Living Faith
New church startup in Tradition
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Hope, faith & electricity
Homeowners give, give and give
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Attesti to that
Italian Pianist to play St. Bernadette
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ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 2/ISSUE 8
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2013
2013 in review
A look back at 2013’s biggest stories Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
TREASURE COAST — Your Voice News & Views takes a stroll down memory lane to remember the biggest stories of 2013. The year saw searing loss and government scandal along with toxic waterways and area growth. Here is a retrospect of the year’s most impactful stories covered in Your Voice News & Views with each article’s original opening paragraphs. A hero’s farewell to St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Morales A heartbroken community, family and close to 2,000 law enforcement officers from across the country mourned the death of St.
Lucie County Sherriff’s Sgt. Gary Morales, 35, at Westside Baptist Church in Fort Pierce Monday as they bid farewell to the fallen hero who died in the line of duty on Feb. 28 doing what those close to him said God placed him on Earth to do: help and protect his fellow man. More than 4,000 attended the viewing and service. Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi were among those who attended to pay their respects. On the morning of Feb. 28, Morales radioed in a stop and pursuit on a maroon, late-model Toyota Corolla near Oleander Avenue in Fort Pierce at 9:28 a.m. According to dispatch chatter, 1:57 later, shots were fired on Naylor Terrace. Morales, who was seated in his patrol cruiser, gun still holstered, was fatally wounded. He was shot in the
See REVIEW page 4
File photo Greg Oravec is offered comfort by former Port St. Lucie City Council member Jane Rowley following his release as city manager during a special meeting by the Port St. Lucie City Council Thursday, Feb. 7. Port St. Lucie Assistant City Manager Jeff Bremer was appointed as interim city manager during a meeting Monday, Feb. 11 and appointed the position officially in December.
Jail calls in Morales case show inconsistencies Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer
nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Hours of recorded jailhouse phone calls made by Eriese Tisdale reveal inconsistencies in the accused murder’s version of events before and after he gunned down Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Morales almost a year ago. During police interrogations the day of the shooting, Tisdale, 26, told investigators he was going to a nearby store to pick up a soda
for his pregnant girlfriend, who lived a block away. Tisdale was pulled over leaving the store empty-handed. In a collect call to family members later that day, Tisdale said he was leaving the store when Morales, 35, turned on his lights. There is no evidence Tisdale made a purchase for the intended goods inside. “I just went to the store around the corner, was coming back home and he made like a U-turn. I’m coming from the opposite way,” Tisdale told a cousin. “He
just jumped out of the car and was saying, ‘Get out of the car, get out of the car, why you ain’t stop?’” Tisdale continued with his version of events. “I said, ‘No I ain’t getting out of the car,’ and I just took off and I just kept riding, then they went to chasing me,” he said. On the morning of Feb. 28, Morales radioed in the stop and pursuit on a maroon, late-model Toyota Corolla near Oleander Avenue in Fort Pierce at 9:28
See TISDALE page 15
Eriese Tisdale
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