Denise Rizzuto and Erika Rizzuto. Photo provided

The nation’s top dogs and human heroes gathered for a gala luncheon to honor America’s most courageous canines. Seven such animals were celebrated for their extraordinary accomplishments in categories including Military Hero Dog, Law Enforcement Hero Dog and Therapy Hero Dog. Philanthropist Lois Pope, children’s author Loretta Neff and veterinarian Terry Morris were recognized as well.

Sandblast, by Al Pessin, 422 pp., Kensington Books, $9.99.

By Sharon Geltner
Contributing Writer

Goodbye, Homeland.

Hello, Sandblast.

Showtime’s hit series Homeland ends in May. But covert ops fans can turn to Sandblast, the first book in an action, adventure and suspense trilogy by Al Pessin, who covered the world’s hot spots from Afghanistan to Washington, D.C., before retiring in 2015 and moved to Delray Beach.

The plot: After terrorists blow up a plane carrying the secretary of defense, the Defense Intelligence Agency creates Operation: Sandblast. The top-secret asset is California-raised, Afghan-American Lt. Faraz Abdallah. His heritage and military training make him the perfect undercover agent, but can he fool the Taliban? Then can he uncover its terror plots and assassinate the leaders?
The president is on board. “We’re facing our toughest threat since 9/11, and if we don’t handle it right, we could end up living in a very different world, a much more hostile one.”

Besides the intrepid Abdallah, the other hero is military and security expert Dr. Bridget Davenport, in a role similar to Carrie Mathison.

The book moves fast and the complex plot makes sense. Pessin is most persuasive describing how tough it is for Faraz to maintain two identities at once. He has to fit in, quote the Koran, remember his emergency extraction code, avoid recruitment as a suicide bomber and not be subsumed by the Taliban.

The Afghan village scenes are plausible, and Pessin offers many authentic details of the Pentagon.

Bridget’s relationship with an officer is the book’s only false note, such as when the two debate whether to call each other sugar pie or sweet cakes.

Otherwise, Sandblast reads like the real deal.

Pessin was a journalist at Voice of America for 39 years, 15 of them overseas. His first foreign assignment was Hong Kong in 1984. He’s also worked in Pakistan, Guantanamo Bay, Ukraine (in flak jacket and helmet), Jerusalem, London and New York. He enjoyed his first six-month tour in Islamabad so much, he offered to stay longer.

One of Pessin’s proudest moments came in 1989, when China expelled him for covering the Tiananmen Square massacre. He also reported from the White House and the Pentagon, traveling with two defense secretaries to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“[Years later], when I returned for a visit to Islamabad, I went to the old market and it was tense. All eyes were on me. I was the only foreigner there.”

Pessin speaks some French, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Mandarin and Cantonese. “I wanted to know if the side conversation was discussing lunch or about kidnapping me and selling me to Hamas,” he said.

He said in Gaza and the West Bank, “Being Jewish was never an issue. No one asked. I felt they didn’t know.”

Pessin was inspired to write Sandblast during his six years at the Pentagon, when he came across an outdoor naturalization ceremony for people who joined the military as legal residents and were then being sworn in as citizens. Their happy and proud families were dressed in colorful dress from their home countries.

“I thought about what sort of unique capabilities they bring to our military. They are our generation’s new Navajo code talkers [from World War II.]”

Sharon Geltner is the author of Charity Bashed, available on Amazon and in bookstores.

YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox closed Festival of the Arts Boca in rousing style. Photo by StoryWorkz Photography

Here are edited reviews of performances that occurred in early March. For complete reviews, see palmbeachartspaper.com

A Chorus Line (March 14, Wick Theatre)

This production of A Chorus Line is arguably the best work in the Boca Raton troupe’s seven seasons of operation.

Of course, it had a head start with the nine-time Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning show that strips the musical of its usual colorful sets and costumes for a look backstage at chorus dancer auditions led by Zach, a somewhat sadistic director-choreographer who uses his power to pry into the lives of his cast hopefuls.

Still, it is a difficult show to pull off well, but you would never know it from the pitch-perfect Wick production, staged by Mitzi Hamilton, a veteran of the show’s original London company and later of the Broadway cast, as well as the inspiration for the character Val of “Dance: 10, Looks: 3” renown. Hamilton is a keeper of the flame of the late Michael Bennett’s iconic direction, keeping it alive in subsequent productions like this one.

From the opening cattle call, which winnows the wannabes down to 17, to their apprehensive poses in a line waiting for their interviews, to the ethereal “At the Ballet,” to the raucous “Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love,” to the finale “One,” in which they become the autonomous unit Zach has been rehearsing them to be, Hamilton crafts her cast into an ensemble on a par with any tour of A Chorus Line that has ever danced its way to the area.

There is not a weak link in the Wick cast, but certain roles are natural standouts. As Cassie, the director’s former girlfriend who failed to catch on in Hollywood, Jessica Lee Goldyn is stunning in the narcissistic solo of anguish, “The Music and the Mirror,” as graceful and powerful as any performer I’ve ever seen in the role. And Jonathan Fleites is heart-breaking with Paul’s monologue of his days as a female impersonator, based on the life on the show’s co-writer, Nicholas Dante.

Emily Tarallo is probably too young for the role of chorus veteran Sheila, but she conveys all of the character’s hard-bitten attitude. And Jawan Hayes is always worth watching as Richie, the former kindergarten teacher.

The trick now will be keeping this cast together until the production can return in late April. Those theatergoers intrepid enough to attend in mid-March were treated to a remarkable show that more deserve to experience.

— Hap Erstein

Postmodern Jukebox (March 8, Festival of the Arts Boca)

The final evening of this year’s festival at the Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton was damn cold, with a biting wind.
Still, the not-too-comfortable folding chairs on the amphitheater lawn were nearly filled, thanks, in large part, to the appearance of Postmodern Jukebox, an ensemble of genre-bending singers and musicians known for taking songs originally done in one style and presenting them in a totally different way.

A reworked “Thriller (Michael Jackson) was among the offerings. Michael Cunio (who introduced himself as “Coolio”) did the vocal honors and immediately notched the audience’s attention.

Known widely as PMJ, the jazz and soul-fueled troupe is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011, when he began shooting videos with friends from college in his basement apartment in Astoria, Queens.

In less than a decade, PMJ has amassed more than 1.2 billion YouTube views and 4 million subscribers. When Cunio asked the audience how many had seen the group before or were fans, at least half applauded.

Since debuting, Postmodern Jukebox has featured 70 performers and has toured six continents.

PMJ brought some fine lady vocalists, including Tia Simone, a soulful dynamo who hit some high notes that shook the stage lighting. She, Hannah Gill and Brielle Von Hugel all walked to their assigned spots in a variety of different, elegant costumes.

The audience largely chilled through the early songs, including Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,” given a bouncy beat by Cunio, Simone and Gill.

In the more-intense second half, PMJ twisted a couple of tunes with remarkable agility and ability. Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” was an up-tempo success.

Postmodern Jukebox closed out with an encore tracing the evolution of the Friends TV theme, “I’ll Be There for You.”

— Dale King

Swallow (opened March 6)

It’s about time somebody made a movie about pica, the psychological condition, first described by Hippocrates, of habitually consuming non-nutritive objects: soil, paint, glass, needles. Because of pica’s generic intersection between psychodrama and body horror, one might have thought that somebody would have been David Cronenberg.

But Swallow is the work of a new voice — Carlo Mirabella-Davis, in his debut as writer-director — whose approach is no less fastidious, and no less squirm-inducing. While his ear for dialogue could use some occasional polish, his freshman effort is auspicious and intuitive, seeing past the surface of his protagonist’s destructive condition into the cluttered belly of the matter: a controlling patriarchy whose micro-oppressions drives the behavior in the first place.

