WAFC Local News – October 12, 2026, 8:06 AM
Transcript
I’m Charles Murphy reporting. Henry County Commissioners have approved Murphy’s Landing, the project south of the Caloosahatchee River on 187 acres near the old Florida RV resort. The plan includes 7.6 acres of park and open space, a limit of 890 residential units, and the density would be 4.7 units per acre. County Commissioner Mitchell Wills says the developer finds himself in a tough spot. Pull the dice, you know, is it going to break? Is the developer going to get to a point where they say it’s no longer feasible for me to put this money in with the infrastructure I’m having to pay for, not having the return on investments. LaBelle made it clear that data centers are not welcome in the village. Rafael Herrera spoke to the city commission. I do not want our children growing up hearing stories about what LaBelle used to look like. He wants to protect LaBelle’s future. We still have something here that much of Florida has already lost. Open skies, wetlands, wildlife, clean water, and natural land that still feels like Florida. Once that land is cleared, we don’t get it back. Herrera says data centers have taken open land and placed more pressure on your water and power usage. Pahokee City Commissioners honored some 30 agencies that assisted in the relocation and emergency housing in support of residents of the Parker Building. It was condemned and vacated over the summer. They provided clothing, food, shelter, furniture, and other needs. Susie Hammond says they made sure that needs were met. We stepped right in. We prepared hot meals for them. We paid utilities, deposits, and we made sure that during the day, we had programs where the adults could come and get a hot meal twice a day, the breakfast and an afternoon lunch. The commission directed the city manager to look at ways to improve the facades of local businesses to approve Pahokee’s appearance. The Glades County School Board decided not to impose up to $400 fees for private school kids to play sports this year. The county poverty rate of 38% is nearly three times the state average. Over 62% of students live in poverty in Glades County. Superintendent Dr. Beth Barfield recommended against charging fees. And I feel like us charging is going to take that and make the more affluent students have opportunities that our less affluent students would have. A study found it’ll cost 2.7 million to renovate and remodel the old Moorhaven Elementary into offices. West Glades is in need of a $17.4 million renovation and site improvements. It would include a new building with three classrooms that would serve 69 students. Among arrests, 45-year-old Anthony Carter of Clewiston is facing charges of attempted homicide. It followed a stabbing with the victim at Henry Regional Medical Center getting treatment. He identified Carter as his assailant after a physical altercation between the two men. The victim sustained wounds to his abdomen and arm. He was ultimately transported to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and required surgery. Carter maintained he was acting in self-defense. Troopers continue to see an alarming amount of super speeders or those going 50 miles an hour over the speed limit or more. Lieutenant Quig Bueno. There are thousands, thousands of motorists that have met us in violation of that law and that is so dangerous. Our cars are heavy. The average car is gonna weigh two tons. If it’s going 100 miles an hour and you’re transporting gasoline, that is just a recipe for a traumatic disaster. I’m Charles Murphy, WAFC News.
Recorded from the WAFC daily newscast (Glades Media).