Two signature events for our area return stronger than ever this weekend with a record field for Sherman Invitational and 100th anniversary of regatta.
Florida, as a whole, is in step with the rest of the country with its 22.7% fully vaccinated rate.
The troubling news is that in northern Florida, the counties closest to Georgia and Alabama stretching across the state from Pensacola to the Atlantic Ocean, the rate of fully vaccinated people takes a nosedive.
Of the 10 counties lying directly south of Alabama, nine are doing worse than the rest of the state and are on par with their northern neighbor. Walton County is the exception with a rate of 20.3%, still below the statewide average.
And if one draws a line east from the Panama City Marina, and includes Franklin County, it would cross or be south of the 20 counties closest to Georgia.
The News Herald Editorial Board
Talk is cheap and seeing is believing. But anyone who viewed the aftermath of Hurricane Michael at Tyndall Air Force Base and the Panama City Marina 2½ years ago should be forgiven if they find two of this week’s major news stories hard to believe.
“Tyndall officially getting 3 new F-35 squadrons,” was the bold headline taking center stage in Wednesday’s News Herald.
“It’s finally happening! read the headline on Thursday s front page over the story on the ground-breaking for the long-awaited $30M Panama City Marina hotel.
After Hurricane Michael essentially destroyed or rendered unusable just about anything useful at Tyndall, many residents and community leaders feared it might not be rebuilt. The base that had survived so many BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) exercises, was a major part of the county’s economy, and served as home to fighter jet training for the Air Forces’ best, was in danger.