EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE — The 33rd Fighter Wing hosted Ethan Ibi, 11, and his family for the "Pilot for a Day" program March 9 at Eglin Air Force Base.

Ethan, who has a rare form of dwarfism, zipped up his very own flight suit and attached some special patches to join the rest of the F-35A Lightning II pilots in the wing.

The base's host wing, the 96th Test Wing, played a major role in Ethan's day. The 96th Security Forces Squadron greeted the Ibi family at the front gate and escorted them with lights and sirens.

"We were so moved to see each person and their role in this event," Ethan's mother Brooke Ibi said. "There was clearly so much effort put into this. Ethan was made to feel like a total rock star by each person we encountered. We expected to go and have a good time as a family, but this day exceeded our expectations tenfold."

Ethan loves the movie "Harry and the Hendersons." During his visit, he received an intelligence and mission briefing on how to find Big Foot in the local area. Ethan set out on a quest to find Harry with the 58th Fighter Squadron "Gorillas." While he didn't actually locate Big Foot, "they had a blast trying," his mother said. She said

"We do not expect for our son to be treated in a special way by others. We don't expect for people to go above and beyond for him, but they absolutely did."

He had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of an F-35A Lightning II and overlook the base from the air traffic control tower while speaking with pilots in the sky. Ethan was also able to watch a military working dog in action and spray a firefighter's water hose.

"For Ethan, with his condition, being different means not being able to do so many things that he loves," Brooke said. "All of us struggle with something, but he wears his struggle for the whole world to see. People see his struggle before he ever speaks a word. That can be a lot for a person to handle."

The Pilot for a Day program provides an opportunity for school-age children with special needs to experience what it's like to be a pilot and learn about what goes on behind the scenes to make their job possible. The wing selects a child randomly from a pool of applicants sent in by various teachers in area school districts. Ethan was chosen from over 20 applicants.

"Thanks for giving our son a chance to pretend that he was a part of that life with you guys," Brooke said. "He truly felt like he made real friends through this and we are so thrilled to have been a part of something so meaningful."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview resident is 'Pilot for a Day' at 33rd Fighter Wing

CRESTVIEW — Doris and Gary Johnson of The New Way of Life Outreach Ministry will host an event honoring North Okaloosa first responders and military members.

The celebration and appreciation party also honors the memory of the students who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The event is 1-5 p.m. March 31 at Old Spanish Trail Park, Stillwell Boulevard in Crestview.

The Johnsons are accepting donations toward the event, which will include hamburgers, hotdogs, drinks, music and other entertainment for children through adults.

Donations sought include food, drinks, hamburger and hotdog buns, cutlery, tablecloths, paper towels, napkins and dinner trays; bouncy houses, cotton candy and popcorn machines, cutlery, a barbecue grill, charcoal, tables and chairs, and a dee-jay for entertainment and announcements.

Volunteers are also needed.

Monetary donations should be made payable to New Way of Life Outreach Ministry, a 501(c)(3) organization.

Call Gary Johnson, 229-379-1741, or Doris Johnson, 398-0431, for more information.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Memorial to honor first responders, school shooting victims

CRESTVIEW — Area residents decorated shamrocks in honor of St. Patrick's Day recently at the Crestview Public Library.

Have a cute photo of your kids out and about? They could be our next The Bulletin Kid! Email a photo with your child's name, age, hometown and a description of the action to news@crestviewbulletin.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulletin Kids make St. Patrick's Day art

CRESTVIEW — Downtown Crestview may soon have a new marketing agency, and new gateway signs are moving into the design phase.

The Community Redevelopment Agency heard a presentation from Chuck Branch, managing partner of NextSite, at its March 12 quarterly meeting. The CRA also voted to approve a revised design contract for new gateway signs.

NextSite is a retail consulting firm out of Birmingham, Ala. that provides research and market analysis for retail development to cities nationwide.

The NextSite presentation focused on how the company would attract chain retailers to Crestview, both in the downtown area and the greater city area. The CRA had previously partnered with Retail Strategies, another Birmingham firm, but declined to renew that contract in September after not getting the expected results.

Branch focused on the traffic that flows through the city as a key attractor of new businesses.

“You have tremendous traffic counts that I believe a lot of developers and tenant reps do not understand at this point in time,” Branch said. “We’ve got to communicate that message to them that in addition to the demographics, look at those 45,000 and 50,000 cars that are coming south to north or north to south in the morning.”

The presentation was preliminary and did not include a price tag. The cost of any contract with NextSite would be split between the CRA and the city.

Gateway Signs

The CRA voted unanimously to approve revisions to a design contract for new gateway entrance signs downtown.

Polyengineering, a firm out of Dothan, has been contracted to develop the signs, and can now begin design work after the revisions were approved.

