Local Teacher Recipient of FEA Service Award

A longtime educator and Apalachicola resident was the recipient of this year’s Florida Education Association (FEA) Service Award in recognition of work performed toward the promotion of diversity, social justice and human and civil rights.

Each year, the FEA recognizes a handful of teachers for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of education and present the deserving educators with the prestigious Service Award at the group’s Annual Delegate Assembly.

This year the FEA singled out Franklin County K-12 School teacher Elinor Mount-Simmons at their assembly held in Orlando, Florida on Oct 16.

Simmons selection came after being nominated by fellow teachers for creating her renowned “First Friday Forum” where community leaders are invited to address students in her Academic Recovery class at the K-12 School.

Simmons is no stranger to receiving awards.

During the span of her 29-year teaching career, Simmons peers selected her a total of four times “Teacher of the Year” including once after moving to the Franklin County K-12 School, which encompasses the entire public school district.

In addition, on at least three separate occasions, Simmons received nomination to “Who’s Who Among America’s High School Teachers”.

The qualifications for nominating a teacher come directly from students who have been included in one of three outstanding publications “Who's Who Among American High School Students”, “Who’s Who Among American High School Students - Sports Edition” or “The National Dean's List”. Students are invited to nominate a former teacher who has contributed significantly to their success and growth.

Furthermore, Simmons has worked to protect the interest of all members of her school whiles serving as President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Building Representative of the Local Teacher’s Union. She has also served on both the State and National Teacher’s Union.

In between imparting a quality education to the students of the Franklin County School District, Simmons served as Student Council Association Advisor, statistician for the Varsity Boys Basketball team, Varsity Cheerleading Coach and Secretary of the Booster Club.

Her influence reaches beyond the borders of the classroom and into the community, where she served for a period on the Apalachicola Municipal Library Board and presently employed part-time by the City in its Project Impact afterschool and summer program.

She’s President of the Hillside Coalition of Laborers for Apalachicola (H’COLA), which is a community service organization serving the African-American community and Church Secretary at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.

Legislation introduced to improve SBA Microloan Program

Through the introduction of legislation, the U.S. Congress has taken up the task of making several important changes to the Small Business Administration (SBA) overall, and to the Microloan Program specifically.

As part of the Recovery Act signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, the SBA introduced a program designed to guarantee 100 percent of small business loans with a repayment plan that would have deferred payments until next year.

However, after a long wait for the program to get started, most local business owners that the program was designed to help, found themselves unable to qualify for the loans.

Following a call for action by President Obama last week, the Chair of the Small Business Committee, Senator Mary Landrieu introduced the Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2009 (S. 1832).

If passed, the legislation would revise the definition of a Microloan from $35,000 to $50,000 and increase the amount of Technical Assistance dollars that an Intermediary may receive, from 25% of SBA loans outstanding to 50% of SBA loans outstanding and eliminate the match requirements for the Technical Assistance dollars.

These changes will go a long way to ensure that Microloan Intermediaries can meet the needs of low and moderate-income entrepreneurs.

President Obama also recently announced a major initiative to enable Treasury-certified community development financial institutions to be eligible to apply for capital at a 2% rate for up to 8 years. This change provides much needed access to capital for those institutions serving low-income people and communities.

Two local men lands in Jail over copper theft

On Wednesday, Oct 21, the Apalachicola Police Department arrested two local men for stealing copper wire from the Progress Energy substation off Ellis Vanvleet in the Greater Apalachicola area.

At approximately 7:52AM the morning of Oct 21, Apalachicola Police Officer Timmy Davis responded to a call regarding the theft of copper from Progress Energy’s substation and maintenance yard. Upon Davis’ arrival, he interviewed a Progress Energy employee who informed the officer that approximately 800 feet of copper wire was missing from the yard.

The officer immediately started calling all salvage yards between Panama City and Dothan, Alabama to inform the junk dealers to be on the lookout for anyone attempting to sell a large quantity of copper wire.

