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Fire was reported at a home on Milford Point Drive

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – Crews from multiple agencies battled a house fire in Merritt Island on Sunday afternoon, according to Brevard County Fire Rescue.

Officials at the scene said that they were successful in extinguishing the fire at the home located on Milford Point Drive.

The 5,172 square-foot, river-front home is valued at over a million dollars, according to Zillow.

“I happen to see a little bit of smoke in the air, and I said ‘you know the only thing I know that’s over there is the boat yard,’” said Don Pearsall as he was leaving a nearby mall.

Pearsall said when he came to check out what was going on, it was only a fire in the backyard area.

“Flames were rolling in the air, they have three aerial ladder trucks here,” Pearsall said at the scene.

No Injuries were reported in the fire, BCFR said.

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When reached by phone, the homeowner said a fire pit started the blaze and also confirmed that there were no injuries.

The Merritt Island Volunteer Fire Department posted on social media saying they were at the scene assisting BCFR, Cape Canaveral volunteer Fire Department and Cocoa Beach Fire Department.

Pearsall said he wants to help the family that was impacted by the fire by starting a fund with the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center.

“Don’t matter if you’re a veteran or not, if you need help we’re here,” Pearsall said.

Crews remain on the scene to perform any additional protective measures, according to BCFR.

Pearsall said that if anyone would like to donate, to please contact the Veterans Memorial Center that is located at 400 South Sykes Creek Parkway in Merritt Island.

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Suzy Fleming Leonard

If the new ice cream shop on Merritt Island seems familiar, there's good reason.

Parkway Creamery, which will begin dishing out soft-serve treats at 1 p.m. Thursday, resides at the same location as Dairy Queen, which closed Feb. 7, 2023. It has the same owners and employs some of the same workers.

A year and a day after closing the Dairy Queen they owned and ran for 28 years, Deb and Mike Gentile are bringing sweet treats back to 265 Courtenay Parkway, just south of Merritt Avenue.

"It's crazy that it's been a year," Deb Gentile said on Tuesday as her husband and grandson, Zeke Jewell, prepared for the reopening.

The Gentiles caused a stir on Merritt Island last year after posting this notice on one of the walk-up windows at the shop:

"The last 28 years has had its share of ups and downs, but with each passing year, Dairy Queen Corporate puts more and more unrealistic demands on us, leading us down a path that we would not have chosen."

Gentile said last year that she and her husband hadn't planned to close. Dairy Queen had occupied that spot since 1965, when it was opened by Verne and Helene Koch.

But Dairy Queen corporate mandates, such as a requirement to install an electronic system for taking orders and payment that would be compatible with smart phone apps and food delivery services, forced them to rethink their priorities.

A little history:Here's why Merritt Island Dairy Queen will close Feb. 5 after 58 years

The Merritt Island restaurant, which has walk-up and drive-thru service, has always been a cash-only operation, and the Gentiles didn't want to change that.

They own the building and the equipment, but they had a one-year non-compete agreement with Dairy Queen. They closed their doors and took a year off to rest and regroup. They took an Alaskan cruise, spent time with family, but Deb said she didn't want to get too comfortable. She knew they would be back in ice cream eventually.

The menu will be similar to the previous offerings, with lots of soft-serve creations and hotdogs on a rotisserie. Guests can order blenders, ice cream mixed with treats such as Oreos, peanut butter cups and Andes Mints; dippers, chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick; and nutty bars, chocolate-dipped ice cream with peanuts.

Deb said she's not able to use her previous supplier, so it's taken time to find the right products, from cups and lids to gummy bears and Sour Patch Kids.

Mike said he's been working at the shop seven days a week since October, painting, putting together new tables out front and getting things in order.

The building looks fresh and inviting. Market lights crisscross over red and white tables in front of the building, which sports a bright red roof with accents in crisp white and aqua. A new sign is in the works, but won't be ready for opening day.

The Gentiles' daughter and Zeke's mother, Elise Jewell, made the menu boards and posters. Zeke's younger brother, Brekkan, 13, will be working there, too.

It's a true mom-and-pop business, Deb said.

