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Tag Archives: book
Life Lesson: As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope
Let me ask you a question. Are you breathing? You might say, "Well that is obvious." But not so fast, when I ask the question, are you breathing? I am referring to life. Life in terms of what the Bible refers to as abundant life. Not just merely existing, but truly living and doing it with peace, love, and joy.
It's impossible to do that when you are addicted to alcohol and other drugs. Addiction robs abundant life and reduces an addicted person to merely existing. Over the course of time, I have met thousands of people whose lives were ripped apart by the "hell-hole of addiction," reduced to merely existing.
I was one of those people. I spent twelve years addicted to various drugs. I started using marijuana when I was twelve years old. My addiction progressed until I was a full-blown crack-cocaine addict by the age of twenty-two. By the grace of God, I was able to turn a hopeless, desperate situation into a place of hope. My journey to hope began at the place of desperation.
Hopeless people are desperate people. The question is what do you do with the desperation? The answer is, there are many things that you can do, but only one-thing matters and that is to allow the desperation to lead to brokenness.
Brokenness leads to searching for answers other than the ones that have been tried before. That's what happened to me on my journey to hope. I had to try something different and take another path. The path that I was on was leading me nowhere but down real fast.
My pathway to hope through brokenness began when I was nineteen years old. I was a sophomore at Florida State University and my daily diet consisted of drugs and alcohol. I had spent my young life partying and getting high as often as I could. I wasn't thinking about my health, exercising, or eating right. The break came one day when I was home alone in my apartment. I can remember it as though it was yesterday.
The rest of the story is found in my soon to be released book, "As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope" coming out in April. To preorder your digital copy today please visit Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P5GK4ZC or iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/as-long-as-there-is-breath-in-your-body-there-is-still-hope/id1454314290?mt=11
This entry was posted in Community, TLH Books, TLH My Faith, TLH My Family and tagged #bookrelease, As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, book, Dr. Rosalind Y. L. Tompkins, Hope, Hopeoligist, iTunes, KIndle, Rosalind Tompkins, There Is STILL Hope on February 28, 2019 by Rosalind Tompkins.
Tallahassee Writers Association – Book Review of "Drawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles," Reviewed by Saundra Gerrell Kelley
Drawn to the Deep by Julie Hausman
Drawn to the Deep: The Remarkable Underwater Explorations of Wes Skiles by Julie Hauserman. University Press of Florida. 2018.
Cave diver Wes Skiles once estimated laying 500-miles of virgin line in underground tunnels around the world. With his underwater photography, he took us to those mysterious places and brought them to life.
Skiles voice is strong in Drawn To The Deep, by Florida environmental journalist, Julie Hauserman. Often quoting from Skiles' journals, she documents the story of a diver for whom no cave was too dangerous or spring too deep. He saw too, the result of humanity's foolhardy actions first-hand.
According to Skiles' brother, Jim, 13-year-old Skiles first discovered cave diving at Ginnie Springs near Gainesville. Many years later, it was there he and his team traced the underground journey of earth's most misunderstood resource, water.
"The words 'environmental hero' get tossed around too much," Hauserman tells us, "He, (Skiles) was the real thing. He became one of the rare cave divers who climbed out of the depths to tell us where our water comes from, where it's going, and what we need to do to keep it clean."
Wes Skiles, who died in 2010, was an award-winning underwater photographer and cinematographer. He traveled the world, but it was in his home state of Florida his work was most significant.
Julie Hauserman
North Florida's topography is mostly composed of limestone karst. Florida is riddled with springs, tunnels and caves. From dives in the Ginnie Springs area, he knew Florida's groundwater was getting polluted. In addition to agriculture's runoff and seepage, everything from cars to pesticides were thoughtlessly dumped into sinkholes – out of sight, out of mind. People still expected clean water to pour, as if by magic, from their faucets. He knew better.
Unfortunately, Florida 's State government didn't want to know how water travels or what was happening to it. Undeterred, he turned to filmmaking and sought a more receptive audience – middle school kids. He called the documentaries Water's Journey: Hidden Rivers, later adding Water's Journey: The River Returns. With them he found the audience he wanted.
Wes Skiles' message still rings clear: water is the elixir of life. In the years since his untimely death, we have continued to defile our planet and pollute the water we must have to survive. Let us pray our children heed his words.
Note: this book includes Wes Skiles Catalog of Works, Julie Hauserman's Notes On Sources, and an Index.
Saundra Gerrell Kelley
Storyteller and author, Saundra Kelley, is a native of Tallahassee, Florida. An authentic Florida Cracker, she regales audiences with personal narrative, original stories and folklore presented in Spoken Word. The author of three books and numerous published articles, she is a past president of the Jonesborough Storytellers Guild in Tennessee, part of the Big Bend Storytellers, and past president of the Tallahassee Writers Association.
This entry was posted in Community, TLH Books and tagged book, Book review, dive, Drawn to the Deep, environment, environment protector, environmental journalist, Julie Hauserman, Saundra Gerrell Kelley, Saundra Kelley, Tallahassee Writers Association, TWA, underwater caves, underwater photography, Wes Skiles on January 8, 2019 by Tallahassee Writers Association.
Rumrunners and Moonshiners of Old Florida
The sheer number of moonshine stills in the area that could produce a lot of smoke depending on what was used to fuel the fire lends credence to those who say it was just a giant still operation. Even today hikers walking along the national forests in Wakulla don't have to look hard to find the traces of the era's hidden enterprise of bootlegging and moonshining. The old timers carry it with them like a badge of honor and proudly proclaim to anyone who asks that "Yes, their folks had a moonshiner."
Helen Strickland is the president of the Wakulla Historical Society and a lifelong resident of the region. Her family once owned a gas station in Wakulla, on a popular intersection. Her family would watch cars go by on the road and her parents could tell if the owners were shiners during the 1950s and 1960s. They would sometimes even shout out "There goes a shiner or a bootlegger." Her parents could tell because often how the shiner's cars were built seemed to give them away. "Often their tires were just giant and if they had shine in the trunk it would just weight down the entire structure of the automobile. Just how it was seating you could tell they were going to make a run."
According to Strickland, there were bootleggers everywhere in Wakulla and in the entire panhandle for that matter. As a child growing up after prohibition Helen Strickland would take walks in the forests and rivers of the community and like relics of a bygone era, she would find the stills, jars, jugs, and even cooking locations. These old bootlegger trail pickups were commonplace. Old habits die hard in the Panhandle, as Helen noted in recalling a quick and cheap method the elderly would employ to get intoxicated. A tradition that stems from long before prohibition.
"Older people would also take corn cobs and hide them in clocks and allow them to ferment. Then after a while, like four or five months they would eat them."
Apparently, they would just chew on these old cobs, sometimes all day long, and it was like having a continual glass of shine.
This entry was posted in Community, Florida Politics, TLH Books and tagged book, moonshiners, old Florida, Panhandle, robert buccellato, rumrunners on December 22, 2018 by Robert Buccellato.
Bob Graham and the 1978 Election Part two
In honor of this year's gubernatorial election, I have written a 12 part series on some of the most interesting past elections and governors of the states history. This is Part Two on the section covering the 1978 election (Part four out of twelve overall) which deals primarily with Bob Graham, the unknown state senator who managed to win his party's nomination in a surprisingly strong primary race.
Former Governor Bob Graham likes to tell a story about his youngest daughter Kendall being completely distressed by the news that her father was running for governor.
"Just after I announced she told Adele, that I couldn't do it, that she wasn't moving to Tallahassee. That all of her friends were here in Miami and that she wasn't going to live in the Governor's mansion. My wife looked at her and said "Honey, there is no way on earth your father is ever going to be elected governor."
