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Holiday happenings Services and celebrations
A personal goodbye
Editor shares Mancuso stories
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Longer list for Christmas Sunrise adds more headliners
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ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 3/ISSUE 7
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2014
Nutcracker candy cane City of Port St. Lucie may join state in Digital Domain lawsuit Brandon Zeris STAFF WRITER
bzeris@YourVoiceWeekly.com
PORT ST. LUCIE — The city stands good chance to cash in on more than $50 million it lost from the Digital Domain bankruptcy. That’s what a Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer is saying at least. Bill Scherer, who’s representing the state in its $20 million lawsuit against former Digital Domain executives, said he wants Port St. Lucie on his side. “The lawsuit is moving rapidly, and we don’t want the train to leave the station without the city having the opportunity to join.” The state’s case is strong on its own, but Scherer said the city’s backing will help substantially. “It makes it a lot bigger. The damages are a lot more. The city suffered $50 million in damages, probably, to the state’s $20 million, so I’d rather have a $70
million case than a $20 million case.” To cash in, Scherer said he modified his original proposal, which gave the city the same terms as the state. Scherer said the new offer is to represent the city at no up front cost, though the city’s attorneys are still working on the final paperwork to get a deal done. The council chose Dec. 8 to wait on a final decision so city staff could meet with Scherer’s people to get details figured out. Among those details is making the legal paperwork match what Scherer said he was proposing. Scherer said he was offering a contingency contract that would require the city to pay only if a settlement was reached, though the deal council had in front of it was one that still charged the city for monthly costs, city attorney Pam Booker said. Scherer said the document
See LAWSUIT page A13
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Addie Richardson jumps through hoops during the Candy Cane performance of the ‘The Nutcracker’ by the St. Lucie Ballet Saturday, Dec. 13 at the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce. The dance troupe will make their final seasonal performance Friday, Dec. 26 at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart at 7:30 p.m.
Rescue efforts weren’t enough Brandon Zeris STAFF WRITER
bzeris@YourVoiceWeekly.com
ST. LUCIE WEST — After being in critical condition for two days, PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FORT PIERCE, FL PERMIT NO. 248 ECRWSS
Local Postal Customer
St. Lucie West Service District Supervisor Salvatore Mancuso was pronounced dead at 10:08 a.m. Dec. 12, police said. Two days prior, Mancuso suffered a yet-to-be determined medical emergency while driving his car and ended up in a lake across from Hurricane Grill & Wings
along Northwest Bethany Drive in St. Lucie West. Three men rescued Mancuso from his silver Lincoln Town Car at lunchtime after a woman ran to Hurricane Grill yelling for help. Alton Brieske, a 21-year-old premed student at Florida Atlantic University who plans to be a sur-
geon, was outside the restaurant eating lunch when the woman ran over. “I saw a break in the bushes, and I assumed somebody had gone and drove into the lake,” said Brieske, who is visiting home
See MANCUSO page A7 15537
Longtime service district supervisor dies at 92