Save energy and save money on your power bill

Debbie Roney Smith on

Saving money on our power bills is always a great thing. As the new year begins here are a few ideas to help save money and energy.  January is usually the coldest month we have here in the panhandle and normally 50% of your power bill is heating and cooling costs.

~Let the sunshine in: for additional warmth, open drapes over windows that receive sunlight during the day. Close them at night, which can reduce heat loss from a warm room by 10%.

~Limit energy use during peak times. In the summer that is 2pm to 7pm and in the winter it is 5am to 9am. During those hours, adjust your thermostat for maximum energy efficiency, avoid washing or drying clothes, delay baths to conserve hot water, and run the dishwasher later.

~Slow cookers use less electricity than an electric oven does. So try some great crock pot meals and if you have a really great one please share by emailing it to debson1999@gmail.com with blog in the subject line. Who knows you may get a special gift from me!

~An average household uses around 45 to 60 gallons of water per day. To reduce energy usage and protect against scalding, set your water heater to no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

~Seal air leaks: caulk around the fireplace hearth and caulk or weather strip around doors and windows.

~Protect your pipes: wrap exposed pipes and water heaters that are in unconditioned spaces.

 

Applications for tax exemptions due by March 2nd in Jackson County

Debbie Roney Smith on

A reminder to the homeowners of Jackson County who have moved, bought or built a home, or/and placed a mobile home on their property in 2019: Make a new application for Homestead Exemption in 2020. A mobile home must be declared as real property by the owner(s) in the Jackson County Property Appraiser’s office to be assessed on the tax roll.

Property owners must reside on their property as of Jan. 1 to be eligible for Homestead Exemption. In order to qualify for Homestead Exemption, the property owner(s) will need a current Florida driver’s license or Florida ID card, Florida car registration and if the owner(s) vote, a Jackson County voter ID card in the precinct where they live. These documents should reflect your current address and be dated prior to Jan. 1, 2020. This information, along with a Social Security number, is required for all owners who live on the property.

If you have any questions concerning the requirements, please feel free to call the Jackson County Property Appraiser’s office at 850-482-9646. They are accepting applications Jan. 2-March 2. Receiving this exemption saves you on your tax dollars.

Remember: January and February of each year is the period of time to apply for any type of tax exemption. Other than Homestead, there is Widow or Widower’s Exemption, additional Homestead Exemption for senior citizens, various disability exemptions, including the disabled first responder, church/non-profit exemptions and veterans’ exemptions (if you are a disabled service-connected veteran and are not receiving this exemption, please contact them). Also, there are benefits for the surviving spouse of a veteran and/or first responder. A deployed service member with Homestead Exemption may qualify for an additional exemption if deployed for a named operation outside the United States during 2019. Please contact the Appraiser’s office immediately for information on any tax exemption a property owner may qualify for. They will assist you with any benefits available to you through the Property Appraiser’s Office allowed by state laws. They want to help you with any tax exemption you are entitled to. Property owners who acquired agriculture land in 2019 should also make a new application in 2020 for the agricultural classification, if it is bona fide agricultural property.

*Information above from Rebecca Morris-Haid Jackson County Property Appraiser Jan 3, 2020.

 

 

1/7/20 OR 1/7/2020? Which is safer?

Debbie Roney Smith on

As we are all getting used to writing the date for the new year, keep the following in mind!

We have a decade of having to write 20_ _. May as well be safe and start writing it out from the beginning. Authorities are warning that shortening “2020” to just “20” when writing the date could leave you vulnerable to fraud. Instead of abbreviating, just write out the whole date as it keeps scammers from forging the date on documents and paperwork. Some may be skeptical of this issue but for example, if there’s a stale check laying around that’s dated 1/7/20, someone could find it and easily alter the date to 1/7/2021. Just like that, the check is no longer stale. The same can be done with any contract. If you sign a credit contract and date it 1/7/20, the lender could easily add “19” to the end of that date and claim you owe more than a year’s worth of payments. In either situation, the result is not something very pleasant for the one who abbreviated the date. In the end, as a safety precaution to your bank account, credit, and everything else super important – write out the whole date. There’s no evidence of this type of scamming yet but better to be safe than sorry, and it likely won’t be much longer until someone tries the trick.

January is Move Over Month

Debbie Roney Smith on

January is “Move Over” month in Florida, a way to remind people to move over to a different lane for stopped emergency and service vehicles.
The move over law was created in 2002 and is meant to keep people safe and from hitting emergency vehicles who are pulled over. This law includes tow trucks, road rangers, and sanitation vehicles. When you see a stopped emergency or service vehicle, you must safely move to the furthest lane from the stopped cars and use your turn signal. If you’re unable to switch lanes, you must slow to a speed that is 20 miles per hour less than the posted speed limit. If you don’t follow these rules, you will be pulled over and it will result in a fine and points on your driving record.

If you can’t move over, slow down! The side of the road is one of the most dangerous places for police, state troopers, emergency responders and maintenance personnel. Hundreds of people are hurt or killed while working along the highway every year. Traffic incidents are the number one cause of law enforcement deaths, according the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Move over laws exist in every state. Some states include service vehicles and tow trucks while others do not. When traveling it is best to assume that any vehicle with flashing lights is protected by the move over laws.

Escape Room in Marianna

Debbie Roney Smith on

Escape Marianna is located at 2915 Jefferson Street in Marianna. You can contact them at: Email: escapemarianna@gmail.com or Tel: 850 317 6107. They are open: Monday – Thursday 10am – 7pm, Friday 10am – 11pm, Saturday 10am – 11pm, Sunday 1pm – 7pm.

