CRESTVIEW — Here are some of the latest North Okaloosa events, from Northwest Florida organizations.

Crestview Fire Department extinguishes vehicle, dumpster fires

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Fire Department responded to a fully involved vehicle fire at 10 p.m. Sept. 21 at the intersection of Tallokas and Old Bethel Roads in Crestview.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze. 

According to an online CFD Facebook post, the fire was the result of the driver of the vehicle losing control and overcorrecting, causing the vehicle to leave the road and then return back to the roadway.

"Once the vehicle had returned to the roadway, damage from under the vehicle created friction with the roadway asphalt. It is believed that the fuel tank had ruptured and the heat caused by the roadway friction lead to the ignition of the fire," the CFD stated in the post. 

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire and the vehicle was considered a total loss. The Crestview Police Department also assisted with the incident.

The CFD also responded to several dumpster fires after 3 a.m. Tuesday in the Miramar Apartment Complex on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Crestview, according to information on the CFD Facebook page.

"Firefighters arrived at the apartment complex and were able to quickly extinguish the dumpster fires. Personnel were not able to determine what, or who, caused the fires, but it is believed to be the result of criminal mischief," the CFD stated.

The fires caused minimal damage to both dumpsters and their contents, but no other property was damaged. No injuries were reported as the result of the fires. The Crestview Police Department also assisted with the incident.

Okaloosa commissioners board passes surprise county clerk audit

SHALIMAR — Okaloosa County Clerk agents visited all locations of the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Sept. 10 and 13 to ensure all funds were accounted for and used appropriately, as well as to inspect the cash collection procedures and physical safeguards in place to protect the taxpayers’ money from theft and fraud. No discrepancies were noted at any locations.

In a statement to the Board, County Clerk J.D. Peacock stated that the results of the audit were exceptional, with no discrepancies were noted in any of the locations.

While this was not a full review of the practices in place, it shows the level of honesty and

transparency the Board of County Commissioner’s employees operate with on a daily basis, the BOCC stated.

“County government will never be perfect, but I am very pleased at the great strides in accountability that have been made over the last six years. Clerk Peacock has been an invaluable partner, working with the Commission and County staff to develop a 'trust but verify' culture that promotes integrity and open communication,” Commissioner Nathan Boyles said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa Community Briefs

Gulf Power, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other groups announced its 2018 round of Longleaf Stewardship Fund grants that will benefit habitat restoration and species recovery across Northwest Florida.

The lion’s share of the $1 million — $920,000 — has been awarded to Longleaf Alliance for work on Gulf Coast Ecosystem Plain Partnership lands. GCPEP is a collaboration of 15 public and private landowners with over 1.3 million acres of land that stretches from the Florida-Alabama border on the west, east to the Choctawhatchee River and includes the Conecuh Forest that adjoins the Blackwater River State Forest on the northern border of Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

The partners take a landscape approach to conserve and restore the dwindling longleaf pine ecosystem.  

“This is the most money we’ve received at one time, and it’s a huge step for ecosystem restoration and rare species recovery in the landscape,” said Vernon Compton, the Alliance’s GCPEP director.

“It will allow our Ecosystem Support Team to work across the landscape on multiple projects from helping with prescribed burns to invasive species control, and to do more work on species recovery. The Ecosystem Support Team is trained for the specialized and labor-intensive work rare species recovery requires.”

The grant dollars will be used to:

•Restore and maintain 112,958 acres of longleaf pine habitat within the western panhandle of Florida and southern Alabama.

•Prioritize and accelerate, in this same area, recovery of declining and at-risk species, including bobwhite quail, gopher tortoise and reticulated flatwood salamander.

•Support local environmental conservation jobs.

•Provide ecosystem support for reticulated flatwood salamander breeding wetlands.

•fund the rescue of gopher tortoises from construction sites in Central and South Florida and relocate them to the Eglin Air Force Base conservation lands. The project’s goal is aimed at bolstering the populations to prevent the tortoises from being listed in 2023 under the federal Endangered Species Act, a development that could impact some of Eglin’s training and testing operations.

The fire-adapted longleaf pine ecosystem once encompassed more than 90 million acres across the Southeast, but it has been reduced to only about 5 percent of its historical range. It supports immense biodiversity and important game species such as the bobwhite quail, wild turkey and white-tailed deer.

