County: Exodos` plans inconsistent with zoning

Transcription

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Mary Chestnut
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40th Year, Number 3
Commissioners
set meeting to
discuss PJ Adams
funding options
By BRIAN HUGHES
682-6524 | @cnbBrian
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa
Board of County Commissioners
will consider funding alternatives for widening the P.J. Adams-Antioch Road Corridor.
After more than an hour of
discussion on Monday, commissioners’ consensus swung from
supporting a tax increment financing district, or TIF.
Both northern district commissioners, BCC Chairman Nathan Boyles and Wayne Harris,
voted no.
“Isn’t it ironic that the districts most affected by this voted
no?” Harris asked after the 3-2
vote.
Harris said,
in lieu of the TIF,
he supports adding an extra halfcent or penny to
the current 10
cents-per-gallon
county gas tax
KELLY
rather than takWINDES
ing money from
existing road projects. Boyles favors the original TIF proposal.
“I think that the TIF, while not
the perfect solution, in our less
than perfect world, it is the best
solution currently on the table
because it sets aside future revenues and controls how to spend
it,” he said.
NOT A NEW TAX
Under a TIF, property taxes
would not increase. The amount
of tax revenue when a TIF is established forms a baseline. As
revenue grows, the difference is
applied to the TIF project. A TIF
typically lasts for 20 years.
“Funds that would be collected would be deposited in an account solely for improvements to
the P.J. Adams Corridor,” county
Public Works Director Jason Autrey said.
The TIF is projected to raise
about $20 million of the project’s
estimated $100 million cost, he
said. TIF money could be used
to leverage federal and state
funding.
The TIF district would be the
entire county north of the Eglin Reservation, excluding the
Crestview Community Redevelopment Agency district.
Area attorney Michael Chesser proposed the P.J. Adams Corridor TIF more than a year ago
to finance what commissioners
agree is the county’s foremost
road improvement need.
“It was my thought that we
could devise an ordinance that
I can say, ‘If you do this, it will
never cost you a dime,’” Chesser
said.
Chesser, a real estate and government specialist, said analysis
shows “the assessed value in the
vicinity of the road you are about
to improve will go up faster than
you can imagine.”
As real estate values go up, so
does the amount of money that
goes toward the project.
JANUARY 10-13, 2015
50 Cents
‘WE NEVER
EXPECTED
IT’
Same-sex couples face sudden
opportunity to legally wed
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — Evenings
at the Hughes-Herbert
residence look much like
those for other two-parent
households.
As Sara Hughes and Lecricia Herbert’s daughters
scamper around, one parent prepares supper while
the other tends to home
maintenance.
The difference is, until
Tuesday, Hughes, a medical
office worker, and Herbert,
a medical dispatcher, could
not lawfully marry.
“We have always talked
about getting married, but
never finalized anything because we didn’t know what
will happen here,” Hughes,
a Crestview resident, said.
“Then it just kinda happened out the blue.”
The sudden legalization
of same-sex marriage also
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS BULLETIN
surprised Trea Snider and
Trea Snider and Jonathon Hanline say they plan to
Jonathon Hanline.
“We knew it (same-sex marry in a year or two now that same-sex marriage is
marriage) was being talked legal in Florida.
about, but we never expected it to go through,” Snider
said.
“I was expecting it to
have to go through the
courts fully, like the U.S. Supreme Court, but it came a
lot sooner than we expected,” Hanline said.
“I feel less like
a second-class
citizen now.”
COURTHOUSE’S BAN
‘UNFORTUNATE’
Snider, an Air Force Reservist and restaurant server, said he and Hanline, an
assistant manager at a Destin store, have discussed
marriage, but don’t want to
rush into it until they are
ready.
They’re leaning toward a
traditional church wedding;
although “it won’t be until
at least another year before
we get married ... we’re both
excited that we finally have
the chance,” Snider said.
Hughes said she and
Herbert considered marrying out of state, perhaps in
Philadelphia, where she has
family, until Florida marriages became available.
Now, the couple are
weighing
more
local
options.
One thing is certain:
Snider and Hanline, and
Hughes and Herbert won’t
exchange vows in the Oka-
-Trea Snider
loosa County Courthouse.
Both couples said they
are disappointed in area
clerks of court, including
Okaloosa’s J.D. Peacock,
who abruptly stopped performing courthouse weddings when gay marriage
became legal.
“I think it’s really kind of
a crappy thing to do,” Snider
said. “They didn’t do that
when interracial marriages
were legalized.”
“It’s unfortunate that
happened, but we can work
around it,” Hughes said.
ern
Baptist denomination,
“we include in our faith that
marriage is the uniting of
one man and one woman in
covenant commitment for a
lifetime.
“That is probably the
stance of most conservative
Christian denominations.”
Some mainstream religions, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), have
approved same-sex marriages, but left the decision
up to individual churches.
The Rev. Mark BroadFINDING A
head, interviewed in June
when the denomination apPLACE TO WED
proved gay marriages, said
Same-sex couples now whether his Crestview and
have the law on their side, Laurel Hill churches allow
but finding a Crestview area same-sex weddings will be
church to marry in will pose a matter for contemplative
a challenge.
prayer.
The Rev. Gene Strickland,
“I have gay friends that
the Crestview Area Ministe- may or may not one day ask
rial Association’s president,
said that in his own SouthSee WED A3
See FUNDING A3
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County:
Exodos’ plans
inconsistent
with zoning
By THOMAS BONI
682-6524 | @cnbeditor
[email protected]
BAKER — A Christian substance abuse rehabilitation ministry on Buck Ward Road wouldn’t
conform with Okaloosa County’s
comprehensive plan, officials
said.
Exodos Ministries, a nonprofit
organization that purchased 20
acres on agricultural-zoned property, may have to search for another location.
Okaloosa Growth Management Director Elliot Kampert
sent his opinion — that the proposed use would be inconsistent
with county zoning — to Thomas
Crowson, Exodos’ president, in
a Dec. 26, 2014 email. Kampert
explained the opinion during a
public meeting Thursday at the
Baker Community Center, which
North Okaloosa residents packed
to standing room only.
Exodos Ministries hasn’t filed
a formal application for building
on Buck Ward
Road, said County Commissioner
Nathan Boyles,
who facilitated the
discussion. “All of
the information
NATHAN
that the county
BOYLES
has
reviewed
and that the community has is,
in some measure, speculative,”
he said. However, county officials
were aware of tentative plans for
a 16-bed residential facility serving men recovering from alcohol,
drug or sex addictions. And, Kampert said, “As of right now, the
uses would not be consistent with
the comprehensive plan.”
The Okaloosa County Land
Development Code defines a facility like the one Exodos proposed
as commercial use. But non-farm
related commercial use is allowed
on agricultural-zoned property
only when a building fronts an
arterial — that is, high-capacity,
like Interstate 10 or State Road
85 — or numbered county road,
according to Kampert.
A home would conform with
agricultural zoning regulations,
but a boarding house like the
one Exodos proposed, would not,
Kampert said.
More than 30 people expressed
their views on the issue, with five
opposing Exodos’ proposed relocation and 19 supporting it. Others expressed support for Exodos’ overall mission without opining on the facility’s location.
A couple of residents shared
stories about Exodos clients leaving the Crestview location, walking down streets day or night and
getting in strange cars; others
questioned how anyone could
know, for certain, the wandering
men were Exodos clients.
Sandy Burgess, who said
she’s the mother of an alcoholic,
expressed that the community
should support those who need
help.
She said Baker supported her
son when “he ran and made touch-
See EXODUS A3
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Local
January 10-13, 2015
Crestview News Bulletin | A3
WED from page A1
CHALLENGES REMAIN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS BULLETIN
said they’re content raising Toby, their
Yorkshire terrier. The couple will soon
add Molly, a Shih-tzu and dachshund
mix, to their household.
As for the future, Snider anticipates the legal rights that married life
can bring. That includes hospital visitation rights, which has always been a
concern for gay rights activists.
During emergencies, “hospitals
may restrict visitation rights to a narrow interpretation of family that excludes those not legally or biologically
related to the patient,” the Human
Rights Campaign’s website states.
FUNDING from page A1
“Similarly, state laws around medical decision-making often limit these
rights to a patient’s biological family members when no documentation
is designating a surrogate decision
maker.”
On Tuesday, that concern vanished
for Florida’s same-sex couples hoping
to one day marry.
“I’m just really excited that I can
spend the rest of my life with the person that I love,” Snider said.
“And not having to worry that if
something happens, I wouldn’t be allowed to be there for him.”
Former county commissioner Dave Parisot spoke
against the TIF, saying it
would “rake off ” county
property tax revenue. He favored increasing gas taxes
to fund the project.
