South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 19

i ii if ip wn i 2B3 Monday, November 6, 2000 PB LOCAL SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA LIPS SERVICE Prosecutor honored as voice for victims By PAULA McMAHON Staff writer The work that Broward County sex crimes prosecutor Stacey Ho-nowitz does is about as far from glamorous as it gets. She puts rapists and child abusers in prison. But the 12-year veteran prosecutor will be featured in February's edition of Glamour magazine for winning a national award that recognizes women who use their best physical assets to help others. Judges of the first "Best of You" competition said Honowitz has the most beautiful lips in the country and puts them to the best possible use speaking up for rape victims and molested children. "They said a lot of the entrants were models who are 6 feet tall and look perfect, but they wanted people who are good role models," Honowitz said.

"I am the voice of women and children who are raped. I have to get their message across to a jury when they can't," she said. Other winners are an Illinois nursing student who uses her hands for others, a Delaware woman who uses her legs to coach a Special Olympics track and field team and a Georgia woman who uses her feet to stand up as a role model for Big Sisters of America. Honowitz's prize was a three-day trip to New York, an all-day photo shoot for the February edition and an awards lunch. The straight-talking Honowitz used the occasion to promote her effort to educate children and par ents about sexual abuse so victims know if someone abuses them and understand they should report it.

Honowitz has written two books to teach children what is and isn't appropriate contact with an adult and to help guide parents through the legal system if their child is abused. Publishers have rejected the books because of concerns they were too "racy," Honowitz said. Stacey Honowitz, a Broward County sex crimes prosecutor, won an award from Clamour magazine. rl- (it Voters urged to plan before going to precinct Panel looks at school safety SCHOOLS Continued from page IB ute to a tense atmosphere. For example, those who requested absentee ballots may vote in person if they didn't mail in their ballot.

But voting is slowed if they forget the absentee ballot and workers have to verify that it hasn't already been submitted. Another problem is write-in candidates. There are more than a dozen of them in Tuesday's election. But their names don't appear on the ballot, and workers aren't allowed to talk about the write-in candidates, LePore said. "That all adds time to the process, so we needed to hire more poll workers to help speed it along," LePore said.

Then there are the problems of voters not updating their registration. Voters are asked to show identification, but it means another call for verification if their address doesn't match voter rolls. LePore said she rarely hears about inoperable voting machines. The most recent complaint came from former State Rep. Curt Lev-ine, who lost by 82 votes to Slosberg in the House District 89 runoff.

"I had poll workers check the machine as soon as I heard, and they were working fine," LePore said. Complaints of malfunctioning booths usually mean voters haven't inserted the ballot card properly, she said. wnertxo voir you are nuisuie where you vote, look at your voter -V address and precinct number of your polling place. If you have vl moved from the address listed on ,) your voter registration card, the law tj reauires that vou vote in the -J precinct to which you have moved. If you have a question, call 561 -355-2650 between 8:30 and 5 p.m.

Information can also be found on the Internet at the election supervisor Web sites, iww.browardsoa.ora or www.pbcalections.org. Ba praparad: To save time, do your -homework before you go to the polling place. You can bring in a marked sample ballot or information to help you make your decision, but don't display it for others to see. Avoid Unas: Vote during the early sfJ morning, lunch hour or late afternoon to avoid potentially long lines. Voters will not be allowed to cast ballots before 7 a.m.

or later than 7 p.m. Tuesday. Absantaa ballot: Your voted ballot must be in the Supervisor of -Elections Office, 301 N. Olive Ave, Room 105, West Palm Beach, no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.

Voter absentee ballots cannot be turned in at the r. polls. Only the voter can return a ballot to the elections office. For mora information: Call ,3 www.pbcalactioni.org. registration forms incorrectly.

The most common error is not signing the form, Dowd said. One man who didn't sign his card was nearly escorted out of the Elections Office by security guards. He kept insisting that a Department of Motor Vehicles worker, where he registered to vote, erased his signature. "It was obvious that he hadn't signed it or that the form hadn't been tampered with. But he wasn't buying it," said Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore.

"He was getting out of hand, and we had to threaten to call security." On election night, poll workers will face all kinds of challenges possibly even from candidates. During the Oct. 3 runoff election in state House District 88, candidate Barry Silver insisted on opening doors for voters in spite of a law that makes candidates stay at least 50 feet from the entrance to a polling site. After sheriff deputies threatened to haul him away in handcuffs, Silver left on his own. In the House District 89 primary election, Irving Slosberg created such a commotion at one precinct that LePore put sheriff deputies there for the runoff election.

LePore said her first rule for poll workers is to be nice. If anything happens, they're told to call her immediately. "We don't want them to have to deal with someone who's that upset. They're there to help people, not fight with them," LePore said. But misunderstandings, long lines and impatience can contrib ELECTION Continued from page IB Precinct deputies stand at the door to monitor the 50-foot no-campaigning rule.

Precinct inspectors handle the actual balloting, setting up and testing portable voting booths and helping voters through the process. It's a no-frills, 14-hour job. Workers arrive at 6 a.m. to set up for a 7 a.m. opening.

They stay past the 7 p.m. closing to tear down and deliver ballots to elections offices in West Palm Beach. "Many of our poll workers do it every year, so they're like a family unit that help each other out, "said Charmaine Kelly, chief deputy of the Elections Office. Grayce Dowd has spent five years as a poll worker for Precinct 88, Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach. She's also one of about 40 temporary workers hired to assist with the challenge of serving the county's nearly 657,000 registered voters.

