Need something to do this weekend? Check out these fun events:

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 5 things to do this week in Northwest Florida

CRESTVIEW — During spring, residents’ thoughts turn toward gardening.

University of Florida Okaloosa County Extension Director Larry Williams said for the best selection of plants best suited to the local environment, go to a nursery.

To that end, Crestview Nurseries’ Dan Horn shares some tips for home gardeners and landscapers.

What should folks plant this time of year?

Bedding plants are doing well. Vegetables are the big thing now. Peppers, basil, tomatoes — now’s the time to get them in the ground.

What should people avoid?

Pansies and snapdragons. We don’t carry them now. We carry them in the fall. Ornamental kale and cabbage are fall plants, too.

What about fruit trees?

Fall is best for most fruit trees. Citrus is OK for spring and summer, unless we have a late freeze.

What’s the biggest mistake home gardeners make?

Not watering enough. Especially in the heat and sun of summer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Q&A: Crestview nursery owner offers spring planting tips

CRESTVIEW — Drivers will encounter these traffic restrictions in Okaloosa and Walton counties as crews perform construction activities.

Okaloosa County:

●Interstate 10 resurfacing: Intermittent, alternating east and westbound lane and shoulder closures, and partial closure of the County Road 189 (Holt exit) entrance and exit ramps: 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday, March 28 through Thursday, March 31 from the Santa Rosa County line to east of C.R. 189.  The speed limit will be 60 mph in the active work zone.

●U.S. 90 eastbound and westbound lane closures, from west of the Shoal River Bridge to the Walton County line: 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 through Saturday, April 2.

●State Road 85 (Eglin Parkway): Intermittent southbound lane closures from Yacht Club Drive to First Avenue: 8 p.m. Monday, March 28 to 4 a.m. Tuesday, March 29.

●Lane closures at the S.R. 85N/S.R. 123 intersection: 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 30 through Tuesday, April 5.

Walton County:

●I-10 resurfacing: Intermittent and alternating east and westbound lane closures, from just west of Boy Scout Road to just east of U.S. 331, 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, March 28 through Thursday, Mar. 31. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 5 Okaloosa, Walton traffic changes to expect

CRESTVIEW — Just as Niceville residents know an F-35’s roar is the sound of freedom, Northwest Crestview residents know an aircraft’s buzz comes from a local economic engine.

Bob Sikes Airport generates more than $174 million in payrolls and spending, a state aviation impact study reported.

Defense contractor L3 Crestview Aerospace has called the airport home since its earliest days as Fairchild-Hiller, when Vietnam War jets used its landing strip, and Lockheed-Martin moved into BAE’s former hangar to retrofit.

Thirty-plus-year tenant Sunshine Aero Flight Test, using its own air fleet, flies military payloads for testing, calibration and evaluation.

Sunshine Aero is part of Dr. Paul Hsu’s Crestview Technology Air Park, which the engineer plans to expand to include technology industries and an educational component. Educators from Northwest Florida State College and the university of West Florida plan an April C-TAP tour.

On the runway’s opposite end, Tepper Aviation, next door to Crestview Aerospace, performs similar functions as Sunshine, flight-testing aircraft for defense contractors.

Midway along the runway, while companies like Lockheed-Martin and Crestview Aerospace build better planes, Qwest Air Parts disassembles aircraft and sells the parts.

Lockheed’s conversion of C-130 aircraft into gunships for special operations is a 24-hour-a-day project, Okaloosa Airports Deputy Director Mike Stenson said. The program has employed more than 200 workers and, “a couple months ago, these jobs were non-existent,” Okaloosa County Airports Director Tracy Stage said.

Not all of Bob Sikes Airport’s business is up in the air. Bay State Cable Ties used state and county business development incentives and relocated there from Massachusetts.

Next door, long-time tenant Asurion employs hundreds of workers in a consumer warranty call center.

Off John Givens Road is the Okaloosa County Industrial Air Park, where Custom Production manufactures metal components for diverse industries, including high-end bicycles and garden furniture.

Pre-approved hangar and industrial sites along Bob Sikes’ taxiway generate interest in businesses seeking to relocate, Stage said.

“We’re trying to attract businesses that want access to the airfield, and to support businesses in the air park that want to support airfield businesses,” he said.

One of the biggest attractions, Stage said, is “we don’t have a problem at Bob Sikes with encroachment.”