Haley Bennett, in a performance of career-catapulting depth, bravery and ambiguity, plays Hunter, a housewife who appears to be enjoying a charmed life of privilege. Her husband Richie (Austin Sowell) is an upwardly mobile businessman with wealthy parents, whose generosity paid for their comfortable New York manse.

When she learns that she’s pregnant, it is cause for much celebration from Richie and her in-laws, if not Hunter herself.

There are reasons for her reticence. Richie is an inattentive, emotionally absent Type A male. Hunter’s in-laws (Elizabeth Marvel and David Rasche) are callous and passive-aggressive to a point of unnecessary extremity.

Hunter is a textbook case for pica, which occurs most frequently in pregnant or postpartum women, or in those with physical or mental impairments. Hunter checks off both boxes.

But Swallow endeavors for a deeper, more psychologically astute depiction — one that, for Hunter, becomes synonymous with a drug addiction.

Swallow missteps in its need to date Hunter’s disease to a psychological trauma from her childhood and then resolve it a bit too tidily.

— ArtsPaper staff

The winning dog was Parker, a 2-year-old golden retriever who gave Lake Worth Playhouse artistic director Dan Eilola a sniff during his audition for the role of Sandy. At right is Reese Lores, 11, one of two actresses who will play Annie in the musical. Seated are stage manager Lara Palmer and Andrea Gershbein, Reese’s mother. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Larry Keller

This was no cattle call, but a canine casting search at the Lake Worth Playhouse.

The March 8 audition was for the role of Sandy, Little Orphan Annie’s dog in the musical Annie. Only four animal aspirants vied for the job.

The play’s timing is notable. The Lake Worth Playhouse opened in 1924 as a movie theater — the same year that the comic strip Little Orphan Annie debuted. The first performance of Annie on Broadway wasn’t until 1977.

Now Annie is in local theater limbo with events at the playhouse suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus. These are gloomy days coping with a pandemic, but Annie would have understood. She sang:

The sun’ll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
’Til Tomorow

Director Cathy Randazzo-Olsen and artistic director Daniel Eilola were seeking a midsize dog, preferably sandy-colored — to match the character’s name. And — in keeping with Sandy’s personality — a loner, yet friendly.

Randazzo-Olsen had the dogs’ owners demonstrate their pups’ aptitude to respond to a few hand signals that could be given offstage. And she tested them on their ability to respond to a voice command — “Come, Sandy” — because the dog needs to respond correctly when told by Annie to come to her.

Reese Lores, 11, of Palm Beach Gardens, one of two youngsters slated to play Annie, tried out the verbal command with each dog.
The first hopeful hound to audition went to Reese when called, then flopped at her feet for a belly rub. “She’s a people person and loves little girls,” her owner said. Clearly.

Next, a Bedlington terrier named Cha Cha responded to Reese’s command to come to her but walked past her — twice. And while Cha Cha was cute as a lamb and resembled one, the 3-year-old had neither the size nor coloring of Sandy.

The youngest candidate was Bailey, a 4½-month-old golden retriever owned by Randazzo-Olsen’s sister. Bailey was remarkably good at such a tender age, but would she be overwhelmed in a production with 20 adults and 17 children?

Then there was Parker, a 2-year-old golden retriever. With his tail wagging like a high-speed windshield wiper, he was already demanding star treatment, parading around the rehearsal room expecting and receiving a pat from each person there. His Lake Worth agent — um, owner — Mike Gantner watched.

After a couple of false starts, as well as brief foray out an open door to Lake Avenue — perhaps to sniff out paparazzi — Parker returned and came to Reese when she called him.

“I think Parker probably had the most personality,” Randazzo-Olsen said afterward. “We’d really have to work with him. I think he is our best bet.”

And so, Parker got the job.

The original theatrical Sandy missed only 14 of 2,377 performances on Broadway in a nearly six-year run that ended in 1983, his owner and trainer told The New York Times. He was hours away from being euthanized at an animal shelter when he was rescued and found his calling as a performing pooch. He lived to age 16.

Parker will have a far less arduous schedule if and when Annie is presented. Still it will be no walk in the dog park. With rehearsals and 15 actual performances during the play’s run — which had been planned for April 9-26 — he will be practicing and performing at the theater around 50 times, Randazzo-Olsen said.

That’s fine with Reese, who seemed to like all the dogs and approved of Parker as a co-star. “He’s not too crazy,” she said. “And he’s not lazy.”

As for those critters and their owners who didn’t make the cut: Well, there’s always Tomorrow.

By Christine Davis

Pregnant women will be able to better care for their babies and themselves thanks to a new prenatal and postpartum program at Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute. The woman who made it possible is longtime Boca Raton resident Barbara C. Gutin, who made a $3 million donation to the institute in March.

“This program will allow pregnant women and new mothers to be better equipped to understand their changing bodies and to know what is a normal part of pregnancy and what may require additional care,” said Dr. Kathy Schilling, medical director of the Women’s Institute. “New mothers will work with their personal physicians, the Toppel Family Place at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, as well as the team of clinicians at the Women’s Institute.”

This includes a board-certified urogynecologist, doctoral trained physical therapists, mental health professionals, nurse practitioners and others.

Gutin, along with her now-late husband, had previously established the Barbara C. Gutin Center for Pelvic Health at the Women’s Institute. Their gift to the hospital of new technology in 2013 established the Irving and Barbara C. Gutin Center for Robotic Surgery. Their first transformational gift was in 2008 to help create a stroke program at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

 
In February, Jean Blechman, co-founder of Twinlab Corp., made a significant financial commitment to Keeping the Promise — The Campaign for Boca Raton Regional Hospital to name the Jean and David Blechman Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

“Jean’s commitment throughout the years has been remarkable and enhances vital care for all,” said Lincoln Mendez, CEO of Boca Raton Regional Hospital. The $250 million Keeping the Promise campaign is the largest in the hospital’s history.

It is supporting plans to reimagine the hospital campus. The project includes construction of the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower, the Toby and Leon Cooperman Medical Arts Pavilion, an expansion of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute and Christine E. Lynn Cardiovascular Institute, new operating rooms, renovation of the existing facility to create an all-private patient room environment, and the recently opened Schmidt Family Parking Facility.

Blechman has been a longtime supporter of the hospital and has a special interest in cardiology programs. When her donations helped create the Jean and David Blechman Center for Women’s Specialty Care and Preventive Cardiology, she felt for many years that cardiac care for women was badly neglected. Subsequently, it became known that cardiac disease is the No. 1 killer of women, still true today.

Specialties for this program include breast health, cardiology, and general and robotic surgery.
 

Maureen Mann, assistant vice president of Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute and Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute, was elected vice chair of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. In her job, she has administrative responsibilities for strategic and daily operations. In her role as vice chair, she will work with volunteers to educate elected officials on important cancer-fighting policies and help them enact legislation that will support cancer research, prevention and treatment.

Making a treat puzzle for cats is fun and easy, if you follow the book’s instructions. Photos provided

By Arden Moore

Kids and pets rule. There, I declared it. When given the opportunity, kids and pets can bring out the best in all of us. And we need the happy, healing magic of this “pawsome” duo now more than ever.

As we all contend with this coronavirus pandemic, I’m betting that you and your family are probably going a bit stir crazy at home and looking for ways to productively spend your time together. You can’t spend a weekend at Disney World. Or catch a movie at your favorite theater. Or even chow down at your favorite pizza joint.

I share my home with my spouse and our two dogs, Kona and Bujeau, plus four indoor cats, Casey, Mikey, Rusty and Mort. We are limiting exits out of our home to pick up takeout food or essentials at our supermarket.

And, like you, we are using hand sanitizers, spending lots of time hand washing and practicing other heightened hygiene habits.
So, I’m on a mission to bring out the wonderful kid in all of you, regardless of your age. In the pages of my just-published pair of books, A Kid’s Guide to Cats and A Kid’s Guide to Dogs, I offer all pet lovers lots of tips, insights, fun games and DIY projects to boost that bond you have with your pets and your family members.

