News Cast for March 3rd:
“Congratulations to the team from Okeechobee Brahman FFA, named as STATE CHAMPIONS of the 2025 Florida FFA State High School Milk Quality and Products CDE on February 14.
Members of the state champion team, from Okeechobee High School of Okeechobee County, include Sophia Caves, Rachel Thompson, Hannah Butler and Lilly Larson, with chapter advisors Megan Williamson, Clint Thompson, Jared Prescott and Brian Dryden”
A 35-year-old Okeechobee man, Joseph Hawkins, was sentenced to eight years in prison and $105,800 in fines and court costs for drug trafficking, court records show.
Hawkins pled no contest to two drug felony charges.
The arrest affidavit said Hawkins was pulled over by Okeechobee County Sheriff Deputies on January 31, 2023 in the vicinity of the 20300 block of US 98 north in Basinger.
Deputies said Hawkins had failed to maintain a single land. They noted Hawkins could not provide his driver’s license, registration on the vehicle, or proof of insurance.
They located four prescription pills on the suspect.
A sheriff’s K-9 did an exterior sniff of the vehicle and alerted to the driver’s side door. Deputies said they located over 86 grams of methamphetamine in a purse behind the driver’s seat.
Hawkins was originally charged with trafficking methamphetamines and possession of a controlled substance and was held on $105,000 bond.
Hawkins had prior convictions for battery and several drug charges along with an armed robbery charge in Arizona.
Brandon Palaniuk rode the magical, fading hot spot to victory, claiming his seventh big blue trophy at the Bassmaster Elite on Lake Okeechobee with a four-day total of 95 pounds, 4 ounces.
Palaniuk’s dominant performance over the first three days meant in the end he didn’t have to even fish on Sunday to capture the title.
He finished well ahead of John Garrett who was 15 pounds, 3 ounces behind.
Palaniuk said he had difficulty during practice finding fish and never caught a limit. On Wednesday, the night before the tournament he located a pool of water in the C-41A canal and caught two decent size fish and decided to start there. He didn’t move from that area for the next four days.
Palaniuk shared the moment with his wife and two daughters. He took home $102,000 in prize money.
David Gaston of Alabama won the Phoenix Boats Big Bass honors with a bass of 11 pounds 8 ounces. It ranks as the largest fish ever caught on Lake Okeechobee in Bassmaster Elite history. It is the 10th biggest in Elite Series history.
The Florida Cattlemen’s Institute and Allied Trade Show focused on bio security for ranches this year.
Dr. Todd Thrift of the University of Florida spoke on biosecurity practice to minimize ranch risks.
His advice is to use common sense, have a good vaccination plan, buy only from reputable livestock sellers, have a good veterinarian, control fence line contact where possible, calve in
different pastures, buy only virgin bulls, separate new cattle from old herds, and have a better record keeping system that looks at animal movement, and lists the people and vehicles that come on the property.
Dr. Thrift said all these measures are pieces of the puzzle but as a whole the industry struggles with security in the beef industry because access to our facilities is so wide open.
Dr. Thrift also spoke on the continued threat of hoof and mouth disease that devastated the cattle industry nearly 100 years ago. He said always be mindful of people that have traveled overseas and international travelers that visit your facility.
“It would be nice if we could bio-secure all our operations 100 percent. I struggle with that. Some level of bio-security including your vaccination program is probably what you can do, and then paying attention.”
Thrift said In Florida we have a lot of people that just want to come and see the cows, touch the cows and take photos of the cows and don’t think anything about the biosecurity side of that.
“We got people that come in all the time to take pictures of sandhill cranes. I find them out right in the middle of a pasture. Just walk in, leave gates open and take photos of the birds. That is not a very bio-secure operation and it’s a concern to us all the time. We have the land posted, we have signs up, it doesn’t stop them. In many cases they can’t read English.”
A search warrant shut down an alleged active drug house in Indiantown in the 15000 block of SW Tiger Court this weekend.
Martin County Sheriff deputies arrested Isaac Nolasco Gasper Gonzalez, 24, on a host of drug charges.
Deputies said the operation ended what was reported to the a place to go to purchase an array of illegal narcotics at all hours of the night.
The facility was under investigation for close to three months.
Detectives said they seized 18 grams of cocaine, 70 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and three handguns. One of the guns was reported stolen out of Miami Gardens.
Sebring City officials are excited about a watch party for the HGTV programs that were filmed in the city in the past year.
The episodes will begin airing on the channel next week.
The watch party will be held on Sunday, March 9th at 8pm in the downtown square.
Mayor John Shoop said HGTV has definitely helped to promote Sebring and bring tourists and interested onlookers to the community.
The channel’s Home Town Takeover Show did over a dozen renovation projects in the city, including homes, businesses and public spaces.
They provided colorful murals and a cozy gazebo in the main park in town to try and encourage more community gatherings.
They plan to make improvements to every business in the historic downtown circle.