The firm has been contracted to design three signs for the downtown area, including an archway, a monument sign and a column sign.

There was some debate over the price of the revised contract, which is not to exceed $25,000 whether the submitted designs are approved by the CRA or not.

“The cost is in-line. It’s normal. It’s not outrageous at all,” city Public Services Director Wayne Steele said, responding to questions from board members. “Costs have gone up tremendously, especially for design and architectural engineering-type costs. And the reason (is when) they spend a lot of time doing this, and then you don’t do the project, they still have all that time invested in design work.”

CRA board member Ron Gautney was concerned with how long the project would take.

“How fast can you get the information back up here, and how fast can you have them sign for that?” Gautney asked. “I don’t want to wait three years to get it. I don’t even want to wait three months.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Retail marketing agency pitches downtown redevelopment board

CRESTVIEW — An issue that the city has been working on for nearly a year finally has some resolution.

The City Council passed new rules for storing RVs on residential property, replacing an older, more restrictive ordinance after nearly a year of debate. The provision passed by a vote of 4-1 at the March 12 council meeting.

The new ordinance states that one recreational vehicle may be stored on a parcel of residential land, provided it is stored in the rear or side of the property, and is at least three feet from the property line. The ordinance also allows the RV to be used as temporary living quarters. Also, it may be hooked up to utilities but only in certain temporary cases, such as fires or natural disasters.

Debate over rules for storing RVs began in early 2017, when city residents started receiving code violation notices for having RVs on their property. The previous ordinance stated that RVs over 24 feet could not be stored on residential lots or be connected to utility hookups outside of a trailer or RV park.

Public outcry over the ordinance led the council to suspend the code in April 2017 until the council could come to agreement on changes. A revised ordinance allowed for RVs to be stored on residential property, provided they were hidden by some type of screening. The measure failed in November by a 3-2 vote, sending council members back to the drawing board.

The council decided to remove the screening requirement at a workshop in January and put forward the current ordinance.

“You all have done a great job so far. Don’t mess it up now,” Crestview resident Sue Jones said prior to the vote, during the public hearing portion of Monday’s meeting. “We’ve got a good ordinance here that everybody can agree on.”

Councilman Joe Blocker was the only member to vote against the new ordinance. At the first reading on Feb. 12, Blocker said he was concerned the new rules would force people out of their homes.

“Personally, I am not acceptable to part of the verbiage in this ordinance,” Blocker said at the Feb. 12 meeting. “Some of these people have worked their entire working lives to provide a place to get in and out of the weather … now the city comes along passing a law evicting them out of their homes.”

Blocker did not comment on the ordinance during the second reading at Monday’s meeting.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview gets new RV rules

PENSACOLA — Pensacola Sports has released the tentative rosters for the 10th Annual SUBWAY High School All-Star Basketball game happening 5 p.m. March 16 at Pensacola State College Hartsell Arena. Boys and girls from Baker High School and Laurel Hill School will compete.

The SUBWAY High school all-Star Series, organized by Pensacola Sports, recognizes senior athletes in volleyball, football, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, men’s baseball, and women’s softball from Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa County.

The next events in the series are the June 7 boys baseball and girls softball games at the University of West Florida.

The roster for the West Girls Team:      

Pace 

• Blakey Preston 
• Autumn Dunlap 
• Alexus Dao 

Pensacola 

• Malainna White
• Autumn Gorum 
• Akria Jenkins 
• Mikeya Perry 
• Mia Dumas 

Pine Forest 

• KenDauria Brooks 

Tate 

• Jamya Purifoy 
• Imani Allen 
• Natasha Madison 

Washington 

• Lauren Walker 
• Bre'a Rich 
• Tatilia Carmichael 

West Florida Tech 

• Gigi Valentine 

The roster for the East Girls Team:

 Baker 

• Kashira Casey 
• Ayajah Coleman 
• Kailyn Watts 
• Jessica Black

Central 

• Jacki Jerugen 
• Alex Simmons      

Fort Walton Beach 

• Reneasha Payton 
• Alysia McLeod
• Aaliyah Davenport 
• Tanyvia Tassin 

Gulf Breeze 

• Sadie Nix 

Laurel Hill 

• Shelby Fugate 

Milton        

• Jazlyn Simmons 
• Madison Parker 

Navarre      

• Arleigh East 

Niceville 

• Grace Dowden 
• Antionette Lewis 
• Maia Amato 

Rocky Bayou       

• Brooke McBride 

 The head coach for the West Girls Team is Pensacola High’s Allison Davis. The head coach for the East Girls Team is Gulf Breeze High’s Christy Gray.

