PORT ST. LUCIE — A $1 million winning lottery ticket was sold at a gas station on Gatlin Boulevard, according to the Florida Lottery. The ticket sold at a Valero at 1297 S.W. Gatlin Boulevard.

The holiday millionaire raffle tickets, which cost $20, went on sale in mid-November and sold out by Christmas Eve.

Nine winning ticket-holders will receive $1 million a piece. Other winning tickets were sold in Orlando, Miami and Hialeah, among other places.

Port St. Lucie’s winning ticket number was 0538177.

Shot of surveillance video of armed robbery suspect

PORT ST. LUCIE — Police are looking for a man who pointed a gun at two check-cashing store clerks and demanded money over the weekend.

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Saturday, police received a call about an armed robbery in progress at Advance America Cash Advance store in the 10100 block of S. U.S. 1.

Two clerks told police a man with a stocking over his face entered the store and pointed a gun at them and demanded cash from their registers.

(Click below for another photo and video of the incident.)

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STUART — A convenience store was broken into after two men smashed through the front door on Tuesday.

Stuart Police responded to an alarm at Ocean Food Mart, 409 East Ocean Blvd., on Tuesday at 12:23 a.m.

The store’s video surveillance showed two men in dark clothing smashing the front door and entering the store, where they took petty cash and T-shirts from a clothing rack, police said.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Officer Andrew Anderson at the Stuart Police Department at (772) 220-3900 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at (800) 273-TIPS.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Moving day is getting closer for Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies.

The last checklist items are being completed as the research institute prepares for a phased move from their temporary home at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce to the new $40 million complex in Tradition in early January.

While Torrey Pines administrators are expected to occupy their offices when the doors open, the scientists may wait another month or two before settling into the new lab space.

“In reality there is work going on that would create dust and noise and it’s easier to time our move so ongoing (chemistry and molecular biology) experiments are not disrupted,” said Torrey Pines President Richard Houghten.

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Tristan Allegra

STUART — An account has been set up to collect donations to help make funeral arrangements for Tristan Allegra.

People interested in donating can do so by contacting any of the four branches of Gulfstream Business Bank and citing the Tristan Allegra case.

Port St. Lucie police say eight-year-old Tristan was killed by his mother, 31-year-old Eryn Allegra, on Christmas morning. She told investigators she had been planning for months to commit suicide after she killed her only son.

An anonymous client of a Stuart-based law firm asked the office to set up the bank account late Monday afternoon.

The following are the phone numbers for the bank’s four branches:

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PORT ST. LUCIE — City officials are looking for proposals from restaurateurs interested in operating the food, beverage and banquet facilities at the Saints of Port St. Lucie Golf Course.

The restaurateur chosen will operate the main kitchen, grill room and bar, snack bar, patio service, sale of alcoholic beverages, snacks and drinks for the concession cart. There also will be a possibility of catering food and beverages for meetings, conferences and special events.

The Saints facilities, located at 2601 S.E. Morningside Blvd., are currently run by Josef’s Restaurant and encompass 9,400-square-feet of space, including a kitchen, banquet room, grill, bar, office, screened terrace, banquet storage room and restrooms. The banquet room seats about 152 guests.

City officials plan to hold an informational meeting at 2 p.m. Jan. 6 in the Office of Management and Budget in City Hall, Building A, third floor, Suite 390. City Hall is located at 121 S.W. Port St. Lucie Blvd. The requirements for proposals will be explained at the meeting, with a tour of the Saints facility following. (more…)

FORT PIERCE – Tiffany Shepherd, the bikini-wearing former teacher who drew fame for her weekend stints as a scantily clad shipmate, was bounced off to jail Sunday on a charge of threatening her ex-boyfriend’s new flame.

Police say they arrested Shepherd, 30, after she left several text and voice mail messages last month on the cellphone of the 22-year-old woman, challenging her to a fight.

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PORT ST. LUCIE — The Oxbow Eco-Center, St. Lucie County’s environmental learning center, has several events scheduled for January, including an owl prowl, guided hikes and naturalist training.

The Oxbow’s newest program “Swamp Tales” returns Tuesday, Jan. 13 and Jan. 27. This free story time starts at 11 a.m., runs for one hour, and is appropriate for ages 2 to 6.

Learn interesting facts about some of the Oxbow’s environmental ambassadors at “Critter Chat” from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Jan. 6 and Jan. 20. This event is free and appropriate for all ages.

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FORT PIERCE — The Fort Pierce Branch Library has announced its line-up of free movie matinees for January. The movies, which have a musical theme in January, start at 2 p.m. each Wednesday.

Movies include:

Jan. 7 – “Broadway Melody of 1936” (1935) featuring Jack Benny, Robert Taylor and Eleanor Powell. Run time: 101 minutes.

Jan. 14 – “Gypsy” (1993) featuring Bette Midler. Run time: 153 minutes.

Jan. 21 – “Cats” (1998) featuring Elaine Paige. Run time: 120 minutes.

Jan. 28 – “Chicago” (2002) featuring Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Run time: 113 minutes.

The library is located at 101 Melody Lane. For more information, call 772-462-2787.

Finding enough substitute teachers to fill in used to be a daily struggle for Treasure Coast school districts. But these days — likely thanks to the economy — school districts don’t have a problem getting substitutes.

“For the first time in the history of Martin County — and perhaps any county — we have more substitute teachers than we can actually use,” Martin County Schools Superintendent Nancy Kline said. “Our substitute base has grown exponentially.” (more…)