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Longtime fishing captain passes away at age 80

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DESTIN — Olin Marler, one of the most successful boat captains in the World’s Luckiest Fishing Village, died Thursday. He was 80.

A member of one of Destin’s oldest families, Marler began his career as a fishing captain in 1965 when he purchased his first boat. At the time, he was working full time for defense contractor Vitro Services while operating his fishing business on the weekend.

“Olin Marler was a true entrepreneur,” said fishing boat captain and Okaloosa County Commissioner Kelly Windes. “He led the way in the walk-on concept of party boat fishing, and at one time had one of the biggest operations in the Destin Fleet.”

Over the years, Marler’s operation expanded from charter boat fishing to party boats, dolphin cruises and other boating ventures. At its peak in 2005, Olin Marler Charters had nine fishing boats and two dolphin cruisers.

“I considered Olin to be a personal friend,” said Craig Barker, who served as Destin’s mayor from 2002 to 2010. “He was instrumental in our effort to create something special at the Destin Harbor.”

Marler’s ability to find new ways to make a living on the water helped to revolutionize the harbor’s economy, said longtime restaurateur Charles Morgan.

“Fishing is historically a very tough business,” he said. “Olin was creative enough to find new ways to make money with tourist cruises and other things that didn’t depend on charter boat fishing alone.”

Marler was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis a few years ago, and ill health forced him to slow down considerably. But he still managed to stay involved with his business.

“He was a wonderful boss,” said Alex Yahr, the manager at Olin Marler Charter Boats and Dolphin Cruises. “He was very personable with his customers, and everybody liked him.”

While his business was important to him, ultimately it was his family that meant the most to Marler, his son Greg said.

“He was born and raised up on the top of the hill in Destin, and he worked hard all his life,” he said. “He started crabbing when he was just a kid, and he saved all his money until he eventually had enough to buy his first boat. That’s the kind of businessman he was.

“He was a man who cherished his family, and they loved him right back.”

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kelly Humphrey at 850-315-4443 or khumphrey@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @kellyhnwfdn.


Humana, HCA extend negotiations five days

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Medicare and commercial benefits provided by Humana at medical centers run by the Hospital Corporation of America are safe for at least another five days.

Humana and HCA have agreed to extend the deadline to negotiate a new contract to July 14, said Mitch Lubitz, a spokesman for the insurance company.

“Humana and HCA continue to negotiate in good faith,” Lubitz said. “We’re hopeful and confident we’ll be able to complete a renewal.”

Humana and HCA have been engaged in contract negotiations for some time and Humana sent out letters to customers in June notifying them that as of July 10 HCA hospitals would “no longer participate in your Medicare PPO plan network.”

Both Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and Niceville’s Twin Cities Hospital are HCA owned facilities.

Several local residents with Humana insurance plans called the Daily News to express alarm about over the Humana announcement.

“How can the government allow this insurance company to quit in the middle of the year?” asked 84-year-old Fort Walton Beach resident Walter Salvatore last month. “For us to go without a hospital for the next four months is crazy.”

Amid the negotiations came word that Aetna intends to purchase Humana. Lubitz said the sale of Humana is still subject to much scrutiny and is likely at least a year from becoming reality.

The looming sale “has no impact” on the ongoing contract negotiations, he said.

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

New reefs sunk in South Walton (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

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GRAYTON BEACH STATE PARK — Flat blue-green water was the canvas Friday for the placement of artificial reef towers just offshore at Grayton Beach.

Crews lowered the sea turtle-shaped reefs – which were designed by the South Walton Artificial Reef Association – below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

The excitement was written on SWARA President Andy McAlexander’s face as he exclaimed between media interviews,

“There goes another one!”

PHOTOS of the reef deployment

VIDEO of the deployment

Friday’s deployment of 25 towers is the first of about 270 towers that will make up four reefs in South Walton.

About three dozen SWARA members, county commissioners and other spectators gathered on the beach to commemorate the start of the process that will continue, weather permitting, through the winter.

Lori Schmitz, owner of Emerald Coast SCUBA, hugged McAlexander with enthusiasm as he walked by.

“I think it’s phenomenal,” she said. “It’s so impressive. It’s so needed. I hope we can get it going in Okaloosa County.”

Schmitz said the South Walton reefs will help alleviate the strain on the jetties in Destin and improve safety for snorkelers and divers.

