STUART — For years, the Martin County School District was a mainstay of Florida Mechanical LLC.

The district called the Riviera Beach-based contractor nearly every day for repair jobs, while authorities say school employees routinely signed off on company invoices that included extra charges.

So informal had the contractual relationship become that company President Ken Morgan described it this way: “They would call us when things would break.” So cozy had the personal relationship become that district workers lunched with company employees and allowed them to assist with home repairs.

One district employee even spent a weekend at Morgan’s vacation home in St. Augustine. In exchange, Morgan got the use of the employee’s frozen drink machine at two company parties.

That all ended last year. Acting on a tip, new schools Superintendent Nancy Kline launched an internal investigation into allegations of employee misconduct, and later purged staff in the maintenance, facilities and purchasing departments. She also stopped $235,000 in remaining payments to Florida Mechanical.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement report released Tuesday clears former district and company employees of allegations of fraud but details a business relationship that likely cost the district thousands in unnecessary expenses. (more…)

STUART — State investigators found evidence that Martin County school employees accepted free lunches and work done on their homes from a district-employed vendor to whom they frequently funneled work, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a report released Tuesday.

The employees’ actions would not be enough to warrant criminal charges, the FDLE concluded, even though the report said they violated district policies against accepting gifts from vendors.

All four district employees named in the report left or were fired last year during a controversial purge by schools Superintendent Nancy Kline.

District leaders declined to comment Tuesday because of pending litigation with the company named in the report, Riviera Beach-based Florida Mechanical LLC. Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful Tuesday night. (more…)

The state Auditor General’s final report about the Martin County School District is available. The report, released today, has two “significant deficiencies” and three “additional matters.” Auditors found no “material weaknesses,” which are the most serious findings.

See the report here.

STUART — A maintenance employee who was fired earlier this year is suing the Martin County School District, saying Superintendent Nancy Kline retaliated against him and other employees after her husband was denied a building official job there.

Javier Suarez, a maintenance manager, was one of two employees fired.

Kline recommended in March that Suarez and Larry Stonecipher, a mechanical specialist, be terminated after an internal investigation found they weren’t following school board policies related to bidding, purchasing and contracting. Their supervisor later resigned.

The school board OK’d the moves. (more…)

STUART — It may go down as the worst year in the history of the Martin County School District.

A year so bad that elected officials are loathe to recall its events, let alone try to explain them.

This is a year, after all, in which school board members wouldn’t allow Superintendent Nancy Kline to speak during their meetings unless spoken to. In which the board’s attorney accused Kline of having public records removed from his computer after hours. In which a staff member filed a harassment complaint against the entire board.

One teacher called it the “worst case of adult dysfunction” ever.

Even Kline, who would prefer to look on the bright side, is hard-pressed to explain: “I’m not suggesting that anything about this is normal,” she said.

Since Kline took office in November 2008 as the county’s independently elected schools superintendent, public squabbles have become all too common. The A-rated school system, a long-standing point of pride for its academic and athletic excellence, has seen its day-to-day operations stymied by a power struggle among elected officials.

For more click here.

STUART — Have you ever wondered why some of those markers on the water are red and some are green?

And why are they different shapes, anyway? Why shouldn’t I just wait until I need my life jacket to put it on?

What is the minimum length of boat that requires a second fire extinguisher — or a third?

Answers to these and many other questions will be yours just for taking the time to attend the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s program, About Boating Safely.
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A former Jupiter Island Town Commissioner died Monday in Rhode Island in what police there are investigating as a possible suicide.

Finn Caspersen, 67, was found dead Monday at the Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Westerly, R.I. from what police believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said Westerly police Capt. Edward St. Clair.
Caspersen a philanthropist, was first elected as town commissioner in Jupiter Island in 2005. He resigned on Aug. 4. Caspersen also had a home in the Shelter Harbor Golf Club where he died.

“As a public servant, policy-maker and overall gentleman, Finn Caspersen exceeded every standard of good measure,” said Jupiter Island Mayor Charles Falcone. “Stoic and soft-spoken, he did a lot of listening during town meetings before carefully weighing in with insight and informed expertise.”

An assistant reached at Knickerbocker, LLC said the family did not want to comment. No funeral information was available.

Caspersen served as the chief executive officer for the Beneficial Corp., a major financial holding company, from 1976 to 1998. More recently he was serving as the chairman of Knickerbocker, a private management company that oversaw numerous trusts and foundations. Caspersen personally donated money to Harvard Law School in Massachusetts as well as the Morristown Memorial Hospital, and schools such as the Peddie School and the Drew University Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, all in New Jersey

Longtime friend Tom McNicholas described Caspersen as “approachable and genuine” and said: “Each time I would refer to him as Mr. Caspersen he would peer over his glasses, softly chuckle and say, ‘Call me Finn.’ He was a friend and always fair to everyone.”

As a town commissioner, Caspersen was pushed for a town referendum on whether to bury power lines on the island underground. He also got involved in Martin County’s contentious debate over real estate development, paying $17,000 out of his own pocket in 2006 to bankroll a phone survey of 500 Martin County residents about their views of population growth. He also created a political action committee, Keep Martin green, that ran advertisements opposing rapid growth in the county.

“Finn had strong convictions towards protecting our environment and he invested a lot of his own money and time to support local causes like Keep Martin Green which focused on smart growth and environmental protection,” McNicholas said.

This is the second longtime Jupiter Island official to die in recent months. Town Manager Joe Connolly, a friend of Caspersen, died of Lou Gehrig’s disease just days after Caspersen resigned from the town commission in August. Deputy Town Manager Gene Rauth said the town is considering a memorial to Caspersen.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After weeks of police officer training in a classroom, Indian River State College students move on to a small platform that provides a high-tech simulation of how they react in a real-life situation.

They’re given a weapon that only emits lasers and equipped with a belt that zaps them if they put themselves in danger.

“It teaches consequences if they make bad decisions,” Stephen Huntsberger, associate dean of Public Service Education for IRSC, said of the VirTra Systems simulator at the complex.

The simulator is one of the planned demonstrations at Friday’s public open house at the new Indian River State College Public Safety Complex.
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A Tallahassee law firm has put the school district on notice that it will be taken to court if it doesn’t promptly produce public records first requested in June about a contract with a computer software company.

Attorneys Edwin Bayo and Bill Furlow declined to say who they represent in their attempt to get documents and e-mails between St. Lucie County schools and Skyward Inc., a Stevens Point, Wis.-based supplier of school administrative software. The district began seeking a contractor in 2007 and Skyward’s software came online this summer. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — The Treasure Coast Opera Society will not perform for the 2009-2010 season. Finances are to blame.

“The New York State Opera closed. The Baltimore Opera closed. The Orlando Opera has closed,” said TCOS co-founder Anne Abood. “Everyone is skating on thin ice.”
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