Three years ago on 13th Avenue, Marine veteran Jeff Palleschi opened 21st Amendment Distillery. Today, it's the ultimate neighborhood sanctuary, a joint with good bourbon, serious soul, and an unwritten rule that local veterans never walk alone. And if Bourbon isn't your thing, they now serve beer and wine. The Wall of Honor, the cigars shipped to Marines overseas, the "21 Salute" bourbon bankrolling the WWII Tribute on Veterans Memorial Island, Jeff hands over the keys to wh

Mark your calendar: Friday, Sept. 11, 8:30 a.m. at the Indian River County Fairgrounds & Expo Center. This is the Sheriff's Office's 25th year holding this ceremony, a span long enough that a child born the week of the 9/11 attacks turns 25 this year, old enough now to bring children of their own. The program hasn't changed: a multi-agency honor guard, a tribute from local fire rescue, the mournful call of the Vero Beach Pipes and Drums. Get there early, the fairgrounds fill

Somewhere between the last Bloody Mary brunch and the next barre class, Costa d'Este has found the missing link: yoga, mimosas, and kittens, in that order of increasing importance. On Saturday, September 12th at 10 a.m., the resort's Crystal Ballroom makes way for Paws & Pose, a rescue-yoga hybrid dreamed up by H.A.L.O. No-Kill Rescue. Thirty minutes of yoga, followed by 30 minutes of bottomless mimosas, then an hour of kitten cuddling. H.A.L.O. brings the kittens. You just b

Last year's Trashy Treasure Trophy winner was a one-pound "square grouper" of illegal drugs, hauled off Round Island and handed straight to the authorities. So, no pressure, but Indian River County: what have you got for us this time? On Saturday, September 19, Coastal Connections returns for its fifth year running the International Coastal Cleanup across 25 waterfront sites countywide, and after last year's record haul of 4,064 pounds of debris and 43,043 individual pieces,

This Saturday, get your kids on the lagoon! September 12 brings two youth events to the Indian River Lagoon, one built around hands-on science, one built around rod and reel. At the Environmental Learning Center, the Marine Resources Council's Youth Action Assembly runs 8:30 to 5:00. 7th - 12th graders from across the 156-mile watershed spend the day with scientists, then break into small groups to build real action plans on pollution, habitat, or policy. Down on the water, L

At long last, we have a hit. PUCKETT'S MOVIE PICKS Mark Puckett reviews Coyote vs. Acme I was 20 when Who Framed Roger Rabbit burst onto the screen in 1988, though the live-action hybrid stretches back to 1900’s silent short The Enchanted Drawing, and down through the dismal depths of Space Jam: A New Legacy. At long last, we have a hit. Coyote vs. Acme finally gives Wile E. Coyote his day in court against the corporate behemoth that supplied his defective anvils. Naturally,

Never miss a Vero Minute! Some of you have been watching this one since 2019. You know every twist, every delay, every City Council meeting by heart. Others are just catching wind of it now and are, understandably, very curious what all the fuss is about. Either way, here's where things stand. If you've been tracking the slow march of the Three Corners project, waiting for this waterfront reboot can feel like watching paint dry. Seven years after the community engagement and

Getty Images You've got two days left to catch special screenings of Steel Magnolias and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. AMC Indian River 24, part of a nationwide tribute to her legacy running through September 2. Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up to never miss a Vero minute! Visit the Home page to explore all stories. Visit The Week Ahead to see a curated list of upcoming events.

Something special is being unveiled at McKee Botanical Garden during this weekend's second annual Rare & Exotic Orchid Exhibition & Sale! And you can be among the first to hear about it -- before anyone else. Fill out this form to sign up for the early reveal before the gates open! The secret drops alongside the Orchid Sale, running Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. McKee members can enter early at 8 a.m. Saturday for an exclusive preview. Featured

Set your alarm! Sunday, Aug. 30, 7:26 AM Three boosters of a Falcon Heavy ignite at once from Kennedy Space Center, a bigger show than anything we've seen leave the Cape lately, and NASA's biggest observatory since the James Webb. Here's what makes it worth the early wake-up. The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope carries a mirror the same size as Hubble's, but its camera takes in roughly 100 times more space in a single frame. Where Hubble picks off one target at a time, Roman swee

