By Anne Geggis

A Parkland man who managed risk for a national car rental company admitted that he has been taking his employer for a ride — stealing $1.45 million.

That money was supposed to pay for car expenses, but court papers show David Michael Kramer, 41, used Enterprise Holdings subsidiary’s money for vacations, designer clothing, and jewelry, including two Cartier love bracelets and three Rolex watches, according to the charges filed against him.

Kramer, whose job was based in Coconut Creek, admitted to five counts of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Missouri on Oct. 1 and will face sentencing on Feb. 9, 2021. He could get up to 20 years in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines, according to sentencing guidelines.

“During the relevant time period (2009 to June 2020), defendant Kramer submitted at least 694 false and fraudulent check requests to the Group 41 Accounts Payable department,” court papers say.

Enterprise Holdings Inc. includes car rental companies Alamo, Enterprise, and National.

Kramer, who was hired as a management trainee in 2002, rose to the level of Enterprise’s risk manager for all of South Florida. That gave him the ability to authorize payments when cars needed towing or cleaning, court papers say. He exploited the company’s risk management system so it couldn’t be easily detected that the money was going to his personal account instead of paying for the invoiced items, according to court papers in a lawsuit that Enterprise has filed against him.

“Defendant took advantage of … risk management practices he helped create, submitting the invoices in a way designed to avoid any additional oversight or approval,” the suit against him says.

His attorney, Richard Cooper of Miami, declined to comment further.

Kramer submitted about one to six fraudulent invoices every month, according to court papers. And they became more numerous as 2020 progressed, the papers say.  Kramer was fired from his job in June. And in July, he filed to recover his $250,000 retirement account with the company.

Enterprise, however, is suing to keep the money in the account.

“The (retirement) plan account represents the only funds known to EHI (Enterprise Holdings Inc.) that would be accessible to it to recover even a small portion of the total amount embezzled by Defendant over the course of at least ten years,” court papers say.

Kramer also will have to give back the watches and the jewelry, court papers say.

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Temporary Marjory Stoneman Memorial in Parkland. Photo by Sharon Aron Baron.

By Anne Geggis

Families of those killed or injured in the 2018 Parkland massacre got one step closer to holding the FBI accountable for its handling of tips involving the teenage shooter, a federal court decision released on Monday shows.

Twenty-three Parkland families are part of a suit against the FBI, charging that bungled tips failed to prevent the tragedy that killed 17 and wounded 17. The government has moved to have the suit thrown out, saying the government can’t be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act under Florida law. That law allows people to sue the government in federal court under some circumstances.

But U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas found that the FBI could be found liable for bungling tips involving the school shooter.

A lawyer representing Philip and April Schentrup, whose daughter, Carmen, died in the tragedy, applauded the ruling.

“It’s rare to get this to this phase” of holding the government accountable for failing to act,” attorney Robert Stein said, noting that law enforcement can’t always be expected to anticipate trouble. But there should be some standards for action when circumstances present themselves.

“I think it’s really well deserved … The families are going on two years with no real satisfaction that people have been held accountable for their part in Parkland shooting,” Stein added.

A tip to the FBI that came from a bail bondsman reported that someone who signed himself “nikolas cruz” posted on the bondsman’s YouTube.com that he wanted to be a “professional school shooter. The investigation of that was closed after a month, in October 2017.

Not much more than a month before the shooting, on Jan. 5 2018, another tip came from someone who knew the shooter well. She called the Public Access Line, (PAL) that is supposed to be a centralized system for the public to report law enforcement concerns.

She reported her concerns about the teenager’s behavior in urgent and specific detail, court papers say. She also told the line that Cruz behaved erratically, had a history of violence, had voiced a specific desire to kill people, and was likely to target his former high school in Parkland.

“The PAL’s responses to the tipster had the effect of assuring her that the FBI would take the appropriate investigating action – at the very least, look into the threat and potentially follow up with her,” the decision reads. “The FBI failed to document the information it had received from the Jan. 5, 2018 caller … The tip never reached the FBI’s agents and analysts, including those at the local FBI Field Office in Miami … where additional investigative steps would have been taken.”

Fred Guttenberg, who originally filed the suit, referred questions to his lawyer. Another plaintiff is expected to join the suit, Stein said. Anthony Borges, who survived the hail of bullets, but still has lasting injuries, will likely be the 24th plaintiff by next week, Stein added.

His father, Rory Borges, also referred questions to his lawyer.

The government is required to respond to the ruling within 14 days.

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Debbi Hixon

By Anne Geggis

School safety advocacy group, Stand with Parkland, is endorsing one of its own in the race for the countywide seat on the Broward County School Board.

The group, founded by all 17 families who lost loved ones in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, is bolstering the campaign of Debra “Debbi” Hixon, a 31-year public school teacher and widow of MSD’s athletic director, Chris Hixon.

While the student resource officer hid from the gunfire, Hixon’s husband was among the few adults who confronted the shooter during the rampage that killed 17 and injured 17 more. He paid the ultimate price.

“She’s turning her unimaginable pain into positive action,” said Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland, said of Hixon’s tireless work on behalf of the schools.

Montalto’s daughter, daughter, Gina, was also among the victims of the shooting.

Hixon, who would take a leave from her teaching position if elected, said she was pleased to receive Stand with Parkland’s endorsement. She wants to bring an “in-the-trenches” perspective to the board’s efforts that are about more than just safety, although safety is job No. 1, she said.

“I want to bring the district together in new and positive ways,” she said.

Hixon is in the most crowded, nonpartisan, countywide race voters will see on the Aug. 18 ballot. Hixon, who is the magnet coordinator at South Broward High School, is vying with four other candidates for the seat that Robin Bartleman is leaving to run for the state Legislature.

Hixon is the third relative of a Parkland shooting victim to run for a school board seat. Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa died in the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting, was elected last year to represent District 4, which includes MSD. Ryan Petty ran for an at-large seat but lost to the current board chairwoman, Donna Korn. His daughter, Alaina, died in the tragedy at MSD.

One candidate must win at least 50 percent of the vote, or the two, top vote-getters will face off in the November election.

Also running: Joyce “Jersey Girl” Bryan of Margate, Narnike “Nikki” Grant of Parkland, Jeff Holness of Sunrise, and Jimmy Witherspoon of Fort Lauderdale.

Stand with Parkland has so far endorsed only one other Broward candidate, Gregory Tony, to be re-elected sheriff, Montalto said, adding, having more than one Parkland survivor on the school board means all students throughout the district will be safer.

“The more people we have promoting the safety and security of the students and staff, the better off we are,” Montalto said. “Frankly, the school board we had did not take that into account before or after” the shooting.

School Board members are paid $41,233 a year, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Stand with Parkland’s endorsement for Hixon also cited her volunteer work coordinating the annual Harvest Drive and coaching the Special Olympics. She was also part of the Stand with Parkland team that worked with the U.S. departments of Education, Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services to develop SchoolSafety.gov, which offers schools concrete steps to stop bullying, improve mental health, and make schools safer all around.

