For 87-year-old Buzz Bogart, this wasn’t about him. It was about his daughter. He drove up from Hollywood to attend the latest foreclosure seminar at the Main Library's financial literacy series in Fort Lauderdale.

Bogart, who was one of more than a dozen in attendance, came to try and gather some information for his daughter, who is beginning to see mortgage troubles, he said.

“I hope to get a good idea of the best way to deal with [the banks],” he said.

Foreclosure programs like these are in increasing demand for people like Bogart, who have quickly found themselves or their families struggling to keep their home. The programs are often simple and free, and focus on teaching residents the basics of how lenders and foreclosure procedures work. And it could hardly be needed more.

Last year Broward County had the nation’s sixth-highest annual foreclosure rate.

Beverly Hanson, 65, of Delray Beach, said free sessions like these are great for people that are falling behind on payments.

“I’m tenacious, I’m not going to let go,” she said. “I’m going to see it through, because it’s my house.”

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Fort Lauderdale's Starlight Musicals series will get its 31st season under way tonight at 7 p.m. in Holiday Park, 1300 E. Sunrise, with the Viva Classic Rock ‘N’ Roll band tearing into covers of the old hits and rocking away until the evening closes down three hours later.

When the Starlight series began in the late ’70s, said Debbie Bylica, special events programmer for the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Beaches, concerts alternated between George English Park and Fort Lauderdale Beach. But the switching venues confused many residents, and the enterprise got too big for a neighborhood park. Holiday Park has been the host venue for more than a decade.

Starlight Musicals will run every Friday through Aug. 7, featuring repeat appearances by local musicians such as Valerie Tyson, Joey Gilmore and Jimmy Stowe.

“Where else can [you] have a free evening of this quality in this economy?” Bylica said.

TONIGHT
Viva Classic Rock 'n' Roll

JUNE 26
Valerie Tyson Band

JULY 3
Rodeo Clown Band

JULY 10
Magic City Band

JULY 17
Joey Gilmore Band

JULY 24
Jimmy Stowe & the Stowaways

JULY 31
Hot Brass Monkey's Evolution

AUG. 7
Curbstone

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After all the petitioning, the Galt Ocean Mile Library might remain open — or it might close.

Patrons of the Galt Ocean Mile Reading Center were shocked in April when Broward County commissioners considered closing the library along with seven other branches in a plan that would cut up to $160 million from next year’s budget.

Herman Gardner, president of the Galt Ocean Mile wing of the Friends of Broward County Libraries, said many library regulars were hurt and angry at the news. The library is a community center as well as a source of books, Internet access and a wide-ranging film collection.

Recently, the county agreed to renew its lease for the Galt library for another five years, although commissioners can still opt to close the branch before September.

"[Commissioners] gave themselves an escape clause," Gardner said.

Last Saturday, the Galt Mile’s Friends of the Library met with the Galt Ocean Mile Community Association to keep the fight going. The new five-year lease will cost taxpayers $70,854 a year, and can be canceled with six months’ notice if the library is closed.

“Let [the commissioners] play the game out,” said Galt resident Terry Claire. “If we stay firm, they will know what voting against the library will cost them.”

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Coral Ridge residents who hoped last week’s meeting of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Beaches Board would help resolve their $150,000 problem came away disappointed.

The money has been sitting in an escrow account for nearly a decade, ever since Bayview Elementary School paid to lease temporary classroom space from nearby George English Park.

But when members gathered to discuss potential improvements, they disagreed on how best to spend the money. One group wanted lights for the ball field. Another group, claiming an illuminated field would result in increased noise, traffic and litter, recommended improving the park’s amenities – landscaping, drinking fountains and playground equipment.

Board member John Aurelius, who had convened one of the meetings, said the group would not be able to reach an agreement and asked the Parks, Recreation and Beaches Board to decide which spending option should be recommended to the Board of Commissioners. The meeting, with 13 board members in attendance, began with member Mark McCormick stating that the baseball field “contractually has the right” to the money and that it should be spent on lights.

Betsy Dow, president of the Coral Ridge Civic Association, suggested that McCormick recuse himself from the deliberations because he represents the Fort Lauderdale Select Soccer League, which wants to use the ball field.

Dan Empty, treasurer of the Coral Ridge Little League, repeated in his address to the board that “the money was specifically allocated for ballpark improvement.”

Board chair Mark Hartman said any decision will be postponed until the June 24 meeting of the board.

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Plans for a massive development along the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale received a resounding no vote from members of the Idlewyld Improvement Association recently, said association president Mary Fertig, despite a thumbs up from the city’s Central Beach Alliance in May.

The the final vote found 70 percent opposed the project, Fertig said.

“I’d thought it would be much closer,” she said.

Development group LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels — which owns a number of ambitious hotel properties in South Florida — is looking to build a $500 million project complete with a luxury hotel, two condominium buildings, retail shops and restaurants, and an underground parking garage.

All the while, a handful of Idlewyld residents stood in the Bahia parking lot and gazed westward, across the Intracoastal Waterway to their imposing homes, and some said the new buildings would block their view of the ocean.

Fertig and association member Anne Hilmer gathered information from the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and assembled a Power Point presentation for residents before taking a vote.

