THINGS TO DO

Smoke on the Coast is back at Destin Commons

The 11th Annual Smoke on the Coast BBQ & Fireworks Festival, benefitting Coins for a Cause, is making a return on Sunday, July 3, 2022.

• This year’s event is presented by PRESTO! at The Magic Parlor, a pop-up magic show featuring five internationally-renowned acts.

The festive evening kicks off with live music from The Duchess Band. As attendees arrive, they will be greeted with the sweet and smoky aroma of BBQ dishes being prepared by local restaurants and BBQ groups. BBQ aficionados will enjoy $1 samples and soon after, vote for the People’s Choice winners. 

Non-profit organizations and local charities are at the heart of this event. Each non-profit organization teams up with a local restaurant or group to compete for over $80,000 in cash prizes and the title of “Best BBQ.” As event-goers enjoy all of the eats the evening offers, they will also be able to learn more about the non-profit organizations and their individual missions. 

The participating barbecue teams and their partnering charities are: 

• Heritage Museum of Northwest Florida partnered with Pallet Bar and Grill
• Dog-Harmony partnered with Café Rico
• Destin Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast partnered with Smoke ‘N Whiskey BBQ
• Habitat for Humanity partnered with Habitat ReStore
• Children in Crisis, Inc. Florida partnered with B&C Fire Safety
• Gulf Coast Council Boy Scouts of America partnered with Smok’n Scouts BBQ Crew
• Air Force Enlisted Village partnered with Knife’s Edge
• Rotary Club of Destin
• Emerald Coast Science Center partnered with Bow Tie BBQ and Catering
• United for a Good Cause Inc. partnered with Conexion Media Group
• Niceville Valparaiso Rotary Club
• Northwest Florida State College Culinary Management Program
• The Implant Truth Survivors Non-Profit partnered with A Cup of Cajun
• Healing Hoof Steps partnered with Market 21

At 7:30 p.m., Tobacco Road Band takes the stage while guests continue to enjoy the free face painting and photo booth until fireworks light up the sky beginning at 9:15 p.m.

Click here for more info

PUBLIC SAFETY

One arrested in Coyote Ugly stabbing

A disturbance at a Destin nightspot Saturday night/Sunday morning resulted in a stabbing outside the business and at least one arrest so far, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to Coyote Ugly for a large scale disturbance around 12:30 a.m. When they arrived, they found multiple people unconscious in the parking lot with facial injuries and one individual with a non-life threatening stab wound in the lower back in a van.

• Deputies identified a suspect in the stabbing and arrested a 24-year-old Tennessee man on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
• He told deputies he was coming to the aid of his girlfriend.

Deputies say there are addtional victims and suspects. Video surveillance captured one man punching a woman in the face and knocking her out and another person hitting a male in the face and knocking him unconscious as well.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone who witnessed the melee or has information is asked to please contact the OCSO at 850.651.7400 or Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850.863.TIPS, emeraldcoastcrimestoppers.com, or via the P3 Tips mobile application.

FROM THE STATE

Governor Ron DeSantis signs bill to expand opportunities for Bright Futures Scholarship

On Monday, June 27, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 461 to expand eligibility requirements for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to include paid work experience as a substitute for service hours.

• This expansion will allow students who work after school jobs to apply their paid work contributions to their communities to substitute service hour requirements.

The legislation allows students the opportunity to receive Bright Futures Scholarships who might not otherwise have been able to meet the requirements for a scholarship.  

“Florida students should not lose the opportunity to receive a Bright Futures Scholarship because they have to work to help their families make ends meet,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “After school jobs teach our students valuable life lessons, much like community service hours do. I am glad to sign this bill and will continue to make sure higher education remains affordable in Florida.”  

The bill modifies the eligibility requirements for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to include an option for students to use paid work hours to qualify for the scholarship.

• Paid work hours must meet the requirements for volunteer hours and there must be documentation of the hours. 

“I applaud the Governor’s expansion to the Bright Futures Scholarship requirements,” said Marcus Chambers, Superintendent of Okaloosa Schools. “By allowing students who work to count those hours for Bright Futures is a game changer for many families. I wholeheartedly believe in students attaining community service hours, but I also know, for many students, they must work to support their families.”

Chambers says this adjustment, to allow work hours, provides opportunities for students and families who may not have been able to earn this scholarship. In doing so, they are now able to not only go to college, but in many cases, afford to do so. 

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program, primarily funded by the Florida Lottery, was established in 1997 to assist students with tuition costs when pursuing a postsecondary degree. During the 2021-2022 school year, over 120,000 Florida students received Bright Futures Scholarships. 

TRAFFIC

Okaloosa and Walton County Traffic Advisory

Drivers will encounter traffic disruptions on the following state roads in Okaloosa and Walton counties as crews perform construction and maintenance activities.

In preparation for the Independence Day holiday weekend, there will be no lane closures or other activities that impede traffic on major state roads beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, July 1, and ending 11:59 p.m. Monday, July 4.

Okaloosa County:

• State Road (S.R.) 85 Improvements from S.R. 123 to Hospital Drive – Drivers will encounter intermittent, temporary northbound lane closures on S.R. 85, between S.R. 123 and Shoal River Bridge, Monday, June 27 through Thursday, June 30, to place dirt on the shoulder. S.R. 85 northbound lane closures will not occur between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. (peak travel times). One travel lane will remain open at all times and access to private property and driveways will be maintained. Signage and traffic flaggers will be on-site to direct traffic through the work zone
• S.R. 20 (John Sims Parkway) Resurfacing Project – Drivers may encounter intermittent outside westbound lane closures from Edge Avenue to west of the Rocky Bayou Bridge Monday, June 27 through Thursday, June 30 from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. as crews repair and construct sidewalk along the north side of the roadway.
• S.R. 4 Bridge Replacement over Blackwater River – Work activities continue with demolition of the old bridge and drainage on the northside of the project. Traffic will encounter intermittent daytime lane closures Monday through Thursday. Drivers are reminded the speed limit has been reduced to 45 mph hour through the work zone.

