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Woman tries to stay positive despite cancer

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FORT WALTON BEACH — Roberta Justice always wanted to be a hairstylist. She loved playing with hair as a girl, learning to braid when she was 11 years old.

Life had different plans, but a few decades and six children later Justice found herself able to go after her dream. She took cosmetology classes at night and worked during the day to provide for herself and her two youngest children — twins Marcus and Angelica, who are now 16 years old.

“What an accomplishment,” Justice said. “For me, it was like becoming president of the United States.”

Two rounds of cancer have ended Justice’s hairstyling career — for the time being.

“One day I’ll be back again,” Justice said with a smile. “I can’t doubt it.”

In 2010, she remembers sitting with her daughter watching TV when she felt a knot on the side of her chest. She remembers neither of them thinking anything of it, although its possible meaning sank in later.

A doctor’s visit confirmed what Justice had begun to worry about: She had cancer. It was in the early stages, so the lump was removed and she underwent radiation.

“I went on with life,” she said.

Compared to the latest round of cancer, her first fight was easy, Justice said.

Justice has had problems with her right shoulder for six or seven years now, making it impossible for her to lift her arm high. She noticed another knot in the shoulder and brought it up with her chiropractor, who thought it was just fluid. She mentioned it to her oncologist, who recommended a biopsy.

The doctor “didn’t like the look of the knot,” Justice said.

Despite initial negative results, he continued pushing Justice to undergo more invasive tests. Eventually, the cancer was found.

Justice underwent surgery as well as radiation and chemotherapy. Two lymph nodes were also removed, causing severe swelling and tenderness in her arm.

The pain from her treatments and a blood clot that developed in her arm were so bad it was all she could do not to crawl into a ball, Justice said. But with her loving family and friends, determination and faith in God, she remains positive.

“Half of it is just mental,” Justice said. “You can do the physical.”

The only thing she misses more than hairstyling is working with her church, Striving for Perfection Ministries. She used to be a greeter at Sunday services and went to Bible study on Wednesdays. Now she just attends Sunday services.

“We’re a big family,” Justice said. “Just all of us sisters and brothers. You can feel the love walking in there.”

Her church family has helped support her spiritually, emotionally and sometimes financially. The financial burden has been the hardest part of dealing with cancer, Justice said. The family lives on her disability check and some church assistance. It still isn’t enough.

“I get tired of asking,” Justice said.

Her teenagers have wants and needs, she said, but the experience has certainly helped them understand the difference between the two.

“They’ve been so understanding throughout this,” Justice said. “For how understanding they’ve been, they should be rewarded.”

Her New Year’s wishes are ones any mother would have: She wants to see the twins graduate from high school. One day, she wants to see her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Justice has faith that she will get all her wishes one day.

 “God brought me through it once. I believe he’ll do it again,” she said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Delgado at 850-315-4445 or ldelgado@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDnwfdn.


Man falls into bonfire after he is punched

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MILTON - A 24-year-old man was arrested after he punched another man in the head and caused him to fall in a bonfire early Tuesday, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Devin Lee Bass of Milton punched Cody Healy, 26, of Pace, knocking him unconscious, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. Healy landed in the bonfire and lay there for a few seconds before other people pulled him out.

Healy was taken to the University of South Alabama Burn Center in Mobile with severe burns to his face, neck and chest, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Bass also punched a person who tried to get Healy out of the fire, the Sheriff’s Office reported. The second victim was cut on the face and lost two teeth.

Bass was charged with two counts of aggravated battery and resisting an officer because he gave a false name to deputies. He was released from Santa Rosa County Jail on $6,000 bond.

Man charged with choking, threatening woman

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DESTIN - A 50-year-old man has been arrested for choking a woman and then threatening her with a knife and BB gun, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Stephen Anthony Parodi of Destin choked the victim before holding a black gun to her head and threatening to kill her Dec. 28, according to a Sheriff’s Office report. The gun was later determined to be a BB gun.

Parodi then held a large kitchen knife to the victim’s throat and told her he would cut her throat, according to his arrest report.

The woman had a protective injunction barring Parodi from having violent contact with her.