“Performing major modification and testing of aircraft is not an issue,” Stage said. “The airport and its boundaries have been protected to make a strong engine for economic growth.”

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BOB SIKES AIRPORT ECONOMIC IMPACT

● Total employment: 2,791

● Direct impacts from airport tenants/businesses and construction: $174,324,000

● Indirect impacts from visitors who arrive by general aviation aircraft: $1,853,000

● Multiplier impacts: $117,516,000

● Total payroll: $108,208,000

● Total output: $293,693,000

Source: Florida Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study, August 2014

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BOB SIKES AIRPORT BY THE NUMBERS

IATA Airport Code: CEW

Runway ID: 17/35 (17 is north end, 35 is south end)

Runway length: 8,004 feet (2,440 meters, or 1.5 miles)

Runway width: 150 feet (46 meters)

Runway elevation: 213 to 153 feet, north to south

NEARBY GENERAL AVIATION AIRPORTS

Listed by distance from Crestview Bob Sikes Airport (CEW), with runway lengths in comparison to CEW’s 8,004 feet.

DeFuniak Springs Airport (54J): 4,146-foot runway

Florala (Ala.) Municipal Airport (OJ4): 3,197-foot runway

Destin Airport (DTS): 5,001-foot runway

Peter Prince Field, Milton (2R4): 3,701-foot runway

Fort Walton Beach Airport (1J9): 2,100-foot runway

Brewton (Ala.) Municipal Airport (12J): 5,136-foot runway

Logan Field, Sampson, Ala. (1A4): 3,596-foot runway

South Alabama Regional Airport, Andalusia (79J): 6,000-foot runway

Geneva (Ala.) Municipal Airport (33J): 3,998-foot runway

Source: Global Aviation Navigator, Inc.

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CRESTVIEW AIRPORTS HISTORY

Oct. 3, 1929: The Okaloosa Messenger encourages city leaders to improve Savage Field, the city’s landing strip on Juke Hill, where Big Lots and Day’s Tire center are presently located, built on the site of the Savage turpentine still operation.

1937: Crestview Airport’s runway is constructed around the site of present-day Crestview High School. The Civil Aeronautics Authority selects it as an emergency landing field for heavy traffic between New Orleans and Jacksonville. Modern equipment includes a radio beam approach signal and a beacon that could be seen from Alabama in clear weather.

c. 1944: Crestview gets a celebrity visit when entertainer Bob Hope is driven by car from weather-bound Mobile to meet his plane at Municipal Field. An airport worker quickly spread word that Hope was coming, resulting in a large crowd awaiting his arrival.

1944: Johnny Ridgway established Ridgway Flying Service at Municipal Airport, becoming Crestview airports’ first official fixed-base operator.

Spring 1946: The town of Crestview takes over ownership of Municipal Airport from the CAA. Controversy erupts when a resident claims Ridgway’s $2 per hour flying charge for commercial users is too high.

June 28, 1946: The largest plane to date lands in Crestview when a Navy version of the B-24 Liberator bomber lands at Municipal Airport in foul weather.

1961: Okaloosa County Airport and Industrial Commission is established for operating Municipal Airport and surrounding land. Plans are made to move the airport to the Fairchild-Hiller landing strip at the present Bob Sikes Airport location.

Early 1964: Bob Sikes Airport’s Flight Service Station, or FBO, is opened.

May 22, 1965: Bob Sikes Airport is dedicated and officially begins public operations. Airport tenants include the Federal Aviation Agency, Fairchild-Hiller, Republic Aviation Corp. and Brand Flying Services.

Oct. 2010: The world’s third-largest aircraft, an Antonov An-124, delivers a payload of helicopters bound for Fort Rucker at Bob Sikes Airport

Source: “Crestview: The Forkland,” by Betty Curenton and Claudia Patten, reprinted 2016

● Total employment: 2,791

● Direct impacts from airport tenants/businesses and construction: $174,324,000

● Indirect impacts from visitors who arrive by general aviation aircraft: $1,853,000

● Multiplier impacts: $117,516,000

● Total payroll: $108,208,000

● Total output: $293,693,000

Source: Florida Statewide Aviation Economic Impact Study, August 2014

BOB SIKES AIRPORT ECONOMIC IMPACT

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: IN DEPTH: Bob Sikes Airport contributes hundreds of millions to local economy

CRESTVIEW — When a wasp crawls around your fig tree, don’t swat it. It’s doing its part to assure the tree keeps producing figs.

