By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

The Wakulla County School Board and the Charter School for Arts, Science and Technology (COAST) in St. Marks have reached a settlement, it was announced at the school board meeting on June 15.
The school board voted at the meeting to accept COAST’s newly submitted charter application.
On the recommendation of Superintendent of Schools Rick Myhre, the school board voted to reject the application from COAST back in March.

COAST then filed an appeal of the decision to the state Division of Administrative Hearings claiming the district could not wield its renewal power over the charter school this way.
Myhre and district staff had contended COAST’s application for renewal of the charter was outdated, that it basically resubmitted the application from 1999 when the school was founded – though the school’s offerings and services had changed over the past 25 years.
A settlement was reached with the charter school, which included that it would submit a new charter application to be reviewed by the district.
The school also agreed to cover the district’s legal fees.
In a memo to the the COAST board several months ago, Superintendent Myhre recommended terminating the contract and suggested the school look at becoming a private school.
The school would still be able to get state scholarship monies for students, but it would face less onerous requirements than as a public school.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Days before former County Commissioner Mike Kemp was to go to trial on a felony charge of tampering with a witness, the state attorney’s office dropped the charge.
The state attorney’s office appealed another felony charge against Kemp, dismissed by the judge in the case, for using a public record to harass. That matter is still pending before the 1st District Court of Appeal.

Kemp’s attorney, Stephen Webster, issued a statement after the state filed on Thursday, June 25 to drop the charge, saying: “Mike Kemp has dedicated his life to public service. From the National Guard, to the Sheriff’s Office, to his work building ramps for those who need assistance accessing their homes, Mike has always tried to make the world a better place. The dismissal of these criminal charges is overdue, as they should have never been filed. Nonetheless, Mike is grateful to have this difficult time behind him, and he will remain steadfast in serving the citizens of Wakulla County.”
The state had sought a stay to delay the tampering charge, which was set for trial on Wednesday, July 1, but both Circuit Judge Jeremiah Hawkes and the 1st DCA rejected the request.
With the trial being cancelled, the state also filed to drop charges against Becky Whaley and Deputy Don Newsome, both of whom had signed Deferred Prosecution Agreements with the state with a condition that they would testify against Kemp at trial.
The charges against Kemp stemmed from allegations that he had provided a public record to Becky Whaley, who was administrator of the Wakulla Citizens Facebook page, so she could out the person behind a Facebook account “Thunder Lightening” (sic). The person behind that account was a frequent critic of the county commission and Whaley.
Thunder Lightening had put up a post that his wife was nearly struck in a parking lot by a person driving a white work truck. Kemp contacted Deputy Newsome to track down the report of such a case and came up with the name of Craig Rawlings. County Commissioner Ralph Thomas used his WebElect account, an app that provides Republican candidates with voter information, to look up Rawlings and gave it to Whaley and Kemp.

