Christine DiMattei

How A Miami Billionaire's $100 Print Became A $20 Million Collection

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:46:56 +0000

"It was ages ago," says Jorge Perez with a laugh, recalling the first artwork he ever invested in.

It was purchased when Perez was still a young student in New York, years before he became a billionaire developer and the man Time Magazine dubbed the "Donald Trump of the tropics.”

WLRN Adds Latin America Correspondent In Collaboration With NPR And The Herald

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Journalist Tim Padgett spent nearly a quarter of a century covering Latin America and the Caribbean for TIME and Newsweek magazines.

But he's always been envious of the way foreign correspondents deliver the news for NPR.

"They're giving listeners a richer sense of the sounds and the colors than perhaps I'm able to do as a print reporter," he says.

New Broward Center Lounge Offers Taste Of High Life

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:39:04 +0000

At the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, it's intermission during a production of "War Horse."

Eric Chirinsky stands at the bar of the Broward Center's new lounge Club Level, drink in hand, watching the Miami Heat battle the Chicago Bulls on a flat-screen TV.

"I just figured I'd check it out and see how our home team was doing tonight," he says.

But his wife, Katarina, isn't focused on pro basketball right now. She's sitting alone, enjoying a plate of hors d'oeuvres and a glass of bubbly.

Simulator Offers Crash Course On Dangers Of Texting

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:40:28 +0000

Sixteen-year-old Webster Jean is driving around on city streets, left hand on the wheel, right hand holding a smartphone. As he reads and responds to his text messages, he repeatedly veers across the double-yellow lines.

And then -- wham.

"I crashed," says Jean with a chuckle.

Jean tee-bones another car – but he’s fine. The teenager is just taking a spin in a texting-while-driving simulator brought to Park Vista High School by wireless carrier AT&T.

Negotiation Is Key For Women Seeking Equal Pay

Christine DiMattei — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:59:37 +0000

The woman whose name is synonymous with the fight for equal pay for women brought her message to South Florida this week. And Lilly Ledbetter has some advice for working women at any stage of their careers: learn how to negotiate.

What To Do About The Rising Cost Of College Tuition

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 02 May 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Throughout the 2013 legislative session, we've been posing questions to Tallahassee lawmakers that were raised at a WLRN-Miami Herald News Town Hall last February.

Among the topics is the rising cost of higher education in Florida.

Key Largo Honors Humphrey Bogart With Film Festival

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:30:00 +0000

Here's lookin' at YOU, Bogie fans.

Starting today, fans of Humphrey Bogart will be flocking to Key Largo for a film festival celebrating one of Hollywood's most beloved tough guys.

Pursuing Reckless Cops Wins Sun-Sentinel Its First Pulitzer

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

It was a humdinger of a story.

A Miami police officer in a marked squad car is pursued, pulled over and handcuffed by a Florida state trooper after speeding down the turnpike like race car driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

A dash-cam video of that pre-dawn October chase in 2011 went viral and sparked a three-month investigation by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper into how local police officers routinely endangered the general public through reckless driving.

Arts Garage Wins Real Estate Tug-Of-War In Delray Beach

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:12:23 +0000

Much to the relief of Delray Beach arts lovers, the city has decided to let a popular cultural hub stay in the space it’s called home for the last two years.

The fate of the Arts Garage has hung in the balance since last summer, when a law firm offered to buy the city-owned property that the arts incubator occupies downtown. Since then, Delray Beach has been forced to choose between the new jobs the law firm says it would bring and the wildly popular performance venue.

Saying Goodbye To Fashion Designer Lilly Pulitzer

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:00:00 +0000

My wardrobe is completely Lilly Pulitzer-free.

And today, I regret it.

As the fashion world mourns the death of the socialite-turned-designer, who died Sunday in Palm Beach at the age of 81, I find myself wondering what about Pulitzer’s signature line was so intimidating to me.

Were the sherbet orange and sea foam green prints too bold for me?

'Owl-catraz' Revisited: ACLU Defends FAU Students Against Alleged Intimidation

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:30:00 +0000

“Owl-catraz” is no more.