Nearly a year later in the euphoria of victory, as the entire graham campaign was celebrating this historic and unpredictable moment in state history. Adele, now the first lady elect of Florida looked over across the sea of happy faces towards an angry and saddened Kendall. No one including the candidate's inner circle and the candidate himself thought Bob Graham had much of a chance. How could he? The history of Florida politics had spelled out the improbability of a candidate born from its urban south ever reaching the Governor's office. Graham's own thirst seemed to have been rooted in that past.
Ernest Graham was born on Feb 10th 1885 in Croswell Michigan to Philip and Mary Graham. A boxer and accomplished wrestler in college, he would carry a broken nose his whole life. Following college he worked first at a gold mine in Montana before becoming a masterful bookie, whose personal system was so effective he was prevented from placing bets in most places. He ran a mine for a time in Deadwood before marrying his first wife, Florence, a school teacher. The future governor's siblings were born in quick session Mary in 1913 and Philip in 1914. In 1917 Ernest enlisted as a private and served in the western front as part of the 309th Engineer corp. By the time of the armistice, he was a captain. This title would earn him a lifelong nickname of "Cap". In the late 1920's when the price of gold dropped and the drainage of the Florida Everglades was nearing completion, the family moved to pioneering Miami.
In south Florida, Ernest managed the Pennsylvania Sugar Company. There also another son William was born and a coral rock mansion was built. After the great depression, the sugar company folded its interests in the state and gave Graham a severance of 7,000 acres. This allowed him to setup his own cattle based empire and in time built it into a respectable family fortune.
Just as Earnest Graham's financial life was beginning to settle down, his personal life took a tragic turn when his first wife died of cancer. Perhaps to fill the void in his life Earnest turned to politics. He ran for and lost a seat on the Dade County Board of commissioners in 1936. Before winning a seat in the Florida state Senate he met and married his second wife Hilda who would go on to bear him a son, D Robert Graham Junior in 1936, who would one day achieve the political greatness his father was denied. Earnest Graham's failure to win the Democratic nomination for the governorship would have a lasting impact on his son. Likewise his brief tenure in the State Senate would create within young Bob Graham a romantic attachment for the old chamber that once housed the political fortunes of his hero. Even as a former US Senator and during his own daughter's successful campaign for the US Congress, Graham still looked upon the State Senate with affection. The Historic Capitol's preserved senate chamber in particular was, after all, the place his parent's marriage blossomed and where he was brought so often as a little boy.
Bob Graham got into politics in 1966 winning a seat to the Florida House of Representatives. Just a few months later his future running mate would join him in the legislature. Unlike Wayne Mixson, however, after just four years and two terms in the Florida house Graham would make the leap to the state Senate, where he would serve with great distinction for the next eight years.
Towards the end of 1977 State Senator Bob Graham, in an ambitious effort to increase his recognition statewide publicly undertook a series of 100 workdays this was designed to allow the gubernatorial candidate to experience firsthand the hardships and adversities of the common Floridian in their typical workday. This strategy was based in part on Graham's experience as a high school teacher for Carol City High School in Miami Lakes.
From then on Graham would mark this one day as his first job as his first workday. Throughout the summer and fall of 1977, State Sen. Bob Graham worked as a bellhop, a poop scooper for the Ocala breeders and even placed speaker wire into the ceiling of the Gov.'s office in the new capitol building, something not lost on the state's media. As 1977 turned into 1978, Graham continued to work a vast assortment of jobs. He was a lobster fisherman, a dive boat operator, a short order cook, a social worker, and for one night a member of the Tallahassee Police Department. He would pick tomatoes in Naples, work as a waiter at the wine cellar in Jacksonville, and performed admirably as Santa Claus on December 20, 1977 in Coral Gables.
"When I decided that I would run for governor in late 1976, I decided to do a hundred of them for the final 15 months of the campaign," said Graham.
Towards the end of the 1978 gubernatorial race he had done just that. Yet as he closed in on Shevin's lead and formed a balanced ticket by selecting Wayne Mixson, one ambitious workday still remained. It would prove one of his most difficult and one of his most praised. Bob Graham, the millionaire would join the ranks of the state's unemployed. To wander the streets desperately looking for temporary work and to discover firsthand how badly the bureaucratic system in the state had become as it was woven with jaded civil servants. One instant that always seemed to stick in his mind was when he looked for the restroom in a Tampa office of State employment service and found that the men's bathroom was for employees only. He tried the door and it was locked, his imagination became filled with images of the unemployed having to fill out form after form with their legs crossed. Eventually he was able to get a job that day delivering office furniture, it would end up being enough for him to make twelve dollars after several hours of hard labor. This meager salary was put to good use, a bed for the night at a YMCA in St. Petersburg at a local Salvation Army Mission.
The following day as the final part of his exercise, Graham had to apply for food stamps. Even this simple task was made difficult when after walking the streets of Tampa in a hard rain, the food stamp worker didn't bother to take out the big wad of juicy fruit from her mouth while having a conversation with him. Whenever he asked for assistance or another form she would openly roll her eyes at him. It was a demoralizing experience and a true culture shock for the successful state senator. But it provided him with invaluable insight into how horrible the system could be towards those that it was designed to serve, and it armed him with a clear understanding of the common man's blight.
Perhaps it was the very fact that this Harvard educated senator even tried, that attracted the imaginations of so many Floridians. That this man would roam the streets of Tampa with $15 in his pocket and one change of clothes in a paper sack looking for work for two days, seemed to speak to a longing that many of us seek from our public officials. This workday more than any other might very well have earned him a lifelong respect among the average blue collared workers of the state. It may have helped the public transformation of D Robert Graham Junior, the shy mild manner State Senator, into Bob Graham, that legendary everyman politician.
That most rare of Florida politicians who looked natural in work clothes and in a suit. Just as his future running mate, the retiring House representative, was a mixed bag of contradictions: a farmer with an Ivy League education, a conservative who was for Urban Renewal.
As Graham began to close in on the Democratic nomination, he started to look into possibilities for his lieutenant governor. Time and time again, his mind turned towards Wayne Mixson.
"There has been some theory that you select a lieutenant governor who is different from yourself. The only significate difference between Wayne and myself is the fact that he was from north Florida and I was from south fl. But we had a very similar background, including an educational background that was very similar," Said Graham.
The two men began to talk about the possibility of a Graham Mixson ticket. There was some slight differences in opinion, yet there was a great deal of common ground in their views.
"When Wayne and I laid out the campaign agenda we identified three areas that we wanted to emphasize economic development. The economy was very much on people's minds at the time. We as a nation and a state in the late 1970's were going through a recession. Two: education, we recognized was extremely important in its own right. But, also a fundamental part in any long term economic development strategy. Third, the protection of the state's natural resources. Wayne and I worked on all of these issues in the legislature. So they weren't by any means new to us and we already had some ideas in terms of their solutions," said Graham.
Thus, the Graham Cracker ticket was formed and state history was about to be made.
For more information on Bob Graham and Florida History
Consider reading the Book Florida Governors Lasting Legacies
https://www.amazon.com/Florida-Governors-Lasting-Legacies-America/dp/1467113697
This entry was posted in Community, Florida Politics, TLH Books and tagged 1978, Bob Graham, book, claude kirk, florida governors, race, robert buccellato, wayne mixson on March 12, 2018 by Robert Buccellato.
The 1952 gubernatorial election part two
In honor of this year's gubernatorial election, I have written a 12 part series on some of the most interesting past elections and governors of the states history. This second section concludes our focus on the state's 1952 election and the winner Dan McCarty.
McCarty would spend the following week campaigning in Sarasota, Fort Myers, and Bradenton.