My books feature running sidebars with “comments” unleashed from Pet Safety Dog Kona and Pet Safety Cat Casey to readers. These shelter alums are also certified therapy pets, who travel all over the country to assist me in our pet first aid and pet behavior classes.

Casey, my comical, confident orange tabby, for example, explains why cats are branded finicky in his response: “It’s true that we’re more selective about what we eat than our canine chowhounds. Perhaps one reason is that cats have only 473 taste buds (dogs have 1,700!), so we like food that has a lot of flavor, which usually means it smells strongly, too, like fish. Yum!”

In one of Kona’s sidebars, my sweet and smart terrier mix shares this canine insight: “Woof! Hello! Hola! Did you know dogs are multilingual? We speak Dog, of course, but we all know some human words. In fact, I speak five languages: Dog, English, Spanish, sign language and a little Cat.

“Arden taught me sit and come in English, Spanish and sign language, so she can communicate with me without saying a word if we are at a busy, noisy place. As for Cat, I know to approach my feline sibs when they’re purring and to back off if they hiss!”

Here are some tips to share with your pet-loving family from the pages of these books published by Storey and available on Amazon.com:

• Cats are good for your health. Petting your cat can release calming brain chemicals, lower blood pressure and slow your heart rate.
• Dogs are better at reading human body language and postures than people are at interpreting canine body language. So, choose your words, tone and body language carefully when “chatting with” your dog.
• A cat’s tongue features spiky barbs that aid in grooming, lapping up water and scraping meat from a bone.
• Fend off boredom in the house by creating a makeshift mini-obstacle course for your dog. Balance a broom on two piles of books or a couple of large cans and encourage your dog to hop over it. With your dog on a short lead, have him weave between a line of objects on the living room floor, such as paper plates, books or small pillows.
Here are a couple fun do-it-yourself projects to create:
• Give new life to an old, hard-sided suitcase by transforming it into a cozy bed for your dog. Decorate the interior lid with your dog’s name and use the pocket to hold a favorite toy. Stuff a pillow into the larger side of the opened suitcase. To keep the lid from closing, attach a block of wood or a strap of fabric to the back of the suitcase with heavy-duty glue.
• Create a treat puzzle toy for your cat. Cut two or three holes along the length of a toilet paper tube — just a little larger than the size of the treats. Decorate the toilet tube with a funny cat face using crayons. Fold down the sides of one end to close the tube. Drop in a few cat treats into the tube and fold the other end shut. Call your cat over and encourage him to paw at it to release the treats.
My wish for all of you is to recognize the many benefits our cats and dogs give us every day. It goes without saying, that pets do a body good.

Win an autographed book from Arden
Want to get your paws on my new books? In two or three sentences, email me how your cat or dog makes your life better. Send a photo of you with your pet if you wish. I will choose a winner for each book, A Kid’s Guide to Dogs and A Kid’s Guide to Cats, and announce the winners in next month’s column. Send email to: arden@ardenmoore.com. Deadline to submit is April 14.

Arden Moore, founder of fourleggedlife.com, is an animal behavior expert and host of the Oh Behave! show on petliferadio.com. Learn more at www.ardenmoore.com.

Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Thanks to the ingenuity of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Commandery of the Palm Beaches, and the generosity of a local nonprofit and a Delray Beach car dealership, kids in Belle Glade will ride to their after-school program in a safe, clean, refurbished van.

The Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem is an ecumenical Christian order focused on helping sick and poor people. It dates back nearly 1,000 years. The Palm Beach Commandery has been supporting the work of the First Haitian Baptist Church Youth & Children Development Center, which provides a hot meal, homework help and a safe space to play each day to elementary- and middle-school students in Belle Glade. High-schoolers mentor the kids, who are mostly children of migrant workers.

The program’s aging van was limping along, and two Palm Beach Commandery members stepped up to help. Candace Tamposi of Ocean Ridge worked with the Cathleen McFarlane Foundation of West Palm Beach to acquire grant money and Marie Ryan, who works for Grieco Mazda, secured a deal from Grieco Motors. The van has room for 15 passengers.

The SOSJ’s designated philanthropic project is to build a new multipurpose building for the First Haitian Baptist Church Youth & Children Development Center. The organization will continue work on that goal, but in the meantime, the wheels on the bus will continue to go ’round and ’round.

Holocaust remembrance delayed, not forgotten

But for the coronavirus, the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, an eight-day period for civic commemorations and special educational programs focused on the Holocaust, would have been marked by somber events nationwide.

And Yom Ha Shoah, Israel’s national commemoration of the Holocaust on April 21, would have been accompanied by events at local synagogues, but all in-person events have been canceled.

Any commemorations will be virtual this year. But the Holocaust and its victims won’t be forgotten.

For Holocaust survivors, Days of Remembrance can be a double-edged sword.

“We need to remember, but for survivors it can be a trigger for bad memories, especially as the population ages,” said Danielle Hartman, president and CEO of Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services.

JFS helps about 800 South Palm Beach County survivors each month with financial, physical and mental health care and spiritual needs. About 30 new clients are signed up each year, but 2019 was a big year with 60 new clients, Hartman said, likely because of the publicity surrounding the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

JFS also educates its staff, including the caregivers who work directly with clients, with Holocaust sensitivity training to help them understand what a survivor may be going through.

“There’s assistance out there for any who want it, and there is no wait list for services,” Hartman said, but there is a process and individuals must qualify for assistance. For personal reasons, some don’t apply, but the goal of the program is to provide everything the individual needs to stay at home for as long as he or she needs it. “Home is the safest, most comfortable place for them, and many don’t do well in an institutional setting.”

Ceremonies are important for keeping the stories of the Holocaust alive, but many survivors prefer to acknowledge the passing of another year privately, Hartman said.

And the stories and the lessons are preserved with programs like From March to Miriam, which matches teens with survivors to strengthen the intergenerational bond. The teens commit to keep the memories alive.

Visit the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County website for information about virtual ceremonies and commemorations at https://jewishboca.org.

The fishing team aboard Hy Jenx celebrates the catch of this 194.8-pound bigeye tuna that hit a trolling lure intended for wahoo in about 80 feet of water near the Juno Beach Pier. The fight by angler Beau Kelly, far right, lasted about an hour. Capt. Steve Jenkins of Hobe Sound, second from right, said the big tuna didn’t count in the Shamrock Shootout fishing tournament, but remains a once-in-a-lifetime catch. Photo provided by Steve Jenkins

Effective March 25, Palm Beach County closed all public and private golf courses, parks and natural areas within its borders, including those inside municipalities, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The action followed a March 22 order closing all boat ramps and marinas to recreational boaters. Also, islands, sandbars and Intracoastal Waterway lands were prohibited for use by the public.

The emergency order was amended the next day to cover any other venues utilized for launching vessels to be used for recreational purposes, “including but not limited to fishing charters, boat tours, diving excursions, and the like.” The closures will remain in effect “until further notice.” 

Licensed commercial fishermen, commercial marine operations and support services were permitted to operate.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies were enforcing the closures.

For updates, visit www. pbcparks.com and pbcgov.com. 

Dana Bass, who owns La Paella Chef, serves up steaming hot paella. Photos by Linda Haase/The Coastal Star

Related Story: Online farmers markets emerge as local ones close down

By Linda Haase

For years, Lori Nolan and her daughter had a Saturday ritual: They walked to the Delray Beach GreenMarket.

And until the coronavirus came calling, they still reserved Saturdays for the greenmarket — Nolan is the market’s manager; her daughter is a vendor.

While Nolan waits to hear if the summer greenmarket can open, she's planning next season’s winter greenmarket — which is its 25th anniversary. “It’s a shame having to close the market but there was no way around it,” Nolan said. “It is so sad. It’s not only a great place to buy fresh food, it is such a part of the community.”

