Boca Raton News

"Your Move" at the Chess Collector's International Biennial Auction Exotic chess sets from around the world will cross the block May 1 when Auction Gallery of the Palm Beaches hosts the CCI Auction. via Susan Polgar Chess Blog

“It's in real time, and also, it's videotaped. Now you can see what you did.”

They breathe, blink and bleed. They can be stuck with needles, bandaged and spoken to. They answer back.

They are the simulated mannequins city fire-rescue paramedics use during training scenarios. The five mannequins have been at Florida Atlantic University 's simulation center since October 2006 and also are used by medical students.

The Boca Raton City Council last year approved an agreement with Florida Atlantic University for city firefighters to go through medical simulation training. The school developed an advanced medical simulation training program at its Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science. To pay for the training, the city agreed to transfer to the school a surplus 1999 ambulance in return for $50,000 of tuition credit. Read more

“We are not giving it up. This is our project.”

Army Maj. Stuart Wolfer exercised in the military fitness center Sunday inside the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. As the father of three worked out, he was killed by rockets launched into the heavily protected area. Wolfer, 36, a graduate of J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs , was deployed to Iraq on Dec. 19.

His parents, Esther and Len Wolfer, now live in Boca Raton and volunteer for a charity that helps troops overseas make phone calls home. They had last phoned their son about a month ago and received an e-mail from him a few days ago. 'He was religious, he was a good soul and a good human being,' his mother said Monday. Read more

“It's because the market is better”

City officials in Boca Raton are trying to deal with price increases at virtually every turn. via BocaNews.com

Boca Raton Police taser a suspect and the whole thing is caught on tape. Click here to see the dash-cam video. via Love 94 - WLVE - 93.9 FM

“I had no idea how he would react”

Charlie Reilly was catching a wave on a big, blue surfboard, joining 50 other autistic kids for his first surfing lesson.

His mother, Robyn Serafine, watching 30 yards away, was catching her breath. No worries, though. Nine-year-old Charlie, who has been a 'water baby' all his life, took to the surf like a fish to water.

'He was laughing the whole time,' said Serafine, who lives in Boca Raton. 'When he got out there, he was so excited. He was riding in on the waves by himself. He was smiling from ear to ear.' The surf camp was part of Saturday's Surfers for Autism, a fundraiser that drew about 100 volunteers, family members and surfers from South Florida surf shops and surf schools. Read more

“Gateway could become an educational corridor”

The 180-student Charter School of Boynton Beach is reluctantly located in Boca Raton , but it's ready to head back to the city in its name.It left the Boynton Beach Mall, where it was based for four years, three weeks after the Christmas Eve 2006 shooting that killed a suspected gang member.

The murder was too much for parents and staff to bear and prompted an 'emergency relocation plan,' the school's executive director Pamela Owens said Tonight, though, school officials will urge Boynton Beach city commissioners to allow the school to move into a retrofitted 28,000-square-foot office building at the Quantum Park industrial development at 1425 Gateway Blvd. Read more

Standards of competency and ethics for attorneys and others such as Democratic frontrunners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could be determined in a bizarre Florida case involving maverick artist Victor-Hugo ... via Love 94

“The question becomes, do you have the money to operate it?”

A 63-acre tract in Wellington, once envisioned as an elaborate recreational park, could serve as the site for a fifth campus of Palm Beach Community College .

Former Wellington Mayor Kathy Foster submitted a formal request Wednesday asking the Village Council to donate to land known as K-Park to the college.

The tract is on Pierson Road, just west of U.S. 441.

'It's been a dream for residents for many years to have an institution of higher learning,' said Foster, the village's first mayor and a founding member of the Palms West Chamber of Commerce. 'It would truly be the crown jewel in the quality of life of an already wonderful community.' Read more

“That goes right to the heart of why we have to have aircraft in order to effectuate what the people want us to do and the Legislature wants us to do”

After stays at luxury resorts and short flights at taxpayers' expense, the South Florida Water Management District got a warning from state legislators on Wednesday - 'change your ways.'

The House Committee on Audit and Performance called district officials to the capital after the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that agency representatives stayed at pricey hotels and used the district's airplane and helicopters for short trips and costly solo flights.

State Rep. Ed Homan, the committee chairman, said if the district's nine-member volunteer governing board didn't change its practices, the Legislature could change state law to put tighter limits on the agency's travel spending. Read more

Some facts on military fuel consumption: Fuel consumed by troops in Iraq is provided by the Defense Energy Support Center, which acts as the military's primary broker for fuel. via The Oregonian

“Shortfalls like this are plaguing every utility”

Throughout South Florida, it's costing homeowners and businesses more money to use less water. While water-use restrictions have promoted a new sense of conservation in the midst of drought, the unintended effect of stern orders to cut back on lawn watering and boat and car washing has been a budget crunch for water utilities throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties. To make up the shortfalls, some utilities are now imposing fee hikes.

With reluctance, Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday tentatively approved a water rate hike that would increase the average customer's bill by about $5 a month, though many residents will pay even more if they use greater amounts. The 15 percent surcharge for 500,000 customers, most in the county's unincorporated area, would take effect on water used after May 1, assuming it clears an April 15 public hearing. Read more

The wealthy developer whose assault on police led the former Boca Raton police chief to resign in 2006 landed in jail Tuesday after another brush with officers. Gregory Talbott, 53, was arrested shortly before 1 a.m. in Boca Raton and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, driving under the influence, resisting arrest and refusal to submit to a breath test.

An officer found him disoriented and slumped over in a 2006 Bentley in the 2800 block of Northeast Second Avenue, police said. When police tried to get him out of the car, he grabbed officers' arms and erupted in an expletive-charged tantrum, police said. An officer stunned Talbott three times in the back with a Taser gun until he stopped fighting, police said. Read more

“It is not true that the loans are nonperforming.”

Greg Talbott, a major developer and land owner in Boca Raton, was arrested this morning for DUI , battery on an officer and resisting an officer. via Palm Beach Post

“I just don't believe in doing what he's doing here”

Stephanie Kuleba's family attorney on Monday harshly criticized the plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist who cared for the popular teen, prompting the doctors' lawyers to strongly defend their actions.

On NBC's Today Show just after 7:30 a.m., Kuleba's parents also explained their daughter's decision to undergo corrective breast surgery and urged more patient choice over where surgeries are performed. It was the family's first time speaking publicly since Kuleba's March 22 death and they did so before an audience of 6 million. Read more

“Debbie is an amazing instructor. Our residents are more enthusiastic about this than anything I have seen in my years at JARC.”

The Jewish Association for Residential Care has teamed up with Exceptional Theatre Company for a production of "A Little Dab of Grease Will Do Ya." The performance will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16 in ... via Boca Raton News

“Our 'Spring Dances' will be a mixed repertory concert featuring classical and contemporary works, sure to entice and entertain all dance enthusiasts”

Boca Ballet Theatre's next production will be "Spring Dances," scheduled for March 29-30 in the University Theater on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University. via Boca Raton News

“All we do is harvest the seed pods. The tree keeps growing and producing. It's an excellent renewable source.”

Some of the world's fastest cars are going green. For the second year in a row, the IndyCar Series will run entirely on ethanol. via 9NEWS

Angelo Morinelli is a well-versed chef. He amassed a wealth of experience working and traveling in Italy, then taking over his family's Long Island restaurant. via SouthFlorida.com

“This is one of the few states that still has a prepaid tuition plan that has not been changed or scaled back”

Having some money invested in a good prepaid tuition plan and some in mutual funds can be a good way to diversify your college savings. via Kansas' CW