At approximately 12:15PM that same day, Officer Davis received a call from Schnitzer Southeast, a salvage yard in Dothan. The metal dealer reported that a man with an Apalachicola address named Christopher Buzbee, along with another male named William Switzer were in Alabama attempting to sell the copper wire described in the earlier telephone call made by Davis.

Officer Davis then contacted the Dothan Police Department and asked the agency to detain the two suspects on suspicion of theft until local officers could make the trip to Dothan to expedite the suspects back to Franklin County.

Police Officer Anthony Croom, Jr., picked up Buzbee and Switzer both of Apalachicola, transported them back to town, and booked them into the Franklin County Jail. Both men are now facing charges of theft of copper wire, dealing in stolen property, grand theft of over $300 and burglary of a conveyance. The wire stolen was valued at approximately $3,000.

As of late, the theft of copper wire is on the rise. In some Florida communities, it's gotten so bad that contractors are waiting until the last possible moment before installing the wiring at construction sites.

USFDA Ban on raw oysters will put thousands out of work

An unprecedented proposal to ban raw Gulf Coast oysters, developed unilaterally by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will threaten thousands of jobs and crush a clean, sustainable fishery, according to food lovers, fishermen and community leaders.

On Saturday, Oct. 17 the FDA made a surprise announcement at a meeting of shellfish regulators and industry, telling them that the agency plans to ban the sale of live, in-the-shell Gulf Coast oysters for as much as 8 months every year. The proposed ban was developed without public input and FDA officials admit they have not analyzed the economic impact. Officials have also suggested that new restrictions may be in the works for West Coast and East Coast shellfish.

“This would cost us thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars if we were unable to sell our oysters as we do today. The new FDA direction makes no sense – Louisiana is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina,” said Al Sunseri of P & J Oyster Co. in New Orleans.

FDA officials suggested that consumers of live half-shell oysters will willingly switch to frozen or processed versions of the traditional Gulf Coast food, but that’s absurd, according to restaurant owner Chris Hastings.

“I’m not buying a frozen or pasteurized oyster,” says Hastings, owner of the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama, a nationally recognized restaurant specializing in fresh, regional food. Hastings says FDA’s belief that consumers will simply switch to processed oysters is like claiming that people don’t appreciate the difference between fresh strawberries and frozen ones.

“It’s just such a false statement,” Hastings says of the suggestion that processed oysters can replace fresh ones. “And it’s a false assumption that the Gulf oyster business can survive with such harsh new regulations,” he adds.

Shellfish growers in other regions are worried that the Gulf Oyster ban could set the stage for oppressive rules all around the country.

“A requirement to process oysters flies in the face of the resurgence of raw oyster bars across the country, and the growing natural “slow” foods movement,” says Robin Downey, executive director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association. “Growers are proud of the high quality, wholesome, fresh shellfish they provide to their customers. Taking the choice to eat raw oysters away from them is preposterous.”

The East Coast shellfish community expressed concern, too.

Bob Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, says it’s clear that regulation of his region is likely not far behind. "I am concerned that the FDA had chosen to disregard decades of cooperation between state managers and the FDA,” Rheault says. “FDA openly acknowledges that even this economically crippling regulation will not eliminate the problem. So one has to ask "What's next?"

On the Gulf Coast, oysters are the economic cornerstone for many small towns, employing thousands of individual oyster fishers and plant workers and suppling a network of oyster bars and restaurants throughout the region. Shutting down for 8 months would be a disaster, says Leo "Chipper" McDermott, mayor of Pass Christian, Mississippi. The oyster industry “is vital to the Gulf Coast area,” he says, adding that a ban “will have a devastating effect” on the coastal economy. “I wish they would come down here and look at the real economic impact,” McDermott says of FDA officials.

With unemployment already near 10 percent nationally, the proposed ban has many baffled and angry. “This could be the end of our way of life,” says Tommy Ward of Buddy Ward and Sons Seafood in Apalachicola, Florida. “It would bankrupt our town,” adds Anita Grove, director of the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce.