Hixon “will support our teachers, push the school board to invest in better mental health programs for students and demand improved transparency and reporting of school board operations,” the group’s endorsement reads.

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By Anne Geggis

Seeking to avoid the problems that plagued Broward County Public Schools’ online instruction last spring, reopening plans call for five hours of daily teacher-student online interaction and the option of attending evening class to accommodate the new normal.

A nine-hour workshop Wednesday unveiled some of the plans for resuming school in the time of coronavirus. Leaders did not shy away from acknowledging that the last months of the previous school year had its failings when schools closed to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“This model is not just tweaking last year,” said Superintendent Robert Runcie. “This is a totally different model.”

Palm Beach County decided on Wednesday to open its public schools on August 31. Broward County, however, is holding fast to a more traditional date: August 19. But it’s going to be a virtual reopening — with 100 percent online instruction for the vast majority of the county’s 217,517 students.

Pushing into new educational ground has left out many last year. Sun Sentinel reporting showed that 88 percent of Broward public school students were in “school” on April 6, compared to the previous year’s 94 percent average attendance. Some special education students were simply unable to participate.

Daniel Gohl, county schools’ chief academic officer, said last year’s experience along with time to plan has shifted priorities: “In the spring, we prioritized flexibility,” he said. “Structure was less important. For the fall, structure is our primary delivery for establishing rituals and cadence. We received significant criticism for being too flexible in the spring.”

Other new developments announced Wednesday for the new school year include:

• Specific blocks of time for academic instruction, applied learning, recess, and lunch.
• The resumption of the district’s “Homework Hotline.”
• A small number of students returning to brick-and-mortar buildings with teachers in full personal protective gear, including gowns and foot covering.
• Prioritizing students with the most severe disabilities for returning to campus, followed by those who have recently arrived in this country and are learning English.
• Increased use of the Canvas Parent and Canvas Student apps.

“We are in a very difficult place being challenged to make some very difficult decisions,” Board member Rosalind Osgood said.

The schedule unveiled Wednesday shows the first shift starts at 8 a.m. with elementary school students. And the “night class” beginning in the afternoon that has teachers working as late as 9:30 p.m.

“It allows for flexibility for those who need access to live instruction with teachers later in the day,” said Valerie Wanza, chief school performance, and accountability officer. “Parents won’t have to choose between their child’s education and working to keep food on the table.”

The very specific instructional day that would put students in front of a computer for hours drew some concern.

Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, asked for the school district to do an actual mock day to see how realistic it would be.

“It’s an unrealistic day for Malik and Ms. Gomez,” Fusco said, referencing the sample student and teacher the district used to illustrate a typical online day. “You have them both working nonstop and minimal time to get things done. The last thing we want them to do is to have them both burnt out.”

Wanza said that, of course, teachers of younger students would be doing more than interacting through a computer.

“We know that the day has to be … in smaller chunks for them, and we will be making sure they have tools that are more applicable to them,” she said.

At one point, Wanza was near tears.

“We don’t get to recreate the first day of kindergarten with parents walking their kids into school for the first time,” she said.

The administration’s efforts seemed to please most of the board members.

“You are doing something that’s never been done before, and I think you are doing a wonderful job,” said Donna Korn, chairwoman of the School Board.

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By Anne Geggis

An 11 p.m. curfew is going into effect Friday night and will continue nightly until Aug. 1, according to an emergency order from Broward County issued late Friday afternoon.

Most everyone will have to be in their homes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the latest effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The move comes as COVID-19 cases in the county continue to climb, along with the number of hospitalizations. Just in Broward County, the number of new cases has topped 1,300 every day for the last week, so leaders are taking steps to curtail large gatherings they believe the cause of the infection’s spread.

“It is important for residents and businesses to understand the role they play in reducing these alarming statistics by following reopening guidelines and requirements for social distancing and wearing facial coverings,” a press release from the county reads.

The curfew represents a rollback of the reopening from a shutdown period that began in mid-March and ended in mid-May. During that period, all businesses deemed “nonessential” were closed. People were told to remain at home, except for groceries, gas, and medical care, since avoiding the infected is the only way to stop the virus’ spread.

For the curfew emergency order, only first responders, news media, delivery or transportation drivers, government employees, people needing emergency medical care and utility personnel are allowed to be out of their homes for the hours between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., until Aug. 1, according to the order.

The curfew comes as unwelcome news for Spencer Molz. His business at 2125 N. University Drive, Game Night Arcade, really gets rolling at 9:30 p.m., he said.

He’s already had to furlough two workers as a result of the pandemic’s effects.

“It just feels like the county wants more businesses to go out of business,” Molz said.

A call from Coral Springs Talk was the first he’d heard that his hours would be shorter Friday night.

“And I get emails from the city and the county,” he said.

In addition to ordering the majority of citizens in their homes by 11 p.m., the emergency order issued Friday also:

• Prohibits private gatherings of more than ten people at residential properties, indoors or outdoors. People who are at gatherings larger than ten people could be subject to a fine, and owners of the property could also be fined, whether they are present or not.
• Prohibits vacation rentals without on-site owners from operating for guests checking in from July 20 through Aug. 20.
• Requires food and drink to be ordered and consumed at a table — no ordering at bar counters.
• Requires those exercising at commercial gyms to wear facial covering — revoking the previous orders that allowed no mask during exercise.

Most of the cases, about 80 percent, involve an entire household getting infected from one person who brings the virus home, said Commissioner Lamar Fisher. He said the situation is extremely alarming.

“I think we need to … continue to try to curb this disease without doing a shutdown,” he said. “We’re trying to avoid a shutdown.”

Commissioner Michael Udine, who represents Coral Springs and Parkland, blamed large gatherings for the virus’ surge.

“This is going to be a detriment to our businesses,” he said of the curfew. “But we must. It’s a way to get this under control.”

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Sal Vacirca {courtesy}

By Anne Geggis

Without Sal Vacirca, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School girls’ softball would have been without a coach in midseason last year, the Parkland Youth Softball Association would have had far fewer players and Cyarra Alvarado’s batting average probably would not have hit a new level.

Now, though, the community is left without what some describe an “infectious joy,” the father of six had on and off the softball field. Vacirca lost his year-long battle with a rare form of cancer, glioblastoma, on Tuesday, June 9. He was 55.

Fans remember Vacirca as someone who inspired people to get in the game.

“You couldn’t help but smile when you were around him,” recalled Brian Hierholzer, who started the youth softball association three years ago.

Already volunteering as a softball coach at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Vacirca made sure the word got out about the new youth association. Vacirca set up clinics in which he and the varsity MSD players would teach the younger girls how to play softball and how to improve their game, Hierholzer said.

Hierholzer estimated the youth association attracted nearly twice the number of girls that were expected because of Varcirca’s efforts.

