Barrys Buzz Aug. 9, 2012

The Luxury Chamber of Commerce features a monthly wine and cheese mixer, hosted by owner Bob Luptak at Steinway Piano Gallery, 7940 N. Federal Highway, #100, Boca Raton, on August 20 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. with a special guest speaker, Stanley Tate, former Chair and President of the Resolution Trust Corporation and the founder of the Florida Pre-paid Scholarship Program, along with noted pianist Norm Kubrin and vocalist Lisa Remick, performing Jazz standards and the Great American Songbook, appearing every Wednesday at 264 The Grill in Palm Beach. Info and reservations at http://pianistsociety.eventbrite.com/. Boca Raton was named the second best place (just behind Boulder, Colo.) in the U.S. to start a business by Bloomberg Businessweek, calling it “silicon beach” for entrepreneurs to build the next Apple of Google. Jazziz Nightlife, a jazz restaurant and club will open in the former ZED 451 space at the south end of Mizner Park. The Republican Jewish Coalition will be taping former Obama supporters in Boca this afternoon for television commercials which will air throughout Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The RJC will have 500 volunteers canvassing Jewish neighborhoods and making calls Sept. 9 and 10 and plans over $6 million in tv spots in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Gallup reports that 9 percent of 2008 Obama voters have switched and now support Romney, while only 5 percent of McCain voters support President Obama. More than half of Florida voters age 50-64 fear they will never be able to retire. Former Dem House Speaker Tom Gustafson was tapped to run against Republican Bill Hager for the District 89 seat. Early voting is available through Saturday. As they say in Chicago, “Vote early and vote often”. Boca’s Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams was tapped to be Chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority which operates Tri-Rail. The “commuting commissioner” regularly uses Tri-Rail to West Palm Beach. Federal Highway is being repaved in Boca from SE 5th St. to north of Glades Road. FAU broke ground on a new 7 story $46 million dorm in time for next August, with 400 single and 200 double rooms. Incapital added 40 jobs in Boca and plans to add dozens more to the bond focused brokerage firm. Boca Raton based Office depot reported a loss of $64 million in the second quarter and revenue fell 7%, while shrinking stores to compete with online shopping, reducing store size to 5,000 sq. ft. in 41 stores from 15,000-17,000 sq. ft. Apple Ten Hospitality Ownership bought the Hilton Garden inn on Congress and I-95 in Boca for $10.9 million. The 73-year-old Camino Real bridge is in such poor condition that the failure of one major part could collapse it. Microsoft is changing the name of its Hotmail email service to Outlook. Home values in Palm Beach County rose 6% in the second quarter with median prices hitting $145,000. Sales are up but Palm Beach County has the second highest vacant homes in the state. Florida Power & Light racked up $353 million in profits for the second quarter, up 17% over the same period last year and made $386 million in profits for the first quarter, putting them on track for a profit of over $1 billion for the year. FPL operates as a monopoly in Florida and posted over $2 billion in profits in the past year. FP&L acquired 27,000 new customers from a year ago and will make over $3 billion in profits from 2010-2012. State owned and insurer of last resort Citizens property insurance bumped its rates an average 10% which will add $250 million to its coffers. State law confines rate increases to 10% annually but Citizens gets around it by reducing coverage, ending discounts, adding premiums and raising deductibles for the 337,000 Palm Beach and Broward accounts. Divorce Party The Musical continues at the Kravis Center through August 19. Tickets at www.kravis.org. Don’t miss the true story of an Immigrant coming to Texas. The Immigrant at the Stage Door Theatre, 8036 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs has been extended by popular demand to August 12. Paulette Dozier as Billie Holiday in Lady Day plays through Aug. 26. A Shayna Maidel starts Aug. 24. Call 954.344.7765 for ticket information or visit www.stagedoorfl.org. Soroptimists of Boca is seeking sponsors for the 39th annual “Women of Distinction” awards breakfast on Oct. 3 at Boca West Country Club. Contact kim@championhome.ocm or call 561.347.0440. Deadline is Sept. 21 for all ads. Movie Talk with Morrie Zryl airs tonight at 6 p.m. on www.wrpbitv.com with guests Randall Crosby and Barry Epstein. Barry Epstein Live internet television show airs Friday at 10 a.m. on www.wrpbitv.com featuring Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon, movie maven Morrie Zryl and Sun-Sentinel columnist Kingsley Guy. Movies opening at the Cinemark Theatre are Hope Springs (opened Wednesday), The Bourne Legacy, Ruby Sparks and the Campaign. Opening at the Movies of Delray is Hope Springs (opened Wednesday). The new Spanish River Blvd. park, across from the library will open on Aug. 11, with police directing traffic. The Peter Blum Family YMCA in Boca Raton hosts a free swim clinic with two Olympic swimmers, Maritza Correia (the first African American to break a world record in swimming) and Gil Stovall (who competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China) from 1 to 4 p.m. on August 11. Highlights include learning the Olympians favorite swim drills, a Q&A session with photos wearing a real Olympic medal and much more. Register at www.fitterandfaster.com/detail/boca-raton-fl/. On Friday, August 31, the Sunset Cove Amphitheater will host a live concert featuring Sublime with Rome with special guests Cypress Hill, Pepper, and the Dirty Heads. www.WestBocaLeaders.com has openings in some categories. Call 561.852.0000 for further information. You can have your own internet television show very inexpensively or sponsor my show. Contact Wayne at wrpbitv@yahoo.com. Birch Communications is a multi-million dollar company with an exclusive wholesale agreement with AT&T. If you would like to save money on your AT&T land phones without changing your numbers, call 561.852.0000. For Al-Anon-meetings in South Palm Beach County, go to www.southpalmbeachafg.org/meeting_list.html Barry Epstein, APR, is a noted public relations, marketing and political consultant based in Boca Raton, president of the Luxury Chamber of Commerce (www.luxurychamber.com), the West Boca Leaders networking group and the founder and former president of the West Boca Chamber of Commerce; with a weekly internet television show on www.wrpbitv.com. Website; www.publicrelations.nu; email: pr@publicrelations.nu, or fax column items to 561.451.0000. His blog is on the Sun-Sentinel/Jewish Journal website at www.floridajewishjournal.com - http://barrys-journal.blogspot.com.