VERO BEACH — Officials said they’re still investigating the cause of death of a Hialeah man found Saturday in the pool at a resort hotel owned by pop star Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio.

Enrique Perez, 69, was vacationing with family at Costa D’Este in the 3200 block of Ocean Drive, police spokesman Officer John Morrison said.

About 2 p.m. Saturday, Kelly Wakeman, 24, of Tallahassee said she was sitting at the side of the pool when she and others noticed Perez submerged, face down and not moving in the 6-feet, 6-inch depth area of the pool.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — A woman was taken to a local trauma center in serious condition Monday after a crash on Savanna Club Boulevard east of U.S. 1, a St. Lucie County Fire District spokeswoman said.

Fire district crews were called about 6 a.m. to the incident in the 1800 block of Savanna Club Boulevard and took a woman in her 20s to a local trauma center in serious condition, Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said.

The woman had been driving a 4-door Volkswagen at the time of the incident. No one else was in the vehicle at the time.

Details on how the crash occurred were not immediately available.

By Will Greenlee

A young man was found shot to death face down on the sidewalk leading to his Stuart apartment overnight.

Stuart police report they were called at about 12:03 a.m. to 931 Nassau Ave. for reports of shots fired in the area. They found 24-year-old Jerome Hutchinson sprawled on the sidewalk with a gunshot to the chest. He died there, police report.

Witnesses said they heard three gun shots and saw three or four men run from the scene. Those witnesses said they men then jumped into a silver Ford Escort with tinted windows and “some type of black stripe designs down the sides of the car” and sped away, police reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Mike Gerwan at 772-220-3918 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-8477.

FORT PIERCE — St. Lucie County Fire District crews Thursday morning battled a fire suspected of being arson at a rooming house under renovation, according to the Fire District. There were no injuries.

Fire District crews were called at 5:50 a.m. to the incident in the 500 block of Douglas Court and had the fire under control by 6:15 a.m.

“No one was inside at the time of the fire but it’s reported that a gentleman had been living in the home,” Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said.

The fire started in the attic and damaged about 50 percent of the structure, which does not have power.

Chaney declined to give details on what led investigators to label the cause as arson.

The property is owned by Rey Property Investors LLC, according to the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser’s Web site. The three-bedroom home was bought in December for $70,000.

By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

STUART — Three people were attacked by a swarm of bees on Monday that came from a hive about the size of a car engine.

“I have never experienced anything like this before in my life,” said Kendall Todd, owner of Affordable Pressure Cleaning in Palm City.

Todd and his brother were pressure cleaning Becky Engebretsen’s driveway in the 1800 block of Northwest River Point Drive, when they first started noticing some bees. After spraying the bees with water, more continued to show up until finally they were forced to take off on foot.
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FORT PIERCE — Some city commissioners are questioning why city manager David Recor didn’t include a job he held in Alaska on his resume and city application when he applied for deputy city manager in Fort Pierce.

But Recor said issues surrounding his Alaska job are misunderstandings.

Recor worked as a planning and land-use director for Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK, from March 12, 2003, to April 14, 2003, according to Borough’s Human Resources Manager Rob McFerron. Recor was hired as Fort Pierce deputy city manager in April 2005 by former city manager Dennis Beach. Recor was then promoted to city manager in October when Beach retired.

Three days before Recor resigned from his job in Alaska, the Palmer Police Department arrested and charged him with shoplifting. The charges were later dropped and the case was dismissed, court records show. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The drivers of two tractor-trailers were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries following a Monday night crash on Florida’s Turnpike, a St. Lucie County Fire District spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Fire District crews were called about 10:45 p.m. Monday to the incident, which occurred about a mile north of Becker Road on the northbound side, Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said.
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MARTIN COUNTY — Almost two weeks after her apartment building caught fire, Karen Diaz’s second-floor apartment still smells of smoke.

The fire that briefly displaced Diaz, 21, and her family from their lodgings at The Crossings at Indian Run never entered the apartment, but the smell still greets her when she wakes and when she walks out the damaged front door.

“It feels like it’s on fire again,” said Diaz, who lives in the apartment with her mother, 4-year-old son, older sister and infant niece.

The fires that struck the building at 3740 Southeast Gatehouse Circle and a condo in Port Salerno on Independence Day weekend are over, but the task of recovering is not. The American Red Cross of Martin County has spent a little less than $1,000 aiding those affected by the fires.

On July 4, fire broke out at one of building’s three columns and spread up its interior to the building’s attic, where it was contained.

The fire department accused two juveniles of starting the fire with fireworks. The juveniles are not being charged, but they are being put into a fire safety program, said Frank Lasaga, community safety coordinator for the Stuart fire department.

Diaz and her family were the only ones relocated after the fire, estimated to have caused $80,000 in damage, and have since returned home.

The Red Cross spent a little less than $200 for the family’s food and alternate lodgings while repairs to the ceiling were made, said Sam Yates, a spokesman for the organization. Diaz said the family stayed at Molly’s House in Stuart from July 6 to July 8.

Earlier on July 4, a fire in a waterside condo on the 4000 block of Manatee Lane ended with one dead and one injured. The next day, firefighters with Martin County Fire Rescue returned when another fire broke out in a different area of the same building. None were injured in the second fire.

Yates said the Red Cross spent more than $300 helping the survivor of the first Manatee Lane fire. It has also spent $550 helping a family displaced in the second Manatee Lane fire and will contribute more to help to help them find a place to stay.

After the fire, dust from the attic covered the apartment floor and furniture, Diaz said. The front door was damaged and cut from when firefighters broke into the apartment. The apartment and outside stairwell still smell, and the storage closet on the balcony smells of mold and smoke.

“I don’t know how I’m going to get in there with that smell,” Diaz said.

Parts of the apartment’s ceiling have been repaired, and the dust has been cleaned from the apartment floor. Diaz is still waiting for the apartment complex to replace the front door and damaged air conditioning equipment. Diaz said the complex told her the door would be repaired next week.
By Alex Tiegen, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — A family of six was displaced from their home after a fire started in its attic early this morning.

St. Lucie County Fire District crews were called to the home in the 400 block of Southeast Whitmore Drive at 1 a.m. today, district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said. The family escaped the fire without injuries.

The fire, which originated from an air conditioning unit in the attic, caused $50,000 to $60,000 in damage, Chaney said. The family was displaced from the home and the Red Cross was called to help.

While battling the fire, a firefighter was taken to a local hospital for heat exhaustion, Chaney said. He was checked out and released.

HUTCHINSON ISLAND — The fizzling economy continues to keep progress at a standstill on the new Oceanside Resort hotel on Hutchinson Island.

The new resort, which is slated to replace the partially destroyed 184-room Holiday Inn Oceanside just south of Jensen Beach Causeway, was scheduled for completion by next year. But Huizenga Holdings, which now owns the complex, is still trying to secure all necessary permits and retool its business plan in accordance with the economic downturn. (more…)