THE LAKE WORTH PLAYHOUSE just received a financial standing ovation: a record $1 million endowment gift from an anonymous donor.

“We are beyond awestruck for someone to believe in our mission to award us this gift,’’ said Michael McKeich, the playhouse’s board president.

The transformative endowment, the largest single donation in the 73-year-old theater’s history, “will help ensure the future of live theater in our community for generations to come,’’ said Shoshana Davidowitz, the playhouse’s executive director.

An endowed gift is a permanent, self-sustaining source of funding, with assets invested to build the fund’s market value and offer support in perpetuity.

“This extraordinary gift strengthens our foundation and allows us to look toward the future with unprecedented stability,’’ Davidowitz said.

The playhouse, at 713 Lake Ave. downtown, encourages additional contributions “to help expand” the endowment’s impact “for generations to come,’’ she said.

“As we continue to serve as a cultural anchor for Lake Worth Beach, this endowment ensures that future generations will always have a place to experience the magic of live theater.”

The money will be used for the “continued care” of the 102-year-old building the playhouse has called home since 1975 and to ensure the financial stability of an organization formed in 1953, she said.

It will also provide long-term support for stage productions and youth education and outreach programs.

“We are honored and humbled that someone believes in our mission,’’ McKeich said. “Hopefully this will continue to encourage others to help us grow.’’

The playhouse learned about the gift in April. The donor lives in Palm Beach County and “is a huge supporter of the arts and of our playhouse,’’ Davidowitz said.

The playhouse’s previous largest donation was $350,000 in 1992 from the estate of Elfriede “Lee” Stonzek, a longtime subscriber who died a year earlier. The money launched the opening in 1995 of the Stonzek Studio Theater next door to the mainstage.

The playhouse has grown from humble beginnings, hosting its first performance, the light comedy Springtime for Henry, on the second floor of City Hall in February 1954.

Among the notable actors who performed in playhouse productions: Burt Reynolds, in a 1958 production All My Sons, and Watson B. Duncan, the founding theater instructor at Palm Beach Community College (now Palm Beach State College), in a 1960 production of Springtime.

Aside from showcasing affordable award-winning live performances, the playhouse is Palm Beach County’s oldest-working theater. It’s also the oldest building on the Art Deco Society of the Palm Beach’s historic register.

Last summer, the playhouse’s theater underwent a partial renovation, replacing outdated seats with new vintage-style seats.

CITY OFFICIALS ARE scrambling to save the 10th annual Dia De Los Muertos festival, a popular Lake Worth Beach Hispanic heritage celebration tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1 but in danger of being canceled.

At a time when Hispanic residents are living in fear of federal immigration policies, the festival’s host agency — a nonprofit within the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency — approved a budget last month that does not include any money to pay for this year’s event.

Although the city government has had no direct role in the festival, that could change as city commissioners try to save the 2026 event.

“I really don’t want to see this festival not happen,’’ City Commissioner Sarah Malega said at an online pre-agenda workshop July 31, the first public announcement that the 2026 event was in doubt.

“It’s onerous (for) us to help figure out how to make this happen this year, especially with all the torment our community has been going through,’’ she said.

Also referred to by its English name, Day of the Dead is a free event presented by LULA Lake Worth Arts, the CRA’s nonprofit creative partner operating as the Lake Worth Cultural Renaissance Foundation.

At a meeting July 14 before the regular CRA meeting, the CRA Board, voting as the foundation board, approved a budget that “did not include any money for Day of the Dead due to other commitments and lack of a dedicated staff person,” CRA Executive Director Joan Olive said in an email to the Lake Worth Beach Independent.

Oliva said there was no audio or video of the foundation meeting, unlike regular CRA board meetings. But a recent CRA memo sheds light on the decision.

“The foundation does not have the financial capacity to support the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) celebration this year,’’ Emily Theodossakos, the CRA’s marketing and programs manager, said in a memo to the CRA board July 14.

The festival’s budget is around $24,000, Malega said.

In the past, the event was largely paid for with Florida Department of Cultural Affairs grants, but “those grant funds have been significantly reduced, and we will not be receiving support from the state this year,’’ Theodossakos said.

Launched in 2016, Dia De Los Muertos has blossomed into a regional festival attracting visitors from Miami to Fort Pierce. Many attendees dress as a “Catrina,” the famous skeletal face, or “in your finest Calaca attire,’’ according to the CRA website, which still lists this year’s festival.

It takes place at the Hatch building, 1121 Lucerne Ave., one of the few big events west of U.S. 1 in Lake Worth Beach.

“The Día de los Muertos event has grown substantially and now requires major investment in artist fees, production logistics, entertainment, and marketing — costs that our current budget cannot absorb without depleting essential resources,’’ Theodossako said in the memo.

While the CRA’s operating budget covers administrative expenses, gallery maintenance and opportunities for local artists, she said, “allocating funds to produce a large, single-day festival would severely limit our ability to maintain ongoing beautification and arts-based economic development efforts.’’

The two most recent LULA-hosted events at the Hatch, Art Wars and Dia de Los Muertos, “did not produce any net revenue, like in years past,’’ the memo said.

Attendance at last year’s Day of the Dead was down because many potential attendees were worried about immigration raids.

“People are afraid to go out because if they look Hispanic they are eligible to be yanked,’’ City Commissioner Chris McVoy said July 31. “The level of the situation, how bad it is, it’s hard to get your head around.’’

Oliva said: “We plan on bringing the event back next year and hopefully the surrounding neighborhoods will feel more comfortable coming out and participating.’’

But city commissioners agreed July 31 to try to work with the CRA on ways to save this year’s festival.

“We should do whatever we can to make sure this happens,’’ Vice Mayor Mimi May said.

Malega, who led the charge to save the event, emphasized the optics of “the political climate we have right now” and a city agency possibly “canceling the only festival that celebrates Hispanic culture.”

The city’s Leisure Services department could be asked to help, which might be a challenge: About a week before Day of the Dead, the department is hosting the Little Screams Halloween festival in Bryant Park.

