Seattle Seahawks’ star wide receiver Doug Baldwin will speak live at Momentum Church on Easter Sunday. Baldwin, a graduate of Gulf Breeze High School, will speak live at the 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. services at Gulf Breeze Elementary School.
It isn’t uncommon to hear an athlete thank God for his or her success in sports or to see athletes from both teams gather together for a prayer circle after a game.
My column is a little shorter than usual because of Sunshine Week and the opportune timing of our commissioner deciding to answer a constituent’s letter to the editor by posting his answer to Facebook and not sending his reply back to the constituent. Mr. Cichy, veteran, copied Commissioner Rob Williamson on a letter to the editor that he sent to Navarre Press. He didn’t want to blindside Williamson – because – he is nice. However, Cichy is not on Facebook. He didn’t even know of Williamson’s reply until we emailed it to him. Instead of talking to the people, Commissioner Rob Williamson wants to talk to Facebook and have a one-sided conversation. And, he bans constituents with whom he doesn’t agree. The banned constituent has told us he is filing an ethics complaint against Commissioner Williamson. There may be more than one banned constituent. I find it ironic that the very day Commissioner Williamson leaves for Washington D.C., on his constituent’s dime (and many of them) for meetings on Defense Initiatives (of which his participation will show us zero dividends), he lashes out at a veteran who is just expressing his opinion.
Navarre Press frequently receives letters to the editor and we print them. It is a chance for citizens of Navarre and Santa Rosa County to speak their mind – about whatever is on their mind. Letters to the editor are also part of our mission statement – to be a voice for the voiceless. It is often a way for someone to express opinions; and the great thing about an opinion is it is neither right nor wrong. As constituents, the residents of this county are charged with making their opinions known so that their representatives can make informed decisions on behalf of the people who put them in office. As a newspaper, we are charged with holding the elected officials accountable and to also let them know we are watching. It’s not “gotcha journalism” – it’s ensuring that everyone follows the rules and that our taxpayer dollars are guarded and spent thoughtfully and wisely.
Santa Rosa County Tourism Director Julie Morgan applied for the same position last December in Walton County, where the job pays roughly twice her current $68,000 a year.
In a tribute and memorial ceremony that has been planned for months, Navarre united with family members of the lost four Louisiana Air National Guard soldiers and the seven Marine Special Operations Command members who died March 10, 2015, in a training accident over the waters of Navarre Sound.
On March 10,2015, Leadership Santa Rosa Class 29 was preparing to embark on a trip to our State Capitol. I was nominated as the class spokesman because of what I do with the Sheriff’s Office. Little did I know, I was about to speak to the entire nation about a tragedy which was taking place here within our relatively small quiet community.
Dan Bongino, former Secret Service member of President Obama’s Personal Protection Detail was in Northwest Florida this past weekend to speak. Bongino, 41, is a former New York City police officer, a federal agent who worked financial crimes for the Secret Service and then became assigned to the Personal Protection Detail for presidents Bush and Reagan. He left after 12 years with the Secret Service, running for both U.S. Senate and Congress in Maryland and coming very close to an upset in the congressional race. Bongino is a frequent radio talk show guest and sometime host who is often consulted by major news networks for his unique law enforcement perspective and is currently the author of two best-selling books. His first book, “Life Inside the Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent Walked Away from It All,” was a New York Times best-seller. His latest book, “The Fight: A Secret Service Agent’s Inside Account of Security Failings and the Political Machine” is one of the fastest selling law enforcement book on Amazon.
On Friday, March 11 about 150 homeschooled children and their families attended the Homeschoolers’ Ocean Awareness Day hosted by the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station. The event included educational and interactive displays concerning many topics related to both marine conservation and biology. Field studies of marine life, anatomy and physiology of marine creatures, sea turtle nesting and conservation, along with many other subjects were all taught by currently enrolled or graduated Pensacola State College student volunteers.