Home gardeners are generally unaware of how many plant species depend on pollination, and how many critters do the job, Okaloosa County Master Gardener Stacy Taylor said.

“What’s pollination?” Taylor said. “It’s sex, that’s what it is.”

Pollination is technically the transfer of plant sperm to plant ovaries via pollen, Taylor said.  

That’s done by transferring pollen grains from a plant’s stamen to its pistil. To do that, gardeners and farmers need pollinators.

Wasps crawl around a front-yard fig tree and, incidentally, lose their antenna and wings trying to get through the fruit to the flower inside.

“So when we’re eating figs, we’re also eating that stuff,” Taylor said. “Isn’t that something to think about.”

Local pollinators also include bees, moths, bats, birds, flies, slugs, gnats and beetles, which, perhaps surprisingly, are more responsible for pollinating than any of the others, Taylor said.

Ants you could go ahead and squish.

“Ants aren’t very efficient pollinators,” she said. “Their feet aren’t furry so not much sticks to them,” and besides, ants produce a substance on their shells that actually kills pollen.

As residents wash their cars and porches of spring’s annual yellow pine pollen dusting, they’re also responding to one of Northwest Florida’s other pollinators: the wind.

In our area, pollination occurs all year, benefiting multiple species. And “flowers,” which are integral to the process, aren’t always the brightly colored, gently waving, pleasant-smelling things in the garden.

Remember that wasp burrowing through the fig to get to the flower inside?

“Flowers have specialized beyond what we could ever imagine,” Taylor said. That includes generating electrical fields to let bees know when their nectar is ready for sipping. “That’s something to think about the next time you’re looking at your pretty flowers.

“Nothing happens by chance.”

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North Okaloosa County plants that rely on pollinators include beans, blackberries, black-eyed peas, blueberries, cotton, grapes, honey, loquats, okra, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon. Corn, peanuts and pecans self-pollinate or are wind pollinated. Local pollinators include honey bees, bumblebees, beetles, birds, butterflies, moths and wasps.

North Okaloosa County plants that rely on pollinators include beans, blackberries, black-eyed peas, blueberries, cotton, grapes, honey, loquats, okra, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, strawberries, tomatoes and watermelon. Corn, peanuts and pecans self-pollinate or are wind pollinated. Local pollinators include honey bees, bumblebees, beetles, birds, butterflies, moths and wasps.

DID YOU KNOW?

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa pollination is a year-round process (VIDEO)

PANAMA CITY — Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) has announced that United Airlines will add additional flights from ECP to Houston, Texas, which provides easy access to their worldwide network.

United Airlines will offer passengers with increased air service offerings with an additional daily flight to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) beginning on June 9 during the month of June.

Preparing for more passengers, United Airlines will also increase its capacity by utilizing a larger plane during the weekends. By upgrading to an EMB 175, the passenger loads on this flight will increase from 50 to 75.

The service links the region to United’s Houston hub offering one-stop connections to other cities in the airline’s global route network, as well as connections to additional cities in the Star Alliance network. The increased air service will also bring in additional tourism to the area.

“We are excited United Airlines will offer our passengers additional nonstop flight options,” said Airport Executive Director Parker W. McClellan, Jr. “United continues to offer our passengers a one-stop connection to worldwide destinations throughout their global route network.”

United Airlines celebrated one year of service in the region in March. ECP continues to grow and offer additional air service to passengers in the region. This announcement comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for ECP, with a total growth year over year of 9.35 percent.

Check out www.United.com for reservations and flight status.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Expect more United Airlines flights at Panama City airport

CRESTVIEW — Hot Head Burritos at 2220 Ferdon Blvd. S., has been open since Feb. 17, and a Crestview Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting for the company is set for 10 a.m. March 31.

Known for its flavorful burritos, bowls, and other quick-serve Mexican offerings, the restaurant offers its customers over 10 sauces, ranging from the mild zesty garlic Hot Head sauce to the wildly fiery Straight Habanero.

They give customers even more choices and the ability to customize their meal exactly to their liking. Here, you can get it from "Mild to Wild."

Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10:30  a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Aside from the classic menu items of burritos and bowls, Hot Head Burritos customers can choose from custom made tacos, nachos and quesadillas.

