WEATHER

Lightning strike causes house fire in Walton County

On Wednesday morning, Walton County Fire Rescue firefighters rushed to a home in Freeport, FL. after a neighbor reported seeing heavy flames coming from the house across the street.

According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, at 4:47 a.m., Walton County Fire Rescue and Walton County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a home on Club House Drive in the Windswept Estates community following a 911 call reporting a house fire. 

The caller stated they heard “an explosion,” and when they looked outside, they saw flames coming from the residence across the street, wrote the WCSO in a press release.

• Firefighters arrived on scene to find flames engulfing a large, single-story home. 
• Walton County Fire Rescue battled the fire for nearly an hour before containing the massive blaze.

The homeowners were not injured in the fire, but, unfortunately, the family’s dog was later found deceased in the residence, according to the WCSO report.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene and confirmed the fire was caused by a lightning strike. American Red Cross was contacted to assist the owners of the damaged home.

STUDENTS

Robotics Teams from Okaloosa High Schools compete in Regionals, Niceville advances to World Championship

This past week, Robotics Teams from across Okaloosa County traveled to Tallahassee to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) Robotics Tallahassee Regional Competition.

• For Okaloosa County, this was a competition that included many “firsts.”

As part of the competition, participants were given a challenge at the beginning of the robotics season to build a robot from scratch to complete the challenge. The were given no instructions. 

For the first time, every major Okaloosa County high school was represented at the competition. Niceville High School had The RadioActive Roaches team and the HSU Educational Foundation sent two teams:

• Special Forces BalistaBots – Crestview High School, coached by their engineering & robotics teacher Tim Sexton. 
• HSUwerx includes students from Fort Walton Beach High School, Choctawhatchee High School, Destin High School and the Collegiate High School. Coached by Aaron Johnson, 1SOW Mentor.

“All 3 teams shared a charter bus to Tallahassee together which gave Coach Ben Shuman and I opportunities to share information and insights with these two rookie teams,” said Coach Al LaRoe, NHS Robotics Team #2556 The RadioActive Roaches. “All 3 teams competed with 33 other teams from around Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Illinois, and even Hawaii.”

Another first for the county is that Crestview High School was selected as the “Rookie All Star Team” for this regional competition. According to LaRoe, this is an honor given to the rookie team that best reflects the mission and ethos of FIRST – fierce competition linked with dedicated collaboration with all other teams. 

• Niceville’s RadioActive Roaches won this same award during their 1st competition years ago.

According to LaRoe, after a day of practice, followed by a day-and-a-half of challenging qualifying matches, 8 alliances were formed for the Championship. HSUwerx was selected by the #1 Alliance and made it through the quarter and semifinals undefeated.

• The NHS RadioActive Roaches were selected by the #2 Alliance and also made it through the quarter and semifinals undefeated. 

“Our alliance then met the #1 alliance (which included the HSUwerx) and defeated them in 2 straight (but very close) matches, winning the Inaugural Tallahassee Regional,” said LaRoe.

There are only two trophies awarded:

• 1st place: The RadioActive Roaches
• 2nd place: HSUwerx

Because of this win, Niceville has earned an invite to the World Championship in Houston in late April where they will compete with teams from all around the globe. 

“It requires team work, problem solving, using STEM knowledge, patience, and a lot of time dedicated to the end goal,” said Okaloosa Superintendent Marcus Chambers. “All three of these teams have represented our district well!”

Congrats to all three teams for representing Okaloosa so well!

Click here to watch the final match – The purple & yellow robot with 2556 on blue bumpers is Niceville High’s robot.

GET A JOB

Okaloosa County to host local Government Career Fair

Okaloosa County will host a career fair on Wednesday, March 30, 2022, at CareerSource Okaloosa Walton at 409 Racetrack Road NE; Fort Walton Beach, FL 32547 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Okaloosa County Career Fair will include hiring managers from several County Departments along with Human Resources representatives to answer questions about the hiring process and the benefits of working for Okaloosa County.

“With such a variety of open positions, this hiring event is sure to meet the needs of many professionals throughout the community. Our team is looking forward to engaging with job seekers,” said Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Mel Ponder.

The County is looking to fill more than 100 positions in departments such as:

• Public Safety
• Tourism
• Environmental Services
• Information Technology
• Department of Corrections
• Roads Division + more

On-the-spot hiring opportunities will be available.

To make the entire hiring process a bit more efficient, job seekers should bring their resume, state-issued identification, birth certificate, social security card, certifications, and/or higher education transcripts if applicable.

The County is planning a second Career Fair on April 12, 2022, at the Okaloosa County Extension Office, 3098 Airport Road; Crestview, FL 32539. Additional communication on this event will follow. Click HERE to learn more or visit MyOkaloosa.com.

RADIO

Cumulus Media appoints Hayden Green as new Program Director of NASH FM

Cumulus Media has appointed veteran radio programmer Hayden Green as Program Director for Country station NASH FM 105.5/WYZB-FM in Fort Walton Beach/Destin, FL.

• He has been Interim Program Director for the station since February 2021.
• Green will continue his duties as Program Director/PMD for sister-station Z96/WZNS-FM.

Green has been with Cumulus Fort Walton Beach/Destin since 1993, holding various on-air and programming roles. In addition to programming top-rated Z96/WZNS-FM and hosting afternoons on the station, Green lends his talents to Westwood One’s Total Formats – Hot AC at night.

• Green will also host middays on NASH FM 105.5/WYZB-FM.

“Hayden has proven himself with every project and station we have asked him to manage or program,” said Ashley Allegretto, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Fort Walton Beach-Destin. “His skillset makes him the perfect person to guide NASH FM 105.5 to its full potential.”

“I look forward to putting in the hard work on another great Cumulus station and I’m excited to continue working with Charlie Cook and Doug Hamand on WYZB,” said Green. “Their support makes the station sound great and makes me look good, too.” 

PUBLIC SAFETY

Okaloosa Deputies actively working to enforce new speed limit on Airport Road in Destin

Deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office are on Airport Road in Destin working to enforce the speed limit.

• As of last month, the speed limit on Airport Road is now 30mph (down from 35mph).

The roadway has been the topic of several safety concerns over the past few months, primarily centered around low-speed-vehicles and a “disproportionately” large number of traffic accidents around the bend near the Destin Executive Airport. 

• According to the city of Destin, these traffic accidents have occurred at least partially because of vehicles traveling too fast on Airport Road and specifically, the bend and turn on Airport Road.

“A reduction of speed on Airport Road is in the public’s best interest to mitigate the traffic and pedestrian accidents and best protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare,” wrote the city.

“As many of you know, speeding in this area has led to serious traffic crashes and no one wants to see anyone get hurt when it’s totally preventable,” wrote the OCSO. “So help us out by slowing down and obeying the speed limit – whether a deputy is out there with a radar gun or not.”