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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Slumping aircraft sales are prompting more furloughs at Piper Aircraft Inc.’s headquarters in Vero Beach.

The plane maker announced today that it would shut down the plant at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport for one week in May and one week in June, forcing all employees to take unpaid leave.

The furloughs are in addition to week-long plant closures planned for April and July, which Piper announced earlier this month. (more…)

Kilroy is here.

At 12:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, staff from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association and volunteers completed installation of a remote-controlled water quality sensor, known as a “Kilroy,” on a post in about 6 feet of water on the south side of the inlet.

At 12:49 p.m. Wednesday, Kilroy started sending information about water speed, direction, temperature, salinity and the prevalence of key microorganisms to ORCA’s Fort Pierce office.

With sensors in a plastic case in the water and a solar power unit perched above, the device is called Kilroy because ORCA officials hope that one day it will be as ubiquitous in coastal waters around the world as its cartoon namesake was in the European Theater during World War II.

It could happen: The Kilroy installed Wednesday is the first of 25 ORCA plans to deploy over the next few weeks — weather permitting — between the St. Lucie Inlet near Stuart to the Fort Pierce Inlet near Fort Pierce. Later this year, a second network of Kilroys is scheduled to be deployed in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States and the country’s most imperiled marine ecosystem.

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The Baehrs — Derek, Kellyanne and their two young daughters are five months behind on their mortgage payments. They sometimes eat at a soup kitchen and shop at a food pantry. They expect to lose their three-bedroom suburban house before the end of the school year.
“This is just awful, and I know that we are not the only ones going through this,’’ says Kellyanne, 37, an accounting clerk. Derek, 40, is disabled. “We used to try to go day by day. Now we are just trying to get to the end of each day.’’

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A Wellington couple have managed to do what many who bought at the market’s peak are dreaming of: escape a new-home contract.

A Miami-based arbitrator ruled in January that the contract Kurt and Micheline Moeding inked with Kolter Homes violated federal law, and that they should get their $76,114 deposit back. The couple signed up for the $629,580 home at Kolter’s Verano community in Port St. Lucie in 2006 - before home values plummeted.

The tool the Moedings used to get out of the deal is a technicality in the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act.

The law requires developers to make time-consuming reports to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, unless they claim exemptions. The exemption Kolter used: It promised to complete homes at Verano within two years of signing a sale contract.

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FORT PIERCE — Eleven people trickled into the Fort Pierce Community Center Wednesday to spend the night as temperatures dipped into the 30s.

For the fifth night this year, the center had been turned into a temporary cold weather shelter for the homeless.

This morning, the folks who took refuge awoke before dawn to fold blankets, down some hot coffee and layer on their sweaters and flannel shirts. (more…)

Treasure Coast drivers should be prepared for a foggy commute, particularly inland.

The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory, warning that visibility in spots could dwindle to less than a quarter mile. The advisory should lift with the fog at about 9 a.m.

The rest of the day is expected to be sunny with a few clouds and high temperatures in the upper 70s from the Treasure Coast to Palm Beach County.

The forecast doesn’t change much until a strong cold front moves across South Florida on Friday.

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…)

Expect a cold and windy day in  the Treasure Coast. And it will stick around a day or two.

The National Weather Service forecasts today to be the coldest day of the week. There’s a wind chill advisory in the Treasure Coast in effect until 9 a.m.

That means wind speeds are at least 10 mph and the wind chills the air to below 35 degrees. The coldest air will be to the north and inland. And when the sun comes up, temperatures in our area  are not expected to break the 70-degree mark.

The service is also warning that it’s not a good time go boating.

Another cold front is promised Friday night, which will keep the weather cool and dry through Saturday. Sunday we might get some rain.