Gainswave Therapy in Palm City, FL

Melissa E. Holsman

MARTIN COUNTY − Traffic began flowing again Friday at Martin Highway and Leighton Farm Avenue after repairs were made to a gas line that was struck and damaged before noontime.

Martin County Sheriff’s deputies reopened traffic before 5 p.m., but one lane of Martin Highway will remain closed through the evening as crews continue making repairs.

A gas line was struck Friday morning during construction in the area of Bruner Terrace, according to Martin County Fire Rescue officials.

A shelter-in-place order for area residents and businesses was issued after a gas line of unknown size was stuck by an auger while crews were digging, rescue officials stated via Facebook.

An auger is a devise used to bore holes in the ground.

Cory Pippin, a fire rescue spokesperson, said five crews began responding when the call came in around 11:15 a.m.

Gas company officials also responded.

“The gas company, TECO, is working internally to decide the best way to go about repairing the gas line,” Pippin said. “Once they decide that it will determine how involved our crews are there at the scene and when the roads can reopen.”

No injuries have been reported, he said.

By Friday afternoon, gas company crews were working to repair a 4-inch line near Martin Highway and Bruner Terrace.

As of 3 p.m., traffic was still closed from Martin Highway near the Turnpike to Citrus Boulevard. Leighton Farm Avenue to Honey Terrace also was closed.

Motorists are being asked to avoid the area, if possible, and should expect delays or detours until work is complete.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not,become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

PALM CITY, Fla. — A young girl in Martin County is facing a tall task. Brooklyn Gonzalez, 3, is fighting a rare cancer.

To help her family during this difficult time, the community will honor her Saturday during a walk to raise funds.

The event will take place at the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Palm City, which will be temporarily named the "Brooklyn Bridge" in her honor.

The rare form of liver cancer she is fighting is called hepatoblastoma.

"I've already known what chemo does to people, let alone my 3-year-old kid," Brooklyn's mother, Cybill Morrow-Gonzalez, said. "I could never, I don't know. It's still really hard."

Shortly after Brooklyn started her first two rounds of chemo, she hasn't been able to attend school because of her compromised immune system.

"She's had to sacrifice a lot," Brooklyn's father, Mike Gonzalez, said. "At the end of the day, she's still a 3-year-old kid. She's a 3-year-old kid with cancer, but she's still a 3-year-old kid."

Despite the battle with cancer, it hasn't dimmed her light.

"I got this. I'll get better," Brooklyn said.

"That kid wakes up every day with a smile on her face and all is good," her father said.

Between all the travel to and from the hospital in Orlando, paying for treatment and missing work, the family is struggling financially.

"I pretty much don't work very much at all," her mother said. "I work one day a week if I can, so that's put a huge strain financially on us because we both put in for our family."

Members of the community put together the Saturday walk in Brooklyn's honor to help the family raise money and awareness.

After the event, Brooklyn will head back to Orlando where she will have a tumor removed.

"It's still really hard, but she's kicking its butt," her mother said.

The family is taking the diagnosis one step at a time.

The walk is at the Veteran Memorial Bridge and starts at 9 a.m.

Walkers are meeting at Jock Leighton Park in Palm City before making their way to the bridge. Those who want to participate can register after they arrive.

Click here if you would like to donate to help Brooklyn in her fight against cancer.

Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A double shooting in Palm City has sparked renewed concern for the mental health of military veterans during the holidays.

Martin County deputies said Shaun Dougherty, 60, who deputies described as a "highly intoxicated" military veteran, shot his girlfriend and her adult daughter at a condominium in a gated community located off of Greenwood Way in the Martin Downs area.

Deputies said Dougherty is known to suffer from PTSD.

According to a Mission Roll Call poll, 43% of veterans report having a noticeable increase in mental health challenges during the holidays.

"For me as an infantryman, I got a lot of friends that were lost in the Global War on Terror or lost limbs, and you feel guilty for surviving," Jimmy Jackson, an Army War veteran said.

Jackson is also the founder of a Vero Beach nonprofit called "Do you Give a Ruck?"

It provides veterans services to counteract thoughts of suicide and PTSD.

Hearing what happened in Palm City renewed Jackson's calls for mental health awareness in veterans.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Matt Hewsylvanus Dunleavy, a member of American Legion Post 1318 in Port St. Lucie, agreed.

"We do have more people that open up during the holidays," Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy said while the holiday season is often a trigger, he sees many of his fellow veterans needing someone to talk to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year.

"They suffer every day," Dunleavy said. "We need to support them and comfort them when they need it."

There are resources across the Treasure Coast for that.

There are four Veterans Affairs clinics, six American Legion Posts and a county-run Veteran Services council in all three counties. That's not including several other nonprofits — like Jackson's.

However, Dunleavy and Jackson said while the resources are there, many veterans don't seek them out due to a lingering stigma surrounding mental health services.

