By Carol Porter

The first order of business at the Lighthouse Point city commission meeting on Feb. 14, was to accept the results of the Jan. 31 election, according to the city charter, and then swear in three commissioners: Commissioner Earl Maucker, Commissioner Rebecca “Becky” Lysengen, and Commissioner Michael Long.

After the results were certified, Hasis and Gordon, who were sitting on the dais for the last time, gave some closing comments and thanked their fellow commissioners and staff for serving with them.

Hasis said that the time he had spent on the commission would be something he would treasure forever. Commission President Susie Gordon concurred with Hasis and also thanked her family for being behind her while she served on the dais.

After Gordon and Hasis left the dais, Commission Vice President Michael Long asked for nominations for President and Vice President from the floor. Commissioner Michael Long was nominated for President, and Commissioner Sandy Johnson was nominated for Vice President.

[  ] City Administrator John Lavisky asked for commission approval of a resolution awarding the bid and approving the agreement with Florida Coastal Services for $9,475 for corrective pruning of trees in the city’s right of ways, and to authorize expenditure of $15,600 to take full advantage of the grant funds awarded by the state.

[  ] Lavisky also asked for commission approval on a resolution for a grant application in the amount of $287,200 for the 2012 Transportation Enhancement Cycle to install solar powered pathway lights on Lighthouse Drive in the area from NE 24th Street to NE 36th Street (Sample Road.) After a few questions about both items, commissioners approved both resolutions.

[  ] Commissioners then recognized Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, who was in attendance that evening and asked him to say a few words. LaMarca, a former Lighthouse Point Commissioner, congratulated the new commissioners, the new President and Vice President, and said, “Let me know if there is anything I can do at the county level for you.”

DEERFIELD BEACH

Feb. 9 It was reported that two individuals approached a homeowner about cleaning the gutters of a home at 1111 NW 48Place. One individual walked with the homeowner to the back of the home. The homeowner reported that the other individual entered the home and stole $800 and jewelry from the home. (Incident took place on Feb. 8 but was reported on Feb. 9.)

Feb. 9 A woman was arrested and charged with grand theft at 820 Hillsboro Blvd.. The woman had been employed at a doctor’s office but was no longer working there. It was reported that the woman used a business checking account and routing numbers to pay $2,450 worth of personal bills online.

Feb. 11 A man was observed stealing a flat-panel television along with an anti-theft device at a Target at 3599 W. Hillsboro Blvd.

Feb. 11 A man reported that his vehicle ran out of gas at 1750 W. Hillsboro Blvd. When the man returned to his car, he found it was missing.

Feb. 11 A man was arrested and charged with grand theft from a CVS Store at 1350 S. Federal Hwy. The man stole a flat-panel television and photo converter.

Feb. 12 A worker at Public Storage at 3350 SW 10 Street discovered a lock on one of the facility’s bays was a not a Public Storage lock. Upon entering the bay, it was discovered that a Porter cable generator, a dresser containing various personal items and Christmas ornaments were stolen.

Feb. 12 A car in the parking lot of United Pentecostal Holiness Church at 77 NW 5 St. was entered and a book bag containing school books was taken.

Feb.12 Two women reported their home at 1436 SE 4 Place broken into and money taken from two wallets. Total amount taken was $290.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT

Feb. 7 A man reported that a man who identified himself as a Comcast service technician came to his home at 3100 NE 28 Ave. The man was left alone in an upstairs office. After he left, it was discovered that an envelope containing currency was taken from a briefcase.

Feb. 7 It was reported that a man was observed stealing groceries from a Publix at 3700 N. Federal Hwy. It was not known what was stolen.

Feb. 7 A woman reported that she allowed the niece of a friend to stay at her home at 2200 NE 44 St. The woman reported that a motor scooter, clothing, a snowboard, paintings, 50 DVDs, two clocks, a vacuum cleaner and dishes were stolen.

The National Weather Service forecasts low temperatures, including wind chill, in the mid-40s for Saturday and Sunday evenings, Feb. 11-12, for Broward County.