The next week he moved to the Gulf Coast towards Dade County. In Sarasota, he was asked to reply to Odham's joint press conference stunt; to which he replied, that if Odham "doesn't stop crying wolf on the radio, the people won't think he is qualified as a candidate, even in 1956".
The final week schedule for McCarty was revealed to show stops at Daytona, Titusville, Fort Pierce, Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. He would also travel down rural roads being introduced as the next Governor. Smiling, shaking hands, and taking it much slower this time around as victory was all but certain. He, after all, he had already beaten Odham by 128,000 votes.
"It is wonderful to be back down on the East Coast. All Florida is looking to see what South Florida can do when it gets the chance".
The candidate even did the unthinkable, he planned to rest in Miami for the weekend. Something that would never have taken place four years earlier.
The final campaign swing called for a 25 car motorcade down the East Coast. The "victory" motorcade down the coast started at Daytona Beach and went as planned all the way down to Miami, arriving Friday night. There the candidate would stay before traveling back to Fort Pierce in time for voting on Tuesday. The motorcade started with the original 25 cars and soon grew into 100 cars by the time it ended, all the cars being hurried along from each town by the local police.
Reaching Fort Pierce on the eve of the election, he held a large, noisy, and joyful rally at his campaign headquarters. When he arrived, he was first greeted by his two boys, and then by Mrs. McCarty. Their warm embrace showed the sacrifice that came from any political race. The past four years had been very hard on all of them, and McCarty had lost precious time with his two youngest children while running for Governor.
"He never stopped running, so by the time of Election Day he had headquarters in every single county. That night was very hectic and there were so many out-of-towners there that day." according to Bruce Centers.
"Dad had the county headquarters packed that night and over by the old lumber company was the state headquarters that was also very, very hectic".
A giant hometown night rally was held on Election Day. The Governor and First Lady Elect cut into an enormous victory cake decorated to look like the Capitol Building. Smiling, eating piece after piece of cake, those of the platform were so joyful that their man, Dan, was elected. They had such high hopes for him and for the state.
The press came to the town in mass, turning Fort Pierce into a crowded maze of excitement. McCarty gave interview after interview over the radio, introducing himself as the new governor. Mrs. McCarty's smile was enchanting as she swelled with pride for her husband. All the pictures of the new first couple that night show two people deeply in love, sharing this moment with one another, a true partnership.
Tired following the long campaign, when asked what the governor elect was going to do next, he said with a smile – rest.
Though never the model image of a national party Democrat, the all but certain next Governor of Florida, made the mandatory endorsement of the party's faithful selection for president. Adlai Stevenson was only a few weeks into his tenure as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. While Stevenson and McCarty had very similar personalities, politically Stevenson was further to the left than his Floridian counterpart; both could be considered modest, decent, good natured, and charismatic.
McCarty, though well-read, would never have fit the mold of the scholar or intellectual that was part of Stevenson's persona. Both came from successful and civic minded families, but McCarty's family couldn't boast the inclusion of a former Vice President the way Stevenson's could. Since winning the nomination back in May, McCarty had been vacationing in North Carolina with his family, spending extra time fishing with his boys and reading to his daughter. Now rested, he traveled to Miami to speak before the state's American Legion Conference. While there, he finally endorsed the Party's weak nominee, Stevenson, the governor from Illinois who seemed destined to be swamped at the polls by General Eisenhower that November. His polling numbers in his own home state gave because for serious apprehension for all candidates placed below his name. Therefore, this would explain the Party's lackluster enthusiasm for the national ticket. When asked if he would stump for the Governor, he made a point of stating that he had yet to be asked and that his involvement would "depend on the kind of campaign I'm confronted with myself". Unlike future Democratic nominees for the Florida governorship, Dan McCarty, didn't need the help of the national Democratic Party to get elected, but, he did need to keep it at arm's length. It was the first time since the 1920s where the party's nominee for president was a liability in the governor's race.
By August 1952 with the primary season now over and the summer committee meetings dying down, there began something that happens every post-election season in Tallahassee. A behind- the-scenes and little known ritual that all officeholders take part in; the finding of better paying appointments in the new administration.
Retiring Representatives and many lawmakers, not satisfied with their recent Election Day victories, were all proposing their own indirect, but very direct pleas for advancement. In politics, as it is known, that things don't happen, they're made to happen. To make things more difficult for these hopeful yet awkward office seekers, 1952 was nationally the first time in 20 years when Democrats couldn't count on the patronage of the national party or the White House. No assistant, subcabinet, high-paying post was waiting, if they were defeated in the primary and robbed of the usual level of retention that many incumbents benefit from, there would be no minor national appointment coming to their rescue. Stevenson was almost certain to lose, and Ike a closeted partisan, left him little hope.
Those looking for a way into the new administration could only hope to do so by winning the favor of the young new Governor Elect. McCarty, however, already gave signs that none of Governor Warren's little cabinet would be retained by the incoming administration. There were also reports that the Governor Elect with seeking interviews with various close friends about possible appointments. The process this time around was limited to only the campaigns inner circle, with very few bits of information coming from the McCarty Camp.
Former Speaker, Richard Simpson, was the first to be called in for an interview. Representative Fletcher Morgan of Jacksonville was also to be awarded for his efforts in turning around the dysfunctional McCarty Duval County campaign. Also on the list for appointments was a large number of veterans from the Caldwell administration.
Days after Thanksgiving, it was announced that McCarty would be inaugurated the state's 31st Governor on January 6th the following year, on the west front of the Capitol building. The West front of the Capitol would be facing the newly completed Supreme Court building and McCarty's inauguration was to mark the first time this side of the Capitol was to be used for such an event. The Chamber of Commerce, along with the McCarty clan's wishes for a slimmed down inauguration, announced that they would be saving nearly $5000 from the budget with an estimated cost of only $8500. The inauguration would include three balls, a parade, and an open house party at the governor's mansion.
In January, the family car would be packed, and Florida's new first family drove themselves to their new elevated status with about as much pomp as a typical family on their way to vacation at a timeshare. They remained positively unaffected by the high honor they had just been given by their fellow citizens. Packed, stuffed in fact, with suitcases, toys, and other beloved items from home. The family car was on its way, the new governor at the wheel, towards the capitol.
The McCarty family was on its way to the mansion.
This entry was posted in Community, Florida Politics, TLH Books and tagged 1950s, book, capital, dan mccarty, florida governors, history, politics on January 12, 2018 by Robert Buccellato.
Tallahassee Writers Association – Book Review of "Deep Blue" by Randy Wayne White, Reviewed by Rhett DeVane
Turning t
Turning the first page of a novel by Randy Wayne White compares to standing on a precipice, waiting to take the plunge. Deep Blue, White's 23rd Doc Ford thriller, captures that same breathless anticipation. Yet you take that step, confident in this best-selling author's ability to pilot you into the abyss then deliver you unharmed, dazed, and delighted. White spends time in the state's panhandle at St. George Island, and has lived a lifetime roaming Florida. It shows.
With Doc Ford, Randy Wayne White serves up a complex, layered character who feels so real, questions linger after the final page. Is there truly a man like Doc Ford out there, a man who leads two distinct lives—the kindly marine biologist living peacefully in a small marina, and the other man, one so cunning our government counts on him to erase terrorists?
One moonless December night on Sanibel Island, Florida, Doc Ford views a video of a hooded man brutally executing three hostages. This murderer, an American working with ISIS, will be Doc's next target. If Doc succeeds in his mission, the man will never again use his ruby-hilted knife for slaughter.
Never before has an assignment become so personal.
"If war—or life—were easy, the weak would have been eliminated from the gene pool eons ago. But this was different. This was the first assignment that had the feel of an elaborate trap."