“The pressure on the jetties in Destin is just so tremendous,” she said. “And it’s dangerous. We need more area for all the people to spread out to.”

Courtney Krick, who teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Seaside Neighborhood School, hopes to use the reefs as part of her lesson plan.

“I think this reef is an awesome addition to the South Walton community,” she said.

As crews installed the towers, McAlexander and others could not wait to see them up close.

“We’ve already dove them and they’re there,” he said. “They’re beautiful and they’re in the water.”

The reef being installed at Grayton Beach cost about $200,000, according to McAlexander. The Walton County Tourist Development Council contributed $150,000 and the rest came from private donors.

“This has been two and half years to come to fruition and to just be here and see these people on the beach and the barge out there doing the work, its just overwhelming,” he said.

Contact Daily News Photographer Nick Tomecek at 850-315-4426 or ntomecek@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickTnwfdn.

No charges filed in spat between homeowners, developer

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DESTIN — Prominent local developer Peter Bos swatted a man’s hand during a recent squabble on the beach between him and a group of people protesting his management of a beachside property.

No one, not even Bos, denies the swat.

But given varying stories as to why the slap that scratched Clyde Shreve’s arm was administered, Okaloosa County deputies have decided against filing battery charges.

Shreve and his wife, Retha, and several other residents living near a piece of beachside property Bos owns on Holiday Isle walked down to the water there July 4 to let it be known they weren’t happy with the way the developer is conducting business.

Deputies were called to the disputed slab of coastline for the first time at 9:05 a.m. to look into a report that the Shreves and their friends were preventing Emerald Grande guests from getting off the shuttle to spend time on Bos’ stretch of beach.

According to the deputy’s incident report, he saw the protesters using their bodies to block the Emerald Grand’s water taxi from off loading the guests being transported from the Emerald Grand.

The deputy told the group that it was entitled to remain on the beach within 20 feet of the high tide line, which in Okaloosa County is considered public property, but informed them they needed to leave Bos’ guests alone.

“I asked (Clyde) Shreve and the group of individuals not to block the water taxi from unloading and loading which they agreed,” the deputy’s report said. “It appeared peace was restored.”

But at 9:59 a.m., the law officers were asked to return to the beach. Bos had shown up and begun taking either photos or video of the protesters, the report said. A slap had been delivered.

Eight of the protesters told deputies that Shreve had put his arm out to prevent Bos, who had ordered everyone off the beach, from taking his photo.

“Bos then reached out and forcefully grabbed C. Shreve’s arm leaving scratch marks,” the deputy reported, paraphrasing what Retha Shreve had told him.
Bos told deputies he was protecting himself.

Stephen Hebert, who accompanied Bos to the encounter with the protesters, said Clyde Shreve had approached Bos “making an aggressive movement to block the photo” and Bos blocked Shreve’s arm because he didn’t know his intentions.

Interviews of two more Bos employees were conducted on July 8 and 9. Both employees supported the developer’s version of events.

The case was closed following the final interviews, the report said.

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

Blackwater River G.I. Joe’s opens in Holt

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HOLT — A new attraction on the Blackwater River will have its first guests this weekend.

The first guests will stay in Blackwater G.I. Joe’s three cabins, enjoying the four lakes, as well as kayaking, canoeing and tubing on the Blackwater River.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” said Christie Wilson, property manager. “We’re about good, clean family fun and entertainment.”

She said that they are planning a grand opening for the property, located at 12375 Shammah Road in Holt, but hadn’t nailed down a firm date.

“Very soon, we’re hoping,” she said.

The resort has been in the works for a few years, she said.

Delays came in the form of permits required by both Santa Rosa County and the Florida Forestry Service.

Owner Maxwell “Joe” Bruner took the vacant lot and added the cabins and man-made lakes.

“He’s quite a visionary,” Wilson said. “He loves the country. He wanted some river property.”

She expected the property to be very popular not only for groups, weddings and reunions, but also for people wanting a few hours of tubing or kayaking on the Blackwater River or couples looking to get away for a single night.

“We’re very flexible,” she said.

Bruner added that a theme is evident with parachutes used for shade areas, veteran’s remembrance areas and a military discount.

“We feature G.I. Joe theming,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that visitors can come for a day of water activities and leave their vehicles safe on private property. They could be dropped off at a river entrance and return to the property.

Kayak, canoe and inner tube trips run at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Base prices for the canoes, kayaks and inter tubes range from $15 to $30 per person, with cabin rentals around $100 to $150 per night.

