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.

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Friday’s conference at Indian River State College on tainted drywall was long on information, but short on answers.

The Corporate & Community Training Institute staff at IRSC did a commendable job in assembling an impressive array of experts about the issue. They ranged from the federal level to the Florida Senate and House, to attorneys, tax accountants, drywall inspectors and air quality experts, among others.

Yet almost everyone who spoke admitted they had little in the way of definitive answers. “We just don’t know” was a familiar refrain.

About 120 people from all over South Florida and as far away as Mississippi and Louisiana packed a lecture theater at the college’s Kight Center to hear the latest news on Chinese drywall.

Christopher Day, director of the Office of Congressional Relations for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, brought a sliver of news from DC. He unveiled an interim protocol for identifying Chinese drywall, completed only the day before in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Design.

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Warren Bendix of Stuart holds the framed picture he found Jan. 23 while “Dumpster diving” at Sierra Condominium Apartments in Stuart. (RICH CAMPBELL/TCPalm.com)

MARTIN COUNTY — There’s something atypical — and refreshing — about Warren Bendix.

In a society tainted by lying politicians, cheating spouses and steroid-powered athletes, Bendix, 60, is the antithesis of the “get ahead at all cost” mentality.

He lives in a small, modest apartment in Stuart.

He draws Social Security disability, the result of a back injury that has prevented him from working for more than 30 years.
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VERO BEACH — A Stuart man was killed early Saturday morning in a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 21st Street, according to Vero Beach police.

A preliminary investigation into the 12:44 a.m. accident indicates Joshua Mulhern, 26, of Port St., Lucie, was northbound on Eighth Avenue in a 2002 Kia and failed to yield the right of way to a 2002 Chevrolet truck driven by Jason Hatley of Sebastian that was westbound on 21st Street, according to a police news release.

The truck hit the side of Mulhern’s vehicle, instantly killing the passenger, Geoffrey Robbins, 28, of Stuart, police said.
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Traffic lights can seem stubborn, taking forever to change.

But an increasing number of the Treasure Coast’s heaviest traveled intersections are getting equipped with sophisticated equipment to help motorists get through them faster. (more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — SWAT team members used tear gas before they stormed a home to end a 2 1/2-hour standoff with an armed felon early Friday.

The deputies took into custody Dale Albert Maine, 27, at his home in the 600 block of Ninth Place about 1:30 a.m. Friday. He was being held without bail at the Indian River County Jail. (more…)

STUART — Someone hacked into the Florida Department of Transportation Web site sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning and left a message purportedly from Palestinians in a section dedicated to the controversial Indian Street Bridge.

“We will get right on this,” said Chuck Joyce, FDOT Spokesman in Fort Lauderdale. “Our security people will know how to handle this.” Joyce was not aware of the intrusion into the Web site until informed about noon Tuesday.
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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Two dead manatees were retrieved Tuesday morning near Round Island Park - bringing to three the number of apparently cold-related manatee deaths in Indian River County following the recent freeze.

The first was an infant found near Sebastian.

And, “This may just be the tip of the iceberg” of manatees either dying or being injured by the cold, said state marine mammal biologist Kristy Rush.
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A transportation watchdog hopes that a slight strengthening of the U.S. dollar in the past week will eventually curb the rising price of gas for homeowners and motorists.

But for now, the price at the pump continues to rise.

In Florida, a gallon of regular was selling on average for $2.80, up 2 cents from a week earlier, according to AAA Auto Club South.
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