STUART — A Stuart man stabbed a neighbor in the leg during a dispute Sunday, police said.

Enoch Massey Jr., 50, of the 200 block of Southwest Albany St., Stuart was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said. He was being held in the Martin County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — The city has released its own video on YouTube to address allegations from the Treasure Coast Tea Party that their civil rights were violated during the city’s Freedomfest on July 4.

Organization members were put into a special area near a sign stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.

The 2 minute, 21-second video, titled “Port St. Lucie and Freedom of Speech,” features city Communications Director Ed Cunningham disputing the allegation.

Cunningham says the sign was “created to separate city government from individual political agendas” and that “free speech is alive and well in this city and was in fact practiced heavily at the Fourth of July Freedomfest celebration.”

The video is in response to one the Treasure Coast Tea Party posted on YouTube over the weekend saying the city “harassed” them by creating the special section and placing the disclaimer sign near them.

Members of the group have demanded an apology from the city and intend to address the issue at the City Council’s July 13 meeting.

Treasure Coast Tea Party member Karon Nunes said Mayor Pat Christensen and Council member Jack Kelly have sent e-mails apologizing to the group.

By Jim Turner, TCPalm.com

STUART — A group of residents suing Martin County because they contend the extension of airport runways at Witham Field has damaged their property values will have to wait until December to find out how the trial will be handled.

Attorneys for the group have filed motions asking they be allowed to file a class-action suit, a request opposed by Martin County, which operates Witham Field. (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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STUART — After one hour of deliberation Thursday afternoon, a Martin County jury found Eric Lashawn Wiley guilty of second-degree murder in the Jan. 11, 2008, shooting death of 19-year-old Levi Dwight Starks in Stuart.

Wiley and his sister’s boyfriend were struggling over a gun after an alleged domestic dispute when the gun discharged and the .40-caliber bullet struck Starks in the chest.

In addition to second-degree murder, Wiley, 39, also was found guilty on aggravated assault and aggravated battery charges, and could face up to life in prison. (more…)

STUART — Martin County’s lowest-paid workers will keep fighting the county’s furlough program because they can’t afford a 5 percent pay cut, a union leader said Tuesday.

Teamsters Local 769, which represents 275 of the county’s clerical and blue collar workers, will ask the Public Employees Relations Commission to resolve the contract dispute through binding arbitration, said Mavis Curley, the union’s chief steward in Martin County.

The furlough program requiring all county employees, except fire rescue workers, to take one unpaid day off per month starting Friday violates the Teamsters contract, Curley said. Under the contract, a workweek is 40 hours.
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Alejandro Gomez

Jose Sanchez

Alejandro Gomez told police he was drinking with Jose Sanchez at Sanchez’s home in the 900 block of Skylark Drive when the two started arguing about a woman.

Gomez, 38, said Sanchez, 35, then grabbed a machete and swung it at him. So Gomez then ran home for his shotgun, returned to Sanchez’s home and pointed the gun at Sanchez, Gomez told police.

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