McVoy Wins Big: Defeats Stafford With 57 Percent of the Vote

Lake Worth City Commissioner Christopher McVoy was re-elected with more than 58 percent of the vote, beating back an aggressive challenger in Jim Stafford, who got 42 percent.

With all 17 precincts reporting, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections had 4,419 votes for McVoy versus 3,242 votes for Stafford.

Double Shooting on South C Street

Two 18-year-olds were shot Saturday evening at a house on South C Street in Lake Worth. Names: Jefty Joseph and Diamond Garrett. Both are in critical condition at Delray Medical Center. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says "multiple suspects" began firing at the two shortly after they arrived at the home on the 1000 block of South C. They fled in a Honda Accord, but crashed it a few blocks away.

Murder on South L Street

The human remains found in a garbage bag in the front yard of an abandoned home on the 1300 block of South L Street on October 29 have been identified as those of 20-year-old Tiffany Nelson, who lived at 628 South L Street.

The victim had a history of drug arrests, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. She was last arrested in late September and charged with one count of possession of drug equipment.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has ruled the death a homicide, and is asking for the public's help in identifying possible suspects. Anyone with information about the murder of Tiffany Nelson is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Florida Still Number One in Mortgaged Homes in Foreclosure

The number has gone down, but Florida is still number one among the 50 states in the percentage of mortgaged homes in foreclosure. The Miami Herald has the story here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/31/3076329/florida-still-no-1-in-share-of.html

Body Found in Bag on Front Lawn of South L Street Home

Human remains were found this morning in a garbage bag in front of an abandoned home on South L Street in Lake Worth, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

Neighbors had called reporting a suspicious odor, and when detectives arrived, they found the remains. An autopsy will be performed to try to determine the identity and the cause of death.

Anyone who knows anything, or might have seen anything suspicious in or around the 1300 block of South L Street, is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

 

Murder on South J Street

A Hispanic man was found shot to death in the backyard of a home on the 700 block of South J Street in Lake Worth last night. Witnesses told police that there had been an altercation between a group of men, and that shots were then fired. The Palm Beach County Sherriff's Office found the man dead in the backyard of the home at 2:40 a.m.

Lake Worth Gay Leader Arrested, Charged With DUI

Tony Plakas, head of the Lake Worth not-for-profit gay community group, COMPASS, was arrested on October 11 after running a stop sign, almost hitting another SUV on North Dixie Highway, weaving into oncoming traffic, and running up on the curb on Forest Hill Road at Norton Avenue.

"Upon initial contact, the driver appeared to have a blank stare, as if looking through me," the Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy wrote in his report. He described the driver's eyes as "glossy" and "bloodshot red" and unable to focus. He also noted a strong odor of alchohol.

"The driver appeared very confused and advised that he was on his way to pick up his brother caused (sic) he received a call."

Plakas fumbled pulling out his driver's license and handed one to the deputy that wasn't his. It turned out to be his partner's. The deputy asked for the correct driver's license, which he had seen in the wallet, and after he had it in hand, proceeded to arrest Plakas for DUI, or Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs.

Plakas, age 40, is the so-called CEO of COMPASS, a not-for-profit organization that has a large community center in a bright blue building at 201 North Dixie Highway, just across from the new Publix.

"Compass Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Lake Worth and the Palm Beaches aims to diminish stereotypes by challenging long-standing misconceptions about the character of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community," it says on the organization's web site.

Plakas was processed and released on his own recognizance.

Robbery at El Presidente Supermarket

A man grabbed money from a cashier at El Presidente supermarket on 10^th Avenue North yesterday around 7 p.m. and fled, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The cashier was collecting money from registers and attempting to drop the money at the customer service office when a black man in his early to mid 20s, about 5’9” with a thin build, grabbed the money and ran out of the store. Witnesses say he was wearing a red polo shirt with white stripes, dark blue jeans and white sneakers. The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help in identifying him.

If anyone knows who he is, they are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Lake Worth High Homecoming Parade Today

Lake Worth High School's homecoming parade is today at 1 p.m. The parade will start at the high school, and proceed east on Lake Avenue to F Street, then turn around and head back west on Lucerne. Residents of the city are encouraged to park on side streets and watch.

The high school's homecoming football game is tonight at 7 p.m. when the Trojans meet Boca's Spanish River High School.

Black High School Kids Punching, Stealing Phones from White Students

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-10-10/news/fl-lake-worth-student-rob-20121010_1_teen-couple-deputies-cellphones

Looking Back at the Original Casino Just Before Opening

The Lake Worth Casino and Baths, not long before it opened in 1922

Here's the photo of the original Lake Worth Casino that's hanging on a wall in the Lake Worth Historical Musem. It appears to have been taken a few weeks, or months maybe, before the casino opened in 1922. It would be interesting to compare the quality of the materials used in the two buildings, that one and the one that's now about to open, and also the quality of the workmanship. You hear people in construction talking about better materials. And maybe there are better materials now. But there are a lot of worse materials, too, and a lot of things seem to conpire to drive people toward cheaper materials, thinking no one will notice. People notice. They do.

Morganti Blames Rusting Casino Hardware on the City

It's clear from last night's city commission meeting that no one has any idea what's happening with the new casino building at the beach or even what's been done up to now.

The pool was not part of the casino and beach project??  No.

The city was supposed to be maintaining the building starting in May??  Yes, maybe.

Who on the city staff is responsible for overseeing construction of the new building?  Silence.

The city commission met last night with representatives from Morganti, the general contractor, asked to appear to answer questions about the punch list of items to be completed before businesses can open at the casino next week.

But the big questions were along the lines of: What the heck is happening with all of the hardware on the building that is already either rusted over or corroded, and why is the new wood floor in the ballroom buckling?

Unbelievably, Morganti tried to blame the city for the hardware rusting, saying the city was notified that it was supposed to be maintaining the building. What maintaining? Are they saying the hardware needs a rub-down every evening?? There were no follow-up questions to determine what was meant by maintaining hardware and instead the discussion went down the road of trying to determine when the city was notified and by what means that it was responsible for maintaining the building once it was found to be "substantially complete" in May.

