The Palm Beach Post | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | 1B K1
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SH AKER S
JOHN LACY
John Lacy is managing director,
wealth management advisor,
and founder of the Lacy Wealth
Management Group at Merrill Lynch.
Drawing upon 27 years of experience,
his philosophy is “It All Matters.” As portfolio
manager and investment strategy co-leader, Lacy
manages private client, corporate, and endowment
portfolios with tailored wealth planning and asset
management strategies. Lacy is an economics
graduate from the University of Texas Austin.
He holds the Certied Private Wealth Advisor®
certication, administered by IMCA and taught with
the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.
Local philanthropy has included chairman of Palm
Health Foundation, trusteeship for two regional
hospitals, Boys & Girls Clubs of PBC, and co-chair
for “A Night for Nature” benetting Fish & Wildlife
Foundation of Florida. Lacy also serves as a Trustee
of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.
GOLF – A popular kosher market is scheduled to
open in the fall of 2023 in the former Publix in the Vil-
lage Square at Golf shopping center at the corner of
Woolbright Road and Military Trail.
Joseph Gopin, owner of KC Market, which has been
operating at 5650 Stirling Road in Hollywood for a
decade, said he heard about the available 40,000-
square-foot space from a customer who lives in the
Boynton Beach area.
“I have always believed Palm Beach County was
underserved for the kosher consumers, especially
north of Boca Raton. I always wanted to have some-
thing there. When this came up, I jumped on it,” Gopin
said.
KC Market (for Kosher Central) features a kosher
grocery store with butcher and deli counters, a full
bakery, sushi, imported foods and fresh produce. It
also oers catering.
Kosher is food that is prepared according to biblical
and rabbinical standards and supervised by local
third-party kosher agencies that maintain the highest
standards in protecting the kosher consumer’s inter-
est, Gopin said.
Publix opened at Village Square in 1983, and in No-
vember 2021, moved south across Woolbright to a
new store at The Stables, a newly constructed center.
Merchants were worried about the impact of Publix’s
departure, but say they are doing well while experi-
encing the usual summer slowdown.
“The village is happy not to have that vacancy
there that could harm the whole shopping center. It
will be nice to ll it back up again,” said Christine
Thrower-Skinner, the village manager.
Thrower-Skinner said KC Market’s plans require
Village Council approval because the company wants
to make minor changes to the front of the building. KC
Markets led for a permit in July seeking to add two
exterior doors needed for restaurants that are expect-
ed to occupy part of the space.
The layout of the new KC Market will include two
independently operated restaurants. One will be
what’s known as a dairy cafeteria-style Italian res-
taurant so that meat and dairy can be separated as
required for kosher certication. The other will be a
meat deli-style restaurant.
“We will keep the infrastructure that was there for
Publix before, such as the plumbing, electrical and the
aisles, in the same place. We do not plan extensive
construction,” Gopin said, adding the renovations are
expected to take about a year.
“My store in Hollywood, it is presentable, but noth-
ing fancy. We are very busy here. Customers come
here because we give them a good experience and a
good food selection,” Gopin said.
Gopin said the Village of Golf location will be the
largest kosher grocery store in Broward and Palm
Beach counties, and the space is four times the size of
KC Market’s Hollywood store. He also expects to open
a newly built store in Hallandale Beach within the
Kosher market to open
at former Publix in Golf
KC Market (for Kosher Central) features a kosher grocery store with butcher and deli counters, a full
bakery, sushi, imported foods and fresh produce. It also offers catering.
PROVIDED BY JOSEPH GOPIN
Plans include a huge KC Market
and two separate restaurants
Susan Salisbury
Special to Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY NETWORK
See KOSHER, Page 2B
KC Market is slated to open next year in the vacant
Publix at the corner of Woolbright Road and Military
Trail in Golf, west of Boynton Beach.
JAMES COLEMAN/PALM BEACH POST
JUPITER ISLAND – For at least seven years, Dr.
Marc and Janna Ronert repeatedly drove past 310
South Beach Road, eyeing the dream property where
they envisioned building a beach house for them-
selves and their 13-year-old twins.
For almost a decade, they knew they couldn’t de-
velop oceanfront land since town code prevented
construction on the eastern slice of the property. But
that changed in 2020 when they learned Jupiter Is-
land had moved the construction line closer to the
ocean.
They bought the vacant 3.7-acre property for
$4.2 million in June 2020, records show, eager to be
part of the island’s private, genteel lifestyle. But more
than two years later, neighborhood disputes, appeals
and legal battles have kept the Ronerts from breaking
ground.
Beach house brawl
Jupiter Island newcomers clash
with neighbors over proposal
Dr. Marc and Janna Ronert stand in the doorway of
their main residence under construction on the
west side of South Beach Road on March 9 in Jupiter
Island. The couple have faced erce backlash after
submitting development plans to the town of
Jupiter Island to build a beach house on the east
side of South Beach Road. A four-day hearing in
October by the state Division of Administrative
Hearings could determine its fate.
CRYSTAL VANDER WEIT/TCPALM
Lina Ruiz
Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
See BEACH HOUSE, Page 3B
Finance
Coral Gables Trust Company, a Flor-
ida-based trust and wealth manage-
ment rm, has announced the ap-
pointment of Patricia Godwin as sen-
ior vice president and wealth adviser.
As manager of the rm’s West Palm
Beach oce at The Square, Godwin will oversee the
development and management of complex portfolios
for high-net-worth clients, oering an array of in-
vestment solutions, nancial planning, trust and es-
tate services. Before joining Coral Gables Trust, God-
win served as a senior client adviser at Bessemer
Trust in Palm Beach.
Community
The Palm Beach
Chamber of Commerce
recently welcomed ve
new board members.
Joe Chase returns to
the board after serving
as president at the Fo-
rum Club of the Palm
Beaches. Debra Reece
is senior vice president
at Sotheby’s Interna-
tional Realty. Darren
Hirsowitz is vice presi-
dent of nance and
business analytics at The Breakers
Palm Beach. Roberta Jurney is CEO of
Quantum House. Simon Isaacs is
owner and broker of Simon Isaacs Real
Estate.
Public relations
Boca Raton-based TransMedia
Group has named Samantha Tzikas
director of public relations. A graduate
of Florida Atlantic University, Tzikas
works with a variety of clientele whom
she helps to cultivate relationships
with media organizations and inu-
encers. In her role at TransMedia
Group, she writes news releases, pitches media, and
does extensive research on clients as well as their
competitors to develop the best plan for PR cam-
paigns.
Nonprot
HomeSafe, a local nonprot with a
mission to help South Florida victims
of child abuse and domestic violence,
recently appointed Bjarne Borg and
Val Perez to its board of directors. Ju-
piter resident Borg is the co-founder
and executive chairman at Index In-
vestment Group. Perez, of West Palm
Beach, is the head of Legendary Pro-
grams at TD Bank. HomeSafe provides
prevention and intervention services,
serving more than 14,000 infants, chil-
dren, young adults and families each
year.
Health care
The Commonwealth Institute Flori-
da, a network of successful business
and professional women, named
Darcy J. Davis, CEO of the Health Care
District of Palm Beach County, to its
Top 100 Women-Led Businesses list at
its 17th annual luncheon in June. The event celebrat-
ed the achievements of women leading their compa-
nies to the top of their industries across the state.
