps but promising that the Silver Palm ramps would stay open.
Haynie said trailer traffic at Rutherford was also a concern.
“When people are trailering boats — some in excess of 30 feet — it’s huge vehicles, huge trailers, large boats, and it’s a very, very restricted maneuvering space,” she said.
Bistyga said the city will issue ATM a work order to develop more detailed plans for Rutherford without boat ramps.

By Rich Pollack

During most of its 32-year history, the Beach Condo Association of Boca Raton and Highland Beach has had just three leaders, with its founder and first president, Sylvan Jubelirer, serving 16 years and its third leader, Jack Fox, serving 14 years.
Now, with Fox’s decision to step down from the organization that serves as a coordinating council of sorts where condo managers and board leaders come together to exchange ideas, leaders have handed the reins to Emily Gentile, the first woman to hold the position. She will run the organization with the guidance and expertise of Co-President and association veteran Steve Laine.
“I certainly have big shoes to fill,” said Gentile, a community leader and former Boca Raton City Council candidate who previously served as the organization’s secretary. “Jack has been a great mentor and a good friend.”
Working closely with Gentile will be a board consisting of Highland Beach Mayor Carl Feldman and former Mayor Bernard Featherman — both serving as vice presidents — plus Treasurer Russell Edelstein and Secretary Ana Londono.
Fox, who stepped down to spend several months each year with his family in Virginia, said he knows he is leaving the organization in good hands.
“Emily was a good candidate for the position,” Fox said. “She knows how to be a leader and is a take-charge person. She’s an outstanding replacement and she’ll probably do a better job than I did.”
Gentile, an executive business consultant in the financial arena, is active in the community, serving on Boca Raton’s Art in Public Places board and on the executive council of the Resident Physician Community Partnership Program for the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University.
A Boca Raton resident for 12 years in the Yacht & Racquet Club of Boca Raton, Gentile previously lived in Highland Beach for four years, where she served on the town’s cultural board.
She is looking forward to guiding the organization as it continues to provide valuable information to the managers and leaders of 63 condominiums representing an estimated 12,000 residents.
“It’s really exciting to be so well received by this organization,” she said.

By Steve Plunkett

The Boca Raton City Council will tweak a citizen-initiated ordinance that restricts city-owned land on the Intracoastal Waterway to “public recreation, public boating access, public streets and city stormwater uses only” so utilities can work on existing underground conduits.
The issue arose when an unidentified telecommunications company sought a permit to relocate conduit in Spanish River Park.
One reading of the ordinance would be that only “stormwater” and no other utilities are permitted, City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser told council members at their April 9 workshop session. Alternatively, she said, the code could be interpreted to primarily regulate uses at the ground level rather than restricting underground uses.
Council members could give staff direction, Frieser said, either by interpreting the ordinance or amending it.
Deputy Mayor Scott Singer said council members are the ones entrusted with interpreting city code.
“We’ve already had them there. No one ever mentioned, ‘You’ve got to dig up the utilities,’” Singer said, arguing against an amendment.
“I think a reasonable interpretation, based on what we have, is that this is just allowed, staff can proceed augmenting what’s been there and will remain there,” he said.
But council member Monica Mayotte said the council could both interpret the ordinance for the telecommunications firm and amend it for future projects.
Mayor Susan Haynie embraced the amendment option.
“I think clarity’s best,” Haynie said.
Frieser said city staff would proceed with the company’s permit application and that she would bring back a proposed amendment for consideration. The proposal will require a public hearing, she said.
Residents voted 67 percent to 33 percent in 2016 to reject a plan for a restaurant at the city-owned Wildflower parcel on Palmetto Park Road and instead restrict that and similar green spaces to public uses. Consultant EDSA Inc. is developing a plan to make the 2.3 acres a full-featured park.

By Christine Davis

One down, two to go. Back in 2014 and 2015, egged on by Palm Beach bud and shock jock Howard Stern, Billy Joel started buying property in Manalapan. In March 2014, he plopped down $11.8 million for a 13,200-square-foot bungalow just north of Boynton Inlet and two months later paid another $6.5 million for the vacant lot next door. Then just after New Year’s 2015, he went all out, paying $22.1 million for a nearly 18,886-square-foot Atlantic-to-Intracoastal palace that was built on a portion of the old Vanderbilt estate. It includes a pool, billiards room, wine cellar and 12-car garage.
Then he put them on the market. For the house and vacant lot just north of the inlet, he initially asked $29 million, then cut the price to $27 million.
Last month, Jack Elkins and Bunny Hiatt, agents with the Fite Group, represented Joel’s interests when they found a buyer for the lot. Frank Mennella, a businessman with operations in Pennsylvania and Boca Raton, and his wife, Dolores, negotiated the price down to $7.5 million. In July 2016, the Mennellas paid $25.2 million for the oceanfront Villa Oceano Azul at 1400 S. Ocean, and they apparently intend to stick around, since Frank already has landed a seat on Manalapan’s Architectural Commission.
But Joel still has two parcels to sell. The house near the inlet, originally listed at $19.5 million, is now at $16.9 million. He’s asking $31.9 million for the big house, but don’t be surprised if he splits the difference and takes $4 million-$5 million less.Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate has that listing.
Should deals for both places go through, Joel and his wife, Alexis Roderick, will still have a place to stay. In January, they inked a $3.5 million deal for a 5-acre ranch in Wellington. She rides dressage, and the ranch is loaded with dressage amenities, including a 12-stall barn with groom quarters, a tack room, five paddocks and a regulation-size dressage ring … with mirrors. The farm is a short canter from the Equestrian Center, and although it isn’t on the ocean, it’s bordered on east and south by water.

William “Tom” Gerrard’s house at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan was sold at an absolute auction on April 21. While the sale won’t be finalized until this month, it was considered a non-contingency cash deal.
The bidding started at $10 million and the auction was over in 10 to 15 minutes. DeCaro Auctions International conducted it.
Built in 1989 on 4.17 acres, the ocean-to-lake property most recently had been listed for $24.5 million by agents Robert Temelkoski of Bowen Realty and William McManus of the Fite Group.
Gerrard, the former mayor of Manalapan, bought the property in 1994 and later acquired land to the north and south of the home. On and off the market since 2010, it was initially listed at $34.5 million.
“We had approximately 10 bidders, and it was very active bidding,” said Daniel DeCaro, founder and CEO of DeCaro Auctions International. “There seemed to be a large amount of interest in the property. For four weeks of open houses, people from all over the world — Bolivia, Mexico, Russia, China — did their due diligence.”
While the owner and sales price were not disclosed, DeCaro said the new owner is from Hawaii and was represented by Douglas Elliman agent Steven Solomon, who works out of the Boca Raton office.
“I was so nervous, my heart was jumping out of my shirt,” Solomon said, adding that the new owner, an investor, has worked with him previously. “She saw the value. Sometimes she keeps the properties she buys and rents them out. Others she picks up and sells. I believe she’s going to resell this house.”

The estate home at 1960 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan sold at absolute auction April 21. The new owner is an investor from Hawaii. The sales price was not disclosed. Photo provided

Just north on A1A an ocean-to-lake estate at 700 S. Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan sold for $18.5 million, according to the deed recorded March 26. The buyer was a trust in the name of Louis J. Capano Jr., who heads LC Homes in Wilmington, Del. The seller was biotechnology investor Steven M. Oliveira and his wife, Bernadette. Agent Pascal J. Liguori, of Premier Estate Properties, listed the property for sale in January 2017 at $26.5 million. The price later dropped to $24.5 million, according to the multiple listing service.
The house was designed by Affiniti Architects and built by Mark Timothy Inc., both based in Boca Raton. The Oliveiras built the house after buying the property from a company associated with Delray Beach developer Frank McKinney for a recorded $5.85 million in December 2010.
Capano was represented in the sale by broker Stephen Cohen of Land Maker Inc., Delray Beach. Capano has also owned his beachfront house at 6373 N. Ocean Blvd., Ocean Ridge since 1999, according to property records.

