From yo-yo parties to Harry Potter, the lineup of July activities at three Pembroke Pines libraries is certain to reward families who opted for staycations this summer.

Children can drop by South Regional/Broward College, Southwest Regional and Pembroke Pines branch libraries all next month and enjoy a myriad of kid-friendly shindigs.

At South Regional, 7300 Pines Blvd., the light entertainment kicks off with the patriotic “4th of July Flyers with Cindy” from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. July 2, “African Tales with Idya” at 2 p.m. on July 6 and “Professor McGonagall’s Magic Show” at 2 p.m. July 13, where kids can huddle around for some Harry Potter-themed sleight-of-hand. “Be a Game Show Star” rounds out the month at 2 p.m. July 27.

For Southwest Regional, 16835 Sheridan St. children can dress for messy fun during “Stories and Finger Paint Expression” from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. July 2. The more techno-handy can dabble in basic computer animation techniques with a “Creative Digital Cartooning” two-day workshop from 1:30 to 3 p.m. July 9 and July 10, while kids more deft of hand can toss bowling pins for a “Juggling Workshop” from 1 to 2 p.m. July 18

Inside the Pines branch, 955 N.W. 129th Ave., yo-yo tricks are in abundance from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. July 8, a “Puppet Workshop” promises to dazzle crafters with the art of sock puppet-making and a “Space Exploration Program” from 1 to 3 p.m. July 21 aims to blast children into a educational universe of space and the planets through videos and crafts.

All events are free. For more information, call 954-437-2635, 954-201-8825 and 954-538-9996, or visit www.broward.org.

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City commissioners are scrambling to keep their municipal charters schools afloat with last-ditch fundraising efforts in the wake of a $1.3 million deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

During a recent City Commission meeting, officials voted unanimously to impose a $250 annual activity fee for FSU Charter Elementary students and a $5 hike on school uniforms to plug the charter school budget’s swelling deficit.

Other options hashed over that evening included firing all part-time aides and reducing salaries by five percent for full- and part-timers.

One measure by Commissioner Angelo Castillo to add more students per classroom, which would trim the school’s 10,900-student waiting list and boost enrollment revenues, also passed.

“We’ve been skating by on razor-thin ice for several years now,” said Castillo. “Our funding from the state was reduced and we’re in a lawsuit with the School Board.”

The city of Pembroke Pines is also embroiled in a November 2007 lawsuit against Broward County Schools, which argues the charters are entitled to new classrooms and funding tied to state capital improvement money called “2 mill,” or cash that directly aids charters and district schools, said City Manager Charles Dodge.

The charters, which include four elementary, two middle, and a high school, service 5,422 kids. To offset the projected $1.3 million deficit, city officials had collected roughly $150,000 in proceeds from carnival, golf tournament and wine gala fundraisers.

Commissioners last March also sought a “development director,” or professional fundraiser devoted entirely to school fundraising, but the option stalled over risks that the employee’s salary and bad economy would hemorrhage the charter’s budget ever further.

To combat the deficit and iron out a fundraising strategy, Commissioner Iris Siple is inviting charter school parents, students, volunteer advisory board members and PTA members to Pines Charter Middle Central campus, at 12350 Sheridan St., June 30 at 7 p.m.

For more information, call 954-435-6501, or visit www.ppines.com.

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While some high school students lounge in front of the television this summer, nearly three dozen Pembroke Pines cadets rock-climbed, rappelled and canoed for a solid week of high-risk adventure.

More than 15 students from the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at West Broward High and Flanagan High schools suited up for summer boot camp in mid-June at Boy Scout Camp Tanah Keeta in Tequesta.

The seven-day, 24-hour intensive summer experience taught the intrepid cadets to serve in various leadership positions designed to help boost their character, confidence, pride in accomplishment and develop their organizational skills.

That meant training in rock climbing, rappelling, geography, land navigation, water survival, low and high ropes and safety reaction courses.

The Camp Challenge also compliments the JROTC curriculum by motivating high schoolers to display their talent and skills, said Col. Rex Thompson, a JROTC camp coordinator.

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A Pembroke Pines Charter School student is one gleaming medallion richer thanks to a recent awards ceremony.

Renata Dinamarco of Pembroke Pines pocketed a 2009 Silver Knight Award in the Science category last month during a ceremony at James L. Knight Center in Miami.

