By: C. Ron Allen
Delray Beach Tribune
DELRAY BEACH – Several hundred protesters streamed through the streets recently to bring attention to the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, and to call for the prosecution of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Martin but has not been charged.
The unarmed black 17-year-old was killed while wearing a “hoodie” as he walked home on a rainy night in his father’s gated community.
Many of the protesters at the March 26 event wore hoodies as a sign of solidarity. They also called for justice, saying charges must be brought against Zimmerman, 28, a gun-wielding self-described neighborhood watch volunteer who said he shot Martin in self-defense.
The 45-minute march began at Pompey Park Recreation Center and ended at City Hall. With police officers escorting them for traffic control, the 407 majority black crowd – except two whites – marched peacefully down Martin Luther King Jr., Drive and converged on the lawn of City Hall for a brief rally.
Some carried signs likening Martin to Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy whose brutal lynching in 1955 in Mississippi helped set off the modern civil rights movement.
The Delay Beach rally, the first to date in Palm Beach County, was one of the dozens or so held across the country. Martin’s family has made multiple media appearances pushing for Zimmerman’s arrest.
The incident has touched off a national debate about racial profiling and the morality of “stand-your-ground” laws, which allow people being attacked to defend themselves with force if necessary.
Liz Taylor, the march’s organizer said she was pleased by the showing of support, considering she posted the request on Facebook and expected about 50 people.
“I’m excited, I’m surprised,” she said following the rally. “I didn’t expect all these people to come out. It started just as something on Facebook.
I’m thinking one or two of my friends. The power of Facebook. Facebook is used for so many [negative] things but for this to happen, Facebook is a good thing now.”
Local businessman and community leader Alfred “Zack” Straghn thanked the crowd for attending, for being peaceful, and most of all for caring.
“All of us hurt because when one hurts, all of us hurt,” he said. “When injustice is done to one person, it’s done to everybody.”
Read more about the march and other stories at www.DelrayBeachTribune.com.
Standing room only crowd witness historic swearing in at City Hall
By: CRA News Service
DELRAY BEACH – The City has a new and a returning commissioner to take care of business after they were sworn in Thursday at City Hall.
Deputy City Clerk Lanelda Gaskins administered the oath to newcomer Alson “Al” Jacquet and incumbent Angeleta “Angie” Gray in front of a standing room only commission chambers.
The commission elected Tom Carney as vice mayor and Adam Frankel as deputy vice mayor.
The city of about 64,000 residents is governed by a manager, who reports to a five-member commission. Residents elect a mayor.
Jacquet and Gray garnered enough votes in the March elections to secure the two open spots on the city commission. Their victory marks the first time in the city’s 100-year history that two people of color sat on the dais. It is also the first time that a person of color has held seat other than seat 4, which historically was the unofficially “black seat”. There are no districts and elections are citywide.
Jacquet and Gray are joining continuing commissioners Frankel and Carney, and Mayor Woodie McDuffie, who has announced that he will run for Supervisor of Elections in November.
McDuffie, who is term limited, was elected to the city commission in 2007, won the mayor’s job in 2009 and was reelected without opposition in 2011.
If McDuffie resigns, which he is expected to, and gets elected to that office, Carney could possibly serve as mayor from January until March, when the next city election will be held.
Commissioners serve two year terms.
The commission holds regular meetings on the first and third Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in city hall. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17.
Read about this and other stories at www.DelrayBeachTribune.com.
Delray Affair celebrates golden anniversary
By: CRA News Service
DELRAY BEACH – Put on your coolest, comfiest shoes and clothes. Don sunglasses, sunscreen and your biggest smile.
It’s the Delray Affair time again and the place to be is downtown Delray Beach.
For three days, from Friday, April 13 to Sunday, April 15, downtown will be like a big pedestrian mall.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the free event, celebrating its golden anniversary, is offering the same attraction that keeps Affairgoers coming back each year.
Produced by the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, the festival spans from the Tennis Center east to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Thousands are expected to browse through the maze of artwork, craft and other unusual and interesting wares. Police officers will be on duty to deal with security and traffic, officials said.
Since 1962, the event, which began as the city’s Gladiola Festival has grown from 24 exhibitors into an arts, craft, food and entertainment gala with more than 700 exhibitors and 300,000 attendees.
“Yearly the Delray Affair attracts between 250,000 and 300,000 attendees … with an economic impact of over $21 million for the City of Delray Beach,” organizer Nancy Stewart-Franczak said.
The festival also showcases two beer gardens featuring live music and more.
Churches and civic groups traditionally have offered delicacies as conch fritters, pigeon peas and rice, sweet potato pie, seafood chowder and fried dolphin as well as hot dogs and hamburgers for the less adventurous. Organizers expect such tradition will continue.
Real Time Marketing Group, an event sponsor and a local business, has created a mobile app for use by patrons at this year’s Delray Affair.
Visitors will be able to search for exhibitors on their smart phones. Those without a smart phone can visit any of five information booths and the Delray Ambassadors will assist.
The festival always takes place on the weekend after Easter so that merchants can profit from the snowbirds who extend their stay by a week to stay for the festival.
Read about this and other stories at www.DelrayBeachTribune.com.