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CONTENT EDITOR:Nick Moschella(561) [email protected]
Backers of Bassem Alhalabisee ‘witch hunt.’ Story, 5B
LOCAL& BUSINESS
Protestors want FAUto dismiss professor Taking kids to SunFest?
We’ve got some ideas.
SECTION B | FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011
FAMILY FUN
CityPlace site of ‘green’ event. Story, 3BSUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT SATURDAY
Let’s hit rewindand review state’sunusual weapons
I’m an avid reader of crime storiesinvolving unusual weapons.
We’re blessed with so many ofthese stories that I wouldn’t be sur-prised if Florida led the nation in thisgrossly under-analyzed statistic.
The state’s reigning championfor the past six years has been FredSimunovic, who held up a Key Westcredit union with a pitchfork. Thissort of creativity, in what might bestbe described as Dog Day Afternoonmeets American Gothic, has beentough to top.
Simunovic made off with nearly$1,900, but was later caught and heldwithout … bale.
See what I mean? Tough to top.
Attack with a deadly remote controlBut this week, Simunovic’s title
was put to the test by Rita SharonCounts, 48, of Wellington, who reliedon a most unusual weapon during adomestic skirmish with her husband.
Counts brandished a TV remotecontrol. And bashing her husbandwith the TV remote got her a trip tojail on a charge of “aggravated bat-tery with a deadly weapon.”
I didn’t know that TV remote con-trols were deadly weapons. Frustrat-ing, yes. But deadly?
If so, I’ve got an arsenal in myhome. Maybe I should get one ofthose burglar-warning signs for thefront lawn: “Caution: Homeownerpacks a Panasonic.”
But I’m a little confused, becausein order for a weapon to be deadly, Iwould imagine you would have to beable to kill somebody with it. And I’veyet to find a story that said, “homi-cide detectives have begun dredg-ing the lake in hopes of finding themurder remote.”
I guess it’s theoretically possiblethat if you programmed a TV remotecontrol to select either MSNBC orFox News, no matter what button youpress, you might be able to induce po-litical partisans to have fatal strokes.But most people would probably finda way to break the TV before thathappens.
Cottage cheese and a frying panMaybe that’s why Counts’ public
defender was in court Thursdayquestioning why she was facing adeadly-weapons charge.
I’m not a lawyer, but I would putthe TV remote in the same sortof weapons class as a container ofcottage cheese, which figured intoanother recent domestic dispute inFlorida.
Last month, Harold McCleery, 43,of Crestview, attacked his girlfriendwith a container of cottage cheeseand then locked her in a tool shed,according to the Okaloosa CountySheriff ’s Office.
McCleery didn’t face a deadly-weapons charge with the cottagecheese. (Maybe the curd size was toosmall.) And I suspect that the cottagecheese-tool shed combination mightactually be a North Florida matingritual.
Over the weekend, we had a fry-ing pan being used effectively as aweapon in Jacksonville. According topolice, Bobby Smith, 81, used the fry-ing pan loaded with potatoes to basha would-be robber “upside the head.”Especially in the mouth area, whichexplains the lost teeth.
Counts’ husband didn’t lose anyteeth in the TV remote attack. Thearrest report said he had some redand black bruises after being bashedby the remote in an attack that “con-tinued for two hours” in the couple’sbedroom.
On further review, I’m movingthat pitchfork bank robbery down tosecond place.~ [email protected]
FRANK CERABINO
CERABINOFRIDAY
By MITRA MALEKPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
WELLINGTON — They are wideand tall — especially, tall — and makea mockery of the fences and shrubsmeant to shield them.
They aren’t supposed to. Actually,they shouldn’t even be noticeable. Orcan they be?
For years Wellington has enforcedits laws so that a recreational vehicleor boat must be parked on the side orrear of a lot and behind a 6-foot wall,fence or landscaping — the maxi-
mum height village rules allow.But, perplexingly, village rules
also say that the vehicle must not be“clearly visible” to drivers or neigh-bors.
“If it’s 15 feet high but behind a6-foot fence, then I’m sorry, but mysight says it’s clearly visible,” residentDonna Weaver said.
The rules are clearer in other PalmBeach County towns, though they
vary widely.Wellington residents’ frustration
with the contradiction is nothing new,Mayor Pro Tem Carmine Priore said.