FDA officials say the Gulf oyster ban is necessary to protect public health because a naturally occurring bacteria sickens about 30 people each year. The bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, can be deadly for people with preexisting medical conditions, such as liver damage caused by chronic alcohol abuse.

But virtually none of the Vibrio vulnificus cases on record have hurt healthy people, and many questioned why the FDA is singling out one small industry when others do so much more harm.

According to the FDA there are an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne illness annually, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. But the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria that the oyster ban is supposed to address is responsible for only 1/10 of 1 percent of food-related deaths (about 15 per year are traced to Gulf Coast states) and an even smaller percentage of illness, according to CDC estimates. In other words, 99.9 percent of illnesses occur in other foods, but FDA wants to ban raw oysters. The Vibrio bacteria exist in salt waters around the world.

Shellfish lovers say they know traditional raw oysters aren’t for everyone. Some people turn up their noses at the very thought, just like some people choose not to eat meat, wild mushrooms, sushi, raw eggs or chicken. But fishermen and restaurant owners ask, if the FDA can ban raw oysters, what’s next? A ban on raw clams? Peanuts? Fresh fruit and vegetables?

Under pressure from shellfish regulators, harvesters, and dealers, the FDA has tentatively agreed to examine the economic impact of the proposed ban, and has also agreed to a collaborative meeting in the summer of 2010 to focus on the proposed Gulf oyster ban, which would take effect in the spring of 2011.

“The FDA proposal is scientifically and legally flawed,” says Kevin Begos, executive director of the Franklin County Oyster & Seafood Task Force. “There is no such thing as zero-risk in life, and people have the right to eat a simple, natural food that humans have enjoyed for thousands of years.”

The shellfish community had been working with FDA and state regulators on improved refrigeration and harvest controls, and Begos said the community will continue such efforts. FDA officials admit their unilateral action may be unprecedented for the agency.

Begos noted that tax dollars are paying for the misguided FDA crusade, and that public health rules are supposed to target the biggest problems, not the smallest ones. “With a federal deficit of over 9 trillion dollars, does it make sense to go after the industry that causes 1/10 of a percent of all food illnesses, or focus on the 99.9 percent of the problem?” Begos asked.

The 46th Annual Florida Seafood Festival

This coming Fri, Nov 6 through Sat, Nov 7 the streets of historic Apalachicola will be alive with activities and busting at the seams in celebration of the 46th Annual Florida Seafood Festival.

The two-day event scheduled for the first weekend in November is Florida’s oldest maritime festival that draws thousands of visitors to the city each year.

The event held at historic Battery Park located at the foot of Gorrie Bridge features the serving of mouth-watering seafood, art and craft exhibits, and live entertainment throughout the span of two days.

Other festival related activities that the family is sure to enjoy includes the blessing of the fleet, a 5K redfish run, parade, a blue crab race, cooking contest and a oyster eating and oyster shucking contest.

This year’s festival highlights as its headline entertainer country music star Tracy Lawrence who recorded the hit single “Find out Who Your Friends Are”.

Come on down, or wander on over as we celebrate the harvest of the sea and honor the hardworking men and women who make it all possible.

Fifth Annual Downtown Oyster Roast

The Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce will host its 5th Annual Downtown Oyster Roast this Seafood Festival weekend Friday, Nov 6 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM at the Garden Shop located off Commerce Street.

The event will be set in the heart of historic Apalachicola and features the dining on fresh Apalachicola Bay oysters prepared and served a variety of ways, including roasted, on the half shell, creamy artichoke and oyster soup along with side dishes of shrimp, crabs, salad and desserts.

To top it off, Joe Hutchinson will serve up a dose of live music while the attendees sit under the stars enjoying Apalachicola Bay's finest and soaking up the ambience of a beautiful historic city.

Come on out or wander on over to join in the celebration. For more information on ticket sales, call (850) 653-9419 or email info@apalachicolabay.org.

October: Public Safety Report

FIRE DEPARTMENT
Apalachicola Volunteer Fire Department Chief George Watkins was out of town due to a family emergency and unable to attend the Oct 6, city commission meeting. However, Assistant Fire Chief Fonda Davis was available and reported on the monthly activities of the department in Watkins absence.

