CRESTVIEW — From January’s freezing rain to April’s flooding, weather made a big impact this year in North Okaloosa County.
So did the Crestview Police Department, which opened 'round the clock for the first time.
Then there were deaths of those who made their mark in our area, including, among others, former Sheriff Ray Wilson, former Crestview Mayor George Whitehurst and former Crestview City Councilman Sam Hayes.
And those who died too young, including Valerie Camacho, a 17-year-old Crestview High School student struck by a motorist during a September morning run on PJ Adams Parkway.
Many people and events helped to define North Okaloosa and shape its future. But these 10 were particularly notable.
Review the list and tell us what you think in the box below!
1. UNUSUAL WEATHER
North county residents awoke to ice-encased foliage and streets coated in a crisp, white mantle on Jan. 29. First National Bank of Crestview's time-and-temperature sign announced 22 degrees Fahrenheit to sparse traffic on State Road 85.
Before the routine of normal life returned late the next morning, many folks enjoyed the un-Florida like day in various ways. Many residents made snowmen; some sledded down iced-over roads and others rafted in the Winn-Dixie parking lot.
But that wasn't the end of Northwest Florida's phenomenal weather.
On April 29, a severe thunderstorm dumped rainfall up to cars' bumpers, washing out roads and dams, toppling trees and cutting residents' access in or out of their neighborhoods.
Flood damage washed out Oak Hill Road in Crestview and Stanley Lane in Baker, among others, breached dams at Lake Fred and off Live Oak Church Road and sliced across Okaloosa Lane, which remains impassable.
After the storm, residents, frustrated with the pace of numerous repairs being addressed by city and county officials, started improvising routes, driving around “road closed” barricades and causing further damage.
County workers have repaired roads little by little as they work with FEMA officials, who agree on fixed compensation per project.
2. CRESTVIEW PD's RESURGENCE
The Crestview Police Department weathered plenty of scrutiny after several years of corruption led by former Chief Brian Mitchell and Maj. Joey Floyd.
Police Chief Tony Taylor set goals to turn the department around when he got the job two years ago. To him, that meant dismissing seven officers and instituting vigorous background checks that purportedly exceed Florida Department of Law Enforcement standards.
But the highlight of the Tony Taylor era, so far, was moving dispatch functions from its PJ Adams Parkway location to the Whitehurst Municipal Building on Stillwell Boulevard. This allowed the CPD to offer round-the-clock resident access to police headquarters — beginning Dec. 11 — which it never had before.
It was one of many ways to bring the police force and community closer together, Taylor said.
He said results of a fundraiser to restore the K-9 unit reflected the public’s renewed confidence in Crestview police.
Throughout the summer, police raised more than $30,000 for the effort, with donations from children, adults and businesses.
3. CLOSURE AT LAST
In August, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office charged two men with the 1998 homicide of Jewel Summerlin Melvin.
The 71-year-old Crestview resident was beaten, strangled and received severe blunt force trauma to the face, head and abdominal area, according to the autopsy report.
Over the years, investigators found witnesses and interviewed them. Following those interviews, a grand jury indicted Michael Lynn McCombs and Steven Earl Kimmons, both 50 and from Milton.
In November, Sheriff Larry Ashley honored Investigators Ralph Garrett and Mike Irwin, who helped solve the 16-year-old murder case.
4. YMCA CLOSES
All regional YMCA facilities closed Oct. 10 after the YMCA of Florida's Emerald Coast announced it had operated in a financial deficit since 2007.
Officials in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach expressed interest in being allowed to operate their YMCAs independently from the YMCA of Florida’s Emerald Coast. However, the Emerald Coast association would have to turn in its charter to the YMCA of the USA before anyone could contemplate independent operations, a YMCA USA spokesperson said.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast committed to take over two after-school programs that stood to be affected by the YMCA facilities' closures.
This prevented parents of about 100 children at Walker Elementary in Crestview and Kenwood Elementary in Fort Walton Beach from worrying about the after-school program's future.
5. HAPPY ENDINGS
Two boys in particular were on many residents' minds this year: Drew Barefield and Emmanuel Menz.
For a few months, many North Okaloosa businesses' signs featured a message also seen on T-shirts and wristbands throughout the area: #PrayforDrew.
The community kept Drew in their thoughts and prayers after he was critically injured in a June boating accident at Choctaw Beach.
Costa Enterprises, the local McDonald's owner, particularly stepped up, contributing $2,861 from Drew-themed fundraisers at its Crestview restaurants.
“It was a blessing that everyone was praying for me,” said Drew, who is out of the hospital and recovering. “I think I wouldn’t have made it without the prayers. Prayers and Jesus.”
In March, Emmanuel Menz, an autistic 3-year-old, was kidnapped during his parents' supervised visit with a state Department of Children and Families representative.
Karl Menz and Virginia Lynch, his biological parents who have no custodial rights, were the suspects.
Though several weeks passed with no sign of the boy, Menz or Lynch, Baker resident Pam Holster Flores kept hope alive on her "Bring Manny Home" Facebook page.
A month after a nationwide search, Emmanuel was returned to Florida from Nevada. Menz and Lynch await trial in 2015.
6. BAKER MAKES HISTORY
Baker heritage and hometown pride were on full display in February, when the Florida Historical Marker Program recognized the community's K-12 school as Okaloosa County's first state-accredited high school.
Jeannette Henderson, a long-time resident, spent two years of research to prove that the former Baker High School was accredited in 1923. Its doors opened in 1916, shortly after the county's 1915 formation.
Family members of the school's first three-student graduating class of 1924 helped to unveil the historical marker.
