The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 25

THE PALM BEACH POST SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1998 3B LaBelle, Grant bring goofs, grins to SunFest Charles Passy Palm Beach Post Arts Writer WEST PALM BEACH What a musical lineup SunFest had on Friday night: Gloria Estefan, David Bowie, Hootie and the Blowfish and Celine Dion. All right, so that's just who was featured on the soundtrack to the big fireworks display. But the real roster of artists wasn't bad, either. Review Let's begin at the near beginning, when pianist Tom Grant took the stage in midafternoon and managed that hardest of tasks to make a credible case for fusion. While so many jazzpop instrumentalists and groups ply this style for all its banal melodic worth think Spyro Gyra Grant puts as much emphasis on the jazz as the pop.

The result is music that's catchy and clever. The highlight of 1 his set was a spacious sonata of a tune called Angel's Crossing. Jump ahead nearly five hours and you were in Patti LaBelle territory. Never mind that "Miss Patti" played West Palm Beach once already this season at the Kravis Center in November. Her blend of gospel, and goofing with the audience is always welcome.

On this occasion, LaBelle was perhaps doing a bit too much talking and not enough singing did we really need to learn that she watches both Oprah and Jerry Springer? but when she does sing, the voice is that of a diva defined. She also gets credit for the line of the night: When somebody from the audience handed her a gift, her eyes lit up and she declared, "I think this might be some chicken!" Going up against LaBelle at the other er end of the festival was Fleck and the Flecktones, the band that exists to answer the question: What else can you play on a banjo but banjo music? Fleck's solution is to expand upon the instrument's traditional slaphappy repertoire and incorporate elements of everything from funk to flamenco, bluegrass to klezmer. In the first half of his set, he was also giving the Flecktones plenty of room to strut their stuff, Miami Beach artist top winner Miami Beach artist Hermel Quezada won the $2,500 first prize Friday in the SunFest art show. A painting by Jason Izumi of Kealakekua, Hawaii, and a sculpture by Greg Hubbard of Albany, earned prizes of $1,500. Winning $750 awards were Mark Meifert of Apopka, Bruce Peeso of Port St.

Lucie, Diane Gugliotta of Madeira Beach, Michael Mick of Port Charlotte and Randy Rich of Fort Lauderdale. Taking $500 awards of merit were Jason Hunt Orlando, Edwin Harris of Anaheim, Jude Pokorny of Port St. Lucie, Maria Reyes-Jones of Casselberry, Victor and Sharon Baisley of Cooper City and Chris O'Keef of Whitefish, Mont. including bassist Victor Wooten (truly the best in the business) and a who goes by the name of Future Man. Nuff said.

On the local front, the day was hit and miss. Passion Seeds, a Fort Lauderdale modern pop band that's poised to go national, delivered a strong hour's worth of music, filled with radio-friendly originals and a cover of The Beatles' Eight Days a Week that was all sunshine this despite the fact the band had to contend with the day's only thunderstorm. They'll be playing at the Underground Coffee Works later this month and are worth catching again. On the flip side, The Worms, a Palm Beach County ska band, sounded sloppy and unrehearsed, even given that the genre demands a certain brassy roughness. And if you never heard a ska version of Don McLean's American Pie, trust us: The Worms' version won't make you regret what you're missing.

LANNIS Photographer Loxahatchee farmer Francisco Garcia feeds some of the SunFest garbage to a group of pigs on his farm. SunFest organizers hope to recycle at least 50 percent of its refuse. Savory stew lets pigs play part in Sun Fest success By Dan Moffett Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Putting together the right cast of characters to make SunFest successful only gets more complicated. Just ask Miriam Zimms. "We have been searching for the right pig farmer for over three years," she said.

Which led Zimms and SunFest organizers to Francisco Garcia's farm in Loxahatchee, where 150 pigs, a gaggle of geese, assorted goats and a token emu are playing a very organic role in the management of party waste. The festival loads trucks with its food scraps each morning and sends them to Garcia. He uses a special cooker to create a stew. SunFest organizers hope that involving Garcia's pigs will make it possible to recycle at least 50 percent of its refuse. Zimms, a Florida Power Light Company employee who leads the festival's conservation committee, said SunFest recycled 31 percent a year ago and 24 percent in 1996.

