WOKC Local News – May 01, 2026, 7:41 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. County regulating vacation rentals with WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. County commissioners approved an ordinance to regulate the growing industry of vacation rentals or Airbnbs. Assistant County Administrator Denise Whitehead explained what they’re doing to commissioners. Anything that’s under six months of rental is considered a short-term rental and is subject to a tourism development tax. One of the issues that came up was parking on the street. County Commissioner Mike Sumner says families should be allowed to park if they’re hosting parties. The guy who lives there with his wife and their four kids and they all have a car and they all go to school and work, as long as they’re not plugging up the street, that’s their prerogative. It also gives code enforcement more teeth to regulate these establishments. Okeechobee schools honoring 39 teachers who have five years of service. They proclaimed Music in Our Schools Month. The award-winning Okeechobee High School Band has been a good thing for children’s education. The district continues to expand music offerings to the high school, the two middle schools and three elementary schools. Cheryl Wurlow told the school board that the band program is a real success. In our district, music education is making a meaningful impact. Osceola Middle School has about 130 students participating in band. Yearling Middle School has about 70 students that they are growing. Okeechobee High School averages about 130 students in its band program. Indian Town Planning Board recommended approval of Florida Power and Light’s Tesoro Grows Plan unit development. They recently had 5,700 acres annexed into the village. Eric Smith is against the project, mostly because of suspected data centers. He says Florida Power and Light has not been forthcoming. You have done nothing for this community to date to quell any fears but to call people that say that this is happening liars. And that’s not good neighbors. He’s also filed several ethics complaints against members of the planning board. A two-year-old child was hospitalized after accidentally ingesting gasoline. The parents say they were working outside when the father had left a water bottle that contained some gasoline inside. The child got its hands on it and drank some of it. The child was coughing and they realized he’d consumed some gasoline. Fire rescue took the child to the hospital and he is fine. An Okeechobee man was injured after a .357 Magnum in his holster went off as he tried to use the restroom at his home. Okeechobee deputies were called to Rollerson Hospital. They did not specify the injuries the man sustained. He said it was accidental but the toilet was destroyed. A suspect arrested after fleeing deputies from Kenansville at speeds of exceeding 100 mile an hour. The vehicle was traveling northbound in the southbound lane on US-441 last night. The sheriff’s office helicopter was able to track him and they were able to finally pull him over on US-192 more than 40 miles away near Narcoossee Road. 18-year-old Aubrey Kizzee is facing charges of fleeing and eluding police, reckless driving, and going over 100 miles an hour on the road. The chase actually began near the Kenansville Country Store and Felsmere Road. The suspect was arrested at about 10.20 p.m. last night. The arrest was made at about 1.26 in the morning. The driver of the vehicle also ran on foot after sheriff deputies deployed spike strips in the area of Narcoossee Road. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).