Commissioner
Trey
Goodwin motioned for the
board to direct county officials to prepare information
on reallocating some gasoline tax revenue, or creating a “savings account”
funded by existing revenue
sources.
Commissioner Carolyn
Ketchel, who, with Goodwin, campaigned on a “no
tax increases” platform,
also supported the savings
ONLINE
THOMAS BONI | News Bulletin
North Okaloosa residents interested in Exodos Ministries’ plans to build
a substance abuse rehabilitation facility on Buck Ward Road packed
the Baker Community Center Thursday.
try has made all the difference in the
world,” he said. “As far as the value
of my property, you know what? That
means nothing to me if I can see a life
changed.”
!
!# #
&
After the meeting, Kyra Crowson,
Exodos’ admissions director and secretary of the board, said Kampert’s
opinion is still fresh, and the nonprofit
hasn’t decided what it will do next.
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widening the P.J. Adams
Corridor will be discussed at
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9 a.m. Feb. 3 at the Crestview
Courthouse
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account.
That, Boyles said, is essentially what a TIF does,
but a TIF would not take
money from other county
departments’ budgets.
Following
discussion,
Boyles said there appeared
to be five options:
•Do nothing
•Create a “savings
account”
•Use existing gas taxes
•Raise gas taxes
•Implement the TIF
“The benefit of the TIF
is that it doesn’t eat into
existing revenues,” Boyles
said. “Citizens frequently
complain about the creep of
government and this is one
way to get ahead of that.”
WANT TO GO?
See www.
crestviewbulletin.
com for video of Mike
Chessher discussing advantages
of forming a tax increment
financing district to fund
widening the P.J. Adams Corridor
!
Rush-hour traffic snakes its way west on P.J. Adams
Parkway, which could be widened by a tax
increment financing program.
ALTERNATIVES
EXODOS from page A1
down after touchdown after touchdown, and yet they turned their back
on him when he went to addiction.”
Mildred Heaton, of Crestview, said
a number of houses could be built on
20 acres and, unlike the 16 men who
would receive help at Exodos — which
doesn’t accept men with a criminal
history or those who aren’t HIV- negative — “you can’t control who lives
there.”
Peggy Price Pierce said she supports Exodos’ mission but doesn’t support the proposed location.
“If these people do get out, and they
start walking the roads, I’m gonna be
concerned about my children being
outside playing,” she said. “I know that
I, and my family, are strongly opposed
to the location but we do support (the)
ministry.”
One man, who moved from Charleston, S.C., to Baker five years ago, also
said he supports the ministry and the
impact it has had on men.
“The change that (God) has made
in their lives as a result of this minis-
BRIAN HUGHES | News Bulletin
$ !
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!# ! ! !
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2112295
Though Hughes’ and Herbert’s
family and friends know they are gay,
and despite having the right to marry
like any other couple, they still attract second glances when together
in public.
“If we go out anywhere, we get
nothing but stared at and we get
treated differently,” Hughes said.
“My fiancée looks gay, so when I’m by
myself, people treat me 100 percent
differently.”
Still, just having the right to marry
has made a difference in their lives,
Snider said. “I feel less like a secondclass citizen now,” he said.
Despite the challenges, both couples said they would like to have children. Hughes and Herbert would like
to add a child of their own to the two
girls Hughes brought to the family
from a previous relationship.
Snider and Hanline also have discussed being parents, but for now,
Okaloosa same-sex couples now
have the right to marry, but one
local church sent the message
this week that it still won’t offer
weddings for homosexuals.
This reader-submitted photo
generated passionate debate
about gay rights and religious
freedom on our Facebook page,
with 50,000 views, more than
700 likes and 256 shares as of
press time.
if I will do their wedding ceremony,”
Broadhead said. “I will need to be in
deep prayer about that so that God
may provide me with the right guidance for me to answer.”
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Catching up with Baker
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40th Year, Number 82
OCTOBER 14-16, 2015
50 Cents
Engineer’s vision begins at airport
VISION FOR OKALOOSA COUNTY
Paul Hsu, an engineer who envisions
the Crestview area as a regional
technology center, is quietly working
to assure the area’s infrastructure and
workforce are ready for its growth.
By BRIAN HUGHES
is definitely the most important
part of the county’s future, simply because we have a commodity that is absolutely needed to
Editor’s Note: This is the first
CRESTVIEW — Neighbors saw ant support growth, which is land,”
of a three-part series on a North- hills, prickly pears and armadillo Hsu said.
west Florida engineer’s plans to ruts at Bob Sikes Airport in CrestWith partner Bob Keller, a reenhance North Okaloosa Coun- view, but Okaloosa County engi- tired Air Force pilot and owner
ty’s economy.
neer Paul Hsu sees the future.
The series’ second part, to ap“I feel that North Okaloosa
See VISION A6
pear in the Oct. 17-20 Weekend
Edition, will focus on the plan’s
educational component.
[email protected]
‘A great day’ to drop in
JUDGE AFFIRMS CRESTVIEW:
Flowers: ‘This is and always
will be the county seat’
By BRIAN HUGHES
A trio of classic aircraft — led by a World War II-era T-6G Texan — skims above the Eglin Air
Force Base Mobile Emergency Operations Center and an Emerald Coast Aviation fuel truck
during Saturday’s fly-in at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview.
Airport fly-in attracts vintage
planes and raises $600 for vets
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — Local military
veterans needing out-of-town
medical care benefited the most
from Emerald Coast Aviation’s
fly-in.
Through raffle ticket sales,
donations and proceeds from air
ONLINE
See www.
crestview
bulletin.
com for photos and
video from the Emerald
Coast Aviation Fly-In
at Bob Sikes Airport in
Crestview
rides,Emerald Coast Aviation’s
annual event on Saturday raised
more than $600 for the Veterans
Airlift Command, ECA chief financial officer Crystal Boyles
said.
piring pilots who wanted to try
Things that fly and things that their hand at the yoke, enjoyed
drive delighted and intrigued ECA’s Redbird flight simulator.
residents during the fly-in.
A trio of vintage aircraft — inFamilies took brief flights
above Crestview, and young asSee FLY-IN A6
county courthouse,” Flowers said.
The discovery of [email protected]
pant mold throughout the
CRESTVIEW
—
courthouse,
couFirst Judicial Cirpled with a failing
cuit Court Judge
heating and air conMichael
Flowers
ditioning system,
says the Okaloosa
leaky roof and inCounty courthouse
efficient floor plan
may be razed to
led commissioners
be replaced, but
to abandon original
JUDGE
the county seat
plans to renovate
MICHAEL
will remain here in
and expand the
FLOWERS
Crestview.
building.
Monday evening, First Judicial Circuit
In less than
Flowers lay to rest
a week, rumors
rumors claiming that, along spread that a plot was afoot
with planned demolition to move the county seat to
of the 1955 county court- Fort Walton Beach. But
house at the north end of Flowers said it would take
Main Street, Crestview will an act of the Legislature to
lose its status as the seat of change a county seat.
Okaloosa County.
Currently, county and
“There’s a couple things court staffers are creating
that won’t happen: The and implementing plans
courthouse won’t be any- to vacate the courthouse
where that it isn’t right within months, relocate
now. It’s going to happen,” services, and design a reFlowers said. And, “This placement building that
is and always will be the will reflect Crestview’s
county seat.”
1910s origins, he said.
Okaloosa County comFlowers said he and
missioners last week took Mayor David Cadle have
“a courageous step in voting to fund and rebuild the
See FLOWERS A6
ONLINE
See www.crestviewbulletin.
com for excerpts of Judge Michael
Flowers’ remarks before the Crestview
City Council
NWF State College celebrates 20 years in Crestview
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — There will be celebrations in Twin Hills Park next week,
and not just to observe Northwest
Florida State College’s more than 20year presence in Crestview.
The Sikes Education Center provides more than convenient academics for more than 1,200 North Okaloosa County students a year, administrators say. It also offers programs
and services that residents can use
without venturing to the school’s
main Niceville campus.
Coursework isn’t entirely for fulltime students, either. “We’re very
proud to offer GED classes and also
Northwest Florida State College’s Sikes Education
ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Center in Crestview next week celebrates 20 years of Languages) classes,” center Direcserving North Okaloosa County students.
tor Patrice Williams-Shuford said.
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“In-house, we offer general education courses for those students attending NWFSC. They can do a great
deal of their class work without leaving Crestview.”
Students can also find administrative services for the entire NWFSC
system at the Sikes Center, WilliamsShuford said. “They don’t have to go
down to Niceville for basic registrar
or admission services,” she said. “We
can do those things here by scanning
documents or couriering them down.”