Neither is his own.“You cannot have a requirement
that says you can’t have a hedge that’smore than 6 feet and then expect toobscure a motor home or a traveltrailer,” Priore said. “You can’t cutthe whole top of the boat off and setit beside it. You can’t take the top of atravel trailer off.”
A recreational vehicle is tucked conspicuously behind a fence at the corner of Coralwood Court and Old Cypress Trail in Wellington.BRANDON KRUSE/Staff Photographer
RECREATIONAL VEHICLES
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHTOne Wellington law says RVs must be shielded from sight, but another says fences can’t be taller than 6 feet.
Z How other communities in Palm BeachCounty are governing the issue, 5B
See HEIGHT, 5B >
BY KEVIN D. THOMPSONPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
To keep some of itsstruggling schools open,the Diocese of Palm Beachis considering mergingCatholic schools or askingthem to share costs to keepexpenses down, accordingto a church deacon andtask force member study-ing the problem.
Last year the diocese,which has 14 elementaryschools (for grades kin-dergarten-eight) and threehigh schools, formed a15-member task force tofind ways to keep schoolssuffering shrinking en-rollment from closing.
In a down economy,school enrollment is alsodown by as much as one-third in some schools,said Martin Serraes, a
deacon at Holy Name ofJesus Catholic Church andSchool in suburban WestPalm Beach.
“When we speak toparents, they say it’s theeconomy,” Serraes said.
Annual tuition for el-ementary schools is about$5,000. For high schools,it’s $10,000. Serraes saidtuition has increased about$700 the past few years.
As enrollments fall,officials ask campusesto cut their expenses.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
See CATHOLIC, 2B >
Diocese could merge schools
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A. St. Ann School324 N. Olive Ave.West Palm Beach
B. Holy Name of Jesus School345 S. Military TrailSuburban West Palm Beach
C. St. Juliana School4355 S. Olive Ave.West Palm Beach
D. St. Luke School32892 S. Congress Ave.Near Palm Springs
E. Sacred Heart School410 N. M St.Lake Worth
Schools look to share costs
CHRISTOPHER SMITH/Staff Artist
The Diocese of Palm Beachhas 14 elementary schools.Five within several miles ofeach other are battlingfalling enrollment asfamilies move west.
OliveAve.
Enforcement begins today; warnings will be given for first month.By ELIOT KLEINBERG
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
BOYNTON BEACH — You’ve beenwarned.
Starting today, cameras will snapphotos of motorists running red lightsat two key intersections, BoyntonBeach Police Chief Matt Immler saidThursday.
For the first month, the registeredowner will only get a warning. Afterthat, it’s a $158 ticket.
Cameras will operate 24 hoursa day and capture still images andvideo of every vehicle flying througha red light in both directions of SouthFederal Highway at Southeast 23rdAvenue and West Boynton Beach Bou-
levard at North Congress Avenue.For red light runners, it gets worse
in two weeks, when cameras startsnapping at both East Gateway Bou-levard at North Congress Avenue andWest Woolbright Road at South Con-gress Avenue.
According to the city, about 700people were killed and 113,000 in-jured in 2009 in red light-runningcrashes nationwide.
A recent study by the Insurance In-stitute of Highway Safety found thatfrom 2004-08, cameras saved 159 livesin 14 cities with large populations and
Boynton gets red light camerasTRAFFIC
See CAMERAS, 4B >
Red lightcamera
Red lightcamera
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BoyntonBeach
Z How will Boynton Beach’s red lightcameras work? Will getting caught on filmaffect my insurance rates? Q&A, 4B
By WILLIE HOWARDPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE WORTH — Payingfor parking at Lake WorthBeach is expected to be-come simpler this monthafter the city installs solar-powered parking metersthat take credit cards andcellphone payments.
Beach parking spaceshave been numbered, so vis-itors will be able to punch intheir space number, pay andwalk away. They’ll no longerhave to walk back to the carto place a parking time slipon the dashboard.
The days of struggling tofeed soggy dollar bills intobeach parking meters alsowill end. The new meters
City soon to have newmachines at the beach.
Meters easepaymentfor parking
LAKE WORTH
See PARKING, 2B >
By MICHELE DARGANPalm Beach Daily News
Veronica AtkinsMersentes has reacheda confidential settlementwith former attorney/trustee John Corrigan ina lawsuit where she al-leged he sought to reapmillions from helpingher manage the estate ofher late husband, the dietdoctor Robert Atkins.
