Hibiscus Festival committee already hard at work

Low beach attendance for January; no water rescues

VERO BEACH — While chilly temperatures caused a drop in beach attendance last month, lifeguards are happy to report that there were no water rescues that occurred in January. "It's a great thing," Vero Beach Lifeguard Association officials said in a statement. "We hope people are paying attention to lifeguards and condition signs before they go into the water." The Vero Beach Lifeguard Association recently released its monthly report for the beaches at Jaycee Park, Humiston Park and South Beach Park. Lifeguards said about 54,105 beachgoers flocked to the shore in January. The highest beach-attendance record of 65,700 was set in 2019 for Vero Beach, lifeguards said. The record low for beach attendance was set in 2016 with 36,000 people, ...

Fertilizer restrictions to go into effect next month

A reminder from the Indian River Neighborhood Association to residents of Indian River County, City of Vero Beach, Sebastian and Orchid. We are coming into our rainy season when more nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous are likely to be washed from our lawns, driveways and roads into the storm water system and, ultimately, into our local waterways such as the Indian River Lagoon. The fertilizer ordinances passed by our communities goes into effect June 1st. It prohibits the use of lawn fertilizer between June 1st and September 30th. No fertilizer containing Phosphorous is to be used anytime. All fertilizers must contain at least 50% slow release Nitrogen. Finally, no fertilizer is to be applied within 10 feet of any ...

Sears announces mass closures, including Indian River Mall

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Struggling retail giant Sears will close more than 20 stores nationwide later this year including its location at the similarly faltering Indian River Mall. The retailer’s parent company announced Tuesday it will shutter 26 Sears and Kmart locations — including two in Florida — this fall after seeing experiencing “a number of challenges returning our stores to sustainable levels of productivity,” including a weak retail environment. Transform Holdco, the parent company controlled by Sears’ former CEO and largest shareholder, Edward Lampert and his hedge fund, wants to shift to smaller stores by opening more of the new appliance and mattress-focused Sears Home & Life stores that debuted in May and adding several hundred Sears Hometown stores ...