If you love A Land Remembered, the MacIveys and their sweep from cracker poverty to Florida fortune that's become required reading for crackers and transplants alike, you need to read Gregory Enns' Cow Creek Chronicles: The Rise and Fall of an Early Florida Cattle Ranch, recently published by the University Press of Florida. It's the same sweep, the same century of Florida clawing itself out of the muck, told true. Real names on real gravestones, with real family still around

The Vero Beach Book Center just announced its fall lineup, and it's stacked! But if you've got a kid in the house, don't wait! This Saturday, August 29 at 11 AM, the Children's Floor hosts a Dog Man event tied to Dav Pilkey's world-conquering series, complete with a create-your-own-comic contest. Entries are due tomorrow, August 25, at the Children's Floor counter. From there, the calendar fills out fast. Chef Bobby Hicks kicks off September 19 with a talk on his debut cookbo

Florida's only endemic bird species lives right here in Indian River County, and this Thursday, Bob Montanaro is bringing its story to Raw Space. The Pelican Island Audubon Society naturalist has spent years filming the county's wildlife, from ospreys to river otters. His program, The Secret Life of the Florida Scrub-Jay, covers the bird's life history and the scrub habitat it depends on. It's his third talk at Raw Space this summer, following programs on the ospreys of Pelic

Now's the perfect time to get on the lagoon, and the Environmental Learning Center is leading the charge with guided kayak excursions this Saturday, August 22, and through September. ELC's guides take you through the surrounding lagoon and into the mangrove tunnels ringing their 64-acre island campus. Dolphins surface. Ospreys dot the tree line. And gear is included! Beyond the kayak tours, daily pontoon tours cruise past Pelican Island for manatees and dolphins, and guided n

Raw Space’s STEWARDS series continues Thursday with Team ORCA Research Assistant Courtney Brooks, who works at the intersection of field science and public participation. Courtney Brooks Her work invites residents to help monitor the Indian River Lagoon, spot changes in its habitats, and take part in restoring the places that sustain its wildlife. Brooks will discuss citizen science, habitat restoration, and the daily research behind ORCA’s work to protect the lagoon. She’ll

source: Sony Pictures PUCKETT'S MOVIE PICKS Mark Puckett reviews Spider-Man: Brand New Day Having scraped together a billion dollars in under a week, the latest Marvel exercise arrives as a rare, thoughtful pleasure amid the franchise's recent mediocrity. Yet at two hours and twenty-five minutes, it suffers from a mild case of bloat. Nothing drags, strictly speaking, making it a good film, if not quite a great one. The editing is seamless, the casting entirely unoffending, an

Saturday, September 5 and Sunday the 6th. Be there! McKee Botanical Garden's Second Annual Rare & Exotic Orchid Exhibition & Sale returns, and if last year is any indication, this year will be an even bigger hit. A quick history lesson: During World War II, Britain shipped its rarest orchids across the Atlantic to dodge the bombing, straight to Arthur McKee to keep alive. This summer, McKee's own collection racked up four American Orchid Society awards. The American Orchid So

There was no distance between the audience and the art this past Saturday; it was a breathtakingly close-up experience at Riverside's Dance Festival. You felt the physical sweep of air as the dancers flew past, witnessing the exquisite mechanics of moving muscle and shifting ribs right before your eyes. A flawless, up-close revelation of the strength behind the grace. If that wasn't enough, it also happened to be Camilo Rodriguez's 50th birthday, marked by a cameo appearance

Everyone's talking about Wednesday's Let's Talk Vero conversation with the Indian River County Commission candidates. Its a must-watch if you're still deciding who to vote for, or if you just want to hear where these candidates actually stand before you vote on August 18. Barebel O'Haire Baerbel O'Haire spent an hour and a half with the candidates for District 2 and District 4, covering everything from Amendment 3 and its potential hit to the county budget, to smart growth an

The place to be this Sunday at 3pm is the Sanctuary at Community Church of Vero Beach, where the Music and Fine Arts program hosts the Space Coast Symphony for Landscapes & Legends. The sanctuary’s world-class acoustics have long attracted global music royalty. Its stage has welcomed both the Moscow and Royal Philharmonics, alongside legendary soloists Joshua Bell and Marc-André Hamelin. Following suit, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center transferred its entire 2027 s