WOKC Local News – August 27, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Police want help from police. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. The State Immigration Enforcement Council says not enough police departments are assisting ICE in immigration enforcement. 272 agencies have contracts with ICE, but 109 of them have not made one arrest. Florida State Immigration Enforcement Council Chair Grady Judge says police should at least check warrants on people they come in contact with. ICE now has the immigration removal warrants and the NCIC, so if we just do our warrants checks that we should do as a normal routine, a normal course of business, without doing any special operations, we can easily comply. Council plans to send letters to these agencies urging them to comply with state law and further assist illegal immigration enforcement. They also want them to make monthly reports to FDLE. Okeechobee County has a contract with ICE as does Okeechobee Police. The Sheriff’s Department has 14 deputies certified and reports 68 encounters. Okeechobee Police have four officers certified. They do not do monthly reports. Congressman Scott Franklin says he’s sad to leave this region and the next Congress, they moved him out of this district, 18 will now cover most of Polk County and a small part of Osceola County. I will always bleed for the heart of Florida, the Florida heartland and I love this district and I’m really sorry I’m gonna be not able to directly represent Okeechobee. Franklin promised to keep Okeechobee interest in mind when he votes in Washington if he’s reelected this year. Alligator hunters can report their take online, the hunting season already underway. There’s an app now called Fish I Hunt FL app. Hunters must still record their harvests within 24 hours, but if cell service is not available at the time prior to transferring the carcass, hunters can record the harvest information in a temporary harvest transfer log up to one day. More information at myfwc.com slash alligator. A Dixie Ranch Acres man is being charged with violating pretrial conditions and a protection order against domestic violence. The man apparently went to the property to visit his deceased dog’s grave. City of Stewart making some changes. Shawn Reed is removed as mayor. Michael Giardino removed as city manager. They’d like to hire Mike Mortel back. Campbell Rich supported both motions. He says they need someone with experience who has a good relationship with state lawmakers. Who is best positioned to restore the relationship with our local delegation who will sponsor and make sure we receive those allocations? That’s Mr. Mortel. A missing horse for more than a year now. Okeechobee deputies say the victim bought a horse for $3,000, but it wasn’t trained properly. They asked that person to retrain it for another $1,000, but that didn’t happen. They haven’t seen the horse in a year. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).