💊 Sober lies
Enjoy these May breezes. For you today: Was sober home doctor framed? Federal flood insurance rates rise with the tides, construction chaos at a busy Gardens street corner and turtles in the news.
Today’s newsletter is a 5½-minute read.
First up: Sober home doctor free as FBI probes claim of witness double cross
By Jane Musgrave
A federal judge showed no mercy last year when he sentenced Dr. Mark Agresti to eight years in prison after the once-respected psychiatrist was convicted of 12 counts of health care fraud for ordering unnecessary tests for those struggling with addiction.
Shunning favors often granted to white-collar criminals, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz II in May 2022 ordered that Agresti be immediately taken to prison instead of allowing him to remain free on bond while he appealed his conviction for his role in a $31 million insurance scheme.
But, less than three months after the 60-year-old Agresti was sentenced, neighbors in Palm Beach reported seeing him out and about on the island. Records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons showed he was released on Aug. 19. Corrections officials declined comment, saying they just follow judicial orders.
While federal court dockets revealed a series of documents were filed on Aug. 19 in Agresti’s case, all were sealed. Typically, motions and orders to allow someone to be released on bond are available to the public. Agresti’s attorneys declined to explain why the documents were sealed or why Agresti had been released. The state never took away his medical license.
Then last month, Agresti’s attorneys filed a stunning 20-page motion, shedding light on the mystery.
The one-time director of psychiatry at the former Columbia Hospital in West Palm Beach was released while FBI agents spent months investigating claims that Agresti was the victim of an elaborate plot to convict him of a crime he insists he didn’t commit.
Keep reading to find out what the doctor’s defense team says put him behind bars and why the judge let him go.
Swamped by rising flood insurance rates
Just as federal flood insurance costs are poised to shoot skyward, Palm Beach County has lost its next-to-last-stand appeal to revise FEMA flooding maps driving the price surge.
The county has been fighting the map revisions since at least 2020, when it produced reams of scientific studies challenging the maps’ accuracy. The county argues the maps exaggerate the vulnerability of homes to flooding.
FEMA has denied the county’s appeal.
The revised maps are behind estimates of steep hikes in federal flood insurance premiums just released by the National Flood Insurance Program.
Who will pay more in Palm Beach County? At least 41,000 homeowners in 49 local ZIP codes are covered by the federal program. You can look up estimated increases by ZIP code, here.
How much more? The median increase for those ZIP codes is 12.6 percent — but some hikes are much, much higher.
In one Jupiter/Tequesta ZIP code, average premiums will rise by an estimated 342 percent, from $780 to $3,449.
Among Boca Raton ZIP codes, estimated hikes run from a modest 8.5 percent to a 229 percent hike that would boost premiums from $949 to $3,127.
It won’t happen all at once. Flood insurance is provided by the federal government, and the feds cap premium increases at 18 percent per year.
So, for instance, if the new flood insurance premium is 54 percent higher, a homeowner would pay 18 percent more per year for the next three years.
But wait: There’s worse. Millions of homeowners insured by Citizens Insurance will now be forced to buy the increasingly expensive flood insurance, too.
That’s because the Legislature’s new plan to bring rates down and keep insurers solvent requires that an owner of a single-family home covered by Citizens must obtain separate flood coverage. (Citizens does not sell it.)
Starting July 1, new or renewing Citizens’ policyholders in certain hazard zones will have to buy flood insurance. By 2027, all Citizens policyholders will.
Could a Hail Mary pass come to the rescue? Though FEMA has just said no, the agency is allowing the county to present its 2020 scientific evidence to a non-FEMA scientific panel.
Discounts could be available, too. Communities participating in a voluntary FEMA program reducing flood risk, the Community Rating System, may be eligible for lower rates.
🚧 Trump Corner still under construction
It took a road project to force weekly Trump rallies off the so-called Trump Corner in Palm Beach Gardens.
Since early 2022, the northwest corner of PGA Boulevard and Military Trail has been ripped up and off-limits. Contractors for Palm Beach County began building a right-turn lane. The project is now seven months behind schedule and not expected to be completed until late July.
For Trump supporters (and those backing Gov. Ron DeSantis), it’s “blessed” ground. The space outside the Publix shopping center has been sprinkled with holy water and infused with prayer. During DeSantis’ reelection campaign, organizers had to make do with rallies about a mile east near the Gardens Mall.
