WAFC Local News – April 09, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. A large development on the boundary of Hendry County. It’s called Corkscrew Grove East Village in Collier County. 4,500 homes could be built along with businesses on 1,446 acres on State Road 82 at Corkscrew Road. The density would be just over three homes per acre. It’s a former citrus grove now used for sod and cattle ranching. Marcia Ellis says this project wouldn’t have been considered a few years ago. Just a few years later, another casualty of the urban shadow is falling victim to this period in time. This is what we’re experiencing, this historical shift in our state. Mitch Hutchcraft with Alico says they’ve been around 125 years. We have a strategic vision to continue agriculture on some properties and have recently transitioned into being a land management company. As of 2025, we had 54,000 acres spread in eight counties. Bob Moher says they’ve gotten really no interest from the public on the project. We did have a neighborhood information meeting on September 24th, 2025. We had no attendees in person and no attendees online. Therefore, obviously no questions or comments were raised. Cloyston City Commissioners honored several volunteer firemen who received lifesaving awards for using CPR to keep patients alive. In recent months, Fire Chief Kevin McCarthy spoke about the first lifesaving award. But on December 14th, we responded to an unconscious male. The ambulance was on another call, transporting a patient to the hospital. While on scene, the patient stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. Robbie Hunton placed oxygen on the patient while Pedro Ringo quickly started CPR. After less than a minute of CPR, the patient began breathing and regained a pulse. The patient was stable upon the arrival at EMS and was transported to the hospital. They’re discussing improvements at the fire department. The chief would like a new pumper truck, improved compensation and benefits. A part time assistant chief to training officers paid $500 a month, a $5,000 one time payment for firemen who get certified and life insurance for their families. He says there are things they can do to improve the issues that we have. Attracting training, compensating volunteers to avoid the very expensive option of a full time department and protect the firemen and their families in the case of injury, disability or death. And number two, properly funding the department to provide vehicles and equipment for the firemen to safely do their job and adequately protect the community. City Administrator Danny Williams says he wants to make sure that the fire department has good equipment. The most important thing is safety, your equipment, what’s on you. I mean, that we were never discussed on any of those issues. And that’s to me, it’s not good. So whatever we got to do for those items, I’m all for that. I mean, protecting these guys is number one. City of South Bay, considering a travel policy for commissioners trying to find a way to save money. Albert Polk says Barbara King has been wasting money. There’s a lot of travel that’s taking place. And in most cases, it’s the same commissioner. So to me, yes, let’s come back with a travel policy because we don’t want to just be using our resources to take trips. Among arrests, 36 year old Humberto Almanza is facing charges of resisting arrest without violence. Henry County Sheriff deputies say Almanza was being detained by ICE officers for being an illegal immigrant in LaBelle while they were confirming the detainer. Almanza got up and fled on foot. The deputies ran after him and used a taser to bring him under control. He suffered minor injuries in the incident. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Florida Farm Bill. He says he’s done more for conservation than any governor. We do continue the momentum for preserving land and rural communities, particularly with respect to agriculture use of land. And I think that that’s something that a lot of people want to see. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says the bill contains a new program that will promote more farmland. If it should be an agriculture production, we can remove the development rights from that land and surplus that land back into farming families. So if you are a young farmer saying, how can we afford to buy land in this state, watch for this program. This land is much more affordable than obviously land that’s going to be closer to your normal cities. The bill pre-exempts local limits on gas powered equipment and will impose stricter biosolids regulations requiring the highest treatment standards before sewage sludge can be applied to land across the state. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).