CRESTVIEW — The late Durell Peaden is now known as more than a beloved country doctor and hard-working former state senator who sought to bring quality healthcare education to Crestview.

He is now, officially, Crestview’s Favorite Son.

Mayor David Cadle made the proclamation during Monday’s ceremony naming the Florida A&M University Rural Diversity Healthcare Center's downtown building in Peaden’s honor.

“Dr. Peaden’s character, devotion, Christian faith, and commitment to his family and Crestview have endeared him to all who knew him,” Cadle said during the proclamation.

“It takes one person with a vision who is steadfast and never takes ‘no’ for an answer to make things happen,” Cadle said later Monday in a report to the City Council.

City Councilman Joe Blocker said he received much positive feedback following the mayor’s proclamation, including assurances from FAMU administrator and students that Peaden’s visions for the city would be fulfilled.

“I want to echo what the mayor said,” Blocker said. “I talked to many people who worked with Dr. Peaden and they said, ‘Mr. Blocker, we are not going to let his ideas die.’”

“He was one of the city of Crestview, Florida’s, greatest citizens,” Cadle said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Peaden named Crestview's Favorite Son

These projects are approved to receive RESTORE Act funding in Okaloosa County:

●Economic revitalization of Niceville’s Historic Old Downtown, $400,000. Objective is to acquire property in Niceville’s historic downtown to serve as a public landing.

●Okaloosa County snorkel/dive reef construction, $1.229 million. Create a network of reefs that will fill a niche tourism market while creating a new marine habitat.

●Captain Royal Melvin Heritage Park and Plaza, $1.25 million. This project builds a park and plaza to serve as a public gateway to the Destin harbor and its charter fishing fleet.

●Clement Taylor Park restoration, $750,000. Restores the park by demolishing the existing playground and replacing it.

●CAST (Coastal Agriculture, Science, and Technology) five-year plan, $397,423. CAST will provide a hands-on science lab with an emphasis on ecosystems and marine life.

●Laffitte Crescent stormwater infrastructure retrofit, $432,000. Replaces failing stormwater infrastructure that contributes to flooding conditions and pollutants into Cinco Bayou.

●FWB Landing waterfront improvements Phase 1, $1.1 million. Enhance the park for community events by constructing a seawall, dock, boardwalk and other improvements.

●Gulfarium C.A.R.E. Center RESTORE, $89,580. Phase 1 includes the construction of six new pools, the refurbishment of existing pools and the purchase of state-of-the-art life support systems.

●C.W. Ruckel STEM class, $16,500. Requested funds to purchase and ship modules where students can work in groups of two on various STEM programs.

●Student-led habitat restoration in Okaloosa County, $90,000. Will fund student-led restoration and protection projects at city- and county-owned properties.

●The NeighborWood at Emerald Coast Science Center, $89,999. A habitat restoration and expansion project to improve a 30,000-square-foot outdoor learning environment.

●Multi-use outdoor community facility in Niceville, $83,000. A new facility, featuring gazebos, benches and parking, that can host community functions.

●Life Center of Gregg Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, $90,000. The church is transforming the former Chester Pruitt Recreation Center into a community center.

●Enhancing the STEM biomedical sciences program, $11,039. Allows the high school’s biomedical sciences program to offer a more intense professional program.

●Choctawhatchee High School workforce development program, $89,995. Increase the current engineering, aerospace and science department.

●Okaloosa Lane bridge conversion, $90,000. Install a single-span bridge allowing the existing creek to be reestablished to conditions similar to what would have existed if the culverts had never been placed there.

●Preservation trail near Turkey Creek, $90,000. Complete Phases 1 and 2 of the preservation trail to provide healthy, recreational and educational activities within the Niceville city limits.

●Environmental and ecological science fair projects, $36,862. Expands Northwood Arts and Science Academy’s science curriculum by creating an ongoing school-wide science fair project focusing on environment and ecology.

●Bringing Up the Trades, $67,321. Purchase materials so a basic construction course can be offered at Baker School.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 19 Okaloosa projects receive RESTORE funds

HOLT — Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles wants to hear how Holt residents want the community to grow and develop.

He has scheduled an informal meeting — 5:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall — to discuss the topic.

"As the District 3 commissioner and a resident of the Holt community, I am interested in gathering feedback about economic development in our community," Boyles said. "With an existing industrial park, interstate exchange and railway, Holt has considerable potential for future economic development.

"Economic development can bring good, high-wage jobs but being competitive with other communities may require substantial investment in planning and infrastructure," Boyles said. "Economic development also can bring unwanted changes to a community."