Even so, DeSantis won handily, going so far as to carry normally Democratic Palm Beach County.
The road project didn’t get done before the November 2022 election, as scheduled, because of some underground utility surprises and a long wait for steel mast arms, which will support traffic signals in place of dangling wires, county engineers say. They are being installed now.
The mast arms alone, two at each of the four corners, are expected to cost $455,334 installed. With land acquisition and construction costs, the act of adding a single right-turn lane to the busy intersection is now expected to top $2.7 million.
Joel has been tracking the project since its inception for OnGardens.org and offers a run-down on the latest here.
🫛 The juice
Fresh-squeezed news from all over
🏙️ Boca Raton council members vote to hire Deputy City Manager George Brown to succeed the county’s longest-serving city manager, Leif Ahnell, who plans to leave the job next year. (City Watch)
🏛️ Two reporters offered their takes on the fascinating two-day Zoom hearing last week over document destruction pitting Everglades scientist Tom Van Lent against the Everglades Foundation. Veteran court reporter Christine Stapleton offered daily blow-by-blow coverage here while investigative reporter Dan Christensen wrote a full story for his Florida Bulldog here.
🦻🏼 Hear USA rolls out “Center of the Future” at a new store in Palm Beach Gardens, where the national hearing aid retailer has its corporate headquarters. (OnGardens)
🎵 Another attendance slide raises questions about SunFest's future. (ByJoeCapozzi.com)
🎉 Congratulations to Amy Driscoll of the Miami Herald, winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing. She wrote about the failure of Florida officials to deliver on many taxpayer-funded amenities and services promised to residents over decades. Driscoll is a former staff writer at The Palm Beach Post. (Pulitzer.org)
🐢 Quiz: Keeping up with the turtles
In Boca Raton, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center’s seven turtles have left the building!
🌷 561 insider: Four ways to savor spring
Late May is a magical time when the seasonal crowds have eased, and the June rains and hurricane season have not yet arrived.
Plus, it seems organizations are trying a little harder to entice us outdoors.
1. Palm Beach County Open Studios.
For the first time, visitors are invited to interact with more than 60 professional artists in the spaces and studios where they create their work. The day is sponsored by Zero Empty Spaces and WLRN.
The event is part of Mosaic 2023, a month of shows, art, ideas and culture presented by the Cultural Council.
Noon to 5 pm Saturday
Studios across the county
Free
2. The 20th of May
Florida’s historic celebration of its emancipation from slavery has been observed for nearly 160 years.
The Spady Museum is planning a Family Reunion Freedom Day gospel concert as part of the festivities.
4 to 8 pm Saturday.
Free.
Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, 170 NW Fifth Ave., Delray Beach
Learn more about Florida Emancipation Day here.
3. Jazz on the Beach
Featuring the Valerie Tyson Band.
7 to 9:30 pm Thursday, May 25
Ocean Walk, 2401 N. Ocean Ave., Riviera Beach
Free
4. Mental Health Scavenger Hunt
Complete a series of challenges to learn about mental health and resilience. Download a free app and complete the challenges.
Until May 30
Free
Bonus: Beat the midday heat, and catch these exhibits at the Palm Beach County History Museum, Boca Raton Museum of Art and the Norton Museum of Art.
The bottom line: Now is a good time to get out there.
✈️ Flying high: Even after Florida Atlantic University and the University of Miami crashed college basketball's Final Four, no one predicted such success for South Florida's professional winter sports teams.
But here they are. The Miami Heat (basketball) and the Florida Panthers (hockey) advanced as No. 8 seeds knocking off the teams with the best records in their sports. Then they both won again, with the final seconds of their close-out games occurring within 20 minutes of each other Friday night.
Now, the Heat take on the Boston Celtics for the conference championship starting Wednesday.
And the Panthers face off against the Carolina Hurricanes, starting Tuesday.
Could this mean playoff success this year for baseball's Miami Marlins? That may be a wish too far.
But the rising Miami Dolphins can dream.
Thank you to our paid and free subscribers. Help us continue to reach readers by sharing this newsletter.
Do you have a story idea or a news tip? Reply to this email, and tell us.