The fourteenth edition of “Nations of the World” delves into the political, economic and business climates of over 200 countries and self-governing territories in an easy-to-access, single-volume format.

Each country report contains:

•Expert Analysis: a reliable overview of recent, political and economic trends and events plus an economic and political overlook for the country

•Map of the nation: clearly marked with key cities and towns

•Key facts: including official name, head of state, land area, official language, currency, unemployment, foreign debt and visitor numbers

•Key indicators: details trends in population, GNP, inflation, exports, total reserves and exchange rate

•Country profile: includes historical profile, political parties, population characteristics, labor and unemployment, education and health

•Business guide: includes dress codes and hours, entry requirements, security and social customs

•Business directory: information on telephone and area codes, car rental agencies, chambers of commerce, banking, travel information and websites

The print edition is available in the Crestview Public Library’s reference section.

For free online access to the individual country reports, go to www.cityofcrestview.org/library/electronic_resources.php and click on the “Nations of the World 2015” image.

Sandra Dreaden is the Crestview Public Library's reference librarian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DREADEN: Take a tour with 'Nations of the World'

The Okaloosa County Division of Environmental Services is now spot spraying for mosquitoes. 

Within the next couple of weeks, this standard evening broadcast spray schedule is in effect, weather permitting.

MONDAYS:

•John Riley Barnhill Road to Escambia Farms

•Beaver Creek to Baker

•Crestview: Rattlesnake Bluff and Little Silver Road, Live Oak Church Road to John King, Highway 90 East to County Line Road and north to Poverty Creek Road

•Destin, Fort Walton Beach (Brooks Street going west)

•Mary Esther, Wynnhaven Beach and Valparaiso.

TUESDAYS:

•Vinson Ray Road, east side of Highway 189 to Laurel Hill

•Wilkerson Bluff Road to Log Lake (Holt), west to County Line Road

•Crestview: John King to Highway 90 East to Shoal River Ridge; Old Antioch to Highway 90 West

•Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Wynnehaven Beach, Bluewater Bay and Cinco Bayou.

WEDNESDAYS:

•Galliver Cutoff to Milligan and back to Baker

•Garden City to Laurel Hill

•Crestview: Old Bethel Road to Airport Road; south of Highway 90 West to Duggan Street. Fairchild Road to Highway 85 to Airport Road

•Shalimar; streets off Lewis Turner Boulevard and Niceville

THURSDAYS:

•Poverty Creek Road, Highway 393 to Campton, Old River Road to Vinson Ray Road (from Milligan to Baker)

•Crestview: Lake Silver Road to Airport Road to Auburn area

•Poquito Bayou area, Ocean City, Mooney Road area, and Niceville

4 safety tips

•Stay inside with screened doors and windows closed when mosquitoes are biting (dusk and dawn).

•When outside, wear clothing that covers skin.

•Apply mosquito repellant that includes DEET  on your skin when you are outside

•Turn over standing water where mosquitoes lay eggs. Better yet, rid your outdoor area of standing water in which mosquitoes can lay their eggs. 

Source: Okaloosa County Mosquito Control and the Florida Department of Health

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Okaloosa County announces mosquito control schedule

CRESTVIEW — A gospel concert to benefit 17-year-old Naja McCutchen is planned for Saturday.

The Crestview resident, who has acute myeloid leukemia, is currently in a Birmingham, Ala. hospital, where she is undergoing bone marrow testing. Donations will be used for Naja and her mother, Tryphenia Wright's, travel and lodging expenses.

The concert starts 7 p.m. May 9 at the Recreational Outreach Center, 1105 S. Pearl St., Crestview. Donations will be accepted during the program, or you may contribute to an account in Ms. Wright's name at Beach Community Bank, 5131 S. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview, FL 32536.

Organizers are also selling "Pray for Naja" T-shirts. Cost is $10 for sizes small to XL, and $12 for size 2X and up.

Contact Mary Jones, 423-0269, or A.J. Brinson, 333-5678, for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gospel concert to benefit Crestview's Naja McCutchen

THE PROBLEM: Weeding and pest control are priorities this spring for people working at the Common Ground Community Garden in Crestview. Volunteers tended beds Friday, pulling and spraying for weed control, and adding a second line of defense: plants to draw pollinating insects and deter damaging ones.

