Florida Coast Medical Center in Port St. Lucie was the place to be earlier this month when hundreds came together to celebrate the grand opening of the county’s first new hospital in over a decade. In addition to staff, the Sept. 9 festivities included many city and county officials as well as administrators from Tenet Healthcare Corporation, the hospital’s Dallas-based parent company. A fun photo station, a variety of games and an appetizing food display were part of the scene that included a large enthusiastic group of staff members ready for business. Since opening day, over 150 patients have been

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Port St. Lucie will go forward with a budget of just over $869.8 million and their lowest millage on record for the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1. The City Council agreed 5-0 to pass the budget – repeated from the Sept. 8 budget meeting – shortly before their regular meeting Monday. The 2025-26 budget uses approximately $18.8 million (2.21 percent) more than the FY 2024-25 budget of around $851 million, city documents show. The City Council also feted the success of this year’s total millage rate reduction to 4.9750, or nearly $4.98 taxed for every $1,000 of home value.

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Two more judicial seats have opened up in the 19th Circuit, bringing the total vacancies to four this year so far, with the second opening still pending an appointment sometime in the next two weeks. Judge Lawrence Mirman, appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush in 2005, retired after 20 years on the bench, plus 16 years as an assistant state attorney. Mirman’s docket included a portion of St. Lucie County’s felony criminal cases and Mental Health Court in Fort Pierce, and recently, Martin County jury trials. Mirman made headlines earlier this year for cracking down on no-show jurors in Martin

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The first family shelter in St. Lucie County will be built next year at GraceWay Village, Inc. in Fort Pierce, initially giving 10 families the opportunity to work their way toward self-sufficiency. Located at 1780 Hartman Road, GraceWay Village will construct the facility in three phases. Phase 1 will be a 10,150-square-foot structure that includes 10 private family units, classrooms, communal areas, laundry and administrative offices. Social workers, a facility manager and 24/7 monitors will be needed for the facility. The nonprofit was awarded $2.97 million last month by the county through the Home American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP), a U.S.

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Runoff from multiple sources led to a blue-green algal bloom that killed 2,976 fish in central Port St. Lucie in mid-late August, city officials said. Residents of the approximately 450-acre Sawgrass Lakes gated community near Darwin and Tulip boulevards reported the dead fish as early as Aug. 13, city records show. The event became the worst countywide fish kill in five years after large masses of carcasses washed up in the C-24 canal in unincorporated St. Lucie, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The approximate 121 acres of water throughout the community incurred masses of fish carcasses

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The Fort Pierce City Commission enthusiastically and unanimously approved an ordinance amending the King’s Landing Planned Development including the final site plan for the long-awaited project. “I think they’ve done a phenomenal job. I advocate for it fully,” said City Commissioner Michael Broderick. “This is the type of project that the City of Fort Pierce needs.” King’s Landing is the centerpiece of Fort Pierce redevelopment efforts. The mixed-use 7.5-acre project, on the H.D. King Power Plant property at Indian River Drive and A.E. Backus Drive, includes plans for a Tribute Hotel by Marriott, condominiums, residences, retail shops, restaurants, The Villas

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The long-awaited Veterans Administration outpatient clinic in Vero Beach’s main medical corridor will not open this month as scheduled, but construction has finally begun a year after VA officials announced funding for the much-needed facility, now set to open next spring. The clinic was originally slated to open this past March – and is likely to attract veterans from nearby St. Lucie County – but in mid-February VA officials extended that time horizon to September. In June, the VA told this reporter that the first phase would still open to patients in September, followed by a second phase in December.

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