Officer praised for saving man, curious pooch from Intracoastal Waterway

Gail and Steve McMillan sit with dog Molly and Officer Daniel Turnof near where Steve almost drowned. Molly broke her leg a few months earlier. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

Let’s just say Molly, a 16-year-old goldendoodle, is one very lucky — and very loved — canine.

When Molly and her owner, Steve McMillan, fell off a dock into the Intracoastal Waterway at night on March 11, a quick-responding Manalapan police officer helped save them both. Officer Daniel Turnof lay on his belly on the dock and reached one arm toward the water, securing McMillan, who in turn held on to the pooch until Palm Beach County Fire Rescue could arrive.

When Turnof got there, McMillan, 79, was in the water holding onto a crossbeam of the dock at their Manalapan residence on Lands End Road.

“Whoever the guy was that was lying on the dock, his hand down, holding my hand, may have made all the difference in the world, because I don’t know whether I could have held on to that crossbeam anymore,” McMillan said.

Turnof — who will be honored with the life-saving award at the next Town Commission meeting for his work — said when he got there, the first thing McMillan said was, “Help my dog first.”

This is where we need to rewind. About six months ago, around Halloween, Molly broke one of her right legs at the McMillans’ home in California.

The veterinarians all suspected cancer, which is often the cause of broken legs in older dogs. One wanted to amputate, but McMillan’s spouse, Gail, kept getting second opinions. It turned out Molly didn’t have cancer, and the bone was set.

“She’s still happy and trotting along and eats and drinks and, you know, loves her treats,” Gail McMillan said in a telephone call from the vet’s office on April 17. “She’s still going.”

Officer Daniel Turnof will be honored with a life-saving award at a Town Commission meeting for rescuing Steve McMillan and his dog, Molly. 

So is her husband, despite battling Parkinson’s disease, which makes his balance a bit iffy. Around 10 p.m., both her dog and her spouse decided to go for a little walk to the end of their dock, with Molly on a leash. Molly likes to put her snout over the edge and look at the water — and that’s when it happened.

“Next thing I know, I’m in the water, and I went under and struggled back up,” Steve McMillan said. “My view was, hell, this is it for me. I am really not a swimmer of any sort.”

But McMillan then saw Molly, still with her leash on, dog-paddling in the Intracoastal.

“She’s just been through three months of therapy, from surgery, from having her leg broken, and it’s like if I drown, my dog is going to drown, too, and my wife will kill us both,” he said.

By happenstance, Gail McMillan had turned off the TV to make a phone call when she heard her husband yelling for help. She called 911 at 10:07 p.m.

The situation was no joking matter. Her husband could feel the steady current of the Intracoastal. 

“It was quite stressful,” she said. “I was so panicked and screaming for my neighbors to come because I didn’t know whether he had a heart attack or a stroke or what. How did he get in the water?”

That is when Officer Turnof arrived and located McMillan and Molly with the help of a neighbor. He noticed that the situation was dire as McMillan had his leg around the piling, which had barnacles on it. 

“So, he was getting cut up pretty bad,” Turnof said. “Obviously, he’s concerned about the dog. I wasn’t going to argue it. So he had the dog around, I believe, his left arm.”

Turnof got on his stomach. “I reached down, and I slowly pulled him towards me, and then I grabbed a nice, good grip on his arm with both hands.”

Fire Rescue then arrived and used a surfboard and a ladder to rescue both McMillan and Molly. McMillan estimated he had been in the cold Intracoastal waters for about 40 minutes.

Police Chief Jeff Rasor praised Turnof, who has been on the Manalapan force for two years. “This is the expectation. Obviously, he did an outstanding job,” Rasor said. “Certainly his response time was incredible.”

Gail McMillan said that the incident took a toll on the couple and their pooch for a few weeks.  

“We both couldn’t even leave the house. It was rough. It was scary,” she said. “But now I just have to laugh about it. Now we just laugh.” 

The cover of the Gulf Stream centennial book. Photos provided

To celebrate the town’s first 100 years, Mayor Scott Morgan collected historical photographs and wrote ‘The Town of Gulf Stream: A Place to Cherish.‘ The 104-page coffee table book chronicles the town’s century-long quest to preserve an ‘understated but elegant’ charm. The hardcover book was given to each of Gulf Stream’s roughly 685 households. They were invited to pick up their copies at Town Hall. The town paid $21,000 to publish it. ‘Every household will get one,’ Morgan said. ‘It’s not for sale. It’s just for us.’  

Polo came to town in 1927. Gulf Stream became known as the Winter Polo Capital of the World.

Controlling traffic is a high priority as construction trucks and workers have to share the road with parents lined up to gather their students at the end of a day of classes at Gulf Stream School. Gulf Stream Police Officer Todd Stanton and Michael Alford of Roadway Construction manage traffic while another worker crosses a metal plate in the road in front of the school on April 25. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Steve Plunkett

Polo Drive has become the new route for the morning rush to drop off kids at the Gulf Stream School.

Phase 2 of Gulf Stream’s comprehensive makeover of the Core District’s roads officially began April 21, the day after Easter, with construction crews moving to the streets east of almost-complete Polo and with new traffic instructions for parents of students.

While student pickup is the same as before, parents dropping off children have been asked to enter the Core District via Golfview Drive, then travel Polo north to Old School Road and the school’s entrance. A police officer is stationed at the intersection of Old School and Gulfstream Road to direct cars into the school’s usual south driveway.

The revised traffic pattern, which diverts vehicles from Gulfstream Road where most of the Phase 2 construction will take place, “is working very well,” Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said.

“We are happy to report that the contractor is making progress and we anticipate fewer difficulties for Phase 2 as we get underway at the end of the season into the summer,” he said.

Barring bad weather and other unforeseen problems, this stage of construction is expected to last 10 months, or until late February 2026. Town officials originally hoped to wrap up the whole project in December. Phase 1 began in April 2024 but quickly stalled while contractor Roadway Associates LLC waited for a permit from the South Florida Water Management District.

Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers, which is managing the project, issued the contractor a Certificate of Substantial Completion on April 22 along with a punch list of 60 items such as repairing sprinkler lines and leveling mailboxes.

For the week ending May 2, Roadway planned to install new water and drainage utilities on Gulfstream Road between Golfview Drive and Lakeview Drive and on Lakeview between Polo Drive and Gulfstream.

Phase 2 is expected to proceed more quickly because most of the piping will be in the right of way next to the asphalt instead of under it.

Phase 1 consisted of Polo Drive and the finger roads to its west. Besides the punch list items, it will get a final lift of asphalt once Phase 2 is finished.

The entire water main, drainage and road project in the Core District is budgeted at $13 million. 

By Steve Plunkett

The Briny Breezes Town Council was still trying to figure out dates, but it decided at its April 24 meeting to hold a budget workshop in May as well as the one it customarily has in the summer.

The driving reason: Town Manager Bill Thrasher’s proposal to raise the town’s property tax rate by 80%, from $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value to $6.75.

Thrasher, who earlier in the day was interviewed about the proposal on Alderman Bill Birch’s BBC8 television show, offered the second workshop session as a way for council members to know better the math behind his plan.

He would raise property taxes to obtain a $2.5 million loan to match the grants the town currently has.

“That funding source, what it looks like and where it comes from, is still being worked on, it has not been determined. We have plenty of time because we have enough reserves to get us started,” Thrasher said in the interview, which can be seen at bbc8.tv. BBC8 is a closed-circuit news outlet for Briny residents.

Using Birch’s 2024 tax bill for an example, Thrasher noted that the alderman paid $167 in town taxes and $1,081 overall to the 13 taxing entities. 

At the $6.75 rate and if the taxable value of Birch’s home did not change, he would pay $301 in town taxes, or 80% more, and $1,215 overall, or only 18% more, if all the other tax rates stayed the same, Thrasher said. Birch translated that into a monthly increase of $11.15. “It is nothing major at all,” he said.

Thrasher pointed out that somebody else may have a taxable value that’s larger than Birch’s, adding that “the numbers will change but the percentages primarily will not.”

He called the proposed increase “really not something that as a manager I can say is something I’m proud of, but what I do have to tell you is that it’s absolutely necessary to advance our projects.”

The increase would raise about $300,000 more in property taxes.

Briny Breezes wants to enhance its sea walls and update and modernize its drainage system. The total project cost is $14.4 million. The town has qualified for a $1.4 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is in the midst of a 90-day pause, and a $7.2 million grant from the Resilient Florida program. 

“Whether you believe it or not, the town and the corporation have to develop a project for sustainability to protect from seawater intrusion. As tides come in and out, in and out, it’s very destructive. It wears on your sea walls, it wears on your piers, it wears on every part of your protection basin,” Thrasher said.

Along with seeking other grants, “I will be looking to try to obtain donations. … I’ll be begging for money,” Thrasher said. “I’ll try everywhere I can to get money.”

Birch, for one, is on board with Thrasher’s proposal.

“Briny has given generations after generations of families nothing but wonderful memories,” Birch said. “And, let’s just call her a woman — she needs our help, and I think we need to help her.” 

With the completion of the Bonefish Cove Restoration project only months away, we look forward to visiting the mangrove islands and oyster reefs in the central Lake Worth Lagoon north of Hypoluxo Island. American avocets, black skimmers and royal terns, among other of our fine-feathered friends, have already begun feeding in the sand there.

But the $15 million project, originally planned for at least five years, almost came to a roaring stop before it even began early last year.

In late February 2024, Hypoluxo Island residents, particularly boaters who live on the east side of the northern end of the island, got wind of the project via a flyer sent to their homes. While they supported the environmental benefits of the project, what they couldn’t stomach was losing boating access to the Intracoastal Waterway — and having their property values plummet as a result.

The blueprint originally called for three islands, but the middle one was directly above La Renaissance channel, the passageway boaters traditionally used to reach the deeper Intracoastal waters.

The project is a partnership between Palm Beach County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The goal is to create treasured habitat for flora and fauna that had otherwise been lost or degraded because of past dredge and fill activities, stormwater discharges and shoreline hardening.

Named Bonefish Cove after a popular fish that recently returned to the area due to previous county restoration projects, the islands have been formed with 320,000 cubic yards of sand from Peanut Island.

Construction was set to begin weeks from the day residents got those flyers, leaving little time to change course. Bill Simons, a boater who had been using the channel since 1996, and his neighbor Jordan Nichols, a retired civil engineer who once worked for the South Florida Water Management District, went door to door to blast the alarm.

They enlisted another neighbor, former Lantana Mayor Dave Stewart, who connected with Town Manager Brian Raducci to set up a meeting where residents were able to air their concerns and hear from county and Army Corps officials.

What followed was a flurry of letters and phone calls and petitions from residents for hearings. Neighbors reached out to state and federal senators and representatives for help.

Islander Stuart Fain met with residents who talked about hiring a lawyer but held off and were “politely working” with the county. Turns out, politeness and persistence were effective.

In response to complaints, Deb Drum, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, sent a letter to the Army Corps requesting that it sequence the project to not put any fill in the area identified by the neighbors as their navigation pathway until there was a redesign of the project to avoid that area. And, eventually, a redesign was done and the project was changed from three islands to two, leaving the channel in place.

Incredibly, the issue was resolved within a month, a remarkable feat and testimony to the diligence and fortitude of the men and women of Hypoluxo Island who fought so doggedly.

It wasn’t smooth sailing. But when their navigation rights were threatened, leaders emerged to take the helm, and they came with admirable navigational skills. They knew what to do and they didn’t give up.

They set a good example for all of us.

— Mary Thurwachter, Managing Editor

By Brian Biggane

South Palm Beach Vice Mayor Monte Berendes is the kind of legislator who typically sticks to his convictions: Once he takes a stance, he holds onto it. So, the fact Berendes has flip-flopped on a key issue regarding the new Town Hall in recent weeks is indicative of the uncertainty running through the Town Council as it attempts to finalize plans going forward.