“He had the right attitude,” Hierholzer said. “He showed them it’s not about the winning and losing; it’s about making sure they have fun and know how to play the game right.”

Bessy Alvarado of Coral Springs said that she watched her daughter’s game get better than it ever was when Vacirca stepped in to become the team’s head coach when it needed one in the 2019 season.

“He had to step up … in the middle of the season, and my daughter had the highest batting average that she’s ever had, the highest on-base percentage, the highest everything,” Alvarado said.

His belief in his players lifted them up, Alvarado said.

“When a player believes that they have a coach who believes in them, they really want to give them their most,” Alvarado said.

Her daughter, Cyarra Alvarado, said she had been struggling to decide with where to go to college, and Vacirca was the first one she told when she finally settled on a softball scholarship at Queens College, City University of New York.

“He had a lot of belief in us. more than we believed in ourselves,” said Cyarra, who just finished her freshman year of college. “He would say, ‘Even if you don’t see it, I know you are the best players I’ve ever seen.’”

The team did not win their season, but Cyarra and another Douglas player made the Miami Herald’s All-Broward County Team.

Vacirca’s Twitter feed has lots of quotes about the importance of coaching, but soon after his first cancer surgery he spoke on his own about the pride a coach feels in his players: “I am invested in them as people because they trusted and believed in me to guide them … which I take as a great honor.”

He is survived by his wife, Amy, and six children, ranging in age from 14 to 30.

Vacirca loved family barbecues for the family time, National Football League games, and coaching softball, Amy Vacirca recalled. Before volunteering at MSD, he had also coached some softball travel teams. For work, he was a facilities manager at Palm Beach State College.

But it always came back to coaching.

“They would struggle sometimes, and he was all about teaching them to stay positive, work hard and work as a team,” she said.

The family started a GoFundMe account called “No One Fights Alone” one year ago. So far, about $17,000 has been raised.

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On June 4, Sheriff Gregory Tony took a moment to kneel in solidarity with Lori Bloomfield and a group of peaceful protesters expressing their desire for change and social justice. {BSO}

By: Anne Geggis

Sheriff Gregory Tony is facing his first bid for election in August with a seal of approval from the mayors from Parkland, Tamarac, Dania Beach, and North Lauderdale.

Tony became Broward County’s top cop when Gov. Ron DeSantis ousted Sheriff Scott Israel from the post in January 2019, citing Israel’s bungled handling of the Parkland school shooting.

Now Tony, whose controversial past has suddenly emerged, is facing his predecessor in the Democratic Party primary.

Both Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky and Tamarac Mayor Michelle Gomez have high praise for Tony’s level of communication with residents and the elected leaders of their respective communities.

“It’s mainly that the outreach and communication have improved under him,” Hunschofsky said, explaining why she’s endorsing Tony.

Not only is Parkland’s captain accessible, the sheriff’s office now does outreach on social media platforms like Nextdoor.com and Twitter, and in person, Hunschofsky said.

“They (BSO personnel) are attending HOA meetings regularly,” Hunschofsky said.

Tamarac’s Gomez said, in a written statement, that the improvement Tony brought to the BSO was immediate: “… He reached out to the municipal mayors of Broward County. He set up regular group meetings for us to discuss concerns in our cities and the county as a whole. It is good to know that we have a direct line of open communication to our county’s sheriff …”

Notably, however, there are no endorsements from the leaders of some of BSO’s biggest client cities: Deerfield Beach and Weston. Weston Mayor Daniel Stermer and Deerfield Mayor Bill Ganz both said they had not endorsed a candidate for sheriff.

Israel was suspended from his elected position for what DeSantis called “incompetence and dereliction of duty.” The Florida Senate upheld that suspension, and the job became Tony’s.

But Tony has recently run afoul of the BSO union for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Tony suspended the president of the deputy sheriff’s union, Jeff Bell, after the union leader claimed BSO was not providing enough protective equipment to deputies, according to reporting in the Sun-Sentinel on the dust-up.

Shortly after that, more Sun-Sentinel reporting emerged, showing that Tony had lied on his application to be a Coral Springs officer when he neglected to mention he was charged with shooting another teenager when he was 14. He was cleared of those charges, however.

Neither Gomez nor Hunschofsky would comment on the revelations from Tony’s past. Or pictures of him and his wife participating in a swinger’s club party that conservative operative Red Broward tweeted.

Hunschofsky brushed off the latest controversies.

“I endorsed him because of the job he’s done in our community,” she said.

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By: Anne Geggis

Soon, residents will no longer be able to blame coronavirus for avoiding the gym: big workout facilities such as LA Fitness and Planet Fitness will be allowed to re-open Tuesday as the economic recovery from the outbreak of COVID-19 continues.

The county’s beaches will also be open again Tuesday, along with hotels, motels, and other commercial lodging facilities, according to a new order that Bertha Henry, county administrator, released Friday.

It’s the third round of re-openings since government orders shut down all businesses deemed “nonessential” two months ago as part of an effort to stem the spread of the virus. With no vaccination or known cure, the only defense against COVID-19 is to avoid the infected.

Monday, stores, salons, and all but a few businesses that serve the public were given the green light to re-open. On Thursday, offices were given the go-ahead.

The latest slew of re-openings was planned for Tuesday to avoid the crush that might come Memorial Day weekend, said County Commissioner Lamar Fisher.

Other large-scale venues, like the casinos, remain closed, however.

Still, your gym might not be ready to open its doors, even if they are allowed to.

Callers to both LA Fitness and Planet Fitness facilities in Coral Springs and Tamarac on Saturday heard phone recordings that did not include a re-opening date.

LA Fitness’ corporate website promised an opening date to be announced, but no further details.

Rosemarie Léger-Brickman, who leads exercise classes at LA Fitness facilities in Coconut Creek and Coral Springs, said she’s heard that equipment might be spaced out in basketball courts.

But she’s heard from plenty of her regulars that they are not ready to go back to the gym.

“If you feel that you are in a compromised state of health, wait a little bit longer,” she said. “Let them work the kinks out of it. We’re going to ease back into it.”

Léger-Brickman has been leading Facebook Live classes on her page, Rose’s Workout and Fitness Group, during the shutdown and loved mixing up her routines, she said. She’s been getting participants in far-flung parts of the country and even some overseas.

But there’s no substitute for being in front of the class, live and in person.

“I love my gyms,” she said. “I love interacting with people, feeling the energy in the room. The openings will be really good.”

But, she’s not sure how wearing a face mask will work with jumping jacks, lunges, and planks as she’s heard that fitness instructors in Palm Beach County have been required to do.

“It is going to get wet. It’s going to get soggy. It’s going to be falling down,” said Léger-Brickman. “I don’t know how that’s going to work.”

Parkland resident Amy Barr Weissman, a fitness class regular, said she’s going to wait a little bit before hitting the gym again. She’s concerned about whether others will be practicing social distancing — staying the recommended six feet away.

“I need to see how everyone is behaving when everyone is out there,” she said.

