Mary Kate Leming's Page

By Mary Hladky

Virgin Trains USA has pushed out the expected completion of its Boca Raton station to early 2022, about a year later than company officials anticipated when the City Council approved a station construction deal in December.

Among the reasons for the delay are the impact of COVID-19 and Virgin Trains’ request that the city file an application for a federal grant to offset some of the costs of building the station and a parking garage, Virgin Trains…

Delray Beach paramedics remove the grandmother of the suspect from the condo about four hours after the standoff with police started. Since she has mobility issues, she was transported to…

By Rich Pollack

After shaking a finger at Boca Raton for removing offshore sand as part of a beach restoration project, Highland Beach commissioners are now discussing working with that city to solve short-term sand issues and possibly long-term environmental concerns.

Following calls from residents complaining that sand from off Highland Beach’s coast was being used to enhance Boca Raton’s north beach, town commissioners in June invited coastal engineer Gordon…

By Mary Hladky

City Council members often disagree on issues, but the debate is usually confined to what policy is in the best interests of Boca Raton and its residents.

So council member Monica Mayotte’s June 9 rebuke of Deputy Mayor Jeremy Rodgers’ advocacy for lifting COVID-19 restrictions in Palm Beach County was a notable departure from the long-standing practice of not criticizing colleagues.

At issue was Rodgers’ activism on social media and in…

By Mary Hladky

After at least five years of on-again, off-again effort, the City Council has repealed the city’s ordinance regulating signs and replaced it with a new one.

The new sign code, approved unanimously on May 27, is intended to streamline byzantine rules that made getting sign approval difficult and time-consuming.

“What a remarkable improvement to our code,” said architect Doug Mummaw, who often works with downtown commercial landowner Investments…