OKEECHOBEE — A California petroleum company is acquiring an existing production facility in Okeechobee, creating new jobs while increasing the region’s presence in the biofuels market, the company announced in a news release Wednesday.

LS9, a South San Francisco company that bills itself as “the Renewable Petroleum Company,” said it anticipates 15 to 20 operations jobs will be created throughout a demonstration period.

The project also is expected to generate approximately 30-50 construction jobs over the six month retrofit period, as well as preserving job opportunities in the Okeechobee region through the company’s of use local suppliers and contractors.
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OKEECHOBEE _ A 53-year-old Massachusetts man found dead Monday along the Florida Hiking Trail was identified today by authorities.

The Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office identified the man as Keith R. Galaise of Sheffield Mass. Galaise was found Monday afternoon in a remote area of the Florida Trail. In a preliminary ruling, the Fort Pierce Medical Examiner’s Office indicated that accidental hypothermia was the cause of death.

Galaise was found about 100 yards off the road near Highway 98 and Lofton Road in northern Okeechobee County. Weekend temperatures in the county dropped below freezing and deputies believe that Galaise’s body had been at that location since Saturday.

He was hiking the Florida Trail from the Okee-Tantie area in southwestern Okeechobee County and his destination was Orlando, a sheriff’s office news release said. Galaise was carrying a backpack with supplies needed for a week long hike in warm weather, the release said. He was a member of the Florida Trail Association and regularly hiked in Florida as his vacation.

OKEECHOBEE _ A man who was hiking along the Florida Trail was found dead today in Okeechobee County, authorities said.

The 53-year-old man was found at about noon near Highway 98 and Lofton Road, Detective Ted Van Deman, spokesman for the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office, said. Authorities are investigating whether cold weather played a role in the man’s death. The man was found clinging to a barbed wire fence in a swampy area.

Van Deman said it is believed that the man had been at that location since Saturday. Temperatures dropped below freezing in Okeechobee on Saturday night. The victim is from Massachusetts and appeared to have been hiking alone. No foul play was suspected, Van Deman said.

OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — A 4-acre brush fire damaged a hunting trailer in Fort Drum before firefighters doused the blaze, state officials said.

The fire was reported at 12:45 a.m. Monday, the Division of Forestry said. Forestry firefighters were able to quickly put out the fire.
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Five Okeechobee County residents are facing a host of drug-related charges after authorities found marijuana and illegal prescription drugs in their possession, according to a news release from the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office.

About 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies and Okeechobee Police officers searched a residence in the 4100 block of Southeast 74th Way and found about 251 grams of marijuana, 59 illegally obtained prescription pills, various drug paraphernalia and $2,000 in cash.
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OKEECHOBEE — Trevor Keezer didn’t start working at The Home Depot to make a religious statement. He just wanted to earn money for college.

“I want to go to school to become a nurse,” said the 20-year-old Okeechobee resident.

Keezer says for 19 months, ever since he started working as a cashier at The Home Depot in Okeechobee, he’s worn a button with an American flag on it that reads: “One nation under God, indivisible.”

Keezer sees the quotation, taken from the pledge of allegiance, as his way of supporting American troops at war, and of expressing his Christian faith.

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OKEECHOBEE— A plane made a belly landing at the Okeechobee County Airport this afternoon, according to the sheriff’s office.

The plane landed at the airport in Okeechobee around 1:30 p.m. with its landing gear still up, said Det. Ted Van Deman. He did not know what type of plane was involved or how many people were on board. No injuries were reported. He did not know if the pilot forgot to put the landing gear down or if there was a mechanical failure.

The National Transportation Safety Board will like be called in to investigate, Van Deman said,

FORT PIERCE — With the start of school just weeks away, school and health officials on the Treasure Coast want parents to know they are prepared for swine flu and will coordinate efforts to prevent its spread through the public schools.

They also ask that parents and students follow this simple advice to help: “If you’re sick, stay home,” said Larry Lee, administrator of the St. Lucie County Health Department.

School and health officials announced their efforts at a joint press conference today at the St. Lucie County School District offices in Fort Pierce. They noted that public schools in St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties have about 83,000 students about 300,000 family members.
With frequent travel in the four-county region, they agreed to cooperate in controlling the spread of H1N1 virus. (more…)

It takes eight members of an animal hospital's staff to hold the python, caught on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital.)

“He’s been sighted by residents many times for the last couple of years,” Jennifer Van Buren said of the 17-foot-2-inch Burmese python that was killed Thursday behind the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital, just outside the city.

The snake measured 26 inches in circumference and weighed 200 pounds when its carcass was pulled out of a canal behind the animal hospital, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported.

A hospital veterinarian, identified by commission officials as Jim Harvey, shot the python.
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The early retirement of state Sen. Ken Pruitt will cost local governments — and therefore taxpayers — more than $475,000.

Tuesday’s special election to replace Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, for one year will cost at least that much.

Elections officials in the five counties that comprise state Senate District 28 base their costs projections upon printing, staff overtime, poll worker costs, advertising and the cost to mail out absentee-style ballots. (more…)