CRA board member Richard Mahler, who works as a multimedia specialist for the city of Greenacres, has volunteered to help.

Benny’s on the Beach, which operates restaurants at the Lake Worth pier and casino complex, has offered to help with beverage sponsors, Malega said.

While McVoy said he supports having the city help run this year’s event, he wondered about the broader optics, noting how advocacy groups like the Guatemalan Maya Center have been calling on city leaders since last year to take a harder stance against aggressive immigration policies affecting many city residents.

“I do have to say that when the level of fear, when people are afraid to go out on the streets, when people are afraid to go to work or shop for groceries, that our support is only to support a festival for the dead has a bit of a ring to it,’’ McVoy said.

Commissioner Anthony Segrich said he wants the city to try to save this year’s event. He said he hopes the festival’s financial issues motivate city leaders to lobby Palm Beach County commissioners about Lake Worth Beach getting a better return in county tourist tax revenue.

“We pay well over $2 million a year into tourist development tax from our city. We have received zero dollars and we hold some of the largest festivals in Palm Beach County,’’ he said.

“Palm Beach County is supposed to be spending tourist development tax on tourism and culture. This would qualify,’’ he said, referring to Dias De Los Muertos.

(Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where Richard Mahler works. He is a multimedia specialist for the city of Greenacres.)

Good morning, LWBI subscribers!

Who’s hungry for an update on two highly-anticipated Lake Worth Beach restaurant openings — Man Ray and Ruru’s Tacos & Tequila?

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DONNA KERNER THOUGHT she’d done a good job in her four years as a Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency board member. Her work received praise from CRA staff and a majority of city commissioners.

But to her surprise and disappointment last week, she was ousted from the powerful downtown spending agency in a 4-1 vote by the City Commission, which appoints the CRA board’s seven members.

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A REJECTED PROPOSAL for beachside valet parking has intensified scrutiny of a hot-button Lake Worth Beach topic: the long-shuttered swimming pool at the city’s oceanfront casino complex.

The valet concept was part of a broader $390,000 proposal to change the traffic flow along the road between the casino and the beach to two southbound lanes. Currently, it is a two-lane road with one northbound and one southbound lane.

City commissioners Monday night rejected the valet plan but directed staff to draft a new proposal focused just on the southbound traffic circulation.

They also questioned the wisdom of introducing valet service at the beach before addressing more pressing issues at the casino complex such as the shuttered pool and the vacant second-floor ballroom.

“Putting in valet parking when we have this huge eyesore of an empty pool is kind of a mixed signal,’’ said Commissioner Sarah Malega said, who blamed the shuttered pool for stunting the casino complex’s growth.

Nine prospective tenants, responding to a city request for bids, recently toured the casino’s vacant second floor, but none submitted proposals, Malega said. She asked staff to publicly explain the lack of interest at a future meeting.

“Rip the Band-aid off. Let the public know why we’re not getting those offers and (that) we need to fix it,” Malega said. “We can’t keep ignoring it.”

Commissioner Anthony Segrich agreed.

“It’s the gaping empty hole,’’ he said. “It’s the fact that from the second story you see all of the sins of the casino complex.’’

Vice Mayor Mimi May also opposed beachfront valet service. She noted that the city already struggles to regulate downtown valet operators, who she said sometimes charge customers to park in free public spaces along Lucerne Avenue.

“I am not looking to add more valets anywhere in the city when we can’t even enforce the valets we have right now,’’ she said.

Public Works Director Jamie Brown said the beachside valet service was intended to be used not just by casino patrons but also by beachgoers who don’t want to carry their chairs and coolers from the lower parking lot.

He said the original traffic circulation proposal, including the valet parking, was drafted with input from casino tenants over the past two years.

“We do have tenants who have been very loyal and have been up there for quite a while,’’ Brown said. “When they tell us things they’d like to see, it’s nice to be able to address some of those.’’

When May asked if staff had sought public input before drafting the plan, Brown said the city planned to do that only if commissioners think the idea has merit. Monday marked the first formal presentation of the plan.

Brown briefly discussed it last year in at least one public meeting but did not mention valet parking.

The valet parking area would have been just north of Benny’s Oceanwalk, sister restaurant of Benny’s on the Beach at the pier a hundred yards south. It would have displaced two residential decal spaces close to the north traffic circle to new spots in the parking lot further away from the beach.

At Monday’s meeting, Segrich mentioned social media comments earlier in the day that “vilified” casino tenants who he said “had nothing to do with requesting this.’’

Some online comments suggested that the city proposed the valet parking idea to benefit its longtime casino anchor, Benny’s on the Beach, which is celebrating its 40th year on the pier.

“Just to clear up some public perception, this wasn’t primarily tenant-driven, correct?’’ he asked Brown.

“That is correct,’’ Brown said. “The primary driver was traffic flow and issues we as staff realized and recognized over the years. Obviously, we had to speak with tenants as well.’’

Benny’s on the Beach is celebrating its 40th year on the pier. Last month, commissioners approved a request by Benny’s to extend its lease through 2043.

Before it was extended, the lease had been set to expire in 2033. Commissioner Chris McVoy voted against the extension, saying he wanted the city to be in position to seek competitive bids for the pier space in 2033 to get the best possible deal for taxpayers.

INSIDE THE CROWDED Lake Worth Beach warehouse, it feels less like a charity drive and more like a locker room before kickoff.

James Gavrilos, pacing the floor in shorts and a T-shirt, is rallying his latest team of volunteers to help tackle a mountain of 36,000 empty backpacks by the end of July.

“For the next couple of hours you are going to be changing the world, one student at a time,’’ he says, his voice booming across the packing room at the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County on Barton Road.

It’s July 20, about two weeks into the foundation’s eighth annual Backpack Initiative to put basic school supplies into the hands of needy Palm Beach County students in time for the first day of school.

There are still some 19,000 empty bags waiting to be filled, and school starts Aug. 10.

With a goal of topping last year’s total by nearly 6,000 bags, it’s a daunting task. If all 36,000 future backpack recipients stood together, they would fill loanDepot, home of the Miami Marlins baseball team.

