Have you heard about geocaching on the Okaloosa County Public Library Cooperative Heritage Trail?

Geocachers use GPS-enabled devices to locate containers called geocaches, which contain questions with answers found nearby.

All you have to do is answer the questions and log them on your geocaching passport. Then, bring your passport to any OCPLC member library. If you correctly answered six of the eight questions you will receive a custom OCPLC Heritage prize coin commemorating Viva Florida 500.

You can download a passport once you join the OCPLC Heritage Trail. Free registration is required at www.geocaching.com. Just choose a Geocaching ID and once you are registered, the fun begins.

All of you Crestview and North Okaloosa geocachers, get out on the trail and find your cache! Coins are available until supplies are depleted.

Jean Lewis is the Crestview Public Library's director.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Geocaching in progress for Viva Florida anniversary

The News Bulletin received the following open notices Thursday:

•Okaloosa County Sheriff's Offices open at 1 p.m.

•All Gulf Power customer offices open at noon. All collection activities are suspended through Feb. 3.  Power was restored Thursday to the rest of the utility's 47,873 customers who lost power due to the storm that started Tuesday. 

•Evening classes starting at 4:30 p.m.or later at all Northwest Florida State College campuses have resumed and normal office hours will resume at 8 a.m. Friday at all campuses.

The offices listed below have announced they will be closed Jan. 30 due to weather conditions.

OKALOOSA COUNTY

•Okaloosa County schools

•Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners office.

•The Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Offices in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach. Offices will reopen at 8 a.m. Jan. 31. Details: Paul Lux, plux@co.okaloosa.fl.us. •Okaloosa County Tax Collector's offices.

NORTHWEST FLORIDA

•Catholic Charities offices in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach and Panama City.

•Day classes at Northwest Florida State College campuses. Any decisions to cancel evening classes will be announced by 2 p.m. Thursday. All college locations will be closed Jan. 30 during normal business hours. College operations, classes, and events will resume Friday. Updates available through the college website and its Facebook and Twitter sites.

UTILITIES

Additionally, to reduce the peak demand for power, Choctawhatchee Electrical Cooperative requests that customers conserve energy  5:30-8:30 a.m. Thursday morning as follows: •    Limit the use of hot water by postponing showers, baths, dishes and laundry. •    Turn off unnecessary lights and appliances. •    Lower the thermostat to 68 degrees. “Controlling peak demand can help reduce power costs,” Steve Wolfrom, CHELCO’s vice president of member services, stated."The severe cold has the potential of greatly increasing the cost of wholesale power … members can help limit peak demand for power,  which in turn limits the increase in costs,” Wolfrom said. “Controlling demand also helps long-term. Our power supplier must have adequate generating resources in place to meet our greatest demand for electricity. Reducing peak demand is a way of controlling the need to build more generating capacity.”

As of noon on Wednesday, the utility was working on on three outages affecting 21 members. Between Tuesday and Wednesday,  2,440 members were without power at one time or another. Most outages were caused by ice and downed tree limbs. 

If you know of additional closures in your area, email dates and closure times to the Crestview News Bulletin.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Thursday building closures announced; openings added

CRESTVIEW — North county residents woke up to a winter wonderland of ice-encased foliage and streets coated in a crisp, white mantle.

At 7:30 a.m., the time-and-temperature sign outside the First National Bank of Crestview announced a brisk 22 degrees to sparse traffic on iced-over State Road 85. By 1 p.m. temperatures had climbed only 3 degrees.

Crestview resident Janice Marcus and her brother Robb, who's visiting from California, prepared in advance for the icy weather and planned to stay off the roads.

"I told Robb we're just staying home until Friday," Janice Marcus said. "I called my Bible study leader Monday night and said, 'I won't be there Wednesday,' and she said, 'Why not?'

"I lived in Oklahoma and I know better than to go out on icy roads. Two hours later I got a text, 'Bible study has been cancelled.'"