But Sarah Demauro of Coral Springs feels absolutely fine about everything that’s been opened. She’s been out to eat several times and would feel confident going to a gym, especially since Gov. Ron DeSantis has endorsed the re-openings.

“At the end of the day, everyone has to make their own choices,” she said.

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By: Anne Geggis

You can now go back to the office, drop Fifi off for a groom, and do the downward dog pose at a small yoga studio as Broward County on Thursday announced another step back toward life before coronavirus.

But, it’s not quite normal life yet: no barhopping, bowling, theater-going, or exercising at a commercial gym where equipment is shared among customers.

The latest move comes four days since Broward County took its first step toward opening up some nonessential businesses.

On Monday, restaurants, stores, and hair salons were allowed to start retaking customers, the first since the shutdown in mid-March. Shutting nonessential businesses, unprecedented in modern memory, was part of an effort to stop the spread of a new coronavirus for which there is no known cure, and the only defense is avoiding the infected.

The latest loosening of the shutdown means that Angeline Starling, of Halo Mortgage in Coral Springs, will be back at her office suite on Tuesday. The management company that runs her offices will start servicing the building again. But she’s got some trepidation about going back out there, she said.

“It’s a little bit worrisome what’s going on,” she said. “We’ll do our best to protect ourselves and our customers when they come in.”

The statistics show she has a reason to be concerned. People testing positive for the virus, as a percentage of the number tested, has edged up slightly in the last seven days, compared to the previous seven days’ average. For deaths, the seven-day average has crept up since hitting a low point on May 15.

Not all open businesses are getting customers. Alpha Preschool Academy in Tamarac never had to shut down because of its “essential” status. But it’s going to stay shut until June 1.

“We did not have the amount of parents who need care at this time,” said David Mohabir, who owns the business, explaining that just five children were brought in for a Monday opening when ten were expected.

Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, who represents Parkland, said that he’s watching the numbers of infections and deaths carefully.

“Everyone is going to have to be a part of doing this safely,” he said, pointing out how the latest county order reiterates the need to continue staying at least six feet from nonhousehold members and wearing facemasks in common, indoor areas, such as supermarkets. “Everyone is going to have to take personal responsibility.”

Broward County Commissioner Lamar Fisher is going to open his business, Fisher Auction Company, on Tuesday.

Face masks will go on if a visitor comes into the office, employees will maintain a safe distance from each other, and door handles and other common surfaces will be continually disinfected, he said.

“In other words, the new normal,” Fisher said.

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By Anne Geggis

COVID-19’s kick put Broward County two weeks behind most of the state in reopening businesses shuttered in the pandemic crisis.

But now the county is moving ahead: Monday’s reopening will be under some of the least restrictive rules around for eating out.

Instead of limiting indoor seating to 25 percent of the restaurants’ capacity as the state pandemic rules originally outlined, Broward County restaurants can fill up to 50 percent of their indoor seats and 50 percent of their outdoor tables, provided that social distance rules are met with dining groups at least six feet apart.

But before you head out to get a table, you might want to call ahead. Not everyone is flinging their doors open.

Dena Lowell Blauschild, Parkland resident and co-owner of The Cook and the Cork, on Sample Road, said opening her 40-seat dining room partially doesn’t make sense financially, considering the costs of complying with pandemic rules.

Those rules include installing plexiglass and other accommodations, she said.

“We are always super clean … but the guidelines are not viable,” she said. “The second reason is that, based on the scientific data that I’m reading from reliable sources, I don’t think it’s safe for my staff and my guests to open up.”

“I won’t open up until I feel like everything is under control with the spread of this virus.

At the Big Bear Brewing Company, though, preparations are underway to resume the on-site noshing that has been ongoing there for the last 24 years, until now. The 50 percent capacity rule versus 25 percent capacity will only mean eight to ten more customers at Big Bear Brewing Company because of dining room logistics, according to Greg Sherman, managing partner.

But he’s looking forward to getting back to somewhat normal.

“At least it’s the light at the end of the tunnel,” Sherman said.

Better forget about working off that meal at a gym like LA Fitness, though. Within hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that commercial gyms around the state could open, Broward County’s administration decided gyms would remain closed for now, according to Commissioner Lamar Fisher.

Retail will be allowed to open Monday to shopaholics denied their fix for the last two months, according to specifics Broward County announced Thursday, but the situation with Coral Square Mall is murky.

City officials said they haven’t heard that the mall will open Monday, and a spokeswoman for Simon Group, which operates the mall, said no date had been announced.

But Camilla Huang, who operates Camilla Day Spa in the mall, said she heard that it would be opening Monday. That opening will be happening without her business.

“We will take next week to train, prepare,” she said, noting that new procedures must be followed in the time of coronavirus.

May 25 is the day spa’s targeting to fully open, Huang said.

Ultimately, consumers will be the ones who decide when business will return, as usual, said Commissioner Michael Udine, who represents Parkland and Coral Springs. He was in favor of allowing more capacity into restaurant dining rooms.

“The economy is going to reopen when the public wants the economy to reopen,” Udine said. “We want to make sure when we roll out these new requirements that everyone is doing their best to maintain social distancing and using best practice so that everyone has a good experience.”

But Commissioner Nan Rich of Weston is afraid it’s going to be hard to restrain the rush of enthusiasm and maintain the practices that keep people safe from the coronavirus infection.

Theoretically, only one customer for every 50 square feet will be allowed at Simon Group-operated malls, according to corporate documents.

“We don’t have the coronavirus contained — people need to remember that,” Rich said. “The more people we come in contact, the higher the risk to ourselves, our families, and others.”

Send your news to Parkland’s #1 news Parkland Talk.

By: Anne Geggis

Broward County on Monday will take some tentative steps toward normal life — beginning to open what was shut in the outbreak of COVID-19 that sickened thousands and killed hundreds of county residents over the last two months.

Restaurants, retail shops, and personal care outlets like barbers and nail salons — closed in an effort to stop the virus’ spread —will be allowed to take customers starting Monday. The details on opening the beaches and other aspects of normal life are still being worked out. But a majority of commissioners asked that the beaches be opened if Miami-Dade County moves ahead with it.

Broward County commissioners practicing social distancing during the meeting.

One commissioner said businesses that are ready to go should be allowed to open the next day.

“There has been such a loud cry to open … from our small, medium, and large businesses,” said Commissioner Lamar Fisher, who represents the eastern side of the county.

Broward County was on track to be the last part of Florida to open in the state since the coronavirus started raging. Gov. DeSantis’ order allowed most of Florida to begin opening May 4. However, South Florida’s closures were extended because of the large number of cases. Then, Palm Beach County asked the governor to begin opening this week. And Miami-Dade County asked for Monday, May 18.

At a special COVID-19 workshop Tuesday, commissioners agreed Broward should move on a similar timetable as Miami-Dade.

