WAFC Local News – February 10, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The LaBelle City Commission approved the purchase of three vehicles for the fire department at $175,000. The Florida Sheriff’s low bid was Hardy Chevrolet with $58,000 for each vehicle. City Commissioner Hugo Vargas says the prices were exorbitant. Mayor Julie Wilkins says they will never cost less. Fire Chief Brent Stevens says financing them would cost $24,000. Stevens says the Florida Sheriff’s Association gives good bids. They go around the state of Florida, state of Georgia, and they get the best price. There’s no better price than they’re going to get. Vargas questioned the need for these Tahoes. The prices on these vehicles is fairly high, right? It’s pretty exorbitant. So it’s extremely low? Well, I mean, it’s high based on our need for firefighters. The fire department recently expanded and now has 10 firemen fully trained in water rescues and diving. They have not bought a new vehicle in the last seven years. Palm Beach County Sheriff Deputies investigating attempted murder reported at 1233 Northeast Avenue B. It happened on February 4th, just before 8pm. They say there were two intended victims in that incident and no other information was released. Moorhaven City Council wants to ensure their employees don’t drive mules or other off-road equipment across US 27 against city policy. They have both insurance and liability concerns. County Attorney Steve Ramouni wants to know if there’s any supervision of these employees. Somebody’s seen and they do something and they’re driving negligent and they create damage to other property, like has been brought up a dozen times or violating the law. Somebody’s got to address it. He wants to write down disciplinary actions taken against employees. Mayor Clay Browning supports documenting these incidents. We got good guys. Maybe they need to be, as we say in the corporate world, counseled. Because in today’s world, we have to have paperwork. God forbid we had to let somebody go and we don’t have paperwork. The Belgrade City Commission approved the annexation of 7.6 acres south of East Canal Street south and east of Whittaker Road into the city. A second annexation approved is just under a quarter acre at 404 First Street. The city commission approved a time extension to use state dollars and resurface 15 city streets and they decided to rename 11th Drive in honor of Horace Harris. A 37-year-old Henry County man is charged in Clueston with drug trafficking. It happened on Rigdale Road. Abelio Ismael Ramos was pulled over for a traffic infraction near Old US 27 and Evercane Road running a stop sign. A sheriff’s canine deputy was brought to the scene. They alerted to the vehicle for the presence of narcotics. They found 20 white pills that tested positive for hydrocodone. They also found some cocaine in excess of 28 grams, which is also a trafficking offense. A LaBelle man, Max Dye, is alleged to have fled and eluded law enforcement twice in the matter of a month. The 38-year-old is facing two cases of fleeing and attempting to elude police. Police say he was known to operate recreational vehicles on public roadways and flee from the sight of law enforcement. One incident occurred on January 9th. A second on January 21st. He was finally booked into the county jail on January 28th. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).