Doc Ford's carefully planned operation takes a complicated turn, and he creates powerful enemies. A nest of madmen fix Doc in their crosshairs. His two worlds will meet and crash, unless he can use all of his knowledge, intuition, and determination to stop it. Everyone in the small community of boaters, guides, lovers, and friends in Dicken's Bay will be sucked into the fray. One misstep, and Doc Ford loses his life, and the lives of so many others he has grown to think of as family.
A man like Doc Ford protects those he loves, at all costs. He is able to allow that dark part of his psyche chilling rein in such matters. In Doc's words: "Some men died with a stake in their brains; others, on patios after a fall. Death was as necessary as it was inevitable. It was a chemical process unsullied by sentiment."
Not only does Deep Blue maintain a rapid pace, it also immerses the reader in the setting, the true feel of the Sunshine State: the mangroves, odd people, and buggy salt air. Dicken's Bay isn't a souvenir-ridden, tourist haven. Randy Wayne White serves up the Real Florida. As a native of this quirky slice of paradise, I especially appreciate this.
Randy Wayne White was a light tackle fishing guide at Tarpon Bay Marina, Sanibel Island, for thirteen years, did more than 3,000 charters, and draws heavily on those experiences for his novels about Doc Ford and his quirky pals at Dinkin's Bay. In 2003, he became one of the founding partners in Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grille, with restaurants on Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, and Captiva Island. Randy lives in an old house on an Indian mound in Pineland, Florida.
Randy Wayne White is a New York Times bestselling author of thirty-one novels, four collections of non-fiction, and a cookbook, The Ultimate Tarpon Book (with Carlene Brennan), and a PBS documentary, Gift of the Game, which won Best of Show at the internationally respected Woods Hole Film Festival.
Over the last decade, all of the Doc Ford and Hannah Smith novels have appeared on the New York Times and other bestsellers' lists, and are wildly popular around the nation. His impressive list of awards and accolades is as long as the state he loves.
Randy Wayne White is the sort of person I'd like to know, and feel I do, through his writing. Deep Blue is a fine addition to my growing collection. Make it part of yours, too.
Rhett DeVane
Rhett DeVane is the author of six published mainstream fiction novels: The Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate, Up the Devil's Belly, Mama's Comfort Food, Cathead Crazy, Suicide Supper Club, and Secondhand Sister. She is the coauthor of two novels, and has authored middle grade fantasy: Elsbeth and Sim, and Dig Within. Suicide Supper Club won the Florida Authors and Publishers President's Award in 2014.
Rhett DeVane is a true Southerner, born and raised in the Florida panhandle. For the past thirty-plus years, Rhett has made her home in Tallahassee, Florida, located in Florida's Big Bend area, where she splits her time between her dental hygienist practice and writing. Visit Rhett's website: www.rhettdevane.com
This entry was posted in Community, TLH Books and tagged book, Book review, Deep Blue, Florida Cuba, novel, Randy Wayne White, Rhett DeVane on March 13, 2016 by Tallahassee Writers Association.
Tallahassee Writers Association – Book Review of "Florida Wildflowers – A Comprehensive Guide" by Walter Kingsley Taylor, Reviewed by Peggy Kassees
Review of Florida Wildflowers – A Comprehensive Guide by Walter Kingsley Taylor
Reviewed by Peggy Kassees
Florida Wildflowers
A book for the nature lover, researcher, bicyclist, and hiker – anyone who traverses the Florida landscape and pauses to say – what's that plant?
Walter Kingsley Taylor, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Central Florida, has traipsed all over Florida gathering information for Florida Wildflowers. Taylor is also author of A Guide to Florida Grasses.
Florida Wildflowers sorts plants into regions such as hardwood-forested uplands, pine flatwoods, wetlands, and more, covering the entire state of Florida, and making each search to identify plants a joy. It's easy. Plants are photographed in their natural state. Books that have line drawings of plants tend to all look the same to me. This is not an issue in Taylor's book. The author does not stop at wildflowers – but photographs and writes about trees, shrubs, and pretty much anything that grows. If you are out on the trail biking or hiking and spot a plant, I'm betting that it will be in Taylor's book. Thus far, I've found data on each bit of greenery that I wanted information on.
As a writer of fiction that takes place in Florida, I want to have the correct plant in the right place, whether it is growing in sand, loam, red clay, rich black earth, or bogs. As Taylor demonstrates, Florida sits at a latitude where the major deserts of our Earth occur—yet our state is known for green luxurious growth. The humidity gifted to our state by the Gulf Stream helps create this atmosphere and moderates temperatures that otherwise would indeed reflect the deserts of Africa and Mexico, to name only two. In Florida, you are no more than 100 miles from the salt water at any point.
With Florida Wildflowers, you don't only get identification of species – both the Latin and common names, you have the opportunity to learn more of this Sunshine State. Did you know that Ocala limestone of the Eocene period (65 million years ago) makes up the major formation of the entire state? Well, maybe you knew, but I didn't, and I find learning about my state through Taylor's eyes is fun as well as enlightening.
Did you know that the hills that slope away from Tallahassee, the Florida Capital, used to be the coastline of Florida at one time? Anyone visiting the Capitol (if this were still the coastline) could see water lapping away just below FAMU, (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.) The soil, and therefore plant life, changes, as you travel from North Florida on down to the coast. Are you curious to know what type of grass is under your toes? Worried about that sticker in your ankle? Florida Wildflowers is the book for you.
In Florida Wildflowers, you learn that some plants have "people" names, such as Joewood, Walter's Groundcherry, and Godfrey's False Dragonhead. Makes me wonder what these and other individuals did, to have plants named after them.
Walter Kingsley Taylor
While Taylor does give information on whether some plants are edible or not, I do find myself asking that question on all Florida flora in his book. Maybe the next version will have this, because Taylor does believe in improving his books. Florida Wildflowers is a second edition. For those interested in knowing if certain plants in Florida are endemic, endangered, or threatened, this is information was added when Taylor revised and updated his glorious book on wildflowers. In this new edition, Taylor also added hundreds of photographs, realigned his first book to make it more user friendly, and to reflect current terrestrial communities and the plants growing in them.
My copy of this book is not in too good a shape – I keep it in my vehicle in case I want to look up a bit of greenery that has garnered my attention. I use it when writing and need to know if a particular plant is flowering or has berries. Taylor's book should be on everyone's bookshelf, tucked in a backpack, or nestled in a kayak. You can't go wrong having Florida Wildflowers handy.
After all, how else could you answer the question: what's that plant?
Florida Wildflowers – A Comprehensive Guide is available from your favorite on-line dealer, through University Press, and in bookstores near you.
Peggy Kassees
Photographer: Bob O'Lary
Peggy Kassees is 2014 President for the Tallahassee Writers Association (TWA), and TWA Blog Coordinator for the Tallahassee Democrat. She appears once a month on WTXL, The Sunrise Show, to speak about writing in Tallahassee and the Tallahassee Writers Association. She is a book review contributor to the Southern Literary Review and the Tallahassee Democrat. Her book "Flocked: Birds of a Feather," won First Place, 2014 Royal Palm Literary Award for Dark Fantasy/Horror.
This entry was posted in Community, Home and Garden, TLH Books and tagged book, Book review, desert, endemic, Florida grasses, Florida plants, Florida wildflowers, Forest, gulf stream, humid, humidity, Limestone, non-fiction, Ocala, Peggy Kassees, plants, Research, sand, Sunshine State, TWA, Walter Kingsley Taylor, wetlands, wildflowers on November 12, 2014 by Tallahassee Writers Association.
