Kids gettin’ fit and active YMCA host Healthy Kids Day
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Don’t get scammed
Sheriff’s Office warns about IRS
A10 Ballet, hip-hop and jazz
Programs at Florida Arts & Dance
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PALM CITY/TESORO
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 4/ISSUE 27
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016
Opening of County Hope for Freedom Road 714 in Palm City Commissioner John Haddox credits Whispering Sound Community Awareness Committee for completion Patrick McCallister STAFF WRITER
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
PALM CITY — There’s only one way to put the news best. “The project was completed six months earlier than the contract time,” Kathleen Dempsey, public information officer at the Florida Department of Transportation, said. On Friday, April 29, Martin County and the Florida Department of Transportation hosted a
ribbon cutting for the now fourlane Southwest Martin Highway. Commissioner John Haddox said credit for the swift starting and finishing of the expanded roadway goes largely to one man. “At the opening ceremony, I thanked Hal Smith, a resident at Whispering Sound,” Haddox said. “He worked with me and legislators to get the bonus in there for getting the project done quickly.” That bonus is up to $800,000 that the contractor J.W. Cheatham, West Palm Beach, qualifies for receiving under terms in the project contract. Dempsey said at press time the amount of the bonus that the contractor
See MARTIN HWY page A5
Does Old Palm City need a makeover? Adam Laten Willson
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
PALM CITY — Since last December, when Martin County’s specially designated CRA (Community Redevelopment Area) committee was dissolved and director Kevin Freeman flew back to England, the fate of the county’s seven CRAs has been a question on everyone’s mind. In the next few months, the Martin County Board of Commissioners who currently oversees the CRAs, along with the coordination of community and strategic director Kate Parmelee and Growth
Management, will be looking at the priorities and structure of each CRA with a view to update. Many of the CRAs, like Old Palm City which was adopted in 2003, have been on the books for over a decade, and a lot has changed since they were drafted. The last time Old Palm City’s CRA plan was revised was in 2009. Particularly with Palm City, the opening of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge in Dec. 2013, and the Martin Highway widening project have had a deep impact on the area. Last Friday, a ribbon-cutting com-
See CRA page A24
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Kavya performed ‘Thodayamangalam’ during the 4th Annual Hope for Freedom benefit concert Saturday, April 30 at South Fork High School. The annual concert benefits Artist for a Cause in Palm City.
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