South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 17

LOCAL SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA 2B Friday, September 3, 1999 pb COCAINE SEIZED Brogan content; Logan wrestles with bid campaigns. He helped Ventura win with less than $500,000 against two opponents who spent more than $12 million. Sean Pittman, Logan's campaign spokesman, would not say how much money the state representative has raised. Federal election laws do not require exploratory committees to file public reports. The first party primaries in the U.S.

Senate race are scheduled for Sept. 5, 2000. If party runoffs are necessary, they would take place on Oct. 3, 2000, with the general election slated Nov. 7, 2000.

tail jii SENATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB By contrast, some GOP strategists fear McCollum is too conservative to defeat Nelson, the likely Democratic nominee. Gallagher is labeled by party insiders as too far to the left to win the GOP nomination. Brogan would have had the support of Bush and his vaunted fund-raising machine in the U.S. Senate race. "I would've campaigned for him, I would've been openly supportive, and I told the other candidates this," said Bush, who joined Brogan at the Capitol news conference.

Bush, who was happy with Bro-gan's decision to stay, called the lieutenant governor "an integral part of everything we do." Brogan also shrugged off questions about whether he would be a paign announced it had hired Bill Hillman, who is best known for his quirky television ads for Ventura of the Reform Party. Hillman is expected to bring more credibility to an exploratory process that hasn't been taken seriously by many Florida politicians. He is a nationally known political figure who flew in to Miami after consulting with actor Warren Beat-ty about his potential run for president next year. Hillman will advise Logan on whether he can realistically fashion a victorious campaign independent of Republican and Democratic organizations. A survey by Florida Voter political journal snowed Logan trailing badly.

Nelson received 41 percent, McCollum got 29 percent and Logan just 6 percent. A Logan victory is a long shot, but Hillman has specialized in such candidate for any other office governor or even U.S. Senate in the future. "I didn't forecast out where I'd be a year from now, or five years from now," Brogan said. Florida Republican Party Chairman Al Cardenas said Brogan would have been a "great U.S.

Senate candidate," but that he remains a "star of the future." Nelson predicted Republicans still face a tumultuous primary campaign that could sap their chances. Brogan, he acknowledged, "would've been a formidable opponent." Logan, whose ouster as state House speaker-designate in January 1998 alienated many black leaders from the Democratic Party but boosted his statewide name recognition, has not said whether he will run for the Senate seat. However on Thursday, his cam Sun-Sentinel Political Writer Buddy Nevins and Michael Griffin, political editor for The Orlando Sentinel, contributed to this report. 1 properties PACKING IT UP: Ken Matlack, a member of the Palm Beach Sheriffs Office task force assigned to U.S. Customs, places bricks of cocaine into a box on Thursday.

Officials on Wednesday seized 275 pounds of cocaine from a Haitian boat headed to the port of Palm Beach. PhotoStephen Hayford Dennis a boon to surfers, bane to U.S. legislation needed, Florida official says mm CLj, RIDES CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB said. "If we don't do our job, people can die. We have the toughest inspection program of any state in the nation." Florida's inspection program came under attack after the November 1988 death of Christie Schafale, 17.TheCooperCitygirl was killed and six others were injured when the arm of a ride called The Monster at the Brow-afrd County Fair snapped and plunged 1 0 feet to the ground.

An inspection revealed a crack had been paintpd over. The accident ied the Legislature to enact one of the nation's toughest ride inspection laws, mandatingyearly metal fatigue tests, the followingyear. Beside the twice-yearly inspection for all permanent park rides, the state must inspect each ride in a traveling amusement show before it is allowed to open. Crawford said the recent string of park accidents across the United States none of them in Florida points to the need for federal legislation setting nationwide standards. SAND, MAN: A wall of sand piles up under a pipe that delivers sand from the sand transfer plant north of the Boynton Inlet.

The pipe renourishes eroded beaches such as the one across from Ocean Inlet Park. PhotoTaylor Jones why Apartments.com? Family unites to make father's dream come true BEACHES CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB still seeped in. He said he planned to bring in front-end loaders today to haul away piles of sand that have essentially swallowed his sea wall. Cipriani said officials told him he can't just shovel the sand back to the beach because it now may be contaminated. Erosion wasn't that bad county-wide, Meskiel reported, and dune heights grew as much as 6 feet.

But while the dunes grew tall, the beaches shrank. At Kreusler Park in Lake Worth, the high sand gave lifeguards a lift, Meskiel said. "You needed a ladder to climb into the towers) and now you don't," he said. Meanwhile, garbage pails designed to swing so trash collectors can push them up to dump the contents into larger receptacles are now fii ally planted in the sand. The big push from the tides also piled sand high at Boca, Boynton and Jupiter inlets, keeping boats from going through the large waves until Thursday.

Only one boat made it out of Boynton Inlet on Thursday. Meskiel said, the Sea Mist party boat. Both Juno and Lake Worth piers remained closed on Thursday, he said. Lake Worth took a bigger beating, with railings on the east end and north side removed by the surf, and planks on the walkway popping out, Meskiel said. He noted the planks are designed to pop out in heavy surf to relieve stress on the concrete pilings.

