WAFC Local News – January 06, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The city of LaBelle remains at odds with the State Department of Transportation over the plans to improve State Road 29 in downtown LaBelle. Commissioner Bobby Spratt says the state is good at wasting money. Price and progress. You mean they spent $500,000 on that study to tell us if we want to bypass, we’re gonna have to pay for it? Yes, ma’am. What a waste of taxpayer money. She says after several meetings, the city is getting nowhere with the Department of Transportation. Hugo Vargas announced he would run for the State House in District 82. Lauren Mello will be running for State Senate in District 28. I had my campaign rollout. I was well attended and I had a good time and we’re official, we’re in. We’re in the running. In the courts, a Belle Glade man was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder. 29-year-old Tony Huggins shot and killed a man on October 22nd of 2022 in an apparent drive-by shooting on Southwest Avenue C Place. The investigation began at Bobby’s Market near 340 Southwest 6th Street in Belle Glade. Nine spent shell casings were found at the scene. Cameras from the area caught a suspicious vehicle and helped solve the case. Cameras inside the store were able to capture Huggins with a firearm before the shooting. The vehicle was reported stolen out of Lake Worth Beach. They found one bullet inside the vehicle that matched those found at the crime scene. Huggins was a convicted felon at the time of the shooting. A jury also found him guilty of grand theft of a motor vehicle last fall. The victim was shot to death while standing near the intersection. A West Palm Beach man, 57-year-old Jorge Fermin, died of injuries he sustained in an accident in Belle Glade on August 10th. The accident occurred on State Road 80 just east of Hatton Highway. The city of Pahokee has turned the page among administrators and welcomed their new interim manager, Tammy Busey, a Pahokee native. Commissioner James Scott says the community believes in her and he thinks she’ll do great things for Pahokee. Mayor Keith Babb wants the community to unify and keep moving forward with the common goal of improving Pahokee. And there are some folks who want Pahokee to fail. The way we’re going, if our residents are not working with this city and with everyone on here that’s elected, this city could possibly fail. So we need to work together and we need to minimize our negativity that we have in this community. Busey says she will work hard for the citizens of Pahokee. I want to thank those who don’t agree with me being here, those that don’t think I’m qualified. Just, I want to thank you all because more than anything, I’m motivated. That motivates me, whether you’re for me or not. Comcast told Moorhaven City Council that they’ll have fiber and broadband installed and operational by March of this year. Council member Marcus Decker told the Public Works Department that they’re leaving the gate at the city shop open at night. The council approved a chain link fence around a small fence supply business coming to town owned by Mark Lopez at 133 Florida Avenue. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).