WOKC Local News – August 11, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. It’s back to school with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. It was a quick summer as the 10 weeks pass and Okeechobee school kids will be on school buses headed to school this morning. Police and sheriff deputies will be busy all week around schools trying to protect children in school zones. Okeechobee Sheriff Noel Stephen wants people to watch out for kids and to slow down. I just ask that everybody leave a little early and have some patience. Don’t drive fast, you know, let’s just take our time. Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers says you need to be alert when you’re driving around schools this week. Slow down in school zones. Do not text while driving. Watch out for our kids. Many of them will be walking to school in routes that they’ve never taken before. Stephen says he’ll be issuing warnings but also writing tickets in school zones. He does not support school zone cameras but does support cameras on school buses. Okeechobee County Commissioner has approved a deal with the Okeechobee Utility Authority to accept land for a new fire station on Farrell Road at 875 Highway 78 West. They’re also working with Glades County on an EMS deal. This commission chairman, David Hazelave. This is the first time we’ve ever offered them a contract to cover fire also, always before we just EMS and we’ve been mutual aid on the fire department. So that’s the reason for the big increase. That would help tremendously in funding the new station, getting it going if we did that. Republican front runner for governor, Byron Donalds, wants to finish the work in the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee if elected. He says it should take about three more years of funding. He says he’s committed to the health of Lake Okeechobee. If you want healthy water in Southwest Florida, if you want a clean environment in Southwest Florida, it all starts with Lake Okeechobee. There has to be a healthy Everglades system. That balances the water usage between farmers and people on the coast. The only way you get there is with a balance. An Indian town man was sentenced to life in prison for a 2022 homicide. 39-year-old Robert Norwood shot and killed a man on March 15th near Jake’s store in Booker Park that year. The victim and Norwood were arguing when Norwood pulled a gun and fired several shots. The victim died at the scene. He was convicted to trial earlier this year of first degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. An Okeechobee man arrested by Okeechobee police, Chase Weeks, faces charges that include criminal mischief, making threats to a policeman and resisting arrest without violence. It started out as an abandoned vehicle that turned out to be a truck reported stolen. The owner did not wish to pursue charges. Police say they went to the 200 block of Southwest 7th Avenue and found a vehicle in the ditch. They claim the driver, Mr. Weeks, was intoxicated and insisting that someone else had driven the vehicle. About an hour later, there was a domestic disturbance on Southwest 10th Street. Weeks was accused of being disruptive and abusive in language in the home and began throwing personal items around the home, including soft drinks, that hit a wall, making threats in his apparent drunken state. He would not comply with orders by police when they responded. They note that Weeks is currently out on parole with the state of Florida. He also made other threats to officers at the jail. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).