WOKC Local News – April 02, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Nothing new yet with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. Okeechobee police not putting out anything on a four-year-old child who suffered a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound. It happened in the 800 block of Southeast 8th Street Tuesday afternoon just after 1.30 p.m. Fire rescue rusted the scene along with sheriff deputies. The child was light flighted out to St. Mary’s Hospital. As it is an active investigation, police being careful about what they put out. Again, in critical condition, this four-year-old. Okeechobee Children’s Services Council gave an update to the county commission and it was full of data. They helped 13,000 children in Okeechobee last year. They prioritized early childhood development, education, health, character building, bullying, surviving domestic abuse, and substance abuse. Tony Weersma says they spent more than 1.6 million, which is more than they took in. The first few days were popular at the new Pine View Academy Pre-K that we opened at the former Okeechobee Achievement Academy in August. Superintendent Dylan Tedder says he’s excited about this new program as he named Brittany Stanley the principal there. He says they’re naming it after the Whispering Pines neighborhood. It’s gonna be a unique center for Pre-K. So we wanted to kind of honor the neighborhood and where it’s at and kind of stick. A lot of that school has got green already. So that pine and green kind of goes together. They’re turning the freshman campus into the new campus for Okeechobee Achievement Academy, freshman going to the new high school in the fall. Martin County is striving to work with guardians of Martin County as they oppose a kosher slaughterhouse near the banks of Lake Okeechobee. Critics are mostly worried about water quality and releases in the Lake Okeechobee. It’s proposed on the Chansey Bay Ranch, which is on 441. It is also near the Lakeside Water Treatment Area. Greg Braun would like to see this property enrolled into the Rural and Family Lands Program. We’d like to collaborate so that a project, if it does move forward, is good for the environment, good for the economy, good for the farmers. County Commissioner Ed Chiampe says there is some risk if the county opposes this facility as it hurts their relationship with the state on preserving other farms. Are we hurting ourselves more to try to prove a point here that we don’t like how this is going down? Elise Elder told commissioners that this appears to be a lawful operation. Is general counsel binding on us? No, but it might not be a fight that the county would win. The Florida Department of Agriculture says since it is a bona fide agriculture operation, the slaughterhouse does not need local approval and permits. Glades County Commissioners approved a letter of support for a $20 million grant sought by the Okeechobee Utility Authority. They would extend sewer service to serve the Lakefront Estates Project. The grant would come from the state’s Rural Jobs and Growth Grant Program. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).