PORT ST. LUCIE — Alfredo Felipe opened his new barber shop in Port St. Lucie because he liked the hometown feel of the community.

Felipe, 33, never thought that a month after his grand opening, an odd theft would occur at his business, Fredo’s Barbershop Hair Trends International, 698 Southwest Port St. Lucie Blvd.

Felipe said his homemade, 7-foot barber pole, made out of Styrofoam, mesh, stucco and some light metal materials, was stolen between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Friday at his shop.
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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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By JASON SCHULTZ

INDIANTOWN— Fires that broke out near Indiantown in western Martin County over the weekend continued to burn last night and have charred more than 1,400 acres while crews tackled another large fire near Palm City, according to fire officials.

Residents from the Indianwood Mobile Home Park were evacuated and the American Red Cross has opened its shelter on Kanner Highway in Stuart for fire evacuees, according to a Martin County press release last night.

Three of the four brush fires that burned hundreds of acres near Indiantown, closed roads and prompted authorities to cut power in the Treasure Coast Sunday continued to burn overnight.

Two flare-ups occurred this afternoon.

The one between the Booker Park fire and the Lincoln Park fire was about 3 acres, said Melissa Yunas, a wildfire specialist with the state Division of Forestry.

The second flare-up, near the Indian Trail fire, jumped over a canal and headed toward three homes in the Little Ranch Estates neighborhood.

Firefighters took up positions around the homes.

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The $10 billion spending bill signed Wednesday by President Obama provides $183 million for Everglades restoration projects, including $4.5 million earmarked for the Indian River Lagoon.

The legislation was approved Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate; the House of Representatives approved the bill in late February.

Nanciann Regalado, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Jacksonville, which is overseeing the Indian River Lagoon project, said it wasn’t clear Wednesday evening where the money would go. She said the Corps has asked Congress for $4.5 million to design a reservoir and stormwater treatment area for the C-23 and C-24 canals, which drain much of St. Lucie and northern Martin counties.

“We’re still determining exactly how the money will be used,” Regalado said, “but it definitely will go toward the Indian River Lagoon Plan.”
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February 27, 2009

SEBASTIAN — Police announced that a body found last month is that of Marcia Hulihan. State officials confirmed her identity through dental records. She had been reported missing in September.

According to TCPalm.com, authorities won’t be able to determine why Marcia Hulihan’s place of death was a watery canal just north of her apartment complex. Police do not suspect foul play in the case, but the state Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to say how the 50-year-old woman died.
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — One of two teenagers killed when the car they were in crashed into a canal will be buried today, while family members will bury the other on Jan. 31.
Authorities Monday found Justin Michael Clark-Moore, 19, of Port St. Lucie, in the back seat of a 1983 Toyota Corolla that had plunged into Belcher Canal. His funeral is scheduled for today.
On Tuesday, the body of 17-year-old Steven Donovan of Fort Pierce was found in the canal. Donovan’s older sister, Christine Walton, 23, Steven’s guardian, said she had been hanging out with the boys and having dinner early Sunday evening before everyone in the home went to bed. But, Steven left the home sometime Sunday.
“This was out of character for him,” Walton said. “He was a wonderful kid.”
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