Author: SR Press Gazette

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.

We are grateful for every single one of our team members. They are the ones out in front and behind the scenes that make it all work.

Their days and evenings are filled with covering the meetings you don’t have time to go to, being at school functions, finding the interesting people of our community to write about, being at the sports matches and games, and highlighting our athletes.

They lay out the pages of the paper with careful thought and consideration of making sure the photos and stories are interesting to the reader.

They are the ones who answer the calls that come in, renew subscriptions, send out renewal notices and make sure you don’t miss an issue of your community newspaper.

They design the ads, post social media content, send out the invoices, get our newspapers to the post office and on newsstands throughout the communities, and so much more. There are a million details that need to be taken care of for each and every publication.

Our staff does it so well. We are thankful for you. At a time when other companies and newspapers are laying off hundreds of newsroom employees, we wouldn’t dream of it. You are our success and we couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without you.

Our families at home make many sacrifices for us, they go out of their way to help us with projects, events, cleaning our offices, and some nights they even hold dinner for us while we finish a meeting or come home late. We love you and are grateful for you who encourage us daily, give us confidence and are often our sounding boards.

The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary, and we have been members for 23 years. We are grateful for the work our chamber does on behalf of small businesses, championing the shop local banner, and being a cornerstone of our community.

We thank the men and women of our community who wear the uniform of freedom; the ones who served and retired, the ones who now serve in a different capacity. We are grateful for you. You serve selflessly each and every day and you are willing and ready to answer a call to defend our great nation. In addition to that, you are taxpayers, homeowners, PTO members, business owners, and you have made a huge impact on our communities. Thank you.

As we spend the next few weeks honoring our teachers of the year, we are incredibly thankful for our educators that teach and coach our children every day. We kiss them goodbye in the morning and hear all their wonderful stories when they come home. You encourage them to be good human beings, you fill them with knowledge, you make sure they are learning at their highest level and we are grateful.

Our first responders are top-notch, and we are thankful for you. Every day – all day – you are answering the calls for help, whether it is fire, medical, car accidents, overdoses, death, or crime. We know without question you will be there when we need you. You are lifesavers. Thank you.

We wish all of you and your families a very blessed Thanksgiving. Without you, we wouldn’t have these amazing jobs that we are privileged to have. The saying ‘If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life’ is true for us. We love what we do and we are grateful for it.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Two newcomers, Ray Eddington and Kerry Smith, will take the Board of County Commissioners oath of office Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Both men campaigned for responsible development – responsible as defined by Pace, Milton and Chumuckla-area voters tired of the county approving project after project despite residents’ concerns. Elections Supervisor Tappie Villane had not released precinct-by-precinct ballot results at press time, but we believe Smith and Eddington – who will represent District 4, which includes Navarre – carried most North End precincts (Districts 1-3).

We aren’t sure if Eddington knows what area he represents because at a Navarre Beach Leaseholders and Residents Association meeting Saturday, he said he will hold open office hours in Gulf Breeze.

Smith will represent District 2, which includes most of Milton and the East Milton area, replacing Bob Cole. Cole decided not to seek reelection, ending his 20-year tenure on his own terms.

With Cole’s retirement, Commissioner Sam Parker – elected in 2016 – becomes the longest-serving commissioner. Parker, a Realtor, represents the rapidly growing Pace area and also has earned the ire of some residents opposed to the commission’s development votes. James Calkins, whose District 3 includes the county’s rural north end, and Colten Wright, who represents the Gulf Breeze area, were elected in 2020.

What will the new lineup mean for Santa Rosa County? It is yet to be determined, because we have heard almost nothing out of Eddington in his campaign. We do know he was heavily supported by Calkins, even on election night. Indications are they will have a harder line against increased density, a stricter land development code and greater protections for our natural resources all seem like reasonable expectations. At least we hope so.