Ranked 11th on the list of 100, Davis is among the 15%
BUSINESS PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Godwin
Isaacs
Tzikas
Chase
Reece
Jurney
Hirsowitz
Davis
Borg
Perez
See PEOPLE, Page 2B
2B | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | THE PALM BEACH POST
of health care CEOs nationwide who are
women.
Property
management
A-Z Home Watch So-
lutions has earned ac-
creditation from the Na-
tional Home Watch Asso-
ciation for an eighth year.
Owned and operated by
Doris and Artie Fink,
Home Watch “keeps an
eye on things” at your va-
cation or primary home while you are
not in residence. A-Z Home Watch Solu-
tions serves all of northern Palm Beach
County, including North Palm Beach,
Palm Beach Gardens, Juno, Jupiter and
Tequesta.
People
Continued from Page 1B
Artie and
Doris Fink
next year.
The Village of Golf store will employ
40 to 50 people.
The Village Square’s owner, Site Cen-
ters, told him it plans to freshen up the
center with exterior upgrades and make
it look more modern over the next year,
but it won’t be a major renovation, Go-
pin said.
Site Centers announced in July that
KC Market is slated to open in the Vil-
lage Square at Golf in the fall of 2023.
“KC Market is an innovative leader in
the kosher culinary services and groce-
ry industries,” Site Centers stated in a
press release. “The freshness, quality
and selection truly distinguish KC Mar-
ket as the one stop shop for the most
discerning consumer.”
The Village Square store will also
have some new concepts that aren’t in
KC Market’s Hollywood store, including
a Judaica section that will include items
needed for the Jewish holidays such as
Passover and Rosh Hoshana.
Originally from New York, Gopin
came to Broward County in 2005 and
operated a store specializing in fruits
and vegetables before opening KC Mar-
ket.
“We want to grow and service Palm
Beach County. There is a big presence of
kosher consumers there. I believe that
with this addition, more people will be
moving there,” Gopin said. “Right now,
believe it or not, a kosher store near
where you live is very important.
“People who live in Boynton have to
travel 20 to 30 minutes to get to a kosher
store. There are a good 700 families who
are strictly kosher in that immediate
area. I also believe my store is attractive
to non-kosher consumers who like ko-
sher style,” he said. “They like a good
brisket and a good pastrami. It’s good
food, whether you are Jewish or not
Jewish.”
The 40 or so merchants and service
businesses in Village Square said they
are happy to hear a new tenant is taking
the vacant space.
Michael Discavage, who owns Donna
Michael’s Salon & Spa with wife Donna,
said while their business is somewhat
seasonal, they are experiencing a nor-
mal summer. They have owned the shop
for more than eight years and have built
up a clientele.
New customers often nd the salon
on Yelp, and Discavage doesn’t think
Publix was much of a draw for his busi-
ness.
Likewise, Anthony’s Ladies Apparel,
the largest remaining tenant at 10,340
square feet and in the center for 15 years,
draws customers on its own with its re-
sort wear and personal service.
Michele Maresca, owner of Michele’s
Hallmark, took over the store in 2015,
but it celebrated its 35th anniversary at
the location in July.
The Hallmark store and the U.S. Post
Oce inside it have been impacted as
trac has decreased since Publix’s de-
parture, Maresca said. In 2020 and
2021, the shop was extremely busy be-
cause during the COVID-19 pandemic,
snowbirds did not leave for the summer,
but now many are. In addition, people
are returning to normal life and travel-
ing.
“The post oce was hitting record
numbers of people. It was great for the
community,” Maresca said. “We are see-
ing a decline in our summer numbers
compared to the last couple of years. It
is not a loss, but we are seeing numbers
returning to pre-pandemic levels.”
Maresca said she is glad a new an-
chor is coming in because it will be good
for the future of the shop and for the
center.
“The new concept is sure to be one-
of-a-kind for Palm Beach County and
attract customers from all over.”
Kosher
Continued from Page 1B
A hot mic incident involving Rep.
Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Roger Stone, a
long-time Trump adviser, caught the
two discussing a probable presidential
pardon for Stone and redacted portions
of the Mueller report, which criminally
implicated him.
The conversation, reported by the
Washington Post, occurred during an
October 2019 event at one of Trump’s
properties, as Stone prepared to go to
trial on charges tied to special counsel
Robert Mueller’s investigation into
Russia’s interference in the 2016 elec-
tion.
In a recording published by the Post,
Gaetz can be heard telling Stone that
even if Stone was convicted, he likely
wouldn’t “do a day” in prison.
“The boss still has a very favorable
view of you,” Gaetz said, noting that the
president had “said it directly.” He also
said, “I don’t think the big guy can let
you go down for this.”
The recording was captured via a
microphone on Stone’s lapel for a Dan-
ish lm crew that was making a docu-
mentary about the long-time Republi-
can political strategist, a resident of
Fort Lauderdale.
The lm, called “A Storm Foretold,”
is expected later this year, according
the Post.
Stone was convicted in 2019 of sev-
en felonies in connection to Mueller’s
investigation. In July 2020, just before
Stone was set to begin serving his 40-
month prison sentence, Trump com-
muted his sentence. Six months later,
Trump granted Stone a full pardon.
In the recording, Gaetz told Stone he
had been working toward getting him a
pardon, but due to the “many, many re-
cording devices around” the pair at the
time, he declined to go into any details,
according to the Post.
The Pandhandle lawmaker also told
Stone that redacted portions of the
Mueller report mentioned him “a lot,”
according to the Post.
Gaetz, who is a member of the
House Judiciary Committee, appeared
to refer to portions of the report that
were shown to select members of Con-
gress in condentiality, the Post re-
ported.
Gaetz’ oce — which did not imme-
diately respond to USA Today’s request
for comment — told the Post that Gaetz
was not speaking on Trump’s behalf
regarding the pardon, and that his re-
marks on redacted portions of the
Mueller report were not specic
enough to violate the terms under
which he was allowed to view them.
Hot mic catches Gaetz, Stone
talking pardon, Mueller in 2019
Washington Post details
documentary crew audio
Ella Lee
USA TODAY
MIAMI – Rane Roatta and Edelle
Schlegel can predict when one of the
rare tropical fruits they grow on their
Redland farm is destined to go viral on
TikTok.
“If it’s an odd color or appears some-
what phallic,” Roatta said, laughing.
Press record. Film Roatta taking a
machete to a cluster of blue bananas
with the consistency of ice cream. Or
give two girlfriends the “world’s largest
banana,” and ask them to eat the yellow
pylon on camera.
Watch Schlegel slice open a round
purple fruit to reveal the magical multi-
point design inside. Or devour a long-
neck avocado that could star on
FruitHub.
But there’s also the nostalgic: Watch
Roatta crack open a Spanish lime and
ask their one million TikTok followers
what they call the fruit in their home
countries – mamoncillo, kenep, quene-
pa, what else?
Comments ensue. Millions of views
pile up. And so do the orders to their
online company, Miami Fruit, which
sends boxes of these Rorschach rain-
bows to followers around the country.
Call them the fruit inuencers.
Roatta, 29, and Schlegel, 25, har-
nessed social media’s devotion to that
which is strange and nostalgic (and
possibly profane). They use it to mar-
ket and sell the niche tropical fruit
grown in Homestead and the Redland
to the rest of the country.
