WOKC Local News – September 23, 2026, 7:40 AM
Transcript
WOKC News. Seeking a clerk with WOKC News, I’m Charles Murphy. After a long career, Lane Gamayetia will retire on January 7th of next year from City Hall. The city will advertise for the position. They’re offering a salary of between 63 and $71,000. Vice Mayor Monica Clark says the new city clerk should report to the city administrator. What are they doing in that position that requires them to not report to an administrator or a manager of the city? I mean, what is that position different? How is that position different than HR or planning and zoning or finance? Okeechobee City Council set the tax millage this year at 5.8321 mills. It’s at the rollback rate. That means no property tax increase. The city is not holding up the new Culver’s Restaurant on 70 East, but utility connections are. The city has been told the restaurant hopes to open in November, but no definite date yet. Okeechobee County is pleased with the amount of people coming to watch airboat races at Lock 7. They’ve had two in recent months. Jeff Ward, the organizer, says the event has exceeded expectations. We was only expecting around 500, 600 people maybe, and it was well over that. So we had to step up our game plan this time, have a few more food trucks, and we did have some law enforcement there. We haven’t had any issues, just mainly traffic issues, if there’s any parking and stuff like that. They’ll have a third before the end of the year. On Capitol Hill, the Senate Agriculture Committee finally approved the farm bill. All the Democrats on the committee voted against it. They want more SNAP benefits for people. Senator John Hoeven says they’ve debated the bill for some six years and they need to vote. It’s time, it’s past time. We gotta get to the floor and get this done for our farmers and our ranchers. Our farmers are facing very low commodity prices, high input costs. They need our help. They need this farm bill. The bill now goes to the full Senate floor. They’re hoping to get it passed this session. A Martin County teenager sentenced to two years in prison and three years probation for a crime he committed at the age of 16. Martin County deputies say it was a gruesome crime as he stabbed and killed a dog who had been given to him for possible training as a hunting dog. To make it worse, he videotaped the slaying and put it on Instagram. A local in Hibbard will also pay $615 in fines and court costs. An Okeechobee bus driver arrested on two misdemeanors. Chad Hogan Camp, charged with battery and criminal mischief, he allegedly broke a duck call that’s worth about $100 owned by a student. He was driving students to and from Osceola Middle School. One of the students on board had been given the duck call by a relative as a gift and blew the duck call on board the bus to show his friends. Video footage showed that for about 12 minutes, the student was sporadically using the duck call and other students appeared annoyed. The bus driver allegedly demanded the duck call and grabbed the student’s arm, according to the arrest affidavit. I’m Charles Murphy, WOKC News.
Recorded from the WOKC daily newscast (Glades Media).