The City of Milton is facing a more dramatic remake, with four new faces on the eight-member council. Councilwoman Shannon Rice chose not to run for reelection for personal reasons, but Vernon Compton, Robert Leek and Shari Sebastiao lost to Mike Cusack, Gavin Hawthorne and Jason Vance, respectively.

Marilyn Farrow holds a one-vote lead over former Mayor Wes Meiss in the race to replace Rice after machine and manual recounts last week. Elections Supervisor Tappie Villane explained then that the county must accept ballots meeting requirements of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act until Friday, which is also the day the Canvassing Board will certify the election results.

Still, four new councilmembers will fill Seat 1 in each of the four wards. Mayor Heather Lindsay did earn reelection, but she did so with just more than 45 percent of the vote; challengers Mary Johnson (30.9 percent) and Dan Stillings (23.9 percent) split more than 1,600 ballots of the 2,943 cast in the mayoral race.

Why the overhaul? We can think of two obvious reasons, and one less apparent: The obvious? The city’s ongoing opposition to widening U.S. Highway 90 through historic downtown and its continued support of an unpopular location for the proposed new wastewater facility. Less obvious to the casual observer is the tangled web of personalities active in Milton politics, their individual agendas, personal rivalries and long-held grudges. It’s sometimes difficult to decide who belongs in which faction, and we’re beginning to understand the rosters can change depending on the issue. Predicting what Milton might do is something like playing three-dimensional chess.

In the short-term, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the council cancel a request for proposals for a consultant to study alternatives to widening U.S. 90.

The council unanimously voted to spend up to $100,000 from reserves to find a better way to move traffic around or through Milton, but with the Florida Department of Transportation announced its preferred route in 2019 and will begin designing the project in the coming year.

Many residents prefer cooperating with FDOT rather than taking any action to slow traffic relief on the busy thruway, and even some who oppose widening still think the $100,000 is a waste of money. The RFP generated just one response; city staff plan to report on that proposal at the council’s committee meeting tonight (Thursday, Nov. 17).

It’s less clear what the new council might do about the wastewater treatment plant location, because so much time and money already has been committed to the current project. Phase 1 of that project is expected to begin early next year; it’s unclear whether a new council will have the time or the inclination to pause that schedule, which may result in millions of dollars lost in grant funding and potential fines for missing state and federal deadlines.

We believe the council will proceed with the controversial location, which critics fear threatens a unique ecosystem in Cooper’s Basin and the Blackwater River, unless it receives strong assurances that it can start over without suffering tremendous financial jeopardy.

While we’re waiting for official results in the Farrow-Meiss race, we note that the 2024 election season already is dawning. Trump and newly reelected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are dominating the political headlines as each considers whether – or when – to announce a presidential run.

And the political beat goes on.

Leek has become a champion for residents who want the proposed site moved, but his line of questioning Monday during the city’s regular meeting seemed wrongheaded. Leek wanted the city to study the feasibility of reinforcing and expanding the existing facility rather than building a new plant as a way to keep from building the North Santa Rosa Regional Wastewater Facility on a bluff above Cooper’s Basin, an environmentally sensitive pond linked to the Blackwater River.

As Leek established, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection ordered the city to stop discharging treated wastewater into the Blackwater from its plant on Municipal Drive, NOT to build a new facility. And, in Leek’s defense, he offered Paducah, Ky., at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, and New Orleans, with its precarious location near the mouth of the meandering Mississippi, as examples of cities who have had success – with some notable exceptions – of protecting their flood-prone cities and utilities with flood walls and berms.

Leek made his suggestion in the spirit of trying to find a way not to use the proposed site, but his fellow commissioners’ responses ranged from skeptical to adamantly opposed.

In another interesting development, Milton Concerned Citizens founder Pam Mitchell told the council last week that members of the group met with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz at a recent campaign event, and he is “very concerned” about the proposed site’s possible threat to the river. A congressman, especially a firebrand like Gaetz, might just be able to buy the city time to find a better solution BUT (and there always is one), his office issued a statement Monday distancing himself from the issue.