Bertha Henry, Broward’s county manager, told commissioners she didn’t expect getting the governor’s permission would be a problem. The coronavirus has receded enough that conditions in the county have primarily met the Centers for Disease Control criteria for going to Phase 1 of re-opening the economy, she said.

The criteria calls for a 14-day downward trajectory in the number of cases. Department of Health figures show that Broward’s numbers are still swinging wildly: 22 cases were reported Monday; 71 on Tuesday. 

Commissioners said the increased cases are natural, given the increasing number being tested. But the percentage of those testing positive has been consistent, or decreasing, as the criteria required.

Still, some are concerned that there is too much risk. Testing and tracing are not robust enough, said Commissioner Nan Rich.

“We have not tested all the people in our ALFs and nursing homes,” she said.

After the meeting, Michael Udine, who represents Parkland, said he hopes that Henry’s order will allow restaurants to fill to 50 percent of their capacity, instead of the 25 percent capacity outlined in DeSantis’ pandemic rules.

“At 50 percent we can give these businesses a fighting chance,” he said, also contending that they should be allowed to open as soon as Saturday.

Others, however, expressed concern that opening up too much will send the wrong message that the COVID-19 crisis is over. Cities need to be ready to do enforcement, and the public needs to continue wearing face masks and keep at least six feet from nonhousehold members, some said.

“We’re leaders,” said Mayor Dale Holness. “Part of our responsibility is not to lead people to their deaths.”

Send your news to Parkland Talk.

Michael Udine {courtesy}

By: Anne Geggis

Northwest Broward’s representative on the Broward County Commission is adding his voice to the growing chorus asking for the economic recovery from COVID-19 to begin with immediately opening some businesses that had been shuttered in the outbreak.

Commissioner Michael Udine Friday sent a letter to the county manager asking that Phase 1 of the recovery start immediately. Even though the county’s numbers of new cases do not meet the milestones experts recommend before taking this step, Udine cites Palm Beach County’s decision to re-open and Miami-Dade’s planned May 18 opening.

“I think it’s time,” said Udine, of Parkland, noting that Fort Lauderdale’s mayor is asking for the same. Udine’s Facebook post calling for the opening also had Margate Mayor Tommy Ruzzano agreeing with it.

Avoiding the infected is the only defense against the new virus. And the government decided to limit economic activity to essentials in an effort to limit transmission in mid-March. Now, almost two months since the shutdown of nonessential businesses, Udine said some of the restrictions have stopped making sense.

“You have a homeowners association fitness facility that’s closed, but 23 people can be together on a bus,” he said. “What’s essential and nonessential should be replaced by what can be done safely and what’s not safe.”

Udine said he firmly believes the pause in economic activity was crucial to stopping the virus’ spread. But now, it’s become overly punitive to mom-and-pop businesses, like pet groomers, small jewelry stores, and dry cleaners for no good reason. The area is prepared for whatever comes next since hospitals have the capacity to handle it if some people do get sick, Udine said.

“There’s always going to be some level of risk. We just have to minimize as much as we can,” he said, citing the need to continue keeping at least six feet apart from nonhousehold members.

The Centers for Disease Control laid out criteria in levels of testing and new cases that communities should meet before re-opening the economy.  No states have met that criteria for ramped up testing for the disease and consistently lower numbers of infection.

But Georgia opened up for business, including bowling lanes and tattoo parlors two weeks ago. And most of Florida started Phase 1 last Monday. This week, hair salons and barbers can begin to take customers in most of the state. South Florida’s coronavirus outbreak has been bigger than most places, however, and no specific timetable has emerged for Broward County.

“People that are scared, people that have issues can stay home if that’s what they desire,” Udine said. “It’s time to reopen the county … and allow South Florida to get back to some sense of normalcy.”

The Florida Health Department’s latest numbers show there were 50 new Broward cases Friday, compared to 93 new cases Saturday. But five-day averages show COVID-19 is on a downward trajectory.

Udine said he would feel safe going to a restaurant with an outdoor dining area. The pandemic rules would limit seating to 25 percent of capacity. But he would not feel comfortable going to the gym — yet.

But opening up some is the common-sense thing to do, he said.

“You’re never going to effectively get rid of the virus,” he said. “These things have to be managed, like everything else in life.”

Udine also acknowledges that testing for the virus is not where it should be, yet.

“At some point, we’re going to get there,” he said. “I want testing to be as readily available as walking into a drugstore.”

Send your news to Parkland Talk.

By: Anne Geggis

The sticky genetic material that’s no wider than one-thousandth of an eyelash’s breadth is doing more than killing people and emptying the places they gather. The coronavirus is also deepening the political divide as debate flares about how far the government needs to go to stop its spread.

Orders that followed the outbreak of the disease with no known cure have closed nonessential businesses, crippled the area’s tourism-driven economy, thrown multitudes out of work, confined many to their homes and forced most of Northwest Broward residents to don a face mask if they go out for groceries or visit essential businesses.

Avoiding the infected is the only known defense against COVID-19. But many people, right up to President Trump, have said that this “cure” should not be allowed to become worse than the disease that’s killed more than 45,000 Americans and counting.

The hue and cry to reopen the economy have sparked protests in many cities around the country. Social media posts are bristling with people chafing over face mask requirements and closed public amenities, like the beaches and boating ramps.

“Quarantine yourself if you don’t want to get sick,” Jason Buzio, 49, a pilot, who lives in Tamarac, wrote to NextDoor posters who were complaining about customers at a local pharmacy who weren’t wearing face masks.

Others see the measures taken to stem the virus’ spread as more of a threat to American life than the disease itself. Jessica Melton, running for U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch’s seat representing Coral Springs, Parkland, and other cities, sees an effort to oust President Trump in the media-fueled hysteria about the virus.

“The government should not be telling us that we can’t run our businesses, that we have to wear a face mask in public,” said Melton, 32, who owns a wireless infrastructure company, and has raised more than $62,000 in her congressional bid, according to the Federal Election Commission website.

“It’s a significant overreach. They don’t have the authority to do that constitutionally… This is the land of the free.”

She’s tweeted that local officials who are pledging to keep the economy closed will never be elected again.

“This is what [U.S. House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and the Dems want,” she wrote in an April 17 tweet. “To destroy livelihood so they can usher in socialism to ‘save’ us. Sick.”

https://twitter.com/votejessi2020/status/1252587222739693568

Her opponent in the August Republican primary, James Pruden, said he disagrees that shutting down the economy is a conspiracy against the president since the president and his task force made the recommendation.

“This is a real pandemic and not hype made up by the media,” said Pruden, an attorney, who sees a constitutional basis for the steps that have been taken.

Joel Greenberg, Seminole Tax Collector, believes it may be time to stand up to our civil liberties being violated. “We need to open the damn economy. Burning down the house in order to save it is not working and total B.S. Enough already.” 