Boyles said he invited county administration and Economic Development Council representatives, along with state officials, to participate in the conversation and answer residents' questions.

"It is my hope that information gathered from the meeting can be used to help guide and direct infrastructure and economic development planning," Boyles said. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Holt economic development meeting scheduled

Drivers will encounter these traffic disruptions as crews perform construction activities:

●U.S. Highway 331 across the Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge in Walton County: intermittent lane closures 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. beginning Monday, Oct. 26 through Friday, Oct. 30.

●U.S. 331, between the relief bridge and Bay Grove Road: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29 to 6 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30.

●State Road 123, from north of Toms Creek to north of Turkey Creek: Traffic will be reduced to one lane 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28 to 6 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. 

●S.R. 4, from the Santa Rosa county line, to 16th Street in Baker: Intermittent lane closures from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 4 Okaloosa, Walton lane closures to expect

CRESTVIEW — Alice Thomas’ fifth-graders at Antioch Elementary School in Crestview recently contacted the publisher of Rush Revere, the character Rush Limbaugh created to time-travel back into American history.

The classroom received a complimentary set of books and CDs featuring the author reading his work, as well as a poster that resembles a few of the students.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Antioch class in Crestview named to Rush Revere crew

Dear editor,

Please take some of the workers that know what they're doing, and know how to do something — besides trying to figure out how to spend all our tax money, and the B.P. oil money.

Please take them and buy some old-fashioned Clorox — not the cheap kind — and good old vinegar.

And pay the workers to do the work!

Then let it dry after a good scrubbing. Go to the paint store and buy some real good paint and repaint it all.

Then after this, if you need (to add) other spaces to our good old county courthouse, do it guys! Add on wherever it needs to be done.

Please don't waste our good things that are already there. I watched the courthouse being built in the '50s!

So my idea is to save our beautiful historical courthouse that everyone is proud of, and this will save 21 million tax dollars.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Clorox, good workers could clean Okaloosa courthouse

CRESTVIEW — People who live in the P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road corridor's eastern section — and who've for years heard rumors about traffic improvement plans — finally saw something tangible during a Tuesday evening presentation. 

Construction is scheduled for two of four phases to widen the stretch of road between State Road 85 and the Interstate 10 overpass. In autumn 2016, work will begin on widening the current two-lane roads to four lanes, plus adding a 22-foot median, a 4-foot bike lane and a 6-foot sidewalk, between S.R. 85 and Ashley Drive/Villacrest Drive.

“Things are coming together nicely after so long,” Crestview City Councilman Bill Cox, a Countryview Estates resident, said, adding that construction — which was supposed to start this fall — was delayed to allow the first two segments to be built concurrently.

Cox said he also is pleased to see a traffic light planned for the P.J. Adams-east Villacrest Drive intersection.

Anna Summers, a Countryview resident and director of CrossPoint Church’s elementary school program, agreed. “At night, just trying to turn left is impossible,” she said. “We have ministries that go on almost every weeknight, including Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. We’re pretty busy.”

Residents Willie and Ana David are glad to see sound barriers proposed for those sections where homes, such as theirs, back up against P.J. Adams. “This is definitely going to be a plus for the residents,” Willie David said. “Some folks are talking about moving out because of the traffic, but they might stick around now.”

Crestview native Graham Fountain, whose wife’s grandfather was P.J. Adams, recalled days when land bordering the road was mostly trees. He sees the four-laning as part of a long-awaited bypass. “The P.J. Adams project will aid greatly in moving traffic around Crestview,” Fountain said. “During storm evacuations, traffic movements from the south county northward will be enhanced greatly.”

“Residents’ reactions have been very positive,” project manager Brad Collins, with HDR Engineering, said during the public meeting. “Everybody wants a four-lane. They face congestion every day. That’s growing pains.”

Not all residents are as eager to see the project completed.

“It’s a residential road,” Erica Barrett said. “It shouldn’t be a bypass going through a residential area.

“My other concern is my neighbors’ property value is going to be lost. Their backyards are going to be lost and there’s going to be a big noise barrier in the yard.”

Barrett agreed that some improvements are necessary.

“We need bike paths and we need sidewalks and we need turning lanes, but we don’t need something this big,” she said. “A lot of it is for tourists heading south.

"They need to find a different way to run a bypass around our residential area.”

