Good morning! 

👏 Thanks for subscribing to the Daily Rundown. This morning’s newsletter is 1,010 words and should take just over 7 minutes to read.

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😎 Disney vacation: Last Thursday my family and I took a vacation to Disney. I had every intention of keeping up with the newsletter but the days and nights got away from me. We came back yesterday and I plan on getting back in the groove of things. 

Quick Reads

St. Jude Rocks: The radiothon took over the airwaves of 99ROCK/WKSM on December 12th and 13th to help raise money for the hospital. The Destin Log reports that 99ROCK listeners and local businesses, including Step One Automotive Group, pledged $32,320 to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Click here to learn more.

Local Lore: If you’ve never been to the Destin History and Fishing Museum, you should. It’s full of…you guessed it…Destin’s history but it also helps put into perspective just how unique our area is. According to The Destin Log, one of the recent exhibits added to the museum is a multi-media station where you “can listen to long-time Destin Fishing Rodeo weigh-master Bruce Cheves talk about various things such as shark, the beginnings of the Rodeo and even a little bit about himself.” Click here to read more about this new exhibit.

Not your typical household: If you’ve been around our area for some time, there is a good chance that you are familiar with Children in Crisis.The organizationcaters to siblings within the foster care system. The Northwest Florida Daily News just did a feature on Edie and Scott Rodgers, who work as houseparents for Children in Crisis. According to the article, “houseparents” are very similar to traditional parents, but their job is to care for foster children in a group home setting. Click here to read this story.

Rain rain go away: It rained on us at Disney, but nothing like what our area experienced over the weekend. The Crestview Bulletin reports that Okaloosa County had the most rain with totals ranging from 3.5 – 4 inches. In fact, the rainfall caused Shoal River to flood in Crestview. The National Weather Service forecast the river to reach 8.6 feet by early Tuesday morning. Click here to read more. 

The townhouses that burned down in Fort Walton Beach

Because I’ve had quite a few comments regarding a video we posted on Saturday, I just want to address what happened…

A structure fire happened early on Saturday morning around 5am on Schneider Dr. (Green Acres) in Fort Walton Beach. The structure was a brand new townhome development to the east of the old TLC Daycare.

We posted a video of the fire here.

According to sources close to the project, there were a total of 13 townhomes that were completely destroyed in the fire. Crews from the Ocean City-Wright Fire Control District responded and put the fire out.

Then I released another video…that was ultimately removed.

A couple of hours after we published the actual fire, we published security camera footage that showed what looked to be arson. In the short video, a shadow could be seen going into a garage of one of the townhome units followed by a huge burst. 

Why: So why did we remove the video? Well, law enforcement began requesting the takedown of the video since it was part of an active investigation. I didn’t have the resources to see if I actually HAD to remove the video and didn’t have the means to go back and forth while at Disney. So I decided to remove it…for now.

The future: As a news media source, my main focus is bringing you the news. Not deleting the news. This was my first takedown request and it happened at a time when I could not focus on fighting it. 

I have the time now.

I hope this clear up why the video suddenly disappeared after a couple of hours online…

Let’s talk about the curve on Airport Road in Destin that has been a major safety concern

Since 2009, Airport Road has been a concern. Citizens, committees, and city councils have expressed a need for increased safety measures at the curve, said City Councilwoman Prebble Ramswell.

In her December newsletter, she states that in 2016, a safety report conducted by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., identified multiple issues, including the fact that the surface of Airport Road is blue limestone which is “very slippery in wet conditions.”

“We all can see evidence of the cars that have run off the road… it seems the Airport has given up on repairing the section of concrete and fencing that is continually knocked down at the curve”, said Ramswell.

Ramswell continued…

“Improving the road and increasing safety measures is something we must prioritize. In the past several years, there have been various approved motions regarding improvements to the stretch of road. In fact, we had funding and approvals from FDOT until issues with contractor selection and how our project was worded led to more delays.”

After this most recent delay, the Destin city council voted to place guardrails at the curve as a temporary safety measure until a complete improvement project can be undertaken. Ramswell states that the city is now in the final stages of approving a contractor and the costs to install the guardrails and expect them to be in place within months of contractor approval.

Over to you: Do you think Destin will actually get the guardrails?

Ok, that’s all I have for you today. Hope you have a great Christmas Eve (Tuesday) and I will see you tomorrow!

Jared

p.s. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Hit the reply button and let me know! 🤙🏻