Leslie McGuirk claims she was out for a walk when a car came barreling down Seagrape Drive in Oceanaire Heights at negligent speeds. As the acclaimed children’s book author and astrologist rushed to get out of the way, she tripped on a crumbling piece of pavement and fell, according to court documents.
The March 2017 incident left McGuirk seriously injured and unable to work, her lawyers say. The driver who almost hit her was uninsured. So, she enlisted the help of Tuttle Law and sued the county. The municipality failed to maintain the roadway and left no warnings that conditions might be dangerous or hazardous, attorney Douglas Tuttle wrote in the October 2017 lawsuit. The lawyer, who filed the complaint in the 19th Judicial Circuit Civil Court, claimed an excess of $15,000 in damages, but the suit against the county was dropped this month after McGuirk received a $5,000 settlement. Read more here. Indian River County voters will have the opportunity to choose new judicial officials in August as they consider candidates to replace retiring county and circuit court judges.
Six candidates are vying for two spots – the Hon. Robert Pegg’s seat on the circuit court bench, where serious felony cases are decided, and the Hon. Joe Wild’s seat in county court, which rules on traffic tickets, landlord/tenant disputes and other less serious matters. Read more here. The day after retired Assistant Fire Chief Brian Burkeen was arrested for an alleged black-market tire sales scheme, Indian River County Commissioner Tim Zorc got an anonymous tip. While the community at-large might have been shocked to see Burkeen’s alleged fall from grace, those who worked alongside him knew what their boss was up to, but were too afraid to report him, the informant said.
“There was a very real fear of retribution among the firefighters, so no one turned Burkeen in, though it was pretty widely known what he was doing,” the message states, according to e-mails obtained by Vero Beach 32963. “[The] County might want to institute some sort of anonymous tip line for waste and theft,” it said. Burkeen, 55, a longtime county official who also briefly served on the Sebastian City Council, was purchasing new tires at Goodyear stores using county funds and then selling them to private buyers he met at work and online, police say. Read more here. Opponents of Brightline’s high-speed rail line hope an upcoming study of planned and existing railroad operations in Florida will give state officials second thoughts about allowing passenger trains to run north and south through St. Lucie County at 110 miles an hour.
The state currently has no laws or regulations addressing the safety of high-speed trains like All Aboard Florida’s Brightline, which now runs between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale and is slated to extend north to Cocoa and west to Orlando in the next couple of years. Included in the $88.7 billion General Appropriations Act, passed by the legislature and approved March 16 by Gov. Rick Scott, is a directive for the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct an overview study of the Florida rail system. Read more here. Come year’s end, the Indian River County courthouse will lose three of its six sitting judges to retirement. The men, who serve on both the 19th Judicial Circuit and the County Court bench, collectively have spent more than 70 years making decisions that shaped the county’s growth and development and helped protect the safety and wellbeing of the residents who call it home.
They’ve put murderers behind bars, tried to ensure fair development, kept the courthouse running smoothly, made tough decisions and held lawyers accountable. Sometimes, their decisions are challenged. Other times, they are celebrated. At all times, however, their work has lasting impact. “Overall, I think we are losing three very good judges,” Bruce Colton, State Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit said of the impending departure of Judges Robert Pegg, Joe Wild and Paul Kanarek. Read more here. Judge Cox wants citizens to engage in constitution review process to protect judicial independence2/27/2018
Indian River County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Cox worries more Floridians are watching “Game of Thrones” and checking Facebook, than are familiar with state’s constitution. In remarks she is delivering in a series of talks along the Treasure Coast, the felony court judge makes a case that now is the time for that to change. Floridian’s rights are at risk, she says. “Revise the constitution with care.”
Every 20 years, Florida’s constitution calls for a 37-member revision commission to propose changes to the state’s charter document, letting the voters decide its fate. Their proposals go directly to the November 2018 General Election ballot – no chance of a governor veto, a congressional override or a judicial review. Read more here. Even as All Aboard Florida chugs ahead with its plan to run high-speed passenger trains through Vero Beach and the rest of the Treasure Coast, local officials continue to fight the plan, which they believe would bring serious safety problems and economic harm to the area.
