Vol. 4, No. 40 Weekend Weather Planner SHOWa .4 15 HIGH 6 Low High Tide: 6:40 a.m. Low Ti1de: 12:28 p.m. PART5Y1 16 HIGH B4LOW High Tide: 7:28 a.m Low Tflde: 1:13 p.m Wringing out the water District's new restrictions go into effect Jan. 15 BY SARAH STOVER Staff writer PALM BEACH COUNTY - The dry season has been just that: dry. Lack of rainfall has caused several lakes in the areas under the jurisdic- tion of the South Florida Water Management Dis- trict, which stretches from Orange to Monroe coun- ties, to be at record low levels. Lake Okeechobee has especially been an area of concern. The low level there has led the district to put modified phase III restrictions into place starting Jan. 15. The modified restric- tions mean that residents can only water their lawns once a week. Golf cours- es, such as the Jack Nick- laus-designed course at the North Palm Beach Country Club, have to reduce their allotted I See RESTRICTIONS, A4 SINGER ISLAND FRIDAY, January 4, 2008 City funds in limbo Officials look for ways to reinvest BY IZZY KAPNICK Staff writer PALM BEACH GARDENS - After pulling more than half of its public funds from a state investment pool, the city of Palm Beach Gardens is scrambling to re-evaluate its portfolio. The city withdrew $21.3 million from the State Board BALANCING ACT of Administration fund last month, fearing that its investments could be exposed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Now, as part of a compre- hensive re-evaluation of the city's investments, financial directors are managing the redistribution of approxi- 0 See FUNDS, A7 Residents upset lake drained Proximity to Seacoast Utility wells blamed 4, ww&VwM I8HIGH 65tOW High Tide: 8:13 a.m. Low Tide: 1:56 p.m. SourceWeather.cok This Week ENTERTAINMENT Celebrate 'The King's' birthday with Elvis tribute artist Chris MacDonald at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre BI Feng shui Get un- finished business Pat Heydluff finished to start the New Year off right B6 One- minute Lrtappist Childhood Sgaes have 'y the place in I fuel adcithood, but you may not recognize them Index Business ..................................A8 Classified ............................. B10 Crossword ......................... B8 Dining & Entertainment .... B1 Dining Guide ........................ B2 Horoscopes ........................ B Police Report ....................... AS Seasoned Chef........................B6 Sports ................................. B8 Viewpoint ...................... A6 Week in Review................... A3' Hobie Hiler/staff photographer Julie Schreiibeof Palm Beach Gardens makes sure her daughter, Tyler 5, doesn't fallas she climbs and play on a rope 'spider web' at the Burns Road Community Center park last Friday. Tyler's grandfather, Allen Schreiber, keeps an eye on things as well. City spends almost $500K on new vehicles City Councilors debate the use of hybrids BY IZZY KAPNICK Staff writer PALM BEACH GAR- DENS The city of Palm Beach Gardens plans to buy $448,000 in new vehi- cles this year. At the final city council meeting of 2007, Mike Morrow, public works director, announced the city will purchase 21 vehi- cles, including 12 new police vehicles, three fire department vehicles and three vehicles for use by the planning and zoning department. The police department will bulk up its fleet with the addition of five Ford Crown Victoria patrol cars, totaling $106,000 and six Dodge Chargers, priced at $120,000. They are also adding a Ford Expedition priced at $23,000. "All of the (Chargers and Crown Victorias) are going to be used for patrol. As a test, we ordered one Charger last year. The fleet guys said it ran really well,"' said Lt. Glenn Brown of the Gardens Police Department. "We believe the Charg- ers will be quick enough for, our needs and better on gas than the Crown Victorias," he added. The lieutenant esti- mates that the Gardens fleet has approximately 70 cars, consisting of Charg- ers, Impalas (including an unmarked white sedan for radar) and the unmistak- able Crowns. He added that none of the new cars will be used for undercov- er patrol. "They'll all be black- and-whites," he said. As part of the city's "going green" initiative, the Fleet Committee, which reviews the acquisi- tion of all of the city's vehicles, bought five hybrid cars for the fire department and planning and zoning. The hybrid's motor drastically increas- I See VEHICLES, A2 Ancestry is not just for adults Library invites children to group BY SARAH STOVER . Staff writer NORTH PALM BEACH It's been said nuts do' not fall far from the tree, and now area children can find out how true that statement is for them. The staff at the North Palm Beach Public Library is inviting children to a take part in a new pro- gram, Genealogy for Kids, on Jan. 12. Sue Holmes, technical services manager at the library, founded the Treesearchers Genealogy Club with her husband, "To make it fun for kids you have to make it interesting, so I'm going to trea it like a mys- tery, because kids like to figure things out." Sue Holmes Treesearchers Geneaology Club co-founder Walt, six years ago, after she asked the reference librarian at the time if res- idents would possibly be interested in researching their family histories. The reference librarian suggested that Mrs. Holmes start the club, and it has been an adults-only venture until recently. The club currently has 25 active members and a few of them asked if their chil- dren or grandchildren could come to the meet- ings, which are held once ,a month, said Mrs. Holmes, who began her work at the library in the children's department eight years ago. Mrs. Holmes thought it was a wonderful idea, especially since teachers usually assign some sort of family history project in elementary school, she said. Genealogy for Kids will be geared toward children 9 and older. "I think it's a good age to get children started in it," said Mrs ; Holmes, who started compiling her family's history 10 years a g o .. .. . During Treesearchers meetings, members listen to guest speakers or experts, participate in dis- cussions and the Holmes' occasionally give hand- outs that help members find more information. At the initial Genealogy for Kids meeting, Mrs. Holmes will hold an informative discussion on where the childrens' fami- lies came from, how they got to the U.S. and give them a list of questions and resources to help them get information, but it will have a twist, she said. I See ANCESTRY, A5 BY IZZY KAPNICK Staff writer PALM BEACH GARDENS - John Calia's backyard is disappearing. After groundwater levels sunk, the banks of the Bent Tree community's pond began to collapse, and his land is going with them, he said. According to Mr. Calia, the erosion could impact the land around 30 to 40 nearby homes. Bent Tree is located off Hood Road, adjacent to the Palm Beach Gardens well fields. The wells col- lect groundwater in under- ground reservoirs and sup- ply it to local residents and businesses' through Sea- 1 See LAKE, A3 A legacy of learning Nancy Pew dies at 85 BY IZZY KAPNICK Staff writer NORTH PALM BEACH - Local philanthropist and longtime North Palm Beach resident Mary Pew died on Dec. 23 at age 85. Mrs. Pew and her hus- band, Robert, established the Pew Public Education Fund in an effort to assist, financially disadvantaged children in Palm Beach and Martin counties. By targeting schools that had the highest rate of poverty in the student population, /Mrs. Pew sought to ensure that youngsters in poorer communities had access to quality education. Mr. Pew said the couple was drawn to North Palm by temperate winters and the chance to be at 'sea. Fifteen years ago, they adopted the community as a home, and felt com- pelled to support the area, he said. "We wanted to do some- thing for public educa- tion. We knew that there were a lot of disadvan- taged children in the com- munity, and we wanted them to get a good start. If they don't, once they get into high school, they I See LEGACY, A5 Your Local News & Information Source www.HometownNewsOL.com