The Gentiles have a long history of hiring local teenagers to work at the shop, and that will continue. Four are returning, and they've hired 11 new staff members.

All have been trained according to state safety regulations, and they've also gotten some old-fashioned math instruction. Because Parkway only takes cash, they've had to practice counting out change.

Deb said one of her favorite parts of the business is building relationships with her employees, giving them a safe environment and watching them learn a work ethic.

Grandson Zeke, 16, is now the employee with the most seniority. He started as a 12-year-old washing dishes and has grown to love it. The best part about working there is, of course, the ice cream. He never gets tired of it.

"Not only that, but also you get to meet a lot of other people, and you make nice relationships with the other employees," he said.

What else is coming:Coming soon: We're excited about these restaurants set to open this year in Brevard

"We've got some pretty good guys that are coming back," he said. "We'll make a good crew."

Deb said she expects it to be hectic for the first few weeks, and she asks guests bring patience and grace when they visit.

"They're 16," she said of most of her staff. "They've never had a job before."

But they'll catch on quickly, she said.

The son of the original owners, David Koch, still lives locally. He was the Gentiles' final customer last year, and he plans to be their first customer at 1 p.m. Thursday.

The Gentiles can't wait.

"The outpouring of love and support has been unimaginable," Deb said.

Suzy Fleming Leonard is a features journalist with more than three decades of experience. Reach her at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Find her on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard.

Home » Home » Michael Milano of Merritt Island Indicted for Smuggling Illegal Aliens into Brevard from Bahamas Aboard 42-Foot Fishing Boat

BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA — A Homeland Security Investigations Space Coast investigation has led to the indictment of a Brevard County man charged with 25 counts of human smuggling.

If convicted, Michael Andrew Milano, 42, of Merritt Island, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison for each count.

The indictment also notifies Milano that the United States intends to forfeit any property traceable to proceeds of the offense and any property or conveyances used to facilitate or commit the offenses.

According to court documents, on Feb. 29, 2024, Milano and a companion traveled from Brevard County to the Bahamas in a 42-foot fishing vessel. Records show the vessel was registered in Rockledge, but not to Milano, and was not reported stolen.

During a brief stop in the Bahamas, Milano loaded 25 non-U.S. citizen migrants onto the vessel, returning to Brevard County shortly thereafter. Milano allegedly forced all 25 migrants to lie flat on the deck of the vessel throughout the voyage back to the United States.

WATCH: Officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were conducting routine safety inspections in the Intracoastal Waterway and Indian River region and encountered Michael Andrew Milano, 42, of Merritt Island, and boarded his vessel. On board, they discovered the migrants, still lying flat on the deck. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office assisted U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard. (IRCSO video image)

That evening, as officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were conducting routine safety inspections in the Intracoastal Waterway and Indian River region, they encountered Milano and boarded his vessel.

On board, they discovered the migrants, still lying flat on the deck. Federal and local law enforcement agencies responded, and the U.S. Coast Guard took custody of the migrants to process and repatriate them.

According to law enforcement, the passengers included 12 men, eight women, two were believed to be pregnant, and five children who appeared to be unaccompanied by an adult. None of the passengers spoke English or had any identification or U.S. documents.

The report says the officers believed the passengers were migrants from Haiti.

According to the report, after Milano refused to speak to investigators, agents questioned a woman who said she had been in a relationship with Milano for years, and despite instructions from Milano not to speak to law enforcement, the woman said she and Milano took a boat trip to the Bahamas that she believed was for the purpose of bringing supplies like food, money and electronics to a property there.

The woman said they boarded a boat at a residence in Rockledge and then traveled directly to the Bahamas and then went to a boat dock where they loaded several people on the boat. The vessel then traveled to another boat dock in the Bahamas where even more migrants were loaded onto the boat.

According to the report, the witness said Milano told her to find a migrant in the group who spoke some English so they could tell the others to lay down in the boat for the duration of the trip. Milano then told the witness to collect all their belongings.

According to the report, Milano traveled to the Florida coast nonstop and entered the Sebastian Inlet and toward the Rockledge home where the trip started.

