Our editorial this week should be an eye-opener for anyone with children or anyone who cares about children in our school district. Another issue that has been bubbling up is the Holley-Navarre Water System’s 2019-2020 policy which looks at commercial properties, what the property originally paid in tap fees, and what their current usage is, only to ask for impact fees –after the fact.

We wrote a few stories about the owner of the 23.2 acres across from Springhill Suites “threatening” or “promising” to build three 16-story buildings having 697 residential condominiums, 148 condo/hotel units and 10,000 square feet for retail use – because it has come up at county meetings.

The beach traffic seems to have calmed down a bit since Memorial Day weekend and the weekend before. I try to go to the beach when all the locals are leaving. As a local, you have an advantage to plan to go when the timing is right because, hopefully, we have many opportunities to go. I apply the same principle when I go to Destin during the summer. First of all, I do my best not to go during the summer.

Ever had one of those days where you are trying to hurry up and get the most important work done so you can go home early in the heat of the day (83 degrees – 75% humidity) and mow your yard? Well, I have – and that day is today.

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.