WAFC Local News – January 16, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The maximum price of LaBelle High School will be just over $72.9 million. The site plan and athletic fields could make the project cost about $120 million total. The contractor wants to open the school in August 2027. Construction manager Greg Kelly notes that the costs are going up for materials and labor. They’re currently at $450 a square foot. So there’s where the rubber meets the road right there. The DOE, we met with them last week and they said, if you’ve got money left at the end, you can apply it toward your athletics. John Baskwin was re-elected chairman and Paul Sammerdyke remained vice chairman of the Hendry County School Board. The board honored longtime union leader Dr. Jim Dementschek, who helped negotiate contracts upon his retirement. Superintendent Michael Swindle said they had a tremendous relationship. I learned that unions and school districts and people can and should work together in an amicable fashion as long as you’ve got the right and the common goals. The school board recently honored the first unbeaten football team in LaBelle history. They went 10-0 in the regular season this year. The city of Belle Glade learned they have demolished 10 buildings deemed unsafe in the past year. They still have seven identified for demolition. The city completed several painting projects at the Drawbridge Cafe, City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce. They also have completed the Lawrence E. Will Museum, exterior parking, the Football Hall of Fame and the North Wing restoration. They put a new roof on the Drawbridge Cafe and completed interior renovations. They’re putting a new roof on the fitness center and should be done soon and also resided the Airport Park football field. Two pickleball courts were developed at Torrey Island Campground and they completed an airboat launch at the campground. They also approved a contract with M&M Asphalt to resurface seven streets for $261,500. Vice Mayor Joaquin Almazan would like to see them increase the lighting on portions of 715 between Route 80 and Martin Luther King. I’ve been going on that area a lot lately and it’s very dark in the mornings and a lot of school children that travel that road and it’s actually a high volume road to take you to 715. So I would like to see a little bit more street light there. In the courts, a Belgrade man received life in prison, convicted of trial of a murder at Las Palmas Rodeo over three years ago. 31-year-old Luis Mayfel Garcia was convicted of four charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault on law enforcement and discharging a firearm in public. The shooting in the parking lot there was June 6, 2021. Two men, including the suspect, were shot. The victim’s name was not released. Deputies were on scene during a fight in the parking lot and found the injured men. One deputy did fire his weapon in self-defense. Garcia was shot during the incident and underwent surgery. The shooting put many people at risk of injury or death in the parking lot and Garcia had no prior criminal record. He scored 20 years behind bars. First Bank’s annual fundraising campaign to benefit the Harry Chapin Food Bank included nearly $13,000 collected in their branches in Clewiston, LaBelle, Moorhaven, Belgrade and Immokalee. The Belgrade branch raised the most, $8,200. First Bank matched donations at double the amount, contributing nearly $25,800.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).