Nolan is using the downtime to work on planning “special things” for the anniversary.

“We will celebrate all season long with activities, giveaways and several other things. We will be a quarter of a century old and every year it just gets better,” she said.

So what will visitors find when the market reopens?

“It’s a healthy, happy Saturday morning vibe. Coming to the park and shopping at the market is a nice way to start your weekend. You can bring the dog, the kids. You go home with healthy fresh groceries,” Nolan said.

Customers can follow their noses to fresh breads from the French Bakery.

The market, which has relocated at least 10 times since it was created in 1996 by the Community Redevelopment Agency, draws big crowds at its current Old School Square Park locale.

“See you next weekend” is an oft-repeated phrase here, as visitors wind their way through the 60-plus vendors selling fresh cut flowers, plants and gourmet fare.

What’s not there? Jewelry, clothes and other items of that ilk.

“The market is food- and plant-based. We don’t sell other products. That is not our mission. The vision of the CRA is that we maintain a true farmer’s market,” explained Nolan.

Arrive when the market opens at 9 a.m., pick up an instrument and join the two-hour family music circle.

“It gets jamming over there and the playground is also right there. It’s a kids’ dream on Saturday morning,” said Nolan.
Live music continues all day — another band plays from 11 a.m. until the market’s 2 p.m. closing.

The event is nirvana for foodies, who can savor Italian, Cuban, Peruvian, Mexican, American and other tempting cuisine. What's here? Pierogis, paella, açai bowls, crabcakes, arepas, tamales, beans and rice, vegetable spring rolls, smoothies, Italian ices, Hungarian cinnamon horn rolls, and so much more.

There are plenty of places to sit and enjoy the food, but the take-home items are just as tantalizing. Bone broth, homemade granola, fresh seafood, produce, spices galore, salad dressings, chocolate cashew butter, chocolate ginger rooibos tea, meatballs, sausage, pork chops, fresh pasta (gnocchi linguine, squid ink and more), salsa and guacamole, pumpkin bread, cookies of every shape and flavor, the list seems endless.

There’s even a chef’s showcase featuring mini cooking lessons and samples.

Spices include Nigerian and Egyptian mixes, lemon pepper, tandoori and ginger.

Signs denoting gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and sugar-free are plentiful here. There’s a reason for that, Nolan explained: “People are food savvy, they want to know where their food is coming from and what’s in it. Many have dietary restrictions. They want to talk to the people who made, grew or produced their food. They can do that here.”

The market is dog-friendly; some vendors cater to canines with food and treats and support dog rescue groups. “People can’t adopt on-site, but I have heard of dogs who have found forever homes after people visiting those booths found out about them,” Nolan said.

It’s just another reason the market is so special.

“I loved the market back when I was a customer. It is my passion now. I have the best job in Delray Beach. And my daughter is still with me on Saturday mornings,” Nolan said.

Capt. Bruce Cyr of the Lantana-based Lady K drift fishing boat shows the 60-pound kingfish he caught off Boynton Inlet in early May 2019. Cyr’s kingfish hit a dead sardine on double 5/0 hooks in 180 feet of water. Photo provided by Bar Jack Fishing

Related: Boat ramps and public parks closed for now

By Willie Howard

Fishing action heats up with water temperatures during April and May, leading anglers to catches of rod-bending king mackerel, better known as kingfish, along the coast of Palm Beach County.

Kingfish are hard-charging fish that make reels sing and are relatively easy to catch. That makes them tempting targets for a variety of anglers, from drift-boat novices to saltwater tournament veterans.

One of the easiest ways to catch kingfish is a personal favorite: a dead sardine on triple 5/0 hooks topped with a quarter-ounce sinker and a flashy kingfish “duster” that covers the weight and the leader-to-hook connection.

Thread the sardine onto the trio of hooks so that the bait covers the hooks. Use 30- to 50-pound leader (monofilament or fluorocarbon), depending on water clarity. The clearer the water, the lighter the leader.

Start by drifting in 80 to 120 feet of water, watching the depth finder for “marks” of fish below the boat. Drop the bait over the windward side of the boat and let it sink slowly. Kingfish love a falling bait, so watch the reel and engage it if the line starts to fly off the reel.

Check the baits frequently; you could be fishing with bare hooks.

Fighting a kingfish requires steady tension. Anglers who get too excited and create slack in the line often lose toothy kingfish when they bite through the leader.

If the kingfish turns and charges the boat, be prepared to reel fast to wind in the slack. If the fish takes off for Grand Bahama Island, hold the rod tip up and let it run.

The bend in the rod will tire it, assuming the reel drag is properly adjusted.

Other methods for catching kingfish include using live bait, such as goggle-eyes and blue runners. Use wire leader and double hooks to reduce the chance that the kingfish will sever the leader or eat half the bait and miss the hook.

Try rigging live baits with about 2 feet of No. 5 fishing wire holding a 5/0 live-bait hook and connected to the monofilament leader with a small 80-pound swivel — or tie the wire directly to the mono leader with an Albright knot.

Some anglers use trailing treble hooks, or “stingers,” to catch kingfish, especially in tournaments that allow treble hooks. I prefer double J hooks.

Smaller live baits such as pilchards and threadfin herring can be deployed on 3/0 or 4/0 hooks tied to about 6 inches of light fishing wire, then attached to the leader with a small swivel or Albright knot.

Trolling spoons (often towed behind planers or downriggers) will catch kingfish, as will vertical jigging with metal jigs, flashy bucktail jigs or diamond jigs. Like their smaller cousins, Spanish mackerel, kingfish will strike flashy jigs, spoons and lures.

Kingfish are oily fish, making them good candidates for smoking. Try soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in water mixed with kosher salt and brown sugar. Then dry it and smoke it at 200 degrees or so for about four hours.

Mix the smoked kingfish with mayonnaise to create a dip that can be served on crackers with hot sauce or a jalapeño slice. (Every angler seems to have his or her own favorite recipe for smoked kingfish dip.)

Smaller kingfish also can be marinated in mojo or Italian salad dressing, then grilled.

Mercury warnings apply to kingfish. The Florida Department of Health (www.Floridahealth.gov) advises young children, women of childbearing age and pregnant women to avoid eating kingfish.

Healthy adults should limit consumption and avoid kingfish over 31 inches, according to the state.

Anglers should consider releasing large kingfish. Smaller ones (24 to 31 inches) make better table fare anyway.

Regulations for kingfish include a minimum size of 24 inches (measured to the fork of the tail). Daily bag limit is two kingfish per angler.

Water-related events postponed or canceled

The Palm Beach International Boat Show and the Superyacht Show, originally set for March 26-29, have been postponed until further notice. As of late March, www.pbboatshow.com listed May 14-17 as new dates for the shows.

The Boynton Beach Firefighters Fishing Tournament and Chili Cook-Off, set for April 18, was canceled because of coronavirus concerns. It’s possible the tournament could be rescheduled. For updates, go to www.boyntonbeachfirefighters.com.

The kickoff party for the Lantana Fishing Derby and Kids Derby has been postponed until the second week of April. As of mid-March, the captain’s party was still set for April 30, followed by fishing May 2 and the awards party May 3. Go to www.lantanafishingderby.com.

The West Palm Beach Fishing Club’s annual yard sale, originally set for April 18, has been postponed until further notice. Some club meetings have been canceled. For updates, call 561-832-6780 or go to www.westpalmbeachfishingclub.org.

Tip of the month

Help fisheries managers track populations of recreationally caught fish in the South Atlantic by reporting your catches through the MyFishCount smartphone app. The app allows anglers to create a personal fishing log while sharing much-needed recreational fishing data with fisheries managers. For details, and to see what other recreational anglers have reported, go to www.MyFishCount.com.

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

By Linda Haase

Canceled. Postponed. Suspended. Shut down.

