Long the most anti-train county on the Treasure Coast, much of Indian River County appears to be having a partial change of heart – but not yet a majority of its County Commission. When Brightline announced in October that its Treasure Coast station would be in either Martin County or St. Lucie County, it was as if a lightbulb lit above the heads of some Indian River County government officials and business leaders. They suddenly saw clearly advantages of convenient access to a modern, highspeed train that could whisk Vero residents to Miami or Orlando – and Tampa, if Brightline’s dreams come true – and help bolster the economy of the region. And they knew if there was only going to be one stop along the Treasure Coast, they wanted it in Fort Piece, where the city and a private developer who says his project is fully funded are competing to build a station. “Stuart is too far away to be used by peoA proposal to build a 12-unit condominium and a recreation center near the St. Lucie Trail clubhouse in St. Lucie West faces strong opposition from nearby homeowners. The St. Lucie Trail Owners Association LLC wants to expand the size of its property to 11.76 acres from 7.71 acres so it can add the two proposed two-story buildings. The overall site overlooking Country Club Drive already contains a golf course clubhouse with a restaurant and banquet hall, which is owned by Quick family Catering Inc., and a tennis facility and a swimming pool, which is owned by CGI St. Lucie LLC, St. Lucie County Property Appraiser records show. CGI St. Lucie also owns the surrounding golf course. The three property owners asked the Port St. Lucie City St. Lucie HCA Hospital plans to expand the North Tower of its 237,626-squarefoot main building in eastern Port St. Lucie and add 54 beds. But first hospital-owner HCA needs the 16.98-acre campus at 1800 SE Tiffany Ave. to be rezoned to Planned VOLUME 9, ISSUE 1 YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2024 A3 A6 B7 Septic-to-sewer boost St. Lucie Village gets $1.7M grant COVID figures revised Database: Fewer deaths, cases IRSC goes way out there Tackles Ionescu play ‘Rhinoceros’ Variety adds even more spice to Atlantic Classical Orchestra season. P. B2 Developer seeks 1,350 residences, business space at western PSL site CONTINUED ON PAGE A11 PETS ARTS/PEOPLE GAMES SPORTS A1-A11, A20 A12-A19 B19 A21-A36 B18 B1-B16 B20-B22 B17 © 2024 Vero Beach 32963 Media LLC. All rights reserved. IN THIS ISSUE NEWS HEALTH ADVICE REAL ESTATE Homebuilder DR Horton Inc. wants to develop 1,350 residences and up to 400,000 square feet of business space on a 464.5-acre agricultural tract in western Port St Lucie currently designated for 500 residences and 3 million square feet of business space. DR Horton proposed developing the Astoria subdivision on the Lulfs Grove property on Glades Cut-off Road, north of the Copper Creek subdivision and south of the Wylder/LTC Ranch subdivision and the city’s Glades Wastewater Treatment Plant. DR Horton and landowner Lulfs Grove LLLP of Lake Worth asked the City Council to change the future land use designation of the 464.5-acre tract to 373.12 acres of low density residential, 29.13 acres of general and service commercial and institutional, and 28.25 acres of open space. A public hearing was set for the Jan. 2 meeting of the Port St. Lucie Planning and Zoning Board regarding the proposal to change the land use of property currently BY GEORGE ANDREASSI | Staff Writer [email protected] PLAN FACES PUSHBACK CONTINUED ON PAGE A9 CONTINUED ON PAGE A8 St. Lucie Trail owner proposes condo, rec center BY GEORGE ANDREASSI | Staff Writer [email protected] Potential Brightline station in Fort Pierce draws support from unlikely corner BY STEVEN M. THOMAS | Staff Writer EXPANSION designated for commercial service, heavy and light industrial, residential, office and institutional uses. “The applicant has stated that the potential for industrial development at this location is no longer needed because of the growth of the city’s ‘Jobs Corridor’ in Southern Grove (Tradition Commerce Center) and the continued development of the LTC Ranch industrial area (Midway Business St. Lucie HCA Hospital planning to add 54 beds CONTINUED ON PAGE A8 BY GEORGE ANDREASSI | Staff Writer [email protected] LET’S GET IT STARTED! Fun, festivities and fireworks in Tradition Square made for a fitting beginning to 2024. More photos, P. B1. PHOTO: LINDA KLOORFAIN
It will be the first batch of septic-to-sewer conversions in his 35 years serving on St. Lucie Village’s Board of Aldermen, Thiess said in a Dec. 28 interview. The town of approximately 600 residents sits along a two-mile stretch of the Indian River Lagoon, east of U.S. 1, between Fort Pierce and Indian River County. Phase 1 involves the removal of septic tanks from 161 houses east of Old Dixie Highway and accessed by St. Lucie Lane, Chamberlin Boulevard and Milton Road, Thiess said. “[The] abandonment of those septic tanks will likely take two to five years, depending on grant funding available to assist with connection costs,” Thiess said. “Each connection will require a small lift station and piping between the home and force main,” he said. “The system will be constructed to FPUA’s standards and specifications,” said Thiess, who retired after a long career as the authority’s executive director. “FPUA will own and operate the system when it is completed, and they will bill the residents for sewer service.” A new state law requires homes and businesses along the Indian River Lagoon to connect to sanitary sewer systems or deploy highly efficient wastewater treatment systems by July 1, 2030. The legislation’s mandates prompted St. Lucie Village to accelerate the septic-to-sewer conversions, Thiess said. St. Lucie Village’s second septic conversion phase will cover 56 homes east of Old Dixie Highway accessed by Torpey Road and Rouse Road, Thiess said. Phase 3 consists of all 67 residential properties and one commercial property west of Old Dixie Highway and three parcels east of Old Dixie at the south end of the Village accessed by Shimonek Lane, Thiess said. St Lucie Village’s two previous attempts to connect to FPUA’s sanitary sewer system in 2010 and 2019 involved assessing homeowners with a Municipal Services Benefit Unit To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS January 4, 2024 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE A4 Left: Old DIxie Highway and Chamberlin Boulevard are part of St. Lucie Village septic-to-sewer Phase 1. Center: Peninsula Drive, part of Phase 2. Right: An abandoned water treatment pump on Monarch Lane. PHOTOS: CHARLES CALOIA St. Lucie Village obtained a $1.7 million state grant to help homeowners near the Indian River Lagoon abandon their septic systems and connect to the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority sanitary sewer system. A total of 287 homes and a business in St. Lucie Village will eventually connect to the FPUA sanitary sewer system once the threephase septic-to-sewer project is completed, said St. Lucie Village Mayor William Thiess. Homes will start to be connected to the county wastewater system “in late 2025 or early 2026,” Thiess said. It is expected to cost each homeowner $9,100, Thiess said. St. Lucie Village obtains $1.7M grant for septic-to-sewer projects BY CHARLES CALOIA | Correspondent
4 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS www.stlucievoice.com PHOTO: CHARLES CALOIA Port St. Lucie’s Public Works Department constructed more than six miles of sidewalk throughout the city during the past year. “The city has received positive feedback on the sidewalks installed,” said city spokesperson Melissa Yunas. “We continue to get requests from residents to install [more] sidewalk. “As part of the ongoing roadway projects, sidewalks are being included in the improvements to Floresta Drive and Port St. Lucie Boulevard,” Yunas said. In addition to major roadway projects, the following connecting roads have seen significant lengths of sidewalk built during 2023: Alcantara Boulevard Selvitz Boulevard Import Drive Village Green Drive Tiffany Avenue Lakehurst Drive Milner Drive Four more sidewalk projects are underway with their construction as of Dec. 31, city records show. Phase 2 of the Import Drive Improvement Project, from Inca Terrace to Savage Boulevard. Selvitz Road from Floresta Drive to Bayshore Boulevard. Abingdon Avenue between Import Drive and Savona Boulevard. Milner Drive from Midway Road to Selvitz Road. Five more roads are scheduled to complete sidewalk construction during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, city records show. Brescia Street, from Savage Boulevard to Gatlin Boulevard. Savage Boulevard, from Import Drive to Gatlin Boulevard. Lakehurst Drive, from Bayshore Boulevard to Sandia Drive. Berkshire Boulevard, from Green River Parkway to Earl Boulevard. Berkshire Boulevard, from Earl Boulevard to Melaleuca Boulevard. “The existing master plan focused on major roadways with an emphasis on areas within a two-mile radius of schools (MSBU), village records show. Homeowners rejected both. “Both MSBUs failed due to prohibitively high cost,” Thiess said. Homeowners faced connection costs of approximately $30,000 each at the time, Theiss said. St. Lucie Village received the $1.7 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as part of the $100 million Indian River Lagoon Water Quality Grant program for 2023. Other recipients included Vero Beach, Indian River County and Martin County, but not St. Lucie County or Port St. Lucie, state records show. The town’s FDEP grant application was prepared by OVID Consulting of Crawford, subcontracted through the Capital City Consulting lobbying firm of Tallahassee, Thiess said. In March 2021, the town obtained $319,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Government to help pay for the design of the sewer connections. “In a town that normally had expenditures of $450,000 (annually), that’s a lot,” Thiess said. The village contracted with Kimley-Horn and Associates, of Vero Beach, to design all three phases of the conversion project. “We’re surprised that we’ve received as much funding as we have so far,” Thiess said. CONTINUED FROM PAGE A3 SEPTIC-TO-SEWER City reaches halfway point in 10-year sidewalk master plan BY CHARLES CALOIA | Correspondent CONTINUED ON PAGE A6
and to provide sidewalks with direct connections between [them],” Yunas said. “The purpose of this master plan continues to focus on establishing a network of connecting sidewalk rather than numerous non-connecting segments,” Yunas said. Workers of Felix Associates logged in 10-hour days building sidewalks in front of Floresta Elementary as schools reopened at the top of August. The Floresta Drive Improvement Project also saw the re-opening of the Elkcam Waterway Bridge and the opening of a new roundabout at the Polynesian Avenue intersection in 2023. “Floresta Drive Phase 2 is still under construction and is anticipated to be completed by end of 2024, early 2025,” Yunas said. “Phase 3 is currently anticipated to start in fiscal year 2024-2025 and will include sidewalks from Crosstown Parkway to Prima Vista Boulevard.” No specific weather-related obstacles were reported in 2023 despite the summer’s heatwave and increased storm activity throughout the middle of November, Yunas said. Altogether, more than 200 miles of sidewalk are city owned and maintained, Yunas said. Homeowner associations in the city own another 200 miles of sidewalk. “In most cases, homeowner associations have sidewalks installed and maintained by developers [or on their own],” Yunas said. “The areas where we are installing sidewalks are not in HOA areas.” “City staff use the data collected through the Citizen Survey that is sent out annually to all residents,” Yunas said. “This helps each team identify residents’ satisfaction with a variety of projects and helps gauge where additional attention may be useful.” The projects on Port St. Lucie’s Sidewalk Master Plan are funded through the mobility fund, half-cent sales tax, and the Florida Department of Transportation grants, city records show. The City Council continued to priori6 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS www.stlucievoice.com BY GEORGE ANDREASSI | Staff Writer [email protected] Health Department adjusts COVID-19 numbers: Fewer deaths, cases here CONTINUED FROM PAGE A4 SIDEWALK CONSTRUCTION Revised Florida Health Department data for the COVID-19 pandemic shows the virus caused the death of 1,561 St. Lucie County residents, including 137 in 2023, as of Dec. 22. The state Health Department’s COVID-19 data base had previously indicated 1,640 St. Lucie County residents died from the virus since the pandemic began in March 2020, including 254 in 2023 as of Dec. 8. The revised state Health Department database shows the virus caused the death of a total of 334 county residents in 2022, 637 in 2021 and 413 in 2020. The revised database also dramatically reduced the official number of COVID-19 cases in St. Lucie County since March 2020. COVID-19 statistics for all 67 counties in Florida were updated. The new case total for St. Lucie County is 101,669, including 8,637 in 2023 as of Dec. 22, the state Health Department database shows. The Dec. 8 database case total for the county had been reported as 109,381 since March 2020 and 16,349 cases in 2023. The revised state Health Department database shows 39,422 county residents were diagnosed with the virus in 2022, 38,956 in 2021 and 14,654 in 2020. COVID-19 caused the death of one St. Lucie County resident during the week ending Dec 22 and one death during the week ending Dec. 15. The revised database shows the virus caused the death of three county residents during the week of Dec. 8 and one death during the week ending Dec. 1. A total of 746 St. Lucie County residents were diagnosed with COVID-19 during December, including 187 during the week ending Dec. 22 and 179 during the week ending Dec. 15, the state Health Department database shows. That’s more than the number of cases in November and October combined. A total of 303 county residents were diagnosed with the virus in November and 437 in October. A total of 49 county residents received COVID-19 vaccinations during the week ending Dec. 22 and 786 during the week ending Dec. 15, the database shows. Another 720 county residents COVID-19 vaccinations during the week ending Dec. 8 and 818 during the week ending Dec. 1 The overall vaccination statistics in St. Lucie and other counties in Florida barely changed during the week ending Dec. 22 compared to the week ending Dec. 8, the state Health Department COVID-19 database shows. Altogether, 318,314 county residents have been vaccinated against the virus, including 27,082 in 2023 as of Dec. 22. A total of 76,889 county residents were vaccinated in 2022, 211,302 were vaccinated in 2021 and 3,041 were vaccinated in 2020.
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS January 4, 2024 7 tize pedestrian safety with the adoption of the FDOT-sponsored “Target Zero” program and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office-sponsored “Operation: Look Both Ways.” “We work closely with the FDOT and the St. Lucie County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) in planning and funding opportunities for future sidewalk projects,” Yunas said. “We have been able to build additional sidewalks in the city through grant funding from these partnerships. “The shared goals of the city, FDOT and TPO align to provide interconnectivity and complete streets where appropriate and enable safe access for all people who need to use this important infrastructure including pedestrians, bicyclists and people of all ages and abilities,” Yunas said. The 2022-2023 mobility fund includes $8.8 million for residential neighborhood improvements and $1.5 million for commercial area improvements, city records show. “A new 10-year master plan will be presented to City Council prior to fiscal year 2027 for approval,” Yunas said.
