A week after 28-year-old Christopher Beal, of Crestview, went missing while swimming at Navarre Beach, the Navarre Fire Department has suspended its search.
Read more from the Northwest Florida Daily News>>
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: UPDATE: Search suspended for missing Crestview swimmer; friends grieve
PENSACOLA — Gulf Power customers' electricity bills will decrease this month, and the company will begin using wind generation as renewable energy.
Customers will see a 2.7 percent decrease in their January bills; the average residential bill for 1,000-kilowatt hours of electricity will drop $3.71.
The price decrease is a result of Gulf Power employees’ commitment to use the most cost-effective fuel resources available to generate electricity, according to Rick DelaHaya, Gulf Power spokesperson. Employees found lower prices for natural gas and coal, which the utility company uses to generate electricity.
Each January, the Florida Public Service Commission adjusts the company's prices to reflect cost changes in fuel, environmental compliance and energy conservation programs.
Gulf Power customers also will see the addition of a renewable energy source added to the utility’s portfolio. The company's first wind project became operational Jan. 1. “The power we get from this project in the new year is expected to represent approximately 5 percent of our projected energy mix,” DelaHaya said.
Built in central Oklahoma, where conditions are favorable for wind energy, the project will supply 178 megawatts of renewable energy to Gulf Power — enough to annually power about 50,700 homes.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gulf Power lowers prices, adds renewable energy to portfolio
CRESTVIEW — Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce meetings are as follows:
●Monthly networking breakfast: 7 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, Crestview Community Center, 1446 Commerce Drive, Crestview. Sponsored by Hub City Ford.
●Foy Shaw Memorial Scholarship Committee: 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, chamber office, 1447 Commerce Drive, Crestview. Committee Chair Craig Shaw invites chamber members interested in being a part of this committee.
●Government Issues Committee: 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 13, chamber office.
Call 682-3212 or email info@crestviewchamber.com for more information.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview chamber sets meeting schedule
CRESTVIEW — Crestview Manor residents and military service members may face numerous challenges, but one thing is certain: They each know someone's thinking about them.
Crestview Girl Scout Troop 676 and Northwest Florida troops 742, 745, 818 and 1318 baked cookies, sang and presented gifts and cards to the Manor's residents as part of their holiday community service.
The 53 troop members — under Girl Scout Council of the Florida Panhandle, Pensacola Council and Service Unit 625's direction — and their families provided gifts for the assisted living facility's 56 residents, according to Amanda Converse, of Troop 676. In addition, the scouts "(made) cards and hand-painted ceramic boots," she said. "Thank you, Harriet and Bill Watson, for making the boots."
The scouts also packed care packages for deployed Army and Air Force units, Converse said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Girl Scouts collaborate for community service
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Crestview will have no Mardi Gras observances, but area residents can travel just 35 minutes to let the good times roll.
The city of DeFuniak Springs and the Krewe de Yak Mardi Gras Krewe will bring Gras Fest to the city around the lake.
Food, along with art and craft vendors, a car show, a kids fun zone, and the Grand Parade take place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 23 on Circle Drive in downtown DeFuniak Springs.
Contact Gayle Schupp, 333-3307, for more information, parade entry registration, or vendor registration.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Mardi Gras parade set in DeFuniak Springs
NAVARRE BEACH — Six days after disappearing from Navarre Beach, the body of 28-year-old Christopher Beal has still not surfaced.
Read more from the Northwest Florida Daily News>>
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: UPDATE: Body of missing Crestview man still not found
VALPARAISO — The history of Shoals takes focus during the Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County's next meeting.
The group will meet 10 a.m. Jan. 9 at the Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida, 115 Westview Ave., Valparaiso.
Guest speaker Hank Klein will talk about how the once small village of Destin extended itself well into Walton County.
"Although there is a sign on the side of the road as you drive east indicating you are leaving Okaloosa County and entering Walton County, folks today consider it all just Destin," an event spokesperson said. "No one remembers that, at one time, the area as you entered Walton County was called Shoals.
Contact Val Moreland, yosimite1@cox.net or 243-0352, for more information.
This announcement was edited Jan. 4 to correct the name of the Heritage Museum.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Learn about Shoals at Okaloosa genealogical society meeting
CRESTVIEW — Florida small business owners, including agricultural cooperatives, businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations, may apply for U.S. Small Business Administration disaster loans for losses related to excessive rainfall, winds and flooding from Sept. 1 to Nov. 20.
Okaloosa, Escambia, Holmes, Jackson, Santa Rosa and Walton counties "are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary counties in Alabama," said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta. "Disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines."
The loan amount can be up to $2 million, with interest rates of 2.625 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 4 percent for small businesses, with up to 30-year terms.
