Star Spangled Stuart
Get ready to celebrate the Fourth
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Camp on
ARC sponsoring activities for kids
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On stage
‘Spring Awakening’ for summer
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PALM CITY/TESORO
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 2/ISSUE 34
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2014
National employment-recovery marathon milestone crossed Treasure Coast slightly ahead of pack Patrick McCallister Staff writer
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
TREASURE COAST — Back in November 2007 a local jobs re-
Martin mulls ruling on fertilizer
port read like this: Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, a narrow increase from October, but still significantly below the national rate — 4.7 percent. Martin County was keeping pace with the nation, with a 4.6 percent not seasonally adjusted unemploy-
ment rate. St. Lucie’s employment picture was comparatively lagging. It weighed in with a 6.3 percent not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate. Together, the two counties form the Port St. Lucie metropolitan statistical area. The MSA came in with a not-seasonally-adjusted
unemployment rate at 5.7 percent. Its total workforce is about 188,350. But, that was all so 2007. Things were booming. Things were good. Things were about to change drastically.
See JOBS page 10
Boys & Girls Club billboard
Patrick McCallister Staff writer
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
See FERTILIZER page 12 PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FORT PIERCE, FL PERMIT NO. 248 ECRWSS
Local Postal Customer
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Jennifer Jones of Palm City helps Retro Game Night emcee Pete Morello display the beneficiary for the evening with his shaved logo for the Boys & Girls Club of Martin County during the Hollywood Squares segment Saturday, June 21 at StarStruck Theatre in Stuart.
Arati Hammond Realtor®
772-342-5599
www.PalmCityForSale.com www.sewallspoint-realestate.com
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MARTIN COUNTY — To help protect the St. Lucie and Indian rivers, the County Commission adopted stringent fertilizer regulations back in 2011. They’re likely to get more stringent. “Since 2011, there’s been more science that we can do better at keeping nutrients out of our water bodies,” Dianne Hughes, senior ecosystem specialist, said in a telephone interview. At its last regular meeting, June 17, three members of the county