I recently attended the graduation ceremony for my son-in-law, Jon Crider, who graduated with his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Mississippi, otherwise known as Ole Miss. He also wrote for Navarre Press for a year before he married my daughter in 2016 and left for Mississippi to pursue his doctorate degree. You may see his byline in the coming weeks. He starts teaching at Belmont University in the fall and will be working on data driven stories as a data journalist this summer.

Graduation for Navarre High School is Saturday, and our seniors will be walking across the stage to get their diplomas. This is the accomplishment they have been working toward for 12 years. It is the culmination of their high school education before they move on to college. To all the seniors, we hope you enjoy and make the most of graduation and the days that follow. We wish you all the successes in the coming years and can’t wait to see what you achieve (we will be here to report on it).

We have an article in this week’s issue regarding bullying and the use of cell phones to bully people. I cringe when I see young children carrying around cell phones. Last week I was looking out my window when children as young as 8 and 9 were walking down the street toward the bus stop – not looking at where they were going because they were staring at their phones.

I always breathe a sigh of relief when the Florida Legislature’s final gavel goes down like it did on Friday, May 5. They can always call a special session, but at least it is officially over for the year. You never know what they are going to do, what special favors will be called in or what might have been added to a bill at the last minute. I have been intimately involved in several bills over the years, especially when it comes to bills regarding public notices in newspapers vs. government websites.

It is almost time for high school seniors to graduate and we are taking “Grad Ads” for the paper. This is a good time to congratulate all seniors, or for a business to congratulate seniors that work for you, or churches to congratulate their seniors, etc.

I was listening to a podcast today while driving to my office. I call my car my traveling university because I use that time to learn. Any business owner will tell you that it is difficult to find people that want to work for their paycheck.

The Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Office is seeking public input for possible future amenities and/or projects for Navarre and the Navarre Beach areas. There is a new poll out that you will see promoted in the next few weeks. There are only two questions – the first one being an order of importance.

Easter is this Sunday, and we hope you enjoy the day with your family and take time to remember Easter’s significance as the day we celebrate Jesus Christ’s triumph over death. His resurrection seals the promise that eternal life is granted to all who believe in Him.

At a recent Navarre Beach Leaseholder meeting, a “news resource” want-to-be told Navarre Beach residents in attendance that approval of the setback variance the developer of the new Hilton is seeking would allow them to add more rooms/condos to the development. That was incorrect. However, a lie travels around the world before the truth has a chance to put their pants on … someone famous owns that quote.