Gavrilos, the foundation’s president and CEO, isn’t worried.

“Never ever doubt the power of a volunteer,’’ he calls out, priming the 50 helpers with praise.

He reminds them that they aren’t just stuffing nylon backpacks with notebooks, pencils and other basic learning tools. They are delivering hope, confidence, and equity to students at 55 Title I elementary and middle schools in Palm Beach County, where nearly 40,000 children live below the poverty level.

“You’re going to be packing backpacks for a kid, and you’re going to change that kid’s life,’’ he says.

A rotating army of volunteers has been at it nearly every day this month, working two-hour shifts inside Red Apple Supplies, the foundation’s free resource store serving teachers from the district’s highest-need schools.

They come from a cross-section of the community: senior citizens and teens, country club residents and Rotarians, ordinary folks and elected officials.

Teams line up from places like St. Mary’s Medical Center, the Jones Foster law firm, CORE Construction, Brooklyn Water Bagel, Florida Power & Light, Pratt & Whitney and The Breakers hotel.

“During backpack season, it’s all hands on deck,’’ Gavrilos says.

They proceed one-by-one along a row of bins, grabbing a flat empty backpack from the first and filling it with No. 2 pencils, markers, crayons, erasers, sharpeners, notebooks, rulers, scissors, glue sticks and more.

Many volunteers stuff something extra into the front pocket, a personal note of encouragement: “I can do my best today!” or “Keep reading, ask questions!”

As the human conveyor belt gets ready to move, Gavrilos shouts out reminders of why the volunteers are sweating in this brightly-lit packing room.

Florida ranks 46th in the nation in per-student spending. Two-thirds of the 182 schools in Palm Beach County, the nation’s 10th largest school district, receive federal funding to support low-income students. Because of systemic shortfalls, the average local teacher spent $616 out of their own pocket buying supplies last year.

“No teacher in Palm Beach County should have to dip into their own pocket to buy school supplies,” he tells the crowd. “Palm Beach, we are better than this.’’

He shares a story that inspired Red Apple Supplies.

“We had a teacher from Diamond View Elementary (in Lantana), about 10 minutes from where you are standing, who called us up. Her star pupil missed two assignments in a row. She asked him, ‘You’ve never missed an assignment in your life. What’s up?’”

Gavrilos pauses, letting the room go quiet.

“The kid said, ‘It wasn’t my night for the pencil.’ Let that sink in. The child has four siblings. They each get the pencil one night a week to do their lessons. That’s why Red Apple Supplies was born.’’

Over the past decade, Red Apple has distributed more than $9.2 million in free school supplies to local classrooms. It supported just four schools that first year, 2016; today, it serves 105.

But a few years after the store opened, the foundation recognized an opportunity to give needy students a boost before they even walk through the schoolhouse doors.

“That’s really what the Backpack Initiative is about — making sure students can start the year on equal footing, with a brand-new backpack filled with the essential supplies they need to feel prepared, confident and excited to learn,’’ said Teresa West, the foundation’s Chief Engagement Officer.

The backpack initiative launched in 2019 with 3,965 bags. By 2022, it jumped to 16,817. Last year, it crossed 30,543.

The growth is entirely powered by community hands.

“These kids are our future,’’ volunteer Sue Brenner said as she stuffed backpacks with pencil pouches alongside her fellow “Wycliffe Warriors,” a charity group from the Wycliffe Country Club.

“If we don’t get these kids right,’’ she said without finishing the sentence. “We live a good life at Wycliffe, but we are not unaware of the world. This is what we do to say thank you.’’

Behind her, other volunteers load the finished backpacks into cardboard boxes on pallets that will be forklifted to a warehouse next door. They’re delivered to schools, where students will receive them on Meet Your Teacher Day the first week in August.

By the end of the shift on this July day, another thousand backpacks were filled.

By the end of Friday, July 24, the tally stood at 30,500.

With just four packing days to go, the summit of 36,000 is in sight.

“As you are working today, I want you to think about that child that’s going to get that backpack,’’ Gavrilos said.

“I want you to think about being 10 years old and walking into school for the first day, and everybody’s got a backpack and all the nice school supplies except you.

“What will that do to your sense of self? What will that do to your sense of dignity? Ladies and gentlemen, what you are doing today is packing hope. You are giving this next generation the belief that someone believed in them.’’

LAKE WORTH BEACH taxpayers avoided a $9.9 million bill Wednesday when an appellate court overturned a 2023 jury verdict in a former city police officer’s decades-long insurance fight against the city.

Joseph Viera accused Lake Worth Beach of cheating him out of benefits he said he deserved after being seriously injured while chasing a suspect in May 2000.

A jury ruled in his favor in August 2023 and awarded him $7.1 million, an amount that has climbed with prejudgement interest to $9.9 million. Lake Worth Beach appealed.

The city has no insurance to cover the cost of the verdict, meaning taxpayers would have been on the hook for the award, which is about 18% of the city’s $53.6 million proposed general fund budget.

On Wednesday, July 22, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed that verdict, ruling “the trial court erred” by sending the case to a jury and “failing to grant summary judgment in favor of the city.’’

“We are grateful that justice prevailed,’’ City Attorney Glen Torcivia said in an interview.

“The court agreed that the city always fulfilled its obligations of the agreement,’’ he said. “We agreed to provide health insurance and to this day we still provide health insurance for him. We have never breached the agreement.’’

Daniel Lustig, Viera’s attorney, said his client will appeal.

“The Vieras are disappointed with the opinion and plan to exhaust the appellate remedies they have,’’ he said.

The long and complicated case started 26 years ago, several years before the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office took over the city police department in 2008. While chasing a suspect on foot, Viera hurt his back when he fell off a wall. Seven months later, his cruiser was struck by a car.

“Most of my spine has been fused. I’ve got severe nerve damage,” Viera, who sued the city in 2010, told Stet News after the 2023 verdict. “My spinal cord was damaged, my neck was fractured, both hips, both knees, my shoulder. I’ve got paralysis in areas of my body.”

But city officials didn’t believe he was seriously injured.

