Wednesday morning at the beachAt 7:15 AM Sept. 3, a man was seen dragging a homemade boat from the dune in front of the Capri apartments in Ocean Ridge down to the shore and launching the boat into the ocean.  He spent some time paddling close to shore south past Briny Breezes, where more than a dozen officers from Ocean Ridge, Gulf Stream, Customs & Border Patrol and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office — along with three marine units and a PBSO helicopter — convinced the man to come back to the shore and speak to them. Photos and reporting by Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

After a long discussion with the law enforcement officers, during which the man refused to identify himself and provided conflicting information about himself and his boat, he was taken into custody for resisting arrest.

Law enforcement stopped with the man at Old Ocean Boulevard in Briny Breezes, where he was checked out by Boynton Beach paramedics. 

According to PBSO Sgt. Rafael Padilla-Rodriguez, in addition to resisting arrest and refusing to be identified, the man told police he didn't have any weapons on his body.  While many items that he had in a bag tied to his shirt could be useful on a boat, they included a knife, scissors, hatchet, and chain. BELOW: Law enforcement checks out the vessel, which appears to be made in part by tarp and construction foam, and included multiple life vests, water jugs and other items. FOLLOW UP: A PBSO spokesperson said the man was not an "illegal" but was homeless with a homemade boat. He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge, the spokesperson said.

Nests took a beating from surf. Earlier, hundreds of hatchlings were rescued from sargassum. Still, it’s been a good year overall.

Rebecca Germany, sea turtle conservation assistant at Gumbo Limbo, hammers a stake back in the sand in Boca Raton on Aug. 21 after high waves spawned by Hurricane Erin dislodged it from near a turtle nest. Because little water had washed over this nest, it appeared to be among the majority that withstood the storm. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Related: Nighttime lights at the beach cause concern

By Steve Plunkett

While 2025 is shaping up to be a decent year for sea turtle nestings on area beaches, many of those nests were hit hard as Hurricane Erin blew by in August and — before that — emerging hatchlings faced challenges traversing the mounds of sargassum piling up on shore.

Early in the summer, when sargassum was at its peak, turtle watchers in Highland Beach say they rescued more than 100 hatchlings that were caught in the seaweed — and others watched helplessly as trapped hatchlings were picked off by birds on the hunt for an easy meal.

These green sea turtle hatchlings were among those rescued from washed-over nests. They were kept at Gumbo Limbo for a couple of days and released after waves had calmed. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Then, as sargassum declined in August, Erin stayed far offshore but still delivered a blow to South Palm Beach County’s nests. Half the nearly 500 nests still incubating on Boca Raton’s beaches when Erin passed by were submerged or washed over by the surf — and a fifth of them were lost completely.

A surfer takes advantage of the waves generated by Hurricane Erin in late August at Delray Beach, although the storm passed hundreds of miles offshore. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star 

Erin, churning in the Atlantic hundreds of miles to the east, kicked up waves and caused higher high tides starting around Aug. 19. Many monitors were still assessing the powerful storm’s toll late into the month.

“Prior to the storm we had 497 marked nests still incubating on the beach. We had 251 nests washed over or submerged during the storm. We lost 98 of the 251 nests,” said David Anderson, who leads Boca Raton’s sea turtle conservation team over the city’s 5 miles of beaches.

“Since the storm, things are back to normal, though tides continue to be high and some nests are still getting wet,” he said. As of Aug. 27, “we have 359 nests still on the beach.”

Nests from Ocean Ridge to Gulf Stream “have certainly taken a beating,” said Emilie Woodrich of Sea Turtle Adventures, which monitors about 3 miles of beach in that area. She estimated 60% of the remaining nests were affected by Erin and the high seas.

“We have been experiencing wash overs, inundations (standing water over nests), and lots of accretion (buildup of sand over nests),” she wrote in an email. “We have not been experiencing full washouts, thankfully. We have lost a lot of stakes that mark the nests, but that does not mean the nests won’t hatch!”

Boca Raton also was stacking up stakes dislodged by Erin.

Dozens of stakes recovered from the surf and beach after Erin tossed them away from sea turtle nests are now due to be repainted for next year. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

“We have actually had no washbacks yet,” Anderson said, referring to older hatchlings who make it out to sea but get carried back to shore even weeks later. “In spite of the large swells and high tides, winds were mostly out of the west (and) the current was lateral to the beach.”

There were no washbacks in Highland Beach either.

“I don’t have an exact number of washed-out nests,” said Joanne Ryan of the Highland Beach Sea Turtle Team, which monitors roughly 3 miles. “We are still assessing damage, but pretty much all our nests from upper middle beach to the eastern part of the beach, has been too wet for any results. Five days of being smacked with relentless tides have left them saturated.”

Numbers look good

The turtle nesting numbers were healthy prior to Erin and portend well for the full season.

“Barring another storm, it has still been a pretty good year, particularly for greens,” said Boca Raton’s Anderson. “We were expecting a high green nesting year and so far they’ve come through — not record breaking but seventh-highest total so far.” 

It’s a banner year for green turtle nests in Highland Beach.

“As of the end of July we have more than triple of what we had in 2024, and we kind of expected that,” Ryan said.

Greens typically cycle through low numbers of nests one year followed by high numbers the next.

But the greens were making fewer nests than anticipated in Gulf Stream, Briny Breezes and Ocean Ridge.

“We are not having the big numbers this year that we somewhat expected. … At the end of July, we had 122 greens,” Woodrich said. “In comparison, we had 49 in 2024 and 254 in 2023 at the end of July.”

Sea turtle nesting season started March 1 and goes through Oct. 31.

Huge mounds of sargassum on local beaches peaked in June and July. Baby turtles such as this loggerhead hatchling struggled to climb past the seaweed on their way into the ocean in Boca Raton. Photo provided by Gumbo Limbo Nature Center

A female green sea turtle heads back into the sea while crawling over sargassum after laying clutches of eggs on the beach in Ocean Ridge. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Just days before Hurricane Erin’s waves started to wash over nests in August, dozens of people attended a nest dig and hatchling release at Gulf Stream Park. A total of nine green and loggerhead hatchlings were released into calm waters by members of the Sea Turtle Adventures staff. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

Sargassum impact

Mounds of seaweed in June caused different problems.

“The sargassum was really in huge piles, and yes, our team probably rescued over 100 hatchlings up and down Highland Beach from in between the rows of seaweed,” Ryan said. “Thankfully we have not had any more major pileups of the weed since that big one in June.”

Seaweed was a problem for hatchlings in Sea Turtle Adventures’ territory, too.

“Some hatchlings eventually make it to the water, although more tired than they would be if they went straight into the water right away,” Woodrich said. “Others are getting plucked up by night herons and crows.  

“There were several times we were trying to chase down the birds with hatchlings in their beaks, but to no avail.”

While hatchlings face difficulties with seaweed, nesting has not been impacted, Anderson said. 

“The females crawling ashore plow through the sargassum at the wrack line to reach the sandy beach,” he said. 

Tips for protecting hatchlings

To help ensure that sea turtle hatchlings safely make it to the ocean, beachgoers should follow these guidelines:

Keep your distance: Stay away from hatchlings, remain quiet, and keep all lights off (including flash photography and cellphones). Do not touch, move or disturb hatchlings.

Let hatchlings emerge: If you see hatchlings on the beach, allow them to crawl to the ocean on their own. Removing or digging hatchlings out of a nest is illegal. Removing sand above the nest will make it more difficult for the hatchlings to emerge.

Take your belongings:  Remove obstacles such as beach chairs, tables, water sports equipment, and umbrellas before dark. Properly throw away trash so that it doesn’t blow into the water or become an obstacle.

Digging and holes: Avoid digging holes on the beach and knock over sandcastles so that hatchlings are not harmed by these structures. Help keep beaches clean, flat and dark.

Source: Loggerhead Marinelife Center

SEA TURTLE NESTING

While crews watching sea turtle nests in South County say it has been a good year for nesting, the number of loggerhead turtle nests dropped significantly for the second consecutive year (after 3,484 nestings in 2023), and the biannual bump in green turtle nests has not been as big as anticipated. Here are this year’s early counts compared to last year’s final totals.

City Turtles        2025*       2024

Boca Raton
Leatherbacks         21               19

Loggerheads         819             824

Greens                 238             72

Delray Beach
Leatherbacks        19               12

Loggerheads        299             292

Greens                 60              14

Highland Beach 

Leatherbacks        11               13

Loggerheads        723             795

Greens                509             127

Gulf Stream to Ocean Ridge

Leatherbacks       16                16

Loggerheads       479              715

Greens               152               49

Totals

Leatherbacks       67                60

Loggerheads       2,320           2,626

Greens                959             262

Overall totals: 3,346         2,948

*Counts for 2025 are as of Aug. 31. 

Sources: City of Boca Raton, Ecological Associates Inc., Highland Beach Sea Turtle Team, Sea Turtle Adventures 

Related: Hurricane adds to heaps of trouble for sea turtle babies

By Steve Plunkett

Gulf Stream town officials will continue their attempt to persuade residents who live on the oceanfront to shield their home’s lights from the beach and to use sea turtle-friendly red or amber light bulbs.

