With their game postponed last Tuesday due to weather, the Sailfish baseball team will play their first home game today at 6 p.m.
Roger Dean Stadium will host the Sailfish as they go head-to-head with the Florida Tech Panthers. This will also be MLB Hall of Famer Gary Carter’s first home game with the Fish.
Make sure you head to the game tonight to support the Sailfish, and stay tuned to the Beacon Blog Twitter page as we tweet live from the game!
Denny’s is reprising their popular promotion and offering everyone a free Grand Slam breakfast today from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The best part, especially for students, is there’s no catch. No buy one get one free, no minimum purchase — just a free Grand Slam.
“We know that times are still tough and a free hot breakfast helps a lot of folks and their families,” said Nelson Marchioli, Denny’s president and CEO, in a press release. “We heard from thousands last year who thanked us.”
The two closest Denny’s restaurants are located at 1507 Belvedere Rd. and 2705 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach.
By Michael Noble and Jocelyn Martinez
Contributing Writers
The Palm Beach Atlantic University softball team opened the season winning a double-header against Northwood University’s Seahawks on Wednesday.
Photo by Kristina Webb / Copy Editor
The Sailfish dominated the contest, coming away with a run-ruled 9-0 win in the first game and a tighter 5-4 win in the second.
Starting pitcher and captain Ashley Jones delivered a sizzling 11 strikeouts in the first game. Northwood could barely keep up with only one hit.
By Michael Noble
Contributing Writer
Texting while driving, that practice so common among college and high school students, will become illegal in Florida if a proposed bill makes its way through the state legislature.
Senate Bill 448, sponsored by Nancy Detert, would outlaw what officials see as a significant cause of motor-vehicle accidents among teenagers.
Over 20 percent of fatal car crashes involving drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are blamed on the use of cell phones or not paying attention to the road.
Here in West Palm Beach, the police department does not specifically track the number of fatalities caused by texting, but Public Information Officer Peter Robbins said that texting while driving is a serious issue.
By Evelyn Ticona
Managing Editor
As President Barack Obama named January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention month, a group of West Palm Beach residents raised awareness of the problem in their own back yard.
On Thursday, Jan. 28 a crowd held a vigil outside a home on Lave Avenue where two years ago, federal investigators found 13 women used as sex slaves.
Todd Mullins, pastor of Christ Fellowship Church, addressed the issue of human trafficking on Jan. 31 in his sermon.
According to Mullins, 27 million people serve as slaves in the world today, and half of those are children.
With the earthquake in Haiti, the issue of human trafficking was brought to the table.
Keep reading →
By Kristina Webb
Copy Editor
The Palm Beach Mall opened in 1967 as the largest indoor mall in the Southeast. At the intersection of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and Interstate 95, it had a perfect position in a central location.
Today, however, a walk through the mall would tell you the sad tale of one of Palm Beach County’s first landmarks that once enjoyed visits from the rich and famous — and how the economy finally brought it to its knees.
Photo by Kristina Webb / Copy Editor
The Palm Beach Mall stands empty, closed for good on Jan. 31. The only stores remaining are JC Penney and George’s Music, both of which have large, outdoor storefronts and long-term leases.
For local residents, this has been a long time coming.
By Jennifer Rodino
Features Editor
Craving some Chick-fil-A? Get ready, Palm Beach Atlantic University, because from now until Feb. 15 PBA supporters can show their school spirit by eating more chicken.
The “Chick-fil-A Challenge” is taking place at two local restaurants, located on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard and on Okeechobee Boulevard at Florida’s Turnpike.
This challenge is a competition between PBA and Northwood University to see which school can bring in the most sales on their purchases.
Keep reading →
By Jennifer Rodino, Jared Stresen-Reuter and Jon Blank
Features Editor and Contributing Writers
The Super Bowl was yesterday, and most students were excited about seeing two great quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, go head-to-head.
However, Palm Beach Atlantic University students Jared Stresen-Reuter and Jon Blank were more concerned with the where-abouts of Chicago Bears star Devin Hester.
Hester is a wide receiver and return specialist for the Chicago Bears.
Photo by Jared Stresen-Reuter / Contributing Photographer
He is an alumnus of the University of Miami, where he became the first person in the university’s recent history to play on all three teams in football: offense, defense and special teams.
Hester holds the NFL’s all-time record for most kicks returned for a touchdown in a single season.
By Collier Rice
Contributing Writer
The Super Bowl is headed to South Florida again this year and local communities and businesses are looking to cash in on the action. Palm Beach County raked in approximately $42 million in 2007, when Super Bowl XLI (41) visited Miami.
“The economic impact of these events is quite positive,” said Roger Amidon, executive director of Palm Beach County’s Tourist Development Council.
This impact on a community is staggering. The average revenue generated for a Super Bowl host community is $350 million.
(via) Miami Herald
The county has scheduled 14 events this year as compared to one back in 2007. Local officials and businesses are hoping the increase in events will translate into an increase in revenue.
By Collier Rice
Contributing Writer
Sunshine State tanning laws could become a little cloudier over the coming weeks. A bill banning teenagers under the age of 16 from indoor tanning and requiring in-person parental consent for 16- and 17-year-olds is working its way through the state legislature.
The national health group Aim at Melanoma approached Sen. Eleanor Sobel last year with the initiative to ban Florida teenagers’ use of ultraviolet light-emitting indoor tanning beds.
“People associate melanoma with older people, but it’s actually on the rise with young adults,” said Samantha Guild, executive director of Aim at Melanoma.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), melanoma is the third most common skin cancer and the most dangerous, especially among young people.