When council members and town staff conducted meetings with CPZ Architects in late 2024 and early this year, Berendes initially came out in favor of a two-story building. Further along, as the plans started coming together, he switched to the three-story option.

“When I looked at the designs there was no question in my mind,” Berendes said after an April 4 workshop with architect Joe Barry. “I looked at (the three-story concept) and said, ‘Now that’s a nice building.’”

At the regular council meeting five days later that featured another discussion on the pros and cons of the two options, Berendes had changed his mind again.

“Listening to us here, we’re all leaning toward the two-story concept,” Berendes said near the end of the 35-minute back-and-forth. “And residents are telling me they all kind of want that.”

While fewer than 20 residents turned out April 4 for the one opportunity the public was given to meet with Barry and get a detailed look at the CPZ proposals, a majority took the microphone and voiced disapproval.

Their concerns ranged from potential flooding around the proposed 37 parking spaces, to the idea that a three-story structure would impinge on the privacy of neighboring condos, to questioning the need for common spaces to stage events like yoga classes, to whether the proposed space for the building’s first-floor PBSO office suited Sgt. Mark Garrison and his staff. (It does.)

When the council met five days later, it was Berendes who suggested a shower would be a good idea in case of an emergency such as a hurricane, and Town Manager Jamie Titcomb moved that the Building Department office be moved from the second to the first floor, where it is housed in the current building.

Some residents even questioned whether there really is a need for a new building, or whether the current structure could be updated for less money. That prompted longtime Mayor Bonnie Fischer to explain engineers have deemed a retrofit would cost more than the $6 million to $7 million the new building will cost, and the decision to replace the existing structure goes back many years and through many town councils.

A breakdown of the three-story building proposed by CPZ:

First floor: 37 parking spaces, PBSO office, lobby, patio;

Second floor: Town staff offices, a storage room, council office, conference rooms;

Third floor: Multipurpose rooms for community classes and events, council chambers, a 1,500-square-foot room, kitchen, balcony.

The two-story structure would have a smaller footprint but elongated levels, meaning the two structures would have almost the same square footage. The advantage of putting the public activities on the third floor is giving better views and vistas for those activities.

Though it would be a narrow view, residents would be high enough to see the ocean from the top story of the three-story building.

There were conflicting opinions regarding the idea of having a coffee shop. Council member Ray McMillan saw it as a gathering spot for residents and pushed it as “a good idea,” while Berendes expressed concern its popularity might quickly disappear and cost the town money in the long run.

Fischer, who has been a proponent of the three-story building all along, said the idea of a thriving community center has the potential to bring residents together much more than is currently the case.

“One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve been mayor is how rewarding it is to have the residents involved in activities, and the feedback is always great,” she said. “We get to know people in the community instead of sticking with our own buildings. I really feel the third floor is very important to us.”

Barry and CPZ will return for another go-round at the regular council meeting on May 13, when a vote on the proposals is possible, though not likely.

Berendes said what the council needs to remember is what the scope of the project has been since the start.

“You don’t build a building for today,” he said. “This is a building that will hopefully be around for a long time: 50 years, 30 years. So, we’re building for the future. Please keep that in mind when you say, ‘Oh, we don’t need this, we don’t need that.’ Maybe in 10 or 15 years you will wish you had it.” 

Greg Schiller, the new CEO of the Child Rescue Coalition, keeps reminders of children in his office in Boca Raton alongside screens showing data and the organization’s home page. Schiller is a former prosecutor of internet crimes against children. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Hannah Spence

In 2009, while serving as the lead prosecutor for the Internet Crimes Against Children unit at the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, Greg Schiller began collaborating with the Child Rescue Coalition, which was operating out of the same building.

That proximity introduced him to the organization’s groundbreaking technology — an experience that would ultimately lead to his future role as CEO of the nonprofit dedicated to helping law enforcement track and apprehend online child predators.

“I get to come home to that same building where it all really started,” says Schiller, 47, who became CEO on March 3. In his new role, Schiller will be doing more of what his predecessor, Carly Yoost, did. “So, this is the greatest opportunity I could ever have to globally help children, parents, and the community learn how to fight back against offenders online. And I can do it all through this incredible organization here in Palm Beach County.”

The coalition uses a proprietary software tool, which helps law enforcement agencies around the world identify individuals who are sharing and downloading known child sexual abuse material.

The technology monitors peer-to-peer networks in real time for users who are actively trading illicit content. This allows investigators to build cases proactively and has led to the arrests of tens of thousands of predators globally. CRC’s technology is free for law enforcement all throughout the world, but is used heavily in Palm Beach County by federal agents, the sheriff’s office, and police departments in Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Boynton Beach.

Schiller, who lives in Boca Raton, graduated from New England Law in Boston in 2003 and has been in Palm Beach County his entire career.

“I’m originally from New York and my first job offer, after I applied to be a prosecutor in many offices up and down the East Coast, was at the West Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office,” he said.

He spent 121/2 years working as a state prosecutor in West Palm Beach, where the majority of the time, he said, he was the lead prosecutor in handling internet crimes against children and cases of human trafficking.

Then in 2016, Schiller became an assistant United States attorney where he was still a prosecutor but at the federal level in the Southern District of Florida — still specializing in the same crimes.

He held that position until a couple of months ago when he left to become the leader of the CRC, whose software he had already been utilizing for 15 years at his other jobs.

“I think as CEO, I come with a very unique perspective of having been in the trenches as a prosecutor and having seen and dealt with the worst offenders, violence and online exploitation,” said Schiller, whose lengthy workdays leave little time for much else. But when he has time, he enjoys reading, baseball, music and spending a lot of time with his family. “Working on this side really helps me grow and be the best that we can be trying to protect children.”

Schiller lamented the biggest struggle he and CRC have: making sure that they have the funding to do the job that they want to do.

“Somebody asked me the other day: ‘If you had a billion dollars, what would you do?’” said Schiller. “The ideas and the goal are endless because the goal is to end child exploitation across the internet so that we can protect our kids. There is no amount of money that would generate availability to ever do that globally in absolutely every home across the world.”

