CnC: Two Apalachicolas a Day is Better - 367 miles
Last day for Red Snapper
Friday, August 14, 2009
New AMVETS post starting in Wakulla County
A new AMVETS group is now forming in Wakulla County and the group is looking for veterans to take part. All active or honorably discharged or released members of Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, or Reserve are welcome to become a Charter Member of the first AMVETS Post. Only 10 Veterans are needed to start a Post. To sign up or to get more information about the group contact District Commander Jim Lawlor at 850-697-2329. AMVETS is a National Veterans Organization first charted by Congress in 1947 as a Veterans Organization for all Honorable Discharged Veterans.
Gulf County considers biomass plant
Gulf County could soon be home to a new biomass plant. Biomass plants use things like dead trees, branches, yard clippings and wood chips as fuel to generate electricity. The Gulf County Commission and the Port St. Joe City Commission held a joint meeting Wednesday night to discuss the possibility of allowing the Georgia-based company Biomass Gas & Electric build a 200 million dollar plant on industrially zoned land on the Intracoastal Waterway. A number of Gulf County residents seem to be in favor of the project especially as a way to bring more employment to Gulf County. In recent years Gulf County has seen the closure of the St. Joe Paper mill and most recently the Arizona Chemical plant. Biomass Gas & Electric CEO and president Glenn Farris said the plant could offer a number of benefits to the area not just by creating jobs, but also through an expanded tax base and by bringing other industries into the county. The Gulf County Economic Development Council estimated the plant could have a 15 million dollar a year impact on Gulf County. There was also opposition to the plan; a group from Tallahassee who opposed a similar plant in Leon County said the amount of pollution and noise from the plant would not be worth the jobs it would create.
P and Z tables decision on new business
Franklin County’s planning and zoning board tabled any action this week on a proposed 8000 square foot commercial building on St. George Island. Olivier Monod is seeking approval for the building which would be located directly next door to the St. George Island Trading Company on Franklin Boulevard where the Weichert Realty building now stands. In order to build the structure Monod would have to remove the existing real estate office on Franklin Boulevard as well as the old Island Oasis building on East Gulf Beach Drive. Mister Monod said that about 1200 square feet of the new building will be used for a real estate office – the rest would be for some other form of retail – possibly a grocery store. There is plenty of opposition to the plan; about 40 people attended the P and Z meeting this week raising a number of concerns ranging from sewer issues to parking and traffic problems. The Planning and Zoning board voted to table the issue for up to 2 years while a comprehensive plan is created for St. George Island, though that decision will have to get final approval from the county commission. The county commission will consider the issue next Tuesday morning.
Seafood Festival pageant scheduled for seven on Saturday
The Florida Seafood festival will hold its annual Miss Florida seafood pageant this weekend. Seven young ladies will vie for the title of Miss Florida Seafood. The contestants include Shelby Shiver, Mallorie Jones, Maddelin Zambrano, Emily Kembro, Jessica Galloway, Isabel Pateritsas and Cecilia James. This year’s pageant hosts will be Royce Rolstad and the 2008 queen, Sara Ward. The pageant will be held Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the Franklin County School’s cafetorium. Tickets will be sold at the door, with all proceeds to benefit Pam Nobles Studios.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Red snapper season closes Saturday
The recreational harvest season for red snapper in all waters of the Gulf of Mexico off Florida closes on Saturday. The season will remain closed until June the 1st of next year. Normally the season would have closed at the end of September, but this year’s red snapper season was shortened substantially after last year's annual red snapper catch limit was overshot by approximately 1.2 million pounds. This closure is designed to help rebuild overfished red snapper stocks in the Gulf so anglers can enjoy better red snapper fishing in the future.
State Parks volunteers worked over a million hours last year
Florida’s State Park Service said there has been a new record set for volunteer hours at state parks during the 2008-09 fiscal year. More than 6,000 volunteers contributed more than 1.2 million hours of service to Florida’s state parks last year – a 53,000 hour increase from the previous fiscal year and a record high for the park service. The volunteer hours equate to roughly 581 full-time positions saving the state $24 million dollars. Volunteers contribute to the Florida Park Service in a variety of ways to help maintain the natural beauty of Florida’s beaches, waterways and trails – participating as interpreters, tour guides, greeters, landscape artists and resource custodians. If you are interested in volunteering some of your time to a local state park, you can learn about volunteer opportunities on-line at www.friendsoffloridastateparks.com.
EOC provides hurricane information directly to e-mail and cell phones
If you would like to get immediate information from Franklin County’s emergency management office regarding this year’s hurricane season – you can sign up to receive alerts through your e-mail or directly on your cell phone. The Franklin County Emergency Management office has signed up with a company called nixle.com which allows it to provide emergency information over the web, e-mail and directly to subscribers’ cell phones. The EOC issued their first alert this week for a tropical depression that is still thousands of miles away from Apalachicola. The EOC is urging Franklin County residents to register with the site so they can receive public safety threat information and information on Emergency Management activities. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. All you have to do is go to www.nixle.com and provide your e-mail address and cell phone number as well as your street address and they’ll make sure you get any emergency information for your area. You can even sign up for addresses in other areas and keep up with emergency information for sites around Florida or around the country. The website again is www.nixle.com.
