Paige Shawler wins ACE Award

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 ...

Environmental groups continue lagoon cleanup and education efforts

Even as much of Florida and the world have come to pretty much of a standstill due to COVID-19, local environmental and conservation organizations are still working to clean up the troubled Indian River Lagoon and educate school children and other members of the public about lagoon issues – all while maintaining social distancing. Ocean Research and Conservation Association is conducting its usual suite of environmental monitoring programs – maintaining its Kilroy network of water quality stations around the lagoon and doing other field work. ORCA chief scientist Dr. Edie Widder said it’s not difficult for the organization’s 13 fulltime employees to maintain a safe distance from each other in the field. ORCA has postponed all its citizen science training ...