By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Where Crabby Jacks [recently burned down in a fire] was located, the marquee for the only Drive-In movie theatre in Deerfield Beach once stood.

Spawning from there, 36 years ago, traffic jams were caused on Federal Highway, thanks to the release of the film Jaws.

During rush-hour traffic last Friday morning, commuters on I-95 may have witnessed the return of Jaws,  a Megalodon, a giant shark thought to be extinct from South Florida waters for thousands of years,  riding on the back of a truck headed to its new home at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science. It will be part of the Prehistoric Florida exhibit in the new EcoDiscovery Center, slated to open on Veterans Day, 2011.

Veteran’s Day will also mark the last day of the 26th Annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.  Beyond screening foreign and homegrown motion pictures, FLIFF has invited some well-known celebrities.

Best known for her work in Carlito’s Way and Kindergarten Cop, Penelope Ann Miller will attend Gala Night with screening of The Artist, an award-winning movie on the European circuit this summer.

On Nov. 8, Piper Laurie will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in dramatic classics like The Hustler and horror classics like Carrie.

To find out more about this year’s festivities and surprise guests keep checking www.fliff.com.

Also Drive opens this weekend.  Ryan Gosling portrays a stuntman who moonlights as a get-away-car driver.  For years, his character has worked in partnership with Shannon (Bryan Cranston), who has ties with organized crime figures portrayed by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman.  When one caper goes astray, Gosling becomes the surrogate husband to Irene (Carey Mulligan).

While Drive contains some great stunts and action scenes, this flick is more like a Film Noir drama.  Gosling gives a deadpan performance similar to what Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum and Steve McQueen would have provided in their day. The best, most surprising performance comes from Brooks; the goofy comedian sinks his teeth into a monstrous role of a capo de capo.  Drive is off-road fun as a Saturday matinee.

The School Board of Broward County has selected Robert Runcie as superintendent of the sixth largest school district in the country.  Following final interviews this morning of the two finalists, Runcie and Dr. Bernard Taylor, Jr., Superintendent, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Board members held a final discussion and cast their votes. A motion to make the vote for Runcie unanimous was then approved.

Runcie currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Board of Education, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois, the third largest school district in the nation, with 410,000 students.   He holds both a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Harvard College and Master of Management degree from Northwestern University.  He is also a Broad Fellow, having completed an education executive training program presented by the prestigious Broad Superintendents Academy.

In addition to serving the Chicago Public Schools as Chief of Staff, Runcie has also served as Chief Instructional Officer, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Information Officer.   Prior to joining Chicago Public Schools, he served as a senior consultant for a computer science corporation.

From an applicant pool of 47, the Board selected six semi-finalists to be interviewed.  That field was then narrowed to Runcie and Taylor. Prior to their final interviews, the finalists took part in one-on-one interviews with Board members, participated in a “Meet the Press” news conference, a “Meet and Greet” with community members and a Community Forum.

The School Board has authorized contract negotiations with Robert Runcie.  His start date as Broward’s new superintendent has yet to be determined.

By Rachel Galvin

Beginning on Sept. 9 and ending on Oct. 31, 25-year-old local FAU graduate Fabio Barbieri will venture on a harrowing and heroic 2,000-mile journey for 51 days across Japan to raise money for those affected by the March 2011 tsunami. His sojourn starts in Japan’s northernmost point at Cape Soya and ends at the Southern tip, Cape Sata. This is the Lighthouse Point resident’s first trip to Japan.

Barbieri, who attended Cardinal Gibbons High, but was a senior at Zion Lutheran and graduated from there, said, “I have traveled a lot and have always wanted to go to Japan. Having recently graduated with an MBA and being done with school for good, I decided to treat myself to a trip. I have been saving up money for a new car, but one day, I thought to myself ‘I could go the safe route … buy my car, get a 9-5 job right away and start saving for a house … or … what else could I do?’ At that point, Japan came into my mind, having always been a dream of mine to go there. So, after some research I figured that, with my budget, the only way for me to see the country would be to camp out. Finally, I said to myself, why not also make it into a fundraiser while I am at it? So I did, and came up with the idea to cycle the length of the country to raise money for disaster relief. You can’t really raise funds unless you do something out of the ordinary, so that’s how the idea came about.”

Barbieri, who graduated with an MBA in Operations Management, does not classify himself as a cyclist or a camping enthusiast, but obviously, he is a philanthropist, using his heart to lead him to give back to those in need. He is hoping to raise at least $5,000 in disaster relief.