But Morganti and subcontractor REG also mentioned that the hardware purchased, including these rusted and corroded door handles and hinges seen on Lynn Anderson's blog, might have been defective, though they indicated they would be loathe to complain to the manufacturer(!) They also pointed to the $6 million dollar price tag on the building, indicating that a lower-quality product may have been used to bring the total cost of rebuilding the casino under the $6-million-dollar mark.

Nonsense. This hardware is junk, and it never should have been used under any circumstances. If the city needed to keep the project at $6 million, the building should have been made smaller. It is monstrous, not to mention incongruous, with a large Greco-Roman yellow building with an arcade reminiscent of Rome's Colosseum... and attached to it a hulking, two-story, Penicillin-pink structure, angular and modern and totally out of place here. The pink part should be lopped off immediately, with its pieces sold for scrap or on Craigslist and the money raised used to buy beautiful hardware to affix the doors to the building. Humans have known how to make quality hardware since the time of Christ. (No, wait, lots longer.) There's no excuse for using something so horridly cheap.

This is what we bought?? The new casino building, seen from the back, is monstrous and stylistically confused.

But back to the city of Lake Worth,... it was revealed at last night's meeting what a tremendous price is being paid for the rapid turnover of elected officials and city staff over recent years. Almost everyone involved in the original discussions about the construction of the new casino is now gone. We have a different mayor, different city manager and, for the most part, different staff overseeing the project.

William Waters, who oversees the building department, is one of the only staff members still around who was here when decisions about the building were being made.

At one point last night, a commissioner asked the city manager, Michael Bornstein, who on the staff is charged with overseeing the project. There was a long pause. Bornstein then mentioned a Ms. Margolis, who had just been mentioned by either Morganti or REG, who'd said something about her background in construction in Broward County.

"I dismissed her, and named a management team that I thought met all the requirements," said Bornstein. He didn't name the person who heads that team.

So, the elected representatives don't know who on the city staff is overseeing this project? They should be told, pronto. They need to know.

It is unclear and unknown who chose the hardware for the building. Morganti/REG said the hardware on the building was "selected according to 'standard of care' and according to the budget"and made a mention of consulting with "designers" to "come up with more suitable materials."

What designers? What manufacturers are going to be considered now? Is Morganti going to insist on American-made, or is Lake Worth going to get an only slightly less cheap Chinese-made product the second time around? These questions need to be answered.

Another point of serious concern is the wood floor in the ballroom, which is to be rented out for proms, weddings, reunions, lavish private parties, you name it, to bring in revenue for the city. Morganti says that water got into the building during Tropical Storm Isaac and sat on the floor for some time, causing it to buckle,... but that they're monitoring the floor's moisture content and hoping all will be just fine in the end.

The commissioners were dubious, with Mayor Pam Triolo saying she saw the floor buckling during a walk-through before Isaac, the outer bands of which hit Lake Worth on August 26 and 27, and Commissioner Andy Amoroso saying that the floor, in his opinion, should be replaced.

But all three commissioners present (McVoy and Mulvehill were both absent) seemed reluctant to press the contractor, with Triolo softening her questions with: "You're the experts."

Maybe. But it's our money, and our building.

Bomb Squad Removing WWII Grenades on North J

The bomb squad has been called to North J Street in Lake Worth to remove grenades that were found in the home of a World War II veteran.

The lawyer for the veteran, who passed away about five years ago, was recently cleaning out the veteran’s home after the death of the veteran's wife when he found the two grenades. He brought them to his office at 101 North J Street in Lake Worth and called the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office this morning to have them picked up. Sheriff’s deputies arrived and immediately evacuated the building, which sits just across J Street from the Post Office, between Lucerne and 2nd Avenue North. The bomb squad and arson squad were called to the building to remove the grenades safely.

The PBSO asks anyone in possession of any type of potentially explosive military device to not touch the items, but to immediately call law enforcement to have them removed properly.

Police Bust Prostitutes, Johns

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested a number of Lake Worth residents for prostitution and soliciting prostitution yesterday evening in what appears to have been a PBSO prostitution sting operation. Those arrested have home addresses at 18th Avenue North, North H Street, South K Street, North Federal Highway and 17th Avenue North in Lake Worth. It is unknown where they were when they were arrested.

Caught! PBSO Catches Bike Thief With K-9, Overwhelming Force

A burglar was nabbed after stealing a bike from a house on the 2400 block of North Lakeside Road this afternoon.

The homeowner caught the thief stealing the bike out of the garage and chased him in a car, calling police along the way. The thief ditched the bike and ran into the golf course, where he was chased down by K-9 police dogs arriving on scene, one of which sunk its teeth into the thief's arm.

The bike burglar tries to get to his feet after being treated for injuries occurred when he was 'arrested' by a K-9 unit.

At a little after 3 p.m., the thief was being attended to by paramedics on the lawn of a home at the corner of North Lakeside Drive and 13th Avenue North, who bandaged his arm and appeared to be monitoring his vital signs. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue loaded him onto an ambulance on a stretcher a short time later.

The poor lad, no doubt feeling a bit roughed up from the afternoon's events, is loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher while nursing his arm, which earlier found itself clutched in the jaws of an on-the-job police dog.

The crime occurred around 2 p.m. this afternoon, and brought scores of emergency response vehicles to this quiet corner of Lake Worth, including a fire truck, the aforementioned fire rescue ambulance, at least two K-9 units consisting of a dog and his human partner riding in large white SUVs, at least two unmarked vehicles, including one sedan and one SUV and a number of patrol cars driven by deputies and detectives. A helicopter was also dispatched to area to track the burglar from the skies. The scene was finally cleared just before 4 p.m.

Count the cars! There were so many emergency response vehicles at the corner of North Lakeside Drive and 13th Avenue North this afternoon that homeowners returning from work were rerouted.