Tallahassee Writers Association Presents TWA's Awards Winners from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association 2013 Book Awards
The Tallahassee Writers Association Presents TWA's
Florida Authors and Publishers Association 2013 Book Awards Winners
The Florida Authors and Publishers Association announced the winners of the FAPA President's Book Awards. The Florida Authors and Publishers Association, Inc. offers Florida's book publishers, self-publishers, authors, publishing industry friends and publishing vendors an opportunity for education and networking, provides its members with support, and is a clearinghouse for up-to-date book publishing information. For more information on the Florida Authors and Publishers Association, please visit: http://fpa.memberclicks.net
Members of the Tallahassee Writers Association were well represented in several different categories:
Donna Meredith, Magic in the Mountains – Silver medal in Adult Non-Fiction
Magic in the Mountains
Magic in the Mountains is the story of Kelsey Murphy, the extraordinary woman who revolutionized the creation of cameo glass. Her willingness to marry fine art to manufacturing gave her the incomparable advantage of using fourteen tanks of colorful glass as her palette. The cased blanks produced at Pilgrim Glass Corporation have never been equaled anywhere else in the world. But this is more than simply Kelsey's story. It is the story of her family and her teachers. The story of the talent and skill of those people she pulled into her wake, including fellow artist and machinist Robert Bomkamp and Pilgrim Glass Corporation CEO Alfred E. Knobler. It is the story of all the forces that gathered in Ceredo, West Virginia, the small town and its people who believed in the magic of cameo glass and possessed the resources and willpower to make it happen.
The book contains interviews with glass blowers, glass carvers, gallery owners, glass collectors, Kelsey's protégées, and Kelsey Murphy and Robert Bomkamp's friends and family members. Donna Meredith reveals the conflicts and sacrifices made to bring the ancient art form of cameo glass back to life in the twentieth century. In addition to Pilgrim Glass Corporation, Kelsey and Bob's collaborations with Fenton Glass, Ron Hinkle Glass, and Glassworks are detailed.
Initially, 95 percent of all the glass cased a Pilgrim broke when they tried to carve it. Murphy's determination to succeed coupled with the skill of glassworkers allowed the company to persevere and learn to reduce the breakage. Their achievements landed Murphy and Pilgrim in the history books. Pilgrim's skilled artisans successfully cased and carved 12 layers of glass—seven more than anyone else had done.
They also created what was likely the tallest cameo vase ever made. "The Run for the Roses" vase stood 6 foot 2 inches tall. It was designed by Murphy, blown by Doug Chapman, masked by Mabel "Bonnie" Crockett, and carved by Dwayne Wallace.
Photographs documenting Kelsey's life and the development of cameo glass are included throughout the book.
The book has been juried into "The Best of West Virginia" showcase at Tamarack.
The book is a must-read for those interested in the history of glassmaking or those interested in the examining the development of the artist. Kelsey Murphy was in the right place with the right skill set, vision, and background to make the magic of cameo glass happen in modern times.
Donna Meredith
Donna Meredith is a freelance writer living in Tallahassee, Florida. Her articles have appeared in Tallahassee magazine, Goldenseal magazine, the Southern Literary Review, Columbia School Press Review, the Tallahassee Democrat, and the Midwest Review.
Meredith's first novel, Glass Madonna, won first place for unpublished women's fiction in the Royal Palm Literary Awards, sponsored by the Florida Writers Association, and runner up in the Gulf Coast novel writing contest. Her second novel, The Color of Lies, won the gold medal for adult fiction in 2012 from the Florida Publishers Association and also first place in unpublished women's fiction from the Florida Writers Association. Her latest book is nonfiction, Magic in the Mountains, the amazing story of how a determined and talented woman revived the ancient art of cameo glass in the twentieth century in West Virginia. She is currently working on a series of environmental thrillers featuring a female hydrogeologist as the lead character.
From 2009-2010 she served as president of the Tallahassee Writers Association. Currently she coordinates TWA's Seven Hills Literary Contest and updates the TWA website.
M.R. Street, The Werewolf's Daughter - Gold medal in Young Adult Fiction
Which is worse, believing your mother is dead, or finding out that she is alive and that you must kill her to save yourself? Lani Morgan is almost 16 when her dying father tells her that her mother didn't die in a car crash ten years earlier. Before her birthday, Lani must track down and kill her werewolf mother, or she herself will inherit the family curse. First, she has to find her mother, with the help of a woman who claims to be Lani's long-lost aunt. As they travel from Tennessee to Georgia, Lani meets a guy who sets her heart racing, but is he hiding a secret darker than her own? A young adult urban fantasy — compared to the style of Amanda Hocking — about getting what you most want in the world — and what you never, ever wanted.
M.R. Street
M.R. Street is an award-winning middle-grade and young-adult author. She is currently writing "The Hunter's Moon," the sequel to her young-adult urban fantasy, "The Werewolf's Daughter." She is also Student Outreach Coordinator for the Tallahassee Writers Association. Find her at www.turtlecovepress.com
Marsha Lyons and April Kelly, Murder In One Take - Gold Medal in Cover Design
Murder in One Take
Detective Blake Ervansky, is first on the scene when an Oscar-winning star is shot by his ex-lover. As lead cop on the case, Ervansky has everything he needs to put away Ali Garland: motive, weapon, videos of the murder and a dozen eyewitnesses, one of whom is his partner of less than 24 hours, Sgt. Maureen O'Brien.
This is LA, the beating heart of show biz, though, so nothing is as it seems, even Ervansky's new partner. Ali Garland appears to have been justified in defending herself with lethal force, but could this wide-eyed ingénue be the architect of an airtight double fake? Has she really pulled off the perfect murder?
Ervansky and O'Brien will only unravel her skein of deceit when they turn to the same Hollywood magic that convinces audiences aliens can phone home, talking clown fish do search and rescue, and every hooker is just a nice girl waiting for the right millionaire.
Marsha Lyons
In her mid-twenties Marsha Lyons, a practicing Tallahassee attorney, stumped the panel on What's My Line when it was revealed that she was the Chief of the Criminal Division of the US Attorneys Office in Miami. She has instructed federal agents at various sites including the FBI Academy at Quantico and was a legal advisor for courtroom scenes in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear. Last spring she and old friend and former television comedy writer, April Kelly (Mork & Mindy, Boy Meets World) released Murder In One Take and Murder: Take Two. Recently they announced the publication of Murder: Take Three. The series are mysteries set against the backdrop of the entertainment industry. Marsha is an active member of the Tallahassee Writers Association and Chairman of Programing.
Marina Brown, Land Without Mirrors - Gold medal in Adult Fiction- General
Land Without Mirrors
On an idyllic Trinidadian island just before the outbreak of WWII, three children on the brink of adolescence struggle with what it means to live in a community solely inhabited by lepers and their caretakers-and whether they too are among the infected. While some in authority engage in strange experiments ostensibly meant to find the cause of Hansen's disease, others harbor dark secrets of violence. Whether a powerful priest or an enigmatic nun will win in their dangerous power struggle has grave implications for the three youths and their yearning for a different life. In a tale that spans nearly fifteen years, and moves from the mystical intrigues of Chacachacare's isolated Hindu culture, to Cartagena, Columbia, and finally, to Port of Spain, surprising twists of fate weave, unravel, and at last, bind the three young people together. Though the ominous undercurrent of World War II, the social changes affecting the Caribbean, and the intense search for a cure for leprosy wash throughout the tale, Land Without Mirrors is at heart a love story-mothers for their children; men for power and fame; and a sweet first love that grows to maturity.
Marina Brown
Marina Brown was born in Indianapolis. She has written for newspapers and magazines for the last twenty years, The St. Petersburg Times, the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida Design, Dance, and Sailing Magazine among them.She is the recipient of numerous awards for her short stories and poetry. Marina is a former professional ballet dancer, a sailor, a figurative watercolorist, an RN, and a cellist. This is her first novel. Marina lives in Tallahassee, Florida.
