WAFC Local News – August 21, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The voter in Montoura says his community would like more county services. They range from better roads to having more ambulances and deputies at their beck and call. Chris Rupon says there’s no backup deputy available in Montoura. When staffing levels become stretched across large geographic areas, deputies may be forced to respond to volatile or unknown situations with limited nearby backup available in rural communities where distances are significant and resources are dispersed. The ability of deputies to rely upon timely assistance from fellow deputies becomes a critical officer safety issue. Clewiston City Commissioners setting their tentative fire assessment though increased by $74 this year. Fire Chief Kevin McCarthy outlined some of the capital needs in the department that include new fire trucks. We’ll have a new truck delivered sometime in 2027. City Manager Danny Williams says the fire department needs this revenue. I thought it was a great presentation and I think it’s well needed. The fire assessment and what he described to us about his equipment and uniforms and stuff so definitely well needed. Lakeside Medical Center is recruiting doctors and surgeons and plan to expand services in the Glades. Tampa General Hospital is now operating the hospital in a deal through the hospital district. Ronald Doncaster says they’re starting an oncology infusion facility in the next several months. Cancer is the number one killer in the Glades, number one in two of the cities and in the state of Florida. So we’ll be addressing that very quick in nine months, six to nine months that will be up and running. While Pahokee asked for a birthing center, Doncaster says they have no plan for an OB unit in the Glades anytime soon. I get the sensitivity of it but it’s not priority, it’s not in the first phase. I know it’s not an easy answer and I will say there has not been one meeting where that question didn’t come up. It’s on our minds. A local woman who sued the city of Moorhaven, Glades County and the Florida Department of Transportation for a crash she had on her e-bike. She’s seeking over $50,000. The incident occurred on the overpass on US 27 on January 27th. She says she was riding the e-bike when she struck an uneven section of the sidewalk causing her bike to stop suddenly throwing her out of the concrete. She says she was injured and deserves to be paid for her pain and suffering and medical bills. An 18-year-old Clewison youth was charged with drug possession. Nathan Shelton was driving down the street in the area of Sonora Avenue and W.C. Owen Avenue in a Dodge pickup. Deputies say even several car lengths away they could audibly hear the vehicle’s music playing at a very high obnoxious level from further than 25 feet away. They say 23 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in that vehicle, a pickup. A 38-year-old Clewison man, Daniel Ramos, facing drug possession. This after a traffic stop on Sonora Avenue for a traffic violation. The vehicle did not stop for a time, slowing way down to 10 miles an hour. It finally stopped at Hookers Point Road at Davidson Road. Ramos was also wanted on a warrant out of Polk County. A canine alerted to the vehicle and there was narcotics found that tested positive for cocaine. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).