The home that was burglarized, amazingly, has a sign prominently displayed in front for a security firm, indicating that the house has an alarm system. The thief, not caring to notice or too desperately in need of a bike (!) wasn't deterred.

A Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detective on the scene this afternoon says there will be an investigation to determine whether this bike thief, so effectively apprehended, is also responsible for other burglaries in the city of Lake Worth.

Every Time They Tell You the Housing Market is Improving...

...they're Wrong. It's not. At least not in Florida, where the number of foreclosures on the market is rising. There was an 11 percent increase in August. Read more here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/florida-foreclosure-inventory-rises-2012-10

'The King and I' Opens at the Lake Worth Playhouse on Thursday

"The King and I" opens at the Lake Worth Playhouse this week with a preview performance at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 4 and the opening night show at 8 p.m. on Friday, October 5.

Shows also on Saturday, October 6 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $22 per person.

Dinner packages start at $50 per person, and include a three-course dinner (starter, main course, dessert, soda, coffee, tax and tip) at Paradiso Ristorante preceding the show at 6 p.m.

"The King and I" runs through Sunday, October 21.

For tickets, go to www.lakeworthplayhouse.org, call 586-6410 or stop by the box office Monday through Friday at 713 Lake Avenue.

Men Impersonating Police Robbing Residents of Lake Worth

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding two men who’ve been impersonating police officers and robbing residents of Lake Worth.

The most recent incident occurred on September 21 when a local man was followed home by a beige Nissan Altima after getting off the Palm Tran Bus. As he was about to walk into his house on the 300 block of South L Street, a Hispanic man got out of the Nissan and approached, identifying himself as an “independent officer,” according to the sheriff’s report. He then forced the L Street resident into his home where he demanded cash.

About an hour and a half later, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 3800 block of Kirk Road, west of Lake Worth, where a dark-skinned Hispanic man had knocked on the door, identified himself as a police detective, and once inside, told the residents to hand over their money and cell phones. They refused, even after the man pointed a gun at them.

There were three similar incidents in the weeks prior, with the victims describing the thief as being possibly Puerto Rican or Cuban. Some say he was light-skinned, while others describe him as dark-skinned. They say he was wearing plain clothes (not a uniform) and a green hat on his head. In one incident, he wore a badge. All victims described the man as having a hand-held radio which he appeared to be using to communicate with someone.

On September 14, a Hispanic man conned his way into an apartment on the 400 block of South D Street, telling the residents he was a cop investigating a drug complaint. Once inside, he searched the residents and took their money from their wallets. He told them to wait for road patrol and a K9 unit that was coming to sweep the apartment for drugs, and left.

On September 7, a Hispanic man walked up to a resident who was outside his home on the 500 block of 6th Avenue South and said he was a police officer and looking for someone. He told the Lake Worth resident to go inside his home, then followed him inside where he told him to put his hands up against the wall and emptied his pockets.

On August 17, a Hispanic man approached three people sitting in their front yard in the 100 block of South F Street in the early evening. He identified himself as a law enforcement officer and said he was looking for a suspect. They told him they didn’t know the person and that he didn’t live there. The man then lifted his shirt, brandishing a semi-automatic pistol that was tucked into his waistband and a badge, and ordered all three into their home. He followed them in, and once inside, demanded their wallets. He left with the contents. The victims described the thief as a dark-skinned 6’ 2” Hispanic man with a medium-to-heavy build, with black hair, a goatee and wearing a yellow shirt and black or green pants.

If anyone has information about these suspects or may have been a victim themselves they are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Sketches of the two men imperonating police and robbing residents of Lake Worth (produced by PBSO, according to descriptions given by victims).

Obama Campaign Office Opens on Lake Avenue

A sandwich board sign appeared on Lake Avenue recently near the Sassy Kat Lingerie shop announcing the opening of a local Obama re-election campaign office. The office opened in the small building behind the pink lingerie store, which was, until recently, occupied by a hat shop.


Sassy Kat Lingerie, at 609 Lake Avenue in Lake Worth now has an Obama campaign sign in front of it, pointing to way to a back building that is the location of a local Obama campaign office.

 

The owner of both buildings is Herman Robinson, a member of the city's Historic Resources Preservation Board and organizer of the annual Fourth of July raft race in Bryant Park.

The new local headquarters of the president's re-election campaign.

The opening of the local campaign office in Lake Worth is reminiscent of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, when local campaign offices were opened in far-flung communities like Key West.

According to the Obama campaign web site, the Lake Worth office is one of 98 local campaign offices that have opened in Florida in the past few months.


Lake Worth Makes the Drudge Report

....for ridicule being heaped on the City Commission for 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day.

http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2012/09/21/former-commissioner-denounces-talk-like-a-pirate-day-declaration/

The Drudge Report is now getting 37 million hits a day from readers worldwide, and a billion hits a month, making it the top online source for news in the world.

Rash of Violent Robberies in Lake Worth: Old People Targeted, Gold Chains Ripped Off Necks, Hispanic Immigrants Targeted, Beaten

In the space of five days at the end of August and beginning of September, a number of white and Hispanic residents of Lake Worth were attacked, robbed and some beaten badly by between one and five black men. The incidents are alarming because they occurred in different parts of the city to average people who seem to have been just going about their lives.

Most notable is the ripping of gold chains from the necks of two different women in two different incidents -- one on 12th Avenue North and one on 15th Avenue North. Both women were at their homes at the time.

A yellow gold Hand of God
necklace, similar to the
one that was torn off a
woman's neck on August 28
by a robber.

The first of these crimes was on August 28 when a woman answered a knock on her door to have a yellow gold necklace ripped off her neck by a black man who was an acquaintance of her granddaughter. On August 29 an 86-year-old woman returning home from visiting her husband at the nursing home was robbed by a black man who smashed through her car window as she sat in her driveway, ripped the gold chain off her neck, grabbed her purse and sped off with his accomplice in a maroon car. Also on August 29, a black man grabbed a woman's purse containing $1200 and ran. On August 31, a black man attacked a woman walking out of Harry's Banana Boat on North Dixie Highway in Lake Worth, pushed her down and ran off with her purse. But it gets worse.