To be eligible for the award, which included the medallion plus a cash award, winners had to demonstrate excellence in academics and contributions to the community.

Other Honorable Mention winners from Pembroke Pines include Christina Maria Andres from Flanagan High School in the Business category, Luis Arias from Flanagan High in the Foreign Language category and Matthew Noto from Pines Charter High in the Social Science category. Runners-up received engraved plaques and cash awards.

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Pembroke Pines students hit the video game joysticks last month for an academic cause: mathematics.

That’s because the IGFA Fishing and Hall of Fame Museum in Dania Beach hosted a multiplayer math video game tourney designed to teach lower-income students interactive arithmetic-oriented problem-solving skills, said James Chinn, the tournament’s coordinator.

“I grew up playing Atari, but when I saw the learning environment the kids would be using, my jaw hit the floor,” said Chinn, a secondary math curriculum specialist for Broward Schools. “The kids just want to play the game whether there are prime numbers and equations or not.”

Roughly 32 teams attending schools across Broward participated in the virtual reality-style game Tabula Digita, a Halo-esque first-person environment where players jump around and land on positive and negative platforms by adding and subtracting numbers, said Chinn.

Competing players had to be enrolled in one of Broward’s Title 1 facilities, or schools where at least 50 percent of its students were on free and reduced lunch benefits.

Top winners received prizes like Nintendo DS game systems, iPod Shuffles and iTunes gift cards.

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Broward County aims to unite HIV awareness and music, and they’re kicking off that unlikely combination during National HIV Testing Day on June 27.

The county’s Health Care Services division is promoting awareness, education and testing with a free “Show U Know 2009” benefit concert from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Mills Pond Park, 2201 N.W. Ninth Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Broward is ranked the second-highest per capita rate in the United States for its number of reported AIDS cases with 36.5 per 100,000 people, according to the Center for Disease Control. Likewise, Florida is ranked third in the nation overall.

Admission to the musical benefit is free, but concert-goers aged 13 or older must provide proof of a current HIV test result. Show U Know free testing sites span the county, but the closest for Pembroke Pines residents is South Regional Health Center, 4105 Pembroke Rd. in Hollywood. Call 954-985-4800 to schedule an appointment.

The concert will feature performances from Trick Daddy, L.A. Bennett, Black Dada, King, Pitbull, Danger Flow and 99 Jamz’ radio personality and comedian Ricky Smiley.

For more information about the concert and tickets, call 888-727-1735, or visit www.showuknow.org.

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The Pembroke Pines Historical Museum is once again letting World War II veterans chew the fat and share war stories.

The former servicemen can drop by the Village Community Center, 6700 SW 13th St. during the monthly Bull Sessions June 25 from 1 to 4 p.m.

The informal clambake, which is catered with snacks and pastries, serves as a comfortable meeting place for hundreds of WWII’s rank-and-file to swap service adventures overseas, said museum curator Gerry Witoshynsky.

Following the sessions, the vets can also view the museum’s permanent installation of WWII-era artifacts, the history of North Perry Airport, and a “Veteran’s Honor Roll,” which chronicles a list of veterans residing in Pembroke Pines.

After June's meeting, the sessions take a hiatus until September.

For more information, call Witoshynsky at 954-986-5049.

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Drop that jelly roll dipped in extra frosting and sprint to Pembroke Pines City Hall on June 24 at 5:15 p.m. for a challenge.

The venue’s playing host to the nationwide 50 Million Pound Challenge kick-off meeting. During the get-together, Mayor Frank Ortis will ask participants to iron out a commitment to developing a healthier lifestyle by eating foods loaded with nutrition, drinking plenty of water and exercising daily.

In exchange for registering with Ortis’s team, “Mayor’s Pembroke Pines Healthy Challenge,” visitors will learn healthy tips on staying fit, said Francie Novo, the city’s special events coordinator.

To register for the Mayor’s team beforehand, call 954-435-6525, or visit www.50millionpounds.com/Mayor's Pembroke Pines Healthy Challenge.

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Broward County schools might be closed during the summer, but one program is ensuring that thousands of kids will pay them a visit anyway.

The district is unlocking the doors to 39 public schools between June 8 and June 29 for the Summer Food Service Program. The service is part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture effort to supply free meals to aid children in low-income areas to get the nutrition they need to learn, play and grow in between school years.

