WOKC Local News – December 24, 2025, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Do it for the holidays. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. The Catholic Church Miami Diocese asking for a pause on immigration enforcement during the holidays. They asked Governor Ron DeSantis in a letter to stop the enforcement. The bishops say that they’re worried those who are here legally could be caught up in deportation efforts and now is not the time to be callous toward the suffering caused by immigration enforcement. An Ogochoy man was allegedly intoxicated and firing rounds from a handgun at Raychelle Ranch in Loxahatchee Saturday night. Mark Dalton is facing nine felony charges, including aggravated assault, discharging a firearm in public, and drug possession. Four sheriff deputies say as they walked towards Dalton’s vehicle, he drove towards them in a reckless manner and tried to strike them. He then drove off, firing shots into the air. The FAA says running out of fuel was the reason a small plane crashed en route from Ogochobie to Palm Bay last month. It was on its way to the Melbourne International Airport November 17th when the plane went down. Only one person was on board, and Brevard County Fire Rescue reported no injuries. Jamie Fowler was reappointed as chairman for the St. Lucie County Commission for the coming year. They also had to remove some names from citizen advisory boards because they were related to members of the commission. County Administrator George Landry took the family members off the review boards for now, awaiting a ruling from the Florida Ethics Commission. This was at no fault of them. They had talked to us last year at the beginning of this back in November, and then with some information that came out, we just want to make sure that we’re crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s and doing everything right. State lawmakers will be addressing the Romeo and Juliet law in 2026 as a close in age exemption that provides a potential defense for statutory rape. The law does not make all sexual contact with a minor legal, but it allows qualifying defendants to petition the court to avoid mandatory sex offender registration, which can be a significant lifelong consequence. Francine Richman told the Senate Committee they shouldn’t be trying to ruin lives for stupid mistakes. The age differences in numbers, it’s the dates of birth. There’s no allowance for youthful mistakes or just difference in maturity levels. Some are slower to mature. Some may have a nonverbal learning disorder or possibly be on the spectrum. Honestly, I’ve raised four kids. They’re all very different, especially when it comes to puberty and maturity levels. The Senate Environment and Natural Resource Committee focused on Lake Okeechobee and its health. The South Florida Water Management District, the Corps of Fish and Wildlife all say the health of the lake is improving. Drew Bartlett, Executive Director of the Water Management District says they’re close to solving all these water release problems from the lake. You’re looking at controlling about a foot and a half in any given year on Lake Okeechobee. And if you look at the maps and you look at the slides that FWC had, that makes a huge difference. So, you know, we’re already seeing with the repaired Hoover Dike how much less the discharges are. And so then you couple that with storage and you’re, I mean, you’re, you will not see many lost summers. Ninety percent of landowners around the lake are now part of best management practices. The lake saw a return of between 24 and 28,000 acres of submerged vegetation this year. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).