“We found that LXR’s drawings of the area didn’t quite match what’s there,” Fertig said. “The buildings are really much larger.”

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The master plan for the revitalization of Fort Lauderdale’s South Middle River neighborhood is about to be made real, District 2 Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom told a recent meeting of the neighborhood association.

The plan, contained in a thick manual detailing extensive improvements to the area, was commissioned by the city in 2000, fashioned by a consulting firm and approved in 2006.

“I’m here to tell you that I’ll see that the plan is implemented,” Rodstrom said.

Association members hope this means that President Obama’s economic stimulus plan will make the money available.

Ray Thrower, the association’s strategic planning chair, called the plan “a major step forward.”

“Its creation had to do with the income level of South Middle River residents,” he said. “We’re a moderate-income area. A high-minority neighborhood. So we qualify for different kinds of incentives.”

Rodstrom said the community’s new look is to be based on “the architectural style of a lot of the houses: Midcentury Modern.”

The city has not yet approved the spending necessary to implement the plan. Cost for the entire project is put at $16 million, Thrower said.

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Lights for the ball field or water fountains?

Those are the two options proposed for improving George English Park in Fort Lauderdale. And city commissioners will eventually have the final say.

For residents of the city’s Coral Ridge neighborhood, the argument began over how to spend $150,000 the city originally earmarked for park improvements. The discussion sparked two meetings of the Coral Ridge Civic Association last week.

The issue has split residents into two camps: one in favor of lighting the park’s ball field, and the other focused on amenities such as awnings, drinking fountains and landscaping, which would serve park users of all ages.

Scott Tilbrook, vice president of the Fort Lauderdale Little League, asked residents to propose buying lights.

“It’s a city park; it’s zoned for lights,” he said. “There are 10 teams using the field now, and there isn’t enough practice time."

“I want to make sure the kids get adequate use of the park,” association member Al Massey said. “But we’ve got to protect the interests of the park.

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Wallpapering Jim McNalis’ hallway are photographs documenting 10 years of trips to Burma, now called Myanmar, a large Asian country on China’s southern border.

The laughing schoolchildren in one photograph belie the difficulties of life in Myanmar. The plights of its people and the hope of one woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, are the inspiration for many of McNalis’ sculptures.

“Accidently, I’m documenting the hot shots for democracy,” said McNalis, who lives in The Carlyle in Fort Lauderdale. “When I travel, I get all this energy from the people, then I get back to my studio and use it.”

His favorite work is a bust of Suu Kyi, created with Myanmar soil pilfered from famous shrines and the banks of the Irrawaddy River.

“The whole world knows about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, but no one knows about her,” McNalis said. “What a role model for young girls.”

McNalis’ art career was not always so controversial. He came to Florida in the early 1970s to be an art director for Disney. With his inner nomad itching to move, McNalis resigned and began traveling the world. He came upon a Burmese refugee camp in 1988 and became interested in helping its residents.

“Art is the only thing that makes my life work," McNalis said.

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When you live as close to Port Everglades as some Harbordale residents do, it’s reasonable to expect a little traffic spillover from one of the country’s busiest entry points. But that doesn’t always make it easier to live with.

“Traffic is a double-edged sword, because it’s caused by our commercial success,” said Harbordale resident Donna Mergenhagen.

The Harbordale neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale is bound on the west by Federal Highway and on the east by the Intracoastal. On its northern edge is Davie Boulevard, and to the south is Hollywood. The area includes ambitious retail spots along the 17th Street Causeway, at least up to the bridge over the Intracoastal.

To limit motorists cutting through the neighborhood, residents have petitioned the city for unique speed cushions, which are three small cushions made of rubber and polyurethane that allow emergency vehicles to drive around them.

So far the city has installed cushions in several areas, but the Harbordale Association has requested the city study the possibility of adding more, association president Marilyn Mammano said.

“Every time Port Everglades has an upsurge, the traffic affects us,” she said. “It’s difficult enough to get through the intersection of Southeast 17th Street and Federal Highway. Cars and trucks from the port make things worse.”

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The nature of his job led John Lugo to sign up for Fort Lauderdale’s Community Emergency Response Team training early in March. But he never imagined he have to use it so quickly.

On March 19, just two weeks after he finished his training, Lugo witnessed a head-on collision on the Florida Turnpike as he was driving to work.

“Suddenly about five cars ahead of me, a car went out of control and hit the concrete median,” he said. “Then it got hit head-on by a truck. The car did a couple of 360s.”

He quickly pulled his SUV to the shoulder. Inside the smashed car, he found a young woman who told him said she was also pregnant.

Lugo, 37, works for Fort Lauderdale-based Citrix Systems Inc. and signed up for the training after hearing about two co-workers that had gone through the course.

“It sounded right up my alley,” he said.

The federally-funded program trains volunteers in first aid, search and rescue, and other basic triage skills. In 2007, the city received an $11,600 state reimbursement grant to help fund the program.

After calling 911, Lugo stayed with the woman and even offered up his cell phone until emergency services arrived. But he never got the woman’s name.

“I was nervous,” he said. “But it’s important that we help each other out.”

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