3
Bahama Bound
Yacht Club leading a flotilla
True friend to the animals SLW Vet mending critters
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Children’s theatre
Mermaid tale connects family
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ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 3/ISSUE 36
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2015
Compost site too close for comfort for residents
Boys of summer
Jay Meisel
FOR YOUR VOICE NEWS & VIEWS
See COMPOST page 8 PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FORT PIERCE, FL PERMIT NO. 248 ECRWSS
Local Postal Customer
Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer St. Lucie Mets outfielder Stefan Sabol slides safely into second during a 6-5 victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads Thursday, July 3 at Tradition Field in St. Lucie West. The team hosts a four game home stand beginning Wednesday, July 15.
Health systems to expand Staff Reports
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TRADITION — Tradition Medical Center was such a success in its first year, it exceeded Martin Health System’s projections, which plans to expand the 90-bed hospital and are moving along quickly. During its first year after opening in December 2013, the acute care hospital reported it
was frequently at full capacity. It had 9,000 admissions, 29,000 emergency room visits and 1,470 births. Martin Health System said in a July 1 news release that a formal announcement of its expansion plans is expected by the end of July. With an eye toward such future expansion, Martin Health built Tradition Medical Center with a flexible design that could be easily expanded. This included installing the mechanical
systems on the third floor, rather than the roof, so additional floors could be added without disturbing the facility’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. “Fortunately, our leadership and design team had the foresight to build flexibility into the hospital’s initial phase and develop a six-floor hospital that could be easily expanded to meet future demand,” said
See HEALTH page 12 19969
ST. LUCIE WEST — When PGA Village resident Carol Anderson recently visited a compost plant in Sumter County similar to the one being proposed for St. Lucie County, she said, the smell overwhelmed her. “It stinks to high Heaven,” she said last week. “I got a headache that was so bad and it hasn’t gone away, it’s been two days.” If anything, Anderson said, the visit to the compost plant, owned by the same company, CompostUSA, that wants to build one two miles from her home, stiffened her opposition to the local plans. “We’re not going to have it,” she said. “It’s going to be an enormous fight.” Residents are concerned not only about odors, but potential ground water, water and air pollution, she said. Anderson’s reaction was not the type of response that Kris Creeden, partial owner of Com-