As a result of this forecast, Broward County has declared a cold weather emergency from 6:30 p.m. Saturday night to 7 a.m. Sunday morning, and from 6:30 p.m. Sunday night to 7 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13.

Homeless persons are advised to report to the following locations no later than 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for transportation or access to special cold night shelters:

• Pompano Beach
Pompano Beach City Hall
100 W. Atlantic Blvd. (Southeast Corner)

• Fort Lauderdale
The Salvation Army
1445 W. Broward Blvd.

• Hollywood
Broward Outreach Center
2056 Scott St.

If you have any questions or need additional information on the plan for your area, contact Michael Wright, Broward County Homeless Initiative Partnership Administration, 954-357-7167 or 954-300-8739 (cell).

Canceled:

Due to possible inclement weather and thunderstorms, the Keeper’s Day parade tomorrow, Feb. 11, has been canceled. In addition, the festivities at Frank McDonough Park have also been canceled.

Still happening:

The nighttime festivities are still being held, including the 6 p.m. food, fireworks and live entertainment at Dan Witt Park. Bring a lawn chair. The Sunday, Feb. 12 Family Sports Day  from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Frank McDonough Park is also planned to be held.

For additional information, call 954-784-3439.

On Thursday, Feb. 16, city of Deerfield Beach Code Enforcement officers will conduct a daytime sweep through the Deer Run residential community, to improve cooperation and compliance with the city’s codes. Warnings will be issued for noted code violations and will be followed up to ensure compliance.

Property owners who receive a warning but do not correct the violation could receive a code enforcement citation during the follow-up process. For questions about the sweep, or to report a code violation, e-mail web.code@deerfield-beach.com, or call 954-480-4241.

Lighthouse Point Police Department is seeking help from the public in locating a missing/endangered adult.

Tiffany West, 21 years of age, ran away from her residence in Lighthouse Point, FL on 2/8/2012. She is 5 ft. tall, weighs 120 lbs. has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink or orange shirt and blue jeans. Tiffany is mentally disabled and may place herself in potentially dangerous situations by associating with strangers. She is known to frequent the Oakland Park area.

Due to the circumstances, Tiffany has been entered as endangered into the FCIC/NCIC missing person database. If anyone has seen Tiffany or knows her location, please contact your local law enforcement agency or the Lighthouse Point Police Department, Detective Kevin Hancock at 954-942-8080.

Victim(s):

• Adult male (DECEASED)
• One male child. Age 9 (DECEASED)
• Adult female (INJURED)
• Male child. Age 7 (INJURED)

Suspect(s):

• adult male (DECEASED)

Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) investigators are trying to determine why a man fatally shot another man Thursday night, Feb. 9 at a quiet Deerfield Beach R.V. park before he barricaded himself inside an R.V. and attempted to kill his family. When BSO SWAT medics were able to get inside the R.V., they found the suspect and a 9-year-old boy dead. A woman and a 7-year-old boy were critically injured.

The bizarre ordeal, which lasted more than seven hours, started around 6:20 p.m. BSO was called to the Highland Woods R.V. Park after someone reported a shooting with a possible injured person. When deputies arrived, they saw a man lying unresponsive on the pavement. Inside a nearby R.V.just feet away from the victim, the suspected shooter said he was holding a woman hostage and that he would kill her if they approached. Initially unable to get to the injured man on the ground, deputies tried to convince the suspect to release the hostage and surrender peacefully. He refused. SWAT paramedics successfully extracted the shooting victim from the scene and determined that he had died from his injuries.

Around 7:30 p.m., a woman emerged from the R.V. unharmed. She told detectives that the suspect’s wife and two sons were with him. For hours, the SWAT Team tried to make contact with the suspect, to no avail. All the while, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue paramedics were staged nearby in the event injured hostages would need medical attention. The SWAT Team, with the help of Coral Springs Police Dept.’s SWAT Team, made entry around 1:30 a.m. Friday and discovered the victims. SWAT medics and BSFR paramedics rendered aid to the injured woman and boy before transporting them to North Broward Medical Center and Broward General Medical Center, respectively. Both were in critical condition. BSO Criminal Investigations Division detectives are investigating to determine what circumstances led to the attacks. They believe the suspect was a stranger to the shooting victim.

