October 2014 Blog Posts (150)

The Delray Beach Bike Club hosted a one-hour Human Powered Delray Bicycle Safety Awareness Ride

in October. The cyclists, complete with police escort, rode east across the George Bush Boulevard Bridge

in an effort to draw attention to the need to repave the…

WORKING: The town of Ocean Ridge spent $450,000

to finish a drainage and pump project last year on Coconut Lane,

a street that used to flood on a regular basis. Photographed at peak high tide, the system is working.…

Lois Pope

Photo provided

By Emily J. Minor



    It’s a Thursday, just a little past midmorning, and Lois Pope is watching the NASDAQ on a flat-screen TV hanging in her office. The television’s…

   If all of the negative campaign ads flooding the airwaves this midterm election have you feeling like you don’t want to vote for anyone, because they won’t tell you where they stand on anything, I understand.

    At The Coastal Star we don’t do endorsements for many reasons (time and resources being the most significant), but I do want to share my feelings on one issue that has already begun to impact all of us who live on the barrier island: the dismantling of the Florida Department…

Nilsa McKinney is chairwoman of this year’s Women of Grace Luncheon.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Rich Pollack



    For Nilsa McKinney, it’s a good day when she gets to kick off her shoes and…

    I have lived in Ocean Ridge since 1988. Those years have been eventful. Once I opened my mail box to come face to face with a large red snake about twice the diameter of my wrist. With my heart pounding out of my chest, I slammed the door shut and ran to phone the police. I am not sure what they did, but the snake did not come back.

    While animal lover “Doc” was still on the police force my Chihuahua, Cutie Pie, got a lamb chop bone stuck in her mouth. I grabbed her and tried to…

    I am writing in hopes that you will be interested in the other side of the story you recently printed about Manalapan police grievances.

    The union was accepted in Manalapan as the result of poor management that was evident by the huge turnover prior to becoming unionized. The officers having the ability to defend themselves against the poor management practices that resulted in a number of grievances.

    The police officers lost benefits and were the third-lowest in pay and…

Christine Ashburn, Citizens insurance VP, works with Candy Alexandra to review her insurance policy.

With Sen. Maria Sachs looking on, Bobby Jurovaty encourages members of the…

By Dan Moffett

    

    In August, Ocean Ridge town commissioners rejected a last-ditch proposal from the Sivitilli family to renovate their beleaguered commercial building at 5011 N. Ocean Blvd.

    As it turns out, however, that was only a penultimate-ditch rejection.

    At its Oct. 6 meeting, the commission had a change of heart and gave the Sivitillis one more reprieve. Commissioners told family representative Rob Sivitilli they would rewrite the town’s…

By Dan Moffett

    

    The hostilities between the town of Gulf Stream and two litigious residents appear destined to get a whole lot more hostile in the weeks ahead.

    And the case the town is preparing against Martin O’Boyle and Christopher O’Hare could ripple through dozens of communities across the state.

    …

Waves from Hurricane Sandy damaged many seawalls in Manalapan. This photo taken Oct. 30, 2012,

shows the Arcaini estate (left) and its adjoining lot. The musician Yanni’s estate, right,

lost its seawall and had damage to the swimming pool and…

By Mary Thurwachter

    

    The director of sales and marketing for The Carlisle Palm Beach and her husband have been charged with money laundering, organized fraud and grand theft.

    Lantana police arrested Natasha Deonath and her husband, Rodney Jagessar, of Lake Worth, last month after Deonath’s employer accused her of stealing $104,000 from the business.

    According to the police report, Lantana police got a call on Oct. 6 from Justin Brown,…

By Dan Moffett



    South Palm Beach council members have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t make much sense to have term limits in a town that has trouble finding candidates willing to serve in the first place.

    “We’re not a very large town,” said Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, “so we unfortunately have a limited pool of people to draw from who want to do this.”

    Then there is the learning curve once a council member takes office.

    “The town…

Steven Abrams (Republican, incumbent)

Age: 55

Education: Harvard University, George Washington University Law School

Marital Status: Married,

two children

Residence: Boca Raton

Experience: Appointed to the County Commission in 2009 and was elected in 2010 unopposed; former mayor of Boca Raton; served five terms on the Boca Raton…

Maria Sachs (Democrat, incumbent)

Age: 65

Education: University of Maryland, Boston University, University of Miami (Juris Doctor)

Marital Status: Married, three children

Residence: Delray Beach

Experience: Elected to the Florida Senate in 2010, reelected in 2012. Served in the Florida House from 2006-2010. Founder and president of Women…

Candidate Profiles: State House, District 89 | County Commission, Seat 4 | Florida Senate, District…

Bill Hager (Republican, incumbent)

Age: 67

Education: University of Northern Iowa, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Illinois

Marital Status: Married, two children

Residence: Delray Beach

Experience: Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2010, re-elected subsequently; current vice chair for the civil justice…

By Tim Pallesen  

 

    The city has ordered a halt to new downtown development applications as city commissioners try to agree on new height and density limits.

    Commissioners are split over whether to limit new buildings to four floors and 30 residential units per acre — or give bonus incentives to allow a fifth floor and higher densities.

    “We’re a four-story town,” Mayor Cary Glickstein declared at an Oct. 14 workshop where three commissioners…

The Mar Lago Beach Club stood on the south side of the Boynton Inlet. It was torn down in 1974.

INSET BELOW: The former owners, Martha and Leon Robbins.

Photos provided…

The corner of Atlantic Avenue and southbound Federal Highway.

Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Tim Pallesen  



    Federal Highway will be a traffic bottleneck in downtown Delray Beach this…