Featured

By Lori Leath Smith While incarcerated, Destin resident and Army veteran Geoff Speyrer never dreamed he’d one day be a champion of bringing hope and awareness to veteran suicide. But now he is! Sadly, 22 veterans and active-duty members per day take their lives thinking there is no hope. But Geoff has...

By Rita L. Sherwood Whether you’re a local or not, one major issue with our beautiful beaches here on the Emerald Coast is helping the sea turtles. If you’ve been to the beach, I bet you’ve either seen an area roped off for a sea turtle’s nest, seen a sign...

By Brian L. Underwood, CBEP Executive Director, and Lori Smith, Publisher One of our area’s most beautiful, coveted and useful resources has been experiencing significant challenges—ones that affect water quality, natural systems and benefits provided by our own Choctawhatchee Bay. And, whether you think about it or not, this massive...

By Lori Leath Smith One usually travels TO a wall, but this one’s coming to us! The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall© is arriving in our area to be showcased at Gulf Cemetery’s Memorial Day service, fitting for this year’s theme “United in Sacrifice, Honored in Remembrance.” To be displayed throughout Memorial...

By 1st Lt. Karissa Rodriguez Recently, the name and the official role of the Air Force’s newest fighter was unveiled at Eglin Air Force Base. Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics military deputy, presented the F-15EX Eagle ll...

By Lori Leath Smith Are you aware that one in 54 children were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2020? And that boys are 4x more likely to be diagnosed than girls? Or that the cost to raise a child with Autism over their lifetime is about $2.4 million?...

By Rita L. Sherwood According to National Geographic, up to 8 million tons of plastic and waste enter our ocean and Bay waters every single year. More than 250 million tons of plastic are estimated to make its way into our oceans by 2025, according to projectaware.org. Everyday trash is entering...

By Heather Bennett The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is one of the nation’s oldest non-profit organizations. It provides consumers with business profiles, consumer reviews, consumer information, scam alerts and reviews on charities. It’s here to make sure, as consumers, we make wiser decisions about where we spend our money. I spoke...

By Lauren Catanese “The pastor told us, “Love is not a feeling; feelings change periodically. Love is a choice. And when you make that choice to choose love, even if you don’t feel like loving, you are choosing to love unconditionally. You recognize that we are all flawed creations, created...

By Heather Bennett Getting the news that you’re pregnant can be wonderful, yet scary. There’s a roller coaster of feelings that can come with it—excitement, fear, happiness and anxiety. Parents to be all want to do what’s best for their baby before and after he or she enters the world....