Law Enforcement week Morales remembered at capital
A4
Meet the candidate
Greg Oravec responds to Q&A
A19 Town has a new tavern
B1
Johnny V opens in SLW
ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 2/ISSUE 28
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014
Clean Remembering our fallen heroes slate for PSL Mayor
St. Lucie County Sherif’s deputy Lt. Diane Thompson hugs Nancy Roberts of Port St. Lucie following a service outside the Sheriff’s Office recognizing the officers killed in the line of duty during Law Enforcement Week. Roberts was the stepmother of Master Deputy Steve Roberts for whom the Sheriff’s Office is named. See story on A4.
Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
PORT ST. LUCIE — A Martin County judge last week dismissed two civil infractions against Port St. Lucie Mayor JoAnn Faiella following months of legal hearings in the case. Judge Kathleen Roberts ruled the time period for Faiella to receive a speedy trial had expired. Faiella wept in court after her May 9 victory. “I’m feeling relieved that it’s over. I’m a fighter and I know that I didn’t do anything wrong and I wasn’t going to admit to something that I didn’t do,” Faiella said after the hearing. “The law has to apply to everyone and I’m glad this judge recognized it.” Faiella’s attorney, John Anastasio filed several motions to have the case thrown out, including a motion to discharge for expiration of speedy trial periods. Roberts determined since both the state and defense agreed prior to follow criminal procedure for the noncriminal case, too much time had elapsed since Faiella was charged in late November for allegedly violating open meeting laws, known as Sunshine Laws. Criminal procedure states a defendant is entitled to a speedy trial no later than 90 days for a misdemeanor and no later than 175 days for a felony offense. “At some point early on in this
See MAYOR page A10
Mitch Kloorfain chief photographer
Dollars flow to the St. Lucie River and Indian Lagoon Patrick McCallister Staff writer
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
TREASURE COAST — The Florida Senate Select Committee on Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee put forth an ambitious wish list with a $220
million price tag spread over three years. Instead it got about $232 million out of a $77.1 billion Sen. Joe Negron budget the Florida Legislature approved this session.
“I think this community made a persuasive case that this environmental crisis is not just a problem with the Treasure Coast, but part of a broader regional and statewide issue,” Sen. Joe Negron, Stuart, said in a telephone interview after the
See RIVERS page A13
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