Sip and shop with downtown merchants on National Wine Day Main Street DeFuniak Springs, in partnership with Visit South Walton, is celebrating National Wine Day in style with its inaugural Wine Walk taking place Thursday, May 25 from 5 – 7 p.m. Participants will receive a commemorative tasting glass to be reused at participating merchants and receive a raffle ticket for every $10 spent in merchant shops and restaurants. The raffle tickets will be entered in a drawing for a merchant gift basket valued at more than $500. #30atv “We are excited to bring a new event to Main Street DeFuniak Springs in effort to stimulate our local economy. For every one dollar spent in a small business, $.63 cents stays local. Our merchants are the heartbeat of our district and we want to do everything we can to support them.” says Amanda Bierbaum, Main Street Board President. Proceeds from the event will support Main Street’s mission to revitalize Walton County’s local economy by focusing energy, resources, and people-power on improving DeFuniak Springs’ downtown district. Wine Walk tickets may be purchased by the QR code attached. About Main Street DeFuniak Springs Main Street DeFuniak Springs (MSD) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in DeFuniak Springs, FL. MSD’s mission is to preserve, protect, maintain and improve the historic downtown district of DeFuniak Springs, Florida, and to increase community events and economic vitality to the downtown business district region.   Read More

  Boy Scouts of America Gulf Coast Council Holds 2nd Annual Golden Eagle Award Event Boy Scouts of America Gulf Coast Council presented the 2nd Annual Gold Eagle Award to Chris Moore at a fundraising event late April. This award honors an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in their profession and community for at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout, among other accomplishments. Moore is a Bay County native. Upon his return to the community after retiring from the United States Navy, he joined General Dynamics IT in 2012 as the Director of Operations, Senior Program Manager, and Site Lead. Moore currently volunteers his time in the community as a Bay County School Board Member, President of the Navy League, and Vice President for Citizens Oversight Committee for Infrastructure. “This award is unique and strives to honor an individual from Bay County who is exemplary to our community. This event is critical to raising the necessary funds to help more youth in Bay County participate in the Scouting program. Chris Moore is very deserving of this honor, and we hope the proceeds from this event will help us have the necessary resources to help guide more youth in our community to be like Chris,” says Greg Voyzey, Scout Executive and Chief Executive Officer. Mother’s Day Get-away on the Forgotten Coast By Isabella Riquezes Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and we’ve planned a fun-filled weekend for her along Florida’s Forgotten Coast. Florida’s Forgotten Coast is... Read More

  By Pam Anderson A recent article by NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program, or MRIP, states that their new Recreational Fishing Data and Survey Standards will promote data quality, consistency, and comparability across the Marine Recreational Information Program’s national network of recreational fishing surveys. The For-hire and Commercial industries have been collecting their fishing data for years and that is why their seasons, and opportunities to catch and keep more key species of fish like red snapper, have increased over time.It feels like an infringement on our freedom or rights to limit access to a public resource with all the excessive rules. But as in many things, like hunting, there must be rules to keep these prized species abundant. We have looked to the Gulf States to implement their own data collections in recent years in an effort to compare what NOAA scientists were saying about the status of the stock. Large differences were found between State and Federal data, which has apparently caused NOAA to improve its data collection process. Even private anglers, like us For-hire anglers who don’t like change, don’t want a data collection program to take away from the fun of the sport. We get it! For Florida’s anglers, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission has adopted the State Reef Fish Survey for saltwater anglers which is quite easy to use. For more information on saltwater fishing in Florida go to https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/. Time will tell if the new NOAA plan will work better for private... Read More

  By Ed Offley Another major highway construction project is on the horizon for Panama City Beach and Bay County residents. State highway officials have announced a formal study for the possible widening of U.S. 98 from the Bay-Walton County line to SR 79 in Panama City Beach.After evaluating a number of alternatives, the Florida Department of Transportation has revealed a “preferred alternative” that would largely mirror ongoing construction phases for U.S. 98 from Mandy Lane at Pier Park to the Hathaway Bridge: widening the east- and westbound roadways from two to three traffic lanes, constructing an elevated grass median, sidewalk and additional shared-use path, as well as intersection improvements. This project also calls for the replacement of the existing Phillips Inlet Bridge over Lake Powell to accommodate the wider roadway. If funded by the Florida Legislature, the project would comprise the final roadway improvements to U.S. 98, which has struggled with severe traffic congestion for years. Currently designed for a capacity of 45,000 vehicles each day, the four-lane U.S. 98 corridor on the “island” has often experienced peak traffic exceeding 80,000 vehicles per day. FDOT is already proceeding with three other widening phases for U.S. 98. Construction of the initial 2.34-mile segment, running from Mandy Lane to Nautilus Street, is scheduled to begin in May. A second segment will run 2.3 miles from Nautilus Street to Richard Jackson Boulevard. It is currently budgeted at $31 million. The final phase – a 3.9-mile stretch of the highway from Richard Jackson... Read More