8 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS www.stlucievoice.com CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 BRIGHTLINE STATION Erik J. Ugi Call Erik, your LOCAL AGENT TODAY AUTO HOME LIFE cell 561-714-5588 Complimentary Insurance Review Protect what YOU VALUE most! [email protected] ple from Vero,” said Vero Beach mayor John Cotugno. “Fort Pierce is much closer to our city and south county and would be a great option for residents traveling to Orlando.” Stuart is 42 miles from Vero Beach via I-95, or 33 miles – and about 50 stoplights – south on U.S 1. Either route is a solid one-hour drive, longer at peak morning and afternoon commute times. That is not much shorter than the hour-and-a-half drive from Vero to Orlando International Airport. “Downtown Fort Pierce is located just 13 miles from Vero Beach and the presence of an inter-regional train station will stimulate economic growth in our area,” Vero city manager Monte Falls wrote in a letter to Brightline supporting a Fort Pierce train station location. “It would attract businesses, create job opportunities, and boost local commerce. Moreover, it would make our community more accessible to tourists, fostering tourism and increasing revenue for local businesses. “The train station would also serve as a business corridor connecting professionals within Vero Beach with counterparts and partners in all of South Florida and Central Florida,” Falls’ letter continued. “The Brightline trains have direct access to Orlando International Airport and access, with convenient connections, to the Palm Beach International Airport, Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport. Having that level of access from a station just 13 miles south of our city will provide a significant convenience for our residents, businesses, and visitors’ domestic and international travel.” “The Cities of Fellsmere and Sebastian [have also] ... expressed their strong support for a Brightline passenger rail station in Downtown Fort Pierce,” Kaitlyn Ballard, marketing and communications manager for the City of Fort Pierce, wrote in an email to this reporter. Both cities sent enthusiastic letters of support to Brightline, backing the bid for a Fort Pierce station. “A regional train station would enhance our transportation infrastructure, providing a more efficient and reliable mode of travel for residents and visitors alike. This would not only reduce traffic congestion but also contribute to a cleaner environment by promoting the use of alternative modes and public transportation,” Sebastian mayor Ed Dodd wrote in his letter. The letters were included in the proposal the City of Fort Pierce conveyed to Brightline recently along with more than a dozen other similar messages from governments, councils, businesses – and one Major League Baseball team – in the three-county region. But there has been nothing other than the soft sound of crickets so far from Building A at the county government center where the Indian River County Commission holds its meetings. “It is time for our county commission to stand up – or suck it up – and offer their support for [the good] of our citizens,” said Keith Kite, a Vero Beach commercial real estate broker and hotel owner who is a member of the county Tourism Development Council. Kite wants a Fort Pierce Brightline station for many of the same reasons expressed in the letters mentioned above but thinks Indian River County’s support should go beyond a statement. He would like to see IRC county commissioners join with St. Lucie County and Fort Pierce to secure federal railroad infrastructure grants to help fund either the City of Fort Pierce’s station plan or the station proposed by Dale Matteson, president of Audubon Development, which is building the King’s Landing mixed-use project in Fort Pierce. Vero Beach and Indian River County have a long history with the Florida East Coast Railway and related railroad enterprises. Vero exists where it is because it was laid out and developed along the railroad, which was the most viable and reliable means of transport on the east coast of Florida in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As recently as 12 years ago, the county commission was firing off letters of support for Amtrak expansion, angling for a train station in Vero Beach. But the Indian River County Commission opposed the highspeed rail project originally called All Aboard Florida, and battled it for years in court, spending millions of dollars on lawsuits that all eventually failed. Whether the current commission, which has three new members since the Brightline legal tussle, is holding a grudge or maybe thinks its support would alienate the railroad company is unknown. Commission Chairman Susan Adams and commissioners Joe Flescher, Joe Earman and Deryl Loar did not respond to phone calls or emails asking whether they support a Fort Pierce station that residents here could use or if they plan to take any action such as issuing a letter of support or seeking grant money. Commissioner Laura Moss said she wasn’t ready to throw her support behind a Fort Pierce station because she still holds out hope for a station in Vero Beach. Kite, meanwhile, said he is “more optimistic than ever” that there will be a Fort Pierce station that is handy for Indian River County residents. ARTIST’S RENDERING Council to approve an amendment to the St. Lucie Trail Planned Unit Development order and conceptual plan to allow the construction of the condominium and recreation center. However, the property owners asked to delay the public hearing set for the Jan. 2 meeting of the city Planning and Zoning Board on the proposed development order update. Dozens of nearby homeowners sent several emails to Port St. Lucie planning and zoning officials expressing opposition to the proposed condominium project. Donald Berkshire, president of the St. Lucie West Country Club Estates Homeowners Association, said “The residents and Board oppose this project as a violation of the community land standards, which is single-family homes.” The 548 homeowners in Country Club Estates are all members of the association and share common area maintenance costs and benefits, Berkshire said. “The new residences are not being proposed to our land use standards and yet will use association common property for ingress and egress,” Berkshire said. “A two-story gym will be an eyesore to the community clearly visible to residents and guests who enter the community property,” Berkshire said. “Pickleball courts will become a nuisance noise factor to homes adjacent to this proposed project.” Satish Zutshi, another Country Club Estates, said he opposes any additional development on the St. Lucie Trail property. “We don’t not want any condominiums or developments on the land which was meant to be part of a golf course and open space,” Zutshi said. “It will decrease value of our properties if they build anything and change the zoning for other than what it is now. I am totally against any development on the proposed parcel.” Another homeowner, Paul Monty, said, “I am opposed to any condos going into our community of Country Club Estates.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 ST. LUCIE TRAIL PROPOSAL
BY GEORGE ANDREASSI | Staff Writer [email protected] CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 Verano project reshuffling location of 375 houses near C-24 Canal LULFS GROVE PROPERTY To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS January 4, 2024 9 Park),” according to a city Planning and Zoning report for the Jan. 2 public hearing. The Planning and Zoning Board postponed review of the application five times in 2023 at the request of the developer, most recently on Sept. 5, city records show. However, the proposed land use amendment still faces opposition from city planning and zoning officials, who cited the continuing need for land for business development in Port St. Lucie and the property’s proximity to the city’s sewage plant. “The Planning and Zoning Department staff finds the petition to be inconsistent with the intent and direction of the City’s comprehensive plan and recommends denial,” according to a report for the Jan. 2 public hearing. The city already has a sufficient supply of residential land, with approximately 43 percent of the city’s total land area designated for low density residential development, city planners said in a report for the Jan. 2 public hearing. Meanwhile, just 4 percent of the city’s total land is designated for commercial development and 1 percent for industrial development, the city planners report said. In addition, city planners said they are concerned about how the Glades Wastewater Treatment Plant could impact future homeowners, even though DR Horton has proposed a 200-foot-wide landscape buffer. “It is not clear to staff that a 200-foot landscape buffer will adequately buffer the houses from the noises, odors, truck traffic, etc., of the operation of a wastewater treatment plant,” the report said. The wastewater treatment plant may eventually be expanded and operations intensified, the report said. The city’s Westport Wastewater Treatment Plant has been the subject of complaints by homeowners in the nearby Sawgrass Lakes subdivision about odors and operations, the report said. “In staff’s opinion, the existing land uses of heavy industrial, light industrial and service commercial are more compatible with a utility use than single-family residential development,” the report said. The proposed land use change would reduce the average number of daily motor vehicle trips generated by the project by 4,051 to 16,694, city records show. It would reduce evening rush hour traffic by 1,016 trips per day to 1,695. DR Horton also proposed providing a 12- acre park site to the city and a 2.5-acre lot to the St. Lucie County Fire District for a station. There will also be a 15.9-acre wildlife corridor and linear park. Lulfs Grove LLLP of Lake Worth paid $9.29 million for the two tracts comprising the 464.5-acre development site on Dec. 17, 2007, St. Lucie County Property Appraiser records show. The 304.11-acre tract and the 161.86-acre tract have a combined market value of $10,113,521. The Verano developer wants to reshuffle the location of 375 houses in a 1,299-acre area along the C-24 Canal between Crosstown Parkway and Glades Cutoff Road in western Port St. Lucie. The proposal by Verano Development LLC, a subsidiary of The Kolter Group LLC, of Delray Beach, would add 338 residences and 72 acres to Verano South Pod D, where plans currently call for 702 houses on 299 acres, city records show. Verano Development now plans to build 1,040 houses on the new 371-acre tract. The development site is located southwest of C-24 Canal Road, southeast of Glades Cut-off Road and northwest of Appian Way. The proposal to change the Verano Planned Unit Development document and concept plan faced review Jan. 2 during a public hearing before the Port St. Lucie Planning and Zoning Board. The City Council already voted unanimously on Dec. 11 to approve changes to the PUD document and concept plan removing 375 houses from five nearby development pods. Verano Development received approval to remove 163 houses from Verano PUD 1, a 433-acre strip along C-24 Road, southeast of Glades Cut-off Road, northwest of Crosstown Parkway and southwest of Visconti Way, city records show. The developer also received approval to remove 74 houses from Pod A, a 147.414- acre tract southwest of the C-24 Canal, northwest of Appian Way and northeast of Fortezza Way. The City Council also approved the removal of 15 houses from POD B, a 116.23- acre tract southwest of C-24 Road, southeast of Appian Way, northwest of Vassar Way and northeast of Fortezza Way. In addition, the City Council approved the removal of 21 units from POD C, a 125.75-acre tract southwest of C-24 Road, northwest of Crosstown Parkway, northeast of Verano Boulevard and southeast of Vassar Way. The City Council also approved the removal of 102 houses from POD E, a 105.54-acre tract northwest of Crosstown Parkway, northeast of Verano Boulevard and southeast of Appian Way.
