The third annual GPA, benefiting the Eda & Cliff Viner Community Scholars Foundation, was a festive night of ‘funraising.’ Tyler Cameron, a contestant on season 15 of ‘The Bachelorette,’ made an appearance as a special guest. All proceeds will be earmarked for scholarships for accomplished students. This school year, the amount distributed totaled $860,000. ABOVE: (l-r) Elyse Cromer, Amanda, Cliff, Eda and Eric Viner, and Niki Knopf. Photo provided

Gary and Katherine Parr served as hosts of a party marking the Kravis Center’s 30th anniversary. The event honored members of the center’s education committee and celebrated the 3 millionth student served by the center’s education programs. ‘The education committee at the Kravis Center has a long-standing history of collaborating with different organizations in our community to bring the arts and learning to students of all ages,’ Katherine Parr said. ‘As we look at making the performing arts even more accessible, it’s an honor to work with the excellent team at the Kravis Center and an exceptional committee of dedicated community members.’ TOP: Katherine and Gary Parr. RIGHT: Dan Drennen and David Sarama. Photos provided by Mary Stucchi

The Boca West Children’s Foundation raised $1.1 million for projects serving at-risk youths at its annual gala. The event featured entertainment by the acclaimed late-night talk-show host and stand-up comedian as well as performances by Dreyfoos School of the Arts’ jazz band and dance department. ‘We were thrilled to commemorate our 13th anniversary and the significant impact the foundation has made in our community by supporting local children’s charities,’ foundation Executive Director Pamela Weinroth said, noting that since its inception in 2010, more than $18 million has been donated to 30-plus local charities. ‘The generosity of our supporters at the gala was overwhelming.’
RIGHT: (l-r) Emily Cullen, Eileen Rose, Peggy Smith, Bonnie Krich, Tracey Schwartz and Tina Patterson. Photo provided

Tony Vento, a longtime chef, puts culinary ideas to work in his offerings at Capt. Frank’s in Boynton Beach. Photo provided

By Faran Fagen

Capt. Frank’s new owner, Tony Vento, has traveled all over the Mediterranean, up and down the East Coast, and as far north as Quebec.
Every step of the way, he’s picked up ingredients for another slice of cuisine. To Vento, each region of the world he’s visited symbolizes a signature sizzle in the market’s style of sautéing.
“I’ve learned different cuisine, cultures and passion to food itself,” said Vento, who became owner of Capt. Frank’s Seafood Market in Boynton Beach in October 2021.
“After working as a chef for the past 23 years, I decided it’s time to take everything I’ve learned and bring it close to home.”
The 44-year-old lives in Boynton Beach with his wife, Diana, and their two young boys. He realized a dream when he took ownership of Capt. Frank’s.  Vento graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York City and worked as a chef in that area until he moved to Miami, where he helped open the Ritz-Carlton in South Beach.
From there, he moved to the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach in Manalapan (now Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa).
“I worked with some great leaders and colleagues who I learned a great deal from,” Vento said.
Next, he became a private estate/yacht chef. This is where he met former Frank’s owner Joe Sclafani.
Sclafani and his team catered Vento’s events and charters. The food was a huge hit. Vento sought a way to combine his chef expertise with the warm feeling from Sclafani and his seafood market.
In the early ’90s, Sclafani sold his partnership in a seafood market in Rye, New York, headed to Florida with his family and bought Capt. Frank’s Seafood Market. 
A year and a half ago, he sold it to Vento. Sclafani still comes in once a week to pick up fresh seafood.
In his travels, Vento enjoys the cuisine of local chefs who carved a niche in the communities in which they cook. It’s something he’s sought since he took over the fish market at Capt. Frank’s.
“As a chef I celebrate my local chefs with their ideas,” Vento said. “From Chef Judine’s granola, Chef Elio chocolate from Colombia and Chef Jeff’s local smoked fish dips.” 
Of course, Vento has brought in some new ideas for locals to treasure. For one, you can come in and create a custom menu —from wine, cheese, caviar, fresh fish and meats to desserts.
One thing that hasn’t changed are the market staples, including the market’s famous stone crabs.
A variety of fresh seafood is available along with groceries selected by Vento that fill the shelves, coolers and freezers surrounding the seafood showcase. Customers get a mouth-watering view of what they might want to pick up for dinner.
The retail and wholesale seafood market does brisk business, with the high product turnover resulting in superior freshness, Vento said.
Vento’s hobbies — besides cooking — include gardening, spending time with family, and traveling.
Capt. Frank’s is open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. It’s at 435 W. Boynton Beach Blvd., Boynton Beach. Phone: 561-732-3663.

Back next month
Food writer Jan Norris will return next month. Reach her at nativefla@gmail.com.

By Joe Capozzi

The Seaside Deli, the County Pocket staple that shuttered in January because of a landlord dispute, reopened on Feb. 10 under new management.  
Whether the place will return to its former glory remains to be seen. 
Missing, for now, is the actual deli where, under the previous management, friendly sandwich makers served up fresh food to customers they often knew by name.
Sandwiches are for sale at the new deli, but they’re pre-made, wrapped in cellophane and stored in a refrigerated pantry against the east wall. Also missing in the first few weeks since the reopening: beer, wine and cigarettes.  
Mohammad Amin, a clerk at the store, said Feb. 23 that the store was waiting for licenses to sell alcohol and cigarettes. He said a formal grand opening was planned in March on a date to be determined.  
Until then, plenty of soda and snacks are for sale. And Amin excitedly showed a reporter a new addition next to the register — an empty plexiglass display case awaiting a shipment of electronic cigarettes. 
Leonora Belliard, an officer in a company that owns the building and brought Amin and others in to reopen the deli, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The Rev. Leslie Etheredge, associate Florida Conference minister for United Church of Christ, with the Rev. Todd Petty at his installation at Church of the Palms in Delray Beach. Photo provided

