Editorial Archive

Even on Earth Day, the costs to our planet don’t outweigh the benefits for education.

Some readers may be surprised to learn that Navarre Press, while owned by Sandi Kemp belongs to the community.  We cover issues important to you: the actions of your government and its individual members, crime and public safety, the latest on beach renourishment, the local high-school athletes who are going places, the Navarre High School JROTC program and all of their awards, upcoming events, healthy living stories and the list goes on.  You might be more surprised to learn that Sandi Kemp usually only has an idea of what is going in the paper each week, and she reads it on Thursdays just as you. 

There are more than 500 children in our county waiting to be adopted.  One in every 18 children in our county is or will be abused.  There are more than 550 homeless children in our school district.  43 percent of all adults are functionally illiterate.  The list could go on. 

Let me start by saying I am in favor of building a new courthouse.  The current courthouse is obsolete and must be replaced.  But that doesn’t mean I support the plan to build a $47 million courthouse in Downtown Milton.  And no matter how many times Mr. Rob Williamson calls me a knucklehead on his Facebook page, I won’t be deterred.

For Christians around the world, Easter represents a time of renewal, and a time of remembrance of the death of Jesus and his resurrection.  However you choose to celebrate Easter, whether it is in Church or in your backyard hunting for Easter eggs or both, we at Navarre Press wish you a day of renewal.  Consider it perhaps a transfiguration of sorts; a shedding of whatever is old and stale and an embrace of new things, habits and ideas.  We can all use that in our life, no matter your belief.

Navarre Press frequently receives letters to the editor and we print them.  It is a chance for citizens of Navarre and Santa Rosa County to speak their mind – about whatever is on their mind. Letters to the editor are also part of our mission statement – to be a voice for the voiceless.  It is often a way for someone to express opinions; and the great thing about an opinion is it is neither right nor wrong.  As constituents, the residents of this county are charged with making their opinions known so that their representatives can make informed decisions on behalf of the people who put them in office.  As a newspaper, we are charged with holding the elected officials accountable and to also let them know we are watching.  It’s not “gotcha journalism” – it’s ensuring that everyone follows the rules and that our taxpayer dollars are guarded and spent thoughtfully and wisely. 

The organizing principle of my public service is Constitutional liberty. If government constrains itself to the Constitution, free markets, free enterprise and free people can thrive. Otherwise, we get catastrophic consequences such as ObamaCare, lawless executive orders and a government that (often corruptly) picks winners and losers.

Tallahassee wants to provide “historic” school spending by continuing to play Tallahassee’s trick on taxpayers.

You might think that Florida’s system of financing education is simple: Your property taxes pay for the schools in your county. It’s not that simple.

This legislative session may be the most opportune time in years to eliminate red-light cameras in Florida altogether.

Some of you may have noticed that the list of people arrested in our paper has grown considerably.  This is not necessarily a reflection of an increase in crime in our area, although we are hearing more reports of crime in Navarre.  The real reason the list has grown is because the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is no longer providing the addresses of people arrested.  In the past, we have only included people arrested from Navarre or Gulf Breeze.  Because we don’t know where the people being arrested are from, we have to include everyone that is arrested in Santa Rosa County.