This weekend in Gulf and Franklin

Looking for a way to pass the time this weekend? Gulf and Franklin Counties are hosting a variety of fun events for locals and visitors. Don't see your event listed? Have an event you want …

Stone Mill Creek Fire Department responds to stove fire

The Stone Mill Creek Volunteer Fire Department responded to a residential fire at 184 Quails Den Dr. in Stone Mill Creek on Friday afternoon. The fire was reported extinguished shortly after 1:30 …

Gulf County preps for Fourth of July

There will be no shortage of festivities for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend in Gulf County. The festivities will get started on Sunday, July 3, with the Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center's …

More local news

Gulf County TDC to host song contest for marketing materials

The Gulf County Tourist Development Council is hosting a first-of-its-kind song contest to promote Gulf County tourism. The contest, which opens August 1, is free and open to the first 50 …

Health Department to offer free HIV testing Monday

Free HIV testing will be provided in the mobile medical unit at the Gulf County Health Department in Port St. Joe on Monday, June 27 from 10a.m. to 2 p .m. EDT, according to a release from the …

Do skunk apes abound in the Panhandle?

If you want to see a skunk ape, you have to prepare for more than just a strenuous hike into some of the world’s most remote areas, says local cryptid hunter Connor Flynn. Of course, you …

St. Joe steps up to help host mock Navy SEAL training for youths

A 500 yard swim, 50 push-ups, 50 curl ups, 10 pull-ups and a 1.5 mile run – all with a heat index well over 100 degrees. The cadets completed their physical entrance exams at the St. Joseph …

In county commission races, one seat highly contested, other goes unopposed

Two Gulf County commissioners were up for reelection this year, but only one will be facing opposition on the November ballot. Ward McDaniel, a Wewahitchka Republican currently representing the …

Life

What Southern Folks Eat

Remembering a fire on St. Joe Beach

Moving to Gulf County, Florida was an adventure for 9-year-old me. I think I’ve written it here before, but I will always remember mom rolling down the windows of our station wagon and inhaling …

Bay scallop restoration program needs volunteers

Do you live in Gulf or Franklin County? You can help by being a Scallop Sitter, a volunteer program run jointly by UF/IFAS Extension and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation …

Maintaining calm amid chaos

Green and tan backpacks sit in the front of Joshua and Kelsie Griffin's guest room closet in the grab, grab, and go position. The “go bags” are filled with emergency supplies. Every …

Remembering the kind community of Gulf Sands

My grandparents moved to St. Joe Beach from St. Petersburg in the early 1970s when granddaddy retired from General Electric. He had bought some land on Ponce de Leon Street, as I’ve mentioned …

Sports

Wewa Ponytails, Belles win at district

It was as nice a sky, and as brutal a heat, as can be imagined in north Florida in mid-June, but the girls and young women were up for playing ball. At last weekend’s Dixie Youth Softball …

St. Joe hosts district Dixie Youth tourney

The 10th Street baseball fields buzzed with activity earlier this month, as Port St. Joe hosted the district Dixie All-Star Youth Baseball Tournament from June 3 through 6. When the action …

Kuhnel helps propel USA para team to gold

The U.S. para women’s national team claimed the gold medal at the inaugural 2022 International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football World Cup for women in Salou, Spain, on Tuesday, May 17, by …

McDaniel to lift at national meet in Vegas

Hailey McDaniel, a rising senior at Wewahitchka High School, will be competing at the USA Weightlifting Championships Week in Las Vegas, Nevada, from June 25 to July 3. “To my …

Opinion

It's not what Trump knew, but what he had a responsibility to know

Watergate, whose 50th anniversary is upon us, is remembered for the question: "what did the president know and when did he know it?" But in our age of post-truth politics, the question loses its …

Are Democrats up to preventing the next coup attempt?

In 1980, because I was an idealistic conservative eager to do my bit for democracy, I volunteered for my local Republican Party as a poll watcher. When polls closed, election officials asked us to …

Finland and Sweden are on the verge of joining NATO

NATO has 30 members. By the end of June, the roster may grow to 32, should Finland and Sweden join. The Nordic duo has fans. On April 29 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House …

The morality and usefulness of business always outshine government

Once again, businesses stand out as the most important U.S. asset in the conflict Russia has caused in Ukraine. As with Operation Warp Speed getting out a COVID vaccine in unprecedented time, …

Remembering a passion for drive-ins

Just a mile-and-a-half from the house in Norfolk, Virginia, where I grew up was Wilder’s Drive-In Theater. The place had opened in 1948, when I was 3 years old, just as drive-ins were beginning …

See all our print ads