Camilla Huang, who has run Camilla Day Spa for 17 years, now at the Coral Square mall, said she believes the shutdown should have come sooner — and its continuation is utterly essential to saving lives. After watching how control and containment worked when she visited her mother in Vietnam earlier this year, she’s doesn’t want to open her business one minute before it’s safe, she said.

“I was taken aback that not more could have been done to prevent this from spreading” in the United States, she said.

Vietnam is right next door to China. That country’s coronavirus toll stands at 268 confirmed cases and no deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Huang witnessed firsthand that people were quickly tested and quarantined. It has spread only minimally despite its open border with China.

“I saw speakers going up at my mom’s condo,” she said, recounting the government’s quick, decisive action.

Sandy Gerhoff, 55, of Coral Springs, is worried that the shutdown could be going too far. She’s seen some stories saying that the economy might have to stay mostly closed until a vaccine is found. And that could be two years from now.

“People are losing everything they’ve worked their entire lives for,” she said. “It’s a real virus. I have a healthy respect for the virus. It’s shut down countries for weeks and weeks and weeks. But we have to find a way to live with this.”

“We have to get back to work,” she said.

Keep sending your tips to Parkland Talk.

By: Anne Geggis

What was once just a way to connect neighbors who were used to mailed, monthly newsletters, Talk Media’s online publications are now must-reads for residents in Northwest Broward after growing into a multi-city publication.

This month, Talk Media, based in Coral Springs, has broken its own records in readership. Typically receiving 300-400k hits per month, readership has skyrocketed to over 900k due to the stay-at-home measures from COVID-19, along with timely news coverage on the virus.

“This past month has been overwhelming,” said Sharon Aron Baron, editor, and Parkland resident. “I thought the news would slow down a bit during the pandemic and we could all relax a bit, but the emails and messages haven’t stopped from readers.”

Founded in 2010, Talk Media first began with The Woodlands and expanded over the years to include Tamarac Talk, Coral Springs Talk, and Parkland Talk. 

Parkland Talk, which started a year before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas tragedy, has covered the lives of the victims, their families, with continued coverage on the foundations and nonprofits created in their honor.

Her love of creating community news websites happened after her family moved to the Woodlands Country Club, in 2009,  where Baron noticed that the 900-home community had no online means of connecting neighbors.

Notes were posted at various bulletin boards, or the homeowner’s association would send out a monthly newsletter. This form of communication didn’t connect the residents, nor did it provide a quick way to find out about crime, lost pets, or news about the golf course.

Created in 2011, Tamarac Talk, was popular in a city with declining local coverage. Baron put the spotlight on the good and the bad — especially on elected officials who accepted illegal payments from father and son developers.

Sharon Baron being interviewed by Bob Norman of WPLG Local 10.

Covering city government hasn’t been without some friction. In 2017, the City of Tamarac sent her a cease-and-desist letter for writing an article poking fun of the mayor in an editorial using the city logo in an illustration. 

The city demanded she take it down, citing its right to protect city property. But Baron said the First Amendment’s protection of parody allowed her to use it.

She said the city dropped the suit after they received negative publicity from WPLG and the New Times —or it may have been the letter from her attorney citing case law that supported her.

Due to the recent pandemic, her annual April Fool’s Day joke was canceled in Coral Springs.

“This wasn’t the year to do it,” Baron said. “People are already too much on edge.”

Her pranks have included moving the Coral Springs Charter School to Tamarac and opening more mattress stores in the city — which residents were already complaining were far too numerous. And in 2016, she ran a joke story about Coral Springs annexing Parkland — which caused the phones to light up at city hall. 

“Mayor Skip Campbell, while at first was shocked by the deluge of calls, actually thought it was hilarious, and never failed to publicly bring up whenever he saw me in the audience somewhere,” Baron said. 

Parkland Talk covered the events immediately after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting and continues.

The websites, built and maintained by her, have been a ten-year work in progress.  Over the years, she has taught herself basic HTML and PHP as well as website design to give it an engaging look.

“Well, it takes a village. My hosting company helps. I have crashed a lot of times over the years, and I have also changed servers.  But I’m able to handle the traffic now, and I’m constantly trying to make the user experience easy — while showcasing my advertisers at the same time.”

For the third year in a row, Talk Media earned First Place for Independent Website at the Florida Press Club’s 2019 Excellence in Journalism competition, which took place in Boca Raton last November.

Talk Media was chosen based on timely and relevant news of the day as well as articles that were good examples of feature reporting in independent online news.

Articles have been quoted in the Washington Post, the Sun-Sentinel, and The Huffington Post.

Now, it isn’t all done alone. The company currently has a team of writers, as well as a large online fan following on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which she says “has taken years” to build.

Her publications are well-known for promoting restaurants, new businesses, students, sports, and citizens. 

She has also reunited hundreds of lost pets on social media before only pages were created that did so.

“I’ve reunited hundreds of dogs and cats, but also rabbits, birds, turtles, and a pig. I’m very proud of this,” she laughed. 

A story on Coral Springs Talk reunited Darlene Stosik with her brother’s Geoffrey Saunders Vietnam medals, found by Meghan Burns.

Baron has even reunited lost Vietnam medals and photos.

“I had a Coral Springs resident contact me who found Vietnam War medals, a flag, and photos in her attic with the name of a deceased young man. I wrote a story hoping to find someone who knew him.  Well, a relative in another state saw the story and contacted the veteran’s sister, who was reunited with the items which were lost during a move.”   

Moments like these when she has connected people in the communities she covers — whether it’s a story about someone’s GoFundMe or highlighting a local business — makes it all worth it, she said.

“Rep Ted Deutch read that article about the veteran, and, at a Town Hall meeting, he recognized the woman who found the medals — along with the sister of the deceased and mentioned me, which was really nice,” Baron said.

By: Anne Geggis

Three weeks into the coronavirus shutting down life as we knew it, the distance barbers and beauticians must keep from their clients is revealing all too much.

Roots are coming in, eyebrows are getting bushy, extensions are looking ratty, and the nail fillers don’t look quite right. The effort to stop the disease from spreading means the ban on personal services that would fix all that won’t be lifted until April 30 — at the soonest. And that seems much too far off for people like Penny Pagano of Coral Springs.

“It’s hard to do on yourself,” the schoolteacher said of her pink-and-white manicure that’s chipping fast.

Social distancing is also putting a paycheck far away from all the beauticians and barbers who often work as independent contractors. Doing it privately, under the table, could put hairdressers and barbers at risk for fines or suspension.

Pagano, 56, hopped on a NextDoor thread someone started, which asked for a hairdresser willing to do a private salon session. Pagano followed it in the hopes that she could get a line on someone willing to do her nails. But the original poster pulled it when others on the Coral Springs board attacked her for seeking to break anti-COVID-19 protocols that call for non-household members to stay at least 6 feet away.

But Pagano doesn’t see the problem.

“I would be more than willing to sit one-on-one in someone’s house,” Pagano said. “If I could put a mask on, and they could put a mask on.”