In addition to accepting donations, CRC hosts various fundraisers throughout the year. Upcoming charitable occasions include the annual CRC Poker Tournament in September — a friendly competition for card players of any level. The Coalition Cup will celebrate its eighth year in October; the day will have sports, an open bar, awards ceremony and more.

Both events are in Delray Beach, but Schiller said he is looking to expand such events in other cities and countries around the world.

CRC’s technology is used in 106 countries, and the organization is open to working with more, “whoever calls upon us and wants us to bring our technology there,” said Schiller.

He said he has seen cases of children exploited by their relatives or guardians in other parts of the world, but hopes his company can shrink those numbers.

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Lift station approved — At a special meeting on April 16, the South Palm Beach Town Council adopted an agreement to have Mock Roos & Associates design and oversee construction of a new lift station, to be built on the site of the existing one-story lift station between the Brittany and Concordia West condos just north of Town Hall.

Mock Roos, which also has been contracted to build and service lift stations nearby in Palm Beach and Manalapan, was selected over Holtz Consulting Engineers at the March council meeting.

The cost has been estimated at between $500,000 and $1 million; Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the main variable will be the costs of the various subcontractors Mock Roos will bring into the project. 

John Cairnes, who has been with the firm for 17 years and told the council in March that he has become “one of the most experienced, top-notch lift stations engineers in Palm Beach County,” will serve as project manager.

Ethics presentation — Lizabeth Martin, the communications manager for the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics, made a 10-minute presentation to the council regarding ethics at its regular April meeting.

Comprehensive plan approved — Walter Keller, with decades of municipal comprehensive plan experience, made a second presentation in April of his comprehensive plan to be sent to the state. Manager Jamie Titcomb said the town was already overdue on submitting the plan, and the council adopted it.

Dog debate suggestion — The ongoing debate regarding whether dog owners should be allowed to bring their pets onto Town Hall property came up again, with Council member Elvadianne Culbertson offering a suggestion to resolve the issue. Noting that about 100 dog owners have requested more lenience from the council, which currently forbids dogs on the property, Culbertson said the group should assign one owner each week to be responsible for picking up dog waste, meaning each would only have to serve one week every two years. No action was taken.

— Brian Biggane

Michele Mahon at home in Ocean Ridge with her book, published this year by Austin Macauley and available in paperback for $9.95 on Amazon. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Michele Mahon of Ocean Ridge didn’t set out to write a children’s book. It kind of just happened during a time when she was doing substitute teaching. 

“There would be breaks and I would just start working on stories,” said Mahon. “The kids always loved me and they wanted to help me write.

“So, I started writing and asking the kids what ingredients they wanted to put in, and they would say, ‘Put some cherries in there,’ or ‘Put some chocolate.’ And I would write their input.”

What came out of it was Unimaginable Ingredients for Shmoogily, a compilation of eight stories, all but one of which are based on true experiences.

“The first one was about how our dog escaped in the woods and we had to go find him. So that became Lost in the Woods,” Mahon said. “But the one I made up was the one they liked best.” That one was about a kid who was afraid to speak in class so he drinks a potion that cures the problem.

A dancer since she first started taking ballet lessons as a young girl, Mahon has put together a presentation for children that involves both reading and dancing. But she has encountered resistance when she has pitched her services to local outlets such as schools and libraries.

“The Delray Beach library told me, ‘No, we have our librarians read stories to the kids.’ But this is different.”

Mahon’s big adventure involving dance came when she spent six months training in Atlantic City for a show in the Bahamas, traveling between Nassau and Freeport to work with Bahamian dancers.

“After two years I had to come home because I had a husband,” she said. “I quit the show in May and was pregnant in July. Then it was ‘OK, what do I do with this kid?’ Then I became a mother.”

Mahon spends her summers in Boston. She and her husband, Paul, who is retired, have three children: daughter Raisha, who teaches families and the nursing staff how to use respiratory equipment at three hospitals in Boston; daughter Sachian, a public school teacher in Boston; and son Brienne, who lives in Manhattan and is vice president of instruction for Five Iron Golf.

— Brian Biggane

Q: Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?

A: Dorchester, Massachusetts. I went to the Sarah Greenwood School. I had the same teacher as my father, but this time we watched and waited as her teeth were about to fall out as she spoke.

I grew up in a three-family house while my dad was making his first venture into real estate. I played double-dutch jump rope and Red Rover and would hear my mother scream “Michele, where are you? Get in this house,” every night. Transistor radios were blasting, kids were hopscotching, I was enthralled by the neighborhood music and cultures. How could I not be influenced? I was young and watched and listened and danced. I continued my education and graduated from Brookline High School, where I am so fortunate to keep in touch with a lot of old friends.

Q: What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

A: It seems everything I did came late, but I did it. I first recall training to work in reservations and the information desk in Dallas with American Airlines, and due to layoffs, I wound up with Delta. Then I got my real estate license for Massachusetts. I did this while substitute teaching in Milton, Massachusetts, where my three kids went to school. 

My dance career began in Boston with a show named Pouff, then came a solo spot in Remember Old Scollay Square in a dinner theater, the Chateau de Ville. Finally, I worked for the Resorts International hotel chain doing The Crazy Gang show with the wonderful Bahamian dancers.

What I am most proud of is I went to UMass-Boston and earned a degree in humanities and elementary education, making me the first in my family to graduate college. A few years later I received my master’s degree in moderate disabilities from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts, while teaching in Boston public schools. This led me to dance programs and choreography. I still do substitute teaching and writing.

Q: What advice do you have for a young person seeking a career today?

A: Life is a stage which is OK to fall off of. That is how we learn. We try to do what we think we like, and the opportunities seem to arrive unexpectedly. The next thing you know you may love what comes. Change makes life interesting and in the process comes versatility.

Q: How did you choose to live in Ocean Ridge?

A: Originally my separated parents lived with their interesting others in Kings Point in west Delray Beach. While visiting those fabulous facilities I bought a condo that was for sale across the street from my mom and stayed there until they passed.