In May 2024, frustrated with Thunder Lightening, Whaley texted Kemp to provide her the name, saying she was “about to bust him out.” Kemp sent her the voter ID but warned her not to put everything online, referring to the date of birth and home address.
Whaley put it online, adding a comment that Thunder Lightening hadn’t even voted in any elections. But the name was wrong: Rawlings had nothing to do with the Thunder Lightening account.
Rawling’s wife went online and asked Whaley to take it down, saying she was being contacted by people about the post.
Rawlings went to the sheriff’s office and filed a report, which was taken but the deputy noted he was unaware of any crime that had been committed. About a week later, Rawlings went back to office and talked to Detective Chris Omerod and showed him a recently passed law that made it a crime to use a public record to harass a person.
Whaley was the initial focus of the investigation and, in an interview with the detective, wrote down Kemp’s name as the person who supplied her the information.
Kemp then came under investigation, and his connection to Deputy Newsome. (Kemp retired as a major at the Wakulla Sheriff’s Office before he was elected as a county commissioner. He continues to be a reserve deputy.)
The investigation went all the way up to State Attorney Jack Campbell, who directed the charges to go forward, but because Kemp was the midst of a political race running for re-election, Campbell ordered the arrest and prosecution to proceed after the election. (Kemp lost his 2024 re-election bid to Valerie Russell.)
The tampering with a witness charge stemmed from Kemp having conversations with Rawlings and his wife trying to make things right. The family had recently moved to Wakulla and Kemp offered at one point to take them to dinner and tell them about Wakulla. It was portrayed by the state as an offer of dinner in exchange for them not pursuing the case.
Whaley and Newsome both accepted DPAs in which they put forth admitted to charges against them with the charges being dropped if they met certain conditions, which included testifying against Kemp.
After Webster, Kemp’s attorney, filed a motion to dismiss charges, Judge Hawkes dismissed the use of a public record to harass finding that Kemp was within his rights as a candidate to respond to political speech on the internet from a critic.
The judge dismissed the charge and the state quickly appealed the decision.
Webster argued before the court that the law was intended as an anti-fraud measure to prevent public records being used to steal identities.
The Rawlings, meanwhile, filed a federal lawsuit with Tallahassee attorney Marie Mattox claiming that Kemp and Whaley were responsible for infliction of emotional pain and suffering, and retaliation – and against Wakulla County for negligence – seeking unspecified damages.
Meanwhile Kemp has filed a complaint with the sheriff’s office seeking criminal charges against the Wakulla Reports Facebook page and Sue Damon, who administers another Wakulla Citizens Facebook page, claiming to be the victim of harassment. The sheriff’s office has confirmed the complaint was filed but it is still under investigation.
Several people have been critical of the investigation done by Detective Ormerod, who has investigated many recent high-profile cases. Kemp claims Ormerod embellished his report and left out details with the goal of getting him.
There have also been questions about why County Commissioner Ralph Thomas was never interviewed. (Former head of Criminal Investigations Chuck Whaley told The Sun back in 2024 that detectives get only one shot and it was thought possible that Kemp might roll over on Thomas.)
Kemp said he viewed the tampering charge being dropped as vindication.

A good crowd turned out for the Emergency Preparedness Expo held on Saturday and got a tour of the new multi-million dollar Emergency Operations Center, scheduled to open in mid-July.

Sheriff Jared Miller and Emergency Management Director Jennifer Nagy, right, were on hand. Vendors at the event included Air Methods, the flight ambulance service with one of their helicopters and nurse-medic Kara Linder, and flight-medics Michael Daly, David Nunez and Mike Williamson.

County commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to prohibit data centers in Wakulla – and received a standing ovation from the standing-room only audience.
Data centers are profliferating with advancements in artificial intelligence and have become controversial over the enormous strain on local electrical grids and the immense use of water to cool the centers.

County Commissioner Valerie Russell put the issue on the agenda for the June 15 meeting and moved to have staff draft an ordinance prohibiting the permitting, construction and operation of data centers in the county.
About a dozen citizens spoke out against data centers, most expressing concern about the potential impact on local water resources.
Evan Rosenthal, attorney with Nabors, Gublin & Nickerson law firm which represents the county, was filling in for attorney Heather Encinosa at the meeting and Rosenthal advised commissioners of possible legal risk if they passed a permanent ban.
Rosenthal noted that, while the legislature did pass SB 484 that allows local governments to reject data centers, there was potential conflict with SB 180, which restricts local governments within 100 miles of a federally declared disaster zone after a hurricane from adopting land-use regulations that are more restrictive. That law encompasses Wakulla County through Oct. 1, 2027.
Commissioners debated whether to declare a moratorium for a year on data centers, until Commission Chair Ralph Thomas commented that he believed the board should take the risk and go forward with an outright ban “because we think that’s the right thing to do.”
All five commissioners voted for the prohibition.
Assistant County Administrator Somer Pell noted that it would likely take two or three months to draft an ordinance and hold public hearings to pass it.
Citizens who spoke against data centers included Madeleine Carr, who said: “Nothing in this county is more important that the water under our feet.”
Kellie Keys commented that Wakulla’s unique karst features are just sand and limestone over underground water making it the wrong place for potential pollution.
Fishing podcaster Hunter Levine said it was important to protect the county’s natural resources.
Adrianne Johnson, who is executive director of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association, said oyster farmers could be devastated by reduction in water flows.
Chad Hanson, who chairs the Wakulla Springs Alliance, said, “Water extraction is a problem,” and noting the number of dark water days at Wakulla Springs are increasing.