During a 2016 court hearing, Torcivia, who was then representing the city in the lawsuit, accused Viera of “milking the system,” as Stet News reported.

“This is not some brave officer who faced down a gunman,” Torcivia said at a hearing. “No, he got hurt in a car accident.”

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo scolded Torcivia for his coarse view of Viera’s claims. But she threw out his lawsuit because the statute of limitations had expired.

Her decision was overturned in 2017 by the 4th District Court of Appeal. It ruled that Lake Worth Beach was obligated to provide Viera health insurance coverage, but left it up to a circuit court judge to work out the details.

Although city officials and Viera agreed to settle in 2018, both sides soon fell into a disagreement and went to trial in 2023.

City officials insisted they only agreed to provide Viera, his wife and minor children with medical, dental and vision coverage. Viera insisted that the contract also required the city to provide other insurance products offered to its employees, such as life insurance and accidental death insurance.

The jury ruled in favor of Viera. The city appealed, leading to Wednesday’s ruling, which hinged on two questions, according to the opinion: “When is a contract ambiguous? And when does the jury, rather than the judge, get to resolve that ambiguity?’’

Both the city and Viera maintained that the settlement agreement was clear and unambiguous, according to the opinion, written by Judge Johnathan Lott and affirmed by Judges Mark Klingensmith and Caroline Shepherd.

Both sides filed competing motions for summary judgment asking the court to construe the agreement as a matter of law.

“Accordingly, there were no facts for the jury to decide. The court should have interpreted the contract as a matter of law to determine what benefits the contract required the city to provide,’’ the judges wrote.

“The plain language of the contract provides that the city’s obligation was to provide medical, dental, and vision insurance, and not the supplemental insurance benefits the Vieras’ claim,’’ according to the opinion.

The trial court erred by denying the city’s motion for summary judgment and submitting to the jury the question of whether the city breached the contract by failing to pay supplemental benefits.

“Because there was no material dispute that the city provided the benefits it was required to provide, and thus did not breach the contract, summary judgment should have been entered in its favor.’’

Toward the end of their 17-page opinion, the judges acknowledged the complexity of the case.

“We do not mean to suggest that this is an easy or clear-cut question. The contractual language is, in the ordinary meaning of the word, ‘ambiguous’ as to whether the city must pay supplemental benefits,’’ they wrote.

“Both sides made good-faith arguments concerning how the contract ought to be interpreted on this question. But there was no material factual dispute for the jury to resolve on the contract’s meaning,’’ the opinion said.

“The disagreement was over the legal effect of the agreement’s text and structure. That question belonged to the court.’’

PALM BEACH STATE College plans to start formal negotiations soon with a private investment group that wants to build a professional soccer stadium at the college’s Lake Worth Beach campus.

The college on Thursday announced its intent to negotiate a potential lease with Palm Beach Sports Management after rejecting competing bids from two other companies: Oak View Group and Sport Surfaces.

The competing bids, submitted after the college sought proposals June 4 under its policy for public private partnerships, “were determined to be non responsive” because one was incomplete and neither included the required application fee, a college spokesperson said.

The deadline for competing proposals was July 21.

The college can now focus on the unsolicited proposal submitted in March by Palm Beach Sports Management, a North Palm Beach-based company that wants to build a stadium and facilities on 12 acres at the southeast corner of the campus along Sixth Avenue South.

The company owns franchise rights with the United Soccer League for both a men’s and a women’s professional soccer team in Palm Beach County. If a lease can be negotiated and approved, those teams would play at the Lake Worth campus.

The company wants to lease the land from the college for an initial term of 50 years, with two 25-year renewals. Lease terms would be part of the negotiations. The construction budget is projected to be $50 million to $60 million, paid for with private money.

“We are excited to begin detailed discussions with Palm Beach State College on a proposed lease that will allow professional soccer to be played at the Lake Worth campus,’’ Brian Seymour, an attorney representing PBSM, said in a brief statement to the Lake Worth Beach Independent.

Earlier this month, Seymour said his clients want to open the new stadium by next summer, capitalizing on the excitement of the Women’s World Cup tournament.

While the soccer stadium concept has been largely welcomed by college officials, Trustee Dave Kerner has been the lone critic so far.

Kerner, a former Palm Beach County commissioner now head of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, has accused the college of violating state law in its haste to make a deal for the soccer stadium.

Company officials with Oak View Group and Sport Surfaces could not be reached.

FOR 12 AGONIZING hours, former Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Andy Amoroso lay paralyzed on his bathroom floor, unable to reach his phone after suffering a devastating stroke.

Now, the 61-year-old civic leader is using his survival story to issue an urgent plea to the public: Invest in wearable medical technology before it is too late.

“Get an Apple watch, so you’re not lying on the floor,’’ he said July 21 in a brief interview from his hospital bed at JFK Medical Center.

His stroke, suffered July 16, caused paralysis on the left side of his face and his left arm and hand. He is able to speak slowly and hopes to one day regain the use of his arm and hand through physical therapy.

Meanwhile, the episode has sparked a wave of community support, with a GoFundMe account raising nearly $7,000 a day after it was created to help him with medical and personal bills.

“The community is very much rallying to help him,’’ said his sister, Dawn Amoroso. “They love him.’’

Amoroso served on the city commission from 2011 to 2020. He ran for mayor in 2024 but lost in a runoff to incumbent Betty Resch.

He said he had never been hospitalized until last week and always considered himself healthy, taking walks around town and across the Lake Worth Bridge four nights a week for exercise.

But some time after 10 p.m. on July 16, alone in his Golfview Road apartment near Bryant Park, he collapsed in the bathroom. Despite multiple efforts, he said, he was unable to get up. And he could not immediately find his phone.

He said spent 12 hours on the floor before he was able to muster up the strength to crawl across the floor, find his phone in his bedroom and call his sister for help.

He said his “brain was not working” properly so he never thought to call 911; Dawn, who lives in Jupiter, did that for him. To unlock the front door for the EMS crew, he said he tried to shove couch pillows under his body and drag himself across the living room floor.