Soon after that I was with my brother driving up and down A1A looking for a place to park to go to the beach. We finally found one and were walking around and I spotted a gazebo, then looked and saw some condos. I checked with a Realtor and a couple were for sale. I also looked on the Intracoastal but sent pictures to my kids and they said, “Mom, you can’t swim in the Intracoastal. Go for the beach!” So I did.

Q: What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?

A: What a beach! What a location! It makes me smile as I walk and see the palm trees and feel the ocean breezes (some days not so much). But I love all the little creatures I say hi to on my walks. I have met many wonderful people. Every day is a happy hour!

Q: What book are you reading now?

A: Honestly, I don’t read books. I love the Smithsonian articles on travel, current issues and its firsthand reporting. I love the National Geographic; it has a kids’ magazine that helps them learn about the environment. The fabulous photographs capture your imagination and draw you into the articles.

Q: What music do you listen to when you want to relax? When you want to be inspired?

A: It’s really funny because as I get older and remember lyrics to songs that I liked and danced to, I realize I never listen to the words. For relaxing, Luther Vandross, the Beatles, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and the Isley Brothers all told beautiful stories. When I dance it’s to rhythm and blues, Motown, funk and soul. I like “get down on it,” “can you boogie?” and “I bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yeah.” Also “I love music, any kind of music.”

Q: Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?

A: My mom was an artist; she did oil paintings, charcoals and embroidery. Her art is on my walls. She was beautiful and reminded me not to go out without lipstick.

My dad could turn anything into funny. He told jokes and he sang and entertained. My legs would be killing me from eight-hour rehearsals, and he would say, “You did it, you made it, so be proud and dance.”

Toward the end he had nuclear palsy, which caused him to drop without warning. One day while he was in the shower, we heard a loud noise as he grabbed the tub enclosure. We went to help and he said, “It looks like curtains for me.”

Q: If your life story were to be made into a movie, who would play you?

A: I can’t think of anyone more fitting than the Looney Tunes character the Road Runner (people have said that shows how theatrical I am). He’s mischievous, with a silly sense of humor and a cheerful personality. He’s known for his incredible speed, leaving a trail of flame as he runs, and he enjoys surprising, which is good since my whole life has been a surprise.

Q: Who/what makes you laugh?

A: I find humor in all the people I am around and all aspects of life. My dad would do plays on words and talk backwards. I like to go to comedy shows, especially when I’m being picked on. I also get a big kick out of text messages among our family. We used to have a chain under “Old Family” and Brienne didn’t like it so he changed it to “New Family.” We have a lot of fun with them.

By Rich Pollack

It has been a year since Highland Beach split from Delray Beach and started its own fire department, but a fight over who still owes the other money — and how much — is heating up again.

In late March, attorneys for Delray Beach sent a letter to Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie requesting the two municipalities attend nonbinding mediation to determine how much the town owes the city.

In response, Highland Beach sent a letter to the attorneys for Delray Beach saying the town sees the advantage of settling the dispute without going to court, but it won’t do that until it receives detailed records it has been seeking for several years.

Delray Beach, according to its letter, believes the town owes it more than $540,000 that was identified during an audit by the Florida Auditor General’s Office.

In his letter back to the city, Highland Beach Town Attorney Len Rubin wrote that the town believes the city actually owes it money because it overcharged the town almost $238,000 for fiscal 2021 and 2022.

The letter also contends that Highland Beach requested the same information on which it based that finding for four prior years back in 2023 and has yet to receive that information or other records, including those to support Delray Beach’s contentions that it owes the city money.

“We’ve been asking for those records for years and we’ve never received any records that support their claim,” Labadie said. “Before we talk mediation, show us the records.”

Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore said his city is continuing to work on determining how much Highland Beach actually owes for services provided.

“We remain in the process of determining what that looks like,” Moore said.

One possible scenario is that Delray Beach could ask Highland Beach for a portion or all of $2.2 million — mostly in pension costs — that the state’s audit showed should have been billed to the town but never was.

In his letter to the attorney representing Delray Beach, Rubin said the town wants to see the long-sought records before it will agree to mediation.

“To fully evaluate the city’s latest claim and to allow the town to fully review and comprehend the city’s position prior to mediation, the town is requesting copies of all records relied upon by the city to arrive at whatever figure the city believes the town owes,” he wrote.

Rubin outlined four specific sets of records the town wants, including daily rosters of employees who worked in the Highland Beach station under a long-standing agreement.

Moore said Delray Beach is in the process of compiling those records.

“The city of Delray Beach looks forward to a productive path forward,” Moore said. “We’ll provide the relevant information so they can prepare accordingly.”

For more than 30 years, Delray Beach provided fire service to Highland Beach by staffing a town-owned fire station. In April 2021, Highland Beach leaders voted to end the relationship in part because they felt the city was overcharging them. The town’s new fire department took over in May 2024.

During the final years of the partnership, Highland Beach disputed the way Delray Beach calculated how much it was owed.

In recent years prior to the split, Delray Beach began using the actual costs of the 211/2 firefighter paramedics assigned to the station in Highland Beach to determine the town’s cost for service, about $5 million per year.

Highland Beach has argued, however, that the agreement between the two municipalities clearly states that such cost should be calculated based on the average “in-rank” cost of fire rescue personnel throughout the city.

The different interpretations of the agreement could be one of the focal points of any mediation. When that will happen is up in the air.

In what logical way does it make any sense to allow one person to inconvenience thousands?

Why would a [Manalapan] homeowner be allowed to tunnel under a public road [State Road A1A] for personal use? Why should thousands of people be inconvenienced because a homeowner who probably is in Florida for two weeks a year can’t cross the street? 

Crossing a street really is not that difficult, as my mother taught me: “Look both ways and when there are no cars coming, you can cross.”

