Update: The fire reportedly cost about $14,000 in damage.

CRESTVIEW — Traffic has stabilized after a house fire near Twin Hills Park required altered routes.

The house, at 556 N. Hathaway St., received severe damage but no injuries have been reported.

"No one was home at the time," Crestview Fire Deparmtent Battalion Chief David Brown said. The fire's cause has yet to be determined.

"The state fire marshal's office has been contacted to investigate," Brown said.

Authorities closed off a portion of East Pine Avenue while North Okaloosa Fire District and the Crestview Fire Department's crews extinguished the fire this afternoon.

Crews reportedly were dispatched to the scene around 2 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Traffic flowing after house fire

CRESTVIEW — Thursday marks a milestone for a Crestview couple’s relationship, and a rarity for most couples: 70 years of wedded bliss.

Friends and family of Marlin and Charlotte Bass, 89 and 87, respectively, filled First Baptist Church of Crestview’s fellowship hall on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the occasion. The couple, who married Dec. 20, 1942, celebrated an early anniversary to accommodate loved ones.

The Basses have three children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren who attended the celebration, which was open to the public. A new great-great grandchild was absent.

Although the party had plenty of cake, fruit punch and presents, the couple were too busy socializing to have any of it.

"I wasn't expecting this many people,” said Dudley Bass, 56, the youngest of siblings Jeffery Dean Bass, 63, and Dottie Lynn, 61.

Charlotte expected the packed house.

"We knew there would be a lot (of people) here. We are a very loving family," she said with a smile.

The crowd included several church members like Scotty and Jan Cline, who attend Sunday school with Basses.

"It's more than a milestone," Jan Cline said. "They are the sweetest people and the most dedicated Christians."

Jeffery traveled from Tennessee to share in his parents’ special occasion.

"There are very few families who can have this type of celebration," he said.

And after 70 years, the couple are still going strong — literally.

"We are proud that they are in as good shape as they are,” Jeffery said. "They are pretty much independent” and drive around.

Others agreed.

"For their age, they get around great," Dudley said.

Relatives said the couple has stayed young at heart.

"They haven't seemed to lose their enthusiasm at their age," grandchild Janet Fitzgerald said. "They still have fun with each other."

An inspiration

Some of the younger family members marveled at the marriage’s longevity.

"It’s unbelievable that they have been together for that long," said great grandchild Lillie Gaillard, 10. "I know that (Marlin) was in World War II; that's pretty cool."

Her mother, Erin, found her grandparents’ long lasting marriage inspirational.

"I think it sets an example for all of us," she said. "My husband, David, and I will be married for 14 years in February."

Their story

Marlin and Charlotte met through mutual friends while attending Munson School. The pair attended several social functions like afterschool parties together before their friendship bloomed into something greater.

"In the summertime of that year (1942) is when we decided to get serious," Charlotte said.

After their marriage, Marlin joined the U.S. Army for six years and served in World War II.

Post-military life meant trying different jobs like selling life insurance, working as a Gulf Power meter reader and moving onto the next thing.

"He has experience in everything," said Charlotte, who worked 22 years in the Okaloosa County School System.

The couple’s three children — who came after Marlin left the military — eventually helped the family grow to what it is this day.

Despite an enduring marriage that will span seven decades, disagreements arise, the couple said, but they manage to work things out.

"Time is a marvelous healer of all things," Charlotte said.

But a healthy marriage requires each other’s hard work, Marlin said.

"We worked through all of this together," Marlin said. "It was a cooperative effort all the way around." 

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: Friends, family gather for 70th wedding anniversary

CRESTVIEW — James H. Philpott, a Crestview resident since the 1940s, will celebrate his 90th birthday 2 to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 23 at Joy Fellowship Church’s fellowship hall, 5978 Old Bethel Road.  The public is invited.

Philpott married S. Jean Spivey Dec. 26,1949. The couple will celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary this year.

Philpott worked on many mall and other commercial construction sites in Florida.

“His joy has been working with his hands, whether building a house, crafting cabinets or adding on to a home,” the family said in a statement.

The News Bulletin publishes north Okaloosa County residents' birthday, engagement, wedding and anniversary announcements at no charge. Submissions may be edited for length and style. Call 682-6524 or email news@crestviewbulletin.com for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BIRTHDAY: James H. Philpott celebrates 90 years Dec. 23

HOLT — Many birthday boys and girls fixate on flashy gifts they’ll receive.