Because he was unable to call for help for so long, Amoroso missed the critical “golden hour“ for medical attention, which has left him with some paralysis, Dawn said.

He is already trying to regain strength in his hand by squeezing sponge objects shaped like sticks of butter.

Amoroso’s sense of humor was not affected by the stroke.

Last week, he said, he’d complained to city commissioners Mimi May and Anthony Segrich about the potholes on the streets near his apartment.

“When I was in the back of the ambulance, the medics said, ‘Is there anything we can do for you? I said, ‘Yeah, you can call the city and tell them to fix the potholes,’’’ he said.

Amoroso, whose husband was in Turkey for business and is trying to return to Florida, owns and operates The Tacky Tourist gift shop on Lake Avenue. Friends are trying to keep the store open.

“If his store isn’t open, he isn’t earning income to cover his rent, mortgage, and bills,’’ said his sister-in-law Tracie O’Connor. “This makes his recovery even more difficult, as he needs support to manage his living expenses while focusing on healing.’’

The GoFundMe will also help with his medical bills, Dawn said.

“He has such a large group of friends and family he has helped through his years in Lake Worth Beach,’’ Dawn said. “So many people were texting me and calling, ‘How can we help?’’’

Amoroso was brought to tears when talking about the many visitors to his hospital room over the past few days. Among them: May, former mayor Pam Triolo, former Lake Worth Beach City Manager Mike Bornstein, assistant Palm Springs village manager Kim Glas-Castro, a sheriff’s captain, a staff member at the Farmworker Coordinating Council, of which Amoroso is a board member.

Amoroso said he considers it his public service to urge everyone his age to invest in a medical alert device.

“We all make fun of ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,’’’ he said, referring to the popular 1980s commercial for medical alert devices, “but until it happens to you… People need to know it can happen in a minute, even if you are healthy.’’

TWO BROTHERS FROM a prominent Miami Beach real estate family are trying to revive a shuttered building in the heart of downtown Lake Worth Beach.

Josh and Jared Robins, who until recently had never been to Lake Worth Beach, paid $2.025 million in late April for the 7,500-square-foot building at 716 Lake Ave. across the street from the Lake Worth Playhouse.

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CALLING ALL FOODIES: Keep an eye out for the woman on the mint green Vespa.

Towing oversized pieces of food, she’s been turning heads this summer as the face of a new publicly-funded culinary campaign promoting downtown Lake Worth Beach as a dining destination.

Launched in May, “Find your Flavor, Find it Downtown” is the first major phase of a broader marketing effort by the Lake Worth Beach Community Redevelopment Agency to give an economic boost to a city that could use one.

The CRA has turned to an outside company for help in attracting visitors and investors, hiring the Miami Beach branding agency Jacober Creative for a one-year $260,000 contract.

As an appetizer to a main campaign that will be unveiled later this year, Jacober launched “Find your Flavor” to help drive customers to downtown bars, cafes and restaurants.

The initiative is built around the image of “a girl racing through town hauling oversized bits and towering plates in tow, a real metaphor for the abundance of what’s waiting for somebody downtown,’’ said Paul Jacober, the firm’s creative director.

The branding can be seen on street banners, window decals, table tent cards in restaurants, postcards and a wrapped Circuit car, along with social media reels and a dedicated website.

Soon, she’ll be seen on a larger-than-life mural, on the alley-facing north wall of a vacant building owned by investor Bhavin Shah, at 728 Lake Avenue at the northeast corner of J Street.

“This is just fantastic,’’ CRA board member Drew Bartlett said when Jacober unveiled the campaign in May.

“It just feels (like) Lake Worth, too. It’s a little eclectic. It just feels very right,’’ he said. “The bouncing Vespa is perfect.’’

The culinary campaign targets not just visitors and potential investors but also city residents who may not be aware of Lake Worth Beach’s different dining options.

“It’s an invitation to see downtown with fresh eyes,” Jacober said.

Under city code, public murals are not supposed to function as commercial signs. The “Find Your Flavor” mural contains “no commercial messages…specific to any local business,’’ city staff said in approving the mural, which was originally planned for the west-facing wall of the Zoo Gym building at 824 Lake Ave.

“The mural is intended to promote downtown Lake Worth Beach as a whole and to encourage both locals and visitors to explore what the area has to offer,’’ the staff memo said.

“Find your Flavor” will also include videos promoting individual restaurants.

“The initiative is helping spread awareness to multiple concepts and businesses throughout the town that I didn’t even know existed,’’ said Alex Dupuis, owner of Pomona, the popular Lake Avenue restaurant that’s throwing a one-year anniversary party July 26.

“They are taking their time to get to know our brands and concepts. It’s a great thing,’’ she said.

Jacober is also helping the CRA with a vacant storefront initiative aimed at sprucing up shuttered storefronts: Images of Lake Worth Beach landmarks and sites have been reproduced on decals that can be affixed to the windows of vacant shops.

Now, brown paper or plastic covers those windows.

The “cling” images are free to shop owners, CRA Director Joan Oliva said, with a goal to “cover as many windows as possible.’’

The long-range plan is to fill those vacant storefronts with new businesses.

So far, the Jacober campaign has won rave reviews from CRA board members.

“It’s great. I like the movement. I like the creativity,’’ said Donna Kerner.

“It is a great reminder not only to our residents but the general public and the communities that surround us that there is a lot to look forward to here as we continue our beautification efforts, not only in the downtown but throughout the city,’’ said Richard Mahler.

“I like it, especially coupled with the vacant storefront decals,’’ said Leah Foertsch. “Anything that celebrates the downtown and who we are is a great thing.’’

AFTER NEARLY THREE weeks with no construction, work has resumed at the Gulfstream Hotel, which is still aiming to open by the end of 2026, said Amy Gill, executive vice president of Restoration St. Louis, the company overseeing the multi-million dollar renovation.

While Gill said she could not get into details about the work stoppage that started late last month and ended July 13, she said it stemmed from “an issue with our contractor” over delays in the arrival of custom windows.

