Commission drops bailout bid for hotel project

Palm Beach County commisioners won’t ask the federal government for bailout money for its beleaguered convention center hotel project. In October, the county killed a deal to build a hotel beside the downtown West Palm Beach convention center. The project was the locus of a corruption scandal that eventually spurred Commissioner Mary McCarty to resign in January. Prosecutors say McCarty failed to disclose free hotel stays provided by Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties, the company once commissioned to build the hotel.