The lone Pembroke Pines school offering the meals, Pines Lakes Elementary at 10300 Johnson St., is serving breakfast and lunch only to eligible students Mondays through Thursdays beginning now through Aug. 11.

For schools to qualify, they must have 50 percent of its students eligible for free and reduced-price meals during the school year.

For more information, call 1-800-622-5985, or visit www.browardschools.com.

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Thanks to a theater revue and a little help from rockers Queen and Styx, a charity benefit last month called Arts and Autism Go Hand in Hand managed to fundraise about $25,000.

The one-night musical, hosted at Susan B. Katz Theater of the Performing Arts, lured more than 400 Pines residents, teachers and city commissioners to groove out to musical tunes as fancifully long-winded as the monologue trade-off “Therapy” from theater musical Tick, Tick…BOOM! to millennium pop super-hit “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz.

Following the hour-long performance, which benefits future music and art-based programs within Pembroke Pines Charter Schools’ Exceptional Student Education Department, visitors were treated to a wine after-party and an exhibit from painter Lucia Romano called “From Santa Fe to New Mexico: Plein Aire paintings.”

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Students who created award-winning environmental art recently had a shot at shaking hands with head honchos in city government.

That’s because Pines commissioners recognized dozens of Charter West Elementary students during a recent city commission meeting for their Arbor Day projects, part of a green-themed class drawing assignment from teachers Yudelka Tavera and Joy Duboff.

Besides the Arbor Day Contest - a Broward competition - the kids attending the school at 1680 SW 184th Ave. also submitted entries to a recycling contest and a Broward County Calendar “Green Footprints” Contest.

About 100 families beamed as city officials read aloud the names of students, who all earned gift certificates.

First place Arbor Day Contest winners include kindergartener Shannon Amor and second-grader Sophia Collins. Second place went to first-grader Meagan Teeling, third-grader Christian Rodriguez and fifth-grader Samantha Mateesco.

To view the winning entries, visit www.broward.org/kids/artgallery.htm.

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Broward residents who sought refuge or asylum from their home country have something to celebrate this weekend.

Pembroke Pines’ South Regional/Broward College Library is commemorating the many contributions of the Cuban, Haitian, Colombian and Venezuelan population – among others - living in Broward during World Refugee Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 20.

The library, at 7300 Pines Blvd., is hosting the three-hour program to honor the resilience of refugees in the tri-county area, which accounts for roughly 80 percent of refugees in Florida, according to Florida Department of Children and Families 2008 statistics.

Measures passed to honor refugees launched after The United Nations General Assembly dubbed June 20 as “World Refugee Day” in 2000. The free shindig will feature plenty of traditional music and dances, plus raffles, giveaways and servings of native dishes.

For more information, call Broward County Refugee Services at 954-537-2929, or visit www.broward.org/family.

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Police are aiming once against to put the kibosh on drinking and driving on Pembroke Pines streets.

The Pines Police Department is launching a DUI checkpoint on the 7400 Block of Pines Boulevard from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. that’s designed to prevent impaired car owners from driving amok.

Drivers should seek a designated driver, public transportation or taxi should they plan to knock back a few, said department spokesmen Sgt. Michael Pazienza.

For more information, call 954-897-6483.

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A recent commission meeting turned ugly after Pembroke Pines officials voted to outsource the city’s Building and Zoning Department and lay off 33 employees.

Dozens of general employees and their families hissed, jeered and muttered obscenities to commissioners as officials scrambled to balance a near-$2.9 million shortfall tied to fewer permitting fee revenues.

Amid shouting matches between union employees and commissioners, one fact remained clear: officials agreed to stall layoffs only if bargaining unions would agree to concessions among its employees.

“Now we have to make some tough, draconian decisions to balance a $26 million deficit,” said Mayor Frank Ortis. “The union turned [the concessions] down. The idea was to make it hold and the union members didn’t want to compromise by our process. So we’re cutting.”

The city is also slammed with a $30 million overall budget deficit, blamed on property tax, hiked pension spending and a shrunken half-cent sales tax.

Commissioners could finalize the firings as soon as July 1, after voting to contract with Calvin, Giordano & Associates, a private engineering firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Homestead and West Palm Beach. Officials heard pitches from three shortlisted private outsourcers June 3 before tentatively approving Calvin, Giordano’s contract.