By Janis Fontaine

Churches throughout the country are struggling with the same issues: how to attract new members and how to keep the members they have.
Two local churches are working together to address these issues to benefit both.
Church of the Palms in Delray Beach and Boynton Beach Congregational Church have been practicing a “cooperative ministry” since May 2022. They are affiliated under United Church of Christ.
“It’s going very well,” the Rev. Todd Petty, pastor of Church of the Palms, said by phone.
In the past few years, Boynton Congregational had undergone big changes: It sold its property to the city and moved to a smaller, leased site. Then it lost its pastor. Petty started leading worship at both churches a few Sundays each month.
Finally, it just made more sense to incorporate both churches at one site — Church of the Palms. The two churches haven’t officially merged yet, but it’s likely to happen this year.
In congregations affiliated under UCC — about 5,000 churches nationally with more than a million members — most decisions are made locally, rather than by a governing body such as a diocese. Individual churches decide how conservative or progressive they want to be.
United Church of Christ often calls itself the “church of firsts.” According to ucc.org, the church was “the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American, the first to ordain a woman, the first to ordain an openly gay man, and the first Christian church to affirm the right of same-gender couples to marry. We were in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and the Civil Rights movement.”
The three ideals the church holds above others are inclusiveness, progressive thought and community-mindedness, and the functioning of the two local churches as one for the good of the congregants is a testament to these ideals.
Petty came to Church of the Palms in January 2020, just as the pandemic began. It was a terrible time for all churches, but to Petty, who relocated from snowbound Michigan, keeping a positive attitude for his new congregation during the pandemic was important.
United Church of Christ prides itself on being “a church of extravagant welcome,” following Jesus’ example of “gracious hospitality.” Petty said people consider two things when they are looking for a new church: Was the message meaningful and inspiring and were the people friendly?
“Our commitment is to be open and affirming, especially to the LGBTQ community,” Petty said. “We consider ourselves a progressive church with traditional worship that’s community-minded.”
UCC is a democratic church. Church members get to vote on big decisions — like who the next minister will be — and decide what they want the personality of their church to be. “We say, ‘Our congregation speaks to us, but not for us,’” Petty said.
Petty said that the No. 1 reason people come to a new church is a personal invitation. Maybe a neighbor says, “Come check out my church,” or a colleague mentions something interesting about a sermon.
Certainly, people are checking out churches online and churches need a strong presence there. Church of the Palms has a Facebook page, which is one of the best ways to stay connected. Another is to hold virtual services as the church does.
Petty said churches in general have two congregations now: in-person and virtual. Some people love the virtual option and attend more often now that services are online. Other people like to come and sit in the pews.
Petty strives to serve both.
“We also allow our facilities to be used by 12 other churches,” Petty said. “We’re a ministry of space and we’re very proud of that.”
And if you’re looking for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Church of the Palms has one almost every day.
Petty says he committed himself to serving God in the fifth grade, but his mother knew even earlier that her son would grow up to serve God.
He comes from a long line of preachers: His great-great-great- grandfather was the first in the family. “It’s in my DNA,” Petty said.
Church of the Palms is undergoing two important beautification projects: The church is refurbishing the stained glass out front, and it will install in the church courtyard the dalle de verre stained glass cross that Boynton Beach Congregational salvaged from its original site.
Consider this your personal invitation to come by and see what’s happening.
Church of the Palms is at 1960 N. Swinton Ave. In-person worship takes place at 10 a.m. Sunday, followed by coffee in the Friendship Center. The virtual service streams at 4:30 p.m. Call 561-276-6347.

Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at fontaine423@outlook.com.

Dr. Michael B. Brown is scheduled to be guest preacher at First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach the morning of March 19.
Then at 4 p.m., he’ll be joined by Rob Tanner to speak again on “Can Retirement Be Purposeful?”
Brown is an author (A Five-Mile Walk, Bottom Line Beliefs and The Love Principle: Daily Practices for a Loving & Purposeful Life), motivational speaker, adjunct professor, and the senior minister at Marble Collegiate Church in New York City, America’s oldest existing Protestant congregation.
He is known for his “practical positivity” message and he’ll offer tips on mapping the retirement landscape.
The discussion will take place in the conference room on the second floor of the Center for Christian Studies. Light refreshments will be served. Reservations are requested. Call Nancy Fine at 561-276-6338, ext. 10, or email nancyfine@firstdelray.com.
First Presbyterian Church is at 33 Gleason St.

Cason to celebrate 120th anniversary
Cason United Methodist Church celebrates its 120th anniversary at 11 a.m. March 19, with a special service that mirrors the 1969 dedication service of Cason’s campus at the corner of Swinton Avenue and Lake Ida Road in Delray Beach.
Following the service, a catered lunch is planned on the grounds of the church. Tickets for the luncheon are $30, and reservations are required. Tables are available for $275.
Call 561-276-5302. Cason is at 342 N. Swinton Ave.

B’nai Torah concert series to wrap up with two shows
The B’nai Torah Congregation 2023 Concert Series finishes with two shows in March.
Cantor Azi Schwartz performs March 15. Schwartz is the senior cantor of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York and is known for his spiritually uplifting performances.
Cantor Magda Fishman performs March 22. The final concert of the season features Fishman with award-winning composer, pianist and music producer Maestro Tomer Adaddi.
Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. The shows will also be available virtually. Tickets start at $25 at www.btcboca.org/CS. For more information, call 561-392-8566.

Margaret Swinchoski (l-r), Donald Mokrynski and Ron Levy. Photo provided

Music at St. Paul’s trio to celebrate spring
Celebrate “Spring is in the Air” with the Palisade Virtuosi at 3 p.m. March 5 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Delray Beach. The program will feature works for flute, clarinet and piano performed by the Bergen County, New Jersey-based ensemble Palisade Virtuosi.
The founders are three friends — Margaret Swinchoski, flute, Donald Mokrynski, clarinet, and Ron Levy, piano — who had successful solo careers but enjoy playing in an ensemble.
They must. They’ve been together for 20 years.
Music at St. Paul’s concerts take place at the church at 188 S. Swinton Ave.
A $20 donation at the door is suggested. Admission is free for guests aged 18 and younger.
Other upcoming concerts are the Lynn University Chamber Music Competition finalists (April 16); “Four for Four,” featuring the Delray String Quartet (May 7); and “The Sound of Heaven,” music for organ, harp and violin, with David Macfarlane, Kay Kemper and Valentin Mansurov (May 21).
Call 561-278-6003 or visit www.musicstpauls.org.

Boca Raton seniors to celebrate b’nai mitzvah
Seniors in Boca Raton are preparing for their b’nai mitzvah, 70 years later. Nearly 80 people make up the new Eight-Three Club at B’nai Torah Congregation, and 20 members will be called to the bimah on March 25. Some will read from the Torah and others will carry the Torah, open the ark or read the prayer for peace.
It’s customary to celebrate an 83rd birthday with a second b’nai mitzvah as a sign of gratitude for living a long life. But some 83-year-olds will celebrate for the first time. Some are women who weren’t given the chance 70 years ago, while for others, life got in the way.
You can celebrate with the grateful group at 1 p.m. March 8 at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St., Boca Raton. Call 561-392-8566 or visit www.btcboca.org.

