Palm Beach

Palm Beach International Film Festival, music from Nicole Henry, Pauletter Dozier and Aaron Lebos

Ed Bell and Paul Leary — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Hit Us With Your Best Block

Marva Hinton — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:01:39 +0000

WLRN’s search for South Florida’s best block continues.

WLRN, the Miami Herald, the Townhouse Center and the Knight Foundation have joined forces to identify and celebrate the most vibrant city streets in South Florida.

So what does it take to be a best block?

“We’re trying to focus on areas where there’s mixed-use type buildings, where you might have a restaurant at the bottom floor, maybe some living spaces above it,” said Debra Acosta, a multimedia producer for the Miami Herald.

Dinner Set Gang

Lyn Millner — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:37:54 +0000

The writer Somerset Maugham called Florida a “sunny place for shady people.” A couple of decades before Bernard Madoff hit Palm Beach, a pair of cat burglars hit mansions up and down the coast. Lyn Millner tells us where they are now.

Before becoming a jewel thief, Dominick Latella played guitar with a band called Two + Two in New York. Here are some songs from the band’s record:

In D.C. and Delray, 'Poetry' Is The Word On The Street

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

From the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to Old School Square in Delray Beach, poetry class is in session.

Today, 44-year-old Richard Blanco, the Miami-raised son of Cuban immigrants, becomes the fifth poet ever to take part in a President's inaugural ceremony. Blanco is scheduled to read an original poem after President Obama is sworn in for his second term.

Bidding On The Glitz: Studio 54 Auction In West Palm Beach

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:15:19 +0000

A West Palm Beach art gallery is taking collectors on a trip back in time to the golden -- or silver glitter -- age of disco.

Items from the personal collection of Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell are going on the auction block tomorrow at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

They include hundreds of photos taken in the hey-day of the legendary New York City nightclub. Rubell, who died in 1989, was known for his celebrity-studded parties.

After Mall Shooting Scare, Palm Beach County Official Wants Businesses To Beef Up Security

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

A false alarm at a shopping mall has a Palm Beach County commissioner asking if local businesses are doing enough to protect the public.

Two days before Christmas, Commissioner Shelley Vana was shopping at the Boynton Beach Mall with her five-year-old granddaughter when she heard cries of "Get down!"

"I grabbed my granddaughter and pulled her down behind a planter,” says Vana. “We were outside of the enclosed play area and I could see the people in the play area getting down behind stuff."

Slideshow: West Palm Beach Marks The Holidays In Florida Fashion

Arianna Prothero — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 14:30:00 +0000

For the second year in a row, West Palm Beach has opted to decorate the city in a very South Florida fashion this holiday season.

Large, intricate holiday themed sand sculptures have been erected all down Clematis Street between Rosemary Avenue and the waterfront.

City of West Palm Beach spokesman Elliot Cohen said the sculptures have been more than festive, they've been good publicity. The largest sculpture is a 35-foot-tall Christmas tree made with 400 tons of sand.

NEWSCAST: Palm Beach County Schools To Place GPS On Buses

WLRN-Miami Herald News — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:30:14 +0000

Parents of school children in Palm Beach County will soon be able to track the location of their child's bus.

Old Boynton Beach School Hopes 'Green' Design Wins Gold Star

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 18:00:00 +0000

One of Palm Beach County's oldest public schools is hoping to become one of Florida's greenest.

One In Five Floridians On Food Stamps

Kenny Malone — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:53:35 +0000

One in five Floridians - about 3.6 million - is receiving food stamp benefits and the number is rising in South Florida, according to new data released by the state..

Why Some South Florida Airports Will Be Busier Than Others Over Thanksgiving

Arianna Prothero — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport will be a very busy airport this Thanksgiving holiday.

In fact, it's going to be the 10th busiest in the country, according to booking data from the travel company Orbitz.

Every year Orbitz releases lists of the busiest and least busy airports for Thanksgiving.

NEWSCAST: Broward Joins Miami-Dade With Final Vote Tally

WLRN-Miami Herald News — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:45:49 +0000

Broward has joined Miami Dade in wrapping up its final vote count.

Palm Beach Sued Over Signature Issue on Absentee Ballots

Ashley Lopez — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Here at WLRN, we've gotten a report of at least one person was allowed to vote in South Florida because officials did not believe the signature on his ballot was indeed his.

A Broward election official said situations like this could be remedied by a voter simply updating their signature in person at the supervisor of elections office in the county they vote in.

NEWSCAST: Millions Have Already Voted In Florida

WLRN-Miami Herald News — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:50:53 +0000

State election officials say they have received just over 1 million early votes and more than 1.5 million absentee ballots. Meanwhile, election officials are visiting Palm Beach County again. The county's election office has been plagued with printing problems on its absentee ballots.

Palm Beach County Dogged By Ballot Printing Problems

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:31:56 +0000

State election officials say they're keeping an eye on Palm Beach County's operations, after a second printing mishap involving absentee ballots.

The first blunder involved 27,000 absentee ballots with a header missing above the judicial races. The ballots can't be read by Palm Beach County's vote tabulation machines, so election office workers are copying out those forms by hand onto new ballots.

Hurricane Sandy Is Parking Planes Across South Florida

Arianna Prothero — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 20:38:37 +0000

Even though Hurricane Sandy has moved past South Florida, the region's airports continue to feel the storm's effects.

Director of Operations at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Mike Monnemacher, said 152 flights have been canceled at his airport.

