PORT ST. LUCIE — Two men on Friday afternoon tried to lure a 4-year-old girl into a pickup near Northwest Prima Vista and Northwest Bayshore boulevards, police said.
About 5:30 p.m., the men pulled up to 452 Southwest Carmelite Drive in a gold Chevrolet Silverado truck and called out to the 4-year-old, according to a Port St. Lucie police statement circulated this morning.
The girl’s mother, who was in the garage, looked up and saw one of the men open the door and lean out of the cab.
“Baby girl, come here,” she heard him say, the statement said.
The woman yelled at her daughter and the truck drove off, heading south on Carmelite Drive.
Anyone with information can call detective Brinton Black at (772) 871-5000.

It’s been a heck of a week for former WRMF-97.9 FM morning star Jennifer Ross, one of the T Coast’s most popular radio voices.

Not only did she get canned from her show, but here comes news that her husband filed for divorce!

Go ahead, complain again about the tough few days you had!

For more, click here.

The nightclub La Zen to open. Big New York DJs are performing. The Temptations will sing. And there’ll be go-go dancers galore to warm up the crowd.

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STUART — To prevent another tragedy, like the Aug. 4 crash that killed three teenagers in Stuart, it’ll take prevention, awareness and parent involvement.

That’s what officials with Project Northland, a substance abuse prevention organization aimed at Martin County middle school students, believe could make the difference.

On Thursday, Project Northland’s parent action committee held its first meeting of the school year with about a half dozen parents. The group’s mission is to reduce underage drinking and other risky behaviors among local teens through community involvement and awareness. Thursday’s meeting was planned before the fatal crash that killed three teens. (more…)

STUART — The image of a man’s arm wrapped around her front tire still haunts Jessica Leslie eight years later.

It was November 2001 when a 20-year old Leslie of Boca Raton was coming back from an evening of partying that she decided to drive home drunk. She told her story to a crowd of about four dozen at a Thursday community program at the Martin County Administrative Center on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Leslie never made it home but ran over Patrick McDonough, 41, killing him. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — With the start of school just weeks away, school and health officials on the Treasure Coast want parents to know they are prepared for swine flu and will coordinate efforts to prevent its spread through the public schools.

They also ask that parents and students follow this simple advice to help: “If you’re sick, stay home,” said Larry Lee, administrator of the St. Lucie County Health Department.

School and health officials announced their efforts at a joint press conference today at the St. Lucie County School District offices in Fort Pierce. They noted that public schools in St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties have about 83,000 students about 300,000 family members.
With frequent travel in the four-county region, they agreed to cooperate in controlling the spread of H1N1 virus. (more…)

Photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows a team from the USS Boxer towing the lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama.

Now, a museum dedicated to the SEALs will have a part of that historical day in April.

The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum near Fort Pierce is expected to receive at 10 a.m. Friday the lifeboat on which Capt. Richard Phillips was held hostage after Somali pirates seized his cargo ship, the MV Maersk Alabama, about 280 miles south of the Somali port city Eyl.

The public is invited to attend Friday when the lifeboat arrives at the museum.

For museum officials, the lifeboat is a rare find and an important moment in the modern history of the SEALs.

“It’s a piece of history that comes in on the heels of the actual event,” said retired Navy Capt. Michael Howard, the museum’s executive director and a former SEAL. “We can’t believe it really. We’re kind of pinching ourselves.”

Over the years the museum — the only one in the world dedicated to preserving the history of the SEALs and their predecessors —has built up quite a collection. (more…)

STUART — The nonprofit Surfrider organization isn’t doing much celebrating two weeks after its 25th anniversary Arts and Music Celebration has left about $75,000 in unpaid debts, about half to local vendors.

The Treasure Coast chapter president has resigned under pressure from the local board, which said he exceeded his authority in organizing the event.

And, the Surfrider Foundation’s Florida group of chapters has canceled its state conference to put that money toward paying the bills.
(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Smaller annual festivals.

No more streets decorated with lights during holiday seasons.

And possibly, no more fireworks. (more…)

STUART — The historic home of Evans Crary Sr. — Martin County’s first state senator and founder of a major area law firm — is facing demolition, and no one is happy about it.

Not the new owner who needs more room to care for her aged and disabled father.

Not city planners concerned about what is happening to one of Stuart’s most historic areas. (more…)