WOKC Local News – May 14, 2026, 7:41 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Five jailed in drug bust with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. A SWAT team and the Narcotics Task Force searched two residents on Northeast 29 Terrace this week coming up with fentanyl and other narcotics. A nine-month-old child was living in one of the two residences that were searched. Facing charges are 63-year-old Hubert Ray Cashwell. He has 126 felony convictions on his record. Also charged, 28-year-old Bailey Slorb on drug charges and a charge of child neglect. 27-year-old Cameron Cashwell, several drug charges and child neglect. 65-year-old Tony Rufino-Diebler, possession of fentanyl. He’s also a convicted felon. 65-year-old Michael Roberts is facing a misdemeanor. He has six prior felony convictions. These search warrants stem from a traffic stop last week in the 1600 block of Northeast 70 East as they arrested Tony Diebler at that time after finding small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine in the vehicle they stopped. Okeechobee’s sheriff has been quoted that slower drivers going 20 miles below the speed limit on 710 are causing a hazard. Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant Quig Bueno agrees. He says driving too slow can be dangerous. He says in four-lane roads, you should stay out of the left lane if you’re a slow driver. If you’re not passing vehicles, stay to the right. Do not impede the flow of normal traffic. And it is the job of FHP and our local agencies to be the enforcers of that traffic. Okeechobee County would like Posey’s Corners to be safer for motorists as they improve the Berman Road intersection with Route 70 with a red light. The state has to put that in and approve it. Trucks headed to the landfill, according to some commissioners, are known to run the stop signs in both directions. Commissioner Brad Goodbred says the state has been cracking down on these trucks. Put a truck out of service because the driver couldn’t explain what certain signs are, what they mean. I mean, so from what I understand, they’re getting a lot more heavy-handed at making sure commercial drivers can at least read English and read the signs so they know what’s coming up. Property tax reductions and eliminations still being considered in the state legislature. Governor DeSantis supports it, but the incoming House Speaker Sam Garrison does not support giving state money to fiscally constrained counties like Okeechobee and Glades counties. Garrison told the media in Jacksonville that local governments can cut their spending. I think there is plenty of room in local government budgets to draw back a little bit and focus on those core services. County Commissioner Terry Burroughs says voters should get rid of those politicians who don’t support local governments. They don’t know what home rule is. We need to educate them, and if they don’t, if they’re not in favor of home rule after they’ve been educated, maybe they don’t need to be there. $60,000 in property damage was done by an RV fire gutting the RV at 8590 Highway 441 Southeast. The cause was some kind of electrical problem. There was no one injured in the blaze. The Okeechobee County Fire Rescue responded and found flames shooting through the roof as they arrived. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).