Railey Conner of Holt has a different perspective.

She’s rejecting gifts on Saturday, her 12th birthday, and requesting donations for senior citizens in nursing homes.  

"I think it would be better to donate than to receive gifts," she said.

Railey won’t miss the gifts, Angie Holland, her mother, said. 

"It's not a big deal to her like it is to the adults that find out that what she is doing," she said.

This marks the second year of Railey's Birthday Project. Last year, she donated gift bags to residents at Carrington Manor in Crestview. This year, Railey also will give gifts to residents at Safe and Secure Respite Care LLC in Crestview.  

The former has a special place in her heart.

It’s been the home of her great grandmother, Roxie Buchanan, 84, for the past two years. She and her mother regularly visit Buchanan, who has Alzheimer's disease.

Those visits inspired Railey’s wish to bring Christmas joy to the elderly.

"When I visit her and see the other people in the nursing home, I see how lonely they are," Railey said. "I think most people tend to think of needy children, which is great, but we forget about the elderly because they are not often seen out in public.”

Slippers, nightclothes, lotions and crossword puzzles are among donations that fill a spare room in the family’s home.  

"(Recipients) really enjoy the puzzles because it helps them pass the time," Railey said. "They also like the new clothing we get them because it is something new to wear."

Some 60 nursing home residents should receive gifts come Christmas Eve, she said.  

 Local businesses, churches and organizations posted project fliers to aid the effort. First Baptist Church of Holt and Innerlight Surf and Skate locations in Fort Walton Beach and Destin set up donation drop boxes.

Area residents have donated about $600, which the mother-daughter duo will use to buy gift-bag items, Railey said. But donations — which far surpass the number of presents most 12-year-old girls receive — haven’t met this year’s goal.

"I think we are almost there, but not quite there yet," Railey said.

She has a plan if donations exceed expectations.

"Whatever we have left over, we will box up and donate them to other nursing homes in the area," she said.

"She's a great girl, very selfless," Patti Snow, Carrington Manor’s administrator, said.

Railey doesn’t just talk the talk; she walks the walk, meeting personally with dependent seniors, getting to know them.

"She actually knows a lot of the residents here, so she personally knows what each one of them want for Christmas," Snow said.

"The residents really enjoy what she does for them."

Want to donate?

See Railey's 12th Birthday Project at facebook.com/Railey's12thBirthdayProject/ She sends donations on Christmas Eve.

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 birthday girl seeks donations for seniors, not presents

Northwest Florida residents have one last opportunity to participate in a historic and potentially life-saving study.

The American Cancer Society is seeking volunteers for the 20-year Cancer Prevention Study-3. The study hopes to reduce cancer cases in the future by discovering what factors contribute to the development of the disease.

“(The scientists try) to discover cures, combinations, any common denominators, any factors that people might share that would develop cancer down the road,” said Cindy Davis, a volunteer for the American Cancer Society. “It’s really very, very vital to the research that’s going to be done and is being done on this disease.

“It’s a vital study,” Davis added. “When you think about it, it’s not only saving ourselves, but up the road our children, their children.”

The original Cancer Prevention Study conducted in the 1950s was the first one to link lung cancer to cigarettes. Cancer Prevention Study-2 started in 1982 and is ongoing.

Cancer Prevention Study-3 is open to anyone age 30 to 65 who has never been diagnosed with cancer. Everyone who is accepted in the study will donate blood at an upcoming signup and fill out a detailed survey on their lifestyle and their family medical history. For the next 20 years, each participant will update their surveys once every two to three years.

If a participant is diagnosed with cancer later, his or her blood sample will be pulled to be studied and compared to other people diagnosed to look for clues of what might have caused the disease.

The study requires 300,000 participants. About 180,000 had signed up by the end of 2012.

The final round of enrollment in Northwest Florida will be from 7 to 11 a.m. March 14 at Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach. Additional signups will take place through March 22 at West Florida Hospital, Baptist Hospital, Woodlands Medical Specialist and Gulf Breeze Hospital.

Lori Perkins at the Cancer Society’s Pensacola office said 800 people from Northwest Florida have signed up for Cancer Prevention Study-3 since 2007. The goal for the March enrollment is to sign up at least 500 more volunteers.

Davis is coordinating a kickoff event for the enrollment Jan. 24 in Pensacola, and is looking for people to become “community champions” for the study. Each community champion who attends the event will commit to recruiting at least 10 people to participate in the study.

