Editorial Archive

Using statistics from the Department of Labor, The Wall Street Journal reports that real hourly wages during the Biden presidency have declined. When Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the average hourly wage adjusted for inflation was $11.39. Now, 29 months later, it stands at $11.03, a 3.16% decline.

A revised draft of the Land Development Code is being considered by the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners. On page 348 of the 532-page document, two short sentences are about to throw open the doors to bars on Hwy 98 from Gulf Breeze to Navarre. Current code restricts bars from being within 2500 feet of schools or churches.

“Who is going to protect the swimmers?” asked a woman during the public forum portion of the Santa Rosa County board of commissioners meeting. Fishermen showed up to speak against proposed measures to ban shark fishing west of the pier. The question of protecting swimmers was posed.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” On July Fourth, we celebrate much more than our independence from Great Britain. Our Founding Fathers risked their lives and reputations in the American Revolution to establish a government based on universal, permanent principles of justice.

It’s the most resilient project ever in Santa Rosa County and it has been in the making for 20 years. If you ask yourself why the developers of Jubilee don’t give up it is because it is a project that could change the economic landscape of Pace and it a property they have invested in for 20 years.

Who knew at some point in time we would be discussing sexually explicit books allowed in our school libraries? And yet, here we are. At last week’s county commission meeting, citizens showed up (and some showed out) to proclaim their disgust at the books being allowed in the libraries across our school system.

This week we learned from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission that a white-tailed road-killed deer in Holmes County had tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease. It is Florida’s first case.

The last few weeks of the Santa Rosa County Commissioners meetings have been quite the expletive-filled circus, thanks to the District 2 commissioner, James Calkins. While being chastised by citizens and commissioners alike, he continues to grin, laugh and even double down on his comments. His remarks have angered people to the point of cursing at the podium during public forum.

James Calkins is not new to making controversial statements, but last week at a Board of County Commission meeting, he crossed a line. He openly refused to apologize and in fact, to the shock of the audience, doubled down on his words.

Our high school seniors are about to celebrate a huge accomplishment in their life and dip their toe into the adult end of the life pool. We are excited for you as you realize your whole life is ahead of you. You have barely begun to scratch the surface of what you can accomplish. The past twelve years have all been for this moment – mostly.