"We tried a pilot pig program last year, but we couldn't find a farmer who had the proper TONIGHT'S BEST BETS, 3D MEET LITTLE RICHARD, 1D INTERNET: For complete SunFest schedule, maps and live Web cam, go to www.sunfest.org equipment to process meat scraps," she said. "Mr. Garcia's cooker is certified by the state." Unsold prepared food is collected each day and donated to the Salvation Army and South County Pantry. Volunteers from FPL and the Solid Waste Authority have hired students to help sort through the trash. A youth group from the First United Church of Christ in Jupiter will use the $1,500 it receives to pay for a trip to a disabled children's ranch in Kansas.

Students from the environmental magnet program at Forest Hill High will work to pay for a fall field trip to the tropical rain forests in Ecuador or Costa Rica. "Our program is heavily i involved in hands-on projects," said Cheryl Jorandby, the group's science adviser at Forest Hill. Gardens woman's crusade wins in legislature By Mary Lou Pickel Palm Beach Post Staff Writer TALLAHASSEE Four years of sorrow over the loss of her unborn granddaughter in a car crash turned into a quiet sense of triumph for Marci Solway on Friday. The state legislature passed a bill that makes it a crime to kill a viable fetus in a reckless car crash. "It's wonderful," Solway, 55, of Palm Beach Gardens said.

"The next little baby that gets killed like Casey-Lynn did, there will be a law to protect it," she said. Solway lost her daughter, Lisa Montague, 27, her grandson Michael, 18-months, and her unborn granddaughter, CaseyLynn, who was four days away from birth, in a car crash in West Palm Beach in 1994. Charles Lewek, who ran a red light, was convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide and sentenced to 11 years in prison, but prosecutors could not charge him with the death of Casey-Lynn because the law didn't allow it. An appeals court ruled last fall that Lewek deserves another trial because Solway's testimony about her daughter's impending due date was not relevant and could have inflamed the jury. Prosecutors still cannot charge him with the unborn girl's death, even if the governor signs the bill into law, because it's too late in this case.

But Solway said she was motivated to push for a change because she wanted her granddaughter, Alexandria, who lost Former executive on probation caught with 33 guns By Tim Pallesen Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Former Sunrise Savings and Loan executive Thomas Skubal was arrested Friday after sheriff's deputies discovered 23 rifles and 10 handguns hidden under the bed of a 13-year-old girl living at his suburban Boca Raton home. Skubal, 48, had only two days left of federal probation after his 1989 conviction on federal bank fraud charges. He was charged Friday with 33 counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Skubal, who has operated a Broward County pool hall since his prison release, lived at 5701 Camino Del Sol, Apt. 306, with an unidentified girlfriend and her daughter, Sgt.

Tom Neighbors said. Detectives were investigating Rental rates going for $40 to $45 per square foot CITYPLACE For the latest coverage, Interactive: go to Palm Beach From 1B www.GoPBI.com struction zone. They'll bring in trailers, knock $40 to $45 a square foot. The down or remove remaining amount is less than a typical mall houses and begin moving dirt and or Worth Avenue but higher than trees. Clematis Street.

Eventually, they'll fence the Graham used the gala, for entire site, displaying on which the city paid at least Okeechobee Boulevard the 100- $11,000, to thank city and county foot-long, 8-foot-high rendering commissioners, staff and other of CityPlace storefronts with agencies. She introduced speaknames such as Restoration Hard- ers, including U.S. Reps. Mark ware and FAO Schwarz. Foley, R-West Palm Beach, and E.

By mid- summer, city workers Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, will begin replacing water and who her "This project will be sewer lines. CityPlace buildings the envy of the entire country." will start going up in September. The big moment came when The lease announcement Graham and developers Himmel, muted criticism from local devel- Stephen Ross, Jorge Perez and opers who doubted CityPlace Jerry O'Connor, joined by School could move this far forward. of the Arts students in leotards, The roster of mostly national tugged at ropes on the walls surtenants signed leases for at least rounding the party plaza to unveil 10 years more in the case of the rendering. General Cinema, Himmel said.

The crowd took notice but He wouldn't disclose rental soon filed out, leaving the develrates but said he is reaching his opers and their families to enjoy target, which is to average about the moment in private. Kathy Romani, head of Republican Party By Brian E. Crowley Palm Beach Post Political Editor Kathy Romani, a longtime Republican Party activist and former vice mayor of Royal Palm Beach, died Friday. She was 54. Mrs.