The effort in part is also to keep Gulf Stream from being required to adopt Palm Beach County’s more restrictive rules for lighting on the beach, which are designed to prevent sea turtle hatchlings from becoming disoriented.

Gulf Stream has its own turtle protection ordinance so that the county cannot cite its residents.

“Our ordinance is one of encouragement. We don’t go into people’s homes and tell them what to do with their lighting,” Mayor Scott Morgan said at the Town Commission’s Aug. 8 meeting.

Commissioner Joan Orthwein said an acquaintance who lives in a fourth-floor unit in Ocean Ridge kept her bathroom light on and was ordered by the county to keep her shutters closed during turtle nesting season.

“I’m just telling what happened. It’s true,” she said.

Town Clerk Renee Basel told commissioners she had toured turtle nests the night before with Sea Turtle Adventures, which monitors nests on the town’s beach.

“She showed me the tracks of the turtles, and they were going north and south, not east and west. She said that’s what disorients them is these lights,” Basel said. The artificial lighting may attract hatchlings, causing them to crawl away from — instead of into — the ocean.

After receiving photos of Gulf Stream homes with lights visible from the beach, Basel began calling the owners asking them to turn down or turn off their lights at a certain time, or to put them on timers. Most of them “are not even here,” the mayor said.

“I haven’t gotten through all of them, but right now they’ve been about half and half,” she said. “A lot of them didn’t even know their lights were on.”

But a couple of owners said they were not going to change their lighting for security reasons. The mayor planned to meet with them to possibly persuade them to do something.

Governor is angry; residents pour out hearts to city

Since 2021, the Pride flag’s colors have decorated the intersection of Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street in Delray Beach. Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the city’s refusal to erase the LGBTQ symbol. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By John Pacenti

At first, there was silence. Then a cacophony. And then an avalanche, one that reverberated nationwide.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration made clear it didn’t care what a rainbow intersection meant to Delray Beach’s LGBTQ community — or to any other Florida city, for that matter — and demanded it be erased. 

But the governor couldn’t stop the unexpected: how a minor act of defiance caught fire and made Delray Beach an inflection point.

“If our values matter, then we must defend them, not just in court, but right here on our streets,” Delray Beach Vice Mayor Rob Long said at an Aug. 12 City Commission meeting that started the avalanche. 

As of Sept. 2, the fate of the intersection remained technically in limbo, with a decision by the Florida Department of Transportation expected Sept. 5 at the earliest — though the agency had denied other cities’ appeals on their rainbow crossings.

Long told The Coastal Star that a Sept. 2 administrative hearing at an Orlando Florida Department of Transportation office was “performative at best” and that litigation appears to be the next step.

The day of the hearing, DeSantis held a news conference and blasted Delray Beach and Key West for even appealing his decision on the intersections. 

“They have basically taken the position — even though the law is what it is, even though FDOT has issued guidance — that they should just be able to be a law unto themselves and do whatever they want,” the governor said.

FDOT officials had given Delray Beach — as it has done for other cities — an ultimatum to erase the intersection or have the state come do it and charge the city. DeSantis could try to withhold $60 million in state funds, City Manager Terrence Moore has said.

Delray Beach spokeswoman Gina Carter said the City Commission will have to decide whether to proceed to the next step, litigation, if and when FDOT denies the city’s appeal.

How the protest started

Delray’s stand against Tallahassee started with a modest proposal by Long at the Aug. 12 commission meeting where not one of his fellow elected commissioners initially spoke up. Let not Delray Beach capitulate, he said, at least not immediately — as Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach had done in removing their painted intersections ­— to DeSantis’ latest attack on the LGBTQ community.

The way his critics see it, DeSantis aims to reverse the plot of the movie Pleasantville, to bleed the color from these intersections, rendering them back to 1950s black-and-white, when members of the LGBTQ community were criminalized, forced to stay in the closet, to keep who they really were and whom they really loved a secret.

Long asked for a consensus not to erase his city's intersection until FDOT formalized its threat in a letter — which it did three days later. 

Mayor Tom Carney and the other commissioners made their remarks on other issues as if Long had said nothing about the intersection painted in the Pride flag’s colors at Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street in the Pineapple Grove Arts District, installed in June 2021.

But Long — who will run for state representative in a special election in December — wouldn’t let it go. “I brought up a consensus item, and everyone just sort of pivoted away, didn’t say anything.”

Commissioner Angela Burns then spoke up and said she agreed to wait until FDOT made its request official. Then Commissioner Tom Markert consented and Carney said, “Yes, we can think about it.”

Opposition to edict grows

Call it coincidence or zeitgeist, but after Delray Beach made the tiniest of decisions, then other cities — Key West, St. Petersburg, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale — pushed back on DeSantis. The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Associated Press wrote national stories.

And 17 people came and spoke at the commission’s Aug. 19 meeting a week later — passionately, sometimes through tears, turning a municipal meeting into an extraordinary event. Long said he had never seen the commission chambers so full.

They came not just from the community or surrounding cities, but from out of the county, saying the rainbow intersection attracted them to Delray Beach to visit, to feel seen. Erase it and real visitor dollars would vanish, they said.

Delray Beach resident Irene Slovin said she is a lesbian and has a piece of the rainbow ribbon from the grand opening ceremony in 2021. Every year, she takes a photo of herself and her partner at the intersection.

“If you choose to erase our crosswalk, you will never erase our memories or who we are,” she said.

U.S. Army veteran and city resident Marcie Hall — shaking and fighting back tears — said, “And some people ask, why should anyone care about this? Marginalized people sometimes need a symbol to show they matter. Taking away that symbol says they don’t.”

Siobhan Boroian, who said she was at the meeting to address parking, not rainbow intersections, said, “This is the most moving commission meeting I’ve ever attended — and I have attended many.”

DeSantis’ response

How triggered was DeSantis on cities not responding to FDOT’s threats?

His administration ordered the agency — in the dead of night — to paint over the rainbow intersection in front of the Pulse memorial in Orlando, where 49 people were murdered in 2016 by a religious extremist. Residents showed up the next morning with colored chalk to fill in the blanks, and then returned the following day with real paint. The state then painted over it again and stationed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper there, eventually arresting one protester.

“We will not allow our state roads to be commandeered for political purposes,” DeSantis said in an Aug. 21 social media post.

Then there was his press conference in Orlando at an FDOT office on Sept. 2, the day of Delray Beach’s hearing.

“So they just decide they don't like the law. They want to do what they want to do, that just isn’t going to fly. It is not going to fly. So eventually FDOT will be able to correct it in Delray and correct it in Key West,” he said.

Besides the fact that Delray’s rainbow intersection isn’t a state road, the governor’s tweet harkens back to the idea that LGBTQ is a choice — and a political one at that. DeSantis also undercut FDOT’s reasoning for paving over the intersections, which was that they posed a safety hazard.

Contrarily, the “Asphalt Art Safety Study” by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Sam Schwartz Consulting in 2022 found a direct link between public art installations at intersections and improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists. It found a 50% decrease in crashes involving vulnerable road users and a 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians.

“This has nothing to do with public safety. Governor DeSantis is once again injecting his politics into local communities to silence, censor and erase our LGBTQ community,” Chris Rhoades, a Delray Beach resident and board member of Equality Florida, said at the Aug. 19 meeting.

The city has already been told by its own lobbyist that the DeSantis administration is not happy that Delray Beach funds a Pride festival in June. 

Again, call it coincidental, but the city has gotten its first letter from DeSantis’ DOGE team, asking for cursory documents, said spokeswoman Carter.

“Any additional violations by the city of Delray Beach shall be cause for the immediate withholding of state funds,” FDOT wrote Aug. 15 in regards to the intersection — in case the city had any ideas to move it to another street.

With $60 million at stake, Moore said he was ready for a crew to sandblast the rainbow intersection the next week for $12,000 in taxpayer dollars. “I don’t believe the city of Delray Beach has much choice at all,” Moore said.

Do cities still have a say?

Rand Hoch, president and founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, told The Coastal Star that the rainbow intersection edict is another attack on home rule, the ability for communities to mold themselves in the image their residents deem fit.

“Does the state have the authority to dictate what a city can do with its own land and threaten them — I use the word extort,” Hoch said.

The Human Rights Council paid $16,000 to make the Pride intersection a reality in 2021.

Hoch said Long’s galvanizing of the community was his finest moment as an elected leader. “I’m very proud to know him and to call him a friend and an ally,” he said.

Already, the state painted over the intersection at the Pulse memorial and said it would do the same to the one in St. Petersburg. 

In Miami Beach, where there is a rainbow intersection across Ocean Drive, Commissioner Alex Fernandez said, “We need to resist this action.” Fort Lauderdale is under an FDOT order, as well. 

The LGBTQ community came out to protest in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach on Aug. 30-31.

What's next for Delray?

Long said the city had already been told by FDOT that no waiver would be granted. “The only way to actually get a fair evidence-based proceeding is to take this to court,” he said.

“Hopefully, we will join Key West and Fort Lauderdale in taking that next step after we hear back from FDOT with their inevitable predetermined stance that our crosswalk is noncompliant.”

Long said at one point that FDOT crews should be arrested for trespassing if they try a sneak attack in the dead of night, like they did in Orlando.

