Stet NewsHowdy, Stetters! Today’s news roundup features a game-changing housing project; a hot race for School Board; the most exciting Port Commission election advance you will read this year; artificial intelligence intelligence; and some light rock.
🇺🇸 Make a plan to vote 🇺🇸
- Early voting in the Aug. 18 election begins Saturday. Any registered voter in Palm Beach County as of July 20 can cast an early ballot at these locations or vote at their assigned polling place on Election Day.
- The deadline to request a vote-by-mail ballot is 5 pm Thursday. Request it here.
- Not sure whether you are registered to vote? Check here.
❤️ Rebirth in the heart of Riviera Beach
Riviera Beach and its partners are developing two mixed-use buildings designed to turn a nondescript corner in the heart of the city into a destination.
Driving the news: Riviera Gateway is envisioned as a residential community on two pieces of public land on the north side of Blue Heron Boulevard at Broadway, on the gateway to and from Singer Island.
- One building would be a 192-unit apartment complex that rises 18 stories on the east side of Broadway. It would have one‑ and two‑bedroom units of market-rate housing. Ten percent of the apartments would be set aside for workforce housing.
- On the west side of Broadway, a 92-unit affordable housing complex for seniors would offer independent and assisted living. Tenants who make up to 60% of the area median income, or earn about $65,000 today, would be eligible to live there. That building would be eight stories.
- Shops and restaurants would welcome residents and the public at the street level of both buildings.
Why it matters: “It’s not only about housing,” architect Rick Gonzalez said last month. “This is about bringing activity to what I like to call Main and Main. That’s really what Broadway and Blue Heron are: Main Street and Main Street, right? Every town has that. This has been an intersection that’s been underutilized for many, many years, and we want to change that.”
How it works: The Riviera Beach Housing Authority is working with Exact Capital on this public-private project.
- The city owns the land and would sell some of it and give away the rest to the New York City-based firm the city selected from three applicants to develop the property.
The big picture: If Riviera Gateway is completed, the city would have nearly 500 new affordable housing units in its redevelopment area. They include 175 workforce apartments at Marina Village Annex three blocks west of the city marina village, 63 units at Villa L’Onz under construction just east of the Marina Annex site and 149 units at Residences at Marina Village under construction on Broadway.
What’s next: Exact Capital’s next steps are to secure financing and obtain site plan approval from the city Planning Board.
Keep reading to find out the details of the deal at StetNews.org.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
🚌 Four-way race for School Board
It’s a packed race for the District 4 seat on the Palm Beach County School Board. Four candidates are vying for the spot: a financial adviser, a former superintendent, an ex-vice mayor and a high school teacher.
The district covers a thin swath on the coast nearly reaching Blue Heron Boulevard in Riviera Beach down to a sliver that ends at Spanish River Boulevard in Boca Raton.
Why it matters: District 4 covers 19 schools and is represented by Erica Whitfield, but she is leaving the board to run for County Commission. The winner will hold one of seven seats overseeing the 10th-largest school district in the nation, one that has a $6.25 billion budget.
- The School District is the largest employer in the county with about 23,000 employees of which 13,000 are teachers.
- It educates about 189,000 students including those in charter schools.
The candidates:
- Tiffany Bryant, 48, is a licensed financial adviser who also substitute teaches in the district and lends time to a robotics team for fourth to eighth graders.
- Anthony Hamlet, 56, who was the superintendent of Pittsburgh Public Schools for five years, is the owner and CEO of an education consulting firm and is an adjunct professor.
- Christina Romelus, 38, city commissioner and vice mayor of Boynton Beach from 2016 to 2022, is CEO of PolitiCALM, a government and policy consulting firm.
- Daniel Zapata is a high school teacher at a private school in Palm Beach County. If elected, Zapata, 25, would be the district’s youngest board member ever.
