STUART — The Stuart Jeep and Stuart Volkswagen dealerships on U.S. 1 are going out of business on Friday as a result of the economic downturn and the Chrysler bankruptcy.

The owner of the dealership, Tom Willett, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon to about 70 workers, said Mark Babcock, a Jeep service manager who lives in Port St. Lucie.

Willett attributed the closing largely to the Chrysler bankruptcy, which will result in the closing of dealerships throughout the country, Babcock said. Stuart Jeep was vulnerable because it was a standalone dealership that did not include the auto maker’s Chrysler or Dodge brands.

“We all gave Mr. Willett a round of applause,” Babcock said. “We knew he tried his best for us. Tom Willett was a great owner. You can’t fault the guy. He tried to do everything he could.”

The dealership employed about 70 people, mainly salespeople, mechanics, detailers, officer workers and managers, Babcock said.

“It’s like a family type organization,” Babcock said.

The Jeep and Volkswagen dealerships will close for good at 5 p.m. Friday and the remaining automobiles will be returned to the manufacturers or sold through an auction, Babcock said.

“It’s been a good 14-year run,” Babcock said. “We survived hurricanes. If we had Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, we might’ve stood a chance. That’s just the way it is. It’s sad, but it’s also business.”

By George Andreassi, TCPalm.com

It’s common to see Treasure Coast teens and preteens using cell phones for sending text messages and photos.

But it’s also becoming common for teens nationwide to send other things via their phones or computer Web cameras, including explicit and sexual photographs that have given the phenomenon a new name — sexting.

“It’s been going on for several years here. We just didn’t call it this,” said Detective Brian Broughton of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. “Now it has a little buzz word, but basically we’re referring to the same thing — when children would take nude pictures of themselves and send it to other children.”
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VIERA — For five years, the Palm Bay couple considered Gary Sebastian, the father of their 14-year-old daughter’s best friend, a close acquaintance, trusted to protect their child during the girls’ weekend sleepovers or to hang out at their home during get-togethers.

So, they were stunned when they discovered last summer that 41-year-old Sebastian had been sending their daughter inappropriate text messages, mailed her a package filled with sex-related items and provided her with alcohol on at least one occasion.

And they weren’t satisfied Wednesday when a judge sentenced the former Palm Bay firefighter to three and a half years in prison and five years of sex offender probation. (more…)

ANA X. CERON, KATHLEEN CHAPMAN, and MICHAEL LAFORGIA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

STUART — As 800 children filed out of Felix A. Williams Elementary School near Stuart on Wednesday, firefighters lined up trucks to protect them from a fast-moving brush fire that burned nearly up to the school’s fence.

The flames got close to the eastern edge of the school, forced the evacuation of 100 homes off Baker Road and dropped sparks over the Windemere subdivision off U.S. 1, fire officials said

Displaced residents watched from a distance, and parents were routed to Martin County High School to pick up children evacuated from their schools

Special video report

But in the end, the fire was nothing more than a close call amid the region’s severe drought. No one was hurt and no structures were lost in the 90-acre blaze, which was fully contained by early evening

Felix A. Williams was not damaged but will remain closed to students and staff today.

The brush fire, which started in the woods behind First Christian Church off Dixie Highway, was first reported at 12:35 p.m. A few minutes later, 15 school buses evacuated staff and students from Felix A. Williams to Martin County High, about 6 miles away.

An experimental image for about 8 p.m. Wednesday showing areas of concern for smoke drift from the Rio Fire near Stuart. US 1 and the Florida Turnpike may see reduced visibility into the night time hours with the Port Saint Lucie area indicated near the smoke plume concentration.

It took about 20 minutes to empty the school, said Martin County sheriff’s Lt. Morgan Sprott, who is in charge of school resource officers and was at the school when the call to evacuate was made.

Sprott said that no students were in danger, but the evacuation caught some parents off guard.

Raymond Hoffman said he was worried when he was stopped on the way to pick up his 9-year-old son, William, from school.

“I was trying every which way to get to the school; there was a cop everywhere,” said Hoffman, who eventually was directed to the high school, where he found his son.

The fire rapidly spread to 90 acres, fueled by wind, low humidity and severe dryness.

“That’s a bad combination for a fire day,” Martin County Fire Rescue Lt. Todd Tucker said as he rode around in an all-terrain vehicle surveying the damage.

On Charlie Greene Drive and Charlie Greene Terrace south of Baker Road, residents had only a few minutes to get out.

Daisy White, 53, said that when sheriff’s deputies knocked on the door, she could see fire in the nearby trees and nothing but smoke in front of her home. She didn’t have time to get her Boxer, Cocoa, or her two puppies, Dakota and Montana, who were loose outside.

She watched the fire from a distance on Baker Road, worried every time she saw the helicopter whirring over her home.