THE SOLUTION: Workers, including Okaloosa Master Gardeners and the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Office's Crestview employees, spent several hours Friday working in the Common Ground Community Garden on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., just off Main Street (behind H & R Block). The goal was to clear no longer usable winter-season crops and prepare the beds for spring plants. They weeded the garden, sprayed pesticide to kill weeds —  particularly blackberry vines trying to reclaim the once-empty lot —  and prepared areas along the edges for planting. By the afternoon, Okaloosa Extension Office employees and Master Gardener Stacey Taylor dug furrows and planted seeds in an attempt to draw beneficial insects. "In one corner are a bunch of herbs for (butterfly) larvae," said Sheila Dunning, extension horticulture agent. "Chives, parsley and coriander will provide a food source." The cosmo and zinnia flower seeds will be used to draw those butterflies. Sorghum seeds are being used as a "trap crop" to draw insects that would otherwise munch the garden's vegetables. "The beneficial ones (can then) eat them," Dunning said. The team also planted rows of sunflowers and buckwheat to draw pollinators and other beneficial insects like native bees, honeybees and midges; and several perennials, coneflowers, blanket flowers, and other daisies. Once the seeds have grown, gardeners will come back and use nets to catch insects and make sure the new plants are functioning as expected.

BACKGROUND: The garden is rotated twice a year: once to clear out winter items, and once for spring items. Right now, organizers are focusing on spring vegetables that can benefit from the warmer weather, such as tomatoes, peppers, melons and squashes and beans.

Here's more information on the Common Ground Community Garden>>

CARE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SOMETHING? Drop us a line at:

PHONE: 682-6524                          

EMAIL: news@crestviewbulletin.com

FAX: 682-2246                               

 MAIL: 638 Ferdon Blvd. N., Crestview, FL 32536

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Follow-up: Volunteers prepare Crestview community garden for spring crops

CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County crews repaired a serious washout in Grandview Drive within two months of the April 29-30, 2014, storm.

But discussion within the Grandview Heights homeowners' association has yet to produce a decision to repair the dam that failed that morning, draining the lake.

Today, the former Grandview Pond, known as Lake Fred on some maps, is a green wetland and meadow with a stream trickling through it. A gaping hole remains on the dam's south end.

Some former lakefront homes now overlook the meadow, while neighbors a few doors down still have lakefront property, being on the opposite side of the failed dam and facing neighboring Stafford Lake.

With no solution yet in sight, Mapquest.com removed Grandview Pond from its online map.

Not all residents are happy with a January assessment made throughout the development to raise funds to repair the dam. Some are withholding payment until all residents are granted access to the pond.

"They assessed us nearly $400 per lot," resident Nancy Sparagowski said. "The bad part of it is, only the people who live on the lake have access. The HOA tried to feed us the line that the lake will improve everyone's property values."

Although a peninsula reached into the pond, a lack of parking made access problematic for residents who wanted to fish from it.

Sparagowski, who, with her husband Kevin and son Ethan, don't have lakefront property, said her family paid the fee, but not willingly.

"Many of us are upset over the fee and the fact that we're fixing a lake just for the people that live on it," she said. "We were under the impression that a portion of our homeowner dues were going toward dam maintenance."

HOA officers contacted for this story did not return calls.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ONE YEAR LATER: Former Crestview pond is now a meadow

CRESTVIEW — Last weekend's thunderstorm may have caused many North Okaloosa County residents to flash back to April 29-30, 2014.

One year ago, widespread flooding throughout the area broke dams and washed out roads; neighborhoods were isolated and culverts overflowed.

City and county public works officials are still making repairs, with federal disaster assistance money just beginning to make its way into local coffers.

Area repair projects include:

•Airport Road. A severe washout almost collapsed the roadway opposite Mill Brook Lane. County crews gave the repair a high priority and stabilized the area within a month of the storm. The new mitigation structure channels runoff from Brook Estates and either side of Airport Road into the Hunter Woods subdivision pond and, eventually, to Piney Woods Creek after passing through Grandview Heights' ponds.

•Grandview Drive. While Okaloosa County crews repaired a serious washout in Grandview Drive within two months of the storm, the homeowners' association has yet to approve repairs on a dam that failed April 30, 2014, draining Grandview Pond.

•Oak Hill Road. Davis Mill Creek flood-stage waters drove logs and debris against guardrails and washed out half the roadway. Water gushing down the hill's north side excavated a hole in the road, flowed under the asphalt before it burst to the surface through a widening crack, and formed waterfalls as it plunged more than 6 feet over the broken roadway. The Plum Orchard Way neighborhood is still cut off from Old Bethel Road; piles of dirt block a section of undamaged road, preventing residents from attempting to drive over the weakened roadbed. County Public Works Director Jason Autrey — who said FEMA received final requested documentation last week — is confident that given good weather, repairs will begin this summer. "It's taking longer because we're not putting back what was there," Autrey said. "We are building a mitigation structure, so the road will be better than before."

•Okaloosa Lane. County Public Works crews completed repairs on the washed-out section at the end of March, restoring access from U.S. Highway 90 to Aplin Road and Redstone Avenue. For almost a year, drivers had to make a detour.