Whether the majority of the commission would go along with litigation remains to be seen. Carney told The Coastal Star, “I just think we exhaust our administrative remedies before we do anything.” 

Rhoades said the issue goes beyond dollars and cents: “It's about whether we stand firm in the values of inclusion and building a welcoming city.” 

Boca Raton residents pack the Aug. 26 City Council meeting where Save Boca presented to the council 5,200 signatures on a petition geared toward stopping a proposed mixed-use development. It includes a new City Hall, Community Center, retail space and about 900 rental units. The placard refers to Mayor Scott Singer’s first mayoral campaign. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Voters could decide fate of downtown campus project

Related: City and Save Boca spar over downtown campus plans

By Mary Hladky

Clutching a tall stack of papers, Save Boca organizer Jon Pearlman strode to the podium to declare that defeat of city efforts to redevelop its 30-acre downtown campus is all but assured.

“Tonight I have a special delivery for the council — 5,200 signatures from all across the city of Boca Raton for our initiative ordinance to protect our public land.

“The voice of the people is stronger than ever and they are saying loud and clear, ‘stop this project.’ The people don’t want it.”

Save Boca has secured more than enough of the required 3,676 signatures on petitions for a city ordinance amendment and, as of Sept. 2, is very near the 6,112 required for a City Charter change.

Both would not allow the City Council to lease or sell any city-owned land greater than one-half acre without allowing residents to vote on the matter. The city plans to lease the campus property for 99 years to a joint venture of Terra and Frisbie Group.

Save Boca prefers the charter change because the council could repeal the revised ordinance without voter approval.

If voters get to decide, Save Boca members say they are certain the redevelopment project will be doomed.

They cheered wildly as Pearlman attempted to hand the paper pile to City Clerk Mary Siddons during the Aug. 26 City Council meeting.

Tensions rose when Siddons did not immediately accept the petitions, with some crowd members yelling “Why!” After she conferred briefly with City Attorney Joshua Koehler, cheers erupted again when Siddons took them.

Outcry continues
No vote on the redevelopment project was scheduled that night. But the city allows resident comment on it at every meeting, giving Save Boca members chances to repeatedly press their case against plans that would add residential, retail, office and hotel to the city-owned land that includes City Hall and cause the relocation of a number of recreation facilities.

Of the more than three dozen residents who spoke, only one supported the redevelopment.

Joe Majhess termed the council’s actions as “political suicide.” Several other speakers said the same.

“It is our land and you couldn’t care less,” he said. “Public land deserves a public vote.”

“Public trust is at an all-time low,” said Martha Parker. “The way this project has been approached has been all wrong. … Please stand with us and fight to protect our public park land.”

“It should be decided by a referendum and not by five people who live west of I-95,” said Lisa Mulhall, referring to the council members. “You have lost our trust. … Are you listening? I don’t think so.”

After residents spoke, Council member Andy Thomson explained once again why he opposes the project and wants to terminate the city’s deal with Terra/Frisbie to develop it.

Even though Terra/Frisbie has reduced the project’s density and increased green space, Thomson said it remains too dense and is being pushed forward too rapidly.

The council members have not yet seen a financial analysis and he still doesn’t have answers to many questions, Thomson said.

The project should be terminated, he said. But if it isn’t, “I do think because this is public land … there should absolutely be a public vote on this,” he said.

Champlain Towers lawsuit
He also broached a matter first raised days before by Save Boca, which said that Terra Group and affiliates were among those named as defendants in a massive class action lawsuit resulting from the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside.

The case, which was widely reported at the time by media including the Miami Herald, settled in 2022. Relatives of the victims and survivors of the collapse were paid nearly $1 billion.

The settlement “factored in my decision-making” when the City Council selected Terra/Frisbie, Thomson said. Only Thomson favored Related Ross.

Among the defendants in the case was the Eighty Seven Park condominium next door, which plaintiffs partially blamed for the Champlain Towers collapse. They claimed that during Eighty Seven Park’s construction in 2016, Champlain South was destabilized when metal sheet piles were driven into the ground about 12 feet from its perimeter wall.

An affiliate of Terra Group, 8701 Collins Development, was the developer of Eighty Seven Park. Terra Group and affiliate Terra World Investments also were defendants.

At the time, Terra attorney Michael Thomas denied liability and said the construction had nothing to do with the Champlain South collapse. His clients’ insurers made a business decision to settle to avoid the time and expense of litigation, he said.

Terra Group and Terra World had no ownership interest in the condo and did not make settlement payments, while 8701’s insurers paid $28 million, Terra Group said in a statement in response to a query by The Coastal Star.

Thomas, a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig, told the City Council that “Terra and 8701 Collins had no culpability in any way, shape or form.”

“The settlement will have no effect on the developer’s ability to deliver … for this city,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Fran Nachlas, who is vying with Thomson in the 2026 mayoral race, said she was aware of the litigation.

If Thomson had concerns, he should have raised them in February when the council ranked the four developers that were seeking to be hired by the city, she said.

Nachlas also questioned why Thomson joined a unanimous council vote to give Terra/Frisbie top ranking despite his support for Related Ross and noted that Related Ross’ proposal was much larger and denser than Terra/Frisbie’s.

Suit seeks to stop project
In another sign of discontent with the redevelopment project, resident Lorraine Blank has filed a pro se lawsuit against the city for what she said was its failure to comply with a state law that mandates the completion of an independent cost-effectiveness analysis of the public-private partnership between the city and Terra/Frisbie.

She is seeking an injunction against the redevelopment project. If the judge declines to grant one, she asks for an order to produce the analysis.

“We believe the claims are based on a misinterpretation of Florida law and lack merit,” said a city spokeswoman. “The city has complied, and will continue to comply, with all applicable requirements. …” 

A Glock 9mm handgun, bullets and a list of addresses were found in the suspect’s car. Photo provided

By Rich Pollack

Detective work by the Ocean Ridge Police Department combined with the use of crime-fighting technology helped lead to the arrest of a man charged with firing bullets into 16 homes and businesses throughout the county in a months-long shooting spree. 

While some of the homes 29-year-old Sterling Maloney is accused of shooting up were occupied at the time, there were no reported injuries — though prosecutors have added a charge of attempted first-degree murder.

“We’re very lucky that no one was hit, killed or injured with these shootings,” said Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Col. Talal Masri, who said that Maloney kept a ledger detailing the locations he shot up and a list of 10 more places he was planning to target.

“We don’t know what was going to happen the next time,” Masri said July 31 when announcing Maloney’s arrest. 

PBSO had not previously reported that police were investigating such a string of shootings involving the same handgun.

Sheriff’s investigators began looking into the shootings in February after buildings in Royal Palm Beach were struck by bullets. More shootings followed, including six in Delray Beach and four in Boynton Beach.

One of those shootings — in Boynton Beach in May — occurred at a home occupied by four people including two children under the age of 5. 

In court records, detectives said that damage to the home was estimated at about $5,000 and that damage to a homeowner’s vehicle that also was struck by bullets was about $13,000. 

In court documents, the resident of the home said that “he and his family were terrified after the event” and that at least one family member couldn’t eat or sleep for two days.

Delray Beach police said that at least one of the homes struck by bullets in their city was occupied at the time of the shooting.

Most, if not all of the shootings appeared to occur in the early morning hours before daylight. Several vehicles at targeted homes were also damaged by bullets. 

While Maloney’s motive for all the shootings remains unknown, there appears to be a common thread. 

As detectives interviewed people in the homes, they discovered that many of the residences were occupied or formerly occupied by people who went to Atlantic High School with Maloney and his brother, according to court records. 

One woman, who had previously lived at a home where vehicles came under gunfire, told investigators that she had gone to school with Maloney and that he had asked her out but she declined. The woman told detectives that she and Maloney “hung out with the same group of people in high school.” 

Ocean Ridge Police Sgt. Keith Ramirez investigates the scene July 15 outside a home near Thompson Street and Old Ocean Boulevard where one of the shooting episodes took place days earlier. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

A case in Ocean Ridge

PBSO and the other police agencies had used a central database and found the shell casings in all the shootings matched and appeared to come from the same Glock 9mm handgun. Who was firing that gun remained a mystery until the shooter took aim at a vacant home in Ocean Ridge early on July 11.

“They had so many shootings, but they didn’t know who was doing it,” Ocean Ridge Police Chief Scott McClure said.

In Ocean Ridge that morning, at least a dozen shots were fired at an unoccupied home on Thompson Street. One of the bullets went through a window.

The shooting was noticed the next day when a passerby saw bullet holes and contacted a police officer who was in the area on another call, McClure said.

McClure said that through the use of technology, including license plate recognition cameras, static cameras and video taken from home-security cameras in the area, his officers were able to identify a vehicle they suspected was involved.

A home security camera, McClure said, helped detectives determine what vehicle was used in the shooting, and static cameras and license plate recognition cameras helped investigators determine information about the car that was obtained from the license plate number. 

Ocean Ridge police put out an alert July 17 to all the police departments in the area to be on the lookout for the blue Hyundai Sonata. Six hours later, Boynton Beach police officers pulled over the vehicle, being driven by Sterling Maloney.

