The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 79

2B THE PALM BEACH POST WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1992 Hot-dog vendor sues county, wants clothes law thrown; out By CHRISTINE STAPLETON stuck in them, Silver said. The next day, Gonzalez was cited and ordered to appear in court March 5. She faces a fine of up to $500 and 60 days in jail. i The county has "conspired with other individuals" who don't approve of Gonzalez's work attire and are now trying to "destroy her business," Silver wrote. As Silver sees it, requiring scantily clad vendors to erect a screen is more dangerous than the vendor's attire.

"Human nature may cause individuals to become curious about hidden sights." As for the fear that women in thongs peddling hot dogs create-a traffic hazard, Silver said: "I think iCs safer because people are slowing down." Silver said his biggest concern is that the County Commission, bowing to the complaints of those opposed to the vendors, is trying to legislate morality. "The people who arc influencing the County Commission want to control the way of life of the rest of county," Silver said. "These individuals are the same ones who want to tell women what they can and can't do with their bodies," thongs and pasties unless they work inside a 4-foot-high opaque enclosure. Her lawsuit alleges that the ordinance is unconstitutional because it is vague and violates vendors' constitutional rights. Gonzalez's skimpy work attire is "expressive and symbolic of her belief in freedom of speech," Silver write.

Gonzalez sold hot dogs at the intersection of Lake Worth Road and Military Trail in a patriotic red, white and blue French-cut bikini Feb. 17, Presidents' Day. Several police officers passed by as she sold hot dogs with tiny American flags people who are influencing the County Commission and they want to dictate their moral values for the rest of the county." Circuit Judge Richard Burk will decide today after hearing arguments about whether to issue an injunction against the county. The assistant county attorney handling the case was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Gonzalez, who argued the case of scantily clad hot-dog vendors on was cited Feb.

18 and charged with violating a new county ordinance prohibiting roadside vendors from wearing G-strings, nm beach Post Staff Writer 1 WEST PALM BEACH The battle oyer whether the county should be allowed to dictate a dress code for street vendors came to court Tuesday. ril An attorney for Gloria Gonzalez, a bikini-clad hot-dog vendor, filed a suit against the county Tuesday, asking a judge to iind the ordinance unconstitutional. "We did not want to go to court; we did not want to make an issue of this," Gonzalez's attorney, Barry Silver, said. "We filed ibis lawsuit because there is a group of I I Store clerk charged with manslaughter 'i ll i i iVJULv vrr ''-Mt IT 'f I 4 "'nfi II -f 4 I I I ft 4riu Road was listed as Hamad's address. Sheriff's officials said Hamad confessed to shooting Bowles while showing him the gun.

One witness, Loralane Byrd, said she saw Bowles and Hamad outside the store playfully attacking each other with blue milk crates just before the shooting took place. "I was just driving by and I noticed Larry out there with the blue crate," she said. "He's the type who likes to play around like that. He wasn't violent at all." Mohammed Al-Hreish, a clerk at a convenience store a block away, said Bowles was famous for pulling out his knife. "He liked to play around with everyone down there," he said.

"The problem is, I don't think he knew this clerk very well. You can't joke around like that if you don't know the person." Hamad was being held in the Palm Beach County Jail in Belle Glade on $3,000 bail. By MITCH McKENNEY galm Beach Post Staff Writer PAHOKEE A convenience store clerk was charged Tuesday with shooting a customer to death Mile showing him the store's handgun. Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators said the victim, Larry D. Bowles, 30, had been "hor-fceplaying around" with the clerk in the Pahokee Food Store and that Bowles had just shown the clerk a SSnch steak knife.

ST; The clerk, Naji Hamad, 32, was gharged with manslaughter and improperly exhibiting a firearm Jafter the 10:25 a.m. incident, in Vhich Hamad allegedly pulled the Jtore's semiautomatic pistol from under the counter, pointed it at Bowles and fired. Z' Bowles of 235 Shirley Drive, 2ahokee, was hit in his chest. He was pronounced dead at Everglades Memorial Hospital about 11:40 a.m. The store at 730 Belle Glade mmm ALLtN EYESTONEStaff Photograpner 1-95 Road-Widening Project Begins BOCA RATON Traffic slows Tuesday on pand the 'highway to four lanes in each direc-northbound Interstate 95, where work has tion on a 4-mile stretch from Yamato Road to begun on a widening project.