One by one our favorite places closed in fallout from the coronavirus — including greenmarkets in Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Delray Beach, Boca Raton and beyond.

With social distancing the new normal, several farmers markets have carved out versions of working remotely.

Less than 24 hours after organizers at the Lake Worth Beach Farmers Market were told to close, they came up with a plan: an online market, where they would coordinate transactions between vendors and customers and arrange deliveries.

“Giving up just isn’t in our nature and we decided that there had to be a way to turn a negative situation into a positive experience, as opposed to just giving up on our customers and vendors,” explains manager Emily Theodossakos.

The response has been phenomenal — about 20 vendors are participating.

Among items available: raw, local unfiltered honey, fruit, farm fresh eggs, vegan muffins, baked goods, coconut water, olive oil, specialty clothing and jewelry, soap and edible flowers.

“In addition, and what we are most proud of, is that our main farmer is making a variety box that includes various fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, and two dozen farm fresh eggs,” says Theodossakos. “We are taking orders from customers and arranging for home deliveries. So far we are up to about 50 produce box delivery orders and it’s only been two days since we started this.”

The Lantana Shoreline Green Market, in its inaugural season, may have been the last to close — its last day was March 15.

Now, Hector V. Herrera, the market’s founder and manager, is spearheading a virtual greenmarket focusing on essential foods that can be ordered online and delivered.

“We want to give people hope and a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said about the project, which should launch by early April. “We are working hard to make sure farmers can still have a direct connection to people who need their products.”

The abrupt closures also halted the winter/spring Delray Beach GreenMarket and the Boca Raton Greenmarket, along with the Artisans & Green Market at Mizner Park, which opened for the first time on Feb. 9.

“The vendors were in tears and the customers were asking how they were going to get things,” said Laurie Landgrebe, who sells homemade gourmet granolas and muesli at her booth, Laurie’s Pantry, at the Delray market. “It is devastating. March and April are high season for us, when we make money.”

So, she reached out to vendors from several green-markets in South Florida, offering her Hallandale warehouse as a distribution point, and is in the process of setting up an online market.

Customers will find items sold at several greenmarkets, follow a link for more information about them, and order home delivery, she said.

Keeping greenmarkets in business is vital.

“All our vendors are local small businesses who have families to support and they rely on the market income, so these closures have put many in a difficult financial position,” says Theodossakos. “As we always say, the fruits and vegetables don’t stop growing, but if the farmers don’t have a way to sell it, sadly it goes to waste. We’re trying to do our part to help everyone through this difficult time.”

Online greenmarkets
• Lake Worth Beach Farmers Market: Lakeworthfarmersmarket@gmail.com or a private message on Facebook.
• Delray Beach GreenMarket: Farmersmarketstogo.com.
• Lantana Shoreline Green Market: Shorelinegreenmarkets.com or via Facebook.

Second-grade teachers Marie Boslow and Lizzie Paskal work in one the courtyards at Gulf Stream School on March 16, to organize take-home packets for their students to use while the school is closed. All Palm Beach County schools are closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rachel S. O'Hara/The Coastal Star

By Janis Fontaine

As you self-isolate, you’re going to be looking for things to do at home with the kids.

Part of the time you’ll be homeschooling, and plenty of resources are available through your child’s school and online, including top education sites like Ted-Ed, Brain Pop, Khan Academy, Scholastic Learn at Home and Quizlet.

But what about the rest of the time? A new series of free online programs called Keep Kids Smart with ART is being offered by the team at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Connect with it at www.bocamuseum.org/covid-19-status-update.

Its goal is to help parents and their children by providing visual arts programs.

Experts say art can help us deal with difficult emotions, and Executive Director Irvin Lippman said the museum will support the community by creating new virtual enriching experiences online.

Library resources

Our libraries may be closed, but they have tons of content, available in traditional and digital form. The Boca Raton Public Library has an extensive learning platform for students at www.myboca.us/963/Digital-Library.

There is also a vast selection of audio- and e-books, music, newspapers and magazines, movies and TV shows available to download with your library card. Not sure how to use it? Video tutorials are available on demand for many of the digital services and research databases.

The Highland Beach Library canceled all events and community meetings until May 1. On March 18, the library cut its hours to 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, but materials are available only by calling or emailing the library with your request for pickup. You can search for available materials via the online catalog, and the library staff will assist residents with downloading e-books. 

If you must have a paper book, the library will provide a pickup time to collect materials from a restricted area at the entrance. For more information, visit https://highlandbeach.us/departments/library/.

The Lantana Public Library at 205 W. Ocean Ave. is closed until further notice, but will offer walk-up services during normal library hours for those who call ahead. Patrons can place books on hold via the library’s Koha system, or call 561-540-5740 to make arrangements. The library will offer virtual story-time and other children’s activities on its Facebook page.

Online instruction

In response to school closures, Delray Beach-based Space of Mind, a modern schoolhouse, is offering personalized online teaching, enrichment activities and standards-based curriculum for students grades 1-12, as well as coaching and programming for parents and families. 

In addition to offering programs for all mainstream learners, SOM personalizes its curriculum to serve students with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, visual and auditory processing challenges, anxiety, dyslexia, giftedness and the like. Online courses are taught live in small groups that are tailored by learning style.

Space of Mind is at 102 N. Swinton Ave. For info, call 877-407-1122 or visit http://findspaceofmind.com.

Other ideas

Connect the generations: This stay-at-home mandate won’t go away as quickly as you’d like, so this may be the time to undertake a long-term project like researching your family history.

Sandwich-generation parents — with both school-age kids and elderly parents — can make it a family project by connecting the two groups. Have kids ask questions and use the Boca Raton library’s new genealogy tool, MyHeritage Library Edition, to access one of the largest, most internationally diverse genealogy databases in the world. Find it under the Online Resources link on the library’s website.

Craft a solution: If the Boca museum’s art classes are a little too challenging, consider an easy craft. Research shows that purposeful use of the hands can decrease stress, relieve anxiety and lessen depression. From knitting to needlepoint, rock painting to fashion design, now might be the perfect time to rekindle an old interest or kick-start a new one.

With the area’s supply chain semi-intact, yarn and crochet hooks will cost just a few bucks if you haven’t stockpiled craft materials in the spare bedroom. Don’t know how to knit? YouTube it. Or perhaps Grandma knows. Hook her up with the kids on Google or FaceTime. And there’s a bonus at the end — like a handmade winter scarf for future travel or gifting.

Take a fresh-air approach: Doctors and mental health professionals agree that fresh air and sunshine (needed to process Vitamin D) and spending time in nature are important to staying healthy.

Playgrounds may be off-limits, but you can use your yard to play with the kids. Get out the soccer ball, the baseball and glove, put the basketball net back up, and take the kids out to play. Easy sports for kids and parents like badminton, croquet, bocce, cornhole and pingpong can reduce stress and anxiety. Even easier? Take a walk or a bike ride.

Use distraction: It seems counterintuitive, but keeping the hands busy lets the mind rest. Dig out that 1,000-piece puzzle you got as a secret Santa gift. And don’t forget the board games.

Find joy in cooking: Since you’ll likely be cooking and eating more at home, make it a family thing. Cooking and baking can challenge math and problem-solving skills, and kids are more likely to eat something they had a hand in preparing.

Meditate on it: Even young kids can learn to quiet their minds. A few minutes spent in a quiet, comfortable position paying attention to your breathing can help lower blood pressure and reduce the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Start with two minutes and work up from there. Try to keep it positive, but don’t discourage talk about fears and anxiety.

The family room boasts volume ceilings and spectacular views of the Intracoastal Waterway through oversized impact windows.

This timeless masterpiece of 10,000-plus total square feet was built by JH Norman Builders. It is located in Highland Beach directly on the Intracoastal in a gated enclave. Wine lovers will appreciate the temperature-controlled room for 500-plus bottles. A custom lift can handle a boat of up to 40,000 pounds on the dock with 90 feet of direct Intracoastal frontage. There also is private deeded ocean beach access.