10 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS www.stlucievoice.com BY CHARLES CALOIA | Correspondent National Twin Day is also the birthday for two sets of twins born on Dec. 18 at HCA Lawnwood Hospital. A Vero Beach couple, Kaitlyn and Donald Dardeen II, welcomed identical sons Donald III and Kayden at 7:24 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., respectively at the Fort Pierce hospital. Fraternal daughters Cali and Carmen were welcomed around 7:40 p.m. by a Fort Pierce couple, Diamond Ellis, 31, and Carlos Culmer. Both couples shared their experiences during interviews with St. Lucie Voice after their twins emerged from Lawnwood’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Kaitlyn, an optometrist’s office worker, and Donald, a property manager, first learned of their pregnancy at Kaitlyn’s first ultrasound screening in April. “We’ve been trying for a while to have kids, but this was an exciting shock,” Kaitlyn Dardeen said. “We wanted to have a baby or babies we could show the world and teach the way that we were loved.” “We realized that having a baby, for starters, was going to be a big task. Now, we’re planning for two,” Donald Dardeen said. “Everything had to be doubled: the cribs, the diapers.” “We never hit a [point] where we were completely overwhelmed,” Donald Dardeen said. “We always had an extremely strong support line between her parents and mine, tons of family and friends, there was never a time where we thought ‘how are we going to get through this?’” Kaitlyn Dardeen took classes through Lawnwood Hospital welcomes two pairs of winners on ‘National Twin Day’ Vero Beach’s support network to prepare for rearing her two sons while continuing her work at the optometrist’s office. “They give you points for every class you go to for free diapers,” she said. “I did take as many classes as I could; it was a bit difficult because the classes are primarily daytime.” The positioning of the twins prompted Kaitlyn to opt to deliver her sons via C-Section. “It was safer for me to have a c-section just to make sure that both of them came out healthy,” she said. Ellis, an ICU Nurse at Lawnwood, and Culmer, brought home twin daughters Cali and Carmen Ellis on Dec. 26. The sisters stayed in the NICU after both were born prematurely 34 weeks. They are Ellis’ second set of twins after her first two children born while living in Kentucky: son Shawn Holmes and daughter Ariah Holmes, both 11. Ellis continued her nursing work throughout her pregnancy, which included delegating her duties to new charges on her watch to invest time in her kids. “I trained two new people that came to our unit, showing them the labor and explaining why we do it and guiding them,” Ellis said. “It would take the pressure off my back watching them do it.” Ellis anticipated some level of difficulty with her new daughters after bearing her first two children over a decade prior. “I knew I would have a C-section this time, too. I went to a high-risk doctor to monitor them,” Ellis said. “It blows the doctor’s mind, too; the first thing he asked me was, ‘Am I on any medication? Are you trying?’ ‘Nope. This is all natural.’” The Ellis sisters needed to stay in the NICU for several days before achieving appropriate milestones in movement and breathing while in incubation. “They picked up really quickly,” Ellis said. The twin girls join a supportive family in Fort Pierce, who’ve helped Ellis and Culmer keep supplied with formula, diapers and other essentials. Ellis and Culmer intend to continue raising their four children despite societal pressures that the two believe “makes them adults faster than they need to be” and the “tough environment” of Fort Pierce. “It’s known for its reputation of crime rates, troublemakers,” Culmer said. “Being Black and dealing with officers, we had to learn how to talk to them and not say the wrong thing, watch our tone. “We wouldn’t be the people we are today without growing up in Fort Pierce,” Culmer said. “A diverse culture with [different] races will make our kids stronger: mentally, physically. “It’s not something we’ll force on our girls or anything like that; whatever makes them happy is all that matters to us,” Culmer said. Dec. 18 was first dubbed “National Twin Day” by the staff of the National Day Calendar website in 2019. The Mandan, North Dakota-based website contains a yearly list of various holidays of varying significance since their 2013 founding to recognize “National Popcorn Day” on Jan. 19. Kaitlyn and Donald Dardeen II hold their newborn twin sons Donald III and Kayden. PHOTO: CHARLES CALOIA
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FoWLer, j.d., LL.m., b.c.s Board Certified Elder Law Attorney Of-Counsel • Long-Term Care Medicaid • Estate and Trust Planning • Senior Exploitation • Probate & Trust Administration RSVP to An Upcoming Seminar (772) 828-2588 Additional Offices In Port St. Lucie And Stuart Unit Development from Institutional to set the stage for the addition of two floors to the three-story North Tower, city records show. HCA’s PUD zoning proposal would allow buildings up to five stories tall, while Institutional zoning allows buildings up to 35 feet tall, or three stories tall. “A portion of the existing building is five stories, which exceeds the 35-foot height limit and the remainder is three stories,” according to a report by city planners for the Jan. 2 meeting of the Port St. Lucie Planning and Zoning Board. “The city’s records are unclear as to the previous construction with regards to the height,” the report said. “The hospital is proposing to add two stories above the three-story section of the building, which will allow for additional beds.” HCA, of Nashville, Tennessee, will eventually seek city approval for a site plan and construction plans, the report said. HCA Florida Healthcare announced plans in March for the $72 million expansion of the St. Lucie HCA Hospital’s three-story North Tower. The new fourth floor will house 34 beds in a medical/surgical unit. The new fifth floor will offer an expansion of maternity services, including new facilities for labor and delivery patients. There will also be additional beds for the initiation of neonatal intensive care services. Both floors will connect to the south tower, the company said. The hospital was built in 1983, St. Lucie County Property Appraiser records show. It has a market value of $25,929,600. HCA owns four office buildings totaling more than 61,000 square feet in the vicinity of Tiffany Avenue and Hillmoor Drive near the hospital. The medical offices have a total market value of more than $13.5 million, county Property Appraiser records show. CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1 HOSPITAL EXPANSION County’s jobs picture bright at close of ’23 St. Lucie County entered the holiday shopping season in November with unemployment at 3.6 percent, marking a remarkable two years that the county’s unemployment has been below 4 percent. In December 2021 the county’s not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 3.8 percent. It has stayed at or below that ever since. The local job market has been at or below 5 percent not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment since September 2021. The Federal Reserve considers 5 percent to 5.2 percent unemployment as full employment, the condition in which virtually all who are able and willing to work are employed. In November the county’s unemployment was down from 3.7 percent not seasonally adjusted in October. The state’s labor force participation rate dropped from 59.8 percent to 59.7 percent. The month before the SARS-CoV-2/ COVID-19 pandemic hit Florida, March 2020, the labor force participation rate was 59.5 percent. That dropped to 53.9 percent in April 2020 and has steadily climbed ever since. Florida’s labor force participation has been below 60 percent since 2014. Labor force participation rates aren’t reported on the county level. Martin and St. Lucie counties form the Port St. Lucie metropolitan area. The number of jobs in the area increased 2.5 percent from 169,700 to 173,900 from November 2022 to November 2023, an increase of 4,200 jobs. Nearly half were in one industry sector – education and health services. Other industries that added jobs November to November were professional and business services with 900, government with 700, leisure and hospitality with 600, and trade, transportation and utilities with 400. Mining, logging and construction shed 400 jobs. Financial activities and other services, which includes things such as automobile mechanics, stayed static. Unemployment rates are calculated using a variety of methods. Among them are random telephone interviews with people in working ages. In general, those that are able to work and report not having jobs, but looked for employment in the previous 30 days, are counted as unemployed. Discouraged workers – those who are able to work and want jobs, but have not sought employment in the previous 30 days – are not counted in the unemployment figure. Many call this “shadow unemployment,” and it’s inherently difficult to track due to variations for why people don’t seek jobs. BY PATRICK McCALLISTER | Correspondent PHOTO: LINDA KLOORFAIN
Just like the windshield of your car, the cornea is the clear front window of your eye. And just as your windshield needs to be clean and clear to help you see what’s ahead of you, the cornea must be clear, smooth and healthy to maintain good vision. If it is scarred, swollen or damaged, light is not focused properly into the eye and your vision becomes blurry or you see glare. If corneal problems make it hard for you to see well enough to perform normal activities such as reading or driving, a corneal transplant might help restore your vision. “The great thing about the cornea is it can be cleaned, and it can be fixed, unlike the retina,” said Dr. Christopher W. Seery, fellowship-trained cornea specialist at New Vision Eye Center in Vero Beach, who employs an “artistic, sophisticated surgery” technique to repair faulty corneas. “If you think of the eye like a camera, once the film (retina) of the camera is scratched, you can’t really do anything. But the lens (cornea) can always be polished, cleaned and replaced.” Eye infections and injuries can scar the cornea and diseases like Fuchs’ dystrophy and bullous keratopathy cause the cells in the inner layer of the cornea to quit working correctly. If the cornea cannot be healed or repaired, an ophthalmologist may recommend a corneal transplant, in which the diseased cornea is replaced with all or part of a clear, healthy cornea from a human donor. “Fortunately, a donated cornea doesn’t have to be cross matched for compatibility like an organ donor because the cornea is actually an avascular structure,” Dr. Seery explained. “The cornea is screened by eye banks for communicable diseases like hepatitis or HIV but not if it doesn’t have to be matched. It is also screened for quality of the cells, to make sure there’s a high density of endothelial cells and all that information about the donor cornea is sent to the surgeon a couple of days before the surgery. The eye bank screens the tissue, preps and cuts the tissue to the specific measurements supplied by the surgeon and sends it us to implant.” According to the Cornea Research Foundation, Endothelial Keratoplasty (EK) is the preferred cornea transplant technique to restore vision when the inner cell layer of the cornea stops working properly. EK selectively replaces only the diseased layer of the cornea, leaving healthy areas intact. There are two types of EK – Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK) and Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratosplaty (DMEK). Each type removes damaged cells from an inner layer of the cornea called the Descemet’s membrane. The damaged layer is removed through a small incision and the new tissue is put in place through a small incision. The surgeon then uses an air bubble to unfold and position the donor tissue against the patient’s cornea. The small incision is either self-sealing or may be closed with a suture or two. The most common procedure is DSEK where the surgeon implants the back 20 percent to 30 percent of the donor cornea into the patient’s eye. Patients without other eye problems usually achieve average vision of 20/30 or better within a couple of months. A newer form of EK, introduced in 2014, is known as DMEK. During this procedure the surgeon uses an extremely thin donor tissue, and it provides more patients with 20/20 or 20/25 than DSEK. During the procedure the patient’s existing endothelium is removed and the surgeon places the prepared donor tissue in a solution which changes it to a tinted blue color temporarily so the surgeon can better see it. The tissue is placed into a syringe type device which is inserted through the same small incision that was used for removal of the diseased tissue and the new tissue is strategically placed in the eye. Once a DMEK graft is placed into the patient’s eye, it usually curls up into a scroll which needs to be unrolled. To unroll the scroll, the surgeon uses small puffs of air and a few surgical tools to ensure the tissue is correctly placed. “The DMEK surgery is an artistic, sophisticated surgery,” said Dr. Seery. “In order to unroll the tissue, we have to empty the fluid using a series of tapping of the surface of the cornea. Once that is done and it’s marked in a specific way in order to make sure we can tell if it’s right side up and endothelial side down, we inject gas underneath that graft to elevate and get it to adhere to the surface of the patient’s cornea. “The DSEK procedure uses a thicker tissue so there isn’t as much tapping and unrolling. The tissue is loaded into an injecting device and once again there is a mark 12 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH www.stlucievoice.com Time Away From Life’s Demands SCRUB AWAY LAST YEAR AND START FRESH Renew • Reinvent • Reboot... Yourself Quality Service, Reasonable Pricing & Relaxation MM23468, CE10040150 By appointment only. 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To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH January 4, 2024 13 THE HEALTHY SENIOR FIRST-TIME CRUISER WONDERS: HOW DO I AVOID GETTING SICK? Q. I’m going on my first cruise, and I was concerned that I might get stomach flu. What should I do to avoid getting sick? A. Many seniors frequent cruise ships because vacationers can enjoy what is probably the most relaxing form of getaway. You travel with your own bedroom and all the amenities you can think of. But there are a lot of people on these floating paradises and that means lots of germs are along for the ride. Among the most common germs are the ones that give you norovirus, also known as Norwalk Virus. This nasty bug gives you gastroenteritis, mistakenly called “stomach flu.” Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines; it is not related to flu, a respiratory illness caused by influenza virus. Noroviruses are found most often in contaminated food or drinks, but they also live on surfaces. They are highly contagious and can be spread through contact with an infected person. Noroviruses are the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the United States. Each year in the U.S. alone, 23 million norovirus infections cause about 50,000 hospitalizations and 310 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Norovirus (the common term for the infection) spreads swiftly wherever there are crowds of people, in places such as nursing homes, dormitories, hotels – and cruise ships. Norovirus has become associated with cruises because health officials are required to track illnesses on ships, not hotels and other land-based facilities. Outbreaks on cruise ships are found and reported more quickly than those on land and make a lot of news. Before we go further, let’s discuss the nature of germs, which are defined as microbes that cause disease. Microbes are microscopic organisms that are everywhere. Some microbes cause disease. Others are essential for health. Most microbes belong to one of four major groups: bacteria, viruses, CONTINUED ON PAGE A15 BY FRED CICETTI that tells you which side is right up and upside down. “As soon as the injection device is inserted into the eye, the graft is released, and it pops right open like an umbrella. Once it’s well centered, we use the same method to get it to stick to the back surface of the cornea. While it’s an easier and faster surgery, sometimes it’s worth the extra time to unroll the graft if you know it will result in higher quality vision.” Eye surgeons decide on the best type of surgery for a patient based on the cornea’s condition and the patient’s expectations. Both procedures are done as outpatient procedures with the patient under conscious or twilight sedation. After the operation the patient is released to go home with just an eye patch. The following day your surgeon will your check eye and give further instructions on your recovery. The stitches may or may not need to be removed and, depending on your transplant, you may have to lie on your back for a while to help the new donor tissue stay in place. “Clinical trials are now being conducted on a new cornea transplant procedure that involves injecting the donor tissue into the eye without the positioning requirement,” Dr. Seery revealed. “We would simply inject the cells and they would uptake to the surface and get working. A single injection is all it would take, but that’s still in the future.” Dr. Christopher W. Seery earned his medical degree and completed his internship and ophthalmology residency training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark. To gain expertise as a cornea and refractive surgeon, he completed his fellowship in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami. He joined New Vision Eye Center in September 2023 and is honored to bring the latest corneal transplant procedures to Vero Beach. His office is located at New Vision Eye Center, 1055 37th Place, Vero Beach. Call 772-257-8700 to schedule an appointment. Dr. Christopher W. Seery. PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS
14 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH www.stlucievoice.com Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and the rest of your body. It plays a key role in mood, sleep, digestion, nausea, wound healing, bone health, blood clotting and sexual desire. Serotonin levels that are too low or too high can cause physical and psychological health problems. We all have this neurotransmitter. But unfortunately, many people don’t have enough of it and more and more researchers and doctors are finding a connection between low levels of serotonin and long COVID symptoms. Dr. Aisha Thomas, internal medicine and infectious disease specialist at Sebastian River Medical Center, says the symptoms of long COVID – such as chronic pain, brain fog, shortness of breath, chest pain and intense fatigue – can be debilitating, and she sees a clear connection between low serotonin levels and these symptoms. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found in a recent study that reduction of serotonin in the body is triggered by remnants of the COVID virus lingering in the gut, where most serotonin is made. Depleted serotonin could explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long COVID, they say. The researchers determined that some Examining the link between low serotonin and long COVID patients had SARS-CoV-2 virus in their stool samples months after contracting an acute COVID-19 infection, suggesting that components of the virus remain in the gut of some patients long after the actual infection. The lingering virus, called a viral reservoir, triggers the immune system to release proteins called interferons that fight the virus. These interferons cause inflammation that reduces the absorption of the amino acid tryptophan in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract – and tryptophan is a building block for several neurotransmitters, including serotonin. The researchers found that when tryptophan absorption is reduced by persistent viral inflammation, serotonin is depleted, which in turn can cause several of the symptoms associated with long COVID, such as memory loss. Lori Jagniecki, infection control practitioner at Sebastian River Medical Center, says that since 90 percent of serotonin is made in the gut (the rest is made in the brain), when inflammation affects your gut, it produces greatly reduced levels of the neurotransmitter. “Many instances of low serotonin are caused by people’s lifestyles and exist before they ever get COVID,” says Thomas. “You need to get enough sleep – approximately seven hours a night – bright sunlight, omega-3, prebiotics, probiotics, healthy foods.” Jagniecki adds that vitamin B complex is another important addition to your health routine. “Eat foods that increase your tryptophan – tuna, nuts, bananas. Protein-rich foods are important to your diet.” The World Health Organization defines long COVID, also known as Post-COVID Conditions, as “the continuation or development of new symptoms three months after the initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, with these symptoms lasting for at least two months with no other explanation.” BY JACKIE HOLFELDER | Correspondent Dr. AishaThomas and Lori Jagniecki. PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH January 4, 2024 15 CONTINUED FROM PAGE A13 THE HEALTHY SENIOR The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which states that nearly 1 in 5 American adults who had COVID-19 experiences symptoms of long COVID, adds it includes a wide range of ongoing health problems that can last weeks, months or even years. The condition might appear to be an extension of the original COVID symptoms, or they may recur after the initial illness subsided, or they may be new symptoms that weren’t present during COVID. They can affect any part of the body and serious cases may affect multiple body systems, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin and brain. Medical News Today reported that research on treating long COVID basically started from square one. “Unfortunately, prior to the pandemic, we had invested very little in understanding post-viral illnesses. We pretty much ignored this area completely. Consequently, not much is known about the mechanisms of neurologic abnormalities that we see in people with flu and with COVID-19.” Thomas says your gut can regenerate even if you were deficient before long COVID. “It will take some time – it didn’t happen in a day, and it won’t be fixed in a day. But every small change will help. You will be in a better place if there’s another pandemic and it will help you if you have a chronic disease,” says Thomas. Besides improvements in lifestyle and diet, some researchers are exploring the possibilities of medicines to increase serotonin in the system. “There is tremendous need for effective ways to treat long COVID, and clinical trials of several treatments are underway,” according to a recent article in the New York Times. “Dr. Christoph Thaiss, a lead author of the study and an assistant professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Maayan Levy, a lead author and assistant professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, said levels of serotonin and other metabolites were altered right after a coronavirus infection, something that also happens immediately after other viral infections.” The doctors said they would be starting a clinical trial to test fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor often marketed as Prozac, and possibly also tryptophan. “If we supplement serotonin or prevent the degradation of serotonin, maybe we can restore some of the vagal signals and improve memory and cognition and so on,” Dr. Levy said. Dr. Aisha Thomas, Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease specialist at Sebastian River Medical Center, received her medical degree from Spartan Health Sciences University, completed her residency at Wayne State University, and her fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine. Lori Jagniecki, RN, MPA, CIC, Infection control practitioner at Sebastian River Medical Center, is a graduate of Marymount University Nursing School in Arlington, Va., and has a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Western Michigan University. She is board certified in infection prevention and control. fungi or protozoa. Bacteria are made up of only one cell. Less than 1 percent of them cause diseases in humans. Helpful bacteria live in human intestines, where they help to digest food. Foods such as yogurt and cheese are made using bacteria. Some bacteria produce dangerous poisons. Botulism, a severe form of food poisoning, is caused by toxins from bacteria. However, several vaccines are made from bacterial toxins. Viruses are among the smallest microbes. They consist of one or more molecules that contain the virus’ genes surrounded by a protein coat. Most viruses cause disease. They invade normal cells then multiply. There are millions of types of fungi. The most familiar ones are mushrooms, yeast, mold and mildew. Some live in the human body, usually without causing illness. In fact, only about half of all types of fungi cause disease in humans. Penicillin and other antibiotics, which kill harmful bacteria in our bodies, are made from fungi. Protozoa are a group of microscopic one-celled animals. In humans, protozoa usually cause disease. Some protozoa, like plankton, are food for marine animals. Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite. You can get infected by germs from other people in many different ways, including transmission through the air from coughing or sneezing, direct contact such as kissing or sexual intercourse, and touching infectious material on a doorknob, telephone, automated teller machine or a diaper.