Many found Miami Fruit over the
last two years, while they were home
during the pandemic, learning to shop
for groceries online or escaping to the
internet for mindless videos. Miami
Fruit gave them both.
Their videos feature way more than
mangoes. Think of fruits with names
(depending on the country) like caimi-
to and tamarillo, longan and langsat,
jaboticaba and June plums. They have
spikes or seed pods or resemble the hu-
man anatomy to those who can’t keep
their mind out of the gutter. And they
attract both the adventurous and the
nostalgic.
Regional variations of their names
fuel arguments in the comments as the
videos are shared and re-shared. The
eye-catching TikToks and Instagram
Reels turned the young couple into so-
cial media tastemakers.
Theirs was a union that could only
have started on social media.
Musician to farmer
Roatta had already been through a
midlife crisis in his early twenties
when Schlegel rst saw him talking
about tropical fruits on YouTube in
2015.
By that time, Roatta, a graduate of
New World School of the Arts, had giv-
en up on a career as a professional sax-
ophone player. Born in South Miami,
Roatta graduated from the prestigious
Brubeck Institute in the Bay Area,
started by jazz great Dave Brubeck, but
told his parents he didn’t want a career
as a backup musician, touring with the
likes of Steely Dan for union scale.
That sounded like a dream to his fa-
ther, Claude, a longtime Miami musi-
cian who owns an exotic palm tree
nursery he named after his rst band,
Action Theory. Instead, Rane followed
his father down the agricultural path –
even through being red-green color-
blind made it tougher.
“I understood if you nd something
you love to do, you’ll make a living at it
because it’s your passion,” Claude
Roatta said.
Roatta had grown up helping his fa-
ther at his nursery and Claude has
memories of Rane as a toddler, in noth-
ing but a diaper, helping him plant
seeds in tiny starter cups.
“The mamey doesn’t fall far from the
tree,” Rane Roatta said.
Rane wanted to peddle fruit – sort
of. Roatta, a cycling hobbyist who had
already devoted himself to becoming
vegan, was 20 when he attached a trail-
er to his bike and rode from South Mi-
ami to the Redland, where be bought
500 pounds of tropical fruits from local
growers. One of them is Don Chan,
who has been growing dozens of rare
varieties of bananas and lychees at his
farm, Going Bananas, for nearly 40
years.
“His clients are getting unusual tast-
ing and looking fruit. He’s oering
something dierent,” Chan said.
Roatta tried selling them locally at
weekly farmers markets – with little
success.
Maybe that’s because South Floridi-
ans are spoiled with backyards that are
bursting with native fruit, mangoes
and papayas, avocados of many varie-
ties, lychees and limes that they swap
and share. Not to mention the viandero
fruit trucks that park in neighborhoods
and the mom-and-pop fruit stands.
The business, he learned, was na-
tional. When Rane posted photos of the
fruit he sold at farmers markets on
Facebook, Instagram and YouTube,
fruit acionados re-shared his photos.
He got messages from around the
country, begging for boxes of whatever
fruit he would sell them.
His entire business went online, and
Miami Fruit was born.
A fruit snob
Other fruit-obsessed growers invit-
ed him onto their YouTube channels,
which is where Schlegel saw him and
commented, “Beautiful!” She meant
the fruit, but also him.
“He seemed like a cool, fruity guy,”
she said.
Schlegel had grown up in the Bay
Area suburb of Concord, the youngest
of three sisters raised by a reghter
mom and police ocer dad. Her moth-
er died when she was 7, and it was up to
her father, Ed, to encourage his young-
est when she started planting fruits
and vegetables in a corner of their yard
because she wanted her family to eat
better.
“Pretty soon there was fruit all over
the house,” said Ed Schlegel. “She
started talking about ‘sustainable this,
organic that.’ ”
The day she tasted a mango for the
rst time, at a farmers market near her
house when she was 15, “I became a
fruit snob,” she said. By 16 she was veg-
an.
She sought out a college that oered
instruction in how to raise tropical
fruits and attended the University of
Hawaii at Hilo.
When Rane mentioned in a YouTube
video he was visiting the Bay Area, she
messaged him and they met up near
San Francisco. A year later, he visited
her again when she was home from col-
lege in Concord.
“And that’s when we fell in love,” she
said.
She liked and followed him – on so-
cial media and IRL.
She left school. And they drove cross
country and moved into a trailer in the
backyard of his mother’s house in
South Miami where they started selling
South Florida’s bounty of fruit to
Rane’s small but devoted group of cus-
tomers around the country.
Edelle built Miami Fruit a simple,
functional, Shopify website that made
it easy to take orders. And she took over
all the social media, including Insta-
gram, posting as much as three times a
day, where that audience has grown to
more than 359,000 followers. She
started a daily newsletter.
Only the rarest fruit
In two years, they had raised enough
money to buy 2.5 acres of fruit farm-
land for $150,000 from the late tropical
fruit advocate Bill Lessard, the found-
ing president of the Tropical Fruit and
Vegetable Society of Redland.
Lessard nanced their dream with a
one-year, interest-free loan. He kept
his neighboring ve acres and became
a mentor and a friend. When Lessard
died after a long battle with cancer in
the summer of 2020, he left written in
his trust that the young couple should
have the rst chance to buy the land,
and the house in which he lived, at
market price.
On that land, they started experi-
menting with tropical varieties of fruits
they can grow in South Florida’s slight-
ly cooler sub-tropical climate. They fo-
cused on fruits that were not grown by
the multinational growers, couldn’t be
imported and fruits that wouldn’t
stand up to the rigors of the global sup-
ply chain.
They chose fruits like atemoya or
guanabana that can’t be picked too
early, ripen quickly and bruise easily.
They’re terrible choices for large grow-
ers, who have to ensure fruits can
stand up to a week of travel. But they’re
perfect for small, local farmers who can
raise the best fruit for avor – not
Florida couple’s rare fruit
is blossoming on TikTok
Carlos Frías
Miami Herald
As some businesses crashed when
their customers were conned by the
pandemic, Rane Roatta, 29, and Edelle
Schlegel, 25, the founders of Miami
Fruit, saw their sales, already online,
blossom.
PHOTOS BY MATIAS J. OCNER/
MIAMI HERALD VIA AP
Schlege cradles long neck avocados in
Homestead. The day she tasted her
rst mango, “I became a fruit snob,”
she said. Within a year she was vegan.
See FRUIT, Page 5B
palmbeachpost.com | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | 3B
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On the wealthy, discreet Florida is-
land of about 800 residents that’s
drawn celebrities such as Celine Dion
and Tiger Woods, their attempt to devel-
op on a stretch of untouched, ocean-
front land has escalated into lawsuits
costing them “hundreds of thousands of
dollars” in legal fees, according to Marc
Ronert.
“I grew up on a farm in Nebraska,
very small community” Janna Ronert
said. “It was always my dream to some-
day live on the ocean … to be able to let
our kids play, to enjoy the things that we
never had.”
For Janna and Marc Ronert, of Palm
Beach Gardens, success stems from the
beauty industry. Janna is founder of Im-
age Skincare; Marc is founder of supple-
ment company Hush & Hush. Marc Ron-
ert, 48, is a European board-certied
plastic and reconstructive surgeon;
Janna Ronert, 57, is an esthetician.
Approvals and appeals
The wave of opposition from neigh-
bors began to swell about a year and half
ago, just before a vote on their construc-
tion plans was initially delayed on Feb.