Pets and children are welcome.

Wilson noted that there are several specials available.

For more information, call 200-3440 or find them on Facebook.

Bruner noted that the trips can be tailored to each visitor’s needs.

“With 48 acres, we’re large enough to do pretty much anything,” he said.

Contact Daily News Staff Writer Trista Pruett at 850-315-4445 or tpruett@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @TristaPnwfdn.

'Matt from Fort Walton Beach' says state may tweak sex-offender law

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TALLAHASSEE - Florida legislators might consider tweaking the state’s sex-offender law after the prosecution of a couple seen having a midday romp on the beach, radio talk-show caller “Matt from Fort Walton Beach” said on the air Tuesday.

“I think we may look at those instances where you don’t have someone who is harmed by the offense, as much as harmed by the viewing of the offense, and perhaps treat those differently,” said the caller, better known as Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.

Gaetz, a tough on crime Panhandle Republican, called the morning show on SiriusXM Radio channel POTUS, which in this case stands for “Politics of the United States.”

The radio topic of the hour was a 2 ½-year sentence given Monday to Jose Caballero, 40, the man involved in an amorous seaside encounter in Manatee County that drew international headlines.

Caballero and Elissa Alvarez, 21, were found guilty in May on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior.

The 2014 incident at Bradenton Beach was videotaped, and a second-hand account was given during the trial that a 3-year-old girl was among those who witnessed the sandy coupling.

Caballero and Alvarez are now members of Florida’s list of sexual offenders and predators. Caballero received additional jail time because he previously served eight years in prison for cocaine trafficking.

On the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s website, Alvarez’ crime is listed as “lewd or lascivious exhibition, victim under 16, offender 18 or older.”

Gaetz had called POTUS to defend the state’s sexual-offender law, which was strengthened a year ago while he chaired the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee, a fact he noted on air.

“We seem to attract our fair share of crazies in the Sunshine State, and we want to protect our citizens,” Gaetz said while on the air. “That’s why we’re the only state in America that has a 50-year mandatory prison sentence for anyone who rapes a child under the age of 12.”

Gaetz clarified Wednesday that he’s not in favor of scaling back the recent changes to the sex-offender law, which focused on violent sexual predators. But he said based upon talks with some colleagues, an analysis might be sought to determine if reforms are needed regarding how people get put on the sex-offender list or if the state needs to “encourage different prosecutorial conduct.”

Assistant State Attorney Anthony Dafonseca, who initially sought 15 years for Caballero, said the sentence holds Caballero accountable for the publicly seen sexual act as well as for his past actions.

“If you think about 2:30 in the afternoon on a crowded beach,” Dafonseca told reporters after the sentencing. “It takes a certain type of person to do that in front of children a few feet away.”

Rep. Katie Edwards, a Plantation Democrat who discussed the Manatee County case with Gaetz during this spring’s legislative session, said Wednesday that there may be better ways to deal with people such as Caballero and Alvarez.

“I think the average Floridians says, ‘We don’t want people having sex in public places,’ “ Edwards said. “But it’s the imposition of the sex-offender’s status, and especially the jail time. I think that there are better ways to deal with it, and that is something we should take up as a policy measure.”

Gaetz, on the air, noted that Florida’s sex-offender law was toughened after the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported in 2013 that nearly 600 sexual predators had been released only to be convicted of new sex offenses —- including more than 460 child molestations, 121 rapes and 14 murders.

“Certainly that 2½-year sentence seems a bit punitive given the nature of that offense,” Gaetz told radio host Michael Smerconish. “But in Florida, I think an important context for your listeners is that we’ve had a series of very tragic outcomes.”

Gaetz’ father, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, declared several times that the 2014 legislation would make the state “scorched earth” for sexually violent predators.

Man charged with hitting elderly woman

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DESTIN - A 38-year-old man is charged with hitting an elderly woman in the head multiple times while she was picking up a relative's belongings from his home.

The incident occurred on June 5 around 2:30 p.m., however, Mark Clinton Winkler was arrested on June 21, according to the arrest report. The victim, a 71-year-old woman, was at Winkler's Destin home to collect a relative's belongings.

The relative previously lived in Winkler's home, but had been incarcerated, the report said. The woman began to collect her relative's belongings, but couldn't find a necklace and asked Winkler about it.

Winkler became angry and when the woman tried to leave, he struck her in the back of the head with his fist multiple times, according to the report. The woman said she couldn't remember how many times because she was dazed.

