About 15 percent of county residents without power
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About 15 percent of county residents without power

As of 11:30 p.m. ET, about 3,500 customers in Franklin County are without power. According to FindEnergy.com, an independent organization with no utility or consumer advocacy influence, 3,516 out of 22,756 tracked meters, or roughly 15.4%, were without power in Franklin County. The outages were for customers of Duke Energy, which serves 11,403 customers in…

UPDATE: Helene makes landfall as Cat 4
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UPDATE: Helene makes landfall as Cat 4

At about 11:10 p.m., Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane came ashore just east of the mouth of the Aucilla River, about 10 miles west-southwest of Perry, “Even with the shift, the eastern end of the county is still expected to get a very…

Weems places publicly available defibrillator downtown
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Weems places publicly available defibrillator downtown

Prompted by the recent death of an Apalachicola man on a downtown street due to a cardiac event, the Weems HealthCare Foundation has invested in community safety by strategically placing the first of what it hopes will be a series of automated external defibrillators in public locations throughout the county.  The first AED was unveiled…

Choral society begins rehearsals for Christmas concerts
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Choral society begins rehearsals for Christmas concerts

The Bay Area Choral Society has begun rehearsing for their 2024-25 season.  The Christmas concert this year will be on Friday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m. ET at First United Methodist Church of Port St. Joe, and Sunday, Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church in Apalachicola.  One of the featured pieces of…

Rainfall leads to road closures
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Rainfall leads to road closures

Hi Y’all,  As the first day of autumn is almost here, our calendars will begin filling up. Lanark will start this season with clean beach accesses, thanks to the eight volunteers who were out on the beach early Saturday morning. Great news! The beach and water access were cleaner with less trash and debris this…

The complexity of Medicare open enrollment
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The complexity of Medicare open enrollment

Medicare open enrollment period is fast approaching. This year, the window opens on Oct. 15 and closes on Dec. 7. Per Medicare.gov, there are actually five different enrollment periods. The first is the initial enrollment period for people who are new to Medicare. This period starts three months before you get Medicare and ends three…

Young artists sought for state’s Fish Art Contest
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Young artists sought for state’s Fish Art Contest

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in partnership with Wildlife Forever, is hosting the 2024-25 Art of Conservation Fish Art Contest.  The annual program invites youth from around the world to connect with nature and learn about fish and aquatic habitats while exploring creative art and writing. Since its founding in 1997, the contest…

Teacher salaries at crux of school tax measures
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Teacher salaries at crux of school tax measures

Amidst the heightened attention on the presidential choice on the Nov. 5 ballot, voters in both Franklin and Gulf counties will also have an important decision to make regarding school taxes. In both cases, superintendents are stressing that if voters approve the proposed levies, property taxes will remain unchanged since the school districts are clamping…

Coastal Clean Up to honor Long’s legacy
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Coastal Clean Up to honor Long’s legacy

Each year in Franklin County several tons of trash and debris are removed from its coastline thanks to local volunteers who join the annual International Coastal Clean Up.  Their actions protect water and soil quality and wildlife habitat. It also shields human health, by lessening exposure to toxins and injury. From Apalachicola to Bald Point…