Opinion Archive

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is considering several potential new changes to ease traffic flows (east and west) through the historic City of Milton area. One FDOT plan I consider best overall for, functionality, historical preservation, hurricane evacuation, minimal residential disruption, minimal time to modify, and fiscal responsibility (lowest cost), is to build one new bridge across Blackwater River. The new bridge should be the same size as the current Highway 90 bridge, but connecting to Berryhill road.

It takes considerable initiative for citizens to respectfully yet boldly confront lawmakers. It takes courageous leadership for legislators to admit and correct costly blunders. But that’s what happened last week in Florida’s Senate Appropriations Committee. When lamenting the inauspicious beginning of the FSA (the newest iteration of high stakes testing in our schools) I heard senators use phrases like “this is a train wreck” and “we’ve got to get this under control; we’re losing credibility … ”

Start planning your Easter Egg Hunts. Easter is Sunday, April 5, but the hunt for eggs is on! Starting Saturday at 10 a.m., Navarre United Methodist Church will host an Easter Egg Hunt with many other activities and refreshments. On Sunday, the YMCA is having its hunt at 4 p.m. with plenty of other activities.

In the 2014 a non-binding vote on incorporation, the few people who did vote did not know what incorporation would mean for Navarre and their families. To put it simply, Navarre wants to be a self-contained city, not an area outpost.

This week has been a tough week for Navarre, Santa Rosa County, Florida and the nation.  Navarre became the focal point of one of the deadliest domestic military training accidents in recent years. National news crews flew in to report to the country the search and rescue of our finest – which quickly turned to a painful recovery.

As a resident of Navarre, I knew there were many great people who lived and worked here. What I could not know was just how generous and magnanimous this community is. By now, everyone is aware of the loss of 11 brave service members when their Black Hawk crashed in the Sound between Navarre and Eglin Air Force Base. What you may not be aware of is the generosity of the residents and businesses of this great community.

I am a first cousin of Chief Warrant Officer 4 George “David” Strother. He was one of the pilots from the Louisiana National Guard.

When I heard the news early Wednesday morning of the UH-60 crashing into the Sound, I immediately thought of the families and I thought, “From this moment on, their lives will never be the same – Lord, be with them.” LCDR Mark Johnson, Lt. Bante, Lt. Roberto, Petty Officer Sean Saye, Petty Officer Wicks, ENS. Winters and LCDR O’Connor were my next thoughts; men who my husband and I knew, and so many others we knew who had died in service. Then I heard the words, “They gave their lives…” reverberating across the airwaves and the Internet. But think again, for they did not give their lives.

The largest amount of colleges are celebrating spring break this week and next week. Florida State, University of Central Florida, University of West Florida, Troy University, University of Georgia and University of Southern Mississippi are just some of the colleges out this week.

Long before we were propelled into the digital age, kids had a way to communicate with each other – whether they passed notes during class, scribbled on bathroom walls or dropped a message in someone’s locker.