If planting a tiny forest has never made it onto your weekend plans, it should. I recently sat down with Missy Weiss, the new executive director of Pelican Island Audubon Society, and was fascinated to learn they give away native trees three times a week at its location on Oslo Road...for free! Here are just a couple reasons these native trees are so important, aside from providing habitat for our many native bird, butterfly and insect species: a shade tree can cut your cooli

Everyone assumes the Youth Sailing Foundation is just for kids. It isn't, and the new building going up on the lagoon is about to make that very clear. Yes, junior sailing is still the heart of it. Put a kid out there and the phone stays on shore. There's no scrolling your way out of a capsize. Stu Keiller But the latest is the grown-ups who've gotten involved. YSF has spent the last five years building an adult sailing program, complete with a fleet of 19-foot Flying Scots y

John and Heather Chianis It was movie night at Hogan Yards, complete with camp chairs sprawled across the turf lawn as eager spectators counted down to the eight o'clock screening of Twilight, when I sat down with John and Heather Chianis to get the origin story behind the hottest new establishment in town. They are couple behind Pepper & Salt BBQ. In addition to being the resident pitmasters, they're overseeing events and programming for all of Hogan Yards. So, first off, wh

Meredith Egan of United Way and Jeff Pickering of Indian River Community Foundation Ask most people in Indian River County what actually drives the local economy, and you'll get the same three guesses nearly every time: tourism, real estate (and, once upon a time, Citrus). Maybe the hospital, if they're being thorough. Almost nobody says "nonprofits," which is a little surprising, because nonprofits are one of the biggest employers in the county, and now there's a report with

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PUCKETT'S MOVIE PICKS Mark Puckett reviews One Night Only:

Topics like this usually live over at our sister publication, Let's Talk Vero, but this one felt too important not to share here, especially if you care about growth, development, and quality of life in Vero Beach and Indian River County. This Wednesday, August 5 at 6:00 PM, Let's Talk Vero is hosting a live Zoom conversation with the candidates running for Indian River County's Board of County Commissioners, moderated by Baerbel O'Haire. It's live, it's free, and you can joi

Rose West and Ken Grudens Look what just got saved! A 1.6-acre stretch along the St. Sebastian River's South Prong, the last privately zoned link standing between a future trailhead off County Route 512 and conservation land the City of Sebastian already protects, is preserved for good instead of paved over. We got lucky here. That's thanks to the Indian River Land Trust, which just made one of its most strategic buys ever to make it happen. The parcel was zoned for houses ri

Vero just landed at #2 on Travel + Leisure's list of the best beach towns in America to buy a home in before prices climb! Right between Santa Cruz, CA at #1 and Myrtle Beach, SC at #3. Two towns with a lot more name recognition and a lot more people, and Vero's holding the line right between them. Michael Merrill of The Exclusive Group at Douglas Elliman told T+L that buyers priced out of Palm Beach are catching on: private beach clubs, championship golf, oceanfront living,

Topics like this usually live over at our sister publication, Let's Talk Vero, but this one felt too important not to share here, especially if you care about growth, development, and quality of life in Vero Beach and Indian River County. Here's a number that should stop you in your tracks: Indian River County is home to more than 170,000 people. Of those, 118,221 were registered to vote in the 2024 primary. Only 40,498 actually did, a turnout of just 34.26%. The dates are ge