A flight instructor injured in Friday’s plane crash was identified by federal officials Monday and has been released from a local hospital.

James K. Ross was treated at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce after the crash. His student, Avinash Kumar, remained Monday at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne.

A crash investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board identified the men Monday.

When the Piper Seneca crashed into a tree south of 12th Street near 34th Avenue in the Sun Villas subdivision, Ross and Kumar were conducting touch-and-go maneuvers, where the plane lands and then pulls up, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.

This story will be updated with more information when it becomes available.

WPTV reporter Bryan Garner contributed to this report.

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A small white and turquoise plane crashed Friday afternoon near 12th Street and 34th Avenue in the Sun Villas subdivision.

About 2:40 p.m. Friday, authorities received a call about a plane crash in a residential area. Two people were “seriously injured,” said Kathleen Bergen, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman. Two trauma helicopters landed about 3:15 in a field near 20th Avenue and 12th Street to transport them.

The Piper Seneca plant crashed in a small, wooded area near a canal and several houses, just south of 12th Street. Several emergency vehicles from the Sheriff’s Office, Fire Rescue and FAA were in the area.

Officials closed 12th Street from 34rd Avenue to 27th Avenue while they investigate.

The plane, a 1979 Piper PA-34-200 T, is registered to Lois Aviation, LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y., according to FAA records. However, it was unclear whether he was on board.

It took Denise Brown more than a decade to deal with her anger from her sister’s highly publicized death.

But only last year was she able to start sharing her family’s experience of losing Nicole Brown Simpson in June of 1994. (more…)

When Dennis Mitchell called 911 Sunday, he said he molested a teenaged girl, was locked in a bedroom and wanted to shoot himself.

But 15 minutes later, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said a dispatcher persuaded Mitchell to drop the gun and walk out of his home to surrender to deputies. Sheriff Deryl Loar credited Pam Metzdorf, a 21-year veteran 911 operator, with bringing the emergency to a peaceful resolution.

Mitchell’s wife was at the home with her three children when he locked himself in the room about 5 p.m. Sunday.

“Please get the kids away from the house,” Mitchell, 32, told Metzdorf toward the beginning of the 15-minute call, which was released Tuesday by the Sheriff’s Office. “I don’t want them to see this. Right now, I do want to hurt myself.”

Metzdorf said her training prepared her to stay calm and persuade Mitchell to surrender.

“Don’t make it worse by pulling that trigger,” Metzdorf said during the call. “Your children have to live there. Do you want this to be their last moment with their dad?”

For much of the call, Mitchell sobbed.

“When he started to break down, I felt I could have lost him,” Metzdorf said. “But I wasn’t scared. I knew when he promised to put the gun down” the situation was defused.

Mitchell was apprehended by deputies when he stepped out of his home and charged with four counts of sexual battery. The girl told detectives the abuse started in August 2008 and continued through last month, according to his arrest affidavit.

NORTH PALM BEACH — Two manatees rescued from a Vero Beach canal five weeks ago will return to natural waters Tuesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said.

The female sea cow and its calf were had cold stress and were pulled from the canal at the corner of Golfview and Calcutta drives on Jan. 22. The pair was taken to Sea World and nursed back to health, FWC officials said.

Tuesday’s release will be at 10 a.m. at Anchorage Park in North Palm Beach, FWC said. A third manatee, which had been entangled in Brevard County and rescued, will be released at the park as well Tuesday, FWC said.

By Lamaur Stancil

VERO BEACH — A 32-year-old man faces four felony sexual battery charges after a 14-year-old girl told investigators he had sex with her dozens of times, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

Arrested Sunday, Dennis Ray Mitchell, of the 2800 block of First Street Southwest, called 911 and said he needed to turn himself in. Asked why, he said, “child molesting, I guess,” an affidavit states.
(more…)

By Alexi Howk

FORT PIERCE — Holly, the dog dragged for nearly 2 miles behind a pickup truck in December, has a new home and a new playful brother.

A photo taken by the Humane Society of St. Lucie County shows Holly as she began to heal from her injuries from being dragged by a truck last December.

Nancy Fiorenza and Daniel Dunseath of Vero Beach adopted Holly, an 18-month-old pit bull/lab mix, late Wednesday from the Humane Society of St. Lucie County.

The couple had been looking for a playmate for their pit bull, Stealer, who they also adopted from the Humane Society on Valentine’s Day of last year.

“We had read about Holly’s situation in the newspaper and saw her on TV, but we figured she had already been adopted,” Fiorenza said. “We stopped in the shelter on Tuesday just to see who was there, and she happened to be there.”

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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A technology company with well-paying jobs wants to relocate to the county from out of state, County Commission Chairman Peter O’Bryan said Friday, prompting him to seek his colleagues’ OK for a commissioner to negotiate economic development in secret.

“Hopefully, this is a very, very good opportunity for very, very good jobs to come to Indian River County,” he said.

He declined to identify the company, in the meantime, or what it does.

“It’s technology-based, but it’s not smokestacks and it’s not going to mean any environmental impacts,” he said. “It will be good for jobs and very, very possibly for the county. … They called and said they’d like to be in Vero Beach, but they need help with our Florida senators in Washington, D.C.”

He declined to say just what kind of help is needed.

(more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — In one video clip, gingerbread men peel themselves off a cookie sheet and cavort around a playground made of kitchen appliances and utensils. In another, a background of peaks and valleys dances to music.

Leonardo Quert, one of 141 students studying digital design at Vero Beach High School, created both worlds on a computer. Using computers to make art and create Web sites is so popular that having another teacher could easily double student enrollment in such classes.

“We have waiting lists,” said Bobbie Miller, chair of VBHS’s business department. “We look at sophomores and juniors first, because we want to have them for two years, to build their education to either go on to post-secondary learning or directly into the workplace.”

Vero Beach and Sebastian River high schools each offer courses in digital design, new media technology and Web design. And public high schools across the Treasure Coast are working with Indian River State College to build career ladders into the burgeoning digital design industry.

What is being taught in high schools spans the range of modern business applications. But specialized, high-paying careers in digital animation are much on the minds of Treasure Coast students and educators with the arrival of Digital Domain Holdings in Port St. Lucie.

A little definition was given to the college and high school plans envisioned by Digital Domain Holdings to potentially train its future workforce Friday.

The head of Digital Domain Holdings announced the new company is finalizing the deal to have its digital media training institute overseen by Florida State University’s award-winning film school, with classes starting next year, during the Economic Council of Martin County’s 25th anniversary dinner at Indian River State College’s Wolf High-Technology Center.

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VERO BEACH - Charlie Cox on Saturday afternnon sat in front of the banquet room at VFW Post 3918, listening as fellow veterans expressed their good wishes on his 100th birthday.

Cox, who is Indian River County’s oldest living veteran, was silent while he was presented with awards, a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol and even 100 gold coins to remember the occasion.

“This is one of the few times in my life that I don’t know what to say,” said Cox, who was accompanied by his wife Basilisa at the luncheon in his honor. “I don’t know how to thank you except to say I will continue to do the best I know how to do.”

A native of Mississippi, Cox was raised in Louisiana and was in the construction business when World War II broke out. He volunteered with a Naval construction battalion, known as the Seabees, and helped rebuild airfields, hospitals and other support facilities for the U.S. Navy and Marines in the South Pacific.

In recognition of Cox’s birthday, Chris Hill, an aide to U.S. Congressman Bill Posey, presented Cox with a flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol building on January 27, 2010.

(more…)