The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 17

The Palm Beach Post TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2006 wsc Two killed in crash near South Florida Fairgrounds, 2B Convict alleges Sept. 11 bias in bid for new trial, 3B PalmBeachPost.com 1 rnfrlill County facing pet population explosion TP The worst thing you could have done is what happened last Saturday night. They let Patti LaBelle leave here with that kind of image of Riviera MICHAEL BROWN, Riviera Beach mayor Laid! Fob ao no rtB 4 I 1 (SDdDHOCUS Fallout spurs Riviera to review jazz event By WILLIAM COOPER JR. Palm Beach Post Staff Writer RIVIERA BEACH After five years of running the Jazz and Blues Festival in-house, the city opted to contract with a promoter who promised to bring in bigger v' -tip Staff photos by J. GWENDOLYNNE BERRY and better acts for this year's event.

But the adage that bigger isn't always better may have proved to be true Saturday, when the lengthy lineup of artists pushed headliner Patti La-Belle's performance into the wee hours of Sunday morning. That, coupled with record lows for South Florida and a brisk ocean breeze, prompted the 61-year-old to complain about METHOD OF CONTROL Veterinarian Gloria Livadas (center) and technician sheiteron Belvedere Road in suburban West Palm Beach. Issues confrontingthe Cristina Portus prepare a dog for neutering at the Palm Beach County animal animal care and control division include space and staffing shortages. Officials seek care, control solutions LaBelle: Wait to perform, chilly weather made singer cut show short nnm iFn I By HECTOR FLORIN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer As the county continues to grow, so does its pet population. That's putting a burden on the county's animal care and control division, which doesn't have enough space to hold the bur geoning number of animals at its Belvedere Road shelter and whose employees are piling on the overtime hours.

Contributing to the workload is that private shelters do not euthanize animals, leaving it up to the county to put more than 10,000 of them to sleep each year that aren't adopted or are too ill or dangerous to be rehabilitated. County commissioners in a workshop session today will discuss what to do about the growing number of stray and unwanted pets, including the possibility of mandating the spaying and neutering of certain animals and charging more to allow pet owners to See ANIMALS, 4B the conditions, cut short her performance and leave the stage in tears, although thousands of fans braved the chilly weather to hear the Grammy award-winning artist. On Monday, the fallout of LaBelle's troublesome treatment was being measured by city officials. Opinions varied, with Mayor Michael Brown calling it a "black-eye" for the city and Council Chairwoman Liz Wade urging critics not to rush to judge the Sixth Annual Jazz and Blues Festival based upon the LaBelle incident alone. "There are some lessons to be learned," said Wade, who was among the thousands of fans who waited for LaBelle's performance.

"Nobody moved out of their seats because they were waiting for Patti to do a great performance." See JAZZ FESTIVAL, 4B test- k. i i 4 ABANDONED: A cat given up by its owner is held at the main shelter. About 30,000 animals are projected to go through the shelter's doors this year. Sergeant left gun in restroom before Cheney visit Student president at FAU faces rare impeachment Administrators oppose the sanction, but student senators are acting on it. the agency was aware of the incident.

Caruso declined to comment on specifics, saying that it was resolved before Cheney stepped into the building, making it a Boca Raton police issue. Members of Cheney's press office said Monday that they had nothing to add. Duggan and Girardi could not be reached for comment Staff writer Stephanie Slater contributed to this story. sofiasantanapbpost.com sue," Duggan wrote. He added that another such mistake could cost her her badge.

The Secret Service had asked Boca Raton police for help in ensuring that security remained tight for the event. Attendees paid $250 to $1,000 to get into the lunchtime affair to raise money for U.S. Rep. E. Clay Shaw's reelection campaign and hear a speech by Cheney.

Secret Service spokesman Steve Caruso said Monday that Nicole Girardi. She was reprimanded a day after the incident by her supervisor, Capt. Matthew Duggan, who placed a letter about the incident in her personnel file. In that letter, Duggan said he opted not to recommend additional discipline because Girardi acknowledged her mistake. "Upon return of the sidearm, you assumed full responsibility for the event and in doing so recognizing the gravity of the is By SOFIA SANTANA Palm Beach Post Staff Writer BOCA RATON A Boca Raton police sergeant left her loaded service handgun in a public bathroom at the Boca Raton Resort Club shortly before Vice President Dick Cheney was set to arrive for a GOP fund-raiser.

Police found the gun during a security sweep of the building in preparation for Cheney's arrival at the March 6 event and quickly realized it belonged to Sgt. By KIMBERLY MILLER Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thprp's no blue dress or salacious details of a White House rendezvous, but FAU Student Government President Dan Wilson is facing the first impeachment charges levied against a student leader at the Boca Raton school in at least a decade. Florida Atlantic University administrators are advising against the sanction, but student Senates on the Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses already have approved articles of impeach- 1 A I LAiAJ Boat catches fire; 2 aboard rescued A U.S. Coast Guard cutter moves in to try to douse the flames on a 45-foot trawler about a half-mile off the 2300 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Boca Raton Monday. The two people aboard were rescued by a passing boater, uninjured, Coast Guard officials said.

The boat was allowed to sink. CHRIS MATULA Staff Photographer Wllson ment relating to neglect and nir-1 ing practices. Wilson said the charges are only partially true. The student government, which tried to shut down the university newspaper in 2004 it reported the approval of retroactive 25 percent pay raises for some representatives, is largely independent of the administration. While the senators may just be students, the politics rival those on Capitol Hill.

I Wilson admits to a charge that he broke rules requiring him to give reports at Senate meetings on every campus, but he contends other allegations, which include a constitutional violation of failing to appoint a chief justice to the student court, are false. Wilson also is charged with not hiring a supervisor of elections. The Broward County campus student Senate voted unanimously against on Monday, but it only takes approval by two campus Senates to send the proceedings to the University Wide Council and then to the stu- See IMPEACH, 4B Besieged screen and shutter contractor loses license the board that he considered Ficarra's personal bankruptcy filing to put a legal halt to the board's actions against Ficarra and said he would file his objections with the bankruptcy court. But the board proceeded, unanimously accepting the 29 charges, which included forging customers' names on documents and numerous instances of abandoning work or See LICENSE, 6B that Ficarra and his wife had sought protection under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code. His company had sought similar protection in October, as a large group of unhappy customers began filing lawsuits and complaints with a number of county agencies.

But last week, a federal judge converted the voluntary Chapter 7 filing to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Ficarra's attorney, Andrew Fulton, told By L0NA O'CONNOR Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH After listening to a long list of 29 violations against screen and shutter contractor Robert Ficarra, a county board revoked his license on Monday. Ficarra, who owns Palms West Shutter and Screen in West Palm Beach, did not attend the licensing hearing, but sent one of his bankruptcy attorneys to tell the board Emily J. Minor's column will return April 4..