The former Okaloosa-Walton Community College started offering local
courses in 1982 at what was built in
1976 as Crestview’s public library. In
1994, the college bought the building
from the city, which built the present
library on Commerce Drive. In November 1995, the Sikes Center was
dedicated as a branch of the college.
“We like to think of it as a mini-col-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Community . . . . . . . . A2
Government . . . . . . . A3
Education . . . . . . . . . A5
Health . . . . . . . . . . . B5
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . B1
Classifieds . . . . . . . . B6
WANT TO GO?
What: Northwest Florida
State College Crestview
Campus 20th Anniversary
Celebration including
presentations, student
performances and refreshments
When: Oct. 20; 2 p.m.
open house; 3 p.m. reception,
program and tours
Where: Northwest Florida
State College Sikes Center,
Twin Hills Park, Crestview
Cost: Free
lege,” Williams-Shuford said. “We’re
very proud that we have this facility
that can service our outlying communities like Laurel Hill, Holt and
Baker.”
A Halifax Media
paper read by
10,450 people
every week
Local
A6 | Crestview News Bulletin
October 14-16, 2015
VISION from page A1
One-stop
health shop
CTAP | Special to the News Bulletin
Sunshine Aero Flight Testing is the centerpiece business
at the Crestview Technology Air Park. Partners Bob
Keller and Dr. Paul Hsu are eying new infrastructure for
the park, including a $30 million hangar.
Mayor David Cadle and
Laurel Hill educator Dennis Mitchell flew to Tallahassee last week and
met with area Legislative
representatives.
“Sen. Don Gaetz looked
at me and said, ‘If Paul Hsu
is behind this, it’s going to
get my support,’” Cadle
said.
“Bob Sikes Airport can
be the centerpiece of eco-
nomic development for
Okaloosa County for the
next 20 years,” Gaetz said.
“Dr. Hsu’s proposed hanger expansion, by itself, can
add 600 high-paying jobs.
I’m doing all I can to help
make it happen.”
“To create high-paying,
sustainable jobs is the future, and just to talk about
it is not going to get things
done,” Hsu said.
FLOWERS from page A1
Air Force
Staff Sgt.
Todd
Lawrence
demonstrates
the Eglin
Mobile
Emergency
Operations
Center’s
capabilities
during the
fly-in.
discussed how to maintain a judicial presence in the
county’s largest city to assure court services remain
available to north county residents.
Cadle said Flowers’ remarks should temper local
resentment that county money is perceived to flow to
communities south of the Shoal River.
“We’ve known about the north-south resentments
and I think this may go a long way to putting this to
rest,” Cadle said.
BRIAN HUGHES |
News Bulletin
FLY-IN from page A1
AMERICAN LEGION POST #75 CRESTVIEW
AND RENSHAW STOKES ENTERTAINMENT
PRESENTS...
!$! "! Terry Stokes
Terry Stokes, Jr.
Tickets $25.00 Single / $40.00 Couple - Dinner Show
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ONLINE
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crestview
CRESTVIEW — At 2
bulletin.com
years old, Tristan Keown
doesn’t quite understand
for photos from
everything he saw at the
the Crestview
Crestview Area Chamber
Area Chamber
of Commerce’s Ninth Anof Commerce’s
nual Community Health
Community Health
Fair, but he did spy someFair
thing he’d like.
“No, you’re not getting
INSIDE
a doggie,” his mom, Anna
See more
Keown, said, guiding her
Health
news on
son from a pet adoption
Page B5
area at the Crestview
Community Center.
Dogs and cats and outdoor games on the commons were an introduction
to the Saturday morning event, but organizers in the
chamber’s Health and Wellness Committee had residents’ well-being foremost in mind.
Inside were dozens of exhibitors, including North
Okaloosa Medical Center, Twin Cities Hospital and
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, local medical offices and government health services.
Dozer the Therapy Dog padded around offering
“free hugs,” according to a sign around his neck, while
Seniors vs. Crime volunteers informed residents of
the latest scams circulating in the area.
Residents loaded tote bags with complimentary
literature, pens, drink koozies and bite-size candies
as they perused displays, got health screenings, and
examined modern and vintage surgical equipment
displayed by Dr. David Herf’s office.
“It’s kind of a one-stop health center,” resident
Ellie Gleason said as she and her daughter, Megan,
got their cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure
checked at a table staffed by local Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy students.
“Except for all the candy,” she added, popping a
couple Jolly Ranchers into her tote.
Third-year
FAMU College
of Pharmacy
student Breanna
Lee prepares to
test resident Jill
Lewis-Dagg’s
cholesterol.
MATTRESS
DEPOT
with special guest
AMERICAN LEGION POST #75
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
THE GULF COAST'S MOST RECOMMENDED MATTRESS STORE
"paying for my daughter's wedding tour"
cluding a World War II-era North American Aviation T6G Texan and two circa-late 1950s, early-1960s Chinese
trainers — performed fly-bys, trailing smoke as they
passed low above Bob Sikes Airport’s 8,000-foot runway.
A North Okaloosa Fire District airport crash truck and
Eglin Air Force Base’s Mobile Emergency Operations
Center were among ground-based vehicles on display.
“We’re completely self-sufficient,” said Air Force Staff
Sgt. Todd Lawrence, who showed the center’s array of
monitors and communications equipment that allow operators to direct emergency responses to events such as
hurricanes and wildfires on location.
Community organizations including ATA Taekwondo,
Carolina Air-Prep, the Common Ground Community Garden, and the Crestview Area Sister City Program staffed
information tables at one side of ECA’s hangar.
At the other end were attendees — who, ECA general
manager Tom Rimkus said, made up the fly-in’s largest
crowd to date. He estimated that more than 250 people enjoyed the event and free food from Buddy’s View Barbecue.
Health fair draws crowds for
free screenings, information
Crestview
4381 S. Ferdon Blvd
(850) 398-8422
(1 mile south of I-10)
Grand Opening
Niceville
597 W. John Sims Parkway
(Next to Beals Outlet)
(850) 678-7800
Panama City Beach
12001 US Highway 98 E.
(Between Florida Linen & Lowes)
12001 Panama City Beach Blvd
(850) 588-6348
Fort Walton
Beach
434 Mary Esther Cutoff
(850) 586-7686
in Okaloosa County.”
Hsu said his and Keller’s
vision was propelled by several inquiries from a major
— but for now, unnamed
— world leader in aircraft
manufacture.
For the past year and
half, the vision has taken
shape. Hsu believes within
two years, the new hangar
and related infrastructure
can be a reality, bringing
between 200 and 600 highpaying skilled jobs, Hsu
said.
“To me, for the next five
or 10 years, if you look at
Crestview’s growth, it’s
going to be in the area of
aerospace, avionics or airFEASIBILITY
industry,”
“I honestly believe this plane-related
is very feasible,” Hsu said. Hsu said.
And that has local lead“Our plan — our two little
heads got together and ers’ attention.
we talked about it — is we
want to be part of OkalooPOLITICAL SUPPORT
sa’s growth. It could be the
With Keller in the pilargest commercial hangar lot’s seat, Hsu, Crestview
of Sunshine Aero Flight
Testing, Hsu took more
than 20 acres of scrubland
and created the Crestview
Technology Air Park on
the northwest side of Bob
Sikes Airport’s 8,000-foot
runway.
With Sunshine Aero’s
40,000-square-foot hangar
and office space as the
park’s anchor, Hsu and
Keller have started exploring further expansion.
To some, their goal — a
60- to 80,000-square-foot,
$30 million hangar — might
seem lofty thinking.
To Hsu, it’s attainable.
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WEEKEND EDITION
OPINION, A4
Guest: Okaloosa schools
need to give lice advisories
GOVERNMENT, A2
COMMUNITY, A2
Rezoning expected for 2
downtown churches
Residents react to PJ
Adams Parkway plans
Jan Conlee, Susan Cox and Arthur Feldenhauer
Good morning!
OCTOBER 17-20, 2015
50 Cents
VISION FOR NORTH
OKALOOSA COUNTY
Hsu: Supporting
STEM teachers
will produce
tech-savvy workers
By BRIAN HUGHES
Bob Sikes Airport and the
Crestview Technology Air
Park, known as C-TAP,
which Hsu co-founded
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is with flight test pilot and
the second of a three-part engineer Bob Keller.
series on an Okaloosa
“North Okaloosa is
County engineer’s plans important to growing the
to enhance the Crestview Okaloosa County econoarea’s economy.
my,” Hsu said. “Tourism
The third part
is important, but
will focus on plans
we need something
to add drone techmore than tourism.
nology to LauWe need something
rel Hill School’s
that will stay here
curriculum.
and support us in
the long run. I reCRESTVIEW
ally want to further
PAUL
— Local engineer
develop C-TAP.”
