A6
Smart Biz
Peter Perry’s business planning
Piano Prodigy
14-year old comes to SLW to impress
B1
Jazz Week invasion
Jazz & Blues schedule announced
A29
ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 2/ISSUE 16
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Commishs’of Summer
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014
Oravec resurrected Back for top city council seat Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
Mitch Kloorfain/Chief photographer St. Lucie County Commissioners Chris Dzadovsky, Paula Lewis, Kim Johnson, Tod Mowery and Frannie Hutchinson toss out the ceremonial first pitch to begin the New York Mets spring training season at Tradition Field Friday, Feb. 28 in St. Lucie West. The Mets have home games on Friday, March 7 and Sunday, March 9.
Strides to save lagoon Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
TREASURE COAST — Progress to save the dying Indian River Lagoon has been slow, but sure. In the latest move to help clean up dirty water that enters Treasure Coast waterways, the city of Fort Pierce and St. Lucie County teamed up to create an inno-
vative water treatment area to purify water before in goes into the lagoon. On Feb. 25, government officials from across the state broke ground on the Indian Hills Treatment Area located on Savannah Road in Fort Pierce. “This is going to go a long way to help with the problem we’ve been having with the lagoon,” said State Rep. Larry Lee Jr.,
D-Port St. Lucie. “This is what it’s about, community … We want to continue to encourage you all to stay involved in this issue with our lagoon and our water quality. It can improve, but we must stay active.” The secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection was also on hand.
See LAGOON page A12
PORT ST. LUCIE — Greg Oravec’s controversial release from his post as city manager over a year ago was a scandal that rocked city hall a few degrees off kilter. His separation, which ultimately resulted in civil and criminal indictments for three city council members, including the mayor, will surely go down in the history books. Oravec is hoping to make history again by becoming the city’s next mayor. He announced his candidacy on Feb. 28 and sat down for a candid interview with Your Voice News & Views the next day. Oravec’s decision was weeks in the making, the married father of three and one adult stepson said. After much thought, being a politician is a position he’s prepared to take on, Oravec explained. “One of my goals, one of my dreams, one of my hopes is that we can finally rise above the petty politics in Port St. Lucie because that’s kind of our identity right now, sadly,” Oravec said. “The anonymous letters, the name-calling, character assassination — arguing about stuff like that rather than the real issues — that’s held us back. If we’re going to be what we can be, we’re going to have to get beyond the petty politics.” Speaking about his scandalous release, Oravec said there’s a
See ORAVEC page A8
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