Next month will mark four years since the University of West Florida football team last won an NCAA Division II national championship.
There was always an appreciation for that title run as it happened, as well as an appreciation for the journey it took to get to the top of the mountain.
Everyone would agree that it’s important to help and protect the truly needy and vulnerable in our society. How best to provide that service is a much more contentious issue. On one extreme, people argue that only the state has the wealth and power for such a mission; on the other, people object to government taking any more money from the public (in the form of taxes) and suggest government bureaucracy is too inefficient and wasteful.
Despite the Christmas decorations in department stores, it is Thanksgiving Day, the day which, in theory, we give thanks. The question that sits before us like the proverbial, giant turkey in the room into which no one dares slice, is: “To whom are we giving thanks?” If you gather on this holiday with family and friends to enjoy an abundant table laden with the traditional fare and someone asks that question, how would you answer?
We at Sandpaper Publishing have much to be thankful for, beginning with our members and readers. You fuel the passion we have for publishing three newspapers each week for three communities. We work hard to report and write the stories the matter most to you. We are your voice and are privileged to be in that role. Thank you for choosing us as your news and information source. We hope you stay tuned because we have so much more work to do for you.
Sometimes we focus on what we don’t have, or situations we aren’t in, and we lose sight of what we do have and where we are. I know I have a lot to be thankful for – at all times – even when I’m wrapped up in the day-to-day busy-ness of life. I gathered these versus to remind me of what true thanksgiving is and what my gratitude should be focused on. I hope you enjoy them during this time that we take a break from our routines and focus on being thankful for all of our many blessings – or as we set out to purposefully be a blessing to others.
I just returned from an enjoyable trip to Italy. I was struck by the lack of homeless people and beggars as compared to our country. I did encounter a few homeless people but not like it is here at home. The opposite used to be true.
I don’t think anyone needs to be told the NFL is a tough, often cruel business. And sometimes it’s a crazy business.
In the span of not even 24 hours last week, Navarre alum Michael Carter went from the New York Jets to the Arizona Cardinals.
Give Navarre’s football team credit in 2023. A lot of it.
The Raiders were in a tough spot early on in the season, dropping their first two games. Hope was fading fast, at least to those on the outside looking in.
It was a statement we heard at a national business conference and that wasn’t the only remark we heard about our industry. “Journalists go to journalism school to learn how to ask stupid questions.” This particular speaker had been the subject of “gotcha” journalism in the past. Every time an employee left his company it made the front page of the local newspaper. They referred to him as a cult leader and worse.
We want to send some love out to Santa Rosa County Animal Services. They are being recognized for saving more than 90% of the dogs and cats that entered the shelter last year. We think that is an amazing number of saves – animals that got adopted rather than euthanized. We see them working hard to find those dogs and cats their forever homes. The staff there truly cares about the animals, and we celebrate you!