Davis told commissioners that the fire department had a company come down from Valdosta to repair the fire engine. He explained that when the company arrived they realized that the work was more than they had expected.

Davis further explained that the company had returned that day to pick up the engine for transporting back to their Valdosta shop to make the repairs and that the repair shop would provide the department with a quote before starting the work. He finished by telling commissioners that Chief Watkins would report on the status of the repair work upon his return.

City Administrator Betty Taylor-Webb interjected and told commissioners that the St. George Island Volunteer Fire Department had loan the city the use of one of their engines and that the city is currently covering the vehicle under its insurance policy.

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Apalachicola Chief of Police Bobby Varnes told commissioners that during the month of September officers with the Police Department responded to 178 calls down from 194 a month ago, made five arrests which is unchanged from last month, had 6 warrant request down from 15 warrants in August.

Varnes continued his report by telling commissioners that the department worked two traffic accidents unchanged from last month and issued 16 traffic citations slightly down from 17 during the month of August.

In response to instructions from the Franklin County Traffic Safety Team, police officers will no longer issue out warnings when making traffic stops for violations of the uniform traffic code.

Roundabout to calm highway traffic

City commissioners held a public workshop on Tuesday, Oct 6 with members of the Franklin County Traffic Safety Team (FCTST), the Apalachicola Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) and officials from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

The workshop was called to discuss the installation of a roundabout at the intersection of Market Street and US Highway 98.

A roundabout is a circular intersection at which traffic is slowed down as it enters a one-way stream around a central island. With a roundabout, direct left-turns are eliminated by making drivers circulate around the central island to the desired destination leg of the intersection. The circulating movement of a roundabout eliminates the potential for high speed, right angle, and left turn/head on collisions.

City officials have been after the FDOT to install a standard traffic signal at the intersection for a number of years, however state transportation officials reasoned that the traffic count was to low and the only way to justify a traffic signal would be for someone to get seriously injured or killed while negotiating the intersection.

However, FDOT officials have always expressed a wiliness to consider making other improvements that would benefit traffic flow and safety by way of installing a roundabout at the location.

Apparently the concerns of the Traffic Safety Team somewhat parallels with that of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

As part of the city’s Comprehensive Plan EAR Based Amendment, planning and zoning members were already engaged in a separate discussion concerning a decline in the Level of Service (LOS) on US Highway 98, throughout the downtown area.

Through a written list of recommendations passed out at the workshop, P&Z asked that the FDOT determine the severity of the congestion problem on US Highway 98 between CR 384 and the bridge.

In addition, they asked the FDOT to evaluate the need for turn lanes and the traffic impacts of any proposed development as well as any reasonable potential for reducing future impacts through transportation alternatives, such as sidewalks connections to the recently completed satellite parking area and bike ways.

If the city approves the roundabout concept, at their own expense the FDOT would also improve the pedestrian crosswalks, and redesign the sidewalk on the southwest side of Market Street from the Seafood Grill down to Avenue D.

At the workshop the only concerns to the proposal voiced by the public, were the loss of about 12 parking spaces to accommodate the roundabout, the loss of the ability of service trucks to park in the middle of the street and whether the roundabout would actually work.

Florida transportation officials had already created a computer model of the intersection and found that a roundabout is entirely feasible. However, they are reluctant to go beyond the conceptual stage and authorize the expenditure of funds on engineering and design without a positive show of interest from both the public and city officials.

Bob Deiter, Chairman of the Traffic Safety Team has asked that the public direct any comments or concerns that they may have to him at rdieter@digitalexp.com or attend the next FCTST meeting scheduled for 12:00PM Wednesday, October 21 at city hall.

City finds solution to stormwater problems

After receiving numerous complaints from local residents whose neighborhoods were flooded during the recent 12 inches of rain that inundated the city’s stormwater drainage system.