Move over, Manalapan; Delray Beach is in the big money, too. Bill Powers, who bought the new 13,000-square-foot mansion at 901 S. Ocean Blvd. in 2015 for $19 million, recently sold it to an undisclosed buyer for $26.75 million.
The price is impressive, but it isn’t a record for Delray. Two lots south, a 33,571-square-foot monster, which sold in 2010 for $9.3 million, went for $34 million in February 2016. The buyer: Richard Chaifetz, a Chicago entrepreneur, investor, licensed neuropsychologist and philanthropist, founder of ComPsych, the world’s largest mental health services provider. A big chunk of its work is managing the opioid abuse crisis … with which Delray is more than familiar.

Capo 7 LLC, led by Joseph Basile III of Lantana-based JFB Construction and Development Inc., got a $6.5 million loan to finance construction of The Preserve of Hypoluxo, a 44-unit rental townhouse project. An affiliate of JFB will manage the property. The project, at 200 Hypoluxo Road, will border a 97-acre nature preserve. The Preserve is expected to open in the winter of 2018-19, and leases will range from $1,800 to $2,200. The project will have a two-story, 17,000-square-foot building with five apartments and nine ground-floor retail bays. Boca Raton-based Rare CRE, led by Nelson Garcia and Jamie Zambrana, arranged the $6.5 million construction loan on behalf of Capo 7.

The Boca Raton Mausoleum, 451 SW Fourth Ave., broke ground in April on a $2 million addition of four mausoleum buildings: Grace, Heritage, Dignity and Repose.

Silent Yachts, a Miami-based company that makes vessels powered by solar energy, won the 2018 Global Warming Foundation Award. The award was presented by Peter Ticktin, the foundation’s founder, at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. The company’s new model, Solarwave62, was on display there after debuting at the Palm Beach International Boat Show. 
The Solarwave62’s propulsion system was created by Silent Yachts CEO Michael Kohler and his wife, Heike Kohler. “The U.S. launch of Silent Yachts is something we’ve been working towards since the inception of our Solarwave46 prototype in 2009,” Michael Kohler said.

Congratulations to Laura Simon, Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority’s executive director. She was selected to serve on the International Downtown Association Nighttime Economy Council. Simon will work with five members representing Orlando, Jacksonville, New York’s Lower East Side, Denver and Winnipeg to create best practices for developing a nighttime economy for established, growing and emerging downtown urban districts.

Buy $200 in merchandise or services from downtown Delray Beach stores, galleries, spas, salons and fitness studios and get a free phalaenopsis orchid for Mom. Photo provided

Shopping in downtown Delray Beach could mean a free orchid for Mom. How? In honor of Mother’s Day, the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority presents the Downtown Delray Orchid Giveaway. Until May 12, buyers can each receive one phalaenopsis orchid plant with every $200 spent shopping at downtown Delray Beach stores, galleries, spas, salons and fitness studios.
To participate, buyers need to turn in their receipts dated May 1 through 12, and pick up their complimentary orchids May 9-12. Pickup locations, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 9 through May 11, are in front of Hand’s stationers, 325 E. Atlantic Ave., and Petite Connection, 1049 E. Atlantic Ave. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 12, the pickup locations are in front of Hand’s, Petite Connection, and in the Pineapple Grove Arts District under the banyan tree on the corner of Northeast Second Avenue and Northwest Second Street. For details, call 243-1077 or visit www.downtowndelraybeach.com/events/annual-mothers-day-orchid-giveaway.

Two local workshops and events follow up the 14th annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival this month. At 12:30 p.m. May 5 a poetry workshop with Stacie Kiner will be held at Old School Square Crest Theatre, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Cost is $10. The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project’s Summer Poetry Reading & Sing Along, a free event, is at 10:30 a.m. May 9 at the Brighton Gardens building at Sunrise Assisted Living, 6341 Via De Sonrisa Del Sur, Boca Raton. For information, visit www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org.

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County hosts two events this month at the Atlantis Country Club, 190 Atlantis Blvd., Lake Worth.
“Why Courts Matter Brunch, How Politicians Are Systematically Trying to Weaken the Courts and What We Can Do About It,” will be from 1 to 3 p.m. May 6. The speaker will be Ellen Freidin, a Miami lawyer who is the past chair of 11th Circuit Judicial Nominating Committee. Tickets are $40.
A Hot Topic Luncheon, “Politics & Stuff: Lunch With Frank Cerabino,” Palm Beach Post columnist, will be 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. May 16. Tickets are $35. For both events, RSVP at 968-4123 or www.lwvpbc.org.
Thom Smith contributed to this column.

Send business news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

Boca Raton police are investigating the death of a man found at the bottom of the Intracoastal Waterway after he went missing from Boca Bash, according to a news release.
Police identified the dead man as Francis Roselin, 32, of West Palm Beach.
The incident happened April 29 during the annual Boca Bash, held on the last Sunday in April on Lake Boca and usually attended by thousands of boaters and swimmers.
Police said two men flagged down a Boca Police Marine Unit boat and told the officer they couldn’t find Roselin, whom they had last seen swimming in the lake, according to the release.
After a search by the Boca Police Marine Unit, Ocean Rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, a swimmer found Roselin just after 5 p.m. in the Intracoastal in 5 feet of water.
Boca Raton police ask anyone with information to call Detective Lazarus Kimsal at 620-6144.
Police spokesman Mark Economou said the department will write what it calls an “after-action report” about Boca Bash and will assess how officers were deployed for the event. It does the same thing for the Holiday Parade and other large gatherings of people, he said.
“We feel as though we made it as safe as possible this year,” Economou said.

