CRESTVIEW — Evenings at the Hughes-Herbert residence look much like those for other two-parent households.

As Sara Hughes and Lecricia Herbert's daughters scamper around, one parent prepares supper while the other tends to home maintenance.

The difference is, until Tuesday, Hughes, a medical office worker, and Herbert, a medical dispatcher, could not lawfully marry.

“We have always talked about getting married, but never finalized anything because we didn’t know what will happen here,” Hughes, a Crestview resident, said. “Then it just kinda happened out the blue.”

The sudden legalization of same-sex marriage also surprised Trea Snider and Jonathon Hanline.

“We knew it (same-sex marriage) was being talked about, but we never expected it to go through,” Snider said.

“I was expecting it to have to go through the courts fully, like the U.S. Supreme Court, but it came a lot sooner than we expected,” Hanline said.

COURTHOUSE'S BAN 'UNFORTUNATE'

Snider, an Air Force Reservist and restaurant server, said he and Hanline, an assistant manager at a Destin store, have discussed marriage, but don’t want to rush into it until they are ready.

They're leaning toward a traditional church wedding; although "it won’t be until at least another year before we get married … we’re both excited that we finally have the chance," Snider said.

Hughes said she and Herbert considered marrying out of state, perhaps in Philadelphia, where she has family, until Florida marriages became available.

Now, the couple are weighing more local options.

One thing is certain: Snider and Hanline, and Hughes and Hebert won't exchange vows in the Okaloosa County Courthouse.

Both couples said they are disappointed in area clerks of court, including Okaloosa's J.D. Peacock, who abruptly stopped performing courthouse weddings when gay marriage became legal.

“I think it’s really kind of a crappy thing to do,” Snider said. “They didn’t do that when interracial marriages were legalized.”

“It’s unfortunate that happened, but we can work around it,” Hughes said.

FINDING A PLACE TO WED

Same-sex couples now have the law on their side, but finding a Crestview area church to marry in will pose a challenge.

The Rev. Gene Strickland, the Crestview Area Ministerial Association's president, said that in his own Southern Baptist denomination, “we include in our faith that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.

“That is probably the stance of most conservative Christian denominations."

Msgr. Michael Tugwell of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Crestview referred to a statement from the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, which stated, "The conjugal nature of marriage between a man and a woman has provided for millennia the basis for norms of marital exclusivity and permanence that made possible stable families necessary for human flourishing."

The statement said the new law will affect many areas, including family law, employment law, trusts and estates, healthcare, tax law and property law. "Redefinition of marriage will have implications not yet fully understood," it stated.

Some mainstream religions, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), have approved same-sex marriages, but left the decision up to individual churches.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead, interviewed in June when the denomination approved gay marriages, said whether his Crestview and Laurel Hill churches allow same-sex weddings will be a matter for contemplative prayer.

“I have gay friends that may or may not one day ask if I will do their wedding ceremony,” Broadhead said. “I will need to be in deep prayer about that so that God may provide me with the right guidance for me to answer.”

CHALLENGES REMAIN

Though Hughes' and Herbert's family and friends know they are gay, and despite having the right to marry like any other couple, they still attract second glances when together in public.

“If we go out anywhere, we get nothing but stared at and we get treated differently,” Hughes said. “My fiancée looks gay, so when I’m by myself, people treat me 100 percent differently.”

Still, just having the right to marry has made a difference in their lives, Snider said.

“I feel less like a second-class citizen now,” he said.

 Despite the challenges, both couples said they would like to have children. Hughes and Herbert would like to add a child of their own to the two girls Hughes brought to the family from a previous relationship.

Snider and Hanline also have discussed being parents, but for now, said they're content raising Toby, their Yorkshire terrier. The couple will soon add Molly, a Shih-tzu and dachshund mix, to their household.

As for the future, Snider anticipates the legal rights that married life can bring. That includes hospital visitation rights, which has always been a concern for gay rights activists.

During emergencies, "hospitals may restrict visitation rights to a narrow interpretation of family that excludes those not legally or biologically related to the patient," the Human Rights Campaign's website states. "Similarly, state laws around medical decision-making often limit these rights to a patient’s biological family members when no documentation is designating a surrogate decision maker."

On Tuesday, that concern vanished for Florida's same-sex couples hoping to one day marry.

“I’m just really excited that I can spend the rest of my life with the person that I love," Snider said.

"And not having to worry that if something happens, I wouldn’t be allowed to be there for him."

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Local same-sex couples suddenly faced with opportunity to wed

CRESTVIEW — Hub City Barbecue and Grill owner Mike Carroll hopes by Jan. 15, sounds of table saws and hammering will be replaced by conversation, laughter and the tinkle of cutlery on dishes as his long-hoped-for Main Street restaurant becomes a reality.

Since around Thanksgiving, Carroll and a crew of contractors have been renovating the 1950 Earl’s Seafood restaurant. Barney Adams initially occupied the space; after his death, his son, Earl, took over.

Monday morning, with a bit of Windex and elbow grease, Carroll had most of the 13-year-old painted window sign scraped off.

“We’re ready to begin a new era,” he said.

Carroll said he wanted to be open by New Year’s Eve, but delays in the city’s regulatory and permitting process put him behind schedule. Getting his new vent hood permitted is now the major impediment, he said.

PERMIT DELAY

“I shouldn’t have to wait three weeks for a hood permit,” he said, adding that he understood the intervening holidays were partially to blame.

