WOKC Local News – April 15, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. OUA and county work deal. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. County will get a new fire station. The Okeechobee Utility Authority agreed to donate five acres of land they own on Feral Road, near 78, for the new station. They predict about 1,000 calls per year. It would serve the south and southwest areas of Okeechobee County. Justin Nelson with the county says the land acquisition is critical. Land acquisition for us, you know, of course it’s a hard pill to swallow for us to have the funds to purchase land. Of course, you know, in a perfect world, we would hope that OUA would try to donate the land to the county. It does serve a great need for our whole entire community. The land is appraised at $576,000. The county is getting a million dollars from the state to help with building the fire station. The estimated price is two and a half million. City of Okeechobee will have a bill trying to maintain the sculptures in Cattleman Square. Angie Griffin addressed the city council about the costs of such a work. Villages has fewer sculptures. I think they only have 10 pieces, or six pieces, and we have 10. And I think they pay like $20,000 a year. They can afford it. Yeah, yeah. So it seems like we’re getting a pretty good, a fair price on what it is. Water damage, trash, growing palmettos, and dust are causing problems. Some have volunteered to help clean up the park, and the original donors of the sculptures are willing to pay the first year of maintenance, estimated to be $15,000. St. Lucie County government wasted 46 million in taxpayer dollars, according to the chief financial officer in the state, Blaise Angolia. He says their budget has risen 76% since 2019. He says the county could cut taxes by over a mil and save residents between $312 and $520 per year. Angolia says they can find areas of the budget to cut. What’s happening right now, government is expanding. Who’s having a tough time? You guys are. The guys that are actually funding the government. That’s why it’s important to give this money back to the taxpayers. He says this is not a partisan issue, and he is just defending taxpayers around the state. He noted both blue and red counties overspend in the millions of dollars. A wild chase in Okeechobee lands Calvin DeLeon Vicente behind bars on a bond of $44,500. Okeechobee County Sheriff Deputies say he’s charged with fleeing and eluding police, reckless driving, operating a vehicle exceeding the speed limit by 50 miles an hour or more. Speeds actually reached, they say, 96 miles an hour through residential areas. They finally caught up to him after discontinuing the chase in the area of Northwest 42nd Avenue. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).