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PORT ST. LUCIE — Put a kid on a bike on a race track sprinkled with jumps, lumps and bumps, and you’re likely to have one happy kid. Or teenager. Or adult, for that matter.
A new bicycle track for riders who love speeding through 1,000 feet of tricky obstacles is expected to open near Crosstown Parkway and Interstate 95 in Port St. Lucie in October. (more…)
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…)
PORT ST. LUCIE — Two school bus drivers reported someone throwing a baseball at their vehicles on Thursday afternoon.
One driver told police she was driving south on Northwest Selvitz Road when a gray vehicle heading north approached her bus and a passenger threw a baseball at it. The ball hit the bus’s side window, shattering it, according to a police report. The bus was occupied but no one was hurt.
Earlier that day another driver reported a similar incident as traveled along Bayshore Boulevard. The bus wasn’t damaged. The same vehicle and suspects were involved in that incident, police said.
Police found the baseball in the second incident. They were not able to collect any fingerprints from the ball.
VERO BEACH — The former Dodgertown Golf Course, with roots deep in the history of baseball, could be restored, possibly with the assistance of Minor League Baseball.
Tough economic conditions, however, are likely to delay any possible restoration for at least of couple of years.
The city of Vero Beach now controls the former golf course and maintains mowing the land once roamed by Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson.
(more…)
MARTIN COUNTY — New York Mets baseball player Angel Pagan has been arrested for traffic violations, according to Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.
On Thursday troopers stopped Pagan, 27, for speeding on Interstate 95 when during a license check deputies learned he was driving on a suspended license and had several warrants, the report states.
The report did not say how fast Pagan was traveling.
Pagan had a valid Arizona’s license but also has a suspended Florida license for not paying a traffic fine on June 15, 2005 in St. Lucie County, the report states. Pagan was on the disabled list following surgery to have a bone spur removed from right elbow. He is recovering from elbow surgery at the Mets facility in Port St. Lucie.
Also, he had a failure to appear traffic summons on Oct. 22 in Martin County and a Martin County warrant for failure to appear for driving while license is suspended, the report states.
By Keona Gardner, TCPalm.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
VERO BEACH — Minor League Baseball executives expect to occupy Dodgertown by June 1 if they can get an agreement with county officials approved by then.
“They want to occupy Dodgertown as soon as possible and we want them there,” County Administrator Joe Baird said Thursday.
At this point, the two sides’ attorneys are poring through the proposed agreement.
“And that takes on a life of its own,” MiLB President Pat O’Conner said.
Neither Baird nor O’Conner envisioned anything holding up the deal. And at least the county won’t have to spruce up the grounds before MiLB moves in, Baird said. (more…)
VERO BEACH — Baseball is scheduled to return to Dodgertown, but it will be primarily amateur level events conducted under the auspices of Minor League Baseball rather than professional players, officials announced today.
The agreement to bring Minor League Baseball here ends months of speculation of what was going to happen to Dodgertown.
History
Photos: Dodgertown’s last hurrah
Gallery: Beginnings of Dodgertown
After 61 years of spring training in Vero Beach, Dodgertown now sits empty
‘Dem bums’
While the facility won’t be hosting Major League Baseball spring training in the near future, officials with Minor League Baseball believe they will still have a major economic impact in the area.
Pat O’Conner, president of Minor League Baseball, said he believes the facility could play host to events for 35 to 40 weeks in the first year of operation alone, which could start as early as spring 2010. (more…)
VERO BEACH — A baseball-related organization is reportedly close to signing a five-year agreement for the use of Dodgertown.
County officials are declining to release the name of the proposed new tenant, although county officials previously met with Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Conner about the facility.
While the deal expected does not involve a Major League team, it leaves open the possibility of one using Holman Stadium for spring training in the future.
(more…)
PORT ST. LUCIE — The Nelsons moved to Connecticut and had two additional children. Neil Spector got married and still lives in the area and Howard Hillegas has watched homes sprout up along his once-vacant street.
Their lives — like those of others who experienced that chaotic day — moved on in the decade since wildfires ripped through parts of western Port St. Lucie on April 15, 1999. It was described then as the worst disaster in city history, and one of the worst fires on the Treasure Coast.
But the memories remain.
(more…)
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Proposed cuts to the St. Lucie County School District athletic budget have coaches and athletes alarmed.
The proposed $1 million decrease in the county athletic budget for next year announced Thursday means coaches will be working with less funding.
But what is even more alarming to coaches, is the elimination of feeder programs, which help develop players before they hit the varsity level. (more…)
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