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Because of the global pandemic and economic recession that took over most of 2020, Navarre Beach, like many tourist destinations, saw its tourism tax revenues plummet in March, April and May as beaches shut down and uncertainty about the coronavirus crippled vacation markets globally.
But curiously, by the end of the year Navarre Beach was bucking the trend seen throughout much of the rest of the Panhandle its tourism tax revenue was up almost 27% in October and 55% in November, a surge that helped soften the downturn seen at the beginning of the pandemic.
“We lost our money in March, April and May, but we still came in at $3.5 million for the whole year, which is only $400,000 less than the year prior,” Santa Rosa County tourism director Julie White said in an interview with the News Journal on Wednesday. “We would have made way over ($3.5 million) if we hadn’t been shut down in March, April and May, so we would have had a record-breaking year, over $4 million
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Presented by Ocean Conservancy
Good Wednesday morning. This is the last Florida Playbook of the year.
The daily rundown Between Sunday and Monday, the number of Florida coronavirus cases increased by 10,434 (nearly 0.9 percent), to 1,223,015; active hospitalizations went up by 123 (2.2 percent) to 5,634; deaths rose by 74 (0.3 percent) to 20,754.
The petition, which is being signed in-person during the pandemic, so far has a few hundred signatures, and organizers said they hope to get a thousand. Larry Hetu, a Gulf Breeze resident, is helping to get the petition around and said the cause could have important long-term implications for Santa Rosa County.
“We think this can establish ourselves as being the destination for conservative persons and patriots,” Hetu said.
Newly installed Commissioner James Calkins so far is the only board member to enthusiastically support the renaming, calling it a “great idea.”
“There are lots of things named around the country after presidents, and this area, Santa Rosa County, voted for Donald Trump very strongly,” Calkins told the News Journal on Monday. “I think it’s a fantastic idea and it would be good for our county. After this was brought up, I talked to multiple business owners, multiple people, and I’m getting enthusiastic support for it.”
Credit Jennie McKeon/WUWF Public Media
A group of Santa Rosa County residents want to rename the Navarre Beach Causeway after President Donald Trump.
During the public forum at the Dec. 10 Santa Rosa County Commissioners meeting, resident Sam Mullins asked the board to consider discussing the idea of renaming the bridge and even voting on it at the next meeting in January, which the board decided against.
“I’m not prepared to bring this to an agenda item,” said Chairman Dave Piech. “This is a big decision on a bridge that needs to be replaced in the next eight to 10 years. I’m not closing the door to it … but I personally feel this county has a lot more issues to deal with right now.”