WAFC Local News – March 23, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. Environmentalists still want some releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Galoosahatchee River. They say it’ll help the salinity. Dr. Paul Gray is with the Audubon Society. He made that plea to the Army Corps of Engineers. We could hit the water rationing line. So that’s, you know, like a one in four chance. And so we would prefer that the agencies keep supplying the water that they need to do right now to meet the needs. He says there’s enough water to go around. There has been a large amount given to sugar growers. And we just think when you have enough water for all the farmers, we should be giving the Kaloosahatchee a lot better treatment and not harming them as severely. The Glades County School Board discussed supplements for coaches and afterschool activities. They’ve added cheerleading coaches in recent years, but they have not negotiated salaries with the union. Board member Kimberly Clement says this has gone on for two years and needs to be resolved. She questioned whether the supplements are being misused. So there’s two supplements sitting there that’s not being used by somebody that’s actually doing the job. That hasn’t gotten paid for two years for that. Superintendent Dr. Beth Barfield says they may have dragged their feet on the issue, but they must go through the approval process with the union. So the union’s been very flexible. They’ve been trying, they’ve been doing what they can to provide opportunities for supplements for all teachers. School board member Larry Lucky says it shouldn’t take so long to resolve these issues. 300 students from the Glades attended the Battle of the Band sponsored by Pepsi this spring. Florida Crystals provided a donation to the event. 2000 students took part with several high school bands at Palm Beach Lakes High School. The Palm Beach School Board honored Sunshine State Scholar William Baltasar, a junior at Pahokee High School. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue announced they’ll be continuing that burn ban in the Glades for a while. They’ve had four house fires and two brush fires in January. This fire chief Geraldine Jaramillo. The burn conditions, they’re still not favorable. They are keeping the burn ban. We’re gonna continue monitoring the situation because I know there’s a few events coming up and I know our people are wanting to produce some bonfires and stuff like that. But as of right now, the ban is still in effect. The city of Belle Glade honored employee Ari Patrick with the monthly employee safety award. Wedgworth Farms was named business of the month for March and Deborah Jones received a community recognition award for her volunteer work. Coming up tomorrow, the Hendry County Road and Bridge Department will be performing traffic signal repairs at the intersection of State Road 29 and County Road 78. Work will occur from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. The work should be done in one day. The speed limit will be reduced and motorists and pedestrians should use extra caution. A 22-year-old Harlem man is being held on charges of home invasion robbery in Lee County. Dylan Noaisil was allegedly involved with others in a January 26th home invasion on Jackson Avenue in Lehigh Acres. The victim says he had come home from work and was followed. A couple males entered his garage and then several came out of the woods and attacked him. He says six males were involved and $12,000 in cash was stolen. The victim had some cuts and bruises and lacerations to his face but was not hospitalized. He was able to pick Noaisil out of a photo lineup. On March 8th, a vehicle was pulled over Noaisil. Noaisil was a passenger in Lee County and he was arrested on that warrant. He was also charged with possession of a weapon or ammunition by a Florida delinquent adult. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).