News Cast for May 30th:
Tedders chosen as school superintendent
Dylan Tedders was named the new school superintendent in a (5-0) vote by the Okeechobee School Board at a special meeting Wednesday.
Tedders has worked 28 years for the school system and is a local product.
Tedders said he felt confident he could do the job due to his long experience, his knowledge of the districts strengths and areas that need growth.
Tedders said he plans to have two assistant superintendents, one over administration and the other over instruction.
The district has 35 vacant instructional positions for next year.
Okeechobee County expects bed taxes to be lower this year. They collected $555,000 in 2023 and are on a pace of between $450,000 and $500,000 this year.
The new technology they employ called Data Fy is getting them more up to date and accurate information on events and their economic impacts.
Tourist Development Council member David DeSai said this information is valuable when they make decision on future promotions and advertising buys.
He added he wants to be more effective with advertising.
The TDC spent $36,500 on advertising and promotion of Okeechobee and events and those events had an economic impact of over $2.23 million.
The TDC also supported the Florida Trail Association as they seek a grant to make improvements to Indian Mound Park in Ortona.
Okeechobee Clerk of the Courts Jerry Bryant had some concern as the county raised the spending authority of their administrator to $75,000 per year.
He complained it was too high for a county this size with an average household income of $55,000 per year.
Bryant said the spending and purchases of the county need to be transparent to avoid mistakes and rumors in the community.
Glades County imposed a burn ban on outdoor burning this week.
All fires except cooking fires are banned for now.
Fire Chief Larry Factor said there are dangerous burning conditions right now with a rising drought index.
He noted the county had not had any measurable rain since May 16.
The Okeechobee narcotics task force arrest an alleged dealer with 43 grams of marijuana and over $1,300 in suspected drug cash.
Ryker Waddell was held on $6,000 bond.