•Phillips Drive. A cavernous gulch that formed at the foot of the water tower will be mitigated by a $1.3 million federal USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Services grant, received in February, to construct a stormwater control structure. The project is in the engineering and planning stage, Crestview Public Works Director Wayne Steele said.

•Sexton Drive, Baker. A 3-foot-deep washout made the country road's west end impassable except by driving across neighbors' property. Autrey said Public Works anticipates approval of the county's request to FEMA shortly, with repairs beginning as early as summer.

•Shoal River Drive. The development's homeowners' association funded the failed dam's reconstruction. With the project nearly complete, county road crews are poised to come in and rebuild the road that washed away from the top of the dam. The county could not use public funds to rebuild the privately owned dam, Autrey said, but can replace the county-maintained road.

MITIGATING, NOT PATCHING

"The best news is we're maximizing our reimbursement eligibility from FEMA," Autrey said. "In these situations, it is a case of quality over quantity."

Because many projects include future stormwater damage mitigation, engineering is taking longer than a simple fill-and-patch repair. But demonstrating the county is eager to mitigate future damage has made FEMA more willing to reimburse the county, Autrey said.

"I appreciate everyone's patience on this," he said. "In the long run, I think citizens are going to be pleased with the quality of the results they're getting."

CRESTVIEW PROJECTS

The Crestview Public Works Department addressed a list of seven major repair projects, encompassing streets, dams and drainage systems.

"We have completed all the repairs for the damage received from the storm event," Steele said. So far, he said, the city has been reimbursed for two of seven city-wide projects, amounting to $110,523 from FEMA for street shoulder and embankment repairs for 10 roads within the city limits.  

Some state money is expected to follow, but not all of the city's storm-related emergency repairs will be covered, Steele said. "The city really only receives a portion of the actual cost of repairs, and those amounts are based from their formulas of eligible cost, not actual cost."

Other projects include repairing failed retention pond dams at Kirkwood, Indian Trails and Old Bethel Estates; replacing drainage systems, curbing and paving on McLaughlin Street; and repairing the retention wall at the Twin Hills Park football field.

In all, Steele's department seeks reimbursement for $1.525 million, of which $1.3 will be covered by the NCRS grant.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at brianh@crestviewbulletin.com, follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ONE YEAR LATER: Some roads still need repairs; Okaloosa maximizes federal reimbursement

MILTON — Those interested in forest stewardship and management can see a demonstration of those principles next month.

Click here for a map and more information on the tour.

The Florida Forest Service, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission annually work with private landowners to showcase forest stewardship and management activities on private forest lands as part of the Forest Stewardship program. The program helps landowners create a multiple-use forest management plan. In addition, participating properties are certified as Stewardship Forests.

Next month, the Spencer family has agreed to host a forest stewardship tour. The family has actively managed their land for generations and the property features all of the major pine timber species in Florida: longleaf, slash and loblolly.

The tour — 9 a.m. Thursday, May 14 at the Spencer property, 5001 Willard Norris Road, Milton —is open to the public but is tailored to private forest landowners and land managers. The cost of the tour is $10 per person, which includes lunch and materials.

Attendees will see a demonstration of management principles for high-quality pine timber production as well as wildlife habitat improvement, aesthetics and recreation.

Register at http://bit.ly/1HVwi76 or call the Santa Rosa County Extension Office, 623-3868. Space is limited.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Milton land tour highlights forest stewardship event

CRESTVIEW — Threatening skies and standing water on part of the festival grounds led organizers to reluctantly cancel the Laurel Hill Spring Arts and Heritage Festival Saturday.

Though a team of four volunteers called and emailed exhibitors to notify them of the cancellation, John Colby of the Crestview Spanish Trail Cruisers Club missed the notification and brought his 1969 Pontiac GTO for the event's planned show-n-shine.

"Oh well," Colby said. "I needed a good drive with the car. It was a great ride out in the country!"

For his dedication, organizers presented Colby the sole dash plaque awarded for the event. Classic car buffs collect the metal commemorative plates from shows at which they exhibit.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Car buff receives dash plaque for attending canceled Laurel Hill festival

The library provides information and resources at no cost to you.

Of course, you probably already knew that. But here's something you may not have realized: The library also is the place to go for many of your business and recreational needs. It is fast becoming the go-to, third great place outside of the home and your office.

Here at the Crestview Public Library, you can enjoy not only books but also meet friends and socialize. You also can participate in a book discussion and view art displays.

We realize budgets are tight and families need a place to go and enjoy their leisure time — a place that does not cost an arm and a leg.

Here are three ways to save money by spending more leisure time at the library.

•Educate and inspire yourself at no cost. We're always programming events for children and adults. Programs geared for adults on educational, enlightening topics are presented every first Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. Children's story time and lap sit programs are held weekly.

