Opinion Archive

We had the privilege this week of interviewing Navarre’s very own Earl Dean, who grew up in the deeply segregated south, here in the Florida Panhandle. To fit his story on a page and a half seemed insufficient and even after reading his story we know there is so much more to tell. We are captivated by what to many of us seems like something out of a movie because we didn’t live through that time period of segregation. And some of us did.

Congratulations to Centennial Bank.  Home BancShares, Inc. – Centennial Bank’s parent company, is ranked #1 on the Forbes 2018 “Best Banks in America” list, a rise from #8 in 2017’s rankings and #15 in 2016’s rankings.  This is the ninth consecutive year Forbes has ranked America’s largest banks, using financial data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Cindy Davidson is the Branch Manager of Navarre’s Centennial Bank. Be sure to tell her congratulations when you see her. And, when considering banks, consider Navarre’s Centennial Bank, rated best bank in America!

President Trump’s great medical report was no surprise to me. God’s giving him supernatural energy to execute his goings and comings, an unreal schedule.

We are blessed with two excellent weekly newspapers in Santa Rosa County: Gulf Breeze News and Navarre Press. Each keeps the readers informed of local news. It turns out that Letters to the Editor (LTE) are the most widely read section of any newspaper after the front page. I can tell you how best to write a “letter to the editor” but I must tell you that my success of getting them published is not good. All LTE’s are published at the discretion of the paper’s editors.

The Super Bowl is Sunday night.

Emerald Coast Med Spa is hosting a free cosmetic surgery consultation event with Dr. Tiller from 11 a.m.  to 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Dr. Tiller has performed cosmetic and reconstructive procedures on active duty and retired members of our nation’s Armed Forces and was a personal surgeon for President Ronald Reagan and is internationally recognized as a leader in cosmetic surgery for men and women.  This is a rare event for Navarre. If you are even a little bit curious – book your consultation today at 850-939-5413. Personally, I’m curious about his conversations with Ronald Reagan.  He must have just gotten out of medical school when he got that awesome assignment.

This week’s story by Rob Johnson on the Fairpoint refinancing sheds a lot of light on the entire deal that is now for all purposes – dead.

Go ahead. Complain about the referees in any sport until you turn blue.

Several have asked how I’m feeling because they are pretty sure I’ve put the hex on myself for putting in writing that I don’t get sick. Maybe I’m just saving up for the big one. I don’t want to be glib about my good fortune and I do thank God that I’m so healthy – because I’d make a terrible patient. That is probably why I am healthy to date – because God wants to make sure the medical practitioners don’t get near me because He cares about their well-being.

The government shutdown ended Monday when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised to take up an immigration bill that would protect an estimated 800,000 Dreamers from deportation under an open amendment process, if the Democrats would agree to end the shutdown. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) said that pledge was enough for his caucus to accept a three-week government funding bill, which passed on a vote of 81-18.