— Henry Fitzgerald

By Mary Hladky

Frustrated that the city has not enacted land-use regulations that would allow its Midtown project to be built, Crocker Partners has told the city it plans to file a lawsuit seeking $137 million.
The April 10 notice of claim for compensation said that Crocker Partners is seeking the money because it is unable to redevelop three properties it owns in Midtown — Boca Center, The Plaza and One Town Center.
“The city has pushed us into a position where we have to sue,” said Crocker Partners managing partner Angelo Bianco. “If the city wants to take away our property rights, they can pay for them.”
Crocker teamed up with other landowners in the area three years ago to propose a massive redevelopment of 300 acres located between Interstate 95 and the Town Center mall. They envisioned a “live, work, play” transit-oriented development where people would live in up to 2,500 new residential units and walk or take shuttles to their jobs, shopping and restaurants.
That concept is dead, Bianco said. Other landowners are moving ahead with their individual plans.
“We are no longer coordinating our redevelopment plans because they don’t exist anymore,” he said. “People are breaking off and doing their own thing now.”
Attorneys representing Town Center mall owner Simon Property Group and Sears building owner Seritage Growth Properties asked the City Council on Feb. 26 to “bifurcate” their properties from the Midtown plans, citing concerns that the now-closed Sears would sit vacant until the city enacts zoning changes and land-use regulations.
Council members supported their request.
Attorney Bonnie Miskel, who represents Simon, also indicated she would be coming forward with requests for zoning changes for the mall that are more modest than those sought for Midtown. Simon had wanted to build some of the Midtown residential units.
Seritage, which owns a parking lot near the Sears building, is now planning to transform the property into an open-air shopping and entertainment complex.
Michael Marshall, who represents Glades Plaza owner Trademark Property Co., made a similar request at the April 23 City Council workshop meeting.
Trademark “cannot afford to wait any longer” to start redevelopment of its property, Marshall said. Delays in approvals for new land-use regulations have put Trademark’s investors “in a risk position that is simply intolerable.”
“We simply don’t have the flexibility and resources to await the small-area plan and the adoption of any regulations that may follow,” Marshall said.
Trademark expects to spend $40 million on the first phase of Glades Plaza redevelopment, including $5 million on the improvement of the Northwest 19th Street corridor using existing zoning.
The company intends to front retail along 19th Street and add wide sidewalks, safe crosswalks, decorative pavers and outdoor lighting, Marshall said.
City officials told Marshall that Trademark can file redevelopment plans with the city under current zoning rules.
According to an email sent to city officials, Cypress Realty, which owns the Strikes bowling center, asked city officials to meet to discuss “our options on how to proceed.” A representative of Cypress Realty did not respond to a call from The Coastal Star about its plans.
If these and other landowners followed Crocker’s lead and pursued litigation against the city, total claims could exceed $400 million, Bianco said.
But those heading in their own direction may have no interest in doing so, since they will have to work with the city to get approval for their new plans.
The grenade that blew up Midtown was lobbed on Jan. 23, when City Council members postponed a vote on ordinances that set a framework for how Midtown could be built. Instead, they voted 4-1, with Mayor Susan Haynie dissenting, to have staff develop a small-area plan for Midtown, an idea proposed by council member Andrea O’Rourke.
They left it to Development Services Director Brandon Schaad to determine what, exactly, such a plan was and how to create it.
On Feb. 12, Schaad said the plan would not be completed until July at the earliest, and more probably later in the year.
That was the final straw for Bianco, who had spent $300 million buying back Crocker-developed properties in the area that Crocker had sold and at least $1 million on Midtown planning.
“It became obvious this was a ploy to create a [building] moratorium and take away our property owners’ rights,” he said. “At that point, we had no other choice and had to introduce litigation. That is a real shame.”
Crocker signaled the possibility of litigation in November.
The city, Crocker and other landowners had been working together to develop land-use regulations and zoning for Midtown. But the city seized control of the process last summer, and the ordinances were revised substantially.
They required that a new Tri-Rail station be built and operational and all street infrastructure, bike pathways, sidewalks and landscaping be completed before any residential units would be approved. The current maximum building height limit of 145 feet was reduced to 105 feet.
Attorneys for Crocker told the Planning and Zoning Board that the requirements are unconstitutional and violate Florida law. The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority is considering a new Tri-Rail station, but Crocker has no control over whether it will be built. The Tri-Rail and infrastructure mandates created an impermissible and indefinite building moratorium, they said.
Crocker filed its notice under the state’s Bert J. Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act, which gives the city and developer 150 days to reach a settlement. If that doesn’t happen, Crocker could file a claim for compensation in circuit court.
As of late April, the city had not commented on Crocker’s legal action, saying only that it is under review.

By Mary Hladky

Crocker Partners has acquired the iconic former IBM campus in Boca Raton for $170 million.
The 125-acre property, now known as the Boca Raton Innovation Campus, sits just west of Interstate 95 between Yamato Road and Spanish River Boulevard.
Boca Raton-based Crocker purchased BRIC in a joint venture with New York-based Rialto Capital and Siguler Guff. The property includes the 1.8 million-square-foot IBM building that was the birthplace of the personal computer.
In the near term, the new owners plan to add tenants to the property, which is now 73 percent leased, and upgrade the buildings and enhance amenities, said Crocker managing partner Angelo Bianco.
“We want to stabilize this asset and make it the jewel in South Florida for large tenants,” he said. “We look at BRIC as best in class for all of South Florida.”
Bianco envisions eventually redeveloping the site, although he said he has no immediate plans to do so. The possibilities include adding apartments, townhomes, hotel and retail, he said. But there are no plans to tear down the Y-shaped IBM building designed by international architects Marcel Breuer and Robert Gatje, Bianco said.
Current tenants include Bluegreen Vacations Corp., Johnson Controls Security Solutions, TransUnion, Modernizing Medicine and MDVIP.
With the acquisition, Crocker’s Boca Raton portfolio has grown to 2.9 million square feet, or 25 percent of the city’s office inventory. Its holdings include The Plaza, One Town Center, One Boca Place and the mixed-use Boca Center. Crocker developed Mizner Park in downtown Boca Raton.
Crocker is the state’s largest Class A office landlord, with more than 6.3 million square feet, according to the company.
IBM originally developed the site in the 1960s and sold it in 1996.
The sellers in the April transaction are San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management and New York-based Next Tier HD.

By Rich Pollack

With a renewed emphasis on the environment, the Highland Beach Town Commission took two major steps aimed at preserving the town’s natural resources and revitalizing the shoreline within its borders.
Commissioners agreed in April to create an advisory board charged with helping the town preserve the beaches and shores, as well as other natural areas. The new board’s duties are similar to a board that had been recently disbanded.
The commission also agreed to hire a consultant, most likely Tallahassee based, to work with the advisory board and explore grant funding opportunities that could be used to restore the shoreline.
“Both together will form an operational team that will put together environmental policies and come up with actions to improve the town,” said Commissioner Elyse Riesa, who along with Commissioner Rhoda Zelniker is leading the environmental restoration efforts. “We cannot become the world-class small town we want to be if we don’t take care of our natural resources.”
A major focus for the town is restoring the 2.8 miles of beach along its coastline. Because the town has no public beach and no public access to the beach within its boundaries, receiving federal and state funds for restoration has been a challenge.
A 2013 study estimated that restoring the beach would cost more than $10 million. As a result, town leaders at the time decided to take no further action.
Riesa, however, thinks there may be other avenues to pursue and hopes a consultant could help the town find money.
“The town currently has no one with the expertise to find grant funding in this area,” she said. “We need someone who can find money in the treasure chest for environmental restoration of our town.”
While the beach restoration is a key issue, town leaders hope the consultant will be able to help with other issues, including maintaining the health of mangroves within the town.
Riesa envisions the consultant as also serving as a liaison for the town with state and federal and local environmental regulatory agencies, including the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
In addition, the consultant would be working closely with the new environmentally focused advisory board whose members have yet to be selected. The seven-member board will replace the town’s Beaches and Shores Advisory Board, which was disbanded late last year and replaced by the club.
Riesa, who previously recommended the Beaches and Shores Advisory Board be disbanded, said a new board, with a broader focus, is needed.
“The new advisory board is being established to provide constructive advice and counsel to town departments and to the Town Commission regarding environmental and natural resource preservation and conservation,” Riesa said. “This board’s responsibilities will be broad in scope in order to ensure any environmental concerns are addressed.”
Among some of the responsibilities Riesa envisions are working with homeowners and homeowners associations to plant noninvasive vegetation on dunes to help prevent erosion, working with the consultant on beach restoration issues and promoting environmentally friendly landscaping.
Town employees are working out details of the environmental efforts, including how the consultant and board will be funded.
Details of the environmental efforts, including how the consultant will be selected and funded, will be handed off to a new town manager once selected.
Town Manager Valerie Oakes was fired May 1.
Riesa thinks residents will benefit from the environment efforts in several ways, including the potential for increased property values.
“Protecting the environment will enrich the quality of life in Highland Beach,” she said.

Mother’s Day comes once a year, but for mother-daughter teams who run bakeries together, every day is sweet

Compiled by Rich Pollack and Mary Thurwachter

Michelle Gingold, Monica Martinez and Melisa Gingold work at Del Sol Bakery in Boynton Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Del Sol Bakery
1600 N. Federal Highway, Suite 15, Boynton Beach
After graduating from culinary school, Michelle Gingold worked in restaurants and hotels before starting Del Sol Bakery, bringing her mother and sister onboard to help run the business.
Mother: Monica Martinez, 56, Pompano Beach
Daughters: Michelle Gingold, 28, Delray Beach, and Melisa Gingold, 26, Lantana
How long we’ve been working together:
Michelle: Two years.

Roles in the business:
Michelle: Owner and baker.
Monica: General manager overseeing the business, including finances, booking and managing wholesale accounts.
Melisa: Bakery assistant, working the front of the house, making deliveries and helping with marketing.

Best part of working with my daughters:
Monica: Building Michelle’s dream bakery from the ground up and having Mel joining her sister in this rollercoaster ride. Three strong women working together … ay, ay, ay!

Best part of working with mom:
Michelle: My mom was living in Argentina when I started Del Sol, now I get to see her every day.