16 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH www.stlucievoice.com A newly-released study has found that giving chemotherapy to patients with locally advanced cervical cancer before their standard treatment regimen begins can boost overall survival rates by 39 percent, according to Medical News Today. Dr. Raul Storey, an oncologist with Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute in Vero Beach and Melbourne, says this revolutionary approach should be considered the new standard in the treatment of this type of cancer. He adds, “It can be administered by a general oncologist, although getting a second opinion is always best and working or consulting with an oncologist with a sub-specialty in the field is ideal.” According to the American Cancer Society, locally advanced means that the cancer has spread beyond the part of the body it began in, but has not yet reached other organs. Dr. Storey explained that for the new study, researchers gave 500 women with locally advanced cervical cancer five weekly cycles of the chemotherapy drug cisplatin combined with radiation, a combo that is current standard care. However, before starting this regimen, half of the women were randomly assigned to receive six weeks of so-called induction chemotherapy treatment with two drugs, carboplatin and paclitaxel. With this induction chemotherapy, 80 percent of patients survived for five years, according to study results published in the Annals of Oncology. The trial enrolled patients with newly diagnosed cervical cancer at various stages. Patients had to be fit for chemotherapy and radical radiotherapy, with adequate renal, liver and bone marrow function. Adds Dr. Storey, “All chemo has potential side effects and it is impossible to know beforehand how a specific patient will react. But selecting patients who are healthy enough to tolerate it increases chances for a successful outcome.” The Mayo Clinic describes cervical cancer as a growth of cells that starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. Various strains of the human papillomavirus, also called HPV, play a role in causing most cervical cancers. HPV is a common infection that’s passed through sexual contact and typically prevented by the body’s immune system from doing harm. In a small percentage of people, however, the virus survives for years, contributing to the process that causes some cervical cells to become cancerous. The American Cancer Society estimates there were 13,960 new cases of invasive cervical cancer diagnosed in the U.S. in 2023; from those, approximately 4,310 women will die. Dr. Storey stresses that it’s important to have annual Pap smears to aid in detecting cancer in its early stages. Medical authorities suggest strongly suggest receiving a vaccine to protect against HPV infection, as well. In addition to getting the vaccine, other steps you can take to lower your risk are being a non-smoker or stopping smoking and using condoms. If your mother or sister had cervical cancer, your chances of developing the disease are higher than if no one in the family had it. Some researchers suspect that in rare instances this familial tendency is caused by an inherited condition that makes some women less able to fight off HPV infection than others. Cancer.org states that virtually all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV – just a few rare types are not. Since there is not a suitable screening test for these rare pathologies – neither the Pap test nor a cervical screening test are able to detect them – it’s important to know the warning signs that something is amiss. Warning signs for early stages of the disease, regardless of cause: Abnormal vaginal bleeding, such as bleeding after vaginal sex, bleeding after menopause, bleeding and spotting between NEW CERVICAL CANCER TREATMENT SHOWING GREAT PROMISE BY JACKIE HOLFELDER | Correspondent Dr. Raul Storey. PHOTO: JOSHUA KODIS
“Caring for women of all ages and stages of their lives for over 50 years” • 10771 SW Trade St., Port St. Lucie • 501 NW Lake Whitney Pl #106, Port St. Lucie • 3498 NW Federal Hwy Jensen Beach Schedule Your Exam and Mammogram Today! 772-261-9636 3 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU! • WWW.WHSFL.COM Happy New Year Two Swedish people who were examined in a recent study had similar backgrounds: They were born in the same year and lived in the same county. But one of them – a diagnosed hypochondriac – was much more likely to die of a serious illness. Swedish researchers studied people with and without hypochondriasis – also known as illness anxiety disorder – a diagnosis given to people who are paranoid about being or becoming sick. The study, published last month in the JAMA Psychiatry journal, found that people diagnosed with hypochondriasis were 84 percent more likely than people without the disorder to die of dozens of conditions, especially heart, blood and lung diseases, as well as suicide. “It’s kind of a paradoxical finding, isn’t it?” researcher David Mataix-Cols told the Washington Post. “They worry so much about health and death, and then they end up having a higher risk of death anyway.” Previous research has found that people diagnosed with mental disorders are more likely to die at a younger age than those without the disorders. Mataix-Cols said he had wondered if that would also be the case for hypochondriacs, prompting his research. Mataix-Cols, 52, said many hypochondriacs remain paranoid even if doctors assure them they’re healthy. Searching for information about their symptoms on the Internet can also worsen patients’ anxiety. “They experience a lot of suffering and hopelessness,” said Mataix-Cols, a neuroscience and psychiatry professor at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute. About a year ago, researchers began gathering data from Swedish census and health databases from between 1997 to 2020. They identified 4,129 people who were diagnosed with hypochondriasis and compared each person against a group of 10 people who didn’t have hypochondriasis but had the same sex, birth year and county of residence. Researchers also considered marriage status, education level and family income. Over roughly nine months of observation, 268 hypochondriacs and 1,761 people without hypochondriasis died. The hypochondriacs died about five years younger on average than those without hypochondriasis. Researchers also found that hypochondriasis can impact quality of life; people without hypochondriasis were more likely to be educated, married and make more money than hypochondriacs. Hypochondriasis is underdiagnosed, Mataix-Cols said, so the risks of death could be even higher when accounting for undiagnosed cases. “There’s a tendency to perhaps debase their worries about their health as being made-up.” Mataix-Cols said he has a few theories about the findings. Hypochondriacs’ lives might be shorter because of chronic stress, which might also cause them to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs. He said some patients might avoid visiting doctors out of fear that they’ll be diagnosed with a serious illness. To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH January 4, 2024 17 menstrual periods, or having periods that are longer or heavier than usual. Bleeding after douching may also occur. An unusual discharge from the vagina − the discharge may contain some blood and may occur between your periods or after menopause. Pain during sex. Pain in the pelvic region. Warning signs for more advanced stages of the disease: Swelling of the legs. Problems urinating or having a bowel movement. Blood in the urine. Dr. Raul Storey-Rojas attended medical school at Universidad De Carabobo (UC) – Valencia, Venezuela, and completed his residency and fellowship at University of Louisville, James G. Brown Cancer Center. He is board-certified in medical oncology and internal medicine and is affiliated with American Society of Hematology and American Society of Clinical Oncology. He served as research project coordinator for an oncology group in Houston at the beginning of his career, and during his residency and fellowship he gained experience with the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Department. He can be reached at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute, 3730 7th Terrace, Vero Beach: 772-567-2332; or in Sebastian at 13060 U.S. 1: 772-589-0879. STUDY: UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH SICKNESS INCREASES RISK OF DYING BY KYLE MELNICK | The Washington Post
18 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH www.stlucievoice.com ANALYSIS SUGGESTS GIRLS BEAR BRUNT OF NEW HIV INFECTIONS Girls are more than twice as likely to contract HIV than their male counterparts, a recent UNICEF analysis suggests. The agency says nearly 98,000 adolescent girls were infected with HIV in 2022 alone. The data, released as part of an annual snapshot on children and HIV/AIDS, suggests that gender inequality, limited access to health care and a dearth of educational programs put girls at particular risk for HIV worldwide. Although the analysis found “tremendous gains” in HIV prevention and treatment, it notes that 71 percent of new infections among adolescents ages 10 to 19 are among girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, which has the largest proportion of children and adolescents with HIV, prevalence among girls and young women is triple that of males. “It is unacceptable that adolescent girls, who should be planning their futures, con-
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | HEALTH January 4, 2024 19 – ERIN BLAKEMORE/THE WASHINGTON POST tinue to bear the heaviest burden of HIV infection,” said Anurita Bains, UNICEF associate director of HIV/AIDS, in a news release. “We – the UN, communities, governments and organisations – must eradicate the obstacles that make HIV a threat to their health and wellbeing. This includes ensuring the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescent girls and young women are met.” While eastern and southern Africa have the highest number of children birth through age 19 with HIV, the agency also identified west and central Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean as HIV hot spots. Overall, the report indicates that nearly 1 million children and teens with HIV go untreated, and antiretroviral treatment lags worldwide due to testing requirements and a lack of age-appropriate medication. Despite the ongoing risk to girls worldwide, the report documents progress in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS. Progress remains slow, but “remarkable” gains have slowed motherto-child transmission, and the agency notes “dramatic” improvements in HIV testing and treatment, especially for infants.
