News Cast for January 8th:
Cold temperatures impacted the entire Florida peninsula last night and this morning.
A frost advisory was in effect for portions of Northeast Florida and cold weather advisories were in effect for the Big Bend and the Panhandle.
The forecasted temperature was under 20 degrees in north Florida.
Okeechobee County saw temperatures around 40 degrees with wind chills less than that.
They will continue to open a warming center at 202 NE 2nd Street Suite 5 tonight starting at 6:30 pm.
Swetie is back home. The small dog ran away from home in Heritage Village on New Years Eve likely due to fireworks.
Deputy Kayla Kanarick heard frantic barks from a dog from a nearby storm drain Monday night at 9:30 pm.
They removed the metal cover over the drain and removed the pup. They were able to locate the pet owner and reunited the pair later that night.
The new Florida Senate President Ben Albritton promised to focus more efforts on rural Florida this year.
He wants to help out our farmers and ranchers, preserve more farm land from development and also improve rural health care.
He calls it a rural renaissance.
He said rural areas don’t only benefit from growth
“Opportunity in rural Florida doesn’t just mean development. What I see are opportunities to improve the rural quality of life while preserving the time honored way of life that has been deeply cherished by generation after generation.”
He said agriculture related bills will be a priority in the senate.
“Food matters. We are a big part of national security and we are a big part of the economic backbone of the state.”
The Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation presented a quarterly report to the Board of County Commissioners that included work on four privately owned industrial parks and seven new projects.
They continue to work on the new data park at the former Okeechobee School for Boys and are supporting the Seminole Tribe as they hire up to 300 people to staff the new casino.
Chairman Jeff Sumner said he felt the project was beginning to languish a little bit.
“Since Andy Treadwell has come on board, I can tell you they have kicked into high gear”
The state recently announced a $1.5 million grant for the property development plan.
Sumner said there is not a lot of concern about a data center proposed in Yeehaw Junction as he noted they are looking for a different kind of clientele.
“I’m not sure there’s as much direct competition that you and I might have been worried about.”
A pair of Glades County residents were sentenced to state prison for a brutal fight and assault during the Chalo Nitka Festival in March, 2023.
Troy Faye and Trewston Pierce went on trial in December and were convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charges.
Faye was sentenced to just under 31 months in prison and two years probation.
Pierce received 32 months in prison and 30 months on probation.
Both will pay court costs of just over $2,500.
Original charges included felony battery, aggravated child abuse, battery, and aggravated battery.
Faye allegedly was part of a group that jumped a Lake Placid and knocked him unconscious. The group also injured his mother while another female was knocked unconscious.
A video showed part of the fight and was posted online. Faye was arrested by DeSoto County Sheriff Deputies three days later at the Arcadia rodeo.
Pierce was charged with kicking the victim 10 times in the head.
Pierce attorney asked for a lighter below guideline sentence and claimed he had been provoked by a racial slur. He argued he never tried to flee the scene and had just one prior arrest on his criminal record.
Both defendants are prohibited from ever attending the Chalo Nitka rodeo and dance ever again.