Twice she died, only to be saved by an 'angel'
Faith Hanlon, left, with her grandmother, Carol O'Driscoll.Peter Fischetti/PFP Publications. Twice, mere hours apart, the dark eyes of Death stared in the face of Carol O’Driscoll. And twice, those eyes blinked first. But what really made her breathless was meeting Jesus, who had a question for her.
Read full storyRead all about it: Donations for students are one for the books
The Sprauve Library on St. John Island remains closed almost years after suffering damaged from two hurricanes.Robin Swank/St. John Historical Society. Fifteen hundred miles southeast of Panama City Beach are the U.S. Virgin Islands. Both places are magnets for tourism that rightly claim some of the world’s most beautiful beaches. What they also have in common, unfortunately, is a familiarity with Category 5 hurricanes. And while the Emerald Coast has largely recovered almost three years later, the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria almost five years ago is still felt in the Virgin Islands, including tiny St. John.
Read full storyCan't afford $10 million for a home? Consider the 3 least expensive properties for sale in Panama City
This home at 235 N. James Ave. was the least expensive in Panama City at $59,900 until it was sold last week.Daryle Burkey/Central Panhandle Association of Realtors. The local newspaper last week ran a story about the three most expensive homes for sale in Panama City Beach, which I’m sure was interesting to the nine people around here who can afford a $10 million estate. Yes, it must be nice to fill your pool with bottled water. But what about the rest of us living on a fixed income who have been reduced to buying 500 Island Dressing and WD-20? After our cable bill went up another $10 a month, we gave up several stations and now are stuck with the Bowling Channel. So it was hard to relate to that story.
Read full storyWant to take part in 'scare tactics'? Local organizations have a role for you this Halloween
Babs Umenhofer doesn’t want to scare her guests for the rest of their life. “I just want them to have nightmares for a week,” she explained. Well at least for a few hours. That’s the amount of time adult visitors will be spending at the haunted house she is creating for “Hal O’Ween’s Nightmares,” a fundraising production this fall at the Panama City Beach Senior Center. And the best part is that she’s looking for residents whose job it will be to do the scaring.
Read full storyEven in July, Salvage Santa never 'tires' of repairing donated bikes for needy children
Salvage Santa won’t have a bike for you. The original lyrics may be better, but there’s something to be said for taking an old tune and turning it into something new. At least that’s what Salvage Santa has been doing with old bikes for more than four decades, and he’s put smiles on the faces of thousands of children (and their parents) in Panama City and beyond.
Read full storyThose fines for double red flag violations? Here's how Panama City Beach residents want them spent
As of June 28, Panama City Beach has cited 241 tourists and residents for swimming in the Gulf while double red flags were flying. The city has collected about $28,000, and plenty more is still owed.
Read full storyA weighty issue: When the pandemic closed gyms, the refrigerator opened
If you gained weight during the pandemic, you’re hardly alone. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, 61 percent of Americans have gained weight since the outbreak, and 10 percent reported they gained more than 50 pounds.
Read full storyFuller Brush Man is alive and well, but not knocking on Orange County doors
Retired Fuller Brush Man Joe Laubie of Brea CA with card for free gift that he would hand out to potential customers.Peter Fischetti/Fuller Brush. He knocked on the front door at the home in Tucson, as he would do hundreds of times that day all over the neighborhood. The woman who answered, he recalled, was “ranting and raving” as he identified himself. “Then she told me to leave the premises.”
Read full storyYoung gardener in Panama City Beach is ripe to succeed with home-grown veggies
Maverick Gresham, 6, picks veggies in his garden and displays the basket he sells.Credit/Peter Fischetti. Maverick is his name. Farming is his game. At 6 years old, he’s shorter than some of the vegetable plants blooming in the garden behind his home in Panama City Beach. But it doesn’t matter because Maverick Gresham is continuing a family tradition begun by his great grandfather, who shared with neighbors the produce from a half-acre vegetable farm in Norcoss GA.
