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By Brian Crowley, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 11, 2002

LAKE WORTH -- Janet Reno drove her red pickup truck into
Palm Beach County Sunday and was greeted by the largest
crowd yet of her 15-day campaign tour.

More than 300 supporters, many of them waving "Reno for
Governor" signs, cheered the Democratic candidate as she
arrived about 4:30 p.m. at Bryant Park.

Reno was introduced by Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts
Dorothy Wilkens. Reno spoke for about 20 minutes about her
concerns for improving education, the environment and health
care.

Her first stop in Palm Beach County was at Wolfie Cohen's
Rascal House in Boca Raton where Reno mingled with diners,
many of whom seemed stunned at seeing the former U.S.
attorney general wandering among the tables.

"Oh, I admire her so much. She is a wonderful person," said
Bernice Burg of Boca Raton. "She is really a very capable
person, and we need people like that here in Florida."

Reno then visited the Mangonia Residence Apartments in West
Palm Beach where she spoke and answered questions for nearly
an hour. The apartments offer assisted living for people
with limited incomes.

"I want to make sure that we properly care for people in
this state in a careful and thoughtful way" Reno said. She
also promised the crowd that if she becomes governor, she
will work to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

Reno ended her first day in Palm Beach County as the
featured speaker at a fund-raiser for Take Charge! Cure
Parkinson's at the Mizner Park Jacobson's in Boca Raton.
Reno has had Parkinson's since 1995. Her hands noticeably
shake from the neurological disorder. Her doctors have said
that Reno is physically capable of running a campaign and
being governor.

"I am so inspired by you," said Nancy Mueller, whose father
has Parkinson's.

Reno described how her fingers began shaking while she was
going for a morning walk in Washington. Soon after Reno went
to the doctor and was diagnosed with the disease.

She applauded the group for its work on continuing research
and she told them "if we are the greatest nation in the
world we ought to be able to do the research and lick the
neurological diseases."

She described actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from a more
severe form of Parkinson's as "one of my heroes." Fox has
become a leading spokesman for Parkinson's research.

Reno begins the 14th day of her trip that began on the
Alabama border west of Pensacola with a stop in South Bay
today. Then she goes to Palm Beach Gardens for a late
morning tea at Prosperity Oaks.

Maggie Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner and
Reno's younger sister, joined her for the tour, which ends
Tuesday with a rally at Reno's childhood home in Kendall.

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