VERO BEACH — Minor League Baseball is going to take a swing at a name other than Dodgertown to sell the 65-acre complex that has worn that name since the late 1940s. (more…)

Norman seems to tell Evert to take a hike in September at the US Open tennis. The two were divorced last month.

The court papers in Monroe County cite a pre-nuptial agreement between the two, and a source said neither Norman nor Evert paid any money in alimony.

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VERO BEACH — Representatives of the Chicago Cubs are not expected to visit the former Dodgertown site as part of their trip to scout out a possible new spring training home in Florida this week.

The Naples Daily News and ESPN.com both reported earlier that Cubs owner Tom Ricketts would be paying a visit to Southwest Florida this week to check out possible spring training sites.

The team currently trains in Mesa, Ariz., but can opt out of its 20-year agreement next year and leave the city by 2012 for $4.2 million, according to the Naples Daily News. Ricketts also visited Naples in September.
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VERO BEACH — Minor League Baseball officials hope their plans for the former Dodgertown will bring year-round business to local hotels, restaurants, stores and health clubs.

Craig Callan, the vice president of MiLB Vero Beach, updated the Taxpayers’ Association of Indian River County at its monthly membership meeting Wednesday on the future of the former spring training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers. (more…)

A minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles farm system was charged with driving while under the influence Sunday night, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
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Note to teens facing a potential prison term: don’t use your MySpace page to post photos of police officers and wish “AIDS and genocide to all law enforcement.”

That’s what Stuart resident Jesse Alan Walker, 19, did while awaiting a June trial in which a jury convicted him of robbery with a firearm related to a 2008 home invasion armed robbery. At trial, he was accused of planning the robbery with two then-20-year-old co-defendants, who once played football for Jensen Beach High School.

“I hate the (expletive) police,” Walker posted on MySpace last December, along with photos of Stuart Police officers and derogatory comments.
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VERO BEACH — Spring training is expected to return to the former Dodgertown facility next year, although it won’t involve a major league team.

“In March when people are used to spring training we will hopefully have spring training baseball again in Vero Beach, just at a different level,” said Dave Barnard, owner and president of RussMatt Baseball, who is currently marketing the complex for use by college and high school teams next year.

Barnard’s group has reached an agreement with the Minor League Baseball, which is now operating the facility, to use it from Feb. 20 through April 24 for what is being advertised as the RussMatt Invitational at Dodgertown.

Barnard said the colleges would probably be using the facility from the last part of February to the last week in March, with high school teams coming in from late March to the end of April. (more…)

STUART — The swimming pool at Martin County High will remain open another year, the Martin County Commission and Martin County School Board agreed Tuesday.

The pool is used by hundreds of high school, club and adult swimmers.

The Martin County Commission voted during a joint meeting between the School Board and Stuart Commission Tuesday to pay $113,000 to keep the swimming pool at Martin County High School open to the public for another year while a new $9 million-plus Aquatics Complex is developed.
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JENSEN BEACH — More than 300 lacrosse supporters, some waving sticks and some wearing jerseys, attended Tuesday’s Martin County School Board meeting to ask the School Board to consider adding lacrosse into the school district.

Even though a rule change, which would broaden the number of sports that could become athletic clubs in the county’s high school including lacrosse, was removed from the agenda that didn’t stop hundreds of lacrosse supporters from coming out to the meeting at Jensen Beach High.

“Let these kids play. Let them play lacrosse in the county high schools,” said Chris Anderson, president of the Martin County Pioneer Lacrosse youth league.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Treasure Coast is seeking a new boys basketball coach.

Titans coach Rob Recknagel resigned for personal reasons, but will remain at the school as a science teacher. In two seasons, Recknagel guided Treasure Coast to two regional appearances and a 32-22 record.

“It was a tough decision for me to make, and I will miss it, but basically I wanted to spend more time with my kids,” said Recknagel, who has two young children, 3-year-old Brady and 4-year-old Ella. “I knew eventually I would get to a point where I would want to spend more time with my kids than someone else’s kids.

“It was a good experience. We were successful, and it’s tough to leave the returning seniors and the kids in the program.”

Recknagel submitted a letter of resignation about a month ago, but athletic director Dan Comeau said he encouraged the coach to “let the dust settle and keep thinking about it.” Recknagel recently informed Comeau of his final decision and the job opening was posted last week through the St. Lucie County School District’s Paperless Applicant Tracking system online. (more…)