The wine room features a mural and climate-controlled storage.

This home is perfect for entertaining, whether to toast the sunset in the summer kitchen or to enjoy the sprawling patio and loggias.
The property affords the ultimate in privacy from the moment you enter the gated and walled motor court. The fine high finishes are evident upon entry through the custom 9-foot pecky cypress doors. Soaring ceilings and oversized impact windows offer stunning waterfront views.

A beautiful pool-and-spa area for entertaining overlooks the Intracoastal.

This Mediterranean-style home offers a retreat from the cares of the world.

The gourmet kitchen includes a Wolf six-burner stove plus several ovens and an oversized Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer.
There are five en suite bedrooms; the master has his/her baths, a spa and balcony. Amenities include a four-bay garage, a movie theater, an elevator, paneled library with fireplace, laundries upstairs and down and an onyx bar off the living room.
Offered at $6,250,000. Contact Constance Marie Hudson, The Bernal and Hudson Team at ONE Sotheby's International Realty, 200 East Palmetto Park Road, Suite 104, Boca Raton. 561-445-4003, chudson@onesothebysrealty.com

Each month, The Coastal Star features a house for sale in our community. The House of the Month is presented as a service to our advertisers and provides readers with a peek inside one of our houses.

By Rich Pollack

Concerns about the coronavirus have led Highland Beach leaders to cancel the 2020 Spring Fling, originally scheduled for March 21.

“Based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and the Florida Department of Health, we are exercising an abundance of caution to protect our population, which happens to be an at-risk population,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said. 

In the past, the annual Spring Fling has featured food, a fire department demonstration and live music as well as free document shredding.  Shredding services will still be available at Town Hall on March 21 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Highland Beach also canceled the town library’s Thursday concert series and the Friday movies through at least May 1.

“The cancellations were made because the events held in two community rooms do not allow for the ‘social distancing’ that is now being recommended and practiced worldwide,” Labadie said in a news release.

He said the town recognizes how much the community values library events but added that the decision to cancel the two programs was made out of concern for the well-being of residents.

“Their health and safety is of paramount importance to our town,” he said.

City contractors check the reclaimed water connection at the corner of A1A and Rhodes Villa Avenue on March 2. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Drinking water safe, manager says after
inspection, tests

 Related: Timeline of troubles | City provides watering service after reclaimed water turned off

By Jane Smith

Delray Beach failed to alert state health officials that about a dozen barrier island residents and their pets were sickened by drinking contaminated water after the latest segment of the reclaimed-water system began operating in late 2018, state Department of Health records show.
The reclaimed-water lines provide partly treated wastewater meant solely for lawn watering.
The last section of the system started running in October 2018, and Christine Ferrigan, an industrial pretreatment inspector in the city Utilities Department, found it was not installed or monitored properly by outside contractors, according to her notes released by the state Health Department under Florida’s public records law.
That cross-contaminated an unknown number of drinking water lines between October and December 2018 and potentially exposed additional residents in some of the 613 coastal households hooked up to the system to hepatitis A, Giardia, fecal coliform and other contaminants, according to Ferrigan’s notes. The notes say the reclaimed-water program was flawed from the start in 2005.
Yet the Health Department was not alerted to the situation until Jan. 2, 2020, when Leslie Campbell, who lives on South Ocean Boulevard, called “to complain she was not adequately notified of the cross-connection issue in her neighborhood. (The) cross-connection between drinking water and reclaimed-water lines occurred in late 2018,” according to the complaint investigation record. Campbell, who told Health Department officials to contact Ferrigan for details, declined to explain why she waited so long to complain.
Although Ferrigan’s notes included details on families and pets getting sick in the area from Casuarina Road south to Linton Boulevard in late 2018, a report filed by then-Utilities Director Marjorie Craig to the Health Department on Dec. 19, 2018, reported the cross-connection problem but also stated “no reports of sickness or illness have been received.”
Reacting to the cross connection, a boil-water order was issued.

City officials say water safe to drink
City officials now stress that the cross-contamination has been eliminated and that city water remains safe for drinking, cooking and showering.
Still, back in 2018, the city “created a public health threat because of the way they contracted the service and didn’t monitor the work,” said Ned Wehler, a barrier island resident.
Mayor Shelly Petrolia said it’s concerning that she is just hearing about this problem now. “It’s important when a public health threat occurs that the city own up to it,” she said.
As a result of Campbell’s complaint — backed up with Ferrigan’s notes — the Health Department asked Delray Beach to issue a citywide boil-water order on Feb. 4. The order would last until the city had checked all locations served by both drinking and reclaimed water. The Health Department also wanted bacterial tests done after the connections were checked.
New City Manager George Gretsas, who started on Jan. 6, persuaded the department not to follow through on such a drastic action as a boil-water order.
The city would turn off its reclaimed-water system citywide, he wrote in a Feb. 4 letter to Rafael Reyes, the environmental director at the county division of the Health Department.
“The city will review and inspect all locations served by potable and reclaimed water to ensure proper backflow prevention is present. The city will inspect for cross- connections and notify the Department of Health immediately for the presence of any cross-connections. Lastly, bacteriological water samples will be collected and tested,” Gretsas’ letter said.
A week later he wrote to Reyes saying that the tap water is not contaminated. Gretsas detailed how every location that receives both drinking water and reclaimed water from Delray Beach was inspected. City staffers were deployed and outside contractors were hired. 
“All of the efforts undertaken by the city demonstrate that the city took your concerns seriously but, more importantly, that no cross-connections were found,” Gretsas wrote.
Although no cross- connections were found, city staff discovered that 200 to 300 reclaimed-water customers citywide did not have backflow preventers to stop the reclaimed irrigation water from potentially mixing with the drinking water supply, Gretsas said March 2. The devices have been installed.
Gretsas stressed that the lack of a backflow preventer doesn’t necessarily mean that reclaimed water was mixing with the drinking water. The devices act as a safety valve when there are fluctuations in water pressure.
The city of Boca Raton sent Delray Beach 40 backflow preventers in late February, according to Chris Helfrich, Boca Raton’s utility services director. He said it is not unusual for cities to ask for parts and then swap them back when their orders come in.
Gretsas also said that the city has 30 to 40 water lines to check for backflow preventers. The pipes may be located under landscaping, driveways or sidewalks, Gretsas said.
He expected the work to be finished by March 7 and stressed again that the tap water is safe to drink.
“The reclaimed water won’t be turned on until the DOH is satisfied that each reclaimed water location was inspected and missing backflow preventers were added citywide,” Gretsas said.

The second of two door hangers  alerted barrier island residents of the problem, but not the cause.

First notice was door hanger
The closest thing to a public warning from the city came on door hangers left on the 613 barrier island doorsteps dated Feb. 4 and Feb. 14, which stated that city workers are performing inspections of the reclaimed-water system “at the behest of the Department of Health.” The notes told residents to call Deputy Director of Utilities Victor Majtenyi with any questions. He could not be reached for comment for this story.
“The city should have been more forthcoming in the explanation of why they shut off the reclaimed water on the barrier island and were checking all connections,” said Bill Petry, a barrier island resident who sits on the board of the Beach Property Owners Association.
Fire Chief Neal de Jesus, who was the interim city manager until Gretsas started on Jan. 6, was assigned to monitor the inspections.
De Jesus sent an email to Reyes on Feb. 5 saying the city shut down its reclaimed-water system at 7:15 p.m. Feb. 4.
More than 75 city employees were brought in at 7 a.m. Feb. 5 to distribute door hangers to reclaimed-water users. As of 8:54 a.m., the task was completed, according to de Jesus’ email.
Delray Beach has hired contract employees to work alongside city employees to inspect every connection of its reclaimed-water system.
“The city takes all matters related to the health, safety and welfare of those we serve seriously,” de Jesus wrote.