PROJECT TIMELINE

The P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road corridor will widen — to four lanes between State Road 85 and the interstate 10 overpass — in these phases:

●I: S.R. 85 to Villacrest Drive/Key Lime Place; starts fall 2016

●II: Villacrest/Key Lime to Villacrest West/Ashley Drive; starts fall 2016

●III: Villacrest/Ashley to Wildhorse Drive/Northview Drive; start date TBD

●IV: Wildhorse/Northview to I-10; start date TBD

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

HDR Engineering and Okaloosa County Public Works staffers welcome public comments on P.J. Adams Parkway/Antioch Road expansion plans.

Send them on or before Oct. 27 to: Brad Collins, HDR Engineering, 25 W. Cedar St., #200, Pensacola FL  32502; Michael.collins@hdrinc.com; or Scott Bitterman, Okaloosa County Engineer, 1759 S. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview FL  32536, sbitterman@co.okaloosa.fl.us.

PROJECT TIMELINE / SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview residents review P.J. Adams Parkway plans; construction starts fall '16

CRESTVIEW — Nineteen projects are being considered for RESTORE Act funding in Okaloosa County.

Here is a look at North Okaloosa area proposals:

●Student-led habitat restoration in Okaloosa County — $90,000: Will fund student-led restoration and protection projects at city- and county-owned properties.

●Okaloosa Lane bridge conversion, $90,000. Install a single-span bridge that will allow the existing creek to be reestablished to conditions similar to what would have existed if the culverts had never been placed there.

●Environmental/ecological science fair projects, $36,862. Expands Northwood Arts and Science Academy’s science curriculum by creating an ongoing school-wide science fair project focusing on environment and ecology.

●Bringing Up the Trades, $67,321. Purchase materials required for a basic construction course to be offered at Baker School.

 The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act, signed into law in 2012, helps restore programs, projects and activities affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa projects among consideration for oil spill recovery funds

CRESTVIEW — Two of Crestview's oldest churches inadvertently shackled from future growth will be unfettered if two re-rezoning ordinances pass a second Crestview City Council reading.

The council on Monday unanimously approved the first of two required public readings of two ordinances amending the city’s comprehensive plan to revert downtown churches to their original zoning.

“It will be taken back to commercial district, which is the original district in which it was assigned prior to the change to downtown mixed-use district,” Teresa Gaillard, the city's growth management director, said.

The First Presbyterian Church and LifePoint, the former First Assembly of God, were included when downtown was rezoned in August 2014. The  mixed-use zoning — which officials hoped would encourage people to live in, visit and start businesses such as restaurants, shops and cafes in the historic district — was adopted as part of a revitalization plan. It also discourages new churches from setting up in the district, and prohibits existing churches from expanding.

First Presbyterian is considering plans to raze and replace an aging education building, which, if it grows beyond the building’s existing footprint, would run afoul of current zoning.

But that restriction would be gone if zoning reversion passes, as expected, on the second reading at the Oct. 26 City Council meeting. “It will be allowed to do its renovations or expand if they're going to rebuild,” Gaillard said.

“It is good news, and I am very pleased that what perhaps was an oversight was rectified,” First Presbyterian’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Broadhead, said.

“First Presbyterian Church was chartered in 1916, as was the city, and we’ve enjoyed being a presence of Christ in the heart of the city. This ordinance will let us continue to grow.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: First Presbyterian, LifePoint churches expected to revert to previous Crestview zoning

CHIPLEY — Drivers will encounter traffic disruptions on these state roads in Okaloosa and Walton counties as crews perform construction activities.

●U.S. Highway 98 near Hurlburt Field. Expect alternating and intermittent lane closures between 7 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. until further notice on the on-and-off ramps at the Cody Avenue/Campaigne Street interchange.

Closures will not be allowed during peak travel times — 5:30-7:30 a.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m.

●State Road 123 near Turkey Creek. Southbound traffic will be reduced to one lane near Turkey Creek 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14 as crews place beams for new the bridge.  Traffic flaggers and a pilot vehicle will be on site to safely guide motorists through the work zone. 

●U.S. 331 across the Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge (Clyde B. Wells Bridge) in Walton County. Expect intermittent lane closures 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday, Oct.14 and Thursday, Oct. 15 as crews pour concrete for the new bridge. 

In addition, there will be alternating lane closures between Bay Grove Road and the Choctawhatchee Relief Bridge from 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16 to 6 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17 as workers pave and stripe the newly constructed northbound travel lanes. Traffic will be shifted to the new lanes once this work is completed.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa, Walton lane closures planned through Oct. 17