WOKC Local News – June 02, 2026, 10:36 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. The dangers of summer with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. School is out and Oogachibbe County Fire Rescue doesn’t want to see kids get injured or hurt. We’ve had two drownings this year, one of a six-year-old boy. Jessica Palmer with Fire Rescue says, parents, keep your eyes on your kids around water. But the biggest thing is adult supervision. Being in the water with a child is the best, or at least visual supervision. Healthy Start joined with Oogachibbe County Fire Rescue with a message of safety. There was a video on Facebook last week of people diving into the Kissimmee River from the bridge, which is illegal. Dawn Lawrence with Healthy Start says, any water in a container or bucket can be deadly to a small child. A mop bucket with two inches of water. You can have a baby that’s crawling stand up against that mop bucket and tip themselves over because naturally they’re top-heavy at that point. They could fall into that two inches of water and drown. So any bucket or anything that could hold water is a potential risk. Curbside pickup of garbage has begun in Keynansville for the first time. Osceola County approved a pilot program that impacts some 400 homes. They’ll continue to have their drop-off center open on Fridays and Saturdays. Matthew Fuhrer with Osceola County says the community wanted this service. Never had any specific concerns or questions other than, you know, when the service would start or how it would operate, what days of the week, things like that. The new program means the entire county in Osceola will have curbside pickup. Monday is your recyclable day. Tuesday, garbage, yard waste, and bulk pickup. Governor Ron DeSantis reaffirmed his property tax reform package. He wants to raise the homestead exemption to 250,000 and lawmakers are going along. Although they are taking school funding out of that, DeSantis says, don’t let local governments fool you that they can’t afford these cuts. So anytime anyone tells you, oh my gosh, we can’t, not gonna be able to fund anything, good luck, we’re gonna disband the Sheriff’s Department, we’re gonna have to disband police, all this stuff. Obviously, that’s not true because they didn’t disband it in 2024 when they were taking in a similar amount. Chief Financial Officer Blaise Angolia echoed that message. He says local governments can find a way to cut their budgets. If you hear anyone out there, any local elected officials saying that they’re going to have to cut fire and police and the scare tactics that are gonna come with it, saying that if you call 911, you’re gonna have longer than usual wait times, we’re gonna have to cut sheriff deputies, we’re gonna have to cut EMS, we’re gonna have to cut fire and police, you send them to me in my office. I will show them a thousand ways from Sunday why they are wrong and they should stop with the fear mongering. In Western Indian River County, some illegal hunting alleged. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they found two Miami men, Tomas Linares Cosme and Luis Gomez Hernandez, illegally hunting near County Road 512. They had four tracking dogs and were carrying large hunting knives. They’re facing charges of attempted hunting in a state park and 10 civil citations. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).