County commissioners held a budget workshop after their regular meeting on Monday night, and much of the focus was on how to respond if the constitutional amendment on property taxes passes in November.
The state Legislature has proposed a constitutional amendment that would increase homestead exemption on residential property from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027-28 and then $200,000 the year after. It will appear on the ballot on the Nov. 3 general election.

The amendment would still allow taxes for school districts.
Wakulla County is heavily dependent on ad valorem taxes to fund county services such as the sheriff’s office, fire-rescue and constitutional offices. Forty-six percent of the property taxes collected in Wakulla are on homestead properties, and if the amendment passes, the county is projected to have a nearly $9 million shortfall in revenues.
County Commission Chair Ralph Thomas said the key question the board needs to answer is whether they will cut services – the library and recreational sports programs would likely be among the first to go – or seek other funding sources and try to make up for the lost revenue.
Thomas noted for example that the county could pursue other assessments, such as Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) for services such as fire and sheriff.
Projected taxable values in Wakulla for the next budget year are $2.64 billion, an increase of $120 million or 4.78%. That’s a marked decrease from prior years: Last year values increased by $243 million or 10.66%, and the year before the increase was more than 14%.
Of this year’s increase, $99 million was from new construction.
County commissioners took under advisement requests from non-profits for $170,000 in funding. That includes $100,000 for the senior center; $40,000 for Keep Wakulla County Beautiful; $15,000 for We Care Network; and $15,000 for North Florida Medical Centers. Florida Wild Mammal Association did not make a funding request this year.
Commissioners acknowledged that if the property tax amendment passes, non-profit funding is likely the first thing to go. The board would hold that money until November to see the outcome of the vote.
Commissioners also gave a head nod to increasing the pay of county staff by 3%, but withholding the increase until after the November election. If the amendment doesn’t pass, the pay increase would be retroactive to Oct. 1.
It was noted that the cost of employee incurance is anticipated to increase 8% this year under Capital Health Plan. Commissioners indicated support for passing on some increased costs for insurance to employees: a $35 per pay period increase for employee and spouse in the top tier plan; or $53 for employees in the top tier family plan.
The board was also told there is an anticpated 11% premium increase for property, auto and liability insurance coverage.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

Because an estimated 46% of Wakulla County’s property taxes come from homesteaded property – higher than most other counties – Wakulla will be more affected by the proposed constitutional amendment on property tax that is to be voted on in November.

That was the bad news that County Commission Chair Ralph Thomas shared with the Chamber Board of Directors last week.
Thomas said it translates to about an $8.5 million budget hole for the county.
County commissioners had set a budget workshop after their meeting on Monday, June 15, to discuss responses.
Thomas noted that some past ideas floated by state lawmakers had been dropped: there is no longer a requirement to hold harmless First Responders such as law enforcement and firefighters; and there is no make-good to cover fiscally constrained counties like Wakulla.
The proposed constitutional amendment would raise the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027-28, and then $250,000 the following year.
Clerk of Courts Greg James, who is chief financial officer of the county, said commissioners could consider a series of “austerity measures” to cut the budget.
In past budget exer cises to look at how the county could respond to cuts to property taxes, it typically ends with a series of glum choices about which county services do county residents prefer to do without.
Thomas said given the current budget uncertainty, he felt it was the wrong time to accept the Wakulla Education Center campus to turn it into additional recreational fields. “But I’m only one vote,” Thomas added.
County Administrator David Edwards is already cutting unnecessary spending – like no new hires, and letting unfilled positions remain unfilled.

There will be only one competitive political race this season after four candidates qualified to run for county commission District 4 seat.
Qualifying for political office was last week and concluded Friday, June 12, at noon.