4, 2021.
The plan to build their 9,747-square-
foot primary residence — with an inn-
ity lap pool and jacuzzi, gym and tennis
court — on the west side of the public
road and a 2,697-square-foot accessory
beach house on the east side, along the
ocean, has partially gained traction.
The Ronerts declined to reveal cost of
the houses.
They nally broke ground on the
main house in June 2021, but a chal-
lenge to a state environmental permit
for the beach house has kept that
groundbreaking on hold.
The Ronerts envision it as a place for
visiting friends and family to stay, in-
cluding Janna Ronert’s 89-year-old
mother, who would “see our dream
come true.”
A four-day hearing in October by the
state Division of Administrative Hear-
ings could determine its fate.
Construction of the main house, on
the west side of South Beach Road, was
approved by a town review committee
March 4, 2021 — on its second try — but
the beach house went before the board
twice more before it barely was ap-
proved, 3-2, three months later.
Neighbors’ appeal to the Town Com-
mission was upheld in August — then
reconsidered and rescinded in Decem-
ber.
It took 10 months for the town to ap-
prove the beach house. During that
time, moreover, in an attempt to ap-
pease neighbors, the Ronerts shrunk
the beach house from two stories to one
and reduced its size by 161 square feet,
among other concessions.
But opposition from neighbors re-
mains unshakable.
Backlash beginnings
The unexpected backlash against the
project, both publicly and privately,
didn’t explode into the open until the
full scope of development plans became
known.
Throughout January, February and
March last year, Town Hall received
more than 90 letters opposing construc-
tion on the Ronert property.
Neighbors in the 300 block, near the
Ronerts’ parcel, raised concerns about
noise from the tennis court and objected
to a two-story beach house. Others ze-
roed in on environmental aspects, such
as turtle nesting and the change of nat-
ural scenery along South Beach Road.
But private emails presented at a
Town Commission meeting in Novem-
ber by the Ronerts’ attorney revealed an
organized eort to thwart construction.
The emails, according to attorney
Ethan Loeb, reveal neighbors’ plans to
create “headaches” for the Ronerts in
February and March 2021.
Loeb also represented the owners of
the Lake Point rock quarries in the
lengthy 2018 lawsuit against environ-
mentalist Maggy Hurchalla.
“We should think about the cause of
action and who would be the defen-
dant,” wrote 300-block resident Dena
Testa. “I would prefer the Ronerts.
Speaking as someone who knows noth-
ing about this area, I don’t think we
would prevail, but it certainly would
cause a meaningful delay.”
Testa declined to comment on the
emails.
Additionally, an email from Kay Phil-
lips to Anne Geddes, both island resi-
dents, on March 5, 2021, contrasted the
Ronerts’ situation with Celine Dion’s
move to the island. Dion, Phillips wrote,
was “a dream to work with” and some-
one who “cared what the neighbors
thought.”
“This couple does not give a rat’s (ex-
pletive), and if they were sincere about
what they say … they would care,” she
wrote. “I smell a rat just like you do, and
do not let up!”
Geddes declined to comment. Phil-
lips could not be reached for comment,
despite an attempt by email.
Lawsuits
The still-to-be-built beach house has
ignited three lawsuits involving the Ro-
nerts, the town and opposing neighbors
since June 2021. David Testa, husband
of Dena Testa, led the rst one, claim-
ing the town failed to give proper notice
before moving the waterfront construc-
tion line.
The Ronerts, and other neighbors
who want to build in the same block,
joined the lawsuit as intervenors with
stake in the outcome.
Jesse Panuccio — the Testas’ attor-
ney and former acting associate U.S. at-
torney general — maintains the town
left residents in the dark about the po-
tential for new development.
At the same time, state organizations
have weighed in, with The First Amend-
ment Foundation ling a brief in sup-
port of David Testa and the Florida
League of Cities backing the town of Ju-
piter Island.
The multiple lawsuits speak to a big-
ger issue of keeping residents involved
in the Democratic process, Panuccio
said.
“(The Testas) truly are just trying to
do what they think is right for the com-
munity,” Panuccio said. “A lot of this also
is about whether the residents of the
town have a proper say in advance
about what the rules are going to be for
how the town changes over time and
how it gets developed.”
Another lawsuit led by David Testa
calls on the court to reverse the town’s
approval of the beach house on the
grounds it aects the public interest.
Moreover, the lawsuit claims, the
town’s decision was not based on com-
petent evidence, the lawsuit claims.
“Major changes to our waterfront de-
serve major public attention, study and
discussion,” the Testas said in a state-
ment. “We are standing up for the rights
we all have to participate in government
decisions about dramatic changes to
our pristine beach.”
Dena Testa argues that the eort to
stop development stems from preserv-
ing the island’s natural beauty and pre-
serving “the right to public notice and
participation before major policy
changes are made,” she said.
“This isn’t personal in any way, shape
or form,” Dena Testa said. “We know the
world changes, but we want the
changes to reect the spirit and values
of our community, especially the shared
commitment to preserving the delicate
balance of nature that exists on Jupiter
Island.”
When it comes to development on
Jupiter Island, both sides of the issue
say they have no intention of backing
down until they get what they want.
“We’re not going to allow them to
win,” Marc Ronert insisted. “We’re going
to build a beach house. We’re going to
live there. 100%.”
As delays continue to be drawn out
for the beach house, construction on the
main house is underway. The Ronerts
hope to move in by Nov. 1, in time for the
Christmas season.
Despite the obstacles and stress, the
Ronerts say they’re still excited to begin
their residency on the island, where
they plan to retire.
“We’re very grateful and extremely
privileged to have an opportunity in our
lives to have something like this. We
don’t take it for granted,” Janna Ronert
said. “We’re involved in our community.
… We know what it means to give back.
“It’s shocking to me that they
wouldn’t want to have upstanding peo-
ple like us and our kids part of the com-
munity to make it better,” she said.
“That’s the shocking part about the fu-
ture there for us.”
Reach TCPalm reporter Lina Ruiz
at lina.[email protected], on Twitter
@Lina_Ruiz48 or at 321-501-3845.
Beach house
Continued from Page 1B
Dr. Marc and Janna Ronert talk with
project manager Tamiko Turnquest,
right, leading the construction of their
main residence in Jupiter Island on
March 9.
CRYSTAL VANDER WEIT/TCPALM
4B | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | THE PALM BEACH POST
The joy in the room is palpable when
the cast of “Aladdin Jr.” closes out its
performance by singing the “Glee” ver-
sion of “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
The song isn’t even part of the show,
but it’s the traditional show-closer for
Penguin Project performances, which
pair kids with disabilities (known in
the program as “actors”) with theater
kids (”mentors”) to put on a show and,
hopefully, foster some new friend-
ships.
“I think that the goal is that they
build their own community,” said Ian
Mairs, director of Apex Theatre Studio,
the organization that is bringing the
national Penguin Project to St. Augus-
tine. “Some of these kids were not even
talking for the rst two weeks. The dif-
ference is amazing.”
Mairs has put together a cast of
about 20 kids for late July perfor-
mances of “Alladin Jr.,” based on the
Disney lm, at Flagler College in St. Au-
gustine. They’ve been rehearsing three
times a week for 16 weeks to get ready
for the shows.
They rehearse in a strip mall near
the entrance to the World Golf Village,
in a room with black-painted walls and
parents sitting on one side, copies of
the “Aladdin Jr.” script book in hand.