HSU
Paul Hsu knows
Within
two
the value of techyears, the partners
nology-based eduhope to build a $30
cation; as an emmillion hangar to
ployer, he needs
a global aircraft
technology-savvy
manufacturer
workers.
tenant’s specificaSo last year,
tions. Hsu believes
he founded the
the project can emTeaching Excel- FIONA LUKAS ploy between 200
Baker School
lence Awards in
and 600 workers in
Math and Science,
a high-tech, highor TEAMS, to recwage capacity.
ognize educators
However,
he
who excel at insaid, “We cannot
spiring students in
just grow the highscience, technoltech sector without
ogy, engineering
the support of our
and math.
education system.
STATE SEN.
When
high
The future qualiDON GAETZ
school math teachfied workers need
ers Fiona Lukas,
to be trained at our
of Baker School,
local schools.”
and Michelle Hokans, of Crestview
TECHNOLOGY
High, were awardINCUBATOR
ed $5,000 in March,
Hsu believes CNorth Okaloosa
TAP’s expansion
County educators
MARY BETH can include opporrealized that being
tunities for high
JACKSON
an effective STEM Okaloosa Schools school
students
teacher has addito
experience,
superintendent
tional rewards.
first-hand,
caHaving highly moti- reers in aerospace related
vated STEM teachers industries.
mold minds is just one
In addition to hangars,
part of Hsu’s plan to en- C-TAP has room for a 20hance North Okaloosa’s to 30,000-square-foot office
economy.
building. “It can be used
as a training facility, or a
EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT
small-business, high-tech
Hsu’s vision for Okaloosa County centers on
See STEM A4
[email protected]
The Nutrition Group’s Molly the Cow joins Crestview High School students Wednesday morning to promote
school nutrition.
BREAKFAST WITH MOLLY
Cow mascot promotes nutrition at CHS
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — Molly the
Cow is more than just a
piece of meat or a U.S.D.A.
prime selfie opportunity.
The Nutrition Group, a
Pittsburgh-based company
that now provides food service to Okaloosa County
schools, uses the mascot to
spread awareness about its
meal program.
Breakfasting Crestview
High School students met
Molly Wednesday morning,
when she sashayed into the
cafeteria to promote the
importance of a nutritious
breakfast.
Following the school
board’s June approval, The
Nutrition Group replaced
Sodexo as the Okaloosa
County School District’s
food
service
operator.
“One of the things we like
is we’re a small company,”
Tom Yocke, the company’s
general manager, said.
“We operate in 200 school
C.J. GEIGER
Crestview High
School junior
SARAH JEAN
Crestview High
School junior
districts, but we’re not so
structured that we’re not
flexible.”
Transitioning to the
new company “went really well,” Crestview High
food service manager Lynn
Rogers said. “Their menu
is a little different, but in
this day and age, you learn
to accept change and you
go with the flow.”
One innovation is the
Creation Line, on which
students create and dress
their menu selections.
Mondays feature a pasta
bar; Tuesdays and Fridays,
a nachos bar — “We do it
Crestview High School cook Cheryl Hansen prepares
a pepperoni pizza on a whole-grain crust while
chatting with The Nutrition Group Florida division
President Dan Bazylak.
See MOLLY A4
ONLINE
See www.crestviewbulletin.com for
photos from Molly the Cow’s visit to Crestview
High School’s cafeteria
The Nutrition Group field supervisors Angela Doty
and Jo Marcotte meet with Crestview High School
cafeteria manager Lynn Rogers, right.
Lifetime series to feature Crestview home makeover
By BRIAN HUGHES
the home of Purple Heart
recipient Tech. Sgt. Kevin
Parke, his wife and five
[email protected]
children in the Lake Silver
CRESTVIEW — Lifetime subdivision.
TV’s reality series “DeRetired Marine Corps
signing Spaces” is coming Staff Sgt. R. Lee “The
to North Okaloosa County Gunny” Ermey, known for
to refurbish a Crestview TV and movie roles, will
area Afghanistan veteran’s host the three-part Military
home.
Makeover episode.
Between Oct. 26 and
The home’s completed
29, the show will renovate renovations will be unveiled
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to the Parke family in a private ceremony on Oct. 29, a
media release from Military
Makeover stated.
Mayor David Cadle said
Crestview appealed to the
series’ scouting team. “They
just thought they liked this
community when they were
scoping it out,” he said.
“This is the fifth time
doing the series,” publicist
Pam Steele-Unger said.
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bulletin
“The producers of the show
scout different places. They
get recommendations from
military groups and other
organizations.”
“Military Makeover, R.
Lee Ermey, and valued
sponsors are dedicated to
giving back to our military
and assisting veterans and
their families in need of improved housing solutions,”
the release stated.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Government . . . . . . . A2
Community . . . . . . . . A3
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . A4
Classifieds . . . . . . . . A8
Sports . . . . . . . . . . A10
Lifestyle . . . . . . . . . A11
MILITARY MAKEOVER | Special to
the News Bulletin
R. Lee “The Gunny”
Ermey — known for
his TV and film roles,
including Gunnery Sgt.
Hartman in Stanley
Kubrick’s “Full Metal
Jacket” — will be in
Crestview Oct. 26-29
to shoot an episode of
“Designing Spaces.”
A Halifax Media
paper read by
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every week
OPINION
w w w.c r e s t v ie w bu l le t i n .c om
Page A4
LETTER TO
THE EDITOR
Clorox, good workers could clean courthouse
Dear editor,
Please take some of
the workers that know
what they’re doing, and
know how to do something
— besides trying to figure
out how to spend all our
tax money, and the B.P. oil
money.
Please take them and
buy some old-fashioned
Clorox — not the cheap
kind — and good old
vinegar.
And pay the workers to
do the work!
Then let it dry after a
good scrubbing. Go to the
paint store and buy some
real good paint and repaint
it all.
Then after this, if you
need (to add) other spaces
to our good old county
courthouse, do it guys! Add
on wherever it needs to be
done.
Please don’t waste
our good things that are
already there. I watched
the courthouse being built
in the ’50s!
So my idea is to save
our beautiful historical
courthouse that everyone
is proud of, and this
will save $21 million tax
dollars.
Thanks,
Barbara Adams
Crestview
GUEST COLUMN
Parents need to know when other kids have lice
When my daughter
I could have checked
was sent home with head
my child and prevented
lice early last week, I was
my other daughter from
devastated because I had
getting lice as well.
no idea how to get rid of it.
Unfortunately, (I was
In a panic, I quickly
told that) sending such
called my mother and she
a letter would be against
helped me successfully get
school district policy and
ADRIANA
rid of the lice with just one
violate HIPAA (the Health
FOSTER
treatment of RID.
Insurance Portability and
Still, being a concerned
Accountability Act).
mother, I called Southside Center
Being a professional in the
and asked the principal to send
medical field, I studied and am
a letter home with all children to
very educated in HIPAA law.
advise parents of a confirmed case Therefore, I know that if no
of head lice in the school.
personal information of the child
Through the nurse, I found out
with lice is disclosed (and the
my daughter wasn’t the first child
letter just states, vaguely, that a
sent home with head lice. My main child in the school has lice), there
goal was to advise parents to check will be no violation.
their children’s hair to prevent a
I honestly don’t see the
larger outbreak.
difference in sending home a letter
Had I been informed sooner,
informing parents that children
MOLLY from page A1
twice a week because everybody loves the nachos
bar,” Rogers said; Wednesdays, stir fry fixin’s; and
Thursdays offer a cheese
steak bar.
“The kids like it,” Rogers said. “All the cooking
goes on in the kitchen at
the schools. Some parents
think it’s cooked off-site
and shipped in, but it’s
not.”
A new coffee shop features fresh, sugar-free
baked goods that meet
federal “smart snack”
guidelines.
Accompanying drinks are less than 60
calories each per 12-ounce
serving.
“It’s good food!” junior
Sarah Jean said, adding
she particularly enjoys
breakfasts,
“especially
when they have pancakes
on a stick.”
Her classmate, C.J. Geiger, said he has noticed
improvements in the food
quality. “It’s better than
last year,” he said, adding
his favorite lunch selection
is the sub sandwich line.
“I usually get the chicken
subs,” C.J. said, though he
had one complaint: “The
bread is too small.”
The Nutrition Group
seeks a new source for larger whole-grain sub sandwich rolls, Rogers said.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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with peanut allergies are in their
classroom, and keeping it posted
on the classroom door year-round,
versus sending home letters for
lice, acknowledging parents that
it has been spreading through the
school.
Just something to think about.
I would like the school district
to change their policy so that the
spread of lice and other contagious
situations can be contained in a
more professional manner.