She had a knot on the back of her head, the report said.

Winkler is charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 4.

Woman calls police for ride

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NICEVILLE - A woman called Niceville Police officers asking for a ride to her home around 8:15 p.m. on June 26.

She said she and her fiancé had gotten into an argument at the store, according to the call log. He "took off" and left her and her 4-year-old child on the side of the road with no way to get home.

Officers took the two home, where the woman said there shouldn't be any more issues from them, the log said.


Man facing charges for skinning knife

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NICEVILLE - A Niceville man is facing charges after admitting that he had a skinning knife after the vehicle he was a passenger in was pulled over.

The traffic stop occurred around 3 a.m. on June 21, after the vehicle ran a stop sign, according to the arrest report. The passenger, identified as 37-year-old Hassan Appell Muhammad, had the passenger door open.

Officers asked if there were any weapons or drugs in the car that would get them into trouble, the report said. Muhammad allegedly pulled the door closer to him and took a skinning knife out of the door pocket, stating that he just had a skinning knife.

Officers asked for and were granted permission to search the vehicle, according to the report. They found a broken glass pipe under the passenger side floor mat and a small plastic baggie of cocaine under the passenger seat.

Muhammad has prior convictions from 2007 for making a bomb threat and from 2014 fro possession of a controlled substance, the report said.

He is charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted Florida felon, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 4.

VFW working hard to bring in ‘new blood’

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Amber Putnam, the first woman to serve as state commander for the 185 Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Florida, wants to move the 116-year-old veterans service organization away from the image of a smoke-filled bar and into generation X.

“I’d like to see some VFW posts change their smoky canteen image and be more family-friendly. We want all posts to be a place for community events and for kids to play while their parents participate in VFW activities. We need to offer programs to attract younger veterans, especially veterans 40 and under,” Putnam said.

“To paraphrase our commander in chief John Stroud, with the average age of our veterans 70 years old or above, we need an infusion of new blood immediately ... or the VFW will cease to exist," she said. "A big concern is relevancy — is the VFW going to be relevant to future generations of war veterans?”

The state commander, elected at a VFW leadership convention in Orlando on June 14, spoke while meeting with state adjutant and executive director for the VFW Department of Florida, Karen Nigara, at VFW State Headquarters in Ocala last week.

Putnam would like to see the VFW partner with similar organizations like the American Legion and explore new ways to help veterans connect with their Veterans Administration, a primary function of the VFW.

VFW Veteran Service officers at the local posts — available to VFW members and non-members — help veterans with all Veterans Administration benefits, including service-connected disability claims, GI Bill benefits and VA home loans.

Local scientists weigh in on Pluto mission

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For the first time in human history, a man-made object propelled from Earth and still under our control is about to touch the outer edges of our solar system — as the unmanned New Horizons spacecraft flies past Pluto and into the Kuiper Belt.

The craft is expected to come closest to Pluto, about 7,750 miles away, at 3 seconds before 6:50 a.m. CDT Tuesday.

It comes after a flight that has lasted more than nine years and covered almost 3 billion miles.

“Eight-thousand miles to normal people sounds like a whole lot,” said Tony Russo, a professor of physical sciences at Northwest Florida State College. “But getting within 8,000 miles after billions of miles of travel is definitely a close encounter.”

The New Horizons spacecraft is about the size and shape of a grand piano. Along with its scientific equipment, the ship carries an ounce of Clyde Tombaugh’s ashes — he discovered Pluto in 1930 — and a Florida state quarter.

As it passes Pluto, the spacecraft will point seven instruments at the surface to take pictures and collect all kinds of scientific data for transmission back to Earth — all while traveling 32,500 miles per hour.

“It’s like shooting a bullet past an object and having it take pictures as it flies by,” said Richard Millett, president of the Astronomical Society of Bay County.

The data should answer some of the questions scientists have pondered about one of the most mysterious objects in the solar system — what is now called a dwarf planet, which is smaller than our moon with an orbit unlike any other that circles the sun.

“It’s hard to say what we are going to learn,” Russo said. “Until now, Pluto is the only solar system object that has not been visited by a flyby.”

It’s been 15 years since a mission to Pluto was canceled because of budget cuts to NASA. But a year later, in 2001, the agency received a $650 million outlay to send a New Horizons spacecraft into space.