Improper hookups found
In 2018, Ferrigan, the city utility inspector who started with Delray Beach in June 2017, created documents needed for the reclaimed-water program, including inspection forms, brochures and a database of active and inactive users. They were approved by her immediate manager, Majtenyi, and Craig, who resigned for other reasons in April 2019.
In the summer of 2018, Ferrigan “found several violations immediately. Reclaimed water was connected to outside showers, hose bibs, vegetable gardens.” Those connections are not allowed since they could compromise the health of residents and their pets through close contact with the contaminated water.
Then in September 2018 she was assigned to check the cross- connections in the southern half of the barrier island, from Casuarina to Linton. It was the latest area where the city was installing reclaimed-water lines.
Her notes said some of the drinking-water lines mistakenly were connected to the reclaimed-water lines. “The blend ratio might have started out at 80% potable and 20% reclaim, but as time went on the blend ratio was probably more of an equal part. … This would explain why the residents complained more as time went on.”
To Ferrigan, this meant that between Oct. 4, 2018, when the reclaimed-water lines were activated, to Dec. 6, 2018, when the cross-contamination was discovered and repaired, “the people on the barrier island were exposed to contaminated water and did not know this and were never told it and were never told what happened.”
The issue was still festering in May 2019.
Ferrigan wanted the utilities staff to correct the report to the Health Department about reported illnesses and inform the residents about the contaminated drinking water that had occurred in late 2018.
But she said she was never invited to meetings on the problems because she was not a manager.
Ferrigan gave her notes in May 2019 to Assistant City Manager Caryn Gardner-Young, who was the acting utilities director.
Gardner-Young left the city for other reasons in September 2019.
“I have many years of experience,” Ferrigan wrote on May 7, 2019. “I was a whistleblower and state witness against my former employer for these similar situations and that was the city of Boca Raton.”
Ferrigan, a 23-year utility department employee with Boca Raton, was fired from that city in December 2008. 
She had alerted state regulators about city water quality issues that she claimed put the health of 128,000 residents at risk. Her whistle-blower lawsuit was settled in May 2014 on the day before her trial was to start.
She received $322,500, her attorneys received $215,000 and Boca Raton was forced to pay its own litigation costs of about $390,000, according to The Palm Beach Post archives. In the settlement, Boca Raton denied wrongdoing. 

Looking ahead
The next step for Delray Beach will be to hire a forensics firm to delve into how the reclaimed-water system was installed in the early years and how to prevent mistakes from happening in the future, Gretsas said. He also hopes the forensics firm will explore the discrepancies between Ferrigan’s notes and those of her supervisors.
“We spent a lot of the taxpayers’ money on city staff time and hiring contractors,” Gretsas said. “We want to find the cause before we point fingers.”
Meanwhile, the county division of the state Health Department is investigating.
“If the city of Delray Beach is found to have failed to notify the DOH as required, then that would be a violation,” Alex Shaw, county Health Department spokesman, said in a Feb. 28 email. He could not say what the penalty might be. “Because there are so many variables involved, we cannot provide a specific penalty until the investigation is complete.”
When asked what the city plans to do to allay any concerns about the safety of the tap water, Petrolia said, “I think the testing and the lengthy process to check each location with reclaimed water will ensure the water is safe to drink going forward.”

Rich Pollack and Michelle Quigley contributed to this story.

2005 — Delray Beach begins planning for installation of reclaimed-water lines on the barrier island as part of a settlement reached with state and federal regulators to stop sending raw sewage into the ocean. The city hires contractors to do the work and monitor it. The South Florida Water Management District supplies grants to pay for the system.
April 1, 2009 — The South Central Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant that serves Delray Beach sends its last raw sewage discharge into the Atlantic Ocean. The plant can still discharge treated wastewater from heavy rains, from testing its pumps and from “plant upsets.”
Oct. 4, 2018 — Delray Beach activates the last segment of its reclaimed-water system on the barrier island, from Casuarina Road to Linton Boulevard.
Nov. 11, 2018 — Residents along South Ocean Boulevard and the Seagate neighborhood reported the drinking water smelled, was darker in color and had floating solids. Some had reclaimed water mistakenly hooked up to their beach showers, hose bibs and vegetable gardens, which is not allowed.
Dec. 6, 2018 — Delray Beach becomes aware of the cross-connection issues where drinking-water lines were mistakenly hooked into the reclaimed-water system. Some users said they were sick after drinking the contaminated tap water. Delray Beach did not report the illnesses, as required, to the county division of the Florida Health Department.
Dec. 28, 2018 through Jan. 4, 2019 — Reclaimed-water system was turned off because the treatment plant had an unknown “plant upset” and needed to use the outfall pipe to discharge treated wastewater into the ocean. Delray Beach uses that same pipe to supply the barrier island with reclaimed wastewater. Delray Beach alerted barrier island customers about the shutdown on the city website.
Feb. 4-8, 2019 — Reclaimed-water system turned off again because of unknown “plant upset” at the treatment plant. Delray Beach again alerted barrier island customers on the city webpage.
Jan. 2, 2020 — Leslie Campbell of South Ocean Boulevard contacts the county division of the Florida Health Department to say she was not adequately notified of the cross-contamination issues in late 2018. Her complaint triggers a Health Department investigation.
Feb. 4 — The Health Department wants Delray Beach to issue a citywide boil-water order. The Health Department also is investigating why it wasn’t notified in late 2018 when residents became ill from drinking contaminated water, as required. The city avoids a boil- water notice by agreeing to shut off the reclaimed-water system and check every location on the barrier island that receives both drinking and reclaimed water.
Feb. 5 — City deploys more than 75 workers to hang notices on barrier island customers’ doors to tell them the reclaimed water was “temporarily shut off.” The door hanger simply says the work is being done “at the behest of the Health Department.” The city hires contractors to work alongside staff to check every house with reclaimed and drinking water lines for cross-connections and missing backflow preventers.
Feb. 14 — A second notice is hung on doorknobs.
March 3 — Reclaimed water still not flowing. The Health Department investigation continues.

Sources: Delray Beach public records, Department of Health public records and The Coastal Star archives

By Steve Plunkett

Ocean Strand, 15 acres on State Road A1A that the public has owned for decades but not been able to enjoy, will open in six months as a limited-use park.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which paid $11.9 million for the property in 1994, voted unanimously March 2 to install benches, a rock road and a portable restroom on the acreage west of A1A with an eye on opening the gates by September.
“I think it’s important to get it open now to the public so that the public is clear, 100%, that we are not selling this property, we are making it a park,” said Erin Wright, the commission’s vice chair, who proposed the $75,000 expense.
Commissioners also tasked their attorney, Sam Goren, with drafting a declaration stating that Ocean Strand will be held “in perpetuity” as open space not to be developed.
“I’m tired of listening to the innuendos and the rumors that are going on out there that the property might be for sale because it’s not. Never has been, never will be,” Commissioner Robert Rollins said.
Last September developer Robert Comparato offered the district $67.5 million for Ocean Strand with a plan to build a 171-room hotel, 110 condominiums, 30 villas and 35 boat slips there.
“We summarily turned him down.” Rollins said. “I don’t see anybody on this commission that has any appetite for doing anything but making it a park. Let’s put a stake in the ground and make it clear that we’re not interested in selling this property.”
Briann Harms, the district’s executive director, presented estimates from the city’s Recreation Services Department for work that would be needed to open the parcel, which now has a gate blocking access.
“This plan is just for the west side. It’s minimal parking, minimal everything,” she said.
The oceanfront east side will remain off-limits.
Included in the estimates was money for two picnic tables, two benches, two trash cans, signs, fencing and labor.
The most expensive item was $18,000 to clear the site of exotic plants.
Wright asked for “as simple a plan as possible” with perhaps just benches instead of picnic tables and possibly a kayak launch.
“I think this is great,” Commissioner Steve Engel said. “We have a purpose. We want to open up the property to the public, and this gives us a starting point.”
District officials will discuss safety issues and operational details with their city counterparts as the plan progresses. Commissioners said they might seek volunteers to help with mulching and cleaning up the property to keep costs down.
Commissioner Craig Ehrnst asked Wright, and she agreed, to amend her motion to include developing a long-range plan for a fully functioning park. Ehrnst said the district will seek input from the community on what features Ocean Strand should have.
“Don’t know what that’s going to cost, but that’ll put forth a plan for the future and it’ll be a multiyear plan. It’s not going to be implemented right away or anything,” Ehrnst said.
Goren said he would bring the perpetuity declaration back for commissioners to consider at their March 16 meeting. The document, he said, can be recorded at the county Clerk and Comptroller’s Office after it is approved.
“That’s a very strong signal” of commissioners’ intent, Goren said.

