Michele Nunziata

So on Monday night, Michele Nunziata’s landlord called the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office and reported his concerns.

When investigators showed up at the home in the 900 block of North Kings Highway, they found a grim scene.

Three dead dogs locked up in kennels. A black wolf locked up in feces and starving. A Doberman pinscher in the same condition.

There were other animals. Three skinny pit bulls running loose in the house. A bloodhound reported to be malnourished, two cockatiels and two ferrets – all without sufficient food – and a chinchilla with food and water.

Investigators also found veterinary medicine and piles of feces scattered on the dining room floor.

Nunziata, 40, was booked into the St. Lucie County jail on Monday and is being detained in lieu of $42,500 bail. She faces 16 counts of animal abuse charges and one charge of having the wolf without a permit.

Nunziata told investigators that she had put down the dogs on Saturday and had been too distraught to remove their bodies.

The malnurished bloodhound reportedly removed from Nunziata's home.

She said she had received the euthanasia from her landlord, who had called to tell her that the syringes where in her mailbox ready for use by saying in code, “The snowman had arrived.” (more…)

Motorists preparing for the July 4 weekend should take precautions while driving through St. Lucie and Martin counties on Interstate 95 this week.

Travelers should expect several lane closures on I-95 Monday through Thursday. Here’s a look at what will be closed and when to help avoid traffic:

Between State Road 70 to Midway Road: Two southbound lanes will be closed overnight, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Monday through Thursday between the two roads. The reason: A repaving project in St. Lucie County.

Southbound exit to St. Lucie West (Exit 121): Will be closed to all traffic from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. Continue to the Gatlin Boulevard interchange, turn around and travel north to the St. Lucie West interchange to exit.

Gatlin Boulevard interchange: One northbound lane in the area will be closed Thursday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of the installation of overhead electronic message signs. The same project will require a northbound lane to be closed north of the High Meadows Avenue interchange and in the area of Bridge Road 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, as well as closure of a lane at the Kanner Highway interchange Tuesday and a lane at the State Road 714 interchange on Wednesday.

South Martin County: One northbound lane will be closed 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday as part of the construction of a truck weigh station.

By Eric Pfahler, TCPalm.com

FORT PIERCE — Soon residents and visitors to South Beach’s Jetty Park will get to enjoy more waterfront views, parking and easier access to a 2 1/2-mile linear park.

The City Commission, seated as the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency board, Wednesday approved a $1.4 million land acquisition that will double the size of Jetty Park to 2.87 acres.

The purchase is for 1 acre on the eastern side of the vacant Mariner Bay Motel property, formerly the Days Inn, at the corner of Seaway Drive and State Road A1A. (more…)

STUART — Signs of economic distress abound in Martin County and the outlook for next year doesn’t appear to be much better.

Martin County’s population dipped slightly since last year, school enrollment is expected to decline for two years, government revenues are down and new construction has dropped, several local and state officials said this week during government meetings.

The housing market is so bad two developers asked Martin County to rescind their hard won final site plan approvals for new subdivisions so they can delay paying impact fees and utility connection charges, said Growth Management Director Nicki van Vonno.

“That is a recent trend and it’s directly tied to the applicant’s ability to go forward or not,” van Vonno said. “Money is tight.”

The County Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to rescind the final site plan approval for the Pentalago subdivision, 42 ranchettes on Citrus Boulevard near Interstate 95 in Palm City Farms. (more…)

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An accident along Interstate 95, about two miles north of the Fellsmere exit, resulted in 13 people being transported to hospitals Tuesday morning.

None of the injuries were life threatening, according to Lt. Tim Frith, with the Florida Highway Patrol.
(more…)

INDIANTOWN — Wildfires had consumed more than 2,000 acres in Martin County by Tuesday morning, and firefighters were working to contain the fires that were burning for a third day, officials said.

There were as many as 10 fires that firefighters had to contend with late Monday and overnight, according to Melissa Yunas, spokeswoman for the state Division of Forestry.

Three single-engine air tankers were called in late Monday to battle the main fire that threatened the Indianwood mobile home community, according to Melissa Yunas, spokeswoman for the state Division of Forestry.
(more…)

FORT PIERCE — Not much will change Friday when Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute begins serving as a provisional state trauma center.

Much of the $15 million Lawnwood invested in five trauma surgeons, staff training, new equipment and emergency department renovations was earmarked two years ago when hospital officials proposed St. Lucie County taxpayers chip in $7 million a year to pay for the regional, Level II trauma center.

Trauma tax opponents said then Lawnwood’s parent company, Tennessee-based HCA Inc., would find the cash if it really wanted to care for trauma patients. Nearly 75 percent of voters rejected the trauma tax.
(more…)

FORT PIERCE — A day after Navy SEAL sharpshooters killed three Somali pirates and freed an American ship captain, officials at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce were already trying to collect mementos from the historic event.

“We’re starting to get to work on seeing what we can get,” said Michael Howard, the museum director and a former SEAL. “It would be a shame to let this event pass without saving something at the museum.”
(more…)

TREASURE COAST — The Treasure Coast could receive $102 million in property taxes from Florida Power & Light during the next four decades because the power company has announced plans to run a 300-mile natural gas pipeline through the region.