Italian Night dinner-dance coming to St. Lucy church
The St. Padre Pio Knights of Columbus hosts its second annual St. Lucy Italian Night Dinner Dance at 5:30 p.m. March 25 in the Parish Center.
A seven-course meal with beer, wine or soda is planned, with musical entertainment by Gino DeMarco and door prizes.
Tickets are $75 and are available after Mass on weekends or by calling Dominick Conte at 561-715-0017. St. Lucy Catholic Church is at 3510 S. Ocean Blvd., Highland Beach.

Send religion news to Janis Fontaine at fontaine423@outlook.com.

Groomers Lindsee Lee Amsden (above) of Boynton Beach and Janaina Martins (below right) of Boca Raton are professionals when it comes to taking care of your pets’ coats. ‘There is definitely an art and a science to it,’ Amsden says. Photos provided

By Arden Moore

I’ve always had dogs with easy-to-maintain double coats or wiry coats. My at-home grooming and bathing requirements were accomplished easily and quickly. Then a few years ago, we rescued Emma, a poodle-Chihuahua mix, who sports a challenging silky, wavy coat and has a propensity for gooey eye boogers.
As I quickly learned, despite her being all of 9 pounds, Emma really needs regular “spaw day” sessions performed by a professional pet groomer. She also counts on me to step up my at-home brushing and bathing regimens between those appointments.
And I’m fine with that.
As a master pet first-aid/CPR instructor, I recognize that a dog’s skin is the largest organ. Neglected coats can become oily, dry, matted or sport nicks, scrapes and even painful hot spots that can take a toll on the other organs as well as the body’s respiratory and circulatory systems.
But I realized that I have a lot to learn and share with pet parents. That’s why I reached out to a pair of top professional pet groomers in Palm Beach County for tips and advice.
Lindsee Lee Amsden shares her Boynton Beach home with Cooper, her chow chow mix, and Harley, her tortoiseshell-colored cat. This professional pet groomer travels a lot up and down the Florida coast as director of education at two grooming schools: Pet’s Playground Grooming School in Pompano Beach and Woof Gang Academy of Grooming in Ocoee. She is also a competitive pet groomer in shows.
Her colleague Janaina Martins shares her home in Boca Raton with her well-groomed Pomeranian named Ciara. Martins divides her grooming time at Woof Gang as well as at the Mod Dog Salon in Boca Raton.
“When it comes to pet grooming, there is definitely an art and a science to it,” says Amsden.
Adds Martins, “I am always going to seminars, watching pet grooming videos and whatever I can to expand my knowledge so I can bring out the best in dogs over various breeds and to teach my clients about maintaining their dogs’ coats.”
Martins and Amsden share these pet grooming do’s and don’ts:
• Do get in the habit of looking, smelling and touching your dog from the tip of the head to the end of the tail at least once a week.
“We groomers are often the first to notice a cut or an infection on a dog, especially one with a thick or double coat,” says Martins.
• Do look and sniff inside the ears.
“Your dog’s ears should not smell like dirty socks or look red,” says Martins. “These can be possible signs of an infection that requires veterinary care.”
If your dog, especially one who may have herding-breed genes, comes inside from a romp in the backyard, look carefully inside the ear canals.
“If you see what looks like coffee grounds, it may be ear mites or it may be just dirt that entered when your dog was rolling in the dirt in your backyard,” says Amsden.
• Don’t reach for the scissors to cut out a mat on your dog’s coat.
“Always think safety first,” says Martins. “If your dog suddenly wiggles, you could accidentally cut the skin or nip an ear.”
• Don’t try to cut away the dirty glob on your dog’s face.
Amsden says, “The safest way to deal with eye boogers is to wipe them with a damp cloth or unscented baby wipes and then use a flea comb with tiny metal teeth to gently comb away the goo. Never use scissors, especially near your dog’s eyes.”
• Do recognize that dogs come in a variety of coats with different grooming needs. Coats may be silky, drop, hairless, double, combo, single, short, medium and much more, so consult your pet groomer about which brush and comb will work best on your dog.
“The best are metal combs and slicker brushes with metal teeth,” says Amsden. “If you have a longhaired dog, get a long-pin slicker brush. Got a shorthaired dog? Use a short-pin slicker brush.”
Silky, wavy coats, like the one my Emma sports, require more brushing and bathing than the wiry coat Kona has.
“Silky coats tend to soak up the oils off your hands when you pet them and odors when they come in contact with other animals. These coats can smell really nasty if not bathed enough,” says Amsden. “Wiry coats found in terriers like Kona are designed to be coarse and be slightly water resistant. Wiry coats tend to repel that dirt, that water, that muck on them when the terrier is digging to catch a weasel or a rat and therefore, do not need shampoos as often as dogs with silky coats.”
• Don’t rinse your dog’s head when he is looking up.
“You risk getting water in his ears,” says Martins. “Always put cotton balls inside his ears before a bath and always rinse with his head looking down so water will not get into his ears.”
• Do let your dog gleefully do a full body shake after a bath and before you attempt to towel him dry.
“Dogs love to shake, so let them,” says Amsden. “It makes the bath more welcoming to them and they are far more effective in getting water off their coats than we are with towels. Make it fun. I tell my dog, Cooper, ‘You’re a self-drying dog. You go, buddy!’”
Amsden’s final tip to pet parents: Recognize that dogs are very good at smelling our emotional state.
“If you’re nervous, your dog will be nervous,” says Amsden. “If you are calm, your dog will tend to be calm. Dogs can smell your stress level. Strive to be calm and upbeat, especially when you bring your dog into a grooming salon. We as groomers want to make the grooming experience pleasant and safe for your dog.”

Arden Moore is an author, speaker and master certified pet first-aid instructor. She hosts a radio show, Arden Moore’s Four Legged Life (www.fourleggedlife.com), and the popular Oh Behave! podcast on PetLifeRadio.com. Learn more by visiting www.ardenmoore.com.

Jared Smith was named CEO of Bethesda Hospital East and Bethesda Hospital West in Boynton Beach, effective late last month.
“For the past 25 years, Jared’s career has been focused on the South Florida health care market, including eight years in the Palm Beach market, and he has had great success in elevating the standard of care and leading engaged and high-performing teams like ours,” said Lincoln Mendez, north region executive for Baptist Health and CEO of Boca Raton Regional Hospital. “He understands the unique needs of our community and is committed to delivering exceptional care and service.”
Previously, Smith served as regional CEO at Broward Health Coral Springs.
Smith is active in the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, where he serves as executive board chairman; South Florida Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee; and Coral Springs Economic Development Advisory Committee. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Miami.

