🌅 🚔 New Fort Pierce Police Interview

It's Monday! The interview with our new Police Chief David Smith is out right now for People Pass members. If you're not a member yet, no worries, it'll be out later this week. But I do want to say thank you to those who support Sunland in more ways than one. It's all for you all. If you want to join, support here.

🍴 June Food: I did my monthly roundup of all the new spots that popped up around the area. Watch here.

☀️ Day: High of 92°F | Thunderstorms with locally heavy rainfall. 90% chance of rain.
🌙 Night: Low of 72°F | Cloudy early with some clearing expected late.
🌅 Sunrise: 6:31 AM | 🌇 Sunset: 8:20 PM
🌙 Moonrise: -- | 🌚 Moonset: 11:29 AM
🎶 Sounds like: "I'll House You" — Jungle Brothers

Chief David M. Smith has been on the job for about four and a half months now. He came from Prince William County, Virginia, one of the most diverse counties in the country, with 25 years of law enforcement experience. He is not from Fort Pierce. He is not from Florida. And he will tell you that himself 🚔.

I pulled questions from the community before we sat down and we covered a lot of ground including the FLOCK cameras, homelessness, the Lincoln Park substation, staffing shortages, collaboration with the sheriff's office and what he sees for the future of the department.

A few things he said that stuck with me:

🎥 On the FLOCK cameras, he pushed back on the surveillance state framing and pointed to a hit and run case where two children were seriously injured and the cameras were the only witness. I posted his full response on this already if you want to watch it.

🏠 On people experiencing homelessness, he was direct: being unhoused is not a crime, the department will address behaviors not people, and arresting your way through that problem does not work.

🏛️ On the Lincoln Park substation, he addressed it head on. It was never closed but it was not staffed by an officer. That has changed. The community engagement unit is now operating out of there with specific days and hours so residents do not have to drive across town to talk to someone.

👦 On community, he talked in Lincoln Park, getting officers out of cars and into neighborhoods, and building the kind of relationships where kids run toward the police not away from them.

The full interview is available now for People Pass supporters. Check your email. If you are not a supporter yet you can get access at HERE. It will be available to everyone later this week 🎙️.

Vero Beach residents will weigh in on proposed water and sewer rate increases at two public hearings tentatively scheduled for August 11 and August 25. The combined water and sewer bill would increase from $83.54 to $122.45 by 2030 for 4,000 gallons of usage, with the largest hikes coming in 2027 and 2028. Water and sewer director Rob Bolton said inflation and the upcoming $164 million One Water reclamation facility near the Vero Beach Airport are driving the increases, which would help reduce nutrient pollution in the Indian River Lagoon.

👉 Read more (WQCS)

The Florida Department of Transportation and Port St. Lucie presented preliminary plans for the $21 million final 1.12-mile stretch of Port St. Lucie Boulevard widening from Paar Drive to Becker Road, expected to run from fall 2027 to spring 2030. The project will include full reconstruction of a bridge spanning the E-84 Canal between Jingle and Hoffenberg avenues, a first for the ongoing boulevard improvements. Traffic will be rerouted using detours and alternate bridges along Savona and Darwin boulevards during construction. By late 2030, the boulevard will link more traffic between Florida's Turnpike and Interstate 95 interchanges.

👉 Read more (St. Lucie Voice)

C.R. Chicks, a Palm Beach-based rotisserie chicken chain, will open its first Treasure Coast location in Stuart in late 2026 near Publix and Harbor Freight. The Florida chain serves rotisserie chicken basted with house-made marinade and roasted over Brazilian oakwood, with all sides, breads and desserts made from scratch. Construction has started but no estimated completion date has been provided yet, according to Vice President of Store Operations Brian Feeney.

👉 Read more (TCPalm subscription may be required)

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