Women’s Refuge receives grant from John’s Island Foundation

Fellsmere awarded $700K for community development

Fellsmere was one of 48 cities and counties to be awarded state funding toward community development Wednesday, according to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The $700,000 grant for the city will go toward replacing streets, sidewalks and landscaping from North Broadway Street to South Broadway Street, officials said. "Making investments in our small communities helps build opportunities for generations to come," DeSantis said in a statement. "I am proud to make these awards to 48 communities throughout the state to help them build economic resiliency and strengthen their communities." DeSantis issued more than $35 million to the communities through the Florida Small Cities Community Development Block Grant. The funds will be used for economic development, commercial and neighborhood revitalization, ...

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 ...