Please see this op ed, which supposedly was published in Defuniak Springs Herald Today. It has been submitted to NWF Daily News as well.

Private Toll Road Won't Benefit Public

By Linda Young
Director
Clean Water Network of Florida

News that a private company wants to “help” Walton County by widening U.S. 331 and the Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge should give citizens pause.

This private company wants to turn U.S. 331 into a widened private toll road. That means motorists would be at the mercy of largely unregulated price increases to use a road and bay bridge they now drive on for free.

The proposal comes from a company founded by Denver Stutler, who served as Gov. Jeb Bush’s chief of staff and then as Bush’s Department of Transportation secretary. Stutler’s company approached the Northwest Florida Transportation Corridor Authority Feb. 17 with an “unsolicited proposal” to “design, build, operate, and finance transportation facilities which will provide additional capacity for U.S. 331 in Walton County.”

It is curious how this proposal just popped up out of nowhere. Developer Jay Odom, whose 3,000-acre Hammock Bay development in Freeport would benefit from a pricey new road, was quoted in the Northwest Daily News as saying “In my book, this is a stimulus package. It’s a half-billion-dollar stimulus that’s not reliant on federal dollars.”

Really? A quick look at Florida DOT...

I'm going to jump right in, so follow along.

Fighting to maintain status quo planning regulations, for fear of losing one's personal property rights, often results in the rights of others being suppressed. When one group clamors to maintain the current planning regulations, they essentially reduce everyone's choices for housing, employment, transportation, and sustainable living. With the proposed EAR amendments, Walton County has found itself at a crossroads; it has the opportunity to explore other ways of doing things, or stay the path for fear of the unknown. The Planning Commission is open to and needs community suggestions. The Planning Department is doing the best they can with the tools they have available to them, and the NIMBY's and 's abound. Now, there's a new acronym to chew on.

So what does all this mean? What it means is that the current Comprehensive Development Plan and Land Use Development Code are written in favor of planning elements that encourage people to spread out across the land, removed from essential services with very little rhyme or reason. What's wrong with that? What's wrong with that is that not everyone favors this type of living arrangement and it greatly reduces the opportunity for other living arrangements. This type of regulation was fine when very few people actually lived here, though with higher population and more need for employment and services, spreading everyone across the land like peanut butter eats...

I understand the ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated Dock in Inlet Beach is scheduled for January 6, 2009. Our family will be glad to know we have access to Lake Powell and can get in and out with our funyaks. I love Walton County and appreciate David Sell, Beach Maintenance Manager and everyone's hard work putting that dock back into useable order. I can't wait for spring.

Walton county residents take advantage of County’s recycling programs



The Walton County Blue Bag trash is placed on this conveyor belt called "Dirty Murph," where inmates pick through for recyclables and blue bags. Photo by Chris Mitchell,Walton county PIO

With more and more interest and concern for our environment, more people than ever have decided to become a part of a greener planet by recycling their household waste.
Walton County does not have a forced recycling program. However, many are taking advantage of what options are available, and taking the time to recycle.
Local resident Chandra Hartman and her household have reduced the amount of trash tremendously by being conscience about usage and disposal of their trash.
“I typically have one small garbage bag of waste a week and one bag of recyclables for a family of three. I’m working on reducing this even further because if we don’t make the trash in the first place, we don’t have to worry about how to dispose of it later,” Chandra stated.
“I compost and vermicompost all food scraps, shredded office paper, and newspaper. All non-shiny cardboard is used in the garden for sheet mulching. Glass, plastic, and cans are put in the recycle bin. I typically have one small garbage bag of waste a week and one bag of recyclables,” Chandra explains.
With a little effort,...

I voted yesterday at the annex and I'm glad to get it over with. I'm happy with my choices and didn't want to fight the craziness of the Tuesday. Present outside the polling place were the Dems with the Big Blue Bus and the republicans with a big blue tent. There was a cutout of Obama in front of the Bus but the mccain that I've seen at the victory center was nowhere to be seen. I went over to say hello to the guys manning the blue tent and offered a little levity with the suggestion that it would be kind of fun to get our two carbboard guys and place then side by side on the annex steps as if they had met there.

There were two men working the tent, a younger, affable fellow, and older, surly looking guy who looked like his nose had been on the losing end of a fistfight(s), acne, or something else. The younger guy indicated that we'd need to wait till 4:30 when the polls closed. I realized my gaffe and agreed. The old guy indicated that we should separate them on the stairs and anyone who came out and went to the Obama one "we should shoot them". Needless to say, I was taken aback, and indicated to the ugly guy that he had just assaulted me. He then proceeded to ask me if I liked to hunt. No. Do I like to Fish? No. I think these were qualifiers of why in his mind I was voting for Obama.

The younger fellow asked why I had made a decision to vote Obama, and I indicated that ever since I have been of voting age, we have been presented with a...