State records show that in Parkland and Coral Springs alone, nearly 1,000 people make a living with scissors. It also affects those who do facials, hair wrapping, hair braiding, and nails. Often many of these workers are independent contractors and don’t get money unless they have customers.

But Christina McIntosh, 42, said she’d rather dig into her savings than potentially get the virus as she snips away at W Salon in Coral Springs. She also does updos, color, and keratin treatment and doesn’t see how she can safely do her job without risking exposure.

“Looking at the statistics at how it’s spreading, I wasn’t about to go into my workplace and have that contact,” she said.

Starting three weeks ago, Molly Stillwell of Delray Beach lost every single client she had booked with her business Fairytale Bridal Makeovers, including two that had been scheduled at the Parkland Golf & Country Club.

“Even my May brides rescheduled,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Camilla Huang, who has owned a 5,000-square-foot, Aveda salon at the Coral Square mall, Camilla Day Spa, for 17 years, said she has never been through something like this.

“It’s not something you can stay home at work at,” she said. “Of course we are devastated because my staff has no job.”

Mostly, the hairdressers are independent contractors, and she can only hope they come back. Huang said. She can hardly wait to get her ‘do back in shape.

“My gray is coming out,” she said. “We have male customers who say they are going to end up with a man bun.”

Even more than looking good, the staff and clients are missing that human connection, she said.

“Right now, with the high stress in our community, they are not able to come and de-stress,” she said.

The Zaandam. Courtesy Holland America Cruise Line.

By: Anne Geggis

The cruise ship with four dead and more than 100 sickened has received the go-ahead from the Panama Canal, raising the possibility anew that it will arrive in Fort Lauderdale — posing a new dilemma for leaders.

Commissioner Michael Udine of Parkland said he wants to see it go somewhere else — given the area’s coronavirus crisis.

After saying Friday that no ship with COVID-19 patients would be allowed through, the Twitter account representing the Panama Canal authority tweeted Saturday night that the Zaandam, the cruise ship with no definite destination, would be allowed passage through the canal.

That prompted thanks from Holland America’s Zaandam in a statement.

“We greatly appreciate this consideration in the humanitarian interest of our guests and crew,” it reads. “This remains a dynamic situation, and we continue to work with the Panamanian authorities to finalize details.”

They did not update its intention stated the previous day to dock at Fort Lauderdale or whether the number of dead or ill had increased from its Friday update.

So far, Holland America has confirmed four passengers are dead, including one American, and another 138 passengers and crewmembers are ill with an “influenza-type illness” according to them.

The ship left Buenos Aires on March 7 for a sail around South America.

Udine made a motion to block the ship from docking at Port Everglades at an emergency meeting on March 24. On Sunday, he said that there are places better prepared to absorb the Zaandam’s sick.

“We are one of the hotspots” for coronavirus, he said, pointing to the elevated number of cases in Broward County, the area’s large elderly population, and a health system that’s already swamped with the outbreak.

He said the county at least needs to see a plan for how Holland America is going to lessen the risk to dockworkers and residents. There also needs to be a definite plan for moving passengers back home according to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.

A check of departures and arrivals at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport show most flights have been canceled as the airlines have grounded flights into May.

“I certainly sympathize with the passengers — they have to go somewhere,” Udine said. “But … there’s got to be a better place we can do this.”

The ship’s docking at Port Everglades will be discussed at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting.

The Zaandam. Courtesy Holland America Cruise Line.

By: Anne Geggis

Death has descended on the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship that Holland America announced was Fort Lauderdale-bound, but now officials at Panama Canal won’t let them through.

Being blocked from the canal will keep it from docking at Port Everglades, as local officials had feared and sought to stop earlier in the week.

Four people on board the Zaandam cruise ship among its 1,243 passengers died on what was supposed to be a 14-day cruise that left Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, the cruise line confirmed Friday. The same statement said another 138 onboard had flu-like symptoms that have become a hallmark of the virus that’s triggered a global pandemic.

Holland America’s Friday statement said the ship, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, still plans to dock at Port Everglades. But Panama Canal officials put out a statement that no vessel with COVID-19-positive patients would be allowed through the canal, said Broward Commissioner Michael Udine.

Udine had made a motion to stop the stricken ship from docking at Port Everglades at an emergency meeting on March 24. The motion received a second from Commissioner Mark Bogen to stop the Zaandam from docking at an Emergency Meeting.

Turned away from its destination port in Chile on March 21, what was supposed to be a fun excursion away from the pandemic hotspots has turned into a grim mystery cruise.

Udine, who lives in Parkland, said that he feels a great deal of compassion for those onboard the Zaandam, but a plan needs to be in place for handling the sick passengers and crew and the area’s health system is overwhelmed enough.

“They need to be attended to somewhere,” he said of the cruise ship’s COVID-19 patients. “But we have to balance that with our health system.”

He said social media call-outs from Broward Health for supplies had led him to believe the system is not ready to absorb hundreds of new patients from beyond Broward County’s borders.

“We’re going to need to see a detailed plan on how this is going to work before this can be considered,” he added.

Udine said that the port receives notification of docking 72 hours before the actual event. No such information has yet been received from the Zaandam.

“As citizens, we should try to do what we can do to help someone in peril, but we must make sure we do this with a full plan that provides for the protection and safety of everyone involved — the people on the ship and the people in Broward County.”

By: Anne Geggis

Broward County residents are being urged to stay at home, as a “shelter-in-place” order was issued Thursday, taking effect at 12:01 a.m., Friday to slow the spread of the coronavirus that’s been cutting a deadly path across the globe.

The order mirrors the same one that went into effect in Parkland Thursday morning.

“Individuals are strongly urged to remain home other than to engage in essential activities,” the order issued by County Administrator Bertha Henry states.

It isn’t much different from the order that shut down all nonessential businesses like hair salons, gyms, and movie theaters earlier this week. But local leaders want to emphasize the necessity of staying in place to prevent disease transmission, a county spokesman said.

Supermarkets, gas stations, liquor stores, and car dealerships are still allowed to operate, as long as the Centers for Disease Control guidelines are observed, particularly staying at least 6 feet apart from others. Outside exercise is also fine, as long as people stay more than 6 feet away from each other.

Making sure people comply will depend on individual cities, a county spokesman said. The Broward Sheriff’s Office, with jurisdiction in Tamarac and Parkland, will not be issuing citations. Coral Springs officials were still working out how to enforce the order, said Officer Chris Swinson, Coral Springs’ spokesman.

To start, enforcement would likely mean telling groups of more than ten people about the order against such gathering. But more specifics might be coming, he said Thursday afternoon.

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

As of Thursday, counts from the Florida Department of Health Department show Broward County residents account for 485 of the state’s 2,355 COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Alex Hsu

By: Anne Geggis

A Parkland doctor who practiced internal medicine at his Margate office for nearly four decades became the first medical professional in Broward County to die of the coronavirus.

