WOKC Local News – June 05, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Hospital excited about future with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. Rolerson Hospital introduced a new CEO earlier this year with the retirement of Brian Malir. Alex Mezmela will take over at the hospital. He had led Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens, and St. Lucie Medical Center during his career. He gave a speech yesterday to the Chamber of Commerce luncheon. He vowed to bring more services to Okeechobee and meet our needs. There is a lot of work we can do at Rolerson to continue with the pace. And the goal is to bring in additional service lines. What can we do to keep our patients here at Rolerson? Rolerson should be the hospital of choice for our community. The hospital recently announced a $21 million expansion of their emergency department. Okeechobee City Council confirmed they’re looking at a planned unit development proposed for the Old Blue Heron Golf Club. It would be focused on residential uses and mixed uses. They plan to go before the city planning board, but there’s no agenda for that yet. The Hickory Sand Mine project goes before the Highlands County Planning Board next week. They had a delay earlier in the year. Several residents, though, spoke out against the impacts like truck traffic and disrupting drainage. Diane Fio, one of the neighbors, wants the county to nip this in the bud. A lot of my neighbors aren’t here to protest, but we’re all in protest, and we’re counting on you guys. So I’m just telling you, let them stop. We’ve said no, the answer’s no. Help us out. 3,300 tractor-trailers were stopped for inspections or violations in a four-day statewide enforcement initiative. It was FDLA, the Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, and sheriff deputies across the state. 54 drivers pulled over, could not read English. 45 were arrested. The operation led to 176 drivers taken out of service, 35 people arrested on criminal-related charges, and 42 taken into custody for violating federal immigration laws. FDLA Commissioner Mark Glass says he wants to reward those trucking firms that follow the law. It’s time to enforce, and it’s time to take the bad folks off the roadways and allow the good people who want to do it right where they can be competitive. Mike McCombs says they don’t look the other way in Florida anymore. I’ve had the opportunity to work in a border state where lax commercial motor vehicle enforcement was not the norm. That’s not the case here in Florida. A Jacksonville man was arrested at the Fordrum Service Plaza for allegedly punching his dog in the face with a closed fist. Cole Bradley Warren, facing a charge of cruelty to animals, held a $1,000 bond. A bystander witnessed the incident and saw the dog’s face dripping in blood onto the concrete. The man worked at the service plaza and lives out of his car. He says he was mad because the dog would not stop acting like a dog. He also left the dog unattended on hot asphalt with no shade during the day. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).