The Commission sets a preliminary fire-rescue number tonight, and it is not the final one

Florida's annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday runs Monday, July 20 through Thursday, August 20, 2026 — a full month to stock up without paying sales tax. Clothing, footwear, wallets and qualifying bags priced $100 or less per item are tax-free, along with certain school supplies priced $50 or less per item and learning aids and jigsaw puzzles priced $30 or less. The biggest ticket: personal computers and certain computer accessories priced $1,500 or less qualify when purchased for noncommercial home or personal use. A few things to know before you shop: phones, video game consoles, rentals, and repairs are excluded, and purchases made at theme parks, public lodging establishments, or airports do not qualify.

Boynton Beach has posted a solicitation for project management services covering NW 3rd Street and the SFWMD C-16 in the Heart of Boynton, tied to flood risk. It is the least dramatic possible document and also the first visible step of anything real: before a street changes, someone has to be hired to run the work. If you live in the neighborhood, this is the paperwork stage of a problem you already know by heart, and it is now moving through the city's procurement process rather than sitting in a drawer.

Crafting in the Library returns Wednesday, July 15, with Bedazzled Books. The premise is exactly as advertised: decorate a book cover with rhinestones and gems until it becomes something else entirely. Bring your own book, buy one from the Friends of the Library Bookstore (cash only), or pick from a limited selection of free ones. Materials and instruction come from library staff. It runs in the Florida Room on the second floor of City Hall, begins promptly at 5, requires registration, and caps out at ten people, so the gem-gluing crowd moves quickly.

Sewing Fundamentals Project #2 is a zippered pouch, which sounds modest until you learn what it teaches: installing a zippered closure, changing presser feet, and finishing a project cleanly. The program runs four projects, one a month, and they do not have to be taken in order — jump in whenever. It is built for people who have already done Introduction to Machine Sewing or who have some experience. Thursday, July 16, promptly at 5, in the Florida Room on the second floor of City Hall, all materials provided, registration required, limited to six participants.

Bones to Books runs Saturday, July 18, from 1 to 2 p.m., and the setup is simple: sit down with one of the certified therapy dogs from Bonafide Therapy Dogs and read them a favorite book. The point is practice — literacy skills and confidence, built out loud rather than silently. It is recommended for early readers through elementary school, though all ages are welcome, which covers anyone who has ever wanted an excuse to spend an hour of a July afternoon in air conditioning with a dog and a picture book.

Put July 24 and 25 somewhere you will see them. The Boynton Beach Night Market runs both evenings from 5 to 11 p.m., filling Centennial Park & Amphitheater and the surrounding downtown Boynton blocks with vendors, food, live music, games, and family activities. Two nights is the useful part of the plan — one trip for dinner and the music, a second for whatever you didn't get to. It is a CRA production, it is downtown, and it happens after the sun has stopped actively punishing people, which in July is the whole argument.

Every Wednesday, by the couches at the front of the Main Library, there is a 60-minute conversation about technology and how to actually use it. This Wednesday at 2:30 the topic is Shopping Smart Online. The rest of the month keeps the theme: Social Media Algorithms on the 22nd, and What Is Identity Theft on the 29th. It is a chat with instruction attached rather than a lecture, which is the right format for the subject. Questions go to the library at 561-742-6390.