WAFC Local News – April 20, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. Henry County unemployment rates are on the rise. The rate went from 5.1 percent in December to 5.4 percent in January. The number of unemployed went from eleven hundred and eleven in December to eleven hundred and eighty eight in January. The number of employed went from twenty thousand seven hundred and twenty one in December to twenty one thousand and two in January. Our labor force grew from twenty one thousand eight hundred and thirty two in December to twenty two thousand one hundred and ninety in January. Around the region, Glades County at six point one percent. They had two hundred and seventy three people out of work. Broward was at four point seven percent. Charlotte, six point four percent. Collier, five point one percent. Palm Beach, four point nine percent. And Lee County, five point six percent. The LaBelle City Commission issued a proclamation for Arbor Day this week on April 24th. They’re trying to expand the tree canopy in the city and be designated a tree city USA. Mayor Julie Wilkins says the city planted 14 trees last year. They approved the plans for a new Mavis tire business on one and a half acres at fifteen ninety nine Huggins Road. The plan will be for seven thousand square feet, along with eight bays. They agreed to support a grand application for the Captain Henry House project and approved a two year extension for a planned unit development on State Road 80, formerly proposed to be a hotel. The current plan is for some thirteen hundred square foot of non-residential use and up to six multifamily housing units. A large contingent of Palm Beach school teachers were out in force to influence school board members at their meeting this month to give them a larger raise. The district offered one and a half percent. The union wants three and a half percent. A special magistrate recommended three and a half percent. The district says with declining enrollment and state aid, they can’t afford it. President of the teachers union, Gordon Longhofer, says the schools are showing a lack of respect for teachers. Sadly, we were notified of a rejection by the district on Good Friday. I’m sure you can imagine how that made a number of individuals feel. Brian Zimmerman says he thinks that the contracts the district has cost too much. He’s a teacher at K.E. Cunningham Canal Point. This contract company thing is wasteful and sickening, and it’s getting worse. Take all that money the district paying to the contract companies and all that other wasteful spending and use it towards reasonable raises for our district’s educators. Clark Vissy says teachers have to work a lot of hours and are not getting compensated for those. That the district cannot afford to pay me is demoralizing. And frankly, Mr. Burke, disrespectful. Gilda Morgan Williams says it’s tough times for teachers. I have never seen it this bad for teachers. Let me be clear. This is not just about numbers. This is about respect. This is about survival. And this is about the future of public education. The board will make a decision at a hearing later this month. The board learned Pahokee High School as a new baseball field and Ariel Beckford of Pahokee High was honored as a Florida Sunshine State scholar. There was a moment of silence for Pahokee custodian Miguel Rosales Gonzales, who passed away in February. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).