🏗️ Oculina, the 25-story twin towers with 399 residences proposed for Silver Beach Road and Broadway, won a key first vote Wednesday by a 4-1 margin at the Riviera Beach City Council, with Council Member Shirley Lanier opposed. The plan to change the land use of the former Winn-Dixie grocery store must undergo state review before returning for final consideration. (Stet News broke the story about Oculina in November.)
🥊 In what promises to be a slugfest, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat, is running in November against his former chief deputy, Mike Gauger. Bradshaw defeated Alex Freeman by a 61-39 margin, the same margin he scored over Freeman four years ago. In 2016, Bradshaw scored 66 percent of the vote in defeating Freeman and two others. In 2012, the long-serving sheriff won 78 percent in the primary. Gauger, making his first run, topped Lauro Diaz with 54 percent of the vote.
🤝 In case you missed it: After a personal appeal from billionaire downtown developer Stephen Ross, the Palm Beach County Commission greenlighted staff to begin working on a gift of 5 acres of downtown land to bring a Vanderbilt University graduate business school to “Government Hill.” West Palm Beach supported a gift of 2 acres the night before. (Stet News)
