Boston rowers find Vero Beach’s waters very friendly

Suspect in Gifford shooting found hiding in Fort Pierce hotel

A suspect in a Gifford shooting that wounded another man earlier this week was found hiding Friday morning in a Fort Pierce hotel, deputies said. Indian River County deputies and the U.S. Marshals South Florida Fugitive Task Force detained 20-year-old Marquis Mathis. Mathis, of the 8500 block of 61st Drive, Vero Beach, was charged with attempted second-degree murder. "Great work to all of our law enforcement partners and keep those tips coming in," sheriff's officials said in a statement. Deputies issued a warrant for Mathis' arrest earlier this week. Mathis was held Friday at the Indian River County Jail without bond. Mathis was also being held on active warrants out of Pennsylvania for attempted murder, deputies said. The name of ...

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, ...

Harbor Branch scientist gets lagoon monitoring grant

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute's network of Indian River Lagoon water quality monitoring stations is about to expand and generate more data than ever before – thanks to a grant of more than $865,000 from the institute's fundraising foundation. According to Dr. Dennis Hanisak, a research professor and director of the Indian River Lagoon Observatory, the grant will fund construction and maintenance of three new LOBO stations in Brevard County to augment the 10 already dotting the lagoon between the St. Lucie Estuary and Sebastian Inlet. The stations produce real-time info on factors that influence lagoon health, such as salinity, temperature, depth, turbidity and dissolved oxygen. The grant will also pay for new sensors at existing stations that, for the first ...