Corrigan and his lawfirms filed a counter-claim, saying Mersentes,formerly of Palm Beach,was happy with his rep-resentation until shemarried current husband,K. Alexis Mersentes, inMarch 2007. The settle-ment was filed Wednes-day in U.S. District Courtin Manhattan.
In his counterclaim,Corrigan said AtkinsMersentes “smeared”him ... “making outra-geous (and self-serving)allegations declaring thatCorrigan committed aplethora of bad acts.”
Dr. Robert Atkins, whodied in 2003, left his wifea $400 million fortune.
Both sides issued astatement saying “anapology set the stage fora global settlement.” Theamount was not madepublic but is describedas substantial and “aclear victory” for AtkinsMersentes.
The Mersentes’ areregulars on the PalmBeach social scene andwere honored at Decem-ber’s Lady in Red gala.
Widow of diet doctorAtkins settles lawsuit
By LONA O’CONNORPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
BOCA RATON — About 50 protest-ers at the entrance to Florida Atlan-tic University on Thursday calledfor the firing of a Syrian professor,claiming he has terrorist ties.
At the same time across campus,a similar number of students andprofessors gathered to support Bas-sem Alhalabi, an associate professorof computer science and engineer-ing who has worked at FAU since1996.
The university issued a statementWednesday supporting Alhalabi.
Joe Kaufman of AmericansAgainst Hate, who describes him-self as an investigative journalist,targeted Alhalabi more than a de-cade ago.
According to Kaufman, Alhalabihas troubling connections to ter-rorist groups, including the IslamicCenter of Boca Raton, of which hewas a co-founder. Kaufman said thatthe center was bankrolled by SaudiArabians and that several members,including its former imam, havebeen arrested.
Kaufman was joined at a briefnews conference Thursday by theRev. Mark Boykin, who heads theChurch of All Nations in Boca Ra-ton, a few blocks from the IslamicCenter and across the street fromthe Assalam Center, another Mus-lim organization.
Boykin said he joined Kaufman’scrusade because he has seen enoughhard evidence to be convinced thatAlhalabi should be fired.
At the center of Kaufman’s caseagainst Alhalabi is an alleged inci-dent last year at a Muslim Day cel-ebration at the state Capitol.
Kaufman claims that Alhalabigrabbed his arm and shoved himinto a corner. Kaufman pressedcharges and a battery complaintwas filed.
“Bassem Alhalabi has commit-ted violent crimes and is thereforea criminal,” Kaufman said. “Shameon FAU and FAU President MaryJane Saunders for misrepresentingthe truth and for harboring this vio-lent individual who cannot keep hishands to himself. By doing so, FAUis teaching its students that violencepays.”
Rabbi Barry Silver stood quietlyat the edge of the crowd. He andBoykin have appeared together atinterfaith forums, including one inAugust at Congregation L’Dor VaDor, Silver’s congregation.
“I share the concerns about Is-lamic fundamentalism and about theIslamic Center, but I do not share JoeKaufman’s tactics of mixing truthand fiction,” Silver said.
One of Kaufman’s key allegationsis that Alhalabi pleaded guilty to thebattery charge.
But Silver did a little investigativereporting of his own, producing a“deferred prosecution agreement”from the case, in which an “admis-sion of guilt” paragraph had beenscratched out. The document wassigned by the diversion programcoordinator and by Alhalabi.
Alhalabi came out to announce tohis supporters that he had just ap-
plied Thursday for U.S. citizenship.The group of students and profes-
sors cheered the news.“I think I will make a much bet-
ter citizen than him,” a smilingAlhalabi said of Kaufman.
One of Alhalabi’s students, JosephGundel of Greenacres, chose FAUbecause he wanted to study withAlhalabi, whom he chose as hisgraduate studies adviser.
Boris Bastidas, a political scienceundergraduate, serves with Alhalabion a university interfaith commit-tee.
“This is a witch hunt,” Bastidassaid.~ [email protected]
Protesters want FAU professor fired_
A supporter decries claims ofterrorist ties as a ‘witch hunt.’