Parodi was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, felony battery by strangulation and violation of an injunction. He was in the Okaloosa County Jail on Wednesday on $150,000 bond.

Pa. railroad calendar delivered 63 years late

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SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A northeastern Pennsylvania newspaper has just received a calendar to help ring in the new year — except the year is 1950.

Scranton's The Times-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/S23ykD ) a mail carrier delivered it 63 years late without explanation on Friday.

The large tube contained a 1950 Pennsylvania Railroad calendar addressed to James Flanagan, former general manager of The Scranton Times.

The calendar includes a holiday greeting from a railroad executive dated December 1949. Flanagan died that month.

A U.S. Postal Service spokesman says lost mail is sometimes found when a machine is dismantled or office space is renovated.

Times-Tribune publisher Bobby Lynett says he'll see if the Steamtown National Historic Site railroad museum is interested in the calendar. If not, he'll display it in the newspaper's offices.

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Information from: The Times-Tribune, http://thetimes-tribune.com/

Dancing cop stops holiday traffic in Rhode Island

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Ah, Christmas in Rhode Island. Exquisitely decorated mansions in Newport. A red nose on the giant termite that sits atop a Providence exterminator's building. And a traffic cop, doing disco and salsa moves in the middle of rush-hour traffic.

Officer Tony Lepore is as much a holiday tradition as anything else in the state that issued the first jail sentence for speeding 108 years ago. Since 1984, he has entertained drivers, pedestrians and gawkers with dance moves in downtown Providence — all while directing traffic.

"He is a Rhode Island landmark, more or less. He's an icon, he's like a little mini celebrity," says Michelle Peterson, of Warwick. She's an emergency medical technician and the mother of three boys who was introduced to the "dancing cop" years ago by her partner in their ambulance.

This year, she took her boys to see Lepore, 65, perform and got him to pose for pictures with them.

"It feels good to see him out here; it definitely brings the holiday spirit. I think people come out here just to see him and I think it brings some people to shop so they can see him."

The routine, Lepore says, was born in the month of May of the boredom and aggravation that officers typically experience while directing rushing drivers and jaywalking pedestrians. He was inspired by classic "Candid Camera" television footage he saw a day earlier that showed police officers elsewhere directing traffic with flair.

"I didn't know if my bosses were going to like it, so a lot of times if I saw a boss come down, I'd be doing my fancy stuff, then I'd go back and do it the old-fashioned way so I don't get caught," Lepore says.

His secret didn't last long. City residents began calling the police station and raving about Lepore's moves. A few days later, The Providence Journal, the state's largest newspaper, came out with a story on the sensation.

The positive publicity encouraged officials to endorse the dancing cop, who continued to perform until he left the job in 1988, when he went into business with his brother with a food and vending service.

In 1992, Lepore says, he got a call from city officials asking him to rejoin the force to dance and direct traffic around Christmastime as they pushed to redefine the city's image and bring visitors downtown.

He signed a $1,200, 10-day contract as a reserve police officer and says he has frozen the value of the contract at the 1992 rate to encourage city officials to recall his services every year.

Standing in traffic, he adjusts his cap, shakes his hip, raises and twists one leg and spins. In one of the more unusual moves, he bends his knees, leans far back and quickly alternates support for his body by keeping one hand on the ground while motioning to the traffic with the free hand.

In one move, he goes down on his knees in homage to John Travolta's character in "Saturday Night Fever."

He says his body takes a pounding and that he has had knee surgery, pulled some muscles and even suffered stress fractures.

"This is ridiculous! Oh, man, this guy is the best," an incredulous Vik Jay, a medical student at Brown University, says after seeing the "Dancing Cop" in action for the first time. "I'm from San Francisco. I used to go to Castro Street, and this is far more entertaining than anything I saw there."

Karen DeAngelis, of Pawtucket, was on a bus when she saw Lepore perform while directing traffic. She got out to watch him before continuing her journey.

"I would come down here every year to see him if I were able to," she says. "I'm not able to, and I just so happened to be here today. He's that good and he's that entertaining, and he really cheers people up."

Lepore says his dance moves are planned to send specific directions to drivers to avoid causing confusion at the intersection.