In the early morning of Saturday, September 1, a Hispanic man walking on 12th Avenue South had five black guys ages 18-20 pull up beside him and ask for a cigarette. Then one jumped out of the car and took a swing at him. The Hispanic man ran down the alley and the black guy who'd swung at him chased him, with the four others following in the car. They caught up to him and beat him with their hands and kicked him with their feet, then took his wallet, phone and $10.

The same group of five black guys did the same to a white guy on North Dixie Highway an hour later, again beating the man with their fists and kicking him with their feet to get his cell phone and money. Sheriff's deputies spotted their car shortly after and arrested all five. They denied that they robbed and beat the men, but when two were placed in a room together, one said to the other in Haitian Creole: "I can't believe we got caught, when we had such a good night." As of today, two of the five had been released on bond ($10,000 and $11,000), with three still being held at the Palm Beach County Jail.


Nathan Louis-Fils, age 18, of West Palm Beach, was arrested and charged with
two counts of robbery and two counts of battery for attacking, beating and stealing money
and phones from two Lake Worth men on Sept. 1. He was released after posting an $11,000 bond. 

That same day, September 1, two Hispanic immigrants living in Lake Worth were beaten in two separate instances by black men, one of them savagely.

 

A man named Pancho Pablo told deputies a black man he met at the Tropical food market on Lake Avenue in the early afternoon had invited him back to his home to drink a beer. Once inside the home, the man turned on him, saying, "Hey, Mexican, m------ f-----, give me money." Pancho said he gave the man $20 out of fear for his life, but told him: "I'm Guatemalan, not Mexican," at which point the black man punched him in the eye, knocking him down. When he tried to stand up, the man punched him in the face again, knocking him to the floor again. After a scuffle, he managed to get away, but the man followed him, yelling: "Come here, Mexican."

Had enough? So have I. But there is one more incident, and it is maybe the worst. In the early morning on September 1, a 32-year-old immigrant told deputies through a translator that while walking towards his home on the 100 block of South A Street, a black man came out of nowhere and punched him in the face with a closed fist. He fell to the ground where 2-3 more black men punched and kicked him repeatedly while yelling, "Give me your money!" The immigrant began to lose consciousness as he was being beaten and remembered lying face-down on the concrete while the men dragged his body from the street to a nearby house where they left him. He said that he regained consciousness some time later and made his way to his home on South C Street where his family called the sheriff's office. The police report describes the man as having swelling to his entire face and top of his head, with his eyes swollen shut. He had cuts all over his face, teeth broken and knocked out and scrapes on his torso from being dragged. The man said he had been unconsious for most of the day following the attack. His wallet containing $200 had been taken, along with his Mexican ID card and blue Nokia phone. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. The five who were arrested for two other attacks in the early morning of September 1 were not charged in this case.



Frantz Louinasse, age 19, of West Palm Beach, threw the first punch and helped
chase, beat and rob two men early the morning of September 1. He was released after
paying a $10,000 bond.

The information on all of these incidents was contained in a report that was made available to The Lake Worth Sun this month by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The Lake Worth Sun thanks the sheriff's office for providing this information, but wants to ask, now that our worst fears have been realized -- What Can be Done?

The Lake Worth Sun would like to suggest that the most important thing is to speak with moral courage and without malice and insist that the community address this issue and find a way to protect our citizens from violent and unprovoked attacks.

86-Year-Woman Followed to Her Home, Robbed by Two Men

An 86-year-old Lake Worth woman who'd been visiting her husband at the nursing home on North A Street at the end of August was followed by two black men in a maroon car who smashed the window of her locked car as she sat it in in her driveway and ripped the necklace off her neck, grabbed her purse from the seat and a suitcase from the back seat and fled.

The horrible crime ocurred in the driveway of the woman's home on 12th Avenue North in Lake Worth on the afternoon of  Wednesday, August 29. It was described in a crime report that was recently provided to the Lake Worth Sun by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.

The woman told sheriff's deputies she'd noticed a suspicious maroon-colored vehicle while she was at the Avante center at 2501 North A Street in Lake Worth visiting her husband. She said that the men in the car appeared to be following her home. She pulled down a side street to let the car pass. It did, and so she continued to her house.

The woman said she'd gotten out of her car and was at her front door about to go inside when she saw the maroon car turn down her street. She went back to her car, got in and locked the doors. One of the men approached the car on foot from the rear on the passenger side, asking if she lives in the home. When she did not repsond, he smashed the rear passenger-side window, reached inside, grabbed the necklace that was around the 86-year-old woman's neck and tore if off, and then grabbed her purse and a suitcase from the back seat. The men then fled in the maroon car as one of the woman's neighbors bravely drove after him. The neighbor was able to track the vehicle to 10th Avenue North, and then onto I-95 northbound where he lost sight of it.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call police immediately. The phone number of the sheriff's substation in Lake Worth is (561) 586-1611.

Judge: YES, Clemens Won State Senate Race

A circuit judge heard Mack Bernard's challenge to Jeff Clemens' declared win in the state senate race yesterday, and ultimately confirmed Clemens as the winner, though by less than the number of votes determined by Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher:

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/lawyers-mack-bernard-palm-beach-elections-supervisor-not-counting-every-democratic-vote

Palm Beach County Courthouse Evacuated After White Powder Found

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/suspicious-white-powder-found-at-county-courthouse/nSDrT/

Black Teenagers Assault Car on Lake Worth Road

A woman driving on Lake Worth Road just east of the gas station on September 2 had her white Mazda pelleted by rocks or some other object thrown by three black teenagers who were walking on the sidewalk. All three were male, she told the sheriff's deputy who responded, and one of them was wearing all white. She said she saw one of the three "make a throwing motion"  and then heard a loud noise in her car. The deputy saw a small gouge in the window and small scratches on the glass.