Romani, was elected chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party in December 1996 and held that post until her death from cancer. Mrs. Romani took over the leadership of the party at a difficult time. A dissident faction of conspiracy theorists had tried to take over the party. Mrs.

Romani led the successful effort to thwart the dissidents and worked hard to unify the party. "She was an incredible person," said U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. "She was never a political operator.

She always considered herself to be just a helping hand. She always wanted the accolades to go to someone else. She was a rare and wonderful person." A Florida delegate to the 1996 Republican National Convention, Mrs. Romani was involved in Obituary scores of state and local campaigns. She also was a life member of the Young Republicans; Club of Palm Beach County.

During her tenure as chairman of the Palm Beach County GOP, the organization grew in size and influence. She is survived by her daughter, Julie, and son-in-law, Brent Ryan; her daughter, Susan; grandchildren, Jarrod and Jessiformer husband, Robert Romani; her brothers, James and Robert Hawley; her sisters, Michaelene Hawley and Denise Pearce; and seven nieces and nephews. A scripture service with be held at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Dorsey Funeral Home, 3525 S. Congress Lake Worth.

Mass of the Resurrection will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, 500 Spencer West Palm Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made to Hospice of Palm Beach County. Kids Fair Grand Opening Little Precious Day Care Center Saturday May 2, 1998 8am-3pm Games Food Fun Contest Prizes Free Registration Daycare Center Open 8am for ages 2 years up Shekinah Church 425 Crescent Drive Lake Park for information call 561 882-9094 SUNDAY IN HOME GARDEN Putting Around Learn how serious golfers are heading for their own back yards and installing personal putting greens. The Palm Beach Post 470344A MRA most of her family in the crash, to see something positive come from the tragedy.

Rep. Ed Healey, D-West Palm Beach, agreed to take up Solway's cause and passed the bill in the House last year, where it drew objections from lawmakers who feared it would threaten abortion rights. But Healey reworked the bill this year to apply only to fetuses that can live outside the mother's womb. a child abuse allegation when they received an anonymous tip that Skubal kept weapons in the girl's bedroom, Neighbors said. The girl was taken by the state Department of Children and Families and placed with relatives Friday after the weapons and 8,000 rounds of ammunition were seized.

Detectives found some antique firearms, indicating Skubal was a collector, they said. "But it's disturbing that anyone on federal probation could amass an arsenal like this," Neighbors said. Skubal, a Sunrise vice president, was convicted along with Sunrise President Robert Jacoby in the bank fraud case. Sunrise enjoyed a meteoric rise until federal regulators closed it in 1986 for issuing too many risky commercial loans. CityPlace tenants Tenants have signed leases for 45 percent of the 536,000 square feet of retail space at CityPlace, developers announced Friday.

Another 21 percent of the space is committed. Here are the tenants and the amount of space they will fill: Signed leases Committed but not signed Urban Outfitters 12,000 Tenant Square Champs Sports 12,000 feet Gibson's 10,000 General Il Fornaio 9,000 80,000 Cafe Tu Tu Tango 8,500 Barnes Noble 27,000 Cheesecake Fcty. 8,000 Equinox Health 27,000 Mayor's Jewelers 6,000 Benetton Sports 18,000 Harold's 5,500 FAO Schwarz 15,000 J. Peterman 5,500 Restoration Hdw. 12,000 Smith Hawken 4,500 Damiano's 12,000 Store Knowledge 4,500 Pottery Barn 10,000 Ann Taylor 4,200 China Grill Cafe 8,000 BCBG 4,000 Legal Sea Foods 7,500 Brookstone 3,500 Max's Grille 7,000 Ghirardelli 2,500 Big City Tavern 6,000 Starbucks 2,200 Eyetems Optical 6,000 Betsey Johnson 1,500 Williams-Sonoma 4,500 White Who's On First 1,200 Black Market 1,500 Sunglasses of Stuart Norman 1,500 Palm Beach 700 Chicos 1,400 Aldo 1,400 Oilily 1,250 Landau Hyman 800 Watch World 700 PALM EACH INTERACTIVE www.GoPBl.com WIN A TRIP FOR TWO CANCUN, MEXICO Courtesy of Fiesta Americana and Sunrise Travel Vacation Service Register to win on www.GoPBI.com Enter daily until May The winner is chosen by random drawing and will be contacted via phone.

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