The witness told authorities she only helped Milano because she feared for her safety throughout the entire trip, saying she did exactly what Milano told her to do because he threatened to throw her overboard. Law enforcement and court records corroborated the witnesses claims that Milano had beaten her on multiple occasions in the past.

Later on the night of the inspection, agents say they used a translator to interview four of the boat passengers found lying on the deck.

According to the report, each of them told the same story in which they had paid someone to bring them from the Bahamas to the United States by boat, but their original boat had become disabled, and they ended up on Milano’s boat because he happened to be passing by and rescued them.

Investigators say the identical accounts given by the passengers led them to believe they were coached to give that narrative if questioned by law enforcement, a common tactic for human smuggling suspects and their victims.

The vessel was seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations.

Three handguns, two of which were found hidden in compartments around the boat were discovered during a subsequent search, and a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit also swept the boat for the presence of drugs and found five clear bags containing a total of approximately 2.5 pounds of suspected narcotics, which are undergoing testing in a laboratory.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Space Coast, with assistance from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office assisted U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations, the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Varadan.

Investigators have found cause to charge Milano with illegally bringing aliens into the United States and he was booked into the Brevard County jail Saturday and has since been remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending a preliminary examination and detention hearing scheduled for March 12.

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Previous movements to incorporate one of Brevard County’s largest communities have failed

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – Advocates for making Merritt Island a city said it would attract new businesses, remove blight and protect miles of shoreline and wildlife areas.

Incorporation has never had a majority of support from the public, though.

Voters rejected the idea 35 years ago, and the last movement more than a decade ago didn’t even make it to the ballot. But once again, Brevard County is paying for a study to determine what making a Merritt Island a city could cost its citizens now.

“It’s time for us to try it again, maybe,” Brevard County Commissioner Tom Goodson said during a January meeting.

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Chair Rita Pritchett agreed that funding the study would benefit the Merritt Island area.

In an interview Friday, commissioner John Tobia said population shifts and a potential change in public opinion warrants at least exploring the option.

Early results found the county would lose $8 million if Merritt Island became a city.

Tobia said that loss would come with a trade-off.

“There would be less services the county would need to take over,” he said. “So, in other words, (the fire department) would be run by Merritt Island. It would no longer be run by Brevard County Fire Rescue unless an agreement was struck to cover those services.”

Many people News 6 spoke to this week feared their taxes would increase, but Channing Black suggested residents wait on the results of the study.

“Jury’s still out for me, but I think best decisions are made at the local level,” the Merritt Island resident said. “Let the local citizens decide how their local government wants to run.”

When it’s done, the county will send the study to the state Legislature. If lawmakers approve it, then incorporation could be on the ballot on Election Day in 2024.

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BREVARD COUNTY • MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA – Leroy “Lee” D. Solid of Merritt Island, Florida passed on to his new home in eternity on February 3, 2024.

How can we be sure this is true? We are sure because Lee had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and believed by faith in the unbreakable promises of God found in the Bible, that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Lee was born April 13, 1936, in his family’s farmhouse in Tuthill, South Dakota and lived and worked alongside his three siblings on the family farm for the first 18 years of his life.

After graduating from the South Dakota School of Mines, Lee embarked on a remarkable career in the manned spaceflight program that would send a man to the moon in 1969. He would continue his work as VP-GM of the group at Rocketdyne managing the Space Shuttle Main Engines program.

More importantly than his career, Lee was a devoted husband married for over 67 years to his wife Shirley and a devoted father to their five children, Pamela, Kelly (Deborah), Kevin (Bonnie), Sheri (Skip) and Stephen (Kristina).

He would never miss a ballgame or event. He was also an active grandfather to sixteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Lee was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Alice, his brother Myron, his daughter Pamela, grandson Mark and great grandson Griffin – all there to greet him in his new eternal home.

Lee’s favorite song was “The King is Coming.”

O the King is coming, the King is coming! I just heard the trumpets sounding, and now His face I see. O the King is coming, the King is coming! Praise God, He’s coming for me!

Lee’s prayer and desire were for all his children and grandchildren to come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Lee’s most important legacy lives on.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in memory of Lee and Shirley’s first child Pamela.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at Wyliebaxleymerrittisland.com for the Solid family.

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