Best part of working with my mom and sister:
Melisa: The best part of working with family is constant and consistent time together.

Best thing I’ve learned from working with daughters/mom:
Monica: I’m a very proud mom. I have raised two amazing girls that are making it all happen, at their pace, in their own way.
Michelle: My mom helped me from the very beginning with the business plan, managing employees and structuring the business.
Melisa: I have learned that my sister is very young to be owning and operating her own bakery. I’ve learned that my mom is good at accounting.

Favorite thing to eat that’s baked in the shop:
Monica: I love the baguettes.
Michelle: My favorite thing to eat is a warm scone with butter in the morning before anyone gets to the bakery.
Melisa: My favorite things to eat are chocolate chip cookies.

Plans for Mother’s Day on May 13:
Monica: Hopefully, get some delicious bread, brie, something sweet and prosecco, mimosas … and flowers!
Michelle: Delicious brunch with mimosas on the beach celebrating with my mom and family.
Melisa: Our Mother’s Day plan is not to work and spend just the morning together at the beach.

Debbie Wexler sneaks a treat as she bakes with daughter Zoey Wexler at Two Fat Cookies in Delray Beach. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Two Fat Cookies
245 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach
Started in a commercial warehouse six years ago by Debbie Wexler, Two Fat Cookies now has a retail outlet in Delray Beach while continuing a wholesale business. Debbie continues to bake while daughter Zoey focuses on cake decorating.
Mother: Debbie Wexler, 60, Delray Beach
Daughter: Zoey Wexler, 31, Boca Raton

How long we’ve been working together:
Debbie: Five-plus years.

How we got started baking together:
Debbie: When I was pregnant rolling dough! But really, Zoey had her hands in the batter since she was 5.
Zoey: Before I moved to upstate New York for work, I would come in to help at Two Fat Cookies. A few years later, as Two Fat Cookies was growing, I moved home to help run the business.

Favorite thing to bake:
Debbie: French galette, a butter cookie that I can make in any shape that you could imagine.
Zoey: I love creating different cupcake flavors.

Best part of working with my daughter: 
Debbie: Watching her creativity flourish. 
Best thing about working with my mom: 
Zoey: Knowing that no matter what, we have each other.

Plans for Mother’s Day:
Debbie: Having my dearest friends and family at my home.
Zoey: I am going over to my parents’ house to spend the day with friends, family and extended family.

Giovanna Cimino with daughter Silvia Fausto at Cosa Duci in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Cosa Duci
141 NW 20th St., B21, Boca Raton
Cosa Duci, a wholesale and retail bakery, was founded by baker Giovanna Cimino and Silvia Fausto after Giovanna’s son, Giuseppe Fausto, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was 27. A portion of the bakery’s proceeds go to MS research.
Mother: Giovanna Cimino, 71, Boca Raton
Daughter: Silvia Fausto, 49, Boca Raton

How long we’ve been working together:
Silvia: 10 years.

Roles in the business:
Giovanna: Baker.
Silvia: Business manager.

How did you get started baking?
Giovanna: Cooking and baking has always been my passion.
Silvia: I really don’t bake much. I do love to decorate, run the business and worry about the day-to-day tasks.

Favorite thing to make:
Giovanna: Ricotta cheesecake and rainbow cookies.
Silvia: Decorating holiday items. 

Best part of working with my daughter: 
Giovanna: We really enjoy creating new products together and we enjoy our friendships with our loyal customers.

Best thing about working with my mom: 
Silvia: Working with my mom is really easy because she’s also my best friend.

Plans for Mother’s Day:
Giovanna: We spend it together every year.
Silvia: Dinner with my mom.

Connor Lee took charge of all aspects of the labyrinth: design, site preparation and finding people to help. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Connor Lee had always wanted to do something for his church, Unity of Delray Beach.
“I’ve been attending Unity for seven years, and before that we attended Unity in Palm Beach,” the Atlantic High School senior said. At the same time, Connor was looking for a project to complete his Eagle Scout certification.
“I was talking to the Rev. Durgan and she said she’s always wanted a labyrinth,” Connor said, referring to Laurie Durgan, the church’s youth education director. And there it was! Connor could build a labyrinth at the church to earn his Eagle Scout rank.
Connor had walked a portable labyrinth that the Rev. Ytonna Finnegan, assistant youth education director, used at Unity teen retreats. “I really didn’t know much about them,” Connor said, “but the Rev. Hurley did.”
Linda Hurley, director of the prayer ministry, has been studying labyrinths for more than 20 years and was thrilled to share her training as a Veriditas labyrinth facilitator and her experience from studying labyrinths in France and Germany. “I was fascinated by the design, the sacred geometry involved and the deep meaning behind the labyrinth,” Hurley said.
A labyrinth is a singular path, usually curved or circular, leading to a center. Almost every culture has a labyrinth, Hurley said. Some date back more than 4,000 years.
Walking the labyrinth isn’t like a maze, where you’re solving a puzzle to escape. There’s only one way in, and the entrance is also the exit. There are no dead ends and there’s no way to get lost. Instead, the goal is to lose yourself in a meditative walk. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. Experts say labyrinths may enhance right-brain activity and mindfulness.
Walking a labyrinth is a way to quiet the mind, recover balance and encourage insight and self-reflection. Labyrinths are nondenominational and cross-cultural.
People who have walked labyrinths say they bring peace to the mind, body and spirit.
Connor sees it more simply: “You’re connecting to yourself and to whatever God you believe in. It’s about making the connection.”
With Hurley’s guidance, Connor took charge of all aspects of the labyrinth: design, site preparation, choosing the correct materials and lining up people to do the work.
Connor decided on a garden path labyrinth, a grass pathway outlined with brick pavers. He said some people like to walk barefoot, maybe to feel more connected to the planet. It was also more cost-effective to use more grass and less brick.
He used a design borrowed from the famous labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France.
Once the site was chosen, Connor’s crew — other Boy Scouts — cleared it. “We had to hire a tree removal service,” Connor said. The people at Tip Top Tree Service in Delray Beach surprised Connor by donating their services, and once the tree was out, the Scouts dug up the rest of the vegetation and leveled out the dirt before laying 60-70 pieces of sod to fill in blank spots.
“While we waited for the sod to take hold, we outlined the labyrinth with spray paint,” Connor said.
The Scouts dug out the outline with trenching shovels and added sand for drainage before they laid more than 1,000 pavers donated by Deck & Drive of Boynton Beach.
It took about two dozen young men almost 80 hours to do the work, most of which was accomplished between 9 a.m. and noon on Saturdays to fit the teens’ busy schedules. “Some came only once, but others came every week,” Connor said. It gave him a chance to practice the leadership skills central to a Boy Scout’s preparation.
“It helped me take other leadership roles as well,” Connor said. As the student government president at Atlantic, he takes responsibility for 2,300 youths.
One of the most important lessons he has learned is not to be afraid to lead. “Stay true to yourself,” Connor said. “Lead your own way, using your own methods. Use your uniqueness.”
The labyrinth is in front of Unity, easily accessible to all.
“It’s solitary, even when you’re walking with others,” Hurley said. “You’re all on one path, but you’re on your own journey.”
Durgan has known the Lee family, including Connor’s parents, DJ and Lynn, for more than 20 years. “Connor’s light has been a blessing. Wherever he goes, he just makes everything better,” she said.

World Labyrinth Day
To celebrate the 10th annual World Labyrinth Day and to formally welcome the public to Connor Lee’s labyrinth, a special “Walk as One at 1” will begin at 1 p.m. May 5 at Unity of Delray Beach, 101 NW 22nd St. It is part of a worldwide group walk.
The public is invited to gather at 12:30 p.m. for a brief introduction and a circle of prayer. For more information, call 276-5796 or visit www.unityofdelraybeach.org.

