RSVP today for Teacher of the Year banquet
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RSVP today for Teacher of the Year banquet

The Franklin Education Foundation is inviting the community to thefourth annual Franklin County Education Banquet on Thursday, April 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Franklin County School Cafetorium. The banquet will honor the 2022-23 retirees, Rookie of the Year, School-Related Employee of the Year and Teacher of the Year. The banquet is free to honorees,…

Alligator Point to get new firehouse
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Alligator Point to get new firehouse

On a bluff overlooking Alligator Harbor, the Alligator Point St. Teresa Volunteer Fire Department celebrated a pair of successes Saturday afternoon, one made of brick, the other made of flesh and blood.In terms of concrete, the event was the groundbreaking for a new professionally-built fire station, to be located on the highest land on the…

Drugs pervade red drum in bay
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Drugs pervade red drum in bay

Most everyone who takes to the Apalachicola Bay waters knows boating under the influence can be a serious problem. But how many have stopped to think that the fish themselves might have a substance abuse issue as well?  A study released last week by Florida International University’s Coastal Fisheries Research Lab found that among the…

Florida drops concealed weapons permitting
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Florida drops concealed weapons permitting

Both members of Franklin County’s legislative delegation supported the legislation, signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, that will allow Floridians to carry guns without concealed-weapons licenses.  State Sen. Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee) was among the 27 yeas, to 13 Democratic nays, that gave final approval to House Bill 543, about a week after State Rep. Jason…

African American women’s clubs once flourished in Apalachicola
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African American women’s clubs once flourished in Apalachicola

An English professor at the University of South Florida has shed fresh light on the history of Apalachicola’s African American women’s clubs in the early 20th century. At a well-attended talk March 16 at the Apalachicola Margaret Key Library, presented by the PALS friends of the library group, Dr. Cynthia Patterson drew on a 2019…

Plein air ‘paint out’ captures county’s beauty
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Plein air ‘paint out’ captures county’s beauty

There were few if any pictures of working oystermen in the collection this year, as Apalachicola Bay remains closed. But that certainly didn’t mean that the vibrancy of the county’s people, young and old, and its rich legacy and future promise were captured in oil paints, watercolor and pastels. The 18th annual Forgotten Coast en…