Quiet Waters Robotics team wins South FlL Regional Competition.

By Rachel Galvin

Fifth grade Quiet Waters Elementary teacher Maryellen Pinzon has been coaching First Lego League (FLL) Robotics team for the past eight years and time and again, her kids come home with oversized trophies for their accomplishments. Recently, this year’s team, the Kitchen Kommandos won the South Florida FLL Regional Competition at Mc Nichol Middle School. This was the second Champion’s Award they received. In addition, they were invited to compete at the Florida State Championships on Feb. 26 at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) in Melbourne. They will be one of 48 teams asked to compete out of 450 teams total.

At their first competition, they won the 1st Place Champions Award. That event was held at Crystal Lake Middle School. They competed against 18 other teams.

The First Lego League is an international competition that has over 20,000 teams in over 61 countries. It is for elementary and middle school students, grades 4-8. The students create robots who can move, pick up items and complete certain tasks. Each year, the contest focuses on a different real-world topic related to the sciences. Students work out solutions to the various problems they are given. Then they meet for regional tournaments to share their know-ledge, compare ideas and run their robots.

This year’s theme was “Food Factor” and dealt with the science of keeping food safe.

The Kitchen Kommandos are competing for a Global Innovation award for their Glove Factor invention. This invention helps keep gloves used by food service employees sanitary by creating a vacuum chamber that inflates the gloves, allowing employees to insert their hands without touching the outside of the gloves. It also helps keep gloves sterile for the medical field. Help them win. Visit http://fllinnovationaward.firstlegoleague.org/glove_
factor to cast your vote for this local team!

The Robotics team meets every afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. Pinzon volunteers to coach the team after school.

“I do not get paid for the time I put in. I just love the ideals of the program and the Core Values instilled in my students/team. They learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork. Of course, I love a good competition.”

She said the most rewarding part is that high schoolers come back to mentor the program.

“I have them [the students] for one school year and then they go to middle school and compete against me for three years! However, I have high school mentors who were on my team when they were in 5th grade. One is a senior applying to MIT. One is a sophomore. Two are freshman. Mentors come on Fridays, our official meeting day.”

Public invited to reception and presentation on Feb. 15 at Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort

The City of Deerfield Beach was recently selected as one of 15 communities nationwide— and the only city in Florida—to receive Smart Growth America’s free smart growth technical assistance, which includes training with a smart growth expert from the National Complete Streets Coalition.

The technical assistance was made possible through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.

What are “Complete Streets” and Complete Streets policies?

Complete Streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities must be able to safely move along and across a complete street. Complete Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work. They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk to and from train stations.

Adopting a Complete Streets policy for the city’s roadways means that every transportation project will make the street network better and safer for drivers, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists – making Deerfield Beach a better place to live.  This is the second award for technical assistance that the City of Deerfield Beach has received in less than a year through the EPA’s Building Blocks program.

The first award was in April 2011 for Using Smart Growth to Produce Fiscal and Economic Health. Input from public meetings resulted in a memo from the EPA, with recommendations on next steps for applying Smart Growth Principles in Deerfield Beach.

Mayor Peggy Noland believes that Complete Streets planning is coming to Deerfield Beach at the right time. “We have seen major roadway improvement projects on Hillsboro Boulevard and the Dixie Flyover, and plans have been underway for several years to improve State Road A1A. A Complete Streets policy will assure us that our community’s roadway objectives are kept in the forefront as new projects come online, ensuring a better and safer quality of life in Deerfield Beach.

Two Complete Streets events will be held at the Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort, at 2096 NE 2 Street.

[  ] On Wednesday, Feb. 15, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., the public is invited and encouraged to attend a Complete Streets reception and presentation to learn more about Smart Growth and Complete Streets principles. The reception is sponsored by the Deerfield Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). Complimentary parking will be available in the Wyndham’s parking lot, located just south of the hotel, at the corner of NE 20th Terrace and NE 1st Street.