Jodie Renner, Style That Sizzles & Pacing for Power – Silver medal in Reference.
Style That Sizzles & Pacing for Power has won a Silver Medal in nonfiction in the Florida Authors & Publishers President's Book Awards for 2013. Fiction writers – if you're looking to hone your style, bring your scenes to life, tighten up your writing, add tension, pick up the pace, and develop a more authentic, appealing voice, this guide to the indispensable style elements of writing a popular novel is for you. This book is chock-full of excellent tips to help you learn to write like the pros and create a compelling novel that sells. Not only that, but if you apply these tips to your manuscript, you'll save a lot of money on editing costs.
Topics include: hooking readers in on your first pages, writing compelling action scenes, style blunders to avoid, showing instead of telling, streamlining cluttery sentence structures, avoiding repetitions, choosing words that nail it, pacing for power, avoiding info dumps and awkward structures, writing natural-sounding dialogue, expressing thoughts, showing character reactions, avoiding melodrama, finding your authentic voice, and more.
Jodie Renner is a highly respected, in-demand freelance fiction editor, specializing in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, and other crime fiction, as well as YA, mainstream, and historical fiction.
Visit Jodie's websites at JodieRennerEditing.com and JodieRenner.com.
Jodie's articles on writing compelling fiction appear regularly on several blogs, including her own,
JodieRennerEditing.blogspot.com, and her group blog, Crime Fiction Collective, at CrimeFictionCollective.blogspot.com.
The Tallahassee Writers Association is proud of these individuals, and encourages all writers to submit their works for award consideration to the various contests available. For information on joining the Tallahassee Writers Association, or if you want information about TWA, please visit www.twaonline.org.
Article written by Peggy Kassees
Peggy Kassees, Photo by Bob O'Lary
Peggy is Vice President for the Tallahassee Writers Association (TWA), Co-Conference Chair and TWA Blog Coordinator for the Tallahassee Democrat. When not at her day job, Peggy spends her time writing, reading, listening to music, and knitting. Her favorite places to write are wherever live music fills the air and surrounded by people. She is a book review contributor to the Southern Literary Review and the Tallahassee Democrat.
Peggy is an Imaginist. She likes to take what is, then give it a twist to see what can be. Her favorite question is "What if?" A writer of Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and Southern Gothic, Peggy's stories incorporate elements of myth, mystery, magic, mayhem, and love. She is closely working with an agent preparing two books for publication. Peggy encourages everyone to imagine the possibilities—then write about them. She is a member of the Tallahassee Writers Association, the Romance Writers of America, and the Florida Writers Association.
Peggy can be found on Face Book, Twitter @PEKassees, and upon occasion writing in her own blog at www.PeggyKassees.blogspot.com.
This entry was posted in Community, TLH Books and tagged Award. FAPA, book, Donna Meredith, Jodie Renner, Land Without Mirrors, M.R. Street, Magic in the Mountains, Marina Brown, Marsha Lyons, Murder in One Take, Peggy Kassees, Style that Sizzles and Pacing for Power, The Werewolf's Daughter, TWA on October 5, 2013 by Tallahassee Writers Association.
Tallahassee Writers Association Blog: Ask Seanachaidh – Questions and Answers on Writing
Tallahassee Writers Association Blog:
Ask Seanachaidh
Do you have a question about writing – ask, and we may put your question and the answer on the Tallahassee Writers Association Community Blog.
Dear Seanachaidh:
I have a book in my mind that needs to be written. I don't know how to write it. Where would I begin? Can anyone help me with how to begin?
Dear Dorothy,
You have already begun your book. Once you allowed the idea to germinate in your mind, you are ready to write. Julia Cameron, in her book, "The Artist Way," says to put your pen to paper – your fingers to computer and write, write, write. It doesn't matter where you start. Now is the time to throw your words down – believe me, you will have lots of time to smooth your novel out later.
A good resource – and there are many writing how-to books on the market – is Anne Lamott's book, "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life."
Many people work with an outline, others, like Stephen King use the "what if" method. He has a basic idea, goes with it, and then says "what if." You can get more information from Stephen King in his book, "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft."
I say to go for it. Put the words on paper. After that you will edit the pudding out of it. What is now your current first chapter may not even be in your book when you are done.
There are many ways to obtain help with your writing:
Join a writer's guild. The Tallahassee Writers Association, (TWA), meets the third Thursday of every month, except December (party) and May (our annual conference), at the American Legion, Lake Ella, at 6:30pm. Anyone wanting to write is encouraged to attend and learn from that month's speakers. You are welcome to visit. If you wish to join TWA, the membership fee is minimal, and the benefits are huge. Visit our website at www.twaonline.org.
This month, we have Jon Jefferson who co-wrote the Body Farm series with Dr. Bill Bass under the nom-de-plum of Jefferson Bass. He will not only present the program, but will also host a book signing for the Body Farm series' newest release, "Cut to the Bone." Do come out, there will be snacks and a cash bar for those twenty-one and over.
Another way to learn how to write is to read. If you read a lot, and you should, you know how a well-written book sounds. Emulate that.Join a critique group. TWA can point you towards other writers who are looking to start a group.
Attend workshops. October 12, 2013, Vic DiGenti, an award-winning author, will teach novel writing techniques in this workshop. For both beginning writers and more advanced pros looking for new insights, this workshop provides writers with the tools needed to craft their own novel that will grab a reader's attention and keep them turning pages. COST $50 TWA members and $60 non-members. You can sign up here: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=xv96sdjab&oeidk=a07e7rzdqan2b511dc7&oseq=a011kgz1liwri
And yes, there is intensive help and guidance available. You can sign up for classes at a local university or through your writer's guild. There are experienced people who provide services to help you write your book for a charge. Always check references. The TWA website is a good place to start your search, if this is the way you want to go.
The main thing, Dorothy, is to start at whatever point you are inside your head, and keep at it. Embrace the joy of the written word, and have fun. Yes, writing a book is hard work, but it is a wonderful thing, too.
Seanachaidh
(Seanachaidh, pronounced Shan-ah-kee, is Celtic for storyteller)
This entry was posted in Community, TLH Books and tagged book, Book review, novel, questions on writing, Seanachaidh, Tallahassee Writers Association, TWA, writer on August 30, 2013 by Tallahassee Writers Association.


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Washington County Clerk of Court
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You are here: Home / Court Information / Traffic
What is a Civil Traffic Infraction?
A civil traffic infraction is a non-criminal charge that can usually be disposed of by the payment of a civil penalty or an election to attend a defensive driving course, However, if your citation involves serious bodily injury, a fatality, leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle, or speed 30+ MPH in excess of posted speed limits, you are required to appear before the Court.
Examples of civil charges are: pedestrian violations, bicycle violations, non-moving violations such as; not wearing your seat belt, not carrying your driver's license, registration, or insurance card, expired registration less than 6 months, or expired driver's license less than 4 months, moving violations such as; speeding, running a red light or stop sign, careless driving, child restraint violations, or failing to maintain a single lane.
What are the procedures for handling a citation for failure to carry or display a driver's license, registration, and/or a license tag?
If the officer charged you with no/failure to carry or display a valid driver's license, registration, license tag, and you have proof that it was valid at the time the officer issued the citation, you may submit proof of your valid document(s), a $10.00 dismissal fee, and the yellow copy of your citation to the Clerk's Office for dismissal of the charge.
What are the procedures for handling a citation for failure to carry proof of insurance?