_
Staff photos by LANNIS WATERS
While students and members of FAU’s campus interfaith committee (top) rallied insupport of Bassem Alhalabi, an associate professor, on Thursday, opponents includingJoe Kaufman (bottom, left) and the Rev. Mark Boykin (right) called for his ouster.
Z Video online: Hear from both sides of the FAU issue and see a brief interviewwith Alhalabi at PalmBeachPost.com/video
His solution, which he’spromoted for years with-out success, is to changethe rules limiting how talllandscaping can be.
“Allow the hedges togrow to hide whatever thehomeowner wants them tocover,” Priore said. “Butthey’ve got to maintainthem. They’ve got to getsomeone out there on atall ladder.”
That could lead totrouble, CouncilwomanAnne Gerwig said, be-cause huge plants oftenhave huge roots, and thatmight rip up sidewalks andstreets.
“I don’t want to solveone problem and create abigger problem,” Gerwigsaid.
Abundant roots haven’tbeen a problem in JunoBeach, though, which al-lows landscaping to growhigh as needed to block aboat or RV.
“If you could see thetippity top of it, we don’tfind that’s a violation,” saidDamian Peduto, the town’splanning and zoning di-rector.
Palm Beach Gardens isanother city that doesn’tlimit the height of land-scaping. Others, such asLantana — which pridesitself as a fishing village— don’t care if RVs orboats are screened at all.
No matter how Wel-lington’s rules read, it’simportant not to preventresidents from being ableto store their vehicles ontheir land, CouncilmanHoward Coates said.
“If we start tinkeringwith the rules, we’d bealtering some of the fun-damental bases on whichsome of the people in this
community purchasedtheir property,” Coatessaid.
It’s unclear how manyboats and RVs are in thevillage, but Wellingtoncode staff is inventory-ing what it finds in thevillage’s 45 square miles.Eventually it will presentthose findings to the vil-lage council, which willtackle the issue.
Mayor Darell Bowenwas the rare council mem-ber who said the code forstoring recreational ve-hicles leaves no room forconfusion.
“That thing clearlymeans that you have tohave it hidden,” Bowensaid. “If you can’t screen itwith a 6-foot fence, you’re
out of luck. You have to putit in a storage place.”
In fact, that was how therules worked in Welling-ton before the communityincorporated in 1995.
“It had to be unseen,”Bowen said. “If we knew itwas there, or saw it there,it had to go to a storageplace.”
That’s how Donna andAlan Weaver, who boughttheir lot in 1976, remem-ber it. Their suggestion:the village could mark apiece of land for storageand charge users a mini-mal fee.
“It’s a way for the villageto make money and for thevillage to stay nice look-ing,” Donna Weaver [email protected]
What other communities doMunicipal rules for buffering of RVs and boatsstored on residential lots vary throughout PalmBeach County.Wellington: Must be stored on side or rear of property,‘not clearly visible’ from the street or abutting propertiesand screened by a masonry wall, fence or landscapingat least 6 feet high. But Wellington’s land developmentregulations say that walls, fences and landscaping alongproperty perimeters can be no higher than 6 feet.Juno Beach: Must be completely screened on three sidesin side or rear yards. Screening can be a building, wall,fence or landscaping.Palm Beach Gardens: Must be stored on side or rearof property and screened ‘from direct view’ by a 6-footwall or fence and ‘dense hedge’ at least 6 feet tall withintwo years of planting. In general, there are no maximumheights for the hedge.Lantana: No screening required. Must be parked on apaved surface anywhere on lot.Boynton Beach: No screening required. Can be storedin a carport or driveway. Also can be stored in back yard,not closer than 5 feet from the lot line or in the side yardnot projecting beyond the front roof line.Royal Palm Beach: No screening required. Can be storedon driveway or side of property. Boats parked on thesides of corner lots must be on pavement.
If RV visible, move it, says mayor> HEIGHT from 1B
Womancharged inbug sprayassault
By CYNTHIA ROLDANPalm Beach Post Staff Writer
A Riviera Beach wom-an is facing aggravatedbattery charges afterpolice say she sprayedthe father of two of herchildren in the face withroach spray.
Tiffany Taylor, 31,was arrested by Riviera
Beach po-lice afterthe 43-year-old victim— whosename waswithheldin the ar-rest report
— told police that hewas attacked after averbal argument turnedphysical Wednesday af-ternoon.
