WAFC Local News – November 09, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
Charles Murphy reporting. The Clewison Commission heard a presentation on red light cameras and the revenue it’s generating. Jake Hagan says the study was done on US 27 over a 12-hour period and they had over 700 violations. I wanted to highlight US 27 and Berner Road which saw over 700 red light violations in a single day. Also a couple other noteworthy intersections US 27 and Francisco Street and WC Owens Avenue. Two other high-traffic intersections saw over 150 violations just in a single day. Across six intersections in one day and I believe this is a 12-hour study we saw almost 1,300 total violations. Majority however was right turns while the light was red. They would not be ticketed for that. Police would approve all citations. They would be civil infractions and cost $158. Police say 23,000 vehicles come through Clewison each day and suggest over 50% of the infractions are from out-of-town visitors and passerbys. No releases from Lake Okeechobee planned for the foreseeable future. Major Corey Bell of the US Army Corps of Engineers asked about that at a public briefing. There’s no lake releases St. Lucie Estuary or Lake Ork Lagoon in accordance with Wilson Lake Okeechobee System operating manual while we’re in Zone D and we have none planned until we see the effects of the current rainfall events. He says the flooding from last week caught the Corps and most weather prognosticators unawares. Monday the weekend events leading up to Monday wasn’t forecasted. We had models that show approximately two inches across the CNSF and we’re like okay that’s we’re prepared for that but if you look at the seven-day rain gauge that South Florida Water Management District has the average for the past seven days is 806 percent. The lake was approaching 14 feet 25,500 cubic feet of water entering the Lake each second on Friday. Glades County deputies say as much as 1.8 million in jewelry was taken from a vehicle parked in Lakeport and unlocked. The jewelry was in a safe. Two people are under arrest 28 year old Clayton Thomas of Lakeport and 26 year old Dylan Vary of Clewiston. They were able to find pawned jewelry in Lehigh Acres and also Palm Beach County. Lieutenant Gary Johnson says the suspects will face theft like crimes as well as stealing and stolen property. They also searched the residence in Lakeport and found three stolen guns from Okeechobee Highlands County and Tennessee. Some of the jewelry was recovered as one of the suspects allegedly gave some rings to his mother and his mother-in-law. Pahokee Mayor Keith Babb wants the city to prioritize finding a developer for a hotel. He also wants them to push for welcome signs to the city and also a new City Hall of the former Pahokee High School. Mayor Babb also asked Palm Beach Sheriff deputies to put out information on an accident where a vehicle struck City Hall late at night. The incident that happened at City Hall the vehicle running into the building and the reason I’m asking there was some misinformation out there. Some say it was a death and we certainly know it wasn’t some it was only minor injury maybe even to the point whether the person was whether they were intoxicated or maybe they was ill and had accident. I’m Charles Murphy W AFC News
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).