On a Thursday morning, Jan. 19, 2006, with mostly clear skies except for clouds drifting along the horizon, the craft was launched from Cape Canaveral headed toward Jupiter. On Feb. 28, 2007, New Horizons curled around Jupiter and, getting a gravity assist from that planet, picked up speed for the flight to Pluto.

For most of the next eight years, the craft hibernated as it hurtled through space. Once a week, it sent a radio transmission back to Earth, essentially telling flight controllers it was sleeping well. Once a year, New Horizons was awakened for systems checks.

On Dec. 6, 2014, it was brought back online. A little more than a month later, it began its approach path to Pluto.

On June 29, NASA burned thrusters on the craft for 23 seconds. It might not seem like much, but the burn sped up the ship by one-half of one mile per hour. Without the course correction, the craft would have been 20 seconds late and 114 miles off target on Tuesday.

A week later, during the Fourth of July weekend, the mission experienced a heart-stopping glitch, when flight controllers lost communication with New Horizons for 1 hour, 20 minutes. However, the spacecraft came back on line and, after a systems check, appeared to be functioning normally. Officials said the craft is still on a perfect course.

“We are really on the final path,” said Glen Fountain, New Horizons project manager at the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. “It just gets better and more exciting every day.”

New Horizons is expected to gather so much data that it will take a year and a half to transmit it all back to Earth.

There is growing anticipation as the spacecraft grows closer, and pictures being sent back are already revealing details of Pluto’s surface.

“This system is just amazing,” said Allen Stern, the New Horizons principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “The science team is just ecstatic with what we see on Pluto’s close approach.”

Images received last week — transmissions take 4½ hours to reach Earth — showed lots of contrasts on Pluto’s surface.

“The unambiguous detection of bright and dark terrain units on both Pluto and Charon (Pluto’s largest moon) indicates a wide range of diverse landscapes across the pair,” said Jeff Moore from the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

After New Horizons passes Pluto it will continue into the Kuiper Belt, which is a ring of debris that orbits the sun beyond Pluto.

The Kuiper Belt has more than 100,000 objects of more than 100 kilometers in diameter. Astronomers discovered the first object in the belt in 1992, making it a part of the solar system that remains cloaked in mystery even more than Pluto.

For scientists, it’s a moment of discovery they have anticipated for almost a decade.

“It’s getting really exciting,” said Alice Bowman, operations manager for the mission “Every day is bringing new features into light.”

PLUTO: A closer look

  • Pluto was discovered on Feb. 18, 1930, by 24-year-old Kansas native Clyde Tombaugh, who was working at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. He found Pluto by comparing photos using a device called a blink comparator, that allowed him to flip between photo plates looking for objects that had moved from one image to another. Astronomers had been looking for an object — dubbed Planet X — since the late 1800s because something yet discovered seemed to be affecting the orbit of Neptune, the seventh planet from the sun.
  • The name (Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld) was suggested by 11-year-old English schoolgirl Venetia Burney, who was interested in classical mythology. When the name was selected, she received a $430 reward.
  • lPluto was demoted as a planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006 (after New Horizons had launched), and is now called a dwarf planet, a designation created for Pluto. Debate continues in the astronomical community about whether or not Pluto should be considered a planet.
  • It orbits the sun once every 248 Earth years.
  • Its orbit is the most elliptical of the eight-plus-Pluto planets and is tilted 17 degrees from the plane the other eight are on. Because of that, Pluto gets as close at 2.8 billion miles from the sun and as far as 4.6 billion. Its average distance from the sun is 3.7 billion miles — or 40 times the distance Earth is from the sun.
  • Pluto’s diameter is estimated to be 1,466 miles, making it about two-thirds the size of our Moon.
  • Its gravity is 6 percent that of Earth’s.
  • The average surface temperature is minus-387 degrees Fahrenheit, although there are wide variations.
  • It has five known moons — the largest being Charon, which is about half the size of Pluto.

 

ON THE NET

Here’s how to follow the New Horizons mission online:

Twitter: @NASANewHorizons

Facebook: www.facebook.com/new.horizons1?fref=ts

NASA website: nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

Applied Physics Laboratory: pluto.jhuapl.edu

Space buffs keep close eye on New Horizons

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Tony Russo was in high school when Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind on July 20, 1969. He now is a professor of  physical sciences who teaches astronomy at Northwest Florida State College.

Bill Hess, vice president of the Astronomical Society of Bay County, was eight days shy of his 14th birthday at the time of the moon landing.