City Administrator Betty Taylor-Webb started looking right away for ways that city officials could fund improvements to the system, and at the Oct 6 commission meeting, she presented a proposal that called for establishing a stormwater utility fee.

If commissioners approve Webb’s plan, the city will charge a small fee to all utility customers that will go toward fixing and improving stormwater drainage throughout the city. The fee will show up on customer’s utility bills as a stormwater utility surcharge.

City Commissioners agreed to the concept and consented to hold a public workshop in the near future to work out details of the proposal. In the interim, commissioners approved the expenditure of $25,000 from reserves to start immediately addressing some of the city’s most pressing drainage concerns.

Webb’s plan for funding stormwater improvements couldn’t have come at a better time.

On Wednesday, October 8, Webb received a memo from Florida’s Speaker of the House Larry Cretul. Cretul announced in his memo, that for the second year in a row the Florida Legislature would not be accepting any Community Budget Issue Request System (CBIRS).

The City of Apalachicola along with other Florida communities often use CBIRS funding to pay for large infrastructure projects such as the construction and rehabilitation of water, wastewater, and stormwater related facilities. Without the funding, rural communities with small budgets often have to find other ways to fund these special infrastructure needs, if at all.

Speaker Cretul is rightly concerned over Florida’s budget; economists have repeatedly warned that the state’s budget will face a deficit of as much as $2.6 billion next year. The governor and legislators were able to plug the huge hole in the current year’s budget by using federal dollars received from President Obama’s onetime stimulus package.

“The fiscal challenges continuing to face our state have maintained our need to focus on solutions to balance the state’s budget. Accordingly, as we determined last year, we will again not be opening the Community Budget Issue Request System (CBIRS) this year. We again hope to avoid creating unrealistic funding expectations in our communities given the continuing decline in expected state revenues”, wrote Cretul.

If nothing else, the continued budget woes that the state and federal government find themselves in, should serve as a wake up call to us all that we are going to have to start finding ways to pay our own way.

Violent storm devastates Apalachicola

A tidbit of local history and a stern reminder that we are still in hurricane season and Florida’s Gulf Coast especially Apalachicola remains vulnerable.

One of the most catastrophic storms in the history of our city made landfall some 115 years ago and literally left the community in ruins.

Today, Oct 10 marks the anniversary of that fateful day, where a cyclone hammered the shorelines of Apalachicola on the night of October 10, 1894.

The storm left in its path, two dead, a six-foot surge, unroofed houses, destroyed docks, streets lined with dead fish and shattered lives.

All forms of communication were out most of the day and the next, while inhabitants of the city sought refuge from the storm surge on the Hill, once there, found themselves giving ground to gale force winds.

According to a published report in the Wednesday, October 12, 1894 edition of the New York Times, the powerful storm traveled up the west coast from Cedar Key toward Apalachicola on the night of Oct 10 and made landfall between the hours of 7:00PM and 10:00PM.

Local commerce came to a halt as one of Apalachicola’s major enterprises Murat’s Wholesale Fish Company along with other fish houses and oyster factories laid flatten, while thousands of rotten fish littered the streets.

Kimball Lumber Company reported the greatest loss. Five barges loaded with lumber owned by the company and moored at East Pass, were tossed about and lodged in the marsh two miles north of the city.

Both floating lumber and timber churned by winds from the vicious storm, shattered downtown businesses to destruction, while soft mud and brush lined there floors and shelves.

The storm caused $20,000 worth of aggregate property damage, with Kimball receiving the bulk of the loss totaling $10,000 to Murat’s $4,000.

Post research conducted by Robin Vroegop

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

A motorcade, which will end with a vigil at Lafayette Park are among the events planned for October to raise awareness about domestic violence.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Refuge House, Inc. wants to educate the community about the realities of domestic violence against both women and men.

The Refuge House is the domestic and sexual violence center for seven North Florida neighboring counties including Franklin County.

Over the past 20 something years, the agency has provided services to battered women, their children, and sexual assault survivors, and have worked diligently to eliminate conditions in society that allow such violence to continue.