In Laurel Hill, where morning temperatures were three degrees colder than Crestview, resident April Tucker said she and her husband Todd were huddled around a space heater in their mobile home.

"We're all bundled up. Todd brought home some carbs," Tucker said, laughing. "We're eating a lot of cookies. It seems like good winter comfort food."

Both families ventured outside to let their dogs run around.

"The dogs are trying to eat the ice," Tucker said. "At first they thought they wanted to go out to use the bathroom but they stuck their nose out and decided to stay inside."

Janice Marcus said it was entertaining to see how her collies reacted to the ice that coated her Crestview backyard.

"I'm watching the puppy dogs play," she said. "They like the 'crunch-crunch' sound. My dogs are having a ball. I'm freezing to death but they're just racing each other. They're having a blast."

While Eglin Air Force Base, most businesses, and state, county and local offices were closed, not everyone appreciated having an unexpected day off.

Tucker, who owns a home-cleaning service, said she had to cancel scheduled appointments for the day, and when she's not working, there's no money coming into the household.

"I rescheduled one that got cancelled for next week," she said. "I'm missing work today. Hopefully next week will be better."

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

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Many residents hunker down and enjoy a snow day

HOLT —  The Broxson family didn't let the icy cold weather conditions keep them inside on Wednesday. With county schools and a majority of offices closed due to inclement weather conditions, the family used the day off to their advantage.

 Both David and Patrick used the day to split firewood for their side business, Wood Brothers.

 David Broxson said business has been good.

"We are doing what we can to keep up," he said.

The brothers said they constantly received phone calls from interested residents during the past few days.

 David said he and his brother started the side business in December of last year, selling 26 truckloads of firewood. So far this year, the brothers have sold nearly 60 loads.

Both brothers decided to brave the elements and continue to split wood at Patrick's Holt residence.

"With our fulltime jobs, this is the only real time we can do this," Patrick said.

 While the brothers worked, their children were outside with them playing in the ice.

 In addition to sliding and collecting ice in a bucket only to playfully throw it at each other, 10-year-old Abby, 13-year-old Ashlyn and 8-year-old Landon Broxson found several outside activities to do on their school day off.

"Its fun with no school," said 13-year-old Ashlyn Broxson, who attends Baker School.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Holt residents spend sleet day outside

There's just one Twitter hashtag you need to know to learn everything about the Northwest Florida's winter storm.

Click here for live updates from the Northwest Florida Daily News and Crestview News Bulletin.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LIVE Northwest Florida snowstorm updates here

CRESTVIEW — National Weather Service predictions call for a half-inch of ice accumulation as residents throughout the north county prepare for the un-Florida-like weather.

The Crestview Winn-Dixie was busier than usual with customers stocking up on groceries.

"It's been like this all day," customer service supervisor Vanessa McDaniel said. "It's not on the level of a hurricane but pretty busy."

Assistant store manager Alex Pfeiffer said customers were particularly shopping for "the normal stuff you'd buy for a hurricane. They've been buying a lot of dairy and bread."

Business was brisk at the self check-out registers, with a line of patient shoppers waiting as their neighbors rang up their groceries.

On the dairy aisle, stock clerk James Foley replenished gaps in the milk inventory even as Elsie Hallman and her grandchildren, who had the day off from school, picked up two gallons.

"We're not panicking," Hallman said. "We're just being prepared. We have movies to watch so we're ready."

Lisa Mullins and her daughter Bethany, 12, grabbed a container of deli chicken wings, a case of Mountain Dew and a package of microwavable popcorn through the scanner.

The supplies were for their "snow day party," Mullins said.

Others prepared to hunker down inside as well. Outside the store, Dina Scott and her son Branden selected films from the Red Box vending machine to watch Tuesday evening.

"It's for our snow day," Dina Scott said, laughing.