Alex Hsu died Wednesday, according to one of the staff who answered his office phone Thursday morning. Hsu’s cause of death was confirmed by the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office and Margate Vice Mayor Arlene Schwartz.

The infection that has made a swift and deadly march across the globe, being transmitted person to person, is highly contagious, and medical professionals are thought to be at high risk for contracting it. The rumored cause of his death that was soon confirmed sent a ripple of fear among his patients and their families.

MyTrang Donahue of Royal Palm Beach said her mother saw him in mid-February to refill a prescription weeks before his diagnosis.

“The moment I heard about it, my siblings and I were distraught and I was in tears,” she said. “Dr. Hsu was amazing and well-loved by the community families he treated for over 38 years.”

Hsu was listed as a physician with Northwest Medical Center early Thursday, but his name was off the “find a doctor” list as of the afternoon. Jessica Waxman, spokeswoman for the Margate hospital, said he was an active staff member from 1995 to 2017.

“Patients of Dr. Hsu should contact his office directly with any questions,” she wrote in a statement.

Deerfield Beach Mayor Bill Ganz said he was a patient of Hsu’s for the last 18 years, and the news left him deeply saddened.

“He was a wonderful doctor and a really kind, caring person,” Ganz said.

According to public records, Hsu and his wife Theresa resided in Cypresshead since 1997.

According to this online biography listed with doctor search sites such as healthgrades.com and vitals.com. Hsu graduated from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine in 1982 and is “affiliated” with the medical center.

Mitchell Pellecchia

By: Anne Geggis

Crime reports and arrests are a mainstay of Mitchell Pellecchia’s online publications that he runs in Parkland and Margate. But one item is notably missing from the “Margate Street Crime” covering March 10 to March 16 in the city he lives in — the domestic battery charge involving him.

Pellecchia, 57, who publishes Parkland News.net and Margate News.net, referred questions about his March 12 arrest — and another six days later for misdemeanor drunken driving, his third DUI offense in 10 years — to his attorney Josh Rydell, who is also vice mayor of Coconut Creek.

The domestic battery charge involves his wife of 32 years, according to an arrest report. His wife suffered bruises when Pellecchia slammed her against a wall and dragged her.

In the latest incident, the arrest report shows that he was “staggering and unsteady on his feet” as he left Margate City Hall an hour after a Margate City Commission meeting began on March 18. The police pulled him over at a gas station that’s a six-minute walk from City Hall.

“As the defendant stepped out of the vehicle, he was staggering and swayed back and forth as he spoke to me,” the arrest report says.

Pellecchia refused to take a breath test for inebriation and was arrested for DUI. Court records show that this is Pellecchia’s third DUI arrest in 10 years, which, if convicted, could mean mandatory jail time.

Another DUI arrest in 2012 involved leaving the scene of an accident, DUI property damage resulting, refusal to take a breath test, careless driving and driving without lights on.

Court records show these cases were disposed of through nolle prosequi, which means the prosecution was abandoned. Presumably, the other convictions were in other counties.

“I look forward to all the facts coming out in these two specific cases,” said Rydell, Pellecchia’s attorney. “I firmly believe my client will be exonerated. Mitch has made a career out of being a voice for the voiceless and calling for government accountability. That will not change as we navigate this legal process.”

Nancy Hill (left) and Gemina Scarpone (right), both of Coral Springs, get ready to do some boot camp with Rose.

By: Anne Geggis

The coronavirus crisis spurred some fitness clubs to voluntarily close before Gov. Ron DeSantis shut all nonessential businesses this week. Still, Coral Springs fitness trainer Rose Léger Brickman has gone online to make sure her fans from LA Fitness will be sweating this out — if not getting drenched.

For decades in this area, Brickman, 55, has led step, yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, and all-over body toning, classes. Now teaching chiefly at the LA Fitness on University Drive and Lyons Road in Coconut Creek, the fitness competition champ commonly packs 50 to 60 people — mostly women — into her classes with her energetic music and gruff exhortations.

“Abs are in, in, IN!”

But as news spread that there is no preventing the virus beyond avoiding those infected, Brickman, the mother of four, said she knew LA Fitness would be closing its doors soon — and leaving her faithful attendees without their usual sessions of pushing it real good.

“She is amazing,” said Amy Barr Weissman, 55, of Parkland, who works as a Mommy & Me instructor and has been taking classes with Brickman for 15 years. “She’s an inspiration as an instructor. She will make sure your form is correct.”

For Brickman, too, the prospect of the club closing dried up her chief source of income.

“The moment someone said that, I literally had tears welling up in my eyes,” said Brickman, recalling when the discussion about closing the club started circulating along with the virus. “I’m not a salaried employee… Right now, this is the only thing bringing me anything.”

Her core of attendees at the 12 or 13 classes she teaches every week started making alternate plans. Maybe they could have a class at a city park, with a tip jar or perhaps in the parking lot behind the club. They did not want to miss a class, or not too many, anyway.

The club was already closed March 15 when Rachel Perlow was having lunch with friends. “I told them, ‘Next time you see me, I’ll be 15 pounds heavier,’” Perlow, 50, joked.

But then Brickman hit on the idea of doing it online using her tablet and phone. She invited her Facebook friends and members of her other, year-old page “Rose Brickman, Beautiful Is a Feeling.” On Monday [March 16], Rose’s Workout and Fitness Group Facebook page was born.

“Welcome, everyone! So glad we could find a way to still work out together and stay fit, especially through this time that is stressful for many of us,” she wrote. “… So gather up your resistance bands, weights, mats, water, and towels. Turn up the volume, and we’ll have a great time.”

“Hopefully, you guys are not sitting and watching. You are up and DOING!”

Her debut at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday started with a soft voice instead of a fitness instructor kind. The counter showed not much life out there. “All right, guys, I’m going to see if anybody pops online, I am getting ready to start our first workout class via social distancing. We’re going to have to play a little bit with our volume and see if you can hear the music..”

Sometimes one of the five cats at Brickman’s house makes a guest appearance. Her Saturday class featured two of her regulars joining her in the backyard of her Coral Springs home. She jokes about what the neighbors must think about the sight of her solo gyrations and yelling. But it doesn’t take long before it seems she can see some of her students not exactly doing it the right way.

“Don’t just flick that foot! STOMP!”

Brickman, who has won titles at National Gym Association competitions, said that she narrates almost every move to make sure her students are getting the maximum workout without risking injury.

Doing it live has always appealed, she said. And while there are hours of workouts available on YouTube, she’s getting plenty of satisfaction beyond the voluntary donations to her PayPal account that are coming in.

“People are talking to each other (on Facebook), posting pictures of themselves in front of their TV,” Brickman said. “Maybe some of them aren’t Facebook friends, normally. There are people on there I don’t even know.”

“I hope all of you stay safe … and wash your hands.”

You can find Brickman’s class by searching “Rose’s Workout and Fitness Group” on Facebook. Or instant message her by searching her name, Rosemarie Léger Brickman, on Facebook.