WOKC Local News – March 31, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Sheriff says 710 a death funnel. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. Martin and Okeechobee County are working together to try and make Route 710 safer. Martin County Sheriff John Budensieck says they’ve had 39 fatalities on a 33 mile stretch of road in the past few years. He says the FDOT needs to do what they did south of Indiantown with the section between Indiantown and Okeechobee. Really again highlights how the design of the road has prevented these crashes. It’s not that we don’t have crashes down there, but they’re not those nasty head-on crashes where people are dead right there, dead on the scene. He says high speeds and poor driving has led to many fiery crashes where people burned alive and their vehicles and their deputies were unable to save them. County Commissioner Ed Chiampe says the road remains crazy dangerous. What do we do in the meantime? The novel, Anne Remembered, we know will be made into a mini-series this year and one of the filming locations will be Highlands County. The Highlands County Commissioner signed off on allowing that. The principals of the show appeared before the county commissioners to discuss what they’re doing. Kathy Tomko called it a really important project. They have a heart for Florida. Everyone that comes into this project is meant to be and I just say God is at the helm of this project and bringing our story to the world. They note they’ll have scenes from Elasti all the way down to the Everglades. The Okachubbe School Board honored the Okachubbe High School debate team. They competed in a national civics debate in Orlando, Orlando LaGuardia and Schuyler Grimsley. Both finished in the top 20 in their division. 600 kids took part in the debate. The commission reported there are 576 students that received state school choice scholarships that live in Okachubbe. There are 175 students who received the scholarships from private schools. Over 100 students are homeschooled and are not funded by any scholarships. The Coquina Water Control District appointing a new board member at their March meeting, Sean O’Connell, a resident of the Viking area who happens to be a previous superintendent of the Water Control District will fill the vacant seat. It was left vacant when Jeff Hubbard resigned earlier this year. Okachubbe County Sheriff deputy is able to solve a business burglary, a home and a storage locker also were broken into. Edward Costin Jr. is facing charges of burglary to a conveyance, petty theft, criminal mischief and burglars tools. He was held in $22,000 bond. The burglary was in the 2200 block of Highway 441 Southeast. They found some stolen items in a carport in Okachubbe. They also found some of the stolen items in a tree in the lot next to the victims. Sheriff deputies listed in their inventory of stolen items more than 20 different things including printers, various tools, electric grills, a bicycle and a scooter. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).