From Mayor Mark Sheldon City government has many moving parts. In many ways, it is like a business with various service lines including administration, finance, police, fire public works, utilities, building and planning, community redevelopment, and parks and recreation. Each and every department serves the residents, businesses and visitors of this community. While departments function individually, they act in tandem to fulfill the City’s vision, mission, and values. As a reminder, our City’s vision is to be a safe, family-friendly vibrant community that values residents, businesses and visitors, supports cultural and economic diversity, and maintains outstanding quality of life. This vision is accomplished day by day, and year by year, through adherence to our six strategic priorities. These include public safety, economic development, transportation, community quality of life, attractive community and financial health. These priorities are being addressed in our 2024 budget, just approved in September. While it is our largest budget to date, with $236 million in expenditures, a whopping 62 percent of this budget – $146 million – is for capital improvements. We are addressing all our strategic priorities in this year’s expenditures. Our capital projects consist of many large, multi-year projects that have been in our long-range plans for a while. The process of designing, bidding, crossing all our T’s & dotting all the I’s when it comes to government contracts, can be arduous. It doesn’t happen overnight, but we are pleased that these much-needed projects continue to move forward. These include significant investment in one... Read More

  By Paul Bonnette Summer has officially come to an end, even if it doesn’t feel like it just yet. Sunscreen and lemonade have been replaced with backpacks, pencils, and pumpkin spice. School may be back in session, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fun fall activities. Of course, there is no better way to welcome in the spookiest season than with a trip to one of the many farms in the Panhandle. Corn mazes, pumpkin picking, family fall photos, and tractor hayrides are just a few of the fun activities on offer nearby. Here are some of our top picks. Aplin Farms, located near Dothan, Alabama, is perhaps one of the most popular farms in the area. Known for its fresh produce market, market, and numerous activities such as wagon rides, pumpkin picking, corn maze, pumpkin bowling, photo ops, animal petting zoo, and even live music, Aplin Farms is a family-pleaser. Aplin Farms opened September 30 and operates Wednesday through Sunday. They are located at 2729 North County Road 49, Dothan, AL, 36305. For more information visit them on Facebook at Aplin Farms. Sweet Season Farm located in Milton, FL is another family favorite, home to a wide variety of kid-friendly activities such as their sunflower speedway, cow train, hayrides, corn silo, mini golf, pony rides, and of course pumpkin picking. Those up for a challenge can tackle the farm’s specialty corn maze. This 10-acre maze offers new designs every year with this year’s design honoring Country... Read More

  By Pam Anderson Our State Guide boat captains are excited to have Red Snapper available to all the folks who missed their ‘snapper trip’ in the summer or just want to pack away a few more for the winter. Florida State waters are open for private anglers on their own boats, fishing from piers or on the State-licensed guide boats to catch Red Snapper on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through November. Grand Lagoon has plenty of experienced guides to offer! The Federally permitted Head-boats and Private Charter Boats are still catching plenty of other species and will be operating through October; some will operate year round. Before long Flounder should be gathering up on inshore reefs and other structures. Check out our website at www.CaptAndersonsMarina.com for all that are available. Embassy Suites by Hilton on Panama City Beach will host the next Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting from Monday, October 23 at 8:30 a.m. until Thursday, October 26 at 4:30 p.m. Some Committee meetings that may be of special interest will be the Data Collection Committee meeting from 10:15-11:30 a.m., Monday, Oct. 23 and the Reef Fish Committee meeting all day Tuesday, Oct. 24. On Wednesday morning there will be a presentation regarding wind energy development in the Gulf. Also, Wednesday afternoon is the public comment period. Each person who signs up to speak is allowed 3 minutes to make comments on the subjects that were discussed in the committees. You can find the full agenda at... Read More

  How we love the outdoors and the best time of year to be out and about in the Panhandle is here! If you are looking to build an outdoor kitchen or maybe remodel an area outside, we have some local resources to get you headed in the right direction. SeaBee Constructors, LLC is a locally owned company. They offer a wide range of services including a new build or an outdoor kitchen remodel. Stucco, Brick, Hardy board, and Stone are a couple of options to consider for your new outdoor kitchen, and Heather Greise from Seabee Constructors will help you design an outdoor kitchen that works for your exterior space. When it comes to outdoor storage in your outdoor kitchen, The top two options are stainless storage or outdoor cabinets. NatureKast is the leader in the industry for outdoor custom cabinetry. It can be customized to the grills and appliances you would like in your outdoor kitchen, custom hoods are available if you need ventilation and it is all weatherproof. NatureKast has a limited lifetime warranty and offers a wide range of finishes with seven door styles: Slab, Shaker, Rustique, Louvre, Contempo, Euro and Metro. If you would like to find out more you can visit NatureKast.com or stop by Granite Plus. When selecting countertops for your outdoor kitchen there are a wide range of options. Granite and natural stones are the most common materials used in outdoor kitchens for now. Dekton, a manufactured material, is slowly making its... Read More