Out and About
We had a story on gas line breaks that are occurring more frequently because of fiber optic internet companies digging to bury cables. It seems at least every day, and sometimes twice a day, they are hitting gas lines. I wonder if Okaloosa Gas is charging them for the repairs? If they aren’t, they should be! They are repairing a lot of lines. And it leads to the question, why aren’t the companies who are digging making sure the gas lines are flagged, and that all precautions are taken to prevent these gas line breaks? A great place to start is sunshine811.com. On the site, you can click if you are a homeowner or a contractor. It will walk you through the steps, and all the utility companies will come out to your location and spray paint lines that show the direction the utility lines are going, and put little flags along the path. We did this when we had irrigation put in at our Crestview location. We actually had to call them out twice because after they marked everything the first time, it took about four months for the irrigation person to fit us into their schedule; by that time, the flags and lines had almost disappeared.
We have a great story by our newest writer, Madison DeVito, on Manny Diaz taking the helm of the University of West Florida. An issue or two ago she interviewed outgoing president Dr. Martha Saunders. Both stories are really good – Madison is a recent graduate of UWF. We are really proud of the way she has confidently hit the ground running as a reporter.
In our Community section, you can read a story by Hansen Hasenberg about St. Sylvester Church’s visit to the Vatican. There are lots of great photos and a few good tidbits about how close they were to Pope Leo XIV as he made his way through the crowd.
I love our “Photo of the Week” which we put on the Beach page this week. It’s actually John Richardson’s son on a paddleboard with this dog Joanie (she was named after John). If you don’t know, John was a very beloved sports writer for Navarre Press for many years. We have done a couple of tributes to him, and he lived on Navarre Beach, so it was great to receive this photo of John’s son with Joanie.
I don’t know if it is just me, but it seems that the mosquitos are worse than ever this year. I haven’t heard the mosquito truck one time this summer at my house, but I did hear it on the sound side when I was visiting a friend. A message from Santa Rosa County: “Mosquitos bugging you? Call 850-981-7135 or fill out the Mosquito Reporting and Service Requests form at https://arcg.is/1ia1uG to request a site survey or to be added to the spray schedule!
Santa Rosa County Mosquito Control is committed to protecting our residents and visitors from mosquitoes through mosquito abatement programs and public awareness and education campaigns.”
There are also commercial services that say they can help with mosquito control.
Quote of the Week: “In stories, the villain and the hero have a similar backstory: They both experienced pain.
The hero rises up to keep the pain from happening to anybody else, while the villain seeks vengeance on a world that hurt them. Our response to pain determines who we become.”
Donald Miller (1971 – present). An American author, public speaker, and business owner.