MILTON — Following recent storms in the tri-county area, Florida Forest Service officials encourage residents to practice safe burning, whether they are destroying yard debris or blown-down limbs and trees.

FFS, which regulates burning, shares these guidelines to stay safe, stay legal and avoid undesirable effects from smoke.

THE BASICS

●Legal burning hours are between 8 a.m. and one hour before sunset.

●Start any burn as early as possible — within the rules — so the fire has time to die before evening fog sets in.

●Piles greater than 8 feet in diameter require FFS authorization.

SETBACKS

Piles less than 8 feet in diameter must be:

●At least 25 feet from any forested area (grasslands, brush or wildlands)

●At least 25 feet from your home or other combustible structure

●At least 50 feet from a paved or public roadway

●At least 150 from an occupied dwelling other than your own home.

●Clear down to bare, mineral soil around your pile to prevent the fire from spreading

DON'TS

●Do not burn household garbage (including paper products), treated lumber, plastics, rubber materials, tires, pesticide, paint and aerosol containers. It is illegal.

●Do not burn green or wet materials. It is illegal and creates excessive smoke.

● Do not burn on windy days.

● Do not leave a fire unattended — even for a moment. Grass fires spread quickly. Be prepared. Keep handy a water hose, shovel or other means to put out the fire.

DO:

●Make sure the fire is completely out before leaving it — no smoke and no heat.

●Call for help immediately if your fire escapes. Several minutes may pass before a fire department or the FFF can arrive on scene.

●Know you might be held liable for the cost of suppression and damage to other properties

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Safety tips for burning Northwest Florida yard debris

CRESTVIEW — Crestview Girl Scouts have additional friends since Valentine's Day.

Nine Scouts and some of their family members delivered Girl Scout Cookies on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14 for over 50 residents of Crestview Manor as part of their continued outreach to elderly residents in our community.

The Scouts  would like to say "Thank You!" to Crestview for buying and donating boxes of cookies during booth sales this year and let them know they were delivered, said a spokesperson.

"The residents were very happy about cookies, as well as seeing the boys and girls.

"We delivered cookies as promised and Valentines as well as sang, made new friends in dining area. One part the residents and children both enjoyed … is when they all saw the tree outside of the manor and decided they must climb —(with) all parents present of course."

—

Editor's Note: The article has been updated from its initial version. The Boy Scout troop is 773, not 776. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Scouts make Crestview Valentine's Day deliveries

CRESTVIEW — A local supermarket's shopping carts are disappearing, and customers may soon have to help pay to replace them.

The Crestview Pic-N-Sav received 50 new shopping carts five months ago; as of this writing, just 28 remain, according to store manager Andy Harrelson. At $100 each, that’s $2,200 of the store’s revenue.

Pic-N-Sav carts have been found as far away as Old Betheland Aplin Roads, Harrelson said, adding the U.S. Highway 90 West store's cart problem is the worst he’s encountered among the chain's six locations he’s managed.

Harrelson said he doesn’t believe customers maliciously steal the carts. Many Pic-N-Save shoppers come from lower-income neighborhoods near the store, and need a way to get groceries home.

“I understand that some of them don’t have a vehicle,” Harrelson said, adding he has granted permission to customers who ask to take the carts home, provided they bring them back. “I’ve never told a single customer no."

Pic-N-Sav isn’t the shopping center's only store experiencing such thefts. “Our buggies disappear all the time,” said a Dollar General employee who wished to remain anonymous.

Crestview grocers in less residential locations don't seem to have the same issue.

“We don’t have a problem like that at our particular location,” Winn-Dixie manager Ricky Reeves said. The closest neighborhoods to his store, at the corner of Ferdon Boulevard North and Old Bethel Road, are mainly newer, middle-class developments.

Publix, at the corner of Ferdon Boulevard South and Redstone Avenue West, is in a predominantly commercial and medical area. Further, Publix bagboys take many customers’ groceries to their cars and return carts to the store.

Harrelson said his store on Feb. 14 received 100 shopping carts at a cost of $10,000. If more carts disappear, the added overhead may soon show up on price tags.

“Somebody’s got to pay that expense,” he said. “We don’t have a big enough profit margin to keep buying new ones.

"I’ve been fighting real hard to keep our prices down. But when $100 a pop starts hitting me, that one buggy somebody just took, it’s like they walked in and took $100 worth of groceries and walked out with it.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Shopping cart thefts could force Crestview supermarket to raise prices (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — A ribbon cutting is planned for the Tom Thumb Liquors store opening in Crestview.

The event is 6-9 p.m. Feb. 18 next to the Tom Thumb store, 5150 S. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview.

The store has a large selection of spirits, wine and craft beer, growler taps and more.

