Florida
Bay County Lacks a Recycling Program, Making it Difficult for Residents to Recycle
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PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Everyone knows the saying “cut back, reuse, recycle”, nevertheless, that may be troublesome for Bay County residents due to the shortage of a conventional recycling program.
Practically 800 tons of trash are dumped at Bay County’s Steelfield Landfill every day. The landfill supervisor, Glen Ogburn, says there isn’t a county recycling program, and there seemingly received’t be one anytime quickly.
“For a few years, Bay County relied on the Bay County Waste Power Facility for recycling. Even that wasn’t a standard method of recycling. We acquired credit for producing vitality from the quantity of waste, the plastics, and stuff. Sadly, we closed it due to the price of operation some time again,” mentioned Ogburn.
The incinerator because the Waste Power Facility would burn trash like plastics to provide electrical energy and the county would get compensated for it. However since its closing, plastic together with different recyclable supplies like glass, aluminum, and paper sits in landfills.
“We haven’t established an energetic recycling program,” mentioned Ogburn.
Whereas there’s not a county-wide program for family trash, there are some supplies which might be recycled.
“We recycle issues that we are able to economically achieve this. We recycle home equipment, scrap metals, issues of that nature, issues that we now have an area marketplace for,” Ogburn defined.
The Environmental Safety Company is elevating a pink flag. In line with the EPA, trash is harming mom nature by threatening wildlife, contaminating our bodies of water, and altering habitats. That’s why environmentalists are talking out.
“Recycling is de facto necessary as a result of there are such a lot of of us residing on this planet and we are able to’t afford to maintain utilizing it and throwing it away. We have now restricted assets that we now have to work with so recycling is a part of how we are able to deal with that,” mentioned John Hocevar, Greenpeace.
Bay County officers we talked with say for this space all of it comes all the way down to cash.
“It’s all economics. It’s not simply that, recycling as an entire proper now, the marketplace for recycling is depressed. It’s troublesome for anybody to recycle. I feel, for those who examine with surrounding counties they’re beneath the identical state of affairs that we’re. Domestically, we don’t have however a few distributors that take recyclable supplies, principally metals. There’s no person native that take plastics, or something like that, so we now have to ship it someplace at value to have it recycled,” mentioned Ogburn.
In Fort Walton Seaside, there’s been a door-to-door recycling program since 2014. Fort Walton Seaside Public Works Supervisor, Jerry Gunn, tells us this system is free to residents because of a Strong Waste Enterprise fund. Nevertheless, it value town about $400,000 to get the recycling program up and operating.
“Taking our recycling materials to ECUA, in Pensacola, with a value to town of $25 per ton. That’s about $50,000 per 12 months,” mentioned Gunn.
Again in 2018, China stopped taking most plastics from the USA. That is usually cited as a cause in opposition to implementing a recycling program as a result of many recycling facilities have been overwhelmed with plastic. Regardless of this, Gunn says the recycling program in Fort Walton Seaside isn’t going anyplace.
“For this to be a profitable program your residents actually need to take part to make it profitable. So long as we are able to proceed to divert away from the landfill, we’re going to proceed to attempt to hold this system up and going. Recycling will not be a really marketable commodity proper now so there’s not some huge cash to be concerned in that proper now, ” mentioned Gunn.
Environmentalist, John Hocevar with Greenpeace, argues in opposition to placing revenue above all else.
“The choices round recycling contain cash and political energy. So once we elect those who perceive ‘We worth recycling, we care in regards to the setting.’ You realize, these are value-based choices,” mentioned Hocevar.
Lots of these making the choices say it’s robust to steadiness out.
“Lots of people who do come right here from different areas they’re used to having a longtime recycling program they usually’re form of disheartened once we don’t have one, however I’ll inform you, that’s a political resolution. I’ll go away that as much as the residents of Bay County. In the event that they need to have a recycling program, however any individual has to pay for it,” mentioned Ogburn.
Whereas the controversy continues, Hocevar says one factor we are able to do is restrict plastics altogether.
Copyright 2022 WJHG. All rights reserved.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Tennessee softball faces elimination in the Women’s College World Series.
The No. 7 seed Lady Vols (45-16) lost their WCWS opener 4-3 to Oklahoma on a walk-off home run at Devon Park on May 29. Tennessee will face No. 3 seed Florida (48-16) on May 30 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
Here’s what you need need to know about the matchup with the Gators.
Buy tickets for Tennessee softball vs. Florida in WCWS
Florida’s offense struggled against Texas in WCWS opener
Florida got shut out by Texas in its WCWS opener, falling 3-0 to the Longhorns. Texas ace Teagan Kavan only threw one strikeout, but she kept the Gators off-balance and only gave up two walks.
