CRESTVIEW — Florida law enforcement agencies reportedly have raised more than $500,000 for the Special Olympics.

Officers across the state carried torches, sold commemorative T-shirts and hats and collected corporate donations for the sports organization that celebrates intellectually disabled people’s achievements.

"The money will be filtered into each county to use on Special Olympics," said Kim Christopher, Okaloosa Special Olympics’ administrative assistant.

Officers from the Crestview Police Department, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office and Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday morning gathered in the Publix Supermarket parking lot for this year's Law Enforcement Torch Run. The officers took turns carrying the torch as they ran up south Ferdon Boulevard. Police cruisers escorted them from the parking lot to the Veterans Memorial in Downtown Crestview. 

"Its all in the name of Special Olympics," said Sheriff’s Office Capt. Ron Gay, who helped coordinate the event.

Officers who serve in other parts of the county, including Fort Walton Beach and Niceville, joined in.

"This annual event is geared towards awareness, so we do what we can,” said Kathy Duke, an officer from the Fort Walton Beach Police Department.

The Crestview event was one of two torch events for the officers; several also ran in Fort Walton Beach later that day. The torch run had taken place in Escambia and Santa Rosa County, prior to Wednesday's event.

Many of the officers, including Crestview community service police officer Wanda Hulion, met some of the athletes involved.

"This is what is it all about," she said. "It’s about doing what we can to support them."

 Several of the Special Olympics coaches cheered for the officers as they finished the run at the memorial. However, although they appreciate the officers’ efforts, the volunteers said they would like to see more community involvement.

"A lot of people are not aware that we do have programs up here for Special Olympics," coach Kathy Ellis said.

See specialolympicsokaloosa.org for more information on the Okaloosa County Special Olympics.

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: Officers raise $500K statewide for Special Olympics

CRESTVIEW — A 31-year-old motorcyclist was critically injured Thursday night on State Road 85 just north of 7th Special Forces Way, according to the Florida Highway Patrol press release.

Nicholas Posatiere of Mentor, Ohio, was driving southbound around 10 p.m. in the right hand lane going faster than the posted speed limit coming up behind another vehicle and was unable to slow down enough to avoid collision with a vehicle in front of him, the release stated.

When he struck the rear of the 2013 Chevrolet Traverse, Posatiere was thrown from his motorcycle.

Posatiere was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. He was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

It is not known if alcohol was a factor, the release stated.

The driver of the Chevrolet, 45-year-old Fenton, Mich. resident Anthony Tata suffered minor injuries. His four passengers were not injured.

Charges are pending further investigation, the release stated.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Motorcyclist critically injured in Crestview collision

BAKER —  Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church’s Easter Egg Drop is from 10 a.m. to noon at the church on State Road 4.

Children in preschool through fifth grade may participate in Easter egg related activities ─including an egg relay, egg roll and egg toss.

 But the main attraction will be the egg drop. A plane will release 5,000 plastic, candy-filled eggs onto a nearby field. Children can then scramble to find them.   

"It seems to be getting more attention every year," said Larry Wade, a retired airline pilot facilitating the event. "Last year, we had nearly 500 kids in attendance." 

Wade will pilot his personal single-engine airplane while Sharron, his wife, drops eggs over the nearby field.

"It’s a good feeling and its our way of contributing to the community," Wade said. "Plus, I get to fly my plane."

 The couple got involved three years ago after being approached by the church for the event.

"They don't charge us anything, which is a really nice thing for them to do," said Darren Williams, children's pastor of the church.

The church will provide free lunch for attendees; there will be door prizes, too, Williams said.

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: Baker church plans Saturday morning Easter Egg Drop

BAKER — The North Okaloosa Historical Association seeks nominations for the 2013 Family Heritage Wall of Honor. Nominations are due April 5.

Contributors to the formation or positive enhancement of Okaloosa County’s communities are eligible and may be nominated posthumously. Honorees’ names will appear on the Family Heritage Wall of Honor plaque in Baker Block Museum’s library. An accompanying book will include a biographical page per inductee.

Each inductee will be an honored guest during a recognition ceremony hosted by the North Okaloosa Historical Association at 10 a.m. May 18 at the museum.

ContactBaker Block Museum, 537-5714 or bakermuseum@aol.com, for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Family heritage nominees wanted for Baker Wall of Honor

VALPARAISO —  Northwest Florida  Mensa, a chapter of American Mensa, the high IQ society, plans membership testing at 10 a.m. March 30 at Heritage Museum’s Blue Room, 115 Westview Ave. The testing fee is $40; a photo ID is required.

Mensa is an international society with one membership requirement: score within the top 2 percent of the general population on a standardized intelligence test.

More than 200 people belong to Northwest Florida Mensa, which covers all of Pensacola east through Apalachicola and north to the Alabama state line. The local group meets monthly in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach or Panama City. Members sponsor group lunches, a Friday night happy hour, a game afternoon and special holiday gatherings. Events range from intellectual to strictly social.

Mensa encourages and supports programs for gifted youth, sponsors research into the nature of intelligence, and annually awards educational scholarships locally and nationally.

Learn more about American Mensa at www.us.mensa.org.

Contact testing proctor/coordinator Joanne Horne, 315-0255, for more on local testing.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Mensa membership test is March 30

Last month, the Pew Research Center completed a survey that suggests, “Library users don’t know, and they know they don’t know what libraries have to offer.”

Well, we offer basic services: books, answering reference questions, providing free access to computers and the Internet and children and adult’s programming. We proctor written or online exams for any academic institution. 

In addition, you can check out DVDs, music on CD, Books on CD, periodicals and magazines. A library visit will allow you to play Wii games, put a 500- or 1,000-piece puzzle together or read a newspaper. On specific evenings, local musicians provide music, you can join a poetry group or view local artists’ exhibitions.

