Okeechobee City Council received a $2 million grant to harden the city public safety building, the former police and fire stations, against storms.
Administrator Gary Ritter said he has had difficulty in finding a contractor willing to do the work.
Lobbyist Jim Spratt said it was tougher to get member projects and appropriations this year.
The council gave final approval to plans to expand the operation of Diamond R. Fertilizer. Three acres will be used for mostly parking and offices south of the railroad between NE 5th and 7th Avenue and NE 6th and 7th Streets.
A distribution center is also being developed.
The council also approved a rezoning application for 4.3 acres on a vacant block bordered by NW 9th Avenue, NW 10th Avenue, NW 6th Street and NW 7th Street.
The applicant wants to develop 16 single family homes and four duplex units.
Glades County voters in 2026 could vote on two ballot measures.
The school board discussed a half cent sales tax increase for schools for one referendum.
The other would be whether voters want to keep the elected school superintendent or change to an appointed superintendent.
Dr. Beth Barfield said this could be her final term in office. Her term ends in 2028.
A U.S. District Judge in Miami shut down all new construction at the immigrant detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz. The state must also tear down the facility infrastructure within two months.
The ruling was made Thursday night after the state was sued in June for alleged violation of environmental laws while building and maintaining the facility.
The judge agreed the facility could cause water to run off into Miccosukee tribal lands during a storm.
She also ruled the facility’s lights would disrupt the Florida bonneted bat. The state has filed a notice to appeal.
A spokesperson for the governor said the judge overstepped her authority.
The ruling means no more detainees can be sent to the facility.
Indian River County has had a spirited discussion and debate over the sheriff’s spending plan this summer.
It has gotten quite person with unions condemning the commission chair Joseph Flescher.
The sheriff originally requested a 19 percent budget hike to $93.5 million. The county offered with a six percent budget hike or $83.6 million.
Sheriff Eric Flowers has since reduced his request by $2.4 million.
The county has budgeted pay hikes for sheriff employees of $5,395 for civilians, $8,291 for deputies and additional amounts for sergeants and lieutenants.
Rain and wet roads were a factor in a fatal crash last night in Okeechobee. The accident was reported at 7:10 pm near US 441 north and NW 50th Drive.
A 56-year-old Okeechobee man died in the three-vehicle crash.
The Florida Highway Patrol said the SUV he was driving was headed north bound when it hydroplaned into the path of a south bound box truck driven by a 39-year-old Miami man. The box truck entered the north bound lane and struck a north bound pickup.
The driver of the pickup, a 39-year-old Okeechobee man was not hurt. The two occupants in the box truck suffered non-life-threatening injury. The passenger was a 55-year-old woman from Homestead.
A fatal crash on August 24, 2024 resulted in criminal charges Thursday.
Rubert Jarol Rodriguez Aguilera of Sebring was booked into the county jail on charges of DUI and held on $40,000 bond.
Aguilera also faces traffic charges of possession of an open container of alcohol, and driving in the wrong land of traffic causing a fatality.
The crash on US 98 a mile south of NW 160th Street took the life of a 20 year old Sebring woman, the FHP said.
The victim died at the scene while Aguilera was transported to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
Aguilera was driving a 2005 Jeep Cherokee and the victim a 2014 Hyundai Elantra.