News

History is hard.
What passes as history is most often written by those with the means to quickly share their view of events with a wide audience. Often that means newspapers.
In 1943, journalist Alan Barth called news “the first rough draft of history

One year after the start of a global pandemic, I realize I’ve gone feral. No pedicures or facials, haircuts only on a friend’s patio, stuck at home paralyzed by fear of getting and spreading the disease to someone who might not survive.
I do venture

You may see campaign signs for the March election in front of our office.
They were approved by our landlord, not by us.
We are doing our best to stay away from the toxicity of certain Facebook pages — unless we feel a need to correct a lie concerni

By Mary Kate Leming, Editor

Most years at this time we’d be planning our annual Coastal Star holiday party. We like to kick off the new year by getting everyone who works for the newspaper together for an afternoon of socializing.

Many have worked t

I purchased the angel that sits atop our Christmas tree while on a trip to Mexico many years ago. She’s hammered tin with a painted face and poised to sing carols from a songbook clasped in her hands.
This year she’s going to take a break and sit on

I stepped on a bee. A tiny, industrious bee. This stinging encounter — on the beach, of all places — put me into bed for a day with a purple, swollen foot iced-down and elevated on a pillow.
The bee died, of course, so obviously its experience was w

It’s been an odd couple of months, right?
There were no beach walks, pedicures or hanging with friends. The neighborhood kids studied at home, and new graduates tossed their tassels only via video streams. Easter and Passover rituals were shared usi

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We’re all in this together. 

In our lifetimes, this adage has never been more true. How we act as individuals can have life or death consequences for us all. Wash your hands, don’t touch your face, and keep 6 feet away

March 17 is an election day. Are you excited? OK, maybe not. I realize only some will be able to vote in the presidential preference primary (it is a closed primary, open to only registered Democrats or Republicans), but everyone who is registered to

I’m happy to report that we’re making progress with reducing the use of plastics in the distribution of The Coastal Star.
Beginning next month, we are partnering with Publix Super Markets to improve the delivery of newspapers in the northern third o

In writing about the turn of the new year the standard is to look back at the events of the past or to look forward, anticipating what the turn of the calendar page might bring. At the end of this year, I’m finding both options to be difficult.
I’m

A family trip to Spain took me out of the Florida heat and into the chill of a more northern November. Luckily there were paellas and tapas, plus plenty of churros and chocolate and vino tinto to keep us warm. As we soaked in the art and history of t

Thank you, loyal readers.
Once again your passion for our newspaper is inspirational. We always learn a lot from your feedback and this month exceeded expectations.
One thing many of you wanted to stress is that the plastic sleeve on our driveway-del

Plastic is everywhere.
I walk the beach most mornings and pick it up all along the way. I pull bottle caps and fast-food cups out of my front hedge with some regularity. The amount of discarded plastic I see is overwhelming.
This summer on a family v

Oh, Abaco. Beautiful, friendly, carefree Abaco. I’m sure there will still be sunrises and sunsets, but now there will be very little in between. Even the sandy beaches and crystal clear waters are holding horrors — the remnants of homes and dreams an

A perfect day in paradise can be spoiled by a backed-up toilet. An out-of-order sign on a bathroom door can turn a pleasant outing into an anxious search for functioning facilities. And after a storm, I can’t imagine anything more discombobulating th

Who says it doesn’t snow in June? At South Palm Beach’s June 18 workshop meeting, I watched a town get snowed under so deep that resident “snowbirds” will see Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office cars and uniforms patrolling their 5/8ths of a mile stre

Sea turtle tracks are on the beach and TV weather maps already show suspicious-looking bright blobs in the Atlantic. The steady hum of air conditioners is all around and even the finest restaurants are offering enticing dining deals. It must be summe

Ah, April. Chamber of Commerce weather, fledgling screech owls in the yard and lingering twilights to enjoy with our neighbors — before the auto transports and seasonal residents bolt for the summer.
By now, most of them have returned to their northe

Let’s talk about suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is one death by suicide every 12 minutes in the United States. Every 12 minutes, someone’s pain is so severe they can’t fathom any other way out of it and ev