Keep reading →
By Evelyn Ticona
Managing Editor
The Mar-a-Lago Club, owned by Donald J. Trump, will host the 52nd annual American Cancer Society Ball this Friday, Feb. 5.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Trump offers his property for this event, held at the Breakers in Palm Beach in previous years. Trump also serves as the New York Ambassador for the American Cancer Society Ball.
Staci H. Eaton, community representative at the Island of Palm Beach ACS Unit, said she expects up to 450 attendees at this year’s ball. The price of the tickets to attend the ball is $750 per person. Keep reading →
By Anna Zetterberg
Assistant Managing Editor
What were you more interested in: the release of Apple’s latest technology, the iPad, or President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union Address? While both are sure to have a lasting impact on society, our grandchildren won’t inherit debt from the iPad.
Obama delivered his first State of the Union Address on Wed., Jan. 27. The president’s rhetoric was full of emotional appeal and American ideals. But beneath all of the flowery language were some bold statements and proposals.
Banks have been paying back their debt from the Troubled Asset Relief Program much quicker than anticipated. President Obama proposes $30 billion of the recovered money go toward small banks so that small businesses will have an easier time obtaining loans.
A $30 billion giveaway seems to follow a trend; remember the $800 billion stimulus package and bank bailouts last year? How quick we are to forget the looming $12 trillion dollar deficit. We should be paying countries like China back, to whom we owe over $800 billion.
Obama criticized the Bush administration for the debt caused by the two wars and yet Obama deployed 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan in the recent months. He claims to be all about positive foreign relationships, but borrowing without returning sure doesn’t make friends.
He might as well spend as much as he can before he has to adhere to his unsustainable, proposed government spending freeze effective in 2011. National security, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will not be affected.
He’s hot then he’s cold. First he spent over $1 trillion in stimulus and recession relief attempts and now he is proposing a 3 year spending dry-spell. And yes, he is still proposing the health care bill which is estimated to cost $1 trillion.
Following President Obama’s flip-flop contradictions is starting to make me dizzy.
By Jen Herring
Contributing Writer
Only 45 minutes from Miami, part of the Island of Hispaniola, Haiti remains in dismay due to the recent earthquake.
The tragedy is felt not only in Haiti, but at Palm Beach Atlantic University as well.
Edwens Prophete, a student working towards his masters in business, considers himself lucky to have heard from some of his family only a few hours after the earthquake.
Prophete, born in New York as one of seven siblings, lived in Port-au-Prince for six years and still has a lot of extended family in Haiti. Keep reading →
By Samone Davis
Contributing Writer
Reaching out to a desperate country, Palm Beach Atlantic University students contributed to Haiti relief efforts by loading and unloading supplies at Missionary Flights International in Ft. Pierce.
As Workship volunteers, students helped package 600 pounds of food, 13 boxes of hygiene and first aid supplies, 30 cases of water and more than 40 bags of clothes.
Photo courtesy of Workship
“Participating in the [Haiti relief] Workship was heart-warming,” said freshman Timeelah MiAnn, “Being there really put things in perspective for me and it made me realize how blessed I am.”
Missionary Flights International has been flying from Florida to Haiti daily since the Jan. 12 earthquake. Workship students helped on Jan. 23.
By Michele Kappas
Contributing Writer
When someone has the ability to run a marathon in 2:59:22 and can claim the title “world champion,” heads are going to turn.
This is exactly what happened on Jan. 8 when Palm Beach Atlantic University hired Sonja Friend-Uhl as the new men’s and women’s cross country coach.
Friend-Uhl has been turning heads at least since 1989, when she became the Delaware State Champion for the 800 meters while still in high school.
She then earned a 16th place finish at the 1993 NCAA Championships during her college career at William and Mary.
Friend-Uhl started coaching as an assistant for cross country and track and field at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1996.
She then took on the head coaching position at Western High School in Davie, Fla.
By Nick Murray
Contributing Writer
To observers it seems like child’s play. Some say it’s pure folly that will result in a serious injury. Others express admiration for it.
To the uncultured observer, it is a phenomenon that exists somewhere between a can-do mentality and an innate desire to commit suicide.
However, to the practitioner it is freedom. It is boundlessness. It is parkour.
(via) wbhsweb.com
The term is derived from the French language, translating roughly to mean “the art of movement.”
By Eileen Louissaint
Contributing Writer
Graduates from Palm Beach Atlantic University search all over the country for opportunities to start their careers, but Robert Anderson, 39, of West Palm Beach, glanced right down the street 11 years ago and now he serves as vice president of Forte Interactive.
The company, located just two minutes north of PBA on Olive Avenue, calls itself “the leader in software and Web application development,” and boasts a loyal client list of over 200 local and national firms, including the university. Anderson co-founded Forte Interactive along with Clay Williams, an engineer formerly with IBM.
Anderson blew in from “The Windy City” of Chicago to attend PBA in 1988. After going home for a few years, he returned and graduated in 1994, with a degree in both communication and international business. He currently serves as a board member of the PBA Alumni Association.
Robert Anderson, PBA alumnus
“To this day, 21 years since I came here, I am still reaping rewards from business relations I have cultivated in the area,” Anderson said. As a successful PBA alumnus, he gives this advice to PBA students: “Network and build long-lasting relationships.”
By Anna Zetterberg
Assistant Managing Editor
To view Casey Elia’s Soundslides project on the Coral House, click here.
The power of partnerships and community: These are the building blocks of a new community called the Coral House. As their Web site poignantly says, “We believe that we can accomplish together what none of us could do alone.”
A Christian group started just two years ago, members live together (they own two houses and an apartment) and serve together by caring for the homeless of Palm Beach County, providing food, shelter, clothing and advocacy. Keep reading →