For more on this, please read the June 22 Pembroke Pines Gazette or visit www.sunsentinel.com/pembrokepines.

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For one critically injured Iraq War veteran, the return home now feels that much sweeter.

By the time Purple Heart recipient Hugo Gonzalez reached his front lawn, nonprofit Rebuilding Together Broward and Sears Holdings had already whipped together a large-scale extreme makeover on his Pembroke Pines house.

Repairs to the foundation and interior wall. New electrical wiring. A snazzy fence behind his home to allow his children to play outside safely without risk of falling into the backyard canal.
Gonzalez, who lost most of his eyesight after a bomb explosion in Iraq, received these home repairs as part of Rebuilding Together and Sears Holdings’ Heroes at Home project, which aims to improve the homes and lives of low-income veterans, military families and U.S. service members with the aid of volunteers and community helpers.

Heroes at Home campaigns have generated more than $6 million in donations. For more information, visit www.rebuildingtogetherbroward.org.

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There are movies galore all summer in Pembroke Pines thanks to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Running through Aug. 15 at Susan B. Katz Theater of the Performing Arts, 17189 Sheridan St, is a handful of children’s films, new and classic. The list is a cross-section of favorites and newcomers, from the temple-raiding antics of Indiana Jones to the recent “Horton Hears A Who!” starring Jim Carrey.

The department will screen the following films every Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.:

June 20 Horton Hears a Who Rated G
June 27 Toy Story Rated G
July 4 Sleeping Beauty Rated G
July 11 The Goonies Rated PG
July 18 Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Rated PG
July 25 101 Dalmatians Rated G
Aug. 1 Mulan Rated G
Aug. 8 Finding Nemo Rated G
Aug. 15 Robin Hood Rated G

For more information, call 954-986-5027, or visit www.ppines.com.

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Rita's Water Ice in Pembroke Pines, Tamarac and Lighthouse Point wants to reward students that got good grades on their report cards.

Students in first through 12th grades can visit throughout the month of June and bring their report card with an 'A' grade.

The report card must be year end and will be marked with a Rita's stamp.

The locations are:
654 N. University Drive in Pembroke Pines, 954-432-3311
5709 N. University Drive, Midway Plaza in Tamarac, 954-597-9040
2488 N. Federal Highway, The Shoppes at Beacon Light in Lighthouse Point, 954-786-1106

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One Miramar nonprofit is hitting the links to benefit special-needs children.

More than 100 players will square off in four-person teams in an annual tournament sponsored by the Miramar Benevolent Firefighters Fund beginning at 1 p.m. June 19 at Pembroke Lakes Country Club, 10500 Taft St.

Members from local businesses, residents and firefighters from Miramar Fire Department Local 2820 will tee-off in a shotgun scramble-style tournament, where players from each group select the ball closest to the hole from each initial tee shot, drop the ball there and repeat with a second and third shot until the ball is pocketed.

Registration is $90 per person, and the grand prizes include $10,000 cash, a golf vacation package, a Bahamas cruise plus golf clubs, one of which can be earned by pocketing a hole-in-one on a Par 3.

For more information, call Dominic Granteed at 954-536-9042, or visit www.iafflocal2820.org.

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For two solid months, the spirit of charity was strong among Pembroke Pines Charter School students.

Embarking on a marathon of philanthropic activities, the students at Pines Charter Elementary Central Campus, 12350 Sheridan St., raised $1,000 for aiding the homeless last March, which was donated to the Broward Outreach Women’s Center.

Last April, Charter teachers and students pitched in for the Community Read-In Week, where kids collected cash to purchase T.Y. stuffed bears for homeless children. The students weren’t shy to random acts of kindness, either, since most shared snacks with friends, aiding parents at home and recycling around the school.

During a Multicultural Night, students whipped together a variety of projects that benefited South Florida’s needy and collected funds for Nothing But Nets, a nonprofit devoted to shipping mosquito nets to Africa.

Last May, the students also launched a juice box recycling program.

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Caribbean-American heritage month has arrived, and that means the youth leadership forum is back for another roundtable at South Regional/Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd.

The second annual Caribbean Youth Forum culls influential speakers from South Florida to discuss three separate topics: Supporting Our Students, Getting Involved and Influence of Our Music and Culture.

