By Bill Husfelt, Superintendent, Bay District Schools When most people think of Bay District Schools, they think of schools for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade but did you know we also run a very successful technical college? Tom P. Haney Technical College offers hands-on learning programs to hundreds of students each year, and their graduates are employed throughout Bay County, the state of Florida, and really across our nation. While the Haney Technical College programs are geared towards adults and those interested in learning new careers, the college also welcomes new high school graduates who are interested in learning a trade or getting a head start in the work world with an industry certification. While many of our new graduates are ready to go off to college or university to pursue degrees, others aren’t sure yet about what they want to do, and Haney can offer some amazing alternatives to the traditional college route. Currently, according to industry experts, students who graduate with industry certifications in areas like welding, HVAC, and airframe mechanics can expect to be offered salaries in the $50,000-$100,000 range with zero experience. It’s hard to argue with that math! You can read more about salaries for those options at https://financesonline.com/trade-school-college-statistics. So, please take a few minutes this week to share the Haney options with the high school graduates in your families, neighborhoods, and churches… we want to make sure as many students as possible take advantage of these amazing programs right here at home,... Read More

  Marta Rose-Thorpe: Where did you grow up? How long have you lived in the area? Tell us about your family. Dean: I grew up in a suburb of Buffalo NY, home of the Buffalo Bills. My family and I moved to Panama City on November 22 after separating from the US Army and wanting to come back to the greatest state in America! My family consists of my beautiful wife Diana and two children, Stonewall, 8, and Rylee, 3. Marta Rose-Thorpe: Tell us about the events that led up to where you are now. Dean: I spent my childhood in a suburb of Buffalo, learning the meaning of hard work from my parents. I joined the Army in 2010 and met my wife shortly after while in school for the Army. We deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. When we returned, I took a job as a police officer in Tucson, Arizona, where our son was born in 2015. We moved back to NY to finish out our service in the Army and had our daughter in 2020. We decided we wanted to start our own business and raise our kids in the best and most free state… Florida. So here we are, ready to make Panama City clean again! Marta Rose-Thorpe: What is your business? Dean: Old Glory Washing Solutions is an exterior cleaning business. I pressure wash, soft wash, roof clean, house wash, window wash, and pretty much anything dirty outside I clean. I love the outdoors and... Read More

  By Julie McConnell, UF/IFAS Extension Five months ago, we experienced severe cold weather for three days which impacted landscapes across the panhandle. Since prolonged deep freezes are not common in our area we were unable to predict how plants would fare long term. As we progress into spring, it’s a good time to start assessing landscape plants and make decisions about what to keep and what to replace. The plants we have received the most inquiries about at my office are citrus trees. Unfortunately, this category of beloved plants is difficult to protect and suffered dearly. The recommendation up to now has been to be patient and give them time to recover, but when should you stop waiting and what signs should you look for? New Growth Obvious signs to look for are new leaves and stems, but the long-awaited appearance of green may not indicate recovery. Below are some guidelines you can use to interpret spring flushes. Leaves and stems emerging in the canopy are a good sign if it expands fully and hardens off. This is a good sign of recovery because it indicates the trunk and woody branches are still alive. Ensure the tree has adequate water if rainfall is insufficient and if you fertilize do so sparingly. New foliage in the canopy that dies before it fully expands indicates that the wood it was growing from was significantly injured. The failed regrowth is a secondary symptom of the initial freeze damage. Does that mean the... Read More

  By Paul Bonnette For the past forty years, Shipwreck Island Waterpark has been the place to plunge, dunk, slide, swim and float in Panama City Beach. Known for its famous water rides such as the Zoom Flume, Lazy River, the Wave Pool, and many more, Shipwreck Island has three million gallons of water for you to splash around in. This fifteen-acre tropical waterpark has been a must-do attraction for visitors and locals of all ages for decades: on April 29th Shipwreck Island opened the gates for its 40th anniversary season. Although 2023 will be Shipwreck Island’s 40th anniversary season, plans go back even further to the developer, visionary, and builder of Miracle Strip Amusement Park, James Lark. According to General Manager Buddy Wilkes who has been with the family-owned company for decades, Shipwreck Island started with one single ride. “It started in 1976 when James Lark built the Zoom Flume. If you traveled the interstate highway system, you would see family RV campgrounds and they would all have a waterslide.”This gave Lark a crazy idea for an attraction, which would become the Zoom Flume, which, although updated, is still one of the most popular rides at Shipwreck. Over the next several years, even more rides were added including the Rapid River Run and Skull Island pool with Bumper Boats. According to Wilkes, in 1983, these rides would merge into the tropical-themed park we know today, but with a slightly different name: “So we had three water attractions and we... Read More

  By Sean Dietrich I am an imaginary old man. I am every World War II veteran you never knew. I am each faceless GI from the bygone European War. Or any other war for that matter. I am in my 90s and 100s now. Lots of young folks probably don’t even know I exist. In my war, I was one of the hundreds of thousands of infantrymen, airmen, sailors, marines, mess sergeants, seabees, brass hats, engineers, doctors, medics, buck privates and rear-echelon potato-peelers. We hopped islands in the Pacific. We served in the African war theater. We beat the devil, then we came home and became the old fart next door. Wartime was one heck of an era to be young. Let me tell ya. When we went overseas we were still teenagers, smooth skinned, scared spitless, with government haircuts, wearing brand new wedding rings. We hadn’t seen action yet, so we were jittery and lots of us smoked through a week’s rations of Luckies in one day. Then it happened. It was different for everyone, but it happened. Shells landed everywhere. People screamed. And in a moment our fear melted away and we had war jobs to do. It didn’t matter who we were or which posts were ours. Everyone worked in the grand assembly line of battle. When the smoke cleared and the action was over, we had new confidence in ourselves and we were no longer boys. And anyway, we weren’t just boys, we were girls,... Read More

  Humble House Ministries is excited to announce the Grand Opening of their furniture store May 5 at 271 N Star Ave., Panama City, FL 32404. All proceeds from the new furniture store will return directly to Humble House Ministries. The furniture store is currently open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. “Since opening our doors to this ministry, 5 moms that had a DCF case that stated ‘termination of parental rights’ have been successfully reunited with their children. To help fund these endeavors and more, I am happy to say, we opened our first Humble House Thrift Store: Furniture and More. It has cost over $9,000 to open a new home and a furniture store, and we are in such desperate need for your continued support. Our mission is not just to save women from addiction, but to reunify them with their children who are in foster homes,” says Rachel Duvall, Founder & CEO. We have operated fully on generous donations from people in our community since opening our doors. The furniture store is going to provide monthly income to Humble House Ministries allowing us to continue to reunite children with their families. The post Humble House Thrift Store: Furniture and More Open appeared first on PCB Life | Panama City Beach News, Events and Community Information.   Read More