A second Beagle, suffering from Parvo, was found staggering in traffic in Lake Park, very close to the location where a mother Beagle and her puppies were found April 17.

Kay-Lynette Roca, executive director of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary & Hospital, said Tuesday that the male Beagle brought to Safe Harbor and the female Beagle that was found last week have matching collars and seem to know each other.

“Parker, the male Beagle dog that was found in traffic in Lake Park, looks very similar to the Beagle mom who is now fighting for her life. I’m afraid there may be a backyard breeder in the Lake Park area who is neglecting these dogs and tossing them out.”
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FORT PIERCE — A day after Navy SEAL sharpshooters killed three Somali pirates and freed an American ship captain, officials at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce were already trying to collect mementos from the historic event.

“We’re starting to get to work on seeing what we can get,” said Michael Howard, the museum director and a former SEAL. “It would be a shame to let this event pass without saving something at the museum.”
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PORT ST. LUCIE — The Nelsons moved to Connecticut and had two additional children. Neil Spector got married and still lives in the area and Howard Hillegas has watched homes sprout up along his once-vacant street.

Their lives — like those of others who experienced that chaotic day — moved on in the decade since wildfires ripped through parts of western Port St. Lucie on April 15, 1999. It was described then as the worst disaster in city history, and one of the worst fires on the Treasure Coast.

But the memories remain.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A Port St. Lucie woman is facing a felony charge of aggravated domestic assault after being accused of threatening her brother with a sword during an argument Saturday, according to an arrest affidavit from the Port St. Lucie Police Department.

The brother told investigators his sister, Vishma Maharaj, of the 4500 block of Southwest Yamada Road, pulled out a sword and said “she was going to cut him” while they were arguing, the report said.

Family in the house supported the brother’s statement, the affidavit said. According to the report, the brother said he was in fear for his well being.

The affidavit said Maharaj previously had threatened people with swords.

Maharaj was transported to the St. Lucie County Jail and later released on $5,000 bond.

By Staff reports, TCPalm.com

VERO BEACH — A man who secretly buried his mother in their back yard to cover up her death will be serving 20 years in state prison for second-degree murder, court files show.

In mid-2008, Vero Lake Estates resident Kelly Smith, 38, argued with his mother, Lynn Schuler, 59, over his unemployment. (more…)

ST. LUCIE WEST — Martin Memorial Health Systems plans to open a freestanding emergency department this fall to provide medical care to western Port St. Lucie until it can build a full-service, 80-bed hospital in Tradition.
Martin Memorial and Port St. Lucie officials gathered Tuesday to celebrate the start of construction on the emergency center, which will be part of the health systems’ facility on St. Lucie West Boulevard. Expected to open by Sept. 1, the 12-bed center will be a full-service emergency department.
“It will provide critical services close to home rather than having people fight traffic when time matters most,” Martin Memorial Chief Executive Officer Mark Robitaille said.
Port St. Lucie’s growing population and sometimes gridlocked traffic were Martin Memorial’s main arguments for building a hospital in the city, which already is home to St. Lucie Medical Center, a for-profit hospital owned by Tennessee-based HCA Inc. (more…)

The Baehrs — Derek, Kellyanne and their two young daughters are five months behind on their mortgage payments. They sometimes eat at a soup kitchen and shop at a food pantry. They expect to lose their three-bedroom suburban house before the end of the school year.
“This is just awful, and I know that we are not the only ones going through this,’’ says Kellyanne, 37, an accounting clerk. Derek, 40, is disabled. “We used to try to go day by day. Now we are just trying to get to the end of each day.’’

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By Ragel Thys

STUART — A confrontation outside a bar ended up in two arrests Thursday night.

Nathaniel Spiliotis and Brian Williams, both 27 and of Stuart, were involved in a heated argument when 55-year-old Ricky Watson came outside after being forced to leave Coconut Bar in Stuart, Martin County sheriff’s deputies say. (more…)