VERO BEACH — A second high-level Piper Aircraft Inc. executive is resigning from the company, less than six months after the company’s chief executive officer resigned.

The resignation of Piper’s president, John Becker, was announced Monday. His last day is Dec. 1. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A man and a woman went to the hospital after their car struck a tree Monday night, the St. Lucie County Fire District reported Tuesday.

Fire District crews were called about 9:10 p.m. to the incident in the 2200 block of Southeast Midport Road.

The driver, a woman in her early 20s, was taken to a local provisional trauma center in serious but stable condition,
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HUTCHINSON ISLAND - At noon, everyone in the Treasure Coast: cover your ears.

The St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant plans to test its sirens today … all 90 sirens within a 10-mile emergency zone. (more…)

PALM CITY — A senior member of Martin County Fire Rescue died today in a crash on SW 96th Street, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Lt. Daron “Trent” Gallimore, 51, was driving north on the two-lane road at about 2:30 a.m. when it appears he ran off the road and onto the eastern shoulder. He then over-corrected, sending his 2008 pick-up truck off the west side of the road and into a tree, according to the police report. He died at the scene.

Gallimore was employed with Martin County Fire Rescue for nearly 25 years.

STUART - Just before opening arguments were expected to begin this morning in the trial of one of several teens arrested after an officer-involved shooting, Jose Sebastian Francisco’s attorneys and prosecutors reached a plea agreement that will keep him out of prison.

Francisco, 18, was just 17 in June 2008, when a Martin COunty Sheriff’s deputy pulled over the car he was riding in near the Treasure Coast Square Mall in Jensen Beach.

According to witnesses, at least two men in the car attacked Deputy Jason Howard, causing Howard to shoot and kill 21-year-old Miguel Pablo.

Francisco and Pablo’s brother, Francisco Pablo, were arrested on aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest charges.

Jury selection had ended Monday and Francisco’s trial was expected to begin this morning, but prosecutors and Francisco’s attorney Jerome Stone told CIrcuit Judge Sherwood Bauer that they had reached a plea agreement.

Under the agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop the aggravated battery charge and a misdemeanor resisting charge. Fancisco pleaded no contest to a single charge of resisting an officer with violence and was sentenced to two years’ probation. (more…)

Firefighters control a a fire that started in an abandoned warehouse at Jefferson Street and Dixie Highway on Thursday.

A fire at an abandoned warehouse on Dixie Highway shut down parts of the road Thursday afternoon as it threatened a nearby chlorine storage tank.

The fire at Jefferson Street and Dixie Highway was reported at 2:34 p.m., and firefighters had it under control within about half an hour, said Martin County Assistant Chief Joseph Ferrara.

Hazardous-materials crews responded as a precaution, but the chlorine tank was not affected by the fire.

Dixie Highway was closed between Jefferson Street and Hawthorne Street.

No injuries were reported. Fire investigators were at the scene, working to determine the cause.

PORT ST. LUCIE — An 81-year-old man reported he was scammed out of $12,000 after he received a call that he had won $5.5 million.

The Port St. Lucie resident told police he had recently received a call from a Las Vegas stock and mortgage broker company notifying him of his winnings.

The caller said the man would have to prepay for state taxes and for hotel and flight reservations before collecting the money, according to a police report.

So from March 17 to April 7, the man went to a Winn Dixie and made 26 wire transfers totaling $12,000, he told officers. The money was wired to different places in Jamaica, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, he said.

The man said he became suspicious after he didn’t receive the winnings and he called police.

Rick DiCresce

No one said a word.

At the time, all Rick DiCresce could see were the photos prosecutors had showed them that day of the Escobedo family — the father, mother and 3- and 4-year-old sons lying dead together on the side of the road.

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More than three-quarters of Martin County businesses say they don’t have room to expand.

If they can’t grow where they are - and if they think it’s too cumbersome to get permits - they’re likely to leave. That’s a conclusion of a new report commissioned by the Business Development Board of Martin County.

The assessment of Martin County’s competitiveness - or, more accurately, lack thereof - highlights challenges to business recruitment and expansion, including the high costs of building permits and a lack of move-in-ready space. (more…)

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden says a former police chief in Port St. Lucie and Fort Pierce will be nominated by President Obama today as drug czar.

Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske (kuhr-lih-KOW-skee) will bring to the job a lifetime of experience working on drug policy, Biden said.

Kerlikowske is a 36-year law enforcement veteran and has been Seattle’s top cop for nearly nine years. He’s been credited with cutting crime rates to record lows.

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