During the grand opening, the company will give free embroidery on Crown Royal bags with purchase, and free engraving of select Woodford Reserve/Gentlemen Jack bottles with purchase, while supplies last.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview ribbon cutting set for Tom Thumb Liquors

LAUREL HILL — Apalachicola folks know seafood. But for the pork part of a proposed gourmet foods venture, an Italian company's partners turned to local hog farmers.

Mark and Kasia Fortune have a successful line of sausages, bacon and pork loin made from a herd of free range, pure-bred Heritage Tamworth hogs at their Big Creek Farm in Laurel Hill. To that, Michael Battaglia — an American owner of Este Farms in Tuscany, Italy — wants to add a line of prosciutto, a smoky, often thinly sliced gourmet ham that, while commonplace in most of Europe, locally sells for upward of $15 a pound.

“This group of Italians saw my website,” www.bigcreekfarmflorida.com, Mark Fortune said. “They’re doing a joint venture down in Apalachicola with mullet roe. We talked about it as possibly being the only approved Tuscan prosciutto maker in the United States.”

The Battaglias await Apalachicola city commissioners' approval of Mayor Van Johnson’s request to provide the city’s Scipio Creek harbormaster’s house, rent-free, as the venture’s headquarters for the first three years, according to The Times of Apalachicola and Carrabelle. The Times, like the News Bulletin, is a GateHouse Media operation.

“Este and the mayor aim to make North Florida a central food producer by utilizing local traditions, including farming and fishing, with Italian partners in artisan food production,” Battaglia wrote in an email to The Times. “Not only will this create local jobs, in line with Governor (Rick) Scott’s ‘jobs jobs jobs’ program, but they will be locally based, developed and run; and in tune with healthy — and good — eating.”

The company’s goal is “quality-food-based job creation in northern Florida through direct investment, (joint ventures) and other partnerships between Italian and local businesses,” Battaglia stated.

If the proposal receives approval, Fortune said prosciutto would be produced in a plant built on his farm to the specifications of Este Farm’s Italian experts. Fortune currently relies on an out-of-state processing plant to produce his sausage and other foods. But he soon will open Okaloosa County’s only USDA-approved plant, which would support the prosciutto-curing house.

Because the best prosciutto comes from wild hogs, Fortune said, he and Este partners want the federal government to allow local hunters to trap boars on Eglin Reservation, and other federal land from Franklin to Okaloosa counties, and transport them to Big Creek Farm.

If the federal government approves the plan, Fortune believes the idea can work, profitably.

“You don’t have to feed this hog,” he said. “Takes me a damn year, year and a half to (fatten a pig). Here, you get a free hog.

“We’ll bring them in, let them calm down, then would days later slaughter them,” he said.

The Times of Apalachicola and Carrabelle Editor David Adlerstein contributed to this article

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill pig farmer could become Tuscan prosciutto maker

CRESTVIEW — Crestview High School band and cheerleaders will be on hand with residents, Main Street merchants and community leaders to welcome the return of passenger rail to the city.

Amtrak and the Southern Rail Commission will operate an Inspection Train from New Orleans to Jacksonville, Fla., with a Crestview stop, this week. 

The train, hosted by Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman, will carry elected officials, industry representatives, community leaders and federal stakeholders to examine new ideas for intercity passenger rail.

The goal of the invitation-only trip is to examine the existing CSX railroad infrastructure and to better understand rail's economic, cultural and mobility opportunities.

"It will provide an unparalleled perspective on reintroducing intercity passenger rail along the Gulf Coast," a spokesperson said.

The train will be at each of these stations for 10 minutes before departing at the times below.

Feb. 18:

●Louisiana: New Orleans, 8:45 a.m.

● Mississippi: Bay St. Louis, 10:20 a.m.; Gulfport, 11:00 a.m.; Biloxi, 11:31 a.m.; Pascagoula, 12:16 p.m.

●Alabama: Mobile, 1:25 p.m.; Atmore, 2:41 p.m.

Feb. 19:

●Florida: Pensacola, 8:00 a.m.; Crestview, 9:20 a.m.; Chipley, 11:00 a.m.; Tallahassee, 2:47 p.m.; Madison, 4:24 p.m.; Lake City, 5:35 p.m.; arriving Jacksonville at 7:15 p.m.

The SRC recently released a study by Amtrak detailing the range of feasible service options accompanied by an analysis of ridership levels, projected revenues, and associated costs for passenger trains between New Orleans and Orlando.

The models in this new study present the range of service options that will support regional economic resilience and projected population growth.

Better connections and financial performance has been projected in these models — with higher ridership and lower costs — than Amtrak services previously considered or operated in the region. The study can be found at the SRC website.

