Kevin Alicea

Damon Long

A tipster told Martin County Sheriff’s detectives that Kevin L. Alicea, of Lake Worth, and Damon J. Long, of North Palm Beach, had planned a drug deal for Thursday night.

When investigators arrived near the Kanner Highway Chevron gas station by Interstate-95 and found both men.

Alicea, 30, had 16 grams of cocaine and 58 pills of ecstasy in his pocket, according to a sheriff’s report.

Thirty-two-year-old Long — whose arrest paperwork lists him as an employee of Palm Beach Pain Management – had 3.9 ounces of cocaine, the report states.

PALM CITY — A longtime honey and bee company on the Treasure Coast is having problems at its Palm City site for more than a year with people knocking over its bee hives.

Gruwell Apiary has been watching over bees for about three generations in the Treasure Coast. With about 900 hives on 30 different properties, this family of beekeepers doesn’t understand why people would want to hurt the bee hives.

“We are just helping the community,” said David Gruwell, a third generation beekeeper. “A third of the fruits and vegetables we eat would disappear if all the bees die. Everything would disappear after four to five years. It’s just a matter of time and we are over.”

For the past year, Gruwell has been finding ATV and golf cart tracks on their Palm City property after multiple hives were knocked over. Alcohol and beer bottles have also been found on the family’s property.

The most recent incident was this week. When Gruwell checked on the Palm City property located on Mistletoe Lane Wednesday he found five hives knocked over. The colony in one of those hives died and $2,500 in bees and honey was lost.

In the past year the Gruwell family has lost about $5,000 in honey and bees because of the incidents. (more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Bargain seekers on a budget with a taste for upscale leather accessories may get their cake and eat it too just in time for the holiday shopping season if designer brand Coach opens an off-price factory store at the Vero Fashion Outlets in October as indicated on the Coach corporate Web site, www.coach.com.

But officials at Miami Beach area-based Taubco, a real estate company which owns and operates the Vero Fashion Outlets, would not confirm a Coach Factory Store will open.

“There hasn’t been a signed lease (with Coach) and we have no comment at this time,” Laura Tauber, managing director of Taubco, told her assistant, who relayed the statement.

The Web site’s state-by-state listing of Coach Factory Stores notes a “Coach Vero Beach” location at 1824 94th Drive in space C-100 – C-110 set for an October opening. That address is the site of Vero Fashion Outlets at the intersection of State Road 60 near Interstate 95 in Vero Beach.

Coach, founded in New York City in 1941 as a family-run business, is a maker and seller of fine leather handbags, wallets, footwear and other fashion wear and accessories for men and women.

Coach’s factory outlet stores sell discontinued and irregular inventory as well as specially manufactured-for-factory-store goods at 10 to 50 percent off its retail store prices.

Phone calls made to the Coach corporate headquarters on the status of a Coach Factory Store at the Vero Fashion Outlets store were not returned.
Barbara Yoresh, TCPalm.com

Capt. Hiram’s, a popular Sebastian restaurant, was one of two Treasure Coast eateries that received more than 25 violations in the most recent round of health inspections released by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

State records show restaurant inspectors found 26 violations, 16 of them “critical,” during an inspection June 16 of restaurant facilities at the tiki-style resort, 1606 Indian River Drive in Sebastian.

Vito’s Italian Restaurant, 11005 S. Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach, also had 26 violations, 18 of them “critical,” during a June 18 inspection, records show.

An Okeechobee County restaurant had no violations. State inspectors gave a perfect score to Okeechobee Livestock Market Restaurant, 1055 N. Highway 98 in Okeechobee, during a June 16 inspection.

The department conducts inspections through the Division of Hotels and Restaurants throughout the state.

Each inspection report is a “snapshot” of conditions present at the time of the inspection. State inspectors can return for multiple visits stemming from one inspection until problems are corrected.
TCPalm.com

The family of poor Jenny Sanford, the wife of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, lives in the Stuart area. Her parents are among the most generous philanthropists around.
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Michael Gearde

That’s what Martin County Sheriff’s deputies said happened before they were alerted that Hobe Sound resident Michael F. Gearde had broken into his ex-girlfriend’s house early this morning.

Gearde, 44, now faces felony charges of armed burglary, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

The woman told deputies she was in her room when Gearde appeared holding a knife.

When she tried to flee, Gearde allegedly grabbed her and kicked her. Eventually the woman’s mother came in and the two were able to get Gearde to leave, according to a sheriff’s report. (more…)

Robert Payne

The girl’s mother alerted police that day after finding a note from Robert W. Payne to the girl.

In it, he offered her the Xbox and to let her play with his cell phone, according to a police report.

When questioned by detectives, Payne, 26, told police he had exposed himself to the girl on four different occasions and performed a sex act on himself. He also said he once touched the girl’s backside through her clothes.

According to the report, Payne admitted he was attracted to the girl and had a “fascination” with her, which he attributed to being abused himself as a child.

Payne is being held in the St. Lucie County jail in lieu of $125,000 bail. He faces one charge of molestation and four counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition.

INDIANTOWN — For years, the owners of J&R Outfitters ran a hunting lodge featuring exotic game such as Asian water buffalo, Nilgai antelope and Pere David deer thinking they had all the required Martin County permits.

But several code violations were discovered at J&R Outfitters last fall after the opening of a shooting range that outraged nearby homeowners with incessant gunfire.

Now Bill Richey and Joe O’Bannon are aiming to keep their hunting lodge open by jumping through all the regulatory hoops that apply to their business at 7600 S.W. Fox Brown Road.

“We never dreamed that what we were doing was illegal and we never tried to get away with anything,” said Richey, a former state prosecutor. “We have been no secret in Martin County. We have been here for 20 years.” (more…)

STUART — An affidavit released by sheriff’s deputies accuses a man of a brutish attack Tuesday on an 11-year-old boy.

William Raymond Dion, 18, of the 5800 block of Southeast Avalon Drive, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and battery.

According to the affidavit, the boy was riding his bicycle near the intersection of Southeast Dixie Ross Street and Southeast Robert Loop Road at 6:40 p.m. when Dion hit him in the hip and the face with a chunk of cement.

He then pushed the boy off his bicycle as the boy attempted to get away, the affidavit says.

The boy’s face was extremely swollen when deputies arrived. His parents took him to an unspecified hospital for treatment.

Dion was being held Wednesday in the Martin County Jail in lieu of $10,500 bond.

By staff report, TCPalm.com

FORT PIERCE — Soon residents and visitors to South Beach’s Jetty Park will get to enjoy more waterfront views, parking and easier access to a 2 1/2-mile linear park.

The City Commission, seated as the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency board, Wednesday approved a $1.4 million land acquisition that will double the size of Jetty Park to 2.87 acres.

The purchase is for 1 acre on the eastern side of the vacant Mariner Bay Motel property, formerly the Days Inn, at the corner of Seaway Drive and State Road A1A. (more…)