State officials said they are reviewing the actions of 10 employees at two Treasure Coast prisons in incidents where children were shocked with stun guns when visiting for Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day.

The incidents happened on April 23 at the Indian River Correctional Institution and the Martin Correctional Institution, according to the Department of Corrections. Several children, ages 8 through 14, were at the facilities for the educational initiative, department spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff said.

Five employees at each facility are on paid administrative leave for the investigation, she said. None of the children were seriously hurt, Rackleff said.
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The natural gas pipeline rumbled like a jet engine before it spewed a snow-white plume of fuel during the pre-dawn hours Monday.

The rupture in Martin County halted traffic on two of the state’s busiest highways, showered one of them with debris, triggered a car accident and sent a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy to the hospital.

But it could have been much worse.

“When an ignition source is found … it’s a cataclysmic event, bring on the mushroom cloud, the fireball, the whole thing,” said Jon Belding, a Martin County Fire Rescue spokesman.

Belding and his colleagues should know. Less than two weeks ago, the company that operates the 50-year-old pipeline - Florida Gas Transmission - flew in from Houston to train them to handle pipeline accidents.

They talked about how to gauge air quality and stop leaks - basics for the cities and counties that are home to the 2.2 million miles of natural gas pipelines in the country.
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INDIANTOWN — A 15-year-old boy was stabbed during a fight that broke out during a party over the weekend.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, Martin County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home on 172nd Avenue where they found 15-year-old Andres Felix stabbed in the back.

The teen was transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach for treatment.

Witnesses told investigators that there had been a party at another home a few blocks away when several people who hadn’t been invited showed up.

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INDIANTOWN — Another 3,500 job applications were taken Saturday at Timer Powers Park in Indiantown on the last day of a two-day job fair to recruit workers for the Florida Power & Light Co. Solar Power facility in western Martin County.

In all, 8,000 applied for some 1,100 jobs the project is expected to bring to the area before construction closes at the end of next year.

“That’s a fair but maybe conservative number,” said John Dinger of Workforce Solutions, which collected the applications and will immediately begin pre-screening them.
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Wondering if Florida Power & Light Co.’s proposed 300-mile natural gas pipeline will cut through your property?

The utility is hosting a meeting 4-8 p.m. today at the Indiantown Civic Center to give residents an up-close look at its plans for the proposed $1.5 billion project.

FPL announced plans for the Florida EnergySecure Line earlier this month, pitching it as a way to make the state less vulnerable to disruptions in natural gas supplies from the Gulf of Mexico.

If approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, the pipeline would run from Palm Beach County to Bradford County in north-central Florida, with about 10 miles in Martin County.

FPL wants the pipeline up and running as soon as 2014.

Ray Kofke and three buddies piled into a Ford Escape early this morning and cruised out of Lee County, one of the hardest-hit parts of the state in this recession.

They drove more than two hours to another suffering region with a collective goal: getting jobs.

In Indiantown, they found lots of competition. More than 4,300 people flocked to the rural community for a chance to be among the 1,000 hires needed to build Florida Power & Light Co.’s new solar plant. (more…)

Thousands of job-seekers are expected to descend on Indiantown this week to vie for a chance to help build Florida Power & Light Co.’s new solar energy plant in Martin County.

Workforce Solutions is hosting job fairs on Friday and Saturday to attract some of the 1,100 workers needed to construct the solar-thermal facility about 8 miles west of Indiantown.

Roughly half of the workers will be basic assemblers, said John Dinger, business services consultant at Workforce Solutions, the Treasure Coast’s workforce development organization.

“From what I’ve been told, if you can work a wrench and do some mechanical assembly, you can swing it,” Dinger said.

Other workers needed during the two-year project will include plumbers, carpenters, electricians and concrete finishers. (more…)

MARTIN COUNTY — Former Martin County Commissioner John William Holt Jr., who helped create the original Martin County Comprehensive Land Use Plan, died Monday at Treasure Coast Hospice. He was 79.

“He had been ill for some time,” said his wife of 57 years, Evelyn. “His heart just gave out.”

Born in Pahokee, Dec. 15, 1929, the son of John W. Holt Sr. and his wife, Hosea, Holt grew up on a ranch in western Martin County. His brother was former Martin County Sheriff Jim Holt. Like his father and brother, Holt was a rancher.
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TALLAHASSEE — The long-sought Indian Street Bridge, along with 16 other transportation projects expected to bring money and jobs to the Treasure Coast, got the green light from the state Joint Legislative Budget Commission Wednesday.

The 14-member commission comprised of Senate and House members agreed, without debate, to accept $3.8 billion in federal dollars that will pay for a cornucopia of projects targeting transportation, health and education.

Backers say the package will help the state recover from the worst recession in decades.
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In these tight times, pay cuts and layoffs are affecting all ranks of school district employees from office staff to administrators.

But during the 2007-08 fiscal year, more than 61 Treasure Coast school district administrators earned more than $100,000. Now, some of these top earners are bracing for budget cuts.

Treasure Coast school superintendents made top dollar with Indian River County Schools Superintendent Harry La Cava taking home the biggest paycheck at $192,750.

However, for the 2009-10 fiscal year, La Cava is volunteering to take a 10 percent cut from his base salary, which equals about $17,500.

“If everybody is taking some kind of hit, we’re right in the mix of it,” La Cava said.

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