Teresa Gaillard, the city's administrative services director, said because Crestview Fire Department inspectors rejected Carroll’s initial plan, his resubmitted plan received close scrutiny, but she anticipated mid-week approval.

“As buildings are revised and remodeled, they have to adhere to updated codes,” Gaillard said. “The fire department really stresses and strives to keep us safe, especially in our older buildings.”

Carroll said he understood the challenges that come with moving into the city’s historic district.

“When you’re dealing with Main Street, you’re dealing with buildings built in the '30s or '40s or '50s, and to remodel, it’s going to be expensive,” he said.

While awaiting the vent hood permit, there was still plenty of work to be done. Carpenters sawed 1- by 6-inch rough-cut cypress planks and hammered them to the walls.

The finish does more than create a rustic appearance.

“It’ll absorb the smoke smell, so when you walk in, it’ll smell like a barbecue place,” Carroll said.

NEW JOBS

The restaurant's capacity has increased from 18 seats — at its former PJ Adams Parkway location — to 65 or 70 seats.

Carroll said the spike in seating will require him to hire more people.

“One of the things we weren’t used to is, on P.J., it was counter service, but here, it’s a sit-down restaurant,” he said, adding the staff will expand to between 12 and 14 employees.

Carroll promised to offer his popular menu — including his stuffed barbecued baked potato and Hub City nachos, still served at his Baker and DeFuniak Springs restaurants — plus a few new additions such as steak and seafood dishes.

He plans to offer breakfast as well, serving three meals a day, seven days a week. Outdoor seating and, eventually, live outdoor music are other goals.

“We’re pushing this place to be a destination,” Carroll said. “I’m coming to Main Street with a vengeance. I’m excited to be here.”

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: A new era for former Earl's Seafood as Hub City BBQ moves in (VIDEO)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service is extending the public comment period on the Conservation Stewardship Program interim rule.

Public comments will be accepted through Jan. 20.

Through CSP, producers install conservation enhancements to make positive changes in soil, water and air quality; water quantity; plant and animal resources; and energy conservation.

The input will help NRCS finalize a CSP rule that works for participants and continues to deliver greater conservation benefits, a USDA spokesperson said.

Electronic comments must be submitted through regulations.gov.

Comments also can be mailed to Public Comments Processing, Attn: Docket No. NRCS-2014-0008, Regulatory and Agency Policy Team, Strategic Planning and Accountability, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Building 1-1112D, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/FarmBillRules for more information on the CSP statutory changes.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Public comment ends Jan. 20 for USDA Conservation Stewardship rule

CRESTVIEW — Last week’s history column briefly touched on early Okaloosa County students' challenges, including visiting critters in the classroom.

Florida laws, which allowed free-roaming livestock, proved hazardous for students’ lunches, according to “Crestview: The Forkland," by Betty Curenton and Claudia Patten.

Pigs were a particular problem.

“No sooner had the chattering students fallen out onto the playground than the ever-hungry swine nudged forward for their noontime scraps,” the book states. “Some of the fortunate children would scurry to the nearest tree, climb an overhanging limb and eat their meals perched precariously, but safely above the hog pack.”

Lunches principally consisted of biscuits "with finger holes and syrup poured into them,” the authors said, describing what's locally called a “country boy donut.”

After the Crestview School burned down in 1920, classes moved to the Baptist Tabernacle on Hickory Avenue. “Goats often entered the building during the week, leaving fleas and an unpleasant odor,” the book states. “On one occasion, some adventurous boys turned 18 owls loose in the building, creating another obstacle.”

Even after stock law reforms, visiting critters still periodically provided a break from lessons. Until air conditioned schools were prevalent, even as late as the 1960s, neighborhood pets would sometimes wander into classrooms at schools with outside–facing classrooms, such as Northwood and Bob Sikes Elementary, when teachers left the doors open for cross-ventilation.

Answering nature’s calls was another challenge for early students. Until parents built outhouses behind the schools, potty breaks behind a tree or shrubbery were the norm.

Overturning outhouses “became a favorite extracurricular sport for some of the boys…,” the book states.

Visit the Baker Block Museum at the corner of Highway 189 and State Road 4, Baker, 537-5714, to learn more about local history.

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NORTH OKALOOSA HISTORY: Schools go hog wild

“Libraries Change Lives,”  the American Library Association's 2013-2014 initiative, has  evolved into a new initiative: “Libraries Transforming Communities."

“The initiative addresses a critical need within the library field by developing and distributing new tools, resources and support for librarians to engage with their communities in new ways," an ALA media release states.

The LTC campaign will help libraries become more reflective of and connected to their communities. This approach calls for libraries to become more community focused, and we have achieved that focus.  

Our library is the community go-to place for internet use, e-government access, job search, entertainment and a place to find art and cultural exhibits.  We are reaching out to our community to find out what else is needed and provide that need to our customers.

We are transforming our community by setting   goals and objectives to provide updated computers, access to business, testing and education resources, databases with accurate information on medicine, law, car repair and many social issues, and other materials of interest to the general public.

The library provides one-on-one training to adults, particularly senior citizens, on the use of technology, electronic databases and information resources.

We encourage the staff to participate in continuing education sessions that offer professional and paraprofessional help.

"ALA also hopes to shift public discourse away from past themes about libraries in crisis and toward talk of libraries as agents of positive community change" the release states.

This is the Crestview library's hope for this New Year as well.

Jean Lewis is the Crestview Public Library's director.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Libraries are agents of positive community change