WAFC Local News – July 20, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The Lake Okeechobee Coalition heard appeals for more fresh water out the Caloosahatchee River and more storage areas south of Lake Okeechobee. Mitchell Latchman says more people need to be preserving land. It’s not fair to make communities bear the brunt of these problems. When we shift harm, we succeed in harming each community equally, which can take years to recover if ever. Enough of this broken system. We have to acquire more land south of Lake Okeechobee and fix this problem once and for all. He says they need more storage south of Lake Okeechobee. Many other agricultural producers have made sacrifices and sold land for restoration, preferring to keep it natural and preserve their family’s legacy. Sugar’s lands are becoming unfarmable, but instead of selling their land, Big Sugar chooses alternatives like rock mining, to the detriment of everybody’s restoration. Scientists say the Caloosahatchee has been hurt by a lack of fresh water this summer. The City of LaBelle approved staff conditions and no more extensions on a two-acre project on State Road 80 that could be developed into houses and townhouses. Aleko gained approval for the 74-acre project earlier this year off 80 West. It’s now vacant wooded property. They plan mostly single-family homes. Mitch Hutchcraft says they wanted more flexibility from the City. We don’t think that this is a site that will really support commercial uses, so we think it’s going to all be residential and it’ll be a mix of single-family and some type of attached product, maybe a few townhomes. They’ve been interested in using the Walmart entrance road to get access to the property. Among arrests, Nikki Osceola of Okeechobee, arrested on a warrant in Hendry County for an incident in April on the Brighton-Seminoe Indian Reservation. She’s facing charges of possession of controlled substances without a prescription after a traffic stop on Reservation Road. They also found some methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Clades County School Board agreed to set the first public hearing on their budget and millage rate for August 3rd. The district hopes to get out from under the financial emergency in the next budget due to declining fund balances. Superintendent Dr. Beth Barfield told the school board that the district has learned from the experience. This has been a great lesson in finance. I mean, obviously, it’s embarrassing to say that we were, we had a friend of the financial emergency board. The Moorhaven High School gym could be named after Wayne Reese and Sonny Hughes. The proposal will be discussed at the August board meeting. The Moorhaven Methodist Church will hold a welcome breakfast for new teachers the week before school starts. The South Bay City Commission approved a sign policy that prohibits them in public rights of way. They must also get permission to place the signs on private property. After elections, candidates have five days to remove the signs. They can only go in two months before the election date. The city learned the increase in homestead exemption to $150,000 would cost them about $311,000 in property tax revenue. City Manager LeAndre Camels says something will have to give in the budget process. Something is going to increase and it could be homeowners insurance. It’s going to be something in order to pull additional funding to still provide the same services. He says other means to raise funds will be implemented. Camels says more commercial development would help. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).