 The Roster for the West Boys Team:

Catholic

• Demarius Nickerson
• Luke Stringfellow
• Kyheen Coleman
• Alec Grimes

Escambia

• Ainsley Brown
• Nigel Tart

LightHouse

• Chris Jones
• Jamound Bruster

Northview

• Tim Bush

Pensacola Christian Academy

• Michael Thompson

Pensacola

• Shawndarius Cowart
• Davonchae Bryant

Pine Forest

• Blake Lewis
• Austin English

Tate

• Dwayne Kelley, Jr                   

Washington

• Michael Randolph, Jr
• Eric Milton, Jr
• Delond Dale
• Blake Coleman    

West Florida Tech

• Rodney Shoemo

The Roster for the East Boys Team

Baker

• Kalee Civcleo
• Wade Walker

Central

• Levi Fountain

Choctaw

• Aron Scott
• Marquis Jackson
• Stacey Jones                

Fort Walton Beach

• Jack Levin

Gulf Breeze

• Jackson Warren
• Walter Yates III

Jay

• Reid Kelley

Laurel Hill

• Samuel Durm
• Martavious Toles

Milton

• Cameron Shelton 

Navarre     

• Matt Harshany
• Andre Smith

Niceville

• Trey Green-Harris
• Myles Myers
• Juanyeh Thomas           

Pace

• Connor Lee
• Tre Neely
• Rocky Bayou
• David Denbow

The head coach for the West Boys Team is Escambia Charter School’s Alfy Smith. The head coach for the East Boys Team is Choctaw High’s Andy Thigpen.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Tentative roster annouced for Subway High School All-Star Basketball game

CRESTVIEW — If you have an event you would like to submit, send your first and last name and information about the event to news@crestviewbulletin.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 3 things to do this week in Northwest Florida

CRESTVIEW — Calandra Stallworth, Crestview resident, has been missing since March of 2017. Her family copes on a day-by-day basis while the Crestview Police Department interviews some associated persons multiple times searching for clues.

"As a parent, you would wish that you would never have to go through something like this. In my wildest dreams I never thought I would have to go through this," Stallworth's mother Sheila Knight on Thursday said. "You see stuff like this on TV, but you never think that this would ever happen to you."

Stallworth, 28 at the time of her disappearance, has two young daughters. She maintained daily contact with her family until March of last year, Knight said. After not hearing from her, Knight filed her first missing person report that month.

"She used to call me everyday. This has really been hard…When Mother's Day comes around it just — and the kids — they really miss her. They talk about her a lot, so that's a good thing. Everybody's just taking one day at a time. That's all we can do.

"I just want … everyone to know that we all love her. We all miss her. There's not a day goes by that we don't all think about her," Knight said.

Knight filed the second missing person report April 2. Police closed the first report March 27 after Stallworth informed the police department that she had taken a getaway trip to Alabama with her boyfriend and had a poor cell phone signal, according to the department.

Knight said she wished the police had acted earlier.

"I feel like if they would have got on in there a little bit sooner, maybe we could have found some more answers. It seems like it's just slipping away. Time is slipping away and we still don't know where she is. It seems like we're still in the same spot…the same place, like we haven't moved, and it's very frustrating."

Responding to an email, a CPD Investigations division spokesperson said, "It is a frustrating case, but it is most certainly not a closed case. Every shred of evidence has been investigated and every person associated with the case has been interviewed, some multiple times. We welcome any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, the public may have."

Anyone with information about Calandra Stallworth's case may contact Sgt. Ray Harp, 682-4157.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: "Time is slipping away"

CRESTVIEW — A group of Crestview kids will head to Houston next month to compete against robotics teams from around the world.

The Hub City Robotics team was named champions of the Northwest Florida FIRST LEGO League Regional Tournament, which was held in Panama City on March 3. The team advances to both the State Championship in Jacksonville on April 8 and the World Championship in Houston April 18 to 21.

It will be the second trip to the World Championship for most of the team. Last year, three of the four team members went to Houston as part of the Bob Sikes Elementary School team. They each went to different schools this year, but decided to stay together as an independent team – a move that paid off.

Elizabeth Vander Kooy is one of the returning members from that Bob Sikes team. She is excited to be going back to the World Championship for a second year.

“It feels really good,” she said. “Last year we were going a little more for the experience at Worlds, but this year we are going and we actually feel a little bit more competitive. We have a little more to give, and we know what we’re expecting.”

Crestview was well-represented at the regional competition this year, sending a total of six teams, including the Hub City Robotics team. Three of the teams were from Davidson Middle School. One was from Shoal River Middle School and another was from Walker Elementary School. Two of those teams, the DMS LabRatz and SRMS Lethal LEGOs, also received bids to the State Championship.

