GIVING BACK

Step One Automotive gives back to St. Jude Children’s Hospital so families never receive a bill

Every year, radio stations from across the country come together to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Once again, Step One Automotive is partnering with the local Cumulus radio stations to support this worthy cause. 

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded in 1962 and is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children’s catastrophic diseases, particularly leukemia and other cancers. 

• Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. 

This year, Step One Automotive presented 99Rock with a check for $3,000.

“The folks at Step One are more then just partners, they are friends, not just to us but to everyone in our community,” said Judy Hoepfl, Cumulus. “They have stepped up in the hardest of times to help our local charities, our military community, local businesses, we are beyond fortunate to have them here, in our little town, making a difference at every turn.”

If you’d like to contribute, you can do so right here.

GIVING BACK

OCSO provides 360 hospice patients with decorated Christmas trees

Each year, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office teams up with Emerald Coast Hospice to make sure that patients know they’re on the Department’s Christmas radar.

• The OCSO provides each patient with a small, hand-decorated Christmas tree. 

It started 14 years ago with just 25 Christmas trees. Now, it has grown to 358 trees this year, with several schools pitching-in to help. 

“This means that hospice patients as far away as Panama City will be able to brighten their rooms with a tangible tree symbolizing our Christmas spirit,” wrote the OCSO in a press release.

Additionally, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Angel Tree program nearly tripled in size this year, with approximately 270 children set to receive gifts.

• The Department’s SROs will be delivering the gifts to the students at their individual schools.

SCHOOL SAFETY

OCSO found ‘no credible evidence’ of threats towards Shoal River Middle School

On Thursday morning, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office announced that they are aware of the reported threats made toward Shoal River Middle School in Crestview, and have investigated the reports.

• According to a press release from the OCSO, they have “not found anything to substantiate the information reported.” 

“Follow-ups, interviews, and other means of active investigation have been conducted and are continuing as a precaution,” wrote the OCSO. 

In addition, the OCSO says they have taken standard additional precautionary procedures at the school. 

• As information involving the threats continues to circulate on social media, the OCSO wants to inform the public that they have not found any credible evidence to substantiate what was reported. 

“School safety is one of our top priorities and along with the Okaloosa County School District, we will share any information that would indicate a credible threat to school safety,” continued the OCSO.

According to the Okaloosa County School District, reported verbal and social media threats were investigated. 

“Law enforcement has conducted home visits and the school is addressing discipline as appropriate for those who made statements threatening others,” wrote the OCSO in a statement. “Additional law enforcement is at the school this morning out of an abundance of caution.”

SCHOOL SAFETY

CHAMBERS: ‘School safety requires non-stop vigilance’

Story by By Gabe Rosenblatt

On Thursday, the Okaloosa County School Board held a workshop which covered many topics concerning updates for the schools in the county.

Among the topics was school safety. This comes in the wake of the Oxford High School shooting in Michigan on November 30th, along with reported threats made toward Shoal River Middle School in Crestview.

Superintendent Marcus Chambers reiterated on how the district has many plans in place to help strengthen safety in schools. This ranges from the help of the “Safe Schools” office, led by Specialist Danny Dean, along with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department.

“We do have the “Say Something” campaign,” said Chambers. “We are blessed here in Okaloosa that we have students who speak up. We have parents who say something. We have employees who say something. Each and every time that someone brings something to our attention, as it pertains to safety or as it pertains to a threat, these matters are looked into.”

• According to Chambers, they’re not only looked into from a school district point of view. It is also looked into in partnership with the OCSD.

Other precautions such as fencing surrounding the schools, single-point of entry, and School Resource Officers (SRO) are being utilized as well.

“I do believe that we have safe schools,” continued Chambers. “We have SROs in every school and also have the Guardian Program here in Okaloosa County. Also, the threat assessment teams are at every single school doing training drills, which is a big safety piece.”

The goal is not only to conduct drills and stop threats, but also getting help to students who need it.

• “Dr. Kelley hit the nail on the head earlier when she talked about mental health. That is a piece of school safety that is absolutely critical.” said Chambers.

Chambers also told the board that he has reached out to Sheriff Aden and a roundtable meeting is currently being planned for the beginning of January.

“We want to be certain that every measure that we can take is being taken,” said Chambers. “School safety requires non-stop vigilance.”

BRUNCH ALERT

Rockin Tacos on Okaloosa Island launches new Sunday Beach Brunch menu

Get ready to guac, there’s a new brunch hot-spot in town.

Rockin’ Tacos Grill & Tequila Bar on Okaloosa Island is featuring a Sunday brunch menu with bottomless mimosas and house-made sangrias.  

“We’re ready to rock with Sunday Fun-day favorites,” said John Perry, General Manager of Rockin’ Tacos. “Our new brunch menu mixes the best of morning Mexican fare with American breakfast classics.”

