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The latest local news from Winter Springs.
Lake Harney gauge entered moderate flood stage Friday; the Sanford gauge stayed just below flood stage and is now expected to cross Sunday evening, rising to 6.3 feet by Thursday. Sanford Fire warns Seminole Boulevard could flood.
Republican Byron Donalds beat David Jolly statewide 50% to 48.7%, but unofficial Seminole County returns show Jolly carrying the county 54% to 44%, along with Democrats in all three Cabinet races.
Seminole and Volusia finished counting Thursday with Ryan Elijah 1,631 votes ahead of Bale Dalton, about nine votes beyond the half-percent gap that triggers a machine recount. No race call yet.
Nik Dean won the open House District 38 seat with 56% and Maitland Mayor John Lowndes beat Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur in Senate District 10, unofficial results show.
Kevin McCann led Jesse Phillips by 106 votes for Winter Springs mayor after more mail ballots were counted, with cure and provisional ballots still pending countywide, unofficial results show.
Oviedo Fire's Woods 48, paid for with $550,000 in state money, fights brush fires in wooded areas and, with its fire skid removed, can carry 10 to 12 people through as much as 36 inches of water, the department told local TV.
Winter Springs opened a self-serve sandbag station at Central Winds Park on Tuesday afternoon, with a 15-bag limit per household, and closed the park's Lake Jesup dock and the Bear Creek Nature Trail because of high water.
Educators at Highlands Elementary, Keeth Elementary and Indian Trails Middle are among 12 district semifinalists. SCPS names three finalists in December and the winner on Jan. 22.
The National Weather Service expects the river to keep rising through the week near Lake Monroe and Lake Harney, and Seminole County has 3,000 filled sandbags at two sites through Tuesday evening.
Oviedo's City Council takes up a piggyback contract Monday that would let it hire Raftelis Financial Consultants to study how the proposed homestead exemption would affect city finances if voters approve it Tuesday.
The county wants to replace 1970s-era Fire Station 23 with a larger station on 3.48 county-owned acres at Grand Road. The Planning and Zoning Commission takes up the land use and zoning change Nov. 4 in Sanford.
Seminole's elections office says mail ballots must arrive by 7 p.m. Tuesday. With early voting over, voters can hand them in at the Sanford office or surrender them at the polls, after the office reported postal delays.
Seminole County broke ground Oct. 29 on a community center at the former Rosenwald School property in East Altamonte and renamed the 12-acre site Rosenwald Legacy Park. Completion is expected in summer 2027.
A county advisory committee reviewed 11 affordable housing incentives and proposed altering only expedited permitting. The draft report is open for public comment until a Nov. 10 hearing in Sanford.
Early and mail results are due within 30 minutes of polls closing Tuesday, but cure deadlines, overseas ballots and an audit stretch the process to Nov. 18. Here is the Seminole County timeline.
FDOT crews will close single lanes overnight Sunday through Thursday and during weekday daytime hours Monday through Friday between Lake Howell Road and Casselton Drive on the $6.8 million project.
Seminole County's planning board takes up a cleanup Wednesday that would put about 696 acres of county parks and libraries in a public-lands district and strip old development rights from them.
Seminole County early voting ends Sunday, Nov. 1. On Tuesday, voters must use their assigned polling place and bring photo and signature ID, and Precinct 55 has a new location.
DOH-Seminole says people and pets should stay out of water with a visible bloom at Lake Howell while samples are tested. The lake has drawn repeated algae alerts since July.
Republican Ryan Elijah and Democrat Bale Dalton both put cost of living first but offer different fixes, and both oppose Amendment 3. Libertarian Chris Dennison backs it and wants license plate cameras gone.
Seminole County and MetroPlan Orlando began a second round of road safety audits this month on high-injury roads, including a stretch of Tuskawilla Road in Winter Springs and two segments of U.S. 17-92 in Sanford.