The kids bounce a ball and sing silly
songs as they wait for their castmates
to arrive, then get down to rehearsing
the 15 or so songs in the show. A sta
member, Isabel Dondero, sits at a piano
and rhythmically speaks the words to a
new song, then leads the cast as they
sing it, accompanied by the sound-
track.
They’re serious about learning their
parts, but not so serious that they can’t
break into a game of Duck-Duck-
Goose. When they are working through
a new song-and-dance routine,
though, they’re all business, with men-
tors working one-on-one with the ac-
tors.
On stage, the actors will have the
showcase roles.
“I always wanted to be the Genie,”
said 13-year-old Sophie Somaru, who
said she has a little theater experience
and, in fact, is the Genie in “Aladdin Jr.”
Mentors don’t have any lines but will be
there, right next to the actors, in case
the actor needs to be fed a line or needs
to be reminded of where to stand for
the next scene.
Andy Morgan, a developmental pe-
diatrician in Illinois and founder of the
national Penguin Project program, said
the pairing of actors and mentors is de-
signed so audience members can’t tell
which is which. “On stage, I don’t want
you to know who’s who,” he said this
spring during a visit to Jacksonville,
where he and Mairs launched the St.
Augustine program.
Morgan, who has a background in
theater, put on the rst Penguin Project
show in 2004. It has since spread to 51
locations around the country, includ-
ing Bunnell, Winter Haven and Tampa
in Florida and Brunswick, Statesboro
and Forsythe County in South Georgia.
The Brunswick program held its sixth
annual production last month and the
Bunnell program, at Flagler Playhouse,
is planning its rst performance, “An-
nie Jr.,” for summer 2023.
The national program is for ages 10-
23, but Mairs has several actors who
are even younger. Many of the actors in
the national program are autistic or
have severe ADHD, but Morgan said
he’s worked with blind children and
kids in wheelchairs. The only restric-
tion he has is on behavior — absolutely
no bullying is allowed.
“We do not discriminate based on
disability or special need, and every-
one is nice to everyone else,” Morgan
said. “People are often afraid to talk
about disabilities. The bottom line is
you are what you are. We all have chal-
lenges, one way or another.”
The actors might be out of tune, in
the wrong place or unintelligible. So
what, Morgan said. “Intelligibility is
not an issue; it’s heart.”
There is no charge to participate for
actors and mentors. That’s not a man-
date from the national organization,
but none of the chapters charge to par-
ticipate, and none of them have lost
money since the program started, Mor-
gan said.
For many of the actors, the Penguin
Project is their rst chance to go on
stage, and, almost without fail, they
end up loving it, Morgan said.
“These children have very few social
interactions. Their parents have very
few social networks. They love coming
because they have friends,” he said.
“This has become the primary extra-
curricular program that these kids are
in.”
Morgan said he’s still not sure who
gets more out of the program, the ac-
tors or the mentors. He’s not aware of
any mentors going on to become pro-
fessional actors, but he said several
have gone on to work with special-
needs children.
“It’s life-changing for everybody, for
the actors, for the mentors, for the par-
ents,” he said.
Penguin Project brings kids with
disabilities to St. Augustine stage
Tom Szaroleta
Jacksonville Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY NETWORK
Sophie Somaru, 13 plays the role of the genie as she holds the magic lamp and
dances through the song “Arabian Knights” with other cast members and their
mentors during a June 21 afternoon rehearsal session. Under the direction of
Ian Mairs of Apex Theatre Studio in a World Golf Village rehearsal space,
children with disabilities team with mentors as they practice for a stage
performance of “Aladdin, Jr.” Project Penguin is a national program, but this
production is the rst time it has seen a production take place in St. Augustine.
PHOTOS BY BOB SELF/FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
Actor Charlie Soderhom, 7, gets help
from mentor George Eastman, 15, as
they learn the lyrics for a new song
during a rehearsal session for
“Aladdin Jr.”
HARTFORD, Conn. – Stuart Woods,
an author of more than 90 novels, many
featuring the character of lawyer-inves-
tigator Stone Barrington, has died. He
was 84.
Woods passed away in
his sleep on July 22, at his
home in Litcheld Coun-
ty, Connecticut, his pub-
licist, Katie Grinch, said
Wednesday.
Woods, a graduate of
the University of Georgia
in his home state, moved
to New York in 1960 to pursue a career in
journalism. He ended up instead with a
career in advertising and eventually
moved to London and then to Galway,
Ireland, where he discovered sailing.
His rst book, “Blue Water, Green
Skipper,” was a non-ction account of
his 1976 adventure competing in the the
Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic
Race, which began in Plymouth, Eng-
land, and ended in Newport, Rhode Is-
land.
Afte r W.W. Nor ton & Company ac-
quired the American rights to the book,
it also agreed to publish Woods’ rst
novel.
That book, 1981’s “Chiefs,” about
three generations of lawmen and the
murder of a teenager in a small southern
town, won literary awards and was
made into a CBS miniseries starring
Charlton Heston, Danny Glover, Billy
Dee Williams and John Goodman.
The book’s success launched Woods’
prolic career as a novelist that saw him
write ve books a year for G.P. Putnam’s
Sons.
“I write every day from 11 a.m. to
noon, about one chapter a day,” Woods
told The Hartford Courant in 2015. “And
I answer my emails. The other 23 hours I
do anything but write – boating, lots of
reading, watching old movies.”
Woods received the Grand Prix de
Littérature Policière, France’s most
prestigious award for crime and detec-
tive ction, in 2010 for his novel, “Imper-
fect Strangers.”
Woods’ memoir, “An Extravagant
Life,” was published in June. Putnam
plans to release “Black Dog,” the 62nd
book in Stone Barrington series on
Tuesday and “Distant Thunder,” the
63rd book in the series, on October 11.
Woods, who also had homes in New
York, Florida and Maine, was a licensed
pilot who ew his own private jet on his
book tours.
He is survived by his wife, the former
Jeanmarie Cooper of Key West.
Novelist
Stuart
Woods
dies at 84
Latest Stone Barrington
book is due this week
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Woods
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Florida Lottery
Results are for tickets sold only in Florida
JENSEN BEACH — The Treasure
Coast had a consolation prize winner in
the national Mega Millions lottery jack-
pot Friday, ocials said Saturday.
While the grand prize of $1.28 billion
was won by someone who bought a
ticket in suburban Chicago, a Jensen
Beach player will receive $1 million for
their numbers, a lottery ocial said.
The numbers were lled out on a
ticket at Cumberland Farms, 2001 N.E.
Savannah Road.
The winning numbers were 13-36-
45-57-67.
The Megaball number was 14, and
the Megaplier was 2.
Mega Millions ticket bought
in Martin County worth $1M
Lamaur Stancil
Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers
for Black women in Hollywood when
she played communications ocer Lt.
Uhura on the original “Star Trek” televi-
sion series, has died at the age of 89.
Her son Kyle Johnson
said Nichols died Satur-
day in Silver City, New
Mexico.
“Last night, my moth-
er, Nichelle Nichols, suc-
cumbed to natural
causes and passed away.
Her light however, like
the ancient galaxies now being seen for
the rst time, will remain for us and fu-
ture generations to enjoy, learn from,
and draw inspiration,” Johnson wrote
on her ocial Facebook page Sunday.