A car full of evidence

McClure said Ocean Ridge police were called to the scene and met with Maloney.

“Our detectives interviewed Sterling the day of the traffic stop,” McClure said, adding that Maloney was released for lack of probable cause to hold him.  

But the car was impounded because of its tie to the Ocean Ridge shooting, and after obtaining a warrant, investigators found the gun — later linked to multiple shootings of businesses and homes — ammunition and the ledger with past targets and a list of potential targets.

“It was good on our part that we got these breaks to stop them in their tracks,” McClure said. “They’d been looking for him since February.”

McClure said the investigation in Ocean Ridge was a team effort.

“Everybody had a hand in this,” he said. “It’s good detective work and I’m proud of them.”

Masri, of the sheriff’s office, said that Maloney was surprised when he was arrested July 31.

He said that sheriff’s detectives, who took the lead in building the case against Maloney, are now looking to determine a motive and are following up to see if there are any commonalities connecting all of the victims. 

Besides the attempted first-degree murder charge, Maloney faces 10 counts of shooting into a building, 12 counts of criminal mischief with more than $1,000 in damage to property, and one count of discharging a firearm in public. 

He is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail, with bond set at $500,000 each on 14 individual counts. 

Related: Save Boca has its say, submits petitions for referendum

A Boca Raton City Council discussion on the proposed redevelopment of the city’s 30-acre downtown campus gave proponents a chance to push back on some of the residents’ objections and correct what they see as misinformation.

“Not a giveaway, but a return: The city gains billions in financial return, avoids raising taxes and secures modern civic infrastructure at no cost to residents,” the city said in an audience presentation on Aug. 26.

Should park stay downtown?
Many residents do not want to lose the 17-acre Memorial Park that is part of the downtown campus. It now has tennis courts, a skate park, softball fields and other recreation facilities, many of which will be relocated to other city or Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District parks.

City officials have repeatedly said the existing facilities are very old and of poor quality. Moving them would allow the city and the district to provide greatly enhanced new facilities.

Some residents see merit to that, but others want the city to upgrade the current facilities, which are convenient to people who live in or near the downtown.

Is tribute to World War II vets being sacrificed?
Another major issue, one that has caused an outcry among residents, is that they believe Memorial Park was created to honor those who fought and died in World War II.

Eliminating it is unacceptable, they say.

Both sides agree Memorial Park was created with that name in 1947. A war memorial building was intended to be built, yet never was.

But a war memorial, dedicated to veterans, has existed at the Boca Raton Cemetery and Mausoleum at 451 SW Fourth Ave. since 1953, and Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies are held there, City Manager George Brown said.

Many city residents are unconvinced, and want Memorial Park preserved. A Sept. 2 Fox News report drew national support for the park’s preservation.

Will banyan trees be saved?
The downtown campus’ beloved banyan trees are another sore point. The city has said they will be preserved, but Save Boca contends two will be cut down.

Rob Frisbie told the council on Aug. 26 that all six will be preserved, four in their current location, while two will be moved to stand outside the new City Hall.

Is public-private partnership needed?
Jon Pearlman of Save Boca argues that the city should ditch Terra/Frisbie and rebuild City Hall and the Community Center in their same spots on the campus.

That work could be done for less than $50 million, he said, and the city could easily finance that itself since it has $667 million in reserves.

But city officials say that is not the case. The city maintains cash balances in about 30 funds that cover various city operations such as providing water and sewer services. Those are not reserves, but rather operating cash flows. They can’t be commingled and there are legal restrictions on what the money can be used for. Most of it can’t be used to build a City Hall and Community Center. The city now has $34.5 million in unrestricted funds that could go to such construction.

City consultants are doing an economic report and analysis of the project’s impact on city finances. That information could be available in September.

— Mary Hladky

Related: The Coastal Star captures top honors — nine times — in annual competition

Here at The Coastal Star, we think a byline says a lot. 

If you’re not familiar with newspaper lingo, a byline is the name at the top of a story telling you who wrote it. Similarly, a picture caption usually has a credit line with the name of the photographer who took the shot.

Longtime readers of the Palm Beach Post or the South Florida Sun Sentinel might recall some of these bylines that have appeared in those papers: Rich Pollack, Ron Hayes, John Pacenti, Charles Elmore, Jan Norris, Brian Biggane, Mary Thurwachter and Anne Geggis — or a photographer by the name of Tim Stepien. Many past reporters at those papers might also recognize the names of editors Mary Hladky and Steve Plunkett.

So, what do these names have in common?

It’s that they were all recognized Aug. 1 with first-place awards (some held jointly) from the Florida Press Association for work they did in 2024 — work they did right here at The Coastal Star. 

Because of their work and the work of many others at the paper, the FPA also recognized The Coastal Star with its top award for general excellence among weekly and monthly newspapers in the state with circulations of over 15,000.

Work that is delivered free to you each month.

Even before becoming The Coastal Star’s editor last year, I was proud to be part of this “little paper that could,” with its reporters, photographers, editors and management who have such significant journalism experience, much of it gained right here in Palm Beach County. I think that few papers our size can say the same.

Some of the staff at this paper were around in the 1980s and 1990s, when the bigger dailies had reporters regularly assigned to cover our small coastal communities — and they can recall the later void in coverage that lasted until this paper came onto the scene in 2008.

Thanks to good management and a strong sense of purpose by the paper’s owners, I’m hopeful that The Coastal Star will be here for years to come.

But the paper faces some of the same concerns affecting the larger newspaper industry — and I’m talking about more than just revenues and balance sheets.

The FPA awards were presented during an annual conference for journalists. One seminar in particular dealt with the increasing obstacles reporters face trying to get information from officials who don’t seem particularly inclined to share it.

Our reporters have run into their share of ignored requests for information, steep fees for requested documents and legal blockades to obtaining even some of the most basic news reporting information. 

Fortunately, with their decades of experience, our reporters can be quite resourceful in getting the information they need to give you an accurate, complete picture of what’s happening in your communities. 

I can tell you that they are not doing their jobs to win awards, but it is nice when that recognition comes along. 

We’re just hoping that you, the reader, is the winner: with stories that are good reads about your neighbors, or informative pieces about your local government, or just interesting looks at what’s going on in your community. 

Delivered free to you each month.

— Larry Barszewski, Editor

A father and two children slosh through a flooded sidewalk along A1A after an Aug. 31 downpour. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Roadwork delays — along with standing water — raise concern

Related:  Highland Beach: Sewer lining project could begin soon (fingers crossed)

By Rich Pollack

Construction on State Road A1A through Highland Beach is likely to continue for at least two more months, frustrating residents and town leaders who are weary of travel delays — and flooding that they say is now worse than before work began.

Originally scheduled to be completed by May, the $8.3 million Florida Department of Transportation project that began in July 2024 could be still going on through October, according to Highland Beach Town Manager Marshall Labadie, who met with FDOT representatives in late August.

“Extending construction by six months and asking for patience of residents is a tall ask,” Labadie said. “Unfortunately, it appears to be our only option.”

The delays could mean the project — which has come with lane closures and traffic backups — will continue just as part-time residents return.

“Now they’re going to be eating into the season with more traffic, more slowdowns and more bottlenecks,” resident John Shoemaker said.

The delays in completion of the 3.35-mile-long project are likely to also push back a Highland Beach sanitary sewer lining project that will start once the FDOT work on A1A is completed. That work will be trenchless and will not affect the improved roadway. Town officials had planned to begin the sewer lining before the end of September, but then learned of FDOT’s latest timeline.

State FDOT representative did not respond to emails regarding the cause of the road project delays.

A deluge of concern
Shoemaker, along with several other residents, has also been outspoken about concerns over A1A flooding that followed heavy rains in August.

One of the main objectives of the road project — from just south of Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach to the Highland Beach border with Boca Raton — was to reduce street flooding.

Residents and town leaders, however, say that’s not happening and didn’t happen after a heavy downpour from a thunderstorm on Aug. 23.

“The event we observed had A1A flooding in several locations worse than before construction,” Labadie said. “That had everyone concerned including the town.”

The flooding, he said, was in several sections of the road and on the sidewalks.

“The standing water was deeper and was there longer than usual,” he said.

The town manager said that the standing water on the road was gone within about 24 hours but that the water on the sidewalks remained for several days.

“That caused people to walk in the road,” he said.

Resident Deborah Muller said that after the heavy rain on Aug. 23, water on the sidewalk near her home was almost to the top of her knee-high rain boots.

“The crews are taking care of the roadway, but the water is flooding onto the public sidewalk and onto people’s property,” she said.

State asks for patience
State engineers have said that the flooding issues will improve once the project is completed.

“They asked for patience as this work is finalized and committed to meeting with us again once complete to reassess the problem areas,” Labadie said.

The town manager noted that construction crews have been working on improving swales at the north end of the project and believes that work will soon be taking place in Highland Beach.

Labadie expects to see improvements on the road but even with the improved swales, he foresees long-term issues on sidewalks and in right of ways.

At the same time work is being done on the swales, crews are working on ensuring that driveways will be level with the roadway once a final level of asphalt is applied. In addition to road resurfacing and drainage improvements, the project has included the installation of bike lanes on either side and the extension of the northbound left turn lane onto Linton Boulevard.

