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ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 4/ISSUE 6
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
Retiring sheriff’s Kickin’ up talent x2 office spokesman reflects on a long and varied career Bruno Moore
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY— A PIO or Public Information Officer is the man or woman who reporters go to when police are on the scene, when the county passes a big ordinance or when a politician makes a big announcement. In layman’s terms, it’s a spokesperson. In the media world it’s the gatekeeper to news information that can make or break a story. In just a week, St. Lucie County will lose one of its best, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department PIO Mark Weinberg. Weinberg, who has been on the job since 1991, retires on Dec. 15 and has seen big changes, not only within the sheriff’s department, but in the news industry and the community he calls home. In 1978, Weinberg began as a
police beat reporter for The News Tribune, now known as the St. Lucie News Tribune, before working in radio broadcasting in Vero Beach and as a reporter for Mark Weinberg former CBS TV affiliate WTVX 34 in Fort Pierce. Weinberg was also government affairs coordinator for the burgeoning community in western St. Lucie County now known as St. Lucie West for five years before joining the sheriff’s department. “I’ve seen this area grow and I’ve seen it shrink. The Miami Her-
See WEINBERG page A9
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Tyler Swanson and Faqir Raza showed their soccer skills during the Winter Talent Showcase at their school, Renaissance Charter School of Tradition Thursday, Dec. 3. More on page A28
St. Lucie celebrates its 450-year heritage Lisa Barry
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Dec. 13 will mark 450 years since Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez stepped foot on the Treasure
Coast and dubbed the area “St. Lucia.” Now, four and a half centuries later, one group is making sure that the County can celebrate the anniversary of its naming with the same foods that Menéndez and his crew would have eaten back then.
Menéndez is known for his trans-Atlantic voyages and his eventual founding of St. Augustine in 1565. On Dec. 13, the famed explorer made his way down the coast of Florida and landed in the area that now spans from Sebastian in
the North to Jupiter in the South. He dubbed the area “St. Lucia” because his arrival coincided with the catholic feast holiday celebrating Santa Lucia. St. Lucie County and the City of
See LUCIA page A13
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