"I do it in such a way that even the people in the cars know what I mean, 'cause every dance move means something to the driver, and I make sure that he knows or she knows what I want them to do," Lepore says.

The dancing is not a distraction and has never caused incredulous drivers to crash, he says.

"I think it would be more of a distraction if I was in a different town and they didn't know I was out there, but most of Providence, they even know me by the sound of my whistle," he said. "It's more of a spectacle where people love to just come down here and see me do it around Christmastime, and they enjoy it ... and I enjoy it."

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Rodrique Ngowi can be reached at http://twitter.com/ngowi

Man arrested for stabbing at New Years party

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A Milton man was arrested on Wednesday after a warrant was issued after a fight that broke out at a New Years party early Tuesday in Munson, according to the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office.

The victim was driven to Jay Hospital with a stab wound in his chest and three in his back, the Sheriff’s Office reported. The wound to the victim’s chest missed his heart by an inch.  He received stitches and was able to speak to deputies.

The victim told deputies that Camrin Bass, 19, became upset by a comment the victim made toward a woman at the party, the Sheriff’s Office reported. Bass then began stabbing the victim. He fled afterward.

A warrant was issued and deputies arrested Bass at 5:35 p.m. on Wednesday. He was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Bass is being held at the Santa Rosa County Jail on no bond, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Freeport man killed in early-morning wreck, two others injured

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FREEPORT — A two-vehicle wreck early Thursday at the intersection of Black Creek Boulevard and State Road 20 left one dead and two others with serious injuries.

Joshua Spenser Parker of Freeport was killed at midnight after he drove his 2004 Kia Spectra into the path of another vehicle, according to the Florida Highway Patrol news release.

The 19-year-old had approached a stop sign on Black Creek Boulevard heading northbound and proceeded to turn left into the path of a 2006 Hyundai Sonata traveling eastbound.

Lynn Haven resident John Thomas Rice hit Parker's vehicle on the front left side causing both vehicles to travel in a northeasterly direction. The impact seriously injured 30-year-old Rice and left his passenger, 60-year-old Ann T. Everett also of Lynn Haven, in critical condition.

Rice was taken to Bay Medical Center in Panama City. Everett was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
After the impact, Parker's vehicle left the paved roadway crossing onto the north shoulder. The vehicle then overturned onto its roof coming to a final rest facing a northwest.

It is not known if alcohol was a factor with either driver. All three involved were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Parker's vehicle sustained an estimated $6,000 in damages and Rice's vehicle sustained an estimated $10,000 in damages.

Charges are pending an investigation, according to FHP.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.

Vehicle hydroplanes, hits tree injuring two

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GULF BREEZE — A 21-year-old man is in serious condition following a crash on Country Club Road late Wednesday evening.

Charles Taylor Wentz of Gulf Breeze was driving southbound around 11:21 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and it hydroplaned, according to the Florida Highway Patrol news release.

After hydroplaning, Wentz's 1997 Ford Crown Victoria spun clockwise and slid off the roadway and onto the grass shoulder. After reaching the grassy shoulder the vehicle continued moving, colliding into a tree.

Wentz sustained serious injuries and had to be extracted from the vehicle. His passenger, 23-year-old Christopher Scottt Meaux, was able to get out of the vehicle. Meaux suffered minor injuries. Both men were taken to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. The vehicle sustained $15,000 in damages. Both men were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Wentz is being charged with driving too fast for the road's conditions, according to FHP.

 

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.


Woman says man wanted to smoke crack in her back yard

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CRESTVIEW - A man was arrested for pushing a woman after she refused to let him go in her back yard.

On Dec. 3 the woman called Crestview Police about the incident. She said a man she knew asked if he could go in her back yard and look for a pack of cigarettes he left there. She refused to let him because he'd tried to smoke crack in her back yard earlier in the day, she told officers.

The man became angry and demanded to be let in the back yard. The woman said she'd get somebody in her household to look for the cigarettes, but the man pushed her and tried to get in the back yard. She pushed him back and told him to leave. He allegedly pushed her again and told her she'd have to stab him. At that point he managed to get around her and enter the back yard, and she called police.

A witness corroborated the woman's story.

When officers found the man he tried to pull away from them. When he was searched they found what they believe is a crack pipe.