“It’s been a great improvement because traffic is not as backed up as it was,” Muller said. 

Marjorie Waldo stands among works by Delray Beach native McKinson Souverain in the Black Box Gallery, a showcase for emerging artists at Arts Garage. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Kathleen Kernicky

When Marjorie Waldo was hired as president and CEO of Arts Garage in Delray Beach, she quickly realized how big a crisis she was facing.

“It was a turnaround business in the truest sense,” Waldo said of the nonprofit performing arts organization she has led since November 2016.

“We were financially drowning, our relationship capital was shot, and it seemed like every angle of the business had to be reprogrammed.

“I came in knowing the organization was in crisis. Until you’re sitting in the chair at your desk, you don’t really know how big the crisis is.”

Drawing on her turnaround expertise as a former educator and executive, Waldo has helped the organization “build a toolbox” to ensure its future survival and success.

That included keeping its doors open during the pandemic and, more recently, facing the potential loss of government grants that could affect about a third of its budget.

“When I first started, I wasn’t aware of how deep the troubles went or how much of a commitment this would take,” Waldo said. “It didn’t scare me away. I’m tough and I fight for what I believe in. I do not like to fail.”

It is more than an aversion to failure that drives her commitment. Waldo’s love of the arts is rooted in the belief that they have the transformative power to break barriers and bring people together.

“We believe the arts transcend all of the differences between us,” she said. “It is a universal language that allows people to share experiences.”

Her goal is to reach as many people as possible with the highest quality experience.

“We want to make sure that everyone can walk through our doors, regardless of their income,” she said.

Born in Key West and raised in southern Virginia, Waldo showed interest in the arts beginning in childhood.

“I studied dancing. I sang in choirs. By age 10 or 11, I was reading massive amounts of literature. In high school, I was acting in school plays.”

At the University of Virginia, “I started as a business major and lasted about a year before I bounced back to what I loved, which was drama.”

In search of a career path after graduation, she tried the banking, retail and nonprofit sectors. She became a substitute teacher to earn money and “fell in love with teaching.”

Waldo taught English to high school students before moving from Princeton, New Jersey, to South Florida in the mid-1990s. Her focus switched to working with at-risk youths and turning around struggling charter schools.

“My real interest emerged with the troublemakers. I was drawn to work with the kids who were throwing chairs, getting into fights,” said Waldo, 62, who has two children and has lived in Delray Beach since 1999.

Eventually, she left education. With a master’s degree in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic University, Waldo became a consultant.

She was teaching others how to run a business when she pivoted back to her love of the arts and accepted the position at Arts Garage.

Founded in 2011, Arts Garage brings a diverse group of performers to its stage in downtown Delray Beach each year. From Grammy Award-winning musicians to emerging artists, actors and comedians, it provides entertainment — and arts education and development programs — to adults and children. 

In 2024, Arts Garage hosted more than 300 events and served about 29,000 attendees, generating an economic impact of about $4.1 million, Waldo said. During her tenure, attendance has increased by 50% and the budget has grown by 60%.

Waldo is confident the organization will overcome the new challenges. Turnaround between the end of 2016 and the end of 2018 was likely the largest challenge, but the pandemic came in a close second.

“Today, we have an incredible board of directors who are passionate about the work that we do and we have significant support from our community,” she said. “I would like to know that Arts Garage will still be here long after I am not.

“I would like to leave a legacy that will continue to provide these vibrant experiences to as many people as possible.”

 For more information about Arts Garage, visit artsgarage.org.

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Send a note to news@thecoastalstar.com or call 561-337-1553.

By John Pacenti

When is a fee increase not an increase? When you are in the other dimension known as Delray Beach, silly.

Public Works Director Missie Barletto told The Coastal Star that, yes, the city’s three parking garages will no longer be free during the daytime, going to a $1.50 an hour fee beginning Oct. 1. The plan also eliminates the $5 flat fee at parking garages after 4 p.m.

The downtown garages are Old School Square, Fourth and Fifth at Atlantic, and Robert Federspiel at 22 SE First Ave.

Barletto explained that the average stay at the garages is two hours in the evening, often by casual diners. They would save $2 by not having to pay the flat fee, she said.

The real reason Barletto explained for the increase — as she did, as well, at the Aug. 19 City Commission meeting — is to address homeless people who are living out of their cars and camping out in the garages overnight. Unfortunately, she said, visitors were shying away from parking in the garages, fearing for their safety.

Commissioners were told that the increased parking fees will generate more than $1.5 million more annually for the city. 

Premier parking meters on Atlantic Avenue would stay the same under the plan at $4 an hour. The city manager already directed that parking meters on downtown side streets be priced at $3 an hour, up from $2 an hour previously. Other increases will go into effect Oct. 1.

Free parking will increase to $2 an hour for the railroad lot at 30 NE Fourth Ave., the Gladiola lot at 51 SE Sixth Ave., the Village lot at 50 SE Sixth Ave.,  the Banker’s Row lot at 200 NE First Ave., and the Veterans Park lot at 802 NE First St. These lots will all have a four-hour limit where in the past they varied.

The seven beach parking lots on the barrier island will remain the same cost at $1.50 an hour.

Employee parking plan

Commissioners also adopted a six-month pilot program to address downtown employee parking that will allow workers to buy a $10 monthly permit to park in most city spaces.

“They can park in any available parking space in the downtown area — other than Atlantic Avenue,” Barletto said. The parking meters on Atlantic Avenue are the exception.

Barletto noted at the meeting that the previous attempts to create an employee parking program had failed.

“We offered a permit where we had a special trolley that ran at night, and the employer actually bought the parking permits and handed them out to their employees, she said. “That sold zero permits.”

To prevent abuse, the program will require verification. “They will have to renew their parking pass every month. Part of that renewal process will be a letter from a downtown employer saying that they are indeed employed,” Barletto said.

Commissioner Tom Markert expressed sympathy for restaurant and bar workers, stating he had heard repeatedly that “these are people that we have to attract to keep our restaurants and bars open and if we don’t provide them with parking spaces, they’re going to go work in the suburbs.”

However, Mayor Tom Carney remained skeptical about subsidizing parking, arguing that restaurants have the responsibility to provide parking for their employees. Markert countered that restaurants told him any parking costs “are going to be reflected in your menu prices.”

Vice Mayor Rob Long suggested a pilot program, noting, “We’re not going to know until we sort of try some version of this.”

The pilot program will run from Oct. 1 to April, with a potential three-month update given in January. 

Barletto provided context on current parking use, revealing that many downtown lots are significantly underutilized. The railroad lot, for instance, has 162 spaces with only a 57% occupancy rate. The Gladiola lot has 74 spaces with just a 30% occupancy rate. 

By Jane Musgrave

Former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella lost his legal battle against two town police officers over his 2016 arrest at his former oceanfront home on Beachway North.

A federal jury in Miami on Aug. 22 rejected Lucibella’s claims that officers Richard Ermeri and Nubia Plesnik violated his constitutional rights when they arrested him while investigating reports of gunshots.

Jurors listened to nearly a week of testimony and found that neither officer used excessive force nor violated the 71-year-old health care entrepreneur’s freedom from an unwarranted search.

Attorney James Green, who represented Lucibella, said he and his client respect the jury verdict.

“I’m sad and disappointed for Rich,” Green said. “He went through what no citizen should have to go through.”

Lucibella’s face was held against the floor of his patio and three ribs were broken when officers did a knee drop on his back, Green said in court papers.

Orlando attorney Jeff Ashton, who was hired by the town’s insurer to represent the officers, said the jury recognized that Lucibella was responsible for his own fate. “He resisted,” Ashton said. “He got hurt because he resisted. The officers didn’t want to hurt him.”

The trial was only to decide if the officers violated Lucibella’s rights. If the jury found that they had, another trial would have determined damages.

At one time, Lucibella said he would seek $9.4 million, claiming he was suspended from his leadership role at one of his businesses and couldn’t effectively manage others while defending himself against the criminal charges.

Lucibella could appeal the verdict. Green said no decision has been made.

The officers and the town could also ask that Lucibella pay for some of the costs of the lengthy litigation. The town, which in 2021 was dismissed from the lawsuit by a judge, sought nearly $135,000 in attorney fees and court costs.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was then handling the case, said the town could renew the request after the case against the officers was decided. The case was later transferred to U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz.

Green said he doubted Lucibella would have to dig into his wallet. The town and the officers would have to prove that the lawsuit was completely frivolous, he said.

Ashton said it is likely he would ask that Lucibella be ordered to pay the court costs the insurer incurred fighting his claims against the officers. He said he didn’t know how much that would be.

Absent an appeal, the jury verdict would mark the end of a saga that spawned several civil lawsuits, along with the criminal charges against Lucibella, who now lives in Jupiter.

Lucibella, who was elected to the Town Commission in 2014, was cleared of two felony charges of battery on a law enforcement officer in 2019. But the same jury found him guilty of a misdemeanor charge of battery. He was ordered to pay $675 in court costs. He lost his appeal.

Plesnik, meanwhile, reached a confidential out-of-court settlement with Lucibella to end the lawsuit she filed against him for shoulder injuries she claimed she sustained during the scuffle.

