WAFC Local News – December 15, 2025, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The Hendry County Commission continued to discuss new regulations to improve the appearance and maintenance of local cemeteries. One issue is placing flags that get into disrepair or frayed, and when they should be replaced. Michael Atkison was okay with 12 by 8 foot flags. But there’s definitely some that have an American flag over their grave for a reason. Mitchell Wills says he understands the need for these cemetery regulations. There’s no different code enforcement. You’ve got good actors, you’ve got bad actors. So what happens in the cemeteries a lot is people overdo it. So I don’t think they need to have whiskey bottles and all this stuff inside coping. I do understand once the coping goes on, they have a deed for that. It’s a property. I get it. But there has to be rules and regulations. It’s no different than your house. Emma Bird wants the county to cooperate where possible, but emphasize maintenance and appearance of these cemeteries. Because if they’re not playing by the same ball game, then you just have to take it out. They’re not going to like it. But then that person that got a plot next to them is not going to like it when you’re not taking it. It’s like a home. If code enforcement don’t enforce me keeping all the junk out my yard, it makes the neighbor yard look junky. So it’s the same thing at cemeteries. Palm Beach County Commissioner’s proclaiming this month as National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. In 2024, there were 2,100 people arrested for DUI in Palm Beach with 1,033 crashes that were alcohol related. They had 45 fatalities overall in the county and 49 serious injuries. Joel Flores, one of the county commissioners, read part of the resolution. December is the deadliest month of the year for drunk driving vehicle accidents, making prevention efforts more vital during the holiday season. Rachel Lamar with Mothers Against Drunk Driving says they continue their fight to stop the alcohol and the drunk driving problem. The county approved a loan agreement with the City of Belle Glade Housing Authority for $2.5 million. The authority will use the money to rehabilitate 534 units at the Yokochobee and Osceola sites for farm labor housing. The work also includes restoring 116 vacant units, rehabbing 31 uninhabitable units, and converting 24 units to handicapped accessible at these two labor sites. The total development cost is $16.85 million. Traffic citations increased by over 50% in Glades County last year, according to the state. The 2023 numbers were 3,400, nearly 1,800 by the Sheriff and nearly 1,500 by the Highway Patrol. In 2024, the total violations rose to 5,121. The most common criminal violations in Glades County were DUIs 21, no driver’s licenses, suspended driver’s license 116 of those, 55 with expired or no tag, 12 high-speed chases, and 10 leaving the scene of an accident. The most common non-criminal violations there were 3,055 speeding tickets, 65 careless driving tickets, 137 tickets for suspended license, 64 for no driver’s license, 241 for ignoring a traffic control device, and 64 for improper passing. Last year, violations included 3,773 total written by the Sheriff and 785 by the Highway Patrol. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).