20 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | NEWS www.stlucievoice.com Strong response could extend Breeze’s new Vero-to-Islip seasonal service From the moment Breeze Airways arrived in Vero Beach in February – when the Utah-based carrier introduced nonstop jet service to and from Hartford, Connecticut, and Westchester County, New York – area residents began asking for a connection to another off-Broadway market. Islip. Or as Vero Beach Airport Director Todd Scher called it: “The one city that more people kept mentioning over and over.” Two weeks ago, Breeze gave the people what they wanted, adding twice-per-week service between Vero Beach and Islip’s MacArthur Airport on New York’s Long Island. And the initial response to the seasonal service has been even better than airline officials expected. “Islip just started only a week ago,” Breeze spokesman Gareth Edmondson-Jones said last week, “but it is already performing as well as or better than our other destinations from Vero for the winter months ahead.” Edmondson-Jones said February looks to be an “especially strong” month for the Vero-Islip route, attributing at least some of the surge in bookings to students being off from school for winter break. But he added that bookings for all of Breeze’s flights between Vero Beach and the Northeast – including Providence, Rhode Island, as well Hartford, Westchester County and Islip – are promising. “With service now to two New York airport, as well as Hartford and Providence near Boston, all signs are showing a continued appetite for growth of travel to and from Vero,” Edmondson-Jones said, “and also for Breeze’s unique product offering.” Islip was added to Breeze’s Vero Beach route map on Dec. 21, with the carrier offering introductory one-way fares as low as $69. The Sunday and Thursday service is scheduled to end on April 28, but Scher said a continued strong and steady response could convince the airline’s officials to make it a full-time offering here. “It seems to be a popular destination,” he said. Located 60 miles east of Manhattan and 55 miles west of Southampton, Islip is located near the center of Long Island, where its two suburban counties – Nassau and Suffolk – have a combined population of 3 million. Two other airlines, Southwest and Frontier, also operate out of Islip’s 80-year-old airport, where in recent weeks the terminal has been decorated with flamingos, palm trees and beach balls to celebrate Breeze providing Long Island’s first nonstop commercial jet service to Vero Beach. “Long Islanders are going to love a seriously comfortable, seriously affordable and seriously nice winter Florida getaway to Vero Beach, one of Florida’s best-kept secrets,” Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman said last month, when the route was announced. A statement released by Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter said: “These new Breeze Airways nonstop flights to Vero Beach will bring family members together, make it easy for Long Islanders to take vacations for sun and fun, and bring visitors to Long Island.” Closer to home, Scher said the airport and staff here have been able to absorb Breeze’s increase in commercial service, which has pushed the facility’s combined number of departures and arrivals to 26 per week. He said he believes that level of commercial airline activity is unprecedented in the airport’s history. BY RAY McNULTY | Staff Writer PHOTO: SABRINA BEIGEL
Spectacular Reserve Creek residence has a resort-like feel 7290 Reserve Creek Dr. in Reserve Creek in PGA Village: 3-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 3,137-square-foot pool home offered for $1,150,000 by Isabelle Pollock, 772-713-3221 of Lang Realty
22 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com The house at 7290 Reserve Creek Dr., in the Reserve Creek section of PGA Village, sets the tone from the moment you come up the long drive, surrounded on each side by manicured lawn. The entryway is nestled between columns and an archway, and you enter through decorative glass insert front doors. The open floor plan flows from the living room to the dining room and kitchen. That room is a chef’s dream, with an abundance of cabinetry, stone counters, glass tile backsplash, under cabinet lighting, gas range, built-in refrigerator, wine chiller, lit display cabinets, dual pantries, double islands, pendant lighting, and a wood-paneled ceiling. Guests can sit close at hand and chat while you whip up something wonderful in a kitchen that has just about everything. Adjacent to the kitchen is the living room, a spacious 21 feet by 22 feet, with glass sliding doors that open onto a large, covered area BY SHELLEY KOPPEL | Columnist [email protected] D ™ owDecorating ecorating Over 39 Years Experience Your new home for decorating in St. Lucie West IN-HOME SERVICE - MEASURE - INSTALL Mon-Thu 10am-5pm Fri 10am-4pm or By Appointment Kathy & David Blinds, Shades & Shutters New Upholstered Furniture MADE IN AMERICA … right here in Florida! Come on in & have a seat Draperies Upholstery Beautiful Fabrics Valances & Cornices Pillows Bedspreads & More! [email protected] www.JacquelineSellsFL.com 772-529-1368 Jacqueline Cohen Real Estate Agent YOUR FIRST CHOICE FOR LESS STRESS WITH AN AGENT WHO CARES Spectacular Reserve Creek residence has a resort-like feel
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE January 4, 2024 23 overlooking the pool and spa and the golf views. Entertaining is a breeze as guests can take the party outside and come inside for a snack or a chat. If you feel the need to escape, there’s a den that could easily serve as a home office. The master suite brings to the fore two of my passions: bathrooms and closets. The master bedroom, a generous 24-by-15, has access to the lanai, and there are dual walkin closets with custom organizers. That’s passion No. 1. The spa-like ensuite master bath is elegant and a bit of old Hollywood glamour with a wall-to-wall vanity with dual sinks, a walk-in shower and a soaker tub. Passion No. 2 covered. Two guest bedrooms have their own full baths, one of which doubles as a cabana bath out to the pool. Your guests will be comfortable during Neighborhood: Reserve Creek in PGA Village Year built: 2002 • Construction: CBS, stucco Square footage: 3,137 sq. f t • Total square footage: 4,881 sq. ft. Bedrooms: 3 • Bathrooms: 3.5 Flooring: carpet, marble, tile Security: manned gate, security patrol Additional features: on 1.2-1 acre, views of 1st and 2nd holes of the Legacy Golf Course, decorative glass inserts in front doors, wood-look tile throughout main living areas, built-in speakers, LED hi hats, custom lighting fixtures and drapes, solid core doors, crown molding, heated saltwater pool and spa, new pool pump installed Community amenities: biking and jogging, billiards, clubhouse, community room, fitness center, game room library, pickleball, playground, pool, tennis Listing brokerage: Lang Realty Listing agent: Isabelle Pollock, 772-713-3221 Listing price: $1,150,000 FEATURES FOR 7290 RESERVE CREEK DR. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
24 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com TOP SALES OF THE WEEK The final fortnight of 2023 saw moderately busy real estate activity locally, with 35 single-family residences and lots changing hands. The top recent sale was of the residence at 12002 SW Westcliffe Lane. Listed in November for $1,262,000, this 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home sold for the asking price on Dec. 20. Representing the seller in the transaction was agent Cesar Trujillo of Keller Williams Realty. Representing the buyer was agent Jon Leighton of Platinum Properties/The Keyes. SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENCES AND LOTS PORT SAINT LUCIE 12002 SW WESTCLIFFE LANE 11/2/2023 $1,262,000 12/20/2023 $1,262,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 10439 SW AQUILA WAY 9/20/2023 $675,000 12/19/2023 $565,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 12238 SW FORLI WAY 2/4/2023 $476,900 12/19/2023 $541,400 PORT SAINT LUCIE 5835 NW ARLEY COURT 8/21/2023 $599,000 12/26/2023 $540,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 12024 SW BAYBERRY AVENUE 10/10/2023 $543,000 12/21/2023 $539,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 5833 NW ARLEY COURT 8/21/2023 $599,000 12/22/2023 $510,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 6120 NW DENSAW TERRACE 5/21/2023 $502,000 12/20/2023 $502,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 11906 SW MACELLI WAY 12/15/2022 $503,060 12/20/2023 $485,810 PORT SAINT LUCIE 1282 SW MOONLITE COVE 10/23/2023 $499,999 12/20/2023 $480,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 5856 NW FOGEL COURT 8/31/2023 $509,000 12/26/2023 $475,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 11258 SW PARK VILLAGE COURT 9/14/2023 $515,000 12/20/2023 $475,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 6176 NW GATUN DRIVE 10/18/2023 $500,000 12/26/2023 $475,000 PORT SAINT LUCIE 653 SW LAKE CHARLES CIRCLE 11/22/2023 $479,000 12/21/2023 $470,000 ORIGINAL SELLING TOWN ADDRESS LISTED ASKING PRICE SOLD PRICE TRADITION AND ST. LUCIE WEST REAL ESTATE SALES Stats were pulled 12/30/23 1:09 PM
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE January 4, 2024 25 Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: Listing Date: Original Price: Sold: Selling Price: Listing Agent: Selling Agent: HERE ARE SOME OF THE TOP RECENT TRADITION AND ST. LUCIE WEST REAL ESTATE SALES 10/10/2023 $543,000 12/21/2023 $539,000 Ryan Reagan Sandhill Realty Group Lora Harper Keller Williams Realty 12024 SW Bayberry Avenue, Port Saint Lucie 8/21/2023 $599,000 12/26/2023 $540,000 Marco Terminesi RE/MAX Properties Ileana Terrones Partnership Realty Inc. 5835 NW Arley Court, Port Saint Lucie 2/4/2023 $476,900 12/19/2023 $541,400 Jay Garick Adnoram Realty Julia Kocovski Baron Real Estate 12238 SW Forli Way, Port Saint Lucie 9/20/2023 $675,000 12/19/2023 $565,000 Ann Chauss Coldwell Banker Realty Jason Coley Atlantic Shores Rlty Expertise 10439 SW Aquila Way, Port Saint Lucie
26 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com their stay, enjoying the privacy the layout affords them. There is an oversized laundry room with washer and dryer, folding counter, utility sink, cabinets for storage, the second pantry and an additional refrigerator. Outside, there is the expansive covered and screened lanai overlooking the pool and golf course. It’s private and you could easily envision a party or a book club meeting or luncheon. It’s really a wonderful entertaining space and it’s equally as nice to enjoy on your own, with morning coffee or for a late dip before retiring. For Isabelle Pollock of Lang Realty, this is a spectacular home in every way. “This 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath home is nestled on a golf front estate lot in the heart of PGA Village,” she said. “This is a custom-built, great room floor plan brimming with upgrades and it has been recently renovated with elegant and sophisticated finishes around every turn. The outdoor living space is truly what people imagine when they talk about the Florida lifestyle, with glass sliding doors opening from the living room to the lanai and heated saltwater pool and spa, blending indoor and outdoor living. Your perfect oasis is the ideal place to relax after you enjoy the amenities PGA Village has to offer. It’s resort living at home.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE January 4, 2024 27 When I was growing up, my dad excused our stays at dreary roadside motels with one simple comment: “When you’re asleep, it’s exactly the same as the Ritz.” Au contraire, Dad. Now that I have decades of staying in some of the world’s best hotels under my belt as a travel writer – and own a luxe short-term rental home with my husband in the Colorado mountains – I know that the littlest touches in a guest room can add up in big ways when it comes to your guest’s comfort - even when they’re asleep. On top of my own experience, I asked professional designers, all consummate hosts, for their best tips on creating a hotel-like guest room in your very own home. (Warning: Your houseguests might not want to leave.) Here are the 7 top hospitality tips we came up with: 1. Have WiFi passwords and phone chargers handy “Do unto others, as they say,” says designer and author Charlotte Moss, who regularly hosts guests in her Upper East Side townhouse, and does so with such generosity that friends are often greeted with a bedside arrangement of freshly cut roses from her garden. While the flowers are optional, one thing is truly a must, Moss says: zippy internet access. “There’s nothing worse than getting in late at night and knowing that you’ve got to answer some emails, and there’s nobody to tell you what the WiFi code is,” she says. To solve that problem in a lasting way in her own guest rooms (yes, she has multiple), Moss enlisted East Hampton’s Vogel Bindery to make small leather-bound journals containing the WiFi password and other household information. Of course, you could more easily – and inexpensively – create a similar touch by printing and framing your WiFi network and password, and placing it on the bedside table. Along those lines, designer Tina Yaraghi, founder of the Enchanted Home, also keeps an extra phone charger in the wall. “Sometimes people forget [to bring one], and we know people need their electronics to be working,” she says. 2. Leave plenty of snacks One of Moss’s most genius guest room hacks is a mini fridge tucked inside a cabinet, which she stocks with things her guests enjoy, from fruit to protein bars. “I learn what people like and what they don’t like and what their allergies are,” Moss says. Or, if she doesn’t know a house guest well yet, she goes for crowd pleasers: “There’s always a bottle of white wine, a bottle of red wine and dried fruit and nuts.” Even without a fridge, there are myriad ways to keep guests fed and happy. Moss also creates welcome trays with bottles of water, drinking glasses, bowls of fruit (grapes and figs), candy and cookies. 3. Dress the bed in layers – with nice sheets Our bed linens at home are fine, but the ones for guests at our Airbnb feel a bit like crawling into a cloud made of 680-threadcount cotton. “Don’t underestimate the power of really beautiful bedding, especially if it’s ironed,” says designer Catherine Ebert, who also emphasizes the 7 ways to make your guest room feel like a luxury hotel BY KATHRYN O’SHEA-EVANS | The Washington Post
28 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com importance of dressing your guest bed in layers, since people sleep at different temperatures. Her formula: ironed sheets, a cotton or wool blanket (depending on the season), a coverlet to make the bed look tailored and a duvet folded in thirds at the foot of the bed. “And don’t skimp on the pillows, either.” To make her guest bed feel more hotel-like, designer Sarah Tract adds a flurry of decorative pillows, as well as coasters on the nightstands for fresh glasses of water. Yaraghi gives her guest room scenes a final touch: “I like to spray freshly laundered linens with a fabric spray, which makes the entire room smell so good.” 4. Supply reading material Providing good lighting on the bedside tables and a few options for reading in various genres, including poetry and laughout-loud humor, is one of Moss’s favorite ways to make guests feel welcome and indulged. “I go through my library, picking out books so they can hunker down in their room if they want,” she says. They’ll be able to send a note easily, too, from a well-prepped desk: “There are postcards, notecards, stamps and something to write with.” 5. Maintain easy caffeine access If you’ve ever stumbled bleary-eyed into a friend’s kitchen, searching desperately for coffee supplies, you’ll understand that offering easy access to caffeine is one of the kindest gestures you can make as a host. Moss sets up a coffee and tea station right in her guest rooms – including a coffee maker, kettle and a selection of teas. The goal is “to let you have coffee in the morning in the privacy of your guest room without having to look at anybody else,” she says. If your setup doesn’t allow for in-room coffee, you can whip up something indulgent in your kitchen – such as a coffee station on a tray with locally roasted beans, beautiful mugs and your guest’s favorite coffee accoutrement (creamers, sweeteners, etc.). Leaving instructions on how to make the coffee or having it brewed at their chosen time is an added perk. 6. Arrange tiptop toiletries Put those sundry mini bottles of shampoos and lotions you’ve been hoarding from hotel stays to good use. Moss recommends leaving a basket in the bathroom or guest room closet with all the things a visitor might forget to bring, such as toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, body lotion, shaving cream, a mini sewing kit, hair dryer, nail file, even nail polish and polish remover. “Just think, ‘What would I need?’” Moss says. “It may sound like a lot of things, but [it] can make a big difference in someone’s comfort.” 7. And finally: Let them be A cloying concierge does not last long at any top hotel. To offer truly peerless service to your friends and family, it’s essential that you leave them alone to get some R&R. “Verbalize that they should feel very comfortable to go up to their room whenever they want,” says Yaraghi. “Maybe they want to take an afternoon nap or catch up on work. Though I know I don’t need to say it, sometimes just stating it … makes us all feel at ease. Bottom line is it’s the small things that count, and I want them to depart feeling like they had a little getaway.”