In her suit, she claimed Lucibella tried to conceal a .40-caliber pistol by sitting on it when she and Ermeri arrived at the house to investigate the reports of gunfire. The officers also saw several shell casings on the deck, she said.

Knowing he had other guns in the house, she said the officers told him to stay on the patio. Ignoring their warnings, he attacked the officers, pushing Plesnik and grabbing Ermeri around the neck, she claimed in the suit.

Green said Lucibella’s error was failing to give officers information they wanted. “Rich refused to snitch on his friend who actually fired the shots,” he said. 

The Ocean Ridge Town Commission celebrated the career of Jean Hallahan, “a cornerstone of Town Hall,” who retired after two decades of service in important positions. 

A proclamation was read by Town Clerk Kelly Avery at the Aug. 4 commission meeting recognizing Hallahan’s multifaceted roles, noting she served not only as town treasurer, but also as deputy town clerk and human resources administrator since 2005. 

Hallahan, who wanted to retire quietly, Avery said, was not at the meeting.

Her tenure has been characterized by “quiet leadership, reliability and kindness,” making her not just a vital team member, but a mentor and friend to many, the proclamation read.

As treasurer, Hallahan oversaw “the financial well-being of Ocean Ridge with diligence, transparency and deep expertise,” guiding the town through economic changes with “a calm, confident presence and a sharp eye for detail.”

As deputy town clerk, she provided “invaluable support in maintaining the town’s official records, assisting residents with care and accuracy and helping ensure the daily operations of the town ran smoothly.”

Her human resources work was equally distinguished, with the proclamation praising her for “supporting our staff with compassion, professionalism and integrity.” 

The town retroactively proclaimed July 28 as “Jean Hallahan Appreciation Day.”

                            — John Pacenti

Towns with ordinances on the placement of artificial grass in yards are keeping a close eye on a Florida-wide rule currently being drafted.

House Bill 683, which passed the Legislature this year and was signed into law by the governor, requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to adopt minimum standards for the installation of synthetic turf on single-family residential areas that are 1 acre or less in size, Gulf Stream Assistant Town Attorney Trey Nazzaro said. Such a rule would cover most of the town, he said.

The concern is that a new rule “could in part preempt the town’s home rule powers to regulate artificial turf,” he told town commissioners at their Aug. 8 meeting.

Synthetic turf in Gulf Stream, for example, can be placed only in back and side yards where it cannot be seen from the road in front or from the water behind.

“The question will be whether or not it prevents us from regulating it from an aesthetic standpoint really,” Nazzaro said. “There’s nothing in the rule that goes one way or the other about percentage or where it can be located.”

— Steve Plunkett

By John Pacenti

After months of contentious negotiations, the Delray Beach City Commission has reached a tentative agreement with the Police Benevolent Association, addressing key issues of wages, pensions and working conditions for the city’s police officers.

The City Commission gave its tacit approval at an Aug. 21 special meeting, bowing to a special magistrate’s recommendation. 

Mayor Tom Carney had pushed back on the issue of extending the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Program) from five to eight years, saying it would just put money in negotiators’ pockets, but in the end, the city relented.

Carney and Commissioner Juli Casale both voted no on the eight-year drop. The commissioners were unanimous in approving other areas of the contract — psychological testing, post-accident drug and alcohol testing, and wages.

Casale said under the contract, some police officers will end up making more than directors of departments at City Hall. She specifically asked about the impact on the city’s budget, noting concerns about how the contract might require salary adjustments across other city departments.

Commissioner Tom Markert, always seen as the swing vote on the DROP issue, said extending the retirement program to eight years made the city competitive with other agencies. He said he felt the city had “met the lion’s share” of the union’s requests.

When it came to wages, the city’s initial proposal was $15.2 million compared to the nearly $16.7 million requested by the union. Commissioners approved a wage package of $15.9 million for officers and sergeants after the union came down in its ask.

The tentative agreement will cover three years — retroactive to last Oct. 1 and extending to Sept. 30, 2027. It still requires ratification by the union membership.

John Kazanjian, president of the Palm Beach County chapter of the PBA, said on the union’s Instagram page, “This is the best deal you’re going to get out of the Commission right here. I’m not going to call it a win or a loss. I’m just going to say it’s a happy medium so far.”

The union used all sorts of in-your-face public tactics. It had moving billboards denouncing Carney and Casale. The PBA is now banned from participating in next year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade because it slammed commissioners on a moving billboard that was in this year’s parade.

The PBA also, on more than one occasion, packed commission chambers with members and had various people in the community speak on its behalf — including Vice Mayor Rob Long.

The city adopted a modified pay scale closely resembling Boynton Beach’s plan, with increases that city officials hope will help attract and retain officers. The new plan provides slightly higher top-end salaries for officers and sergeants, with lieutenants receiving a modified pay structure.

The union certainly had its supporters lined up to speak at the Aug. 21 hearing in case there was any wavering by the commission.

Chuck Halberg, president of Delray Citizens for Delray Police, said during public comment that the city had already lost 22 officers, with 15 more potentially leaving.

Delray Beach resident Melissa Morales Milkman highlighted the department’s crime reduction efforts, stating the city had reduced overall crime by nearly 50% citywide. She warned that continued officer losses would jeopardize public safety.

Long criticized the negotiation process as “idiotic.” 

“We have been tied to a process now for months that has made this so much harder than it should be,” he said.

Carney noted the city’s commitment to balancing fiscal responsibility with fair compensation. “We’re not going to try to compete with entities that have unlimited funds,” Carney said, referencing the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s ability to offer higher wages. 

By John Pacenti

In the last year, Delray Beach City Manager Terrence Moore once again became embroiled in drama, clashed repeatedly with some commissioners and set out to bore elected officials to death by presentation.

Despite it all, Moore lives to fight another day. The commission at its Aug. 12 meeting approved a 3.3% raise for Moore, who has been with the city since August 2021.

The raise was based on the scoring of the city’s five elected leaders, with Moore receiving an average score of 3.3 out of a possible 5.0. Commissioner Juli Casale, a frequent sparring partner of Moore, was the one no vote for the raise.

Moore, whose new annual salary will be $255,986, can take a bow in getting the Cultural Arts School project off to a good start. And he still rocks the sunglasses at ribbon cuttings. But the city manager took some serious lumps in his evaluations by the mayor and commissioners.

“Moore’s deficiencies appear to be growing and his ability to make corrections is not evident,” Casale wrote. “His lack of high-level managerial skills is not likely to change. I would like to see Mr. Moore explore other employment. I think he would be happier and more effective in a less complicated city.”

Mayor’s criticisms 

Mayor Tom Carney wrote a long evaluation of Moore beyond the typical scorecard, finding him approachable but lacking leadership skills.

“Overall, there is a lack of curiosity and forward-thinking in city leadership,” Carney wrote. “We are rarely ahead of challenges. More often, we are reacting or simply maintaining.”

After Carney asked for a granular budget for 2025-26, Moore unleashed a 400-page tome marshalled by his new chief financial officer, Henry M. Dachowitz, that was as clear as mud to the public. When The Coastal Star asked for a breakdown of the current budget compared to the proposed one in April, the newspaper was told that no such document existed at the time. 

Commission meetings have dragged on as directors have spent hours detailing proposals that are available in the agenda packet for commissioners. Building, Planning and Zoning Director Anthea Gianniotes has spoken for hours on end.

“Stop burying the Commission with presentations,” Carney said on Moore’s scorecard. “Be more of a leader.”

And yet, Carney said, in the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, “departmental wish lists were submitted without senior management review, resulting in inflated spending proposals.”

Carney gave Moore a 2.8.

Casale’s concerns

Moore’s lowest score came from Casale, who gave him a 2.0. 

She grew especially frustrated with Moore when it came to internal investigations into the Code Enforcement Division, which was rocked by one employee’s arrest for allegedly shaking down residents and revelations that a supervisor worked an inside straight to remove $11,250 in liens on a property the supervisor owned.

Casale couldn’t get answers at commission meetings — and sniffed out that the internal code investigation was a whitewash, forcing the investigator to go back and ask questions about the two employees.

Moore created the dynamics that led to a whistleblower complaint by Jeri Pryor, the woman he hired to right the ship of Code Enforcement. Pryor accused Moore and Vice Mayor Rob Long of ordering her to go easy on some businesses or face losing her job.

An internal investigator basically found it was a he-said-she-said, she-said-he-said.

Still, the investigator recommended that Moore stop his practice of conference calls with city employees and individual members of the commission.

It was the second such investigation involving Moore after the former fire chief, Keith Tomey, accused him of making an unwanted sexual advance. The same investigator found the claims unsubstantiated. 

Tomey was fired and is suing the city.

Markert, Long and Burns

Commissioner Tom Markert — the Mr. Nice Guy on the dais — also had some criticism, handing Moore a score of 3.0. On what Moore could improve, Markert said, “Being accessible and open to feedback 24/7. And not only open to feedback but also able to professionally deal with occasional feedback that is not positive.”

Long is clearly a fan, giving Moore a perfect 5.0. In a not-so-veiled swipe at Pryor’s hiring, Long did say that Moore needs to “modify the screening/background check process when hiring director-level staff to avoid hiring individuals with questionable ethics and professional reputations.”