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 residents prepare for potential snow day

CRESTVIEW — On Tuesday and Wednesday, snow flurries could fall as far south as the coastline and even out over the Gulf of Mexico, said John Purdy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

With the unusual weather pattern, travel problems are expected, he said. Tree limbs and power lines could be downed, power outages are possible. Roads and bridges could be iced over. In the north, a mix of rain, freezing rain and ice pellets is expected all day Tuesday. By evening that could become sleet and snow.  In the south toward the coast, rainfall is expected most of the day with potential snowfall after midnight into Wednesday morning.

The expected snowstorm this week has resulted in the following notices:

UTILITIES

•Choctawhatchee Electrical Cooperative has additional linemen on standby due to experiencing some sleet and ice in their service area. The company's entire operations group is ready to be called into action, if necessary. The Energy Control Center will monitor conditions throughout the night and calling in crews if needed. On Wednesday morning, CHELCO had eight outages (mostly caused by ice and downed tree limbs) affecting approximately 100 members; however, overnight approximately 2,200 CHELCO members were without power at some point. “The weather made restoration really slow,”Vice President of Engineering Matthew Avery said. “Everything was wet, cold and icy; however, this morning things are going pretty well.”

•The following Gulf Power offices are closed Wednesday: Crestview, Pensacola, Milton, Niceville, and DeFuniak Springs. Panama City and Chipley offices open Wednesday at noon. All office hours are subject to change based on weather conditions.

As of 10 a.m., 6,500 Gulf Power customers had no power and crews continue to work safely to finish restoration from Pensacola to Panama City. The company started seeing power outages yesterday around 1 p.m. Since then, a total of 41,845 customers have lost power. As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, Gulf Power crews had restored power to 35,000 of those customers.

line crews  increased their staffing into the night Tuesday, as well as on Wednesday morning. A Gulf Power spokesman said freezing rain and sleet can build up on tree limbs, which then break and fall onto power lines. If you come across a downed power line, assume that it is live and call 911, as well as Gulf Power, at 1-800-487-6937. If there is an outage, customers can help Gulf Power restore power by turning off their heating systems until power is restored. Once power is back on, customers should wait a few minutes before turning their heating system on. The company requests that customers wait 10 to 15 minutes after their power is restored before turning their heat back on, as it helps them manage the service load so they can bring all customers back on line as quickly as possible. Customers with questions may call Gulf Power customer service representatives at 1-800-225-5797.

Customers can view an online outage map by computer, smartphone or tablet on MyGulfPower.com to report or check on an outage. They also can check their power usage on MyGulfPower.com by logging into their account. Customers can create an account online or call the Customer Care Center and a representative will help.

GROCERY STORES, TUESDAY EVENING STATUS

•Publix is closing earlier than its usual 10 p.m. It was open as of 5:30 p.m. and closure will depend on news from corporate.

•Thrifty Foods closes at its usual time of 8:30 p.m.

•Wal-Mart isn't closing, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

•Winn-Dixie is closing at its usual 10 p.m. time.

GOVERNMENT, COMMUNITY, HEALTH

•Crestview City Hall will remain closed Wednesday, Jan. 29.

•Crestview Public Library  is closed Wednesday as well.

•Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners’ government offices close at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 and are scheduled to reopen at 8 a.m.on Thursday, Jan. 30.

•The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County closes at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 and will reopen Thursday, Jan. 30. Clients who need to reschedule or cancel appointments should call (850) 833-9240.

•Escambia and Santa Rosa County and Circuit Courts will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as Santa Rosa and Escambia Department of Children and Families offices. The DCF offices are expected to reopen Jan. 30.

•Northwest Florida Water Management District Crestview and Milton offices are closed until Thursday morning.

•Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Offices in Crestview and Fort Walton Beach closed at 2 p.m.  Jan. 28 and will re-open at 8 a.m. Jan. 30. For more information, email Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux.

MILITARY

•Eglin Air Force Base's Installation Commander has ordered that non-mission critical military and civilian personnel be released at 2 p.m. today. As of 11:30 a.m. today, Eglin will reopen for normal business at noon Jan. 29.   All military and civilian personnel should report for duty at noon Wednesday or at the start of their normally scheduled duty period thereafter.