What is an escape room?
An escape room is a real life game where players are placed in a room and must work together to solve a series of challenging puzzles and brain teasers. …but there’s a trick. Players only have 60 minutes to complete the challenge! The only way to win, or escape, is to solve all of the puzzles before time runs out! Are you ready??

You Are Locked In
You will bring nothing in, but the escape room will be filled with useful and sometimes irrelevant objects.

The Clock Is Ticking…
Can you puzzle your way to the intriguing conclusion and escape the room in 60 minutes?

Feel The Atmosphere
The rooms are built to create an authentic experience with a fun atmosphere, strict attention to detail.

Jan 4th~yard sale

Debbie Roney Smith on

Multi-family yard sale to start the New Year off. Someone cleaning and organizing is a great chance for you to get some good bargains. Saturday, Jan 4th starting at 7am at the Shiver’s Florist parking lot located at 17294 NW Charlie Johns St in Blountstown. The sale includes toddler toys, décor, furniture, household good, clothes for woman, men, and kids, and much more.

National Bacon Day

Debbie Roney Smith on

Today is National Bacon Day and that for sure deserves it’s own blog! National Bacon Day is an unofficial U.S holiday which falls on December 30th and is celebrated on an annual basis. The purpose of this holiday is to celebrate that tasty morsel of cured pork belly that is commonly known today as bacon. Everything goes better with bacon, so they say. Of course, no two types of bacon are the same and there’s a significant difference between the various types. For instance, Canadian Bacon is made from the back of the pig and looks quite similar to American ham. Irish bacon is also made from the back of the pig, but it is generally sliced thicker. American bacon is made from the fattier belly of the pig and then there is speck – an Italian bacon which is from the legs of the pig and is cured with various spices which include juniper, garlic, nutmeg, and salt. And that’s just the tip of the pig, so to speak. Other types of bacon are made nowadays and not all of them come from pig meat. Some of the more popular forms of bacon include duck bacon, gypsy bacon, slab bacon, pepper bacon, elk bacon, lamb and beef bacon, venison bacon, turkey bacon and soy protein bacon. However, not all bacon enthusiasts agree that these types of bacon are bacon at all.

A few bacon things you may not know:

~A bust of Kevin Bacon was once made from Bacon
~Bacon & Eggs are eaten together 71% of the time
~A 250 pound pig will yield approximately 23 pounds of bacon
~53% of American homes keep bacon on hand at all times
~New York And Los Angeles are the top American consumers of bacon
~The average American eats 18 pounds of bacon a year
~Bacon grease was used to make explosives during WWII

New Year’s Eve Free Event

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Tallahassee’s Downtown Improvement Authority is hosting a free New Year’s Eve event Tuesday in Cascades Park. The event is being presented by Visit Tallahassee, a division of Leon County. iHeartMedia will emcee the event on the Capital City Amphitheater Stage. The City of Tallahassee will sponsor two fireworks shows. Two local bands will play during the event: The Fried Turkeys, will take the stage for some musical fun, and the headliner for the evening, Tallahassee Nights Live, will close out the evening of music. Tallahassee Nights Live’s talent, energy and diverse musical genres will delight multiple generations of music fans. In addition to fireworks and musical entertainment, many family-friendly activities and food trucks will be on hand to offer fun, quell everyone’s hunger pangs and provide beverages, including beer. All alcohol sales at the event go to support local nonprofit the Downtown Business Association. All of Cascade Park’s amenities will be available, including the Discovery playground. Attendees are welcome to bring their own food and drinks. The events are open to all ages: no tickets or advance registrations is required. There is ample parking at and around Cascades Park; the free Downtown Trolley will also be available for patrons The event will wrap up at 10 p.m., but patrons can continue to enjoy the evening downtown with several restaurants hosting parties with no cover charge. College Town will have free fireworks at midnight.

National Card Playing Day~December 28th

Debbie Roney Smith on

National Card Playing Day is an annual event, observed every year on December 28.

National Card Playing Day on December 28th encourages us to invite our friends to deal out a hand and play a game or two.
In the 9th century, the Chinese began developing games using money and other paper objects. These early playing cards bear no resemblance to the sturdier European playing cards that emerged a few centuries later. Card games spread around the world in a variety of shapes and styles.
A standard pack of cards may be used for playing a variety of card games, with varying elements of skill and chance, some of which are played for money. Some of the top card games include Spades, Poker, Solitaire, Spite and Malice, Hearts, Spoons, Gin Rummy, Ridge, Black Jack and Texas Hold’em. Of course, there are thousands of card games, some of which are regional favorites.

HOW TO OBSERVE…  #CardPlayingDay
What’s your favorite card game? There’s so many to play. Get playing and show your hand using #CardPlayingDay to post on social media.

Did You Know…
…that the earliest known records of playing cards exist from the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty in China?

Have You Heard About Fayette?

Debbie Roney Smith on
Excerpt of a map showing the new shape of Fayette County in 1833.

There are 67 counties in Florida but only one county was ever completely erased off the map; Fayette County in the Florida Panhandle. Fayette County was established on February 9, 1832 after a majority of the members of Jackson County, in which it presided, agreed to the split. However, the county was doomed to fail. The boundaries were never specified and many people were up-in-arms about having to switch counties, going so far as to continue voting as if they lived in Jackson County instead of Fayette. Half the population, half the territory, and two thirds of the wealth had gone back to Jackson County in 1833 which made people very upset. In 1834, a petition was signed pleading for the counties boundaries to be changed or for it to be dissolved completely. In the end, the county disappeared.