News cast for May 16th:
A grand jury failed to indict two men extradited from Okeechobee to Kentucky on murder charges.
All charges against Brian Marquez-Chavez and Kevin Marquez-Chavez were dropped after the failed indictment.
They had been located in Whispering Pines after an anonymous tip was made to the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office last December 3.
They were accused of killing Esmeralda Lizete Rodriguez Perez and shooting another man during a birthday party in Lexington, Kentucky on September 8, 2024.
Charges dropped included murder, attempted murder, wanton endangerment in the first degree, and criminal mischief in the first degree.
It might be smack dab in the middle.
That is what the Northshore Village Planned Development at 3451 highway 70 east could be if the Florida Department of Transportation ever develops a bypass to connect 710 to 441 north.
Commission Chairman David Hazellief was displeased the matter went before the county Site Plan and Review Committee and no one from the DOT showed up.
“I was disappointed they weren’t there but I did reach out to them that this project was being reviewed and they needed to give some input,” county engineer Steph Mathes said.
“SR 710 if it comes through this alignment will go through the middle of this project completely. It renders what they have on paper pretty much useless.”
The project proposes to develop 897 single family homes, 260 multifamily units, some 25 acres of commercial use and just over five acres for recreation.
The address of the property is 3451 highway 70 east.
The US Army will have a presence on Lake Okeechobee Friday.
The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office put out information that army parachuters will be jumping from 10 am until 2 pm Friday in the center location of the lake.
It will be a boat exclusion zone during the training.
They ask boaters, for their own safety, to not enter the area while aircraft and parachute activities are in progress.
Martin County Fire Rescue is planning to build a new station in Indiantown.
The Warfield Station has been used for 23 years and has outgrown its size, with many of the engines and fire equipment stored outside in the elements.
Fire Chief Joshua Shell told the Indiantown Village Council that they are experiencing growth in calls for service.
“Our number of trucks and personnel have gone up. We have had the same number of bays and bunk rooms. We have outgrown it. We have trucks in the parking lot. For the longevity of the trucks that is not good.”
A dispute at the KOA campground in Moore Haven led to a deputy confrontation with a man armed with a rifle, Glades County Sheriff Deputies said.
An arrest report for Mitchell Bora, 41, included claimed he was impaired at the time and reacted violently when his friend was told to leave the park.
Bora allegedly punched two people that were sitting on a golf cart.
The report state Bora was carrying a rifle down on his side when he approached the responding deputy and made threats to assault him.
The deputy tased Bora, but he removed the barb and took off running.
The report went on to state that Bora retreated into a trailer and barricaded the door and would not come out.
The Hendry County Sheriffs SWAT team responded and deployed a K-9 officer into the home. The dog was injury along with its handler allegedly at the hands of the suspect.
The deputy was transported for treatment to Gulf Coast Medical Center.
Bora was treated at the scene by Glades County EMS.
Criminal charges against Bora include two counts of battery on people over 65 years of age, four counts of battery on law enforcement, one count of battery on a law enforcement K-9, and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.