WAFC Local News – June 26, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. Henry County saw a slight increase in unemployment in May. The April level was 5% and the May level was 5.1%. The state report said 22,636 were in the workforce in April, 22,519 in May. There were 21,497 employed in April and 21,378 in May. 1,139 collected benefits in April and 1,141 in May in Henry County. Henry ranked 27th among Florida counties. Glades County had 5.5% unemployment. They were 11th highest among counties. Around the region, Broward at 4.4%, Charlotte 5.4%, Collier 4.5%, Lee County 4.9%, and Palm Beach County 4.4%. Henry County deputies arrested a LaBelle teenager on charges of trafficking in cocaine. Augustine Villa was reportedly going 71 miles an hour in a 45 mile per hour zone at 1.20 in the morning on County Road 78. Before deputies could pull over, he passed another vehicle and suddenly pulled into a residential driveway. When they found the vehicle, there was no one there, but they found the 18-year-old allegedly trying to duck behind a vehicle. He denied having been in the vehicle. The property owner did not know who Villa was or who owned the vehicle. A canine came to the vehicle and deputies say they found 35 grams of cocaine in that vehicle. Alligator mating season doesn’t mean they’re looking for trouble, but mostly respond to humans splashing or swimming near them. The University of Florida released a study last year about alligator attacks. 30 have been fatal in our state’s history, 500 since 1948. Professor Frank Mazzotti says you need to use common sense protecting small pets and children and don’t walk your dogs near canals at this time of year. He says humans are more at fault than gators in these attacks. Attacks are still very rare. You know, people ask me frequently, am I concerned about the aggressiveness of alligators? To which they say no. But am I concerned about stupid behavior by humans? All of the time. He says some attacks are basically simple mistakes by gators. Alligators really don’t look as humans as food. Now that said, if you’re swimming in a pond with alligators and all the alligator sees is this hairy head bobbing up and down, I’d mistake you for a raccoon. Some fentanyl at the res. A vehicle with an expired tag pulled over on Reservation Road on the Brighton-Seminoe Indian Reservation. Two arrests are made by police there. Faith Khan of Okeechobee is facing trafficking in fentanyl charges and possession of drug paraphernalia. The booking report from the police department says they found 42 pills inside the vehicle that weighed 14.9 grams. Khan allegedly admitted to the officer that it’s fentanyl. A passenger, Wesley Summerall of Fort Pierce, is facing a host of charges in that same stop. They allegedly found some cocaine, some methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and fentanyl. He was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm during commission of a felony and possession of a weapon or firearm by a convicted felon. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signing two bills involved with local budgets. One would raise the bar for cities that want to raise property taxes. The other requires local governments to make their budgets more transparent and release more information on things like employee salaries. DeSantis says a lot of local governments are pushing back against reducing spending. So what do you, you get up there, you guys in Tallahassee, you want to tell people, you know, what to do, a local government? Well, listen, I think in some respects in a vacuum, you know, that’s a valid concern. It will represent the fourth straight year where the state of Florida has reduced the amount it’s spending at the state level. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).