Incumbent Quincee Messersmith, a Republican, is being challenged in the August GOP Primary by Carrie Hughes. The winner of that will face a Democratic candidate, Beverly Keister, and a No-Party Affiliation candidate, Patricia Sue Dyszer in November.
Other local candidates did not draw opposition and will return to office:

• Fred Nichols will have another term as county commissioner for District 2.
• School board members Cal Langston, Laura Lawhon and Eddie Hand will all return to office.
  Additionally, four candidates qualified for four seats on the Wakulla Soil & Water Conservation District: Emily T. Johnson, Cole Hall, Kellie Keys, and David Shepard.
  State Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, whose district includes Wakulla, also did not have a challenger qualify and have another 2-year term in the leigslature.
  There’s a long list of candidates who qualified to run for U.S. House of Representatives in the seat that’s been held by Congressman Neal Dunn, including:
  Bailey, Yen (DEM), Barnes, Brice (DEM), Green, Amanda Marie (DEM), Gross, Keith (REP), Jones, Lee (REP), Lewis, Nick (REP), Murphy, Luke (REP), Norton, Jim (REP), Power, Evan (REP), Rogers, Austin (REP), Rowell, Audie (REP) and Zateslo, Nicholas (DEM).
  In addition to Governor and Cabinet positions, there are also two competitive races for circuit judge in the Second Judicial Circuit: incumbent judge Jason Jones is being challenged by Stephanie A. Cager, and incumbent J. Lee Marsh is being challenged by Rashad Green.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

This year is the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.
In addition to the usual Fourth of July fireworks and festivities at Sopchoppy and St. Marks, there’s going to be something a little different on the courthouse grounds a couple of days before that: digging up a time capsule buried in 1976 for the Bicentennial.
And then burying a new time capsule to be opened in 50 years, in 2076.
Thanks to Clerk of Court Greg James for chairing this committee and bringing together people interested in it.

I looked up stories on the time capsule from the bounds volumes of the newspaper from 1976 and found a story from November 1976 where the main issue before county commissioners was where to bury the time capsule. The site selected was the flower bed in front of the courthouse.
(“It was one of the shortest and least controversial meetings in recent months,” the article said.)
A month later, a story in the Dec. 23, 1976 issue, noted that the time capsule was originally going to be buried for 100 years, but that was reduced to 50 years – and a second time capsule was added.
Some of the items placed in the capsules range from a J.C. Penny’s catalog to a savings passbook from Wakulla State Bank in which then-bank vice president Walter Dodson noted the account had been created with $100 in it.
There was a $2 bill, a brochure from the Panacea Blue Crab Festival and a Bicentennial necktie, brochures of Wakulla County and Wakulla Springs, a copy of the historical publication Magnolia Monthly, and a Wakulla War Eagle button. Plus various business cards and menus from local restaurants.
What survived? What condition is this stash of stuff in? We’ll find out on July 2 on the courthouse grounds at 5:30 p.m.
The only surviving person at that ceremony from 50 years ago is retired Sheriff David Harvey, who was sheriff-elect at the time and just 26 years old. He is scheduled to be at the capsule-opening ceremony, as are members of the Wakulla High School Class of 1976 and the Class of 2026.
Local civic groups have been asked to submit items for the time capsule that’s being buried that day.
If you’d like to send a message to the future, we’re going to print an America 250! section in the newspaper that will go in the capsule.
You can write a note to future generations sharing what life is like now or a photo of your family to be opened in 50 years by contacting Lynda Kinsey at (850) 962-8019.
July 2 promises to be a dramatic day.

William Snowden is the editor and publisher of The Wakulla Sun.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

The Wakulla County School Board held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday, May 27, to celebrate the planned new high school building.

The three-year, $97 million project will demolish the nearly 60-year-old high school building and build a new two-story classroom and administration building, as well as a new gymnasium and performing arts center.
There will also be a redesign of the parking lot with one-way entrance to the school at the current traffic light on U.S. Highway 98.
District Facilities Manager Mike Barwick was especially pleased with some of the new planned amenities – the state-of-the-art performing arts center, which he noted will be larger than Chiles High School’s; the lighted band practice field; the athletic center’s classrooms; the new front entrance which will have a security kiosk to be manned by a school Guardian.
Barwick, who was principal at Wakulla High School before moving to the district office, brought knowledge of an educator and administrator to the planning of the new school.
The plan calls for a complete new parking lot and the start of demolition over the summer. From Fall 2026 to next summer work will be underway for the new athletic center, ROTC room, and carpentry shop.
The new performing arts center is expected to be completed in Decembver 2027.
The new school will be completed by Summer 2028.
The day before the groundbreaking, current principal Michele Falk offered a tour to a handful of members of the Class of 1976, organized by class member Debra Brown and joined by Jena Brooks now of Ocala and Donna Crum Godwin of Panama City. But Falk toured the classmates around the new War Eagle Academy rather than the old building, showing off the new classrooms and vocational training.
Falk noted on the tour that she will retire before the new construction is finished.
The tour did end at the old lunchroom, where the classmates noted it had seemed so big 50 years ago, and unable to believe it’s where dances were held with a band in the corner.

