News Cast for February 28th:
A barn was gutted by a fire in Indiantown.
Crews from Station 24 responded to the 24,000 block of 95th Street in Indiantown just before 1:30 am for a structure fire call on Monday.
Upon arrival, crews found a roughly 30ft x 60ft barn on the property fully involved with injured animals.
Crews were able to quickly get water on the structure, contain the blaze and put out the flames.
One of the owner’s goats died in the fire and another was severely burned.
There were no other injuries.
The photo is courtesy of Martin County Fire Rescue.
Okeechobee County earned poor marks in a new study on child health done by the Florida Policy Institute.
It took into account things like economic well-being, education, poverty rates, the cost of housing, high school graduation rates, and crime and drug use.
The study found Okeechobee had over 30 percent of kids in poverty in 2021.
Nearly 25 percent of kids don’t graduate on time.
About 10 percent of our kids do not have health insurance.
The rate of obesity around the state among teens is now over 46 percent.
Norin Dollard said Okeechobee did do better in fewer health issues among kids.
“Their very best showing was in the health domain. That includes health insurance, low birth weight babies, children who are high school students that use alcohol and drugs. There may be room for improvements in those areas but they were the strengths for Okeechobee County.”
Okeechobee ranked 62nd among Florida’s 67 counties.
Glades County ranked 47th.
The study found counties with higher rankings tend to be richer communities that invest in things like high quality child care, education and other programs to help kids.
The Indiantown Village Council wants to discuss the need for affordable housing.
Habitat for Humanity in Martin County is currently planning to build 20 new single family homes.
Councilmember Guyton Stone said that might be the only way to solve the problem.
He said that an affordable home of $140,000 can’t be built any longer by developers.
He suggested the village donate some land to Habitat for Humanity to build more homes.
A new study found 50 percent of US young adults can not currently afford the rental rates.
A Lorida man jumped over a bar and then through a window in an attempt avoid arrest at a Sebring restaurant.
Sebring Police were trying to serve arrest warrants on 21-year- old Ethan Vargas.
He was wanted on allegations he stole a vehicle on December 12th and hid inside the closet in a bedroom without the resident knowing it.
Speeds reached 100 miles per hour as Okeechobee deputies tried to arrest a fleeing motorcyclist .
Deputies said they spotted 23 year old Dillon Hill who they knew had no license on NW 18th Street.
He drove to the end of NW 42nd Avenue and went through a medium size canal and fled on foot.
Hill stop fleeing when a K 9 unit was deployed.
Charges include resisting arrest, driving on a suspended license and fleeing and attempting to elude police.
His bond was set at $16,000.