The man was charged with battery, obstruction without violence and narcotic equipment use. His court date is Jan. 15.

Sad demeanor earns woman a trip to jail

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CRESTVIEW - Acting on a tip, Crestview Police checked out an apartment on Brentwood Lane and found a woman with an active warrant from Walton County.

The tip came in Dec. 11. An officer arrived at the apartment and was invited inside, where he saw a woman talking to an unknown person behind a door. He asked the woman who she was talking to and another woman stepped forward.

"I observed the defendant presenting a sad demeanor as she approached me," the officer wrote in the arrest report.

The woman identified herself with one of the aliases she was known to use, and was arrested.

Her court date was not available.

Surly skater takes out man's mirror

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NICEVILLE - Police are looking into a Christmas Eve incident in which a skateboarder broke a man's mirror in a bout of road - or maybe skate - rage.

According to a Niceville Police Department incident report, a man was driving down North Cedar Drive when he blew his horn at a skateboarder, who was in the middle of the road, holding up traffic.

The skateboarder became angry and knocked the man's car mirror off with his fist.

The man drove straight to the police station.

Officers have been unable to find the skateboarder.

Juvenile Justice escapee found in vacant condo

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MIRAMAR BEACH - A 16-year-old escapee from the Department of Juvenile Justice in Crestview was found Thursday evening squatting in a condominium on Driftwood Road.

Walton County sheriff's deputies were called by a neighbor who noticed the vacant unit did not appear to be secure, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office press release. When deputies arrived they found the door was secured by only a chain and a chair.

The boy answered the door and said his mother was at work. According to the new release, deputies noticed men’s clothing strewn throughout the apartment while talking to the boy.

The boy changed his story multiple times and refused to give deputies his mother’s name or where she worked, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

Deputies searched the condo and found a firearm among the boy’s belongings.

After the teen was taken to the Walton County Jail for booking, it was discovered that he had escaped from the juvenile facility Dec. 1.

The boy was returned to DJJ and charged with criminal mischief, trespass in a structure and obstruction of a criminal investigation by providing false information.

Officals seek help locating runaway teen

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The Walton County Sheriff's Office is seeking help to find a missing 15-year-old boy.

Shane Keith Sanders was listed as a runaway early in December, but returned home Christmas day. However, he left that evening and has not been seen since, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.

Family members do not believe he is in danger. It is believed that he may be living with friends in the area.

Shane is described as white, 6 feet tall and about 145 pounds. He has long, dark blond hair, hazel eyes and wears braces and glasses.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 892-8111 or Investigator Donna Armstrong at 267-2000.

Four municipal candidates win free ride

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Four people were assured seats on local government boards Friday after drawing no opposition when qualifying ended at noon.

James Bratton qualified for one of three open seats on the Cinco Bayou Town Council. In Shalimar, Mayor Gary Combs had no opposition for re-election.

In Fort Walton Beach incumbent Councilmen C.H. “Bull” Rigdon and Dick Rynearson also will retain their seats.

There will be 28 candidates running in five municipal elections in Okaloosa County on March 12.

“It’s good to see a lot of people interested in local politics,” Supervisor of Elections Paul Lux said. “I’m always fond of telling people … these are the races you need to be paying attention to.”

Lux said the field of candidates reflects the ups and downs of local government in the past year.

“With some of the goings on in Crestview, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that there’s some dissatisfaction with the current City Council,” he said.

In Crestview, three incumbents — City Clerk Betsy Roy and City Councilmen Charles Baugh and Ben Iannucci III — face at least one challenger.

In Fort Walton Beach, two-term Mayor Mike Anderson is being challenged by Al Stearns while City Councilman Bobby Nabors will face Amy Jamieson.

“In Fort Walton Beach, you can live anywhere in Fort Walton Beach and pick what seat you want to run for,” Lux said. “That means someone went to the trouble of saying, ‘I want to run against this particular individual for this seat.’ It’s the choice of the people running.”

In Cinco Bayou, there were not enough candidates to vie for three Town Council seats. Sitting council members will appoint residents to fill two vacant posts.