— Ira Oaklander
Highland Beach

I really enjoyed reading John Pacenti’s article “Reef Madness: City diving deep to restore struggling coral” [April 2025 edition]. I am heartened by the fantastic work of the scientists at the Reef Institute and all the volunteers and supporters in Delray Beach who are working hard to restore our precious coral reefs. 

As a Floridian, I see the need to educate new Florida residents on issues affecting our natural environment.

Please keep up the great work in bringing us articles on our reefs, water quality, canopy, beach erosion, marine life and the need for biodiversity. 

— Maria Freed
Boynton Beach

Beginning with its May 2025 edition, The Coastal Star is converting all of its delivery to single-family homes, from newspapers in plastic bags thrown in driveways to U.S. Postal Service delivery to mailboxes.

If you live in one of these homes, please send an email to admin@thecoastalstar.com that simply states the date you received this edition.

We made this change to improve service to our readers and advertisers. Between sprinkler systems and summer rains, we know we have delivered a few wet papers over the years; we hope this will bring that to an end.

— Jerry Lower, Publisher

A Palm Beach woman is dead after being struck by a truck on April 1 in the parking lot of Plaza del Mar in Manalapan, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Janice Stein, 74, was walking across from Publix just before 8 a.m. when she “inadvertently entered the path” of a 2020 Isuzu NRR truck, according to the sheriff’s report.

The truck’s front right side hit Stein, knocking her to the ground, and then the vehicle ran over her before coming to a stop a short distance away.

Stein had “improperly” traveled into the path of the truck, according to the report.

— John Pacenti

By Ron Hayes

GULF STREAM — On Easter Sunday 1969, Robert Ganger and his father explored a Gulf Stream mansion they found to be dilapidated, covered with mold, and empty.

Miradero, the former home of Lila Vanderbilt Webb, granddaughter of railroad magnate Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, had been willed to Good Samaritan Hospital, which had a developer with an option to buy.

Where the developer saw a future investment, the Gangers saw a past worth preserving, and in January 1970, Miradero — Spanish for a “vantage point” or “lookout”— became their new home.

Robert Ward Ganger died in Miradero on April 25 — 33 years to the day after the death of his own father, Robert Mondell Ganger, in the same house. He was 89.

When Mr. Ganger retired to Gulf Stream in 1991, he brought with him the same reverence for preserving the past that had saved that moldy old mansion, and for the next 34 years that devotion blessed both Gulf Stream and all of Palm Beach County.

In 2007, when developers hungered to buy Briny Breezes and replace the mobile home community with towering condos, Mr. Ganger and Kristine de Haseth formed The Florida Coalition for Preservation to fight the sale.

Briny Breezes is still here, and so is the coalition.

“Bob was involved in many worthwhile nonprofit organizations, but his pride and joy was The Florida Coalition for Preservation,” de Haseth said. “We have dedicated 18 years to preserving the small-town quality of life we all enjoy on the barrier island, which includes supporting Briny Breezes in their efforts to remain a unique, independent community.”

Robert Ward Ganger was born in Bronxville, New York, on Jan. 5, 1936.

After graduating from Bronxville High School, he earned a bachelor’s in American studies from Yale in 1957 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1959.

From 1959 to 1964, he served in the U.S. Air Force Reserves.

Mr. Ganger spent his career in marketing and strategic planning at General Foods Corp., from which he retired after 32 years.

“He never retired,” said his son, Rob Ganger, “and of all my father’s contributions, I think his greatest were in Gulf Stream.”

A year after leaving General Foods, he founded the Gulf Stream Consulting Group, a business development and financial strategies company, which he ran for 20 years while also pursuing his volunteer work.

On an Alaskan cruise in 1993, he struck up a friendship with a gentleman from Broward County, who suggested introducing him to a Finnish woman living in Boca Raton, a friend he thought Mr. Ganger might like.

Mr. Ganger liked her very much, and in 1995, he and Anneli Perlow were married in Gulf Stream, with his adult children Amy and Robert attending. 

The newlyweds set about restoring Miradero, but carefully.

“To assure that the restoration was legitimate, we researched the plans of Lila Vanderbilt Webb,” he recalled. “Her story compelled me to write a book on who Lila was, and why she decided to build a house in Gulf Stream.”

The Historical Society of Palm Beach County published Lila Vanderbilt Webb’s Miradero, Window on an Era in 2005, and the book went on to win a best nonfiction award from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Ganger served as president of the Gulf Stream Civic Association, and from 2006 to 2012 as a member of the town’s Architectural Review and Planning Board.

Not long after joining the board of the Delray Beach Historical Society in 2005, Mr. Ganger found a new challenge. The society’s historical archives were about to be expelled from the 1913 schoolhouse at Old School Square to make way for an expansion of the Cornell Art Museum.

He went in search of a new home for the records and found the offices of architect Digby Bridges at 124 NE Fifth Ave. The 1906 house, former home of the Harold Hunt family, had been bought by developers planning to tear it down and build a condominium complex.

With Ken Blair, a friend and local contractor, Mr. Ganger crawled under the hundred-year-old home to inspect the Dade County pine flooring.

The house was in good shape, and Ganger, named the board’s new president, helped raise the estimated $750,000 needed to move the building to the society’s property on Swinton Avenue — on the north side of Cason Cottage — and attach it to a windowless, prefabricated bunker that would hold the archives.

On Nov. 11, 2007, the Hunt house was moved from Federal Highway to Swinton Avenue and became the Ethel Sterling Williams Learning Center, named for the society’s first president—and the Hunt family’s babysitter when they first arrived in Delray Beach.As a board member of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, Ganger worked with Harvey Oyer III to save and restore the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach, now the Johnson History Museum.

“Bob was a true leader on our board, and the project would probably not have happened without Bob’s leadership,” Oyer said. “He was levelheaded, pragmatic, optimistic, persistent, and an idea-generating machine. He was almost always the smartest person in the room, but deflected the credit to others.”

In August 2012, Mr. Ganger was appointed to an interim seat on the Gulf Stream Town Commission after the death of Mayor Bill Koch, and in 2014, he was elected to a full term.

Scott Morgan was named mayor and Mr. Ganger vice mayor.