Go to https://www.nfwf.org/longleaf/Documents/2018grantslate.pdf for a complete list of the 2018 grants made through the Longleaf Stewardship Fund.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Groups combine to support longleaf pine, other conservation efforts

CRESTVIEW — Commissioner Nathan Boyles and Commissioner Graham Fountain would like to invite the public to their first joint "Coffee with a Commissioner."

They will discuss the Nov. 6 sales tax referendum with the public 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at Casbah Coffee Company, 196 Pine Ave. W., Crestview.

If it passes, the referendum will add a half-cent sales tax to non-exempt purchases in Okaloosa County. The money would fund public safety, roads and storm water projects.

“As with our prior joint community events, Commissioner Boyles and I hope to have a lively and thought-provoking discussion with our fellow citizens and encourage all who can to join us,”  Fountain said.

“In keeping with my tradition for these events, the drink tab will be on me. Please stop by and enjoy one of Casbah’s excellent selections of coffee, beer and wine all while participating in a robust community discussion,” Boyles said.

The commissioners will have a Facebook live during the event on the Okaloosa County Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Have 'Coffee with a Commissioner' in Crestview

BAKER — Surrounded by 2,500 acres of cotton and peanut farm in Baker, James Marshall, his wife Helen, and their son Nick reflect on farming in today’s world.

“It’s a job that you’re going to get out of it whatever you put in it just like anything else,” James said. “You work hard at it, you’re going to get rewarded down the line.”

The Marshall family works “can to can’t” from spring to fall.

“It takes a special person to be able to do it,” James said.

“It’s a lot of hours,” Nick said.

The Marshall family has been farming for over 40 years. James began farming at his father’s farm in Jay when he was 18. He moved to Baker in the 70s and began Marshall Farms in 1977. Nick began farming with his father in 1999 after graduating from Baker School.

Marshall Farms recently received a County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship (CARES) award by the Florida Farm Bureau Federation for their advanced farming techniques.

These include paying a fee for genetically modified or “BT” cotton plants meant to minimize spraying of harmful insecticides and the strip-till practice — plowing a smaller strip for erosion control.

They also use a GPS tracking system on their fertilizer and spraying machines keeping them from over-saturating crops.

Although some new advances in farming are environmentally beneficial, they're pricey. One new piece of equipment they looked into buying was at least $300,000.

Along with equipment costs, farmers face battles with nature and economics. Tariffs are a source of uncertainty causing a revenue drop for some farmers.

James said the current tariffs are “killing us” because China is not buying cotton produced in the U.S.

Nick, monitoring cotton prices on his phone, said cotton dropped 150 points or a penny and a half that morning. For Marshall Farms, that means losing about $30,000 a day.

“The crazy part about it is that there’s no rhyme or reason for it because the United States crop this year is in bad shape…The only good cotton this year is in the southeast,” Nick said.

James and Nick also mentioned a recurring fear — weather, namely drought and hurricanes.

The peak season for hurricanes is June 1 to Nov. 30 — the cotton and peanut harvest period.

If Marshall Farms had experienced a hurricane like Florence, James said all of their cotton would be ruined. Some fellow farmers in North Carolina have, he said.

Most farmers purchase crop insurance to protect losses during a natural disaster, which James said, for their farm, is about $135,000 a year.

Still, the Marshall family can't imagine not farming.

“We’ve all grew up on a farm. It’s just part of our blood to love it,” Helen said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: "It's just part of our blood to love it"

CRESTVIEW — Healing Hoof Steps, a fairly new equine therapy group, recently demonstrated its services for Okaloosa County's Veterans Court administrators.

County Judge Angela Mason, who presides over Veteran's Court program, an officer from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and administrators from the Department of Veterans Affairs attended the session.

Located in Crestview, Healing Hoof Steps offers assisted therapy and learning services to anyone suffering from mental and behavioral health issues.

That type of therapy is unusual to the area.

Affiliated with Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Healing Hoof Steps uses a combination of activities with the horses and communication with a licensed mental health counselor to help clients work through their issues to find effective solutions.

"Instead of sitting in an office with bad paint and bad wallpaper talking about your feelings for an hour, you actually come out and work with a therapist in the arena outside with the horses," said Narissa Jenkins, founder of Healing Hoof Steps.

