STUART — Following an inspection prompted by a fatal car crash, the construction company working on a Cove Road improvement project has been cited for four “serious violations” by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

But the alleged violations by Sheltra and Son Construction Co. of Indiantown were not the cause of the Aug. 4 accident in which three teenagers were killed when a Jeep Grand Cherokee slammed into a John Deere front-end loader, according to the OSHA report.
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Teens it’s not that Publix stores don’t want your money from alcoholic beverage sales, it’s just that they are prepared to wait for it until you are old enough to legally buy the items.

A review of five years of citations issued for selling to underage persons on the Treasure Coast showed no violations for Publix Super Markets Inc., which has 29 stores on the Treasure Coast and Okeechobee County. (more…)

MARTIN COUNTY — The owner of Gold Coast Towing was arrested Wednesday after a Martin County Sheriff’s Office investigation showed he was overcharging for services, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

After an in-house audit performed by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, reports showed Gerard Jean Landru, owner of Gold Coast Towing, had six counts of violation of vehicle towing and storage fee limitations. (more…)

STUART — It was “bizarre” for Martin County Sheriff Robert Crowder to repeatedly pat the short, spiky haircut of Detective Jennifer Heard, her lawyer said, and he expects Heard’s sexual harassment complaint to lead to a federal discrimination suit.

“We fully expect to file a lawsuit and just litigate the matter,” said Justus Reid, a lawyer representing Heard. “The overall theme will be gender discrimination and, in effect, sexual harassment that went on in the department.”

Heard filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May alleging the sexual harassment against her began shortly after she was hired in September 1996 and continued for the next 12 years in the form of sexual advances, catcalls and a suggestive nickname. She also accused Crowder of belittling her by patting her on the head.
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FORT PIERCE — About 6 p.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Marshall Fugitive Task Force arrested David Jerome Brown, 48, of the 500 block of North 27th Street in connection with a Monday night attack on a woman and shooting of her son.

Brown was apprehended at the corner of North 27th Street and Avenue G without incident, said Fort Pierce Detective Ben Thayer.

The male victim was shot in the genitals and his mother pistol whipped Monday night in a suspected domestic-related incident before the attacker fled in a pickup truck, according to a police report released Tuesday and a sergeant.
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STUART — Nine years ago, a drunk Donald Flewellen drove a stolen van across the center line, causing a collision that killed two people and left illegal Guatemalan immigrant Luis Jimenez permanently brain damaged.

Less than four months after his December release from prison for two counts of DUI manslaughter, authorities say Flewellen, 52, was behind the wheel of a borrowed car and caused a hit-and-run crash with property damage in Fort Pierce.

Already charged with two counts of violating his supervised release, court papers show when Flewellen returns to court Aug. 17, he’ll face additional charges of leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and driving on a revoked driver’s license related to an April 5 traffic collision.
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STUART — The owners of the historic Post Office Arcade in downtown Stuart on Tuesday filed an eviction and breach of contract lawsuit against Nature’s Way Cafe and its owner Marion Biggins, court papers show.

In the complaint filed in Martin County Circuit Court, an attorney representing Stuart Arcade Associates Inc., claimed Biggins and Nature’s Way, at 25 Southwest Osceola St., have failed to pay July’s rent and other expenses totaling $10,807. (more…)

Asked in a questionnaire by Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers for TCPalm.com’s “Ask the Candidates” page whether they had been convicted of a felony, both candidates on the ballot for state Senate District 28 seat wrote “no.”

The answer from one of the candidates isn’t accurate, according to a Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers investigation.

According to court records and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Pennsylvania, Democrat Bill Ramos, a mortgage broker from Jensen Beach, pleaded guilty to a single count of embezzlement of postal funds — accepting a three-year probation and repaying the missing money — in 1989. That charge is a felony.

Ramos said Thursday he didn’t consider pleading “no contest” the same as a conviction.

“I answered specifically as it was asked,” Ramos said. “It just said have you ever been convicted of, and I answered no. I plead no contest.”

The court documents show Ramos pleaded guilty.

Assistant State Attorney John Cannizzaro, of Florida’s 19th Judicial Circuit in Fort Pierce, said judges advise defendants before they enter a guilty plea that the action is the same as being convicted at a jury trial.

“There is no difference,” he said. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The city has released its own video on YouTube to address allegations from the Treasure Coast Tea Party that their civil rights were violated during the city’s Freedomfest on July 4.

Organization members were put into a special area near a sign stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.

The 2 minute, 21-second video, titled “Port St. Lucie and Freedom of Speech,” features city Communications Director Ed Cunningham disputing the allegation.

Cunningham says the sign was “created to separate city government from individual political agendas” and that “free speech is alive and well in this city and was in fact practiced heavily at the Fourth of July Freedomfest celebration.”

The video is in response to one the Treasure Coast Tea Party posted on YouTube over the weekend saying the city “harassed” them by creating the special section and placing the disclaimer sign near them.

Members of the group have demanded an apology from the city and intend to address the issue at the City Council’s July 13 meeting.

Treasure Coast Tea Party member Karon Nunes said Mayor Pat Christensen and Council member Jack Kelly have sent e-mails apologizing to the group.

By Jim Turner, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — Members of the anti-tax group Treasure Coast Tea Party are demanding an apology from city officials, claiming their civil rights have been violated.

Organization members said they were singled out at the city’s Freedomfest over the weekend by being put into a special area — with a sign nearby stating Port St. Lucie did not back their views or opinions.

A spokesman for the city called the accusations “nonsense.” But Port St. Lucie officials continue to receive e-mails and phone calls critical of the city’s actions at the new Civic Center.
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