Read full storyThe name game: What will Panama City Beach residents call the new parkway?
Vehicles reach State Road 79 at the end of Phillip Griffitts Sr. Parkway in Panama City Beach.Credit/Peter Fischetti. Traffic is backed up on Nautilus Street as drivers prepare to turn onto Panama City Beach Parkway (Back Beach Road).Credit/Peter Fischetti.
Read full storyPublix just isn't the same for old folks anymore
Steve Anton of Summerwood remembers what shopping was like 10 months ago at the Breakfast Point Publix in Panama City Beach. The supermarket, responding to the onset of the Corona virus, had done something real nice for senior citizens such as Steve, who's 73, by letting them shop early a few days of the week before opening to the general public.
Read full storySome massage therapists find pandemic didn’t rub them the wrong way
Massage therapist Ron Williams works on a client in her Panama City Beach home.Credit/Peter Fischetti. The pandemic has impacted just about every business, but especially those in the health care and wellness professions that require close physical contact. And that includes the 330,000 message therapists who are licensed in the United States, according to the Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals.
Read full storyOhio? Colorado? Wisconsin? And you thought Panama City Beach was in the South?
Snowmen representing college football teams gather for "team" photo in Panama City Beach.Credit/Peter Fischetti. You may be familiar with a neighborhood in Panama City Beach called Bid-a-Wee. Yes, it’s a funny name, but no doubt when marijuana becomes legal in Florida, it will be changed to Bit-of-Weed.
Read full storyIt's no accident when personal injury attorneys show up
Looks like an accident, but who will arrive first? The ambulance or the personal injury attorney?Unsplash/Matthew T. Rader. If you watch much TV, particularly the commercials attached to news programs, you are aware that Bay County in the famous Florida Panhandle is one of the most injury-prone areas in the country. I don’t know if it’s because we’re careless, unlucky or just spastic. It doesn’t really matter, particularly to the injury attorneys—formerly known as ambulance chasers—who fill the airwaves. Our bad luck is their good luck.
Read full storyPanama City Beach vs. Southern California: Where would you rather live?
Before long, many of us will be floating along in the Gulf on the boogie board, trying desperately but unsuccessfully to “catch a wave,” as the Beach Boys sang. Of course they were inspired by the Pacific Ocean surf, which actually has waves. The Gulf is usually calm, but our water temperature in the summer is heaven. Hmm, I wonder how warm the Pacific gets.
Read full storyRain puts Turtlement in a 'pickle,' but play goes on
God must love pickleball. Well, at least a little. While the weather forecast over the weekend almost guaranteed heavy rain, the initial Panhandle Pickleball Turtlement benefiting sea turtles and other marine mammals was not cancelled. Instead, the 47 players were advised to report as scheduled for their matches at Lyndell courts in Panama City Beach.
Read full storyRibs instead of broccoli! Beach is getting a hospital
People on the beach are celebrating like never before after hearing that we’re getting our own hospital. It will rise on Route 79, across from Jimmy Buffet’s Latitude 55-and-older development, which someday will double or triple beach population and create permanent gridlock on Back Back Back Back Beach Road. But who cares? We’re getting a hospital!
Read full storyPickleball 'turtlement' to benefit marine mammals
Aaron Haney will be leaving his home in Canton OH in the next few days—it’s a 15-hour drive—for a week of fun and games here. What makes him so special? After all, we will probably be welcoming 70 million other visitors that weekend.
Read full storyTourist invasion on beach is a 'sign' of the times
I looked over the shoulder of the editor reading the first story I ever wrote for a newspaper. I was real nervous but finally he put down his cigarette and looked up at me. “Fischetti,” he said, “have you ever thought of installing aluminum siding as a career?”
Read full storyTourist invasion at beach is 'sign' of the times
I looked over the shoulder of the editor reading the first story I ever wrote for a newspaper. I was real nervous but finally he put down his cigarette and looked up at me. “Fischetti,” he said, “have you ever thought of installing aluminum siding as a career?”
Read full story