Still, Leek’s idea focused our attention on the existing plant or, rather, the eventual absence of said plant. What happens to that nine or so city-owned acres?
Imagine the possibilities. When Pensacola moved its wastewater treatment plant, “Old Stinky,” away from its waterfront, it cleared the way for Community Maritime Park, Blue Wahoos Stadium and the renaissance of its downtown. Milton’s circumstances are different; for one thing, our population obviously is much smaller than Pensacola’s; for another, it isn’t clear we have a visionary like Quint Studer waiting to invest time and treasure into the city’s makeover.

But that’s not to say we don’t have potential; we know East Milton and central Santa Rosa County are experiencing rapid growth. The property on Municipal Drive will be important to the 2015 Milton-Bagdad Riverfront Master Plan; it likely can’t be developed as commercial or residential property but imagine parks with playing fields right there along the riverfront – maybe some pickleball courts, an amphitheater for “Bands on the Blackwater,” maybe even Shakespeare in the Park. Why not?

OK, we’re daydreaming a little. We’re sure Jorgensen, Planning Director Tim Milstead and Economic Development Director Ed Spears already have plans for the old wastewater treatment plant’s site when it’s demolished. But it’s nice to think about positive consequences of solving this particularly thorny problem instead of imagining worst-case scenarios.

Yeah. A waterfront ballpark….

On Sept. 21, PBS produced a 2-hour documentary on the Holocaust. The Iranian President and everyone should have seen it. There probably never has been a worse demonstration of man’s inhumanity to man than the horrendous murdering of thousands of Jews orchestrated by Hitler et al! Shame, shame!

In my opinion, no further research is required! Years ago, I visited the Yaz Vadim Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Reading not only the names of Jews but also many others whom God used to shelter/protect Jews, my heart was grieved.

An unforgettable, emotional experience. With tear-filled eyes, I sensed a presence confirming the Holocaust truly happened, no doubt about it! So, deniers thereof should shut their mouths. They should attempt to destroy antiSemitic activity rampant in America and the world! They should be solvers of problems, not perpetuating them.

God bless us all as only He can. Maranatha.

Chrys Holley
Milton, Fl.

Her mother died from breast cancer that year. She knew then that someday it would be her fate to hear the words, “you have cancer.” It was just a matter of when. The “when” was Dec. 4, 2020, when she received her diagnosis.

After more than a month of testing, waiting, more testing, more waiting, she sat in a closet-sized room with a radiologist. He said something along the lines of, “We are just going to get right to it. There is not an easy way to say this. You have invasive ductal carcinoma in your left breast and some pre-cancerous calcifications in your right breast.” The rest of the words were inaudible as a million thoughts raced through her mind.

I am “she” in this story. It’s my story. A story that I am alive to talk about. I am one of the lucky ones. The cancer was caught early. The words I will never forget hearing at my first appointment after diagnosis is, “This is curable.” Curable? Cancer? Those were two words that I had no idea could be used in a sentence together. They told me the road would be long. It included surgery and radiation treatments. The easiest road one could have with breast cancer. And at the end of it all I heard, “you are cancer free.”

When I found the lump in September, I told one of my closest friends, I don’t have insurance, I can’t afford a mammogram. I sentenced myself to the cancer, however it was going to turn out. She and her husband encouraged me over the next week or two to reach out for resources.

A group that I’m very familiar with, The Pink Pirates of Navarre, raises funds to help women get mammograms. I also knew that one of the organizations they donated their funds to was Baptist Healthcare Foundation’s Mammogram Fund. When my doctor asked me if I had a preference where I wanted to go for my mammogram, I said Baptist.

When they called to schedule my appointment for the mammogram, I told the scheduler about needing help to pay for the mammogram because I was uninsured. He told me about the foundation’s fund, scheduled my appointment, and the rest as they say is history.

Baptist Healthcare Foundation, Pink Pirates of Navarre and I all firmly believe in early detection. Remember the words…this is curable. But you have to find it early. There are many women like me who for whatever reason or life circumstance are uninsured. Ladies, there is hope. Reach out. Do not let finances, money or a lack of insurance be a death sentence. There is no excuse when you have organizations ready to help.

