News Cast for May 27th:
Okeechobee County got an update from the Florida Department of Transportation on a possible red light in Posey’s Corners at the intersection of Berman Road and state route 70.
Commissioner Brad Goodbread said FDOT is working on a traffic count to determine whether the signal is warranted.
There have been a number of serious vehicle accidents at the intersection over the years man involving trucks headed to the landfill.
Goodbread said no final decision has been made.
“It looks like it needs a signal, they will be doing more analysis, it won’t be long until its in the category of needing to have a signal.”
The Okeechobee City Council approved a land sale in the commerce center to allow for a concrete plant.
Southeast Redi Mix Concrete will purchase the lots for $569,800.
City officials said the project could create 20 new jobs for our community.
City Administrator Gary Ritter said it is a $5 million dollar operation that will benefit the city.
“They have committed, once permits are issued, they will build within three years and have the whole plant completed.”
Okeechobee veterans and citizens attended the dedication of the Hewey helicopter in Veterans Memorial Park on Monday.
Greg Maynard said they will soon have the helicopter on a 10-foot platform for everyone to view.
He said these helicopters saved a lot of lives during the Vietnam War and bring out a lot of memories in the veterans.
“A lot of people asked me, Greg is it a good idea to do this on memorial day. I got to thinking, how many Vietnam veterans would have been on those memorial walls if there weren’t these helicopters. How many would not have gotten back to their families because of that helicopter.”
The event included prayer by Pastor Matt Bowen and a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by R.J Sandefur.
Over 400 students graduated from Okeechobee High School on Saturday.
They heard speeches from the four top ranking students academically in the class, Alondra Aguirre, Jackson Holcomb, Jenna Johnson and Hannah Williams.
They also heard welcome speeches from class delegates Abby King and Nicholas Woodhouse.
This was the largest class at OHS in several years.
A Yeehaw Junction man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his ex-wife.
Charles Bell Junior, 73, shot and killed Patricia Ann David, 68, in her yard on Magnolia Drive on August 28, 2021.
Neighbors provided key evidence to Osceola County Sheriff investigators. They heard shots and told detectives that Belle admitted to shooting his wife.
They also found blood on his clothing and his lawnmower.
They also found a handgun with ammunition that matched the bullets that killed the victim on his property. Several shell casings at the crime scene matched the recovered ammunition.
Bell was in the hospital for a time after the verdict and the sentence hearing was delayed three months.
He was convicted last November at trial.
The defense argued the state did not have an expert present to testify on the cell phone evidence and wanted it ruled inadmissible.
Bell wrote a letter to the sentencing judge after the trial and wrote a hit man had killed his wife and he is innocent. He said
his hands have been so crippled for years that he couldn’t even fire a gun.