If the officer charged you with failure to carry valid insurance, and you have proof that it was valid at the time the officer issued the citation, you may send a photocopy of your valid document, a $10.00 dismissal fee, and the yellow copy of your citation to the Clerk's Office. Clerk's Office personnel will dismiss the charge. Please send your request to the mailing address provided above.
Which citations require a mandatory court appearance?
The following charges require a mandatory court hearing:
Leaving a child in an unattended vehicle
An accident involving a serious bodily/personal injury
An accident involving a fatality
Passing on enter/exit side while bus is stopped
Speed 30+ MPH in excess of posted speed limits
How do I obtain a court continuance for my civil traffic citation?
If your civil court date has been set, the Clerk's Office does not have the authority to change the court date. You must file a "Request for Continuance". The written request should be forwarded to:
The request will be forwarded to the appropriate hearing officer or judge. You will be notified by mail if the request was granted or denied, if the request was granted, you will be provided the future court date information.
CLERK PERSONNEL ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE.
How can I get my driver's license reinstated?
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will reinstate your license for a fee of $60.00. You must have proof that all outstanding suspensions in every county have been satisfied. Please contact the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles at (850)-638-6284 for instructions.
How do I obtain a record search of my driving record in order to obtain a hardship license?
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) may require you to furnish a letter from the Clerk's Office reflecting dispositions on violations received in the last 12 months. There is a fee of $5.00 for this service.
A record search may be obtained at the following location:
1293 Suite, 101 Jackson Avenue
Can I pay my out of county traffic citation at a Washington County Clerk's Office?
No, you must pay your citation in the county in which you received it. Some counties have Out of County Defensive Driving School Affidavits. You can fill them out and send them to the correct county. You may attend a school in another county. However, you must first take care of the citation in the county that issued the citation.
What should I do if I have a change of address?
Follow the instructions listed in your Florida Driver's Handbook. A complete copy of the handbook is available on the Internet at: Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website
What forms of payment are acceptable for a traffic citation?
You may pay with cash, money order. If making payment at our office location, we accept Visa, MasterCard, and most debit cards.
Does attending defensive driving school keep the citation off my driving record?
No, the citation will show on your full driving record, but will show adjudication withheld. This means no points will be assessed.
Can I elect to attend defensive driving school after I have paid my citation?
No, once you pay your citation, you have made your one election for that violation. If you wish to attend school, you must make that election first.
Does attending defensive driving school keep my insurance rates down?
Please consult your respective insurance company for this information.
Where can I find a list of defensive driving schools?
For Basic Driver Improvement Courses, please visit the State of Florida DHSMV's Basic Driver Improvement Course listing. For additional course, and for other class types, please consult your local yellow pages.
Will the defensive driving school notify the Washington County Clerk's Office when I have completed the class?
No, you must send your completion certificate to the Clerk's Office.
How can I obtain a copy of a driver's license search?
You may obtain a driver's license search by visiting www.flhsmv.gov – click "Driver License & ID" then click "Driver License Check", or you may visit the Washington County Tax Collector at 1331 South Blvd., Chipley, FL 32428
What are my options for disposing of a civil traffic citation?
You have 3 basic options. The Clerk's Office must receive your option with payment.
1. Pay the traffic citation (Payable moving violations may be paid within 30 days)
Payment in person – Traffic Department at Washington County Clerk of Court, 1293 Suite 151 Jackson Avenue, Chipley, Florida.
Payment by mail – by sending to Traffic Department at Washington County Clerk of Court, Post Office Box 647, Chipley, FL 32428.
Payment by website via MyFloridaCounty.com
If you choose to pay the civil penalty, you are admitting guilt, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle (DHSMV) will assess points on your driving record for moving violations. For driver's license, registration, or insurance violations, proof of compliance is also required.
If paying by mail, please remember that the Clerk's Office must receive the payment within 30 calendar days of the date the officer issued the citation. We are not responsible for lost or delayed mail. Enclose the yellow copy of the citation with payment so that we can match the payment to the correct case file. Payment can be made with checks or money orders drawn on a United States Bank.
ONCE YOU HAVE PAID IN FULL, YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR OPTION TO SELECT A DEFENSIVE DRIVING SCHOOL.
2. Elect Defensive Driving School
Commercial Drivers are NOT eligible for this option.
You may elect defensive driving school on any non-mandatory court appearance citation that has points assessed. These are typically moving violations such as speeding, running a red light, failing to maintain a single lane and child restraint.
If you elect the defensive driving school option, adjudication is withheld, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) will not assess points against your driving record.
You are eligible to elect the defensive driving school once every 12 months and five times in a lifetime. To elect this option, you must fill out the Traffic School Affidavit Form and pay the school election fee within 30 calendar days of the date the officer issued the citation. The forms are available from the officer at the time they issue the citation, or from the Clerk's Office.
You must attend or complete a defensive driving course approved by the State of Florida. Courses offered in other states are not acceptable.
Once you have completed the school, you must return the school completion certificate to the Clerk's Office within 60 days from the date you paid the school election fee.
It is your responsibility to enroll in the traffic school of your choice. For information concerning traffic school enrollment, locations, and fees, please contact a traffic school of your choice. Traffic schools are located in your local yellow pages under Driving Instruction.
ONCE YOU HAVE ELECTED THE TRAFFIC SCHOOL OPTION, YOU CANNOT CHANGE YOUR ELECTION TO PAY THE CIVIL PENALTY.
3. Elect a Court Hearing
Your request for a court hearing must be in writing and can be delivered in person or by mail. The Clerk's Office must receive your written request within 30 calendar days of the date the officer issued the citation. Please visit or send your request to our mailing address.
If you appear in court, you waive your right to paying the civil penalty amount. The judge can fine you up to $1,000.00, as well as order you to attend Driver Improvement School and/or pay a penalty. If you fail to attend a requested hearing, it may result in a driver's license suspension; or the judge can hear your case without you being present. The Clerk's Office will notify you of the judge's decision.
If it is impossible or impractical for you to appear in court in person, you may be eligible to elect a court hearing by affidavit. If eligible, and upon request, the Clerk's Office can mail you an Affidavit of Defense to complete and instructions for posting a bond in lieu of your appearance. This form must be notarized, and the applicable bond amount must be submitted. The judge will read the affidavit in the courtroom. The officer and any witnesses may testify, and the judge will render a verdict. The Clerk's Office will notify you by mail of the disposition of your citation.
Affidavit for Traffic School
Do you have outstanding court costs or fines in Washington County?
Find out today by clicking here.
1293 Jackson Avenue
Court Room:
customerservice@washingtonclerk.com
Copyright © 2020 Lora C. Bell Washington County Florida Clerk of Court · Website by 2k Web Group

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The Gene Autry Show: S2 E26 - The Trail Of The Witch The Gene Autry Show
Gene and Pat are called in by a young sheriff to help stop a series of mine shipment robberies by an unknown gang. The trail leads to a witch-like recluse's cabin.
More From The Gene Autry Show
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E1 - Head For Texas Season: 1, Episode: 1
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E2 - Gold Dust Charlie Season: 1, Episode: 2
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E3 - The Silver Arrow Season: 1, Episode: 3
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E5 - The Star Toter Season: 1, Episode: 5
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E7 - Blackwater Valley Feud Season: 1, Episode: 7
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E6 - The Double Switch Season: 1, Episode: 6
The Gene Autry Show: S2 E1 - Ghost Town Raiders Season: 2, Episode: 1
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E8 - Doublecross Valley Season: 1, Episode: 8
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E9 - The Posse Season: 1, Episode: 9
The Gene Autry Show: S1 E10 - The Devil's Brand Season: 1, Episode: 10


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← Internal derangement.
The weekend so far. →
Amateur radiology, anyone?
This might be the ultimate in navel-gazing, but if nothing else, it's pretty cool.