Funds will go to Second Harvest Japan, a food bank that will ship supplies to affected people. He will be donating time to work with Second Harvest while in Tokyo. He also will work with All-Hands to help with rebuilding efforts.

Asked what he is most looking forward to, he said, “I am looking forward to reaching Cape Sata (the finish line) and screaming at the top of my lungs in satisfaction!” He added, “ I am afraid mostly of where I will be sleeping at night as I have never camped out in random places, or anywhere for that matter!”

Several companies have pitched in to help Fabio’s journey by providing supplies and discounted services that he may need along the way. He plans on camping out in a tent or possibly in the home of a kind stranger.

He hopes this effort will not only help countless people in Japan, but also open his eyes into a new culture and inspire others who follow his blog. To see pictures and videos of Fabio’s adventures along the way and to help him reach or exceed his goal by donating, visit his site: www.pedalforjapan.com.

Fabio Barbieri hopes to raise over $5,000 for Japan.

The first of a six public workshops addressing the redistricting of Broward County Commission districts takes place tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Emma Lou Olson Civic Center, West Banquet Room, 1801 N.E. Sixth Street in Pompano Beach.   Commissioner Chip LaMarca will attend tonight’s meeting.

The Broward County Commission is preparing a new Commission District map based upon 2010 Census data. Redistricting is required by the Broward County Charter to balance the populations of the nine single member districts and ensure residents have equal representation on the County Commission.
The public is invited to participate in the process by attending the workshops and by submitting maps of their own for the Commission’s consideration.

The six public workshops are:

Tuesday, September 6, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Emma Lou Olson Civic Center, West Banquet Room, 1801 N.E. Sixth St., Pompano Beach

Monday, October 3, 5 – 7 p.m.
West Lake Park – Anne Kolb Nature Center, 751 Sheridan St., Hollywood

Several map options have already been prepared by County staff for the Commissioners to consider.  All eligible maps must meet the “Fair Districting” principles for Federal congressional and State legislative districts which were added to the Florida Constitution by voter referendum in the November 2010 election. Submitted maps that meet Fair Districting Standards will be sent to the Commission and all maps sent to the Commission will also be posted at www.broward.org/redistricting.

Residents are encouraged to participate in any of the workshops and submit their own suggestions for redistricting, by submitting paper maps or maps created in a web-based software, My District Builder.

Emily Chen won three events and helped the Deerfield Beach Dolphins win the South Florida Recreational Swim League large division title for the eighth consecutive season in the summer championships at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex. Photo by Gary Curreri

By Gary Curreri

Emily Chen enjoys swimming as much as she does competing with her teammates.

The 10-year-old member of the Deerfield Beach Dolphins recently flexed her muscles during the South Florida Recreational Swim League summer championships at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex.

Chen won three events while teammate Greg Kohner also helped lead the team to win the large division title for the eighth consecutive season, including the last four summer titles. It amassed 1,818 points to easily best runner-up Boca Raton Mantas, who has 673 points.

“I like just having fun and being able to be with my friends,” Chen said. “I felt very good about my races. Improving your time is important, and that makes you feel good, even if you don’t win the race. The best thing about swimming is being with your friends and having a good time.”

Kohner also swam well as he also captured three events and set three meet records along the way.

“I like swimming because it is the best sport for you,” Kohner said. “You get the workout and you are weightless. It is not that much strain on the joints. It is the only sport that I play where I actually feel good after a workout.”

Dolphins swim team head coach Rafael DeSilva and his fellow coaches dressed in costumes each day. He said it is all part of keeping it fun for the swimmers. This year, they have 193 swimmers on the competitive team and 225 in their program.

“We do more than just swimming in the program,” DeSilva said. “We want them to become better swimmers. We worked them tremendously on their techniques the last five years. If you put the fun, technique and the work ethic together, the results will come.”

DeSilva said they don’t leave anybody out when it comes to swimming in meets.

“Everybody swims three events,” DeSilva said. “We motivate them to swim and have that personal improvement. We celebrate a whole lot more when the kid improves their time than if a kid breaks a record. That, of course, is also nice.”

The league also established the Julie Cusmano Outstanding Parent Award that went to Margate Motion parent Miguel Arteaga.

South Florida Recreational Swim League president Chris Hoch said the parent award was named in honor of Deerfield Beach Dolphins parent Julie Cusmano who has had children in the program and did a lot for the league. This was her final meet since her son aged out.