According to the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, there are about 52,290 veterans living on the Treasure Coast, 23,772 of whom live in St. Lucie County.

However, St. Lucie Veteran Services told WPTV that 474 veterans seek their services every month — just 1.9% of the veterans who live in that area.

"We need to find them, we need to reach out and find our veterans," Dunleavy said. "Because a lot of times, they're embarrassed, and they shouldn't be. They should be proud."

Jackson agreed, adding that's the reason he started his nonprofit — to help others who have a hard time reaching out themselves.

"I want to say to our local veterans, sometimes it's best to swallow your pride," Jackson said. "Come out, be part of your brothers and sisters. In a lot of ways we can heal together."

* Veteran Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1

* U.S Department of Veteran Affairs Clinics

* American Legion Posts

* Veteran Services of Martin, St Lucie and Indian River

* "Do You Give A Ruck?" located in Vero Beach

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PALM CITY, Fla. — A 21-year-old Amazon driver is in critical but stable condition after she was bitten by a "highly venomous" rattlesnake in Palm City on Monday.

In a Facebook post, the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the driver was delivering a package in the Highlands Reserve community Monday night when an eastern diamondback rattlesnake coiled near the front door bit her. The agency later said it was 5 feet long.

"The driver walked to the door, put the package down and was struck by the snake," the sheriff's office wrote.

The driver immediately became ill and called out for help.

Deputies arrived at the scene within minutes and found the victim on the ground outside the home.

"She was sort of lethargic in her interaction with our deputies, limited conversation," Martin County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy John Budensiek said. "It was obvious when they were walking up to ask her what had taken place, you could see the bite on her inner thigh just above the knee."

The woman was taken to a local hospital, where she's now in "very serious condition," the sheriff's office said.

PeteBurke5 · Amazon delivery driver calls 911 after being bitten by rattlesnake

Sgt. Brian Tyson caught the snake from the front door.

"Do you get a lot of calls about snakes in that area in general?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked.

"We do, absolutely, we get them quite frequently," Tyson responded.

"It was aggressive. I used a long tool, a long pole to pin the snake against the wall and took care of it."

Tyson said this time of year MCSO sees an uptick of calls about snakes and because of its size temper and the small children in the area, the snake was put down.

"I did not think that it was a smart idea to try to trap it and then release it," Tyson said. "I'm sure the citizens of that community would have been quite upset had we done that.

Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, which are highly venomous, are "very common to this area," according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

Amy Kight with Busch Wildlife Sanctuary said people need to remember that snakes love our tropical climate and that most of them are completely harmless.

"When you see them, the best thing to do is just leave them alone," Kight said. "Assume all snakes have the potential to be dangerous, especially if you're not good at identifying them."

Amazon spokesperson Branden Baribeau released the following statement regarding the incident:

"Our thoughts are with the driver and we hope for a full recovery after this frightening incident. Together, with the Delivery Service Partner, we're looking into the circumstances surrounding this incident and continue to make sure that drivers understand they should not complete a delivery if they feel unsafe."

Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A tornado touched down early Monday evening as severe weather warnings gripped two southeast Florida counties for much of the afternoon.

The National Weather Service’s (NWS) Melbourne office initially said there were at least two twisters along the Treasure Coast. In an update, the agency stated that its officials headed out to investigate Tuesday morning the first one to determine where it first struck and how long it was on the ground.

In another update Wednesday morning, the NWS said it was unable to confirm a second tornado touched down.

The confirmed tornado formed around 4:45 p.m. near the I-95 and U.S. 1/Phillips Hwy. interchange and cut an eight-mile path toward Palm City and North River Shores. As the tornado hopped the St. Lucie River it spun up a waterspout aimed at the latter community.

Investigators found downed trees and other minor damage, mainly to fences and a farm stable, along the tornado route. No homes suffered any notable damage, the NWS added.

They rated the tornado as an EF-0, with wind speeds reaching between 65-75 mph.

In addition to the one near I-95, its preliminary information pointed to the second tornado having started near Becker Road and I-95 only minutes later.

"After analyzing the video that was provided to us on Twitter, it appears that the tornado was associated with the first system as it crossed I-95 and was NOT at Becker Rd as initially claimed," the NWS said on Wednesday.

In a series of social media posts shortly after the incidents, MCFR laid out a timeline:

Although safety is valued above all, multiple CBS12 News viewers were able to snap a few photos and take videos of what was happening right outside their door in Martin and St. Lucie counties.

"It got pretty intense. You saw debris in the air and our grill went flying," Erik Barnes, who lives at Canopy Creek, a gated community in Palm City. He saw what appeared to be a tornado right outside his home.

"It was pretty wild and it all happened so quickly," Barnes added.

Down the road, the wood framing of one home under construction collapsed.

Videos show multiple sightings from the St. Lucie River and activity across I-95.

Remember if you'd like to share photos or videos with us, go to our 'Chime In' page and tell us the city you're in.