Vol. 103 No. 123 Friday, October 12, 2012 50¢ Plus tax OCI inmate attacks staff member Corrections offi cer’s eye thony Kibler’s report, Corrections Of- lb. Bonner struck the side of the offi cer’s fi cer Michael Valentino was conducting head with a closed fi st, causing Offi cer socket broken in attack cell searches in E-Dorm wing 3 when an Valentino to fall to the ground, accord- inmate, Willie Bonner, started arguing ing to the report. Bonner continued to By Katrina Elsken with him. The offi cer ordered Bonner to strike the offi cer with his fi sts. Okeechobee News the sally port. While walking to the day- As the inmate crouched over the him, A corrections offi cer at Okeechobee room, Bonner continued arguing with the offi cer tried to take out his chemical Ghost stories Correctional Institute suffered a broken the offi cer, the report continues. agents. The inmate then grabbed Offi cer eye socket, two black eyes and cuts to Once at the sally port, the offi cer or- Valentino’s chemical agents can and at- and legends the face when he was attacked by an dered Bonner to “cuff up.” Bonner re- tempted to use the spray on the offi cer. ... Inside! inmate Oct. 8. fused to allow himself to be handcuffed According to the OCSO Deputy An- and attacked the offi cer. The 5’10”, 180 See OCI — Page 8 Willie Bonner Minimal regatta winners School board honors ‘high achievers’ Page 10 By Charles M. Murphy Fourth graders honored were Maxwell in November and the high school students who Okeechobee News Abreu, Jeffrey Younger, Natalie Banuelos, Bran- reached such a milestone in December. don Mowat, Kendall Harrison, Exlexia Ochoa “We want to congratulate all of these kids Twenty-four high achievers honored Tuesday and John Pearce. for making Okeechobee County Schools look Lake Levels night by the Okeechobee County School Board Fifth graders honored included McKenna so good,” he added. for top marks on the FCAT tests last spring. Hickson, Kennedee Brewer, Christine Groso, The members of the fi fth grade honored Eight, third graders honored, seven fourth grad- Sarah Roehm, Colton Taylor, Arianna Lorusso, were McKenna Hickson, Kennedee Brewer, 15.92 feet ers, and nine fi fth graders earned the distinc- Mariah Spelts, Simran Merchant and James Pip- Christine Groso, Sarah Roehm, Colton Taylor, Last Year: 11.24 feet tion this year. pin. Arianna Lorusso, Mariah Spelts, Simran Mer- Third graders honored included Shelby Superintendent Ken Kenworthy said a large chant, and James Pippin. 6SRQVRUHG%\ Sumner, Jacob Pummell, Jaydon Egger, Joseph number of students achieved at least a level 5 in Employees honored upon their retirement Nettles, Ethan Adamo, Eliza Leitner and Ayden at least two subject areas of the test. He intends Wyatt. to bring middle school students to be honored See SCHOOL — Page 8 3RJH\·V)DPLO\5HVWDXUDQW 63DUURWW$YH Source: South Florida Water Management District. Depth given in feet above sea level See page 4 for information about how to contact this newspaper. newszap.com Free Speech Free Ads Okeechobee News/Charles Murphy Okeechobee News/Charles Murphy (Left to right) Shelby Sumner of Central Elementary, Jaydon (Left to right) Fourth graders last year, John Pearce of North Egger of North Elementary, Joseph Nettles of North Elemen- Elementary, Elexia Ochoa of North Elementary, Maxwell Abreu tary and Navaeh Pena of North Elementary, were third graders of Osceola, Jeffrey Younger of Osceola, and Natalie Banuelos who earned high achiever status for the FCAT last spring. of Everglades Elementary, were named high achievers for the 2012 FCAT. 2 Serving the communitiesOkeechobee south News of Lake Okeechobee OctoberMay 27,12, 20102012 Pet of the Shrine Club needs can tabs Week The Okeechobee Shrine Club is col- Fri., Oct. 12TH - Available for adoption lecting the pull tabs from aluminum TH at Okeechobee Human Thurs., Oct. 18 Society/Pet Rescue cans. Bring yours to the club where we For Info, Call 763-7202 is Jake. He is a nice well-trained little guy. convert them to gas money for the free I: “TAKEN 2” He does well with oth- Fri., Tues. & Thurs. 7:00 & 9:00, Sat., Sun. & Wed. er dogs and children. transportation van of local patients to the 2:00, 4:15, 7:00 & 9:00, Mon. 3:00 & 7:00 PG-13 He’s neutered and vac- Shrine Hospital. For more information on II: “HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA” cinated. The donation/ Fri., Tues. & Thurs. 7:00 & 9:00, Sat., Sun. & Wed. adoption fee for Jake is this and other projects, please call Kip 2:00, 4:15, 7:00 & 9:00, Mon. 3:00 & 7:00 PG $175. Microchip activa- Gardner at 863-357-0427 or Mac Simpson III: “HERE COMES THE BOOM” tion is $25. To see more Fri., Tues. & Thurs. 