What to know about the election: The nonpartisan race is on the Aug. 18 ballot. Early voting starts Aug. 8. School board races are decided in the primary unless no candidate gets 50% of the vote, in which case the top two finishers compete in a runoff on Nov. 3.
Read more about their stands on the issues at StetNews.org.
This story is part of a statewide partnership of 27 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 School Board elections. Learn more about the Florida Election Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org.
Read Stet’s story about the School Board race in the western communities here.
— Natalie La Roche Pietri, WLRN
🚪 ‘Who do you trust behind closed doors?’
Four candidates pursuing two seats on the Port of Palm Beach Commission have been jostling over promises to add cruise ships, rebuild the port’s passenger terminal and expand the landlocked port.
Why it matters: Port commissioners oversee a $27 million budget, providing a critical connection with the Caribbean. The port, jammed between West Palm Beach and Riviera Beach along the Intracoastal Waterway, also is home to the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise gambling ship to the Bahamas. Port commissioners have not exercised their power to levy a property tax since 1975.
Who’s running:
- In Group 5, incumbent Deandre Poole faces a challenge from Taniel Koushakjian. Only Democrats living in the port district, which is about half the county, can cast a ballot as the winner will face Republican Ted Sarandis in November.
- In Group 4, incumbent Blair Ciklin, who bills himself as the longest serving port commissioner in America, faces first-time candidate Serge D’Haiti. Since they are the only two candidates the primary is open to all. Ciklin has served for 48 years.
Of note: Votes cast for a third candidate on the Group 4 ballot, Brian Lamb, won’t count. With Ciklin’s support, Lamb won a Port Commission vote July 16 to fill the vacancy left by the October resignation of Jean Enright.
Joel explored the candidates’ positions and backgrounds in a full story at StetNews.org.
Here are words from the candidates:
Poole, 45 (turns 46 this week): “I think the question that you have to ask yourself is, ‘Who do you trust? Who do you trust behind closed doors when these decisions are being made? I’m not afraid to speak up and tell it like it is.”
Koushakjian, 44: “Being a first-generation American, great grandson of (Armenian) genocide survivors, first person in my family to get an education, I’ve lived the struggle. … I know the struggle that families are currently facing in our community, and that’s why I’m so focused on jobs and making sure that people have the self-sustainability that they need to provide for themselves.”
D’Haiti, 43: “This is another way of giving back and I want to be able to be an inspiration to the next generation of leaders in the community to see that they are able to make a change, and their voice does have an impact, and their work does make an impact for everyone else.”
Ciklin, 76: “When I was deciding whether to run for reelection once again, a lot of the tenants had contacted me and said, ‘Since we just lost one of the commissioners that had to resign (Enright), we think that it would be a good idea if you could stay for one more term.’ And thinking about it, I said ‘Fine,’ and that’s why I’m here.”
Read the rest of the story here.
— Joel Engelhardt
👑 Meet Caitlen Macias, the BotQueen
Caitlen Macias of West Palm Beach knows most organizations hear the words “artificial intelligence” and feel either hype or dread.
Why it matters: Macias, 28, of West Palm Beach, founded her own company, the playfully named BotQueen, in 2024, to train nonprofits to use AI.
What they’re saying: Macias works with Nonprofits First to advise the organization on using AI safely. She also connects with its 250 members through monthly forums on AI, said Trudy Crowetz, CEO of the West Palm-based nonprofit that helps other nonprofits.
- “Her knowledge of the subject is just unprecedented, and we appreciate that she’s helping other nonprofits with their journey to the AI world,” Crowetz said. ”She’s a superstar in our sector.”
The big picture: About 94% of companies worldwide (and 100% of Fortune 500 companies) use AI for at least one operation, according to Resourcera.
Yes but: Macias’ interest runs deeper: “I want to talk not just about AI but about being a female entrepreneur and what it means to start your own business. I want to tell other entrepreneurs that the doors didn’t just open for me. They opened because I knocked.”
Keep reading to find out what the BotQueen advises nonprofits to do about AI at StetNews.org.