But it seems the controversy over a private prison company’s efforts to buy naming rights to Florida Atlantic University’s stadium is far from over.

In a letter to FAU’s Dean of Students, the American Civil Liberties Union criticizes the university for an alleged retaliation against seven students for rallying against the defunct deal.

Escape from 'Owl-catraz': Prison Firm Pulls Out Of FAU Stadium Deal

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:26:46 +0000

A $6 million deal that would have given a private prison company naming rights to Florida Atlantic University's stadium is now off. And that's leaving some FAU students wondering if another donation that size is coming around any time soon.

South Florida Seniors To Lawmakers: Hands Off Our Arcades

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:20:43 +0000

Playing cards -- even though you hate it.

Going shopping -- although you already have a closetful of clothes.

Staying home and watching television? Yawn.

Golf? Not on your life.

Many of the senior citizens who gathered Tuesday in solidarity at Boynton Beach’s Cleopatra Arcade paint a grim picture of a future without their beloved senior arcades.

Update: FAA Closes Boca Raton, North Perry Control Towers, Spares Opa-locka

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:43:29 +0000

North Perry and Boca Raton airports are among 149 small facilities nationwide where federal budget cuts have forced closures of air traffic control towers.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced the decision today, nearly a month after it released a preliminary list of towers that could be affected.

The tower at Miami-Dade's Opa-locka Airport had originally been considered for closure, but it's now on the list of only 24 towers nationwide that will be kept operational.

How The Sequester Will Impact South Florida's Small Airports

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

On any given day, 53-year-old Ron Wooldridge guides dozens of flights in and out of Boca Raton Airport, just east of I-95. But early next month, instead of manning the airport's control tower, he could be standing on the unemployment line.

"I find it a little ridiculous,” says Wooldridge. “They're not thinking of the safety of the aircraft. Or how it's going to affect the rest of the city itself."

South Florida's Venezuelan Jews Recall Bitter Anti-Semitism Under Chavez

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Inside Jose Moreno's Judaica shop in Aventura, there's an entire wall lined with Hebrew books. Other shelves hold glistening menorahs and there's a rack filled with special Passover games and toys for children.

An elderly customer enters the shop wearing a yarmulke and Moreno greets him in Spanish.

Moreno, 71, was raised in Venezuela and for many years owned a similar store in Caracas.

South Florida Reaction to America's First Pope

Phil Latzman and Christine DiMattei and Kaylois Henry — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:48:06 +0000

Pope Francis may not be from the United States, but for many in South Florida, the fact that he's from Argentina is even better.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski has hailed the selection of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as a "great thing” for the hemisphere, and called the new Pope an American.

The Dune Abides: Work Begins To Fix Boca Beach Eroded by Sandy

Christine DiMattei — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Imagine enough sand to cover about four football fields, four feet high, and you'll get an idea of how much work is being done to build up the dunes in Boca Raton's Red Reef Park.

'Weston-zuela' Welcomes News Hugo Chavez Is Dead

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:33:28 +0000

It was busier than usual inside Café Canela last night, but owner Ramon Peraza repeatedly came out from behind the counter to give new arrivals a hug or a handshake. All of them were jubilant.

But Peraza struggles to describe his emotions.

“I feel that my heart is very, very happy and quiet, quiet. We are waiting for this for many years,” says Peraza

When Peraza says the word “quiet,” he makes a soothing gesture over his chest.

'Tweet Seats' In Theaters Spark Battle Between Technology And Tradition

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:14:00 +0000

On stage at the Kravis Center, Palm Beach Opera is performing Rossini's Cenerentola, the Italian version of Cinderella. In the second to last row of the house, 27-year-old Jennifer Pfaff's thumbs are going a mile a minute on her smartphone:

Christine DiMattei, 2013 FAPB, Individual Achievement category

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:18:18 +0000

Audio includes spot, hard news and feature material by WLRN reporter Christine DiMattei.