The Sunday Beach Brunch menu includes items such as:

• Rockin’ Brunch Burrito – Fresh flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, home fries, and queso, topped with sawmill gravy and finished with chorizo & Pico de Gallo.
• Chicken Tender Tacos – Hand-breaded chicken tenders topped with scrambled eggs, finished with cheddar jack cheese, chorizo, Pico de Gallo & chipotle aioli. 
• Scrambled Egg & Chorizo Benedict – Fresh buttermilk biscuit topped with Canadian bacon, eggs, and creamy Hollandaise topped with chorizo.
• Everything & The Kitchen Sink – Large fiesta bowl filled with buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs, home fries, onions, green peppers, and house-made sawmill gravy, topped with cheddar jack cheese and Pico de Gallo.

The new menu is available on Sundays from 11am – 2pm, with waterfront views of the Gulf of Mexico and the iconic Okaloosa Island Pier. Also check out Rockin’ Tacos’ new enclosed deck that is sure to keep you warm & toasty on their high-rise patio. 

You can find the new Sunday Brunch menu here:  https://www.rockintacos.com/menu

HISTORY

FWB Chamber launches new children’s book on the history of Fort Walton Beach

When the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce took on the task of moving the Gulfview Hotel, Chamber President Ted Corcoran had no idea that it would set into motion a series of events that would lead to publishing a children’s book.

Three years after the move, here we are with the launch of Fort Walton Beach: A Journey Through Time.

“The moving of the Gulfview Hotel was the resurrection of people’s interest in the history of Fort Walton,” said Corcoran. “That, to me, was the turning point.”

Shortly after the move, the FWB Chamber launched a full-length documentary on the history of FWB, along with establishing the Susan Myers Walking Trail that points out 16 areas of interest in the Downtown Fort Walton Beach area. All are part of a continuation of the history of the local area.

With all of those pieces in place, Corcoran wondered how the local children fit into all of this. The idea of a children’s book was pitched to him by Dort Baltes.

“Let’s pass this history on to the kids,” said Corcoran. “Let’s allow the next generation to read a little bit about what life was like during the history of Fort Walton and that’s how the book came about.”

From there, he got to work assembling a team that included:

• An author
• Student artists
• Local historians

The author is Lauren Sage Edwards, who is no stranger to the local community.

I picked Lauren as the author because she was someone I knew from the Northwest Florida Daily News,” said Corcoran. “I thought she wrote well and she grew up here, so she had an idea of the area.”

Next up was picking the artists.

“Once we had the author, I wondered who would we get to do the artwork,” continued Corcoran. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to have local art students for that? So we contacted both of the art teachers at Choctaw (Sally Reagan) and Fort Walton Beach High School (Kim Moran) and picked 5 students from each school.”

With an author and artists all onboard, it was time to write the stories.

“When you look at the history of Fort Walton Beach, it’s broken up into chapters,” he continued. “With the first chapter focusing on the Native American history, all the way to today.”

Here’s the breakdown:

• Native American
• Walton Guard, and the Civil War aspect of The Landing
• Building of Hotels
• Doolittle Raiders
• Bowlegs
• Beach life
• Current life
• The future

One area of the book that stands out is Chapter 7, which talks about segregation that was once part of Fort Walton Beach.

“That’s probably the one chapter that may surprise people because of the subject matter and the lack of awareness here in our community, but obviously an incredibly important chapter to add,” said Corcoran. 

To help make sure the book was accurate, Corcoran solicited the help from Gail Meyer, Michael Weech, Tom Rice, Buddy Carter, Daisy Wiggins and Ricky Hills.

“It’s fabulous because I had it tested,” laughed Corcoran. “I was nervous because I look at this as being for kids, ages 6-14 years-old. I read the stories a hundred times but how are the kids going to like it?”

Before it went to print, he tasked his two grandsons giving some feedback.

“One grandchild is 11 and the other is 9,” he said. “Three weeks ago I had them read a chapter, and they kept asking for another story, and another one. So that made me very excited.”

“We hope they will sell out quickly and if they do, we’ll print some more,” said Corcoran. “We wanted to get it done in time for Christmas, which I’m very proud of. It’s a great gift for kids and grandkids, and I think the adults will enjoy reading it too!”

“Without the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, this book would not have been possible,” said author Lauren Sage Edwards. “I want to thank all of the locals who took time to sit with me repeatedly, and at length, to share personal stories of help with the research. Their contributions are the backbone of this book.”

The book is now on sale at the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce location, with proceeds going toward the Chamber and One Hopeful Place.

📍34 Miracle Strip Pkwy SE, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548
📱850-244-8191
💰$20.00

Note: There are only 500 currently printed!

Click here to see pictures of the Author and students