Commissioner Angela Burns, a former educator, gave Moore a 3.5 score. She did have positive things to say, though.

“Moore’s leadership skill and depth of knowledge have been instrumental in maintaining city operations and delivering key initiatives,” she wrote.

Moore’s management style was on display at the next commission meeting on Aug. 19, after 17 people spoke in favor of the city’s standing up to the edict by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to pave over the LGBTQ pride intersection at Northeast Second Avenue and Northeast First Street.

Saying $60 million in state funding was at stake, Moore seemed ready to sandblast away the rainbow himself, saying the city had no choice.

Even Long, his biggest supporter, said, “Mr. Moore, respectfully, I’m not going to focus my commentary on a conciliatory gesture at this point, given that there is still an option in front of us, an option offered to us by the FDOT to go to an administrative hearing.”

By John Pacenti

Delray Beach Fire Chief Ronald Martin was investigated in August after an anonymous complaint revealed he had installed a Ring surveillance camera in his office, citing security concerns and harassment he faced following a controversial Brightline train crash that involved a city firetruck.

“I cannot continue to professionally sustain these attacks. I cannot continue to try to solve the problems and bring the organization into some semblance of compliance,” Martin told an investigator.

The investigation, conducted through recorded interviews with Martin and other fire department officials, revealed that Martin installed the camera in his office after discovering what he described as security breaches and inappropriate items — such as pornography — left in his office.

As for the investigation, Martin received counsel after he was found to have broken city policies by installing the camera.

“City’s policies prohibit the use of any video/audio-capable device within city buildings without prior authorization from the department director or city manager and consent of individuals potentially recorded,” wrote Paul Weber, a former police detective who now works for the city’s Human Resources Department.

Weber found no evidence that images were recorded or stored, but said, “The presence of a camera with video capabilities in a workplace office setting creates the risk of perceived surveillance,” he said.

Martin received “verbal counseling” regarding the incident. Mayor Tom Carney and commissioners have expressed more than once from the dais that they support Martin and the changes he is making in the department.

House on fire

Underlying the current episode of the Delray Beach Fire Rescue soap opera is pushback to reforms that Chief Martin, hired in October, has tried to instill in a department reeling from scandal after scandal.

Martin appeared to be at the end of his rope during the conversation with the investigator.

“I’m dealing with chronic AWOL in the fire department. I mean, there, there are so many issues. I’ve got an entire program that we’re lucky to this point we haven’t had a tragedy with ocean rescue,” he said.

An ocean-rescue employee, John Livingstone, wrote a very public resignation letter in June, blasting Martin, who had instituted sweeping changes in the division.

Martin said he discovered that one lifeguard engaged in verbal threats toward the public and used sexual intimidation toward fellow employees. 

He also found inappropriate relationships between ocean-rescue leadership and a nonprofit entity used for travel and training and competition, according to a June 13 letter to City Manager Terrence Moore.

And, of course, there was the fallout when a fire-rescue engineer on Dec. 28 drove an aerial ladder truck around the down railroad gates on Southeast First Avenue and was shish-kabobbed by the Brightline passenger train. 

Besides eventually firing the firefighter at the wheel, David Wyatt, the department put on administrative leave Assistant Chief Kevin Green and Division Chief Todd Lynch while the department investigated how 20 employees allowed their driver’s licenses to lapse into suspension. 

The firefighter union denounced Martin, saying the chief undermined “the fundamental principles of due process” by releasing the names of those put on leave.

Both Green and Lynch were exonerated by an internal investigation, while The Coastal Star broke the story about how Wyatt had previously driven his car into a tree on Atlantic Avenue and was investigated for DUI. He then let his license get suspended and continued driving a firetruck.

Martin also walked into the hot mess left by his predecessor, Keith Tomey, who had accused the city manager of sexual harassment. An investigator exonerated Moore. Tomey was fired and is now suing the city.

But Martin brought his own baggage. After his hiring, The Coastal Star reported that Martin had three internal complaints filed against him while he was chief of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District. The complaints centered on a secret affair between Martin and the fire district’s human resources manager. Martin denied any wrongdoing and said he ended up engaged to the woman.

Camera investigation

Martin told investigators looking into the Ring camera on Aug. 4 that he was a subject of harassment regarding items left in his office.

Martin explained that his concerns began on his first day of employment on Oct. 8, when he found items in his office credenza that violated city policy, including cigarettes and tobacco products. 

More troubling discoveries followed in January 2025 after the Brightline crash.

He discovered a pornographic magazine and a half-empty bottle of Maker’s Mark, Kentucky bourbon, in a bottom drawer of his desk, Martin told investigators, speculating whether the items were left by his predecessor or someone trying to set him up.

The fire chief said he frequently found his office disturbed and requested a code change to limit access to only himself, his administrative assistant, and the facilities manager. However, his security concerns persisted.

Martin said he decided to install the camera after he found his office door open after a holiday weekend, which made him fearful that someone still had access to his office.

Deputy Fire Chief Travis Franco first discovered the camera while sitting at Martin’s desk, noticing it at the northeast corner of the desk, pointing at the chair in which he was sitting.

Franco expressed surprise at the items Martin claimed to have found in his office drawers, saying that Tomey didn’t smoke and “I don’t think he was kind of a pornographic magazine kind of guy.”

Martin emphasized that the camera was placed visibly on his desk and later moved to an end table, never hidden from view. 

“The camera sends notifications to my phone when someone enters my office, but it does not record or store video,” he explained to investigators.

The fire chief’s decision to install the camera was also influenced by harassment he experienced at his personal residence following the Brightline incident. 

Martin described receiving “profane-laced correspondence put on my vehicle, at my home, calling me all kinds of names, telling me I need to go back where I am from … calling me a carpetbagger.”

Martin said he reported these incidents to Moore and then to Police Chief Russ Mager, but a formal police report was not made. 

Lifeguards reflect on secrets to success after fourth rowing title

John Livingstone, in the bow, and Justin Cattan crash through a large breaking wave during the 2025 U.S. Lifesaving Association National Lifeguard Championships in Huntington Beach, California. They won the men’s open doubles row category for the fourth year in a row and plan to go for five next year in Fort Lauderdale. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times

By Ron Hayes

Four years ago, they won first place in Hermosa Beach, California.

Three years ago, they won first place in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Last year, they won first place on San Padre Island, Texas.

And on Aug. 8, in Huntington Beach, California, Justin Cattan and John Livingstone won the National Lifeguard Championships’ men’s doubles rowing event for the fourth year in a row.

Cattan, 34, guards lives with Delray Beach Ocean Rescue. 

Livingstone, 30, resigned from the department in June but competed as an alumni in the Delray Beach chapter of the U.S. Lifesaving Association, which sponsors the annual championships.

They did not row, row, row their boat gently down a stream.

On the contrary.

•

This year, 20 teams of two men each had signed up to compete. When they saw how rough the sea was that Friday, seven teams dropped out.

Cattan and Livingstone were not among them.

The whistle blew, and 13 teams ran about 25 yards to their boats, jumped in and started rowing.

Livingstone was in the bow of their 19-foot wood and fiberglass Asay surf boat, Cattan in the stern.

The course was a semi-circle, marked by two parallel buoys offshore, about 245 feet apart, and a third at the apex, about 985 feet offshore. Cattan and Livingstone rowed around that farthest buoy, returned to shore, touched a flag, rowed around the apex and back a second time, touched the flag, then rowed out to pass the far buoy a third time.

The race was not timed, but 16 to 18 minutes later, when judges declared them the first to complete the course, Cattan and Livingstone had rowed about 6,560 feet or 1.25 miles.

“We never considered dropping out,” Cattan said. “Not to say that it wasn’t scary. We had 5- to 7-foot pounding waves.”

They also had determination, months of training and, perhaps most important of all, a friendship that began years before either man ever climbed onto a Delray Beach lifeguard stand.

•

Lifeguards aren’t needed in a January blizzard, so up North, it’s a summer job.

John Livingstone was a lifeguard for nine summer seasons in Wildwood, New Jersey. He had the town’s southernmost stand.

For 12 seasons, Justin Cattan was a lifeguard in Wildwood Crest, just below Wildwood. He had the town’s northernmost stand.

“So, my last stand in Wildwood Crest was next to Johnny’s first stand in Wildwood,” Cattan recalled. “We would assist each other on rescues, and we became friends.”

Another lifeguard friend, Mike Gibson, had visited Deerfield Beach and liked the area. In 2019, the trio rented an apartment in Delray Beach, where January blizzards are extremely rare and the lifeguard jobs are full time.

Delray Beach Ocean Rescue hired Cattan and Livingstone a week apart in February 2020.

•

The city doesn’t underwrite their expenses or provide time off to attend the USLA championships, so the local chapter raises funds to cover their travel, hotel and entry fees.

From May until race day, they trained on their own time in front of the lifeguard headquarters.

“We’d get there in the summers at 7:45 a.m., train after roll call until 8:40, then get our stuff and open our towers at 9,” Livingstone recalled. “And we can train on our lunch breaks, too. To get the time off, we use vacation time or swap our days with other lifeguards.”

•

On June 25, 2023, they volunteered for an unusually rigorous training session.