“Hers was a life well lived and as such a
model for us all.”
Her role in the 1966-69 series as Lt.
Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong posi-
tion of honor with the series’ rabid fans.
It also earned her accolades for break-
ing stereotypes that had limited Black
women to acting roles as servants and
included an interracial onscreen kiss
with co-star William Shatner that was
unheard of at the time.
“I shall have more to say about the
trailblazing, incomparable Nichelle
Nichols, who shared the bridge with us
as Lt. Uhura of the USS Enterprise, and
who passed today at age 89,” George
Takei wrote on Twitter. “For today, my
heart is heavy, my eyes shining like the
stars you now rest among, my dearest
friend.”
Like other original cast members,
Nichols also appeared in six big-screen
spinos starting in 1979 with “Star
Trek: The Motion Picture” and fre-
quented “Star Trek” fan conventions.
She also served as a NASA recruiter.
More recently, she had a recurring
role on television’s “Heroes,” playing
the great-aunt of a young boy with
mystical powers.
The original “Star Trek” premiered
on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicul-
tural, multiracial cast was creator Gene
Roddenberry’s message to viewers that
in the far-o future – the 23rd century
– human diversity would be fully ac-
cepted.
Nichols often recalled how Martin
Luther King Jr. praised her role. She
met him at a civil rights gathering in
1967, at a time when she had decided
not to return for the second season.
“When I told him I was going to miss
my co-stars and I was leaving the show,
he became very serious and said, ‘You
cannot do that,’ ” she told The Tulsa
(Okla.) World in a 2008 interview.
“ ‘You’ve changed the face of televi-
sion forever, and therefore, you’ve
changed the minds of people,’ ” she
said the civil rights leader told her.
“That foresight Dr. King had was a
lightning bolt in my life,” Nichols said.
Nichelle Nichols, iconic Uhura
on the original ‘Star Trek,’ dies
Lindsey Bahr ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nichols
palmbeachpost.com | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | 5B
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hardiness – and ship them within a day
or two. They could bypass the tradition-
al supply chain.
“The goal is always to oer stu
that’s special,” Roatta said.
The couple built a cold storage, a re-
frigeration room and packing area out of
recycled Chiquita banana shipping con-
tainers. They contracted with a local
company to make the shipping boxes
out of recycled paper, and Miami Fruit’s
sta of about 20 handmakes the pack-
ing material out of biodegradable ma-
terials.
They worked with independent
farmers, most of them in South Florida,
encouraging them to grow rare tropical
fruits Roatta and Schlegel proved could
grow on their land.
Why grow common avocados paid at
20 cents a pound, Roatta told them,
when you could grow something unique
– like a variety of a longneck avocado or
a rare purple sugar apple that caught the
internet’s attention – and demand $5 a
pound? Some turned over parts of their
land to grow for Miami Fruit.
When critics ask why their fruit is so
expensive – a box can cost over $100 –
they stress paying farmers whatever
they ask so they can continue growing
quality, sustainable fruit at a fair wage.
(They even made a TikTok about it.)
“He does such a service to Redland
growers by buying that quality fruit and
selling that quality fruit all over the
United States,” said Chan, who oers
75 varieties of bananas from his farm,
including the Blue Java.
Their business was climbing every
month – then COVID hit. While some
businesses ground to a halt, theirs,
which is all online, took o.
Fruit goes viral
People suddenly at home with no-
where to go found the TikTok account
Schlegel had started for Miami Fruit in
October 2019. They found Schlegel,
blonde and coquettish, creating short,
fun videos that showed o the rare fruit
as Rane harvested it. She often wore
graphic T-shirts she had designed for
the company, starring anthropomor-
phic fruit she’d drawn.
All her life she had said she wanted to
be an artist, then a farmer, then an “art-
ist farmer,” her father recalled.
“As it turns out, she did turn into a
farming artist,” he said.
Videos took turns going viral. The To-
day Show discovered one of her videos
with a longneck avocado and featured
it. Another of her slicing open a mamey
has more than 15 million views. The
video of Schlegel squeezing sap out of a
so-called shampoo ginger plant, known
in Hawaii as awapuhi and used as a hair
conditioner, has another 13 million with
comments like, “I thought about some-
thing completely dierent while seeing
this.”
Fans – and new customers – sprout-
ed up across the country overnight.
In Napa Valley, Josh Laidlaw, 27, and
his girlfriend, Alana Gravatt, 25, discov-
ered Schlegel’s videos at the beginning
of California’s COVID lockdowns and
started ordering weekly boxes. They
discovered fruits like monstera delicio-
sa and abiu (also called caimito), which
have become favorites.
“You know how people picked up
hobbies? That was our hobby, discover-
ing the whole world of tropical fruit. It
was the only thing we had to look for-
ward to: next Tuesday we’re getting
guanabana or next Thursday we’re get-
ting papaya,” said Laidlaw, a chef in the
Sonoma Valley of Venezuelan and Pana-
manian descent.
Miami Fruit’s business – and their
social media following – doubled. Even
after lockdowns and restrictions ended,
their business continues to steadily
climb, Roatta said. “Our farm is a testing
ground for the future of agriculture in
Homestead,” Roatta said.
“Our goal is 20 years from now, peo-
ple will still be growing tropical fruit
down here.”
It also means steady content where
South Florida’s fruit farmers get to be
social media stars.
“We had to do this,” Schlegel joked,
“to sustain our tropical fruit obsession.”
Rane Roatta, right, 29, and Edelle Schlegel, 25, the founders of Miami Fruit,
shoot video of blue java bananas from their farm in Homestead.
MATIAS J. OCNER/MIAMI HERALD VIA AP
Fruit
NEEDING A LITTLE CHRISTMAS
Palm Beach County
Sheriff’s Cpl.
Adrian Maldonado,
a member of the
department’s
Homeless
Intervention Team,
gives Joseph
Barbaro a shave
and a haircut
Saturday during
the Christmas in
July Homeless
Engagement Life
Party at Ascension
Lutheran Church in
Boynton Beach.
Maureen Alberts, left,
and Viviana Ferguson,
members of Women of
Ascencion, ll
backpacks Saturday
with school supplies to
be given to teachers
and students during
the Christmas in July
Homeless Engagement
Life Party in Boynton
Beach.
PHOTOS BY
MEGHAN MCCARTHY/
PALM BEACH POST
6B | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | THE PALM BEACH POST
BUSINESS
Located along a remote stretch of
Highway 395, the Fort Independence
Travel Plaza touts a dozen gas pumps,
clean restrooms and made-to-order
meals for travelers visiting California’s
Eastern Sierra.
The facility, which provides revenue
for a Paiute Indian tribe, is about to
quadruple in size thanks to an $8 mil-
lion federal grant that will help build a
new gas station with room for cultural
displays and locally made products.
It’s one of hundreds of tourism-re-
lated projects nationwide that are col-
lectively getting about $2.4 billion
from the American Rescue Plan, ac-
cording to an Associated Press analysis
of funds owing from last year’s wide-
ranging coronavirus relief law.
The money is paying for grati-re-
sistant trash cans in Portland, Oregon,
culturally diverse music festivals in
Nashville, Tennessee, sports facilities
in various cities and new marketing
campaigns to attract tourists to partic-
ular states – sometimes in direct com-
petition with one another.
