Good Morning, Sunland

Itโ€™s Wednesday! ย And that means two things:
1๏ธโƒฃ My weekly reminder to share this newsletter with just one friend
2๏ธโƒฃ A big thank you for being here

Alrightโ€ฆ

๐ŸŒก๏ธ Weather Update: A warm breeze, bright skies, and a mellow spring night

โ˜€๏ธ Day: High of 81ยฐF | ๐ŸŒค๏ธ Sunshine and clouds mixed, with E winds at 10โ€“20 mph.
๐ŸŒ™ Night: Low of 66ยฐF | ๐ŸŒ™ A few clouds drifting through, with E winds at 10โ€“15 mph.
๐ŸŒ… Sunrise: 6:42 AM | ๐ŸŒ‡ Sunset: 7:54 PM
๐ŸŒ˜ Moonrise at 8:52 AM | Moonset at 11:38 PM
๐ŸŽต Sounds like: โ€œEverybody Loves the Sunshineโ€ by Roy Ayers ๐ŸŒž๐Ÿ’›

Jaโ€™Min Devon

๐Ÿก Main Squeeze
Fort Pierce Moves Forward on Workforce Housing

Workforce housing. A term that gets tossed around but is rarely clearly defined. So letโ€™s clear it up: itโ€™s generally meant for people earning around 60 to 100 percent of the areaโ€™s median income. Not quite affordable housing. Not luxury. Somewhere in between.

Thatโ€™s the idea behind a new 14-lot single-family housing project just approved by the Fort Pierce City Commission. Itโ€™s tucked off Mohawk Avenue near North 25th Street, south of St. Lucie Boulevard. If youโ€™ve ever driven toward Vero, chances are youโ€™ve passed it.

The land is part of one of those weird puzzle-pieced areas โ€” technically inside the city limits, but surrounded by county land. And that sparked some debate. Once you start building, youโ€™ve got to figure out whoโ€™s picking up the trash, whoโ€™s handling sewer and water, and how roads will be maintained. So a pretty small project ends up requiring a lot of logistical work.

๐Ÿšง The Road:

Mohawk Avenue is in bad shape. Commissioners raised concerns about its condition and what would actually get fixed. The developer said theyโ€™ll be improving the stretch directly in front of the new homes and are working on a $535,000 bond to make that happen.

๐Ÿ‘ท Who Itโ€™s For:

The goal is to keep these homes in the $350K range โ€” not cheap, but definitely under what weโ€™re seeing across most of the city right now. Three-bedroom, two-bath, impact windows, metal roofs. Not bad. The idea is to build something decent, durable, and attainable for working families.

๐Ÿ’ฌ Why It Matters:

Fort Pierce has been trying to find the balance between growth and affordability. Between beautification projects and real talk about who can afford to live here, this is one example of how that work actually shows up. Small? Sure. But it could signal more to come.

Want to weigh in on the future of housing in Fort Pierce?
๐Ÿ“ฌ Leave your thoughts here.

๐ŸŠ Press Round
Giffordโ€™s Growing, Murals Are Booming, and Joannโ€™s is Folding

๐Ÿ  Gifford Making Some Moves

Speaking of housing, Gifford is stepping up. The old Gifford Gardens site will soon be home to 14 affordable houses priced around $200K. Iโ€™m not moving to Gifford, but the demand is real: over 200 applications have already rolled in. Read more

๐ŸŽจ $50K Up for Grabs to Paint Sunrise Theatre Wall

Fort Pierce has been pouring love into murals lately, and now thereโ€™s a big one up for grabs. If youโ€™ve got the vision, $50,000 is on the table to design a new mural on the back of the Sunrise Theatre. Go for it. Read more

๐Ÿงต Joannโ€™s Fabricโ€ฆ We Know Whatโ€™s Coming

One of the two Joannโ€™s on the Treasure Coast just closed. Veroโ€™s done. Jensen is next. Get your muslin cloth while you still can. Read more

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 whatโ€™s unfolding here.

๐Ÿ’ก Why it matters: Your support allows me to keep St. Lucie County informed and engaged through the daily Sunland News newsletterโ€”and sets the stage for tackling bigger, in-depth reporting projects in the near future.

๐ŸŽ Whatโ€™s in it for you: Exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and other perks as we grow (bookstore and otherwise) this community together.

๐Ÿซ— Refill
Mets Fall Short, But Still Got Work to Do

Unfortunately, our guys took the L yesterdy. The final score was 1-3. We just couldnโ€™t get our offense going. If you take a look at the box score youโ€™d be hard pressed to crack a smile once you see how many times we struck out at the plate (โ€ฆ12 times). But hey, you canโ€™t win em all.

With Marco Vargas and A.J. Ewing being promoted to the Brooklyn Cyclones (congrats to them btw), we gotta step up as a unit and make up for that loss offensively. We still have two more games left in this series though so we still have the opportunity to make those adjustments. I trust we will! Ya Gotta Believe! Peace yall!

Check the score here

๐ŸŽ‰ Weekender
Your Frid, Sat, & Sun Gameplan

Friday, May 2

  • ๐ŸŽถ Friday Fest โ€“ Live music, food, and family fun at Marina Square in Fort Pierce. | 5:30 PMโ€“8:30 PM | Free | Details

  • ๐ŸŽธ Food Trucks & Tributes โ€“ Eagles Revival โ€“ Eagles tribute concert with local food trucks at Tradition Square. | 5 PMโ€“9 PM | Free | Details

  • ๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ 2nd Annual Auction Gala: Enchanted Garden โ€“ A night of fundraising, food, and fellowship at Tradition Town Hall. | 6:30 PM | Free | Details

Saturday, May 3

  • ๐ŸŒฎ Cinco de Mayo Weekend at Pepeโ€™s Cantina โ€“ Live DJ, drink specials, and fiesta vibes all weekend long. | May 3โ€“May 5 | Free | Details

Sunday, May 4

  • ๐Ÿ“š April Book Club Meeting โ€“ Join Wanderlust Book Boutiqueโ€™s monthly book chat in downtown Fort Pierce. | 10 AM | Free | Details

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ Want more local events?

Check out the full, ever-growing list at events.sunland.news โ€“ your go-to for everything happening in and around St. Lucie County. If you have an event, send it to me here

๐Ÿ’ง The Last Drop
3 Local Headlines for the Road!

  1. ๐Ÿ— Chicken Salad Chick Coming to Tradition

    A new Chicken Salad Chick is opening in Port St. Lucie at The Landing in Tradition. No official opening date yet. See more

  2. ๐ŸŽญ Apply Now: E.N.D. IT Summer Theater Program

    Fort Pierce teens can apply now to join E.N.D. ITโ€™s youth theater program. The final play premieres in August. Apply here

  3. โ›ฝ Buc-eeโ€™s Isnโ€™t Just Coming to Fort Pierce

    Youโ€™ve heard about the giant Buc-eeโ€™s headed to Indrio and I-95, but theyโ€™re also planning massive locations in Ocala and Tallahassee, with up to 120 pumps and 75,000 square feet of space. See the expansion plans

๐Ÿ“ธ This is Sunland
Photo for the Road!

See you tomorrow!
With Love, Jaโ€™Min

๐Ÿ“– Thanks For Reading: How was todayโ€™s newsletter?

๐Ÿ‘‹ Thanks for reading! If you found it useful, consider sharing it with a friend.

๐Ÿ“ฑ Keep up with the Sunland News: Send comments & suggestions to [email protected] Follow us on, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube

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