With each October, the agency stages a community event to increase awareness to the havoc domestic violence wrecks upon children, families, and communities.

Linda Gibson, Franklin County Advocate asked city commissioners at their Oct 6 meeting for permission to motorcade through the city and host a vigil at the end under the gazebo at Lafayette Park.

According to Gibson, the motorcade will leave from in front of the former school board district office on 12th street, move toward town on US Highway 98, turn unto Avenue B and arrive at the park, where a vigil for victims who have lost their life to domestic violence will conclude the event.

Gibson told commissioners that she plans to ask residents along with all city and county officials, local clergyman and school officials to participate in the motorcade starting at noon on Oct 24.

For more information on Domestic Violence Awareness Month and/or the Oct 24 event, contact Linda Gibson at (850) 653-3313, from 9:00AM to 5:00PM, Monday through Friday.

Elliott recognized by league of cities

Veteran City Commissioner James Elliott received recognition at the Oct 6 city commission meeting from the Florida League of Cities for his 26-years of service to the citizens of Apalachicola.

Mark Sittig, Executive Director for the League of Cities presented Elliott with a large plaque for being one of the longest serving elected municipal officials in the State.

Video taken by Gail D. Johnson

New Apalachicola commissioners take oath

A capacity crowd at the Oct 6 city commission meeting witnessed both Seat 3, city commissioner Frank Cook and Seat 4, city commissioner Brenda Ash take the oath of office before the 2009-2011 Apalachicola Board of City Commissioners sat down to new business.

After each municipal election, the city charter calls for the appointment and designation of a Mayor Pro-Tem and a commissioner to oversee each of the five departments of the City of Apalachicola.

Over the next two years, Cook will be responsible for overseeing the Department of Fire Protection, Health, and Sanitation. He will also serve as the city’s liaison on the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Revolving Loan Committee.

With her vast background in banking, the commission chose Ash to oversee the Department of Finance and represent the city as the liaison to the Library Board and the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.

Veteran city commissioner James Elliott who has served the city for the past 26-years received appointment to serve as Mayor Pro-Tem and commissioner over the Department of Public Works, which include both the waterworks and wastewater facilities. The commission also tapped Elliott to serve as their representative on the city’s History, Arts & Culture Committee.

Commissioner Mitchell Bartley will oversee the Department of Streets, Parks, and Docks, which include the city cemeteries, a position he held when first elected to the commission in 1999.

As outlined in the city charter, the Mayor is responsible for the Department of Police and Public Safety.

Photos taken by Gail D. Johnson

Hill charged in rash of vehicle break-ins

Local law enforcement officers from the Apalachicola Police Department along with the Franklin County Sheriff Office have made a key arrest in the rash of motor vehicle break-ins that has plagued the Apalachicola community for almost a year.

On the morning of Saturday, August 29 at approximately 11:00AM, Apalachicola Police Sgt. Chet Turner responded to a dispatch in reference to the break-in of three motor vehicles in the Apalachicola area.

After receiving a tip, Turner accompanied by Deputy Brett Johnson and Correctional Officer Brock Johnson both with the Franklin County Sheriff’s office, searched, and found a number of items reported stolen during the break-ins inside the suspect’s Apalachicola residence.

After a failed attempt to locate the subject, officers issued a warrant for his immediate arrest.

According to Apalachicola Police Chief Bobby Varnes, the investigation pointed to 19-year-old Apalachicola resident Bobby Allen Hill, Jr., as the primary suspect behind the rash of break-ins.

Hill eluded capture until Friday, October 2, where he was discovered hiding behind some bushes at the site of the old ABC Charter School off Fred Meyer Street and arrested by Apalachicola Police Officer Timmy Davis.

Hill is now in custody at the Franklin County Jail located on State Road 65 in Eastpoint, awaiting trial and charged with burglary of a conveyance, grand theft-third degree, petit theft, and criminal mischief over $200.

If you have any information in this case or are a victim who has yet to report the crime, contact Apalachicola Police Chief Bobby Varnes at (850) 370-6050.

Photo taken from Hill’s MySpace page