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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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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PORT ST. LUCIE — When Maria Trigueiro and her husband, Jose, bought a home in Lake Forest after living in New Hampshire, they did so under the impression that the vegetative buffer between the home and Florida’s Turnpike would remain untouched.

About six years later, Trigueiro is upset that St. Lucie West Services District officials are pulling up invasive, non-native Brazilian pepper trees in the surrounding community. The trees behind her house are still in the ground, but she is worried they will be coming down soon.

Under its development permit through the South Florida Water Management District, St. Lucie West Services District is required to check its property and destroy invasive plants such as the Brazilian pepper, which crowds out native vegetation and can damage the local environment.
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INDIANTOWN — For years, the owners of J&R Outfitters ran a hunting lodge featuring exotic game such as Asian water buffalo, Nilgai antelope and Pere David deer thinking they had all the required Martin County permits.

But several code violations were discovered at J&R Outfitters last fall after the opening of a shooting range that outraged nearby homeowners with incessant gunfire.

Now Bill Richey and Joe O’Bannon are aiming to keep their hunting lodge open by jumping through all the regulatory hoops that apply to their business at 7600 S.W. Fox Brown Road.

“We never dreamed that what we were doing was illegal and we never tried to get away with anything,” said Richey, a former state prosecutor. “We have been no secret in Martin County. We have been here for 20 years.” (more…)

STUART — A constitutional challenge is prompting the Martin County commissioners to rethink a strict noise ordinance they enacted in February to crack down on loud music at bars and other businesses.

Deanna Kernan, the owner of the Martin Downs Sports Resort in Palm City, and Susan Masterson, the resort’s manager, have asked a county judge to declare the noise ordinance unconstitutional because it is “overbroad.”

Kernan, 42, of Palm City, and Masterson, 39, of Stuart, also have asked Judge Stewart Hershey to dismiss the misdemeanor charge they violated the county’s noise ordinance because music from the resort could be heard more than 150 feet away. (more…)

JENSEN BEACH — The downtown Jensen Beach bar scene has been a little quieter than usual lately.

A rule limiting noise at entertainment venues passed last month to give Martin County residents some peace and quiet. But it’s also giving a financial migraine to live music bars, specifically ones with outdoor entertainment such as Crawdaddy’s and JB Pip’s Tiki Bar and Grill in Jensen Beach.

“We just had our 10-year anniversary, and this is by far the biggest blow we’ve had,” Crawdaddy’s owner Mark Kren said. “It’s like a stake in my heart.”
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FORT PIERCE — Two men are suspected of trying to break in to a Fort Pierce Dunkin’ Donuts, according to arrest affidavit released Sunday by the Fort Pierce Police Department.

The report does not say whether the men were attempting to steal cash or doughnuts from the store at 920 U.S. 1.

Eric Demond Donley, 35, of the 1100 block of 32nd Avenue in Vero Beach, and Rony Harold Jeudy, 19, of the 1100 block of South U.S. 1 in Fort Pierce, were arrested on charges of burglary, property damage and criminal mischief and resisting arrest without violence on Friday. (more…)

STUART — The party hearty crowd at local bars is going to have to tone down the sound as a result of stricter new noise rules set to go into effect this weekend.

The Martin County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to ban noise from traveling more than 150 feet beyond an entertainment venue’s property line during the day and evening.

The new rules will ban noise from crossing an entertainment venue’s property line between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. (more…)