The White House is reviewing the merits of the proposed Indian Street Bridge as a response to a U.S. senator who included the span in his list of 100 questionable federal stimulus projects.

The review is being conducted only because it was raised by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., not because it is a concern of the White House.

The review could be quickly wrapped up as the White House has already determined that one-third of the items highlighted by Coburn in a report released Tuesday are not stimulus projects or are misleading characterizations of stimulus projects.
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STUART — Martin County’s lowest-paid workers will keep fighting the county’s furlough program because they can’t afford a 5 percent pay cut, a union leader said Tuesday.

Teamsters Local 769, which represents 275 of the county’s clerical and blue collar workers, will ask the Public Employees Relations Commission to resolve the contract dispute through binding arbitration, said Mavis Curley, the union’s chief steward in Martin County.

The furlough program requiring all county employees, except fire rescue workers, to take one unpaid day off per month starting Friday violates the Teamsters contract, Curley said. Under the contract, a workweek is 40 hours.
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VERO BEACH — Absenteeism has doubled at Vero Beach High School in the last week with bomb threats starting off four school days.

And for many students who did show up for school this week, the decision came after a serious conversation at home.

“My daughter tried not to go Monday because of the Columbine anniversary,” parent Darby Dickerson said. “But I told her you can’t let two dead folks from 10 years ago stop you.”
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TALLAHASSEE — The long-sought Indian Street Bridge, along with 16 other transportation projects expected to bring money and jobs to the Treasure Coast, got the green light from the state Joint Legislative Budget Commission Wednesday.

The 14-member commission comprised of Senate and House members agreed, without debate, to accept $3.8 billion in federal dollars that will pay for a cornucopia of projects targeting transportation, health and education.

Backers say the package will help the state recover from the worst recession in decades.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — It’s a 20-year-old dream come true.

Richard “Rick” Hartley and his wife, Ann, picked up the phone last week in their Maryland home and heard Robin Sutherland on the other end telling them they had just won the YMCA Easter House.

The drawing was on Thursday, but the family couldn’t be reached when Sutherland, the YMCA’s house planning consultant, called to let them know of their big win.
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PALM CITY — A throng of people in the former fire station on Southwest Martin Downs Boulevard Thursday evening celebrated the opening of the new home of the Palm City branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Martin County with food, dance and exploration of the building’s colorful rooms.

The facility replaces rooms leased from Immanuel Lutheran Church as the Palm City Boys & Girls Club’s base of operations, and club members said they are happy with the large, bright facility.

The building, leased from the county, is impressive compared to the second-floor space the club used in the church, said 9-year-old Kylie Bass, who started attending the club with her sister after school last year.

“It’s so big, and the other one’s so small,” she said.

The new building at 1150 S.W. Martin Downs Blvd. comes with a gymnasium and basketball court, computer room filled with new flat-screen monitors, kitchen, teen leadership room and more. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — By the time 16-year-old Ryan Rust of Port St. Lucie turns 30, he wants to accomplish his dream — to win a NASCAR championship.

But in the meantime, he’ll be working alongside more than 50,000 others worldwide, meeting the needs of American military personnel serving overseas. (more…)

FORT PIERCE — A plan that includes eliminating 331 jobs and closing three schools to cut $30.6 million from next year’s budget was explained in detail Tuesday evening to elected members of the School Board, who sat silent through the presentation by Schools Superintendent Michael Lannon.

Their lack of comment was deliberate. Chairwoman Judi Miller said after the meeting all five members of the School Board had previously agreed in individual conversations with Lannon not to speak until after a town hall meeting on the proposal, scheduled for 6 p.m. March 31 at Fort Pierce Central High School auditorium.

Lannon spoke for almost one hour on a problem that he laid entirely at the feet of Tallahassee lawmakers who refuse to raise more money in the face of shortfalls created by the economic recession.
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FORT PIERCE — City Commissioner Reggie Sessions, perhaps the most vocal critic of the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, hasn’t been paying his utility bills on time for the past year, records show.

And to help Sessions remember to pay his bills, the utility has been giving him preferential treatment, including special calls from the utility director’s office and customer service. These services aren’t generally extended to the utility’s other 28,619 customers, utility officials said.

Sessions, who lives in a 1,200-square-foot home on North 22nd Street, said he hasn’t been paying his bills on time in protest of “high rates.”
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