White grew up in the neighborhood in a home her mother built in 1963. She said she moved away but came back to live in a nearby trailer home because the area is so peaceful. The homes are surrounded by woods, she said, and neighbors put in gardens and fruit trees.

“It’s beautiful back there, absolutely beautiful,” she said. “And it’s home.”

At Baseline Avenue and 15th Street, Sandra Jean Brown, 80, sat in her van with her Schnauzer, Willow, watching the smoke creep toward her mobile home. “I’m 80 years old. What, me worry?” Brown said. “If it burns up, I’ll get another one.”

Still, she said, she put a lot of care into her place in the past five years.

“That building there is probably one of the best mobiles in the park,” she said. “Because it’s totally rebuilt.”

She had driven to Home Depot after lunch to see about returning some shutters, and when she returned, deputies wouldn’t let her back into her home.

A few hours later, she sneaked past the deputies to check on the orchids she grows in her backyard.

“I’m just concerned that maybe the wind might pick up,” she said.

Gray smoke billowed over U.S. 1 for most of the afternoon, and flashing signs warned motorists to slow down in the haze. The evacuated area was a ghost town for most of Wednesday afternoon, with empty driveways, abandoned lawn chairs and the smell of charred pine.

David Cook and his wife, Lisa Feick, went back into the smoke to help a neighbor rescue her two dogs and a cat. But they couldn’t find one black-and-white kitten, Feick said.

Despite the dry and windy conditions, firefighters were able to get in front of the blaze and contain it, Tucker said.

A Florida Division of Forestry helicopter whirred over the blaze, dropping 88 loads of water from a 320-gallon bucket dipped in nearby ponds. Firefighters said they would continue to douse smoldering spots through the night.

Little rain has fallen this winter, leaving South Florida at high risk for fire. According to the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which runs from 0 to 800, two-thirds of Martin County is in the 600-700 range, with some areas as high as 727.

Staff writers Sonja Isger, Eliot Kleinberg and Cara Fitzpatrick contributed to this story.

If you have photos of the fire, please share them on PostPix. If you have a video to submit please upload it here.

FORT PIERCE — Despite a sagging economy, graphic design using digital media is booming.

“Over 10,000 new jobs in graphic design become available in Florida each year,” said Jose Farinos, dean of advanced technology at Indian River State College. “And over 6,000 of them require a two-year college degree.”
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Port St. Lucie is getting into the home-buying business.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week gave city officials the go-ahead on a plan to spend $13.5 million in federal money buying, repairing and reselling foreclosed homes.

Port St. Lucie hopes to start working with local real estate agents this week and begin closing on homes in as little as a month, said Pat Selmer, assistant director of the city’s community services department. (more…)

Greg Osborne has trouble sleeping at night.

Osborne, a former Piper Aircraft Inc. employee who got laid off earlier this month, wonders how he’ll be able to pay for his five prescriptions when his medical insurance runs out at the end of the month. He worries about how he’ll make rent this month and how he can delay paying for utilities.

But most of all, he prays that his kidney cancer doesn’t return.

“I loved my job. I loved that company, I loved my co-workers, it was my life. It was my family,” said Osborne, a former aircraft inspector at Piper for more than 11 years. “There’s days go by, I don’t even eat.”

Osborne joined other former Piper employees at a workshop organized by the United Way and Workforce Solutions of Indian River County Monday. The two agencies held seminars to help former Piper employees find social services and other financial assistance from the county and state. (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Members of Muslim Friends of Florida International who are looking to build a mosque at the corner of Bell Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard in White City hope to have their prayers answered Tuesday.

The group, headed by Dr. Abdul Raoof Shadani, has worked with neighbors, including those in the Estates of Longwood Homeowners Association, to come to an agreement. The issue is how to best to build a structure for worship while appeasing concerns that it is too big for the 2.94-acre site.

Those living nearby have expressed concerns that the mosque could cause drainage problems and does not fit the neighborhood. (more…)

The Baehrs — Derek, Kellyanne and their two young daughters are five months behind on their mortgage payments. They sometimes eat at a soup kitchen and shop at a food pantry. They expect to lose their three-bedroom suburban house before the end of the school year.
“This is just awful, and I know that we are not the only ones going through this,’’ says Kellyanne, 37, an accounting clerk. Derek, 40, is disabled. “We used to try to go day by day. Now we are just trying to get to the end of each day.’’

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VERO BEACH — The possibility of major league baseball players returning to Dodgertown this spring in the form of a free-agent camp is something Indian River County officials say they will pursue.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting the players’ union is expected to decide within a week whether to organize a spring training camp of its own for free agent players, with Dodgertown one of the sites under consideration. There are reportedly about 70 players that remain unsigned and are considered free agents.

Local officials have asked for assistance from Major League Baseball and talked with MLB executive Pat O’Conner about the use of the field, but they say they have not talked with union officials about having free agents train there. Union officials could not be reached for comment.

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