7. JUST SAY NO — OR DON'T
Buck Ward Road residents in Baker made it clear that they don't want Exodos Ministries, a Christian substance abuse rehabilitation ministry, moving next door.
Residents staked protest signs in their lawns and six individuals signed a letter to the editor outlining their concerns about Exodos' proposal. Critics say the ministry's presence would raise questions about safety and change the community's general makeup.
Meanwhile, some protest signs have been reported destroyed or stolen, and the News Bulletin received countless website, Facebook and Instagram comments about the issue.
Exodos' supporters and foes will meet to discuss the issue during a Jan. 8 public meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Baker Recreation Center.
8. RACE DEBATE
The Laurel Hill City Council has been deadlocked on filling the seat Clifton Hall vacated in November 2013, with Council members Willie Mae Toles and Johnny James, both black, voting for Mary Bradberry and Betty Williamson and Council Chairman Larry Hendren, both white, voting for Daniel Lane.
In November, Bradberry, who is black, questioned whether race was a factor in the deadlock. A month later, Toles raised the same question after she learned that Bradberry's name was removed from consideration after her true residency received scrutiny.
“I didn’t know (Bradberry's) name was taken off and I’m a city council member,” Toles said, although the revised list of candidates was published before the scheduled Dec. 4 council meeting, which Toles missed.
Toles said she thought white council members were planning to drive black members from the board. “You going to get a little white man to take my place?” she said during a Dec. 11 meeting.
Soon, Bradberry said she didn't want to be a Laurel Hill council member, citing the recent "drama."
9. FROM D TO A
Earlier this month, Laurel Hill School received positive news from the Florida Department of Education for a change.
For the first time in four years, LHS got an A.
In just one year, Laurel Hill jumped from a D to an A school, according to the School Accountability Report. LHS received a C and a B in 2012 and 2011, respectively. It received an A in 2010.
The state’s school grading system is based on points accumulated in reading, math, science and writing. Laurel Hill needed to raise its writing grades in particular following the D grade, Principal Lee Martello said.
She credited the dramatic improvement to an all-around effort by Okaloosa School District personnel as well as her faculty, staff and students.
Students understood the weight of the announcement, Martello said.
“It was like New Year’s Eve,” she said of a celebration that ensued. “People were in the halls cheering and high-fiving.”
10. CONCERN FOR JUSTICE
In July, Safe Haven Horse Rescue Center in Laurel Hill began caring for a severely ill, dehydrated horse found in Holt.
The paint quarter horse — which Safe Haven staffers named Justice — appeared malnourished, but instead was "just very ill," Dee Thompson, executive director of the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society, said.
Justice had liver failure, according to Safe Haven director Jim Bryan, who said he took the horse to a veterinary specialist in Milton.
A Holt man who claimed to own the horse said a Fort Walton Beach veterinarian gave a diagnosis of chronic active hepatitis to Justice. The man said he received death threats from the misconception that he neglected the animal.
Justice put on more than 75 pounds while Safe Haven staffers cared for him, but Bryan said early on that the horse had a 50-50 chance of survival. He died in November.
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BREAKOUT: HONORABLE MENTIONS
Just 10 slots isn't enough for all of North Okaloosa's significant events. Here's a list of other notable news.
GOVERNOR HONORS CRESTVIEW AREA VETERANS: Gov. Rick Scott presented a number of veterans with the Governor’s Veterans Service Award in August at the Army National Guard Armory in Crestview.
Disabled veteran Kim Bilberry, who is 52, broke into tears after she received her medal, touched by the gesture of appreciation that she said she doesn’t often see.
“It’s about damn time,” she said. “People don’t always realize freedom isn’t free.”
MORE EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES: After receiving the key to the city of Crestview from Mayor David Cadle, entrepreneur Paul Hsu established an annual $5,000 award to benefit one science and one math teacher from Crestview, Baker and Laurel Hill high schools each year for at least 10 years
BAKER NAMED FLORIDA'S MOST CONSERVATIVE TOWN: Based on political analytical data provided by Clarity Campaign Labs, Business Insider, in New York, identified the most conservative and liberal towns for each state in the country.
The website identified the most liberal town in Florida as Miami Gardens.
PEADEN BROS. DISTILLERY OPENS IN CRESTVIEW: Moonshining is a North Okaloosa County tradition dating back to the 1800s. In the spring, the county's first lawful distillery opened in Crestview's historic district.
END OF AN ERA: The Okaloosa Chamber Singers' April 4 Easter performance marked the end of a 20-year history of bringing professional classical vocal music to the region.
Crestview resident Marilyn Overturf, the Singers’ director, founded the community chorus in 1994 after leading the Crestview High School chorus for several years.
Some members of the group later joined the Schola Cantorum community choir, which continues to offer Christmas and Easter concerts.
MAGGIE'S BACK: A wayward Lhasa Apso was returned to her home in April after the pooch's nine-and-a-half-year absence. The Panhandle Animal Welfare Society found her in Holt and relocated her with the help of a microchip matted to the dog's skin.
VISIT FROM IRELAND: “Laughternoons with Dermot and Dave,” Ireland’s most popular music and comedy radio show broadcast live from Baker resident Mary Gadeken’s front porch and living room following more than a year of correspondence between the celebrities and Gadeken.
Dropping its brogue for a southern accent, Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore explored area culture and cuisine, and were honored by a mayoral proclamation by Mayor David cadle welcoming them to the Crestview area.
In June, Gadeken reciprocated the visit, exploring Ireland and Dublin with Dermot and Dave as her hosts.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 2014 IN REVIEW: North Okaloosa's defining events
