After hearing the Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners claim they cannot disapprove a proposed development on any grounds whatsoever, many of us were incredulous. This apparent disregard for environmental laws and regulations with respect to wetland and endangered species conservation here in Santa Rosa County has gone beyond egregious. In fact, they claim (their interpretation) that by state legislation, citing F.S. 125.022(d), they can’t even ask to see a developer’s environmental permits, to ensure that they have even been obtained, prior to approval of a project. Escambia County has no such problem asking for permits.
High school memories are not always the best. In my “less-than-best” category are English class reading assignments: read some literary classic and be prepared to discuss it in class or, worse yet, write a paper on it. Many of the assigned books failed to interest me, so I often relied on another literary classic – Cliff’s Notes. However, one book ignited my imagination – James Hilton’s Lost Horizons, with its fictional lamasery Shangri-la secreted high in the mountains of Tibet. Hilton introduced me to the idea of a utopia, the dream of a perfect life in a perfect place. Haven’t we all yearned for such an idyllic existence, a perfect life with no sickness or sadness or loss, in a place where hatred and violence don’t exist?
We have our Mind, Body and Spirit edition this week and the theme is heart health. We usually have this section once a year, but we are going to have them more often – including one at the end of July with a guide to the Navarre Beach Area Chamber Back-to-School Health and Business Expo. The expo chair is Dr. Sarah Skelly with the Santa Rosa Medical Center. If you are interested in getting involved in this expo call the chamber at 939-3267 and if you want to be in our next health themed Mind, Body Spirit – call us.
Recently, after three long months apart, I moved my wife, our dog, Brewster, and all our worldly possessions from Naples to Navarre. To save money, I rented a large truck in Naples and hired a company to do the work of loading it. They sent over three men: two to carry our stuff to the truck, and a third, whom I called The Puzzle Man, to figured out how to fit it all on the truck. I’d like to say that they were careful, but I would be lying.
Great news! It seems that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow on Groundhog day and we are in for an early spring! This week’s temperatures agree with his forecast. According to weather.com our highs in the 60s will continue right through the next 10 days or so with a few days getting into the 70s. The only downside to the beautiful temperatures is they will mostly be without sunshine – overcast days continue, with chances of rain.
Navarre has always been a destination for its inhabitants. From its first homestead to today’s families and visitors, people have come to Navarre to put their feet up and settle down.
We all saw Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey miss a 43-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds of a 16-15 wild-card round playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles two weeks ago at Soldier Field.
