In communities across Florida, from Milton to Navarre, the quiet lines on zoning maps are being redrawn with alarming frequency. What was once a tool for thoughtful planning has become a revolving door for developers seeking exceptions. But zoning isn’t meant to be flexible on demand—it’s a promise to residents, a blueprint for sustainable growth, and a safeguard for the character of our towns.
Actions have consequences, and so does inactions, especially when the inaction is an extraordinary number of state residents who do not complete their census survey. We count every person because every person counts.
Almost at every Santa Rosa County board of commissioners meeting, local Flood Defender Chris Curb, speaks to the commissioners during public forum encouraging them to use current rainfall data rather than the 1979 rainfall data they are currently using.
July went by very quickly. We hired three new team members in July and only said farewell to one. Going through resumes and interviews is exhausting but then training is right around the corner. People don’t realize when you are training you aren’t able to do your own job. Kaitie had a taste of it this week. We have a new very talented new team member for the front desk which is where Kaitie is right now. Kaitie was conducting some of the initial training and was asking me when she was supposed to do “her” work. Welcome to the club, Kaitie!
We had the opportunity to participate again in the Santa Rosa County Leadership program’s media day. There were lots of faces we knew, and we were happy to meet new friends. Our newest team member and reporter, Madison DeVito, went and was a panel member with our publisher Gail Acosta and the owner/publisher of Gulf Breeze News, Lisa Newell. The questions from the group were so good – but one stood out: “How do we use AI in the newsroom?” The simple answer is – we don’t. We think there is no substitute for human reporters using their intuition, curiosity and talent to conduct interviews with other real people, to tell a story that can become part of the history of the community. And quite frankly, no one does better than our team.
Florida has some interesting rules when it comes to high school football.
I learned last week that apparently high school football teams here are not allowed to play an opponent from another state in a Kickoff Classic.
Most of my friends are considerably younger than me, as in, “I am old enough to be their father” younger than me. Our age difference is not an issue. It is not apparent in our conversations, at least from my perspective. My friends, of course, see what I do not: a white-haired man talking. But it doesn’t seem to matter. Occasionally, however, like a poker player’s tell, I will say something that instantly marks me as from a different generation. Usually, it is me quoting some iconic, funny line from a television show I grew up watching. Not only are my friends unfamiliar with the iconic line, but they usually have never even heard of the television show.