The Crossing For Cystic Fibrosis is an annual event in which paddleboarders paddle the 80 miles from Bimini in the Bahamas to Lake Worth Beach, raising money for Piper’s Angels Foundation, which assists families living with the disease. The event is primarily for paddleboarders, but Cattan and Livingstone were able to participate in a rowboat division.

Cattan, Livingstone and two other rowers, Doug Davis and J.D. Briggs, rowed for 13 hours, from midnight until 1 p.m.

“It was beautiful at night,” Livingstone recalled. “You could see all the stars, the colors of the universe almost.”

Except for one frightening encounter.

“Our guide was a 65-foot yacht out of Miami, but its radar went out and we almost got run over by a shipping freighter. We didn’t know if the ship was coming toward us or moving away. We saw a couple lights coming at us, and next thing the water’s everywhere. It was like a ghost ship coming at us.”

The Delray Beach chapter raised $10,000 for Angel’s Pipers.

•

Every rescue is different, they agree, but some are more different than others. Some are more memorable.

One evening in 2013, Livingstone, 18 at the time, was just about to break down his stand in Wildwood after a long day.

Two little girls, 7 or 8 years old, were standing in waist-deep water, not far from shore, when they were pulled into a strong northerly current carrying them toward an outflow pipe pouring rainwater into the sea.

The danger was not that they would be pulled into the pipe, as the rainwater was rushing out, but under it.

“The two of them were pretty much on top of the pipe, with a strong current under the pipe,” he recalled. “I wedged my legs under the pipe and got one girl wrapped in my red buoy flotation device and the other girl held on and just went over the pipe and floated down easy.

“It made me realize how serious this job can be.”

In 2016, Justin Cattan was already off duty one evening in Wildwood Crest when he spotted a figure running toward his stand, arms frantically waving.

Cattan and two other guards paddled out to two victims caught in a riptide.

“One guy was just in jeans and a T-shirt in waist-deep water when the riptide grabbed him. I had to dive to get him, and we gave him oxygen, and they had to take him to the hospital and pump his stomach.

“He came back the next morning to say thank you,” Cattan said, “and that almost never happens.”

•

Four years ago, a single trophy from the National Lifesaving Championships’ men’s doubles rowing event stood in the glass case full of trophies at the Delray Beach Ocean Rescue headquarters on South Ocean Boulevard.

Three years ago, there were two. Two years ago, there were three.

Now there are four trophies on display, all won by Justin Cattan and John Livingstone.

For now, Livingstone is relaxing back home in New Jersey. He may travel, and in the fall he plans to move back in with Mike Gibson, his recent roommate, in Deerfield Beach.

“I can’t see the future,” he says, “but I know I enjoy every minute lifeguarding. Justin and my success has come from a great friendship and hard work and dedication, and I couldn’t be prouder of having him for a teammate and friend.”

Cattan and his partner, Julia Sheffer, have a 9-month-old daughter named Charley. They are teaching her to call Livingstone “Uncle Johnny.”

“I’m taking it one day at a time,” Cattan says. “I’m enjoying my family and friends, so I don’t need to look too far ahead. If I can be the best teammate, partner and parent, that’s enough for me.”

Next year, the NLSA Lifeguard Championships will be held in Fort Lauderdale, to mark the 100th anniversary of that city’s Ocean Rescue.

Cattan and Livingstone plan to be there too, rowing toward a fifth trophy.

In the end, though, the trophies are nice and friendships are precious, but saving lives is always a deadly serious job.

“You’re there on people’s best days,” Livingstone said, “and you’re there on what could be the last day of their life.” 

By Mary Hladky

Boca Raton City Council member Yvette Drucker has dropped her bid for a state Senate seat to run for Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller in the November 2026 election.

Drucker’s Aug. 21 announcement came shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Republican state Rep. Mike Caruso to replace Democrat Joe Abruzzo, who had served as clerk and comptroller since 2020. Abruzzo was selected by Palm Beach County commissioners in June to be the county administrator.

Caruso, of Delray Beach, has said he will run to retain the position in the 2026 election. The DeSantis ally is the first Republican to hold the job.

Drucker, a Democrat and former deputy mayor, had joined the 2026 race to succeed term-limited state Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, in May and would have faced state Rep. David Silvers, D-Lake Clarke Shores, in the Democratic primary.

“I am proud of my reputation for commonsense approaches to major issues, managing relationships across the political aisle, and working with partners across municipal bodies,” Drucker said in her announcement.

“Serving as Clerk would allow me to continue that work on a broader scale by ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly, services are delivered efficiently, and county government remains transparent and accessible.”

She praised Abruzzo, who she said has “set a powerful example of what good government looks like, and I hope to continue his legacy of strong fiscal management. That includes preserving Palm Beach County’s role as the largest investor of Israel bonds in the world, which reflects both our shared values and our commitment to smart, long-term investments.”

Drucker was elected to the nonpartisan City Council in 2021 and won reelection with 77% of the vote in March. She is term-limited from running again.

She is a first-generation Cuban American who had worked at ADP TotalSource, focusing on compliance, human resources and strategic management. She also is a longtime volunteer with many organizations, including the Junior League of Boca Raton.

She currently serves on the executive board of the Palm Beach County Transportation Planning Agency and is involved with the Florida League of Cities and National League of Cities.

Caruso, a certified public accountant, won House District 89 in 2018 by a scant 32 votes and cruised to reelection with 56% of the vote two years later. The district then included the barrier island from Boca Raton north to Singer Island.

After district boundaries were redrawn for 2022, Caruso shifted to District 87, which includes Manalapan, Lantana and South Palm Beach. He again won handily with 59% of the vote.

During his seven years in the House, Caruso was most proud of his efforts to clean up the sober home industry, fight antisemitism and advance tort reform to stabilize the insurance industry.

“I look forward to bringing the same dedication, integrity, and results-driven approach I’ve shown in the legislature to the Clerk’s Office,” Caruso said. “Palm Beach County deserves the most transparent, efficient, and fraud-free system of public service.”

Caruso’s wife, Tracy, mounted an unsuccessful campaign to become Delray Beach mayor in 2021 and had already announced her intention to run for her husband’s House seat next year.

By Rich Pollack

DELRAY BEACH — Tony Allerton lived a good life — and helped thousands of others do the same. 

Best known in Delray Beach as the longtime executive director of The Crossroads Club, Mr. Allerton shepherded the organization for decades as it grew to host more than 700 people a day in 12-step programs. He died Sept. 1, a few weeks shy of his 97th birthday.

A resident of Delray Beach since the late 1950s, Mr. Allerton was long synonymous with The Crossroads Club, yet many who were greeted with a friendly assurance by “the old guy by the door” never knew the powerful positive impact he had on the recovery community. 

And he preferred it that way. Described by people familiar with his work as a “beacon of hope for others,” Mr. Allerton knew firsthand how difficult overcoming addiction could be.  

A recovering alcoholic who grew up with two alcoholic parents, he spent most of his first 54 years drinking. He spent the last 43 years avoiding alcohol and making sure there was a safe place for those who went through the same battles he did. He continued to go to work at Crossroads almost every day, well into his 90s.

In a 2018 interview with Delray Beach magazine, Mr. Allerton talked about how glad he was to have a chance to be a positive force. 

“The fact that the good Lord allowed me to be an integral part of the recovery effort in Delray Beach is a blessing,” he said. “It’s given me an opportunity to see people who are struggling with addiction and watch them be reborn.” 

Mr. Allerton is survived by his daughters Tracy Allerton and Mitchell “Mimi” Allerton; his son, Colby Allerton; his son’s wife, Nina; and two grandchildren, Zachary and June.

Mr. Allerton was proudest of his family, but he was also proud of the 40-year coin he earned three years ago signifying his sobriety. 

Mr. Allerton was also an active member of the community over the years — first as a successful stockbroker and later as a real estate agent. 

He served as president or in a leadership role of nonprofit organizations including the Delray Beach Rotary Club, the Delray Beach Playhouse, the Lake Ida Property Owners Association and of course, The Crossroads Club. He was also chairman of the Delray Beach Drug Task Force, the Delray Beach Community Chest and treasurer of the Drug Abuse Foundation.

Born George Milton Allerton IV on Sept. 23, 1928, in Waterbury, Connecticut, to a long-established family, his early ancestors were among those who came over on the Mayflower. He was a proud descendent of Noah Webster, best known for creating Webster’s Dictionary. 

Mr. Allerton attended the Taft private school and Georgetown University, where he graduated with a degree in business administration. He played hockey while at Georgetown and was on the tennis and golf teams. 

He joined the U.S. Navy in 1950, serving as a lieutenant on the USS Mullany, a destroyer.

His quick wit, mischievous streak and contagious laugh were trademarks, but those who know him best say that his most important trait was making those around him feel special. 

“I think the secret to his longevity was that he has found his true calling and has been able to fashion a life for himself that fulfills that calling on his own terms,” his daughter Tracy said in a 2018 Coastal Star story. “I watch him and marvel at what a difference one person can make in so many lives.”

A service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 10 at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 840 George Bush Blvd. Donations in his name can be sent to The Crossroads Club, 1700 Lake Ida Road, Delray Beach, FL 33445.