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Good morning!
Linda Evanchyk and Brett Hinely won their Okaloosa County School Board races last night. Okaloosa Commissioners unanimously approved a “needs list” for the half-cent surtax renewal, and approved an interlocal agreement with Crestview for an animal control partnership, continuing the transition to the county’s in-house model. Ascension Sacred Heart was awarded $2.8 million to expand rural health care. Also, an inside look at how Okaloosa Beach Safety’s lieutenants keep beachgoers safe one shift at a time.
ELECTION
Linda Evanchyk, Brett Hinely win Okaloosa County School Board races
Okaloosa County School Board Chairman Linda Evanchyk held off challenger Mitch Reed in the District 3 race Tuesday night, collecting 15,228 votes, or 51.48%, to Reed’s 14,354. The margin of 874 votes came from 29,582 ballots cast in the contest.
Evanchyk, a retired English and journalism teacher who spent 38 years in the classroom, was first elected to the board in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. She has served as the board’s chairman.
In District 5, Brett Hinely defeated Cynthia West with 59.46% of the vote, receiving 17,517 votes to West’s 11,944 out of 29,461 ballots cast. The result gives Hinely a full four-year term.
Hinely, a Niceville businessman and Air Force veteran, was appointed to the seat by Governor Ron DeSantis in August 2024 after Dr. Diane Kelley left the board to become principal of Destin High School. He has served as the board’s construction representative, helping oversee projects including the new Pineview K-8 school in Crestview and the Destin Elementary expansion.
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GAMES
WordroW: August 19, 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.
HOW I WORK
An inside look at how Okaloosa Beach Safety’s lieutenants keep beachgoers safe one shift at a time
“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.
Three lieutenants with Okaloosa County Beach Safety bring very different backgrounds to the same mission: keeping beachgoers safe. One is a lifelong local with a decade of military service. Another is a Tennessee transplant who turned a seasonal lifeguard gig into a career. The third is a South Florida native who showed up in 2022 and never left.
- Lt. Kalee Pirtle, Training Officer, Okaloosa County Beach Safety
- Lt. Stacy Karczewski, Lieutenant, Okaloosa County Beach Safety
- Lt. Faith Watson, Lieutenant, Okaloosa County Beach Safety
Together, they patrol the shoreline on ATVs and jet skis, watch the Gulf from lifeguard towers, run public outreach, coordinate the Junior Lifeguard program, and train guards to expect the unexpected. When the workday ends, one reaches for a cold shower and silence, another laces up for a beach run at sunset, and the third heads out for a long walk.
In this edition of How I Work – sponsored by the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce – all three open up about their routines, the career advice that stuck, and what it really takes to keep Okaloosa County’s coastline covered.
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BUSINESS
Okaloosa Commissioners unanimously approve ‘needs list’ for half-cent surtax renewal
The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday morning unanimously approved a list of 33 candidate projects that would be funded by the county’s half-cent infrastructure sales surtax if voters renew the program in the upcoming November election.
The list, presented by Public Works Director Scott Bitterman, outlines planned projects for unincorporated Okaloosa County’s share of the surtax dollars. It includes road and intersection improvements, stormwater projects, sidewalk and pedestrian upgrades and public safety investments.
Okaloosa County voters first approved the half-cent sales surtax in a 2018 referendum. The 10-year tax took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, and is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2028. The Board of County Commissioners has placed the renewal on the November 2026 ballot.
Bitterman told Commissioners that every project proposed in the original 2018 needs list has either been completed or is in active construction or design. The Surtax Advisory Committee approved the new needs list at its July 2026 meeting before it came to the full commission Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Okaloosa approves interlocal agreement with Crestview for animal control partnership
Okaloosa County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with the City of Crestview to provide animal control and sheltering services across the northern part of the county, locking in a north-end solution weeks before the county’s contract with the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society expires on Sept. 22.
Under the agreement, the City of Crestview will provide animal control and sheltering for the unincorporated areas of north Okaloosa County, north of Eglin Air Force Base. The two governments will split operational costs 50/50. Crestview has run its own animal control operation through its police department since 2023.
- Deputy County Administrator Craig Coffey said Crestview currently provides a more robust service than the “Animal Control Light” model commissioners approved in June, which was limited to the minimum services required under Florida law.
The agreement also calls for the county and Crestview to build a new animal shelter at 709 Long Drive using a city-owned metal building constructed in 2020. Coffey said the building is about 7,500 square feet. The estimated renovation cost ranges from $750,000 to $1.25 million, with the county paying 65% and the city paying 35%. The city is contributing the building and the land.
Coffey said the deal should save the county money. He said the county’s animal control budget had been set to rise to roughly $900,000 this year, but the partnership should bring the county’s operational share to around $450,000.
WEATHER
Today’s weather outlook
TODAY: A chance of showers and thunderstorms after 10am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. Heat index values as high as 106. West wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
TONIGHT: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
BUSINESS
Ascension Sacred Heart awarded $2.8 million to expand rural health care
Ascension Sacred Heart Health System has been awarded more than $2.8 million to expand access to health care in rural communities, part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement of nearly $188 million through Florida’s Rural Health Transformation Program.
The largest share of the funding, $2.4 million, will support a new mobile stroke unit that will serve rural counties along the Interstate 10 corridor, including Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington and Jackson counties. Those counties have higher rates of strokes than the state average, and many residents live long distances from hospitals with stroke accreditation.
“When a stroke happens, time is brain,” said Will Condon, President and CEO of Ascension Sacred Heart Health System. “Providing rural communities with a CT scan to begin treatment while a patient is being transported helps support stroke care to help prevent disability and death.”
The mobile stroke unit will be custom-built because of its uniqueness. It will be equipped with a CT scanner and a CT technologist to assess strokes in the field through imaging and a secure telehealth connection to the care team at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola. The unit will also be fully stocked with treatments for stroke, including clot-busting medications, when clinically appropriate. It is expected to be complete and in use by summer 2027.
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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