News

    We went on vacation.
    That may not sound like much to you, but for the “family” behind a family newspaper it’s a big, big deal. It’s not often we have the chance to take a break from our monthly production schedule.
    We couldn’t have done

    Recent estimates suggest that as many as half of local arts journalism jobs in America have disappeared over the past decade. In South Florida I’d suggest that proportion is even higher.
    Yes, there are a few local bloggers who will tell you ab

    I am addressing the Editor’s Note, “Extra drive time a necessary nuisance this time of year,” that appeared in the June 2017 issue of The Coastal Star.
    Upfront, I totally agree with the opinion that most construction projects on the barrier i

    Along Florida’s east coast, sand drifts from north to south. Where it comes from and where it goes is ruled by wind and water.
    Sometimes our beaches feel wide and serene. At other times, finding a dry place to walk below a seawall is impossi

    May and early June have been a busy time for driving obstacles.
    In Ocean Ridge there have been lane restrictions because of painting and repairs on both the Woolbright and Ocean Avenue bridges, combined with stop-and-start traffic caused by F

    As I sit through city commission meetings, I keep hearing development proposals pitched citing a trend of buildings for millennials that won’t require the usual city-required parking allocations.
    City planners seem to love this concept. The y

    I’ve begun to notice the subtle signs of spring. Along the roadways are the blooming frangipanis. At the beach is the calm, aquamarine ocean. All around is the impossibly blue midday sky.
    For a place that Northerners complain doesn’t have seas

Three votes is all it takes to change the course of history in most of our coastal towns. Think about it: Riverwalk Plaza in Boynton Beach, iPic and Atlantic Crossing in Delray Beach, the termination of a police chief in Ocean Ridge and Briny Breezes

    The 2016 elections are over. Now on to 2017. The March 14 municipal elections are right around the corner.
    In Boca Raton the candidate qualification period has ended, so you may already be noticing yard signs. In our other coastal municipalit

I am a watcher of the sunrise. Most mornings I observe the dawn, coffee in hand, cat at my side, from the cloistered comfort of my screen porch. No great awakening, just light changing from cool to warm as my coffee goes from hot to cold. It’s a time

Kelly Sellers and Katie Morris, the editor’s nieces,

make their grandmother’s family cookie recipe in the early 1990s.

Family photo

    December sets me thinking about the sweet smells from my mom’s kitchen on chilly Midwest winter days. Mom really

    Thanksgiving. A single word that combines two acts of grace: giving thanks and simply giving. Both actions have been top-of-mind as we head into November.
    In this edition you will find stories of organizations and individuals who are working

    Something is in the air. There is a cloud of consternation lingering over our coastal towns. This past month our reporters found themselves uncomfortable as they endured berating from the dais and strained encounters with and between government o

Politics, Zika, pythons, hurricanes. Welcome to Florida.
    You know what I mean. You watch TV news and read the headlines. It’s all people want to talk about.
    Maybe we should be talking instead about an average of 13 overdose calls each day. Yes,

    We are a local newspaper. Our focus is on a 20-mile stretch of coastal southern Palm Beach County. Our mission is local. We don’t write about presidential elections, state or county elections.
    Outside of the office you might hear us voice opi

    Public record: 1) a record required by law to be made and kept; 2) a record made by a public officer in the course of his legal duty to make it; 3) a record filed in a public office and open to public inspection.
    These definitions are from Me

    This is when they come. During these early summer months, the females labor up the sand on primordial missions to find safe locations to bury their eggs. They have been doing this on our shore long before air-conditioning was invented and condos

    I’m a walker. Most mornings I see some of you as I head to the Ocean Ridge Natural Area or to the beach. Often you wave — which is lovely. Often you slow down or stop at the A1A crosswalks and let me cross. That’s what you are supposed to do, and

    Spring? Already? It seems too soon for hurricane predictions, rising humidity and transport trucks heading north. But here it is April. Where did winter go?
    It was a busy season along the coast, filled with the usual array of lovely philanthr

    I was raised in Illinois. The Land of Lincoln.  I have heartland values.
    Maybe that’s why this election year has been so disturbing to me. It seems I’m just not angry enough or afraid enough to embrace the hate-filled mentality that has grippe