WOKC Local News – September 08, 2026, 7:41 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Expect lots of traffic. With WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. Labor Day brings a lot of traffic and travel to Okeechobee County and throughout the state. The Florida Highway Patrol, other agencies, will have all available personnel on the road enforcing our traffic laws. Lieutenant Quag Bueno says you don’t have an office day during Labor Day weekend. Holidays are all hands on deck. Office hours are suspended, and all of us will be out there engaging with our fellow citizens and motorists, and certainly trying to encourage everyone to have a safe holiday weekend, make good choices. And that’s what it’s all about. Labor Day also busy on the water. It’ll be a bit tricky on Lake Okeechobee with levels around 11 feet, but other lakes and the ocean will be busy with boats. They say keep a close lookout for other boaters on the water including less experienced operators who rent a boat. They’re especially popular on the ocean for the holiday weekends. They also say carry reliable communication devices and check the weather report. Jeff Moog advises you should file a plan with loved ones and tell them when you’re coming home. Send a text to your loved ones, somebody who’s gonna be on shore and knows who you are, the boat that you’re in, and who is with you. And very important, what time are you expected back, right? So if you do come back late or don’t come back on time, they know to contact the authorities and get some help on the way to you. Also don’t drink alcohol or do drugs. In the courts, a Deerfield Beach man, William Casey, originally charged with drug trafficking in Okeechobee, pled no contest to reduce charges. He gets four months probation. He spent 63 days in jail and his court costs nearly $900. Deputies found 16 pills of fentanyl weighing about four grams. Casey said he had to use the drug because he would die without it due to a recent hand surgery. He had driver license suspensions dating back to 2011. Deputies say he nearly caused a serious crash on March 14, 2026, as he headed west on 710 at 15A. Glades County Commissioner Jeff Patterson got an interesting phone call from a constituent, a Lakeport woman says. She got a letter asking for $75 to oppose an Islamic mosque being planned in Moorhaven. Patterson says that is a scam. He says the woman was very alarmed. And she wanted to know where the mosque was going to be in Moorhaven. Has anyone received a letter in the mail? I’m being serious. Is anyone, a mosque, an Islamic mosque? She received a letter in the mail, I have it in my truck, that they’re building a mosque in Moorhaven and they’re asking her to send them $75 so they can fight the development of the mosque. A case of strangles that impacts horses. At a private facility in Highlands County, eight other horses exposed and there is a quarantine there. The horse infection spreads through direct contact. Symptoms include fever, difficulty swallowing, muscle swelling, coughing or wheezing, swollen glands and nasal discharge. Most horses make a full recovery in three to four weeks with care from a vet. An estimated $202,000 in property damage after a structure fired to a double wide trailer at 18404 Northwest 256th Street. Okeechobee County Fire Rescue says the structure and the porch were about 80% involved. As they arrived, the fire marshal will determine a cause. There was no report of injury. A June 9th traffic stop resulting in a charge against Jeremy Jones of trafficking in methamphetamine that did DNA testing on the items they allegedly found in the vehicle and say Jones was a contributor to about 26 grams of methamphetamine found in the vehicle. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).