Adriana Foster, the mother
of four children, is a nationally
certified pharmacy technician
who lives in Crestview.
She graduated with a 4.0
grade point average from
Virginia College and is a member
of Southside Center’s School
Advisory Council.
HUBBUB
EXPANSION
REQUIRES CITY,
COUNTY LEADERS’
HELP
To expand at the airport
it takes more than an
engineer’s vision. It takes
city and county leaders to
have the same vision.
If not, then it continues
to stay stagnant with little
expansion.
They also have to
have the foresight and
improve infrastructure long
before expansion occurs;
otherwise, they just try and
play catch-up.
Gary Jacobs
BRIDGES NEED
WORK, TOO
Is the new thinking
that all of our buildings/
structures have to be less
than 50 years old to be
safe, functional and not
eye-sores?
I contend that (Okaloosa
County’s Crestview
courthouse) could be
brought up to specs for less
than half of that amount
($21 million).
And our bridges in the
county could sure use some
work. There are several of
them over 50 years old, and
I don’t remember anybody
complaining because they
were not pleasant to look
at! Yet, every day, more and
more car and truck traffic
use these bridges.
Seems that might be
more noteworthy than
how beautiful our new
courthouse might look.
These commissioners
might try spending that
money as if it were coming
from their own pockets.
Ron Terry
STEM from page A1
incubator,” Hsu said. “I
can see it. But we can’t do
this ourselves.”
Hsu wants to work with
research and economics
faculty at the University
of West Florida and the
Okaloosa County School
District to develop such a
training facility. “...Maybe
after school (the district)
can bus some of the students from Crestview,
from Baker and Laurel
Hill to C-TAP,” Hsu said.
There, STEM students
would immerse in practical, real-world technology
projects under UWF and
industry instructors’ guidance, under Hsu’s plan.
‘A VALUABLE PARTNER’
638 N. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview, FL 32536
October 17-20, 2015
Through the Paul Hsu
Foundation TEAMS prizes, Hsu wants to encourage North Okaloosa high
school teachers to excel
in producing the highly
increases self-awareness
of what you’re teaching.”
THE T.E.A.M.S. AWARD
The Paul Hsu Foundation’s Teaching
Excellence Awards in Math and Science, or
TEAMS — administered through the Crestview
Area Chamber of Commerce — annually
present a $5,000 prize to two North
Okaloosa County high school STEM teachers.
Teachers may be nominated by students,
faculty members, administrators, parents,
community members or they may nominate
themselves, at www.surveymonkey.com/
r/6QTMPYY. Applications are due Oct. 30.
skilled workers C-TAP
needs.
“These awards for our
teachers go a long way in
improving their ability to
teach STEM subjects, and
thus help their students,”
school district Superintendent Mary Beth Jackson
said. “The foundation is a
valuable partner, and we
are blessed to have leaders like Dr. Hsu engaged
BEYOND ACADEMICS
in our school district.”
Lukas said the recognition “brings mathematics and science into
focus for the community
and helps them see what
actually goes on in the
classrooms.”
“As for the award itself, it helps you look at
your teaching and what
you’re doing as a teacher
for the kids,” she said. “It
The program has stimulated praise beyond academic circles.
“Dr. Hsu’s generosity will help teachers help
students gain greater
skills in exactly those
sectors of the economy
where high-paying jobs
will exist in ever greater
numbers,” state Sen. Don
Gaetz said.
State Rep. Doug Broxson, whose district includes North Okaloosa
County, applauds Hsu’s
commitment to education.
“The (TEAMS award)
recognizes our outstanding teachers who prepare
our students to compete
in a global economy from
right here in northern
Okaloosa County,” he
said.
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WEEKEND EDITION
Good morning!
COMMUNITY, A2
BUSINESS, A3
Confederate battle flag
scheduled to come down
Some power bills to dip
in 2016
SPORTS, A11
Championship-winning
coach focuses on LHS
girls basketball team
Trina Blanchard, Phil Johnson and Ronald West
NOVEMBER 7-10, 2015
50 Cents
‘Banjo Bear’ is back ‘It’s about
INNOVATION AT
LAUREL HILL SCHOOL
the kids’
$27K Boeing grant
establishes LHS
technology program
P
aul Hsu, an engineer
who envisions the
Crestview area as a regional
technology center, is quietly
working to assure the region’s
infrastructure and workforce
are ready for its growth.
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
EDITOR’S NOTE: This concludes a threepart series on an Okaloosa County engineer’s plans to enhance the Crestview
area economy.
Rick “Banjo Bear” Edenfield is back on Main Street, playing his banjo after an eight-month absence.
Main Street banjo player returns after 8-month absence
By BRIAN HUGHES
the hospital since spring.
“I died four times: Twice in my room
and twice on the operating table,”
Edenfield said. “I guess they didn’t
CRESTVIEW — The sound of traditional want me up there yet,” he said, looking
banjo pluckin’ resounds once again on up to heaven, “so I’ll play music down
Main Street.
here.”
“Banjo Bear” is back.
After an eight-month absence, the
Rick Edenfield, born at Eglin Air music has returned, and “I’m glad to be
Force Base and raised in Baker, is well back,” Edenfield said.
known to Main Street shoppers, diners,
merchants and — especially — kids.
PLAYING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC
“I’ve been playin’ country, gospel
One purpose for chugging downtown
and bluegrass for 49 years,” Edenfield on his motorized wheelchair almost
said. “I do it for the kids.”
daily is to drive off drug pushers, EdenBut a collapsed lung that occurred field said.
while walking home from Main Street
eight months ago kept him in and out of
See BANJO A11
[email protected]
ONLINE
See www.crestview
bulletin.com for video of
“Banjo Bear” playing his
favorite song, “Will the Circle
Be Unbroken.”
•••
WANT TO GO?
Rick “Banjo Bear” Edenfield
can be found most mornings
playing his banjo on Main
Street, often around the
intersection of Woodruff Avenue
LAUREL HILL — The future of Laurel Hill School’s
STEM instruction is, literally, up in the air.
Boeing recently awarded a $27,000 grant to the
Okaloosa County School
District, and almost half of
PAUL HSU
Okaloosa County it — $13,000 — will help establish LHS’s drone and 3D
engineer and
printing curriculum. The rephilanthropist
mainder goes to Crestview
and Choctawhatchee high schools.
North Okaloosa County could use the
help, according to area engineer and philanthropist Paul Hsu.
He knew Sean McSheehy, Choctaw’s
Aviation, Engineering and Robotics teacher, inspired his three children, but he also
noticed a heavier emphasis on STEM —
science, technology, engineering and math
— education in South Okaloosa County.
“Even a small county like Okaloosa,
there’s a different academic level between
the south and north,” Hsu said.
See GRANT A8
LAUREL HILL GOVERNMENT
City council gains
fifth member
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
LAUREL HILL — The City Council has
a new, fifth member after months of
deadlocking on the decision.
City leaders on Thursday voted 3-1
to appoint Travis Dewrell to serve the
seat Johnny James once occupied.
Councilwoman Debra Adams voted
nay in the 3-1 vote.
James stepped down from the dais
in April, upon learning his residence is
outside Laurel Hill city limits.
See COUNCIL A8
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Former councilman’s land closer to annexation
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
LAUREL HILL — Former City
Councilman Johnny James
and his wife, Earnestine’s,
property is closer to being annexed into the city.
The council on Thursday
voted 3-1 — with Councilman
Scott Moneypenny dissenting
— to accept the Jameses’ petition for annexation.
Now, the matter needs to
be passed by ordinance, but
there is some confusion about
how to handle that.
At Council Chairman
Larry Hendren’s request,
Councilwoman Debra Adams
amended her motion to accept
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the Jameses’ petition, as long
as a land-planning consultant
guides the city through the
annexation process.
James needs to pay $950
to cover anticipated consultant’s costs, Hendren initially
said.
But upon reviewing itemized fees stipulated in a 2007
city annexation resolution,
Adams said the Jameses met
the requirements and paid
the correct $2,050 fee.
Several residents spoke
in favor of the Jameses’
petition.
“There was no problem
taking his check,” one resident said. “To stand there
See LAND A8
Earnestine and Johnny James are a step closer to having
their property annexed into Laurel Hill after the City
Council’s Nov. 5 vote to provisionally accept their petition
for annexation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Community . . . . . . . . A2
Business . . . . . . . . . . A3
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . A4
Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . A5
Classifieds . . . . A9-A10
Sports . . . . . . . . . . A11
A Halifax Media
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10,450 people
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Local
A8 | Crestview News Bulletin
November 7-10, 2015
GRANT from page A1
If his expansion plans
for the Crestview Technology Air Park at Bob
Sikes Airport are to succeed, Hsu said he needs a
larger pool of tech-savvy
workers, and north county schools are the logical
place to produce them.