We need these mammograms to remain available for uninsured women. One in eight women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.*

Do you know eight women? Do you know 16 women? Give them the same fighting chance I had. If you are able, please donate to The Baptist Healthcare Foundation Mammogram Fund (https://www.baptisthealthcarefoundation.org/mammogram-appeal) or The Pink Pirates of Navarre (https://pinkpiratesofnavarre.com/).

You might just save a life, and the funds stay local, so it may be someone you know.

Gail Acosta

That may come as a surprise to many of Santa Rosa County’s self-appointed guardians of “truth, justice and the American way” who routinely march to podiums to ensure their opinions are known on virtually every agenda item, and who often engage elected officials, staff or other residents in what politely might be called debate and more accurately sometimes could be called immature mewling.

Lately, some of these champions of democracy have decided to ignore presiding officials’ direction to return to their seat, leaning to the mic to declare their intention to have their say and continuing their rant.

Officials chairing such meetings are well within their rights to have such rude showoffs escorted from the meeting. To their credit, most chairpersons bite their lip, breathe deeply and move on after the blowhards have had their say.

As a news organization, we hold sacred the right of citizens to assemble, the right to free speech, and the right to petition government for redress of grievances. We embrace the freedoms and values identified in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights). But occasionally we think it’s important to remind readers what these rights protect, and what they do not.

Please don’t misunderstand our meaning: we absolutely support residents being informed and engaged with their government, especially at the local level. It is essential to our democracy that citizens understand – and EXERCISE – their rights. This critique is not meant to dissuade anyone from contacting his or her elected representatives, attending meetings or speaking to councils or commissions about legitimate concerns.

But every community with elected government has residents who have made local politics a hobby. Some of these folks diligently work to educate themselves about the issues and often provide valuable opinions and suggestions to help boards solve problems. They understand, and respect, rules established to help meetings run efficiently and maintain civility and decorum. They ask questions of appointed and elected officials and research how government works. They take seriously their responsibilities as a partner in the social contract.

Others, though, delight in rumor and innuendo, thrive on the attention and praise they garner for attacking elected and appointed officials, prospective candidates, developers, wealthy business owners…any perceived wielder of “power.” They suppose, we guess, that their self-righteous and unfounded and unsupported attacks give them a sort of power against “the system,” “the good ol’ boys’ network,” “the powerbrokers,” or just “them.” Often, a private discussion or records search could satisfy their curiosity, but they seem so much more satisfied to publish accusations, innuendos and outright falsehoods on social media and to follow up their smear campaign by “confronting” the culprits at a public meeting.

On the rare occasions a presiding officer asks these serial speakers to take a seat, they invariably decry the violation of their “right” to speak – a right not supported by the Constitution or federal law.

The right to comment at public meetings also isn’t an absolute under Florida law. According to the Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press website (www.rcfp.org), “where there is a right to comment, it seems clear that the public body has the right to adopt reasonable rules and policies to ensure the orderly conduct of public meetings.” The site refers to the Florida 11th Circuit Court decision Jones v. Heyman from 1989, which says in part “…to deny the presiding officer the authority to regulate irrelevant debate and disruptive behavior at a public meeting – would cause such meetings to drag on interminably and deny others the opportunity to voice their opinions.”

The CivicPro website (www.getcivicpro.com) notes that Florida local governments “can adopt rules regarding public comment. If the government later follows those rules – even to cut public comment short – it is usually deemed to be complying with state law.”

Elected or appointed boards doing the public’s business, especially at the most basic level of government, often have busy agendas addressing complicated and sometimes controversial issues. Before we walk to the microphone to speak our two or three or four minutes, we should ask ourselves “What do I hope to accomplish? Is it necessary for me to address this issue publicly? Is there a better way to achieve my goal?”

We suspect if we all answered those questions honestly, we could decrease drama and increase efficiency of our meetings.