ST. LUCIE COUNTY — With the swoop of a small plane carrying County Commission Chairwoman Paula Lewis and the splash of water cannons from fire trucks, St. Lucie County International Airport will christen its new 4,000-foot runway on Thursday.

The $15.3 million runway is about 2,500 feet northwest of the existing pair of runways. It has been under construction for more than a year.

“We had a lot to do,” Lewis said. “We moved power lines, we acquired a piece of property for light of sight from the control tower, and I’m excited that it’s finally finished.”
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MARTIN COUNTY — Dorothy McManus got her own personal chauffeured bus from Halpatiokee Regional Park to West Palm Beach to start her work week Monday.

The Stuart resident, who takes a train from West Palm Beach to work in Broward County, had the bus to herself on the inaugural 5:10 a.m. Palm Tran Commuter Express. McManus was the first rider on the area’s first mass transit service offered between Martin and Palm Beach counties on Monday.

Four people hopped on the bus for the service’s 6:10 a.m. departure to Palm Beach County.
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Some faux pas are unavoidable.

But wearing the same dress as another woman? Totally avoidable.

At least that’s what Andrew Jones thinks.

With that in mind, the Stuart resident recently launched DressRegistry.com, a Web site where women can post details about the frock they’ll wear to an upcoming event.

The idea is to avoid having a “fashion twin” at a charity ball or other shindig.

“Apparently, it’s humiliating whether it happens to an eighth-grade girl or to Laura Bush,” Jones said.

He bought the domain name eight years ago, after overhearing his wife and a friend discuss their attire for an upcoming gala.

Jones spent years developing a database engine to keep track of users’ dresses, working with the Indian River State College Business and Technology Incubator in Stuart. Finally, in mid-December, he rolled out a soft launch, just in time for the inaugural balls in Washington, D.C.

More than 500 women signed up to use the free registry for the balls, and the site attracted 92,000 unique visitors, Jones said.
Next, he wants to add fashion content to advise women on what jewelry to wear with what neckline, for example.

“It turns out women are going to the site to help influence their shopping,” he said.

FORT PIERCE — Whether it’s for a local New York Mets game or the Super Bowl in Tampa, Indian River State College and the federal government are training security agents from across the country in national defense.

The college joined with the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Energy this week for a 3 1/2-day course at the college’s new Vernon Smith Public Safety Education Building at the Treasure Coast Public Safety Training Complex on Kirby Loop Road.

Thirty students in law enforcement, emergency management, public safety, and medical and fire rescue from the state and across the country searched for radioactive materials throughout the 50-acre complex on Thursday in what college officials hope to be the first of many national defense seminars.

They are being taught by 25 federal instructors, learning to prevent a catastrophic radiological or nuclear attack. Officials from small agencies, as well as those going to work the presidential inauguration next week and the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 are part of the group. No one from the Treasure Coast in the group are attending those events.

By Laurie K. Blandford, TCPalm.com

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A pair of health-care workers from St. Lucie County will be in Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama to provide MASH-like medical assistance to those overcome by the event or as immediate responders if something major occurs.

Clint Sperber, Region 5 public health preparedness coordinator, and David Crowe, regional emergency response advisor, are part of the Orlando-based Florida-6 Disaster Medical Assistance Team that will be in the District of Columbia at the request of the Capitol Physician’s Office and the D.C. Department of Health.

“We’re going to be helping anything that potentially could happen,” said Sperber, who handles the team’s administrative details.

The team is part of the National Disaster Medical System, which is a federally coordinated system augmenting the nation’s medical response capability.

The unit, described by Sperber as being modeled after the military Mobile Army Surgical Hospital popularized in the movie and TV show “M*A*S*H*,” is under the direction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is comprised of volunteers. The team will receive its formal instructions for the District on Monday.

By Jim Turner, TCPalm.com

STUART — Students at Walden Academy received an early holiday surprise today when Congressman-elect Tom Rooney came bearing gifts: Tickets to January’s presidential inauguration.

“We are the luckiest people in the world,” Caroline Franklin, 13, said breathlessly.

“Yes, we are,” the school’s director, Patti Mitchell, replied.

Students at the small private school have been planning a trip to Washington for months and put in an early request for inauguration tickets, Mitchell said. They sent their request first to U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, whose seat Rooney won in November, and to U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez.

It was Rooney who came to the school today to tell students the tickets were theirs, although they will have to wait until their arrival in Washington to claim them.

“You’re going to be able to see something that very few people get to participate in,” he said. “It’s something to be celebrated.” (more…)