Laurel Hill City Council Chairman Larry Hendren
swears new Councilman Travis Dewrell into office
Nov. 5.
COUNCIL from page A1
presided over a four-member council for 18 months
before the filling of a vacant
seat in the March elections.
“I think it’s wonderful
to have a five-person council,” he said. “No more tie
votes.”
“Hopefully we’ll get
some stuff done now,” said
Dewrell, who will start
serving the city in December. “We won’t always be
two-to-two.”
During the meeting, the
council again failed to appoint a vice chairman due
to deadlocked votes.
LAND from page A1
and say, ‘We’re not going to
do it’ — that’s not right. The
man has jumped through
hoops.”
“We (want) to bring people into our city but we’re
fighting as hard as we can
to not bring this man into
our city,” Adams said.
Moneypenny said his
concern was having taxpayers cover the $950.
Adams said the council
shouldn’t even have the
discussion because James
met the city’s requirements for annexation, including filing the correct
fee.
“This should already
have been an ordinance
on the agenda, ready to go,
because he (James) did
what the resolution said,”
Adams said. “It shouldn’t
be a request ... according
to Florida statutes.”
Johnny James stepped
down from the city council
dais in April after learning
his property was outside
city limits.
Asked if he wants to
serve as a council member
again, following annexation, he said, “I don’t know.
I want to take care of first
things first.”
ONLINE
See www.crestviewbulletin.com for
video of Laurel Hill City Council members
debating former council member Johnny James’
proposed property annexation
Northwest Florida Diabetes
& Nutrition Center
Helping you navigate your care
When
McSheehy
— the Air Force Association’s 2015 Florida
Teacher of the Year
— approached Hsu for
help in securing a grant
for his program, Hsu saw
his opportunity.
“(McSheehy) said,
‘Paul, you understand
the importance of tech to
the future.’ I said, ‘Sean,
you’re preaching to the
choir,’” Hsu said. “I said,
‘I’ll help you with this, but
you have to do one thing
for me.’ He said, ‘What?’ I
said, ‘Take your program
to the north county.’”
On May 11, McSheehy; his Choctaw student
drone and 3D-printing
team; Hsu; and area educators visited Laurel Hill
School, where McSheehy
and his students demonstrated the technology.
Retired Troy University professor Dennis
Mitchell, who works with
Hsu on local education
and technology projects, said the experience
showed LHS students the
technology’s potential.
“Okaloosa
County
could be the center for
drone and 3D printing
technology,”
Mitchell
said. “It is very impressive. I’m a tech guy from
way back, and what Sean
and his kids demonstrated knocked my socks
off.”
“We had the kids from
Choctaw explain what is
3D printing to the kids at
Laurel Hill,” Hsu said.
“I was there and I saw
it. Their eyes got so big.
It was so interesting to
them.
“They saw this robot.
They saw this plane.
They saw it move in
the gymnasium. They
saw it fly outside, totally
FREE G
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FILE PHOTO | News Bulletin
A group of Laurel Hill School students listens to Brendan Kelly, the University
of West Florida’s vice president of university advancement, during a May 11
presentation on drones and 3D printing technology.
ONLINE
See www.crestviewbulletin.com for video of Paul Hsu
explaining the importance of bringing a drone and 3D printing
technology course to Laurel Hill School
controlled by a human.
They were so amazed.”
‘THIS IS A COMMUNITY
SERVICE’
McSheehy and Hsu
turned to Embry-Riddle
Aeronautics
University
administrators Chris Harrison and Ron Garriga for
help with writing the Boeing grant application.
Hsu sees the university
as an integral partner in
furthering local STEM education. The school provides
CHOICE — Community
High Institutes for Career
Education — aerospace
courses at Crestview and
Choctaw high schools.
“Between me and Dennis and Sean, and working
with Embry-Riddle, I think
we can have a permanent
program at Laurel Hill,”
Hsu said.
“This is a community
service for us,” Harrison,
Embry-Riddle’s
associate campus director, said.
“We have hopes of getting
them a program by virtual
means. It looks like next
year, hopefully, we can
bring them a teleconference program.
“Just because they live
‘way up in Laurel Hill,
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‘IT’S ABOUT THE KIDS’
While Harrison expects
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Like Hsu, Harrison believes getting students excited about careers in technology takes a partnership.
Toward that goal, EmbryRiddle is adding $20,000 to
the Boeing grant.
As the third partner, the
school district will assume
the cost of teaching the
Drone Team their new responsibilities and curriculum, Harrison said.
“All kids need inspiration,” he said. “We need
math and science, and
this is what it’s all about.
They’re going to be excited.
Who really cares when bus
A and bus B leave the train
station and where they’ll
be when they collide?”
Instead of such traditional, hypothetical math
problems, the new program’s students will do
practical, hands-on technology design projects.
“Maybe they’re going
to build a propeller, for
example,” Harrison said.
“They’re going to learn
about how to design and
build a propeller, then print
it on the 3D printer, and
test it and see what works
and what doesn’t.”
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‘ALL KIDS NEED INSPIRATION’
to deliver equipment for
Laurel Hill’s program —
including computers, a 3D
printer, more drones and
simulators — by 2016, the
school’s teachers aren’t
waiting until then.
“The Drone Club,”
as science teacher Joan
Mitchell calls it, met
Wednesday afternoon with
interested sixth- through
12th-graders. The program — taught by Mitchell and colleagues Wanda
Cooper, Neisha Williams
and Mildred Strickland
— will be an after-school
club until a class is offered
in the 2016-17 school year.
“If we can start by
teaching
those
sixthgraders, they can do it
for years,” Mitchell said.
“It’s good. It’s going to be
cool.”
“This new venture
will provide students the
chance to learn about
drones in everyday scenarios while gaining valuable science, math, technology and writing skills,”
Williams said. “They will
learn real-world applications for the drones.”
“This is what it’s about:
it’s about the kids,” Harrison said. “It’s about getting them the education
they deserve. It shouldn’t
be any different than anybody else just because
they live in the country.”
“They’re great kids,
and they’re great workers
for the future,” Hsu said.
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which is beautiful, why
shouldn’t they have the
same opportunities a kid
in Fort Walton Beach has?”
he said.
Dewrell’s appointment
followed the council’s provisional acceptance of James’
application to have his property annexed into the city.
“I’ve been coming here
three months,” Dewrell
said after the vote. “I was
expecting to be nominated
again, but not appointed. I
expected it (the vote) to be
2-2 for the next however
long.”
Council Chairman Larry Hendren immediately
swore Dewrell into office.
“It’ll be different,” Hendren said, having also
‘THEY WERE SO AMAZED’
2077822
WEEKEND EDITION
Good morning!
FAITH, A12
OPINION, A4
Crestview youth group exceeds
goal to feed the hungry
COMMUNITY, A2
Editor: Sue-happy society
spurs Dozer ban
Residents prepare gifts for
poor children
Emily Cassity, Sarah Lee and Betty Thigpen
OCTOBER 10-13, 2015
50 Cents
Residents divided on new-courthouse decision
By BRIAN HUGHES
and THOMAS BONI
vote in favor of the $21 million project.
• “Because remodeling
isn’t good enough — let’s
@cnbeditor
spend $21 million on a [email protected]
house while our community
[email protected]
is struggling,” Mandy DuchCRESTVIEW — Reaction to arme said. “Great idea.”
• “Well, I guess that
Okaloosa County commissioners’ decision to raze means no new road system
Crestview’s courthouse and here — not that we need it
build a new facility on the anyways. If you need to go
to the new courthouse just
same site is mixed.
News Bulletin Facebook leave early, right?” Carleen
fans shared these com- Lea • therwood said.
• “They should fix the
ments after Tuesday’s 4-1
road problems before wasting money on a court house,”
Dolan Jones said.
• “Their old courthouse
was perfectly fine,” Sheena
Ratliff said.
Some residents support
the decision due to recent
discovery of mold.
• “The courthouse is
full of mold and asbestos,”
Glenda K. Sutton said. “It
is a health hazard to those
who have to work there.”
• “I hope this (mold) is
the reason it’s being bull-
dozed down instead of
renovated, because Crestview could use that money
on engineering a new road
system to alleviate traffic
on Ferdon (Boulevard) and
other things as well,” Courtney Young said.