"We want to work with community leaders and CSX." said Boardman. "Additional regional economic development can come from shared infrastructure investments on a timeline to better connect the region to the rest of the country and more than 500 other Amtrak destinations."

Connecting the cities and towns along the Gulf Coast with passenger rail is one of the top priority projects for the Southern Rail Commission.

"The Southern Rail Commission is committed to working with local and federal partners, and Amtrak to make this service a reality in the near future," said SRC Chairman Greg White. "We are continuing to align the necessary support for the project."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Amtrak, Southern Rail Commission bring inspection train to Crestview

The Arbor Day Foundation is making it easy for everyone to celebrate the arrival of spring by planting trees.

Join the Arbor Day Foundation in March and receive 10 free white flowering dogwood trees.

"White flowering dogwoods are versatile trees that will break heavy winds and add beauty to your home," said Matt Harris, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. "These fast-growing landscape trees are known for their soft needles and graceful branching, making them an ideal addition to any yard."

The free trees are part of the nonprofit Foundation's Trees for America campaign.

With planting instructions included, the trees will be shipped at the right time for planting, between March 1 and May 31. The 6- to 12-inch trees are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge.

Arbor Day Foundation members also receive a subscription to Arbor Day, the Foundation's bimonthly publication, and The Tree Book, which contains information about tree planting and care.

To become a foundation member and receive the free trees, send a $10 contribution to Ten Free White Flowering Dogwood Trees, Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, Nebraska 68410, by March 31, or join online at http://www.arborday.org/march.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Join the Arbor Day Foundation and receive 10 free dogwoods

CRESTVIEW — The Hub City ranks high for Floridians who want to buy their first home, according to NerdWallet.

The San Francisco-based consumer finance site ranks Crestview at No. 28 of 308 places on its new list, "Top places for first-time homebuyers in Florida."

NerdWallet used 2014 data and measured trends from 2011 to 2014 to compile the list.

The city's highlights:

●Crestview — with 22,099 residents in 2014 — has a median annual income of $51,115

●Population grew 7.57 percent between 2011 and 2014

●Owners occupy 60.8 percent of housing

●Median home value is $157,700

●Selected monthly homeowner costs are $1,413

●Median property tax rate is 0.85 percent

However:

●Home values dipped 6.85 percent between 2011 and 2014

●It takes 14.3 years to save for a 20 percent down payment (assuming people save 4.8 percent annually, based on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' U.S. 10-year average)

●19 percent of families live in poverty

●The crime-risk score is "less safe"      

Other Northwest Florida communities in NerdWallet's top 30 places include East Milton, No. 1; Navarre, No. 3; Pace, No. 5; Niceville, No. 8; and Midway, No. 23. Fort Walton Beach, No. 31, just missed the list. 

So, why did NerdWallet focus on Florida?

See the full report: www.nerdwallet.com/blog/mortgages/first-time-home-buyer/#florida

This isn't the first time Crestview ranked high for its quality of life. 

See 'RELATED CONTENT' at left for more stories. 

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Why Crestview's a top place for first-time home buyers

CRESTVIEW —Agricultural producers can now sign up for funding available through the Conservation Stewardship Program, which helps improve the health and productivity of private and tribal working lands.

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service plans to add an estimated 10 million acres to the CSP rolls during fiscal 2016.

NRCS accepts applications for CSP throughout the year, but producers should submit applications by March 31 to USDA service centers to be considered for enrollment in 2016. Participants with existing CSP contracts expiring Dec. 31 may renew them for five more years if they agree to adopt additional activities to achieve higher conservation levels. Applications to renew are also due by March 31.

In Florida, producers can participate through CSP in the regional landscape-level Longleaf Pine Initiative.

Funding is available for more than 100 kinds of enhancements to help participants:

•Improve soil quality through use of cover crops, conservation crop rotations and other activities that increase soil productivity.

•Use water wisely and improve water quality through enhancements such as more efficient irrigation systems and weather monitoring.

•Restore habitat for wildlife and pollinators such as the greater sage-grouse, lesser prairie-chicken and monarch butterfly through the use of better grazing systems and improved plant management.

For more on technical and financial assistance available, visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or contact the Crestview NRCS office at 938 Ferdon Blvd. N., 682-3714, extension 3.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Conservation funding available for Northwest Florida agricultural producers

CRESTVIEW — Southbound traffic on State Road 85 will encounter lane restrictions as crews pour a section of concrete for the flyover bridge deck.

The closure affects the intersection of S.R. 85 and State Road 123 from 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 to 6 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20.

Construction activities are weather dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Motorists are reminded to travel with care through the work zone and to watch for construction equipment and workers entering and exiting the roadway.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Lane closure scheduled south of Crestview