By James Kirley

MARTIN COUNTY — Scientists were dispatched Thursday morning to aid a pigmy sperm whale found alive and stranded in shallow water, just south of Jensen Beach public beach park.

Beachgoers and nearby residents found the whale, reported to be 8-10 feet long, about 10 a.m. Thursday near the 4100 block of Northeast Ocean Drive. An officer from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived and summoned experts from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.

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Marijuana bales were transferred from a beached boat on Hutchinson Island and transferred to a St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office truck and taken away. (Ronda Robbins photo)

What do a deadly plane crash, beached sailboat en route to Cuba and a boat laden with more than a half ton of marijuana have in common?

They all happened or turned up since mid-May as part of what at least one local resident called the “Jensen Beach Triangle.” The three incidents happened along or off a strip of beach by the Island Beach Resort and Shuckers restaurant on Hutchinson Island in southern St. Lucie County.

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By Alexi Howk

PORT ST. LUCIE — Not everyone is pleased Digital Domain is proposing to build a film school in downtown West Palm Beach.

Port St. Lucie City Councilwoman Michelle Berger told city manager Jerry Bentrott she was “extremely” disappointed that a new Florida State University film school would be built in West Palm Beach rather than Port St. Lucie.

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Rodney McGill (Photo: Martin County Sheriff's Office)

Around this time last year, the former pastor, radio show host and real estate mogul had sat in a packed courtroom and openly wished pestilence and cancer upon everyone who helped convict him on racketeering and grand theft charges.

But on Tuesday the only victim McGill identified in the room was himself — afflicted, he said, by jail guards who took his legal paperwork, investigators who intimidated witnesses against attending hearings and Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer, who has denied most of the requests he has written while battling more fraud charges from jail.

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Jupiter Island golfer Tiger Woods’ secret divorce settlement may be so expensive that Woods had to mortgage his home to pay for it!

Woods' Martin County house (Click on the photo for more)

Official records that just popped up in Martin County hint that Woods will have to pay ex-wife Elin Nordegren $54 million by January 2016 — or risk losing the house he spent five years building.

How do I know?

Well, the philandering club-swinger took out a $54 million-mortgage Friday, almost two weeks after his quickie divorce was finalized in Panama City.

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Kobi Anderson

A 16-year-old Stuart youth will likely begin a 25-year prison term in October after pleading no contest to second-degree felony murder Tuesday.

Kobi Buchae Anderson, of the 900 Block of Southeast 13th Street in Stuart, was 15 when he delivered a single fatal blow to the side of Keith Hall’s head in April 2009.

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A large pile of tires at a recycling plant in St. Lucie County began burning Tuesday afternoon. (CATHERINE CHENEY/St. Lucie County Fire-Rescue)

By WPTV

Smoke continues to billow from a tire fire in St. Lucie County.

It began at a recycling plant at 9675 Range Line Road.

3 brush trucks, 2 engines, 2 tankers, 1 rescue truck and a battalion chief have responded to the scene.

The tires burned slowly, but by 5 a.m. Wednesday the fire was under control.

Fire investigators had been concerned the flames might spread to an open grassy area.

According to the St. Lucie County Fire Department there have been no injuries and no buildings have been damaged or are in danger. There are very few homes nearby.

Fire officials told WPTV.com that they hope to have it entirely extinguished within 48 hours.

Tire fires can burn for days.

By Alexi Howk

PORT ST. LUCIE — Fewer police officers on the streets means minor traffic accidents and some crimes won’t be investigated, Police Chief Donald Shinnamon said Tuesday.

Last week’s announcement that 24 police officers and three civilian employees would be laid off Sept. 24 represents a total of 89 jobs lost within the department since 2008, Shinnamon said. The department had 262 sworn officers in the 2007-2008 budget year and is now down to 206, Shinnamon said.

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Law enforcement agents offload bales of marijuana from a boat that washed ashore in St. Lucie County (Courtesy of Ronda Robbins and TCPalm.com)

By Will Greenlee
HUTCHINSON ISLAND — On the balcony of her 15th-floor condo early Tuesday, Ronda Robbins thought she saw a boat coming closer and closer to the shore.

Robbins, 48, got her glasses and after confirming it was a vessel, called the U.S. Coast Guard, thinking the boat may be experiencing engine problems. Waves lapped over the boat. As it got 10 to 12 feet from shore, a man with no shirt or shoes ran away, she said.

As the morning unfolded, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and federal officials determined the 33-foot boat, which came ashore about 6:40 a.m. near the 10000 block of South Ocean Drive, contained about 1,100 pounds of neatly-packaged marijuana. Officials also detained a man found walking nearby along South Ocean Drive, and notified U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Read the rest of this entry »

Surprise, surprise!

Radio personality Jennifer Ross, who was canned a year ago from WRMF-97.9 FM’s morning show and replaced by younger, cheaper talent, is returning to the station — but not to the airwaves.

Ross, 52, is scheduled to take over as director of community affairs next week, said station boss Elizabeth Hamma. The job’s description is unclear.

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