Opinion Archive

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.

My wife has an endearing habit that I am gradually making my own. She says, “thank you,” for everything I do. If I take out the trash, she says, “Thank you for taking out the trash.” When we go grocery shopping, she says, “Thank you for helping me do the shopping.”

Election season is over – for a minute – and the politicians, politicos, media and social media savants are busy weighing the results. Locally – where people and their government most often interact – the 2022 election results could usher in dramatic change on both the Santa Rosa County Commission and the Milton City Council.

I awoke with a start in full panic mode. It was morning and sunlight flooded our tiny motel room. Shaking my wife, I shouted, “Get up, we overslept! We’re going to miss the ferry!” We bounded out of bed, threw on clothes, and wrangled our suitcases out of the room.

It appears the way some of the officials who help run high school athletics in the state is about as laughable as a night at the comedy club. The humor never stops. I’m no weather expert, but hurricanes aren’t a new thing to Florida.

My name is Peggy Allen Tripp Turman, I am 83 years old and in the autumn of my life. God has blessed me with a good mind as to date. I have a concern about the Blackwater River I have resided on since 1966.

The debate about where to put Milton’s new wastewater treatment plant rages on, if not in the minds of City Manager Randy Jorgenson and staff, then in the minds of some residents and area environmentalists. But a proposal by Councilman Robert Leek raised new questions. While everyone’s attention has been on where to put the new facility, we haven’t heard much about plans for the old plant site.

“Do we have enough candy?” my wife’s text read. It was Halloween, she was leaving work, and her commute would take her past several grocery stores. I considered last year’s brisk trick-or-treat traffic and replied, “You should pick up another bag.”

Dear FHSAA, I know my birthday is still four months away and it’s not quite Christmas yet — even if the stores want us to believe it is – but if you don’t mind, I have a request. It’s not a big ask by any stretch of the imagination. I just want to make sure order remains in place when it comes to the district involving Santa Rosa County teams.

Did you know the Iranian President commented on the Holocaust at a “CBS 60 Minutes” interview recently? Israelis rightfully outcried!

The comment: “There are some signs that the Holocaust happened… but it should be investigated and researched.” Talk about antiSemitic Holocaust denial! So what else is new!