WOKC Local News – December 23, 2025, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. City and county agree with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. The state plan to improve Route 70 West has gone over like a lead balloon in Okeechobee, but the city and county are opposed to the improvements proposed. The state wants to put in medians, narrow the lanes by a foot, reduce left turns, add turn lanes, slow traffic down and try to make it safer for pedestrians at King’s Trailer Park. Hopefully we can stop this. I hope. That Mayor Dowling Watford. The city is arguing there’s too many trucks and too much traffic and slower speeds might lead to more accidents. The city and county have both sent letters to the Florida Department of Transportation and BARTO opposing the project. The FDOT is reviewing those letters and reportedly making changes. City Council also approved a number of road projects with work already being done by C.W. Roberts. They spend a total of four hundred and sixty five thousand dollars. They’re paving segments of Northeast Third Avenue, Northeast Fourth Avenue, Northeast Fifth Avenue and Northeast Sixth Avenue in the city. A new state report says drug related deaths are dropping in our state. The state reported a 14 percent decrease in the past year. Opioid related deaths dropped 32 percent, while fentanyl caused death have gone down 35 percent. State officials are crediting the decision to close the border with Mexico to limit the flow of illegal drugs into Florida as the big reason for the decline. Fentanyl still caused 3,224 deaths. Alcohol was listed as the cause of 972 deaths, but were found in nearly 5,200 people last year who had died. Highlands County Commissioners are reorganized for the new year. They elected Don Elwell as their chairman. Chris Campbell will serve as vice chair. The commission also approved a key abandonment of Cambria Road and Prilwitz Road in Venus that’s used for the new large golf course resort that is being built. Florida prisons are going to cost taxpayers millions. Kathleen Largent told a Senate committee that the aging population in prison will be expensive. It’s threatening the financial sustainability of the entire correctional system. The confluence of health care costs, infrastructure demands, staffing shortages. I’m not here to discuss soft on crime policies, but to discuss sound fiscal policy. She wants to see prison reform. She says those that are 70 years or older are well beyond the years of committing crimes and should be released if they have been convicted of nonviolent crimes. She says the older inmates cost an average of $70,000 to incarcerate each year. The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority CEO Lance Little says Orlando International Airport is preparing for a possible record breaking travel this week. It’s estimated over three million passengers will come through the airport between Christmas and New Year’s. Little is urging travelers to get to the airport early. They’re having some ongoing construction in terminals A and B, which may impact your visit to the airport. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).