WOKC Local News – October 22, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Diamond R expands with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. Okeechobee City Council approved a new warehouse and office for Diamond R Fertilizer. 1.6 acres will be developed between North and Fifth Avenues and Northeast 6th and 7th Street. The city also passed their annual budget with no tax increase this year. They also are working on the former fire and police department building with state grants. They approved a contract with Proctor Construction for $703,000. Okeechobee’s downtown could benefit from wayfaring signs for pedestrians. Karen Kozak with Okeechobee’s Leadership Program spoke to the city council about ways to attract more pedestrians, and she suggested more signs would help people find businesses, even those on side streets. A lot of the businesses alongside streets and around the corner frequently miss out on the opportunity of the pedestrians down there walking around. The county commission, entertaining a request by Okeechobee Clerk of the Courts, Jerry Bryant, he wants to put in a gazebo between the judicial complex and the old courthouse. He says he has interest and has also lined up private donors. A lawsuit filed by the state and Glades County against Discord for allegedly putting children at risk on their social media platforms. Attorney General James Oothmire says a percentage of the 2,100 alleged child predators arrested in the state over the past two years stem from contacts alleged on Discord. Rita Peters says child predators don’t have to go to playgrounds anymore to contact kids. These horrible individuals who prey on our children get access through these gaming and social communities where children already gather. They identify their potential victims and they initiate contact directly. Discord, much like all the other platforms that we are investigating and going after, allows that first contact to develop into a private and very dangerous conversation. Discord says the lawsuit does not accurately reflect its platform or safety investments, pointing to new age-related protections and its cooperation in all cases with Florida law enforcement. The Water Resources Development Act approved by the House, the Treasure Coast Congressman Brian Mast, who hates Lake Okeechobee water, says the Army Corps of Engineers will be required to prove there is positive water quality improvements in Lake Okeechobee when it goes into recovery mode. Mast contends fresh and salt water still don’t mix. Killing grass on our side of the levee to grow grass on the other side of the levee, that is robbing Peter to pay Paul and it shouldn’t make sense to anybody. A 29-year-old Okeechobee woman alleged to have been intoxicated in a car accident with two children in her car. Marisol Jaimez is facing charges that include driving while licensed suspended DUI and two counts of child neglect. City police say her blood alcohol was .187. The accident in the 400 block of Northeast Park Street, she was also checked out at Rollerson Hospital. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).