The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 113

4B THE PALM BEACH POST MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 1989 lo System buried under avalanche of worthless checks -r. 'r-rA r5tw Fir i nil I.i 1 fi tarog pi 'r lv cica Creditors holding $42,000 worth of bad checks allegedly written by restaurateurs Charles and Kate Gerson of Singer Island are hoping the courts will help them get the costs of their labor and materials out of Taboo of Palm Beach Gardens Inc. "I pleaded not guilty to all of them and we're going to trial" in September, Gerson said last week. He and his lawyer declined further comment. In court records, clients say the Gersons wrote checks for plumbing, electrical work, air conditioning and advertising for their gourmet Harbour Shops restaurant, last year and still haven't made good on them.

"I'm in a very uneasy position," said Bob Craft of Jack's Electric Co. of Royal Palm Beach, out $21,789.56 for work on the restaurant. "If you get hit as hard as this guy hit me, it's hard." Dania Wilson, who does the books for Wilson's Plumbing said Taboo's $4,500 bad check forced the two-year-old company to take out a loan to cover expenses. "I think it's great that he's got a good reputation and I even like his food," Wilson said. "But he's made it tough to be a small contractor." The Bad Check Unit's Nelson said the course will start after 20 people are enrolled in the program.

"It's called she said. "As in 'Why don't you balance your CHECKSfrom IB who identify race and other information on the fronts of checks. In Florida, it's the law. "Yes, it's discriminatory," Brand said. "It discriminates against crooks." Brand and Nelson said their first priority is to the victims of check bouncers.

They'd rather get restitution than jail time. "It's a certain amount of bluff and a certain amount of threat," Brand said of the method he uses to persuade check writers to pay up before trial. "We're not a collection agency by any means." It's a felony to pass a check when it is used to obtain something worth more than $150. If something isn't obtained at the time the check is passed, the offense is a misdemeanor. In her nine years with the unit, Nelson has filed misdemeanors in which checks for $90,000 were written and felonies in which checks for $151 were passed, she said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has had a bad-check unit since 1972. By mid-August, the department had investigated 869 cases as opposed to 540 cases in the same period in 1988, analyst Kathleen A. Hanrahan said. Police departments also investigate the crime. Although uncommon, hot-check writers can land in jail.

A 25-year-old West Palm Beach woman was sentenced in June to 18 months at the Broward Correctional Institution for writing 13 bad checks including one for a $20 manicure. THOMAS GRAVESStaff Photographer The Mary B. Lyman House at 209 S. Lake Drive, built in 1927, is one of a dozen historic sites Lantana officials didn't know they had. Lantana has 12 historic sites, state says didn't know the business he started in 1925 was registered on April 12, 1986, as a historical structure: "I never knew anyone had done anything like that," said Dunbar, who lives in an apartment behind Ye Tower Plaza.

"There was talk about saving it, but I couldn't see a way to do it." Cherry had never considered saving the house at 614 S. Lake Drive. The single-story house with guest quarters was built in 1939. Cherry was attracted to the house because of its landscaping. "It has ancient oak trees in the front and all sorts of palms," Cherry said.

"It's really a beautiful piece of property." Cherry wasn't that thrilled about the house until she learned it was a historic structure. "Actually, we were going to bulldoze the house down," she said. "But now that we do know, I just might change the plans." Historic Sites In Lantana THE LILAS PIPER HOUSE, 306 Atlantic Drive S.W. Built in 1925. YE TOWER RESTAURANT, 916 S.

Dixie Highway. Opened in 1925. In 1987, the restaurant was leveled and Ye Tower Plaza was built. LAKESHORE COTTAGE, 210 N. Lake Drive.

Built in 1915. SINGLE-STORY HOUSE at 202 N. Lake Drive. Built in 1925. CASA CONTENTA, 314 N.

Lake Drive. Two-story house built in 1929. Registered with the State Bureau of Historic Preservation on April 12, 1986. Since being registered as an historic structure on April 12, 1986, the house has been torn down and the Coconut Cove waterfront apartments erected. LYMAN-CHAFFIN HOUSE, 122 S.

Lake Drive. The two-story house, built in 1887, is the oldest house on its original site in Palm Beach County. MARY B. LYMAN HOUSE, 209 S. Lake Drive.

Two-story house with four units, built in 1927. SINGLE-STORY HOUSE at 318 S. Lake Drive. Built in 1925. SINGLE-STORY HOUSE with guest quarters at 614 S.

Lake Drive. Built in 1939. NELLIE KING HOUSE, 127 S. Oak St. Two-story house built in 1925.

WILLIAM A. HALL HOUSE, 228 E. Ocean Ave. One-story house built in 1914. Now a gift shop.