The young panelists, whose ethnic backgrounds span the West Indies region, include Stephanie Sylvestre, a former Honorary Consul of Belize, Kadian Powell, the Florida Caribbean Student’s Association 2009-2010 president and 91.3 FM WLRN host Jeanette “Duchess” Drew.

The forum runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 6 at the library. Speakers, moderators and guests plan to break for free refreshments at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call 954-201-8825, or visit www.broward.org.

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Dancer’s Dream, 7909 Pines Blvd., is offering a two-hour belly dance workshop featuring a live drummer at 3:30 p.m. June 6.

“The Dancer and the Drummer Annual Pre-Summer Workshop” features Baladi instructor Jihan Jamal and percussionist Fadel Nimer. As a 29-year master choreographer and dance historian, Jamal will school belly dance participants in the subtleties of dance styles that separate Raks Baladi and Raks Sharki.

Students completing the two-hour course will also receive a certificate of completion in the “Jamal Method of Egyptian Dance.”

The class costs $45 in advance, $55 at the door. For ore information, call 954-966-3838, or visit www.dancersdream.net.

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Sometimes, raising awareness about drugs and alcohol can be lucrative.

Just ask Flanagan High School, which won a $100 gift certificate courtesy of CVS Pharmacy for participating in the 2009 Alcohol and Drug Awareness Scholarship Competition last month.

For collectively being one of the most online participants during the scholarship competition, which was presented through by the United Way of Broward County's Commission on Substance Abuse in conjunction with NSU’s Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation, Flanagan received $100 toward the purchase of school supplies.

Students from neighboring schools also won $1,000 scholarships for scoring the highest during a live championship competition last month at Kathleen C. Wright Administration Center. To be eligible for the scholarships, high school students had to learn about prescription medication abuse.

For more information call Joel Kaufman at 954-760-7007, or visit www.drugfreebroward.org.

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Never again should the world experience a Holocaust.

That’s the argument fourth-grader Alex Han assembled in his essay “Never Again,” which won him an essay contest last month.

Han, a 10-year-old student at Pembroke Pines’ Lakeside Elementary School, pocketed a first-place honor for the Elementary School Writing category for the 2009 Writing and Visual Arts Contest sponsored by the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center in Hollywood.

Han’s essay, which addressed the Holocaust, was one of more than 400 elementary, middle and high school entries from Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties submitted for the contest.

Han will be recognized along with other winning students from 1 to 3 p.m. June 4 at the Documentation Center, 2031 Harrison St. in Hollywood.

For more information, call 754-321-2969, or visit www.browardschools.com.

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In exchange for allocating a small American Bald Eagle sanctuary along the western outskirts of Pembroke Pines, the South Florida Audubon Society honored Mayor Frank Ortis at Anne Kolb Nature Center in Hollywood.

The celebration commemorated his exceptional service to the community in protecting the first Broward County eagle nesting site since 1972, said society president Doug Young.

Ortis plans to draft an ordinance preserving a 70-acre cluster of melaleuca and Australian Pine trees as a permanent roost for the Bald Eagle nest.

The makeshift eagle nest was first spotted last January about a mile east of the Everglades, near Pines Boulevard, by Pines charter teacher Kelly Smith during a classroom field trip. Since the sighting, ornithologist, bird watchers and residents alike have tried catching sight of the fledgling nest, which is perched inside a tract of undeveloped forest and is home to 5-month-old siblings, Hope and Justice.

The Audubon chapter also presented Eaglewatch Awards to Smith and Ken Schneider for educating the community about the temporary nest and for forwarding the cause to protect the species.

In addition, the ceremony featured presentations from two local middle school and two high school students who also received awards for their projects about the sanctuary.

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The Southwest Focal Point Senior Center, 301 NW 103rd Ave., is having a free weekly health education series designed to school the health-conscious elderly in improving their lifestyle, personal finances and physical well-being.

Beginning June 2, Polly Griss from City County Federal Credit Union will discuss identity theft. On June 9, Memorial Healthcare Systems diabetes educator Sonia Angel will tackle Diabetic Foot Care.

On June 16, the topic is Coping with Arthritis with Merical Healthcare physical therapist Stephen Silverberg.

Memorial Healthcare audiologist Lucia Cordovez leads the discussion on hearing loss on June 23, while center resident nurse Pauline Cooper rounds out the month of June with a chat about prevalent health issues.

Each one-hour lecture runs from 10 to 11 a.m. at the center. For more information, call 954-450-6888.

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