Tyndall to help rebuild Taunton Children's Home
More than 70 Tyndall Air Force Base members are teaming up to help rebuild the Taunton Children’s Home in Wewahitchka on Saturday and they are looking for other volunteers to lend a hand. The Taunton Children’s home sheltered generations of the area’s orphaned and abandoned children but caught fire and burnt down in December 2008. The Tyndall workers will be at the site from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Volunteers do not need to have any particular skill set and can help for part or all of either Saturday. All of the necessary materials and tools will be on site, but volunteers are welcome to bring their own tools to ensure maximum productivity. Individuals interested in signing up can contact Linda Lebarron-Hamn at (850) 283-7069.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Gulf State Community Bank collecting school supplies
Local students will return to school soon, and some may not have the school supplies they need unless you are willing to help. Gulf State Community Bank is collecting school supplies for children who need them. There are collection boxes at the entrances of all Gulf State Bank locations where you can leave your donations. Supplies can range from notebooks and pens for older students to construction paper and paste for the younger kids. No.2 Pencils are always useful as are Index Cards, scissors, Loose Leaf Paper and even Hand Sanitizer. Once the supplies have been collected they will be distributed to the Franklin County school, where they will then be given to the students who need them most. The bank says they will continue taking school supply donations until at least the end of August - school opens for students on August the 24th.
August is the time for self-employed Floridians to get insured
If you work for yourself, August is the month to get insured. August is an open enrollment period, which means that by state law, insurance companies and HMOs have to provide insurance to the self-employed. It also means if you’re self-employed now and already insured, you can switch to another company’s plan. During the month insurers and HMOs must offer coverage without regard to health status but you might have to shop around for the best benefits because the companies are only required to offer “basic” and “standard” plans. If you plan to take advantage of the open enrollment period you can find more information by checking out floridahealthinsurance.com on the internet. The open enrollment period ends on August 31st – the new health plans would begin on October the 1st.
Eastpoint medical center to hold health fair on Thursday
The Eastpoint Medical Center will hold its annual health fair tomorrow – and it should be a pretty major event. The health fair will begin at noon at the Point Mall in Eastpoint and provide free health screening to everyone who wants them. Screenings include cholesterol, blood sugar, bone density, glucose, and blood pressure among many others. A number of community organizations will be at the health fair to provide information and the bloodmobile will be there. There will also be free hot dogs while they last. The Eastpoint Medical Clinic Health fair will run from 12 until 4 on Thursday afternoon at the Point Mall on Island Drive in Eastpoint.
Researchers study catch and release survival rate of red snapper
State biologists are looking for help from fishermen with a research project focusing on red snapper and other reef fish on Florida's Gulf Coast. There’s not a whole lot to do – fishermen are just being asked to fill out a survey asking for information on fishing trips in the Gulf of Mexico including where red snapper are caught and released, the type of equipment used and the condition of the fish when released. This project will provide fisheries researchers and managers with much of the catch-and-release survival information they need for assessing reef fish stocks. As part of the research, biologists will approach fishermen at public areas such as boat ramps, fishing piers and marinas to request participation. They will also mail surveys each month to a random sample of licensed saltwater anglers. Another way to help with the research is to keep your eyes open for tagged fish. Biologists are tagging and releasing reef fish back into the wild to evaluate the survival of released fish. Each tag has a unique number printed on the side. Should you catch a fish with one of the tags, call the Angler Tag Return Hotline at 800-367-4461.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sea tutles hatchlings on Florida beaches
This is the time of the summer when sea turtle nests begin to hatch which means it’s even more important for beachgoers and beachfront homeowners to control their lights at night. Eggs from threatened loggerhead, endangered green, and endangered leatherback sea turtles have been incubating in the warm sands for 45 days or more so soon baby sea turtles will begin their journey up through the sand, across the beach, into the waves and across miles of open water out to the weed lines. Many of the hatchlings never make it to the gulf because of man made light sources on the beach which disorient the baby turtles. Many of them fall prey to predators or dehydrate when they get caught in the sun. Beachfront lights, bright flashlights and lanterns on the beach can confuse the hatchlings causing them to become trapped on the beach. There are a few simple steps people can take to protect the creatures– like turning off outdoor lights that are not needed for human safety, and focus lights that are needed directly where they are needed, limiting the amount of light that spills onto the beach. Use red or amber LEDs or bug bulbs outside; those bulbs emit a long-wavelength light that is less likely to confuse or disorient sea turtles on the beach. And if you must use a flashlight on the beach, keep the beam focused on the ground in front of you. Do not point it down the beach or toward the water. And of course, if you see hatchling sea turtles on the beach, don’t touch them unless you absolutely have to to protect them from imminent danger. The best course of action is to call Sea turtles at Risk at 927 2103 and they will send someone out to protect the turtles.