Palmetto Park Road between A1A and Intracoastal Waterway
is possible location

By Mary Hladky

The City Council has cleared the way for medical marijuana dispensaries to open on the barrier island and other sites in Boca Raton.
Ending years of resistance to dispensaries, council members on Feb. 11 voted 3-2, with Jeremy Rodgers and Andrea O’Rourke dissenting, in favor of allowing them within the city limits.
“To me, it comes down to compassion,” said council member Andy Thomson.
“It begs the question of what kind of city do we want to be,” he said. “I would hope we would choose, all things being equal, to be a compassionate city as long as we can maintain the quality of life we have here.”
Council members have struggled to find the right balance between allowing access to a substance that helps people with medical conditions such as cancer, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder while safeguarding Boca Raton against a feared proliferation of dispensaries.
Council members approved a moratorium on dispensaries in 2014 and banned them in 2017.
But public opinion has moved in favor of medical use of marijuana. Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment in 2016 that legalized it.
Since then, 230 dispensaries have opened across the state, with 42 located in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use.
Dispensary operators, medical marijuana users and owners of businesses related to medical marijuana urged council members to lift the ban during three recent city meetings.
Shari Kaplan Stellino, CEO of the Cannectd Wellness health clinic in Boca Raton, whose physicians help patients manage medical marijuana use, told the council how it helped her son, who she said was born with central nervous system and seizure disorders and brain damage.
He’s 17 now, and his conditions have improved to the point that he will graduate from Boca Raton High School and begin studies at Florida Atlantic University later this year.
“Cannabis is an integral part of health care,” she said. “It is imperative we have dispensaries in east Boca Raton.”
Just because Boca Raton banned dispensaries, “this does not mean we have to be the last to allow them,” said medical marijuana user Eric Sevell.
Other speakers said the medical marijuana industry is well regulated and there is no evidence that dispensaries cause crime.
Only two people spoke against allowing dispensaries. Glenn Gromann, a former Planning and Zoning Board member, countered that since dispensaries can accept only cash, they are a magnet for crime.
“The bottom line is there is no compelling need to have dispensaries in the city,” he said, because they already are operating in Deerfield Beach, Boynton Beach and in unincorporated areas and many provide delivery service.
City staff had consistently opposed allowing dispensaries. Their chief concern was that the state regulates medical marijuana and dispensaries and gives cities almost no leeway to manage them or restrict how many can open once the decision is made to allow them.
Under state law, dispensaries can be located anywhere zoning laws allow pharmacies, but are not allowed within 500 feet of a school. Pharmacies can’t sell medical marijuana because it is still classified as a controlled substance by the federal government.
At the urging of dispensary operators, council members unanimously agreed to reduce the minimum size of dispensaries from 5,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet, which better reflects the size of existing dispensaries.
They also voted 3-2 that no pharmacy or dispensary will be permitted within 4,000 feet of another dispensary or pharmacy. This would not apply to existing pharmacies.
This decision, combined with state law limitations, will restrict where dispensaries can be located. In the eastern part of the city, one could open along the short section of Palmetto Park Road between the Intracoastal Waterway and State Road A1A.
The other areas available to dispensaries are mostly west of Interstate 95 at the city’s north end, north and south of West Yamato Road, and along Military Trail south of Glades Road.
Deputy Mayor Rodgers, who opposed the 4,000-foot separation requirement, said it would exclude many locations where it would make sense to have dispensaries.
Rodgers also was against allowing dispensaries at this time. He wanted to delay the effective date of the ordinance to June 1, 2021, because of the uncertainty over whether the state or Congress will take action that would affect the city’s ordinance.
The House Judiciary Committee in January approved a bill that legalizes marijuana on the federal level, removing it from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. Even if the full House passes the bill, it faces long odds in the Senate.
In Florida, there is strong support for making recreational marijuana use legal. But in January, a group pushing a state constitutional amendment dropped its effort to get the proposal on the 2020 ballot and instead hopes to do so in 2022. Recreational marijuana is now legal in 11 states.
Rodgers’ motion to delay failed on a 3-2 vote.
Thomson and council member Monica Mayotte were the strongest proponents of allowing dispensaries. “This is medicine for people who need it, need it badly, I think,” Thomson said.
Rodgers and O’Rourke were most strongly opposed, in part because of their concerns about unintended consequences.
Both also said they had heard little from residents on the subject, and certainly no groundswell of support.
“It is not a lack of compassion by any means whatsoever,” O’Rourke said. “It is all about the unintended consequences for me.”

By Rich Pollack

They were almost two years in the making, but Highland Beach finally has clear rules for parking on its six side streets.
For decades the rules for parking on residential streets — lined with single-family homes and multifamily townhomes — were confusing and difficult to sort out. That is changing with a new street parking ordinance that received final approval this month.
“We had 52 parking codes and some of them contradicted one another,” said Commissioner Peggy Gossett-Seidman, who lives on a side street in the Bel Lido neighborhood and has been an advocate of fixing parking problems in the area.
Since commissioners first started discussing parking in April 2018 the focus has been on three key issues: street parking for guests of residents, parking for lawn maintenance trucks and other commercial vehicles, and parking for beach-goers.
The new ordinance allows street parking under specific conditions, prohibits beach parking and overnight parking, and permits street parking of commercial vehicles while work is being done.
“This ordinance gives people a map for understanding where they can park on town streets,” Gossett-Seidman said. “It spells out where people can park and where they can’t park.”
The rules also authorize Town Manager Marshall Labadie and the police chief to make adjustments for specific cases and to put up no-parking signs where appropriate.
“It’s another tool in the toolbox to address one-off parking situations,” Labadie said.
The new ordinance prohibits double parking and requires that cars are parked in the roadway in the direction of traffic and no more than a foot off the street edge. It also bans beach parking and obstruction of driveways and mailboxes.
While the ordinance focuses on making sure that traffic and emergency vehicle can navigate the side streets, it also recognizes that on-street parking may be the only option for commercial vehicles and for guests of residents.
“We want to be reasonable and use common sense,” Gossett-Seidman said.
The commission’s unanimous approval of the ordinance came after months of discussion and research that included a couple of surveys of residents and input from advisory boards.
“It was a series of extraordinary events,” Gossett- Seidman said. “We wanted to get it right and we hope it will stand the test of time.”
She said the commission is open to revisiting the issue and making adjustments if needed.
In other business, Highland Beach officials learned the actual cost of fire service provided by Delray Beach in 2019 was significantly less than had been projected. As a result the town was reimbursed $109,765. With the reimbursement taken into account, the increase in the cost of fire service over the previous year was about 2.2% instead of the projected 5%.
The town also got $150,000 from Waste Management that will be used to cover the cost of damage to the roadway due to hydraulic fluid leaking from one of the trash hauler’s trucks.
“The damage shortened the life cycle of the roads,” Labadie said.