30 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com Even before the Federal Reserve begins cutting interest rates, the mere anticipation of such moves is already thawing the U.S. housing market. A series of reports last week showed activity coming back to life: Housing starts surged to a six-month high, sales of previously owned homes picked up from a 13-year low and builder optimism was boosted by increased interest from prospective buyers. Meanwhile, Americans’ home-buying plans rose this month by the most in more than a year. The bounce-back comes as mortgage rates have declined by more than one percentage point in eight weeks, the biggest drop over a comparable period since 2009. While the Fed last week signaled it’s finished its run of rate hikes and is preparing to cut in 2024, investors had already been scooping up Treasuries, driving down yields along with borrowing costs – such as mortgage rates – that tend to reflect fluctuations in the bond market. “There are definitely green shoots on the housing front,” said Charlie Dougherty, senior economist at Wells Fargo & Co. “You’re already starting to see the effects of lower expected interest rates boosting a lot of different facets of the housing market.” Even though the overall pace of activity remains subdued compared to the pre-pandemic period, the recent data highlights that consumers are starting to dip their toes back into the market and builders are revving up construction. Perhaps the biggest case for optimism is the expectation from economists and markets that the Fed will ease policy next year after an aggressive 16-month-long hiking campaign. The decline in mortgage rates should start spurring some homeowners to list their homes in the coming months, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, as supply remains an issue. Mortgage rates approached 8 percent in October, the highest in over two decades. But nearly two-thirds of owners have a mortgage rate below 4 percent, making it unappealing to sell their current home. Chad Reeves, who runs a Keller Williams brokerage location in Gwinnett County, Georgia, says his office is on pace to sell 200 homes this month. That’s higher than the same month last year, and around the same level as December 2019 before the pandemic hit. He saw the impact from the decline in mortgage rates first-hand. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage slid for the fifth straight week to 6.83 percent in the week ended Dec. 15, the lowest since June, and it’s expected to fall further as the Fed cuts their overnight lending rate. “The minute that rate came down into the sixes, we had numerous people,” Reeves said. “The buyer market filled back up.” The path forward rests largely on consumers, and by many indications, they’re ending the year on a more jubilant note. Confidence skyrocketed by the most since early 2021 in the Conference Board’s survey for December as the outU.S. housing market shows signs of life after mortgage rates fall BY KATIA DMITRIEVA AND MICHAEL SASSO Bloomberg CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
32 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com 510 NW University Blvd., Suite 106, Port St. Lucie 34986 772.281.2650 www.TraditionElectricInc.com Licensed & Insured lic# EC13003314 “High Quality & Prompt Service is our Tradition” • SERVICE UPGRADES • NEW OUTLETS & CIRCUITS • ANNUAL HOME ELECTRICAL CHECKUP • CEILING FANS/LIGHT FIXTURES • GENERATOR/HOME SURGE PROTECTION • LANDSCAPE LIGHTING • RENOVATIONS Family Owned & Operated Residential / Commercial / Service FREE ESTIMATES $50 OFF WHOLE HOME SURGE SUPRESSOR Must present coupon when scheduling for discount. Exp. 2/1/24 NEED A RELIABLE ELECTRICIAN? look for jobs and inflation improved. It’s the latest survey indicating that consumers – while still concerned about high prices – see the pace of price growth cooling and the broader economy improving. The pace of homebuying may remain subdued unless inventory is significantly freed up. The lack of available properties pushed home prices 4 percent higher in November, the most in a year, and NAR data showed sold properties were on the market for less than a month, a sign of high demand. Still, some economists see the improvement in housing filtering through into economic activity next year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its fourth-quarter economic growth estimates to 1.7 percent last week. For now, the brighter outlook for borrowing costs and lack of supply creates an ideal set-up for homebuilders. U.S. homebuilder stocks outperformed the S&P 500 index so far this month. Sales are up 20 percent this year for Willy Nunn, who’s president of homebuilding company Homes by WestBay near Tampa, Florida, helped in part by fewer supply chain problems than last year. While it’s still below what he called the “pandemic mania” when rates plunged, he still characterizes the current pace as strong. “We’re building up to a huge spring,” Nunn said. “Website traffic looks really positive,” indicating pent-up demand is coming out, he said. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
34 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | REAL ESTATE www.stlucievoice.com Q: My mortgage got sold again to a new loan servicing company. And again my credit score went down. My score went down when they closed my oldest loan. My credit score is around 780 and fluctuates between that number and 800. I’ve used about 2 percent of my credit on about $5,000 available. With the change to the new loan servicer, my credit score dropped about 15 points. What a scam. I wonder if others feel like I do? What do your readers think? A: How and why credit scores work is a mystery to most people. Many credit reporting bureaus will include an explanation on how and why your credit score may go up and down from time to time. In our view, and according to FICO, 800 is an exceptional credit score. So, you don’t really have to worry about temporary drops – and if everything else stays the same in your financial life, it will be temporary. But many other prospective homeowners could be affected if their score dropped 15 points. We’ll address that below. We’re also confused by how your credit score changed when your loan company changed servicers. The underlying debt – your home mortgage – remained the same and the history of your loan payments should have been static. It could be something as simple as the break between your on-time payments getting recorded. Or, it could be adding a new tradeline to your credit history. We suspect that in a month or two, your credit score will once again recoup those lost 15 points and resume showing your score at around 800. Here’s something else to keep in mind: You have more than one credit score. There are education scores published by Experian, TransUnion and Equifax for consumers to use. There are a variety of credit scores purchased by banks, credit unions and other financial services companies. Mortgage lenders have their own credit score, which is supposedly better at predicting how you’ll repay your mortgage. Auto lenders have another set of scores tuned to repaying auto loans. In short, the credit score you see on your bank or credit card website is likely similar, but not the same, as the credit score a lender would pull. So, an 800 score in one place, might be a 780 in another or an 820 at a third institution. Where your question becomes critical is when someone has a lower credit score. The average credit score in the U.S. is 700. If your credit score is around 680 and drops 15 points, that can mean you’ll pay a lot more for your loan. If your credit score is 600 and drops 15 points, you might not be able to get a mortgage at all. This would be important if you got a loan when interest rates were 8 percent and you’re now looking to refinance. A small drop in your credit score could mean you’d miss out on the best rates, which are around 6 percent as we write this. To keep your credit score as high as possible, you need to pay your bills on time and, if possible, in full each month. Use less than 30 percent of your available credit. Keep your longest credit accounts open and active. And don’t cancel accounts solely to reduce the number of credit cards you have. Review your credit history frequently. You can access your credit history by going to each of the major credit reporting agencies, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, and setting up a free account online. Once you do that, it’s easy to freeze and unfreeze your credit history. Each of these companies will ask you to pay for a higher level of service or to see multiple credit scores, but it isn’t necessary. You should be able to review your entire credit history online and get a free monthly credit score. You can also go to AnnualCreditReport.com and download a free copy of your credit history from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. You might not need to download reports from all three of them, but you can start with one. You will get offered products and services when you go to the site, but you don’t have to accept any offers and you don’t have to put any credit card information into the site to obtain your credit report. You will, however, need to input your social security number and other personal information. Credit score drops after mortgage sold to new servicer BY ILYCE GLINK AND SAMUEL J. TAMKIN | Tribune
11919 SW AVENTINO DRIVE • ESTATES AT TRADITION OFFERED AT $769,900 8813 ONE PUTT PLACE • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $699,000 9012 SW TERZI WAY • VERANO OFFERED AT $749,000 8032 LINKS WAY • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $775,000 10029 SW DUCCIO LANE • VERANO OFFERED AT $389,500 7039 WILLOW PINE WAY • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $379,000 10742 GREY HERON COURT • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $899,900 902 SW MUNJACK CIRCLE • LAKE CHARLES OFFERED AT $389,000 7290 RESERVE CREEK DRIVE • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $1,150,000 8863 SW BREVE WAY • CRESSWIND AT VERANO OFFERED AT $590,000 9009 HOUNDSLAKE COURT • PGA VILLAGE OFFERED AT $545,000 17004 SW AMBROSE WAY • VERANO OFFERED AT $599,900 11958 SW LAGUNA BAY PARKWAY • VALENCIA GROVE OFFERED AT $724,900 AVAILABLE AVAILABLE AVAILABLE AVAILABLE PRICE REDUCED AVAILABLE PRICE REDUCED PRICE REDUCED PRICE REDUCED — FEATURED LISTINGS — 8687 SW FLUTTO WAY • VERANO OFFERED AT $795,000 UNDER CONTRACT 6091 SW BALD EAGLE DRIVE • PALM CITY OFFERED AT $584,900 UNDER CONTRACT SOLD SOLD NEW LISTING NEW LISTING Elise Danielian 772-418-2992 [email protected] Ingrid Hewitt 772-203-7800 [email protected] Isabelle Pollock 772-713-3221 [email protected] TREASURE COAST TRIO Top Producing Team HAPPY NEW YEAR!
fun, festivities food THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2024 YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SECTION PHOTOS: LINDA KLOORFAIN A festive atmosphere pervaded Tradition Square on Sunday as revelers prepared to welcome the new year. Above, Lauren Harman, above, gets into the spirit of 2024. Far left, Jeremy LaBianca prepares his signature pinwheels. Near left, the Luna Blue Band came all the way from Tampa to provide the musical entertainment. And inset above, Martina Alarcon ‘aims’ to start the new year on a positive note in the kids’ activity area. ’WORKS FOR US!
B2 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS www.stlucievoice.com The Atlantic Classical Orchestra promises a season of varied music, virtuoso brilliance and just sheer inspiration for everybody – mavens of symphonic music as well as those yet uninitiated to it. “It is a restorative and comforting pursuit,” says Maestro David Amado. “It’s an amazing gift to give yourself.” Amado, the conductor and music director for the ACO, worked with their artistic advisory committee to choose the upcoming season. The committee, he says, comprised of individuals with varied tastes and backgrounds, brings valuable insight into the concert experience. “It’s really important to have more than one voice at the table,” he explains. “It yields really good results. What makes this season special is we have not only such an incredibly wide range of eras of music but also stylistic differences.” There are programs that have “light” music and those with more traditional “heavier” symphonic works. There are also movie soundtracks and grand, sweeping American works. The idea, he says, is to offer a wide variety and avoid a season that’s filled to the brim with intensity. Amado is quick to add that he is not complaining about traditional programming. Indeed, he has a long line of serious conducting credits and he recently retired from 20 years conducting the Delaware BY PAM HARBAUGH | Correspondent MUSIC PREVIEW Symphony Orchestra. However, he does liken a full course of heavy programming to a menu that starts off with crème soup, followed by lobster in cream sauce and filet mignon. “I think it’s important to have a lot of variety, so people’s ears don’t fatigue, their psyches don’t fatigue,” he says. “I think we’ve done a really nice job threading that needle. I’m really proud of it.” The Atlantic Classical Orchestra presents a Masterworks Series of four concerts at the Community Church of Vero Beach and at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart. It also offers a Chamber Series which has three concerts presented at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and at the Elliott Museum in Stuart. Masterworks I: The Wild West, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12) The rousing program features Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” William Grant Still’s “American Scenes,” Aaron Copland’s “Four Dances from Rodeo,” Leonard Bernstein’s “Magnificent Seven” and John Williams’ “Cowboys.” Amado says this is a great way to begin the season. He’s especially proud to feature work by William Grant Still, an African American composer of the 20th century whose compositions are quickly gaining renewed interest. Masterworks II: Paris Jazz, 7:30 p.m. UP, UP AND ARRAY! VARIETY ADDS EXTRA SPICE TO ATLANTIC CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA SEASON Maestro David Amado.
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS January 4, 2024 B3 Thursday, Feb. 8 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9) The program features Darius Milhaud’s “La Boeuf sur le toit,” Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto in G Major with pianist Terrence Wilson, Bohuslav Martinu’s “Jazz Suite” and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris.” Amado says this is an especially “fun concert” with an interesting, strange mix. The Milhaud composition was conceived of as a soundtrack for a Charlie Chaplin silent film that was never made, but filmmaker Jean Cocteau heard the music and staged a ballet to it. Masterworks III: Latin Passions, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Friday, March 22) The program features George Bizet’s “Carmen” Suite No. 1, Astor Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” with violinist Siwoo Kim, and Manuel de Falla’s “Three Cornered Hat.” This concert also features members of the Treasure Coast Youth Symphony playing alongside the ACO musicians. “Siwoo is going to be fantastic,” Amado says, adding that the Piazzolla piece is based on Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons.” “It’s so incredibly colorful.” Masterworks IV: The Classics, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 11 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Friday, April 12) The program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Coriolan Overture,” Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 with ACO’s principal cellist Ashley Garrison, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.” Amado says he is excited to present the “Eroica” to audiences because the scope and scale was so unprecedented when Beethoven wrote it. At the time, he says Beethoven had become enraptured with Napoleon and dedicated the work to him. However, after he discovered the darker truth behind Napoleon, “He scratched his name out with such ferocity he scratched through the paper,” Amado says. “The political energy that went into creating the piece, as a political statement, was something that would become a staple of classical music.” Chamber Series I: All-American Stars, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28) The ACO Brass Quintet will feature Beni Salvia on trumpet, Dan Satterwhite on bass, trombone and tuba, Jesse Cook on trumpet, Stan Spinola on horn and Tim Conner on trombone in a virtuoso performance that features excerpts from Gershwin’s groundbreaking “Porgy and Bess.” Chamber Series II: Intimate Portraits, 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11) An all-string program will feature Leonid Sigal on violin, Anna Ivanova on viola and Christopher Gladsdorp on cello. An interesting highlight of this will be a show-stopping work by Bohuslav Martinu, who wrote the piece for Amado’s grandmother, famed violist Lillian Fuchs. Chamber Series III: The Flute Summons, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 17 (Stuart, 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24) A quartet will feature Christina Apelgren on flute, Aleksandr Zhuk on violin, Kaitlin Seto on viola and Ashley Garritson on cello, highlighting works by Mozart and Beethoven that put the flute front and center. The Masterworks Series is presented at the Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd St., Vero Beach, and at the Lyric Theatre, 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart. The Chamber Series is presented at the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the Elliott Museum, 825 NE Ocean Blvd., Stuart. Ticket prices range from $30 to $65 for the Masterworks Series and from $35 to $40 for the Chamber Series. There are discounts available for season subscriptions. For more information, call 772-460-0851 or visit AtlanticClassicalOrchestra.com. Terrence Wilson. Siwoo Kim. Ashley Garrison.
