News Cast for 7/3:
The Okeechobee County Sheriffs Office plans a busy July 4th holiday weekend.
Chief Deputy Michael Hazellief wants parents to be careful when they light off fireworks, and keep close attention to their children.
He said two people lost fingers in Okeechobee in 2024 in fireworks mishaps.
He noted even sparklers pose a threat with the intense heat they can put off.
Another area of concern is drunk and impaired drivers. Hazellief urged motorists to plan ahead if they are thinking of consuming adult beverages.
Options include naming a designated driver, Uber, Lyft, taxi cabs, and not drinking at all.
Another area of focus will be illegal ATV and off road vehicle use in the Viking Property.
He said buyer beware when you purchase these vehicles.
“People will go buy one of these side by sides and the dealer will tell them go here and ride, these are places you can ride and things you can do and they are telling them things that are illegal.”
He said an alcohol related crash of an ATV last year claimed a life in Viking around this time of year.
The Florida Highway Patrol expects a record amount of traffic on Florida roads over the three day weekend.
Senior Trooper Kenneth Watson said don’t relax just because you are driving in a rural area. He said our area poses risks like high speeds, narrow roads, and wildlife crossing roads unexpectedly.
“When we have crashes and they are out in rural areas, they are usually horrific, life ending, horrible crashes, because people were not thinking ahead.”
In a July 2 statement, Marcellus Osceola Jr., the chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, said the tribe stands with its members who are protesting the facility at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Big Cypress National Preserve. The facility has been deemed Alligator Alcatraz.
The Seminoles join with the Miccosukee Indian Tribe that has also opposed the facility.
Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit trying to stop the facility that is expected to take detainees starting today.
President Donald Trump visited the facility on Tuesday. He twice said the word Okeechobee in a press round table after the tour.
He meant Lake Okeechobee and agreed to work with the governor in allowing the state to construct the Everglades Agriculture Area Reservoir rather than the US Army Corps of Engineers.
A Lorida woman was jailed for a fatal crash five years ago.
63 year old Bobbi Lynn Smith was allegedly under the influence of four controlled substances when she drove a vehicle off the road, overturning on Duane Palmer Blvd.
The crash killed Joseph Delsignore on January 28, 2020.
Smith was thrown so far out of the vehicle into the woods that golfers playing nearby had to cut and dig to find her inside the tree line.
Troopers said she was driving 63 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone.
Local fireworks shows will be plentiful this year.
Okeechobee hosts Fireworks in the area on Friday at the Agri-Civic Center.
The event begins at 2 pm with free admission, a cornhole tournament, a BBQ contest, live music, fun and games, a car show and food trucks.
The fireworks begin around 9 pm.
Moore Haven also has a fireworks show around 9 pm at the Alvin Ward Boat Ramp and Park on US 27.
Moore Haven also hosts the 7th annual Star Spangled Spectacular Rib cooking contest on Saturday at the Chalo Nitka Fair Grounds.
The village of Indiantown Independence Day celebration will be held on Saturday, July 5th at Timer Powers Park off SW Citrus Blvd.
The event starts at 5 pm and includes music, vendors, food trucks, a kids play area, and fireworks around 9 pm.
A Miami woman was charged with trying to smuggle 94 grams of marijuana into the Okeechobee Correctional Institution.
Celestina Del Carmen Pineda admitted she did wrong and after being removed from the facility, decided to return to take her punishment.
Sheriff deputies said guards found two plastic cylinders that included marijuana, cell phone sim cards and rolling papers on the suspect.
She had her 14 year old son with her at the time. Pineda said she had been contacted via phone to bring a package that had been left at her residence