The $26.6 mil- Linton Boulevard. The additional lane will be lion project will take 17 months and will ex- limited to car pools during rush hours. i Election '92 Catanese: Modify FAU-Broward bill He wants fund-raising ability removed from legislation Legislative consultant files, Police; Site i of slaying in crime area Neighbors say fear prompted West Palm officer to kill man. By JENNY STALETOVICH Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH Shots crackling in the is a common sound among the white clapboard houses and tiny churches of the, downtown neighborhood where police killed a 34-year-old man early Sunday. For police, crime along Douglass Avenue and 11th Street is just' another resident.

Since 1988, police have an-' swered 1,373 calls in the foursquare-block area around 902 11th where Anthony Harrell was; shot. They have had reports of' killings, robberies and beatings. -Despite the number of calls, residents say police are exaggerating the danger to justify the shooting: Harrell was killed by officer David Duncan, after Duncan' tried to break up a fight between Harrell and his nephew. Police said Harrell was chasing Derek Harrell with a knife. While releasing few details' about the shooting, police have said the neighborhood was a disaster-waiting to happen.

"In front of that house and several blocks down, there's heavy drug trafficking," said Sgt. John English. "We've had a lot of problems there." I Since November 1990, police have visited Harrell's house 18 times to answer reports of family fights, burglaries and drug deals. But residents say police more likely to act aggressively be- cause they see the neighborhood as dangerous. 'i Some residents blame shooting on bad relations between police and the black community.

"They'll kill a black man like nothing," said Billie Young, 19. "If it was a white man, they probably would have shot at his foot. But what we got to do? We could be in our underwear (unarmed), and they'd shoot us." Since the shooting, police have 1 increased patrols in the area, Chief Billy Riggs said. Other steps have -been taken to tighten security, but Riggs would not elaborate. Resi- dents said a police helicopter flew i through the area about 9:30 p.m.

Monday. "We've been keeping a closer eye on it," Riggs said. "The officers think about it. i They think about how much danger they're in every time they go out there," he said. Residents say that fear prompt- i ed Duncan to needlessly shoot.

"I think what really happened is that man panicked. I was standing there," said Angela Williams, 22. I will run if House seat added By CAROLYN SUSMAN "Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Legislative consultant Anne Gannon, a Democrat, has filed to "TTun for state House District 87 By MARY ELLEN KLAS Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE A plan to give Florida Atlantic University's Broward campus more control over its operation has the college's support if it is modified, FAU President Anthony Catanese told legislators Tuesday. In meetings with the legislative delegations of Broward and Palm Beach counties, Catanese said he is willing to support a bill sponsored by Sen. Ken Jenne, D-Fort Lauderdale, if a provision that would allow the campus to establish its own fund-raising foundation is re moved.

The proposal from Jenne, a longtime advocate of a separate university in Broward County, would allow the Broward campus to create a separate faculty senate and assures that its finances and provost operate independently of the main Boca Raton campus. Critics of the plan say it is an effort to gradually create a separate university in Broward County. But Catanese was conciliatory Tuesday. "I certainly am opposed to a new university in Broward County because FAU can and will do the job in Broward County," he said. "If we have to do some fine-tuning, we will." Rep.

Ray Liberti called Jenne's proposal "a liability to both communities" if it results in splitting the university. "You don't divide a university. That's completely inefficient," said Liberti, D-West Palm Beach. There are about 3,500 students at three Broward County campuses in Davie, Commercial Boulevard and downtown Fort Lauderdale, and 14,200 students at the Boca Raton campus. state Legislature), not to replace them," said Gannon of Delray Beach.

Palm Beach County is expected to gain a new House seat when the Legislature redraws district boundaries this year. Candidates are required to file for an existing district to begin raising money. Jacobs, another former NOW chapter president, also filed for the District 87 seat. Gannon, 44, is a member of the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee, former president of the Dell Park Homeowner's Association. hut expects to seek a new seat 2hat could be created in redisricting.