“They were supposed to be delivered in September,’’ she said of the windows. “Then March. As of the second week in June we still didn’t have them and then we got some of them. But we need all of them to finish.’’

She said she expected the work to continue with no further delays and that the hotel at the east end of Lake Avenue in downtown Lake Worth Beach will open “this year for sure. We can’t wait any longer. He’s got to finish.’’

The contractor, Hogan Brothers Construction, did not respond to an email request for comment.

In an interview in June, Lawrence Cassenti, the hotel’s general manager, said the windows must be installed before other work inside the hotel can be completed.

“Once the building is sealed up and we get our permanent power turned on, we can fully air condition the building and finish things like wallpaper and other elements more sensitive to moisture,’’ he said.

Video shows construction worker at the Gulfstream Hotel on July 14, 2026.

“We are really at the mercy of the general contractor meeting deadlines, and then we find out something is delayed in shipping and it has a domino effect,’’ he said.

“We already had furniture delivered to the rooms. It’s all still in boxes. We don’t want to unpack yet because of heat and moisture until we are ready.’’

The six-story hotel, built in 1925 but shuttered since 2005, has been under renovation since May 2024.

The hotel refurbishment is part of a $134 million project that includes an addition to the west side of the hotel. Work on the addition will start next year, after the hotel opens.

Last month, City Commissioner Sarah Malega suggested the City Commission tour the building so they can share updates on the progress with constituents. But Gill said no tours can be offered because they are not covered by the company’s insurance policy.

Meanwhile, Restoration St. Louis is preparing to help renovate another historic Florida hotel, the Walesbilt Hotel in Lake Wales, Fla. Work is expected to start early next year and end in 2028 or 2029.

PALM BEACH STATE College’s handling of an unsolicited proposal for a $60 million soccer stadium at its Lake Worth campus has drawn sharp criticism from a prominent former PBSC student on the college’s board of trustees.

While Trustee Dave Kerner, a former Palm Beach County commissioner now head of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, has accused the college of violating state law in its haste to make a deal for the soccer stadium, other trustees on the five-member board do not agree with him.

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Good morning, LWBI subscribers!

Here’s a quick look at some of the action from last night’s Lake Worth Beach City Commission meeting.

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THE DEVELOPERS RENOVATING the Gulfstream Hotel don’t plan to offer hardhat tours any time soon. But at least one city commissioner would like a behind-the-scenes peek at the progress.

The hotel’s general manager, Lawrence Cassenti, said the Gulfstream is around 87 percent complete and still aiming for a late 2026 opening, even though there has been no work at the site since roughly the third week in June.

City Commissioner Sarah Malega wants to tour the work site with the rest of her commission colleagues so they can share accurate information about the progress with their constituents.

“I don’t know if anybody else is getting inundated with questions of ‘Where’s the Gulfstream at?’’’ she said July 2 during an online work commission session.

“Maybe we could all tour it,’’ she said. “I think it’s important that we know where the Gulfstream process is, even though it’s not our project.’’

The historic downtown hotel at the east end of Lake Avenue is owned by a private company, Restoration St. Louis, and is not on public land.

When Vice Mayor Mimi May asked Malega if she was suggesting commissioners take individual tours or as a group, Malega replied: “At the same time. I think it would be easier. That way we all get the same tour, we have the same update and we’re all on the same page.’’

Commissioners said they had no problem with Malega’s request to ask staff to reach out to Amy and Amrit Gill of Restoration St. Louis about offering a tour. But the Gills, who are on vacation, are expected to say no.

“They told me we won’t be doing a tour, but they will follow up with the commission next week,’’ Cassenti said in an interview July 2.

The developers have denied tour requests since last year from others in town, including the Lake Worth Beach Independent, citing insurance prohibitions.

Since the renovation work started, Cassenti has offered occasional progress updates through social media posts of photographs and short videos.

Earlier this spring, the hotel’s exterior got a fresh coat of paint, a custom pink called “Gulfstream Coral Dream.’’

Some residents in nearby condos, who have been watching the hotel renovation since 2024, say they haven’t seen any work activity since at least the middle of June.

“I know the Gills are working with the lender right now to release funds for the windows that were installed a year late, so I know that that’s part of the hold up,’’ Cassenti said.

“They told me they’re going to be back on track very soon,’’ he said. “The lender, the Gills and the general contractor are all meeting (this) week.’’

In an interview after the July 2 work session, Malega said constituents she has heard from are looking forward to the Gulfstream opening and curious about the progress.

“I think it’s important that we have real information and not hyperbole,’’ she said. “People are just asking, ‘What’s going on with the Gulfstream?’ I don’t like to guess. I would much rather be honest and say, ‘Hey, I toured it and here’s what’s going on.’’’

The six-story hotel, first built in 1925, has been shuttered since 2005. In May 2024, Restoration St. Louis broke ground on the renovation, which is part of a $134 million project that includes an addition to the west side of the hotel.

The addition, set to start as soon as the hotel opens, will include 50 hotel rooms, 83 apartments, rooftop restaurant, spa, gym, ballroom and a 273-space parking garage.

Lake Worth Beach has approved economic incentives for the project, including a 10-year tax abatement “believed by some to be worth in excess of $10 million,’’ according to a 2023 Palm Beach Post article.

The refurbished Gulfstream will open as a Marriott Bonvoy with 90 rooms, a swimming pool and a lobby restaurant. The earliest available booking on the Marriott website is Nov. 4.

A SPORTS MANAGEMENT company wants to build a $50 million soccer stadium at Palm Beach State College for professional and collegiate teams, according to a proposal being considered by the college’s Board of Trustees.

Palm Beach Sports Management is pledging to construct of an 8,000-seat stadium on about 12 acres in the southeast corner of the campus off Sixth Avenue South just west of Lake Worth Beach.

The unsolicited proposal calls for the company to lease the land from the college for an initial term of 50 years, with two 25-year renewals, and build and operate soccer facilities on it. The construction budget is projected to be $50 million to $60 million, paid for with private money.

