News Cast for September 17th:
Needing the money
The Okeechobee Utility Authority Board continued discussions on mandatory hookups when service is available for water and sewer.
They also realize it will be a financial hardship on the new customers as they would have to pay connection fees and have monthly bills.
Board member Steve Nelson said the utility needs the revenue.
He said they must provide good salaries and benefits to keep and recruit employees.
OUA Executive Director John Hayford said the new customers do provide a benefit to existing customers as they could reduce the debt and base charges they pay each month.
They are considering five percent rate hikes this year.
The City of Port St. Lucie and other treasure coast governments expressed opposition when the state floated the idea of putting in a golf course at Jonathon Dickinson Park in Palm Beach County.
After a public outcry the proposal was withdrawn.
Mayor Shannon Martin wants to develop the McCarty Ranch preserve in western Port St. Lucie.
The master plan calls for $2 million in improvements. That would include camping, canoeing, horseback riding and other uses.
Residents in Buckhead Ridge are concerned as a neighbor has been living in a tent.
Commissioner Tim Stanley received a number of phone calls about the issue and contacted code enforcement
He said the yard was full of trash and one vehicle with no doors and tires.
He said it appeared the man was living in a shed at one point.
The Secret Service defended their efforts to protect former President Donald Trump. He has been the subject of two assassination attempts in the past 62 days, the latest in West Palm Beach.
Director Ronald Rowe said this appearance by Trump was not advertised and nobody should have known he’d be there.
He said they are constantly monitoring threats and how best to use the resources provided.
The alleged assassin Ryan Routh was captured in Martin County after an agent fired shots at him when he saw a rifle protruding through the fence.
The FBI is investigating the incident.
Rowe said the suspect never got a direct line of site on the former President.