The following people qualified to run in the elections:

Cinco Bayou Town Council (3 seats)

  • James Bratton

Crestview City Clerk

  • Wanda G. Davis
  • J. T. Kinsey
  • Elizabeth M. (Betsy) Roy

Crestview City Council Precinct 1

  • Joe Blocker
  • Landrum “Lanny” Edwards
  • Benjamin J. Iannucci III

Crestview City Council Precinct 2

  • Bill Cox
  • Shannon Devon Hayes

Crestview City Council Precinct 3

  • Charles E. Baugh Jr.
  • Mickey Rytman

Fort Walton Beach Mayor

  • Mike Anderson
  • Allan “Al” Stearns

Fort Walton Beach City Council Seat 3

  • Mike Holmes
  • John S. Mead

Fort Walton Beach City Council Seat 5

  • Amy Jamieson
  • Robert Nabors

Fort Walton Beach City Council Seat 6

  • C. H. ‘Bull’ Rigdon

Fort Walton Beach City Council Seat 7

  • Dick Rynearson

Laurel Hill Mayor

  • Robby Adams
  • Mike Blizzard

Laurel Hill City Council (2 seats)

  • Larry Hendren
  • Johnny N. James
  • Joan Smith

Shalimar Mayor

  • Gary Combs

Shalimar Town Commission (2 seats)

  • Ricardo Dias Garcia
  • Ray Morgan
  • Jim Wilton

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.

Woman earns trust of homeless after 15 years of volunteering (SLIDESHOW)

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FORT WALTON BEACH — Every Friday morning starts the same at Sharing and Caring.

Clients begin pouring in as soon as the clock strikes 9 a.m. Most come for the sack lunch provided every week. Some come seeking advice. All come to say hello to Ms. Yvonne.

Yvonne Franklin has been calling herself a homeless advocate for 15 years, working with nonprofit organizations, churches involved with cold night shelters and hundreds of men and women living on the streets.

“It’s been a long, hard road,” Franklin said Friday between clients and her telephone ringing. “The homeless, they’re people. I know them all by name, I know their stories. I love all of them.”

View a slideshow of Franklin . >>

The 75-year-old mother of three says her weekdays are filled with work at a local dentist’s office, her Wednesdays are for house cleaning and her Fridays and weekends are devoted to the homeless population, which she estimates at about 2,000 people in Okaloosa County.

“It hurts me when I see the things people write about the homeless,” Franklin said. “Every day someone else loses their job and could lose their home. It could happen to anyone. You never know.”

As people begin to stream into the small lobby at Sharing and Caring on Beal Parkway, Franklin and the other women who volunteer there grab files for each person and bring them into their offices.

“Hey Elvis,” Franklin said as she led one man into her office. “How are you today?”

As they settle in, Elvis Davis tells her he spent the previous night in one of the area’s cold night shelters. He said it was hard to sleep with the people talking around him, but was grateful for a warm place to lie down.

Each Friday, Franklin passes out sack lunches consisting of Beanie-Weenies, crackers, a pudding and a drink.

She said she sees between 65 and 85 people every week.

On Saturdays, she helps with cold night shelters, volunteers with her church to set up showers for the homeless and prepares food to serve the following day. On Sundays, she passes out the food and takes a nap when she can.

“I’m awfully tired, but if I were to stop today I would be just devastated,” Franklin said. “I love all of them; they’re like my children.”

Franklin makes a point to introduce herself and look each homeless person in the eye. She says she never passes judgment and wants them all to know that she accepts them for who they are.

Over the years, Franklin has become more than an advocate for the men and women living on the streets and in their cars. She’s become a mother figure and a trusted confidante.

“She cares about us,” said Russell Ferguson, who has lived on the street for more than five years. “She don’t have to do what she does, but she loves us all to death and we love her to death.

“She’s good to me and she tries to help everybody.”

Once a month, Franklin meets a homeless woman to give her the Social Security check the woman arranged to be mailed to Franklin‘s home. Others give her their banking information so they have someone who can pick up money for them.

Franklin says it’s all worth it, and hopes to continue helping the homeless as long as her health allows.

“They need me and I need to help,” she said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.


