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ST. LUCIE WEST • TRADITION
YourVoiceWeekly.com VOL. 3/ISSUE 44
YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Barnabas Christian Academy moves to St. Lucie West
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
Prodigies welcome
Patrick McCallister STAFF WRITER
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
ST. LUCIE WEST — The Port St. Lucie City Council blessed a plan for Barnabas Christian Academy to take the old Keiser University College of Golf and Sport Management campus, 1860 S.W. Fountainview Blvd. School starts at the new campus on Tuesday, Sept. 8. At the Aug. 24th regular meeting, the council considered and unanimously approved a special exception for the school to relocate there from its old home at Port St. Lucie Bible Church, 1120 Paar Dr. The new campus allows the school to grow in two phases to 450 students. Last school year it had 115 students. “We will have the ability to expand, which will be so nice,” Cynthia Bartal, founder and upper school principal said in a telephone interview after the council meeting. “It’s been nice to be a ministry of the church, but it’s time to grow and move.” Mayor Greg Oravec said the
See BARNABAS page A26
Photo courtesy of The Community Music School of Tradition Kayla Fitzgerald of St. Lucie West, Svetlana Stephens, Audrey Stuehmer, and Khalia Mesquita perform at a Community Music School of Tradition concert. The school is taking students on Saturday, Sept. 5. It’s open to those ages 8 to 18. The open house and registration will be at the Port St. Lucie Community Center, 2195 S.E. Airoso Blvd. 8:30 to 11 a.m. See story on Page B10.
Sheriff’s Office preps for fight on flakka Patrick McCallister STAFF WRITER
pmccallister@YourVoiceWeekly.com
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A deadly drug called “flakka” has been making headlines in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties for more than a year. As it makes its way up the coast, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Department is preparing to battle the drug on a local level.
“It’s coming, we know it’s coming,” said Lieutenant Mike Sheelar, with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. Flakka is an extremely inexpensive drug and in doses as small as one-tenth of a gram, it can cause users to go into a state known as “excited delirium.” “It’s about half the price of a crack-rock on the street,” Lt. Sheelar said. Making it extremely easy and tempting for young
people to get ahold of. The drug’s trademark is its ability to skyrocket a person’s core temperature, leading to possible organ damage and in some cases, death. Dozens of users have died in South Florida this year as a result of this drug. Other side effects include extreme confusion and erratic and unpredictable behavior.
See FLAKKA page A21
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