Look for family history online by checking census and family records using our Heritage Quest database. You can obtain one-on-one training on the use of technology, electronic databases and e-government access. In addition, we provide notary service, wireless Internet and Skype. Your library card allows you to remotely log on to our subscription databases, check out e-books, and eye the Gutenberg collection and the Florida Electronic Library collection.

I encourage you to come into the library and enjoy what we have to offer.

The Chelco Kill-A-Watt measurement device, available for seven-day checkout, measures energy consumption and allows consumers to check how much it costs to leave their computer, phone charger, TV or other appliance plugged in. Just connect the meter to a home electrical outlet and plug in an appliance. The meter displays cost of power consumed and kilowatt hours used, or voltage.

Even non-Chelco customers can use the service.

First Tuesday Lecture

Going Green: What You Can Do at Home: 10:30 a.m., April 2, Crestview Public Library. Featuring Tina Gainey of Greenway Saves. Coffee and cookies served at 10 a.m.

Jean Lewis is the Crestview Public Library's director.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CHECK IT OUT: Poll indicates little knowledge of library resources

FORT WALTON BEACH — The 41st Annual Cox Cablethon, beginning 6 p.m. April 13 on Cox channel 6, benefits Covenant Hospice.

The month-long televised fundraiser — featuring stories of local patients and families touched by Covenant’s care — will offer opportunities to support the non-profit’s work in Okaloosa and Walton counties, including making donations to honor a loved one.

A Covenant Hospice premiere party is 5:30-7:30 p.m. April 13, at 229 Eglin Parkway N.E. The free event will feature cinema-style refreshments and possibly a flat-screen TV giveaway, organizers said.

The Cablethon auction — with jewelry, vacation packages, artwork and gift certificates from area retailers and restaurants — will occur online beginning April 13 at www.eventsatcovenant.org/cablethon.

For more information about the Cox Cablethon, or to support Covenant Hospice with a donation for the event, contact Jenni Perkins at 598-5003 or jenni.perkins@covenanthospice.org.

FAST FACTS

•The Cox Cablethon reportedly has raised more than $500,000 for the last 12 years.

•All proceeds help fund local hospice programs including bereavement services, children’s support programs, chaplain services and indigent patient care.

•Covenant Hospice accepts patients regardless of ability to pay.

•In 2012, the organization reportedly provided more than $1.5 million in care for uninsured or underinsured patients facing a terminal illness.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: April 13 cablethon planned to benefit Covenant Hospice

CRESTVIEW — Forty-three of Detroit's classic and more recent products were joined by one vehicle each from Wolfsburg and Hiroshima to complete the Okaloosa School Nutrition Association's inaugural car show.

Vehicle registration fees and sales of lunch plates, combined with bounce house admission tickets, raised $1,200 for the association's scholarship fund and continuing education efforts.

"We had 45 cars! Isn't that awesome for the first car show?" organizer Lynn Rogers, Crestview High School’s cafeteria manager, said. "Everybody said it was going to rain but it just turned out to be a perfect day. It was fun. We had a good time."

Vehicles lining the high school's front parking lot ranged from souped-up 1930s roadsters to 1950s sedans with gleaming chrome bumper bullets and hood ornaments.

Classic cars from the ’60s included the Rogers family's 1967 Plymouth Satellite, a pair of vintage Mustangs, a yellow Thunderbird, and a Mercury Cougar.

A Pepto-Bismol pink early-’60s Volkswagen Bug and a 1989 Mazda B2200 truck converted to a low rider, just barely off the parking lot, attracted car buffs who munched barbecue sandwiches and hotdogs while strolling from car to car.

Newer entries included a late-model Trans Am with an ultra-detailed paint scheme made to look as if the sleek car was peeling off its factory skin to unveil the beast lurking within.

A vintage 1950s T-bird, several Corvettes, including a classic 1967 Stingray, and a 1978 Chevy Malibu with a stuffed white tiger reposed on its roof drew approving gazes.

The association plans to make the car show an annual event, a precursor to the April Spanish Trail Cruisers Club's yearly Average Joe Car Show.

The crowd pleased organizers, who learned some lessons for next year’s show, Rogers said.

“Next year, we know we're going to do a little more advertising,” she said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: First school nutrition association car show nets $1,200

CRESTVIEW — Residents of Shoal Terrace, Stonebridge, Cherokee Bend and other southeast Crestview neighborhoods find it easier to turn onto John King Road, the access road to their subdivisions, following a county effort.

"We actually had a resident contact us and expressed a concern about the signal timing," Okaloosa County Roads Division Manager Clay Simmons said. "We went in and looked at it and agreed. We were able to make that adjustment and improve the traffic situation for drivers."

The turn lane from southbound State Road 85 had frequently filled up at peak travel periods. Turning vehicles unable to fit in the turn lane would block the S.R. 85 fast lane until they could move into the turn lane.

Traffic often stacked up as far back as the Wendy's fast food restaurant, residents said.

That was before resident Jimmy Wrye wrote a letter to the News Bulletin editor criticizing the situation.

Wrye expressed gratitude for the county’s swift response.

“I thank the county man … for contacting me personally by telephone one day after my letter appeared,” he said on crestviewbulletin.com. “I have noticed a big difference in the number of vehicles that are able to turn left onto John King Road. I am very grateful to this person from the county and to the Crestview News Bulletin for publishing my letter.”

Another motorist noticed improvement.

"It got a little better," Carl Kiser said Wednesday while waiting to make the turn. "You can still see cars backed up at rush hour, though. Only eight or nine cars get through" during a turn cycle.

"We are constantly working on our transportation system and signal timings and we are always monitoring those," Simmons said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Turn arrow adjustment eases traffic at S.R. 85 and John King Road