The incident happened just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, September 2, east of the gas station and close to the Tri-Rail train tracks on Lake Worth Road. A sheriff's deputy searched the area, but could not locate the suspects.

Brogues Owner Tackles Purse Robber!

Brogues Down Under at 621 Lake Avenue

The owner of Brogues Down Under and his bartender chased down a man who grabbed a girl's purse inside the bar two weeks ago, tackling him and holding him until a sheriff's deputy arrived and handcuffed him.

Rod Regan, who owns Brogues Down Under with his family, and his bartender Mark Yokum, are the heroes of this story, chasing robber Benjamin Kairall and the pink purse belonging to customer Britnee Epps down South K Street until they caught up with him.

Nice work, guys!

This happened on Wednesday, August 29. The Lake Worth Sun just obtained the report of the incident from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office this week.

Miss Epps told the deputy that she'd been sitting at the bar with her purse directly in front of her when the man grabbed it and ran.

The man (Benjamin Kairall) had been trying to pay for his $14 bar tab with a credit card, which was declined. He told the bartender he wanted to go to his car to find "another method of payment," but instead grabbed the pink purse and ran.

Think Your Assessment is Wrong?

Deadline Nears For Challenging Proposed Property Tax Notice

Petitions Must Be Filed By September 17

Palm Beach County taxpayers have until September 17 to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) to challenge their property’s market value, classification, or an exemption. 

Taxpayers have three options to file VAB petitions: online using myVAB, in person at the Clerk’s Governmental Center or branch locations, or by mail to 301 North Olive Avenue, Room 203, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. 

For more information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions for the Value Adjustment Board.

Best regards,
Sharon R. Bock, Esq.
Clerk & Comptroller, Palm Beach County

Lake Worth to Spend More Than it Brings In

Pam Triolo, mayor of Lake Worth
and a long-time Republican,
voted to approve this budget

Why is the city planning to spend more in the next fiscal year than it will be bringing in? And why are Republican, supposedly pro-business, pro-fiscal sanity city commissioners all for this?

City Commissioner Scott Maxwell jumped the gun at last night's city commission meeting and proposed to vote to approve the almost $29 million city budget as presented and move to schedule a second reading (as required by law) later this month even though the budget proposes to spend almost a half a million more than the city plans to bring in during the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1.

Oh, it's technically a balanced budget, because the big $423,000 hole is filled by taking that amount out of the reserve fund. That leaves a little over $2 million in the reserve fund. Fine, you say. But according to the five-year budget projection provided by city staff, that reserve fund is emptied out a little more than a year from now and by 2015 is showing a negative balance of $3 million.

Only outgoing city commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill seemed at all perturbed by this.

"We're just postponing the diasaster...is what is essentially happening," she told fellow commissioners.

She also questioned why the amount of money proposed to go to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is going up and up in future years when the city of Lake Worth was promised that the total contract amount will go down, with savings to the city over the next few years.

Police and Fire Pensions Shooting Up

Lake Worth is paying more than $14 million this year to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for police protection. Three years from now, the city is expecting to be paying $16 million to the PBSO, according to the city's five-year budget projection.

The increase, says city finance manager Steve Carr, has to do "totally" with pensions. The cost of paying out pensions to retired PBSO officers is expected to jump from just over $2 million this year to almost $3.5 million three years from now.

Those pension promises were made by PBSO. But Lake Worth has options, reminded Carr, as the amount Lake Worth pays to the PBSO will be revisited at the end of this year.

Hot Topic: 200 Block of North Lakeside Drive

Below is an artist's rendering of the home that Cabrera Construction wants to build on the 200 block of North Lakeside Drive. The city's Planning Department is having a public meeting TONIGHT at 6 p.m. at City Hall to discuss.

Jupiter Police Officer in Obama Motorcade Struck and Killed on I-95

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/jupiter-officer-injured-as-motorcycle-in-obama-mot/nR6mc/

Work Slowdown at The Lake Worth Sun

The Lake Worth Sun is slowing down, with more infrequent postings while the editor spends a couple of months working furiously to establish a small neighborhood pre-school in the downtown Lake Worth area. I'm now at Step One with the city of Lake Worth and the Palm Beach County Health Department. Step One is where you get deep enough into reading through regulations and city code and go: "Oh Man, this is going to be one gigantic pain in the rear."

All I want to do is establish a small, wonderful little environment where my child and other Lake Worth children can spend their days. To do this, I'm having to learn about zoning, and parking and trees and irrigation and flooring and so many other things. But, Ok. It will all be worth it in the end. And when it's set up, the Lake Worth Sun will return with greater strength, with more sections, more topics covered in greater depth and breadth and in paper form, ..if all bank acconts are not emptied by that time!

To read more about what is provisionally called The Bryant Park Pre-School, click here.                  
                                                                        --  Margaret Menge, Editor

BREAKING: Cops Arrest Bus Thug

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE," to the media for reporting the story of the man who ripped a gold chain off a bus rider's neck Aug. 21 in between 10th Ave and 4th Ave. South in Lake Worth.

"Due to your coverage, witnesses came forward and identified the suspect as Jerome Smith Jr.  He was arrested and booked into PBC for Robbery by Sudden Snatching," writes PBSO in their release.

Smith's city of residence is listed as West Palm Beach. He and two friends were riding the Palm Tran heading north on Dixie Hwy. on Aug. 21 when Smith ripped the chain off a 32-year-old man's neck. He and his buddies jumped off when the bus stopped at 4th Avenue South and took off running.

Burglaries Spreading Into Lake Worth's Finer Neighborhoods

People who live on Lakeside Drive and Palmway have felt secure in the knowledge that criminals don't go that far east. Not burglars, anyway. Well, that's no longer the case. A home on the 300 block of South Lakeside Drive was burglarized on Friday night a little after 9 p.m. See the crime blotter at right.

The initial crime report does not give the exact address, say whether someone was home or not or list what was taken. The Lake Worth Sun will work to get more information from the PBSO at the start of this week.

