June 2011 Blog Posts (107)

By Steve Plunkett

       It’s official now—property owners in town will pay non-ad valorem special assessments to put electric, phone and cable TV lines underground, out of the view and away from wind and salty air.

Sitting June 30 as the Board of Equalization, town commissioners voted unanimously that the assessment plan developed by consultant Willdan Financial Services was fair.

‘’I think the proposal is reasonable and we should make the decision,’’ Mayor William Koch…

                  The South Palm Beach Town Council rejected June 21 an offer from Manalapan Mayor Basil Diamond to supply police and dispatch services to the town.

                  In a June 6 letter to the Town Council, Diamond outlined two options that he said would save the town $401,000 to $730,000, or 43 percent to 78 percent of its police and dispatching budget.

                  Mayor Donald Clayman disputed the estimated…

Left: Candy Heydt opens the front door of the quintessential 1950s Florida cottage.

By Christine Davis



You could go north or south on Hypoluxo Island and still end up at Mason and Candy Heydts’ home.

That’s because they live at 705 N. Atlantic Drive, and they just…

By Paula Detwiller

It might have been a broad-daylight traffic tragedy. 

The light turned red, but the car didn’t stop. The driver, focusing on his cell phone, swung into the intersection to make his left turn — straight into the path of a young boy.

“That’s when I grabbed him and snatched him back,” said crossing guard Daisy Marshall, who was…

                  The parents charged with hosting an “open house party” crashed by hundreds of beer-toting high school students in the gated Sanctuary enclave ended their day in court with adjudication withheld.

                  Shlomo and Jeannie Rasabi, who pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge, will not have a conviction on their records. Judge Barry M. Cohen assessed court costs of $253 each but no jail time or fine.

                  “Good…

By Tim O’Meilia



Thirty-odd years ago, a barely teen-aged Geoff Pugh and his brother would climb down to the rocks at the bottom of the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet and spear fish until a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy shooed them away.

Other days they would cast nets for sheepshead or whatever was running that time of year, always keeping an eye out for…

By Thom Smith  

    Just like old times … with one big exception. No Elwood.

    Michael Elwood Gochenour had left this world a couple of weeks earlier, but on the night of June 15, which would have been his 60th birthday, his spirit was alive and, as friends who gathered in tribute noted, he no doubt was enjoying the moment.

    “Tonight and…

Left: Ye Tower Restaurant was a landmark along Dixie Highway in southern Lantana. Paul Dunbar operated the restaurant from 1925 until it was torn down in 1987. Photos courtesy of the Lantana Historical Society

By Liz Best



When the red carpet rolls out July 2 at the town…

By Tim O’Meilia



    South Palm Beach now has two water problems: too much salty ocean water from the east and not enough treated water from the west.

    While erosion from the ocean has been an ongoing concern, a dwindling supply of water for drinking and lawn sprinkling has cropped up with the continuing drought that began in October.

    As a result, the town’s 28 condominiums and four single-family homes and the Town Hall have been placed on severe water-use…