On Thursday, Feb. 16, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., a Complete Streets Policy Development Workshop will be held as part of the technical assistance grant provided by Smart Growth America (through funding from the EPA) and sponsored by the National Complete Streets Coalition. The public is welcome to attend the workshop, however input will be limited to decision makers, community stakeholders and city staff. At the end of the workshop, the instructors will help the city develop strategic next steps based on the community’s opportunities and strengths. For more information about the Complete Streets presentations and workshop, contact Chief Planner Amanda Martinez at amartinez@deerfield-beach.com or 954-480-4208. For more information on Complete Streets, visit www.completestreets.org.

DEERFIELD BEACH

Feb. 2 A man reported that he left the windows of his home at 1180 SE 6 Ave. open to air out the home after a fire. The man reported that someone entered the home and stole $750 worth of electronics.

Feb. 3 A man reported that his car was stolen from the parking lot of the Lakes Apartment Complex at 1080 S.Military Trail.

Feb. 3 It was reported that a car parked at 100 SE 21 Ave., the Main Beach parking lot, was broken into. Stolen was $30 from a wallet, and a cell phone.

Feb. 4 A woman reported that her car parked at 100 SE 21 Ave., the Main Beach parking lot, was broken into and a purse and $20 were stolen.

Feb. 4 A woman reported that her home at 1421 NW 45 St. was entered through an unlocked door and a laptop computer was stolen.

Feb. 4 A man was arrested and charged with a narcotics felony at 100 W. Hillsboro Blvd. The man was stopped for a traffic violation. A search of his car revealed crack cocaine under the driver’s seat.

Feb. 5 A man reported that he left his wallet at the customer service area at the Super Target, 3599 W. Hillsboro Blvd. A video showed that a woman placed the wallet in her bag. Loss included credit cards and a driver’s license.

Feb. 5 It was reported that a home at 614 SE 12 Ave. was entered and a laptop computer and $200 were stolen.

DEERFIELD — District 4

Feb. 2 Conveyance burglary was reported at the Mobil Station, 1200 W. Hillsboro Blvd. around 5:30 p.m.
While victim was pumping gas, witness observed a black male reach into victim’s vehicle and remove her purse. Subject entered a black Hyundai. Area was checked with negative results, video was available. Vehicle was registered to Enterprise Rental in Coconut Creek. Victim reported total loss of credit cards and $250 in cash.

Feb. 2 Residential burglary arrest was made in Highland Meadows Estates, NW 54 St. During an ongoing investigation, arrestee was identified as the suspect in multiple residential burglaries which occurred July-September 2011 in Highland Meadows Estates Mobile Home Park.

Suspect entered the mobile homes via window or door. Once inside, he would eat and drink the victims’ food. He also stole several large flat-screen televisions, a handgun and other miscellaneous property. Several witnesses were able to provide specific details about these incidents. DNA collected resulted in a positive match for the suspect.

Battery Bandits Caught!

BSO deputies arrested two suspects in connection with multiple battery thefts along the Powerline Road corridor.  An alert deputy spotted a vehicle matching the description of the one used in several burglaries in January 2012.  The suspects were subsequently stopped with several batteries in the rear of the vehicle.  Investigation resulted in the resolution of cases in other jurisdictions as well.

If you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood, please call 911.

LIGHTHOUSE POINT

Jan. 31 Police responded to a delayed theft involving two cell phones at Shekinah Missionary Church at 5360 N. Federal Hwy. A man stole two cell phones. The man admitted to stealing the cell phones and the cell phones were returned to the victims. Victims declined to prosecute the man.

Feb.1 A man reported his unlocked car parked at 2846 NE 35 Court was entered. An iPhone charger, iPhone earphone and $65 were stolen.

Feb. 1 A man reported that his car parked at 2541 NE 32 Court was entered. A briefcase containing paperwork, $3,500 and horse medication was stolen. Also a backpack containing a computer was stolen. The man reported that another car at the same address was entered and $25 in change, two pairs of sunglasses and 10 DVDs were stolen.