WOKC Local News – October 14, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. A boost for dairy farmers with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. Florida Agriculture Commissioner, Wilton Simpson, says a new law allows feeding Florida to become a game changer for our dairy farmers. The non-profit is helping to use milk from dairy farmers to benefit the state and its poor. In the past, in the summertime when schools were closed, Florida dairy farmers had to truck the milk to Wisconsin for little to no profit. Simpson says it was a dilemma. Our dairy farmers that produce for our school system, the K-12 system, there’s four months of the year where there’s no children there. So there’s four months of the year, where do they go with their milk? And they have to take that milk to Wisconsin at a very highly discounted rate and all the trucking costs, $12,000 to $15,000 to truck a tanker load of milk to here to Wisconsin. The impacts of Amendment 3 in Highlands County discussed at a town hall meeting. Most governments are looking at big cuts to their budgets. Some are threatening to cut the sheriff’s and first responders budget if it passes one proposal in Highlands County as it would require a cut of 15 million to the sheriff and laying off or eliminating 110 deputy positions. They also may have to reduce courtroom security and cut the Explorer program according to their Sheriff Paul Blackmon. Democratic Congressman Darren Soto continues to campaign in District 9. He says Okeechobee is helping play a role in diversifying America’s energy sources. He doesn’t want to discriminate on any possible power supply in Florida. We should have an all-the-above strategy, right? We shouldn’t be biasing against natural gas. We shouldn’t be biasing against wind or solar. Okeechobee itself is benefiting from a project, along with Osceola County, of a huge solar array that they’re gonna be using along with methane for gray hydrogen, and eventually it might be green hydrogen. Two guards who work at Okeechobee Correctional having a problem scheduling when to work as a judge recently issued a restraining order against one of them, the ex-husband. The wife objected to the husband still working there because they both have to park in the same parking lot. The prison did not take action, instead waiting for further court action. A student at Okeechobee High School is accused of watching pornography in the classroom and showing it to other students. The parents of the student supported the arrest and prosecution due to his discipline problems. He was sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice. An Okeechobee man is charged with causing some property damage while driving drunk. William Johnson allegedly did some damage at Eagle Point, including destroying a mailbox and also a town and country RV park, causing about $2,000 in damage to the fence and entrance gate and keypad. The man is facing a host of charges, including hit and run with property damage. Okeechobee deputies were called to a trespass at a local church and a suspicious vehicle. They found a gold Honda sedan parked in a dark section of the property around 10.30 in the evening. They observed a man exit the vehicle pulling his pajama pants up. The man admitted he was having sexual relations with a female in the vehicle. The couple was trespassed and warned not to return if they would be subject to arrest. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).