Stet NewsGood morning. We come to the end of Stet’s third year with even more hope and deeper gratitude to our readers and supporters.
For you today: dismantling a 1940s-era federal housing project, assessing Singer Island’s lost beach, a penalty for a tennis pro, cultural bonanza, counting water plant dollars and Stet makes the finals.
🌹 Becoming Roseland Gardens
It’s not hard to miss the demolition of half of the old Southridge senior housing complex along Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach.
Gone are the one-story cottage-style apartments that have stood below the bridge east of Parker Avenue since the early 1940s. In their place will be two four-story apartment buildings, opening in 2027.
Why it matters: The property’s owner, the federally backed West Palm Beach Housing Authority, selected developer Smith & Henzy in 2021 for the $63 million project. It took a patchwork of financing, including federal tax credits, and loans from the city and the county, to make the project happen.
- The project has a new name: Roseland Gardens.
The big picture: The work raises fears among the low-income elderly residents, many natives of Cuba or Puerto Rico who speak no English. Given Section 8 vouchers to move anywhere in the private market, some ended up at Autumn Ridge, a five-story apartment building they said left them disoriented. Others moved into the southern half of Southridge, which will be demolished in Phase 2.
What they’re saying: “The loneliness here is killing us,” said one resident at Autumn Ridge on Congress Avenue. At Southridge, she said, neighbors visited each other daily for coffee and conversation. “We were like brothers and sisters.”
Zoom in: The project’s first phase calls for 118 one-bedroom apartments and 30 two-bedroom units. All of the units will be available to renters whose income is 60% of area median income or less. Twenty-two of them will be for renters at 30% of AMI.
- The second phase could have up to 202 apartments. The old Southridge had 148 units.
Read more about the plans to replace Southridge and how residents feel about it at StetNews.org.
— Mary Rasura and Joel Engelhardt
🛟 Singer Island is between a rock and a hard place
Palm Beach County has renewed its drive to shore up the vanishing beach on the north end of Singer Island in Riviera Beach.
Yes but: Officials told residents last week it could take at least five years of study and permitting to install a long-term solution.
Why it matters: Barrier islands such as Singer Island help protect the mainland from severe weather and provide habitat for coastal wildlife.
Driving the news: Dune restoration in four of the past five years is not keeping up with storm damage and erosion.
The county and Riviera Beach launched a $492,000 study in July to identify a solution. It is expected to be completed in July 2027, Andy Studt, the county’s coastal resources management program supervisor, said at a Riviera Beach town hall meeting on Dec. 16.
Engineers will present their findings to county commissioners for approval. It could take three more years to secure state and federal permission for the shoreline work.
Mike Krampf, a Singer Island resident who attended the town hall meeting, told Stet News that he can no longer walk north along the beach because the water reaches the seawalls. He wants to see the work put on a faster track to avoid losing thousands of sea turtle nests and tourism value.
The Foth Cos., an engineering firm based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is leading the Singer Island study. During the town hall meeting, Foth’s Steve Howard outlined multiple structural options: a T-head groin field, low-profile groins, breakwaters and segmented breakwaters. Howard said the engineering team will narrow down options based on the cost, stability and whether they can obtain a permit for them.
The bottom line: Despite decades of erosion and restoration efforts, Riviera Beach Council Member Glen Spiritis insisted at the town meeting that the city will protect Singer Island.
Spiritis, who represents island residents, said the city has $1 million budgeted for sand, even if the county will not participate this year.
“We will work with the county in areas that we think we must put sand in order to protect properties,” Spiritis said. “We’re not going to let the island just get washed away.”
Keep reading at StetNews.org to find out why shoring up Singer Island’s beach has become more complicated.
– Sephora Charles
🎾 Tennis pro double faults, city says
When South Olive Park tennis pro Skip Jackson approached the West Palm Beach City Commission earlier this month to publicly plead his case to continue a job he has held for decades, Mayor Keith James issued a warning.
“You understand you are under a cone of silence, right?” James asked. “Absolutely,” Jackson responded.
Jackson spoke for three minutes, urging the commission to award the contract “to the operator who has actually demonstrated the experience, transparency and community commitment that this city requires.”
Fault, city officials declared. They threw out his bid and his bid challenge.
Why it matters: After pouring millions into renovations, the city selected USTA Florida, the Orlando-based arm of the national governing board of tennis, to run its three tennis centers. That drew protests from Jackson and many of his South Olive tennis players at the Dec. 8 commission meeting.