“I was just so proud of Crestview,” team coach Emily Vander Kooy said. “I’m a local. I grew up here, so it just makes my heart happy to see so many teams from Crestview representing this robotics community. I think if more people were aware of it, there would be a lot more involvement.”

The theme of this year’s competition was Hydro Dynamics. Teams had to identify and solve a real-world water-related problem using technology. The Hub City team developed an idea for a temperature-sensitive sticker for water bottles that warns consumers of potentially harmful levels of bisphenol A, a chemical used in the manufacture of plastic bottles that has been linked to cancer.

Another event in the competition was the Robot Game, about building and programming an autonomous robot to perform specific tasks. The robot navigates a board with different stations and performs tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. The theme of the tasks was also water-related.

The trip to the World Championship comes with a price tag, though. Emily Vander Kooy estimates that the trip will cost around $10,000. Team members do a lot of the fundraising work, but the team is also looking for sponsors.

“If you’re interested in supporting science and technology, and expanding their minds for the future, it’s just unreal what these kids have learned through this program and what they’ll experience at the World Festival,” Vander Kooy said.

The team will be holding a fundraising event at Marquis Cinema 10 the evening of March 24. They will have their robot game table on display for demonstrations and will be announcing raffle winners and taking donations for the upcoming trips to Houston and Jacksonville.

For more information on sponsorship, visit the Hub City Robotics Facebook page, or email the team at hubcityrobotics@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview robotics team wins regional tournament

CRESTVIEW — Just how long does it take to get from one end of Crestview to the other in the afternoon?

We drove from the overpass at Duke Field to Airport Road along State Road 85 at the north end of town at two different times on a weekday afternoon. The first trip started at 2:10 p.m. and ended at 2:28 p.m., while the second trip took twice as long, starting at 4:40 p.m. and ending at 5:16 p.m.

Crestview resident Donna Simpler has been commuting to her job in Fort Walton Beach from the north end of Crestview since 1985. Her commute, which she says can be up to an hour and 15 minutes, used to be much shorter.

“The most aggravating part is when you get to Duke Field, all the way to Walmart, and you’re stuck,” she said. “When I was a kid, I rode my bicycle all over Crestview. There was no traffic.”

Simpler has tried using alternate routes, such as taking 285 from Niceville, or taking PJ Adams to go around the southern end of Highway 85. But she found that neither route shortened her commute.

Solutions to the traffic problem in Crestview have been discussed for years with little to show for it. One idea that’s been discussed at length is a bypass around the city.

But a project of that scope can be difficult to get approved. It’s not only the city that has to agree to the project, but the Okaloosa County Commission and Florida Department of Transportation as well.

“That’s the number one topic that’s been on my radar since even before I came into office,” City Council President J.B. Whitten said. “The biggest problem we have is our north-south road is a state road, so we can’t do anything without FDOT.”

Once a project like that does get approved by all of the government agencies involved, it can still take years to get completed. So for now, the city is working on smaller measures that can get easier approval, such as expanding roads that run parallel to Highway 85, and connecting Raspberry Road to PJ Adams Parkway, a project that is estimated to cost $8 million.

Crestview’s growth over the years has been a driving factor in exacerbating the traffic situation, but Simpler says there’s more to it than just growth.

“There are no jobs here,” she said. “I’ve been working in Fort Walton since 1985. There’s nothing here, so we all have to travel.”

People that commute from the southern end of the county end up in the same traffic as Eglin Air Force Base and Duke Field employees who have found that housing in Crestview is cheaper than in the surrounding areas. Simpler said the traffic is noticeably worse on her way home.

“Going in the morning is fine,” she said. “But in the afternoon, you don’t feel good. You just want to get home. And if there’s an accident, you’re stuck.”

Whitten says the work being discussed along PJ Adams, which includes widening the road, may not be enough to solve the larger traffic problem.

“The bottleneck doesn’t start there,” he said. “It’s too late at PJ Adams. It starts way back, coming off from 123.”

But solutions to that problem, including a potential bypass starting well south of the city around Rattlesnake Bluff Road, could be even more difficult because of another government agency that can veto the project – Eglin Air Force Base.

“My understanding is it doesn’t actually infringe on Eglin property, but it’s close enough it infringes on their mission, so they don’t want that kind of traffic over there by their reservation,” Whitten said.

Any solution on the south side of town that runs close to Eglin property would require the signoff of the base’s commanding officer. Despite that, the city and county continue to work on solutions that will keep pace with Crestview’s growth.

“Previous city councils have not ignored this. Previous mayors have not ignored this. They haven’t made any headway,” Whitten said. “And I can’t guarantee anybody I’ll make any headway, but I sure spend a lot of time on it.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Stuck in traffic