"One of our larger markets for this airport is to the Northeast," Monnemacher said. " So, when we're not having any operations into the Washington all the up through Boston area, that's a significant number of aircraft. So, right now we have 35 aircraft that really don't have any place to go."

NEWSCAST: Thousands of South Floridians Vote Early; Others Wonder Where Their Absentee Ballots Are

Phil Latzman — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:29:23 +0000

More than 51,000 people in Miami-Dade County waited in long lines Saturday and Sunday to vote early. About 54,000 people in Broward County cast their ballots and about 21,000 in Palm Beach County.

Meanwhile, many others in South Florida are still wondering where their absentee ballots are.

Lynn University Debate Takeaway: Little Daylight Between Obama, Romney

Alan Greenblatt — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:54:58 +0000

In at least one sense, the final presidential debate of the year looked a lot like the previous ones between Mitt Romney and President Obama.

Regardless of what they were asked, each offered talking points he had prepared and was determined to make. The candidates, not moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News, set both the tone and the pace of the debate.

That included switching gears far from the nominal subject of Monday's debate in Boca Raton, Fla., which was foreign policy.

How Most College Students Would Prefer To Vote

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:14:02 +0000

Forget booths and absentee ballots.

College students would rather vote using their thumbs, according to a study conducted by telecommunications giant AT&T.

AT&T conducted the survey on one of the most politically galvanized campuses in the nation -- Lynn University in Boca Raton. American politics have played a major role at Lynn since last fall, when the university was chosen to host the last Presidential debate of 2012.

Out of nearly 300 students surveyed, 58 percent say they would use smartphones to cast their ballot if "mobile voting" were available.

500,000 Floridians Have Already Voted

Marva Hinton — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:48:47 +0000

'Lynn, Who?': Debate Puts Small Boca Raton University On The Map

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:22:02 +0000

If you’re a small, private university with a less-than-stellar reputation, what’s a good way to boost your profile?

For Lynn University it was a no-brainer: Host one of the most important events in American politics.

"We've been waiting for this moment for a long time," says Dr. Kevin Ross, Lynn University's president.

The “moment” arrives on Monday, when President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney arrive on Lynn’s Boca Raton campus for the third and final presidential debate before Election Day.

Lynn University Invites Tweeters To "Lounge" Around During Debate

Christine DiMattei — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:02:52 +0000

Lynn University students are rolling out the digital red carpet for political watchers in advance of the last Presidential Debate of 2012.

The small Boca Raton university is hosting the final face-off between President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Monday, October 22nd.

Debates Commission: Lynn U.'s Time On The Big Stage Will Pay Off

Christine DiMattei — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:34:12 +0000

A wry symbol on a text message.

Last fall, that was the first inkling Lynn University President Kevin Ross had that his school would be making the history books.

“I was out at lunch and got a text that said, ‘You need to come back to campus immediately,’" recalls Ross. “And it was with a smiley-face after it. So I knew it was good.”

Lynn University To Become 'Mini-United Nations' During Debate

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:52:56 +0000

A week from today, news outlets from all over the world are expected to converge upon Boca Raton's Lynn University for the third and final Presidential Debate of 2012.

And it looks like some foreign journalists won't be needing their pocket English dictionaries as much as they thought.

International students from more than 80 countries make up nearly a quarter of Lynn's student body. University officials say they've worked hard to locate students who will be able to serve as translators.

Shades Of 2000: Palm Beach County's Bad Ballots Mean Another Hand Count Election

Rick Stone — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 20:32:34 +0000

A misprint on 60,000 absentee ballots means vote-counting in Palm Beach County will be sort of special again this year.

Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher said each of those ballots will have to be examined, the intent of each voter discerned, and the vote transferred to a properly printed ballot so it can be read by a tabulation scanner.

Proposed Windfarm Becomes A Debate Over Creating Jobs And Protecting Wildlife

Patricia Sagastume — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:54:45 +0000

When it comes to clean energy projects like wind farms, where people stand on a proposal sometimes depends on where they sit. Take the case of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, certainly a champion of green causes — until someone proposed building a wind farm off Cape Cod, where the liberal lion liked to do his sailing.

He fought the wind farm until he died.

Palm Beach County’s Middle Class Still Waiting For Promised “Workforce Housing”

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:13:18 +0000

A controversial agreement between Palm Beach County and developers is finally producing reduced-price homes for low- to middle-income families.

It’s just not happening fast enough.

A New Yorker's Commute on South Florida Public Transit

Arianna Prothero and Luc Cohen — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:39:11 +0000

South Florida is clearly a car-centered part of the country, but there are a lot of people here who rely on public transportation. This summer, WLRN intern Luc Cohen was one of them.

Cohen, who is majoring in public and international affairs at Princeton University, was born and raised in New York City. So for him, public transportation is practically second nature.

Before coming to Miami for his internship, Cohen had driven a total of six blocks by himself in his life.

Music, Theater Now Parked at Delray Beach 'Arts Garage'

Christine DiMattei — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:00:00 +0000

On any given weekend, you might walk by The Old School Square parking garage in Delray Beach and hear the sounds of jazz or blues or classical music wafting from the ground floor.

It’s an innovative venue known as the 'Arts Garage' and, yes, the rest of the building is actually devoted to cradling cars.

But the ground floor is where all the action is.

No vehicles there, no take-a-ticket machines, no yellow lines, no parking attendants to be seen, mostly live music in a 5500 square foot garage.