By Janis Fontaine

On May 15 in many places throughout the world, crowds will gather as the day winds into evening.
They are awaiting the start of a holy event, the first sighting of the crescent moon that marks the start of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. The monthlong lunar cycle is celebrated by 2 billion Muslims as Ramadan.
In Islam, Ramadan is the holiest time of the year. The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, based on the phases of the moon. Ramadan takes place at a different time each year, and over time, it passes through all the seasons.
Ramadan is a holy month of fasting, introspection and prayer for Muslims. It commemorates the phase of the moon when, around A.D. 610, Muslims believe Muhammad received revelations from God (Allah) through his angel Gabriel. This holy event took place in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, which is why, wherever they are in the world, Muslims face Mecca for their daily prayers.
The teachings were collected into the Quran, a 114-chapter holy book, like the Christian Bible or the Judaic Torah. Muslims believe the Quran contains the exact words of God.
During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day, but break the fast with family and friends once the sun goes down. A check of the calendar shows this doesn’t officially happen until after 8 p.m., so Muslims fast until then. Ramadan culminates in Eid al-Fitr, a three-day festival and one of Islam’s most important holidays. This year, Ramadan ends the evening of June 14.
All Muslims who are old enough and healthy enough fast during Ramadan. Fasting is a way for Muslims to cleanse the body, but it’s also a way to empathize with people who are poor and hungry. In addition to fasting, Muslims avoid drinking, smoking, sex, impure thoughts and words, and immoral and even unkind behavior. Self-restraint is important. Self-reflection is vital.
Some people read from the Quran or recite special prayers or go to the mosque. Omam Khalid wrote in his article The Dos and Don’ts of Ramadan, “This month is about patience, forgiveness and goodness and anything that hinders a Muslim achieving this state should be avoided at all costs.”
Ramadan also is a time of celebration. During Ramadan, “the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of hell are closed and the devils are chained.” This makes Ramadan the perfect time to do good, and to ask and give forgiveness, with no devil to tempt you.
The Pew Research Center estimates that there were about 3.45 million Muslims living in the U.S. in 2017, which means Muslims make up just over 1 percent of the total U.S. population.
The Islamic Center of Boca Raton hosts a monthly open house the first Thursday of each month from 7 to 9 p.m. The community is invited to the center to learn more about Islam. Refreshments are served following a tour of the mosque and a question-and-answer session. The Islamic Center is at 3480 NW Fifth Ave., Boca Raton. Call 395-7221.

Islam and Ramadan
Islam — Islam means “to surrender to God.” Muslims believe there is one omnipotent God and people can achieve salvation by following his commandments.
The Quran — The holy book that contains Muhammad’s revelations, believed by Muslims to be the exact word of God.
Muhammad — The final prophet in a line of prophets that includes Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muhammad lived from around A.D. 570 to 632.
The Five Pillars of Islam — The pillars include a declaration of faith called shahada; prayer; charity, called zakat; fasting; and pilgrimage, or hajj, which requires Muslims to make a trip to the holy city of Mecca.
Ramadan — The holy time that recognizes the gift of the Quran.
Iftar — The evening meal at which the fast is broken. The humble date is a traditional food eaten to break the fast.
Taraweeh — This special evening prayer is prayed only during Ramadan. It’s no longer required but it’s a strong tradition and many modern Muslims pray it. It’s a long prayer, lasting more than an hour.
America’s first and oldest mosque — Lebanese immigrants built the first mosque in North Dakota in the 1920s. The mosque was torn down in the 1970s and later replaced. What is probably the oldest surviving mosque was built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the 1930s.

Prayers for addiction
A worship service and information session about the opioid crisis will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. May 6 in the sanctuary at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St. Prayer for those affected by addiction will follow, and several experts will speak from different perspectives. A Q&A session will conclude the afternoon. Free. Guests welcomed. Call 276-6338 or visit www.firstdelray.com.

Marian Rosary Festival
The rosary will be prayed in many languages at the 2018 Marian Rosary Festival honoring Mary, Mother of the Church, on May 6 at Emmanuel Catholic Church, 15700 S. Military Trail, Delray Beach.
The Most Rev. Gerald Barbarito will preside over the ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m., and will offer the benediction. For more information, call 496-2480.

Interfaith Café meets
Join the theological discussion from 7 to 9 p.m. May 17 at South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach.
This month’s program is “The Gift of Years,” an evening of reflection and conversation on how a rich and mature spirituality addresses regret, relationships and hope. The presenter is the Rev. Dr. Steven Olds, S.Th.D., a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Orlando and a professor and spiritual director at the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.
Light refreshments will be served. The meeting is free, but donations are appreciated. The Interfaith Café meets the third Thursday of the month. Volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of duties to keep this program going. For information or to volunteer, email Jane@Aurorasvoice.org.
Music at St. Paul’s
A special concert of Bach arias featuring soprano Adriana Ruiz is planned for May’s Music at St. Paul’s at 3 p.m. May 20 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.
Under the direction of Paul Cienniwa, countertenor Edgar Sanfeliz Botta will also perform, and several musicians will perform on period instruments, including Robert Billington and Scott Ireland on traverso, Laurice Campbell Buckton on baroque violin, and Marie Ridolfo on viola da gamba. Cienniwa will play harpsichord/organ.
Soprano and alto arias are from Bach Cantatas 35, 36, 45, 132, 147, 210, 214 and 243. Soprano and alto duets come from Cantatas 78 and 93. Organ works are based on the chorale Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, and Trio Sonata in G major, BWV 1038.
Tickets are $20. Admission is free for 18 and younger. Arrive by 2:30 p.m. for a pre-concert lecture by Cienniwa. For more information, call 278-6003 or visit www.music.stpaulsdelray.org.

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.

FAU researchers make progress in helping couples dealing
with memory loss sharpen their communication skills

Some people in the FAU study took part in painting classes or other activities at the Louis and Anne Green Memory Center in Boca Raton. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Lona O’Connor

The scenario is familiar and sad.
“This couple, you can see the problems they’re having,” Christine Williams, director of the Ph.D. in Nursing program at Florida Atlantic University, says while scanning a report on a study she led. “She doesn’t understand that he can’t do any better than he does. She’s very critical, demeaning, harsh. He’s very stubborn.”
The study attempted to help couples communicate better when one of them has Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia.
Williams, also a professor at the nursing college, designed the study and was its principal investigator.
For 10 weeks, researchers from the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing worked with 15 couples in their homes. Caregivers were trained to reduce critical behavior and care receivers learned to reduce their unsociable habits, such as not making eye contact. Researchers found measurable positive changes in communications by the end of the 10 weeks, including the ability of care receivers to stay interested and engaged, remain on topic and even joke with their partners. Caregivers learned how to encourage their partners rather than shutting them down.
The study was published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Couples, who all attended programs at the Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center, received a manual with 10 weekly areas of study. Researchers met each week with couples, separately and together. For 10 minutes each week, the couples engaged in conversations that were put on video and later evaluated.
“This intervention is important because there are no other programs specifically developed for couples where one has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia,” Williams said. “While marital counseling is available, it’s very different when you have one partner who is losing their ability to communicate.”
More than 5.4 million adults in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and more than 15 million family members care for them at home. A substantial number of caregivers, 40 percent, are spouses. Spouse caregivers have received billions of dollars in health care for stress-related issues.
When case workers teach new practices to couples, their lives improve, Williams reports.
“After she learns what his limitations are, she’s trying to get him to take his antibiotic,” Williams says. “He does eventually take it, and they joke as they go along.”
Later, she says, “You can see how she gives him all the chances in the world to talk. She doesn’t talk for him, she doesn’t demand.”
In between is a painstaking process that reveals the shame, the fear and the resentment below the surface of marriages under the ultimate stress.
“Somehow, we think that what our spouse does reflects badly on us,” she says, referring to the sometimes baffling behavior of people with Alzheimer’s. The caregiver spouse “is just mortified.”
During the 10-week study, caregivers learned to improve their spouses’ behavior and reduce their own stress.
“When you hold a conversation with them, when you are supportive, encouraging and boosting their self-esteem, you give them the message that they are worth talking to,” Williams says. “You can, with your attitude, still give them the time to be in a relationship.”