Burglaries seem to be taking place now in almost all neighborhoods of Lake Worth. On Friday afternoon, a home on the 500 block of North L Street was burglarized, and on Thursday, a home on 18th Avenue North, a home on Barber Drive (off 6th Avenue South) and a home on North D Street were all burglarized.

And what about those School Closings??

Last Friday, Tropical Storm Isaac was projected to hit the Florida Keys last Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane and then head to the Florida mainland, most likely to hit Naples at about 8 a.m. Monday morning. The radar showed a huge storm, with outer bands almost certain to whip up all of South Florida. And yet...on Friday, and even on Saturday, and still on SUNDAY (yes)...the Palm Beach County School District was saying there would be school on Monday morning. How bizarre was that??

The district did not actually cancel school on Monday until after 1 a.m. on Monday, after a very raucus storm all day on Sunday, flooding starting and bad, bad weather expected to continue all day Monday. What could they possibly have been thinking? And what could they have been thinking when they then waited until late on Monday to cancel classes for a SECOND day in a row due to intense flooding?

A single father here in Lake Worth said he woke up around 5 a.m. on Monday to turn on the television and see that schools were closed. He could not arrange for child care for his two daughters on Monday, or Tuesday - not with that kind of notice - so could not go to work. As a carpenter, he doesn't get paid for days when he doesn't work, so will get about half his normal weekly pay today.

Why couldn't the school district look at the same radar everyone else in Lake Worth was seeing and realize that we were going to be under some extreme weather conditions on Monday? It's a mystery.

Tornado Lake Worth!

Here's a picture, below, of the fence ripped out of the ground by the tornado that spun through the 1200 block of J and K streets on Sunday afternoon. Metal awnings across the street were also wrecked. There was a TV report of the tornado ripping up a large tree at 16th Avenue North.

There was a tornado watch in effect for all of Palm Beach County beginning late Sunday night and into Monday morning. But the tornado had already come through Lake Worth and gone on its way hours earlier.



The fence that was uprooted by Sunday's tornado, looking west from North K Street, with 12th Avenue North at left.
 

PBSO Looking for Guys Who Ripped Gold Chain Off Neck of Bus Rider

On August 21, three young black men got on a Palm Tran bus at 10th Avenue South in Lake Worth. One of them ripped a gold chain off the neck of a 32-year-old man who was on the bus and the three jumped off the bus at 4th Avenue South and Dixie and ran off. Did you see them? If so, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.

Lake Worth Got Soaked!

South Lakeside Drive was more than blustery on Sunday. The wind blew at the trees so harshly that the trees roared back at it and all through the neighborhood you heard nothing but ruckus.

Schools in Palm Beach County were closed for the second day in a row today as everybody recovered from yesterday's soaking and Sunday's storm. Lake Worth Road was horribly flooded around Military Trail yesterday afternoon with the entire Office Depot and IHOP parking lot under water. Employees said they'd never seen the water as high in more than five years.

No flooding was witnessed in the downtown Lake Worth area. Chalk it up as another good reason to resist moving west!

Day Without Sun

The sun never came out today in Lake Worth, and there was no sunset. The sky just got a bit darker than it already was. The wind lashed at windowpanes and whipped this way and that all day long, with the rain coming down in torrents and blowing right into the house if you dared open the window or door after many hours trapped inside to see what things might be looking like out there.

There was a report of a tornado at 12th Avenue North in between J and K Streets. A woman living on K Street said she laid down to take a nap in the late afternoon when she heard a high whistle and heard a loud bang. She jumped up and, grabbing her two dogs, ran into the bathroom. When she went outside a short time later she saw that the neighbor's fence had been uprooted and another neighbor, who was outside, said he saw the twister come through.

Calm Before the Storm

The hot, humid weather broke last night with a heavy storm that was followed by cooling breezes overnight, a kind of cool that is uncharacteristic for this time of year.

This morning has been unusually calm, with tall trees standing motionless and the sky clouded over.

At the weather station in Lake Clarke Shores, the temperature reading shows it is only 80.4 degrees. In last August, in the subtropics.

City Getting Ready for Isaac

"Now is the time for residents to review their emergency plans and make any necessary preparations," the city of Lake Worth says on the top of its web site today. www.lakeworth.org

 

Residents are encouraged to call the city's hotline at 561-586-1791 for updates and information in the event the storm hits here.

Palm Beach County's hurricane preparedness web page is http://www.pbcgov.com/dem/hurricane/.

---

 

Tropical Storm Warning Now in Effect for all South Florida

At 11:30 p.m. on Friday, the National Weather Service issued a Tropical Storm warning for all of South Florida, including Palm Beach County. High winds are expected within the next 36 hours as Hurricane Isaac crosses over the Florida Keys and heads toward the mainland. Southwest Florida is under a Hurricane Watch.

http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=FLZ173&warncounty=FLC086&firewxzone=FLZ173&local_place1=&product1=Tropical+Storm+Watch

Silver Alert: Have You Seen This Man in Lake Worth?

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help finding a missing and possibly endangered adult.

 

Antonio Oroczo, age 70, left his home at 4387 State Drive in Lake Clarke Shores at 8 a.m. yesterday to go fishing, possibly in the Lake Worth Lagoon. He hasn't been seen or heard from since.

He was driving his 2009 white Toyota Tacoma with Florida license plate # K689QM. He was wearing a black T-shirt, jeans and a hat. Oroczo is 5' 8", weighs 180 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. He has dementia and takes medication for diabetes.
 

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office considers Antonio Oroczo a missing/endangered adult. If anyone should come into contact with him they are urged to call 688-3400.

Isaac Strengthens

Tropical storm 'Isaac' weakened this morning, but as predicted, it has now strengthened, with winds blowing at 45 miles an hour. This morning the wind speed was 40 miles per hour.... Which might not seem that bad. But Florida residents should be reminded that police, ambulance and fire do not normally go out on the roads when winds are 40 miles an hour or above. So if the storm's headed this way and you choose to stick around, you're on your own.