“Our goal is to get people traveling
again. Period,” said Dave Lorenz, chair-
man of the National Council of State
Tourism Directors and the Michigan
travel director.
Despite high fuel prices, Americans
do seem to be hitting the road. After a
plunge at the onset of the COVID-19
outbreak, U.S. travel spending this year
is projected to top $1 trillion – up 45%
from its 2020 low point, according to
the U.S. Travel Association.
That corresponds with a similar in-
crease in state tourism oce budgets,
which have rebounded to pre-pandem-
ic levels thanks to the federal aid.
A coronavirus relief law signed by
former President Donald Trump
opened the potential for federal money
to be used for local tourism projects.
The subsequent pandemic relief law
signed by President Joe Biden expand-
ed that. The American Rescue Plan
contained $750 million for grants for
tourism, travel and outdoor recreation
through the federal Economic Develop-
ment Authority. It also included the
tourism, travel and hospitality sector
among dozens of eligible uses – along-
side health care, housing and unem-
ployment programs – for a $350 billion
pool of exible aid sent to state, local,
territorial and tribal governments.
Those governments had budgeted
more than $1.6 billion from those ex-
ible funds for about 550 tourism, travel
and hospitality projects as of the end of
March, according to an Associated
Press analysis of recently released data
from the U.S. Treasury.
Those tourism projects include
$425,000 in Portland to replace 200
trash cans with ones that have larger
openings and harder-to-deface sur-
faces made of such things as metal
slats or wire mesh. The city cited “a
substantial increase in the amount of
trash, grati, and vandalism” during
the pandemic, asserting that new gar-
bage cans will “create a safer, more
welcoming environment for visitors to
our parks,” according to a description
in the Treasury Department data.
Nashville, known for its country
music scene, allotted $750,000 to
reach “culturally diverse visitors.”
That’s helping fund renovations at a
once-prominent Black music venue,
subsidize choir concerts at Fisk Uni-
versity and pay for an annual jazz and
blues festival, among other things.
The goal is to “build up the other
genres without pushing country music
down,” said Butch Spyridon, CEO of the
Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
Of the tourism grants awarded
through the Economic Development
Authority, $510 million was divided
among states and territories according
to a formula that took into account job
losses in their leisure and hospitality
sectors.
An additional $240 million was set
aside for competitive grants, which are
still being doled out.
One of those grants went to the Fort
Independence Indian Reservation, a
220-member tribe that plans to add
more than 60 jobs at its enlarged travel
center.
“Part of tourism is getting from A to
B, and one of the stops along the way is
our reservation,” saidtribal vice chair
Alisa Lee. “When we have been able to
educate people about our community,
our tribe and our culture, that is a form
of tourism.”
Other competitive grants included
$2.2 million to help replace old snow-
making equipment at Frost Fire Park
ski resort in North Dakota, $1.6 million
to help build a new Mardi Gras mu-
seum in Louisiana and $1.2 million to
build locker rooms, concession facili-
ties and a pavilion for a cross-country
course at Middle Georgia State Univer-
sity.
University President Christopher
Blake said in a statement that the pro-
ject has the potential “to transform it
into a recreational dynamo” that gener-
ates nearly $1 million a year in econom-
ic activity.
Several states also projected big re-
turns on their federal tourism dollars,
according to grant plans obtained by
the AP through an open-records re-
quest.
Alabama plans to spend nearly
$2.7 million to build three boat piers at
reservoirs along the Coosa River. The
state said regional shing tournaments
can lure $200,000 into an economy
and national tournaments up to $1 mil-
lion.
Oregon used a $9.1 million grant to
help produce promotional videos and
pictures of scenery that could be em-
bedded into TV broadcasts of the
World Athletics Championships that
occurred this month in Eugene. The in-
ternational broadcasts could yield be-
tween $224 million and $374 million in
visitor spending and “spur economic
development and opportunity for dec-
ades to come,” the Oregon Tourism
Commission said in a grant plan sub-
mitted to federal ocials.
Tourism projects generally seem
like an appropriate use of the federal
pandemic relief funds because the in-
dustry initially was one of the hardest
hit, said Sean Moulton, a senior policy
analyst at the nonprot Project on Gov-
ernment Oversight.
But “as you give more exibility,”
Moulton said, “you run the risk of the
money being used in ways that in retro-
spect you say that wasn’t the most ef-
fective.”
California got the largest tourism
grant allocation, about $46 million.
The state directed all of that – plus an
additional $95 million of exible feder-
al pandemic aid – to its nonprot tour-
ism entity.
States get tourism funds boost
Federal aid is paying
for projects nationwide
David A. Lieb
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Jefferson Street Jazz & Blues Festival in Nashville, Tenn., is one of
hundreds of tourism-related projects nationwide that are getting about
$2.4 billion from the American Rescue Plan.
MARK HUMPHREY/AP
Dear Liz: My husband and I are sell-
ing a commercial property for
$600,000 and we have capital gains
questions. Our Realtor said that we
have 90 days to buy another property
but suggested we don’t make a pur-
chase due to the state of the economy
at this time. We are looking for any
suggestions to lessen our capital
gains. Do you have any suggestions
that we could look into or articles to
read?
Answer:
Your Realtor is referring to
what’s known as a “like-kind” or Section
1031 exchange. These exchanges allow
people to defer capital gains taxes when
they sell commercial, rental or invest-
ment real estate as long as the proceeds
are used to purchase similar property.
Section 1031 exchanges happen all
the time, in all sorts of economic condi-
tions, so your Realtor’s attempt to dis-
suade you based on “the state of the
economy” is a bit odd. Also, like-kind
exchanges don’t have to be completed in
90 days. Owners have 45 days to identi-
fy potential replacement properties and
a total of 180 days to complete the trans-
action. There are a number of other
rules you must follow, so you’ll want to
use companies known as exchange fa-
cilitators that specialize in handling
these transactions.
Your rst step, though, should be
nding a qualied tax professional.
You’ve just experienced what can hap-
pen when you turn to non-tax profes-
sionals for tax advice.
While your desire to educate yourself
is laudable, and you certainly can nd
books about taxes at your local book-
store, there’s no substitute for consult-
ing an experienced tax pro who can give
you personalized advice.
Dear Liz: My wife keeps over
$60,000 in her checking account at a
brick-and-mortar bank. I think that is
a bad idea. Too easy for possible
fraud. I have tried to convince her the
safest place to keep the bulk of her
cash is in a savings account, prefer-
ably in an online bank, which I believe
provides added protection against
fraud as long as we maintain good
computer health. What do you think?
Answer:
Many people have the op-
posite conviction, which is that online
banks are somehow less safe than brick-
and-mortar versions. In reality, both
types oer encryption and other safety
measures to deter fraud. Accounts are
insured by the Federal Deposit Insur-
ance Corp. and covered by federal bank-
ing regulations designed to protect con-
sumers against fraud.
Your wife’s money wouldn’t neces-
sarily be safer in a savings account, but
she’d earn a little more interest. Many
online banks currently oer rates of
about 1% on savings accounts. If she
moved all but $10,000 out of the check-
ing account, she could earn about $500
a year in interest and perhaps more if
the Federal Reserve continues to raise
rates.
Dear Liz: Does the Social Security
Administration still allow a person to
start taking Social Security benets
at age 62 and then later return the full
amount received and begin taking the
higher delayed benets? For people
who don’t need the income, this
seems like a smart strategy as they
could obtain the investment income
on the benets received from age 62
to 70 as well as the higher benets
amount starting at age 70.
