TREASURE COAST — The number of Treasure Coast medical equipment suppliers for Blue Cross/Blue Shield patients will dwindle to three starting Nov. 1.

The cutbacks follow a competitive bidding process by regional suppliers who provide products from diabetes testing strips to oxygen machines statewide to remain in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida network.

Liberty Medical Supply and Physician’s Choice Respiratory Services, Inc., both in Port St. Lucie, and Rotech Oxygen & Medical Equipment in Stuart remain as the lone Treasure Coast suppliers after the bidding, according to a Blue Cross/Blue Shield list sent to Oxygen Plus in Vero Beach.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — Alfredo Felipe opened his new barber shop in Port St. Lucie because he liked the hometown feel of the community.

Felipe, 33, never thought that a month after his grand opening, an odd theft would occur at his business, Fredo’s Barbershop Hair Trends International, 698 Southwest Port St. Lucie Blvd.

Felipe said his homemade, 7-foot barber pole, made out of Styrofoam, mesh, stucco and some light metal materials, was stolen between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Friday at his shop.
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Four of the five commissioners who oversee the county’s $587 million budget suffered personal declines in their net worth last year.

Commission Chairwoman Paula Lewis, on the board since 1996, was the only one to record an increase, growing nearly $20,000, even as her home dipped in value by $10,000 and liabilities grew by $3,000.

The largest drop was recorded by Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky, who was elected to the board in 2008. He saw his net worth down nearly $200,000 from the prior year, with real estate being the biggest reason. His two residential properties in Fort Pierce lost a combined $185,063 in value from 2007 to 2008. (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…)

VERO BEACH — Sales of Piper Aircraft Inc.’s planes lost altitude during the first quarter, dropping 49 percent compared with the first quarter of 2008.

The Vero Beach-based plane maker shipped 22 planes worth $20.8 million from January through March, down from 43 planes worth $33.2 million during the same period last year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Washington D.C.-based General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

Piper’s results mirrored trends across the industry, which reported a 41 percent drop in shipments.

While foreclosure actions on the Treasure Coast continued to fall during the first quarter of this year from the last quarter of 2008, the numbers for March indicate a resurgence.

Foreclosure actions — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were down 18.5 percent in Indian River County, 3.3 percent in St. Lucie County and up 1.1 percent in Martin County in the first quarter compared with the last quarter of 2008, according to U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today by RealtyTrac (realtytrac.com). Those first-quarter numbers were still up 40 percent to 68 percent from a year ago.

But foreclosure actions in March rose 71 percent from February in Indian River County and 48 percent in St. Lucie County, though they declined 6 percent in Martin County.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Like we need something right now to take another “bite” out of our wallets: Termites reportedly are swarming earlier this year than usual.
Jim Pond, manager of the Terminix pest control company in Port St. Lucie, said he started getting reports of termite swarms “a couple of weeks ago, and they’ve been coming in pretty consistently since then from as far north as Vero Beach down to Stuart.”
Anita Neal, director of the St. Lucie County Extension Service office in Fort Pierce, said no termites have been brought into her office so far this year, but that’s no reason to think Pond is just trying to drum up business.
“It’s a little early and the conditions aren’t quite right,” Neal said, “but it’s possible people are seeing swarms. Termites tend to swarm, or go into their reproductive stage, in the spring when the weather gets warmer and more humid. April and May are the peak months, but it can be as early as January.”
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