— Janis Fontaine
🍊 The Juice
🚨 West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo fired five commanders last week after an Internal Affairs investigation found they broke rules related to workers’ double dipping, or getting paid for being in two places at once. (WPBF Channel 25)
🇮🇱 A Palm Beach County judge dismissed a lawsuit on July 22 that challenged the county’s $1 billion investment in Israeli bonds. Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kelley ruled “it is speculative to find a causal link between the investments at issue and the death of family members or loved ones in Gaza.” The three unidentified Palestinian-American county residents who sued in October are considering an appeal. (WLRN)
👋 Former Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans has landed a job as city manager in Lauderdale Lakes in Broward County. (LinkedIn)
🤖 Billionaire Larry Ellison, owner of a Manalapan estate and Lion Country Safari, has bet big on the spread of AI data centers. He’s now at a precarious point where that investment is at risk. (The New York Times gift)
⚖️ Andrew and Tristan Tate, the infamous brothers and social media influencers in jail in Miami awaiting possible extradition to the United Kingdom on rape and human trafficking charges, have sued the social media platform X in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. They are seeking the names of anonymous users they say defamed them. Another lawsuit in front of a circuit judge in the county alleges a woman who says she was their victim defamed them. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🏗️ A critical look at Florida’s Live Local Act, which lets builders bypass local zoning restrictions for residential projects in exchange for setting aside 40% of the units to households earning no more than 120% of the area’s median income. “Live Local is just a way for big builders to get in and once they’re in, they know they can’t be stopped,” said Anna Fusco, president of the 10,000-member Broward Teachers Union. (Florida Bulldog)
🛟 Lake Worth Beach officials are scrambling to save the 10th annual Dia De Los Muertos — Day of the Dead — festival tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1 and its $24,000 budget but it’s in danger of being canceled. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
🚗 Riviera Beach resumed charging for parking Monday at its Ocean Walk beach lots and some lots at the Marina Village. (WPBF, Channel 25)
🎒 Be in the room as volunteers fill 36,000 empty backpacks for needy children on the first day of school as part of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County’s eighth annual Backpack Initiative. A rotating army of volunteers spent nearly every day in July working two-hour shifts inside Red Apple Supplies. “You’re going to be packing backpacks for a kid, and you’re going to change that kid’s life,” organizer James Gavrilos said. (Lake Worth Beach Independent)
🎧 “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, focuses on ballot security with Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link. (Listen now; watch after 4 pm today.)
561NSIDER: 🎸 Stained-glass guitar hero
Some musicians smash guitars to end a show. Sally Kimmel shatters glass to give old guitars an encore.
Accompanied by a band of intricate saws, pliers and soldering irons, the suburban West Palm Beach stained-glass artist turns past-their-prime acoustic guitars into instruments that make music for the eyes.
- She replaces the wood soundboards with intricate designs, then inserts glowing LEDs inside the sound chambers, creating vibrant guitar lamps.
Why it matters: Kimmel’s vibrant acoustic lamps decorate homes from Wisconsin to Texas. She sells at music and arts festivals around Florida, on her website, through social media and by word of mouth.
- She has guitar lamps on display at two local bars: Village Music and Cafe in Wellington and the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth Beach.
Zoom in: A stained-glass artist for 50 years, Kimmel has made at least 30 guitar lamps since creating her first one about 10 years ago. Prices start at $500.
Catch up quick: After a career creating windows, transoms, lamps, sun catchers, votives and ornaments, she went rock ’n’ roll about 10 years ago when a close friend asked her to make a birthday gift for her musician boyfriend.
- She strung Christmas lights inside the body with a plug-in cord. She soon refined the lighting element by using battery-powered LEDs.
What they’re saying: “They make visual music. It used to have life as a guitar, and now it has life as an art piece and it provides light. It gives it a second life.”
Read more about how Sally Kimmel lights up old guitars at StetNews.org.
— Joe Capozzi