Spot: "Obama in Century Village"
Hard News: "Palm Beach County Floods"
Feature: "Jaco" -- Parts 1 and 2

Delray Beach Postpones Vote on 'Garage' Sale

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:52:14 +0000

A crowd of about one hundred supporters of the Arts Garage gathered outside the venue Tuesday and marched the few blocks to Delray Beach City Hall. They were prepared to speak out against a bid by the law firm of Kanner and Pintaluga to buy the city-owned space that houses Arts Garage.

DNC Chair: 'Unbelievable Oppression' In Cuba Makes Continuing Embargo Necessary

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The leader of the Democratic National Committee says the U.S. embargo of Cuba should remain in place, in spite of recent reforms in the Communist island nation.

Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke before a crowd of over 500 people Friday at an event sponsored by the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches.

The DNC chair says it doesn't make sense to lift the embargo, in light of what she calls the "unbelievable oppression" in Cuba.

West Palm Seniors Teed Off Over Plans For Golf Course

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Thousands of West Palm Beach senior citizens will have to wait another month for a decision on a controversial development planned near their retirement community.

After hours of public comment on Thursday, a Palm Beach County Commission meeting ended in a tied vote on the future of the project, named "Reflection Bay."

Developers want to turn an unused golf course next to the West Palm Beach Century Village into a neighborhood of homes and retail stores.

Drill, Baby, Drill: Post-Sandy Restoration Work Begins On Fort Lauderdale's SR A1A

Christine DiMattei — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:30:00 +0000

A four-block stretch of State Road A1A in Fort Lauderdale that got a pounding from Mother Nature last fall is now getting a drilling by construction workers.

Between October and November, crashing waves, high tides and storm surge from Hurricane Sandy destroyed parts of the beach, seawall and roadway just north of Sunrise Boulevard.

This week, an enormous rig positioned along the beach will drill about 40 feet down, to prepare the way for the installation of a new seawall.

The President's Poet Came From The Paradise Of Poetry: South Florida

Christine DiMattei — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 11:49:38 +0000

Poets are melancholy and morose, right?

“I’m so happy,” says a beaming 23-year-old Marci Calabretta of Hallandale Beach.

People who write poetry can’t relate to others, correct?

“I love people. I adore people,” says 23-year-old Jose Villar of South Miami.

Most poetic souls are lonely and live in dusty attic rooms in ancient houses.

“I live in one of those over-55 ‘active’ communities,” laughs 64-year-old Adele Alexandre of Coconut Creek.

On Inauguration And MLK Day, South Floridians Agree That Diversity Takes 'Work'

Christine DiMattei — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:30:00 +0000

In recent years, parallels have often been drawn between South Florida's diverse population and the multi-cultural America that President Obama will be presiding over for a second term. But some South Floridians feel that cooperation between various racial and cultural groups is still a work in progress.

Obama's Florida Body-Double In D.C. For Inauguration

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:30:00 +0000

Among the throngs of people gathered at the National Mall to watch today's inauguration ceremony is Boca Raton's "President Obama."

That would be Lynn University student Eric Gooden. Last fall, the 24-year-old senior served as a stand-in for the President during Lynn University's final preparations for the presidential debate in late October.

In D.C. and Delray, 'Poetry' Is The Word On The Street

Christine DiMattei — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

From the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to Old School Square in Delray Beach, poetry class is in session.

Today, 44-year-old Richard Blanco, the Miami-raised son of Cuban immigrants, becomes the fifth poet ever to take part in a President's inaugural ceremony. Blanco is scheduled to read an original poem after President Obama is sworn in for his second term.

Bidding On The Glitz: Studio 54 Auction In West Palm Beach

Christine DiMattei — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:15:19 +0000

A West Palm Beach art gallery is taking collectors on a trip back in time to the golden -- or silver glitter -- age of disco.

Items from the personal collection of Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell are going on the auction block tomorrow at Palm Beach Modern Auctions.

They include hundreds of photos taken in the hey-day of the legendary New York City nightclub. Rubell, who died in 1989, was known for his celebrity-studded parties.