News

Here are the top stories for Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Get the weather forecast for today here.

SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get our free Morning Update email. Sign up here.

Broward schools provide new details about layoffs and job cuts

Unnamed couple agrees to genetic testing in embryo mix-up case

‘We’re expecting a huge hug’: Delray Beach Garlic Fest to make stinky, bittersweet return to Old School Square

Breeze adding eight cities from Fort Lauderdale, including Tallahassee, Jacksonville

‘We’re winning so much.’ Trump’s State of the Union seeks to calm economic jitters ahead of midterms

Delray Beach suspends Coco Market for three months after reported dog attack

Former Plantation mayor sentenced to probation

Man put to death for killing grocery store owner in Florida’s second execution this year

Maxwell: Florida’s property tax cut plan is flailing. Here’s what should happen

Miss Manners: I’m not enthusiastic about attending my son’s ‘wedding’ party

Boca Raton residents are inundated daily with propaganda promoting “One Boca,” set for a March 10 vote.

“One Boca” is actually seven acres of 12-story buildings controlled by a developer over a 99-year lease. The drawings show mature trees along a central walkway, omitting buildings on both sides, blocking out the sun.

The flyers take credit for Memorial Park across the street, claiming they will honor veterans and enhance existing park amenities, but this is not the project being voted on. The flyers do not mention the density of the 12-story complex of residences, hotel, offices and garages.

Our park will be in the shadow of 12-story buildings and won’t get enough sun to evaporate the dew until early afternoon. And $4 billion in new revenue for the city? Experts see severe flaws in the calculation, suggesting little net benefit. This is over 99 years, with minimal amounts in the first 30 years. Vote no.

Pam Paschke, Boca Raton 

Opinion Editor and columnist Steve Bousquet’s recent commentary noted that Boca Raton was considered an elite place to live. He didn’t specifically endorse this as what Boca should aspire to maintain, but rather contrasted it with what it shouldn’t be.

Boca and similarly idyllic communities are sarcastically referred to as “God’s waiting room,” where people buy homes many times bigger than they need and where they may spend a couple of productive hours a day buying and selling investment assets from their desktop computers.

As an octogenarian whose working days have ended, I migrated here to where the living is easy. I praise to my friends the good weather and no personal state income tax as reasons why they should join me. I have no other metric to apply as to the desirability of relocating here.

The future of Boca as a place where young generations come to build their careers and raise families depends on how others invest capital in the city. Investors risking their own and other investors’ capital do so with confidence, and a positive view of Boca’s economic future.

Sheldon I. Saitlin, Boca Raton

Your editorial correctly states that the current Boca Raton police station is not hurricane-proof. Has a study compared improvements that could be made at the current location compared to a new station? Plenty of land is adjacent to the existing station to expand. The cost to develop land near Spanish River Boulevard should be reviewed and compared.

The study that the city used to demonstrate the billions of dollars that would eventually be generated from this project is not complete, in my opinion. For example, if the same development now being contemplated on city land is built a few blocks east on private commercial land, what percentage of the promised billions would still be generated?

My guess is it would be a majority. Plus, improving old commercial buildings would be better-looking and safer while generating more taxes with no debate pitting citizens against each other.

Noah Silver, Boca Raton

Americans may need a refresher on why Attorney General Pam Bondi continues to embarrass herself and her office.

More than a decade ago, Bondi reached out to Donald Trump to solicit a donation for her 2014 re-election for Florida Attorney General. Trump donated $25,000 through a nonprofit charity, a disbursement in violation of federal tax law. The payout coincided with Bondi’s office weighing whether to join a fraud investigation of Trump University. Bondi’s office dropped the case, fueling allegations of “pay-to-play” politics.

Bondi won re-election, and her relationship with Trump morphed into a deeply personal, cult-like advocacy. To this day, she remains an unshakeable surrogate, proving that when qualifications for Cabinet posts are subordinate to ideology and blind allegiance, democratic norms erode and America’s security is compromised.

Jim Paladino, Tampa 

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Please submit a letter to the editor by email to letterstotheeditor@sunsentinel.com or fill out the online form below. Letters may be up to 200 words and must be signed with your email address, city of residence and daytime phone number for verification. Letters will be edited for clarity and length.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: While I have many friends, I enjoy traveling and dining by myself on occasion. When I ask for a table for one, the response is usually, “Are you all by yourself?” Or, “Are you waiting for someone?”

Then I am offered a seat at the bar, or a table near the restroom or kitchen door, which I decline. Once seated, it’s the same: “Is it just you?” Or, “Do you want to wait for someone before ordering?”

Is there a polite response to this, other than saying, “I’m all alone; isn’t that sad and pathetic?”

• Asking Eric: She has 7 bridesmaids but no room for me or her cousin at the wedding
• Miss Manners: I’m not enthusiastic about attending my son’s ‘wedding’ party
• Asking Eric: I want to leave with my boyfriend, but there’s still my daughter to think about
• Miss Manners: My sons-in-law have offensive table manners. Now my grandchildren do, too
• Asking Eric: Wife sidelined and shut out by late husband’s family

GENTLE READER: As the recipient of Gentle Readers’ mail, Miss Manners is all too aware of the deluge of rudeness in the modern world. But the transgressions of waitstaff — who live in hope of generous tips — usually take the form of ill-judged humor, not intentional put-downs.

The subtext you infer is most likely not intended to suggest that you are unpopular, but only to know the size of your party. This merits nothing more than saying you prefer a table elsewhere, and noting when you are ready to place your order.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work in a fast-food restaurant, in which we only go by our first names.

Often, when customers decide that I am the cause of whatever is not going their way, they ask me for my name. My first name is clearly spelled out on my name tag, but I always say it for them anyway, as it is difficult to pronounce. It is an unusual name, and no one else in the store has it.

However, they also often ask for my last name, which I decline to give them. I don’t feel that it is any of their business. I just politely tell them that I don’t give out my last name.

Often, they take this as rudeness on my part.

Am I in the wrong?

GENTLE READER: The reason stores use first names — or first names and last initials — on name tags is to balance two reasonable, but competing, requirements.

A customer is entitled to lodge a legitimate complaint through normal channels about inadequate performance by a salesperson. So the tag has to give enough information to uniquely identify the alleged offender.

• Miss Manners: I’m not enthusiastic about attending my son’s ‘wedding’ party
• Miss Manners: My sons-in-law have offensive table manners. Now my grandchildren do, too
• Miss Manners: I don’t mind questions about my hair, except these two
• Miss Manners: My in-laws demand boring food and I want to spice things up
• Miss Manners: I’m not uncaring, but I’m not going to pray for them

But the salesperson also has to be protected against illegitimate complaints or unwarranted approaches outside of normal channels. This is why name tags do not include a full name, which could be used to look up and harass the salesperson away from the store.

From your letter’s calm tone, Miss Manners likes to think that it is the complainant who is being unreasonable. But she nevertheless suggests you give this answer: “I am sorry that you are dissatisfied, but you do not need my last name to identify me to management. If you want to lodge a formal complaint against me, just give my first name and the time of my shift. I assure you that they will know how to find me.”

This response appeals to Miss Manners both for its politeness and because it calls out the customer’s attempt to intimidate.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, gentlereader@missmanners.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.