B4 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS www.stlucievoice.com The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to the Treasure Coast with a three-concert series at Vero Beach’s Trinity Episcopal Church, following last year’s successful introductory season at the Community Church of Vero Beach. Founded in 1969, the CMS presents a full season of concerts at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City, as well as performances at venues around the country. Scott Johnson, a New York and Vero Beach architect with longtime family ties to the area, introduced the CMS to Vero Beach in connection with the Three Corners Project. Johnson, a cellist and composer himself, was introduced to CMS while working with the architectural firm that renovated Lincoln Center, and invited cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-artistic directors of CMS, to visit Vero. They performed a brief concert inside the old power plant and were encouraged by the vision of that project and the reception they received from the community last year. “They are literally the best in the world at what they do. When you go to a CMS concert, there’s nothing like it. Even if you don’t like chamber music, you’re just blown away because of their expertise. They really captured me,” says Johnson, adding that Wu Han has started successful chamber music programs in other parts of the country. “She’s a visionary,” says Johnson. The married couple of Finckel and Wu Han became co-artistic directors in the 2004- 05 season, and in 2012, they received Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award in recognition of their mastery of the craft, stewardship of music organization, innovative programming and commitment to fostering young talent. Wu Han’s multi-faceted career includes artistic direction, performing and recording at the highest levels and Finckel, a professor at Juilliard and Stony Brook University, won nine Grammy Awards and the Avery Fisher Prize during his time with the Emerson String Quartet. “Because this is a new venture, David and I wanted to be the group to open the CMS down there,” says Wu Han, who spoke with this reporter about the upcoming season of concerts in Vero Beach. “The Beethoven Trio Opus 1, No. 1 is the trio that Beethoven made his debut with in Vienna, so we thought that’s going to be a really good opening. The Shostakovich Sonata is a piece written in the very turbulent time of Shostakovich’s personal life,” says Wu Han, explaining that they wanted something that would offset the happiness of the first and last pieces. “We wanted to have a little spice in the program and that’s also a piece that David learned directly from [Mstislav] Rostropovich, his teacher. So that was historically important,” she says. “And the Dvořák Quartet is one of the most joyful pieces of music in chamber music literature. It has the most incredible cello solo in the slow movement so we’re going to show off David as well.” Always wanting to introduce audiences to their international roster of “up-and-coming young superstars in the chamber music field,” they are joined in this first concert by violinist Richard Lin and violist Timothy Ridout. A Juilliard graduate, Lin received a Gold Medal at the 2018 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis and Ridout is a recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2023 Young Artist Award. Wu Han next speaks about the last concert, which she describes as more intellectual. “We always believe that people should learn more about the music they are listening to. Because we started out with Beethoven, this is an exercise for the audience and the musicians to compare Haydn’s trios and Beethoven’s trios.” She explains that Beethoven took the Haydn Trio, composed at the beginning of the German formation of piano trios, and moved it forward. “So if you hear this program with the Haydn and Beethoven side by side, you will realize why Beethoven is so important as well as why Haydn is incredible. It’s a very real opportunity to have this kind of programming, which is the specialty of CMS,” says Wu Han. For the middle concert, she says they added in some spice, likening the design to a balanced meal. “You can’t always just have the German repertoire. You want to have something exotic. And so, for this very first season in the Trinity Church, I want to have a wide range of displays.” The Grieg Sonata will be played by another married couple, violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and pianist Wu Qian. “They play that piece like nobody else. It’s incredible.” Wu Han calls the Vieuxtemps Elégie “absolutely gorgeous. Very few people know about that and it’s a big showpiece for the viola.” In Schubert’s Trio, she says each of the string players gets to show off a little before they all come together to finish with a Dohnányi Quintet. “So, you will see a really wide array of different styles and different temperaments of the pieces. Each program is designed specifically for the reason that we want to make sure that it’s a really balanced and delicious diet. A little bit for everybody.” Monday, Jan. 22: Beethoven, Shostakovich and Dvořák Finkel, Wu Han and Lin open with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 1, No. 1, his first published piece and a classic of the chamber music repertoire. Next, Finckel and Wu Han perform their interpretation of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40, a piece described in 1934 as “disciplined, classically proportioned, sonorous and eminently lyrical.” Finckel, Wu Han, Lin and Ridout close out the program with Antonin Dvořák’s high-spirited Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello in E-flat major, Op. 87. Thursday, Feb. 29: Instrumental Inspirations This concert includes Franz Schubert’s Trio in B-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Cello, D. 581; Edvard Grieg’s Sonata No. 3 in C minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 45; Henri Vieuxtemps’ Elégie for Viola and Piano, Op. 30; and Ern Dohnányi’s Quintet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1. The artists are pianist Wu Qian, a critically acclaimed soloist and winner of a 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award; violinist Julian Rhee, first-prize winner of the 2020 Elmar Oliveira International Competition; Russian born violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, a founding member (with Wu Qian and cellist Isang Enders) of the Sitkovetsky Trio; American violist Matthew Lipman, who regularly performs with CMS at Alice Tully ‘LITERALLY THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT THEY DO’ MUSIC PREVIEW BY MARY SCHENKEL | Staff Writer Chamber Music Society returns for 3 amazing concerts Above: David Finckel and Wu Han. Left: Richard Lin.
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS January 4, 2024 B5 Hall, where he occupies the Wallach Chair; and cellist Jonathan Swenson, who has won numerous first prizes at international cello competitions. Thursday, March 20: Trios Transformed Wu Han and Finckel return, joined by Arnaud Sussmann on violin to play a quartet of trios by Ludwig van Beethoven and Joseph Haydn. Sussmann is artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, co-director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and founding artistic director of the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival. Although better known for his symphonies and string quartets, Haydn’s Trio in A major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Hob. XV:18, demonstrates a similar sophistication to his final six “London” Symphonies. Beethoven’s Trio in C minor for Piano, Violin and Cello, Op. 1, No. 3, was among his earliest masterpieces and introduced his style to the public. Haydn’s Trio in E major Piano, Violin, and Cello, Hob. XV:28 was dedicated to pianist Therese Jansen Bartolozzi to highlight her skill. Beethoven’s Trio in D major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost” [so called because of its eerie-sounding slow movement at the end] concludes the program. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2365 Pine Ave., Vero Beach. 32960. Pre-concert talks with the artists, which Wu Han says will be a relaxed, but intellectually and aesthetically challenging and fun, begin at 6:45 p.m. Individual or three-concert subscription tickets can be purchased at ChamberMusicSociety.org. Above: Alexander Sitkovetsky and Wu Qian. Right: Timothy Ridout.
Event Center Place, Port St. Lucie. Visit CityOfPSL.com. Funnyman Jay Leno comes to town next week. He will perform 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at the Sunrise Theatre, 117 S 2nd St., Fort Pierce. Tickets are $99 to $130. Doors open at 7 p.m. and a full bar is available. There will also be a Private Lounge opening one hour before the show starts. The Private Lounge includes priority entrance, an exclusive cash bar with premium wines and a specialty drink, light appetizers or desserts, and one complimentary non-alcoholic drink. The artist does not appear at the Private Lounge. Tickets to the private lounge cost $25 and you must have a ticket to the show in order to access it. If that price is a bit too steep for you, perhaps the Comedy Corner might satisfy. It features award-winning Myke Herlihy and Jess Torres 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Drinks and snacks are available for purchase. Call 772-461-4775 or visit SunriseTheatre.com. The Emerson Center in Vero Beach kicks into gear Saturday, Jan. 6, with “Perfect Together,” which begins at 7 p.m. This show imagines Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra performing together. It stars Susan Ashley and Tony Sands as the two iconic singers. Tickets are $35 to $50. Then, the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra’s “The Best of Country Music” begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, at the Emerson Center. This concert stars Sarah Purser, who is the education director for Orlando Opera and who has been a featured soloist with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park; and Andrew LeJeune, who has performed in musicals at theaters around 6 B6 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS www.stlucievoice.com 3 4 The Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens is the setting for “Outdoor Adventures: Feathered Friends” on Wednesday to help inspire children’s love for nature. The program is geared for ages 5 and older and includes hands-on activities, outdoor adventures and engaging lessons. The cost is $10 per participant. It runs 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Botanical Gardens, 2410 SE Westmoreland Blvd., Port St. Lucie. For more information, visit CityOfPSL.com. River Nights will feature music by Derek Trull and the Easy Street Band 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at Veterans Park at Rivergate, 2200 SE Veterans Memorial Parkway, Port St. Lucie. Be sure to bring a comfy chair. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. For more information, call 772-878-2277 or visit CityOfPSL.com. The Martin Luther King Jr. Family Fun Day is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at Whispering Pines Park Racket and Paddle Center, 800 SW Darwin Blvd., Port St. Lucie. The free event begins with a “Mark through the Park” and features food, entertainment and more. For more information, call 772-878-2277 or visit CityOfPSL.com. The MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Event Center has a couple of events coming up soon. The Lexus Great Futures Glitz & Glam Gala will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie County. The gala includes entertainment, inspiring stories, a gourmet dinner and a chance to contribute to a worthy cause. Tickets are $300. For more information, call 772-460-9918, ext. 105. The Katy Rose art exhibition opens Jan. 17 at the Event Center. It runs through March 12. Viewing hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The Event Center is at 9221 SE Coming Up! Botanical Gardens’ ‘Outdoor Adventures’ takes flight The circus is coming (back to) town. Cirque Italia will be at Clover Park in St. Lucie West Thursday to Sunday, Feb. 1-4, with a 1950s-themed show that narrates a story. “It’s a unique show,” said Alex Acero, ringmaster. “We have a stage that costs $500,000. There are only three in the world like it.” Acero said Cirque Italia combines computerized lighting with watery visuals. And it combines traditional circus fare with unusual performances. “We have jugglers,” he said. “A bungee act. We have the crystal ball a lady does contortions inside. There’s also an international flair to Cirque Italia. “We have 17 performers from different countries,” Acero said. “We have an international cast.” The performers come from and bring the performing traditions of places such as Argentina and Romania. Manuel Rebecchi founded Cirque Italia. He was born and raised in Milan, Italy, under the proverbial big top. His aunt, Moira Orfei, is popularly known as “The Queen of the Italian Circus.” Orfei Circus is likely the most famous in Europe. Rebecchi’s family has long shown a taste for doing everything extravagantly with daring. When he thought to combine the visual effects of water with acrobatic performance, Rebecchi didn’t leave the results to any chance. He went to one of the most famous families associated with quality workmanship. He commissioned Serge Ferrari in 2012 to build the equipment for the show. Acero said the heart of the circus world is family. It’s commonplace, he said, for families to perform together at circuses. Cirque Italia holds onto that tradition. “We’re families entertaining families,” he said. “I have my wife and kids in the show with me.” Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1-3. There will be two other showtimes on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, Feb. 4, showtimes are 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $50. All children 2 and younger are free. There are some free tickets for children 3 to 12 years old. The pricing is explained and tickets are available at cirqueitalia.com. Clover Park is located at 31 Piazza Dr. BY PAM HARBAUGH | Correspondent 1 2 5 BY PATRICK McCALLISTER | Correspondent Cirque Italia: Prepare to be amazed Jay Leno.