“No one cared more about the town, or knew more about its origins, than he did,” Morgan said. “His spearheading of the town’s electrical undergrounding, his leadership role in annexing the adjoining county pocket, and his published books and articles on local history are all testaments to his dedication to our community.

“I will treasure his memory — as a mentor, a colleague, and a friend — not just to me, but to so many people along the barrier island and elsewhere whose lives he touched.”

On April 17, 2016, Mr. Ganger suffered a stroke, a “brain drain” as he called it. The man who had worked so diligently to preserve the past, woke to find he had lost his own.

“I literally could not remember where or who I was,” he would say.

As part of his recovery, he took the suggestion ofa neurologist towrite an autobiography and recapture his past.

He published The First 84 Years in 2020.

“A critical part of my brain had blown its cover,” he wrote of the stroke, “spilling its contents hither and yon.”

He could remember, and he could write.

In a 2018 interview with The Coastal Star, Mr. Ganger was asked his favorite part about living in Gulf Stream.

“Besides living in a lovely home,” he replied, “Gulf Stream provides an environment allowing me to engage in small-town public service.”

Bob Ganger certainly did engage in small-town public service —but he did it in a very big way.

In addition to Anneli Ganger, his wife of 30 years, he is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Rob Ganger and Jodi Wille of Tallahassee; a daughter and son-in-law, Amy and Mike Diethelm of Atlanta, Georgia; stepsons Ossian and Patrick Ramsay; and six grandchildren. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Florida Coalition for Preservation, 4600 N. Ocean Blvd., Suite 102, Boynton Beach, FL 33435, or at www.preservationfla.org.

DELRAY BEACH — William Strucker, who opened Gulfstream Pharmacy in Briny Breezes almost 70 years ago — a business that remains family-owned and -operated — died on March 27. He was 94.

Born May 12, 1930, in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Howard and Helen Strucker, he had a brother, Richard Strucker.

After graduating from Temple University in 1952 with a bachelor of science in pharmacy, Mr. Strucker served two years as a pharmacist in the 57th Field Hospital in Toul, France. Following his service, Mr. Strucker started Gulfstream Pharmacy in 1957.

He married Virginia Foht, also of Erie, on July 8, 1967, and they settled in Delray Beach.

A devout Christian throughout his life, Mr. Strucker was an active member of his church as early as his teen years and served as master councilor in the Order of DeMolay and received its Legion of Honor Award. While a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach, he served on several committees including the Vestry.

Mr. Strucker is survived by his loving wife of 57 years, Virginia; his three beloved daughters and their husbands, Elizabeth and Jason Meador, Erin and Thomas Craig, and Alison and Peter Goodridge, all of Delray Beach; and three grandchildren, Lexi Craig, Drew Craig, and Chase Goodridge.

There will be a funeral service at a later date at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.

Remembrances may be sent to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church or Shriners Hospitals for Children.

— Submitted by the family

Dr. Peter Bonutti points to ruts adjacent to a sea turtle nest on the beach in Manalapan. Photos provided by Peter Bonutti

By John Pacenti

Manalapan officials are trying to get to the bottom of which mechanical beach raking company is leaving deep ruts near turtle nests in town. Two companies that clean the beach of debris are pointing the finger at each other.

Dr. Peter Bonutti, who is Manalapan’s liaison with the county on beach erosion, sent photos to the town on April 6 showing what he said were tractor tracks 11 inches deep directly adjacent to a turtle nest.

Town Manager Eric Marmer, in an April 6 email to a program administrator at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said, “Where are the DEP staff that are supposed to police these violations Dr. Bonutti is reporting? Any guidance for the town?”

Ginger K. Shirah — environmental administrator for DEP’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection — responded to Marmer on April 7 that the department met with David Rowland of Beach Keeper Inc., the company that rakes private beaches in Manalapan at homeowners’ expense.

Rowland told DEP that it was another company, Universal Beach Services, leaving the ruts with a very heavy tractor after he had already cleaned the beach.

“We have requested a meeting with Universal, as they do not have a permit from DEP to beach clean in this area,” Shirah wrote in her email to Marmer.

A request for comment from Shirah was passed to the DEP’s spokesperson, who did not provide a statement.

Rowland told The Coastal Star that Universal Beach Services was leaving the ruts after servicing condos in South Palm Beach, driving along the beach through Manalapan, and exiting at the public access point at Ocean Inlet Park.

“He’s driving a lot higher than what the permit should allow us, and because his tractor is so massive, it’s leaving these huge ruts,” Rowland said. “They’re not abiding by the guidelines that have been set for the town.”

Palm Beach County permits beach raking only below the high-water mark.

A closer photo shows how deeply the ruts cut into the sand.

Universal denies it is leaving the ruts and points the finger back at Beach Keeper.

“It’s really much to do about nothing, in my opinion,” said Clayton Peart, president of Universal. “The simplest explanation would be, you’ve already got your guy on that beach working, that would be the obvious person.”

He said he has to traverse Manalapan beach maybe once every two or three weeks, but does so at low tide in the “wet beach area,” so any tracks would be washed away.

Bonutti says mechanical beach raking causes erosion because it removes the unsightly wrack — the seaweed and natural detritus that come from the ocean.

“It destroys the beach, destroys the dunes,” he said.

Bonutti said mechanical raking also is detrimental during sea turtle nesting season from March through October. He said beach raking — mechanical or manual — is prohibited from going deeper than two inches in the sand during turtle season.

He said Beach Keeper’s 4½- ton tractor can’t help but to penetrate deeper.

Bonutti said he believes only manual raking should be allowed during turtle season.

Manalapan’s Beach Committee has discussed the issue of mechanical beach raking, but it has been mainly focused on the sand transfer plant and beach erosion. Marmer has suggested that a more balanced approach is needed, saying that while a pristine beach is aesthetically pleasing, some natural elements might help prevent erosion.

To be fair, having residents upset over tractor tracks on the beach isn’t new. The Coastal Star has covered the issue numerous times, such as in October 2018 when a resident in Highland Beach installed poles and ropes in the sand to keep the tractors at bay.