Gannon, a past president of the South County chapter of the National Organization for Wom-; en, said she will not run against Republican Rep. Carol Hanson Boca Raton, the District 87 incumbent, or Democratic can-I didate Suzanne Jacobs. "My purpose is to increase number of women (in the Boca traffic light decision reversed In Brief By SCOTT MONTGOMERY Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON An intersection that county officials earlier this month said didn't need a traffic light now is scheduled to get one because state officials redid the traffic count. An official with the Florida Department of Transportation decided Monday that the intersection of Glades Road and 95th Avenue South site of the 3-month-old Southwest County Regional Library is busy enough for a flashing light. "It wasn't quite to the federal standards we use, but the volumes are certain to justify a full signal eventually," said Walt Lashley, DOT's traffic engineer for Palm Beach County.

Lashley has ordered a flashing light that can be converted to a full traffic light later. Officials estimate design and installation will take three to six months. In early February, Palm Beach County's traffic department studied the intersection and concluded that a light was unnecessary despite complaints from drivers. The report was sent to Lashley, who reviewed it and found that the numbers were high enough to warrant a second look. And residents, angry to learn that the county had rejected their pleas, met with Lashley last week.

"That's how it came about," he said. Glades Road is owned by the state, but like other state roads, its signals and signs are handled by the county. The county will design, install and maintain the light. "I think it's terrific," said Lois Carpenter, who manages the library. "It's really good to see that the proper approach was taken and they found that the light is warranted." Malpractice trial focuses on cosmetic surgery debate Lawmaker: Housing plan hinges on real-estate tax West Palm officials lobby for increase 'Boca puts off vote on liquor license BOCA RATON Rather than rush through a measure that give the nightclub Heaven a liquor license without restrictions, the City Council unanimously decided to wait until its next meeting on March 17.

I An attorney for the night club asked for the emergency vote rTuesday, saying he needed time to process his client's license, which due to expire April 10. But the council decided that since the -issue was so controversial, it would prefer to notify the public before voting. Additionally, the City Council approved the upgraded master Jplan for Red Reef Park that calls for new boardwalks. $20,000 bail OK'd in fight with officer WEST PALM BEACH A Delray Beach man accused of trying kill a police officer by pushing his head through a window can be released from jail on $20,000 bail, a circuit judge ruled Tuesday. Curtis Garland, 30, owner of a landscaping company, had been without bail since his arrest Feb.

4 on charges stemming from a jdomestic dispute. The Desert Storm veteran became angry when 'police responded to a fight at his home, according to court records. He told police they should respect his Army Reserve uniform, but moments later began attacking officer Thomas Whatley. Whatley and two other officers had been attempting to arrest Garland's brother, who had been creating part of the disturbance. $18,000 in donations go to WXEL BOYNTON BEACH Membership checks "a foot thick" came WXEL Tuesday, buoying officials of the public broadcasting who are struggling to recover from a monthlong conflict.

1 While the station averaged 12 to 17 checks a day last week raising $5,273 it got 65 checks Monday and 263 on Tuesday. Checks for those two days totaled $18,612, business manager Doreen said. The emergency drive held this week for WXEL-FM has raised $51,356, officials said. If the station doesn't reach $100,000 by Friday I when it must turn over equipment for a fund-raising drive and art auction for WXEL-TV, Channel 42 it will hold another drive in March, vice president of development Anita Kirchen said. I Police Report BICYCLIST DIES AFTER CRASH: Jose Gonzalez of 1112 S.W.

Sixth Ave. in Delray Beach died Tuesday after he collided with a Range Rover at Linton Boulevard and Southwest Fourth Avenue on Monday night, police said. I FIRE LEAVES 10 HOMELESS: Ten people, including six children, were left homeless after a Tuesday morning fire damaged their apart-i ment in suburban Delray Beach, officials said. Million Germain, his wife, two relatives and six children were not home when the fire 1 started about 11 a.m. in the single-family apartment at 288 Half Mile I Road, Apt.

4, officials said. No one was injured. 1 ARMED MAN CONFRONTS DEPUTY: A 35-year-old man fighting with his girlfriend and mother pointed a shotgun at a deputy Monday in West Palm Beach and dared the deputy to shoot him. Deputy Dale Holland was called to 4700 Grove St. at 8:25 a.m.

after Roy Motley be-; gan fighting with the two women. As Holland began talking to Motley, Motley ran to his apartment at 4699 Grove St. and returned with a shotgun, reports said. Motley yelled, "Shoot me," and Holland took "cover, ordering him to drop the gun. Motley then dropped the gun.