Richard Millett, president of that society, was a few years younger, but a childhood visit to the Hayden Planetarium in New York had already given him the astronomy bug that would stick with him throughout his life.

Part of a generation that watched as space pioneers broke the bonds of Earth’s atmosphere, those three now anticipate the next great event in space exploration.

It arrives Tuesday.

The New Horizons unmanned spacecraft, after a nine-year flight covering almost 3 billion miles, will pass within 8,000 miles of Pluto — taking pictures and gathering a wealth of scientific data — before continuing into the Kuiper Belt that lies at the edges of our Solar System.

“It’s always exciting to learn something new,” Russo said.

Millett echoed that: “It’s going to be interesting see what comes back.”

Hess checks the Internet every few days to look at the latest photos from New Horizons.

As the spacecraft gets closer to Pluto, the pictures become progressively more detailed.

Last week, the photos began to show shadows on the surface of Pluto, indicating more pronounced deviations in elevation than previously believed.

“Seeing photos of the planets close up is just amazing,” he said, referring to previous missions that have visited each of eight planets orbiting around the sun. “There is a lot of anticipation. I think we are going to see some amazing things.”

Hess grew up fascinated by the planets and stars.

“My mom and sisters thought I was crazy,” he said, “when I would get up at 4 a.m. and drag my 6-inch telescope outside to look up at something.”

Recently, Hess posted on a website for residents of Panama City’s Cove neighborhood about the International Space Station flying directly over Northwest Florida. He got such a response that the night it happened, he and about two dozen others stood along Beach Drive and peered into space for a look.

Russo sees the potential for scientific discovery.

He compares it to a carpenter who builds a home and leaves work material behind — nails, boards — that might leave hints about the construction.

“I think it will lead to clues about how the solar system was formed,” Russo said.

New Horizons has gotten attention partially because it’s been awhile since there has been a significant mission into deep space, largely due to budget cuts to NASA, he said.

In the 1970s, missions were relatively common compared to now.

In addition to rekindling interest among the moon-landing generation, New Horizons also appeals to young, inquisitive minds, Russo said.

Things like this are “always captivating to 18 and 19 year olds,” he said. “I was in high school for the moon landings and it captivated me.”

Beyond the scientific and educational benefits, missions such as New Horizons can be good for a society that often is in turmoil because of political and social differences, Russo said.

“It puts things in perspective,” he said. “It unites us.”

Proposed G.I. Joe’s theme park on hold

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DESTIN — For nine months an Army truck and sign advertising a theme park called G.I. Joe’s sat along U.S. Highway 98 on a 10.25-acre parcel of land directly west of Big Kahuna’s.

Two weeks ago, the truck was removed two and a sign reading “For Lease” went up in its place.

“(A) lack of cooperation from city hall and the state of Florida has cooled my interest,” said land owner Maxwell “Joe” Bruner. “Although I have not abandoned the project, I am looking at other options to make the issue not as stressful.”

Bruner said that pushback from the city and state made it hard to get the permits needed to begin building on his land and he is now reevaluating his ambitions to open the military-themed amusement park in Destin.

One of the sticking points, Bruner said, was the construction of a temporary road into the property.

“The city staff met with (Bruner) on more than one occasion and laid out exactly what needed to take place in order to move his project forward,” said Doug Rainer, the city’s public information officer. “Part of that process was that he needed a development order to move forward with certain aspects of his project and he did not acquire one.”

Bruner said another reason he chose to reconsider his options is due to the grand opening of his recreational park in Holt.

Blackwater G.I. Joe’s River Adventure had its first guests on Saturday. A grand opening is planned for a future date.

For the time being, Bruner said he is open to leasing his Destin property to developers with family entertainment ideas.

“Destin needs a recreation facility really badly,” Bruner said. “I believe that the highest and best use of that property would be a recreational family theme park.”

PATH offers struggling people a new direction

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FORT WALTON BEACH — If you asked Amanda Bennett or George Campau what they did for a living, both would say they give people choices.

Bennett and Campau encounter people every day who are struggling while working in Bridgeway Center’s Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program.

Many are homeless or on the verge of it. Some suffer from mental illness or addiction. Others just aren’t making quite enough to get by.

“When I first started, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get the hang of it,” said Bennett, who is now six years in. “People out there are so frustrated and they want to get back on their feet.”

Rather than tell people what they should do, Bennett and Campau help them set goals.

