Opinion Archive

My wife and I are not “beach people.” We could be living in Nebraska for the few times we have been to the beach in the last five years. It takes having out of town company to get us there. Our attitude was the same when we lived in Naples, Fl, for twelve years, and before that when we lived in Jupiter, Fl. In fact, we have lived in Florida for most of our adult lives. The question going through your mind right now is, “Why?” Two words – God’s call.

When I added up the numbers and see that Baker running back Wyatt Straight gained more than 300 yards rushing against Freeport I could only shake my head.
Straight’s effort was as close to heroic as one can get on a football field. It was gutsy and well-earned. At some schools, a 300-yard effort might have a sports writer scrambling to figure out what the school rushing record might be.

It has happened again despite our best efforts to stave off such travesties. We purchased bags of candy anticipating a steady stream of costumed neighborhood kids and only a handful of them showed up. Now we are “stuck with” a large bowl of some of my favorite candy. Oh, the horror!

Speak up. Talk to your children, your siblings, your friends. Tell them until they’re sick of hearing it: “One pill can kill.”

By now, most people know the United States is plagued by opioid addiction, overdoses and death; most people have heard of fentanyl, know that it’s dangerous even in miniscule doses; know it’s combined with other drugs to increase drug dealers’ profits….and still, fentanyl-related overdoses are on the rise.

These days, I am toting two smartphones, one is my personal phone, the other is the church phone. Friends raise their eyebrows whenever I lay my two phones on a table at restaurants. They give me a subtle, amused look that says, “Somebody sure thinks he’s important.” Thankfully, I am not all that important, so having two phones has not resulted in twice as many phone calls.

I’m really- very – disappointed in the county commissioner’s decision to amend the lease on Navarre Beach for an RV Park. The commissioners, Parker, Calkins, and Wright seemingly put feelings ahead of facts. They definitely put themselves in the developers’ shoes and not in the shoes of our tax-paying beach residents that already live or own property on Navarre Beach. And what happened to the “rule” that you defer to the county commissioner that is “responsible” for the district the property in question is in? Eddington voted NO.

A recent Gallup study showed that American’s confidence in the national mass media has reached a near record low. While that’s disturbing, it’s not unexpected. The digital age has brought a barrage of national news sources that are focused on sound bites, opinions, partisan views and a race to push out breaking news, even if it hasn’t been properly fact-checked or vetted. The problem has been exasperated by social media channels that allow disinformation to be distributed virtually unchecked.

The older I get the better I become at putting winning and losing a game or match into perspective.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. I’ve been known to keep playing online games such as solitaire until I won or won several games in a row.

In response to the article regarding the revamping of the main street in Crestview, this is atrocious that the new city manager has not done his homework to see that the Main Street Crestview was designate as a Historic District and Historic Downtown years ago.

Well… it finally happened to me. It was always something that happened to other people – even good people. I would watch it happen and think “What’s next for them? What are they going to do?”