Pacifying the public isn always easy, she said. "I've had out-of-state calls from people requesting that we overnight mail ballots to them," Dowd said. "Last week, a young lady called wanting to know if she could vote online. When I explained she couldn't because it would be difficult to confirm a voter's identity online, she was most upset." For months, workers have been updating voter records and trying to reach people who filled out their Mel MeUndez can be reached or 561-243-6538. He thinks the committee could do a huge service by telling everyone who works with troubled children what options are available.

"Many folks may not know what they are," he said. "That's often the case in a large system." Another subcommittee will focus its attention on communication. That means more than letting the public and parents know if trouble arises. The group already has created public service announcements, with the help of student actors, that encourage youths who know about weapons on campus to come forward. "In all of the big events, some kid or kids knew about it," Kerr said.

Several students knew that Nathanial Brazill, the student accused of shooting Grunow, had a gun. None of them came forward because they did not think he would really use it. That part of Palm Beach County officials' effort has attracted attention around the state. Jackie Johnson, president of the Sunshine State School Public Relations Association, said her organization was working on a statewide program to encourage students to speak up. "What we are looking to do is essentially break that code of silence that a lot of kids feel prevents them from speaking up," she said.

The group's members are conducting focus groups this week with students from around the state to determine how best to get the message out, Johnson said. By spring, Johnson said her organization hopes to distribute to all Florida districts information kits that will include public service announcements, bumper stickers and posters and guidelines for developing youth-run violence prevention organizations and summits. Killets said Palm Beach County officials also would be talking about local efforts before the governor's task force on school violence and upcoming statewide meetings of school board members. Kellie Patrick can be reached at or 561-243-6629. Property associations lose exemption to fee ELECTION FACTS Palm Beach County registered about 20,000 people during the three weeks before the Oct 1 0 cutoff.

Unused ballots are saved for two years, then destroyed. Until 1995, registered voters who hadn't voted for four years were automatically dropped from the rolls. The Elections Office logged more than 5,000 calls during the Sept 5 primary election. Officials estimate they could receive three times this number on Tuesday. Voters can write any names on their ballot but only official write-in candidates will be counted.

Candidates and political parties frequently purchase voter registration records to track down voters on Election Day and remind them to vote. Polling hours: Polls are open from 7 a to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Who may vota: Only voters who were registered by Oct. 10.

Registration card: Take your voter registration card and a photo Identification, such as a Florida driver's license. Other forms of identification accepted include U.S. passports, employee badges, debit and credit cards, military IDs, student IDs and neighborhood association IDs. All registered voters without proper identification will be permitted to vote but will be asked to sign an affidavit 5100 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, FL 33023 054)987-6577 in i RICHARD JANET NATIONAL Try Senso and notice how dear and transparent it sounds.

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"Each community pays dues to the master association and certainly any increase is passed on to the homeowner," Wisecup said. Other property managers say they're not too worried. Bill Rai-mond, executive director of the Boca West Master Association, estimates the association will have to pay about $3,000 for its 35 parcels. "We have a multi-million-dollar operation and $3,000 is not a significant dent in our budget," he said. Stella M.

Chavez can be reached at or 561-243-6602. cravings dancing called skanking. The dance involved shaking the legs, arms and hips while moving in a circular direction. While a large number of those attending were teenagers, the event was popular with some older rock fans as well. Sam Short, 37, came from Vera Beach for the show with his girlfriend, Kelly Childers.

He said the young crowd didn't bother him at all. "We're all here for the same thing, to hear great music," he said. Scott Travis can be reached at or 561-243-6637. 1 DRAINAGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 said manager Bill Winters. The issue arose during the county 's discussions about buying farm land in the Agricultural Reserve, Winters said.

The agency learned it would lose some land from the tax rolls because Palm Beach County is exempt from paying assessments if the land it owns is for public use. The district then hired a tax law attorney to look at who else was exempt. The attorney discovered that the agency was violating its charter by not collecting fees from certain groups. Property managers and churches should have learned about these new assessments in July or August when they received a notice listing the amount, said Danna Acker-man-White, director of community affairs. But some people didn't read the fine print until last week.

The unexpected bills stunned Gary Wisecup, who manages property at Aberdeen Golf Country Club west of Boynton Beach. KarlJulius, Beach. He ran out of the tent with his fingers in his ears. "That is waaaay too loud," he said. One thing missingfrom this year's concert was a mosh pit, which was popular with past concertgoers.

Mosh pits are spaces designed for people to run around in circles and crash into each other. Patty Larschan, general manager for the Buzz, said there weren't many "mosh-pit bands" at this year's event. Moshing tends to be popular at concerts with bands specializing in angry, intense rock music. A group of Port St. Lucie teenagers started doing a type of rxi mmm Bake Sale satisfies music mimics i A LLIED HEARING AID CENTERS M.

SKELLY, N.B.C., H.I.S., A.C.A. M. SKELLY, N.B.C., H.I.S., A.C.A. BOARD CERTIFIED AUDIOPROSTHOLOGISTS CONCERT CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB the price, $25 for the lawn and $35 for a shaded seat. tne woman attending the concert was taken to the hospital because of the weather.

Palm Beach County fire officials said she had a heat-related epileptic seizure. Those seeking shade visited Spec's Techno Tent, where the pounding beat of house and techno music blared. The tent resembled a dance club, complete with strobe lights and fake smoke. The high volume sounds of Dave Aude, a DJ and producer, were too much for 2100 E. Hallandate Bch.

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