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Damon Barrett is the new chief operating officer for HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis.
Barrett served in that capacity for HCA Florida Palms West Hospital for the past two years. Before that, he served as vice president of operations at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital. Barrett joined HCA Healthcare in 2014 at Mercy Hospital as director of rehabilitation services.
He began his health care career as a physical therapist. Barrett holds a bachelor of science degree from San Diego State University, an MBA from Chadron State College, and a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

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Dr. Kirby C. Janke has joined Delray Care Physical Therapy, 2645 N. Federal Highway, Delray Beach. He moved to South Florida three years ago after closing his practice, Skaneateles Spine and Sport, Inc., in Skaneateles, New York.  
His focus is in orthopedic, neurological, and sports medicine treatment and rehabilitation. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from East Carolina University; a doctorate of chiropractic from Palmer-West Chiropractic College; a doctorate in physical therapy from Boston University; and a doctorate in orthopedics and sports science from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

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Dr. Steven Hacker, a surgeon with Hacker Dermatology, Delray Beach, and founder of Nano Surgical LLC, has patented a reusable scalpel. Called Lumohs, it provides shadowless illumination of the surgical site and can be used for outpatient skin-cancer surgeries and most other routine procedures.
“The scalpel handle has not significantly changed since it was first introduced 100 years ago,” Hacker said. “This is a simple, yet highly effective solution that already is delivering safer, more efficient surgical procedures.”
Hacker, who has performed more than 50,000 skin cancer surgeries in 30 years of practice, said he realized the only way to better illuminate the surgical site was from inside the scalpel blade holder.
“Using Lumohs’ reusable battery cartridge, Lumohs eliminates shadows and blind spots that can obscure tiny, critical nerves and blood vessels that can be accidentally severed during surgery,” he said. “The result is improved surgical efficiency for Mohs, plastic surgery and other routine, office-based procedures.”
The scalpel costs $200.
Hacker Dermatology is at 230 George Bush Blvd., Suite B.

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Delray Medical Center’s new cardiac concierge program aims to save lives by quickly identifying and treating patients experiencing chest pain and other heart symptoms. When a patient arrives at the emergency room, he or she will be met by a dedicated cardiac liaison.
Then, an experienced cardiac care team will implement a specialized plan to speed the patient’s diagnosis and treatment and will remain by the patient’s side throughout the hospital stay.  For more information, visit www.delraymedicalctr.com/services/cardiovascular/cardiac-concierge-program. 

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

Patty Perluke (l-r), Ronni Krasny, Claudia Rienzo and Mary Leroux work on the One Heart initiative. Photo provided

By Jan Engoren

Even before Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on live TV gave the nation a lesson in the critical importance of immediate CPR and use of automatic external defibrillator machines, Colonial Ridge Club residents Sally Szumlas and Eileen Fiorina were on a mission to make first responders out of their neighbors.
The two, both medical professionals, are co-chairs of the Community Well-Being Committee. Szumlas, 60, has a Ph.D. in critical care nursing and Fiorina, 77, is a retired dietitian and clinical manager in a hospital in her home state of Pennsylvania.
“Even if we only save one life here, it is one life someone has to be with their loved ones,” says Fiorina, a 10-year resident of Colonial Ridge in Ocean Ridge who winters here and conceived the idea.
When Szumlas moved in next door, she knew she had an ally.
After they lobbied the board and raised about $7,200 to purchase the AED equipment, their initiative, titled One Heart, kicked off in February — American Heart Month.
The women aim to bring awareness to their community about the importance of having first-responder skills, including performing CPR and using AEDs, to provide lifesaving treatment to someone suffering cardiac arrest.
“We are proud to be able to support our neighbors by bringing our One Heart program and its lifesaving technology to our neighbors at Colonial Ridge,” says Szumlas, who comes down from Chicago each winter. “Data show that early intervention, including cardiac defibrillation, greatly improves the chance of survival from heart attack, and saves nearly 1,700 lives each year in the U.S.
“Everyone should be prepared to be a first responder in an emergency situation,” she says. “That means knowing how to recognize the trouble, having the confidence to intervene and the necessary tools to intervene with.”
As a result of their efforts and with help from Delray Beach business owner Ted David Paul of Med Tran Plus, two AED machines will be installed in publicly accessible areas in the community at 5505 N. Ocean Blvd.
In addition, CPR classes began in late February with the goal of training at least 50% of the almost 200 residents at Colonial Ridge Club, many of them 55 and older.
Szumlas notes that the community has had two incidents of cardiac arrest, in which one resident survived and one did not.
According to Szumlas, residents were trained in the American Heart Association’s “friends and family CPR certification,” a practice-while-watching technique. The committee held five days of training, with two sessions each day.
“We want to help people respond when faced with this situation,” she says. “We want to educate our residents on recognizing and getting the most important things to happen. No. 1, check to see if the person is breathing. No. 2, call 911. And No. 3, if there is no pulse, get the AED and follow the machine’s instructions.
“Besides saving lives, this is a way to bring our community together,” says Szumlas. “Plus, these are skills you can take with you. You never know when you might be in an airport, movie theater or supermarket and have to save somebody’s life.”

Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.

Andrew Dagher, a senior at Oxbridge Academy, shows the official patent certificate for his device, a metabolic charging apparatus. Photo provided by Dr. Sami Dagher

By Janis Fontaine

What if your Apple watch could charge itself by capturing your body heat? Some Ph.D. in Silicon Valley probably invented that, right?
Wrong. Andrew Dagher of Ocean Ridge, a senior at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, already holds the patent on the invention.
The “metabolic charging device” produces an electric current because of the thermoelectric Seebeck effect: “A temperature difference between two dissimilar electrical conductors or semiconductors produces a voltage difference between the two substances.”
In the watch example, the difference in temperature from your body on one side and the cooler temperature on other side (outside vs. inside the watch) produces a current. The greater the difference in temperature, the greater the current produced.
Through a series of contracts with the Florida Institute of Technology, a prototype was produced. Patent law experts did a deep dive on relevant research. Andrew set up a limited liability company to own the patents.
These were complicated business dealings for a person who turns 18 on March 11, but Andrew was up for the challenge.
“I’m extremely curious,” Andrew said. He started reading his father’s medical books when he was just a kid, but admits he gets lightheaded at the sight of blood so becoming a doctor like his father just wasn’t going to work.
“Medicine is my favorite thing,” he said, but he plans to major in finance and mechanical engineering. In reality, “I’ll be acquiring all the tools I need to build a business.”
There’s no shortage of projects percolating in that fertile mind: “I have 30 ideas on my phone at various stages.”
He says he does some of his best thinking when he’s driving with Kodak Black, Kendrick Lamar or The Weeknd playing on the stereo.
But don’t mistake his intellect for introversion. In conversation, Andrew is leaning in, making eye contact and not checking his phone. People around Andrew feel heard and seen, a gift of a real leader. “I have tons of friends and I’m very social,” he says.
Right now, tennis is Andrew’s extracurricular focus, and he’s captain of the Oxbridge tennis team. He also enjoys a round of golf and likes to work out. He wants to set a good example for his teammates, so he eats right, shuns caffeine and tries to get enough sleep, an issue for a lot of teens.
Andrew’s family is close. His parents, Dr. Sami and Joumana Dagher, came to the United States from Lebanon and his father’s two brothers also live and work nearby, so Andrew has a robust family to enrich his life.
From them, he has developed a set of guiding principles such as “Always do what’s right” and “Follow your gut.”
When he’s presented with a baffling problem or an issue he can’t resolve on his own, Andrew seeks out his father first.
“My dad helps a lot of people,” he said. “He taught me to weigh the ramifications of my actions.”
His second call is to his priest, the Rev. Gabriel Ghanoum at St. Nicholas Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Delray Beach. “He’s the most giving man on the planet and one of my personal heroes,” Andrew said.
Next fall, Andrew will head off to college, he hopes at Boston College. Andrew says his strong Catholic faith fit best with the Jesuit university, which tops his list of 12 schools. “It has a familiar set of rules,” he said.
It’s hard to predict where the young innovator will be in five years. There’s no course or detailed map to follow. Andrew is keeping his mind and his options open: “I’m on my own path.”
“My quote from eighth grade still applies,” Andrew says.
That is: “I am ready to face any challenges that might be foolish enough to face me.” — Dwight Schrute, The Office.