'Isaac' Could be Headed This Way

Tropical Storm 'Isaac' weakened slightly overnight, but is expected pick up steam this afternoon and become Hurricane Isaac as it prepares to hit the Dominican Republic and Haiti tomorrow afternoon and Cuba on Saturday.

The five-day tracking models show Isaac most likely to hit the U.S. around Islamorada in the Florida Keys on Sunday overnight, and continue up towards Tampa, where the Republican National Convention is scheduled to start Monday morning. But almost all of Florida is now in the cone of uncertainty, and the storm could very well shift slightly and hit Miami, continuing north to Palm Beach County.

 

 

If you don't have a battery-operated radio, now might be a good time to run out and buy one. Just in case. Saturday might be a busy shopping day around here, especially out at Home Depot. Or wait. No need to sound the bells yet as this could very well spin off into the Gulf, or fall apart over Cuba.

Tropical Storm 'Isaac' to Become Hurricane by Tomorrow

The tropical storm that's headed this way is expected to become a hurricane by tomorrow and could hit the Florida Keys and skirt the state's west coast or turn slightly east and hit South Florida early Monday morning. See the National Weather Service tracking map below.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/22/2962721/issac-better-organized-still-threat.html

Architect John Szerdi Wins Commission Seat

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/lake-worth-architect-unopposed-in-election-wins-co/nRGnW/

Here's Szerdi's home, below, which he and his wife restored. It had been chopped up into apartments. They turned it back into a single-family house. They did a great job, don't you think?

The Szerdi home on South Palmway

Maxwell to Landlords: Get This Place Cleaned UP!




Commissioner Scott Maxwell went on a tear at tonight's city commission meeting about "nuisance properties" and their negligent owners saying we have to cut the grass, get the couch off the front lawn, and get the farm animals out of the backyard!

"We've got to light a fire, no pun intended, under some of these landlords' rear ends," said Maxwell, adding that he and the other commissioners get half a dozen complaints from residents of the city every day about derelict properties.

What's wrong with farm animals??

There are 16,000 properties in Lake Worth, and 13,828 households, 7,243 of which are owner-occupied and some 5,000 of which are rentals.

Many of the rental properties have out-of-town landlords, said Williams Waters, the city's community development director. Some of these, he said, are hard to reach, by phone or letter, making it difficult for Lake Worth's code enforcement department to notify property owners of code violations and, if the violations are not resolved, bring the owners before a special magistrate.

The city took the bold step of demolishing a nuisance property for the first time ever last month. It was a home on the 700 block of South Lakeside Drive that had been neglected for so long that it was actually falling apart. The lot is now cleared.

SUN Editorial: Did Bucher 'Win' This for Clemens?

As I wrote right before the August 14 primary election, Susan Bucher is way too political to be the Supervisor of Elections. My concern was heightened by the events of this past weekend, when Bucher organized and supervised the State Senate District 27 recount that resulted in Jeff Clemens squeaking out a 17-point win only because many ballots were tossed due to poll worker error. The poll workers, of course, work for Bucher.

Bucher is a former Democrat State Representative who was elected Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections four years ago and was just re-elected on August 14. This spring, she refused the state's request to send notices asking people on the voter roll in Palm Beach County who once self-identified as non-citizens to confirm that they are now citizens and therefor eligible to vote.

Susan Bucher, Supervisor of Elections

She wants non-citizens to remain on the voter roll, clearly. But that's for general elections, when most non-citizens will happily vote Democrat.

In the Clemens-Bernard race, there's something even more interesting going on, however.

The race seems to have all boiled down to the issue of education, with one candidate, Clemens, siding with the teachers -- doing whatever is necessary at all times to put more money in the pockets of teachers and their union organizers and expensive lawyers....and the other candidate, Mack Bernard, supporting prayer in schools and vouchers so that people stuck in horrible school districts can still arrange for their children to have a decent education.

In the legislature, Bucher was a staunch opponent of vouchers. Maybe the staunchest. Here she is in March of 2003 railing against a bill that would have given educational vouchers to children of military veterans (as quoted in the Brevard County newspaper Florida Today):

"A voucher is a voucher is a voucher, whether it's wrapped in a flag or in a corporate scholarship. This is pure and simple, stealing from our public school dollars."

And now here is Susan Bucher, managing a very tight recount that has many probable Bernard votes discarded to keep Clemens on top. So it's all very suspicious and very disturbing considering the state of schools in Florida, and in Palm Beach County in particular, where kids who can't do basic math or write decent sentences are given high school diplomas and sent on their way.

Did Susan Bucher rig the Clemens-Bernard race? I don't know. She was spending quite a lot of time at the recount last Saturday conferring off to the side with the Clemens lawyer, Ron Meyer, who is also the attorney for the Florida teacher's union, which will go to war to make sure teachers are assured of keeping their jobs no matter what.

And I see that Susan Bucher has a history of manipulating facts (see link below) to achieve a desired result: It seems she lied about her place of residence every year she was a member of the Florida House in order to qualify as a candidate. Yes. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated. Yet voters chose her to be the one to count the votes. This just proves we need a different sort of press around here.

Meanwhile, if I were Bernard, I'd challenge this election result in court.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/elections/sfl-officialresidence,0,3403791.flash


                                                                                              -- Margaret Menge, Editor

Crime and Pulling PBSO Teeth

The latest crime blotter is posted at right, with a Robbery early this morning on the 100 block of South C Street. I've requested more information because...I'm assuming people want to know: Was the guy armed? Is he running around on our streets? I also have requests in for more information on the Theft, Burglary and Assault. But haven't heard back yet. I have also heard nothing related to the status of my request of one week ago for a list of calls for service and all reports of crimes completed for the month as of August 14. PBSO says they're operating at a "bare bones" staffing level here. So maybe that's the reason. I don't know.

The Sun Gives Rick Scott an 'A' for Responsiveness

Did you know you can call Gov. Rick Scott's office in Tallahassee and a real live person will pick up after about two rings? True. The nice polite real live person will then quickly take down your name and concern and send an e-mail to a specific state agency with an order for the appropriate person there to call you in reponse to your inquiry ASAP. Now that's service!

