WAFC Local News – February 20, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The Florida House wants to force state parks, state forests and other state-owned property to become grazing land for cows when suitable. Representative Dean Black says this is a cowboy common sense bill. Dirt roads, roads that have grass growing on them and that the state now pays people to mow. And instead of taking taxpayer dollars and paying someone a lot of money to mow it at a two or three week interval, we’re just going to let the cows eat the grass. Supporters say it’ll cut the cost of the state for maintenance while opponents think the manure will hurt the water supply. More than 20,000 acres of marsh along Lake Okeechobee could be burned this summer and muck removed in an effort to improve its health. The Corps of Water Management, Fish and Wildlife, DEP all gave reports to the Lake Coalition on how they will try and take advantage of low water levels expected this spring. Newton Cook has joined the anti-sprayers saying that the spraying must be reduced especially in low water periods. That vegetation was all up and down the Kissimmee River. We’re spraying it out. That vegetation was in Lake Okeechobee. We’re spraying it out. And then we wonder why. We got muck in the bottom and the lake has been declared the dirtiest lake in North America. Mike Elfenbein spoke for most fishermen saying we need to do something. Getting this body to act, to do something beyond talking about it. Alyssa Jordan with the South Florida Water Management District says the recent cold snap on Lake Okeechobee led to some fish kills. So we’re just starting to see dead fish in the lake. It takes a little while, you know, for dead fish to float. You know, initially they sink to the bottom and then when they start decomposing, they float. So we’re just starting to get lots of reports. Our biologists, other people we’ve heard from, decent amount of dead tilapia. Congressman Scott Franklin does not want another government shutdown. He says he’s not happy that we have a partial government shutdown with the hangup over Department of Homeland Security funding. The Democrats are now wanting to shut the government down again over Department of Homeland Security, which I think is incredibly irresponsible. It’s all political posturing because this is an election year. Republicans and Democrats sharply disagree on whether illegal aliens should be kept in the country or not. Franklin says 96% of the government is currently funded. You know, that’s, I would remind people, it’s a frustrating thing, I know, but anything we do on spending has to get 60 votes in the Senate. And considering there’s only 53 Republicans, everything requires some Democratic coordination in order to make it happen. They really wanted to play video games. 34-year-old Oscar Valentine of Henry County is facing charges of criminal mischief of felony causing over $1,000 in damages. It happened at a Henry County Walmart in September of 2023. He was not located until earlier this month. According to footage at the store, Valentine, a child, and a female were seen breaking into video game display cases in the store. They were unable to break the lock, but still caused about $1,200 in damages. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).