Vero Beach Boys basketball championship game

Sailboat washes ashore near South Beach

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — No one was aboard a large sailboat that ran aground earlier this week just south of South Beach Park, police said. Florida Fish and Wildlife officers and police have notified the owner about the vessel washing ashore, said Officer Kelsea Callahan, a spokesperson for the Vero Beach Police Department. Vero Beach police officers responded to reports of the incident shortly after 7:23 a.m. Tuesday. A caller told dispatchers she could see the boat from her condo unit in the 1600 block of Ocean Drive, reports show. An incident report showed the boat appeared to be drifting south. Police tagged the boat for removal. It was unclear Thursday if the vessel was towed away from the area. ...

More details released in fatal December glider plane crash

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A small plane that crashed into a grassy median last month appeared "too slow" as it approached the runway while about 1,000 feet above ground level, according to a preliminary crash report. The aircraft - a glider - stalled and spun twice before falling nose-down and slamming into State Road 60. The pilot - 57-year-old Brian Richard Deams of Nazareth, Pennsylvania - was killed in the single-plane wreck. The National Transportation Safety Board released a report this week with details on the Dec. 6 crash that occurred in the 10000 block of S.R. 60, about half-a-mile northwest of New Hibiscus Airpark Airport. The crash site is west of Interstate 95. Investigators continue to look for possible ...

Huge backups on first day of bridge closure

The first two days of the week-long total closure of the 17th Street Bridge went about as expected – with long lines on the alternate route between the island and the mainland of Vero Beach, the Merrill P. Barber Bridge and its approaches. Motorists traveling between the island and the mainland found out that it took them about twice as long as normal to reach their destinations as all traffic that normally takes the 17th Street Bridge, about 20,000 vehicles per day and perhaps more in season – was detoured and rerouted to the Barber bridge. The Vero Beach Police Department warned motorists about delays and said it had officers out on Indian River Boulevard Tuesday to help direct the ...