Beacon Features: West Palm sparkles and shines

By Jen Herring
Contributing Writer

We all know the familiar saying, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” For weeks, local residents had their tickets and were ready to spend Presidents Day weekend viewing elegant antiques that catch the eye at first sight.

“Tens of thousands” of people attended the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art and Antique Show, show officials said. That number exceeded last year’s attendance at the show, which is billed as the largest art and antique show in the nation.

Photo by Evelyn Ticona

 

The show, which took place at the Palm Beach County Convention Center, featured over 200 international exhibitors from the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, Turkey and Sweden.

Police provide sketch of rapist

By Jen Rodino
Features Editor

Local authorities continue searching for the man they believe has committed three separate brutal sexual assaults in the past nine months. Many are concerned and fear that the man will attack again in the near future.

The first assault took place in Jupiter on April 9. The other two occurred in the West Palm Beach-Lake Worth area on Aug. 7 and Jan. 16.

Capt. Carol Gregg, head of Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s special investigations division, told the Palm Beach Post, “all three women were seriously injured and the ones attacked in August and January required hospitalization.”

Sketch courtesy of PBSO

The three women were alone when attacked. It appears that the rapist chooses his victims based on their isolation.

The rapist violently attacks the victim and beats them about the head and face for a few minutes, then leaves.

Palm Beach County detectives refuse to comment any further than what has been reported in the Feb. 4 issue of the Palm Beach Post, but indicated that no new attacks have been reported.

However, agencies across the West Palm Beach and Lake Worth areas are still alert and following the open case.

Lights, camera, caught: Stoplight cameras pop up near campus

By Eileen Louissaint
Contributing Writer

Think before you speed through the next red light: The traffic paparazzi are watching.

Anna Zetterberg / Asst. Managing Editor

More than half of the U.S. states and many other countries use traffic cameras at intersections to photograph drivers disobeying traffic laws. Public officials insist that their purpose remains to decrease the amount of red light running and prevent accidents.

“The goal is public safety,” said Peter Robbins, West Palm Beach public information officer. “It turns out that in urban areas and in downtown the common cause [of accidents] is red light running.”

A red light violation could cost you $125. Since the introduction of red light cameras to West Palm Beach in November 2009, the city has granted violators a 90-day grace period. This will end on Feb. 21, though, when violators will start getting fines in the mail instead of warnings.

Beacon News: Palm Beach Mall closes after 42 years

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.

Super Bowl brings party, revenue to West Palm

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.

Beacon News: Waterfront set to open in February

By Jocelyn Martinez
Contributing Writer

Photo by Christina Cernik, Photo Editor

 

 

After years of planning and working on the City Commons area of the West Palm Beach Waterfront, a lot of hard work is about to pay off.

“This project has been part of Mayor Frankel’s vision for downtown as a whole since she came into office in 2003,” said Peter Robbins, public information officer for the City of West Palm Beach.

Now all that is left is to get the project completed. The area should be finished by Feb. 20.

Beacon News: What’s in your water?

By Tyann Mullen & Kristina Webb
Contributing Writer, Managing Editor

A recent scare in a local community has students at Palm Beach Atlantic University asking the question: What’s in our water?

An accumulation of brain tumors noted by several residents of The Acreage prompted the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) to research the well water system in the peaceful, rural community.

Of the thousands of residents, 46 adults and 15 children were found with brain tumors. The FDOH is continuing to research the victims’ medical histories and is seeking to determine whether private wells are causing the cases of cancer to form, or if other environmental causes are at play.

Soulforce set to return to West Palm

The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights group Soulforce is set to return to West Palm Beach Nov. 20-22.

Students will remember that Soulforce visited Palm Beach Atlantic University’s campus last October and attempted to enter a chapel service, only to have six of their members arrested by the West Palm Beach Police Department.

Soulforce’s November visit is scheduled in response to a convention being held that weekend at the West Palm Beach Marriott by the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH).

To counter to NARTH’s convention, entitled “Preventing & Treating Sexual Identity Confusion in the Lives of Children, Adolescents and Adults,” Soulforce has announced that it will be holding an anti-heterosexism conference, which according to the Soulforce Web site is designed “to explore and begin undoing the heterosexist attitudes that exist on personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural levels.”

The Beacon will be doing some more in-depth reporting on this issue, so stayed tuned to a future issue for more updates.

Link to story on WPTV.com