Opinion Archive

The planned draconian military drawdown will take us to pre-WWII levels.  Our economy is in shambles.  Pundits and politicians falsely claim we don’t have adequate highly skilled foreign workers while highly skilled American workers can’t get hired, and thousands more “children” pour across our porous Southern border to eventually compete with us, our children and grandchildren for jobs.

Football is starting tonight – Thursday – with the Raiders playing in Milton for the Kick-off Classic. The JV teams play in the first quarter, the reserve players from the varsity teams play in the second quarter, and the first-string varsity players take the field for the entire second half. Milton has won the kick-off classic the past two years. Of course we hope the Raiders start their year off with a win, but regardless it doesn’t count – officially. The game begins at 7 p.m.

Wow! If you want to see people get excited in the Navarre area, then all you have to do is use the “I” word — Incorporation.

Early voting started Aug. 11 in Santa Rosa County. Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane decided to go “above and beyond” what the state required and provide 13 consecutive days for Santa Rosa County residents to vote. The state only required eight days.

The Feasibility Study is in from the consultant – one of only three qualified to do a feasibility study in the state of Florida. It shows that the city of Navarre would be in the black from day one without an increase in taxes. And, if we chose for an additional 1 mil – which is $1 per $1000 of value on your home, then we would have nearly $20 million by the year 2020 to invest for a future beach re-nourishment (not the one we need right now), parks, recreation, or anything else the people would like to see happen for Navarre. We would also have room for a $10 million buffer to have in case there is a hurricane. FEMA reimbursed the county for most of what happened during Ivan and Dennis. That is how we got the new and improved pier. We also need to look at moving the sewage treatment plant off the island, and more. This is exciting news. By contrast, the City of Gulf Breeze has an additional 1.9723 mils, the City of Milton has an additional  3.2373 mils, and the City of Jay has an additional 2.0000 mils.

Campaign season:  months filled with signage throughout neighborhoods, alongside highways, intersections and atop billboards; mission statements, claims, counterclaims, occasional clarifications and retractions.

My family met near Vero Beach for vacation last week and had a lot of fun. The office never knew I was gone – really. In fact, they said they wished I’d hurry up and get back because they had less to do when I was here – and they got less tasks via email. When I’m on the road, I send email after email because I have time to think. I also think on Sundays, when I’m in church. It is like …Zen. I clear my mind – connect with a higher power and that higher power reminds me of everything I haven’t done that needs to get done – and I’m also reminded of everything everyone else is supposed to get done as well. So, if my staff had it their way – it would be no more vacations or church for me. Well, tough. I went to church on vacation and purposefully ran into relatives that we had never formerly met from my husband’s side of the family. As it turns out, the church we went to was started in a relative’s living room and when we visited the old courthouse, on our own, we found out that our relative had won the “Key to the City.” That started me thinking, of course. If you don’t have a city – you can’t give away keys. I even found myself watching city council meetings on TV. I also found out the Santa Rosa County Courthouse debate is not unique, just the zip code has changed.

Navarre Beach was making headlines and blowing up social media this past week as a video of a hammerhead shark near the shore literally “went viral.” The video, shot by a tourist visiting Navarre Beach, showed the hammerhead heading toward shore and apparently making its way closer and closer to a swimmer. Before getting too close, the shark changed course and went on its way. A Navarre Beach lifeguard had entered the water to make sure all swimmers safely made it to shore. And they did.

This week’s issue includes our popular Back to School Guide. You’ll find profiles on each school as well as messages from the principals. We have also included a school supply list and information on Florida’s Tax-Free holiday (August 1-3) to help everyone save money on their back to school shopping.

Santa Rosa County voters in less than a month will cast ballots for candidates seeking a variety of elected offices. In some cases, the candidate that receives the most votes during the primary will win the office. So, the importance of the Aug. 26 primary election cannot be overstated.