WOKC Local News – September 04, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Bicyclists killed at main light with WOKC News. I’m Charles Murphy. It was quite a commute yesterday for people going to work as they detoured around the main light after a bicyclist was struck and killed by a tractor trailer. The bicyclist, a 30-year-old man from Lehigh Acres, was headed westbound on the north side of the intersection, and a tractor trailer was turning onto 441 to head northbound when the collision occurred. The bicyclist died at HCA Florida Rollers and Hospital. Troopers say the truck driver did not stop at the scene but was located at a sod farm five miles away. The Noogeshoe jury took just six minutes to convict a Reverend James Thompson of Leesburg. He’s also known as the Reverend Hippie. He assaulted a deputy trying to prevent him from removing a public speaker at a county commission meeting in April of 2025. Prosecutor Ashley Albright says the Reverend has a podcast on YouTube where he made several threats against the county and the sheriff. Through the arrest, Detective Casian discovered that this defendant, James Thompson, had a YouTube channel and posted things under the name Reverend Hippie with a show that he called Tattoos and T-Shirts. The Reverend Hippie spoke about police abuse. The thin blue line needs to go away. He says the charges were a blatant lie. Two young men that are beating on an old man, I don’t care if they’re wearing a badge and a gun. It’s wrong. Hippie will be sentenced on October 5th. Property Tax Amendment 3 would cost the city about $69 million in taxable value. Ad valorem revenue expected this year at $2.88 million. This year $3.18 million may be collected. 2027-28 would be roughly $2.7 million. The Chamber of Commerce quickly recovered after a pipe burst over the summer in the building. About $11,000 in damage reported. Okeechobee Public Works able to repair the damage. There was some standing water, but no documents were damaged. The city also trying to work out a deal with the sheriff on school resource officer funding. The city council is opposed. So is the county. The county wants the city to fund two officers. One like they do now at Okeechobee Christian Academy. The Okeechobee Achievement Academy would get the other. Indian Town in uproar again. They have a new mayor, Phyllis Waters Brown, and a new city manager. Michael Giardino is the interim. The council this week had a special meeting terminated village manager Taran Krista. They also are looking at a moratorium on data centers, although they have not voted to do so yet. J.P. Pasquale urged the village to stop growing. For what reason are we doing this? You can never turn this back. If you turn this little country town into a city, it can only become a bigger city or a worse city and then a slum. So I and I’m going to say this, Lord. Former governor’s candidate James Fishback visited Indian Town. He thought that data centers would ruin Indian Town. They dangle money. They dangle profit. But we have an answer for that. It’s not a new answer. It’s an old answer. It’s called Matthew chapter 16. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, but to lose his soul? Sally Kamitsky isn’t afraid of the litigation that supporters that a developer of the Silver Fox Data Center has promised. This is in BS from the beginning. And now, oh, let’s all sit down. And then let me tell you another thing. There’s nothing that you can tell me that doesn’t hurt the children. I’m Charles Murphy. WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).