FORT PIERCE — The Treasure Coast Opera Society will not perform for the 2009-2010 season. Finances are to blame.

“The New York State Opera closed. The Baltimore Opera closed. The Orlando Opera has closed,” said TCOS co-founder Anne Abood. “Everyone is skating on thin ice.”
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STUART — The nonprofit Surfrider organization isn’t doing much celebrating two weeks after its 25th anniversary Arts and Music Celebration has left about $75,000 in unpaid debts, about half to local vendors.

The Treasure Coast chapter president has resigned under pressure from the local board, which said he exceeded his authority in organizing the event.

And, the Surfrider Foundation’s Florida group of chapters has canceled its state conference to put that money toward paying the bills.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Members of the anti-tax group Treasure Coast Tea Party are demanding an apology from city officials, claiming their civil rights have been violated.

Organization members said they were singled out at the city’s Freedomfest over the weekend by being put into a special area — with a sign nearby stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.

A spokesman for the city called the accusations “nonsense.” But Port St. Lucie officials continue to receive e-mails and phone calls critical of the city’s actions at the new Civic Center.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Thousands of festival-goers might not be able to enjoy the next annual Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day Festival, and Art and All That Jazz because of city budget cuts.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Area staff is recommending the City Council cut the $10,000 sponsorship it gives to each festival. Assistant City Manager Greg Oravec, who also serves as the agency’s director, sent letters earlier this month giving the bad news to the organizers.

He said last week he doesn’t know how long the cuts will last, and the festivals will have to raise more money privately.
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VERO BEACH — Local amateur fossil collector James Kennedy appears to have made an unprecedented archaeological discovery that might help confirm a human presence here up to 13,000 years ago.

A prehistoric bone fragment found near Vero Beach contains a crude engraving of a mammoth or mastodon on it.

“It is humbling to realize that we are seeing what the hunter saw more than 13,000 years ago,” Purdy said.
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Nadia Utto wants to paint the town.

She envisions murals on dozens of exterior walls around this beachside hamlet, beginning with the 600-square-foot beach scene Utto and nine other artists were painting Saturday on the eastern wall of Island Beverage, 9128-A Bridge Road, in conjunction with the eighth annual Hobe Sound Festival of the Arts, which continues Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The juried festival features the work of 150 artists whose works range from $15 posters to $50,000 sculptures. In addition, a green market has 25 booths offering plants and herbs. The festival raises about $20,000 for the Hobe Sound Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Club, which use the money for scholarships and community events.

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PORT ST. LUCIE – The Morningside Branch Library is pleased to present artwork by two area artists as part of the library’s “Walls of Art” program.

In February, visitors to the library can enjoy photography by Natalie Evans and watercolors and acrylics by Janina Hrosenchik.

The “Walls of Art” display is ongoing and will change monthly, featuring different local artists. (more…)

Retailers on Thursday reported dismal sales figures for December as even Wal-Mart Stores, one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.

As merchants reported sales figures, confirming fears the holiday season was the weakest in four decades, the malaise cut through practically all areas from kitchen gadget stores to teen apparel retailers.

But the biggest surprise came from Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, which posted a smaller sales gain than what Wall Street expected and cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook. (more…)

Gov. Charlie Crist’s holiday card features a painting by a prominent Fort Pierce artist who was one of the original Highwaymen painters.

The Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee is home to 22 of James Gibson’s paintings. Gibson completed Nightscape I, the painting featured on the card, about a year ago for Crist. It depicts a palm tree on the bank of the Indian River.

The Highwaymen were a group of African-American landscape artists based in and around Fort Pierce in the 1950s and 1960s. Gibson and others sold their paintings for $15 or $20 from the trunks of their cars.

Some of Gibson’s paintings can now sell for as much as $18,000.

– The Associated Press