Jenkins refers to that type of therapy as "experiential."

"Especially when it comes to veterans dealing with (post-traumatic stress disorder), there's not as much talking," Jenkins said. "A lot of it's more doing and finding ways to work through anxiety and depression."

The horses at Healing Hoof Steps are used to help clients with emotional growth, Jenkins said.

"It creates a unique learning environment," Jenkins said. "Sometimes you see a reflection of yourself in the horse. It's pretty powerful stuff."

Jenkins started Healing Hoof Steps in 2014 after a long career in business marketing.

She noticed a therapeutic quality in her horse, Saideira, and began researching the benefits of that type of therapy.

After moving back to Fort Walton Beach, Jenkins said it was a "no brainer" that she would have her own therapy facility because the area was lacking in something like that.

For more information the therapy services offered at Healing Hoof Steps, call 850-764-1005 or visit its website, www.healinghoofsteps.org.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Healing Hoof Steps offers mental and behavioral health therapy

BAKER — A 6th grade student at Baker School received a Presidential Volunteer Service Award from Congressman Matt Gaetz Sept. 18 in Pensacola.

"I'm very honored," Kadance Fredericksen, 11, said.

Kadance, also a beauty queen, began doing community service after entering a pageant that required at least 3 hours of service.

"From there, all she wanted to do was serve," Lisa Fredericksen, Kadance's mother, said.

Kadance used her wooden lemonade stand featured in front of her home, which she called "Kadance's Lemonade Stand," as a fundraiser raising money for the Ronald McDonald House.

She charged $1 per glass of lemonade. In three years, Kadance has raised over $14,000 for the non-profit organization helping sick children and their families with financial needs.

Just shy of her $7,000 goal when receiving the award, Gaetz donated $1,000 to Kadance completing her donation to the Ronald McDonald House.

Along with her lemonade stand, Kadance has a long list of volunteer services including food drives for the Crestview Homeless Shelter and delivering 200 teddy bears she collected to the Children’s Coalition of Florida.

Lisa started entering Kadance's volunteer hours into the Presidential Volunteer Service Award's website two years ago.

Kadance was at 120 hours when she was approved for the award.

Lisa said she is very proud of her daughter.

"There's not words to describe it," Lisa said.

Kadance's name and achievements will be featured in the Library of Congress.

"You're forever in history," Gaetz said in a Facebook live video. "I got the chance to recognize all the things you've done … all of your contributions, and it is now permanently in the record of the United States Congress."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: From a lemonade stand to the Library of Congress

BAKER — James and Nick Marshall, of Marshall Farms, speak about the advanced techniques they use on their cotton and peanut farm in Baker. The family was recently recognized for their advanced and environmentally friendly farming.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: (VIDEO) Baker farmers recognized for advanced farming techniques

CRESTVIEW — Recent local Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office seminars provided several women with tactics to protect themselves.

Ashley Bailey, who attended the Fort Walton Beach class, said, they try to hold the class three or four times a year. She is with the OCSO Crime Prevention Department.

She said the classes have taught hundreds of women self-protection. Previous attendees have also come back for refresher courses, and brought others with them: mothers and daughters, friends and relatives.

"It's a great, empowering class, and it's great for women to come out and feel empowered to learn how to protect themselves," she said.

At the Crestview session, attendees warmed up for a few minutes, then instruction began.

They learned how to maintain their balance during an attack. For instance, standing on one leg and lifting the other up for leverage while swinging at an assailant makes it easy for them to pull you off balance.

In addition to physical defense, Amanda Powell, Gordon Martial Arts program director, covered the potential issue of women ignoring their instincts out of politeness.

"(Never) ignore that alarm that goes off inside of you, because we try to be so nice to people and give people the benefit of the doubt … Do not feel bad for feeling uncomfortable or feeling like something's wrong … If you feel odd, if you feel an alarm, you should listen to that alarm."

She gave an example of being at a gas station and someone approaching her suspiciously. It is important to call attention to that person and identify their intentions.

To illustrate her point, she backed away rapidly and held up her hands up in front of her, palms outward, loudly saying, "Hi sir,  how you doing? Can I help you with something?"

Call attention to them, she said. It may be weird, but safety is priority.

"Let him worry about why I'm being weird, right? I'd rather be overly precautious than underprecautious," she said.

