RPB ZONERS OK OUTDOOR SEATING SEE STORY, PAGE 2
HORSES AND FIREWORKS DON’T MIX SEE COLUMN, PAGE 18
T H E W E L L I N GTO N
TOWN-CRIER
Wellington’s Hometown Newspaper
INSIDE Opinion
Volume 30, Number 26 June 25 - July 2, 2009
102 YEARS YOUNG!
Leave Fireworks To The Professionals
Every year, the Fourth of July holiday leads to many injuries and some deaths associated with improper use of fireworks. In Florida, fireworks exist in a gray area of the law. They are easy to obtain, but not exactly legal to set off — and extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. The bottom line is that fireworks belong with the professionals. Page 4
News Wellington JCC Closing But Will Continue Programs
The Wellington branch of the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Palm Beaches is closing its doors at the end of the month but is not going away. Representatives of the branch said the JCC would continue to offer programs and organize events in the western communities in partnership with local synagogues and other community organizations. Page 2
Local Youngsters Star In Production Of ‘Willy Wonka Jr.’
Five local student thespians will join a cast of 18 additional summer drama campers this weekend to put on the show Willy Wonka Jr. at the Mos’Art Theatre & Coffee House in Lake Park. Page 5
Three Area High Schools See Grades Dip In State Report
Three high schools serving the western communities dropped a letter grade this year, according to the annual school grades released last week by the Florida Department of Education. Page 7
Wellington Library Celebrates The County’s Centennial
The Wellington library featured a presentation by “Centennial Sue” on Monday. Ages five and up celebrated Palm Beach County’s birthday with a trip back 100 years hosted by turn-of-the-century schoolteacher Centennial Sue (a.k.a. Suzy Hammer). Page 10 THIS WEEK’S INDEX NEWS ...................... 2 - 10 OPINION ......................... 4 CRIME NEWS ................. 6 CALENDAR ................... 11 SCHOOLS ................... 142 PEOPLE ......................... 14 BUSINESS ................... 15 SPORTS ........................ 17 COLUMNS .................... 19 Visit Us On The Web At WWW.GOTOWNCRIER.COM
Gertrude Wollner Kraft of Loxahatchee turned 102 years old on June 19, celebrating with family and friends at a party hosted by her granddaughter Linda Burton. A lifetime baseball fan, Kraft spends her days on the back porch doing crossword puzzles and word searches followed by her evening ritual of watching her favorite television show, Everybody Loves Raymond, and playing cards with Burton’s family. Pictured above, Kraft celebrates with her family members. STORY & PHOTOS, PAGE 9 PHOTO BY CANDACE MARCHSTEINER/TOWN-CRIER
Wildlife Officials Cut Short Bear’s Wellington Vacation By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report A 310-pound black bear that wandered through Wellington this week is being relocated to Osceola National Forest in northern Florida, according to state wildlife officials. The bear, spotted several times since Sunday in the Aero Club and Binks Forest areas of northwestern Wellington, was immobilized by a tranquilizer dart on Wednesday after wildlife officials found it near Southern Blvd. south of Palms West Hospital. Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers discovered the bear had previously been captured in Weston on May 31, then tagged and released in Collier County 100 miles from Wellington, according to Fish & Wildlife information officer Gabriella Ferraro. On Tuesday, wildlife officers set up a baited bear trap made from a length of metal drainpipe, which failed to attract the bear. David Hitzig, executive director of the
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, said the bear was found the next day making itself at home in a spot along Southern Blvd. near the C-51 Canal. “That area between two cypress trees had saw palmetto, coco plum, strangler fig, sabal palm and grapevines,” Hitzig said during a Wednesday press conference. “He had his own little hotel room.” While the bear seemed interested in staying put, the location offered challenges to those tasked with removing it. “We were faced with some tough issues,” Hitzig said. “We had a canal on one side and Southern Blvd. on the other. At one point it decided to come up to the guard rail.” Ferraro said that was when wildlife officers decided to tranquilize it. “That became a safety issue for the motorists and for the bear,” she told the TownCrier Thursday. “At one point it was ready to go over the guard rail.” Hitzig said he came within
eight to 12 feet of the bear at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to get a good shot with a tranquilizer dart gun. “The tiniest leaf can turn the dart,” he explained. They were also concerned that the tranquilized bear might go into the canal, Hitzig said. Bears are good swimmers but can drown if tranquilized. Wildlife officers had a helicopter in the air to track it if it bolted and a boat in the canal in case they had to pull it out of the water. Five wildlife officials lifted the bear into the trap and cooled it down with bags of ice. Ferraro thanked Wellington residents who had cooperated with wildlife officials by taking their garbage cans, pet food and bird feeders indoors. “We are pleased that this bear did not run into trouble with residents of Wellington,” she said. “A bear that doesn’t have any food will likely move on. It was a good thing that there were no negative encounters with humans or any property damage.”
