Opinion Archive

I still remember my first week at the Navarre Press and the time I reached out to Navarre girls soccer coach Rob Simon about getting stats on his team as it prepared for a tournament game.

He shared the stats but also noted in his email that John Richardson, a freelance writer for our paper, is “their guy” when it comes to girls soccer coverage.

Cooler temperatures are here and that means the bears are on the move. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, (FWC) our black bears are joining their northern cousins in fattening up for the winter.

Black bears eat up to 20,000 calories a day in the fall. That means, they will be on the move and searching for good food “grub” even more than usual.

We were left with a season-opening college football matchup two weeks ago on a Saturday night at Pen Air Field in Pensacola that wasn’t exactly one you’d call even or fair.

No disrespect to Warner, but the NAIA program from South Florida isn’t on the same level as the University of West Florida, an NCAA Division II national power.

Early last Sunday morning, a relative sent me a text with a photo of a page from a book he was reading.

Enlarging the photo, I saw that the topic of discussion on the page was God’s grace, and it defined grace as, “God rewards me for letting him reward me.”

“He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”

Those were the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, referring to the depredation of King George III.

We will be experiencing a little louder “Sound of Freedom” this coming Monday – through Thursday, Sept. 12 – 15, when the 58th Fighter Squadron of Eglin conducts night flying operations in the area when F-35 fighter aircraft will conduct missions between 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Night flying is required for 58th FS training operations and we are glad they are receiving the training they need.

One Sunday morning before a worship service, a young girl in the congregation, her face alight with a bright smile, handed me a piece of scratch-pad paper.

“Pastor, I made this for you,” she said. I am grateful anytime anyone is thoughtful enough to make something for me, so I thanked her.

Moving traffic through or around Milton isn’t a new concern. The city considered building a second bridge over the Blackwater River to connect Berryhill Street to U.S. Highway 90 and create a bypass at least 20 years ago.

But now that the Florida Department of Transportation is moving ahead with a plan to widen Caroline Street (U.S. 90) from two to four lanes between Stewart Street and Ward Basin Road, the debate over downtown’s future has taken on a new urgency.

We are excited for the fun of the Beaches to Woodlands tour to begin as they celebrate their 19th anniversary of connecting north and south Santa Rosa County with events.

We hope you will take part in the fun and venture up to the north end of the county for some adventure there as well. There is an outline of events with dates in this issue.