News Cast for April 22nd:
County approves industrial park
A 400 acre industrial park was approved on agriculture land located on Berman Road.
Okeechobee County Commissioners approved a change in zoning to industrial for the project.
The plan is to subdivide the 400 acres into nine separate lots.
County Commissioner Kelly Owens voted against the rezoning.
She said the additional truck traffic would be too much for the road.
“I can’t support adding that many more trips onto county roads that are not in the condition that they should be now. This project could move forward rather quickly.”
Commissioner Frank DeCarlo said if this land is going to develop it likely won’t be from a housing project due to the nearby landfill.
The county continues to seek grants from the state to address the road condition.
Commissioners delayed until May 9th a public hearing for the planned unit development the Midtown Project.
The application has changed twice this year.
The current plan is to add 1300 housing units both single family homes, town houses and an assisted living facility on acreage on both sides of the highway.
Interim Okeechobee School Superintendent Dylan Tedders said the city has assured him that homecoming parades can continue each October on state roads.
The council had discussed the rising costs and work involved in the parades each year.
They were mostly concerned about the small Speckled Perch Festival Parade held in March.
Tedders said the district wants to keep the parades on the public streets and not only on campus. He noted the new rubber on the high school track will prohibit all vehicular traffic going forward in the football stadium.
“The Mayor Dowling Watford said that was only a misunderstanding. They were talking about parades. When you think about a parade there will be an expense, you have employee overtime on a Saturday. That is going to be an expense. The Mayor assured me that Homecoming will be one of the four traditional parades and I was comfortable with that.”
A Pahokee juvenile is charged with shooting into a car with a five-year-old child inside.
The shooting took place on March 20.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Deputies suspect the shooting was gang related.
It happened at the intersection of Annona Avenue and East 4th Street around 2:30 pm.
Deputies said 10 shell 9 mm shell casings were located at the scene of the shooting. The vehicle had two bullet holes in the rear passenger door and the front passenger door. The front window was also shattered.
Highlands County Fire Rescue responded to the Kissimmee River bridge on US 98 in Fort Basinger for the report of a vehicle fire on Sunday afternoon.
Fire Rescue crews arrived around 12:30 pm and found a vehicle fully involved.
There were no injuries reported in the incident. Traffic was backed up in the area.
The bridge is currently getting repaired and resurfaced with traffic lights on both ends of the bridge. Drivers need to be aware and obey the red light.
Various law enforcement agencies supported the Special Olympics today with the annual run from the Sheriffs Office to Publix. 250 rib dinners were sold at $15 apiece to raise $3,750.