First they offer advice on how to get housing, then let them apply for food stamps or social security. After that, they provide referrals for other services.

They’ll also offer toiletries, socks and food when they have it. They offer to receive and hold mail for people and connect them with doctors who can prescribe the medications they often need.

Clients don’t have to meet certain criteria or even be sober to take advantage of the opportunities PATH offers.

“There should never be a barrier to help,” said Donna Morgan, who oversees PATH for Bridgeway. “It should be an open door.”

Campau and Bennett were selected as peer advisors because of their unique qualifications in the form of life experiences, Morgan said.

 Bennett knows what it’s like to overcome an addiction and Campau remembers well how it felt to be homeless and intoxicated.

Both turned their lives around after seeking help through PATH.

“Everybody’s got their own story,” Campau said.

Last year, they signed up 207 people.

They saw about 60 of them regularly, but the rest never again.  Only 47 took them up on the referrals to Bridgeway, which specializes in counseling services. 

 And those numbers are OK for the people at PATH. The key is they’re there ready to provide choices whenever a person makes up their mind to make a change. 

“No one likes to be dictated to,” Campau said.

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

Man accused of attacking wife while she was holding child

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FORT WALTON BEACH - A 25-year-old man is accused of striking his wife several times while she was holding a child, who was also injured in the attack.

Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies were called around 2:30 p.m. on June 21 for a dispute, according to the arrest report. The woman said that the her husband, who is not being named to protect the victims' identities, had struck her and pushed her several times.

She said the incident started that morning when her husband came home drunk, the report said. She left their home to visit a friend's home, and he followed.

When she opened the door at her friend's home, her husband came in and started pushing and striking her, according to the report. She was holding a child, who was also struck in the head during the attack.

The woman had a lump on the back of her head and the child had minor swelling on the back of her head, the report said. Both were evaluated at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.

The man said nothing had happened, according to the report. He had "the odor of alcohol emitting from his mouth" and his hand was swollen, with lacerations on his knuckles.

He is charged with battery and child neglect.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 5.


Nine transported after crash

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Nine people from Deridder, Louisiana, were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola after a crash in Santa Rosa County.

Warren S. Floyd, 45, was driving a 2010 Nissan Armada south on State Road 87 about three and a half miles south of Farrington Road when he had a medical seizure and became unresponsive, according to a media release from Florida Highway Patrol.

The Armada went onto the western shoulder and into the tree line, where the vehicle struck a large tree and overturned on its side, the release said.

Benjamin Floyd, 10, was flown via Life Flight to Sacred Heart with reportedly minor injuries.

Warren was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. 

Other passengers, including 35-year-old Tina Floyd, 14-year-old Caymerin Floyd, 15-year-old Ashlin Wood, 40-year-old Janet Wood, 8-year-old Edward Floyd and 8-year-old Emma Floyd, were transported with minor injuries.

The crash is under investigation.

Man allegedly attacks deputies after traffic stop

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LAUREL HILL - A DeFuniak Springs man is charged with striking two deputies after a traffic stop for having a invalid license plate.

An Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputy ran the tag on a Chevy Blazer around 9:30 a.m. on June 21, according to the arrest report. Registration came back as a Volkswagon and the deputy make a traffic stop.

The deputy spoke to 34-year-old Michael Vincent Vandenbogaert, who said he hadn't transferred the tag because he didn't have the money, the report said. A license check revealed that his license had been suspended on May 11, 2015, and he had three previous conviction for driving while his license was suspended in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

He was asked to step out of the vehicle and told he was being placed under arrest.

When deputies tried to handcuff him, he punched on in the arm and a second in the stomach, according to the report. He allegedly continued to swing at deputies until he was handcuffed.

He is charged with attaching a license plate to an unassigned vehicle, driving while his license is suspended as a third or subsequent offense, resisting an officer with violence and two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 4.

NFL coach Kromer arrested for battery in Walton County

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NFL coach Aaron Kromer was arrested early Sunday morning in Walton County after allegedly punching a boy in the face, according to a Walton County Sheriff's Office press release.

Kromer, an offensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills, received a misdemeanor battery charge for an incident in Inlet Beach. Additional charges might be filed Monday after the sheriff's office executive staff reviews the case.

The press release stated deputies went to a home on Winston Lane after a battery complaint. Kromer and his son allegedly confronted three boys regarding use of beach chairs left near a public beach access. He then allegedly threw a fishing pole into the water, pushed one of the boys down and punched him in the face, according to the release.

