Category: Misc.

In Jackson County, Florida Highway Patrol has seen two fatal accidents involving deer in the last two months. Troopers say car crashes with deer or animals are common in Northwest Florida. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about one million car accidents involving deer happen each year, killing about 200 people. In Washington County alone, troopers say one in six accidents involve hitting an animal.

Drivers should be aware and attentive when driving where deer are known to cross. “If you’re driving on a four-lane highway, then I would recommend that you stay on the inside lane as opposed to the outside lane if you’re in a rural area where you think you might encounter deer. I would recommend you don’t do anything to startle the deer,” said Lieutenant Robert Cannon, the public affairs officer for the Florida Highway Patrol.
And when asked what if the worst happens and a deer does run in front of your car? Lieutenant Cannon said “Honestly what I would recommend is that you don’t brake, you continue to drive through the deer. Your safety comes ahead of the animal.”

Below are 7 tips to help you know what to do when driving and a deer comes in contact with your vehicle or trying to avoid a deer contacting your vehicle.

1.If a collision is inevitable, if you get the proverbial “deer in the headlights” look from a deer and you know you can’t stop, plow through without hitting the brakes. It is intuitive to want to stop, but often at highway speeds, it cannot be done. Braking will dip the front end of the vehicle and increase the chances the deer will come up the hood and through the windshield. 2. Pay attention to deer crossing signs. 3. Stay alert if you spot a deer. Deer tend to travel in packs – so if you see one deer, slow down and proceed with caution. Even if you spot a deer on the side of the road or surrounding areas, remember that there could be others about to cross your path. 4.Don’t be afraid to use your horn. Animals have a tendency to run when you really lay on your horn, which can often make them get in gear and move.  5. Don’t swerve to avoid hitting a deer. Do not swerve to avoid a deer collision. By swerving you put yourself at risk for a worse collision with another vehicle or running off the road. Swerving often leads to hitting a fixed object, especially a tree. 6. Get comprehensive coverage for your car. Did you know that physical damage to your car as a result of something other than a collision with another vehicle might not be covered by standard car insurance? With comprehensive car insurance, you will receive additional coverage and protection for car accidents involving animals. 7.Be cautious while driving during dusk or dawn. Deer are most active during sunrise and sunset. Ensure that you and your passengers are wearing seat belts at all times, even in the back seat, just in case you have to make a sudden stop. Use your high-beam headlights when there are no oncoming cars. Deer are hard to see early in the morning and at dusk, your bright lights will help pick up a deer’s eye to give you advanced warning time.

Drive safe!

This year February has 29 days rather than 28. It’s what is known as a leap year. Do you know why leap years exist? Because it takes the Earth 365.24 days to orbit the sun. That time adds up! So to keep the calendar right we have leap years!

Leap years are years where an extra, or intercalary, day is added to the end of the shortest month, February. The intercalary day, February 29, is commonly referred to as leap day. Leap years have 366 days instead of the usual 365 days and occur almost every four years.

Leap years in the western calendar were first introduced over 2000 years ago by Roman general Julius Caesar. The Julian calendar, which was named after him, had only one rule: any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. This formula produced too many leap years, causing the Julian calendar to drift apart from the tropical year at a rate of 1 day per 128 years. This was not corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar more than 1500 years later, when a number of days were skipped to realign our calendar with the seasons.

There is an official Leap Day cocktail and it’s called…the Leap Day Cocktail! This colorful cousin of the martini was invented by pioneering bartender Harry Craddock at London’s Savoy Hotel in 1928. According to the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, “It is said to have been responsible for more proposals than any other cocktail ever mixed”. Whether or not you’re in the market for a freshly soused spouse, you can make your own Leap Day cocktail with Craddock’s original recipe:
1 dash lemon juice
2/3 gin
1/6 Grand Marnier
1/6 sweet vermouth
Shake, serve, garnish with a lemon peel, and enjoy the flood of bittersweet flavors. It’s like a marriage, in your mouth!

Safety tip from the power company:

If your equipment makes contact with an energized or downed power line, contact your power company immediately by phone and remain inside the vehicle until the power line is de-energized. In case of smoke or fire, exit the cab by making a solid jump out of the cab, without touching it at the same time, and hop away to safety.

Be sure to put your power companies phone number into your phone so that you always have.