• “The current courthouse is an eyesore and
needs to be dealt with,” Corey Winkler said. “While I
agree that there are more
pressing issues to tend to,
See COURTHOUSE A4
EVOLUTION OF COURTHOUSE PLANS
Okaloosa County commissioners considered
these options before deciding to raze
Crestview’s courthouse:
• Spend $60,000 to refurbish portions of the
courthouse
• Spend $8 million to entirely renovate the
courthouse
• Spend $12 or $17 million to totally
renovate the courthouse and build an addition
• Spend $21 million to raze the courthouse
and build a new facility on the site
‘IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT’
Crestview
hosts prepare
for 22 French
visitors
By BRIAN HUGHES
[email protected]
CRESTVIEW — They’ve chatted on Skype, befriended on Facebook and emailed each other.
In less than a week, 22 Crestview High
School students will meet face to face with new
friends from Noirmoutier, Crestview’s French
sister city.
The visiting “college” students — in France,
a cross between middle and high school — form
most of a 34-person delegation coming to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the two communiPHOTOS BY BRIAN HUGHES | News Bulletin
ties’ Sister Cities International relationship.
Crestview High School junior Haylee Files — pictured with her dad, Todd
Local host students and their parents gath— anticipates improving her French while she hosts Emily Couthouis from
ered Monday evening in CHS French teacher
Chris Lanoue’s classroom, where they re- Crestview’s Sister City beginning Friday.
viewed a calendar of activities that Lanoue and
Crestview Area Sister City Program members
Crestview
have planned.
chefs Mary
Richard,
SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES
Sherri WilPlanned group activities include attendliams and
ing the Baker corn maze; touring Northwest
Erica Teets
Florida State College and enjoying a rehearsplan their
al performance by one of the show choirs; and
Oct. 19
visiting Eglin Air Force Base and the Seacrest
Guest Chefs’
Wolf Preserve.
Dinner for
French Club members, in optional Hallowvisitors from
een costumes, will serve as hosts and hostCrestview’s
esses at an Oct. 27 “American Autumn feast,”
Sister City.
a community Gala Dinner in the French
guests’ honor.
Hosts will make their own plans, too.
“We’ll probably go skating, and maybe play
some soccer,” Crestview High French Club
student Jacob Goode said of his guest, Julien
Corbrejaud.
French Club president Haylee Files, a junior, said her guest, Emily Couthouis, wants
PUBLIC OPPORTUNITIES
to improve her English while Haylee hopes
You can meet visitors from Noirmoutier, France at these events:
to learn more French. “We’ll do whatever she
•Guest Chef Dinner: 6 p.m. Oct. 19, The Baron’s Tea House,
wants in the short time they’re here,” Haylee
314
Ferdon Blvd. S., Crestview. Local chefs Sherri Williams, Mary
said.
Richard and Erica Teets prepare a gourmet meal before guests’
“I’m excited for her to see what we do in
eyes.
the band, and I want her to see our classes
and Crestview,” sophomore Chandler Ory
Tickets: $50 per person; tickets, very limited, are available at the
said of her guest, Charlène Sabin.
Crestview News Bulletin office, 638 Ferdon Blvd. N., Crestview.
Host families had some questions about
cultural differences.
“What do they (French people) like to eat?”
Chandler said.
She and her parents expressed relief when
told Charlène, like the other French students,
See HOSTS A4
FACEBOOK
Find us at www.
facebook.com/
crestviewbulletin
New coding
regulations give
local doctors
headaches
[email protected]
By BRIAN HUGHES
CULTURE QUESTIONS
THERE’S A CODE FOR THAT
•Gala Dinner: 6 p.m. Oct. 27, Crestview Community Center,
1446 Commerce Drive. Theme: “An American Autumn Feast,”
featuring a fall favorites menu including a fruit-and-nut bar, sweet
potato bar, smoked ham and turkey, salad from the Crestview
Community Garden and a variety of pies, peach cobbler and pecan
pie bars. Featuring entertainment by pianist Dennis Mitchell and
jazz singer Sandra Daggs.
Tickets: $25 per person; available at the News Bulletin office.
TWITTER
Follow us at
twitter.com/
cnbulletin
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Follow us at
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bulletin
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Community . . . . . . . . A2
Education . . . . . . . . . A3
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . A4
Law Enforcement . . . . A5
Classifieds . . . . . . . . A9
Sports . . . . . . . . . . A11
On Oct. 1, the federal government ordered
doctors to use 124,000 new billing codes. Local medical office administrators find the
requirement burdensome, costly and it takes
time away from patients.
CRESTVIEW — If someone is burned when his
water skis burst into flames, the government
has a code for the injury.
An index of more than 142,000 medical
codes — many of them covering rare situations like this one — went into affect Oct. 1,
and it’s causing headaches at local doctors’
offices.
‘IT’S RIDICULOUS’
Coding patients’ ailments isn’t new, said licensed practical nurse Amy Herf, Crestview’s
Peoples’ Home Health representative. The
World Health Organization implemented The
International Classification of Diseases, or
ICD, in 1979, she said.
But ICD-10, the system’s 10th revision,
which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services implemented Oct. 1, increased ICD9’s 14,000 disease codes to around 70,000. Medical procedure codes rose from 4,000 to about
72,000, according to Tech Times’ website.
“It’s like being told you have to learn a new
language to do your job,” Amy Herf said.
The plethora of new codes has swamped
medical practices throughout the area.
“It’s ridiculous,” said nurse Betty Jordan,
who manages Crestview general practitioner
Dr. Abdul Mir’s office. “It requires so much
See CODING A4
Andrew Linares, an administrator at
Crestview surgeon Dr. David Herf’s
office, codes a patient’s treatment
record using some of the 72,000 new
International Classification of Diseases
medical procedure codes.
A Halifax Media
paper read by
10,450 people
every week
OPINION
w w w.c r e s t v ie w bu l le t i n .c om
Page A4
CODING from page A1
extra work. If my doctor
treated someone for rheumatoid arthritis, there’s
hundreds of codes. It’s got to
be specific.”
“It’s really, really detailed,” Andrew Linares, an
administrator at Dr. David
Herf’s office, said. “Instead
of just saying, ‘cyst of the
arm or trunk,’ you have to
get really specific.”
“If it is one digit off, it
could change the diagnoses from a broken finger to
a fractured toe,” Amy Herf
said.
The paperwork increase
is particularly burdensome
for general practitioners like
Mir, whose patients consult
him for a wide variety of
causes.
“It is horrible for a
primary care doctor,” Jordan said. “For a specialist,
they deal with the same
things over and over. For
us in family practice, we
see all kinds of things. It’s
overwhelming.”
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Another aspect of the
new codes also affects medical offices.
“It’s directly related to
revenue,” Amy Herf said. “If
you bill wrong, you don’t get
paid.”
“If we don’t file a claim
properly, and get rejected,
it affects our income,” Patti
Bonta, Mir’s front office
manager, said.
Large practices and
medical companies, such
as Peoples’ Home Health,
usually have coders on staff.
Their only job is to enter the
numbers into billing records
and insurance reimbursement forms.
For smaller offices like
Dr. Herf’s and Mir’s, the
increased coding tasks take
away staffers’ time with
patients.
“We’re an old-fashioned
small office that still answers
our phones, calls messages
back and tries to be personable to the patients,” Jordan,
who’s worked 35 years for
Mir, said. “ICD-10 takes that
time away from us.”
TECHNOLOGY ADVANTAGE
Not all doctors’ administrators find adapting to the
new codes as difficult as
others.
Younger staffers, who are
used to ever-evolving technology, have adapted better,
Amy Herf said.
Linares, 23, said despite
the influx of codes, he finds
the new system going relatively smoothly. Updated
office software guides him
through the new codes.
“Luckily, they built in
some help,” he said, demonstrating how the software
brings up a selection of new
codes when Linares enters
the older code with which he
is familiar.
Through webinars and
training classes since August, some doctors’ offices
find that adopting the new
codes is slowly becoming
less of a struggle.
“We got some glitches
out of our system. I think
we’re on the right path now,”
Bonta said.
“It’s like when your
iPhone upgrades,” Linares
said. “There’s still some
bugs in it.”
So when it comes time
to enter code V91.07XA
— “burn due to water skis
on fire” — or Z63.1 — “problems in relationship with
in-laws” — local doctors’ offices are ready.
HOSTS from page A1
wants to try whatever is
typically served at the family dining table.
“I think it might be a
little challenging with the
language interpretation,”
Jacob’s dad, William Goode,
said. “But I think it’ll all be
OK.”
“It’s going to be great,”
junior Quinn Stegner’s dad,
Chris Stegner, said. “My
wife was an exchange student when she was in high
school, so we kind of know
what to expect.”
Mayor David Cadle, who
will host the French delegation and their Crestview
hosts at an Oct. 17 welcome
barbecue, knows one thing
to avoid.
“I know they don’t
like grits,” he said, adding it was not a popular
menu selection during the
Noirmoutrins’ 2009 visit.