To Advertise (772-633-1115) ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS January 4, 2024 B7 Central Florida and performs at Universal Studios. The concert will feature hits by great artists such as Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Kenny Rogers and many more. Tickets are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Concertgoers aged 18 or younger or with a college ID are admitted free to every SCSO concert. The Emerson Center is located at 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach. Tickets are $35 to $50. For more information, visit TheEmersonCenter.com or call 772-778-5249. Stuart’s Lyric Theatre presents the Texas Tenors, a trio of well-respected singers, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6. Tickets are $50. The group appeared on “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” and have had two PBS specials. The members of the group are classically trained singers who have appeared at the White House National Tree Lighting ceremony and with the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. The Canadian Brass performs 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, for the venue’s Family Fun Series. Tickets are $75. There will be brass standards and original arrangements of a wealth of musical genres, including Baroque, marches, ragtime, Broadway and Christian music. Lyric Theatre is at 59 SW Flagler Ave., Stuart. Call 772-286-7827 or visit LyricTheatre.com. Vero Beach Opera kicks off its season with the fully staged original production of Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” on Sunday at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center. The opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles over the stage. It is directed by artistic director Russell Franks and the music is directed by Gregory Buchalter, who will conduct the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. The chorus master is Anthony Baron. It stars Eleomar Cuello, an award-winning baritone who was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition at Lincoln Center. He makes his Met Opera debut later this season in “Carmen.” The performance begins 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center, 1707 16th St., Vero Beach. Tickets are $30 to $100. Call 772-569-6993 or 772-564-5537. 7 8 What happens when the inhabitants of a town are ravaged by marauding rhinoceroses and then, one by one, are turned into the creatures? This is the question posed by Eugene Ionescu’s 1959 play “Rhinoceros,” written about his life growing up in Romania before World War II and his time in occupied France during the war, as it challenges ideas of conformity and fear of the unknown and “the other.” For Alex Kanter, master instructor of theater at Indian River State College, whose students will present the play Feb. 1-4, this play reminds him of a more recent time. “What I found so uncanny were the references to dealing with an unknown disease, with everyone turning into rhinoceroses,” he said. “It’s the equivalent to a pandemic no one can explain and there’s the panic, or lack of it, that sets in.” Kanter noted that the play itself is taught in humanities classes and put in an historical context. “This play was written in 1959 and very significantly deals with Ionescu’s early years in Romania, as well as in Vichy, France,” he said. “The appropriate way this play is taught in this day and age is as a playwright’s absurdist and therefore satirical reaction to events he lived through. The goal of any educational program is to teach students critical thinking skills which allow them to draw comparisons or connections to their own lives, or not. We look at this play for the absurdist genre: What makes this play so funny, when, in fact, what’s being portrayed shouldn’t really be funny?” Kanter has discovered that his students connected to the play quickly because they associate it with another unusual occurrence. “They associate it with the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ movies,” he said. “They absolutely get the terror of being the last one alive in a world or Zombies or Rhinoceroses. That’s a nice way to teach this play. It stands on its own merit without its historical context and does not feel dated or wedded to 1960. In rehearsal, we’re having such fun exploring the crazy characters and absurd dialogue. We’re having a blast. Ionescu has appealed to me because he makes his messaging with very clever, impressive theatricality. There is a notion that for anyone in the audience in 1959-60 who lived through the war or the Romanian regime, it would hit home. He could have gotten on a soapbox and used it as a sermon. What I appreciate is that he still wrote a very entertaining play.” Kanter said that he is requiring a great deal of his cast, which includes Jacob Kulwin, Romance Joseph, Ariel Galan, Thomas Heldreth, Kayleigh Cooper, Cameron Panny, Laura Halicki, Victoria Whitty, Nathaniel Castor, Kelsey Westberg, Benjamin Fadayomi, Cole Turner, Rebekah Schaefer, Juliana Pack and Ezra Negro. “I am asking a lot of weird,” he said. “It wouldn’t be realistic if I didn’t have a cast willing to go there and try new things and it wouldn’t work without very talented performers.” For Kanter, the challenge is exposing his students to a wide variety of plays in a two-year span. “I do my best in a two-year program,” he said. “In educational theater, I should be able to provide my students with multiple styles. In only two years, there is only so much sampling. I take exposure to different genres very seriously for both actors and audiences. This semester, we’re rehearsing three shows at one time. It works for me. For some of my actors, it’s an adjustment to change the mindset so easily. This is literally what casts do in repertory, with one show one night and another the next. It is a great skill to develop to switch gears based on projects. “I do my best to make sure everything we’re doing is preparing our students for success in the world of theater. It’s about enjoying their passion. Some will do other things career-wise but continue to perform. There are so many ways to be happy with the art you’re creating, and you don’t have to always be standing in the spotlight. It’s taking a different path but not giving up on your dream.” Indian River State College presents “Rhinoceros” at the McAlpin Fine Arts Center, 3209 Virginia Ave., Fort Pierce, Feb. 1-4. Call 772- 462-4750 or 1-800-220-9915 for more information. BY SHELLEY KOPPEL | Staff Writer [email protected] IRSC ventures way out there with Ionescu’s ‘Rhinoceros’ A rehearsal for “Rhinocersos,” with, from left, Kelsey Westberg as Daisy, Juliana Pack as Mrs. Boeuf and Jacob Kulwin as Berenger. PHOTO COURTESY OF INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE
B8 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | ARTS/PEOPLE www.stlucievoice.com Director Joyce Milligan didn’t want to direct Susan Miller’s play “20th Century Blues” until she sat down and read it. “When I started reading and getting into it more and realized all the playwright had to say, I related to it so much,” she said. “I want other people to hear her voice, too.” A.C.T. Studio Theatre in Stuart will present the comedy/ drama Jan. 12-28 and Milligan spoke recently about how much the play has to offer both women and men. “There are four women, all about the same age, in the decade after WWII,” she said. “They met in college and continued their friendships over the next 40-50 years.” That, of course, took them through career ups and downs, marriages, divorces, children, and everything that makes up life. “There are conflicts, even with our friends,” Milligan said. “Yet when you have that profound, loving friendship, you can live beyond conflicts.” One of the women, Danny, is a professional photographer and the women gather each year and take a group photo. Danny is invited to present a retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art and to give a TED talk. While she has done many types of photography, she wants to use pictures of the friends. Anyone who has spent time going through old photos knows that it can arouse emotions, good and bad. There is also the realization that, over time, you and others have changed. When Danny wants to use the photos in her show, emotions come to the fore. “That’s when people start reflecting about what it means to age, and so many other issues,” Milligan said. “One of the women is against using them, one is ambivalent, and one doesn’t see a problem. It brings out so much as they all start reflecting about what they’ve gone through and what life was like over 40 years. They started life in the days of June Cleaver, when women couldn’t have a credit card in their name. We’ve gone through so much development as a society and individually. These are not just things. They are our lives.” The conflict causes some strains in the friendships, but they hold true. “A true friendship transcends it,” Milligan said. “They are sisters of a sort.” Milligan is pleased with her cast, which includes Sherri Paradis as Danny, Pat Burgemeister as Bess, Adrienne Waters as Gabby, Suni Simpson as Mac, Kristal Eckhardt as Sil and Nicolas Pollio as Simon. “They’re talented actors,” she said. “There is a personal rapport they have developed and become real friends. It’s lovely to see.” Milligan hopes that people will move past the title, which didn’t attract her at first, to see a play we can all relate to. It’s not “just” for women; anyone who has lived with a woman can relate to it, as well. The reluctant director has become a fan. “Society has changed for everyone,” Milligan said. “There’s a sort of loss of innocence. I’m thrilled to be able to direct this show and cast.” A.C.T. Studio Theatre, 2399 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart, in Cedar Pointe Plaza, presents “20th Century Blues” Jan. 12-28. Call 772-932-8880 or visit actstudiotheatre.com. This show deals with adult topics and has some adult language. BY SHELLEY KOPPEL | Staff Writer [email protected] Cast of A.C.T. Studio Theatre’s “20th Century Blues,” from left: Adrienne Waters, Suni Mayo-Simpson, Kristal Eckhardt, Pat Burgemeister, Nicolas Pollio and Sherri Paradis. PHOTO COURTESY OF A.C.T. STUDIO THEATRE Misty Mountain Hop, a popular Led Zeppelin tribute band – featuring Phil Sparacino on vocals, Ben Burgman on guitar, Pete Mora on bass and keys, and Thomas Aton on drums – performed at Rockin’ Riverwalk in downtown Stuart last Sunday. The crowd filled the stands to see the final show of the year. The Rockin’ Riverwalk concert series features a different band every Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The concert certainly included a high note for Phil Sparacino, who proposed to his girlfriend Andria during the show. She said yes! ‘20TH CENTURY BLUES’: Society changes, but friendships endure PHOTOS: LINDA KLOORFAIN Rockin’ Riverwalk ‘Hops’ to it
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B10 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | PEOPLE www.stlucievoice.com If Shannon Sloan wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film “Snakes on a Plane,” it would have been a feel-good movie about ectothermic animals calming anxious flyers. Sloan owns Reptilia Rock, an animal education program that makes appearances at Tradition Square, 10807 SW Tradition Square. The core of Reptilia Rock’s offerings is straightforward – it gives folks, especially children, the chance to learn about reptiles by and while handling them. Sloan said she has watched many shed ophidiophobia and herpetophobia in minutes. “I have a snake in my hand right now,” she said. “He did a figure eight around my fingers. He’s wrapped around and is hanging out with me.” Sloan’s a speech-language pathologist assistant who is incorporating snakes and other reptiles into speech therapy with St. Lucie children. She’s wrapping up graduate school this year, which for now is limiting her time for taking animals to public and private events. The next scheduled Reptilia Rock appearance in Tradition will be at the Il Mercato Pop-up Shop on March 30. Raising reptiles is a newer thing for Sloan. She started adulthood serving in the military and law enforcement. Among other credits, she’s an Operation Desert Shield/Storm veteran. Although in 1990 the Army prohibited women from direct combat roles, she ended up in the front lines as a field MP securing Iraqi prisoners of war during the 100-hour ground war. Sloan experiences conditions related to Gulf War syndrome. Snakes are therapy for some of them. “I love hanging out with (reptiles),” she said. “A lot of people say they get emotional support from their animals. When they want to wrap around you and hang out with you, it’s cool.” Motherhood got Sloan into reptiles. That was in 2020. “I have a son who will push and push and push until he gets what he wants,” she said. “He wanted a snake.” So the first serpent moved in with Sloan. Then it was confirmed: “Reptile obsession is a real thing,” she said. It didn’t take long before Sloan was taking in reptiles others could no longer care for. She also bought some. But, more than half of the reptiles are rehomed. Sloan has 29. “I have 25 involved in (Reptilia Rock programs), but I don’t take them all every time,” said Sloan. Among the reptiles people get to cuddle with at Reptilia Rock programs is a lipstick sunglow Columbian red tail boa. Mei, the boa, looks a little like her natural Boidae cousins. She was bred to have a distinct color scheme. These animals are called “morphs.” “It’s just like what we did with dogs,” explained Sloan. “People do that with reptiles as well.” Among other animals Sloan introduces people to at Reptilia Rock programs are the Egyptian egg-eating snake, Madagascar ground geckos, a Florida blue-striped garter snake, and, one of the biggest hits, eastern Hermann’s tortoises. “They are dalmatian eastern Hermann’s tortoises,” said Sloan. Similar to Florida’s gopher tortoises, human activity threatens the eastern Hermann’s tortoise. Sloan got those animals from Garden State Tortoise, which is involved in rescue and conservation efforts. She hopes to breed them to help with conservation efforts. “I love teaching kids about (reptiles),” Sloan said. “I love teaching adults about them. It makes me happy. It brings joy to my life.” To find out about private events, and to see some cool reptile pictures, visit reptiliarock.com. Reptilia Rock is also on Instagram and Facebook. REPTILIA ROCK: Getting up close and personal with exotic critters BY PATRICK McCALLISTER | Correspondent The Bald Eagles’ nests in St. Lucie and Indian River counties are active again. The mating pairs are awaiting their eaglets to hatch. The male and female take turns protecting the eggs while the other goes for food. Eaglets will typically stay in the nest for 10 to 12 weeks before flying off. SIGHT FOR ‘SOAR’ EYES Eastern Hermann’s tortoise. PHOTOS: LINDA KLOORFAIN
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B14 January 4, 2024 ST. LUCIE VOICE | COMMUNITY www.stlucievoice.com The Fraternal Order of Eagles – an international nonprofit organization uniting fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope – is organizing a chapter in Port St. Lucie. The F.O.E. was founded in February 1898 by six theater owners gathered in a Seattle shipyard to discuss a musicians’ strike. After addressing the matter, they agreed to “bury the hatchet” and form “The Order of Good Things.” As numbers grew, members selected the Bald Eagle as the official emblem and changed the name to “The Fraternal Order of Eagles.” The women’s auxiliary traces its roots to 1927. The Fraternal Order of Eagles includes nearly 800,000 members and more than 1,500 locations across the United States and Canada. We would love to support our great Port St Lucie community. F.O.E. is a membership-based organization and features a Those Who Serve program. It offers first-year membership for free to all military and all levels of first responders. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at the Port St. Lucie Community Center, 2195 SW Airoso Blvd. For more information visit foe.com. – CONTRIBUTED In a season of hustle and bustle, parties and holiday excitement, there’s a group of individuals along with their families who often are overlooked and or forgotten – individuals with cognitive and intellectual difficulties. However, that wasn’t the case on Dec. 21 at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce. Heathcote added an additional night onto its 9th Annual Garden of Lights schedule and created a Night of Illumination specifically geared toward individuals with special needs. The night included a dinner prepared by the Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Lucie, a sensory arts and crafts project, music that allowed participants to dance and sing karaoke, a walking tour through the lighted displays, and, of course, Santa. Attendees were invited through the Gardens’ partner agencies ARC of the Treasure Coast, the Hope Center for Autism, the Baron Academy, and Heathcote family members of employees and volunteers. “We have such a beautiful display of handcrafted lights that are enjoyed by thousands every year as the premier holiday light event on the Treasure Coast. It makes my heart hurt to think of those who can’t enjoy this community gift because of large crowds, over-stimulation or discomfort”, said Vicki Hoyos, executive director for Heathcote. “It was so fun to see these families out and about enjoying the event. It really gave us the opportunity to love up this special group of VIPs.” Giving back to the community is something Heathcote has been known to do throughout its 37-year history, so this came as no surprise to the volunteer illuminators who requested that this special night be arranged. “We all know someone with cognitive and developmental difficulties who would enjoy Night of Illumination. As such, it’s a gift the Gardens wanted to give back and we couldn’t be happier at the success of the night,” said Laura Cooper, head illuminator. Heathcote Botanical Gardens, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to educate and inspire by providing a place of botanical beauty and to serve as a resource for the conservation of our environment, is located at 210 Savannah Road, Fort Pierce. For more information, visit heathcotebotanicalgardens.org. – CONTRIBUTED Sudoku Page B12 Sudoku Page B13 Crossword Page B12 Solutions from Games Pages in December 21, 2023 Edition Crossword Page B13 (I’d Like To Buy All 5 Vowels) Time for a walk on the W.I.L.D. side. The Inner Truth Project is hosting its second W.I.L.D. Outdoors at Mancil Ranch, 27401 SW Martin Highway, Palm City. In this case, W.I.L.D. means Women Involved in Learning and Discovering Outdoors, and Jessica Bright, director of outreach, said it’s an opportunity for women to put on their boots, get their hands dirty, and find out more about enjoying the outdoors. “We have 30 or more classes the women can register for,” said Bright. W.I.L.D. Outdoors will be 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and includes breakfast and lunch, silent auctions, and raffles. The women, 14 and older, will get to take four classes each. “There’s a whole variety,” Bright said. “We have archery, birdwatching, canning jam, how to flyfish.” Along with an important topic for a lot of outdoorsy folks. “They’re able to start their gun safety courses,” said Bright. Also, said Bright, “one of the big favorites is clay (pigeon) shooting.” Clay pigeon shooting is a challenging shotgun sport in which participants attempt to hit moving airborne targets. The targets are usually about 4.25 inches. The Inner Truth Project helps survivors of sexual violence. The founder, Mindi Fetterman, has previously told St. Lucie Voice she survived repeated experiences of sexual violence. For survivors to go on and reexperience sexual violence later is, sadly, commonplace. Many need therapy in order to break the cycles they get in. Fetterman moved to the Treasure Coast in 2007. Within a few years she had started working with survivors of sexual violence here. She started a support group in 2010 and opened a center in 2012. Fetterman is now the board president of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. “(W.I.L.D. Outdoors), 100 percent of proceeds go back to counseling and support to teens and adults who experienced sexual assault,” said Bright. Bright said while W.I.L.D. Outdoors is a women-only event, the Inner Truth Project works with survivors of sexual violence across all demographics, men and women. Among participating sponsors at the W.I.L.D. Outdoors will be Florida State Parks and Oxbow Eco-Center. “All different types of instructors who support us all year long,” Bright said. In addition to the food, the outdoor classes, the silent auctions and raffles, there’s something else at W.I.L.D. Outdoors – sorority. The first W.I.L.D. Outdoors drew about 150 women. Organizers anticipate more this year. “We come together and try these things around other women who are powerful and uplifting,” said Bright. Youths 14 to 17 must be accompanied by parents or guardians. The event costs $150 each participant. Bright said the sooner women register, the better. “They can contact the Inner Truth Project by visiting our webpage, or they can call us at 772-200-4599.” The webpage is innertruthproject.org. FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES CHAPTER SOARS INTO COUNTY BY PATRICK McCALLISTER | Correspondent Inner Truth Project’s ‘W.I.L.D. Outdoors’: Action-packed classes for women From left, at the Botanical Gardens’ Night of Illumination: Jamie and Amanda Devlin, Charlotte and Rachel Willems, Matthew Hearn and Katie Rodriguez. Special needs families rejoice in ‘Night of Illumination’