It could have been a lot worse, Meskiel said. "We lucked out here in South Florida." The only injury Meskiel said he was aware of was that of a 64-year-old woman who was walking along the beach in Lake Worth on Wednesday and injured her knee after being toppled by a crashing wave and knocked into the dune line. "The pier got beat up really bad in Lake Worth. We lost 40 or more planks," said Lt. Chris Porter, of the Lake Worth Beach Patrol.

"We've been retrieving them for the last couple days and will be throughout the weekend." He said the rail at the end of the pier was knocked off, a bait station was torn off, and some benches broke away. He added that there was some erosion all along the coast, but then a big swell came in from the northeast and started bringing more sand up on the beach. In Boca Raton, Lt. Fred Roth-beigei of the beach patrol said there is erosion on all the beaches. "We had to tie our lifeguard towers back so they wouldn't wash away," he said.

"Water is coining all the way up to the sea grass, an extra 15 feet." But the wacky weather has been good for some beachfront businesses. At Premanti Bros. Restau rant at Sumise Boulevard and State Road Al A in Bi owai County, many locals were out to set the waves lapping at the street on Wednesday afternoon, manager Andre Preddiesaid. "People came and had a few more beers," Preddie said. "Locals like to see these things because they don't happen too often." "I was flabbergasted to know that California barely an inspection program," he said.

"A national standard would be in the public's best interest." Most states that do insp. ctions conduct them annually. Ci awford said his office has monitored recent accidents and immediately checked to see whether similar rides could be operating in Florida. When found, the state inspected them immediately. Other South Florida Parks scheduled to undergo an inspection in the next two weeks include: Carnival USA, Miami; Carousel Connection, Davie; Crandon Park, Miami; Festival Fun Parks, Dunia Beach; Fun-scape, Fort Lauderdale; Indoor Entertainment of Florida, Coral Springs; Larry Penny Thompson Park, Miami; Omni International Mall, Miami; Regal Cinema's Escape, Fort Lauderdale; Sega Gameworks LLC, Miami; Entertainment, Davie; Sega Gameworks LLC, Sunrise; and Tropical Fun Center, Naranja.

Linda Kleindienstcan be reached at IkleindienstQj or 850-224-6214. managing the Deerfield Beach theater. "It's a long haul. Imagine going to the hospital and then going to every place you have to go, deal with all the different subcontractors and inspections," she said. The family kept Robert Rice in the loop by asking his advice and videotaping the construction.

"He knows that we're opening," Stern said on Thursday as she ran around with family members distributing fliers. Geraldine Rice said her husband is excited but sad as well. "He is a very dynamic man, and (his condition makes it all the worse," said Geraldine Rice, snapping pictures of the theater that she will show her husband. Merle Augustin can be reached at or 561-243-6522. be under watch only gotten us so far," said Ed Rice, the state's safety engineer.

"The idea is to have as many law enforcement agencies as possible try to focus on the fact that it's important to buckle up." The campaign's goal is to have 85 percent of drivers use their seat belts by 2000. The national average is 69 percent. "Right now, we're about 58 percent, which is extremely low," Rice said. "We have a lot fewer people buckling up in this slate than in other stales. 1 (ttiinn can be ivar'nrri ui notivnt'ii sun-senimel.

oh or Ml-243-M33. DREAM 'CON I INUED FROM PAGE IB The $3 million Boynton Cinema, to open today at 9764 S. Military Trail, will have eight theaters with stadium seating and rooms that can be rented for parties. The original May opening date was delayed, but the family rallied to finish this movie house, leavingthe rest of the dream on hold. Dachelet, a lawyer, "did wonders handling all the legal ends, all the county permits," said Forbes, who oversaw the construction.

"We took his Robert Rice's) vision, and we implemented it. My mom had a lot of say-so how she wanted it decorated. She's very good at that," said Stern, crediting her mother with the wine, teal and lavender color scheme. Stern picked up the slack while Holiday traffic to there's no reason your comfy clothes can't be your apartment hunting clothes, too. Apartments.com is a new service of We've teamed up to make your move easier.

(Dare we say more enjoyable?) Highly visual apartment listings include customized searches, maps, photos, floor plans Video Walk Around and much more. Plus, the latest classifieds fiom ttit and lots of local community information are Just away. Start your search now! Sun-Sentinel opartments.com,. DRIVERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE IB seal belt will be issued a citation. "There will be no wai nings given to anyone we stop who not buckled up," he said.

Law enforcement officers are not allowed to pull over a motorist for failing to wear a. seat belt unless the driver has committed an other infraction. Organizers of the Buckie Up Florida! Campaign al the Depart ment of Transportation have teamed up with law enforcement asanotherway to't tin: sssge across. "The public education part has on classifieds at www.sun-sentlnel.com Click IS Staff writer Kuthy Bushoust conb ibuled Uj this report. Much L.ipku can be reached al mlipkabi Sun Scntinel.cuin or rM 1.