Liza Jackson prepares to welcome back students without Phyllis Green

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FORT WALTON BEACH — Nothing will be the same at Liza Jackson Preparatory School after the sudden death of Assistant Principal Phyllis Green, but school officials say they are ready to walk students through their grief.

From the moment they walk through the door Monday morning until they head home, students will be given ample opportunities to absorb the change and mourn the loss of Green, said Terri Roberts, the school’s CEO.

Green, who had been at the school since it opened in 2001, passed away Dec. 27.

“We don’t know quite what to expect, but we’ll be prepared,” Roberts said. “One of the good things about Liza Jackson is we are like a family and everybody helps everybody.”

School leaders met with teachers and staff Thursday for a celebration of Green’s life and to outline a plan of how they will approach the first week of school after Christmas break, Principal Mary Gunter said.

“I wanted to meet with the staff first because I wanted Monday to just be for the kids and not for us being really sad,” she said.

During Thursday’s meeting, they developed a statement that each teacher will read at the start of the day explaining Green’s passing. Students also will be told that counselors and psychologists will be on hand if they want to talk, Gunter said.

Two memorials for Green will be in place for students Monday. One will be on the stage in the cafeteria and feature photographs of Green.

The other will be outside in Green’s designated parking space. In a nod to her well-known personality, school officials decided to place one of her famous rain boots in the space and fill it with flowers.

Green was well known for wearing the western-style boots while she directed traffic in the morning, Gunter said.

Additional memorial plans at the school have been put on hold for now. The staff wants to get students through the first stages of grief before going forward with anything else, she said.

“We’ll let them talk to us and tell us what they want to do,” Gunter said.

Roberts said Liza Jackson has not started looking for a new assistant principal yet, but she expected the job to be advertised in the next two weeks.

Until then, she and other members of the Liza Jackson family plan to step forward and help wherever necessary.

“It will be hard, but Phyllis would want us to go on,” Roberts said. “And that’s what we’re going to do.”

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.

State attorney wants former public defender disbarred (DOCUMENT)

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The state attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit in Panama City has notified the Florida Bar that he wants punitive action against Tony Henderson, the former chief deputy public defender for the First Judicial Circuit.

In a letter to two Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents that he copied to the Florida Bar, State Attorney Glenn Hess referred to Henderson as “this blight on its membership.”

Read a copy of Hess' letter. >>

The letter is the first document made public in connection with an investigation the FDLE conducted into allegations made against Henderson, former First Circuit Public Defender James Owens and Fort Walton Beach attorney and Medal of Honor recipient George “Bud” Day.

David Angier, a spokesman for Hess’ office, said Hess had not yet signed off on FDLE reports filed concerning Day and Owens.

The letter basically commends special agents Christopher Rigoni and Jane Schachle, for their work. However, it states that Henderson “has engaged in a pattern of criminal conduct that renders him unfit for public employment.”

The conduct “would have subjected him to criminal prosecution had your investigation been conducted prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations,” Hess said.

He referred specifically to an FDLE allegation that Henderson had impregnated a teenage girl in 1995.

Hess’ letter said Henderson had represented the girl in 1993 as a public defender when she was 14 years old. The letter says Henderson called her at home after hours and began to have sexual relations with her.

“She ultimately gave birth in April 1996, believing that Mr. Henderson is the father,” according to the letter.

“He has paid her $800 in monthly installments presumably in child support,” the letter states.

The letter also notes the statute of limitations for lewd and lascivious acts upon a minor is three years.

“A prosecution for that conduct is regrettably not now possible,” Hess wrote.

Contacted Friday, Henderson answered “no comment” when asked about the letter, whether he knew the girl mentioned in the letter, whether he had gotten her pregnant at age 14 and whether he was paying her child support.

Henderson ran for the First Judicial Circuit’s public defender’s job against Owens in 2008, and was named chief deputy after Owens won the election. The two had been friends since high school.

Henderson was forced to resign in November 2011 when the FDLE said it was investigating him for sexual harassment as a follow-up to a complaint filed with the Escambia County Sheriff's Office that October.

That complaint was made by the boyfriend of a client of Henderson’s. The female client told deputies Henderson had been asking her to “hang out” and “perform sexual favors such as oral sex.”

