News Cast for September 4th:
The Okeechobee City Council questioned the amount the county is charging for fire and EMS service.
When they closed the city fire department in 2021 they expected to save money.
Vice Mayor Monica Clark said the county agreed to hire six new firemen to help serve the city but never did.
Mayor Dowling Watford said he does not think businesses should have to pay an EMS assessment.
The city is expected to spend $96,000 from American Rescue Plan funds to purchase a dump truck.
Clark said the roads leaving the commerce park are in bad shape due to heavy truck traffic.
Three people died in a mobile home fire in Fort Pierce last night.
It happens in the 4000 block of US 1. Three people were able to escape the flames.
The investigation into the fire is ongoing.
A Merritt Island woman saw 7 drug charges dropped and her case dismissed in Okeechobee Circuit Court after waiting more than three years.
Tichina Carter was a passenger in a vehicle that fled Okeechobee Police in a dangerous New Years morning chase in 2021.
The cops said the fleeing vehicle crashed into a mobile home on NE 24th Avenue. Earlier it traveled at high speeds in the wrong direction on route 70 east, traveling east bound in the west bound lane nearly causing accidents.
Officers said they found 362 grams of methamphetamines and 86 grams of cocaine along with other drugs and suspected drug cash during a search of the vehicle.
The driver, Alexander Munch was sentenced to five years in prison.
About $14,000 in damage was done after a double wide trailer fire near Basinger.
IT happens at 22302 NW 176th Avenue on Sunday night.
County fire rescue said the structure was 60 percent involved as they arrived.
There were some antiques inside.
The trailer home was vacant but the owner said he chased off a squatter recently.
The cause remained under investigation.
The Stuart City Commission approved a lease for the Bright Line station but it could be reviewed by the new commission.
Martin County is yet to vote on their lease for the station. They are being asked to spend $15 million for planning and design of the station.
If approved the station could open in 2026.