7:00 & 9:00, Sat., Sun. & Wed. of our adoptable pets at 863-484-0427 or call the club at 863- 2:00, 4:15, 7:00 & 9:00, Mon. 3:00 & 7:00 PG go to www.animalres- cueokeechobee.org. 763-3378. Movie Tickets: Adults - $6.50 • Children 12 & under - $5.00 The Okeechobee Pet Senior Citizens - $5.00 all movies • Matinees - $4.50 Rescue is on U.S. 98 next to the Livestock Special to the Okeechobee News/Okeechobee Pet Rescue Market. 863-357-1104 Stay in the know with an E-subscription Buy a Home Delivery or Mail subscription for $6 a month and receive an E-Subscription FREE* Your local news Call (863) 763-3134 today! available right at your fingertips! *When you enroll in our EZPAY subscription plan Special to the Okeechobee News/Raye Duesinger Annual pumpkin patch The First United Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch has reopened to get ev- erybody, especially the children, ready for this fall holiday season. Come and take pictures with the scarecrow or put your head in a pumpkin for a treasured memory. Or just take home the ‘makins’ of a wonderful pie. The church is located at 200 N.W. 2nd St., behind Walgreen’s. Okeechobee Forecast Weather forecast for Okeechobee and surrounding area from the Na- tional Weather Service Local forecast Check out these Friday: Sunny, with a high near 87. new features: North wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high • Daily Local as 25 mph. Friday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 69. Northeast wind around News Updates 10 mph. • New interactive Extended Forecast and easy to Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Windy, with a north northeast wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 navigate format mph. • Plus much, Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71. East northeast wind around 10 mph. much more! Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. East northeast wind around 5 florida.newszap.com Come see for mph. yourself! October2 12, 2012 Serving the communitiesOkeechobee south News of Lake Okeechobee May 27, 20103 OUA board discusses employee pay By Pete Gawda resigned. He said the city council would be considering that application at their next Okeechobee News th The Tuesday, Oct. 9, meeting of the meeting. He also informed the board that Fri., Oct. 12 Okeechobee Utility Authority (OUA) Board the State Route 70 E. project would require Sat., Oct. 13th of Directors was marked by more discussion OUA to move two water mains from the than action. road right of way and put a new water main UP TO 75% OFF! First Baptist Church requested the use across the road at the Okeechobee County (Excluding Christmas & Cards) of the vacant lot owned by OUA at the cor- Agri-Civic Center. In addition he said inter- ner of S.W. Park Street and S.W. Seventh section improvements in front of the cham- Suzie’s Shop Avenue for parking for a community event ber of commerce building would cause OUA on Wednesday, Oct. 31. The church had a to have to move a water main. 3427 Hwy. 441 S • Okeechobee permit from the city for the event and liabil- In routine business, the board: (863) 763-6557 ity insurance. Therefore, board members • received the monthly fi nancial report; Sale Hours: 9am - 6pm, Friday had no objections. However, since OUA • approved the monthly invoice from 9am - 5pm, Saturday has no policy on use of its property the re- Alcalde and Fay for lobbying services in the quest provoked a lengthy discussion about amount of $3,264; formulating a policy concerning use of OUA • approved payment of an invoice property by outside groups. In the end, staff Okeechobee News/Pete Gawda from Eckler Engineering in the amount of was directed to formulate a policy and bring Peggy Aaron of the Okeechobee Utility $2,671.20 in connection with the vacuum it back to the board for approval. Authority (OUA) Finance Department station 1 rehabilitation; John Hayford, OUA’s executive director, was recognized at the Tuesday, Oct. • in accordance with OUA policy, the informed the board that recently three em- 9, meeting of the OUA Board of Direc- board agreed to write off a total of $1,532.54 ployees had resigned. The reason appeared tors for 10 years’ service to the utility. in outstanding accounts of less than $50 that Steve Nelson, chairman of the board, the be better salaries. This initiated a dis- are older than one year and will not be pur- made the presentation. cussion of the fact that while OUA salaries sued for payment; might be lower than in private industry, the to seek clarifi cation from the city administra- • approved payment of $7,422.19 to Mel- benefi ts were higher than with many private tor.