Christine Williams’ study examined communication skills between couples in which one of them suffers from memory loss. Photo provided

Study inspired by personal experience
To have a spouse with Alzheimer’s still carries a stigma and can isolate a couple from their friends. Some couples bond with others in the same situation, Williams said, meaning they don’t have to explain to someone who might not understand or tolerate it.
They know to be patient if, for example, a spouse has trouble ordering food in a restaurant.
Some people with Alzheimer’s “think they’re fine, but a lot of people are painfully aware,” Williams says. “One woman told me, ‘My husband just puts his arms around me and says, ‘I’m so sorry this is happening.’ It’s heart-wrenching for these couples.”
Williams’ interest in caregiver couples started when she observed her parents in their later years. Her father, she says, was a wonderful caregiver to her mother but didn’t understand the extent of her memory loss. He tried to argue her out of incorrect memories.
“He didn’t know how to just drop it, and she was getting frustrated,” Williams says.
Although much research focuses on nurses and other professional caregivers, research on family caregivers is rare, Williams says.
Spouses can learn how to get their loved ones to continue to care for themselves, such as brushing their teeth, and how to deal with more complex issues of relating to them as people despite their limitations.
The stress of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient can reveal the cracks in a relationship.
“When suddenly they don’t recognize this person, having empathy becomes more challenging,” Williams says. “They may say, ‘He’s not the man I married.’ And if there is [emotional] baggage, they may be rolling that into the Alzheimer’s.”
Sometimes, the key is to help the caregiver to accept that the spouse with Alzheimer’s “is not going to miraculously change.”
One man in the study kept showing photos to his wife and demanding, “Who’s this? That’s your twin daughters.”
“I did convince him that that was not helpful,” Williams says.
Williams wants couples and families to know “there is hope. And if there’s nothing more to be done, they can learn to maintain that connection and learn how not to interfere with the relationship and with what the person can still do.”
The Louis and Anne Green Memory and Wellness Center has a couples group that includes support groups, caregiver education and memory-enhancing games, mindfulness training and respite for caregivers. For more information, visit fau.edu/memorywellnesscenter.

Lona O’Connor has a lifelong interest in health and healthy living. Send column ideas to lona13@bellsouth.net.

Communication tips for family members affected by Alzheimer’s

1. Share news of the day: Talk about family and friends and the daily agenda so that your family member with memory loss is still involved in everyday life.
2. Expectant waiting: Set aside a small amount of time, when you are not busy and distracted, just to talk. Focus on being open to whatever your family member considers important. You don’t need to keep talking. It’s OK to sit quietly together and let your family member break the silence.
3. Connect: Communicating is more than talking or exchanging information. You can communicate without words. What is your voice saying? Does it show compassion, impatience, love, disrespect? Are you communicating what you intend? Is the message one of caring?
4. Search for ways to communicate: Try multiple ways of engaging. Try a new topic, a touch, a smile or a song.
5. Accept their story: Listen without correcting. Honor your loved one’s efforts to communicate even if you disagree with “the facts.” Being “right” is not as important as being supportive.
6. Share memories: Couples share special memories. Rather than ask, “Do you remember the time …,”  share the memory freely. Offer memories of special times.  Think of it as a gift. Start with “I remember when. …”
7. Tell stories: Talk about shared interests, what you are reading, what you noticed about people, events or nature. These are everyday stories that can help you stay engaged with your family member.
8. Create a caring environment: By creating predictability and a supportive environment, you are making it possible for your family member to take the risk to join conversations. Being corrected or ignored is painful and can encourage someone with a memory problem to give up trying.
9. Give compassionate care: When a loved one with a memory problem needs help, provide it with compassion. Use words and gestures to express your affection as you offer help. While love may have been taken for granted before, it needs to be openly expressed now.
10. Delight in unexpected responses: There will be moments of clarity, shared humor, or times when your family member will let you know that you are appreciated. Feelings are beyond words. Appreciate and cherish those special moments.
Source: Christine Williams, director of the Ph.D. in Nursing program at Florida Atlantic University

Mindy Shikiar has been appointed chief operating officer for Boca Raton Regional Hospital. She replaces Karen Poole, who retired in early April. Shikiar has been at Boca Regional since 2003 and served in positions such as vice president of oncology services, ambulatory services and business development. She has had oversight of major program and facility expansions at the hospital’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute, the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute and the Gloria Drummond Physical Rehabilitation Institute.
“Mindy Shikiar’s experience and skill set are ideally suited for this important role within our organization. Her leadership will be instrumental as we continue to enhance our position as a preeminent, academic referral medical center in the region,” said hospital President and CEO Jerry Fedele.

Tarsha Jones, an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, got some good news times two. She received a $182,812 diversity supplement grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health awarded through Columbia University and a $5,000 grant from the D.A.I.S.Y. Foundation.
The two-year National Institutes of Health grant will further Jones’ research and career development skills and enhance diversity among biomedical and behavioral scientists. Jones, along with her research mentors, will examine racial and ethnic disparities in the use of genetic testing among young breast cancer survivors. In her research funded by the D.A.I.S.Y. Foundation, Jones is studying barriers to genetic testing of black and Hispanic women with cancer risks who receive care in community health centers.

Boca Raton Regional Hospital was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of “150 great places to work in health care” for the second consecutive year. Becker’s Hospital Review accepted nominations and developed an editorial review process.
Boca Regional’s submission included a look at its offerings in employee recognition and professional development programs, along with wellness initiatives and competitive benefits. Examples include the hospital’s @WorkCare Health Center and its Healthy Habits program.

Symphony, a senior living community on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, will open this summer. It plans to offer 88 supportive independent living and assisted living apartments and 34 memory support apartments. Monthly apartment prices range from $4,595 to $6,600. Amenities and services include restaurant dining, bar, salon and spa, a movie theater, gym, as well as nursing care options. For more information, call 672-0774.

Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.

ABOVE: Dena Balka in the kitchen at the Infusions Café. RIGHT: Red stem kale is a hearty green thriving in the garden. Photos by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley

The Secret Garden is a small raised vegetable garden at the Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach. The enthusiasm of those who use and maintain it makes up for its lack of size.
Visitors may enjoy 10 three-tiered planting beds flush with bright green lettuce leaves, mustard greens, red- and yellow-stemmed beet greens, delicate carrot tops and plenty of tomato plants well-covered with ripening green orbs.
An in-ground bed at the edge of the parking lot sports rosemary, lettuce and well-formed heads of red cabbage. And, at the rear of the garden, two prolific papaya trees in plastic tubs produce sweet fruit.
This garden got its start about eight years ago when the center’s executive director, Sherry Johnson, realized that a vegetable garden would help fulfill the center’s mission to create a healthier community.
The community in the heart of Boynton Beach, she explains, is a food desert where healthful food is difficult to obtain and many of the residents are low-income older adults.
The garden originally covered two nearby lots that were offered to the center for the price of paying the real estate taxes. There it flourished providing plenty of produce for nutrition and cooking classes. The fruits and veggies also were delivered to local residents’ homes, providing them ingredients for healthful eating.
But the garden faltered when Johnson couldn’t find anyone to maintain and harvest it on a regular basis. So about three years ago, when the generous landowner died, Johnson decided to downscale the garden and bring it onto the center’s own property where it sits today.
“At that time, we chose to focus on teaching the next generation about growing their food and getting better nutrition,” she says.
Even so, the center’s Veggie Mobile continued to visit seniors. But the smaller harvest meant it now has to be stocked with produce purchased from local farmers as home-schooled children work in the garden to earn credits.
“Here they can learn about organic farming and what to do with the harvest. They can get a science lesson from using natural pest control. And they discover the plumbing involved with plants, their root systems and all of that,” Johnson says.
The chefs who use the center’s commercial kitchens find it’s handy to have ingredients just outside the door. That makes it easy to incorporate the fresh produce in their creations as well as in nutrition and cooking classes.
“You just get your scissors, go out and clip what you need,” says Dena Balka, who runs Infusions Café, a small eatery at the center. “I usually bring a colander with me and put the harvest right in there. Then I come in and wash what I picked to use right away.”
You may find her picking a little fresh arugula to add to sandwiches or some basil for pesto. “I like to layer flavors and ingredients so my dishes are never boring and there are lots of textures,” she says.
Bright green wooden boxes of foliage and herbs as well as potted areca palms also sit just outside the restaurant door. Patrons sit among them as they dine al fresco at wrought iron tables.
Visit the center and you can’t help but notice how beautifully the gardens are maintained. That’s thanks in part to Winfred Patrick, who visits almost daily to keep the beds well-weeded, fertilized and watered. “Being in that garden helps calm me down,” he says.
Besides working there, he gets to enjoy the bounty of the garden when he munches a fresh-picked tomato or a green pepper under the sun. The community also respects and enjoys this garden at the center, where many are nourished both physically and emotionally.
“Having this, we’re just blessed,” Patrick says.

Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley is a master gardener who can be reached at debhartz@att.net.

Gardening tip

“We try to plant a little of everything. Our garden does well because we know what grows in Florida and understand the growing seasons. We’ve found that tomatoes thrive as do green peppers and squash. But we haven’t planted many fruit trees such as mangoes, because they take years to develop and we haven’t gotten there yet.”
— Sherry Johnson, executive director, Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach

If You Go

Where: The Secret Garden and Infusions Café are at the Community Caring Center of Greater Boynton Beach, 410 E. Boynton Beach Blvd.
When: The garden on the east side of the building is open every day for viewing. Café Infusions serves lunch 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Information: Call the center at 364-9501 or visit www.cccgbb.org. For Infusions Café, call 578-0272, e-mail dena@infusionscafe.com, or visit infusionscafe.com. The menu changes weekly and can be viewed online.

ABOVE: Dolphinfish (mahi mahi) begin to show up in greater numbers as the weather warms in the spring. These were caught in mid-April by Tim Workman (left) and Dave Hammond from the Lantana-based Geno V charter boat operated by Capt. Geno Pratt (far right) and his son, Zane Pratt. RIGHT: Ben He of Wellington shows one of two kingfish he caught vertical jigging during the April 12 morning trip on the Lady K drift boat, based in Lantana. Schools of spring kings are common during May in the waters off Palm Beach County.

Photos by Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

By Willie Howard

Spring is here. Days are getting longer … the sun, stronger. For ocean anglers, that means live bait such as Spanish sardines, threadfin herrings and pilchards should arrive this month, followed by predators such as kingfish, cobia and blackfin tuna.
Bottom fishing for mutton snapper usually improves during May, as does fishing for colorful, high-jumping dolphinfish, best known as mahi mahi.
With spring fishing action expected to heat up with the outside temperatures, here are a few suggestions for catching ocean fish along the coast of southern Palm Beach County:

1. Find live bait.
Look for dimples on the surface of the water in the morning — or find the bait clouds on your boat’s depth finder. If they’re small baits, such as pilchards in shallow water, net them with a cast net. Larger baits such as Spanish sardines are best caught with sabiki quills, then moved carefully into a live-bait well.
Try a No. 6 sabiki rig with an ounce or two of weight clipped to the string of hooks. (Be careful, because the tiny gold hooks often wind up in shirts or fingers.)
If you don’t like catching bait, buy it from an on-the-water bait dealer such as Dynamite Live Bait, which often sells bait from a boat just inside Boynton Inlet.
2. Match hook sizes to the size of the live bait fish. A 2/0 or 3/0 hook works well with a live Spanish sardine or threadfin herring (also known as greenie). Add about 6 inches of light wire between the hook and the leader to catch toothy fish such as kingfish and wahoo.
3. Add weight to get baits below the surface. Try hooking a sardine onto a 5/0 circle hook tied to 5 feet of 40-pound-test leader with 2 ounces of weight above the leader to catch blackfin tuna.
4. Try drifting with unweighted flat lines holding live bait to catch dolphin and surface-feeding kingfish. Don’t be surprised if a sailfish hits your live sardine or threadfin herring.
“The sardine is my favorite bait by far,” says Capt. Chris Lemieux, a Boynton Beach charter captain.
Lemieux also likes to net dozens of small pilchards, which he throws out as live chum to attract blackfin tuna, typically in 140 to 250 feet of water.
5. Troll near weed lines, current edges and floating debris to find mahi mahi. Try trolling artificial lures such as Rattle Jets, rigged ballyhoo or rigged squid to catch mahi mahi. After one is hooked behind the boat, have a pitch bait (such as a sardine chunk or squid on a half-ounce jig) ready to toss out to followers when they appear near the boat.
6. If you don’t have live bait, use a dead sardine or ballyhoo (from the freezer case at the bait shop) threaded onto triple 5/0 hooks and tied to 40-pound-test leader to catch kingfish, dolphin, snapper and cobia.
Add weight above the hooks as needed. Watch the depth finder on the boat for fish under the boat. Kingfish often show up as marks on depth finders 20 feet or more below the surface.
7. Don’t forget bottom fish. Fishing for the beautiful, tasty mutton snapper can be productive in May and June. Drift with dead sardines, squid or ballyhoo on 30-pound-test leader to catch mutton snappers. (Don’t forget the minimum size for muttons: 18 inches in overall length.)
Drift fishing can be an effective way to fish the ocean along the coast of southern Palm Beach County, said Capt. Bruce Cyr of the Lantana-based Lady K drift boat.
Try drifting with dead baits such as frozen sardines (or a combination of dead and live baits) in three depths at the same time.
Surface baits (unweighted flat lines) target sailfish, dolphin and surface-feeding kingfish. Lightly weighted mid-water baits often catch kingfish, cobia and blackfin tuna. At the same time, bottom baits rigged with heavier weights could catch snappers, groupers, African pompano or amberjack.
Drifting with baits positioned in various depths offers anglers the chance to catch a wide variety of fish, Cyr said.

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

Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament & Chili Cook-Off

Mullet Mafia team anglers (l-r) Ryan Reinert, Jason Gonzales, Timothy Riley, Robert Thomas and Hayden Buckner — all from the Coral Springs/Parkland Fire Department — celebrate the 61.4-pound wahoo they caught off Boynton Beach to win $1,500 as biggest wahoo and heaviest fish in the 13th annual Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park in Boynton Beach on April 21. Willie Howard/The Coastal Star

The always engaging French bulldog is not a great swimmer and so should wear a doggie life vest in the water. Photo by Ashley McGeeney, Blue Wonder Frenchies

