Four Okaloosa County High School make Newsweek magazine list
June 24th, 2010Our local school system in Okaloosa County has long been recognized as one of the best in the state!
From the NW Florida Daily News Article by Katie Tammen.
Four Okaloosa County schools made Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools. Niceville, Choctawhatchee, Crestview and Fort 
Walton Beach high schools were all named in the annual ranking.
Only the top 6 percent of all public high schools in the country made the list, which ranks schools based on the prevalence of college preparatory courses — Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Cambridge AICE.
“This particular study, it is saying that we have opened up access; that more courses at higher levels are being offered,” said Niceville High School Principal Linda Smith. “And more students are taking advantage of the higher-level courses.”
Niceville was listed highest in the list at number 131. Choctaw came next at 268, then Crestview at 315, and Fort Walton Beach rounded out the group at 401.
Robin & Michael Fletcher specialize in real estate sales, short sales, traditional sales on Emerald Coast of Florida: Destin Florida real estate, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Dune Allen, Blue Mountain Beach, Freeport, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field. Robin & Michael Fletcher, Real Estate Brokers and Realtors, have participated in over 450 transactions in the last 10 years . FletcherSales Realty lists and sells homes, condos, townhomes & land in Destin FL and the surrounding areas
Sandestin Activates Oil Protection Plan
June 16th, 2010
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort described their plan to protect the beaches at the resort. In a letter to owners, John Russell, President of Sandestin described it this way:
Unfortunately, it appears we have reached the stage in the oil spill that we need to begin to take proactive steps to protect our beach. This evening, the major operations of the community including the SOA, The Hilton, and our own resort met to concept and fund a plan to proactively respond to the threat of oil on our beach. The plan is simple and implementation begins this evening with a voice mail message to all occupied units.
- Wednesday, perhaps as early as 5 am, heavy equipment will be deployed on our beaches to
begin to scrape clean sand from near the waters edge and push it in to mounds far enough removed from the water line to insure the oil does not touch it. - The second step in the plan is to dig a trench approximately 18 inches deep and only several feet wide just above the high water line. This trench will catch oil if, through high winds or tides, the surf should rise above normal levels.
The two steps should insure that oil damage is minimized and that we will have clean sand to replace any sand lost due to oil. Our beach will remain open during this time; work is expected to continue 16 hours a day through the rest of the week. The plan is to be completed before the
weekend. We will start in front of Finz and work outward both east and west. The last portion we will work is in front of the Beach Club. Our operations will continue to serve our guests, including the Beach Concierge and the Tikki Hut.
We will continue to keep watch along the Destin and Sandestin shorelines and report what we are seeing and hearing.
Please call us at 850.837.1388 if you would like to discuss this.
Okaloosa County defies Unified Command over Destin & East Pass plans
June 15th, 2010(Fron the NW Florida Daily News
)
Okaloosa County isn’t taking oil spill orders any more.
County commissioners voted unanimously to give their emergency management team the power to take whatever action it deems necessary to prevent oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from entering Choctawhatchee Bay through the East Pass. Commissioners gave the go-ahead to
- spend $200,000 to pay for an underwater “air curtain” designed to push oil up where it can be collected and $16,500 a day to operate and maintain it.
- deploy barges, weighted so that they’ll sit low in the water across the entrance to the pass.
- look into a slip curtain, another underwater oil-catching device.
Other info:
Booming has already been deployed inside the pass in a chevron formation. The Air Force spill team is working with local officials on this .
We will continue to monitor this situation and present relevant info as it pertain to this area.
Robin & Michael Fletcher specialize in real estate sales, short sales, traditional sales on Emerald Coast of Florida: Destin Florida real estate, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Dune Allen, Blue Mountain Beach, Freeport, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field. Robin & Michael Fletcher, Real Estate Brokers and Realtors, have participated in over 450 transactions in the last 10 years . FletcherSales Realty lists and sells homes, condos, townhomes & land in Destin FL and the surrounding areas
Mortgage rates are back near record low – “Strike now”
May 28th, 2010
excerpt from the acticle by ALAN ZIBEL AP
Real Estate Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Turmoil in the stock market and the European debt crisis are making life easier for American homebuyers and families looking to refinance: Mortgage rates are inching closer to a record low.