Walton County:

• U.S. 98 Widening from Emerald Bay Drive to Tang-O-Mar Drive – The week of Sunday, June 26 through Thursday, June 30, drivers may encounter intermittent U.S. 98 east and westbound single-lane closures between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. as crews place structural asphalt and worklist construction activities. Additionally, paving work on County Road 2378 (Scenic Gulf Drive) at U.S. 98 will require flagmen to direct drivers through the work zone.
• U.S. 98 Resurfacing Project from Village Road to East of U.S. 331– The speed limit is reduced from 55 mph to 45 mph, between Village Road and U.S. 331. Additionally, drivers may encounter temporary traffic disruptions as crews begin mobilizing equipment and materials to construct the new U.S. 98 westbound right turn lane at Don Bishop Road.
• U.S. 331 Routine Utility Maintenance from C.R. 147 to North of Geohagen Circle in Paxton – Motorists will encounter intermittent lane closures, Monday, June 27 and Tuesday, June 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tree trimming operations.
• U.S. 331 Routine Utility Maintenance North of Sloss Avenue in DeFuniak Springs – Motorists will encounter intermittent lane closures, Monday, June 27 through Thursday, June 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as utility crews perform operations.

All activities are weather-dependent and may be delayed or rescheduled in the event of inclement weather. Drivers are reminded to use caution, especially at night, when traveling through a work zone and to watch for construction workers and equipment entering and exiting the roadway.

COASTAL RESOURCES

Okaloosa collects data on local Goliath grouper population resulting in 13 observations

Every year, Florida Sea Grant hosts an event called the Great Goliath Group Count that runs from June 1st through June 14th. 

• Divers from all over go out and record observations of Goliath grouper that they see throughout the state to help regulators and biologist better understand abundance and distribution of this species
• This is the 13th year the event has taken place.

Goliath groupers were overfished in the 1970s and 1980s resulting in the fishery being shut down. In 1990, the harvest of Goliath grouper was prohibited in all U.S. waters and it’s been closed ever since. 

• The reason it’s been closed is because the abundance of fish hasn’t been as high as the regulators would like to see. In state waters, however, Florida Fish & Wildlife has recently approved a limited, but highly regulated, harvest for state waters (<9mi) beginning in 2023.

“We do our portion of the data collecting here in Okaloosa County,” said Mike Norberg, Okaloosa Coastal Resource Coordinator. “There’s really not a lot of data that comes in from the Panhandle area, which is unfortunate. It’s one of those areas where they’re lacking a better understanding of Goliath grouper populations, so we help provide that information from Okaloosa County.”

During the 2 week period, Norberg says that Okaloosa’s Coastal Resource Team dove upwards of 25 sites resulting in 13 Goliath grouper observations. The size of the fish ranged from 2-feet in length, up to to 6-7 feet. Several other local dive charters reported their observations to Norberg as well. 

He says these observations took place anywhere from the Destin bridge to 18 miles offshore, with the majority of the larger fish observed being in Federal waters and on large wreck sites.

“We did see a couple large ones in state waters, which is really cool to be able to observe, and most of those fish were on large wrecks,” he added. “Goliath groupers tend to be pretty resident to an area once they get to that spot, if the prey availability is good and the habitat is good.”

For Okaloosa County, adding additional larger wreck sites could not only create more areas for divers and fishermen, but also be beneficial to a protected species like Goliath grouper. Goliath groupers prefer “high relief structures” like artificial reefs, according to UF/IFAS.

“There is a benefit to providing that additional habitat for a protected species, like Goliath grouper, as well as every other species of fish that are important to the ecosystem,” added Norberg. “I think the other benefit of larger wreck sites is that it gives divers the opportunity to go out and observe these giant fish and enjoy diving a large wreck.”

Circling back to the size of the Goliaths observed in Okaloosa, Norberg said that the majority of the fish they are seeing here are the larger ones. He says that leads to a series of questions such as:

• Where are these fish coming from? Much of the data suggests Goliath grouper rely on mangrove habitat as juveniles – we don’t have very many mangroves in northwest Florida.
• Where are they spawning at?  Is there potentially a spawning aggregation that we don’t know about somewhere in the Panhandle?  If not…
• Where are the adults we observe migrating from initially? 

“We’re always looking for Goliaths when we go out diving and we’re trying to work with Florida Sea Grant and FWC to get a better idea of why these groupers are hanging around these wrecks or whether they’re moving between nearby wrecks or nearby sites,” added Norberg. “The ultimate goal is to help support the data that’s lacking in the Panhandle.” 

Even though Norberg was excited to see large Goliath, he was more excited to see the smaller ones because it suggests there may be a new generation of Goliath joining the local population. 

According to UF/IFAS, the 2021 Great Goliath Group Count resulted in 58 volunteers surveying 89 sites throughout Florida with a total of 255 Goliath grouper counted. Majority of the Goliath groupers are found in southwest Florida, which has historically been the center of abundance for this species.

“It’s good to see the number of fish that we saw on our dives,” said Norberg. “It’s a plus in the rebuilding plan of an overfished species. We will compile the information to help guide future survey efforts.”

Local divers are welcome to report Goliath grouper observations by emailing the Coastal Resource Team at CoastalResources@DestinFWB.com.