To become a community champion, contact Davis at cdacsrtr@yahoo.com.

For more information on the Cancer Prevention Study-3, visit cancer.org/cps3 or email cps3@cancer org.

Contact Daily News Business Editor Dusty Ricketts at 850-315-4448 or dricketts@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustyRnwfdn.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Northwest Florida participants needed for 20-year cancer study

@font-face { font-family: "News706 BT";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.bodycopy, li.bodycopy, div.bodycopy { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 12.25pt; line-height: 10.5pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; CRESTVIEW — An influx of neighbors arriving with military reassignments from North Carolina, Texas and Alaska has boosted the local population and propelled the city into the University of Florida’s top 100 growing cities in the state.

Though Crestview barely made it to the top 100 in 2010, when it ranked 100th, UF’s newly issued December report covering 2012 found the city had nudged its way up to 97th place. The city was ranked 109th in 2000.

The university’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research, using U.S. government census reports, determined that Crestview has 22,742 residents — up from 2010’s 20,978 and a 42 percent leap from 2000’s 14,766 residents.

Mayor David Cadle primarily attributed the recent growth spurt to the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) cantonment south of Crestview, which brought nearly 6,000 soldiers, support staff and their families to the area.

As the city diversifies its businesses, particularly at Bob Sikes Airport and through the city’s Enterprise Zone, more growth can be expected, Cadle said. This will translate into more and better job opportunities for residents, and an increased tax base for the community, he said.

“I’m very excited about the continued growth of Crestview and I think we’re going to see more of that to come as we expand our industrial base,” Cadle said.

The city’s growth far outpaced that of neighboring communities on the UF list. The nearest was Pensacola, which at 51 on the list saw a 7.7 percent population decline since 2000 and a .2 percent growth since 2010 to 52,022 residents.

Panama City, the next closest neighbor on the list, ranked 73rd, with a 2.5 percent population decline since 2000 and .8 percent increase between 2010 and 2012 to 35,800 people.

No other Okaloosa, Santa Rosa or Walton County communities made the top 100 list.

However, with the city’s growth come growing pains.

Most noticeably, the homebound evening commute from the county’s south end has increased in recent years. New growth clogs feeder roads including P.J. Adams Parkway and John King Road.

The city addressed infrastructure expansion in expectation of the Base Realignment and Closure-mandated arrival of the 7th Special Forces, including expanding water and sewer systems.

However, traffic problems remain an issue because the county or state controls the roads that most sorely need widening, officials say.

“The city’s growth creates opportunities but it also creates challenges, and I think we have to be careful not to pursue growth simply for growth’s sake,” County Commissioner Nathan Boyles, who represents the north county, said. “We want to make sure we are growing in a way that allows us to develop economically but also allows us to preserve our unique quality of life.

“One important component of that is infrastructure. If we grow so fast that we can’t maintain the necessary levels of service with our infrastructure, we won’t be a very good place to live and we won’t stay on that (UF) list very long.”

Boyles cited ongoing engineering planning projects — like P.J. Adams Parkway’s widening and creation of a P.J. Adams/Antioch Road bypass around Crestview’s southwest quadrant — as examples of county officials’ increased focus on the Crestview area.

“I think the job of equitably distributing the limited resources of the county is a challenging one,” Boyles said. “I think having two commissioners from the north end of the county for the first time will help assure our area will get its fair share of those resources.”

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: Crestview named among University of Florida’s top 100 growing cities

CRESTVIEW — For some residents, Christmas decorating means untangling lights, hoping that one pesky strand will illuminate another year, and getting the display up so they can move on to the next holiday chore.

Others place each carefully planned strand to give the most visual pleasure to passing neighbors, a heartfelt Christmas present the owner shares with passers-by.

Like any art, beauty can, indeed, be solely in the eye of the beholder. One person’s work of multi-colored glittering art is another’s tacky display of ostentation.

Nevertheless, two displays recently caught our eye.

Coming into Crestview on U.S. Highway 90 from the west, after rounding the curve past Yellow River, one can’t help noticing the Powell family’s long, low, single-story home overlooking a pond. Delicate blue-white LEDs line the driveway and cast a glow from snowflake decorations hanging from the home’s eves.

A drive north on Old Bethel Road yields a surreal blue glow, which, upon rounding a curve, yields a rustic country home with lines defined in blue lights. Blue lights also climb several trees on the front yard and the driveway’s entrance, enhancing the annual display for which the home is noted.