One of the boys told deputies Kromer threatened to kill his family if the boy told police about the incident, according to the release.

Kromer was booked in the Walton County Jail at 1:51 a.m. and released at 3:10 a.m., according to an NFL.com report.

The 48-year-old coach previously has been an offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears. He also served as offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints and was the team's interim head coach for six games during the 2012 season when head coach Sean Payton was suspended.

Repairs begin on old YMCA facility

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FORT WALTON BEACH — Repairs on the leaking roof and skylights at the old YMCA facility on Hospital Road could start this week.

Officials with Liza Jackson Preparatory School and the Emerald Coast Fitness Foundation say their first priority is stopping water intrusion into the aging building.

“We actually have people there now working on the mold mitigation,” said Terri Roberts, CEO of the K-8 charter school.

Repairs also are needed on the gymnasium floor, which had buckled because of a leak in the wall, she said.

LJPS finalized a long-term lease with Fort Walton Beach for the building and the surrounding property on June 30. It plans to build a sixth- through ninth-grade middle school and a multi-sport athletic complex on the property.

The school has teamed with ECFF to revive the 25-yard swimming pool.

The ECFF, which will serve as the fundraising arm for the project, has raised about $50,000 toward its goal of $250,000, said Pam Braseth, the nonprofit’s treasurer.

“The pool itself is about $70,000 to refinish,” she said. “... It’s going to take however long it takes. Our plan is to do it the right way, not the easy way.”

Braseth said the ECFF is finalizing quotes for various repairs and hopes to have the pool run-ning by the fall swimming season. The groups are planning to host a fundraising event July 25 on the grounds of the old YMCA and will unveil the new sign for the facility.

She praised LJPS for their willingness to work with the nonprofit as it raises the money to repair the pool.

“They have been wonderful about spending money on their side to really assist with reducing the costs on our side,” Braseth said. “I can’t say enough good about them.”

Roberts said the school wants to have the gymnasium and the surrounding soccer fields opera-tional by the fall as well. The facility’s lawn pump was stolen sometime after the building was closed up, so the school must purchase and install a new one before irrigation can resume, Roberts said.

“We’re really excited about this venture,” she said. “We really strongly feel it will be a positive for the community and for Liza Jackson.”

WANT TO HELP?
The Emerald Coast Fitness Foundation will host a “Party Near the Pool” fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 25 at the old YMCA building on Hospital Road in Fort Walton Beach. The event will feature bouncy houses, kids games, lunch for sale and information about the nonprofit’s plans to revive the swimming pool.

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

STORIES FROM THE STREET: Two charged with elderly abuse

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Man charged with neglect of 86-year-old man
FORT WALTON BEACH - A 46-year-old Fort Walton Beach man is charged with neglecting an elderly man he was supposed to be taking care of.

Fort Walton Beach Police officers went to the 86-year-old man's home on June 20 after getting a report through an abuse hotline, according to the arrest report.

Officers spoke with the man, who was bed-ridden, through an open window, the report said. He invited officers in, but was alone and unable to get up and open the door.

Officers crawled through the window, finding that the home was "cluttered and extremely hot, with no power or running water, according to the report. The man was positioned next to a bucket to use as a toilet.

The man was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center for malnutrition and severe dehydra-tion, the report said. Officers contacted Ernest Jerome Goshay, who said he'd been the man's care-giver since 2012.

He said he didn't have access to the man's social security income and had stopped receiving the man's pension checks, according to the report. He said he hadn't contacted the man's power of at-torney for money to pay the bills because he didn't feel the condition of the home was a problem.

He is charged with neglect of an elderly person.

Man charged with hitting elderly woman
DESTIN - A 38-year-old man is charged with hitting an elderly woman in the head multiple times while she was picking up a relative's belongings from his home.

The incident occurred on June 5 around 2:30 p.m., however, Mark Clinton Winkler was arrested on June 21, according to the arrest report. The victim, a 71-year-old woman, was at Winkler's Des-tin home to collect a relative's belongings.

The relative previously lived in Winkler's home, but had been incarcerated, the report said. The woman couldn't find a necklace and asked Winkler about it.

Winkler became angry and when the woman tried to leave, he struck her in the back of the head with his fist multiple times, according to the report.

Winkler is charged with battery on a person 65 years of age or older.
 

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