WOKC Local News – January 29, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Turn Down a Second Time. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. A public hearing for the second time in six months for a special exception for a private drift pad on a ranch north of Okeechobee. It was turned down by the planning board. They wanted 20 acres at 1455 N.W. 160th Street. They wanted to hold events for the public as a commercial operation and would bring people to Okeechobee. They argued it would make the roads safer as it would reduce drifting and reckless driving on public roads. Neighbors, though, were mostly opposed. Cynthia Andrews for the applicants spoke on the noise impacts. We have so much noise around us all the time. I call it unexpected noise. I don’t know when the neighbor down the road is going to be working on machinery and using a hammer to bang metal. And I don’t know how long that’s going to go on for, five or six hits with a hammer or a two-hour project. We have dirt bikes, ATVs, shooting, lawn mowing, tractors, flying jetpacks, helicopters, construction work and the never-ending sounds of the highway. The planning board approved a special exception to allow a manufactured home sales lot at 310 U.S. Highway 98. They will pave the lot. Some concern about big truck deliveries to the property. Also a 7-Eleven gas station and convenience store approved at 3100 U.S. Highway 441 South. The Indiantown Village Council approving an option agreement for land they own on southwest Warfield Boulevard. Five acres will be purchased for $5 million by Building Tomorrow’s infrastructure. They have 90 days to inspect the property and if they decide not to pursue the option, $50,000 will be returned to the buyer. The company paid $75,000 to have a one-year option. The prospective buyer’s intended use of the property is for a health care campus. An Ortona family mourning after losing a family member in a fire last week. Glades County Commissioner is asking for prayers for that family. This commission chairman Tim Stanley calling it a trying time for all. Say prayers for the Allen family tragically but hopefully we’ll figure out what’s best. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection adding the Graceland Ranch to the Florida Forever Acquisition list. $4.85 million will be the price of a conservation easement for 558 acres. It was previously part of the Taylor Creek Ranch and would protect about one and a half miles of the ranch. Governor DeSantis again decrying illegal immigration and the protests in Minnesota. He says law enforcement needs more support from state and local leaders and should not be the target of violence. Creating this situation where just doing your job and just following law is very, very difficult because you have all this clutter and you have all this sand that’s trying to be thrown in the gears. In Ogichewa, a man facing charges of felony marijuana possession and possessing a firearm during a felony after a traffic stop by Palm Beach deputies on I-95. Reginald Allen allegedly had a Glock semi-automatic pistol and 92 grams of cannabis. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).