Zoom in: Bidders are prohibited in city rules from contacting “the mayor, any city commissioner” or other officials about their bids. Contact is defined as “any form of communication or interaction seeking to influence the selection or award of a contract, including instigation of an organized effort of mass communication.”
What they’re saying: “Skip Jackson wasn’t addressing the commission as a bidder or a contractor but as a citizen who has been part of this community for decades,” his attorney, Bernard Lebedeker, said.
The city’s action is similar to its action in disqualifying a bidder seeking to operate the Sunset Lounge, an action a judge rejected, said Malcolm Cunningham, who sued the city in that case.
- “This ‘no lobbying’ provision doesn’t apply to a City Commission meeting,” Cunningham said. It’s to stop people from meeting privately with elected officials and department heads.
Of note: Let’s Play Tennis LLC also filed a bid protest, which is expected to be heard by the City Commission in January.
Read more about Jackson’s comments and the fight over tennis centers at StetNews.org.
— Jane Musgrave
🎨 Grants flow to arts groups
Thanks to a robust tourist tax, Palm Beach County is pouring more money into local arts groups, awarding $7.5 million in grants to 60 organizations.
Four of the county’s best-known art organizations received $300,000, the most given out in this round. They are the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Norton Museum of Art, Cox Science Center and Aquarium and Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
- Among others getting money: Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and the Lake Worth Playhouse.
Why it matters: At a time when state grants to arts groups have been sharply curtailed, the grants offer a vital boost for cultural programs that affect the community and attract tourists, said Dave Lawrence, president and CEO of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County.
What they’re saying: “Arts and culture play an enormous role in attracting visitors to Palm Beach County. These grants are put to work at all of these organizations to reach out beyond our state borders, to welcome as many visitors as we can to the Palm Beaches,” Lawrence said.
Of note: With the county’s record tourism numbers generating increases in hotel-tax revenue, the $7.5 million total this year is up from $4.5 million four years ago.
Others getting money:
- Loxahatchee River Historical Society: $160,179
- Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens: $222,590
- Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society: $299,706
- The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum: $280,643
- The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival: $8,346
Deeper dive: The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s $5 million expansion.
For a complete list of recipients and more on the grants, check out StetNews.org.
— Joe Capozzi
🚰 Questioning water plant costs
water board meeting. (Photo: Kelvin Verhovlyak/Community Voices)
Riviera Beach City Council members pushed back last week on the price of the city’s planned water plant.
Driving the news: During a presentation Wednesday council members sitting as the city’s utility board learned that the guaranteed maximum price of the water plant will be about $280 million. Council members Fercella Davis Panier and Glen Spiritis wanted a price closer to an early, lower estimate.
- Council Chairperson Shirley Lanier appeared to agree.
Why it matters: The city is racing to replace its failing water plant, part of a $400 million project to upgrade the whole system.
What they’re saying: “I think the city will be making a grave mistake if we don’t continue down this path and get this done,” Utility Director Joshua Niemann told the board.
The other side: “Not if we can save $100 million,” Spiritis said without elaborating.
The city is at a key stage for its $400 million redesigned water system. Once the guaranteed maximum price is final, city leaders must approve it or seek new bids. In November, Council members asked the city manager to provide them with their options, including an off-ramp from the deal.
What’s next: Council members will meet one-on-one with the city manager about the off-ramp.
- The utility director said the guaranteed maximum price will be final by the next utility board meeting in January.
Who wrote this story: This story was reported by the Community Voices team of Micaja Etienne, Mikala Graham, Abigail Guillaume, Kelvin Verhovlyak and Myles Whigham.
What is CV: Community Voices is a pilot program of Stet News with Inlet Grove High School to train and pay students to cover Riviera Beach. Stet News is underwriting the pilot.
Inlet Grove High School journalism teacher C.B. Hanif and Stet’s Carolyn DiPaolo and Liz Capozzi contributed to this story.
