WAFC Local News – July 28, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
Charles Murphy reporting. The City of LaBelle agreed to support an effort of Hendry County Economic Development and others to study child care needs in the community. They aren’t going to create their own program but will support a survey to determine the path forward. Options are more in-home daycare and new high school child care programs. Keitha Daniels says Clewison High School has a child care program and it’s coming to LaBelle. That program is coming to LaBelle fall, in the fall and so we will now have a pipeline of workers that will be able to work in this industry. She admits the industry has had some struggles getting started in LaBelle. We did lose a few childhood locations, I guess care areas during COVID and through that they took some of their workers so we’ve seen a little bit of a decline in that workforce as well as in that industry The survey would find out what providers and families need, ways to streamline the process for permits and try to encourage more daycare facilities. Palm Beach County wants to do something to better regulate vape stores. The legislature is trying to limit what local governments can do. They could try to write some new zoning regulations and keep them further away from schools. Vape shops have been found selling synthetic marijuana, synthetic cathinones and synthetic kratom, often marketed to appeal to youth. Some shops have been accused of targeting schools. Michael Powell would like the county to restrict these vape stores. We had a tipping point. I’m gonna keep saying tipping point because we don’t do something now, we’re gonna have a situation where we can’t recover from. He’s the Riviera Beach police chief. Commissioner Joel Flores says there needs to be more parenting of kids and they need to check their bags. I caught my daughter with a vape pen. I wanted to strangle her. Chief, I promise you I did not. It was a mental strangulation where I was like, what are you doing? But you know, if this happens in a good household, this happens anywhere. The farm bill this year that went through Tallahassee includes provisions to further limit land application of sewage sludge on farmland. By 2028, the state will ban the land spreading of class B biosolids. Clewiston’s H&H liquid sludge was a subject of a controversy in recent years in Brevard County as they applied the sludge that exceeded the state’s nutrient limits. Department of Environmental Protection has denied the county requests for a hearing that did require stricter limits and plans for the sludge disposal. In the interim, they continue to have a moratorium on the land application of sludge. Estelle Bailey told commissioners there that the moratorium should continue. This isn’t about being for or against any industry. It’s about protecting our water, our property values and the quality of life that people in Brevard County depend on. She says nitrogen and phosphorus alone are not all that bad. When too much of it is spread on the land, it doesn’t just stay there. When it rains, it moves into our ditches, our canals, our rivers and ultimately into the water we rely on every single day. She insists she’s not anti-farming. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).