Answer:
Social Security closed that
particular loophole in 2010.
As you know, Social Security retire-
ment benets increase each year you
put o applying between age 62 and age
70, when benets max out. An early
start typically means a permanently re-
duced benet.
Before 2010, people who started
early, but who were able to repay all the
money they received, were allowed to
restart benets at an older age and
claim the larger checks as if they’d never
applied before. This do-over prompted
some recipients to apply early, invest
the money and enjoy a kind of interest-
free loan from the government.
People who make the mistake of
starting Social Security too early still
have a couple of options. They can with-
draw their application for benets with-
in 12 months, but they are required to re-
pay any benets received, including
benets received by family members
such as spousal or child benets.
Another option is to wait until their
full retirement age, which is currently
between 66 and 67, and simply suspend
their benet.
No money has to be paid back and the
recipient receives the delayed retire-
ment credits that increase their benets
by 8% for each year they delay. Benets
will be automatically restarted at age
70, although the recipient can start
them earlier, if desired.
Liz Weston, Certied Financial Plan-
ner, is a personal nance columnist for
NerdWallet. Questions may be sent to
her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Stu-
dio City, CA 91604, or by using the “Con-
tact” form at asklizweston.com.
Consult tax pro on cap gains from Section 1031 exchange
Personal Finance
Liz Weston
NerdWallet
You may know someone who gets a
monthly Social Security benet or Sup-
plemental Security Income payment
and who also needs help managing their
money.
If someone you know needs help, we
can appoint a person or an organization
to act as a “representative payee” re-
sponsible for receiving and managing a
person’s benets.
When we assign a representative
payee, we select someone who knows
the beneciary’s needs and can make
decisions about how to best use their
benets for their care and well being.
Representative payees are responsible
for completing an annual form to ac-
count for the benet payments they re-
ceive and manage.
They must complete this form and
return it to Social Security by mail or, if
they have a personal my Social Security
account, they can le it online using the
Representative Payee portal. Account
holders can get a benet verication let-
ter and manage direct deposit and wage
reporting for their beneciaries. Learn
more about the portal at www.ssa.gov/
myaccount/rep-payee.html.
You also have the option to identify,
in advance, up to three individuals you
trust to serve as your future representa-
tive payee and help manage your bene-
ts, if the need arises. We call this Ad-
vance Designation.
We oer Advance Designation to ca-
pable adults and emancipated minors
who are applying for or already receiv-
ing Social Security benets, Supple-
mental Security Income, or Special Vet-
erans Benets.
With Advance Designation, you and
your family can enjoy peace of mind
knowing someone you trust may be ap-
pointed to manage your benets. Find
more information about:
h Advance Designation at www.ssa
.gov/payee/advance_designation.htm.
h Representative payees at www.ssa
.gov/payee.
h Training videos on the duties of a
representative payee at www.ssa.gov/
payee/rp_training2.html.
h Publications about representative
payees at www.ssa.gov/payee/new
pubs.htm.
If you know someone who needs help
managing their monthly benets,
please consider becoming a representa-
tive payee.
Evelyn Linares is a public aairs spe-
cialist for the Social Security Admini-
stration. If you have Social Security
questions, call 800-772-1213.
Evelyn Linares
Guest columnist
Representative
payees help
others manage
Social Security
palmbeachpost.com | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | 7B
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NOTICE is hereby given to all persons interested in the following
described land and property located in Palm Beach County, Florida, viz: (see
accompanying location map), which land and property comprises Acme
Improvement District’s (“Acme”) Unit of Development 50th Street, that the
Engineer heretofore appointed by Acme’s Board of Supervisors to determine:
(a) the benefits and damages to the property and lands located in Unit of
Development 50th Street, and (b) the estimated cost of construction required
by the Unit of Development 50th Street proposed Plan of Improvements, filed
an Engineer’s Report reflecting such determinations on July 26, 2022 in the
office of the Secretary of Acme, which is located at 12300 Forest Hill Blvd.,
Wellington, Florida 33414. You may examine and/or obtain a copy of the
Engineer’s Report during normal business hours at Acme’s above specified
administrative offices and file written objections with the Secretary of Acme to
all or any part of said Engineer’s Report and proposed Plan of Improvements
on or before September 2, 2022.
The Engineer’s Report recommends or finds as follows:
(a) The Amount of Determined Benefits has been determined
to be no less than Seven Million, Ninety-Six Thousand, Eight Hundred and
Seventy-Five Dollars and 00/Cents ($7,096,875).
(b) The Amount of Determined Benefits should be apportioned
to the Assessable Real Property located within the Unit of Development on
a computed acreage basis with each tract or parcel of land of less than one
acre in area assessed as a full acre, and each tract or parcel of more than one
acre in area which contains a fraction of an acre to be assessed at the nearest
whole number of acres with a fraction of one-half acre or more assessed as a
full acre.
There are currently 119 computed acres resulting in an apportionment of
the minimum Amount of Determined Benefits of $7,096,875 at the rate of
$59,637.61 per computed acre.
Any additional computed acres shall receive an equivalent Amount of
Determined Benefits apportioned to said additional computed acreage at the
rate of $59,637.61 per computed acre. Any reduction in the current number
of computed acres shall not result in a reduction of the current minimum
Amount of Determined Benefits, but rather the current minimum Amount of
Determined Benefits shall be reapportioned among the remaining computed
acres.
Any non-ad valorem assessments otherwise attributable to Homeowner/
Property Association Common Area property for which benefits have herein
been determined, assessed and apportioned but which Common Area
property is statutorily exempt from the levy of non-ad valorem assessments
shall be reallocated and levied on a per computed acreage basis to the
remaining Assessable Real Property subject to the applicable Association’s
Declaration of Covenants, Restrictions and Reservations, and (iv) public road
rights-of-way.
(c) There are no determined damages.
(d) Acme will need funding in order to pay its administrative and
management expenses, therefore, a “Maintenance Assessment” should be
determined, assessed and levied annually by Acme upon all Assessable Real
Property in the Unit of Development 50th Street pursuant to the apportionment
of the Amount of Determined Benefits as set forth in the Engineer’s Report.
A Final Hearing to consider approval of the Unit of Development
50th Street Engineer’s Report and proposed Plan of Improvements will be
held during Acme’s regular Board Meeting that will begin at or about 7:00
P.M. on September 6, 2022 at Acme’s Administrative offices located at 12300
Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington, Florida 33414.
If a person decides to appeal any decision made by Acme’s Board
with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he or she
will need a record of the proceedings, and that, for such purpose, he or she
may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which
record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be
based.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this meeting
because of a disability or physical impairment, should contact Acme by
calling (561) 791-4000 at least two (2) business days prior to the meeting.
DATE of First Publication: August 1, 2022
ACME IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
By: Anne Gerwig
President, Board of Supervisors
NOTICE OF FILING THE ENGINEER’S REPORT AND OF
A FINAL HEARING ON THE ENGINEER’S REPORT AND
PLAN OF IMPROVEMENTS FOR ACME IMPROVEMENT
DISTRICT UNIT OF DEVELOPMENT 50th STREET
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Notice To Creditors
Notice To Creditors
Public Notices
Notice To Creditors
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8B | MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2022 | THE PALM BEACH POST
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