News Cast for May 7th:
The Glades County School District will host a community meeting tonight at 6 pm at the school board offices in Moore Haven to discuss a potential shift to a four-day school week.
The meeting is part of a broader effort to gather community feedback for the proposed change.
It would involve longer school days between Monday-Thursday and Friday’s off.
A survey found over 70 percent in the community were in favor of the move.
The Highlands County Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a packaging and shipping operation for produce at 8145 County Road 621 in Lorida.
The produce allowed would be watermelons only.
The board approved a special exception to allow commercial activity in an agriculture zoning district.
10 acres would be set aside for the operation. They can operate six days per week excluding Sunday from 6 am until 6 pm.
The company application said they would operate for about six weeks each year from around April 20th through the end of May.
No retail sales will be allowed on the property. Truck parking was limited to seven trucks per day.
The company plans to use semi trucks and old school buses to haul the watermelons down US 98.
The surrounding property is citrus groves and cattle pasture.
The operation will include equipment and a 25,000 square foot metal building.
The number of jobs created was not known.
A woman died after an alligator attack in Polk County. The FWC said it happened Tuesday afternoon at Lake Kissimmee State Park in Lake Wales.
The woman was canoeing when she came across the gator. Her body was forced into the water and her husband was unable to fight off the alligator.
FWC found the body floating nearby thanks to a helicopter.
Some South Florida farmers said they’re feeling the effects of President Trump’s tariffs. Miami-Dade County Farm Bureau President Heather Moehling said some tomato growers are plowing over their crop because they can’t make a profit. A box of tomatoes that was priced at $16 per box is now sold for $3 per box.
Mexican growers flooded the US markets before tariffs hit with tomatoes and US growers could not compete with the price.
Canada has decided to send watermelon crops to Mexico rather than the United States.
Other immigration issues might also reduce the farm labor force in South Florida this year.
Okeechobee hunters joined in three public hearings on a proposed bear hunt in Florida. The FWC took public comment on a proposed 23 day bear hunt in December.
Emotions often ran high at the meeting and opinions varied on the need for the hunt.
FWC staff said the bear population is healthy and they have less habitat due to development and there has been an uptick in bear human interaction.
This week a bear is believed to have entered an RV in Naples and killed an 89 year old man.
The state must decide whether to allow bow and arrow hunting of bears and whether to allow dogs to join in the hunt. Another issue is how many out of state hunters to allow to participate.
The last bear hunt in Florida was in 2015. At that time over 3,700 permits were sold and 304 bears were harvested.
Supporters of the hunt said it would cut down on bear deaths due to vehicle collisions.
Smoke from a 3,000 acre wild fire at the Avon Park Bombing Range caused some difficulty on Tuesday.
The drought conditions continue to rise in Okeechobee County.
Okeechobee County Fire Rescue said a wild fire grew to 19 acres at 4848 NE 144th Avenue last week.
The fire report said the dry and windy conditions helped the fire quickly burn out of control.
Firemen and the Florida Forest Service were able to surround the fire and control it. OCFR units were on the scene for just under two hours.
There were no buildings threatened in the blaze.