News Cast for March 26th:
Senator Erin Grall filed Senate Bill 1318 that addresses distracted driving in the state.
An automobile crash occurs every 44 seconds in the Sunshine State and one out of every seven crashes is caused by distracted driving.
The bill would make it illegal to have a cell phone in your hand while driving in Florida.
Currently Florida law prohibits the use of cell phones while driving in school zones and construction zones.
It is not legal to text or send emails while driving.
The bill has made it through the Senate Transportation Committee.
31 states have some kind of ‘hands free’ driving law.
“We know this can be as bad as drunk driving if not worse and more pervicacious and we know that we are losing lives,” Grall said.
“It is amazing to see the people driving and engaged fully with their phone moving through dangerous intersections and regular roads. It is just something we see every day.”
The Okeechobee County School voted to expel for one semester a 10th grader at Okeechobee High School for possession of alcohol on campus.
They voted to reappoint Melisa Jahner to represent them on the Children Services Council.
They honored the OHS fishing team for making it to nationals this year.
They issued a proclamation to honor March as Celebrating Music in Schools month.
Glades County Commissioners sent a letter to the state asking them to get some local say in future water storage and treatment projects that are taking up valuable farm land.
They would like to receive some kind of compensation for the loss of taxable values for storage and treatment.
Commissioners said the county used to have 75 fishing guides and now only have five.
County Manager Paul Carlisle said 61 percent of the land in Glades County is tax exempt.
“We are helping the entire state but the entire state is not helping us.”
Chairman Tim Stanley said the county would face large litigation costs if they fought this battle in court.
He said its unlikely a county man on water projects would survive a court battle.
“I think it is a really hard approach. I think we would be challenged and we could end up spending our entire budget in a court of law. In the end we won’t win anyway.”
Commissioner Jeff Patterson said its hard to provide services with no tax base.
“People want better ambulance and fire service. It is hard to give that to people when the taxes on these lands are so far reduced, its basically is coming off (the roll).”
A man was arrested after a toddler shot himself in the hand in Belle Glade.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to Lakeside Medical Center to find a two year old being treated for a hand wound.
The boy told a Florida Department of Children and Families investigator that the gun was on the couch and he shot himself.
The alleged owner of the gun, Jashawn Mathis, admitted he went outside to talk to a friend and left the child unsupervised.
He is charged with child neglect with great bodily harm and culpable negligence.