The list of those who signed their favorite childhood books and shipped then to Stuart for a charity auction reads like a pop culture Top 100: Poet Maya Angelou; The Apprentice’s Donald Trump; golfer Tiger Woods; former First Lady Barbara Bush; her son, former Gov. Jeb Bush; chimp lover Jane Goodall; former Miami Heat star Shaquille O’Neal; Pres. Barack Obama; Nike’s Phil Knight; Hollywood stars Sean Connery, Steve Martin and Robert Wagner; TV news readers Katie Couric and Brian Williams; Palm Beach musician Jimmy Buffett; and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, among others.

In all, a total 60 A-listers contributed. It took time, nearly two years, said organizer Karla Preissman. The first to respond to her requests was Jeb Bush, who shipped her The Travels of Babar. The last? The prez. Obama rush-mailed a pop up book of the White House two weeks ago.

What charity will benefit? For more, and the pictures of Thursday night’s preview of the auction at the Elliott, please click here.

FORT PIERCE — Just minutes before Circuit Judge Robert Belanger began Andrew Michael Gosciminski’s sentencing hearing Friday, six women walked into the courtroom and sat together.

Since September, the former strangers have endured a grueling jury selection process, listened to gory details about the 2002 murder of Joan Loughman and cried along with Loughman’s family in court as they described their heartache.

They became part of the jury that recommended last month that Gosciminski die for the crime. And on Friday, they became part of the audience that watched Belanger follow their recommendation and sentence Gosciminski to Death Row for the killing — for the second time.

“I’ve never had this happen before,” Assistant State Attorney Lynn Park said of the jurors’ presence. “Three others said they wanted to come but couldn’t make it.”

Belanger said testimony about Gosciminski’s military service and mental health problems failed to outweigh the cruelty and cold planning that justified a death sentence.

Gosciminski, who won a new trial last year after the Florida Supreme Court overturned his original death sentence, never looked at the jurors during the short hearing.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A 36-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday after selling an informant nearly 160 oxycodone pills, according to an affidavit released Thursday.

Gina M. Sanchez, of the 100 block of Everglades Boulevard in Stuart, met the informant about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 200 block of Southwest Port St. Lucie Boulevard.

The informant, who met earlier with a police investigator, had been given $1,020 and had been followed to the scene by members of the police department’s Special Investigations Unit.

The informant got into Sanchez’s vehicle, and Sanchez exchanged 157 oxycodone pills for the money.

Police arrested Sanchez on a felony trafficking in oxycodone charge and took her to jail.

Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

By DAPHNE DURET
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
STUART — At the end of his first contested race for public office in 14 years, incumbent Stuart commissioner Jeff Krauskopf coasted to another term Tuesday with a victory over political newcomer Jeff Callahan.
Krauskopf, 59, won more than 67 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s contest, according to unofficial elections results. Callahan, a 41-year-old Martin County lifeguard who had hoped to bring a fresh voice to the commission, received about 32 percent of the 1,047 ballots cast.

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STUART — Lisa Stukel was working at the Pelican Café downtown Monday afternoon when she learned of a visitor in need.

While Stukel, 25, of Port St. Lucie, was on-duty as a cook at the cafe, a manatee ensnared in something swam close to the restaurant dock and got stuck between the dock and a column of the Roosevelt Bridge. (more…)

STUART - A 14-year incumbent and a political newcomer will vie for the support of Stuart voters Tuesday in the Stuart City commission race.

Voters will decide between incumbent Jeff Krauskopf, who says the city needs his experience to continue navigating through tough economic times, and Jeff Callahan, a lifeguard and community activist who believes Stuart needs new leaders sensitive to the needs of residents.

Supervisor of Elections Vicki Davis this afternoon said 511 voters have already returned absentee ballots and an additional 91 voted early.

Davis expects another 500 will vote at the polls tomorrow. Polls will close at 7 p.m.

Tuesday’s election marks the first contested race for the 61-year-old Krauskopf, a property manager and real estate company owner, in 14 years. If elected, the commission seat will be the first elected office for Callahan, 49.