“They’re definitely not going to be on the menu.”
638 N. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview, FL 32536
PUBLISHER
[email protected]
Dawn Barnes ............................ legals
[email protected]
EDITOR
CIRCULATION
Diane Winnemuller
dwinnemuller@crestviewbulletin.
com
Thomas Boni
[email protected]
NEWS
Brian Hughes .......................reporter
[email protected]
Randy Dickson............. sports editor
[email protected]
Renee Bell .............editorial assistant
[email protected]
ADVERTISING
Sherrie Stanley .....media consultant
[email protected]
Deanna Perry........media consultant
[email protected]
Diana Baker..........media consultant
Dale Robinson ...... district manager
[email protected]
Holly Maneval... circulation assistant
[email protected]
CONTACT US
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at 638 N. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview,
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October 10-13, 2015
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Sue-happy society spurs blanket animal ban
Dozer the Therapy Dog is a
Here’s what some readers said:
Northwest Florida treasure.
• “Dozer has helped so many,
The Great Dane greets customers including my son, Ryan!” Jamie
monthly at the Crestview Walgreen’s; Mitchell said. “Whenever he is
his presence eases travelers’ tension around Dozer, it’s like a sense of
at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach
calm comes over him.
Airport; he’s a fixture at the
• “Our kids enjoy reading
Crestview Public Library;
to Dozer at the library, and
and, for two years, hundreds
I hate that the school board
of local students enjoyed his
has taken this away from the
on-campus visits.
school kids!”
But the Okaloosa
• “A trained therapy dog
County School District’s
is not the same as animals
recent decision to ban all
brought in by a wildlife
animals not covered by the
THOMAS BONI rescue,” Angela Avery Lewis
Americans with Disabilities
said. “Why we would want to
Editor-in-Chief
Act from from its campuses,
deny the innovative and fun
citing students and staffers’ safety,
way to encourage children to read is
immediately raised concerns.
beyond my comprehension.”
More than 11,000 people viewed
• “How is a therapy dog the same
the story on our website, 102 people
as any other animal?” Jennifer
shared it and countless people have
Austin said. “Poor decision by the
commented on the decision. The
school board.”
story went viral, racking up countless
• “Looks like I’ll be expressing my
more views, comments and shares
opinion on this ridiculous decision
from other sites that picked it up,
to deny Dozer the Therapy Dog
such as the Northwest Florida Daily
at the voting booth for the party
News.
responsible,” David Key-Harriss
Reaction is almost unanimous:
said.
Dozer should be allowed to stay at
Part of Dozer’s public service
the schools.
comes from just being there for
Most residents think of Dozer
students who may be nervous
— an American Kennel Club Canine reading in front of others. Reading
Good Citizen; a registered therapy
to a dog who is non-judgmental can
dog certified for obedience training
make the process less stressful; such
— as more of a service dog than a
a service encourages learning.
wild animal.
Having Dozer on campus helps
students who can’t visit him at the
Crestview library, because some
parents won’t — or can’t — take their
children there.
In addition, visiting with Dozer
teaches children how to interact with
animals.
The school district is in a difficult
position. We do live in a sue-happy
society, and the culture moves
many businesses and nonprofits to
implement so-called fairness policies
to remove liability.
But such policies are never really
fair — in this case, that’s true for
students whose parents can’t afford
to take them to the Crestview Public
Library to visit with Dozer.
The ban promotes students’
and staffers’ safety, according to
Assistant Superintendent Nick
Kootsouradis said. “As well-trained
as animals are, sometimes they are
unpredictable,” he told reporter
Brian Hughes. “And you have the
allergies issue.”
That’s a fair point, but these
concerns will remain the next
time police K9 dogs visit Okaloosa
campuses.
They are not banned — and they
can’t help students learn how to read,
either.
What’s your view? Email tboni@
crestviewbulletin.com or tweet @
cnbeditor.
GUEST COLUMN
Why community newspapers matter
The chosen theme for this year’s
National Newspaper Week is “Power
of the Press,” and that power, it
seems to me, is very relative.
Everybody understands the
power of, say, The New York Times or
The Washington Post, but probably
less recognized and appreciated is
the power of the Crestview News
Bulletin and the thousands of other
small, community newspapers just
like it all across the land.
In survey after survey, these little
community-minded newspapers
are continuing to thrive. And there
are some very tangible, observable
reasons for that, not the least of
which might be the notion I share
that the smaller the community, the
more important its newspaper.
For more than 20 years, I have
put out a little country weekly — The
Deer Creek Pilot — that’s been
published continuously for 138 years
in what most folks might consider
Backwater, U.S.A., the two poorest
counties in the poorest state in the
union with a combined population
of less than 6,500 men, women and
children.
And it is neither flippant nor
hyperbolic when I say that little
country weekly newspaper is the
only news organization on Earth that
gives the first tinker’s damn about
Sharkey and Issaquena counties,
Mississippi.
That, folks, is what makes the
Deer Creek Pilot mighty, mighty
important to those people who call
that place home.
While mine might serve as prime
example, it is no different from all
those other community newspapers
in all those other towns in this
country.
Community newspapers have the
power to bring about great good and
make a profound difference within
their locales. And among the good
ones, the ones who endure and even
prosper, there is always to be found
one common denominator — trust.
In a small town, the local
newspaper is not like the local
hardware store.
In a small town, every newspaper
subscriber thinks he or she is a
stockholder, because there exists a
real relationship, an implied contract,
if you will, between that paper and its
readers.
They buy your newspaper,
advertise in your newspaper,
sometimes even when they don’t
have to, based on a simple precept:
They trust you to do your very best to
find the truth and to tell it to them.
News travels fast in a small town;
bad news travels even faster, but
all too often that “news” is no such
thing. All too often, that “news” is
little more than rumor, sometimes
made up out of whole cloth and at
best some grain of truth exaggerated
in its retellings vastly, and often
alarmingly out of proportion.
In a small town, readers expect
their newspaper to separate the
wheat from the chaff and then to “tell
it like it is.”
The community newspaper is not
some monolithic entity; its editor is
not some ivory towered “big shot.”
He or she is also a neighbor. He or
she is one who goes to church with
you, or stops to chat in the grocery
store or is always there to volunteer
at community functions or stops to
shake hands or just waves in passing.
More importantly, he or she is the
one everybody else trusts to promote
those things that are beneficial, and
to try to stop that which is not.
There’s a fishbowl effect in small
towns, and its newspaper is often its
lightening rod. It may be praised one
week and dog-cussed the next, but
it is not only impossible, but really
not important that it be liked. It’s
important that it be respected and
it is even more important that it be
trusted.
I have been in this crazy business
for some 38 years now, at both the
daily and weekly levels, and been
blessed to receive a few accolades
along the way, but the greatest single
compliment I have ever received
came from a salt-of-the-earth little
lady who stopped by the office to
pick up a hot off the press edition
featuring the issue du jour in my little
town.
“I’ve heard all the talk, but I don’t
believe it until I read in the paper,”
she told me.
And that, in a nutshell, is the
secret to the continued success of
community newspapers.
That, in a nutshell, is the true
power of the press.
Ray Mosby is editor and
publisher of The Deer Creek Pilot in
Rolling Fork, Miss.
He is a two-time winner of
the J. Oliver Emmerich Award
for Editorial Excellence, the
highest honor for commentary
writing presented annually by the
Mississippi Press Association.
COURTHOUSE from page A1
be happy Crestview is at least getting
something new from the county.”
County Commissioner Nathan
Boyles said the county’s seat would
receive a “beautiful new, Southernstyle downtown courthouse.”
“The goal is to achieve a facility
that the citizens up here can be proud
of and make sure Crestview will be the
home of the county courthouse for the
next generation,” he said.
Crestview’s Historic Preservation
Board members, including president
Ann Spann, Graham Fountain, Linda
Parker and Cal Zethmayr, stressed
the importance of complementing
downtown’s historic architecture in
the new facility.
“The board gave specific instructions to the design team that we want
to take these comments into consideration,” Boyles said.
County Commissioner Trey Goodwin of District 4 voted nay on the new
courthouse proposal, questioning the
expense.
Boyles said the existing courthouse has served the community well
over its more than 60 years, but has
outlived its lifespan. Recently discov-
ered mold, a failing heating and cooling system and leaky roof are among
challenges that would’ve been faced
had the board decided to renovate the
building.
Boyles said county facilities currently housed in the courthouse will
be vacated within the next two or
three months.
While maintaining a temporary
court presence in Crestview during
demolition and construction is under discussion, judges’ offices will be
moved to the Water and Sewer Building in Fort Walton Beach, Boyles said.

County: Exodos` plans inconsistent with zoning

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