No charges have been filed in the case.

The FDLE investigated Owens and Henderson on more charges of sexual misconduct in 1998 when a woman told Santa Rosa County deputies the two men had sexually battered her.

No charges were filed.

In his letter to the agents, Hess states that in the course of their investigation “you received a wealth of information about other incidents involving sex or drugs.” None, it states, “are of a nature to compel a prosecution.”

“Fortunately,” the letter states, “the citizens of the First Judicial Circuit have repudiated Mr. Henderson and his employer, Tony (sic) Owens, with their votes.

“He remains, however, an embarrassment to the Florida Bar,” Hess continued. “By copy of this letter, I am inviting the bar to address this blight on its membership.”

Henderson confirmed that he remains “presently licensed as an attorney.” He declined to comment on Hess’ letter or on the state attorney’s effort to have the Florida Bar take action against him.

Owens had not received Hess’ letter, which was dated Dec. 18. Asked if he knew of a “pattern of criminal conduct” by Henderson while Henderson worked for him, the outgoing public defender answered “no.”

Owens said he had no knowledge of the girl named in Hess’ letter and knew nothing of “incidents involving sex and drugs” other than those incidents Henderson has been investigated for.

“I don’t know what time period they’re talking about,” he said.

Day, who has a bar complaint pending against him on an unrelated matter, was investigated by the FDLE alongside Henderson and Owens for allegedly taking the job as Owens’ chief deputy in Okaloosa County in 2008 and accepting an $84,000 salary for work he didn’t do.

That investigation has concluded but Hess’ office has not released its findings.

Day has denied the allegations against him, calling them politically motivated.

Owens said he has cooperated fully with the FDLE during its investigation of his office.

Incoming Public Defender Bruce Miller, who defeated Owens in last August’s election, declined comment on the letter until he had the opportunity to see it.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.

Local golfer has scored 14 holes-in-one since she picked up the game

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Pat Kelly has achieved what very few pro athletes can boast. The 79-year-old woman says she has had 14 holes-in-one in her golf career.

“It doesn’t seem impressive to me since there’s a lot of luck involved,” Kelly said recently.

The chances of a hole-in-one are 12,500 to 1, according to Brandon Moser, the pro at Shalimar Pointe Golf and Country Club.

“It’s extremely rare,” Moser said. “I’ve been playing for nine years and I’ve only had one. Many other golfers better than I am might not have any. The odds are against them.

“It just takes skill and luck.”

Kelly, who lives in Shalimar, said she started golfing in 1954 with her husband. She golfs three times a week on Lady’s Tuesdays, Fridays and date days on Sundays with her husband.

Kelly’s latest hole-in-one was Dec. 16 at Shalimar.

“You know, it never gets old,” Kelly said, laughing. “I was so excited that Sunday, and my husband even got to see me. He has not had one yet, but he’s proud. He’s always beating my drum.”

She said her first hole-in-one was in November 1991. She keeps a running list of when, where and which hole she has scored her an ace.

“I can’t even describe it,” Kelly said. “It was a special feeling. It’s hard to explain. I guess you could say it’s kind of like hitting the jackpot. It’s really exciting, unbelievable and you can’t believe it really happened.”

Berlin elephants feast on tasty Christmas trees

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BERLIN (AP) — Elephants at the Berlin Zoo finally got a chance to tuck into their Christmas dinner: A feast of donated pine trees.

The zoo treated its elephants and some of its other animals to the trees for lunch Friday. Before gobbling the greenery, elephants young and old played with the trees, whose strong smell attracts them.

Elephant keeper Ragnar Kuehne said the unsold Christmas trees were donated by local vendors.

He said "the animals love it. For them, the Christmas feast is starting now."

Kuehne says the zoo doesn't accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover decorations. He also says Christmas trees inside houses aren't as fresh and juicy as those at cold outdoor markets — which is just how the elephants like them.

Youth hospitalized after injury at Dirt & Vert

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FORT WALTON BEACH - A youth was airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola after suffering injuries at the Emerald Coast Dirt & Vert bike and skate park on Jet Drive about noon Friday, according to the Fort Walton Beach Fire Department.

No further details were available.

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