A 44-year-old Hobe Sound man died after his motorcycle was struck from behind Sunday night by a Ford pick-up truck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Charles Patrick Barry was riding a 2004 Harley-Davidson north on A1A at 10:35 p.m. approaching Osprey Street as a 1997 Ford pick-up truck driven by Hobe Sound resident Michael D. Lookebill, 36, was coming up behind him, an FHP release states.

According to Lookebill, Barry signaled to make a right turn. As Lookebill started to pass Barry on the left, Barry turned left into the pick-up’s path. The pick-up struck the back of the motorcycle, ejecting Barry. The pick-up then traveled over the motorcycle.

Barry died after the crash.

Lookebill sustained minor injuries, while his passenger, Nicole R. Lookebill, 38, of Hobe Sound, was not injured.

Charges were pending.

HOBE SOUND — The architect who designed the Sears Tower as well as skyscrapers in Hong Kong, London and Cairo, died Saturday morning in Hobe Sound.

A memorial service for internationally known architect Bruce J. Graham, 84, will be at 4:30 p.m. in St. Christopher Church, Hobe Sound. Graham died Saturday morning from complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease, said Mike Grossman of SCC Grossman, a Chicago public relations firm representing the family. (more…)

A federal judge overseeing the Kobie Gary pot-growing case handed his attorneys a defeat by refusing to order the government to hand over materials they’ve said were needed to prepare for his April sentencing in Miami.

In his order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch Jr. ruled Gary’s lawyers had not shown proof the government had failed to provide all evidence he is legally entitled to, including the statements of co-defendants and witnesses, and copies of surveillance video. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — Two co-defendants arrested in the Kobie Gary marijuana growing case were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

David Jeffrey Grant of Jensen Beach was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years’ supervised release, and Steven Shepherd of Hobe Sound was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release, both after pleading guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Grant was arrested in December after authorities matched his fingerprints to light tubes found in a Hobe Sound house that were part of a lighting system used to grow pot plants. Shepherd and Gary, 30, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, were arrested Oct. 27 at the same house.

Gary pleaded guilty in January to a similar charge of conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana as part of a deal in which federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two charges related to maintaining a place to cultivate, possess and distribute more than 100 pot plants.

He faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced April 7 in Miami by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who sentenced Grant and Shepherd.

Gary’s attorney, Richard Kibbey has filed paperwork claiming his client was singled out for prosecution and has said he’ll ask for a “safety valve exception” that would allow a shorter prison term by showing Gary wasn’t a ringleader or used guns in the offenses.

Martin County residents near Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound may have seen or smelled smoke on Sunday, according to Martin County Fire Rescue.

The U.S. Department of Forestry started a 550-acre controlled burn in the morning in the northwest corner of the park. Officials are monitoring the burn of the area, which is all scrub and bush and not near homes, until the fire dies.

HOBE SOUND — Two women were killed this afternoon in a vehicle crash on U.S. 1, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a news release.

Katleen Bridgit Lacovara, 52, of Hobe Sound and Florence A. Wise, 73, of Hobe Sound both sustained fatal injuries after their vehicles collided on U.S. 1 shortly after 1 p.m., the FHP news release said.

According to the release, Lacovara was traveling northbound on U.S. 1, just north of Heritage Road when her 2004 Saturn Sedan began to veer partially onto the east shoulder of U.S. 1. Lacovara over corrected the steering direction, causing her vehicle to veer in a westerly direction and into the southbound lanes of U.S. 1. The sedan crossed the grass median and into the path of Wise’s 2001 Mercury Van.

Wise’s van struck the right side of Lacovara’s sedan. Lacovara died at the scene. Wise was transported to the Martin Memorial South hospital, where she later died, the release said.

HOBE SOUND — Four people were injured in a fiery four-car crash at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Heritage Boulevard about 7 p.m. Monday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

One person had to be extricated from a vehicle, and one was flown to the trauma center at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

According to the report, the crash happened when a 2001 Pontiac sedan operated by Chester A. Ash, 20, of Port St. Lucie, turned left from the southbound lane toward Heritage Boulevard without yielding to oncoming traffic.
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HOBE SOUND — Residents said a motorist deliberately destroyed a menorah decoration placed at the front entrance of the Arbors Village, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities said they are investigating the incident as a hate crime and are looking for a light-colored vehicle which was filmed on surveillance video crashing into the Jewish symbol.

The menorah was placed at the entrance of the Arbors Village, in the 5800 block of Southeast Forest Glades Trail, Hobe Sound, at 2:30 p.m. Friday, the incident report said. Residents of the village, which has 190 homes, were in disagreement about whether to place the menorah there, according to the report. The Arbors Village Association bought the menorah for $160, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Residents discovered the menorah had been destroyed Saturday morning and provided the surveillance video to the Sheriff’s Office.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at (772) 220-7060 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at (800) 273-TIPS (8477).

HOBE SOUND — A 31-year-old man on a bicycle has died after being struck by a Chevrolet Astro as he tried to cross the northbound lanes of U.S. 1, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Sebastian Lopez Vazquez of Hobe Sound was riding a bicycle at 5:55 p.m. Friday west on U.S. 1 just north of Southeast Bridge Road.

Vazquez didn’t see the northbound 1998 Chevrolet Astro approaching and rode into the Astro’s path, troopers said.

The driver of the Astro, 38-year-old Juan Diego Pascual, tried to avoid a collision but the Astro struck the bicycle, a report stated.

Vazquez was taken to Martin Memorial Hospital South where he was pronounced dead.

Pascual and two other people in his vehicle, ages 7 and 16, weren’t injured.

PORT ST. LUCIE — The bill to attract a movie special effects studio is finally in, and it’s a potential blockbuster.

The city has put together a proposed $51.8 million deal, in addition to a $20 million state incentive package, to build a movie and video game animation and military simulation studio on 15 acres within Tradition.

City Manager Don Cooper said Thursday the agreement requires Wyndcrest DD Florida Inc. to reimburse the city for the entire financing, except for a $10 million cash grant from developers, through a 20-year annual lease. (more…)