WOKC Local News – November 18, 2025, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Another dairy closed? With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Drew Bartlett gave a presentation to the Central Florida Regional Planning Council. Among them is the work to replace the Okeechobee Field Station, work to improve four structures on the Kissimmee River, and continued efforts to improve water quality. He says they recently shut down another dairy in Okeechobee. But there’s this thing called legacy pollution that’s still in the soils, still in the watershed, and we’re not sure what to do about that. So we have a partnership with Bassinger Dairy where they’re shutting down the dairy operations. And then we’re gonna look at this legacy nutrient problem and figure out ways to remediate it naturally. Bartlett admits the river restoration has started to help reduce nutrients. He also praised the two reservoirs, the C-44 that’s been done for a while, and the huge C-43 reservoir west of the lake, where they have 10,000 acres of water that is 20 feet deep. Airline delays will continue as the Thanksgiving travel period approaches next week. The federal government has reopened, but delays and cancellations can still be expected at airports throughout the week. That 6% flight cut is gonna stay in place till at least Monday or Tuesday. As travel editor Peter Greenberg, he says once the FAA lifts the reduction order, it would take airlines between 36 and 72 hours to get planes and their crews back on schedule. Okeechobee City has an aggressive plan to resurface streets. The council budgeted 1.4 million in the past two years. They recently began to resurface Northeast 7th and Northeast 6th streets and have plans to do Southeast 8th Avenue. Administrator Gary Ritter says there’s no concern about finances and the city will handle these streets. It is this council’s mandate to get all these roads resurfaced that haven’t been touched in decades. We’re working on those like one bite at a time. A portion of McCarty Road, just south of Okeechobee Road, is scheduled to close temporarily on November 17th, which is today, expected to reopen on Wednesday. During the closure, a deteriorated drainage culvert pipe beneath the road will be replaced. They asked motorists to use extra caution in that area and to follow the detour signs. Police around Florida have started Operation Safe Holiday. They’re working at retailers and local malls to keep people safe. Police Chief Sergio Diaz says they’re beefing up police presence and actually using drones, cameras, and license plate readers at malls to keep shoppers safe. We are watching and we have zero tolerance. If you come to the mall and you commit a crime, we are going to catch you and we will prosecute you. 52 pounds and six ounces enough to win the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifier in Lake Okeechobee this weekend. Caleb Hudson of Lincolnton, Georgia is the winner. He earns a spot in the 2026 Bassmasters Classic. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).