STUART — Voters deciding this year’s race for the Stuart City Commission Group II seat will choose between a political newcomer promising fresh ideas and an incumbent with some 20 years of commission experience.

Jeffrey Callahan, a Martin County marine safety officer/emergency medical technician entered the political arena this year to challenge incumbent Jeffrey Krauskopf, who will be seeking his 13th term as a city commissioner.

Voters head to the polls for this year’s general election Tuesday, but early voting and mail-in ballots already have been cast. Early voting for city residents continues until 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Martin County Supervisor of Elections Office, 135 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Stuart.
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STUART — The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is supporting a local food bank while inviting residents to give the gift of a boating safety course today to themselves or to a family member or friend at the same time.

The Stuart Flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary starts the next “About Boating Safely” program this evening at 7 p.m. The course is taught in four nights on Mondays and Thursdays, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., over two weeks at the auxiliary’s Operations Center, 3443 SE St. Lucie Blvd in Sandsprit Park in Stuart.

Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Successful completion of this course will earn the participant the Florida Boating Safety Education ID card, required by anyone under the age of 22 operating a power boat.
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STUART — Voters deciding this year’s race for the Stuart City Commission Group II seat will choose between a political newcomer promising fresh ideas and an incumbent with some 20 years of commission experience.

Jeffrey Callahan, a Martin County marine safety officer/emergency medical technician entered the political arena this year to challenge incumbent Jeffrey Krauskopf, who will be seeking his 13th term as a city commissioner.

Voters head to the polls for this year’s general election on Tuesday, but early voting and mail-in ballots already have been cast. Early voting for city residents continues until 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Martin County Supervisor of Elections Office, 135 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Stuart.

A six-year Stuart resident, Callahan, 41, said he entered this year’s race for the at-large seat to offer voters a fresh look at city government and to offer new ideas.

“The campaign is going fine,” Callahan said. “I’ve been saying the same thing to every group I speak to. We need affordable housing, environmentally sound decisions and more high-tech and green jobs.”

Krauskopf said resident feedback has been generally happy and appreciative, but he is working to see that sentiment does not translate into complacency at the polls, he said.

A 31-year city resident, Krauskopf first joined the city commission in 1984, holding that seat until he was elected to the Martin County Board of County Commissioners in 1990. He has been re-elected to the city commission continuously since returning there in 1995.

In addition to maintaining a balanced city budget and holding the line on taxes, key issues for the 59-year-old Realtor and property manager include finding incentives to support existing businesses and attracting new ones to the city. He also thinks continued efforts in conservation and cost-cutting are crucial.

Krauskopf said local businesses need relief from increasing taxes and insurance rates that “are putting the pinch” on shop owners.

“I keep telling people, taxes affect everything,” he said.

Martin County Supervisor of Elections Vicki Davis said turnout for early voting, which began Oct. 26, has been “quiet” for the week, with 49 early ballots cast by city voters as of Wednesday afternoon.

JEFFREY KRAUSKOPF

Age: 59

How long city resident: 31 years

Occupation: Realtor/property manager

Key issue: Balanced city budget without tax increase, incentives to support and attract local business, continued environmental conservation

JEFFREY CALLAHAN

Age: 41

How long city resident: 6 years

Occupation: Martin County Marine Safety Officer/EMT

Key issue: Attraction of high-tech and green jobs, creation of more affordable housing, environmental conservation

STUART — Stuart Defense Attorney Robert Udell has been disbarred after agreeing to surrender his ability to practice law amid allegations he committed ethical and possibly criminal violations and fraudulently billed the state’s Justice Administrative Commission.

Defense attorney Robert Udell (right) leans onto the shoulder of Nathaniel Brazill after the verdict in Brazill's murder trial in May 2001. Brazill shot and killed teacher Barry Grunow on the last day of school in May 2000. Brazill, 14, was convicted of second-degree murder murder in the slaying. Photo by Lannis Waters/ The Palm Beach Post.

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