Palm Beach Sports Management owns franchise rights with the United Soccer League for both a men’s and a women’s professional soccer team in Palm Beach County. The PBSC stadium would be home to those teams, according to the proposal, which includes an exhibit titled “Palm Beach State College Partnership Presented by the United Soccer League.’’

Originally founded in 1986 as an indoor soccer league, the United Soccer League is the largest professional and pre-professional soccer organization in North America. It has 51 pro teams in 27 states. Six are in Florida: Men’s teams in Miami, Tampa, Sarasota, Naples and Jacksonville and a women’s team in Fort Lauderdale.

Palm Beach State College offers club soccer. The school had been considering building a soccer stadium when Palm Beach Sports Management submitted its proposal in March.

If the USL stadium is built, the college could establish National Junior College Athletic Association Division II men’s and women’s soccer teams.

The stadium could also be used rent free for graduation ceremonies instead of the college paying fees to use the Kravis Center.

It would take about 15 months to build, according to the proposal, which lists United Stadium Development as the USL’s real estate partner. About five or 10 years after the facilities open, the company would consider expanding the stadium to up to 15,000 seats.

“The proposal contemplates a public-private partnership under which (the company) would design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain the facility on college property, with no direct capital contribution from the college and with ownership of improvements reverting to the college at the conclusion of the ground lease term,’’ Palm Beach State College President Ava Parker wrote in a May 19 memo to the board of trustees.

Trustees voted 3-1 in May to continue studying the proposal, with the ‘no’ vote cast by trustee David Kerner, a former Palm Beach County commissioner and now head of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Trustees are scheduled to discuss the project again at 10 a.m. July 9 at the college’s media board room, CE-129, at 4200 Congress Ave. in Lake Worth.

The proposal makes no mention of Palm Beach Sports Management making lease payments on the land, but rent could be subject to negotiations.

In 2022, PBSC leased 10 acres off of PGA Boulevard on its Palm Beach Gardens campus to TMRW Sports for the Tiger Woods-backed indoor golf league that opened in 2025.

After initially foregoing any lease payments, the school took advantage of an opportunity to renegotiate the 20-year lease when the league’s air-inflated dome collapsed during construction and was destroyed in a storm. The school ended up negotiating lease payments of $440,000 per year.

Palm Beach State issued a public notice June 4 inviting competing proposals for the Lake Worth campus soccer stadium, as required by college policy and state law to ensure a fair and transparent process, said Angela Harrington, the college’s chief communications officer. Bids are due July 21.

Palm Beach Sports Management is registered in Delaware. The company’s address, as listed in the proposal, is a North Palm Beach condo owned by Natalie Grainger and her husband, Peer T. Pedersen Jr., according to property records.

Grainger, a former pro squash player, and Pedersen, managing partner of Blue Orchid Capital, are part of Palm Beach Sports Management’s ownership group.

Others in the group are company co-founder Michael Cohen, an Emmy-winning sports broadcasting executive; president Renee Noto, who in 2015 founded Brightstar Capital Partners; and Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras, a fashion model and fixture on the Wellington polo scene who’s been called the “David Beckham of polo.’’

Representing the company on the college project is Gunster law firm attorney Brian Seymour, who years ago ushered CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, the spring training home to the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach, through the government planning process.

Lake Worth Beach officials are watching the progress of the project since the city would provide water and electricity to the stadium, even though the campus is not in the city limits.

“Palm Beach State College is our hometown college, I like to think of them as, and we serve them on the electric side and on the water side,’’ Electric Utility Director Ed Liberty told city commissioners June 30.

“We look forward to seeing how (the stadium proposal) develops and we will work with them to supply the power to that new facility,’’ he said.

It’s not clear exactly where the soccer stadium would be built. It’s expected to be in the same general area as a new beach volleyball complex that’s been under construction since April.

The soccer stadium would be another step in raising Palm Beach State’s stature in the collegiate athletic world. The TMRW Golf League has drawn international attention to the school with competition broadcast live on ESPN.

A soccer stadium may not produce that level of publicity but it is expected to help the school reach its goals for student sports.

“With this facility, we will have the opportunity to expand our athletic program and establish competitive NJCAA Division II men’s and women’s soccer teams,’’ Harrington said.

“The addition of professional-level facilities,’’ she said, “will also help us recruit talented local student-athletes who may otherwise leave the area to pursue collegiate athletics elsewhere, allowing more students to stay close to home while receiving a high-quality education and athletic experience.’’

Click the image below to read Palm Beach Sports Management’s proposal.

AN EDEN PLACE homeowner has filed a lawsuit that could reshape the north end of Lake Worth Beach’s municipal golf course.

If John Henry Paladino prevails, he would recoup up to 7 acres of the golf course, a 200-foot-wide swath from the back of his North Lakeside Drive home east to the Lake Worth Lagoon, along the south side of 16th Avenue North.

“It’s a novel case. It’s an interesting case, legally,’’ said Paladino’s attorney, John Jorgensen, who filed the suit July 1 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.

While the legal challenge comes as the city is celebrating the 100th birthday of the Lake Worth Beach Golf Club, which opened with nine holes on Nov. 12, 1926, the complaint focuses on the expanded 18-hole course that opened Nov. 6, 1948.

Not long before the course was expanded, the land making up its northern end was owned by Tillie B. Lloyd, who inherited the North Lakeside Drive house, built in 1927, from her mother. On June 23, 1944, Lloyd conveyed the 7 acres to the city with certain restrictions, according to the suit.

Among those restrictions: the city had to construct a golf course on the land “within one year after the termination of the present war” — World War II, which ended Sept. 2, 1945.

Paladino’s lawsuit contends that work on the course began long after September 1946, voiding the deed and reverting the land back to the property’s owners. A Lake Worth Herald story suggests work on the course started in the summer of 1948.

The reverter clause was passed on to subsequent owners of the property, including Paladino’s family, who bought the home in 1995.

Apparently none of the property’s previous owners since 1948 sued the city for violating the reverter clause.

Paladino, who operated the Blue Front Bar & Grill restaurant at 1132 N. Dixie Highway from 2012 to 2018, brought the reverter clause to the city’s attention not long after the property was deeded to him in 2025 by his father, David Paladino. The city rejected his claims.