The latest move came earlier this month when Indian River County joined Martin County and advocacy group CARE-Florida filing a complaint in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, which names the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration as defendants. The lawsuit alleges the DOT ignored safety, maritime and environmental problems and improperly subsidized the Brightline trains with tax exempt bonds, while violating the National Environmental Policy Act. Read more here. Indian River County joined Martin County and advocacy group CARE-Florida Tuesday filing a complaint in federal court in attempt to prevent All Aboard Florida’s planned high speed rail expansion along the Treasure Coast.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, names the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration as defendants. It alleges the DOT ignored safety, maritime and environmental problems and improperly subsidized the Brightline trains with tax exempt bonds, while violating the National Environmental Policy Act. “Throughout the NEPA process, Indian River County submitted comments to the [Federal Railroad Administration] demanding that the agency take a hard look at the environmental impacts of the All Aboard Florida project,” Indian River County Attorney Dylan Reingold said in a statement. “Unfortunately, after improperly waiting 28 months, the [Federal Railroad Administration] issued a flawed and legally inadequate Record of Decision.” Read more here. In the wake of multiple fatalities, officials in Martin and Indian River counties are gearing up for a second expensive legal battle against All Aboard Florida in an attempt to derail plans for the high-speed passenger train before it hits the Treasure Coast.
Hundreds gathered last week in downtown Stuart at a meeting of the Citizens Against Rail Expansion in Florida to discuss legal, political and advocacy efforts against Brightline’s planned expansion north from West Palm Beach to Orlando. Among those in attendance at the Lyric Theater were Indian River County Commissioner Bob Solari and County Attorney Dylan Reingold. Concerns over safety have increased following Brightline’s introduction of service between West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, starting with VIP runs Jan. 12. Read more here. RALEIGH - North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is criticizing a state budget provision by Senate Republicans that his administration says would block federal food stamp benefits to more than 130,000 people who qualify because they’re also receiving other government benefits.
The change approved in the Senate budget proposal last week would roll back eligibility requirements for what’s called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that had been expanded during the Great Recession. Households making no more than slightly above the federal poverty level would qualify for the food help if the provision became law. That would put added pressure on already stretched food pantries and make it harder for families to move out of poverty, advocates say. In Buncombe County, 3,100 people would lose food assistance, of which 1,100 are children. Across the region, more than 9,500 people would lose the assistance, 33 percent younger than age 18 Read more here. BBC Research & Consulting to study race and gender disparity in Asheville contractsASHEVILLE - The city has turned to a Denver firm for a $320,000 yearlong business disparity study. BBC Research and Consulting should begin work in June to assess the state of city contracting with minority- and white women-owned businesses, said Brenda Mills, an economic development specialist for the city of Asheville.
The firm will analyze five years of data and organize surveys, focus groups and community meetings to understand the city's contracting and purchasing patterns. Municipalities wanting to legally justify a race-based minority business program must undertake an independent study, she said. The city last did this research in the 1990s, shortly after its program was formed. Read more here. ASHEVILLE – Organizers of a police support rally said Wednesday they have canceled the event over fears it could turn violent. Former Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower said he doesn't trust groups planning a counterprotest at the same time Thursday.
"Certainly my intention whenever possible is to challenge with as much enthusiasm as I can to highlight the absurdity of some of these folks," he said. "I haven't said things like, 'Burn this b—h down.'" The stepfather of Michael Brown made that comment to protesters after a grand jury failed to indict a white police officer who killed Brown, a black 18-year-old. Area LGBTQ groups said they planned the counterprotest to affirm that black lives matter and to share stories of black transgender and cisgender women who they say are also targeted by police. "Regardless of whether pro-police rallies happen, we are committed to supporting black queer and transgender people who have been and continue to be oppressed by racism and transphobia," said an organizer who goes by the name Lichen LP. Read more here. ASHEVILLE – Abortion-rights activists held vigil outside the governor's mansion in Raleigh amid statewide concern last year as North Carolina ordered an overhaul of safety regulations for abortion providers. Those protests have subsided, and what's left of demonstrators on the issue in Asheville includes three to four people who meet weekly to hold signs opposing abortion outside a planned new clinic.
