MARTIN COUNTY — An emergency room physician will face a misdemeanor charge in a boating accident that crippled a Palm Beach Gardens man, officials announced Thursday.

The State Attorney’s Office charged Roger M. Nicosia, 56, of Stuart, with violating navigational rules following a yearlong investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The offshore boating accident happened Jan. 9, 2009, about 4 1/2 miles northeast of the St. Lucie Inlet. Robert Murphy Jr. of Palm Beach Gardens was diving when he was struck. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Prevention, not treatment, of swine flu is what people should be thinking about now, according to the health officials and doctors who spoke Thursday at a town hall meeting about the H1N1 virus.

A couple dozen people showed up at Port St. Lucie’s Civic Center, most with questions and many armed with antibacterial sanitizing gels. Concerns about the severity of the H1N1 virus as well as side effects of the vaccine expected to be distributed beginning next month dominated the question and answer session. (more…)