WOKC Local News – July 28, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. A discussion on data centers. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. Okeechobee hosts the annual Treasure Coast Council local government meeting at the Methodist Church, and a key agenda item was data centers. Ken Crisdale of Cushman Wakefield says Florida’s not a top market for these facilities, but they are located in Miami and Boca Raton. He says most people, when surveyed, are against them. Generally, people are supportive of data centers, just not in my backyard. People understand that they are important, and the world is changing, and we need to compete with China, and we need to be able to process, and everybody here is sitting with two or three devices that have to be kept running all the time. But the NIMBYism effect is certainly important. Crisdale says Senate Bill 484 may help local governments control these data centers. It empowers your local communities. You’ve got a lot more authority and autonomy in terms of what you’re gonna do. Highlands County commissioners are looking at a $14 an acre assessment for the Lake Isopoca Marsh Water Improvement District, and also a 10-mil cap for agriculture zone property. This Assistant County Administrator, J.D. Langford. We feel possibly it should be set at the max, just to have the money to fund the district, and some excess to set aside for some capital expenditures. The state three years ago eliminated any assessments in agriculture properties hurting the district finances. A shakeup at the Coquina Water Board, Jason Colville and Sean O’Connell resigned their Board of Supervisors seats. They’ve been replaced by Erica Fender and Alfonso Fanelli. The board also fired their foreman, A.J. Gilliard. Chairman Sean Wilcox says this was due to absences from work and lying. I think he’s undermined every superintendent that’s ever been here, and it took me a while to realize that, trying to get them to not be here because he wanted the role. They also demoted their interim superintendent and named Harlan Burdett as the acting superintendent. A Coquina resident also complained that Gilliard was paid for hours he doesn’t work, and this may be pursued to the courts. Now, I took it as seriously as I could. I said I’d investigate it. I don’t want what you want me to do, and I don’t do well with threats. So if that’s what you’re doing, end the call now. I don’t do well with threats. I’m not letting it go. I said I will investigate it further. I’m not looking to drop it. I mean, I don’t know what else you want me to do. Oogijooy police say they were cursed out by a man who was allegedly intoxicated, who had thrown out the belongings of his roommate. He also threw the roommate into a garbage dumpster. Christopher Reyna is facing charges that include assault on law enforcement and misdemeanor battery. A Glades County man gets 12 years in prison for sex charges on a child. Manuel Morales had absconded while awaiting trial. He had served 657 days in jail. Before being bonded out, he’ll be required to register as a sex offender. The investigation started at the Seminole-Brighton Indian Reservation. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).