The window of opportunity may close soon. Home loan rates will rise if investors grow more confident and shift money out of the safety of government bonds, which influence mortgage rates. For now, though, rates are tantalizingly low. The average 30-year fixed-rate loan sank to 4.78 percent this week, the lowest this year and barely above the record of 4.71 percent set in December. And 15-year loans are at their lowest rates in two decades.
“Strike now,” suggested Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
For Real Estate info call us at 850.837.1388
For you Yoga practitioners…
May 27th, 2010… and anyone who has considered trying yoga, I (Robin) have been practicing yoga for about 3 years and if you are looking for a unique way to connect exercise with the beach – Destin Yoga is my suggestion.
Destin Yoga is located in Destin, Florida (part of the Emerald Coast including Fort Walton Beach, Sandestin and the South Walton Beaches, Santa Rosa Beach, Grayton Beach, Seaside and Panama City Beach Florida) America’s most beautiful beaches of pure crystal white sand. This blissful jewel of white sand beaches and crystal blue-green water is the ideal environment for flow, sweat, tone, stretch and release (exhilarating yoga).
I hope to see you there..Namatse
Robin
NW Florida Beaches Int’l Airport Opens – Sees Record Numbers
May 25th, 2010
from the New Herald…
More people traveled through the new international airport on its first day than the old airport ever handled in a single 24-hour period, Airport Authority vice chairman Bill Cramer said. “They had a great first day,” Cramer said.
Officials touted the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport and Southwest Airlines’ first day as the area’s low-cost carrier during a press conference Monday morning. Southwest began flying direct flights Sunday.
Southwest sold out flights to Bay County on the first day, said the airline’s CEO and chairman, Gary Kelly. Both Southwest and Delta Air Lines reported strong bookings and passengers the first day of commercial flights.
Robin & Michael Fletcher specialize in real estate sales, Foreclosure sales, short sales, traditional sales and bank owned REO properties on Emerald Coast of Florida: Destin Florida real estate, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Dune Allen, Blue Mountain Beach, Freeport, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field.
Oil Spill Heading West
May 11th, 2010From The Northwest Florida Daily News -
A southeast wind is expected to persist through the week, continuing to move the ever-expanding Deepwater Horizon oil spill away from Florida and toward Texas. “Right now the weather is being very kind,” said Randy McDaniel, Okaloosa County’s Emergency Management Director.
The National Weather Service said that winds which had been blowing north and northeast had shifted and were now encountering the oil spill from a southeasterly direction. It said “significant” winds would continue to move the oil slick north and west through Tuesday. That means not only will the oil be traveling away from Florida, but also that sensitive areas on the Louisiana coast could receive more devastating sludge. Current trajectory maps for the BP spill show winds and currents taking the oil into the Mississippi Delta, Breton Sound and Chandeleur Sound, according to NOAA’s website. full article
To see the latest map of the projected path, click here
At this time, there are no indications of any health risks to Floridians due to the Deepwater Horizon incident. The Department of Health (DOH) and DEP are closely monitoring health and environmental impacts to Florida’s beaches and will notice an advisory if conditions become unsafe.Robin & Michael Fletcher specialize in real estate sales, Foreclosure sales, short sales, traditional sales and bank owned REO properties on Emerald Coast of Florida: Destin Florida real estate, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Dune Allen, Blue Mountain Beach, Freeport, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field. Robin & Michael Fletcher, Real Estate Brokers and Realtors, have participated in over 450 transactions in the last 10 years . FletcherSales Realty lists and sells homes, condos, townhomes & land in Destin FL and the surrounding areas
Sandestin Beach photo from Beachside II
May 10th, 2010This was the scene today from a client’s Beachside II condo in Sandestin. Probably one of the nicest days of the year so far.
Sandestin beachfront - Fletchersales Realty - May 10, 2010
Okaloosa Island Beach photo – May 5th, 2010 2:30pm
May 5th, 2010
It was a picture perfect day in our area today! Photo by request.
Walton County Sherrif Sites Inaccurate Internet Report Of Oil Spill
May 5th, 2010A report currently appearing on CNNiREPORT.com states that oil is washing ashore on Miramar Beach. This report is inaccurate. Walton County Sheriff’s Office personnel have been monitoring Walton County’s 26 miles of beach and officials have confirmed there is no oil along the shoreline. The photos that were posted on CNNiReport are the result of heavy rains and tidal action creating a brown film, which is a normal occurrence in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Coast Guard has reported that the closest oil sighting is 55 miles south of Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico.