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Treasure Coast News Headlines
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TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7

It won’t be long now until the start dredging the St Lucie Inlet.  Martin County Coastal Engineer Kathy Fitzpatrick has already met with the contractor, Norfolk Dredging.  They expect to move equipment to the area by around Valentine's day. Fitzpatrick says there’s already a dredge out there, but it’s working on a Town of Jupiter Island beach project, not the dredging equipment that will do the St Lucie Inlet work.  Martin County will dredge 330 thousand cubic yards of sand, maybe more if they have time left before turtle nesting starts.

St Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara held a press conference Monday to outline their case against Palena Dorsey who started and ran the Animal Rescue League.  She’s accused of using hundreds of thousands of dollars donated for personal use.  Sheriff Mascara says they got suspicious when they closed down shelter on Carlton Road and found deplorable conditions 167 cats and dogs were housed in. Mascara says they believe Dorsey paid cash for a nice home and spent money meant for the animals on herself  Dorsey not only faces grand theft charges, but also animal cruelty charges

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers has seen the letters Tyler Hadley has written friends from jail as he awaits trial for allegedly killing his parents in the Port St Lucie home last summer.  They report Hadley hoping for a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and hints at the insanity defense. He writes a friend he’d take 25 to 40 years, but not life in prison

The Elliott Museum has a new CEO.  Jennifer Elsner has been appointed by the board of directors.  She has been running the Battle of Franklin Trust in Tennessee and before than she opened and ran the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, said to be similar to the new Elliott Museum that’s under construction now. Elsner will take over February 22^nd.  The Elliott has their annual big classic car show this weekend.
 
St Lucie County Judge Kathryn Nelson decided not to contest a DUI charge she got in Vero Beach last year.  She took a plea deal and pled guilty to the DUI and the resisting arrest charge was dropped.  She got a year’s probation, had her driver’s license suspended for six months, ordered to pay $500 fine and have to go to DUI school.  A state judicial review committee is reviewing the case to see if she should continue as a county judge.

There were two crashes that closed roads Monday in St Lucie County.  One of them was fatal.  Indian River Drive between Walton Road & Midway Road is closed due to a crash that killed one and send two to the hospital.  Earlier in the day, around 11:30,  one of the two northbound lanes of I-95 was closed due to a crash just north of Orange Avenue.

Ft Pierce Police Chief Sean Baldwin will stay on the job another three years.  The City Commission extended his contract last night until February 2015.  He won’t get a pay raise or more benefits.  Chief Baldwin had been on a year to year contract which he didn’t care for.
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Martin County teachers are waiting to see if the Florida Legislature passes one of her bills dealing with teacher sick days.  In the past, Martin County teachers wanted to give their sick days to a fellow teacher who was missing work caring for her severely injured husband.  But state law doesn’t allow that.  Treasure Coast State Representative Gayle Harrell has a bill that would allow that.  It gets a final House Committee vote today.  The Florida Senate is holding hearings on a companion bill this week.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 6

NEW:  An Okeechobee man has been arrested after an investigation found he used money in an account set up for his special needs adult daughter who suffers from cerebral palsy.  The $65,000 was a settlement with a health care provider meant to have her teeth fixed after she fell face first.  Port St Lucie Police say John Morgan used the money to buy an SUV and her brother an SUV, leaving the account short to pay for the medical work.  He says she gave him verbal permission to use the money, but the daughter is incapable of making financial decisions.

NEW:  Indian River Drive between Walton Road & Midway Road is closed due to a crash.  The crash is at Ohio St and the FHP website indicates it was a fatal traffic crash.  The St Lucie County Sheriff's office says the road will remain closed until at least 5pm.

NEW:  One of the two northbound lanes of I-95 was closed for a time this morning due to a crash just north of Orange Avenue.  There was some heavy rain in the area at the time of the 11:29am crash.  The lane has since reopened.

NEW:  The St Lucie County schools are holding their annual Science Fair today and Tuesday.  More than 380 students from grades 6 to 12 submitted 260 different science projects which are being judged at the Kight Center at IRSC.  Scientists from VGTI in Tradition are among the judges.

NEW:  Florida gas prices are on the rise.  AAA South says the price is averaging $3.60 a gallon.  That's up 5 cents in the past week, and up almost 18 cents the past month.  A year ago gas was averaging $3.12.

NEW:  Sundays Super Bowl was one of the most watched in TV history.  Ratings were just below the records set last year and in 1987.  The 4th quarter ratings yesterday was actually higher than the record.

CORRECTION:  The money the founder of a now-closed St Lucie County animal rescue center is alleged to have diverted from donations was $262,00, NOT the $547,000 originally reported.

South Florida and the Treasure Coast will get some rain today and tonight.  A sub-tropical low off the Florida Keys is generating heavy rains over Miami-Dade and Broward County.  The Hurricane Center says this system has very little chance of developing into something tropical.  The system is moving north toward us, and may bring locally heavy rain in some areas of the Treasure Coast. 

We need the rain.  The South Florida Water Management District says the 16 county south Florida area averaged less than one-quarter inch of rain during January.  Last October was an extremely rainy month which has left the Treasure Coast with adequate water levels right now. That could change if this turns out to be another below average rain for the winter dry season.

St Lucie West Centennial, Jensen Beach and the Pine School in Hobe Sound girls basketball teams all won their Regional quarter-finals over the weekend.  They advance to the Regional semi-finals this week.  They are all just 5 wins away from a state championship in their different classes.

SPECIAL FROM MIKE MELTON-  Tommy Allore of Stuart won the 6th annual Fleet Feet Run For Your Heart 5K Run held Saturday morning at the Fleet Feet running store as he covered the 3.1-mile out-and-back course in 18 minutes, 8 seconds.  Port St. Lucie's Mike Canan finished second in 18:21, and Freddie Valdes was third in 18:39.  Valdes, 43, won the Masters title for
his efforts. 
      In the women's race Heather Gollnick of Port St. Lucie won
the Overall title in 19:13, Palm City's Joan Klostreich was second in 19:49, and Lori Steger of Palm City finished third in 21:13.  Cynthia Washam, 54, of Jensen Beach won the Masters title in 21:47.
     A total of 304 runners completed the race.  Proceeds from
the event went to benefit the Frances Langford Heart Center at Martin Memorial Health System


WEEKEND EDITION FEBRUARY 4 & 5

SUPER BOWL FINAL:  New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17 

A Stuart man died in a crash early this morning on US 1.  The FHP says 39 year old James Brady's car left the road south of A-1-A, spun in the grass median and flipped several times ejecting him around 2:47am.

The founder of the now closed non-profit Sanctuary Animal Rescue, Inc animal shelter in Port St Lucie has been charged with misappropriating funds.  The Sheriff's offices says their investigation found 59 year old Palena Dorsey used $262,000 in donations to buy a home, car and other personal items.  The shelter was shut down last spring after animal control found 100 cats and dogs living in poor conditions. 

Fire damaged a Hobe Sound home early Sunday morning.  The 3:45 am fire at the Banner Lake home in the 8500 block of SE Comus St was accidental, started by food left on a hot stove.  The family was already out by time Martin County firefighters arrived.  The fire was contained to the kitchen and a bedroom.  The Red Cross is helping the family of five.

You can help the Treasure Coast Humane Society Sunday while watching the Super Bowl.  They will have ten 55 ich big screen TV’s plus a big Projection screen during their annual Paws & Claws party In Stuart.  They’ll also have dancing, food, drinks, silent auction and some of the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders.  Tickets are $200 to $300 for the gala under the big tents at Eventmakers in the SPS commercial area. 

A Florida Lotto tickets sold in Hialeah matched all six numbers in Saturday night's drawing and wins the $12 million jackpot.  Nobody won the Powerball game, so the new jackpot is $250,000.

A Treasure Coast DCF worker has been charged with helping a local woman fraudulently obtain food stamps.  53 year old Eddie Wilson Pack and Makeba Hunter were arrested Thursday.  Hunter allegedly had her brother in jail get social security numbers from other inmates to apply for food stamps.  Pack then allegedly falsified forms to process the applications. Hunter was also charged with trying to obtain a controlled substance.

History comes alive this weekend in Okeechobee when they re-enact the Battle of Lake Okeechobee which was fought during the Second Seminole War on Christmas Day 1837  Future President Zachary Taylor and 4 regiments of US troops fought the semnoles on the banks of what is now known as Taylor Creek. Taylor was almost beaten, but the Seminoles retreated and Taylor got the nickname “Old Rough and Ready.  Besides the battle re-enactment there’s a classic car show and demonstrations of Indian and settler skills.  There’s a $5 per car admission. The gates open at 10am Saturday and Sunday at the Okeechobee Battlefield State Park.

One of Port St Lucie’s oldest annual events is Saturday.  The City’s bonfire and hayride is at Digital Domain Park  It also features live music, pony rides, petting zoo and candy search for the kids.  It’s sponsored by Martin Health Systems and admission is only $1.  Food vendors will be on hand.  It starts at 5pm

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 3

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney is pleased the nation's unemployment rate dropped to 8.3% in January.  Rooney says business and employers are creating jobs despite bad policies in Washington such as "a broken tax code...costly regulations....and crushing debt burden."

Mikayla Pickard, a Stuart Middle School Student is this year's Florida Youth Volunteer of the Year award winner.  The 13 year old volunteers at JD Paker School helping out in Kindergarten class.

Forbes magazine has put Miami, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach on it's Most Miserable Cities to live list.  It ranks Miami at #1, followed by Detroit and Flint Michigan.  West Palm is #4 on the list and Ft Lauderdale #7.  Forbes looked at 10 factors including crime rates, corruption by public officials, property taxes and even how sports teams perform.

A Florida House Subcommittee has delayed a vote on whether to allow 3 casinos in Palm Beach County.  This may end up killing the measure for this session. 

Martin County will have to make it through this next hurricane season without one of the top disaster and emergency planners in the nation.  Keith Holman is retiring after 32 years.  He started in communications and helped set up Martin County's 911 system.  He also helped draft and refine the county’s emergency plans Keith Holman was named the best emergency planner in Florida after the hurricanes of 2004.

The Miami Marlins laid the first piece of sod inside their new dome stadium Thursday.  The dome stadium features several real aquariums, a giant Marlin that will come down from the dome every time the team hits a home run and will seat 37 thousand in air conditioned comfort.  Marlins president David Sampson says it will be worth the drive south to see the new stadium The new stadium will be used for the first time for a high school baseball game, then the Marlins will play the Miami Hurricanes in an exhibition game.

A routine traffic stop in Port St Lucie recently caught a wanted child sex crime suspect.  He gave them a phony name, but police found out his real name using their new portable fingerprint scanners The portable scanners are the size of a cell phone and the suspect puts their thumb on the pad which then searches the state criminal data base. Port St Lucie Police have 14 of the fingerprint scanners now and plan to buy more.

The anti-Semitic vandalism continues in Port St Lucie.  Police reports say there have been at least 12 incidents between mid-December and the end of January.  In the earlier cases spray painted graffiti, and feces was found at businesses and offices., Now it’s Seinfeld TV show DVDs with anti-Jewish slogans being found at private homes
 

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 2

A Florida Senate committee in Tallahassee today approved an internet sales tax plan.  It would require internet sellers who have a physical facility in Florida such as a warehouse or pay a sales commission to a Florida resident, collect the state's 6% sales tax.  The Florida House is less likely to go along with any internet tax collection plan.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney wants the President to reconsider plans to pull US combat troops out of Afghanistan by 2013.  Rooney says the US has made progress, but wants the decision to pull out based on military conditions on the ground.  He wants to make sure Afghan security forces are ready to take over before the US leaves.

The St Lucie County Fire District set a record for the number of emergency response calls they responded to last year.  Fire-rescue says they went to 38,600 calls for help during 2011.  They expect to send fire and/or EMT help to even more calls this year.  That has been the trend in recent years.

Floridians are feeling much more optimistic about the future.  The University of Florida’s Consumer Confidence survey jumped up in January.  Chris McCarty runs the survey and says 4 of the 5 major categories showed increases showing Floridians feeling much better  The biggest jump in people feeling good about Florida’s economy and future was in about their personal finances.  The only area where Floridians are less confident is whether now is a good time to buy a big-ticket item such as new appliances or car.

Martin County government, health, and other community leaders met Wednesday to go over their disaster plan on dealing with emergencies from a catastrophic hurricane to a chemical explosion.  They drafted a 142 page plan on dealing with emergencies. Martin County was praised by state officials on how officials here dealt with the hurricanes in 2004.

Yesterday’s state wide tornado drill had some problems.  It was supposed to go off at 10:10 am, but the alert wasn’t issued until 10:30 because of technical difficulties.  The tornado drill is part of this being severe weather awareness week in Florida emphasizing how bad weather can be with lightning, severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes and rip currents.

Snook season opened Wednesday in Florida.  But Henry Camato of the Snook Nook in Jensen Beach says new rules on what size snook you can keep have hurt snook season.  He says it just doesn't have the gusto and enthusiasm it once did because it's so hard now to catch the right size snook. Anglers can keep one snook per day and they have to be in the 26 to 32 inch size range.  Treasure Coast fishermen say it’s hard to find that size snook.

5 thousand letters about a proposed beach restoration project have been sent to condo and property owners on the St Lucie County half of Hutchinson Island.  The plan is to spend $11.7 million to restore the beaches from Waverly Road south to the Martin County line.  The letters also have a ballot asking property owners if they’d be willing to help pay for it.  The ballots are due back to St Lucie County by February 24^th.  The whole project may not even come off if the state doesn’t help pay for it.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1

The Florida Senate today passed a bill allowing student led prayer at school and during activities.  Teachers and school officials would not be permitted to lead or take part.  The bill was sponsored by an Orlando Democrat State Senator and passed 31-8.  Treasure Coast State Senator Joe Negron voted for the bill.  The ACLU says they will sue if it becomes a state law.

Stuart Police are looking for a man who stalked a woman tourist at a local hotel today.  He knocked on her car's window then tried to open the door in the parking lot at the Clarion Inn around 12:45pm.  He walked off and she hurried to her room.  The same man knocked on the door claiming to be hotel maintenance.  She screamed and he ran off.  He's described as a 6 foot 2 inch 30 year old muscular black male wearing white tank top T-shirt and exercise pants with a black scarf on the back of his head.

The DEA says fewer oxycodon pills were bought by doctors and drugs stores in Florida last year.  They report doctors bought 97% fewer pills during 2011 and pharmacies bought 14% fewer.  The DEA credits new laws cracking down on pill mills in Florida.

January was the tenth driest January on record in our area.  PBIA got less than a half inch of rain. The Treasure Coast normally gets 2.5 or more inches of rain during the month.  The official weather station in Vero got 0 inches this year, though other parts of the Martin-St Lucie County area did get a fraction of an inch from brief showers.

Martin County High's Justin Simmons and Treyvon Johnson signed letters of intent to play college football today.  Simmons signed with Boston College and Johnson signed with Western Michigan.  Treasure Coast High's Traveras Copeland signed with West Virginia.

Tuesday's presidential primary results won't be certified "official" for another week.  Martin County Elections Supervisor Vicki Davis says federal law says since it was a federal election, they must wait ten days after the primary to allow for overseas military ballots to come in.  After that the Canvassing Board will review everything, adding the military ballots to the count, then send a Certification of Results letter to Florida's Secretary of State.

The Martin County Realtors will merge with the Jupiter-Tequesta Hobe Sound Realtors.  Officials say both associations are strong and say the merger will make them even more efficient.  Members of both will have to approve the merger first.  If they do, the new Realtors groups will still have offices in Stuart and Jupiter.

Mitt Romney won Florida.  He also won Martin, St Lucie, Indian River and Palm Beach County.  Newt Gingrich won in Okeechobee. 
     In Martin County, which has almost twice as many Republican voters than Democrats, Romney ended up with 12,898 or 52% of the vote.  Newt Gingrich ended up with 6,562 or 26%.  Rick Santorum finished third with Ron Paul fourth.  Almost 50% of all registered Republicans in Martin County voted in yesterday’s primary.
      In St Lucie County Romney beat  Newt Gingrich 47% to 29%  Romney won Indian River 54-27%.  Gingrich won Okeechobee County 39% to 33%.

Florida is an important state in the Presidential elections.  We have 29 Electoral College votes.  Martin County Republican party spokesman Shawn Plymale says Florida’s population mix is a microcosm of what America looks like.  Florida’s economic issues also mirrors the nation’s. The national experts will be watching how Florida goes in November as a good indicator of how the nation will vote in the Presidential election.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney won’t be our congressman next year.  He is running for reelection, but not from here.  In a press release, Rooney says he will run for the newly created 17^th Congressional District.  This leaves Rooney’s current Congressional District up for grabs.  South Florida Congressman Allen West sent out a statement saying he plans to run for Rooney’s seat up here.  West told news partner CBS 12 party officials urged him to run here after his current district down south had been redrawn and now has many more democrats. The new Treasure Coast District contains the northern part of Palm Beach and most of Martin & St Lucie County.  In the past, Treasure Coast State Representative Gayle Harrell and State Senator Joe Negron have run for Congress.

A bill that would let the people in Beau Rivage vote on whether they want to be in Martin County has passed the House Community & Military Affairs Subcommittee in Tallahassee.  The bill is sponsored by Treasure Coast State Representative Gayle Harrell.  Treasure Coast State Senator Joe Negron has a companion bill in the Florida Senate.  Harrell’s bill would require a referendum by the people living in Beau Rivage. If they approve moving from St Lucie to be part of Martin County, the loss of property tax revenue to St Lucie County would be negotiated with Martin County.  Many residents in Beau Rivage say they are cutoff from St Lucie and want to be in Martin County.

A Jensen Beach man got 85 years in prison for child pornography charges from a federal judge up in Connecticut.  55 year old Eduardo Sensi was convicted of producing child porn and for traveling to central America to have sex with children.  A woman accomplice recorded video of the incidents.  She got 8 years.

A sewage spill on Hutchinson Island.  The FPUA reports an 18 inch cast iron sewage pipe broke near Crestview Dr and west of A-1-A spilling sewage in a tidal marsh area.  The State Department of Environmental Protection has been notified and the St Lucie County Health Department is taking samples to determine the extent of environmental impact.  Repairs are underway.

A Stuart woman has won an award from the US Coast Guard.  Elizabeth Underwood designed a children’s game designed to teach them the value of cleaning the ocean.  The game is a plastic box with sand that uses magnets to move cans and cups sweeping them up.  She received the Coast Guard’s Achievement award and is using the game nationwide.

Recreation snook season opens today off Treasure Coast waters.  Anglers may keep one snook per day only if it’s between 28 and 32 inches long.  You have to have a saltwater license unless you are exempt and a snook permit.  Snook may be taken in the Atlantic and in Lake Okeechobee.  Snook harvesting is still closed along Florida’s west coast and the Everglades.

The girl’s high school basketball playoffs start tonight.  Games will be played at St Lucie West Centennial,  Martin County and Jensen Beach Hghs and at Lincoln Park Academy.

TUESDAY JANUARY 31

Treasure Coast Republican Primary Results:

Mitt Romney has won the Martin County's Presidential Primary.  Romney ended up with 12,898 or 52% of the vote.  Newt Gingrich ended up with 6,562 or 26%.  Rick Santorum finished third with Ron Paul fourth. 
     Romney has also taken St Lucie County over Newt Gingrich 47% to 29%  Romney won Indian River 54-27%.  Gingrich won Okeechobee County 39% to 33%.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney announced today he will run for reelection, but not here.  He will run in the new 17th Congressional District, created after the 2010 Census gave Florida two new seats in Congress.  This opens up the 16th Congressional District-Treasure Coast seat.  Republican Congressman Allen West, whose Palm Beach County district was redrawn with a lot more democrats in it, says in a press release he will run for the Rooney seat here.  Rooney has been in office since being elected in 2008, West was elected in 2010.


A manhunt was going on in western Port St Lucie late this afternoon.  Police had a big presence on the ground around the Darwin Square Shopping Center area and to the south while a helicopter searched from the air.

A sewage spill on Hutchinson Island.  The FPUA reports an 18 inch cast iron sewage pipe broke near Crestview Dr and west of A-1-A spilling sewage in a tidal marsh area.  The State Department of Environmental Protection has been notified and the St Lucie County Health Department is taking samples to determine the extent of environmental impact.  Repairs are underway.

St Lucie County firefighters cleared the scene of last night's brush fire at the St Lucie-Indian River County line.  The last fire units left around 2:30 this morning, though the Division of Forestry is still on scene and firefighters will be dropping by throughout the day watching for flareups.

In earlier local news.....

The polls are open for today's Florida’s Republican presidential primary.  Martin County’s Election’s Supervisor Vicki Davis says because so many people are voting by mail or voting early, they’re aren’t as many precinct polling places this year.  15 precincts have been merged into others changing poll locations. Make sure you bring a photo ID when you go vote The photo ID is required in both Martin & St Lucie county.  A new state law requires vote by mail and early voting ballots be counted on posted on line by 7:30 tonight.  Updates will be posted every 45 minutes after that. There are more than 54 thousand Republican voters in St Lucie County and more than 49 thousand in Martin County.  The polls in Martin & St Lucie County will be open from 7am to 7pm.

State Republican Party officials say they made the right decision to move Florida’s presidential primary up from March to January.. 600,000 Republican voters have already voted early or by mail before traditional voting begins today.  The party hopes they break the 2008 voter turnout of 1.9 million.  The national Republican Party did not want Florida to move its primary up and is taking away half the state’s delegates to the National Convention in Tampa this summer.

Governor Rick Scott has ordered an investigation into the Florida Highway Patrol’s decision to reopen a stretch of I-75 where all those cars and trucks crashed in a big pileup that killed at least 10 people.  I-75 had been closed for three hours Sunday when the FHP reopened it.  15 minutes later the crashes began with drivers reported thick smoke and fog.  You can hear the crashes on calls other drivers made to 911. The FHP says the highway was clear enough to reopen, but conditions suddenly and quickly deteriorated again leading to the pileups. 

Treasure Coast firefighters had a couple of brush fires to deal with Monday. The big one is a 40 acre fire that is still burning along the St Lucie-Indian River County line.  It was close enough to threaten three homes in Spanish Lakes Fairways along Kings Highway.  The fire was reported around 5:30 and will likely continue to burn the rest of the week.

Martin County battled a pesky brush fire south of Cove Road Monday afternoon. It was only a couple of acres in the 6900 block of SE Twin Oaks Circle west of US 1 and no homes were in danger. Winds gusting above 20 mph made both fires more difficult to control.

In St Lucie County Preston DiFrancesco has filed to run for Sheriff.  He ran four years ago but lost to Ken Mascara.  Former Ft Pierce City Commissioner Christine Coke will run for Mayor this fall, hoping to replace Mayor Bob Benton who is running for the County Commission.

A North Carolina man was arrested on charges he stole money from a vending machine in Stuart.  51 year old Michael Murphy allegedly used tape at the end of some fishing line to put $5 & $10 bills thru the change vending machine, then pulling them back out at Sparkle Plenty Car Wash to get coins.  Murphy had about $275 of quarters in a bucket.


 

MONDAY JANUARY 30

A 20 acre brush fire is burning Monday night in northern St Lucie County.  It was close enough to threaten three homes in Spanish Lakes Fairways along Kings Highway.  The fire was reported around 5:30 and started off as two separate brush fires that merged into one.  Indian River County firefighters are helping St Lucie County firefighters and Forestry fight the fire.

A brush fire broke out in south of Cove Road this afternoon.  It was a small brush fire in the 6900 block of SE Twin Oaks Circle west of US 1.  it's less than one acre and no homes were in danger.  Martin County had as many as 7 trucks on scene.  Some of those units have now cleared the scene as the fire is under control. Winds have been gusting above 20mph today and that will continue tonight and Tuesday making it more challenging to put the fire out. The fire was reported around 3pm.

The state Department of Education has ranked Clark Advanced Learning Center in Martin County 7th best public high school in Florida.  Lincoln Park is ranked 8th best in the charter-public high school combination category.  The rankings are based on last year's FCAT scores.

Other Schools rankings:

Jensen Beach High 27
Martin County High 59
South Fork High 88
Ft Pierce Central High 246
Treasure Coast High 276
St Lucie West Centennial 301
Port St Lucie High 351
Ft Pierce Westwood 353.

The Army Corps of Engineers will begin a dredging and beach renourishment project at the Ft Pierce Inlet next week.  They will dredge 416,000 cubic yards of sand from the Capron Shoal area about 5 miles southeast of the Inlet and place it on the beach south of the Inlet that has been hit hard by beach erosion.

Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith has filed to run for reelection.  He's been on the Commission for 12 years.  He is a republican.  Former Martin County Commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi has filed to run the the school board seat Dr David Anderson is retiring from.

Two Indian River County Jail Corrections Officers have been suspended for 40 hours for last October's jail break.  Murder suspects Rondell Reed and Leviticus Taylor escaped.  Sheriff Loar says they believed they had hidden a hacksaw blade in the jail's law library and that the two officers who were monitoring their cells were lax in their duty.  A number of security upgrades has also been done at the jail.  Reed was captured days later while Taylor was caught in Jensen Beach the same day they escaped.

in earlier local news....

Early voting has ended in Florida for Tuesday's Republican presidential primary.  More than 3,100 registered Republicans voted early in Martin County with more than 1,100 on Friday & Saturday alone.  In St Lucie County more than 2,400 people voted early during the 8 days of early voting.  Both counties have thousands more vote by mail in ready to be counted Tuesday night.

At least 10 people died in a big pileup on I-75 near Gainesville early Sunday.  The highway is still closed today in both directions.  6 semi trucks were involved and several vehicles burst into flames.  Fog and smoke from a brush fire is blamed.

Florida’s U.S. Senator Marco Rubio gave the Republican response to the President’s weekly radio address Saturday.  In It Rubio said the people of Florida are very excited about this week's Republican presidential primary.  Rubio says it's because Floridians believe the country is in big trouble.  Rubio doesn't think much of President Obama's State of the Union address.  Rubio said the President is dividing people with his rhetoric. Rubion acknowledges Obama inherited a significant national debt and high unemployment, but he says Obama has made each worse. 
 
A small plane had to land at the beach in the Town of Palm Beach Saturday.  The pilot reported engine trouble as he was flying to Ft Pierce from the Bahamas and was diverted to PBIA.The pilot put the twin engine plane down in the sand in a belly landing at the north end of the island north of the old Kennedy family mansion.  Nobody was hurt and the plane had to be removed in sections..

A 43 year old Port St Lucie man was critically hurt in a motorcycle accident Saturday afternoon in Okeechobee County.  The FHP says Timothy J Townsend was trying to pop a wheelie on 441 when the motorcycle fell backwards and he hit his head on the pavement.  A female passenger wasn’t hurt.

The Valero gas station on Gatlin Blvd was held up Sunday morning.  Early reports are it was a lone gunman and nobody was hurt.

The bottle of moonshine that broke and forced the evacuation of part of the Jensen Beach Post office last week was a birthday present intended for a 57 year old Jensen Beach man.  It came with a booklet that indicated it was Ole Smokey Mountain Moonshine that is sold in other states including Florida.

he water in Stuart and Martin County may look or taste a little different this week.  Martin County and the City of Stuart Utilities are changing the way they chlorinate the water.  They need to give the system a shock from time to time to flush the fire hydrants and make sure they kill off all the bacteria that may  be at the end of water lines.  The water  may taste a little different, have a slight odor or be a little cloudy.  It’s safe to drink, but people on dialysis and tropical fish owners may want to check with their doctor or their pet store first.

Saturday’s Port Salerno Seafood Festival drew bigger than ever crowds.  As many as 50 thousand may have come to enjoy the food, arts and crafts and entertainment.  Organizers say it was so successful they plan to expand it to two days next year.


WEEKEND EDITION JANUARY 28 & 29

A good crowd of people showed up at a Port St Lucie Newt Gingrich rally Saturday morning.  Several hundred came to hear the former Speaker say the first thing he'd do as President would be to repeal Obamacare as a way of creating jobs.  He had also attended the Martin County Lincoln Day breakfast in Stuart and spoke at the Palm Beach County Lincoln Day dinner Saturday night.

Early voting has ended in Florida for Tuesday's Republican presidential primary.  More than 3,100 registered Republicans voted early in Martin County with more than 1,100 on Friday & Saturday alone.  In St Lucie County more than 2,400 people voted early during the 8 days of early voting. 

Nobody his Powerball or the Florida Lotto jackpots Saturday night.  Powerball's new jackpot is $170 million while Lotto is up to $11 million.

A Port St Lucie man who allegedly killed his wife last fall before trying to kill himself in in the St Lucie County jail.  Robert Fein is charged with shooting his wife Sharon at their home in the 500 block of Kilpatrick Avenue with a shotgun before turning it on himself.  She died, he recovered. The couple was going through a divorce at the time.

In Tallahassee, the $69 billion Florida House budget plan has more money for schools.  It would mean an extra $143 per student in Martin County & an extra $109 per student in St Lucie County.

FRIDAY JANUARY 27

A new poll out today finds Mitt Romney pulling ahead in the Republican primary.  The Quinnipiac University poll finds Romney with 38%, Newt Gingrich with 29%.  Gingrich had pulled pretty much even with Romney in Florida in the days after the South Carolina primary, but he has apparently lost some of that.  Ron Paul has 14% with Rick Santorum at 12%.  Early voting on machine continues on Saturday in Martin, St Lucie and the rest of Florida.

Three people have been arrested in two different drug cases in Port St Lucie.  The Sheriff's offices says Wanda Walnetta Wiggins, 31, and Calvin Powell, 24, were arrested on Glover St after allegedly selling Ecstacy.  124 pills and $710 cash were seized.  In the other case Dominique Lodai, 35, was arrested at a home on SE Volkerts Terrace on marijuana trafficking charges.

St Lucie County has named the three finalists for this year's Teacher of the Year award.  They are:  Natasha Santoro, second grade teacher at River's Edge, Karen Lee Crosby, a pre-K teacher at Lawnwood Elementary, and Mary Joann Trubisky, an exceptional student education teacher at Windmill Point.  The Teacher of the Year will be named during the annual Night of Stars event February 25th.

Florida Power & Light's parent company NextEra Energy made more money the last quarter of 2011 than the year before.  NextEra reports a net fourth quarter income of $667 million using GAAP accounting compared with $263 million during the fourth quarter of 2010.  For the full year they report adjusted earnings of $1.84 billion, up from the $1.78 billion in 2010.

Read NextEra press release.


A Port St Lucie man police say is a witness in last weekend's double homicide has been taken into custody. Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers report 25 year old Arnold Daugherty was arrested on a warrant out of Tennessee. The arrest affidavit for suspect Thomas Roberts, who is the only one charged with the murders here, did state that Roberts and a second person entered the home on Solida Circle intending to steal prescription drugs.

There’s been a lot of interest in next Tuesday’s republican presidential primary.  Martin County’s Election’s Supervisor Vicki Davis says more than 2,000 have voted by machine since early voting started last weekend and she has more than 6,500 vote by mail ballots already in. Davis anticipates a 40% voter turnout by time the traditional polls close next Tuesday night.  Early Voting continues until Saturday afternoon at the elections offices in Martin & St Lucie County.

 If the general election were today, Mitt Romney and President Obama would be neck and neck, according to a new poll.  Quinnipiac Pollsters say both Romney and Obama would pull 45 percent of the vote in a head to head match up.  If Newt Gingrich were the nominee, the poll predicts Obama would win 50 to 39. 

A Palm Beach County man has been found guilty of trying to kill at Stuart Police officer almost two years ago.  A Stuart jury took 3 hours to convict 22 year old Luke Bowen.  He and three others robbed the RaceTrac  gas station north of the Roosevelt Bridge early one Saturday morning.  Stuart Police officer Bill McGighan drove thru the parking lot and saw what was going on and waited for the robbers to come out.  He ordered them to stop, but Bowen fired several shots at him.  A manhunt caught Bowen and a second suspect.  The other two were arrested later in Palm Beach County. They also allegedly shot a convenience store clerk in Boynton Beach and robbed another store in Jupiter before coming up to Stuart.  Bowen faces life in prison without parole when he’s sentenced March 7^th. 

Burt Reynolds has cut the asking price for his home in Hobe Sound.  He named it Valhalla.  He paid $700,000 for it in 1980.  It’s being foreclosed on by BankAtlantic.  Reynolds was asking $9 million, but has dropped that to $4 million.  It’s a 5 bedroom home with a movie theater, indoor waterfall and wine cellar.  There are two guest houses on 3.4 acres on the Intracoastal

21% of all the homes that sold in St Lucie County The third quarter of last year were foreclosures.  RealtyTrac says 407 homes that sold in St Lucie County between July and September were foreclosed homes.  The average price per home was less than $89 thousand.  In Martin County 10% of the homes sold were foreclosed properties and sold for an average of more than $121 thousand.  The Florida average was 19% with an average price of less than $112 thousand.

Martin County firefighters were busy Thursday.  First they had a suspicious package leaking a liquid at the Jensen Beach Post Office.  They evacuated part of the post office and even took two people to Martin Memorial.  The leaky package turned out to be moonshine sent to a local address from family members in New Jersey.  Then they had to put out a small brush fire along Antonio Drive in Palm City near I-95 & Martin Hwy.    Then they had a house fire in Pinecrest Lakes.  Heavy smoke was pouring from the attic of the home in the 2600 block of Pinecrest Lakes Blvd when the first firefighter arrived around 3pm

THURSDAY JANUARY 26

A leaking package found in the mail at the Jensen Beach Post office turned out to be a broken bottle of moonshine.  Martin County firefighters and Hazmat teams evacuated the post office and two people were taken to Martin Memorial as a precaution around 10:30 am.  The package was sent from family members in New Jersey.  The post office is open.

A house caught fire in Pinecrest Lakes in Jensen Beach this afternoon.  Fire rescue says the residents got out of the home in the 2600 block of NE Pinecrest Lakes Blvd before they arrived on scene.  Heavy smoke was coming from the attic of the home.  The fire was reported just before 3pm.

A Port St Lucie couple was charged with child neglect after their 3 year old was found wandering at a busy intersection.  Police say Janine Francois fell asleep while watching the boy and when she awoke he was gone.  27 year old Kelly Jean says he left the home without telling his wife..  The child was grabbed by others and taken to a fire station.

A Jupiter couple has been ordered by the courts to pay the town of Jupiter $1.65 million for illegally removing 109 mangrove trees from their property along the Loxahatchee River.  That is more than the $1.2 million they paid for the property in 2010.  Roger & Myrna Byrd face another $43,000 in state fines. The state also wants them to plant more than 200 new mangroves.  Neighbors had testified Roger Byrd had complained the mangroves blocked his view of the river and that the work to remove them was done on weekends and at night.  The Byrds had rejected an earlier proposed offer to pay just a $109,000 fine.

Port St Lucie is changing locations for a big piece of World Trade Center steel.  The city council had decided a few weeks back to put it in front of the city police building at city hall.  But the 911 First Responders group that secured the steel for the city doesn’t want it there.  Al Kinney told the city council this week it should be at the Port St Lucie Civic Center where more people will see it. The city council agreed and that’s where the big piece of World Trade Center steel will go.  A second, smaller piece will be part of a mobile display that can be taken to events and schools.

The HANDS medical clinic that provides free medical care to residents without insurance  in St Lucie County had a power blackout Wednesday. It knocked out their computers and medical equipment. Florida Power and Light came out and discovered a squirrel has shorted out a power transformer. FPL installed an animal preventer system to stop squirrels from doing it again.  FPL says squirrels, iguanas and birds short out power lines more often than you may think.

Season passes for the new Sailfish Splash Water Park have been selling like hot cakes,  Marketing director Craig Anderson says people cant wait for the water park to open. The season passes are still being sold at a 50% discount through their website at www.sailfishsplash.com. Martin County hopes to open the Sailfish Splash Water Park open in early March.

A new poll shows the GOP race in Florida is a virtual toss-up.  The Quinnipiac University poll has Mitt Romney ahead of Newt Gingrich 36-to 34.percent. Less than two weeks ago, Romney had a 12 point lead.  Romney hasn't lost any support, but Gingrich is gaining support.

Some major roads in Port St Lucie will have lane closures and even some detours today for some utility work.  The right turn lane going south on Port St Lucie Blvd at Gatlin will be closed from 9 to 4 today.  Morningside Blvd will have a detour at Pocatella from 5pm to midnight.  Part of Bayshore Blvd near Seaway drive will be close today and Friday.
 
st Lucie County firefighter Jeffrey Lee Scott is this year’s Treasure Coast Emergency Services Provider of the year.  The award is given by the Treasure Coast Fire Chief’s Association.  Lee began is firefighter career in 1997 and is one of the main volunteers in the Big Heart Brigade which, among other things, cooks Thanksgiving Day turkey dinners.

A 27 year old is expected to be in court doday, charged with murder in the death of a couple in their Port St Lucie home on Sunday.  Thomas J Roberts is being held in the Rock Road jail without bond.  Police believe it was a home invasion. Details on how Frank Houck and Irene Reiss were killed have not been released.  Roberts has at least a dozen arrests the past ten year.  It's the first double-homicide in the city in 6 months when Tyler Hadley allegedly killed his parents..
 
A small plane crashed late last night  in the Palm Beach Gardens area near the Sweet Bay Nature Preserve, but the pilot walked away.  It crashed in a marshy area not far from the North County Airport. The pilots name and what happened have not been released yet.  Investigators plan to get back to the crash site today.

Two young men were hit by a car in Tequesta last night.  They were walking along US 1 and apparently stepped in front of the car around 7:40 pm.

Today is the last day to get Treasure Coast elections officials to mail you a vote by mail ballot for next Tuesday’s Republican Presidential Primary.  After today you can pick one up at the elections offices, or vote on machine at the office.  If you do have a vote by mail ballot it has to be turned in by the end of the business day next Tuesday.

Three WWII vintage aircraft are at Witham Field today thru Friday for you to tour.  The Wings of Freedom has a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator bomber and a P-51 Mustang fighter.  World War 2 veterans can tour them for free while adults can for $12 and students for $6.

TUESDAY JANUARY 24

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke for about an hour today at Community Christian on Salerno Road.  He told the crowd the story of his grandfather who came to American and was a coal minor, and how in three generations, his grandson is able to run for president.  He said the President wants America to be a European welfare state and not the land of opportunity.  He took questions from the crowd of several hundred people who came to the rally, many with pro life signs.  He will speak at a private Palm City fundraiser tonight.

A 27 year old has been charged with murder in the death of a couple in their Port St Lucie home on Sunday.  Thomas J Roberts is being held in the Rock Road jail.  Police believe it was a home invasion. Details on how Frank Houck and Irene Reiss were killed have not been released.  It's the first double-homicide in the city in 6 months when Tyler Hadley allegedly killed his parents..

An explosion at a Palm Beach county waste disposal facility on 45th street occurred at 5:15 this morning.  The explosion at the NEFCO injured one.  The cause is under investigation

Martin County Commissioners awarded a contract to dredge the St Lucie Inlet today.  The bid came in lower than expected at $6.4 million to dredge 300,000 cubic yards of sand.  Another $800,000 will be spend to monitor the work and protect sea turtles.   An hydraulic dredge, which can do the work faster, will be used. The work will be done before turtle nesting season starts.

Martin County Commissioners have approved plans to renovate the hurricane-wrecked Holiday Inn Oceanside.  The new owners plan to build a new restaurant and pool in the middle of the two existing wings of the old building.

Martin County is in solid shape.  That's what County Administrator Taryn Krysda said today during the annual State of the County address.  She said Martin County has maintained services despite big budget cuts made in recent years.  She said the county's economic base and property values have stabilized.  She touted several county projects during 2011 such as the fiber-optic network, the Manatee Pocket dredging, and the creation of the Indiantown Enterprise Zone.

A fire destroyed a home on Angle Road in Ft Pierce around 4:30 this morning.  The home was completely engulfed by time firefighters arrived.  No injuries but two people are left homeless.

A 25 foot juvenile Humpback whale was found dead, washed up on a sandbar in the Ft Pierce Inlet this morning.  A necropsy will be performed to determine what it died of.

There will be a legal fight over the Crosstown Parkway Bridge.  George Jones was with the state Department of Environmental Protection for years and now represents the Indian River Keeper and the St Lucie County Conservation Alliance. He warned the Port St Lucie City Council not to chose the Village Green Drive location at last night’s meeting saying they will oppose the bridge at every turn. He said the bridge connecting with Village Green Drive will  harm to the north fork of the St Lucie River. City councilman Jack Kelly said a third river crossing has been in the works for decades and that the Crosstown Bridge can work environmentally Kelly said the needs of the people must come first.  The Port St Lucie City Council voted 5-0 to approve the Crosstown Parkway Bridge be built connecting at Village Green Drive, which is what a group of experts recommends.  The Federal government has the final say.

Martin County School Board Chair Sue Hershey is not going to run for reelection.  Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers report Hershey sent them a letter to the public saying she “has had it” trying to prevent Superintendent Nancy Kline from ruining one of the finest school systems in the state.  Hershey accuses her of forcing out long-time employees and replacing them with family, friends and political cronies. 

Marsha Powers says she will run for the Martin County School Board seat Sue Hershey is giving up.  She is a 4^th generation Martin County resident and is married to Kevin Powers who is on the South Florida Water Management District and son of the late Timor Powers.

A happy ending for a search for a missing 8 and 13 year old boys St Lucie County boys.  They ran away from their home in the Pine Key Mobile Home Park on US 1 last night around 7pm.   St Lucie County deputies searched with K-9s and helicopter for hours.  The boys were found safe and sound in Boynton Beach.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will be in the Stuart area today.  A rally is scheduled from 11:30 to 1 pm at the Community Baptist Community Christian school on Salerno Road.  That is just east of Kanner Highway.

A Port St Lucie woman is in a Kansas City jail on serious drug charges.  Police say 57 year old Veronica Johnson was found with  68 pounds of marijuana in her luggage at a bus station.  A drug dog alerted on her luggage and when they questioned her she got very nervous.  Police say it had a street value of $200 thousand.

Engineers are in all the Martin County middle schools this week teaching students algebra and how it applies to life.  Engineers are presenting problems that require algebra solutions, but doing it in a fun way. It’s a program presented by the Martin County Education Foundation.

MONDAY JANUARY 23

The names of two people found dead in a Port St Lucie home Sunday have been released.  They are 51 year old Frank Houk and 58 year old Irene Reice who had a common law marriage.  Houk had a prior arrest for grand theft and sale of oxycodone and Reice had been arrested before on evidence tampering charges.  The neighbor who went to check inside says he saw no blood or apparent cause of death.  He tells CBS 12 the only thing he can think is an overdose.  Police have not released a cause of death and continue their investigation.

The Martin County School DIstrict is the 3rd highest performing school districts in Florida.  St Lucie County Schools are ranked 42nd out of 67 school districts in Florida.  Indian River County is ranked 30th and Palm Beach County schools ranked 16th.  The state Department of Education based its ranking on FCAT scores in math, reading, writing and science for the 2010-2011 school year.

The Port St Lucie City Council is scheduled to review the final recommended Crosstown Parkway Bridge route at tonight's meeting.  The committee is recommending it connect at Village Green Drive.  The council meeting begins at 7pm.

Stuart has opened up all the parking spaces at city hall to the pubic.  This adds 24 public use parking spaces downtown.   Till now the spaces were reserved for city employees. City workers are now using the parking in front of the old Arthur's Dockside restaurant, which can also be used by the public after city hall closes and on the weekend. 

One of just two Fantasy 5 jackpot-winning tickets sold for Sunday night's drawing was sold in Stuart.  It was bought at the Winn-Dixie on US 1.  It's worth more than $90,000.  The other winning ticket was sold in Royal Palm Beach in Palm Beach County.

In earlier Treasure Coast news...

The bodies of a man and woman were found in a Port St Lucie home Sunday.  A woman discovered the bodies in the home in the 300 block of SE Solida Drive around 3pm. A neighbor says the man was sitting in the kitchen, the woman on a couch.  Neighbors say they were in their 50s of 60s.  Port St Lucie police haven’t said if the couple was the homeowners or if they suspect murder.  They continue their investigation.

A crash closed the Florida Turnpike for about an hour Saturday afternoon.  The single-vehicle rollover crash was a few miles north of the Jupiter area and sent 5 people including three children to area hospitals.  They were all from Lake Worth.  One adult and a 9 year old were  listed at last word in critical condition.  Another adult and another 9 year old were in serious condition.  The Florida Highway Patrol says a tire on their Chevy Blazer blew a tire while heading north, and rolled into the southbound lanes.  

An elderly couple  was struck by a hit & run vehicle Saturday afternoon in Port St Lucie.  They were walking in the 2200 block of Flanders Road.  The woman was taken to the hospital with a minor brain bleed.  The man had only a minor injury and refused treatment.

Several hundred Treasure Coast residents came out to vote early on machine in Florida’s Republican Presidential Primary over the weekend.  On Saturday alone, 376 voted in St Lucie County and 260 voted in Martin County.  More voted Sunday and early voting on machine continues this week with regular election day voting a week from Tuesday.  Newt Gingrich will be on the Treasure Coast twice this week…Wednesday at the PGA Learning Center in St Lucie West and Saturday at a Martin County Republican breakfast at Willoughby.  Rick Santorum will be at Community Christian on Salerno Road tomorrow..

In the girls high school soccer playoffs last week, Martin County & Vero Beach won their District Championships while Jensen Beach lost in overtime.   The boy’s high school soccer playoffs begin this week.

One of three Fantasy 5 tickets that matched all the numbers in Friday night’s drawing was sold in Ft Pierce.  It’s worth more than $78 thousand.  Nobody hit Powerball or the Florida Lotto jackpots over the weekend.  Powerball is up to $120 million while Lotto is up to $8 million.

WEEKEND EDITION JANUARY 21 & 22

The Miami Dolphins have hired Joe Philbin to be new head coach.  He was offensive coordinator with Green Bay.

A crash closed the northbound lanes of the Florida Turnpike for more than an hour Saturday afternoon.  The single-car rollover crash was a few miles north of the Jupiter area and sent 5 people to area hospitals listed initially in critical condition.  

Martin County Commission Chairman Ed Ciampi testified in Tallahassee Friday, hoping to keep most of Martin County in the same House district.  The current plan splits Palm City in half, with everything north of Martin Downs Blvd becoming part of Gayle Harrell's district, and everything south becoming part of William Snyder's district.  Ciampi told the House Redistricting Committee that split would diminish the political influence of Palm City.  But changing things now would mean the Committee would have to redraw dozens of other House districts in south Florida.  The full Florida House is scheduled to do a final vote next week.

Two Ft Pierce man and a South Carolina woman have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly trying to bring in exotic species to the US from the Bahamas.  52 year old Gregory Johnson and 49 year old Glenn Bridges are accused of trying to bring import Loggerhead, Green and Hawksbill turtle shells, spiny lobsters and queen conch to St Lucie County last November, then giving false statements to the Coast Guard.

Jack Stewart died Friday at Martin Memorial.  He owned a jewelry store in downtown Stuart for many years.  He had also been the first motorcycle officer the Stuart Police department ever had.  He was 73.

FRIDAY JANUARY 20

More Treasure Coast homes sold in December than in November last year.  The Florida Realtors say home sales were up 5%, with 500 of them selling in the Martin-St Lucie County area.  The median price was up too, selling for $112,500.  Comparing Treasure Coast home sales for the entire year though, home sales here were down 6% from 2010.

A 2 week old baby boy was abducted from his home in West Palm Beach this morning has been found safe in Riviera Beach.  The woman suspected of taking the baby is a friend of the mother.  She is still at large.  The mother discovered the boy and her friend who spent the night missing from her near downtown WPB apartment when she got out of the shower. 

Treasure Coast unemployment rates continue to drop.  The state says the St Lucie County rate dropped almost a half point between November and December to end the year at 11.9%.  Martin County's unemployment rate also fell a half point to 9.8%, the first time in two years it's been under 10%.

Martin County is taking applications from restaurants that have outdoor seating to be dog-friendly.  County commissioners last week approved an ordinance allowing dogs similar to Stuart's city ordinance that has proven popular.  Restaurants can apply through the County's Growth Management department's website at www.martin.fl.us.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be on the Treasure Coast twice next week.  He has added an event on January 25th at the PGA Learning Center at 1pm.  He will also speak at the Martin County Republican breakfast on Saturday the 28th at Willoughby Golf Club.  Rick Santorum will be in Martin County Tuesday at Community Christian.

The Port St Lucie YMCA is reopening after being closed because of vandalism.  Teenagers living near the Bayshore Blvd branch did more than $20 thousand damage two months ago.  Everything’s been repaired and branch manager Audra Maritz told news partner CBS 12 it’s even better than before with lots of upgrades including being fully handicapped accessible and better security. The Port St Lucie Jaycees build the Y building on Bayshore and donated it to the city back in the 1980s.

The Stuart & St Lucie West Sears Essentials stores are about to close and big liquidation sales will offer 30 to 40 to 50% off.  40 to 80 employees work at all 11 Sears stores that are closing in Florida. An outside company will handle the liquidation sale.  There’s no firm date yet on when the local Sears stores will close.  The Sears at the Mall in Jensen Beach is NOT closing.

In local politics, Ft Pierce Mayor Bob Benton has filed to run for the District 1 St Lucie County Commission seat as a republican.  That’s the seat now held by democrat Chris Dzadovski.  Billy O’Dell is also running for that seat.  Martin County Commissioner Patrick Hayes has filed for reelection.  Jupiter Island’s Anne Scott is also running for the seat.

A 34 bed rehabilitation hospital will be build next to Martin Memorial South.  Martin Health Systems and HealthSouth are teaming up to build the $21 million, 48 thousand square foot facility that will care for long-term patients recovering from injury or strokes.  As many as 100 people will be employed.  Construction should start in June.

Citrus Grove Elementary P-E teacher Daniel Rendell has been named a nominee for the NFL Network’s Physical Education Teacher of the Year.  The award recognizes the role of educators in increasing access to in-school activity and teaching students skills needed to establish and maintain healthy lifestyles.  He is also Citrus Grove’s nominee to be Martin County Teacher of the Year.

Port St Lucie celebrates Arbor Day with an event this morning at the Botanical Gardens.  Arbor day is in April in other states, but Florida’s official Arbor day is in January because of the state’s subtropical growing climate.  An olive tree will be planted and a plaque with the names of loved ones people have paid to be memorialized will be placed there.  The ceremony starts at 11am

THURSDAY JANUARY 19

The terminal at Palm Beach International was evacuated this morning after a deputy found a package of white powder near one of the baggage carousels.  Tests have determined it is not toxic and the terminal has reopened.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney wants the President to change his mind on the Keystone Pipeline project that would bring millions of barrels of oil from Canada to refineries in the US.  Rooney says the decision not to allow the pipeline will cost American jobs and is bad for national security.
In a media release Rooney says  "The American people are rightfully fed up with the President’s political posturing and his transparent willingness to put his own reelection bid ahead of American jobs and American security.

A Palm Beach County couple was arrested for allegedly selling crack cocaine in Port St Lucie last night.  St Lucie County sheriff's records show 29 year old Charles "Slim" Reynolds sold $300 in crack to the undercover informant in the parking lot of a fast food parking lot along Gatlin Blvd while 21 year old Brittany Coleman counted the money.  Deputies found 35 rocks of crack in their vehicle.

The latest Casey Anthony sighting report is that she’s living at the Cross Church near Palm City Elementary.  The website The Daily Beast reported that and that brought the media and people with signs reading “hide your kids” and others who shouted things like “Casey is innocent.”  Law enforcement was at the church keeping people off church property.  News partner CBS 12 did get video thru a window of a young woman with a blond bob-style haircut that looks like Anthony. About an hour later a caravan of vehicles escorted by law enforcement left the church and they got video of a car with a woman wearing a red hoodie trying to hide her face as they drove away.   Reports are Casey Anthony is undergoing counseling at the church.  She has an uncle that lives in Ft Pierce.

The Travel Channel will be in St Lucie County today to do a show on how they do controlled burns to prevent big, out of control wild fires later.  Forestry’s Melissa Yunnas tells WSTU-WPSL-WJNX they will use one of their helicopters to start the burn at the Bluefield Preserve in western St Lucie county  The Travel Channel will be shooting video while all this is going on  The story will be on the Travel Channel this summer

Some Treasure Coast voters cast absentee ballots for republican presidential candidates who have since dropped out.  They can cancel that mail by ballot vote as long as they haven’t mailed it back in.  they need to bring their ballot in to the Elections office where it will be canceled and they can get a new one to fill out.

St Lucie County Commissioner Chris Dzadovski filed papers to run for reelection is this fall’s elections.  He is a democrat.   A republican, Billy O’Dell also filed to run for the seat.

Two Ft Pierce women were arrested after one of their infants was found wandering along on the street.  Police found the toddler along N 25^th St clad in a diaper.  They canvassed the area finding his mother and another woman inside a home they believed was used for prostitution.  The mother, 17 year old Alexis Sanders was charged with child neglect and 19 year old Alysha Moore with trespassing.
 

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18

A group of Port St Lucie, Florida and Federal transportation officials has settled on where the Crosstown Parkway Bridge over the St Lucie River should be built.  They are recommending it connect at Village Green Drive.  That route offers the best wetland protections and have the smallest impact on businesses.  It will affect some residents.  The City Council will discuss this final recommendation next week.  The Federal Highway Administration in Washington would then have to approve it.  If all this happens, the Crosstown Parkway Bridge could be open to traffic in 2016.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney wants Congress to fix the pending changes to the way Medicare reimburses doctors for treating seniors.  The formula is due to change in March, which would cut reimbursements by 27.4%.  There is a real fear that will force doctors to stop treating seniors or raise their co-pays.

The new owner of the Palm Beach Mall will tear it down and build a new high-end fashion outlet center in its place.  The Palm Beach Post reports the owners say they will probably build a new store just for JC Penney which is one of the few stores still open at the Mall.  They hope to have the new outlet center open in 2013.

Two of the three southbound lanes of I-95 north of Donald Ross road are open now.  Construction work installing a concrete barrier between the highway and the interchange ramp forced them to close the lanes for more than 2 hours after the morning rush hour today.  That caused some traffic delays.

The Florida Senate has approved new Congressional & new State Senate districts.  This has to be done after every new census.  Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney would lose 4 counties he now represents west of the Treasure Coast.  He would represent more of Palm Beach and more of St Lucie County.  The Treasure Coast State Senate seat now held by Joe Negron would expand the seat to include most areas east of I-95 in Martin, St Luce and Indian River Counties.  The northern part of Palm Beach County would also be in Negron's district. Areas west of I-95 would be represented by Senator JD Alexander of Lake Wales.  Tradition and parts of western Port St Lucie would also be part of that other district. Both plans will be reviewed by the courts.

The presidential candidate know Martin County is a big republican area. Two of them will be here next week.  Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum will be at a campaign rally next Tuesday at Community Christian on Salerno Road.  The rally is from 11:30am to 1pm.  He will also attend a private fundraiser later that night in Palm City.  Newt Gingrich will also be in Martin County on Saturday January 28th.
 
A St Lucie County teacher is on paid administrative leave after his arrest by the Osceola County sheriff's office for allegedly showing up to have sex with a minor.  The minor was really an undercover deputy. The internet sting resulted in 40 men being arrested.  32 year old Alexander Roy is an 8th grade teacher at Manatee K-8 in St Lucie West.

A Jensen Beach woman who was charged last week with pawning a $350,000 ring stolen from a home she was cleaning has been charged with stealing from two other homes.  26 year old Cody Mejias allegedly pawned those items too and believed to have made a truck payment, bought a tablet and got a tattoo with the money.

A suspect in the theft of deodorant last summer in Ft Pierce has been arrested.  A tip to Treasure Coast Crimestoppers put police on 41 year old Dana Frazier’s trail.  Police say she and an accomplice took 130 sticks of deodorant from Winn-Dixie and CVS drugs during a series of thefts.

  

TUESDAY JANUARY 17

More than 1,600 seasonal passes have already been sold for Martin County's Sailfish Splash Waterpark.  The 1,664 passes sold has brought in more than $49,000 in revenue before the waterpark has even opened.  They plan to have it open in time for student's spring break. 

Florida Power & Light wants a rate increase.  They notified the Public Service Commission they intend to ask for an increase to pay for their new power plant in Cape Canaveral.  FPL also wants a guaranteed rate of return of 11.25%.  The increase would mean a residential customer using 1 thousand watts a month would pay an extra $6.80 a month.  FPL says that would still be the lowest in Florida and below the national average.

A Ft Pierce man was charged with burglary after a family came home early this morning and found two men inside their home.  One of the burglars was stabbed by a family member who wrestled a knife away and stabbed Clarence Reese.  He was taken to Lawnwood Regional then to jail. The second suspect got away.

Former Treasure Coast Congressman Tim Mahoney was not in court today after all.  A Palm Beach County judge set a new hearing date for March 23rd at which time a date for his trial for a DUI he got last summer could be set.

Palm Beach State Attorney Michael McAullif says he will not run for reelection this year.  He says he has an opportunity in the private sector.

Treasure Coast business and community leaders leave today to spend the rest of the week in Tallahassee.  The Chambers of Commerce organize the trip each year.  Joe Catrambone with the Stuart-Martin County Chamber says Martin, St Lucie & Indian River Counties go together to show they support one another on key issues. They will meet the power players in state government including the Governor.  This year about 50 people from Martin, St Lucie & Indian River County are going to Tallahassee to push for local causes and projects.

A lot of people are buzzing about a report in People magazine that Casey Anthony may be living in St Lucie County.  News partner CBS 12 talked to people in Port St Lucie.  The reactions ranged from disbelief to sympathy to couldn't care less. An adult entertainment bar, Body Talk put up a message to Casey Anthony on their sign marquee that reads “hey Casey we’re hiring.”

Former Treasure Coast Congressman Tim Mahoney is scheduled to be at the Palm Beach County Courthouse today on that DUI he got last year.  CBS 12 reports he’s scheduled to give a case deposition.  Mahoney is fighting the DUI saying he did the right thing by choosing not to drive, but sleep it off inside his parked car.

A 5 year old Ft Pierce girl suffering from cancer got her wish over the weekend.  Angelica Lopez Aguilar wanted to go on a shopping spree.  The Make A Wish Foundation granted her wish and she and her mom and older sister went shopping at Treasure Coast Square Mall followed by lunch at Chilis

Florida US Senator Marco Rubio is back from Haiti after a brief trip to get an update on the earthquake recovery effort.  Rubio met with Haiti's president and prime minister for an update on the rebuilding two years after the quake struck.  More than half a million people are still living in temporary shelters and relief supplies continue to be sent from the Treasure Coast and Florida.

Arsonists may be responsible for destroying one of the world's oldest known cypress trees.  The tree nicknamed "The Senator" at Big Tree Park in Seminole County was burning from the inside out when crews responded to the scene early this morning.  Believed to be about 35-hundred-years-old, the 120-foot "Senator" collapsed and only about 20-feet of the tree still stands.  Investigators believe it's possible homeless people in the area were unable to control a campfire that spread to the tree.

Thieves have found something new to steal for scrap metal.  They are going after the metal shutters on restaurants that have closed and gone out of business.  It’s a growing problem in Palm Beach County where big metal shutters can fetch several hundred or even a thousand dollars at scrap recyclers.  Since the business is closed, it often takes a long time for anyone to even notice the metal shutters are missing. 

This year’s Stuart Boat Show had a 9% increase in attendance despite the cool weather.  Organizers say that shows the Treasure Coast marine industry is making a comeback from the down economy the past few years.

The District playoffs in girl’s high school soccer begin today.  Ft Pierce Westwood plays Okeechobee in District 15-3A at Suncoast High with the winner playing top seed Jensen Beach Wednesday.  In District 6 Class 5A it’s Vero Beach plays St Lucie West Centennial at the South County Stadium.  The winner plays Treasure Coast High Friday night.  Ft Pierce Central plays Martin County while Port St Lucie plays South Fork in District 14-4A. These two matches are at Martin County High.  Lincoln Park plays Palm Beach Benjamin in District 12-2A while the Pines School hosts Breane Christian in a District 11 Class 1A match.  The boys district soccer playoffs are next week.


MONDAY JANUARY 16

St Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara has raised more than $56,000 for his reelection campaign this year.  So far, no one has filed to run against him.  In the Martin County Sheriff's race, William Snyder has raised $173,000, Dave Dees $44,000,  John "Ski" Pietruszewski almost $11,000 while LC Jackson has raised $1,300.

Florida gas prices are up more than a penny a gallon since last week.  AAA South says the average price is $3.45.  Last week it was $3.44.  A month ago it was just $3.27 and a year ago it was selling for $3.13.

As of today buying a Powerball ticket costs $2 a play.  Officials say it will mean bigger jackpots growing more quickly.  When there is a jackpot winner, the new jackpot will start at $40 million instead of $20 million.  They also say the odds of winning are better under the new Powerball game.  Powerball has reduced sales of the Florida Lotto game since coming to Florida.

The Treasure Coast celebrates Martin Luther King’s birthday today with parades, festivals and concerts.   Ft Pierce begins with the annual King Day parade from Avenue I and ML King Blvd at 9 am.  The parade ends up at Lawnwood Stadium where there’s a family festival the rest of the day.  In Stuart the parade starts at 1pm at the 10^th Street Recreation Center thru east Stuart to the bandshell at Memorial Park.  At 2pm they will reenact the “I have a dream” speech, considered one of the most significant in American history.  After that, there will be a free concert at the bandshell.

All Treasure Coast government offices and courthouses are closed today for the Dr King holiday.  Libraries, post offices and most banks are closed too.  There is no school today in Martin and St Lucie County.  IRSC campuses are closed. There's no mail delivery either, but trash will be picked up on the regular schedule except in Stuart

The Navy UDT-SEAL Museum remembered and honored Aaron Vaughn Sunday with a special ceremony.  A memorial brick was laid in the museum’s courtyard.  Vaugh was among the Navy SEALs killed when their helicopter crashed in Afghanistan last August.  Vaughn lived for a time in Stuart, attending Martin County High.  His parents and sister and his wife and two young children attended the memorial.

VGTI, the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute moves into their new labs and offices this week in Tradition near Torrey Pines where scientists have been doing research on the third floor.  The 100,000 square foot building cost $47 million.  VGTi has 65 employees already and promises to hire 200 by 2018. 

The National Hurricane Center will have a new director by time this year’s hurricane season starts.  Director Bill Read intends to retire by then.  He’s been director since 2007.

WEEKEND EDITION JANUARY 14 & 15

Temperatures fell into the 30s Sunday morning with a low of 30 in Ft Pierce at dawn.  A warming trend starts but overnight lows will still be in the 40 again tonight.

There were no jackpot-winning tickets sold for Saturday night's Powerball or Florida Lotto drawings.  The new Powerball jackpot is $80 million while Lotto is at $5 million.

A white powdery substance found at the St Lucie County Courthouse late Friday afternoon tested negative and was not a threat to humans.  The Courthouse was evacuated late in the day after the substance was found near the Court Clerk's office.  8 people who came in contact with the powder were taken to Lawnood Regional as a precaution.  The Sheriff's office investigation continues into the package's origin.

An article in People magazine says Casey Anthony is secretly living in St Lucie County.  The article's author doesn't say how he knows that.

(There is also a Facebook posting by a Port St Lucie resident also says she saw Casey Anthony driving a car at Port St Lucie Blvd and Darwin last September.)

A 26 year old man was arrested Thursday in Jensen Beach for allegedly standing in the middle of the tracks forcing a train to make an emergency stop.  Joseph Fabrey reportedly stepped aside at the last minute and was not hit by the train near NE Palmetto Drive.  

FRIDAY JANUARY 13

Port St Lucie Mayor JoAnn Faiella gave her first State of the City speech today.  She said developing partnerships with community groups and private business is the best way to secure the city's future.   Those partnerships have led to the city being safe and being able to get through tough economic times.

Aegis Communications in Port St Lucie has laid off 76 temporary employees.  The company says the employees knew going in the jobs were seasonal.  They will have a chance to be rehired later as more work comes in.  The temps were calling clients of insurance companies.

The Manatee Pocket dredging project is complete.  280,000 cubic yards of sand have been dredged the past 18 months, deepening the 100 foot wide channel greatly improving navigation and access to the Pocket and its tributaries.  This will improve the environment, habitat and economic impact in the area.

A mobile home fire sent a St Lucie County man to the hospital last night.  Fire officials believe an electrical problem started the fire in the bedroom of the mobile home in the 4600 block of south US 1 around 6:15 last night.  Half the mobile home was on fire when the first firefighter arrived.  A 50 year old man was taken to a burn center in Orlando.

The Red Cross will open a cold weather shelter tonight in Ft Pierce at the In the Image of Christ facility on 7th St.

The FDA has banned orange juice from Brazil from coming in to the US because it has a banned fungicide used to spray the orange trees in that country.  Treasure Coast citrus expert Skip Clements says most orange juice concentrate has juice from Brazil  There are very few orange juice products that don’t.   The ban is not good for orange juice’s image.   Orange juice consumption has been declining the past few years. Clements says it won’t be good for consumers because it will mean higher prices.

UPDATE:  The man killed in Thursday morning's traffic crash on US 1 in southern Martin County has been identified as 74 year old Marcel Wagner.  The FHP says a car made a left turn into the Jupiter Hills area and was hit by oncoming traffic.  Martin County Fire Rescue says they had to make extensive efforts to extricate the body.  Two other suffered minor injuries. 

Martin County is celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday this weekend.  It began with a talent show and art show Thursday and continues Saturday with a family fun day at the 10^th St Recreation center.  Sunday afternoon there’s an Interfaith Gospel Service at the 1^st United Methodist Church at 4pm.  Monday there’s a Parade thru east Stuart to the bandshell at Memorial Park with speakers and a free concert

The 38^th annual Stuart Boat Show is this weekend at the marina’s north of the old Roosevelt Bridge.  $100 million worth of boats and marine equipment will be on display today, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm.
.
The annual Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce Arts & Craft Show is this weekend in the downtown.  Jensen Beach Blvd will be closed to traffic this weekend and reopen Sunday night a 8pm

Spring training is right around the corner.  Saturday single game tickets to New York Mets games go on sale at Digital Domain Park in St Lucie West.  The most popular tickets are for games with the Yankees and Red Sox.  The box office opens at 10am.  The Mets expect about a thousand  people to buy tickets Saturday

Monday is the Martin Luther King Holiday, so many things will be closed.  All federal, state, and city government offices are closed on Monday.  So are the courthouses.  Post office and most banks will be closed and there is no school on Monday.

THURSDAY JANUARY 12

Martin County Fire Department Lt John Richardson continues to improve after being shot last Sunday in Palm City by Vernon Chason.  Richardson is now expected to make a full recovery.  He was in critical condition right after the shootout that left Chason and Richardson's wife Pamela dead.

Mitt Romney told a campaign rally at the Palm Beach County Convention Center today he doesn't want to transform America like President Obama, he wants to restore it.  He also criticized the President's plan to down-size the military saying the way to avoid war is by being strong, not weak.  After his speech, Romney signed dozens of autographs and talked one-on-one with people in the crowd.  More than a thousand people, including some from the Treasure Coast attended the rally.


The northbound lanes of US 1 have reopened in the Jupiter Hills area of southern Martin County after a fatal traffic crash around 9am.  The FHP says a man was killed when a car made a left turn in front on two other cars.  Martin County fire rescue had to extricate him.  Two others were transported to Jupiter Medical Center with non life-threatening injuries.  The US 1 lanes were closed for almost 4 hours.

Stuart Police rescued two canoeists from the St Lucie River early this morning.  They swam out to rescue one of them who had cramped up trying to swim to shore in the Rio area.  They used a private boat to search for the second man who was still tied to the canoe which was almost submerged and brought him to shore.  All this happened about 12:43am.

Florida Power & Light's Martin power plant in Indiantown produced more than 7 million tons of greenhouse gas last year. That make it one of the top 10 greenhouse gas producers in Florida.  Most of that was carbon dioxide.  The EPA also says the Treasure Coast Energy Center in Ft Pierce produced 682 thousand tons of carbon dioxide gas last year.  The Palm City landfill, which is now closed,  produced 77 thousand tons of mostly methane gas and the St Lucie County Bailing & Recycling center 107 thousand tons of methane gas.

Al Rivett has filed to run for the St Lucie County Commission District 5 seat.  Rivett used to run the Chamber of Commerce and Habitat for Humanity.  He is a republican.

In earlier Treasure Coast news....

Mitt Romney will be at a campaign rally today at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach at noon.  They moved it from the Kravis Center because the Convention Center across the street has can handle bigger crowds. Romney is also scheduled for a private fund raiser later at the Town of Palm Beach home of Miami Dolphin owner Steve Ross.
 
The national Republican Party continues to punish Florida for moving up our Presidential Primary to have a bigger say in who gets the nomination.  First they took away have of Florida’s delegates, now  they are taking away half the hotel rooms.

One of the bills filed in Tallahassee concerns the future of the Beau Rivage area of Jensen Beach.   Many people want to be in Martin County instead of St Lucie County.  Treasure Coast State Senator Joe Negron filed the bill to do just that in the Florida Senate.  Negron says the residents of Beau Rivage have met burden in explaining why they want to be in Martin County and ads it’s a sort of historical fluke that Beau Rivage is in St Lucie county. Negron says any change will take care of the loss of property tax revenues to St Lucie County.  Treasure Coast State Representative Gayle Harrell has filed a similar bill in the Florida House.  Hers calls for a vote by Beau Rivage residents to make sure that’s what they want.  Negron says he’ll amend his bill to go along with that.

The Ft Pierce Police Headquarters gets a new name as of today.  It will be named in honor of Jimmy Wouters and Grover Cooper, two detectives killed in the line of duty on January 12, 1987.  They were investigating a suspected drug dealer and went to his home off Midway Road.   The suspect came from a back bedroom with a shotgun and shot them.  He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Wouters and Cooper.

Martin County school board member Laurie Gaylor has raised $13,700 so far for her campaign to be school superintendent.  She says that’s almost 3 times the money Nancy Kline has raised.  In a press release, Gaylord says she wants to bring positive change to the school system and the money raised shows taxpayers and parents do to.

Willie Gary’s son Kobe is in legal trouble again.  He got a DUI in Stuart last Saturday.  A Martin County Deputy says Gary pulled out in front of him without stopping at a stop sign.  Kobie Gary was released from prison last May and is on probation for running a marijuana grow house in Hobe Sound.
 
They’ll be doing a control burnoff of brush at the Savannahs Preserve today and Friday, weather permitting.  They will be burning almost 400 acres south of Easy St to about 3 miles north of Walton Rd.
 
Students at Indiantown Middle school will learn about how to paint graffiti today.  Local graffiti and graphic design artist Erica Winton will teach them how to do graffiti art on canvas, learning her techniques.  Canvas Graffiti art is growing in popularity world wide.  The students art will center around the six pillars of good character under the Character Counts program.

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11

Mitt Romney will be at a campaign rally Thursday in West Palm Beach starting at noon.  The location has changed.  It will be at the Palm Beach Convention Center and not the Kravis Center as first announced.  Romney is also scheduled for a private fund raiser later at the Town of Palm Beach home of Miami Dolphin owner Steve Ross.

The Ft Pierce Police department will be named after Jimmy Wouters and Grover Cooper tomorrow.  The two detectives died in a shootout with a suspected drug dealer in White City on January 12, 1987.

Long-time Martin County resident Carolyn Timmann says she will run for Court Clerk in this fall's primary.  She has worked in the Governor's office as deputy chief of staff until recently.  Her husband Robert was a long time Martin County Sheriff's detective who was killed while serving in Iraq in 2006.   Timmann will run as a republican,

A Jensen Beach woman has been charged with stealing a ring worth $350,000 and selling it.  Sheriff's records say 26 year old Cody Mejias took the ring while cleaning a clients home in December, then sold it for $4,800 at Jensen Beach Jewelers.   She used the money to buy Christmas gifts, gift cards, food and pay bills.

Port St Lucie Police are looking for suspect(s) in a recent rash of hate-graffiti found at offices and businesses around town.  It's anti-Jewish slogans have been found at a lawyer's office, dental office, vehicles and businesses since mid-December.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney is "condemning" President Obama for appointing people to run federal agencies without getting US Senate approval.  Rooney, who taught constitutional law at West Point, calls it a power grab that ignores centuries of precedents and goes against his own Justice Department advice not to make them until Congress was in recess.   

Stuart Police have set up a Hotline number for information about an unsolved murder from last October.  Lascelles Russell was found dead in his car in the parking lot of an office building on East Ocean Blvd.  He was a courier for Quest Diagnostics and had last been heard from the night before he was found dead.  The Hotline number is 772-220-3966.

Gov Rick Scott asked the Florida Legislature in his State of the State address Tuesday in Tallahassee to increase education funding by a billion dollars.  He wants to shift money away from Medicaid and health services.  Treasure Coast State Senator Joe Negron supports that idea.

People are already buying season passes to the new Sailfish Splash Water Park which will open in March.  Parks & Recreation director  Kevin Abatte told Martin County commissioners Tuesday they've already sold $43,000 in new season passes Applicants will be interviewed next week for 136 jobs at the Sailfish Splash Water Park.  In other action, Martin County Commissioners approved an ordinance allowing restaurants with outdoor seating to allow customers to bring their dogs.  The dog-friendly restaurant ordinance is modeled after a similar law in the city of Stuart.

There’s a happy ending to the story about a 4 month old Port St Lucie girl in danger of being taken off her ventilator.  Kimberly and Chen Globin told news partner CBS 12 Florida Medicaid told them there would not pay for the ventilator and nursing care anymore saying little Willow Globin was getting social security benefits.  The family said she was not.  After CBS 12 did a story on it, Medicaid called Tuesday to say they would continue to pay.  The parents are very relieved

The latest poll finds Mitt Romney ahead in Florida.  The Quinnipiac University poll finds 36% of republicans support Romney, 24% Newt Gingrich, 16% Rick Santorum and 10% back Ron Paul.
 
St Lucie County may have to deal with road side solicitations after all.  The county and cities of Port St Lucie and Ft Pierce talked about it last fall after questions were raised about a group claiming to be raising money for veterans at highway intersections.  But so many legitimate groups like MDA’s Jerry’s Kids and even Sunday newspaper hawkers complained that they depend on road side collections, the idea of banning them was dropped.  But now the St Lucie County Sheriff’s office has found a Tampa church group that’s been out collecting has a history of fraud, so the idea is back.

A Port St Lucie woman was charged with child neglect after Police and DCF officials found the home dirty, smelling of urine and feces with cockroaches running around.  Her three young children had cuts and bruises.  26 year old Victoria L Hinchcliff is being held at the Rock Road jail on $7,500 bond.

A West Palm Beach man was arrested Monday in Stuart for firing shots and flashing a gun at a neighbor.  Martin County deputies say 35 year old Michael Scott was stopped by an off-duty Port St Lucie Police officer in the driveway of a home on NE 16^th St.  The officer had heard shots and says he found Scott with a gun.  A neighbor says Scott threatened him with the gun and deputies found a woman walking nearby who said he was her off and on boy friend.  Deputies also found shell casings in the driveway and a car in the driveway had several bullet holes.

The Port St Lucie City Council has a special meeting this afternoon.  A contract to buy drainage pipes for the east side drainage project they approved Monday night will have to be redone.  The winning contractor now says they can’t supply the pipes for the price they bid, so the council will meet to award the contract to the next lowest bidder.  The meeting is at 2pm

TUESDAY JANUARY 10

Gov Rick Scott said Florida is in better shape today than a year ago when he took office.  He said in his State of the State address today in Tallahassee that Florida has come a long way toward being a business-friendly state and touted the 120,000 new jobs created the past year.  He asked republicans and democrats to cooperate to continue to streamline government and lower taxes and continue to make Florida a leading job creator.  He said he willing to listen to ideas from both parties during the new legislative session that started today. 

Martin County has sold $43,000 of season passes for the new Sailfish Splash Water Park which will open in March.  Parks & Recreation officials told county commissioners today they have gotten calls from organizers of swimming and diving competitions interested in holding meets here.  That includes the state high school swimming and diving tournament.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is confirmed to be in Martin County later this month.  Local party officials say Gingrich will attend the Lincoln Day Brunch at Willoughby County Club on January 28th.  The brunch is from 9 to 11am.  Tickets are $75 each, or two for $125.  You can buy them thru the martingop.org website which takes PayPal.

A Ft Pierce man was arrested Monday on charges he set a woman's car on fire last week.  Police say 55 year old Domingo Aranda admitted threatening to burn the woman's house down during 5 phone calls.  Police say it was because she refused to go out with him.  He says he was drunk at the time, and accidentally set the car on fire while getting his clothes out.

In earlier Treasure Coast news....

The Florida Legislature starts today in Tallahassee.  Treasure Coast State Senator Joe Negron says his top priority is making sure new Congressional and State Senate and House districts are drawn fairly. Negron says his other focus will be on the economy.  Governor Rick Scott starts the legislative session with his annual State of the State speech.  WSTU will broadcast the speech live.  Our coverage begins at 11am

People who don’t like Governor Scott’s proposed budget cuts will rally at the Roosevelt Bridge later today.  The Awake Florida rally starts at 5:30 this afternoon.

A Port St Lucie family is fighting to have Medicaid change its mind to stop paying for the ventilator and nurse for their 4 month old daughter Willow.  They say Medicare notified them last week without warning that they would no longer pay saying the baby gets Social Security benefits.  The Chan Gobin tells news partner CBS 12 that’s not true and he feels abandoned by the government.  The Medicaid office in Tallahassee says they are doing everything they can to assist the Port St Lucie family, but won’t say if they will reinstate the baby’s insurance coverage.  The Gobins are getting the moral backing of their church, His Word Ministries.

Port St Lucie has a sister city….in China.  The city council voted last night to invite officials from Wuxing to come to Florida for a visit.  Mayor JoAnn Faiella told the council she has received several emails from the mayor of Wuxing which led council members Jack Kelly and Michelle Berger to express concerns that no city staff would be traveling to Chine.  The vote to invite the Chinese was 5-0. The mayor of Wuxing wrote he’d learned about Port St Lucie when he met Torrey Pines President Richard Houghton.  Wuxing is a city of more than 591,000 north and east of Shanghai.  Their major industries include electronics, textiles and biomedical. 

Martin County fire Lt John Richardson Jr has been upgraded from critical to serious condition as he recovers from a gunshot suffered Sunday during a shooting in Palm City.  His wife Pamela was shot and killed by Vernon "Sonny" Chason as she and her husband and others were helping Chason's estranged wife move her belongings from the Chason home on Martin Highway. Chason in turn was shot and killed by Richardson who was wounded by a shot fired by Chason before he died.  The Stuart dental office where Mrs Richardson worked was closed Monday and the flag flew at half staff at the family home.

Port St Lucie Police Chief Brian Reuther will retire in May, but could be rehired.  The city’s retirement program requires he retire, but he could be rehired 30 days later.  He would then get a pension plus a salary.  Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers reports Reuther plans to apply for the job..

The USDA plans to close 259 offices and labs nationwide to save money.  10 of those are in Florida.  The USDA research lab in St Lucie County is not going to close.

A gambling cruise ship has been approved for the Port of Palm Beach.  Port commissioners Monday approved a deal with Black Diamond Casino’s of Jupiter to operate a 150 foot ship that will sail out to international waters offering slots, blackjack, craps, poker and sports books.  They plan to start their cruises in March.  The company intends to hire 150 people for jobs that pay from $30,000 to $100,000 a year.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney will speak at today’s Stuart Kiwanis Club luncheon.  He will speak on the issues likely to be hot topics this year in Washington and take questions from Kiwanians.

MONDAY JANUARY 9

Martin County fire Lt John Richardson Jr has been upgraded from critical to serious condition as he recovers from a gunshot suffered Sunday during a shooting in Palm City.  His wife Pamela was shot and killed by Vernon "Sonny" Chason.  She was helping Chason's estranged wife move her belongings from the Chason home on Martin Highway. Chason in turn was shot and killed by Richardson who was wounded by a shot fired by Chason before he died.

Earlier story:  Two people were shot dead in Palm City Sunday afternoon while a third is in critical condition at Lawnwood's Trauma Center.  Martin County Sheriff's officials say 74 year old Vernon "Sonny" Chason shot and killed his sister in law, 49 year old Pamela Richardson who was at his home on Martin Highway to help Chason's estranged wife retrieve her belongings.  53 year old John Richardson Jr returned fire, killing Chason.  Chason fired a shot hitting Richardson who was taken to the trauma center.  Five others, including Chason's wife, were not injured.  John Richardson is a Lieutenant with the Martin County fire department in Hobe Sound and at last word was in critical condition.  Two handguns were recovered at the scene. The investigation continues.

The Ft Pierce pedestrian killed last Friday night in northern St Lucie County has been identified as 59 year old Kimberly D Schlie.  The FHP says she was hit by a car driven by an 81 year old Indiana man at US 1 and St Lucie Blvd, then hit by a second vehicle.

The final tally shows the White Doves Christmas project served 1,163 needy Martin County families this past holiday season.  They provided toys for 2,750 children and provided nutritious foods for families.

Martin Health Systems has purchased the naming rights for the Village Square out front of the Port St Lucie Civic Center.  Martin Health Systems plans to break ground in March for their new hospital in Tradition.  Martin Health System will also sponsor the annual St Patricks Day Parade & Festival and the city's annual Health Fair among other events.

It was a deadly weekend in our area for highway crashes. 5 people died from St Lucie to Martin and northern Palm Beach County  a 6^th person injured last week has died. 
    A Boynton Beach woman died in a crash on the Turnpike in Hobe Sound Friday night.  64 year old Gail Garfinkle was ejected from the back seat of an SUV when another car changed lanes and hit it.  
    A woman was hit by a car Friday night in northern St Lucie County and later died.  The woman, in her 60s, was hit at US 1 and St Lucie Blvd north of Ft Pierce just before 6:30pm.  She was taken to Lawnwood's Trauma Center where she later died.
    A bicyclist hit by a car last week has died.  The FHP says 18 year old Colton Lavin was hit Tuesday afternoon when he tried to cross all 4 lanes of Martin Downs Blvd
    Three died in a traffic crash Sunday on I-95 near Donald Ross Road.  The FHP says their car ran off the road and flipped into a drainage ditch  between I-95 and the Turnpike around 2pm   All three were in their 60s and all were in cardiac arrest when pulled from the submerged car and were pronounced dead at the hospital..

WEEKEND EDITION JANUARY 7 & 8

Two people were shot dead in Palm City Sunday afternoon. A third is at Lawnwood's Trauma Center.  Martin County Sheriff's officials say 74 year old Vernon "Sonny" Chason shot and killed his sister in law, 49 year old Pamela Richardson who was at his home on Martin Highway to help Chason's estranged wife retrieve her belongings.  53 year old John Richardson Jr returned fire, killing Chason.  Chason fired a shot hitting Richardson who was taken to the trauma center.  Five others, including Chason's wife, were not injured.

US Senator Bill Nelson says he's working on legislation to speed up the Everglades Restoration.  Speaking at the annual Everglades Coalition conference in Stuart Saturday, Nelson says his plan is to eliminate some of the bureaucratic red tape that delays projects.  The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was approved in 2000.  A few projects are actually under way including the C-44 Reservoir project in western Martin County, that will hold dirty water, letting it filter out pollutants before being released to the Everglades.

A Florida Lotto ticket sold in Tamarac matched all 6 numbers in Saturday night's drawing.  The jackpot was $6 million.   Nobody hit Powerball.  Its new jackpot is $54 million.

A woman was hit by a car Friday night in northern St Lucie County and later died.  The woman, in her 60s, was hit at US 1 and St Lucie Blvd north of Ft Pierce just before 6:30pm.  She was taken to Lawnwood's Trauma Center where she later died.

24 people have applied to be the new Palm Beach County School Superintendent.  The applicants include Harry La Cava who used to be the school superintendent in Indian River County.  Former PBC Election's Supervisor Arthur Anderson is another one.  The applicants will be interviewed in a couple weeks and the list cut down to 5 finalists.  The Palm Beach County school board hopes to have a new superintendent on the job June 1st. 

FRIDAY JANUARY 6

Treasure Coast State Representative William Snyder has raised $166,000 for his campaign to be the new Martin County Sheriff.  In a press release, Snyder says he is humbled by the community support and says it shows momentum for his campaign.

The House of Hope helped feed many more Martin County families in 2011.  They gave out 179 tons of food last year.  That's equal to 280,000 meals.  That's almost double the food they gave out in 2008 when the local economy started to slow.  Martin County schools are going to help. Two schools each month will hold a food drive.

A Ft Pierce Police officer has been charged with doctor shopping.  Joan Frances, an 8 year veteran, was charged with 3 counts of fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance after an investigation by the St Lucie County Sheriff's office.  She was released from the Rock Road jail on $15,000 bond.  She is on paid administrative leave.

Florida & Treasure Coast gas prices are going up.  AAA South says the average price of a gallon of gas today in Florida is $3.42.  That's up 3 cents since Thursday and up 9 cents from just a week ago.  Experts say gas could hit $4 a gallon before long.

A Ft Pierce couple was arrested on child neglect charges Thursday after deputies found a filthy home with rotting food and feces inside.  St Lucie County deputies went to the home to help Animal Control on a call.  Deputies say none of the children, ages 2,3 & 4, had clothes on either.  They arrested 28 year old Benjamin Yeary and his 26 year old wife Elizabeth.  The children were turned over to DCF.

A Tequesta mother and son are suspected of going on a crime spree recently.  Police say 29 year old Andrew Uhland is believed to have broken into a string of vehicles taking wallets, cell phones and credit cards.  His 49 year old mother Deborah Uhland allegedly was the lookout.  She has been arrested.  The son fled their home as police were questioning her.  The pair allegedly used stolen credit cards to buy cigarettes and gift cards.

Somebody in Indian River County may be a lot richer today.  The only Fantasy 5 ticket sold that matched all 5 numbers in last night's drawing was sold in Sebastian.  The ticket is worth more than $217,000

Florida Governor Rick Scott kicked off the 27th annual Everglades Coalition conference at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort last night by saying the Everglades is worth every penny we spend to restore it.  He also told the conference he is optimistic the Legislature will fund his $40 million budget request for restoration projects. The funding request is double what the Governor asked for last year.  He says Florida is in better financial shape than a year ago and he'd like to do more for the Everglades.

Detroit Tiger star first baseman Miguel Cabrerra got probation and a fine for a St Lucie County DUI last year. A judge sentenced him to 6 months probation and fined him $500.  He will also have to do 60 hours of community service.  Cabrerra was found in his smoking car off the side of the road last February with an open container.  Deputies say his eyes were bloodshot and his speech slurred.  He had allegedly Threatened a restaurant manager in Ft Pierce who refused to serve him before deputies found him.

Three people are finalist for the St Lucie County School’s Employee of the Year award.  They are Patricia Christian-McFadden, an office clerk at Southport Middle, Francesca Petrocelli, a behavioral technician at Weatherbee Elementary, and Sharon Parenteau, an attendance clerk at Dan McCarty.  They’ll be interviewed later this month and the Employee of the Year will be announced in February.

A Rio couple says they were robbed and beaten during a home invasion early Thursday morning.  They answered a knock on the door and say three people, including a woman attacked them with a baseball bat.  The woman victim was fearful about the knock on the door suspecting the woman attacker was after her.

THURSDAY JANUARY 5

An East Stuart man has been charged with a string of air conditioner thefts in recent weeks.  Stuart Police watched Julius Rogers' home and developed enough of a case to get a search warrant.  They found the remains of 20 to 25 air conditioners and parts.  He's being held at the Martin County jail on $45,000 bond. There have been about $70,000 worth of air conditioning units stolen in Martin County in recent weeks.

Treasure Coast Congressman Tom Rooney is critical of President Obama's plan to reduce the size of the US military.  The plan cuts $487 billion in Defense Department budget over the next ten years and reduces the number of troops.  In a press release, Rooney says.... “The President’s new strategy relies on the flawed assumption that by retreating from the world and reducing the size of our military, we can make our threats go away.  This strategy of appeasement has never worked.  Shrinking and weakening our military made us less safe under Presidents Carter and Clinton, and it will make us less safe under President Obama as well

Amtrak officials say they need protections from lawsuits before establishing passenger rail service to the Treasure Coast and south Florida.  Amtrak is worried about liability if there is a derailment.  Treasure Coast officials will urge the local legislative delegation to push for liability protections in the Florida Legislature.

Port St Lucie Mayor JoAnn Faiella will deliver her first state of the city speech on January 13th.  She did not give one last year having just been elected two months before.  Her speech will outline what Port St Lucie is doing to keep it one of Florida's safest cities and on economic development.  The speech will be at 9am at the Civic Center.

A 19 year old man ended up in the Martin County jail early New Years day for stabbing his mother's boyfriend.  The mother and boyfriend had been arguing in their Palm City home after missing the ball drop from New York City's Times Square on TV, even throwing beer in each others face.  The son, Brandon Scarpati then got in a fight with the boyfriend allegedly stabbing him in the hand.

State agriculture officials say the freeze has killed some Florida farm crops.  Farms in the Belle Glade area say they lost their entire crop of green beans.  Other crops appear to have made it through the cold in good shape.  The crops that were lost were the tail-end of the harvest, so almost all their crops had already been sent to market.  Citrus wasn't damaged.

The Everglades Coalition annual conference starts today at the Hutchinson Island Martiott Beach Resort.  The conference  theme this year is"Everglades Restoration: Worth Every Penny,"  Officials with the US EPA will attend.  They will focus on the number of jobs restoring the Everglades could create.  Supporters say more than 10 thousand jobs have been created by earlier restoration projects.  It may take hundreds of millions in funding to get the restoration done.  They will discuss ways to convince the Florida Legislature to fund as much as they can this year.  Gov Rick Scott will speak tonight.

Martin County has started hiring people to work the new Sailfish Splash water park that’s due to open in two months.  They will hire 136 people for a variety of positions including lifeguards, cashiers and concessions.  The jobs pay between $8 and $12.50 an hour.  To apply go to the Martin County website.

Here’s what happened in yesterday’s crash on I-95 that shut down the southbound lanes between Vero and Ft Pierce.  A semi driven by an Orlando man rear-ended a semi driven by a Tampa man.  As they wrecked, an SUV driven by a Port St Lucie man swerved to avoid it and hit one of the trucks anyway.  Then there was a fuel spill and several other accidents back up the road as traffic was detoured off the Interstate.  All this happened at the southern end of the I-95 repaving project.

More than 2 thousand Treasure Coast voters switched their registrations to Republican the past year.  815 switched from Democrat or Independent in Martin County.  1,222 switched to the Republican party in St Lucie.  Many of them made the switch in December.  They will be eligible to vote in the Republican Presidential Primary the end of the month.  Early voting starts in a couple weeks.  You can vote by mail, now.

A Ft Pierce businessman is running for the St Lucie County Commission.  54 year old Chip Radebaugh III owns Chips Auto Glass.  He grew up in St Lucie County and is running for the District 5 seat now held by Chris Craft and is a Republican..

St Lucie County deputies arrested a homeless man Tuesday for stealing two golf carts.  Officials say 25 year old Tyler Tolle stole the first golf cart Monday on the North Hutchinson Island and drove it until it ran out of power.  He then allegedly stole a second golf cart but was seen.  He told deputies he took the carts because it was illegal to leave the keys in them.

They’ll be doing a controlled burn at Jonathan Dickenson State Park today, weather permitting. 300 acres of pine flatwoods will be burned off to prevent an out-of-control real brush fire later.

The governor is coming to town.  Gov Rick Scott will give the keynote speech at the Everglades Coalition’s annual conference that is in Stuart this year.  The conference has been going on for 27 years and this year is at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort starting tomorrow. The Everglades Restoration is seen as a key to restoring the health of the St Lucie River.  The governor has put $40 million to continue work on the Everglades In his proposed new state budget.  Senator Bill Nelson is also scheduled to attend the conference.

When you watch the Orange Bowl college football game tonight, watch the half time show.  14 members of the Treasure Coast High School dance team will perform while the band Train performs.  Getting to perform at the Orange Bowl is by invitation only and Orange Bowl officials liked what they saw and invited the girls.  They raised their own money to be able to go.  The Treasure Coast High dance team is coached by Amber Salo.


TUESDAY JANUARY 3

A Freeze Warning is in effect for tonight and early Wednesday morning.  Cold temperatures and gusty winds could damage plants and farm crops.  Treasure Coast citrus most likely will not be affected, but things like bell peppers, beans, tomatoes and sweet corn may be.  A wind chill advisory is also in effect for tonight with feels-like temperatures below freezing.

Red Cross cold weather shelters will be open tonight.  They are the Boys & Girls Club in Palm City, In Image of Christ ministries in Ft Pierce and The Source in Vero Beach.  Palm Beach County will also be opening shelters tonight.

A suspicious package was removed from the UDT-SEAL museum today.  St Lucie County deputies found an unknown substance inside and called in the fire department's HazMat team.  The museum and surrounding area were evacuated.
 
A Palm City man has been arrested near the Florida-Georgia border after allegedly trying to kill his wife last week.
Yiu Fai Cheng and his wife originally told investigators the wife had tried to commit suicide.  Days later she changed her story from her hospital bed stating her husband had tried to kill her after an argument.  When detectives went to the Sunset Trace home, they found Cheng gone and tracked his travels on I-75 thru his cell phone.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney office was evacuated after 3 employees got sick after exposure to a white powder this morning.  The powder was in an envelope that came in the mail.  It has been sent to the FBI lab.  All were decontaminated at the scene and taken to Good Sam hospital.  Palm Beach State Attorney Michael McAulliffe says the substance and the letter were directed at him.

St Lucie County firefighters put out a fire at a warehouse in the Port of Ft Pierce area this morning.  A stack of wood shipping pallets was on fire in the building at 100 Terminal Drive within 15 minutes of their arrival at about 9:15am.

Martin County deputies made 7 DUI arrests New Year's Eve.  They also made 2 misdemeanor drug arrests, arrested 2 for not having a driver's license and wrote 14 tickets.

A Fantasy 5 lottery tickets sold in Palm Beach Gardens is one of just two that matched all five numbers in last night's drawing.  It was sold at a Publix store on US 1 and is worth more than $104,000.

John Carroll High is looking for a new football coach.  Kevin Wald has resigned after compiling an 11-19 record the past three years.

A blast of arctic air is over Florida today dropping temperatures.  Lows had dropped into the upper 30s in the northern parts of the Treasure Coast as of  5am.  The low in the Stuart & Port St Lucie area were in the mid 40s.  20 to 25 mph have wind chills making it feel colder.  Today's high may not get much above 50.  Even colder temperatures tonight and Wednesday morning.

The clean up is underway at Martin County High today after a fire in a storage room did $350,000 damage Monday.  40 firefighters put the fire out, but there was water and smoke damage to the Wanda Yarboro Performing Arts Center and near by classrooms. The fire was accidental, started by sparks from a steel cutter used by construction workers building a new classroom wing.  The school is expected to be ready for class Wednesday.

It’s back to school today for some Treasure Coast students.  St Lucie County schools resume class after the long Christmas to New Year’s break. So do the kids in Indian River and Okeechobee counties.  They still have the first semester to wrap up over the next few weeks.  Martin County students head back on Wednesday.  Martin County has finished its first semester.  Palm Beach County schools resume class next week..

Today’s the last day to make sure you can vote in the Republican Presidential Primary the end of the month.  You can change your registration from democrat, or no party to republican so you can vote, but it has to be done today at the Martin or St Lucie County Elections Supervisor’s offices in Stuart or Ft Pierce.

Fewer people died Florida highway crashes last year.  The Florida Highway Patrol says 2,312 people died last year.  That was almost 150 fewer than in 2010 when 2,444 died.  In 2005, 3,530 died in Florida traffic crashes.

444 manatees died in Florida last year.  That’s the second-highest number ever.  It’s fewer than the all-time record of 766 manatees that died in 2010.  Broward County had the most manatee deaths last year with 98.  15 manatees were found dead in St Lucie County and 11 in Martin County. 11 died in Palm Beach and another 13 in Indian River County.  Last winter’s extremely cold weather is blamed for the near-record deaths.

Martin County’s first New Years baby didn’t come until Sunday night.  Krysta Marie Gorman was 7 lbs 13 ounces when her mother Barbara Pawlec gave birth after 22 hours of labor at Martin Memorial.  Mother and daughter and father Nicholas Gorman are fine.  They live in Ft Pierce

Martin County Sheriff’s Lt John Silva has retired.  He was with the Sheriff’s office since 1982 and was one of the first Spanish speaking deputies hired by then Sheriff Jim Holt.  As a detective he’s been involved in some of the biggest cases and has solved several cold cases.  Lt Silva is 56.

 
MONDAY JANUARY 2

UPDATE: Fire did an estimated $350,000 damage at Martin County High this afternoon. They responded to a fire alarm at about 12:45pm.  Construction workers returning from lunch reported a fire.   Firefighters found a fire inside the walls of the auditorium in a storage room.  They put that out and ventilated the building of smoke.   Fire sprinklers kicked on and there is water inside the Yarboro Center and some damage to classrooms and a science lab.  The cause was accidental started, officials believe, by a cutting torch used by construction workers.  School is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

The Red Cross will open an emergency cold weather shelter tonight.  It will be at the Boys & Girls Club at Martin Downs Blvd and Mapp Road.

FINAL GATOR BOWL:  Florida Gators 24, Ohio State 17

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fired head coach Raheem Morris.  With Sunday's 45-24 loss to Atlanta the Bucs finish the season losing 10 straight.  They were 17-34 the past three seasons under Morris. 

A big cold front is coming.  It will push through the Treasure Coast this afternoon bringing lows in the 30s tonight and Tuesday.  Wind chills will be in the 20s.  A wind chill advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service.  A freeze watch will be in effect for overnight Tuesday thru Wednesday morning.   The Red Cross is likely to open cold weather shelters tonight.

The first New Year’s baby is a boy born early New Year’s morning at Lawnwood Regional.  The 6 pound boy was born at 1:08am to 24 year old first time mom, Brittnee Frazer of White City.   She named her son Darryl Anthony.  As of Sunday night, no New Year’s babies had been born at Martin Memorial or the St Lucie Medical Center.

A reminder that all government offices are closed today for the New Year’s holiday. So are most banks.  Post offices are closed today and there will be no mail delivery either.  The schools in Martin & St Lucie County are still closed as are the libraries.  The stores and malls are all open for business today.