WOKC Local News – July 30, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Still worried about taxes with WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. Okeechobee County commissioners held their budget workshops this month to get their spending plan in order. Terry Burroughs suggested creating an MSTU for the sheriff. That didn’t go far. He wants the city to pay more for school resource officers, hinting they may not be paying their fair share. The city needs to step up relative to some of their responsibilities. The sheriff is taking the responsibilities of, I think, about four SROs into the city. And if we do this MSTU, the city needs to step up and take care of those four SROs. The county also intends to request the state give them back land along Taylor Creek, which was formerly known as the Boy Scout Camp on 441 North. Ducks Unlimited gave a presentation about land conservation around Okeechobee. Audra Chestnut told ranchers that there’s been a huge decline in the number of acreage in agriculture and also a huge decline in our wetlands in Florida. They cover half the area that they covered in the 1700s, and we’ve lost 50% since 2009. So those are pretty significant numbers. Ducks Unlimited has helped conserve 75,000 acres and 50 different projects in the state. Their easements help diversify income funds for ranchers and allows ranchers to buy more property. There are also temporary payments available to ranchers now for holding water. Martin County commissioners considering limiting tobacco sales. Caitlin Strickland of Tobacco Free Florida says miners are almost easily able to buy tobacco, a sales rate of 9% on tobacco products in that county. However, the FDA found that Martin County has a sale to minor rate of 13%, and DCF found that Martin County has a sale to minor rate of 9%. The smoker costs the state, they say, over $54,000 per year. There are 315 cigarette tobacco retailers in the county, 32% of them close to schools and parks. Okachubide, everybody’s investigating an armed robbery complaint in the 11,600 block of 441 Southeast earlier this month. A worker doing some weed eating at Freedom Ranch along the highway was confronted by two white males in a pickup. One of them had a handgun, they took a work truck. They were able to find the truck on Southeast 126th Boulevard abandoned. A suspicious incident turned into a false call. It was a 911 call claiming a woman was being held against her will and being raped at a local motel. Deputies responded in mass and found out that the alleged victim was fine and someplace else. A Pahokee man, Daniel Warris, facing charges of being intoxicated when he had a car accident causing property damage on Route 609 in Western Martin County. Martin County deputies say there were no injuries, but they also alleged that Warris was driving on a suspended license. Former Okachubi County Sheriff Clayton Williams has passed away. He served one term as sheriff between 1977 and 1981. He was also a highway patrolman and also served 12 years on Okachubi City Council. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).