STUART — The swimming pool at Martin County High will remain open another year, the Martin County Commission and Martin County School Board agreed Tuesday.

The pool is used by hundreds of high school, club and adult swimmers.

The Martin County Commission voted during a joint meeting between the School Board and Stuart Commission Tuesday to pay $113,000 to keep the swimming pool at Martin County High School open to the public for another year while a new $9 million-plus Aquatics Complex is developed.
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INDIANTOWN — The long-stalled Quillen Development of Regional Impact is dead and the developer is missing in action.

The Martin County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to kill the proposal for 2,250 houses and 150,000 square feet of commercial space at the intersection of Warfield Boulevard and Allapattah Road in Indiantown.

Officials with the project’s developer, Ascot Development of Delray Beach, did not attend Tuesday’s public hearing on the fate of the project, which was first proposed in December 2005. The developer paid $58.5 million for the land.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — One year ago, a 6-year-old autistic boy was brought to the front of his classroom. He left moments later feeling like an outcast.

For many, he became a symbol of how children with autism are mistreated and misunderstood.

Some experts say the case of Alex Barton, who was voted out of his kindergarten classroom 14-to-2, brought about change and awareness of how autistic children are educated. Others say there still is a long way to go. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The mother of the 5-year-old kindergarten student voted out of class last year told police she was threatened by another mother at the same school.

Melissa Barton said she went to the school Friday for a ceremony honoring her oldest son, according to a Port St. Lucie police report. Another woman approached her in the school cafeteria allegedly threatening to fight her in the parking lot.

Barton’s son, Alex, was ousted from his kindergarten class in a 14-to-2 vote led by his teacher Wendy Portillo. Portillo in November was suspended for one year and her tenure was taken away.

The other mother denied the allegations, the police report said. She told police she approached Barton and said, “I’m going to be real discreet about this. I just want you to know that I love my school and what you did was not fair to our school,” the police report said.

The school resource officer said she escorted Barton to the parking lot because of safety concerns and told her she would send a patrol car to monitor her home.

No arrests were made and the case was closed.

By staff report, TCPalm.com

MARTIN COUNTY — Former Martin County Commissioner John William Holt Jr., who helped create the original Martin County Comprehensive Land Use Plan, died Monday at Treasure Coast Hospice. He was 79.

“He had been ill for some time,” said his wife of 57 years, Evelyn. “His heart just gave out.”

Born in Pahokee, Dec. 15, 1929, the son of John W. Holt Sr. and his wife, Hosea, Holt grew up on a ranch in western Martin County. His brother was former Martin County Sheriff Jim Holt. Like his father and brother, Holt was a rancher.
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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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STUART — Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi said he wants County Administrator Duncan Ballantyne to resign on Tuesday to start a makeover of the county government.

“I asked Duncan for his resignation,” Ciampi said. “I think that we need change in our organization and I feel that change starts at the top. I want to get started right away.”

But Ballantyne’s fate remains uncertain because the four other commissioners said they did not want to immediately commit to keeping or firing him. (more…)

Posters of professional athletes line the walls of Demeterius Wells’ bedroom.

His bulky textbooks from Indian River State College are stacked near his computer, and a bookshelf displays his Vero Beach High School diploma next to trophies he won on the track and field team.

His grandmother Patricia Chambers, who raised him after his mother died from ovarian cancer complications when he was 8, broke down in tears Sunday after describing the untimely death of her 18-year-old grandson early Saturday morning.

The Fort Pierce Police Department said Wells was shot several times on the 1300 block of North 31st Street in Fort Pierce at about 1:50 a.m. Saturday. Family members said he was dropping off a friend when the shooting occurred. (more…)

TREASURE COAST — When Port St. Lucie High School pitcher Kyle Hurley steps on the mound next year, his baseball team might be limited to 20 regular season games — five fewer than now.

The Florida High School Athletic Association has proposed chopping the maximum number of contests by 20 percent for all varsity sports except football; and by 40 percent for all junior varsity sports including football. A board vote is expected in April.

The typical sports regular season would go from 25 varsity games to 20; and 25 junior varsity games to 15.

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FORT PIERCE — Plans for a $90 million project to build a hotel, restaurants, shops and homes on the old H.D. King Power Plant site may be in jeopardy because of a glitch in the contract.

Jonathan Snyder, president and chief executive officer of Nevada-based Snyder Development LLC, wants the city to donate 6.87 acres of waterfront property on Indian River Drive to build his project, but language tied to the deed says the city has to use the land for a public purpose or the property reverts back to the state.

The glitch might kill the project, Snyder said.

The City Commission, seated as the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency board, will discuss the city’s options during a 12:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting at City Hall. (more…)