“We are going to miss her,” Hoch said. “She has done a lot for the league.”

Dave Montalbano & Michael Berryman

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Hurricane Irene damaged the box office. Don’t Wait Until Dark performed poorly, but this Guillermo Del Toro production has a second chance this weekend for much-deserved redemption. This great date movie is the summer’s best monster movie.

With no relation to the Lee Marvin classic from 1967, Point Blank is a French Film with English subtitles that needs no dialogue. This visual treat opens at a breakneck pace and never lets up, yet provides just enough character identification to merit audience empathy.

When a thief with mob connections ends up in the hospital, an unlucky male nurse is blackmailed by the mob bosses to free the thief. To make matters worse for the male nurse, his wife is suffering from a problem pregnancy when she is kidnapped by sinister forces. Point Blank draws the audience into a roller coaster world in which the bad guys are not so bad and the good guys are not as good as they appear. Not a moment of film is wasted up to the final frame.

As the summer blockbuster season slows down, the convention and festival season pick up. Six years ago, Petey Mongelli staged Screamfest in Coral Springs and Hurricane Wilma destroyed Broward County for two weeks. Screamfest, which began in 2002 originally, outgrew Broward and evolved into Spooky Empire’s Ultimate Horror Weekend, the biggest horror movie convention in Southern United States.

Staged in Orlando, this year’s Spooky Empire will be held Oct. 7-9 (www.spookyempire.com). Headliners include Malcolm McDowell, Lance Henriksen, Michael Berryman, and artist Barry Anderson and Night of the Living Dead’s Bill Hinzman continue their perfect attendance.

When asked about the migration to Orlando, Petey replied, “We outgrew Broward. The convention grew bigger and bigger, and the Wyndham Hotel on International Drive provided a suitable venue for the Creepy Car/Hearst Show and the Zombie Walk, which involves thousands of volunteers.” While Petey will continue his Spooky Empire in Orlando, next year he plans a 10-year retrospective in Broward County.

As Spooky Empire concludes, the 26th Annual Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival begins. Director Gregory von Hausch has been playing close to the vest, but this Labor Day weekend, he plans to reveal the listing of filmmakers, special guests and key dates for festival screenings, parties and events. (Fest runs Oct. 21-Nov. 11). For more information, visit www.fliff.com.

At about 11:30A.M.Tuesday morning, while the salvage company was moving debris for the state

investigators a small fire flared up. Deerfield Fire responded with Engine 102 and Ladder 102

to put more water on the ruins. Deerfield Fire will begin manning an engine with off duty

personnel , at the property owners expense until further notice. Mayor Peggy Noland said “it’s

too dangerous to leave it this way”.  She said “the insurance carrier want to bring in their own

investigators and they can’t get here till Thursday”. When asked about a local TV station citing

a determination of arson had been made, Fire Marshall Gary Fernaays  said no ruling had been

made as of yet.  “Some of the media think that suspicious means arson”, it

doesn’t”.

CITY OFFICIALS DISCUSS SAFETY AT THE SITE

Crabby Jacks, at 1015 S.  Federal, in Deerfield Beach,  is the second restaurant this month in Rivertowne Square shopping center at SW 10th and Federal to have a fire.

People cruising by Sunday morning watched as it was burning down between 6:40 and 7:00 a.m. before someone finally called the fire in. Deerfield started rolling on the call at 7 a.m. and quickly called for back up from Pompano and Ft. Lauderdale.

There was a rumor going around town that maybe there was a “firebug” in the area because of a fire at Peking Tokyo Buffet on Aug. 12, which is still closed, less than a 1000 feet from Crabby Jack’s. That fire was a result of grease build up on and around the grill so when the employee fired it up there was a flash fire.

Quitoni from Deerfield fire said it took about 30 minutes to whack down the initial blaze.  BSO cleared out Denny’s next door because it was so hot.  Onlookers were coming by all day. The state Fire Marshall is investigating the fire and we should have an answer soon.

We will have the complete story in our Sept 1 issue of the Observer. To watch video of the Peking Tokyo Buffet fire on Aug 12 and the Crabby Jack’s fire go to ObserverTV and click on” latest videos”

PHOTO BY JEFF GRAVES

Due to severe weather and dangerously high surf, the International Fishing Pier closed at 3:30 PM Thursday, Aug. 25. Weather permitting, the pier will re-open Friday morning. The beach is also closed to swimmers. Future updates posted on this website.