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN
Editor

There is a divide between some school booster clubs and the Superintendent Rick Myhre as he has sought to clarify financial policies with the groups.
Myhre had made it clear that monies collected by groups for student extracurricular activities are required to be turned over to schools internal accounts to be managed.

In emails and in a statement issued last week, Myhre said the changes are required and are being done with a goal of transparency.
But the policy has created tension with the Gridiron Club, which supports the football team by selling signs to advertisers at the stadium, and seating and preferential parking to members.
A member of the Gridiron Club, who did not want to be named, said that, in the past, when the coach needed something for the team – meals for after the game, say, or a new washing machine to clean the uniforms – he told the boosters and they went and got whatever was needed.
The new policy, the person said, would hamstring that with bureaucratic oversight.
“It’s been this way for decades,” the person said, under past superintendents.
At this point, the Gridiron Club is wavering over whether to sell signs, seating and parking passes. If the club does not go forward with the sales, it will return any money that’s been paid.
“The fundraisers were stripped from us,” the person said.
Myhre noted his family had been members of the Gridiron Club for decades and had seats, but insisted money raised needed to be accounted for.
Myhre said he had found no “transgressions” by booster groups, but said the law was clear and there should be accounting for the money raised.
“It’s for the students, right? That’s where it should be spent,” he said.
The member of the Gridiron Club questioned Myhre’s interpretation of the Department of Education’s requirements, saying in an email to Myhre that “the current disagreement relects a differing interpretation or administrative approach regarding the application of certain Red Book and policy provisions to independent booster organizations, rather than the discovery of obvious or longstanding violations that went unnoticed for many years.”
The person in the Gridiron Club said one issue of contention is whether the fundraising is school-based, or done at the school, makes the funds required to be turned over to an internal account.
In response, Myhre issued a statement that read, in part: “The legal requirements are clear, all funds generated on school campuses to support individual sports/clubs are to be properly receipted and deposited into the school’s internal account where records are maintained of theexpenditures from those accounts. It doesn’t take an extensive google search in the news to see the public outcry for transparency, nor the numerous instances of fraud across the state.
“While I have not uncovered,” the statement says, “nor am I accusing anyone one of impropriety, I will not turn a blind eye to a continued practice that is not aligned to law or policy and puts our organization at potential risk. Allowing individuals to not publicly account for, in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars, where there is no public oversight of the expenditures is problematic to say the least. One must wonder why some would be so critical of the elimination of this practice if the proper receipting and accountability of the funds still supports the student athletes at the same financial level.”
Myhre also notes in his statement that recent legislation will require Florida school districts to adapt to numerous changes – including allowing Booster clubs to provide compensation to coaches through the School Board, though he notes that financial regulations don’t allow for the payment of staff from internal accounts. “Once again, intentionally diverting funds which are to be receipted into an internal account into an external account, of any type or name, and using them for an improper purpose is impermissible.”
He also noted changes in Name-Image-Likeness payments for student-athletes become more prevalent, “the requirements for these payments to come from entities not connected to schools are going to be closely monitored as well. The diversion of funds expected to be accounted as school internal funds, to an external source, which then provides an impermissible benefit places the entire program at risk. I cannot allow our student-athletes to have their program placed on probation due to the potential improper accounting practices such a system would create.”
The person with the Gridiron Club said the group had met once with Myhre, and communicated via email, but that he had refused to discuss the matter further – though the person was hopeful for a resolution.