•Two words: free music. Our Music in the Library program on Monday and Tuesday evenings offers a relaxing evening of listening to area musicians perform.

In addition, we have a great selection of CDs, from country to R&B, that you can check out and enjoy at home.

•Classic TV on DVD. You will be surprised by the number and range of titles we have. We have classic westerns like "The Lone Ranger," comedies like "I Love Lucy," and many new award-winning titles.

You can reserve something if it's already checked out and, when it becomes available, you will be notified.

•Activities for all ages. The whole family can enjoy an afternoon at the library. Teens can play Wiki games after school and on Saturdays. Mom and Dad can read newspapers and current magazines or check out a great book. Meanwhile, kids can play Wii, do puzzles, and on certain Saturdays read to Dozer, a Great Dane who visits us.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Lewis: 4 ways to save money by using your library

CRESTVIEW — Today's Okaloosa County had several early European influences, including colonial Spain and England, and migrating Scots and Scandinavians. The French didn't get much farther east than Mobile, Ala.

But 20 years ago, French influence at last arrived locally.

In September 1994, Russell Sneddon, chairman of Fort Walton Beach's Emerald Coast Sister Cities, suggested twinning Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, a French island community, with Fort Walton Beach, and three neighboring French communities with Destin, Niceville and Crestview.

In May 1995, a 12-member Okaloosa County delegation visited Noirmoutier. It included Crestview contractor Joe Barley, Niceville Mayor Randall Wise, Cliff Herron of then-Okaloosa-Walton College, and "a group of ladies from Bluewater Bay," Barley said.

"Fort  Walton didn't send anyone and they were the intended partner of Noirmoutier."

STEP-SISTERHOOD

An October 1995 reciprocal visit was postponed when Hurricane Opal struck. In February 1996, the French delegation was charmed by Okaloosa County's beaches and Crestview Mayor George Whitehurst and citizens' hospitality.

The attempt to unite three of the French communities with Destin, Niceville and Fort Walton Beach failed.

In May 1997, Noirmoutier instead formalized a partnership with Crestview under Sister Cities International, an offshoot of President Dwight Eisenhower's "citizen diplomacy" initiative.

"We were supposed to be the step-sister, but we were the ones who got partnered," Barley said, chuckling at the irony. "We've had Noirmoutier for 20 years so we did pretty good."

"The Sister Cities relationship works well and our activities have grown to be quite numerous," said RenéRelandeau, president of Noirmoutier's Sister City Committee. "The frequent exchanges, encounters and contacts generate numerous friendships."

EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT

Crestview High School French teacher Chris Lanoue said students — some of whom are underprivileged and might not otherwise experience foreign cultures — benefit from the program's cultural and educational opportunities.

The Northwest Florida State College show choirs perform every two years in Noirmoutier. Select University of Nantes' business students study at NWFSC and intern at the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce.

On May 6, an 18-member Crestview delegation with 56 college show choir students and faculty arrives in Noirmoutier to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of France's World War II liberation.

In October, 22 Noirmoutrin students will visit Crestview with eight adults. In 2016, a 45-member delegation, led by Noirmoutier Mayor Noël Faucher, will help Crestview celebrate its Centennial.

'DELIGHTFUL PEOPLE'

"They are the most delightful people," Mayor David Cadle said.

Cadle's favorite experience with the relationship was when Faucher made him an honorary Noirmoutrin, draping a red, white and blue sash around his neck before a crowd in Jack Foster Stadium.

"We had that ceremony before the game and we had both flags flying and the band played 'La Marseillaise,'" Cadle said, referring to the French national anthem. "I felt so international."

Barley said he is pleased the program has been so successful.

"It's such a beautiful, interesting place, so full of history," Barley said of Noirmoutier. "The people are wonderful, the food is great. I was just using some of their salt the other night while cooking," he added, referring to Noirmoutier's famous high-grade "fleur de sel" sea salt harvested in the island's central marshes.

BY THE NUMBERS

110: Approximate number of Crestview/Okaloosa County adults welcomed in Noirmoutier homes since 1995

450: Approximate number of Northwest Florida State College show choir students welcomed in Noirmoutier

80: Approximate number of NWFSC faculty welcomed in Noirmoutier

190: Noirmoutrin adult visitors to Crestview and Okaloosa County

63: Noirmoutrin high school students welcomed in Crestview homes

6: French interns at Crestview and Okaloosa County businesses on multi-month internships

3: University of Nantes business students studying at NWFSC

INFORMATION

To learn more about the Crestview Area Sister City Program, contact Pam or Joe Coffield, 682-8437, jcoffield@cox.net, or Isabelle or Jim Mills, 682-8215, isajim1@cox.net

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, Okaloosa County celebrate 20-year friendship with French island