Over the long holiday weekend, communities around Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties and the nation came together to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. It is a legacy that everyone would do well to not only remember, but to take to heart.

The debate whether to widen Caroline Street through Milton is over, or it should be. It should have ended in 2019, when the Florida Department of Transportation announced its preferred route to improve U.S. Highway 90 traffic flow through the city after a five-year project development and environment (PD&E) study.

Our New Year’s wish for Milton and Santa Rosa County is simple: Civility. Nobody expects citizens in a free society to agree on every, or even most, issues. Diversity of thought is vital to good government, the best solutions produced by critical analysis and healthy debate.

DEAR EDITOR: “I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?”

We! We believe! We believe that we can win! (At least, we hope we did….) We’re writing this the day before the United States’ men’s team plays Iran with a berth in the knockout round of the World Cup at stake.

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.

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.

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.

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!