Bear Caught — The tranquilized black bear, being kept cool by bags of ice, lies in a trap before being relocated to the Osceola National Forest. PHOTO BY RON BUKLEY/TOWN-CRIER
Serving Palms West Since 1980
Wellington OKs New, Pro-Business Zoning Category By Mark Lioi Town-Crier Staff Report The Wellington Village Council approved a pair of measures Tuesday designed to make the village a more inviting presence for medium and large businesses with high-paying jobs. One ordinance creates a new “flexible use” zoning classification aimed at attracting clean industrial activity, while the other establishes an expedited permitting process for businesses looking to expand or set up in the village bringing increased employment opportunities. The new zoning classification, called “Flexible Use Zoning Employment Center,” does away with two previous classifications, “Light Industrial District” and “Planned Industrial Park District,” Planner Bill Nemser told the council. “This is designed essentially to be a portable economic development plan to encourage location of new businesses here and relocation of existing businesses into the village,” he said. The new classification would be compatible with the village’s Medical Commercial, Mixed Use, Industrial and Community Commercial land-use designations. Village staff members have proposed the rezoning of the village’s two existing industrial parks, Wellington Commerce Park East and West off Pierson Road, to the new classification. Viola Sanchez, a representative of the parks’ parent company PS Business Parks, told the council the commerce parks are currently suf-
fering a vacancy rate of 16 percent and are seeking more flexibility. “This would just offer us a little bit more of an alternative and options,” she said. “It will help us short-term, but I think long-term it will allow me to continue to build a well diversified tenant base that will survive through these economic ups and downs.” The staff report suggested that the new classification would create sustainable new employment centers bringing new jobs into the village, but not necessarily more residents or retail centers. Besides bolstering the village’s tax base, the zoning would also ease traffic pressures by offering workers a local commute. But Councilman Howard Coates took issue with a table of permitted and conditional uses for the zoning, such as car washes and contractors’ storage yards. He said he was not so concerned about the existing commerce parks as much as the potential for such uses cropping up in other areas of the village if more properties win the zoning classification. “Once a piece of property has its classification, if it’s a permitted use, it is much more difficult to stop the property owner from utilizing the property,” he said. While other council members suggested combing through the list of uses before the ordinance gets its second and final approval, Councilman Matt Willhite said he would rather see it tabled until such issues are resolved. “Even though you may not See FLEX USE, page 18
Folke Peterson Shutting Down By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report After months of hanging on by a thread, the Folke Peterson Wildlife Sanctuary will close next month due to lack of funds, Executive Director Heather Landstrom said this week. Before closing its doors, the five-year-old non-profit organization must release or move more than 350 injured and displaced native Florida wildlife, Landstrom said. “If their rehab is close to complete, we will try to get them released back into the ecosystem,” Landstrom told the Town-Crier on Thursday. “Those that still need time will go to other licensed rehab facilities.” About 50 animals that can’t be released due to the extent of their injuries will go to other wildlife centers, nature centers, zoos or museums that have the appropriate licenses and use them in educational programs, Landstrom added. Landstrom and her 16 staff members at the Wellingtonarea sanctuary are now
scrambling for new jobs, preferably in the wildlife rehabilitation field. “We have veterinary technicians that assist our consulting veterinarian and also do treatments, and our wildlife care manager is not only a vet tech, she is also a licensed rehabilitator,” said Landstrom, who specializes in management of non-profit organizations. “I’m primarily a fundraiser,” said Landstrom, who explained that the center is funded primarily through foundation grants, which have decreased dramatically due to the economic downturn. Falling investment values have left many foundations with less to give. The money the center has left will allow it to care for and move the animals over the next four weeks. “We have enough money left that will allow us to continue to care for the animals that are still here during the time that it’s going to take to transfer them all out,” Landstrom said. “While they are See WILDLIFE, page 18
RPB To Seek Public Input On Madrid Connection By Ron Bukley Town-Crier Staff Report Royal Palm Beach Village Council members will review traffic information and invite public input prior to deciding whether to open a link between Madrid Street and the recently opened State Road 7 extension. The council directed village staff on June 18 to gather data on the impact of opening the connection between the extension and the La Mancha neighborhood. Mayor David Lodwick raised the question at the council meeting because residents both for and against the opening have
been contacting the village. “I guess we’ve all seen some e-mails coming and going, but I’ve talked to maybe half a dozen residents sort of questioning when are we going to start discussion, meetings, a survey, whatever we are going to do to find out what our residents want or don’t want done with that connection,” Lodwick said. “We have said consistently in the past we are going to allow the road to be open for a period of time so that traffic can settle in.” Lodwick said the new road, which was opened by the county in April, carries
about 12,200 vehicles a day. It extends from Okeechobee Blvd. to Orange Grove and Persimmon boulevards, giving residents of The Acreage an alternative to using Royal Palm Beach Blvd. County engineers included an intersection at Madrid. Completing the connection would only require laying several feet of asphalt and removing an existing traffic barrier. While the council has taken a consistent wait-and-see approach to allowing the connection, Lodwick said the time could be right for a review of the situation. “I don’t know the right an-
swer, but we promised we would listen to the residents,” Lodwick said. “A couple of La Mancha residents that I’ve known a long time are asking when it is even going to be talked about, and I think that’s a fair question to be asked.” Councilman David Swift, who lives in La Mancha, said many of his neighbors are dead set against the connection. “That area was never planned to have a major road connection,” he said. “People who live at that connection will be severely impacted in terms of the price of their house. I see it creating all
kinds of problems in the area.” Swift said he is concerned about drivers cutting through and making northbound traffic heavier on La Mancha Avenue. Some La Mancha residents want to make better time coming and going from their neighborhood, but Swift said they could be served by adjusting the traffic signal timing at Ponce de Leon Street and Okeechobee Blvd. He said the traffic at that intersection has dropped significantly since the extension opened, and suggested deSee MADRID, page 4