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Good morning!
Destin’s City Council unanimously tabled the proposed annexation of 2,076 acres after a packed public hearing. Tropical Storm Bertha continues pushing west with a tropical storm warning still in effect for Okaloosa, and Crunch Fitness is coming to Fort Walton Beach with a winter opening target. The Okaloosa School District’s Project SEARCH program earned statewide and global recognition. Also, an inside look at how Lisa Jo Spencer combines law, faith, family and community.
FALL SPORTS SPONSOR: Get The Coast is gearing up for full coverage of fall sports across Okaloosa County. We have a limited number of sponsorship spots available for businesses that want to be front and center with our sports coverage this fall. Your logo on every story, mentions in our newsletter, shoutouts across our 110,000+ social followers — the whole playbook. If you want in, reach out to me directly at jared@getthecoast.com and let’s talk before the season kicks off.
HOW I WORK
An inside look at how Lisa Jo Spencer combines law, faith, family and community
“How I Work” is brought to you by the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. Join the most influential organization in Okaloosa. Learn more here.
Lisa Jo Spencer first came to Okaloosa County in 1997 when the Air Force transferred her to Eglin Air Force Base. Originally from Speedway, Indiana, she and her husband, Gary, quickly fell in love with the area and decided to make it their permanent home.
Today, Lisa Jo is the sole attorney at Lisa Jo Spencer, PA, where she focuses on estate planning, trust administration and probate administration. She approaches each client and family individually, recognizing that no estate plan or probate matter is ever truly “cookie cutter.”
Whether she is meeting with clients, serving through the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce or finding time for a boat ride with Gary, Lisa Jo has learned to value balance and make space for what matters most.
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GAMES
WordroW: July 22, 2026
WordroW is brought to you by Fort Walton Beach Chiropractic – keeping your mind sharp and your spine aligned, one game at a time.
Can you guess today’s 5-letter word in six tries?
WordroW is Get The Coast’s daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community. You have six guesses to find the mystery word – green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren’t in the word at all.
COMING SOON
Crunch Fitness coming to Fort Walton Beach, targeting winter opening
Crunch Fitness is heading to Fort Walton Beach.
Fit Fusion, the franchise group behind the new location, is planning to open a roughly 35,000-square-foot gym at 546 Mary Esther Cut Off NW with a target of opening this winter, according to Jessica St. Martin, presale operations manager for Crunch Fitness with Fit Fusion.
- The building previously housed Liza Jackson Preparatory School and, before that, served as the original Walmart in the area. It sits next to Academy Sports + Outdoors.
Crunch Fitness, founded in a basement in New York City in 1989, now has roughly 500 locations nationwide. The brand operates under the motto “No judgments, no limits.” Memberships at the Fort Walton Beach location will start at $9.99 per month.
Amenities that have been confirmed for the Fort Walton Beach location include group fitness classes, HIIT training, personal trainers, a Relax and Recovery room with tanning, red light therapy, hydro massage and cryotherapy, and Kids Crunch, the brand’s in-gym childcare program.
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SCHOOL
Okaloosa School District’s Project SEARCH program earns statewide and global recognition
The Okaloosa County School District’s Project SEARCH program has earned the Florida Project SEARCH Excellent Outcome Award for achieving outstanding employment outcomes for its 2024-2025 cohort, placing it among the top-performing programs both statewide and internationally.
The award, presented during the Florida Project SEARCH Annual Conference, recognizes sites that achieve employment outcomes between 77% and 99% for graduating participants. The Hilton Garden Inn Fort Walton Beach program was one of only five sites across Florida’s 45 active Project SEARCH locations to receive the honor.
Globally, the recognition carries additional weight. Project SEARCH operates approximately 800 sites worldwide, and the Fort Walton Beach program was one of just 166 selected to receive an Excellent Outcome Award, placing it among the top 21% of sites internationally.
Project SEARCH is a nationally recognized high school transition program that prepares young adults with disabilities for competitive, integrated employment through workplace immersion, career exploration and hands-on job training. The program is designed for students ages 18 to 21 who have completed their high school credits and deferred their diplomas, combining classroom instruction with real-world work experiences through partnerships with local businesses.
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New ER now open in DeFuniak Springs
The new HCA Florida DeFuniak Springs Emergency is now open, bringing 24/7 emergency care to Walton County. Located at I-10 and U.S. 331, the facility features 10 private patient care rooms, board-certified emergency physicians and on-site diagnostic services including CT scan and digital X-ray.
WEATHER
Bertha pushes west, tropical storm warning remains for Okaloosa
The National Hurricane Center dropped the Tropical Storm Warning east of the Okaloosa-Walton County line Wednesday morning as Tropical Storm Bertha continued to push westward through the northern Gulf.
- The warning remains in effect from the Okaloosa-Walton County line westward to Morgan City, Louisiana, as well as for metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued from west of Morgan City to Cameron, Louisiana.
As of 4 a.m., Bertha was located about 165 miles west-southwest of Panama City and about 50 miles east-northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving west at 5 mph. Gradual weakening is forecast to continue over the next several days.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center. A wind gust of 49 mph was reported at an offshore buoy near Orange Beach, Alabama, in the past hour, the hurricane center said.
Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Patrick Maddox said Tuesday evening that the overall track remains relatively unchanged and the system is expected to remain offshore and slowly push west of the local area by Wednesday afternoon. Wind gusts along the coast were nearing tropical storm force Tuesday evening and were expected to continue through the overnight hours.
WEATHER
Today’s weather outlook
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TODAY: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. South wind 25 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
TONIGHT: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear, with a low around 82. South wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
BUSINESS
Destin City Council unanimously tables proposed annexation of 2,076 acres after packed public hearing
The Destin City Council unanimously voted Monday night to table a proposed involuntary annexation of approximately 2,076 acres of unincorporated land after a packed public hearing drew sharp opposition from residents of the affected neighborhoods.
- The ordinance, 26-20-LC, would have annexed all unincorporated land lying east and south of Choctawhatchee Bay in Okaloosa County, extending to the Walton County line.
The area, located north of Emerald Coast Parkway, includes the Regatta Bay, Kelly Plantation, Diamond Lakes and Indian Lakes subdivisions, as well as Destin Commons, which has more than 80 shops and restaurants across roughly 650,000 square feet of building area. According to the city’s feasibility study, the area has a population of 4,486, contains 2,436 residential properties and is home to 431 business-related addresses.
The annexation was proposed under Section 171.0413 of Florida Statutes, which allows municipalities to annex contiguous unincorporated territory by ordinance without a voluntary petition from property owners. Under the statute, the annexation would have ultimately required approval through a referendum vote of the residents being annexed.
Before opening the floor to public comment, Mayor Bobby Wagner left the dais to address the crowd directly, acknowledging the proposal’s unpopularity and asking for more time to engage with the affected communities.
- “The last thing that I wanted was to rush something, push something through, and try to do what every other government that it seems like in America does, which is try to pull a fast one on the taxpayers,” Wagner said.
Wagner said the idea behind the annexation was to explore whether a combined city could leverage government tools and grant funding that individual homeowners associations and unincorporated communities cannot access on their own. He asked the council to push the matter to the 2028 election cycle to allow time for outreach and relationship-building with the neighborhoods.
“I would never ask for a penny without thinking that we could give you dollars in exchange,” Wagner said.
OK, that’s all I have for you this morning! I hope you have a great Wednesday! Help us shape the future of local news and make a meaningful impact on your community. Click here to learn how you can support us!
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Jared
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