The living room has multiple archways and a sweeping staircase to the second floor, as well as a decorative fireplace and volume, detailed ceilings. Photos provided

In one of the most sought after locations in South Florida, this extraordinary estate sits on the grounds of The Boca Raton. The 7,150 total square foot property with barrel tile roof boasts incredible views of the golf course, lake and grounds of the renowned resort.

The impressive gated entrance is surrounded by bougainvillea and framed with a pair of royal palms. BELOW RIGHT: The home (foreground far right) is one of the few single-family homes located on the grounds of The Boca Raton.

With five bedrooms and five full and one half baths, this three-story home (with elevator) has a formal dining room with a wine room, a breakfast area and a library paneled in rich mahogany with a full bath. The second floor has two large en suite bedrooms. The third floor consists of an entertainment area, bar and balcony.
Outside, the loggia contains a summer kitchen, great pool/spa with cabana and a separate one-bedroom, one-bath guest house for your visitors.
The property is completely fenced, has a two- car garage and is storm protected with complete impact glass. Offered at $10,499,000.

Call for details if you wish to purchase furnished. Joyce Schneider, broker/owner, 561-212-4403; Castles by the Beach Realty, 889 E. Palmetto Park Road, Boca Raton, FL 33432, 561-392-8770; www.castlesbythebeach.com or joyce@castlesbythebeach.com

ABOVE: The huge chef’s kitchen has abundant natural light and features custom cabinetry, high-end appliances, a pantry and a separate bar area.
BELOW: The first-floor master has a large sitting area adjoining, along with two master baths.

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 homes.

Michael and Clara Klein, who touted themselves as the first two visitors to Ocean Strand Park, walk through Boca Raton's newest waterfront park after its opening on Feb. 27.  The park is 14 acres of land between Spanish River Blvd. and Palmetto Park Road and stretches from the beach to the intracoastal waterway. Photo by Tim Stepien

Pedestrians, bicyclists and people in wheelchairs passing the formerly undeveloped Ocean Strand property had a surprise today: Its pedestrians-only gate was opened to the public for the first time ever.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which owns the property in between Spanish River Park and the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, opened the park in a “soft opening” with no advance publicity.

The district bought the property, at 2300 N. Ocean Blvd., in 1994 but did not turn it into a park until now.

The park has an asphalt path midway from State Road A1A to the Intracoastal Waterway and a mulch path from there to the Intracoastal. Another asphalt path connects to an old paved roadway to give access to the Intracoastal for bicyclists and wheelchair users.

-- Steve Plunkett

By Steve Plunkett

Richard Jones is leaving his job as Ocean Ridge’s police chief to take the same post in nearby Gulf Stream.

Gulf Stream town commissioners approved the new hire on Feb. 10. His month-old contract with Ocean Ridge requires him to give up to 90 days’ notice, Jones said.

“I have already started to look for a replacement to fill the position that I am vacating so I can move that process along as quickly as possible,” he said. “I could potentially start sooner depending on what type of replacement I have and what kind of transition we think is necessary.”

Jones, who wore a business suit to the Gulf Stream meeting rather than a uniform, said he would solve the problem of recurrent vacancies in Gulf Stream’s 14-officer police force by building morale and making it “the go-to law enforcement agency in the county.”

“We should be the agency that everyone else is looking to, not only to see what we’re doing operationally and with our vision, but also what we’re doing with our technology and how we treat our staff,” he said.

He would boost morale, he said, “through a method that I believe in — being a worker, not just a police chief.”

“I believe in putting my feet on the ground and doing what I ask my officers to do, to demonstrate to them that I’m with them every step of the way. … It makes them realize that there’s value in their leader and I’m not asking them anything that I’m not willing to do.”

Jones, whose duties in Ocean Ridge include being police chief for Briny Breezes, also said he would be proactive in recruiting and expand Gulf Stream’s searches for potential hires to military veterans and law enforcement agencies beyond the local area.

Commissioners unanimously approved Jones’ hiring.

“We’re delighted to have you and congratulations on your appointment,” Commissioner Thom Smith said.

Mayor Scott Morgan said he spoke with Ocean Ridge Mayor Susan Hurlburt “and while they are sorry to lose him, she could not have been more enthusiastic in her praise of his skill, his vision, his energy, his administrative skills and his ability to take Gulf Stream, as she said, and move our police department legitimately into the 21^st century.”

Ocean Ridge gave Jones a three-year contract on Jan. 9 after he had been its chief more than 16 months. His pay there was $115,763 a year. His salary in Gulf Stream will be negotiated.

Ed Allen, his predecessor in Gulf Stream, announced in early December that he would leave the department on Jan. 31. Allen, who worked in Gulf Stream almost 35 years, was paid $143,771.

Jones started the week by persuading the Ocean Ridge Town Commission on Feb. 6 to approve one-time pay raises and benefits increases for his 15 officers for the rest of the year to attract more officers and retain current ones. Jones made the request after compiling a survey that showed Ocean Ridge’s officers made drastically less in salary, benefits and health insurance than other coastal police forces in Palm Beach County. 

