WAFC Local News – August 06, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The Clewiston Police Department presented their budget to the commission. Police Chief Teagle Salgado says they’ve had increased traffic enforcement and gotten help from the Florida Highway Patrol. They’re also directed to try and cut down on dangerous operations of e-bikes and scooters most of the time by kids. Another concern was police being at one bar all night, providing security for a business for free. Chief Salgado says they don’t park their cruisers at bars all night and stay there. We walk in and walk out. Make sure everything is peaceful. But do not stick around in the parking lot because to me, we cannot just focus on who’s getting behind the wheel. That’s entrapment all day long. So I tell them do not stay in the parking lot. Just go in and patrol. If we catch something, if you see somebody swiveling around, just go ahead and pull it over if you’ve got probable cause. Molly Gardner supports more traffic enforcement. I’ve seen one stop at night. I’ve seen them over, you know, like they’re pulling people over and I love it. And it actually was in the Walmart parking lot. I guess whoever came off the highway didn’t want to stop until they got to Walmart. Salgado says his budget request is 2.9 percent. We do have a full staff now, so we’re not spending so much money in overtime. Palm Beach Fire Rescue and Sheriff DeBatese used drones to help locate a dog that had fled a traffic crash on U.S. 27 June 9th. It took two days to locate the dog who was thirsty but otherwise unharmed. Fire Chief Geraldine Jaramillo says it was a happy ending. On the second day, the drone team did not want to give up, neither did she. She was there, you know, sweating herself looking for her dog. So she called our drone team and they called me and asked me if I would approve for them to come out and I said absolutely. The dog owner in a video put out by Fire Rescue found her dog happy. Thank you Palm Beach County for helping me find my dog. Shout out Chief Geraldine. Thank y’all so much. Thank y’all. In more super speeder arrests along U.S. 27 in Glades County, 21-year-old Aaron Bertone, the New York man, is facing charges of operating a vehicle exceeding the speed limit by 50 miles an hour or more. The incident near Wayman Road. Deputies say the vehicle was going 117 in a 65. The deputy says he was able to catch up to the vehicle near the intersection of 27 and State Road 78 East. In a second super speeder incident, 31-year-old Moez Mazir was facing traffic charges of operating a vehicle exceeding the speed limit by 50 miles or more. The deputy was in the area of 4th Street and 27 when they noticed the Toyota Camry traveling through town at 85 in a 35. The driver stated he did not know the speed limit was that low. Both drivers had $500 bonds. This year’s grand prize winner of Florida’s Python Challenge is Tom Rahill. He’s had two hip replacements in the last year. With the help of a cane, he was able to capture 96 of the total 280 invasive snakes removed. Rahill says he was able to capture a huge snake with the help of a veteran. That’s the snake we got. The mission was to get him a big snake. A 17-foot big female. This veteran just was over the moon. He takes home the $10,000 prize. Over 1,400 of the invasive predators have been removed from the Everglades since the first Python Challenge in 2013. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).