 

Register to vote or update your registration by visiting RegistertoVoteFlorida.gov. If you find that you still have questions after reviewing the information on their website, you can contact them via telephone at (850)482-9652 or via email at email@jacksoncountysoe.org.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020–Books Close for March 17th Presidential Preference Primary. All new registrations and updates to party affiliations must be received in there office or postmarked by Feb. 18th. The deadline to register to vote is 29 days before any election. You may update your registration at any time, but for a Primary Election, party changes must be completed 29 days before that election. That is going to be February 18th for the next voting. For each election, Early Voting will be held at the following locations:
*Supervisor of Elections Office
2851 Jefferson Street, Marianna
*Graceville City Hall
5348 Cliff Street, Graceville
*Sneads City Hall
2028 Third Avenue, Sneads

Presidential Preference Primary will be–
March 17,2020
Books Close for New Registrations and Party Changes–February 18,2020
Early Voting Dates and Times:
Saturday, March 7– 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m
Sunday, March 8– 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Mon-Sat, March 9-March 14– 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

As of 2/9/20 Active registered voters in Jackson County.

Democrats:13,569
Republicans:11,520
Others:3,298
Total:28,387

What is up with this weather? FPU and WFEC have both reported thousands in the area with no power. Reminders from WFEC to stay safe and NEVER approach a downed power line. There are currently downed lines throughout the service area. Use caution when traveling.

As of 2 hours ago WFEC had over 5000 customers without power. For more information contact Candace Croft, croft@westflorida.coop or Terry Mullen, tmullen@westflorida.coop – As of 1:00 p.m. approximately 5,800 West Florida Electric Cooperative (WFEC) members across our four-county service area are without power. The majority of those are in Jackson & Calhoun Counties. Line crews are battling the elements and working to make repairs as quickly but safely as possible in these conditions. Approximately 2,800 members served by the Altha substation could experience lengthy outage times today. PowerSouth’s mobile substation is en route to assist in that area. We encourage those members to take the necessary steps to ensure their health and well-being until power can be restored. West Florida Electric members can monitor restoration efforts on the co-op’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/wfeca), website (westflorida.coop), mobile app and online outage map located on the website. To report outages, please call 844-688-2431 (844-OUTAGE1). *This information came from the WFEC FB page.*

To report power outages with FPU you can contact them at 800-427-7712.

 

Stay safe out there!

Since his first prediction in 1887 through this year, Phil has seen his shadow 104 times, while he has failed to spot it on just 20 occasions. Ten years are missing from the record, but Phil has issued forecasts without exception. It is the second year in a row Phil has not seen his shadow and the first time on record in consecutive years.

This year just after 7:25 a.m. Sunday, with a record crowd on hand to witness the spectacle, Phil emerged from his den in Punxsutawney, Pa., amid a steady light snow and temperatures near 30 degrees. The marmot did not see his shadow, signifying early spring, according to folklore. Had he spotted his shadow, it would have meant six more weeks of winter.

The origins of Groundhog Day are traced to the 1700s when German settlers arrived in the United States, bringing a tradition known as Candlemas Day, a celebration of the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox. About a century later, it was reimagined as Groundhog Day.

Groundhog Day this year takes on extra significance as the digits of its date make up the palindrome: 02/02/2020. As a palindrome is a sequence that reads the same way backward and forward, perhaps it means Phil can’t be wrong this year. Time will tell. The track record of Phil’s more recent predictions, however, is a disaster. In each of the last three years, the furry critter has missed the mark. See the photo for full details.

Groundhog Day this year also coincides with the Super Bowl. This is only the second time Super Bowl Sunday has fallen on Feb. 2. The last time was in 2014. On that day, Phil saw his shadow, and the Seattle Seahawks routed the Denver Broncos, 43-8. Phil’s prediction for six more weeks of winter that year was spot on, as brutally cold and snowy weather lasted well into March.

U-Haul has ranked the top 50 growth states of 2019, with Florida boasting the largest net gain of one-way U-Haul truck customers to establish a new No. 1 growth state for the first time in four years.

Growth States are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a state versus leaving that state during a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 2 million one-way U-Haul truck-sharing transactions that occur annually.

Florida greeted the largest number of U-Haul moving trucks entering its borders versus exiting them, establishing a new Number 1 growth state for the first time in four years. Florida, which ranked second to Texas from 2016-18, bested the Lone Star State for growth this past year, according to U-Haul data analyzing US migration trends for 2019.

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.

 

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.

 

 

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.