Chillas to open for Christmas Day covered dish
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Chillas to open for Christmas Day covered dish

Hi Y’all,  I forgot to ask Santa for warm weather and look what I got. What I did get instead was warm hearts and warm hugs being with my family. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Being in Lanark means to me being able to reach out to all types of people with helping…

‘Young eagles’ take flight with EAA
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‘Young eagles’ take flight with EAA

Six pilots in the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association earlier this month lifted off in their respective plane from the Apalachicola Regional Airport with precious cargo. Inside their respective planes were 30 young people, including several from Franklin and Gulf counties, who as part of the Young Eagles program on Dec. 14 were…

Dispatch from Cuba: Prayers from a paused land
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Dispatch from Cuba: Prayers from a paused land

Editor’s Note: Apalachicola photojournalist Richard Bickel last month completed his 15th trip to Cuba on the heels of two hurricanes, an earthquake and a national power grid failure. He said conditions were the worst that he’s seen in his 30 years of travel to the communist island. In the far-flung fishing village of Puerto Esperanza…

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SGI lot owners sue to limit beachfront use

A handful of residents of the Plantation gated community on St. George Island who own property along the Gulf of Mexico are suing their homeowners association in a case that could lead to greater restrictions on who can use portions of the beachfront behind their homes. Attorney William Dunaway, with Clark Partington, a firm with…

Winter wonderland
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Winter wonderland

The Christmas season opened with a breath of fresh air from the North Pole, as temperatures dropped as low as 41 degrees in Apalachicola Friday. But the cold didn’t deter an enormous crowd to gather in Apalachicola’s Riverfront Park in the afternoon for the annual arrival, the day after Thanksgiving, of Santa Claus aboard a…

Weems staff could become county employees
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Weems staff could become county employees

Voicing general support for the idea, Franklin County commissioners signaled earlier this month that they would like to explore whether employees at Weems Memorial Hospital could become county staffers and receive the benefits of the state retirement system. As it stands now, the hospital, while owned by the county, is a separate entity and while…

Red wave sweeps over Forgotten Coast
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Red wave sweeps over Forgotten Coast

Forehand, Cook elected tax collectors If there was any question that Democrats still held a seat at the elected officials’ tables in Franklin and Gulf counties, it was answered last week at the ballot box. Republicans took both of the countywide tax collector spots up for grabs in the two counties, as well as the…

Honoring hometown heroes
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Honoring hometown heroes

As part of the annual Veteran’s Day program Monday morning at the First Baptist Christian School in Apalachicola, these four students offer a song of thanks, and recite Psalm 34:8-13 before the congregation. Pictured from left are second graders Shiloh Harrison and Ava Moore, first grader Kevin Heath and second grader Mason Crosby. Later that…

No injuries reported in school bus collision
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No injuries reported in school bus collision

A busload of 24 students at the Franklin County Schools escaped injury Friday morning, when it was struck by a pair of vehicles drying to pass it just west of Carrabelle. According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, the schoolbus, driven by a 74-year-old Eastpoint man, was traveling west on U.S. 98 near…