FORT PIERCE — Fort Pierce native Ashley Walker appears on Jeopardy! starting this week as part of the team selected to be among a cast of “15 of the country’s brightest college students” participating in the television game show’s 22nd college championship.

The series is being aired this week and next, Monday through Feb. 12.

Walker, 21 and a Dartmouth College senior, flew to Los Angeles at the beginning of January for the 10-show taping and a chance to win $100,000.

“I’m excited to meet Alex Trebek, and I’m a bit nervous to be on TV,” Walker said in December. Walker graduated from Fort Pierce’s Lincoln Park Academy in 2006. “If I win, I’ll probably use the money to go to law school, but at this point I’m just trying to go in clean and see this as a fun opportunity.”

Walker hoped to experience the theme music, witty banter, buzzers, stress and live studio audience for years.

A Jeopardy! fan since she was younger, the trivia buff took the show’s online quiz twice and even traveled once from her New Hampshire college to Boston for a live audition. Given the odds, she never thought she would hear from anyone.

Then, on Dec. 6, she received a phone call from an unfamiliar number while she was studying for exams. And just like that, Walker was planning her all-expenses paid trip to L.A.

As a member of her school’s College Bowl competitive trivia team, Walker is familiar with this kind of competition.

“Jeopardy! is about speed,” she said. “I think on most questions, a lot of people know the answer, but it’s just the speed of recall that can trip you up. If you study, it will help with recall.”

So with a little less than a month to prepare, Walker crammed. She watched as many previous shows as possible to get a feel for some the popular topics and pulled out her old SAT-prep books that provide succinct overviews of subjects like American history and the Cold War.

More than anything, though, she hoped to make it to the end of the game with all of the random tidbits she’s collected over the years.

For example, she learned the other day that Coca-Cola would be green if the manufacturers didn’t add food coloring. And a Sunday school song taught her the correct order of all of the books of Bible.

Whether or not Trebek asks what comes after the Book of Job — and whether she makes it to the $100,000 mark — Walker has been forced to keep mum about the result when she came home.

She’ll re-experience her victory or defeat along with her Dartmouth friends during a viewing party when the show airs.

About the 22nd college championship of Jeopardy!

In January, Ashley Walker of Fort Pierce and 14 other contestants from colleges throughout the country will tape 10 episodes of “Jeopardy!” in Los Angeles.

The two-week competition is scheduled to be broadcast Monday–feb. 12.

During the first week, each contestant will appear in one of the five shows. Winners from each of the shows and the next four highest money-earners will advance to the semifinals.

In the second week, the nine remaining contenders will go head-to-head in three episodes for a slot in the two-game final match.

Those knocked out in the first week will receive $5,000. Semifinalists will take home $10,000; the third-place winner $25,000; second-place $50,000; and first-place $100,000.

Detroit may have been rocked this year by the financial woes of American automakers, but evidence of the crisis can be found in almost every American city. In Fort Pierce, it’s seen in the empty lots where car dealerships once stood on U.S. 1.

Many franchise owners, even successful ones, were forced to close in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings for Chrsyler and General Motors earlier this year.

Now, with federal legislation passed this month, owners like Bill Wallace of Wallace Chrysler Jeep in Fort Pierce have recourse. (more…)

The Fort Pierce City Marina, the crown jewel of downtown Fort Pierce before being ravaged by hurricanes five years ago, may finally be rebuilt.

City officials say the $20 million project will be an environmental and economic boon to the city, adding to revitalization efforts downtown.

Already, Marina Square and the river walk have been restored. A new library and county courthouse have gone in. Community events often are held downtown.

The only thing missing, city officials say, is to restore the city-owned marina. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — Questions about how to revitalize the local economy, the future of Fort Pierce Utilities Authority are among chief concerns for voters entering Tuesday’s Fort Pierce City Commission elections for District 1 and District 2.

In District 1, R. “Duke” Nelson is hoping to return to the City Commission by defeating incumbent Rufus Alexander. In District 2, incumbent Christine Coke faces three challengers: Curtis Boyd, Tom Perona and Rick Reed. District 1 primarily includes citizens west of U.S. 1 and north of Delaware Avenue as well as those along northern Okeechobee Road. District 2 primarily includes citizens south of Delaware Avenue along with those east of U.S. 1 as well as those south of Okeechobee Road.

Unemployment was at 15.3 percent in the county in September, according to the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation. High unemployment combined with foreclosure rates have led voters to search for elected officials to come up with smart solutions to fix the problems while managing a budget diminished by a 17.4 percent decline in local property values.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — The City Council voted 4-1 at its Monday night meeting to move forward with making Midway Road the dividing line between the city and Fort Pierce.

But officials have just begun ironing out the details regarding utilities and annexations in the joint planning agreement.

The council agreed to assign Midway Road from the Indian River Lagoon to the St. Lucie County Fairgrounds as the boundary. Councilwoman Michelle Berger had requested at the council’s Oct. 19 meeting a follow-up discussion about the joint planning agreement for services north of Midway Road.

“I’m quite comfortable putting a line at Midway Road,” Berger said.
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STUART — A Stuart woman was killed Thursday night as she was attempting to cross the southbound lanes of U.S. 1 in the 1700 block of Northwest Federal Highway.

Stuart police report Martha Clearwater, 42, was airlifted to Lawnwood Medical Center in Fort Pierce with severe injuries following the 7:15 p.m. accident and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
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J.J. Taylor Companies, the second largest beer distributor in Florida, plans to start construction this week on a warehouse and beverage distribution center in Fort Pierce.

About 57 employees are working out of a temporary location in the city, said Jose E. Rivera, vice president of finance and administration for the company. Those employees will move to the new 25,000-square-foot center when it opens next year in the Crossroads Park of Commerce on Okeechobee Road, he said. (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A 25-year-old Fort Pierce resident was killed Saturday night in a three-vehicle accident in northern St. Lucie County, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.

Juan Alberto Lopez was northbound on King’s Highway just before 10 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle about 500 feet south of Palomar Parkway and crossed into the southbound lane into the path of two vehicles, according to the report.

The first vehicle, driven by Port St. Lucie resident Lacy Catherine Mahon, 17, swerved and hit the left front of Lopez’ vehicle. Mahon and her passenger, Fort Pierce resident Taryn M. Horvath, also 17, sustained minor injuries.
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