Each officer will get a $7,500 salary bump the rest of the year, a $5,000 lump-sum vehicle reimbursement payment and a 50% health insurance match. Money for the changes will come from $213,186 that was freed up by freezing two vacancies.

Joe Capozzi contributed to this report.

Voters who want to vote by mail in the March 14 election must make a new request for a mail-in ballot because state law was changed.
Vote-by-Mail ballot requests made before the November 2022 general election expired on Dec. 31, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office. A new request will cover mail ballots for the 2023 through 2024 elections. 
The deadline to ask for a mail-in ballot is March 4; the deadline to register to vote is Feb. 13. Early voting will not be offered for the March 14 election.
For more information go to www.votepalmbeach.gov

--Staff report

By John Pacenti and Rich Pollack

Like many a divorce, the fire-rescue split between Highland Beach and Delray Beach is hardly amicable, but it really isn’t about irreconcilable differences. It’s mostly about the money. 
Highland Beach decided it would rather save what its consultants say could be several million dollars a year by having its own fire department, rather than pay Delray Beach Fire Rescue more than $5 million a year to staff the fire station in town and provide the town’s fire-rescue services.
Now Highland Beach officials are balking at paying more than $620,000 in additional charges Delray Beach has demanded without getting more information first. Officials from the two sides met Jan. 24 to try to resolve the dispute.
The current arrangement, which dates back 30 years, is set to expire in May 2024, and Highland Beach is well on its way to establishing its own fire department.

Here’s what Delray Beach says is owed by Highland Beach above the monthly payments the town is making to the city:
• $121,514 for services provided in fiscal year 2021 — due a year ago — for actual expenses that exceeded the city’s original estimates.
• $396,140 billed in November to reconcile actual fiscal year 2022 costs.
• $103,025 in ambulance transport fee reimbursements that the city says it paid in error to the town based on a software error by a third-party billing company.
When Highland Beach asked last year for specific details on how Delray Beach arrived at the fiscal year 2021 charge, Delray Beach told town officials to file a public records request — and then made the town pay for the documents the city provided. 
“Is that any way to treat a partner after 30 years by asking for a formal public records request to obtain information the town rightfully deserves?” Highland Beach Commissioner John Shoemaker told The Coastal Star. “It’s absolutely silly.”
Town Manager Marshall Labadie said at his Town Commission’s Jan. 17 meeting that he didn’t know how best to describe the situation between the two municipalities: surprised, disappointed or shocked. “I don’t know if I have the right adjective at this moment,” he said.
During the Delray Beach City Commission meeting on Jan. 10, Deputy Vice Mayor Juli Casale stated, “We don’t have a great relationship with them right now.”
City Manager Terrence Moore declared that Highland Beach was in breach of contract at the meeting, claiming the city had handed over documents but still was being stiffed on the money owed for 2021.
Since then, The Coastal Star has confirmed the two sides reached a detente where Delray Beach would provide the documents sought by its neighbor — such as a daily roster of employees at the station for each shift and payroll data. The Jan. 24 meeting included Moore and Labadie, along with their finance directors, attorneys and an assistant fire chief.

The bills are ‘true-ups’
So, how is it that Highland Beach has negotiated a contract to pay Delray Beach for fire-rescue services but still gets hit with an additional bill at the end of the year? Welcome to the world of “true-ups.”
A true-up bill comes at the end of each fiscal year, reconciling the difference between the original projected costs on which payments were based and the actual costs for the services provided. 
The disputed items surfaced after the town in May 2021 gave Delray Beach notice that it would be ending its contract with the city in three years.  Highland Beach questioned the true-up bill that came in late 2021, and officials there were even more surprised when the 2022 true-up arrived in December for more than triple the 2021 cost.
“Since we terminated the contract, the true-up amounts have gotten quite large and warrant a more detailed review,” Labadie told The Coastal Star. 
Labadie claims Delray Beach had stymied his town’s efforts to analyze the extra costs by first requiring Highland Beach to file public records requests for the information and then not providing all it wanted for the analysis.
Moore, though, said Delray Beach Fire Rescue, the Finance Department and others involved provided Highland Beach with everything it needed in terms of analysis and billing. “Highland Beach just did not honor that obligation,” he said.
 Prior to the Jan. 24 meeting, Labadie said what Delray Beach provided are only “just ‘trust us’ numbers.”
“We want details so we can see how they got to the number,” he said. “They just keep giving us totals.”
He hopes his recent meeting with Moore changes that.
“If everything is as we discussed, we could be making a recommendation to our commission regarding the true-ups in a few weeks,” Labadie said.

City wants some cash back
Besides the true-up charges, Moore informed commissioners Jan. 10 that the city had sent Highland Beach a check for ambulance transport fee reimbursements totaling about $114,000, which he said the city was now trying to get the town to pay back.
City Attorney Lynn Gelin told commissioners a software change with billing company Digitech is at the root of the overpayment; she said the payment was around $15,000 in previous years.
Gelin said though Delray Beach shoulders some of the blame, Highland Beach “had a duty to call the city and question why it was so astronomically high when compared to prior years.”
Documents obtained by The Coastal Star show the payments have varied widely. The amounts were $15,877 in fiscal year 2019 and $88,343 in fiscal year 2018.
Of the 2022 amount sent to the town, Moore is seeking $103,025 back from Highland Beach. Delray Beach commissioners appeared to be hearing about the issue for the first time at the Jan. 10 meeting even though it occurred almost a year ago.
Labadie questioned whether the EMS transport dollars were actually an overpayment. He said that if Delray Beach’s request for reimbursement was correct, then Highland Beach had only about $8,000 in transports for the 2022 fiscal year — only between 30 or 40 residents being transferred by ambulance.
But information from Delray Beach Fire Rescue shows that the Highland Beach station conducted 289 medical transports from Highland Beach in 2022.

Town says breakup is final
What really burned Labadie was hearing that some in Delray Beach think Highland Beach won’t be able to establish its own fire department and that it will come back to the city hat in hand. He said that had no basis in reality since town voters overwhelmingly supported spending up to $10 million to build a new station.
Labadie told The Coastal Star he thinks the disputes may boil down to a new interpretation of the contract by new leaders of the Delray Beach city administration. He and Moore are still hopeful there may be some mutually acceptable resolution to the dispute.
Either way, there remains a lack of trust.
 “Every time I get information from them, I begin questioning the prior information that was provided,” Labadie said at Highland Beach’s Jan. 17 commission meeting.