That person may stop and check on you, and ask, "I'm just throwing this trash away — are you okay?" she said. But if that person doesn't acknowledge you and keeps moving toward you, start backing up and preparing yourself.

Powell told attendees if they see other people, especially other women in a dangerous situation, never be afraid to call the cops or feel guilty for identifying someone to authorities.

"It is so much better to send somebody out there to investigate or to do their portion of their job, than to not do anything and then there's an issue later on," she said.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Women's self-defense seminars teach empowerment

We hear heralds of doom spouting about fake news left and right these days, whether on the internet or on TV. The President even tweets about it (or tweets it, depending on your personal stance!)

Perhaps the most frequent place we encounter it is social media. Especially on Twitter and Facebook, it’s superbly simple to glance at something and share it a second later. So how do you distinguish what is true? Even more importantly, how can you, just a humble Crestviewian, combat the dissemination of fake news?

As a librarian, it’s my sacred duty to make sure I help people sift through the sludge and find answers. I am hardly qualified as a social media expert, but I do know a thing or two about tools to help locate quality information.

One fantastic tool to truth-check a post or email is to look it up on www.snopes.com. Snopes has been around since the mid-90’s, and is widely regarded as one of the best fact-checkers available. Trust me, you didn’t actually get emailed by a Nigerian prince in need of some wired cash.

To round out options for general fact-checking, similar sites include www.hoax-slayer.com and www.truthorfiction.com.

Likewise, if it’s politically charged news, you may want to use the Pulitzer-winning www.politifact.com. Politifact uses a meter to distinguish what is true, a half-truth, and false. Factchecker.org is another resource freely available to assess your political readings. Using both can help sieve various biases.

It’s hard not to be lured in by fear-mongering social media posts; however, with a few searches, you can help be a crusader for quality information. Oh, and you won’t have to worry any more about being cursed for 15 years if you don’t immediately forward a post to everyone and their mother. 

Emily Knie is the Crestview Public Library's adult services librarian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Fact check with these 5 online resources

CRESTVIEW — Crestview lost a well-known member of the community after a tractor accident in rural Alabama.

Glenn Edward "Ed" Lowe, 53, passed away at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in a town 3 miles outside on Greenville, Ala.

Lowe owned Crestview Paint and Body — a business the city and Crestview Police Department used for towing services.

Mayor David Cadle said Lowe was an important figure in the community.

"Many people had come to rely on Ed Lowe for the services he offered at (Crestview Paint and Body)," Cadle said. "He was always looking out for his customers … He has a lot of customers that have been with him for many years."

The Crestview Police Department have utilized Lowe's business for years when accidents occurred to return the normal traffic flow.

Brian Hughes, Crestview's Public Information Officer, said in an email, "In this, he is a great partner with the Crestview Police Department."

Glenn Branton, originally from Crestview, said he knew Lowe and his family from their childhood in the 70s.

"He was a great guy, generous and very, very funny," Branton, of Alabama, commented on Facebook. "I always enjoyed seeing him or talking to him, he was always upbeat and made you feel like he was glad to see you."

Lowe began helping his father run the body shop behind their home on Chestnut Avenue after graduating from Crestview High School in 1983. They eventually expanded to the building on West James Lee Blvd.

Lowe took over the business 35 years ago.

Evelyn Lowe reflected on her son's ability to run the family business.

"He had built up his business," she said. "He learned the trade from his father, and he was very good at his job."

Emily Cox said she worked for Ed Lowe about six years ago before moving to Kentucky in 2013. Cox also said her grandson is Lowe's great nephew through Lowe's sister, Sarah Jordan.

Cox said Lowe was full of humor and had a "caring heart" when it came to his employees.

"He was a good man to work for and he was a very understanding man," Cox commented on Facebook.

Austin Barger said he was friends with Lowe for many years and also worked with him for 10 years. Barger said Lowe was like a mentor for him.

"He really was a good person. You just had to get to know him, or he had to let you in his world," Barger said.

According to Butler County Sheriff Kenny Harden, Lowe was bush hogging deer plots in the woods on his late father's property when the side of the road caved in.

The tractor Lowe was riding fell down a 20-foot embankment, turning over on him.

Lowe was pronounced dead at the L. V. Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

According to an employee at Crestview Paint and Body, business remains open as of Monday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Community reacts to Crestview business owner's passing