WAFC Local News – January 20, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The LaBelle City Commission approved a permit for the Swamp Cabbage Festival. They approved a church at 140 J.C. Lyons Drive. The 4,481 square foot building was first developed in 1975. Reverend Javier Figueroa says the church has been around 15 years, but had rented its facility prior. The LaBelle Little League baseball team is wanting to attend the College World Series and are holding fundraisers. Morehaven City Public Works reporting more problems with vandals in the downtown parks. It’s getting to be an everyday thing, picking up trash left behind by vagrants. The city closes down their park at dusk. They asked for more deputy patrols and are working to add more surveillance cameras. This deputy says they keep a close eye on the park. It’s one of the things I do is try to see if anybody’s hanging out, because I know I hear y’all’s complaints. So I just try to, I just turn around about an hour after dark, turn around and try to get them to swing through and find out who’s in the park and go ahead and run them off. Mayor Clay Browning and Attorney Steve Ramooney addressed what can be done about vandalism. Why can’t people do that? They got good sense. I knew what I did lawyers. The Florida Senate Agriculture Committee approved the 2026 Florida Farm Bill. Senator Keith Trunow introduced the bill. This year’s Florida Farm Bill builds upon the progress we achieved last year with Senate Bill 700 by continuing to protect farms, ranches, and consumers throughout the state of Florida. It creates a Farmers Feeding Florida program, makes it easier to convert conservation land back to private ownership for agriculture use, and also prohibits the land application of certain classes of biosolids. Mack Bernard, a senator in Palm Beach County, spoke about limiting land application. They have a $23 million plant in Palm Beach to use. For us, we’re just concerned about, you know, when you have to deposit into a landfill, you know, of course it would deplete the landfill capacity sooner than expected. And of course, also the financial impact on transporting the material to another location. Some more high-speed chases in Hendry County. 30-year-old Mauricio Jacobo facing fleeing and attempting to elude deputies for a chase earlier this month. It happened on Cowboy Way, Southwest Eucalyptus Boulevard, East Briarwood, and other roads before it ended. The speeds reached well over a hundred miles an hour. Deputies say was also in the wrong lane of travel for a time on Cowboy Way. The vehicle eventually crashed into a steel signpole at 1060 State Road 29. A Hendry County man was charged with fleeing and attempting to elude and driving without a license. He was spotted going over 90 miles an hour in a 35 mile per hour zone on Pollywall Crossover Road. Cassie Lipka was booked into the Hendry County Jail. His driver’s license has been suspended for nearly three years. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).