The Concerned Citizens Group Of Crestview appreciates the gifts and everything businesses and the community did to help make our Back to School Bash good. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Back to School Bash donations appreciated

Dear editor,

My daughter's school bus ripped through here Monday morning going 35-plus mph, 10 minutes early, and didn't even stop when she saw my daughter sprinting after her.

I called the district transportation route coordinator because this lady was speeding and not going by her schedule.

What is really important is that she might not be stopping at the proper stops.

I had some issues last year as well. She dropped my daughter off at the wrong stop and didn't notice she was screaming running after the bus.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Concerns about school bus driver

Dear editor,

 As this election draws to a close, I wanted to pass along my thoughts. 

First of all, this campaign has been hard on our family. It is difficult when your husband, father, uncle, brother or son is being unfairly attacked in the ways Don Amunds has been attacked. As a family, we are leaning on each other and know that God has a plan for our lives. 

Second are this campaign's issues. Don has never raised taxes and he vows that he never will. He is extremely conservative, even voted against the new courthouse in Fort Walton and has insisted on cost-cutting measures in the Crestview Courthouse's renovation. Don feels there are ways to address storm water and infrastructure issues without raising your property taxes. Having good jobs in Okaloosa County is especially important since we have young adult sons that we hope settle down here.

The final thing I want to address is Don’s integrity. According to the dictionary, integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.

Integrity is also defined as wholeness or sameness all the way through. 

With Don, I can say, without reservation, that he is a man of integrity all the way through. Don has no hidden agendas. He has only one agenda: to keep Okaloosa County financially healthy while providing for everyone’s needs.

Vote for Don Amunds and you will be making a good decision for Okaloosa County!

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Amunds has integrity, 'extremely conservative' record, wife says

Dear editor,

We've all heard it: "Out with the incumbents! In with a fresh crop of public servants who will surely do a better job!"

But I just can’t go along with a blank slate, especially when some of our public servants are doing a great job! One of those people is Cindy Frakes, who has served on the Okaloosa County School Board and has been its chairman twice. Cindy has a depth of knowledge about the past and present of our school system and she has a passion for the future of our district.

When someone is doing a great job, please don’t choose someone else just because “it’s time” or some other invalid cliché. Look at Cindy’s record — new technical programs in the school, a STEMM program that other counties copied, focus on having resource officers to keep our schools safer.

Her next goal is to establish a new manufacturing academy with a focus on metal fabrication, which is a great need in the aerospace industry our community serves.

Choose the person with no “insider” obligations. Choose Cindy Frakes.

Gloria Frazier

Shalimar

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Don't vote out incumbents because of clichés

Dear editor,

I'd like to give a big thank you to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Detective Ralph Garrett for all his hard work and dedication to the Jewel Melvin murder case that was solved.

Thank you, Ralph. You never gave up trying.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Investigator never gave up on murder case

We are about to be thrown into another election cycle in the coming months, and although this year is a midterm election — lacking in the glitz and glamour of the presidential election years — it is no less important in determining these United States' representative government. 

With great excitement, I would like to announce the candidacy of Mark Wichern for Florida's First Congressional District.

Mark is a constitutional conservative with a firm code of morality.  He is a lifelong Republican running with no party affiliation.

Wichern does not desire to change America, but instead would like to focus on improving the government by maintaining a strict adherence to the Constitution, which establishes strict boundaries on federal government's duties. Through a reduction in the scope of Washington’s responsibilities, Mark aims to return some of the powers of governance to state and local levels, as well as diminish Washington’s insatiable appetite for tax revenue and pork-barrel spending.

As a business owner, job creator, and educator, Mark sees the importance of small businesses as the engine for growth in the American economy,  particularly after the implosion of Wall Street in 2008, and the resulting sluggish recovery. By lowering the tax burden on small businesses so they can compete with large corporations and foreign entities, Mark hopes to elevate the American middle class that has been hollowed out over the past decade between the millstones inflation and taxation. 

By encouraging small businesses' growth by reducing stifling regulations, companies will enrich the community through local job growth, increased local prosperity, and ultimately a larger consumer base for which businesses can interpret as an increase in the size of the market.

Through this plan, Mark hopes to create a new class of American entrepreneurs, capable of maintaining strong purchasing power and reinvigorating the great engine of a free country and return our republic to its original goal of individual self-determination.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Candidate would strictly adhere to the Constitution

Dear editor,

I recently returned to Crestview and stopped by the Live Oak Park Memorial Cemetery on North Avenue  to pay respects to family members' grave sites.

I was shocked to find weeds and grass everywhere. 

Even Robert Sikes' grave is full of weeds. I contacted relatives, who said that when they contact the main office they tell them they are "short staffed" or "there is no problem." 

Many prominent families are buried there, and I am just still in shock. Names such as Enzor, Thigpen, Waters, Sikes — all the prominent families at the local and state level as I was growing up. 

Someone should check into the perpetual care. I am scared to know what will happen when my generation is gone.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Cemetery's maintenance needs improvement

Dear editor,

In a world where climate change and environmental destruction are important political and social issues vital to our nation and planet's health, is it not important for us to instill a sense of ownership in our youth?

Something as simple as littering goes hand in hand for a care and love for not only our local environment but also the environment as a whole.

Crestview does not seem to place an emphasis on enforcing littering laws or on educating the youth on littering and recycling issues. If such laws were more strictly enforced, both of these issues could have a dramatic impact upon our local environment and our city's impact on Earth.

By educating our young through the school system, I feel we will reduce our carbon footprint via recycling and will keep our streets clean and litter free. This has the potential for a real, lasting change — one that needs to take place in our society as a whole.

A love and care for the environment needs to grow and be nurtured in our young.

This is the first step in a long line of steps; interest needs to be gathered and spread for its importance to be recognized.

I implore my fellow citizens of Crestview who feel strongly on this issue to raise their voice and speak so that a real change may come!

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Anti-littering laws need more enforcement

As absentee and early voting begins for Okaloosa County commissioner, I’m asking you to vote for my friend Henry Kelley. 

He farms in Baker at Akers of Strawberries, helped bring the Florida A&M Pharmaceutical School to Crestview, and understands that our sewage and road problems need to be fixed in Crestview.

He makes a point that no one else seems to get in his race: that a healthy infrastructure in Crestview makes it easier for tourists to get to the south end — and the entire county is better as a result.

Don’t be fooled by the signs and ads you get — there is one candidate in this county commissioner race who has a proven record of supporting the north end of this county — and his name is Henry Kelley.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Crestview needs healthy infrastructure, Kelley

Dear editor,

Since the floods in April, Oak Hill Road has been washed out and still remains unfixed.

My personal commute from home to work, and back again, has been extended by at least 10 minutes each way. This is causing me to burn more gas in my car, and more pollution sent into the air.

I know for a fact I am not the only one with this problem because I have seen other complaints sent in to the city and different news outlets over the past few months.

I understand there is debate over how to classify the damage, but we really need this road fixed as soon as possible. The delayed construction is causing more unnecessary pollution to our area, and more unnecessary spending of money on gas.

Thank you for the timely fix of this road.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LETTER: Oak Hill Road repairs needed ASAP