Florida has struggled all year against elite pitchers all season. Including the regular-season series against Texas, the Gators faced Kavan for 15⅔ innings this season and had 12 hits, one earned run, nine strikeouts and four walks.
Florida also struggled against LSU pitcher Sydney Berzon and Texas A&M pitcher Emiley Kennedy, and its offensive performance against Kavan doesn’t bode well for facing Tennessee ace Karlyn Pickens.
Tennessee’s offense will likely face Keagan Rothrock
The Lady Vols had one of their better offensive performances against the Sooners despite the loss. They got runners on base in every inning and recorded a hit in every inning except the third and fourth.
Tennessee was aggressive early and it paid off. Oklahoma’s defense stifled UT’s momentum, but the Lady Vols continue to build on their offensive performances each game of the postseason.
Florida will likely start ace Keagan Rothrock (16-7), who pitched the first five innings against Texas. Rothrock owns a 3.24 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 131⅔ innings this season. The sophomore is already a strong pitcher, but if Tennessee logged eight hits against OU pitcher Sam Landry, it should be able to hit off Rothrock, too.
Karlyn Pickens capable of pitching back-to-back
It’s not uncommon for Pickens (24-10) to pitch in back-to-back games for Tennessee, and it would be shocking if she didn’t start with the season on the line.
Pickens pitched complete games in two straight days in Tennessee’s road series win against Texas in the regular season and she did it against Nebraska in the super regional. Pickens only got better as the super regional wore on, and she threw 21 strikeouts and gave up seven hits and two walks in two straight elimination games.
Pickens had a strong outing against Oklahoma outside of the two home runs from Ella Parker. She held the Sooners to five hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.
Tennessee softball vs Florida WCWS prediction
Tennessee 4, Florida 1: The Gators’ offense won’t have any answers for Pickens, and they haven’t won a single game this season when they scored fewer than three runs. Tennessee will beat Florida and live to see another day in Oklahoma City.
Tennessee softball vs Florida: Series history
Tennessee is 35-54 all time against Florida, but the Lady Vols are 7-3 in the last 10 matchups with the Gators.
Tennessee has played Florida in the WCWS twice. The Lady Vols won 9-2 in 2013 and lost 7-2 in 2015. The last time Tennessee and Florida played was a three-game series in 2023, and UT swept UF. The Lady Vols won 11-0 in Game 1, 10-6 in Game 2 and 4-0 in Game 3.
Watch Tennessee softball vs. Florida on Fubo (free trial)
What time does Tennessee softball vs Florida start?
- Date: Friday, May 30
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Where: Devon Park in Oklahoma City
What TV channel is Tennessee softball vs Florida on?
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on X @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
ORLANDO, Fla. – As hurricane season begins, the Federal Emergency Management Agency could face significant challenges amid budget cuts.
Florida Democratic Congressman Darren Soto expressed his concerns about the potential impact of these changes on the Sunshine State.
“I’m deeply concerned about the attempted changes to FEMA,” Soto said.
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According to CBS News, FEMA lost a third of its staff after 1,800 employees accepted buyout offers from the Trump administration. With an additional 200 probationary workers fired, the agency is shorthanded. CBS News also reported on an internal FEMA review that indicated the agency is “not ready” for hurricane season.
“If a hurricane hits and we don’t get individual relief, it means that you’re not going to get any assistance if you need temporary housing or a loan to fix your house while you’re waiting for the insurance company to pay out, which could be years,” Soto explained.
“It means local governments don’t get reimbursed for cleaning up both the roads and the overtime for law enforcement, firefighters, and our first responders.”
While Congress reviews the Trump administration’s proposal to slash FEMA’s budget, some Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, argue that the agency could be dissolved outright.
“We don’t rely on FEMA. We do it. We lead. We have local partners and the best emergency management team from the local and state level anywhere in the country, bar none,” DeSantis stated in April.
However, Soto disagrees with this perspective.
“It is a boneheaded idea. Look, the states are very good at responding initially, but they don’t have the money to fund the recovery,” he said.
Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla — Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Tuesday, stating gold and silver coins can be used as legal currency in the state of Florida.
HB 999 states, “the person who claims the sales tax exemption bears the burden for determining whether the gold or silver coin meets a specified definition.” Retailers can determine if they would like to accept the coins as payment in their establishments.
The bill states that the coins must be minted and stamped to indicate their purity. Purchases of the metals would also be exempt from sales taxes.
HB 999 was first filed in Feb. 2025 and was passed by the Senate in April 2025. The House passed the bill on May 23 before it made its way to the governor’s desk on May 27.
The bill will take effect on July 1, 2026.
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