FORT PIERCE — An intoxicated man who swore at a pastor conducting his service Wednesday evening was taken to jail, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.

A deputy was called at 7:48 p.m. to Midway Baptist Church and encountered Dexter James Scott, 44, “who was outside of the church yelling at the pastor calling him a ‘stupid (expletive),’ ” the affidavit states.

The pastor was conducting his service inside the church, situated in the 1100 block of West Midway Road.
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FORT PIERCE — Police arrested a 45-year-old man accused of burglarizing a church in late September, according to a recently released arrest affidavit.

Eric L. Teal, of the 600 block of South Sixth Street, faces charges including burglary, petit theft and giving a false name to a law enforcement officer.

Teal’s arrest Friday came less than a month after an employee at the First United Methodist Church of Fort Pierce in the 600 block of Orange Avenue told police he noticed a DVD/VHS player and a DVD player missing.
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FORT PIERCE — Shelitta Woods calls the past six months “miserable.”

“You got to understand, it’d been like 13, 14 years before I had another child,” Woods said. “It was just me and Lil’ Bo, just me and Lil’ Bo, everywhere I go, me and Lil’ Bo.”

Woods’ 16-year-old son, Torenda “Lil’ Bo” Youngblood Jr., was fatally shot at his bus stop March 9, two days after Demetrius Wells, 18, sustained fatal wounds in a drive-by shooting. Two men also were hit by gunfire during separate shootings between the homicides. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — It’s common to do it to pets and boats.

But cars?

If your 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda is nothing short of divine, you may want to submit it to the Blessing of the Cars as part of their 10:30 Sunday morning worship service. You could bring your Smart Car, too.

Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Church at 1002 Bahama Avenue is inviting residents to the event.

The car blessing will commemorate the Feast of the Prophet Elijah.

“Tradition relates that Elijah was carried up to Heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 1:12),’’ the pastor, Fr. Michael J. Sopoliga, wrote.

Byzantine Catholics are among the 23 “Churches” within the Catholic Church, officials said.

The Byzantine Catholic Church in Fort Pierce celebrates the 4th Century Eucharistic Liturgy of the early Christians. The church’s Slavic kitchen also is known for great pierogies and stuffed cabbage.

So anoint your engine with 10-W-40 if it needs it and visit www.byzcath.org/fortpierce, or call (772) 595-1021, for more information.

By Matt Prichard, TCPalm.com

PALM CITY — Hard financial times have turned tumultuous at a local church, with the pastor using a sheriff’s deputy to keep elders outside the sanctuary doors and the elders, in turn, filing suit to remove the pastor.

In the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Martin County Circuit Court, seven members of Palm City Christian Church charge Pastor Anthony “Pastor Tony” Galbicka with breach of fiduciary duty and seek a ruling “ousting” him and voiding the “improper and/or illegal” actions he took.

The suit also alleges Galbicka slandered one plaintiff, Edward Taudien, when the pastor told other church members Taudien had stolen money from the church. The suit counters that Taudien had donated more than $168,000 to the church and loaned it $200,000 to build the sanctuary at 6450 Martin Highway in western Palm City.

Galbicka could not be reached Thursday at his home in Palm City, at the church, via telephone or by e-mail.

Robert J. Watson, a Stuart attorney representing the plaintiffs, said he expects a hearing on his request for a temporary restraining order against Galbicka to be scheduled late this month or early August.

According to the lawsuit, the 80-member church “began to struggle financially” this year; at a May 28 meeting attended by Galbicka, the elders approved several spending cuts, including reducing the pastor’s salary “by a modest percentage.”

Watson said the cut was to be about 15 percent, adding the church paid Galbicka’s housing and car expenses plus $22,000 a year. Details of how to make the cut had not been worked out, he said. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Shirley Littlefield’s eyes filled with tears as she picked up her daughter, third-grader Elizabeth, from what was truly her last day of school at Port St. Lucie Elementary.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Littlefield said. “We’re getting split up, and it hurts.”

The 34-year-old building closed its doors to students, teachers and staff on Wednesday as part of a plan to deal with St. Lucie County School District budget constraints.

Closing the school, as well as Southbend K-8 and Anglewood Center, which taught pregnant teens, is expected to save $30 million next year. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A 51-year-old associate pastor accused of backing his car up at a school into a sheriff’s deputy is facing charges, according to recently released records.

St. Lucie County sheriff’s investigators arrested Ronald J. Reeves on May 14 on felony charges including aggravated battery on an officer and resisting an officer with violence, and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct following the events at Dale Cassens School.

Reeves reportedly arrived with an 11th-grade student and his grandmother. Reeves said he’s a mentor for the student and is an associate pastor at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
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A minivan crashed into a church van in Fort Pierce last night, injuring 18 people, including six children.

St. Lucie County Fire District crews responded to the rollover at Edwards Road and 25th Street at about 9:20 p.m., according to district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney.

In all, 20 people were in the vehicles; 16 ended up at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials. Two children — a 2-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy — were sent to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

According to investigators, Fort Pierce resident Carmelo Pineda, 42, was driving his minivan south on 25th Street where he turned left onto Edwards and turned in front of the van owned by Port St. Lucie church Iglesia de Cristo Misionera. Both Pineda and his passenger were treated for minor injuries at Lawnwood.

Investigators obtained a sample of Pineda’s blood to test if he was impaired while driving, officials said.

STUART — Martin County sheriff’s deputies are asking for the public’s help in locating a 38-year-old pastor since earlier this month.

According to deputies, Felix Rodriguez has been missing since May 3. His wife, Maria, told deputies she dropped Rodriguez off that morning at his church, Iglesia De Dios E La Fe at 2810 SE Fairmont Street.

When she returned to pick him up, the wife told deputies, he wasn’t there.

Rodriguez was last seen wearing jeans, white tennis shoes and a button-up shirt with Puerto Rican flags and drums on it.

Anyone with information on Rodriguez’s whereabouts is encouraged to call Martin County Sheriff’s Detective Leo Ferreira at (772) 220-7060.

STUART — A trial began this morning in the case of a 39-year-old man accused in the January 2008 shooting death of a 19-year-old church drummer who was a bystander during a fight.

Eric Lashawn Wiley could face life in prison if convicted on murder charges in connection with the death of Levi “Dwight” Starks.

Starks, 19, was a bystander while Wiley fought with another man, Aaron Stoudemire. Starks died shortly after the gun went off and hit him in the chest.

Wiley later called police and turned himself in. He told them he fought with Stoudemire, his sister’s boyfriend, because Stoudemire was beating his sister, who was pregnant at the time.
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