It would also create 7,500 jobs, of which 3,500 will be for construction.

The pipeline, to stretch from the FPL Martin Plant in Indiantown north to Bradford County, west of St. Augustine, is to increase the supply of natural gas at the Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral plants, which are being converted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, said FPL spokeswoman Jackie Anderson. “We’re making them more fuel-efficient,” she said. (more…)

ANA X. CERON, KATHLEEN CHAPMAN, and MICHAEL LAFORGIA
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

STUART — As 800 children filed out of Felix A. Williams Elementary School near Stuart on Wednesday, firefighters lined up trucks to protect them from a fast-moving brush fire that burned nearly up to the school’s fence.

The flames got close to the eastern edge of the school, forced the evacuation of 100 homes off Baker Road and dropped sparks over the Windemere subdivision off U.S. 1, fire officials said

Displaced residents watched from a distance, and parents were routed to Martin County High School to pick up children evacuated from their schools

Special video report

But in the end, the fire was nothing more than a close call amid the region’s severe drought. No one was hurt and no structures were lost in the 90-acre blaze, which was fully contained by early evening

Felix A. Williams was not damaged but will remain closed to students and staff today.

The brush fire, which started in the woods behind First Christian Church off Dixie Highway, was first reported at 12:35 p.m. A few minutes later, 15 school buses evacuated staff and students from Felix A. Williams to Martin County High, about 6 miles away.

An experimental image for about 8 p.m. Wednesday showing areas of concern for smoke drift from the Rio Fire near Stuart. US 1 and the Florida Turnpike may see reduced visibility into the night time hours with the Port Saint Lucie area indicated near the smoke plume concentration.

It took about 20 minutes to empty the school, said Martin County sheriff’s Lt. Morgan Sprott, who is in charge of school resource officers and was at the school when the call to evacuate was made.

Sprott said that no students were in danger, but the evacuation caught some parents off guard.

Raymond Hoffman said he was worried when he was stopped on the way to pick up his 9-year-old son, William, from school.

“I was trying every which way to get to the school; there was a cop everywhere,” said Hoffman, who eventually was directed to the high school, where he found his son.

The fire rapidly spread to 90 acres, fueled by wind, low humidity and severe dryness.

“That’s a bad combination for a fire day,” Martin County Fire Rescue Lt. Todd Tucker said as he rode around in an all-terrain vehicle surveying the damage.

On Charlie Greene Drive and Charlie Greene Terrace south of Baker Road, residents had only a few minutes to get out.

Daisy White, 53, said that when sheriff’s deputies knocked on the door, she could see fire in the nearby trees and nothing but smoke in front of her home. She didn’t have time to get her Boxer, Cocoa, or her two puppies, Dakota and Montana, who were loose outside.

She watched the fire from a distance on Baker Road, worried every time she saw the helicopter whirring over her home.

White grew up in the neighborhood in a home her mother built in 1963. She said she moved away but came back to live in a nearby trailer home because the area is so peaceful. The homes are surrounded by woods, she said, and neighbors put in gardens and fruit trees.

“It’s beautiful back there, absolutely beautiful,” she said. “And it’s home.”

At Baseline Avenue and 15th Street, Sandra Jean Brown, 80, sat in her van with her Schnauzer, Willow, watching the smoke creep toward her mobile home. “I’m 80 years old. What, me worry?” Brown said. “If it burns up, I’ll get another one.”

Still, she said, she put a lot of care into her place in the past five years.

“That building there is probably one of the best mobiles in the park,” she said. “Because it’s totally rebuilt.”

She had driven to Home Depot after lunch to see about returning some shutters, and when she returned, deputies wouldn’t let her back into her home.

A few hours later, she sneaked past the deputies to check on the orchids she grows in her backyard.

“I’m just concerned that maybe the wind might pick up,” she said.

Gray smoke billowed over U.S. 1 for most of the afternoon, and flashing signs warned motorists to slow down in the haze. The evacuated area was a ghost town for most of Wednesday afternoon, with empty driveways, abandoned lawn chairs and the smell of charred pine.

David Cook and his wife, Lisa Feick, went back into the smoke to help a neighbor rescue her two dogs and a cat. But they couldn’t find one black-and-white kitten, Feick said.

Despite the dry and windy conditions, firefighters were able to get in front of the blaze and contain it, Tucker said.

A Florida Division of Forestry helicopter whirred over the blaze, dropping 88 loads of water from a 320-gallon bucket dipped in nearby ponds. Firefighters said they would continue to douse smoldering spots through the night.

Little rain has fallen this winter, leaving South Florida at high risk for fire. According to the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which runs from 0 to 800, two-thirds of Martin County is in the 600-700 range, with some areas as high as 727.

Staff writers Sonja Isger, Eliot Kleinberg and Cara Fitzpatrick contributed to this story.

If you have photos of the fire, please share them on PostPix. If you have a video to submit please upload it here.