Now, it’s up to Circuit Judge Scott Kerner to decide.

“Obviously, the city will disagree with our position,’’ Jorgensen said. “The deeds say what they say and it will be up to the court to determine the rights of the parties.’’

Mayor Betty Resch said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

One defense the city could raise is laches, a legal principle that prevents a person from pursuing a claim if they waited an unreasonable length of time to make the claim, to the detriment of the opposing party.

It’s unclear how a ruling for Paladino would affect the course.

“I’m confident (Paladino) would be willing to negotiate with the city should he prevail in the action,’’ Jorgensen said, hinting at a potential lease to allow the land’s continued use as a golf course.

“But if the court rules in our favor, John Paladino will own those lots which (today) are part of the golf course.’’

City officials have been saying the aging golf course, susceptible to flooding and sea level rise, needs a major makeover. But they’ve said they can’t afford to pay for the improvements.

In early 2025, an investment group proposed a multimillion-dollar redevelopment that included transforming the golf course into a world-class course redesigned by Jack Nicklaus. The Copperline Partners plan was withdrawn in October of that year.

David Paladino, John Henry’s father, is a developer who in the 1980s led the Downtown/Uptown project in West Palm Beach that cleared out a blighted, crime-ridden area and laid the groundwork for what became CityPlace. He and his partner, Henry Rolfs, also donated land for the construction of the Kravis Center.

FRANKLY SPEAKING, it didn’t take much for David Kalashnikov to mustard up the courage to enter Lake Worth Beach’s inaugural Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.

The buns-out battle at Bryant Park will feature six wannabe Joey Chestnuts and Miki Sudos chewing for gluttonous wiener-take-all glory by being the first to down 20 hot dogs in five minutes.

And, hot diggity dog, the “steaks” couldn’t be higher: A trophy for the first place winner and a medal for second place, along with a tasty bonus for those two top-dog downers: gift certificates to Benny’s on the Beach and Lilo’s Street Food.

“I would never turn down free food on top of free food with a prize of more free food,’’ said Kalashnikov, 19, who’s relishing the chance to be L-Dub’s first sausage sultan.

Teeing up the city’s Independence Day festivities, the dog-eat-dog scrum starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in front of the Bryant Park bandshell — 1,222 miles south of Coney Island, home of the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, the inspiration for the Lake Worth Beach event.

While the Nathan’s Famous competition is known for attracting professional eaters, L-Dub’s version will feature amateur chowhounds.

“We’re going to have fun with it,’’ said Stuart Sword, the city’s interim director of Leisure Services, who will hot dog it as master of ceremonies with a pre-fight press conference and walk-up music for each of the six participants.

They’ll be sitting at three tables, each with two contestants, in front of trays piled with 120 wieners (20 per tray) and lots of bottled water.

“We’ll say,’ Go,’ and they have five minutes to consume as many hot dogs as they can, including the bun,’’ Sword said. “If at any point someone finishes all 20, the clock will keep going.’’

And if the clock is still ticking, the first to eat 20 must keep the consumed contents in his or her stomach until the judges declare a winner.

Contestants signed up to compete via an online portal and were chosen first come, first served. Fourteen others are on a waiting list, in case anyone backs out.

Morgan Anderson of Lake Worth Beach can’t stomach the thought of not competing.

“I love community events like this because it brings people together. And I thought it would be a fun thing to do to challenge myself,’’ she said.

Anderson, 33, works two jobs, as a yoga instructor and at an art gallery. This is her first food-eating contest.

“I had the feeling that I was probably going to be different from the rest of the pack,’’ she said with a laugh. “Maybe they’ll put me in between two big guys.’’

To prepare, Anderson said she has been studying videos of professional hot-dog eating ringers, including Chestnut and Sudo, “just to see how they do it and also the pacing.’’

Justin Guido of Greenacres, another contestant, has been adhering to a more intense training regimen.

“I’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches, just getting my stomach used to feeling full,’’ he said. “I’m not a big guy. I’m skinny.’’

Guido, 22, said he signed up “spur of the moment’’ after “a friend sent me an online post as a joke. He knows I really like hot dogs.’’

But this being his first eating competition, he sometimes wonders if he might be biting off more than he can chew.

He was considering one final preparation strategy on Thursday or Friday.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to fast,’’ he said.

The six gluttons for gastronomical punishment won’t be the only attraction Saturday in downtown Lake Worth Beach.

The Great American Raft Race on the Lake Worth Lagoon will start at noon at the Bryant Park boat ramps, following a 10 a.m. parade on Lake Avenue. Those events are hosted by the Neighborhood Association Presidents’ Council.

The city’s festivities continue at 6 p.m. with remarks, live music, a parachute drop (including Vice Mayor Mimi May tandem jumping with a professional skydiver) and a drone and fireworks display.

The park will feature a Kids Zone with games, face painting, a car show and an “Exploratorium” science tent hosted by City Commissioner Chris McVoy.

A prime spot for watching the raft race, drones and fireworks will be the refurbished Bryant Park jetty just south of the boat ramps. It opened earlier this week for the first time in eight months after a $49,000 repair job.

On the north end of Lake Worth Beach, American Legion Post 47 will host a car and motorcycle show, and offer $12 barbecue meals, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2315 N. Dixie Highway.

FOURTH OF JULY IN BRYANT PARK

10 a.m. Raft race parade starts on Lake Avenue, ends at boat ramps

Noon Great American Raft Race

5:30 p.m. Hot Dog Eating Contest

6 p.m. Welcoming remarks and music

7:30 p.m. Parachute Team Demonstration

7:35 p.m. Sekond Nature

8:30 p.m. Elton & The Jets

9:00 p.m. Drone Show

9:15 p.m. Fireworks

9:30 p.m. Elton & the Jets

Good morning, LWBI subscribers!

Happy First of July. Here’s a quick update on some of the action from last night’s Lake Worth Beach City Commission meeting.

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THE NEXT CITY elections are more than eight months away, but two of three races are starting to take shape.

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