M.B. LYMAN HOUSE, 302 E. Ocean Ave. Two-story house built in 1889. Now the Old House Restaurant.

Source: State Bureau of Historic Preservation Lesbian to allege spouse abuse in murder trial LANTANAfrom IB M.K. Lyman and his son, Morris Benson Lyman, were the town's pioneers, she said. M.B. Lyman was the town's postmaster. He made his living in the oyster shipping business and ran a general store at the dock on Lake Worth, Linehan said.

"I give him credit for starting the town," she said. "He home-steaded a lot of the land between Pine Street and Lantana Road." Lantana was incorporated in 1923, but people started settling on Hypoluxo Island as early as 1873, Linehan said. Paul Dunbar moved to Lantana two years after it was incorporated. He opened Ye Tower Lunch shop on South Dixie Highway and sold barbecue sandwiches for 25 cents. The lunch counter had a 55-foot tower until a 1928 hurricane blew it down, said Dunbar, 87.

Dunbar closed the shop in 1987. The restaurant was leveled and the Ye Tower Plaza was built. Dunbar lationship. The homicide occurred Oct. 30, 1988, in a trailer park in unincorporated Palm Beach County.

Green is accused of shooting Julio following a Halloween party and bitter fight. The battered spouse syndrome is usually ascribed to women who suffer repeated beatings at the hands of men whom, they claim, they are powerless to leave. WEST PALM BEACH A woman charged with the murder of her lesbian lover will use the "battered spouse syndrome" as her defense in the case, which may be the first of its kind in the nation. In the trial set to begin today, defense lawyers for Annette Green; 30, will argue that she killed her live-in lover, Ivonne Julio, 32, because Julio beat and humiliated her repeatedly during their 11-year re Factory Direct We Manufacture Tradewinds wants Boynton to pay contempt fines Lowest Price by 5 We will beat any competitors written estimate on vertical blinds by at least 5. Written estimate must be presented at time of sale of a product of equal value.

Vertical Blinds All Verticals Include: Valance or Laminated Track Rust Proof Chain Measuring Installation 10 Year Written Warranty Free In Home Service For 1 fight. Several days later, the City Commission approved Woolbright Place. In the meantime, however, Tradewinds officials filed a suit claiming the long delay caused them between $17 million and $30 million in losses. Boynton Beach Mayor Gene Moore and Tradewinds' Morton tried unsuccessfully to reach a settlement on damages. A workshop between the City Commission and Tradewinds officials was called off when attorneys could not agree to a set of ground rules for discussions.

On Monday, attorneys for the city will ask Garrison to postpone Tuesday's hearing, which is scheduled to be only 15 minutes long. That's not enough time to hear arguments in the FINESfrom IB After that, both sides argued over the requirements of the settlement agreement. City officials insisted the developer needed to submit amended site plans before they could approve the project. The developer said the city was stalling, and asked the court several times to order the city to approve the plan. In October 1988, Judge Edward Rodgers found the city in contempt for failing to comply with an earlier order to approve the project.

To give his order some bite, Rodgers imposed the fines. The city never paid any fines, claiming the appeals process suspended them. However, when the 4th District Court of Appeal rejected the city's claim on June 7, the city gave up the complicated case, they claim. The city also has a new lawyer handling the case, J. Michael Burman, who is still familiarizing himself with the suit.

Moore said he is anxious to hear the court's decision on the fines, which could be as high as $282,000, on Tuesday. "I really dislike seeing any further delays," Moore said. "It's imperative we find out. The citizens need to know if the fines are still running." Regardless of fines' or damages, the city is going to spend a bundle on Tradewinds. City Attorney Raymond Rea, who disqualified himself from the case because he may be a witness, recommended city commissioners set aside $200,000 for legal fees in the 1989-90 budget.

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to do a six-month study of the landfill's gas emissions for conversion into electricity, operations director Mark Hammond said. If the company succeeds, it will harness the methane released from garbage, convert it into energy and pay the Solid Waste Authority as much as $12,000 a month. The Solid Waste Authority isn't spending any money for the study or the contract, but stands to earn extra cash for its budget if the company is successful, Hammond said. About 2.5 million cubic feet of gas released from decomposing garbage at the landfill every day is recovered in a special system, collected at a central point and burned, Hammond said. About half of that gas is "pipeline quality natural gas," he said.

The Solid Waste Authority agreed to allow the company to determine how much gas is being generated and how long gas production could be expected from the landfill, Hammond said. Officials at the Fairfax, company say they hope to negotiate a contract with Florida Power Light Co. to take the natural gas, "put it in a turbine and generate electricity," Hammond said. County officials are expected to sign a contract with LVI in about two weeks, Hammond said. you HUN with a reputable company? ANTIQUE SATIN DRAPERIES Featuring the finest quality Antique Satin.

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