Executive Office of Governor Rick Scott
400 S Monroe St
Tallahassee, FL 32399
(850) 488-7146

http://www.flgov.com/open_government/

Clemens Wins Recount by 17, Bernard May Take it to Court

After a two-day recount, Jeff Clemens emerged the winner of the State Senate primary by 17 votes.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-bernard-clemens-recount-20120818,0,3334327.story

However....the lawyer for his opponent, Mack Bernard, said he was very concerned by the number of votes that were rejected because of poll worker error, not voter error and indicated Bernard may challenge the result in court.

It should be noted that the lawyer for Bernard is a former Republican state legislator, while the lawyer for Clemens, Ron Meyer, is a biggie Democrat lawyer who represents the teacher's union, and sued last year to overturn the Gov. Rick Scott law ending teacher tenure in the state of Florida. In his campaign, Bernard emphasized education and the need for educational reform.

Thousands of Ballots Still to be Counted in Clemens-Bernard Recount

The hand recount of all ballots cast in the District 27 State Senate race was going very slowly today, with Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher announcing that only one eighth of the ballots had been counted by about 1 p.m. Boxes containing thousands of ballots were still piled high and waiting to be counted as of 4 p.m.

Boxes of ballots waiting to be counted at the Supervisor of Elections warehouse in Riviera Beach

The hand recount began at 11:30 a.m. today with about 40 employees of the Supervisor of Elections office reviewing each paper ballot, and an observer for each pair from the Jeff Clemens campaign and the Mack Bernard campaign sitting behind them, watching with hawk eyes.

Two employees of the Supervisor of Elections, right, review each ballot by hand, watched carefully by representatives of the Bernard campaign (in glasses) and the Clemens campaign (in tie).

As of Thursday, the official count was 12,150 votes for Jeff Clemens, a former mayor of Lake Worth, and 12,116 votes for Mack Bernard, a former City Commissioner from Delray Beach, a difference of just 34 votes. By the end of yesterday's machine recount, Clemens' lead had dropped to just 29 votes. Both Clemens and Bernard are Democratic State Representatives who threw their hats in the ring for the new District 27 State Senate seat.

Jeff Clemens, right, talks in hushed tones with his associates on Saturday afternoon

The Supervisor of Elections Office told The Lake Worth Sun yesterday (and The Lake Worth Sun reported it) that there would only be a hand recount of the "over" and "under" votes -- the ballots where the machine was unable to determine which candidate the voter intedended to vote for, either because there was some sort of marking in front of both candidates (over vote) or no marking detectable for either (under vote).

However.....Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told The Sun today a full count of all ballots was being conducted, and that a hand recount of all ballots cast is standard procedure, as machines can make mistakes.

"This ensures that we're viewing publicly the overs and unders," she said.



Ron Meyer, the lawyer for Clemens, talks with Susan Bucher, the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections

After a lunch break in mid-afternoon, both the Clemens camp and the Bernard camp huddled with their lawyers to review the conditions under which observers may contest a ballot.

Clemens, seated and eating lunch, huddles with his people and their election lawyer, Ron Meyer, to review how and when to contest ballots.

Jeff Clemens was at the warehouse observing the recount most of the afternoon while his opponent, Mack Bernard, was absent. One of his supporters said he was at church and would be by later in the afternoon.


Mack Bernard's lawyer, in grey suit on right, reviews with volunteers under what circumstances to contest ballots

Loretta Sharpe and her son, Brian, both of Lake Worth, were there to observe the count. "He didn't go anything as mayor, and he hasn't done anything as a state representative," Sharpe said of Clemens, explaining why she campaigned for Mack Bernard.


Loretta Sharpe of Lake Worth talks to another Mack Bernard supporter while Jeff Clemens and his associate confer in the background

Jeff Clemens, a one-term mayor of Lake Worth, said he's not placing bets on the outcome of the hand recount, and indicated he thought it could go either way. At 9:30 p.m. on August 14, the day of the primary campaign, Clemens led by 318 votes. By Thursday his lead had dropped to just 34. The total number of votes cast in the race, and the total number being counted by hand today, is 24,266.

All contested ballots are to be reviewed by the Canvassing Board, which was seated in a separate room with glass observation windows. According to an August 16 letter from the state Division of Elections, the election results, including the machine recount and the hand recount, must be certified by Tuesday at 5 p.m.

The Canvassing Board waits to review contested ballots in a separate room

Street Lights Out at Major Intersections in Lake Worth

ALERT - The street lights at the top of the 10th Avenue exit off I-95 are out, as are one of the two sets of street lights on 10th Avenue in between I-95 and Dixie, as well as the street lights at the corner of 10th and Dixie and also the street lights at Dixie and 8th and Dixie and 7th Avenues. Street lights are working where Lake and Lucerne cross Dixie and all along Lake Avenue. Cars were proceeding slowly and with caution through all intersections and no accidents were observed as of 4:15 p.m.



Lights out at the corner of 10th and Dixie

Second Lake Worth 19-Year-Old Arrested for Lantana Shooting

Nice couple of guys we had living in our sweet town:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/second-suspect-19-charged-in-lantana-shooting/nRDbZ/

It's ON! Clemens-Bernard Recount Starts Today



State Rep. Mack Bernard

The county's canvassing board will meet at 1 p.m. today to start a machine recount of votes cast in the Jeff Clemens-Mack Bernard State Senate District 27 primary election.

The recount will take place at the warehouse belonging to the Supervisor of Elections office at 7835 Central Industrial Avenue in Riviera Beach.

The machine recount is expected to be completed by the end of the day, according to Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher's office, and will be followed by a hand count of the "over and under votes" tomorrow, Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

As of yesterday, the final count was 12,150 for Clemens and 12,116 for Bernard, a difference of just 34 votes.

According to a letter from the state's Division of Elections, the final election results will be certified by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 21. You can read that letter on the Supervisor of Elections website:
http://www.pbcelections.org/