It's not that passions on the issue have been set aside, but disagreement on proposed new regulations has calmed in North Carolina. In a rare movement of accord, the state's largest abortion providers and abortion-rights advocates sided with state officials earlier this week, tentatively agreeing on proposed rule changes for abortion providers. The changes up for public review come in response to a 2013 legislative directive mandating that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services create new requirements for abortion providers. They include the right to annually inspect any licensed clinic and standards for building codes, record-keeping, nurse staffing qualifications, emergency procedures and post-operative care. Rules for certification of abortion clinics have not been updated in nearly 20 years, DHHS noted in a Nov. 14 fiscal impact analysis of the proposed regulations. Read more here. ASHEVILLE – Buncombe County women came together Saturday morning at the YWCA of Asheville to learn about public policies affecting equality for women and to prioritize action items. After listening to remarks by state and local officials and representatives from area advocacy and nonprofit groups, the crowd of about 50 voted access to health care and economic self-sufficiency as its top legislative priorities.Violence against women and female civic participation were also highly ranked.
Every two years before the state General Assembly's long term session, North Carolina Women United hosts the forum to set its Buncombe County Women's Agenda. State Rep. Susan Fisher and state Sen. Terry Van Duyn kicked off the event discussing why equality has yet to be achieved, charging Buncombe County residents to bring about change. Women's issues are cross cutting, they said. Fighting for women and families defies political and economic division. "We have still much, much work to do," said Fisher who spoke first to the energetic crowd, encouraging them to develop an agenda that will resonate with men, women and children across the state. Read more here. RALEIGH – The chief administrator of North Carolina's courts says Republican party leaders may have misled magistrates on whether they could refrain from performing same-sex marriages.
John Smith, director of the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, detailed his concerns in a three-page letter to Senate leader Phil Berger, who along with more than two dozen Senate Republicans had asked in an Oct. 24 letter that he revise a directive ordering magistrates to perform civil weddings for gay couples or face losing their jobs. Several magistrates have quit rather than perform same-sex marriages since two federal judges last month blocked enforcement of the state's gay marriage prohibition approved by voters in 2012. The rulings came when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case that overturned Virginia's similar ban. Read more here. BRYSON CITY – Swain County Magistrate Judge Gilbert Breedlove resigned Monday because of his personal objection to same-sex marriage.
"It was my only option," said Breedlove, 57. "We were directed we had to perform the marriages, and that was just something I couldn't do because of my religious beliefs." Breedlove has been a magistrate for nearly 24 years. He started in 1990 and became ordained as a pastor in 1997. Read more here. ASHEVILLE – Area register of deeds offices said officials would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples regardless of their own beliefs. "Same-sex marriages are against my Christian beliefs, but I have taken an oath, and I have to uphold my oath and do what the law tells me to do," Polk County Register of Deeds Sheila Whitmire said.
A memo sent Friday by the NC Values Coalition, encouraging state officials with "sincere religious or moral beliefs" to refrain from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, went to register of deeds offices throughout the state following a court ruling that North Carolina's gay marriage ban was unconstitutional. Read more here. ASHEVILLE — Entering the Smith-Hendrix household can be a little insane, warned Leigh Smith as she opened the door to her modest West Asheville home, found on a quiet residential street.
With two children younger than 5, there are seldom moments of silence. Before the door even closed, Joe, 3, squirmed off his mother's hip to eagerly show off the picture he had drawn of a scary monster. His older sister, Quinn, 4, put down the book she was reading and vied for attention. The house may be a bit crazy, but it's filled with love, said Smith, 41, as she gently hushed the children's chatter and sat down next to her wife, Crystal Hendrix. Read more here. ASHEVILLE – Police and bomb-sniffing dogs responded to a bomb threat at the William H. Stanley Center on Woodfin Street Monday morning, after a caller made disparaging comments about the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses, said Natalie Bailey, spokeswoman for the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office. No explosives were found and the building was not evacuated.
"We have protocols and procedures in place to keep everybody safe, and in this particular instance everything worked the way it should," Bailey said. "Our folks went out and checked and nothing was found. Once they did that, people were able to go on and get their licenses." Read more here. |
Beth WaltonWriter, World Traveler, Mother. These are my stories. Archives
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