This morning meetup at the Palm Beach Bakery & Cafe in Lantana is a chance for the regulars to discuss their lives, past and present, and tell a few jokes. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Ron Hayes

Ask what they call themselves and no one seems to know.
The Breakfast Group maybe? The Breakfast Club?
One guy had a hat made that said Bakery Bums, but that was a joke. These men and women are far from being bums.
What they do know is that six days a week since 2005, they have met around an outdoor table at the Palm Beach Bakery & Cafe on East Ocean Avenue in Lantana for coffee, pastry and conversation.
Finnish speakers meet at a nearby table, so maybe they’re The English Table?
“I’m the chairman of the board,” says Ed Scalone. He’s not sure what to call them, either, and he doesn’t do much chairing. He doesn’t announce topics to be discussed or monitor the rambling chatter. Scalone is more host than chairman.
“I was just walking by and Ed told me to sit down,” says Ygal Lalo, 73, who sells Italian handbags in Palm Beach. That was a year ago, and Lalo is still showing up.
The only thing these men and women seem to have in common is age. Most are in their 60s, 70s, 80s. Scalone is 91.

A honey bun sells for $3.50 at the bakery.

Other than that — well, order a coffee, maybe a pastry, grab a seat and introduce yourself.
Get to know them.

 •

Barry Heiniluoma, 77, has been showing up at this table for nearly a decade.
“We’re here six days a week,” he says. “They’re closed on Sunday or it would be seven.”
But why? What is it about these morning gatherings that’s brought him back so often for so long?
“Well, let’s see,” he says. “One guy worked in the shipping business for a grain company in northern Wisconsin. That leads us to talk about shipping and we wonder how big a ship you can get into the St. Lawrence Seaway.”
He shrugs. “It’s nothing. But it’s interesting.”
Dan Trachtenberg, 81, was a medic in Vietnam, awarded a Bronze Star. Back home he became a radiologist in York, Pennsylvania, and retired after 30 years.
In March 1979, when the threat of nuclear disaster struck the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near York Memorial Hospital, Trachtenberg was in charge of the hospital’s nuclear disaster committee.
“We had a plan, but fortunately we never had to use it,” he says.
Now he collects Kentucky rifles and entertains the table with trivia.
“Do you know how the grandfather clock got its name?” he says. “They used to be called tall case clocks.”
And then in 1876 a man named Henry Clay Work wrote a song called My Grandfather’s Clock.
My grandfather’s clock was too large for the shelf so it stood ninety years on the floor.
And the tall case clocks have been grandfather clocks ever since.
It’s nothing. But it’s interesting.

•

The group usually includes a retired radiologist who was a medic in Vietnam, a Korean War veteran, a retired New York City firefighter and people from Iran, Iraq and Brazil.

John O’Neill is 54, a lawyer, and a newcomer to the table. The chairman of the board invited him to drop by a year ago.
“I enjoy hearing what the people have to say,” he says, “the travel stories and the jokes.”
Oh, the jokes.
“Do you know how the camel came to be?” asks Merdock Saleh. “It was a horse created by a committee.”
This was not the funniest joke that morning. Scalone tried out three, searching for one clean enough to be published in The Coastal Star.
He failed.

•

Saleh, 64, is an Armenian from Iran who came to the U.S. in 1976 and built homes in New Jersey.
“I came for breakfast one morning and I see all these guys getting rowdy, so I picked up my coffee and pastry and said, ‘Can I join you?’”
The table is not very big, but the men and women who gather around it cover the world.
Gina Fisher, 71, is from Brazil.
“My husband was a cultural diplomat,” she says, “so we worked in embassies around the world.”

•

Vicky Mouallem was born in Baghdad to parents from Entebbe.
Christer Sundell, “63 but I feel 23,” ran companies in Australia, Italy, Singapore and the U.S.
“I can communicate in eight or nine languages,” he says. “But that’s not the same as speaking them.”
Ed Yany, 78, retired in 1998 after 27 years with the New York Fire Department.
“Six from my ladder company, Ladder 1, died on 9/11,” he says. “Including my best friend.”
Bill Aho, 89, served on the USS Hornet in the Korean War and wears the cap to prove it.
“Then I went to the Fitchburg Teachers College in Massachusetts on the GI Bill, taught seventh grade for a year, worked for the Social Security Administration in Gary, Indiana, got a Ph.D. from Notre Dame and taught at six different colleges.”
For such a varied group, the conversation remains friendly.
“We try to avoid politics,” Scalone says.
“There’s been a couple fights,” Sundell concedes. “Well, not fights, but disagreements.”
They are here to tell jokes, share stories from their lives before retirement and pictures from their travels now. Some come early, some late. Some stay hours, some no longer than a coffee.
As Aho rises to go, he proudly displays the Apple watch on his wrist.
“I surprise people when I pay with my watch,” he says, “because I’m so old.”
On the way out, he runs into Tuula Salmela, 76, just back from Panama.
“So, the cruise was good?” he asks.
“The highlight was rafting on a river in Jamaica,” she tells him.
Salmela has been coming to the table for six or seven years now, and here she is again.
Ask her why, and you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking she probably speaks for everyone here.
“The coffee’s good,” she says, “the sweet buns are good, and the conversation is good. We talk about everything under the sun. Where they’re going and where they’ve been.
“Then you put in a little of yourself, and you’ve got a morning.”

Related story: 'Truly the end of an era’: Tears, heartbreak mark final days at Seaside Deli

Longtime Seaside Deli & Market manager Chelsea Steen (left) embraces customer Carol George after helping George load her car during her final visit to the deli, which closed last month. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

For nearly a decade, a look at the Florida Board of Medicine’s website would find Dr. Michael Ligotti in good standing.
No emergency actions. No discipline. No public complaints.
No indication of any investigation — criminal or administrative — of the Delray Beach physician who stood at the apex of an insurance fraud scheme in Palm Beach County that illicitly exploited drug addicts looking to recover during the height of the OxyContin crisis.
This despite complaints from families and advocates and finally an indictment 2½ years ago.
It would take a Miami federal judge’s order Jan. 9 for Ligotti, 48, to surrender his medical license after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding insurers of $127 million on a total $746 million his Whole Health Medical Center billed.
The osteopath must also pay back a yet undetermined amount of money. A hearing was set for April 4.
The Board of Medicine weeks after the sentencing had not updated Ligotti’s status from “clear/active.”
The site warns that a doctor’s criminal history may be incomplete and is only verified at the time of initial licensure and when a license is up for renewal, which in Ligotti’s case is listed as March 2024.
“I simply lost my way,” a tearful Ligotti said in front of U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz II as his wife and family watched from the gallery. He said he “failed miserably” at upholding the sacred oath of a doctor to do no harm.
Prosecutors said Ligotti’s business moved addicts around like chess pieces, transporting them in vans dubbed “drug buggies” to associated sober homes and drug rehab centers in order to bilk Medicare and private insurance through fraudulent tests and treatment.
The operation relied on illegal patient brokering where third parties — often addicts paid by rogue treatment centers and sober homes — recruit other addicts to be used and victimized by the fraud.