LET US KNOW: Have you noticed an impressive holiday lights display in Crestview, Baker or surrounding areas?

Drop us a note and photo at news@crestviewbulletin.com or send a private message to our Facebook page, facebook.com/crewstviewbulletin.

We’ll share the best displays with readers.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: News Bulletin staff seeks impressive holiday light displays

JACKSONVILLE — Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Homefront will extend emergency financial assistance to military service members and veterans active on or after Sept. 11, 2001.

Assistance applies to those and their families with a no-fault, service-related physical or mental injury, illness or wound. Emergency assistance comes from cash grants to service providers. Operation Homefront fulfills the requests with the project’s funding.

The grants cover basic needs including food, rent and utilities. Candidates who can prove a financial need exists may apply for assistance at www.OperationHomefront.net.

Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit that provides emergency assistance to service members’ families. It has met more than 590,000 military families’ needs since its 2002 inception.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Emergency financial assistance available for wounded warriors

CRESTVIEW — Public Works employees Floyd Spence and Randy Broxson, received HERO awards at the Dec. 4 Okaloosa County Commission meeting for their assistance following a May 11 two-car accident.

Spence and Broxson directed traffic around the accident site; helped move the uninjured driver of one car from danger; and simultaneously applied medical assistance to an injured mother and son. They provided moral support and first aid until the police and an ambulance arrived on the scene.

The Humanitarian Efforts Recognized by Okaloosa County award celebrates county employees who go beyond their job’s scope and do something humanitarian or heroic.

The HERO award can include acts occurring outside work hours and submissions by people outside Okaloosa County staff.

Above and Beyond forms are available online at www.okaloosafl.com, or you may call 311 for details or to recognize an Okaloosa County employee.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview, Holt residents earn HERO awards at county meeting

LAUREL HILL — Many residents who crowded First Baptist Church of Laurel Hill’s fellowship hall Tuesday night said this north county community should dissolve its city status.

The City Council wanted residents’ input on whether it should place a dissolution option on an upcoming ballot. Resident Harold Jones’ comments on poor road conditions during a Nov. 15 council meeting spurred the council’s decision to schedule the meeting.

Residents on Tuesday mainly discussed the main roads’ disrepair and expressed concerns about how their tax dollars were spent. Most favored dissolution.

"My position is that we are in the county and we all need to make (the city of) Laurel Hill go away," Harold Jones said.

"I'm for it," Deborah Adams, a Laurel Hill School teacher, said. "If Laurel Hill is no longer a city, that does not mean that they are going to erase those letters off the map."

A few residents favored Laurel Hill remaining a city.

Despite the city’s shaky financial standing, the likelihood of Okaloosa County repairing the roads, post-dissolution, would be a “pipe dream,” Mike Blizzard said.

"We’re not going to be in any better shape than we are now," he said, adding the sole difference would be the area’s municipality loss.

Florida Rep. Doug Broxson, newly elected Okaloosa County Commissioner Nathan Boyles and Okaloosa County Public Works Director John Hofstad attended, offering moral support. They did not express stances on the issue.

"We just want to be very clear that if your goal is to dissolve the city and become unincorporated in Okaloosa County, it’s not like we show up the next day and start repaving roads," Hofstad said after the meeting. "We have a process we go through."

The county commission must approve funding for road repairs before work could begin.

"We certainly want to help out Laurel Hill where we can … and we certainly will in the future," Hofstad said. 

  During the meeting, an audience member asked the council to state their thoughts on the issue.

  Council Chair Larry Hendren and Co-chair Robby Adams said they favored dissolution. Councilman Clifton Hall said he wants Laurel Hill to remain a city. Council members Betty Williamson, Willie Mae Toles and Mayor Joan Smith expressed no preference.

While addressing the issue, Toles shared her dissatisfaction with the current mayor.

"Laurel Hill was all right until she got here," she said.

The audience applauded the statement.

  Hendren encouraged residents to call city hall with questions on the matter and do research before deciding on the issue.

Resident Scott Moneypenny agreed.

"The citizens of Laurel Hill need all the information that is possibly available before making a decision to dissolve a city," he said. "Because once you lose the infrastructure, there is going to be problems, that people cannot for see."

 The next Laurel Hill council meeting is scheduled for Jan. 8.

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: Residents discuss city dissolution; council member criticizes mayor