🍊 The Juice
Want to see the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Department of Justice under legislation signed by President Donald Trump? DOJ has a website here containing its “Jeffrey Epstein Library.” Click on “DOJ Disclosures” for the latest. If you want to know more about the original case investigated by Palm Beach police, click here for audio, video and document files already made public. (DOJ’s Epstein Library)
🛤️ Fences, train horns, foolproof crossings: Ways to make the Brightline route safer. (The Miami Herald/WLRN)
⚖️ Darren Brown, an ex-Brightline conductor, sued his former employer for $60 million for the trauma and pain he says he endured from train crashes and being repeatedly ordered to examine the bodies of people killed in collisions. (The Miami Herald $$$)
📸 A photo tour of Greg and Kristen Norman’s 12,000-square-foot home in Palm Beach Gardens’ Old Palm Golf Club. (Galerie Magazine)
👉 Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Michael Barnett, a former local Republican Party chair who DeSantis appointed in 2023 to fill a vacancy on the Palm Beach County Commission, to be a county court judge, and promoted County Court Judge Danielle Sherriff to the 15th Circuit bench. (News release and Florida Politics)
🗳️ All you want to know, including the dates of four public information sessions, about the Lake Worth Beach referendums on the March 10 ballot. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
☀️ Palm Beach Gardens-based Carrier Global Corp. agreed to sell its Riello heating business for $430 million to Ariston Group in Fabriano, Italy. (South Florida Business Journal $$$)
👀 A provision buried deep inside a “farm bill” that has begun moving through the Florida Legislature would make it easier for U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals to wage defamation lawsuits against environmental groups, news outlets and others who criticize the companies over issues like Everglades restoration and air pollution. (Seeking Rents)
✝️ Pope Leo XIV appointed the Rev. Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, a canon lawyer who serves in senior judicial roles in the Brooklyn Diocese, to succeed Bishop Gerald Barbarito, who is retiring after 22 years as leader of the Palm Beach Diocese in Palm Beach Gardens. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
📺 New York governor candidate Bruce Blakeman booked nearly $25,000 worth of advertising on Fox News in the West Palm Beach area between Christmas Eve and the new year. (New York Times gift link)
📚 Barnes & Noble plans to open 60 stores in 2026. The bookseller opened seven locations in Florida this year, including one at 151 N. U.S. Highway 1 in Tequesta. (USA Today)
🎙️ “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, geeks out over comic books with Irving Santiago, president of UltraCon of South Florida and the owner of more than 30,000 comic books and 14,000 GI Joes. (Listen now; watch now.)
561NSIDER: 🎈Your Stet newsletter is a finalist
Stet News has been nominated in five categories in the Florida Press Club’s 2025 Excellence in Journalism competition, including best independent website and best newsletter.
Additionally, Stet’s Jane Musgrave and Joel Engelhardt are finalists for best election reporting. Their entry included coverage of Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s heart health, text messages from Port of Palm Beach Commissioner Varisa Dass directing a tenant to support her campaign and the troubled background of a candidate for Palm Beach Gardens City Council.
Engelhardt is also a finalist for best political reporting for his work on the port commissioner’s texts, the Palm Beach Gardens council candidate and Riviera Beach activist Fane Lozman’s property dispute with the city. Friend of Stet, Joe Capozzi, is also a finalist in the political reporting category.
Stet reporters Erik Kvarnberg, Janis Fontaine and Carolyn DiPaolo are finalists for best arts reporting. Their stories covered the Norton Museum’s jewelry exhibition, CreativeMornings monthly gatherings and artist Ben Leone, who created the “Orchid City” sculpture in downtown West Palm Beach. Stet contributor Sharon Geltner is also a finalist for her stories in The Palm Beach Arts Paper.
The news website category is judged based on general excellence, including content, design, local emphasis and ease of navigation. The other finalists are Key Biscayne Independent and Talk Media, the parent company of news sites Coral Springs Talk, Parkland Talk, Coconut Creek Talk, Tamarac Talk, Margate Talk and Sunrise Talk.
Stet’s Holly Baltz and Musgrave are finalists for the Press Club’s highest honor, the Frances DeVore Award for Public Service. Their work with Hannah Phillips and Kristina Webb for The Palm Beach Post on the Jeffrey Epstein case has been nominated.
Last year, Stet News took home first place for best newsletter, and Engelhardt won first place for community news coverage.
The winners will be announced Jan. 31 in West Palm Beach. We’ll let you know how we did.
Thank you and welcome to our newest Stet contributor, Florida Atlantic grad Sephora Charles!
Next week, we’ll have our month in review and a look back on 2025. We’re taking our annual holiday news siesta until Jan. 6.
We wish you all wonderful celebrations and a fantastic new year. See you soon.