Ken Daniels carried family photos inside his jacket when he attended the sentencing. His son, Jamie, died in 2016 while under Michael Ligotti’s care. John Pacenti/The Coastal Star

One family’s story
Lisa Daniels-Goldman and Ken Daniels lost their son, Jamie, in December 2016 under the care of Ligotti.
He was 23 and aspired to be a lawyer or a sports agent. He was working on a program of recovery, his parents said, and even had a job at a law firm but ended up dead of a fentanyl overdose under the care of Ligotti’s operation.
“We trusted a system, shame on us,” Ken Daniels told the judge. “We trusted Jamie was living in a safe and sober environment, overseen by qualified medical professionals and staff, only to find out after his death that Jamie had been used for financial gain, your personal gain, Michael Ligotti.”
How craven was the patient brokering system? Daniels-Goldman said outside the courtroom that the person who had lured her son into the sober home where he died contacted the family afterward on Jamie’s phone. The man had some of Jamie’s prize possessions — jewelry, headphones — that he would return for a fee.
Outside of court, Ken Daniels opened his sports jacket. Inside were photos of his son and his daughter over the years. He is the TV play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. The ESPN investigative news magazine E-60 did a story on Jamie’s death called the “Florida Shuffle.”
Ligotti, who received his medical degree from Nova Southeastern University, joins a sad parade of those prosecuted under a crackdown on South Florida’s illicit addiction industry.
The multi-agency task force was the first to start looking at the drug recovery industry in Palm Beach County — or really anywhere in the country. It paved the road for more than 120 arrests, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Besides Ligotti, Dr. Mark Agresti was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for assisting in a $31.3 million fraud by sober home operator Kenneth Bailynson. Bailynson received a six-year sentence.
One of the most notorious sober home operators — Kenny Chatman — was given a 27-year sentence. Chatman prostituted some of his clients in a $16 million kickback and bribery scheme.
Ligotti faced 13 charges of health care fraud and money laundering but pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to only one count.
He faced life in prison because his operation was so extensive — thus leading to the plea bargain. He served as medical director for more than 50 sober homes, substance-abuse treatment centers and clinical testing laboratories, prosecutors said.
Special Agent in Charge Kevin W. Carter of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Miami Field Division said in a news release that families rely on doctors in the drug treatment industry to help their loved ones who suffer from the disease of addiction.
“Physicians and other medical professionals who hold positions of trust within our communities, will absolutely be held accountable for violations of that trust,” Carter said.
The bread and butter of the fraud was urine and blood drug testing of patients three or more times a week. The analysis was sent to labs, which billed insurers and paid kickbacks to sober home and treatment center operators. In turn, these businesses sent the patients to Ligotti’s Whole Health for additional testing and treatment.
Prosecutors said Whole Health billed one patient’s insurer more than $840,000 in six years.
In 2016, Ligotti sued an insurance provider for failing to pay him. He also sought to bully state regulators, writing to them in 2013 that he was outraged by accusations against Whole Health, claiming his name and license were used in an “unauthorized fashion,” according to the FBI’s arrest affidavit.

Prison term to start in June
“We are happy to put an end to this tragic episode,” said Judge Ruiz, noting the sentence was appropriate for the harm done. He noted that Ligotti’s operation also undermined the faith families could have in drug treatment while costing all those with private insurance higher premiums.
But Ruiz did not remand Ligotti to custody. Like some others who have been convicted of sober home crimes, he will remain free to testify against others in trials this spring. He is to report to prison on June 12.
“This is nothing but privilege over justice,” said Maureen Mulroy Kielian, whose Southeast Florida Recovery Advocates sounded the alarm about Ligotti long before his indictment.
Kielian filed a complaint against Ligotti in 2020 with the Board of Medicine.
In April 2021, she was informed that the complaint was forwarded to a probable cause panel for consideration but she said nothing happened. A complaint is noted on the Board of Medicine’s website only if probable cause is found.
She said most of South Florida’s drug treatment center woes can be laid at the feet of unscrupulous doctors.
“It’s not a sober home problem. It’s a treatment, medical director problem,” Kielian said. “There is no money without a prescription pad. It’s the same model as the pill mills. The minimum requirement is a Florida licensed provider.”

Here we go again.
Remember back in 2007 when an “unbelievable” offer to buy Briny Breezes evaporated when the financing collapsed amid a volatile market? Remember 2018, when a small group of shareholders in the mobile home park failed in an attempt to get approval to market the park for sale?
Well, a small group of residents (some of them the same) wants to try again.
This time, they want to bring much of what most residents enjoy about this special place to a grinding halt for two entire years.
Here’s some of what will happen if their proposal gains 67% of the vote at the park’s Feb. 22 annual meeting:
• Friends and family, the typical purchasers of homes, won’t buy into the park — only speculators will do so.
• Grants that the town has been pursuing to help with immediate infrastructure needs will dry up.
• Residents will no longer want to serve on corporate or town boards, since any discussions of the future will be moot.
• Every offer that’s scared up by this “marketing” will require time and effort of staff and officials and cause upset among residents.
What sort of a vacation retreat does this leave?
I suspect the self-important residents behind the push to market the park for sale could not care less. Dangling billion-dollar dreams as short-term enjoyment of the park crumbles is unconscionable. Especially as Realtors position themselves to profit from speculators in the interim, regardless of some unlikely sale of the park.
The original founders of Briny Breezes had a vision for the park and it wasn’t for self-enrichment. They found a way to keep viable all that they cherished about the coastal lifestyle.
Once they purchased the land by selling shares and setting up the corporation, they preserved their “trailer park” lifestyle by driving to Tallahassee (not easy in the early 1960s) and successfully lobbying to incorporate as a town.
It took commitment to their friends and neighbors and a vision for the future to pull this off.
That same dedication was evident when town leaders later sold bonds to install sewers — some of the first on the barrier island. Visionary leadership.
Briny is again in a position where vision will be necessary to move forward as climate change raises sea levels and delivers flooding rains. All of Florida faces these challenges. Briny’s coastal neighbors are dealing with identical issues. They aren’t giving up.
Many of Briny Breezes’ elected, appointed and hired officials have roots back to the visionary leadership of the past and they, too, are looking at options to keep this lovely, thriving vacation community moving forward.
This latest selfish and shortsighted effort to market the community for sale should fail.

NOTE: Mary Kate Leming and her family have owned mobile homes in Briny Breezes since 1998.

— Mary Kate Leming, Editor