Developers eye St. George Island resort and marina
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Developers eye St. George Island resort and marina

EDITOR’S NOTE — THIS REPORT HAS BEEN UPDATED FROM AN EARLIER VERSION TO REMOVE AN INACCURATE STATEMENT REFERENCING BUSINESS INVOLVEMENTS IN FRANKLIN COUNTY OF AN UNRELATED COMPANY, EDGEWATER GROUP LLC, A feasibility study for a waterfront resort development on St. George Island, complete with marina, has begun to attract attention around the county, although a…

County jobless rate third best in state
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County jobless rate third best in state

The Franklin County unemployment rate stayed unchanged in June, and that meant it now has the third lowest jobless rate in Florida. According to data released last week by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the county’s jobless rate remained at 2.5 percent last month, as the labor force increased to 5,099, which is 97…

DEP gives go-ahead to proposed marina
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DEP gives go-ahead to proposed marina

In a major step forward for the so-called “Boss Oyster Marina,” the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Monday served notice to the developers that they intend to grant both an Environmental Resource Permit and a lease to use sovereign submerged lands to the project. The word came in a July 17 report issued by…

Apalachicola OKs Gibson Inn encroachment
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Apalachicola OKs Gibson Inn encroachment

A sharply divided Apalachicola city commission has granted the Gibson Inn an encroachment to enable its addition, now under construction, to put in second floor balconies that extend into the city’s “air space” right-of-way up to or over the sidewalks along Market Street and Avenue D. At a special meeting June 20, the commission approved…

White Sands buys shuttered Gulfside IGA
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White Sands buys shuttered Gulfside IGA

Nearly five years after it was closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, the Gulfside IGA has been sold to the investors who own the Gibson Inn, the Best Western Apalach Inn and other hospitality-related properties. The deal closed June 13, with the property at 425 Highway 98 in Apalachicola being sold by Gibbs &…

Gibson Inn expansion faces encroachment issue
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Gibson Inn expansion faces encroachment issue

There’s going to be a lot of workshops next week for the Apalachicola city commission, and chief among them will be the review of an encroachment matter affecting the construction of the Gibson Inn expansion on Market Street and U.S. 98. The matter surfaced at the June 6 meeting, when it came time for the…

Developer purchases Carrabelle Church of God
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Developer purchases Carrabelle Church of God

It’s been vacant for more than a year, a long-standing church in Carrabelle with a once vibrant congregation, and the denomination hated to part with it. But last month, the state organization decided it was time to sell the Carrabelle Church of God and its 2.5-acre site. On May 22, the sale of the church…

Izzy opens her cafe
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Izzy opens her cafe

Following a whirlwind soft opening last month, the new Izzy’s Cafe, owned by Isabel Pateritsas, marked a grand opening June 5 with a ribbon cutting by the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce. A descendent of the Nichols’ family, known for their stewardship of the Owl Cafe in its early years, Pateritsas, shown snipping the ribbon…

County wrestles with housing issues
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County wrestles with housing issues

A workshop last week to address the growing presence of travel trailers, RVs and mobile homes – amidst neighborhoods where homes are growing in price and shrinking in availability – brought into sharp focus one of the thorniest issues county commissioners now have to face. How do you preserve safe neighborhoods, where people adhere to…