FWC gets 26 new officers
26 new Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were sworn in last Friday and at least one of them is coming to work in Franklin County. The FWC recruits became officers after graduating from the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy in Tallahassee. The new officers attended the academy for six months and received a wide array of training, which included accuracy with firearms, vessel operation, defensive tactics, all-terrain vehicle operation and BUI/DUI identification. They will now spend an additional 14 weeks with a field-training officer learning the ropes of protecting and managing more than 575 species of wildlife and more than 700 species of fish. The division also patrols 34 million acres of public and private land across Florida, as well as 8,400 miles of tidal shoreline, 3 million acres of lakes and 12,000 miles of rivers and streams. Franklin County’s new officer is named Benjamin Barnard.
P and Z to consider new SGI beach store
Franklin County’s Planning and Zoning commission will meet tonight in Apalachicola. There is only one item on today’s agenda that could be of interest to people on St. George Island. The P and Z will provide a commercial site plan review for a proposed 8100 square foot commercial building in the center of St. George Island. Olivier Monod is requesting the review for the building which would be located on Franklin Street adjacent to the 7000 square foot Island Trading Company. Any decisions made at tonight’s meeting will not be final. The Planning and Zoning board acts in an advisory capacity for the Franklin County Commission. The P and Z meeting begins at 6:30 at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex in Apalachicola.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Plans for Carrabelle clinic moving forward
Plans are moving forward for the new urgent care clinic in Carrabelle. The hospital board has released a preliminary sketch of the building but say they are working with their architect to shrink the proposed structure from over 5100 square feet to about 4000 square feet. County commissioners last week also gave the go ahead for the hospital advisory board to begin advertising for a construction manager for the project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new clinic will be held on August the 27th. The urgent care clinic, which will be located next to the health department in Carrabelle, will be funded through the revenue raised through a one cent sales tax that took effect last year. So far the tax has raised nearly 860 thousand dollars to pay for the new clinic.
Chairman to represent Franklin County at ISSC meeting
County commission chairman Smokey Parrish will represent Franklin County during this year’s meeting of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission. County commissioners agreed to send Parrish to the national meeting of the ISSC which will be held October the 17th through the 23rd in Manchester, New Hampshire. The ISSC is the group that oversees shellfish transportation and sales around the US – they set rules and policies to help protect shellfish consumers. County officials it is necessary to be represented at the meeting to advocate for the Apalachicola Bay oyster industry.
8 companies vie to build airport hangar
County commissioners have received bids from 8 companies interested in building an 11 thousand square foot hangar at the Apalachicola airport that they hope will bring more jobs to the site. The hangar would be used to paint and refurbish aircraft if a private business is willing to use it for that – if not the hangar would be used for additional office space at the airport. Bids for building the hangar ranged from about 814 thousand dollars to over 875 thousand dollars – fitting the hangar to paint aircraft will add 320 thousand to 400 thousand dollars to the cost. There were no local bids for the project, the closest company was from Café Construction out of Mexico Beach; other bids came from as far away as Gainesville and Valdosta, Georgia. The bid will be awarded once they have been considered by the county engineer.
State budget cuts affect plans for air-conditioned armory
Plans to install an air conditioning system in the Armory in Apalachicola have been delayed indefinitely because of state budget cuts. The Armory, which Franklin County has leased from the National Guard since 2004, is generally used now for private events like weddings and concerts. County officials would like to install an air conditioning system to make the 107 year old building more comfortable. The estimate to install an air conditioning system is about 327 thousand dollars which includes upgrading the wiring system in the building. Franklin County doesn’t have the money to pay for the project and hoped to get a Historic Preservation grant to cover the costs but the legislature this year made substantial cuts to the program meaning large projects can’t get funded. County planner Alan Pierce said there is still some money in the program for small projects which the county will apply for. It turns out there is a leak in the armory roof that should cost less than 50 thousand dollars to repair – so the county will apply for a Historic Preservation grant to pay for that.
Florida fishermen buying shoreline fishing license
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says so far thousands of Florida fishermen have purchased Florida’s new shoreline fishing license. The new license, which is required for anyone who fishes in saltwater from shore, took effect on August the 1st. Nearly 7500 of the licenses were sold in the first week. The licenses cost about 9 dollars each, but they do exempt Florida fishermen from paying a $15 - $25 federal registration fee which will take effect in 2011. FWC officials said revenue generated by the new state license will help pay for marine resource management, research and law enforcement in Florida. In states that opt for the federal registration fee, the money will go to Washington, D.C., and will not benefit the states'.
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