WAFC Local News – December 11, 2025, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting the city of Clewiston wanting to upgrade mosquito control. Lita Hornsby, their vendor, spoke to the city commission saying they want to spray two times per week during season. The city would like them to limit the hours from between 6 and 9 p.m. Hornsby says they understand the problem Clewiston has at the south end of the lake. Clewiston is a special town. You guys are getting it from everywhere. You have the Everglades, you have all these sugar cane fields that breed mosquitos heavily. You’ve got Okeechobee Lake back there. So even if we sprayed every night, you’ve got so much outside habitat for mosquitos that you guys just get inundated with them. But we’re on it. Glades County deputies say they found a wanted sex offender. Jennifer Swafford was found at a Moorhaven mobile home park. She was convicted of having sexual relations with a child under 16 in Glades County back in 2012. Glades County Sheriff Lieutenant Gary Johnson says Swafford failed to change her address, notified them about a change in her phone numbers, and a change in a registered vehicle she was driving. She was facing nine different felony charges. Her bond was $100,000. Two members of the same family are charged after a chase with Hendry County deputies. A driver facing several charges, including battery after a struggle with lawmen and driving down the street past a sheriff’s office a couple times fast with loud music at 2.30 in the morning. The mother was also charged with battering a law enforcement officer as they struggled to arrest their son. 48-year-old Luz Maria Duran-Santiago is facing charges that include battery on law enforcement, resisting arrest. The other suspect, who was not named, is facing eight different charges. The Pahokee City Commission objected to too many holidays and days off. They haven’t heard some cities are off each Friday. 17 days was too many for one year, according to James Scott. The list includes Indigenous Peoples Day, President’s Day, two days for Christmas and New Year’s, and Juneteenth. Scott questioned those 15 days off. I let them make a motion that we like redo this because there’s a lot of days off. And I’m looking at it and I’m marked it and I disagree with a lot of days off. It’s like too many, to me, it’s just too many days off. They did keep Veterans Day, two days for Thanksgiving, two days for Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 3rd, and Labor Day. Gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner on the Republican ticket says he will support further efforts to restore the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. He also fully supports agriculture and the Rowan Family Lands Program. Of course, we want to make sure at the federal level that they’re negotiating good deals so our farmers are not shut out of markets and we don’t inadvertently put them out of business. I want to make sure that I’ll be a good partner for them in calling the president, calling people in the federal government to say, hey, look out for our Florida farmers and ranchers. The city of Moorhaven decided to close City Hall from 1 to 2 p.m. each weekday so employees can take lunch. City Clerk Ashley Will says it has to be every day because sporadic closures would not help. If it’s sporadic, they’re not expecting that time. That’s why I was requesting for us all to do it every day. Everybody goes to lunch at the same time. We’re fully staffed when we’re here. Council Member Marcus Decker did have a concern about closing City Hall. We’ve never closed City Hall before. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).