•Hurlburt Field: All civilian employees and military members, except those in mission critical positions required to provide essential services, are excused from duty Jan. 29. Hurlburt Field will not be open to normal business until 12 p.m., Jan 30.  All civilian employees and military members are expected to report for their normally scheduled duty shift after 12 p.m., Jan 30.

Personnel are encouraged to monitor the weather and stay in touch with their leadership. Updates will be posted at the Hurlburt Field Facebook page.

SCHOOLS

•Okaloosa County schools will be closed Jan. 28 and 29.

•Northwest Florida State College canceled all day and evening classes and closed administrative offices at all locations Jan. 28. All classes will resume and all locations and offices will resume usual hours Jan. 30.

EVENTS

•The Be Scam Smart Operation S.A.F.E. Workshops for senior citizens are canceled and will be rescheduled. One was 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 28 in Milton; the other was from 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 29 at Warriors Hall in Crestview.

•The Thursday groundbreaking for the Alerio multi-family vacation condominiums being built on U.S. Highway 98 in Miramar Beach has been postponed until the end of February.

•The Natural Resource Damage Assessment public meeting scheduled Jan. 28 in Pensacola is canceled and will be rescheduled. The Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustees will still host the Jan. 28 public meeting at Hilton Garden Inn, 1101 US Highway 231, Panama City, to solicit public comment on the Draft Programmatic and Phase III Early Restoration Plan and Draft Early Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. It begins with an open house at 6 p.m. CST, with business at 6:30.

The public comment period on the Draft Phase III ERP/PEIS has been extended from Feb. 4 through Feb. 19. Visit www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov to download an electronic copy of the plan and submit comments online. For more on the State of Florida’s oil spill recovery efforts visit www.deepwaterhorizonflorida.com.

GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

•The Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

•Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County Boys & Girls Clubs are closed Jan. 28 and 29, and will re-open in accordance with local school districts.

•Common Ground Community Garden has moved its bi-monthly meeting to noon, Feb. 4 at the Convergence Coffeehouse in Crestview. You can visit their Facebook page for group information.

Any more information received by the News Bulletin will be listed here. If you have information on other closures, email it, with times and dates involved.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Area notices due to inclement weather tomorrow and Wednesday

CRESTVIEW — Jolene Parker Patterson laid her infant son, Joshua Devin Kroll II, to rest in 2005.

Since then, family members have placed several items — a small marble bench, floral arrangements, angel figurines and shepherd's hooks —  at Joshua's Old Bethel Cemetery gravesite. Some items weren't cheap, but all were sentimental, and they recently went missing.

Patterson, who visits her son's grave monthly with family members, says the thefts compound her grief. 

"It's very hurtful to those that have lost someone," she said. "We have no other way to give them anything. This is our human way of expressing that."

Two miniature Precious Moments angels particularly hold sentimental value for Patterson. Kroll was 2 months old when he succumbed to sudden infant death syndrome. A family member placed the two angels on his grave shortly after he died.  

"I would really like to have those back," Patterson said.

Joyce Parker, Jolene's grandmother, said she was devastated after learning a Christmas-themed synthetic floral arrangement went missing.

"I was heartbroken because it was all for him," she said.

Parker, 64, said she spent $50 on the flower arrangement — a significant amount for someone on a fixed income.

Christopher Patterson, Jolene's husband, said the thefts baffle him.

"I just don't get it … how someone could do something like that," he said. "It's not just about the monetary value. The value is sentimental."

The incident at Kroll's grave isn't isolated. Last month, resident Tyler Peaden said thieves stole Christmas decorations from his daughter, Alana's, private grave near Old Bethel Cemetery.

The thefts concern Parker, but haven't deterred her from giving gifts to her great-grandson.

She also hopes those responsible will be caught.

"God knows who did this, and he will deal with them in the end," she said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Desecration of child's grave 'hurtful'; God 'will deal with (thieves)'