Boca Raton PD holiday safety video features kids; ... wait for it.... goes viral

Boca Raton police don't find holiday crime cute, but followers of their Facebook page sure find the department's latest approach to stopping it adorable.

A one-minute video in mid-November features kids playing out a scenario police say they see too often: people's cars being burglarized because they left holiday gifts in plain view.

More than 1.7 million people have seen the video on Facebook, and it's been shared more than 30,000 times. Facebook representative Andy Stone said it's one of the most-shared videos from any government agency in the country this past week.

A little girl, chatting on her cell phone in Mizner Park and carrying shopping bags and a Starbucks cup, struts over to her mini-Cadillac Escalade and places her bags inside. Two perps roll up in a kid-sized Jeep Wrangler and make a run for the bags. Read more here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/boca-raton/fl-boca-raton-safety-video-20141205-story.html

GOP wisdom shifts on immigration... What can we expect?

BOCA RATON, FLA. — The conventional wisdom in the Republican Party is changing.

Less than two years ago, party leaders solemnly declared after an exhaustive study that the GOP "must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform." It was critical for the party's survival, they said, to address an issue that was paramount to the nation's surging Hispanic population. But as President Obama issued a sweeping immigration order last week, some of the Republican Party's most prominent governors — likely presidential candidates among them — described immigration reform as little more than an afterthought.

"This issue is probably not in the top 10 of most voters in America," Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is considering a 2016 White House bid, said alongside nodding colleagues at the Republican Governors Association annual conference in Florida. Walker dismissed the Democratic president's order that shields as many as five million immigrants from deportation as a trap designed to divert attention "from the real issues in this country." Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/11/24/3506108/gop-wisdom-shifts-on-immigration.html

The Seat of Power in Boca..Who really runs Boca Raton?

Who runs Boca Raton? The discussion starts and mostly ends with the most powerful unelected local official in Palm Beach County—a man who also may be more powerful than any elected official.

Leif Ahnell has been Boca’s city manager for 15 years. In addition, Ahnell is director of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which oversees downtown Boca. No other manager in the county has such a dual role, and Ahnell has it in the county’s second-largest city. Delray Beach has a separate CRA director, as do Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach.

Ahnell has no vote on the council. But neither does Mayor Jeri Muoio in West Palm Beach, the county’s only city with a strong-mayor system. Like Muoio, though, Ahnell hires all staff members and shapes the agenda for city council meetings and CRA meetings, when the council serves as the CRA board. Like a strong mayor, Ahnell controls the staff reports and recommendations that shape council votes. Read more here: http://bocamag.com/blog/2014/11/20/the-seat-of-power-in-boca/

Gov. Rick Scott slides to big victory!.. but here is what you didn't know.

My dear friend, Esther Scott, Mother of Gov. Scott would have been so proud of her son, Rick last night.

Esther passed away in November last year and Gov. Scott had tears in his eyes last night during his acceptance speech remembering his wonderful Mother. The Gov. was joined on a win of over 80,000 votes by his beautiful

wife, Ann and daughters, Jordan and Allison and their husbands, Jeremy and Pierre. I met all of them
a few years ago when I was the guest and roommate of Esther Scott at Presidency 5 at the beautiful Peabody Hotel in Orlando.. We shared a room right next door to the Gov. and Ann and to his beautiful daughters and their husbands.

Read more here: http://www.bocaratontribune.com/bocaratonnews/2014/11/gov-rick-scott-cruises-to-big-victory/

Delray's new city manager, you wont believe it..

Cooper wins it

There were two big stories last week in Delray Beach from the search for a city manager. One was the city commission’s choice to be Delray’s CEO. The other? We’ll get to that in a minute.

From five finalists, the commission unanimously chose Don Cooper, going with experience over potential. Cooper ran Port St. Lucie for nearly 20 years and was manager of two small cities in Colorado before that. He has more experience than even Terry Stewart, who has been Delray’s interim city manager since June. Neither Assistant Broward County Administrator Roberto Hernandez nor Assistant Boca Raton City Manager Mike Woika has had a top job, however qualified they might be. The lone out-of-state candidate, Andrea McCue, had no Florida experience.

Read more here: http://bocamag.com/blog/2014/11/11/delrays-new-city-manager-and-its-mia-commishes-plus-sign-language/