🌅 🏛️ $20M Expansion Approved for SEAL Museum

Good Morning, Sunland

It’s Monday! First one in May. This year’s moving fast, like too fast. I just learned about the whole “May the Fourth be with you” thing. Had I known going into the weekend, we might’ve done a little something with that. But hey, hope you had a good one.

Today’s Cinco de Mayo, so I dropped a few events below that got that vibe. If you’re looking for a spot to eat, check otplay.sunlandnews.com. Full restaurant guide? That’s 772eats.com. And if you’re trying to figure out what’s happening this week, events.sunlandnews.com got you covered.

👀 Caught My Eye : Island Pig & Fish. They’ve already got a location off Seaway in Fort Pierce, but looks like they’re opening in Tradition too. Menu’s looking solid. Barbecue and seafood. Might be worth pulling up. Alright…

🌡️ Weather Update: Storms Rolling In

☀️ Day: High of 86°F | Partly cloudy early, then scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. Could see gusty winds or even a little hail
🌙 Night: Low of 68°F | Thunderstorms early, then clearing out. Muggy night with humidity around 92%.
🌅 Sunrise: 6:38 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 7:57 PM
🎵 Today’s Sound: “The Closer I Get to You” – Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway

🍊 The Main Squeeze
County Approves SEAL Museum Expansion

TL;DR: St. Lucie County commissioners approved a $20 million expansion at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce. The new two-story building will include exhibit space, conference rooms, and an outdoor event venue with extended hours and increased traffic raising concerns among nearby residents.

What’s happening: At their April 22 meeting, the County Commission approved a conditional use amendment allowing the museum to move forward with a 30,747-square-foot addition. This marks the site’s fourth expansion since 2011.

What’s planned:

• A two-story structure with exhibit space, offices, and conference rooms

• An open-air second-floor terrace for events, overlooking the ocean

• Existing obstacle courses and displays will be relocated to make room for a new courtyard and event lawn

• The museum has requested to host events until 11 PM, Tuesday through Sunday

Public concerns:

Some North Hutchinson Island residents raised concerns about noise, parking, and late-night activity, especially from rooftop events. Commissioners discussed limiting event hours to 10 PM and requiring police traffic details during larger gatherings.

Sea Palms residents also requested additional patrols during events and raised the issue of maintaining evening quiet in nearby neighborhoods.

Commission response:

Commissioner Cathy Townsend asked for a hard stop at 10 PM for events and requested the museum provide community meeting space and possibly host a voting precinct, in line with previous agreements.

Commissioner Erin Lowry noted the lack of local venues for events and said the addition could help meet demand.

What’s next:

The project now moves forward with local conditions attached. No construction timeline has been announced yet.

👉 Read the full story

🍊 Press Round
Wait Time Goes Down!

🏛️ Vero Beach Residents Demand Financial Transparency

At a tense town hall, residents grilled city officials over delayed audits and the stalled $175M wastewater plant relocation. Leaders say they’re catching up after staffing changes, but frustration is mounting.

👉 Watch the Highlights

🦝 Rabies Advisory Issued in Port St. Lucie

After a rabid raccoon was found off SE Merion Court, health officials are urging residents to avoid wild animals and keep pets vaccinated. Contact with strays or wildlife could pose serious risks.

👉 More on the Advisory

🩺 Cleveland Clinic Opens Stuart Facility to Cut Wait Times

A new primary care office just opened north of the Roosevelt Bridge, aiming to reduce wait times from nearly a year to under 30 days. It’s part of a wave of healthcare expansions across the Treasure Coast.

👉 Read the Full Story

Join the Mission and support Sunland News and help fuel the goal of delivering smarter, faster very, very local news that keeps you informed on what’s unfolding here.

💡 Why it matters: Your support allows me to keep St. Lucie County informed and engaged through the daily Sunland News newsletter—and sets the stage for tackling bigger, in-depth reporting projects in the near future.

🎁 What’s in it for you: Exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and other perks as we grow (bookstore and otherwise) this community together.

👉 Check it out here!

🍾 Refill
🍊That’s The Way Love Goes💙

Baseball is full of ups and downs. Every Mets fan knows this lol

Our St. Lucie Mets set off our 3-game series against the Jupiter Hammerheads with a very unfortunate loss. It was a shutout, which means we scored nothing at all.

However, on Saturday we completely dominated. This is usually how these things go. Sometimes it takes an embarrassing loss to wake up a group of players. Nate Dohm pitched 5.1 innings and struck out 6 sharks. Yonatan Henriquez hit TWO home runs. Colin Houck went 3 for 5. Simon Juan and Vincent Perozo both added 2 hits a piece. Final score was 9-2.

But the baseball gods had to humble us in game 3.
Plagued by 13 strikeouts, we lost 2-4.

On the brightside, we are currently #1 in our division so we can't be too mad.

Ya gotta keep the gratitude throughout the journey no matter what!

Keep on believing!

- darius "odgtm" garrido

Check the full box score here

🎉 This Week Around Town: Cinco De Mayo!

Monday, May 5

• 🌮 Cinco de Mayo Weekend at Pepe’s Cantina – Live DJ, drink specials, and fiesta vibes all weekend long. | May 3–May 5 | Free | Details

• 🎶 Cinco Celebration at Tail-Gators St. Lucie West – Food & drink deals all day, games, and live music from 7–10 PM. | 11 AM–11 PM | Free | Details

• 🎉 Cinco Patio Party at Pez Vela Fusion Kitchen – Live DJ + all-day happy hour at this outdoor patio fiesta in Stuart. | 5 PM–9 PM | Free | Details

Thursday, May 8

• 🍹 Deck Party at Causeway Cove Marina – Monthly waterfront meetup with food, drinks, and live music. | 6 PM–9 PM | Free | Details

Friday, May 9

• 🤝 Pop-Up Business Connect at Tutto Fresco – High-energy business mixer with food, networking, and giveaways. | 3 PM–5 PM | Free | Details

If you have an event, send it to me here
Want more events? Go here

💧 The Last Drop
Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up!

1. 🧹 Let’s Clean Up Lincoln Park!

   Sign up now for the May 17 Operation Restoring the Village community cleanup and lunch.

   👉 Register Here

2. 📚 Library Volunteers Saved the County $80K

   St. Lucie County recognized 2,560+ hours of volunteer service with a ceremonial check and awards.

   👉 Become a Volunteer

3. 🚧 Becker Preserve Closed for Bridge Construction

   Starting May 5, the preserve will shut down for two months to build a pedestrian bridge and kayak launch.

   👉 Explore Other Preserves

4. 🏡 Free Fort Pierce Workshops Start This Month

   Learn about disaster relief, pest control, tenant rights, and more—open to all residents.

   👉 See Full Schedule

5. 🌿 Speak Up About Your Neighborhood Green Space

   PSL is hosting public meetings May 12 and 19 to get input on local trails and open land.

   👉 Details Here

📸 This is Sunland: ✌️ Before I Let You Go

See you tomorrow!
With Love, Ja’Min

📖 Thanks For Reading: How was today’s newsletter?

👋 Thanks for reading! If you found it useful, consider sharing it with a friend.

📱 Keep up with the Sunland News: Send comments & suggestions to [email protected] Follow us on, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube

🙋‍♂️ Did someone forward you this? Subscribe Below!