By Arden Moore

What do Lady Gaga, Leo DiCaprio and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have in common with some dog lovers who live in West Palm Beach?
All of them share their homes with the French bulldog breed that they regard as magnifique.
I admit I found the results of a recent dog popularity poll surprising. It turns out that of the 190 recognized dog breeds in the world, the French bulldog ranks No. 1 in West Palm Beach. This news is according to research conducted by the American Kennel Club, an organization that dates to 1884 and maintains the largest registry of purebred dogs in the world.
Sorry, Labrador retrievers. Apologies to all your German shepherds, and better luck next time to those smiling golden retrievers. All of these fine breeds take a back leash to the French bulldog here as well as in New York City, Los Angeles and Honolulu, according to the AKC poll.
“This is the second year in a row that the French bulldog has been on top in West Palm Beach,” reports Gina DiNardo, AKC executive secretary. “It looks like this playful, smart breed will continue to be a popular choice.”
Who isn’t surprised by this ranking? Certified professional dog trainer Jaime Devereaux, who trains all types of dogs throughout Palm Beach County, and professional French bulldog breeder Ashley McGeeney, co-owner of the Blue Wonder Frenchies located in Loxahatchee.
“I was not surprised by this poll result because Frenchies are popping up everywhere lately,” says Devereaux, who operates Jaime Doolittle Dog Training. “I’ve trained numerous Frenchies and fall in love with every single one of them. They are great dogs.”
Devereaux says some people mistakenly peg French bulldogs as stubborn, but she has found that not to be the case.
“I’ve actually found Frenchies to be very easy to train because they are usually very food-motivated and excel with obedience training. Their only limitation would be that they are what’s known as brachycephalic dogs (short muzzles) and can overheat quickly, so short training sessions outside work best for them.”
McGeeney and her husband, Jared Schorr, fell in love with French bulldogs in 2013, motivating them to carefully breed AKC-registered French bulldogs at their Blue Wonder Frenchies center located just outside of West Palm Beach.
“Their quirky personalities and cute bat ears are what I think draws people to this breed. That’s what attracted us to French bulldogs,” says McGeeney.
Here are some fun facts about Frenchies:
They didn’t originate in France. These toy-size bulldogs were born in Nottingham, England, during the mid-1800s, where they became mascots for lace makers. They migrated to the French countryside with some of these lace makers and bred with terriers and pugs, developing their now-famous bat ears.
Yes, they do snore. That’s because of their short snouts. So, turn on your sound machine to muffle their snoring at bedtime.
When they are awake, they do not have reputations as big barkers, but they do enjoy engaging in conversations with their favorite people.
Be patient during potty training. French bulldogs may need a little more time and guidance to understand the home is their den and their bathroom is outside.
Vest them up for swims. These stocky, short-legged dogs are no canine versions of Michael Phelps, so be sure to fit them in a life vest for laps in the pool and swims in the ocean. Always supervise them around bodies of water.
They sport fun nicknames. Because of the way they play out their back legs, they are affectionately dubbed “frog dogs” and due to their playful personalities they are known as “clowns of the canines.”
McGeeney adds these insights into this breed: “French bulldogs are very curious and more apt to learn tricks than obedience first. But their fun-loving attitudes make them get along with everyone, people and dogs alike.”
French bulldogs are not typically up for adoption in animal shelters, but you can reach out to breed rescue groups led by the French Bulldog Rescue Network at www.frenchbulldogrescue.org. Or you can consider getting a puppy from professional breeders like McGeeney (bluewonderfrenchies.com).
“Jared and I have been residents of Palm Beach County for our entire lives and the focus of our breeding program is quality over quantity,” says McGeeney. “All of our dogs live in our home. Our puppies are well-socialized to all kinds of sights and sounds to make sure you have a well-adjusted family member.”
Oh, in case you were curious which breeds make the top five in nationwide popularity: From first through fifth for 2017 are the Labrador retriever, German shepherd, golden retriever, French bulldog, and the bulldog.
My canine pack includes a trio of mutts: Kona, a Jack Russell terrier-whippet combo; Cleo, a bichon frise-poodle blend, and Bujeau, a Bernese mountain dog-Catahoula leopard mix.
My favorite purebred is the Pembroke Welsh corgi, a short-legged, long-backed canine of the herding group and a royal favorite of Queen Elizabeth. My late great Jazz was a corgi and I affectionately describe corgis as a cross between Robin Williams and the Three Stooges because of their brilliant comedic personalities.
What’s your favorite dog breed and why? Share your reasons by emailing arden@ardenmoore.com.

Arden Moore, founder of FourLeggedLife.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author, professional speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. She hosts the Oh Behave! show on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more at www.ardenmoore.com.

ABOVE: Ocean Ridge Garden Club member Sylvie Glickstein climbs into a sea grape tree to attach an orchid. RIGHT: The gardeners use Liquid Nails to attach the seedlings to the trees. The Million Orchid program is experimenting with locations around the county to try to re-establish native orchids in the wild. BELOW: Stella Kolb, a member of the Garden Club, holds a tray with 100 orchid seedlings. Fifteen members of the club worked with Palm Beach County employees to carefully glue the butterfly and dollar orchid species to the hammock trees, which offer the growing epiphytes a stable place to thrive.

Photos by Jerry Lower/ The Coastal Star

Aubrey Deptula is a talented writer who wants a science-oriented career. Her parents both work in the medical field. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

At 15, Aubrey Deptula is already putting together an impressive academic and athletic résumé.
Aubrey, a sophomore at Boca Raton Community High School, earned the highest score in the nation on one of the toughest exams: media studies.
She and students from 15 other Palm Beach County schools were honored last month at an awards ceremony at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport.
Aubrey, Alexa Lisa Gauvin and Duc Tran won “Top in the Country” medals for getting the highest scores on their exams as part of the Cambridge Assessment International Education diploma program. Alexa outscored her peers in marine science and Duc in chemistry. Both attend Palm Beach Central High.
“I feel like I was better prepared,” Aubrey said of her achievement. “I spent a lot of time researching the processes and technology of media.”
Aubrey, who lives in coastal Boca Raton, is pursuing the diploma in a program that is part of the famed University of Cambridge. It “prepares school students for life, helping them develop an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for learning.”
She also plays volleyball.
“Aubrey is a leader on our campus,” Principal Susie King says. “She takes her education seriously and sets her goals high. She is an absolute pleasure to be around and has a kind word or smile for everyone.”
Media studies is the analysis, understanding and appreciation of the media in our everyday lives, and the media’s effects (intended or otherwise) on the public. The topic requires extensive analytical writing, and Aubrey, who will be 16 on June 14, competed against many older students.
For Aubrey, doing well on the exam had additional value: She’s trying to earn college scholarship money, including Florida’s Bright Futures scholarship.
“I’ve been working toward that as a way of giving back to my parents,” Aubrey said.
She’s interested in the medical field, which entails quite a bit of college.
But her writing is getting her noticed. Aubrey isn’t afraid to tackle difficult topics. She recently wrote an essay about how technology affects gender equality, and she’s interested in humanitarian topics, especially women’s rights.
“My parents say I have a way with words,” she said.
She’d make a fine journalist, but Aubrey is committed to the challenging STEM program at Boca Raton High and she wants a science-oriented career.
Her parents, Tom and Kelly Deptula, both work in the medical field, and she loves to listen in on her dad’s conversations about the advances in orthopedic medicine, equipment and treatment.
“I think it’s mind-blowing,” Aubrey says of the biomedical technology field. “They can manufacture things that actually save lives.”
This focus on studies is only part of the Aubrey Deptula equation. The 6-foot Aubrey is also a hitter and blocker who made Boca Raton’s volleyball team this past season. The Bobcats won a state championship in the 2016-17 school year.
At one tournament, Aubrey felt overwhelmed by the demands of the sport she loves and the weight of projects due in AP biology and AP world history. Her coach, Brett Sikora, stepped up.
“I just broke down, and he really helped me,” Aubrey said.
Sikora said he used his experience working with college athletes to help Aubrey.
“It’s all about time management,” Sikora said.
His tips included making a list and prioritizing projects by due date and breaking down big projects into smaller tasks. The practical solutions seemed to help her refocus her energy.
“Aubrey is an incredible learner and she works very hard,” Sikora said.
Aubrey seems to have a knack for learning not only from her own actions but from both the mistakes and achievements of others. Playing on a strong team with eight returning seniors helped her.
“It all comes down to paying attention,” Sikora said. “Aubrey is always watching and learning.”
Aubrey admits she’s very competitive, but she has a soft heart. She plans to spend her summer working as a camp counselor, teaching kids about sports.
She would love to play volleyball in college. At least she thinks so. That’s more than two years away.
And volleyball scholarships are hard to come by, Sikora said, but require just as big of a commitment as more popular sports.
For now, Aubrey still finds time to just relax. You might find her playing beach volleyball or hanging out with her family, which includes two older brothers, Brent, currently studying at Florida State University, and Ryan, a senior at Boca High.
There’s been one side benefit of Aubrey’s achievements, and it’s one all girls with big brothers can relate to: “They’re starting to take me a little more seriously,” she said.