When Taylor wasinterrogated by police,she said the victim “faketossed” the basket oftheir children’s clothesat her and “she decidedto spray (the victim)with the roach spray,”according to the report.A fistfight ensued.
On Thursday, Taylorbegged Palm BeachCounty Circuit JudgeTed S. Booras not to sether bail too high be-cause she — not the fa-ther — was the victim.
“I’ve been runningfrom him for the lastsix months,” Taylor said,adding that she’s livingin a domestic violenceshelter.
Taylor is being held inlieu of $10,000 bail.~ [email protected]
Taylor
NO. 5962843RCITY OF WEST PALM BEACH
PROPOSED SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENT TO THEONE-YEAR ACTION PLANS for FISCAL YEARS
2001/02, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010-11
The City of West Palm Beach has submitted its Consolidated Plan One-Year ActionPlans each fiscal year to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD). This substantial amendment describes allocations for the provision of publicimprovements, housing rehabilitation, demolition activities through the federalCommunity Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.
In accordance with 24 CFR 91.505 it is the intent of the City of West Palm Beach toamend the above mentioned Plan as follows:
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
From: Improvements Other Than BuildingsEstimated
Year Amount2004/05 $ 12,500
From: Public Service ActivitiesEstimated
Agency Year AmountCCCS 2008/09 $ 20,677CCCS 2009/10 $ 2,941Urban Youth Impact 2007/08 $ 13,599Urban Youth Impact 2009/10 $ 98Children’s Coalition 2008/09 $ 16Aspira of Florida 2007/08 $ 5,585Aspira of Florida 2008/09 $ 1,947Aspira of Florida 2009/10 $ 10,056Urban League of PB County 2006/07 $ 12,250Elders on the Edge 2006/07 $ 10,812Elders on the Edge 2007/08 $ 85,199From: Commercial Facade
EstimatedYear Amount2001/02 $ 5,4692004/05 $ 12,2192005/06 $ 61,4612006/07 $112,2652009/10 $140,000
$331,414From: Program Income Reserve
EstimatedYear Amount2007/08` $369,5182008/09 $ 84,6112009/10 $ 53,713
$507,842
GRAND TOTAL$936,955To: Housing Rehabilitation Services
EstimatedYear Amount2010/11 $586,955
To: Public ImprovementsEstimated
Year Amount2010/11 $300,000
To: Demolition ActivitiesEstimated
Year Amount2010/11 $ 50,000
GRAND TOTAL $936,955The proposed substantial amendment will be available for public review for a 30-day period, beginning on April 15, 2011 and ending on May 15, 2011 at thefollowing locations:
City of West Palm Beach Website: http://www.wpb.org/housing/index.phpCity of West Palm Beach Department of Housing and Community Development,401 Clematis Street, 3rd Floor, West Palm Beach, FloridaCity of West Palm Beach Library, 411 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach,Florida
A public hearing will be held beginning at 4:00 p.m. on May 16, 2011, in theCity Commission Chambers, first floor of City Hall, 401 Clematis Street, West PalmBeach, Florida. These amendments to the respective One-Year Action Plans willbecome final after the approval of the City Commission. All interested agencies,groups and persons who wish to comment on the proposed changes are invited tosubmit written comments to the Housing and Community Development Department,City of West Palm Beach, P.O. Box 3366, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402
Citizens may submit oral or written comments on the proposed activities. Anysuch comments should be directed to Valmarie H. Turner, Director, Housing andCommunity Development Department located at 401 Clematis Street, Third Floor,West Palm Beach, Florida. 33401, Telephone: (561) 822-1250. Mailing address:P.O. Box 3366, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402. Office hours are Mondaythrough Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Any person requiring a special accommodation at the public meeting because ofa disability, physical impairment or English language deficiency, should contact theDepartment of Housing and Community Development at (561) 822-1250 at leastfive calendar days prior to the public hearing meeting to be held on May 16, 2011so that assistance may be provided. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONSOF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA), THIS DOCUMENT MAY BEREQUESTED IN AN ALTERNATE FORMAT BY CONTACTING THE DEPARTMENT OFHOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AT (561) 822-1250.
Para información en español favor de llamarLuz Rivera561-822-1250
Publish: The Palm Beach Post; Friday, April 15, 2011
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THE PALM BEACH POST • FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011 5B
