EJones@SFLTimes.com
POLITICS, POLITICS
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain continues to surge in the polls and is now the front-runner for the Republican Party nomination. How long his good fortunes will last are yet to be seen but the establishment faction of the party is not happy. They are now turning on Cain with insults and criticisms of his 9-9-9 tax reform plan. Fellow presidential candidate and whack job U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann finally said something that makes sense. She is pledging to fund the completion of a wall along the border with Mexico and staff it with additional border patrol officers, creating thousands of jobs in the process. Makes sense to me.
Palm Beach County
BUS DRIVERS NEEDED
The Palm Beach County Schools District is in need of bus drivers, immediately. It’s so bad until parents are complaining about late arrival at bus stops. District officials say they have 50 openings and are having difficulty finding drivers because of the physical requirements and the $11.72 an hour starting pay. I find this hard to believe, considering the long lines at unemployment offices.
WOMAN SOUGHT
A Greenacres man has died from gunshot wounds he suffered last week. Carl White, 29, was shot inside his home and was rushed to Delray Medical Center. He died over the weekend from his injuries. Witnesses said they heard a man and woman arguing prior to the shooting and police are trying to locate the woman for questioning. No other details have been released as of this writing.
PRINCIPAL DEAL
The former principal of Plumosa Elementary in Delray Beach has reached a plea agreement related to theft of school property charges. Priscilla Maloney, 50, will go through a pretrial intervention program and must serve an 18-month probation, pay $137 in restitution and cooperate with police. Maloney was charged after shipping $14,222 worth of school district furniture to a Lantana funeral home owned by a former school administrator. She also falsely submitted a form for $137 reimbursement for instructional materials she never purchased. She had faced up to 26 years in prison.
MORE TROUBLES
FBI agents raided Imperial Holdings’ Boca Raton headquarters in September. The company is the target of a federal investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Hampshire related to its life insurance business. Now, the company’s longtime banker, SunTrust, is cutting ties with the firm. No one has been arrested but this development could indicate broader troubles for the company.
Broward County
NEW JOBS
Saveology.com, an Internet coupon and discount company, announced it would hire as many as 700 new workers over the next two years at its new Coconut Creek location. The company, which will qualify for state and local incentives, will begin hiring immediately.
BOOSTER CHARGED
Michael S. Jacobs, 43, a band booster at Cypress Bay High in Weston, is charged with engaging in lewd acts with teenage boys during sleepovers at his home. Authorities allege the acts occurred between 2009 and 2011. He is also accused of giving the boys drugs and alcohol. What were their parents thinking?
ANOTHER MESS
The city of Deerfield Beach is dealing with more than 6,000 water, sewer and garbage accounts that were never added to its billing database for more than a decade. Many of those customers can’t be located. Others have moved to new addresses and opened new accounts. Instead of addressing this latest failure and mismanagement catastrophe, City Manager Burgess Hanson has embarked on an obscure debt collection practice. Through some unknown process, his staff is identifying people they believe owe the outstanding debts and arbitrarily adding those amounts to the customers’ current accounts. Water bills from years ago are surprising residents and many dispute they owe the bills at all. But that is not stopping Hanson’s team from merging the old debts with customers’ current bills and turning off their water if they do not pay up. This unusual debt collection tactic is occurring in the predominantly black areas of the city. In addition to being callous, it may also violate state and federal debt collection laws. Stay tuned.
NEW MANAGER
Jonathan Allen has been appointed permanently as Lauderdale Lakes city manager, a post he held temporarily since former City Manager Anita Fain-Taylor was fired earlier this year. Lauderdale Lakes is facing a financial crisis and is on the brink of collapse.
SATZ VS. LEWIS
Jim Lewis, a former prosecutor, has announced his candidacy for Broward State Attorney. Lewis, a Republican, says Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti is an example that a Republican can win countywide election in heavily Democratic Broward. Lewis and Lamberti are the first of several Republican candidates who Tea Party activists are hoping will successfully challenge incumbent Democrats in Broward.
Miami-Dade County
HOMESTEAD ELECTIONS
It’s election time once again in the city of Homestead and this cycle will be as interesting as in years past. Former Councilman Steve Losner is challenging incumbent Mayor Steve Bateman. Losner is championing some interesting positions, such as members of the city council paying for their own healthcare. In Homestead, voters select the vice-mayor. Incumbent council members Judy Waldman and Jon Burgess have already secured additional terms on the council and they are now vying for the vice-mayor spot. Look for these races to become heated, as the barbs and whisper campaigns have already begun.
DORAL RESORT SOLD
The 693-room Doral Golf Resort & Spa is in bankruptcy and could be sold for $170 million. Donald Trump has submitted a $170 million offer in bankruptcy court for the property. If Trump’s bid is successful, expect major upgrades and a likely push for casino gambling at Doral.
HARDBALL THREAT
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez threatened to lay off 90 police officers this week in an effort to get union concessions. The county is facing financial problems and Giminez is trying to cut $239 million from the budget. He backed away from the threat to fire police officers after union officials agreed to re-open contract negotiations.
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