UPDATE:

The suspect who committed these car burglaries (original alert is below) was charged by BSO deputies on April 23 after detectives from Coconut Creek PD saw the published reports and recognized the suspect as someone they had taken into custody on April 18 on unrelated charges.

The suspect is: Arthur Rivera W/M, d.o.b.12/18/81. He remains in custody

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Car Burglar Busy in Deerfield Beach>

14 Cars in One Night>

PIO 12-4-12

Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying a busy car burglar who broke into 14 cars in Deerfield Beach on April 15.

The suspect was captured on home surveillance video checking the doors of the vehicles parked in a homeowner’s driveway and looking inside them with a flashlight. When he couldn’t get inside those cars, he moved to the neighbor’s home.

At around 10 a.m. BSO units responded to 2330 Deercreek Trail when the occupant of the home noticed the garage door was open and all three vehicles had been ransacked (one inside the garage and two in the driveway). The burglar also stole a TV and iPod.

Fourteen vehicles were broken into at the Deer Creek Neighborhood on April 15 between the hours of 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Three records were broken during the kids’ 6-10 session.

By Caitlin Lindsey
As Shakespeare once wrote, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have…” well, some have to stick it through the rain and lightning to prove greatness.

That is exactly what the Deerfield Beach Dolphins did on Saturday, April 21.

This past weekend was not ideal for swimming, but that didn’t keep the Swim League Spring Championship from happening. The Championship was split into two segments; kids 6-10 years old in the morning, and ages 11-18 in the afternoon.

During the first session, the rain delayed the meet for an hour, but Dolphins were able to sneak in a couple of first places –one was in backstroke, at about 27 seconds. The second session, also, was delayed for about a half hour. Events were: the 200 medley relay, 50 freestyle, 50 breaststroke, 50 backstroke, 50 butterfly, 100 individual medley, and 200 freestyle relay. (A medley is backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle, not to be confused with an IM: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Three records were broken in this season’s championships, all during the younger kids’ session.

No doubt this is just a sign of good things to come … not the rain, but the record-breaking.

Keep up with the Deerfield Beach Dolphins. Summer is just around the corner, featuring the Summer Championships and all that sunny weather!

Swimming Spring Championships (4-21-12)

Team Rankings

Female Team Scores

1. Deerfield Beach Dolphins

2. Palm Beach Gardens Makos

3. YMCA of Boca Raton Barracudas

Male Team Scores

1. YMCA of Boca Raton Barracudas

2. Deerfield Beach Dolphins

3. Palm Beach Gardens Makos

Combined Team Scores

1. Deerfield Beach Dolphins

2. YMCA of Boca Raton Barracudas

3. Palm Beach Gardens Makos

Congratulations Dolphins!

City of Lighthouse Point and Broward County officials, business leaders and BankUnited executives participated in a groundbreaking for the new BankUnited Lighthouse Point branch, Thursday, Mar 29, scheduled to open in December 2012 at 2500 North Federal Highway.

Lucille Pignataro, branch manager and president of the Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce, was joined at the groundbreaking by BankUnited Senior Executive Vice President Gerry Litrento, Broward County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, Lighthouse Point Mayor Fred Schorr, and Lighthouse Point Commissioner Glenn Troast, among other guests.

One of 10 new branches BankUnited plans to open in 2012, the 2,500 square-foot branch is expected to have three full-service teller stations, four retail bankers, safe deposit boxes and a full-service drive-up window. The drive-up lane will have an ATM machine and a night drop-box for after-hours service.

Plans for the interior design include a contemporary style with beautiful, rich finishes, carpet and stone, modern lighting, high ceilings and plenty of glass for natural lighting. The customer areas will be convenient for business transactions either at the teller line or the sit-down customer stations.

The exterior of the building, which is in keeping with the style of the Lighthouse Point community and was approved by the City Community Appearance Board, is planned to feature a modern, contemporary look with exquisite detailing, beautiful landscaping, plenty of glass and ample lighting to provide safety and convenience and accentuate the building’s architectural features.

BankUnited is supporting small business growth throughout the state by focusing on commercial and small business lending in addition to providing a full range of consumer banking services.

SEE VIDEO OF CEREMONY ON OBSERVER TV

Every day, in Broward County alone, hundreds of dogs are euthanized. In November of 2010 Dogs Rule Rescue was born, started by, Lisa Congemi and a small committed group of  animal lovers. DRRG a non-profit 501(c)3, all volunteer organization, based here in Deerfield Beach.

Their mission is to save the lives of homeless and abandoned dogs from high-kill shelters that would otherwise be euthanized and find them loving and forever homes, along with educating the public on the importance of spay and neuter.

To date they have rescued and found homes for over 125 dogs, and they are just getting started. That is an incredible number of lives saved considering DRRG relies solely on donations and foster homes. All DRRG dogs are spayed and neutered, micro chipped, fully vaccinated and given any medical care needed before being adopted.

Any pet landing in a rescue means it has been through some type of traumatizing situation, each prospective person looking to adopt is screened to find the best possible match for both the dog and adopter to ensure the pet finds it’s forever home.

Lisa credits her core supporters and rescue partners, John Prichard, Phyllis Pastore, Stephanie Mink, Donna Wiles and Frank Congemi for getting this organization off to such a successful start. Stray Aid Spay and Neutering Clinic has also been key by providing low cost services for the dogs.

Exclusive Story about this dog coming next week in The observer

     ~~ Saving One Life At A Time~~

Visit us @ www.dogsrulerescue.org

NE 2 Street east of A1A, as well as Ocean Way in front of the Wyndham Hotel (from NE 2 Street south one block), will be closed to vehicular traffic starting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, due to construction related to the pier project.

Alternative access for vehicles going to the Wyndham will be in place during the closure. The work should be completed later the same day. Street will re-open as soon as possible.

**Sign up for updates on the pier project at www.Deerfield-Beach.com/esubscriptions.**

Deerfield CRA meeting

Tuesday, March 19, 6 to 7 p.m.

City Hall, 150 NE 2 St., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441 

954-480-4264

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.”

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.

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.