WAFC Local News – May 28, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. They’ve identified the man killed in a head-on collision in the 900 block of Duda Road last Thursday as Kevin Hudson of Belgrade. The 35-year-old was allegedly in the wrong lane when he collided with a tractor-trailer. Henry County Commission sent a letter to the state objecting to the delay of a red light in Hooker’s Point. They’d like the red light and more street lighting along US 27. Commissioner Michael Atkisson offered his opinion. There hasn’t been enough accidents. I told them the same thing. So I’ll go tell Hooker’s Point some of y’all have to die so we can get a red light or lights. Governor Ron DeSantis called a property tax special session for next Monday. Gordon Byrd has more details. DeSantis says his proposed constitutional amendment is a bottom-up approach aimed at longtime residents and better than across-the-board property tax cuts. I’d rather focus on folks who are new homeowners, young people, seniors on fixed income. It begins by raising the homestead exemption to $250,000 then to $500,000. Transplants would have to wait five years to qualify. The amendment requires 60% support in each house of the legislature and 60% of voters. Gordon Byrd, Tampa. Glades County reinstated the burn ban last night due to the rising wildfire activity. County Manager Paul Carlisle recommended the move. Our fire crews have been fighting fires every day. They were on fires today. All weekend they’ve been fighting fires and we had one up in Palmdale. We’ve had fires. We think it’s prudent. We’re not getting enough rain today. I think it’s prudent that we put this burn ban back in place. Florida Senator Rick Scott kicked off his statewide hurricane preparedness tour at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Miami-Dade Fire Chief Ray Jadala reminds everyone to know their evacuation zone. You need to have some form of emergency plan, some sort of stock kit, you know, three days of food, water. South Florida Congressman Carlos Menes says you can’t rest on your laurels. Even if we do have a slower hurricane season, doesn’t mean that the threat’s not there. Our Congressman Scott Franklin meeting with farmers and ranchers on Capitol Hill pushing for help. They’re dealing with rising fuel prices, inflation, higher milk prices, feed prices, fertilizer prices and funding to recover from the freeze this winter. Franklin has a lot of citrus and vegetable farmers. He says even though FBI is worried about China’s impact on Florida farms. We have every right to be concerned about land adjacent to military bases and all that. I think we’re getting our arms around that. But he also shared that we have a tremendous amount of data from farmers that’s being shared specifically with China through the purchase of Chinese acquisitions of U.S. companies. And he said of all the things he said that should scare the heck out of you guys. Franklin says there’s been real fraud found in SNAP benefits being handed out. We have 340,000 dead people who are actively using these benefits. These aren’t just orphaned accounts that are out there and they’ve been stagnant for a while. Someone’s actually touching those things. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).