News

A construction crew works on the parking lot in Plaza del Mar while another works on the roof of the new Publix under construction. Publix officials hope for an early August opening but say the date will not be confirmed until Manalapan issues a cert

By Dan Moffett

Manalapan began the year with ambitious plans to expand its Police Department by 50 percent. Those plans have stalled lately over problems recruiting and keeping qualified officers, despite a hefty across-the-board increase in pay.
Po

By Dan Moffett

Ocean Ridge officials are quickly learning that it’s much easier to put on a construction moratorium than to take it off.
The Town Commission took the unprecedented step of halting new projects in May after concerns arose over loophole

By Jane Smith

The Delray Beach City Commission likely will vote to phase in a ban on plastic straws at its July 10 meeting, when it considers an ordinance requiring restaurants, bars and other beverage purveyors to supply plastic straws only upon cus

Betty Bingham, a former Ocean Ridge town commissioner, has been active in many community initiatives, from protecting sea turtles to saving sand dunes. She enjoys time with her fox terrier, Mindy. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Brian Biggane

Whethe

Related story: Irma: What we learned

By Jane Smith

When Hurricane Irma swept through southern Palm Beach County last September, power poles snapped like twigs, wind-driven debris blocked streets and residents sat powerless for days amid temperatures

Debris removal was a huge headache along the coast. 2017 Coastal Star file photo

By Jane Smith

Nearly a year after Hurricane Irma, South County coastal cities are honing lessons into actions to prepare their residents, businesses and workers for the

By Jane Smith

Billy Himmelrich and his business partner are suing Delray Beach for $6.9 million over a 2015 decision that limited the height they can build on properties they own on Atlantic Avenue.
In February 2015, the City Commission placed a thre

By Jane Smith

Free parking in downtown Delray Beach ended in late June.
The city has installed 32 smart parking kiosks on Atlantic Avenue between Swinton Avenue and the Intracoastal Waterway and one block north and south of Atlantic.
Meters are enfo

By Steve Plunkett

Plumbers, carpenters and other construction crews may no longer show up early or stay late. Town commissioners in June tightened long-standing rules that limit work to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays.
“Construction activity and

By Dan Moffett

South Palm Beach council members are going to take a second look at plans to renovate their aging Town Hall.
They unanimously agreed June 12 to hire North Palm Beach architect John Bellamy to review the structure and the renovation pr

By Mary Thurwachter

The Florida Commission on Ethics in June dismissed one of two complaints filed by Lantana resident Catherine Padilla against Mayor David Stewart.
The complaint, filed on March 27, accused Stewart of using sexual innuendo during a K

By Mary Thurwachter

It’ll be a year in September since Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc in Lantana and so many other communities.
But this year, with the hurricane season already underway, the town is fortifying two of its buildings with the help of FEMA

By Jane Smith

Two years, $575,000, 54 arrests, 20 convictions and several laws later, the county Sober Homes Task Force will continue. Since July 1, the start of the state’s financial year, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office is absorbing t

By Dan Moffett

For the first time in its 43-year history, the town of Briny Breezes has a lawyer who isn’t named Skrandel.
The Town Council on June 28 unanimously approved hiring Keith Davis of the West Palm Beach law firm of Davis & Ashton to replac

DDG and Kast Construction celebrated the topping out of the 3550 South Ocean condominium on the site of the old Palm Beach Oceanfront Inn on June 15. A topping out is traditionally held when the last beam is placed atop a structure during its constru

This new 10,000-square-foot home on Enfield Street in Boca Raton takes advantage of the view of the Intracoastal and is a finalist in HGTV’s online Ultimate House Hunt 2018. Photo provided

By Christine Davis

A new Boca Raton house at 899 Enfield St.

By Ron Hayes

BRINY BREEZES — Roy Miller was a child of the Great Depression who never forgot its lessons. You don’t throw broken things away, you fix them. You work hard and appreciate what you have.
“I remember once when I was cooking,” his son Roy

GULF STREAM — Jefferson Feigl Vander Wolk of Gulf Stream and Osterville, Mass., died peacefully on June 14 in Boynton Beach. He was 87.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 60 years, Betty Brown Vander Wolk; his daughter, Hope Morrison Vander Wolk o

By Emily J. Minor

HIGHLAND BEACH — Jack Lanthier, 87, a widower who retired to Highland Beach with the second love of his life and spent 23 happy years here exploring, volunteering and traveling, died June 21 from complications of Parkinson’s disease