WAFC Local News – May 18, 2026, 8:32 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. The City of Oaks had to approve two applications to remove old oak trees. One is at 277 Hickpatchee Avenue. Seven trees will be removed, but eight others replanted, and the City will get $15,000. The second is at State Road 80 at Captain Hendry. 64 trees will be removed on the wooded nine-acre parcel for a hotel project. 105 trees will be replanted, and the City will receive $48,600. Mayor Julie Wilkins voted against taking down these trees. Yeah, it makes me sick, this many oaks, but it’s an oak-covered property. You can’t really do anything about that. Pahokee Middle High School celebrated graduation May 13th at the South Florida Fairgrounds. DeAnn Bolden presented a $10,000 scholarship to Maria Perez Cavalos. The school board also honored retiring school board member Marsha Andrews. Bolden addressed the class of 2026 as they set their goals. I’m honored to witness you close one chapter and open another chapter that I know will be filled with promise, opportunity, and impact over influence. Salutatorian Mathania St. Hubert says there’s a lot of inspiration in Pahokee. It’s time for us to close this chapter and open another one, filled with opportunity and dreams, always remembering those who helped us achieve them. Although this family is separating, we will continue to grow our families on our different paths while always carrying a piece of this one with us. Class valedictorian David Roar is an English language learner. He says he and other students have overcome many obstacles. Looking at what they sacrificed to get me here, I know it’s all worth it. Every and each one of us have overcome obstacles in our own way, and we’ve learned to better ourselves through them. The Belgrade Chamber of Commerce this morning will host a conversation with the captain at the Sheriff’s Office. It will be at the Lawrence E. Will Museum Conference Room starting at 9am. They’ll have conversation, open discussion, and some community updates. Glades County’s Senator Erin Grawl says she’s thrilled that her voting bill was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. House Bill 991 will require photo IDs when you vote and require you to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote. You also can’t use student ID or homeowner association IDs to use as your photo ID. Grawl says she thinks illegals have been voting in Florida for at least 25 years. The biggest criticism we got along the way is this isn’t really happening. It absolutely is happening, and we have the Office of Election Crimes and Security who puts together a report, and in that report outlines the times that people have admitted Illegal citizens, illegal aliens have admitted to voting in our elections. They have admitted to it when confronted with that information. She says the bill will close the loopholes. Student identification card. I mean, that’s a student identification card. That’s not even a college ID from a Florida institution. It’s a student ID. Your homeowner’s association card would count as voter ID. Moving forward, it won’t. And that’s important because we have state systems. We have real IDs that there is credibility and fidelity in, and we should be able to count on those, not something that’s not secure. Opponents say they worry this bill will disenfranchise registered voters in Florida. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).