Good morning and Happy Monday! Here’s a few headlines that you might have missed over the weekend.
U.S. Sen. Nelson calls for repeal of HB 631
The beach access battle continues as U.S. Senator Bill Nelson paid South Walton a visit on Friday. According to The Destin Log, Nelson stood in front of a no trespassing sign in the Vizcaya community’s private beach and called for Gov. Rick Scott to immediately repeal HB 631. The Senator stated that a majority of state lawmakers have now seen that passing the bill was a bad idea. Rick Scott’s camp issued a statement criticizing Nelson for walking Walton County’s beaches when he “should be in Washington doing his job”.
The decision to make the Vizcaya community the focus of Sen. Nelson’s stroll on the beach was obviously a strategic one and he even invited a local Walton County resident who has helped organize protests against the new executive order, to speak and address reporters. Apparently the two Vizcaya residents that came to tell their side of the story were not permitted to speak. However, there is a video of those two residents voicing their side of the story to Nelson.
Do you think this executive order was a good idea? Let us know in the comments. For everything that went down at the beach on Friday, click here.
Destin construction causing issues for first responders
I’m sure none of us are particularly thrilled about the construction on 98, but there seems to be a bigger issue than we all realized. The Florida Department of Transportation is widening about 3.8 miles of U.S. 98 from Airport Road east to near the Walton County line. The $33.3 million job began last year and is expected to be finished in early 2021, The Destin Log reported. Since the construction started, emergency officials have noticed an increase in how long it takes first responders to get to the scene of an emergency. Florida Law states that you have to pull over for emergency vehicles, but in the case of the construction on 98, there is no where to go. Click here for the more details on how the city plans to make things easier for first responders.
The School Board race is on
The candidates for Florida’s first congressional district and the Okaloosa County School Board held a forum on Saturday to share their platforms. They were asked questions about topics such as gun control and gender neutral bathrooms. The Northwest Florida Daily News reported that two of the five congressional candidates attended the forum and all seven School Board candidates were on hand. Here are a few questions and answers from the forum.
After the forum, things got a bit heated after District 5 candidate Diane Kelley made her closing remarks. According to The Destin Log Kelly mentioned that she has “no conflict of interest” because she does not have a spouse working in District 5. Other District 5 candidate Bran McAllister’s wife is principal at Plew Elementary. McAllister said that he confronted Kelley after the forum in a “relatively calm” manner to speak to her about those specific statements and said he was not, in fact, endorsed by Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson and that his wife’s position was not a conflict of interest. Here is the full account of what happened after the forum.
FWB tax rate expected to stay the same
City officials anticipate retaining the city’s existing millage rate of about 5.77 mills for fiscal 2019, which equates to $577 per $100,000 of taxable property value. Fort Walton Beach’s property tax revenues are projected to increase by about 6.4 percent in the general fund and generate about $376,000 in additional revenue, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News. Next year’s proposed capital improvement plan is not included in the draft fiscal 2019 budget. Click here for the full story and estimated debt payment.
The Florida Primary election deadline is today!
Do you want to make your voice heard? The primary election will be August 28 and the deadline to register to vote is today! WEAR TV reported that nearly 3.4 million people are registered with no party affiliation, which is ok. BUT, Florida uses a closed primary system for our elections, meaning only voters registered with a political party can vote in that party’s primary. If you hurry, you can register to vote by clicking here. For more information click here.
That’s all we’ve got for today. Make sure you follow us on Facebook and the ‘gram throughout the day for other awesome shareable content!