Marmer said the schedules of the beach raking companies are not consistent, which makes it hard for the town to get to the bottom of who is actually causing the ruts.

He said that Manalapan has met with DEP and is working toward best practices for mechanical beach raking — such as having the town alerted when it occurs.

While some residents believe — like Bonutti — that mechanical beach raking is harmful, others do not, Marmer said.

“A lot of people, they want to have the beach raker because they see it as a good service that provides clean beaches so their kids, or whoever, even themselves, don’t go to their beaches and step on glass bottles or whatever,” he said. 

The owners of Evelyn & Arthur women’s clothing boutique are closing the Manalapan location due to 'rising prices.' Plaza del Mar was sold in December. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Christine Davis

Evelyn & Arthur women’s clothing boutique will close its Manalapan location at Plaza del Mar on May 17. 

All merchandise is already marked down 50%, and customers will receive another 50% off that price at the register. “That’s about as special as it gets,” said Fred Weissman, chief financial officer of the company. Fixtures are also for sale, added his wife, Adrianne Weissman, Evelyn & Arthur’s president.  

The store is closing because of rising prices following the sale of the plaza in December, Fred Weissman explained.

“The cost of doing business there got to be too high from what it used to be to what it is today,” he said. The Weissmans decided in early April to close the Plaza del Mar store and a sign went up on the storefront notifying the clientele by mid-month.

Plaza del Mar’s new owners say they tried to get the store to stay. “Evelyn & Arthur had a renewal term in the lease that they had negotiated with the previous ownership and we made it clear that we value their tenancy and that we would honor that renewal at the same terms and conditions set forth in the lease,” said Scott Loventhal, managing member of Manalapan Plaza del Mar LLC, a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Garden Commercial Properties.

“The tenant was unwilling to renew under the terms they previously negotiated, and we then indicated our willingness to work with them on new renewal terms. Tenant indicated that they were considering reducing the number of stores they have as they consider the future of their overall business model and declined our offer.”

The Weissmans said that all of their other stores will remain open, and that Manalapan employees will go to stores in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens.

Closing this location is bittersweet for them, Adrianne said. “It’s sad to close it. Had the management not changed, we would still be there. We’ve had a loyal client base there and hopefully they will go to our other locations and shop online.” 

Adrianne’s parents, Evelyn and Arthur Lewis, opened their first store in Palm Beach in 1985 after Arthur retired as a manufacturer of women’s sportswear in Manhattan. The Manalapan store subsequently opened in 1986.

Previously buyers for Macy’s NY, the Weissmans joined the Lewises’ business in 1986 and expanded the company to include seven stores across Florida, with an eighth location in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Evelyn & Arthur Manalapan is at 277 S. Ocean Blvd. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Lake Boca was the scene of a milder Boca Bash this April, with only four arrests made and none of the outrage of years past. The annual boating party, held on the last Sunday in April, drew its customary hundreds of boaters to the lake. The Instagram story @thebocabash had nearly 1,000 likes shortly after the event. Boca Raton police arrested two men for boating under the influence, as did officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, jail records show. Boca Raton Fire Rescue was dispatched on five medical calls. As it did in the past, the city closed Wildflower and Silver Palm parks in advance of the Boca Bash. Previous years included a notorious video of teenagers dumping trash into the ocean, a man being charged with attempted murder of his girlfriend, a drowning and often more than a dozen arrests. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

Delray Beach on April 10 announced it was firing David Wyatt, the firefighter who was at the wheel of the aerial fire truck struck by a Brightline train in December. Video released by Brightline showed the large fire truck maneuvering around a lowered railroad crossing gate as the train approached.

Wyatt, under the firefighters’ contract, had 10 days to request a meeting with City Manager Terrence Moore to plead his case. He did, and city spokeswoman Gina Carter said the meeting was to take place before May 1.

“The train collision on December 28 was more than a traffic incident,” Moore said in an email announcing Wyatt’s employment termination. “It was a moment that tested the integrity of our public safety system and shook the confidence of the community we serve.”

Wyatt has been on paid administrative leave while the city investigated. His termination was set to be effective April 28.

The crash left about a dozen train passengers injured — as well as Wyatt and fire truck passengers Capt. Brian Fiorey and firefighter Joseph Fiumara III. The fire truck was en route to a reported kitchen fire at a condo building at 365 SE Sixth Ave. However, according to dispatch recordings, another unit on scene had called in to say the fire was contained around the same time as the crash was reported.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office found Wyatt failed to use “due care” as he drove the ladder truck into the path of the passenger train.

In announcing Wyatt’s termination, Moore said the Brightline crash “revealed a pattern of carelessness and poor judgment that went beyond an isolated error.”

The Coastal Star in January reported about an earlier, off-duty crash involving Wyatt. In that June 2023 crash, he drove his car into a tree in downtown Delray Beach. Police investigated Wyatt for a possible DUI but said in a report that obtaining a breathalyzer or a blood test was not feasible because the firefighter had been transported to a hospital. 

He was charged with careless driving. There was no DUI charge.

Court records showed that Wyatt didn’t initially go to traffic school to resolve the careless driving citation, which resulted in his license being suspended. An independent investigation discovered he had driven Delray Beach fire trucks during the time his license was suspended in late 2023.

The report by the labor firm Johnson Jackson, released Feb. 25, said Wyatt should have taken leave to address the license suspension. The city discovered that 10 fire department employees had not reported having suspended licenses in the recent past.

Wyatt told the investigator that he was unaware of the license suspension until this year. The investigator wrote that Wyatt’s response “raises question(s) as to his credibility on this issue,” the report stated.

A call to a telephone number associated with Wyatt went unanswered.

After the city’s announcement of Wyatt’s termination, the firefighters’ union, IAFF Local 1842, wrote to Moore saying the city fired Wyatt without a formal hearing.

The union requested that Moore convene a panel of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The union’s statement was posted on its Facebook page. IAFF Local 1842 did not return a message seeking further comment.