The SBA sets loan amounts and terms, and bases them on each applicant’s financial condition. These working capital loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills that could have been paid had the disaster not occurred. The loans are not intended to replace lost sales or profits.
Applicants may apply using the Electronic Loan Application at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Call SBA’s Customer Service Center, 800-659-2955, or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for details.
Send completed applications by Aug. 10 to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Economic injury disaster loans available for Okaloosa businesses
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE — The Military Order of the Purple Heart Sgt. Timothy Padgett Chapter 811 will honor Florida residents who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending freedom.
The Day of Remembrance, a public event, is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 at the USAF Armament Museum on Eglin Air Force Base. The annual ceremony recognizes residents who have died in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001 while engaged in the Global War on Terror.
The event will include a reading of the Okaloosa County proclamation naming the third Saturday of January as Okaloosa County — Military Order of the Purple Heart Day of Remembrance; lighting of a memorial candle for each fallen Floridian; and honoring Gold Star Families of Florida, with a promise to never forget their departed loved ones.
In addition, a formal announcement will be made about establishing a memorial park and gardens on the USAF Armament Museum grounds.
Attendees should dress in business casual or duty uniform attire.
Contact Sam Houston, MOPH chapter commander, at 729-2748 or shh1100@cox.net for additional information.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Eglin ceremony set to remember fallen Florida service members
CRESTVIEW — Area river waters are receding to normal depths after a deluge in Alabama sent rivers above their Crestview area flood stages and disrupted travel throughout North Okaloosa County and South Alabama.
However, New Year’s weekend looks seasonally pleasant, weather authorities report, with clear skies and high temperatures in the mid-50s and lows in upper 30s forecast.
Roger and Cathy Powell’s annual Christmas Day visit with their daughters to relatives in Laurel Hill almost didn’t happen due to torrential rains that struck their Andalusia, Alabama, area Christmas Eve.
“The Wing-Lockhart Road was under water,” Roger Powell said. “We had to go down through Blackman.”
The same weather system that stymied Christmas travelers between Florida and Alabama continued to drop torrential rains in Crestview through Monday.
CHRISTMAS SURPRISE
While weather watchers weren’t surprised, many residents distracted by Christmas preparations were caught unaware.
“We were planning to go to Christmas Eve (church) service in Andalusia when our family members called to tell us to avoid the roads,” Ann McDonald said.
“It was foreseen for awhile,” Crestview native Chayne Sparagowski, now an emergency management planner in Texas, said. “The flood warnings have been posted for about a week and a half from the National Weather Service.”
Sparagowski, who operates an NWS reporting station in Crestview, was driving home for Christmas and said he’d been carefully watching forecasts.
“A bunch of things brought the storm,” he said. “There’s been a low-pressure system slowly migrating through the South and it’s just been one storm after the other.
“But we’ll have a good New Year’s weekend. It’ll actually feel like New Year’s.”
OIL & WATER
Even after rains ceased in the Crestview area, surges from swollen South Alabama rivers and creeks continued downriver and through the North Okaloosa County area.
“We just got a little bit of the storm, but northern Alabama and just north of us over the state line got quite a bit of it, which is why we’re seeing the flooding,” Sparagowski said.
The Yellow River crested above 14 feet early Dec. 27, more than 2 feet above flood stage.
At the U.S. Highway 90 bridge construction site in Milligan, heavy equipment parked on the banks of the river during the Christmas holiday wound up stuck in flood waters.
Some Milligan residents complained of the smell of diesel fuel in the water and floating metal refuse containers joining downriver-bound debris.
Florida Department of Transportation Public Information Director Ian Satter said upon receipt of a Department of Environmental Protection report, “the contractor checked and didn’t detect any fuel spills.”
Just in case, floating turbidity barriers were deployed in the fast-moving water for erosion control and fuel spill containment while the contractor removed the flooded equipment.
Following Christmas weekend flooding, the Black, Yellow and Shoal Rivers were still running high as upstream surges rolled down to local rivers.
Yellow River Shoal River Blackwater River
TOWNS & THEIR FLOOD STAGES:
Milligan-12 feet Crestview-8 feet Baker-11 feet
Dec. 24: 6.6 feet 7.3 feet 11.5 feet
Dec. 25: 9.9 feet 7.6 feet 14.6 feet
Dec. 26: 13.7 feet 7.5 feet 12.2 feet
Dec. 27: 14 feet 6.8 feet 8.4 feet
Dec. 28: 11.3 feet 6.4 feet 6.4 feet
Dec. 29: 9.7 feet 6.5 feet 7.9 feet
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey, waterdata.usgs.gov
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview holiday flood waters recede; New Year's looks clear and bright (VIDEO)
