STUART — Despite a commissioner’s concerns about overspending during the economic downturn, the Martin County Commission approved the final site plan Tuesday for a new $2.7 million maintenance facility for the county’s ambulances and fire trucks.

Construction could start as soon as next week on the new 15,840-square-foot repair shop for the county’s Fire Rescue Division on Ruhnke Street, said Randall Saumier, the county’s construction chief. The building will also hold supplies for the trucks and ambulances. (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Motorists and business owners hoping the New Year would bring the end of cones and construction on U.S. 1 between Rio Mar Drive and Midway Road might have to wait another month or two.

Unforeseen concrete underneath the road that needs to be removed pushed the $25.9 million project’s finish date back. By the end of February, the state has committed to getting the project to a point where all work won’t be noticed by drivers passing by, said Barbara Kelleher, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation District 4.

Work on retention ponds and other off-site work could still take place after February, but the work will not affect the road itself, so drivers won’t notice it. (more…)

A 51-year-old man died while repairing a car when jacks gave way and landed on his head just south of Fort Pierce, according to a news release from St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara.

According to detectives, Claudio Guadalupe Nunez, 51, of Barbara Avenue, St. Lucie County, was working this morning beneath a 1992 Ford Taurus that belonged to a friend or relative at South 22nd Street and Barbra Avenue, just south of Edwards Road. (more…)