Motley was charged with aggravated battery on a police officer. ders," she said. Sweeting said Dr. Luis Villar of Stuart, a plastic surgeon, ended up repairing the problems Wilson developed after the operation. Villar is expected to testify against Dedo.

1 But Dedo's lawyer, Kellner, said in his opening statement that Dedo and other otolaryngologists are just as qualified as plastic surgeons to do breast augmentations. "There is a lot of professional jealousy and competition between the doctors," he said. He said that one plastic surgeon Wilson saw after she developed problems even contacted a lawyer-on her behalf. Sweeting admitted Wilson went to Dedo because he charged a cut-: rate fee for the surgery. And Kellner admitted Dedo charged the low fee because he was new at the operation.

But he said Dedo told Wilson that before he performed the operation. He also argued that her complications -r1; severe disfigurement could have occurred no matter who did the operation. Wilson is expected to take the'' witness stand when the trial re- sumes today before Judge W. Mat-' thew Stevenson in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. The trial will focus on whether Dedo should have re-operated quickly to repair, Wilson's compli- cations or whether it was accept able to "wait and if the prob-' lems would go away on their own, as he recommended.

By MICHAEL LASALANDRA Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH A medical malpractice trial involving a breast augmentation operation has brought to the fore a growing dispute among doctors over who should be allowed to perform the cosmetic surgery. Patricia Wilson, 36, a nurse from Riviera Beach, is suing Dr. Douglas Dedo of West Palm Beach for malpractice in connection with the surgery he performed on her in 1988. -s Wilson contends Dedo botched her surgery because he was not qualified to do the procedure. Dedo is a board-certified otolaryngologist, or ear, nose and throat doctor, who began doing breast augmentations in 1987 after attending a five-day seminar in the Bahamas a year earlier.

He is not certified as a plastic surgeon. Linda Sweeting, Wilson's lawyer, said in opening statements Tuesday that doctors not trained as plastic surgeons are allowed to perform cosmetic surgery below the neck as a result of laws that deregulated medicine in 1978. "The evidence will focus on this loophole in the law," she said. Before the changes in the laws, she said, doctors had to perform their operations in hospitals, where other physicians could monitor them. With deregulation, doctors began performing surgery in their offices, as Dedo did with Wilson.

"No one is looking over their shoul By MARY ELLEN KLAS Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE A plan for low-income housing in West Palm Beach won't get state money unless the tax on real estate transactions is raised, House Speaker T.K. Wetherell told city officials Tuesday. "We're strapped for money. We can't afford a lot of things this year," Wetherell said. West Palm Beach Mayor Nancy Graham and City Commissioner Jeff Koons were in Tallahassee lobbying for a bill that would raise $59.5 million for affordable housing next year.

The plan calls for the state to use existing tax sources to pay for part of the program and raise the rest by increasing the tax on real estate transactions, known as the documentary stamp tax, 10 cents per $100 of real estate value from 60 to 70 cents. Graham said she wants to use the money to provide incentives for banks and other businesses to develop affordable housing in partnership with the city, a goal she called "the single dominant issue in the survival of our city." "If we could do something on housing, it would be the most significant thing that could hap pen to us," she said. The proposal is endorsed by Gov. Lawton Chiles. It also has the support of developers and real estate lobbyists, who have opposed similar plans in recent years but have now signed on hoping the program would invigorate business.

Wetherell opposes it because it calls for spending $4.5 million in 1993 and $96.4 million by 2000 in general tax revenue. The House speaker's opposition could doom the legislation. Wetherell said he would support the bill if it relied only on the 10-cent increase in the stamp tax but did not use existing tax revenue. Responded Graham: "I don't care where it comes from. I just want to get something done." Graham told a meeting of Palm Beach County legislators Tuesday that the city needs the tax to draw federal grants that can be worth four times what a city puts up.

She proposes basing the West Palm Beach program on a program that has been working in Tampa since 1985. The bill would increase the documentary stamp tax on real estate transaction deeds beginning July 1..