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SGI ‘skinny dipping’ led to FBI agent’s arrest

A “skinny dipping” incident on St. George Island two summers ago figures into a multi-state, multi-jurisdictional case being made against a former FBI supervisory special agent on charges of indecent exposure in front of juveniles. In an Aug. 22 news release, Sheriff AJ Smith said a warrant for the arrest of David Lee Harris, 51,…

Chestnut Cemetery among state’s finest

Apalachicola’s Chestnut Cemetery has a collection of some of the finest hand-carved headstones in the state, worthy of preservation and presentation. In an April talk as part of the Apalachicola Area Historical Society’s speaker series, Margo Stringfield, an expert from Pensacola’s University of West Florida on the state’s historic cemeteries, engaged the audience at the…

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Unemployment drops, but labor force shrinks

The size of Franklin County’s labor force shrank, even as the unemployment picture improved slightly in July. According to preliminary numbers released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July was at 4.4 percent, two-tenths of 1 percentage point below the June rate of 4.6 percent. This…

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ABC School opens strong

With a handful of new teachers, maximum enrollment and standardized test results that stayed largely steady during what was a down year throughout the state, the Apalachicola Bay Charter School opened the school year with the wind at its back. Now if it can just keep COVID-19 from wafting into nostrils. Quarantine requirements have sidelined…

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Alligator Point flourishes under new neighborhood leadership

It’s not your father’s taxpayers’ association anymore. In fact, the Alligator Point St. Teresa Association is blossoming, having ventured out with a rejuvenated outreach to the community. A July 4 catered affair for members at Kay McCord’s home at Mariner Circle not only celebrated the nation’s independence, but the newfound independence of the association. In…

Franklin County Proud!

It was an afternoon of Franklin County Proud of its All-Star teams, from its littlest Darlings to the Team Florida boys to the older traveling ball Sandlot squad. In a spirited parade Sunday afternoon through the streets of Apalachicola, led by Police Chief Bobby Varnes, with the ballplayers riding high atop the Apalachicola fire trucks…