TRADITION — Imagine waking up Christmas morning, expecting a real-live puppy and instead finding a stuffed animal under the tree.

Or worse: find nothing. (more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Opponents of the school superintendent’s decision not to let students see President Barack Obama’s nationally televised back-to-school speech live, lashed out at him Tuesday night.

“You have chosen to put politics in front of good citizenship and good patriotism,” Vero Beach resident Peter Hyatt said during a public comment period at the beginning of a school board meeting.

Hyatt called for Schools Superintendent Harry La Cava’s resignation.

Board members took no action following speeches by about 10 people.
(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Smaller annual festivals.

No more streets decorated with lights during holiday seasons.

And possibly, no more fireworks. (more…)

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…)

When the Martin County Commission fired Duncan Ballantyne from his $147,250 a year job as county administrator on St. Patrick’s Day, a pot of gold awaited the seasoned bureaucrat.

For starters, Ballantyne remained on the county payroll for a month after he cleaned out his office because he was entitled to a 30-day notice of his termination.

Since his official last day on April 23, Ballantyne has collected a total of $84,451 as a result of the severance package he negotiated when he was hired in the fall of 2005, county records show. And his initial severance period doesn’t end until Aug. 23.

Ballantyne’s severance package is not unusual for local government managers and attorneys on the Treasure Coast. In fact, 13 local government managers and attorneys in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties are entitled to severance pay for six months, or longer, if they are fired without cause. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Thousands of festival-goers might not be able to enjoy the next annual Oktoberfest, St. Patrick’s Day Festival, and Art and All That Jazz because of city budget cuts.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Area staff is recommending the City Council cut the $10,000 sponsorship it gives to each festival. Assistant City Manager Greg Oravec, who also serves as the agency’s director, sent letters earlier this month giving the bad news to the organizers.

He said last week he doesn’t know how long the cuts will last, and the festivals will have to raise more money privately.
(more…)

Retailers on Thursday reported dismal sales figures for December as even Wal-Mart Stores, one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.

As merchants reported sales figures, confirming fears the holiday season was the weakest in four decades, the malaise cut through practically all areas from kitchen gadget stores to teen apparel retailers.

But the biggest surprise came from Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, which posted a smaller sales gain than what Wall Street expected and cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook. (more…)

Tristan Allegra

PORT ST. LUCIE — Students and staff at Mariposa Elementary School remember Tristan Allegra, 8, “very kind and helpful, cool and funny,” according to a counselor who helped them cope with the third-grader’s Christmas Day death.

“Tristan was a popular kid, very well-liked,” said Robert O’Neill, a St. Lucie County School District psychologist, one of three counselors who went to the school Monday and Tuesday as classes resumed after the holiday break.

Sign Tristan’s guest book.

According to a Port St. Lucie Police Department arrest affidavit, Tristan died after his mother, Eryn Allegra, of the 2200 block of Southeast Bowie Street, smothered him in his sleep early Christmas morning in a hotel room. She is held without bond on a charge of first-degree murder.

(more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Santa likely wouldn’t approve of entering a drug deal because of a lack of Christmas cash.

But that, according to a recently released arrest affidavit, appears to be what 30-year-old Charles A. Latos did Tuesday night at a plaza at California and Savona boulevards.

Latos, of the 1000 block of Southwest John Maccormick Terrace, Port St. Lucie, reportedly got into an undercover St. Lucie County sheriff’s investigator’s vehicle where they exchanged 40 oxycodone pills for $480. After Latos counted the cash and confirmed to the investigator that all the pills were there he was arrested. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — Corine Rush surprised her kids when she pulled her red pickup into the Walmart parking lot on Wednesday.

Turned out Christmas had arrived a little early this year.

Helen Rush, 17, of Port St. Lucie hugs Sgt. Rod Dobler of the Port St. Lucie Police Department. Dobler helped pay the extra balance of Rush and her brothers' gift charges.

Rush’s three children were part of a group of about 20 kids who got the chance to shop for gifts, thanks to Port St. Lucie police and the retail giant.

As part of Wednesday’s Shop With a Cop, Walmart provided each child with a $100 gift certificate and police officers offered some company as the kids walked the department store wide-eyed. (more…)