Capt. Hiram’s, a popular Sebastian restaurant, was one of two Treasure Coast eateries that received more than 25 violations in the most recent round of health inspections released by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

State records show restaurant inspectors found 26 violations, 16 of them “critical,” during an inspection June 16 of restaurant facilities at the tiki-style resort, 1606 Indian River Drive in Sebastian.

Vito’s Italian Restaurant, 11005 S. Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach, also had 26 violations, 18 of them “critical,” during a June 18 inspection, records show.

An Okeechobee County restaurant had no violations. State inspectors gave a perfect score to Okeechobee Livestock Market Restaurant, 1055 N. Highway 98 in Okeechobee, during a June 16 inspection.

The department conducts inspections through the Division of Hotels and Restaurants throughout the state.

Each inspection report is a “snapshot” of conditions present at the time of the inspection. State inspectors can return for multiple visits stemming from one inspection until problems are corrected.
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Plants seized during a search of Okeechobee County grow house.

The 34 plants were discovered during a Tuesday afternoon search of a prefabricated home suspected to have been converted into a grow house, sheriff’s spokesman Ted Van Deman said.

The home, located at 17601 NW 288th Street, is located in the Viking Properties subdivision, a rural area in the northern part of the county. Two rooms on the second floor were both converted into a grow house operation – complete with grow lights, air conditioners and an irrigation system, Van Deman said.

Authorities also found a shotgun and a rifle inside the home, Van Deman said. The house was unoccupied at the time of the search. The matter is still under investigation and charges are expected, Van Deman said.

The plants’ estimated value was $388,600.

STUART — It just doesn’t make sense to Bill Wallace.

Why would Chrysler close a profitable dealership in a growing area?

Why would the beleaguered automaker allow a franchise in out-of-the-way Okeechobee to remain open, while closing several on the more populated Treasure Coast?

He’s selling cars. He bought more of them than he needed from Chrysler this year, at the urging of the company’s top brass, he says.

But his Wallace Chrysler Jeep in Fort Pierce is still slated to shut down after June 9, along with 788 other dealerships that Chrysler decided to close as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.

“We weathered this tsunami, and in America, you should be rewarded for that, not punished,” said Wallace, a third-generation dealer whose grandfather opened a Chevrolet dealership in West Palm Beach in the 1930s.

Wallace is among more than 300 dealers across the country who have joined forces to fight Chrysler’s decision. The group, called the Committee of Chrysler Affected Dealers, wants more time. More time to prove it would be a mistake to ax them.

But if Chrysler gets its way in bankruptcy court - as many industry watchers believe it will - five Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers between Indiantown Road in Jupiter and Vero Beach will be among those that close next month. (more…)

OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — When an 11-foot alligator leaped out of the water and clamped down on his arm and chest, Antonio Prado was caught by surprise.

Prado was dragged under the water by the alligator, which bit him on his arm and chest.

“I had been there (to Nubbin Slough on Lake Okeechobee) casting my (fishing) net many times,” said Prado, 47, from his room in Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce. “I had seen alligators and they never bothered me.”

Prado of Okeechobee, is a truck driver. On his day off Monday, he went fishing with his son, Jonatan, 24, in Nubbin Slough.

“(The alligator) was on the side of the water, when I went in. He went in too,” Prado said. “I didn’t think about it because others had done the same. I threw in my net. When I pulled it up, he came out of the water. He pulled me under the water and we rolled around twice before I could get to the surface to call for help.”
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Alligator believed to have attacked fisherman on Monday. Photo provided by FWC.

The 47-year-old Okeechobee County man was casting his net in the popular fishing spot in the northeast side of Lake Okeechobee when an alligator yanked him under water on Monday afternoon.

The gator bit him across the arm and chest before Prado’s 24-year-old son, Jonatan, rushed to his aid, hitting the 11-foot beast with a pair of pliers, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials. The hit distracted the gator, who released Prado just before his son was able to drag him back to shore.

Prado was flown to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in Fort Pierce, where he underwent emergency surgery, according to FWC spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro. He survived the attack with no loss of extremities.

After the attack, a trapper called to the scene by FWC caught the gator and shot him.

The gator – likely used to people and the fish tossed behind as scraps — was still in the area of the attack when the trapper arrived, Ferraro said.

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Eric Ferguson

At 12:01 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy responded to Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee County where he met with the wife of Deputy Eric Scott Ferguson.

The woman reported she and her husband had argued and said that later Ferguson, 39, struck her in the face as she lay in bed. The woman’s face was bruised and swollen, according to a sheriff’s news release.

The wife also said Ferguson has been violent with her before and she asked not to press charges.

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OKEECHOBEE — The pilot of a gyrocopter was found dead, ejected from the aircraft at the Okeechobee County airport on Saturday.

At about 10:15 a.m., Okeechobee County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters were called to the crash at the north end of Runway 14, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

There, they found the gyrocopter crashed, with pilot Donald McGregor laying about 10 feet from the wreckage. The 76-year-old Okeechobee resident was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sheriff’s officials say the cause of the crash is under investigation, and there were no witnesses. An autopsy is being done to determine the cause of death.

Alejandro Perez

The U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Task Force found Alejandro Perez, 45, trying to escape out a window at a home in the 4600 block of Sutton Terrace, according to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service. (more…)