The menu also features several gluten-free options and a 400-calorie “Lil Bowl” for health conscious diners.

This is the third Hot Head Burritos location in the Florida market. The first Hot Head Burritos in Florida opened in the Fort Walton area in March of 2014 and the second location opened in North Pensacola in March 2015.  

Have you been to the Crestview location? How are you enjoying it? 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Hot Head Burritos in Crestview: What's your opinion?

CRESTVIEW — Siena is a friendly, attentive, devoted 5-year-old golden retriever.

But as a service dog, when Siena is out with her disabled handler, Dr. Linda Thornton, she’s also at work, guiding the 20-year Army veteran through her daily life.

Thornton, a retired lieutenant colonel, relies on Siena’s guidance to maintain her independence. By law, wherever Thornton goes, Siena may go, too.

But that didn’t happen when the snowbird — who taught dentistry for 20 years at Temple University in Philadelphia after retiring from the Army — recently visited some Crestview businesses.

“I walked into two (nail salons) and was told by the proprietors that they would not acknowledge my request for service,” Thornton stated in an email. “They were under the misbelief that all dogs had fleas, which could be given to customers. They thought that all dogs could injure children and destroy property.”

“There was a customer in the store who had to tell the owner, ‘Hey, that’s a service dog. You have to let her in,’” Thornton said. “He said, ‘I don’t mind you coming, but when you come back, don’t come back with your dog.’”

“This action alone tells me there is a problem in Crestview that should be addressed as soon as possible,” Thornton stated in her email.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states, “A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises.” But Marietta Birdsell, a puppy trainer for Canine Companions for Independence, said she’s aware of similar problems.

 “We have had graduates have access problems,” Birdsell said. “Usually it doesn’t go to legal action when it’s explained to the business, but it can go to the state attorney’s office.”

Thornton said she has another concern: “Most of the residents that Siena and I have met are extremely friendly,” she said, but some pet Siena without asking permission, despite her harness tag reading “Service dog. Ask to pet.”

“Unfortunately, they appear to be deficient in the proper etiquette required when they encounter a disabled individual with a service dog,” Thornton stated. “I applaud the efforts of mothers who try to explain the difference between their family pet and a service dog.”

Petting a service dog could prevent the animal from performing his or her job, according to Please Don’t Pet Me, a web community promoting awareness of the issue. 

Thornton said Crestview generally is welcoming and hospitable, and she plans to retire here. She believes correcting the problems she and Siena experience are simply matters of educating business owners and residents.

“We have to treat each other with tender loving care,” she said. “Everybody’s important. We expect to be treated just like everybody else: with kindness.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Disabled veteran champions service-dog education in Crestview

CRESTVIEW — The Fred Astaire Dance Studio Latin Night is scheduled.

Students and instructors will attend the event, which is 9-11 p.m. April 1 at the studio, 544 Main St., Crestview. Salsa, meringue and bachata music and Latin dance will be the focus for the evening.

Bring your own beverage; ice and refreshments are provided.

Tickets cost $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

To purchase or for details, call 682-1455 or visit the studio. The company's website is http://fredastairecrestview.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Latin Night set at Fred Astaire studio in Crestview

VALPARAISO — The Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida is gearing up for its 40th Saturday in the Park Festival and Heritage 5K.

The free event, which showcases Northwest Florida's heritage, is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 30 at the Perrine Park, across from the museum at 115 Westview Ave.

It includes free museum admission, historic re-enactments and traditional craft demonstrations, a 5K run/walk, live entertainment, craft and food vendors, a Kid Zone. There will also be a flower show and a car show & shine.

The day’s festivities starts with the 8 a.m. run, following a traditional opening ceremony with invocation, presentation of colors by Niceville High School ROTC and the National Anthem sung by the Plew Elementary Choir beginning at 7:45 a.m.

Sign-ups begin at noon for old-fashioned contests; watermelon eating, bubble gum blowing, and a sack race. Winners get a free pass to the Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island. Limited contest space.

There will be plenty of handicap parking and a golf cart shuttle from Lincoln Park and surrounding streets. Spaces are still available for arts and crafts vendors, nonprofits, government agencies and clubs.

Go to www.heritage-museum.org, call 678-2615 or email info@heritage-museum.org.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Saturday in the Park and Heritage 5K planned