Turns out you can open DICOM files — a medical standard, according to J.C. the Genius — with a free program called iRad.
UPDATE: John suggests this post needs a soundtrack. I agree. Press play, but be warned, song is NSFW, but pretty funny. (And the title shown isn't the name of the song, probably obscured for bot-foiling purposes.)
13 responses to "Amateur radiology, anyone?"
John said on May 23, 2008 at 3:06 pm
No Barry White while we gaze at your comely limb?
Have a safe holiday weekend!
brian stouder said on May 23, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Nice gams!
(or – gam)
Sue said on May 23, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Well NO WONDER you're hurting!
Bill said on May 23, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Great song! Now I know what's wrong with me.
coozledad said on May 23, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Looks to me like there's sinovial fluid leaking into your patellar capsule, but I'd have to check my Visible Woman model to make sure. And I switched from pre-med to occasional recreational drug user my sophomore year in high school.
brian stouder said on May 24, 2008 at 12:31 am
Say, if you've high-speed internet, click this link and then go to Keith Olbermann's 'Special Comment' about Senator Clinton's absolutely and grotesquely crass and inexcuseable remarks, when asked why she is still in the race –
"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it,"
Olbermann is overwrought, as usual – but for Christ's Sake!! As Olbermann says – we (many of us) have forgiven a lot from her in the recent past (particularly rankling was her complimentary remarks about McCain as opposed to Obama), and her 'working people; good people; white people' riff….but this idea that her continued candidacy is justified because someone might just murder Senator Obama is just too much; it is too much to accept, or to excuse, or to minimize, or to understand. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton may or may not be accurately described as many different things – but she is NOT stupid; she knows that the the subject of assassination is a third-rail in American politics and American history. "Apologies" directed at anyone she 'might' have offended is just bullshit. (maybe next week she'll invoke the imagery of lynching)
We here in nn.c-land had this discussion about "the thing we won't talk about" – and some of us prefer to leave it at quiet confidence in the people who dedicate their own lives to the protection of major candidates and VIPs.
I find it breathtaking and disheartening that Senator Clinton has chosen to openly, personally, and repeatedly float the prospect of the murder of her rival as a major reason to stay in the campaign; it is apparent that she is betting against the good guys
When I first heard this news this evening in the car, I truly didn't believe it. Olbermann's righteous indignation schtick is sometimes a bit thick, but he has it right this time.
Jolene said on May 24, 2008 at 1:37 am
I agree, Brian, that the 1968 contest is a very odd example of campaigns that close late to have on the tip of your tongue. It's hardly the fact that it occurred in June that makes it memorable. And the fact that she had used the same example a couple of months ago invalidates the idea that it was Ted Kennedy's presence in her recent thoughts that brought the example to mind, which is what she said in her apology. Since the "why stay in" question has come up before, you'd think she'd come up with an answer that didn't involve the death of a candidate–say the 1984 Hart vs. Mondale contest, for instance.
I've been finding it harder and harder to be polite to Clinton supporters lately because her claims have become increasingly over the top. Her noble concern about the poor disenfranchised voters of Florida and Michigan has been nauseating all along, as has her effort to make the popular vote a meaningful outcome in the middle of a contest designed to produce delegates. It's perfectly legitimate to challenge the rules, but not generally when one has had a large hand in making those rules, has publicly agreed to play by them, and the game is in the fourth quarter.
Equating an attempt to hold elements of the Democratic party to rules that the party as a whole has agreed to play by with Robert Mugabe's attempt to invalidate election results in Zimbabwe, as she did this past week, is more than a little rich.
We can hope that this incident will give the superdelegates still sitting on their hands a reason to act so that there's no doubt this will be over in June–with all players still breathing.
Dexter said on May 24, 2008 at 2:19 pm
thanks for my newly adopted theme song…I'm way north of 50 and closing in on 60 and no doubt…MSFUp.
Now to buy a gardening tool. I made a mistake in allowing a neighbor use my garden hoe to groom out a few weeds in his flower garden…the neighbor moved out and took my hoe.
A hoe. Jeez…what kind of scumbag would steal a cheap hoe?
here's the YouTube of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdAGv7NFxIA
caliban said on May 25, 2008 at 3:13 pm
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
So, Kerry said that four years ago, and despite the fact that any functional literate could read it in context and know he was calling W an obtuse asshole, he was victimized by willful misrepresentation. And now, Clinton said something equally as clumsy and vulnerable to intentional inference absent implication, once again, for political purposes. Actually, her intention and meaning were as clear as Kerry's had been.
Maureen Dowd says Hillary's attitude is "[shit] happens"; Other opinionates have characterized the verbal blunder as "wishful thinking" (what was she thinking?). Keith Olbermann did his highest moral dudgeon church lady to date, and I'd have to say, after all these months of making Sen. Clinton out to be (code word) hysterical, Keith came off as downright menopausal psycho.
People that see this as nefarious or proof that Hillary's got 666 tattooed on her scalp, I figure they fall into three groups: gullible consumers of campaign spin; people that see "old-guard" liberal Democrats (circa the olden days of 2000) as inherently evil; and people that also gave vent to previously repressed inappropriate and impure thoughts about Miley Cyrus when they saw the Annie Liebovitz pics.
Meanwhile, RFK, Jr. provides the voice of reason. It's still depressing that people make voting decisions this way.
Obama's the candidate, fait accompli, and his own comments in this matter were sensible and balanced, while his campaign crew and supporters came across like Swift Boaters. Wouldn't it make more sense at this point to ignore Hillary instead of going into Rove overdrive with an intentionally misrepresented statement that doan mean shit? It's like they all think they're trying to kill Rasputin. Get a grip, y'all.
Kafkaz said on May 25, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Nancy–Argghhhh! Either this "internal derangement" thing is catching, or you cursed me from afar. I'm just back from the doc, and he says I have "internal derangement" of the left knee, which he suspects is actually a meniscus tear. So, now it's on to the orthopedist on Tuesday, and I get to have *no fun* in the meanwhile, unless the Vicodin counts, which it might.
Sheesh. Aging totally bites.
I didn't even know I had a damned meniscus to tear. Until now, my whole sense of a "meniscus" was that it had to do with the surface tension of a liquid.
Darn it.
an intentionally misrepresented statement
You mean "statementS" – she has referred to the potential of assassination twice before.
I am sorry – this time I just cannot find any way to interpret this repeated sentiment of hers, as other than dark-hearted (so to speak)
Try and imagine how she would feel, or how she would react, if such a calamity (the murder of Obama) DID come to pass, now that she's on the record (repeatedly) floating this image.
Indeed, it is not too much to say that continually evoking this notion (as she has) of the sudden violent demise of Obama is an almost theatrical "Who will rid me of this meddlesome man?" – a sort of standing offer, to the lunatic fringe.
It suddenly hit me that, if such a thing should happen, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton would not miss a beat; she'd express condolances and show up where she's supposed to and never miss a beat (so to speak), and she might not even get caught smiling at the wrong moment…an excellent reason NOT to place her a 'heart beat away' from the office of the presidency of the United States
Joe said on June 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Suffering from a rotary cuff injury myself – I found the soundtrack song hilarious! It made my a pain a little less and my smile a lot bigger!
John • brian stouder • Sue • Bill • coozledad • brian stouder • Jolene • Dexter • Dexter • caliban • Kafkaz • brian stouder • Joe • and YOU.


text:
Posted on September 29, 2016 by Pomeroy Daily Sentinel
Lady Cats fall to Covenant
Hannan senior Mackenzie Barker, left, bumps a ball in the air in front of teammate Kassidee Bush during Game 3 of Thursday night's non-conference volleyball match against Covenant Christian in Ashton, W.Va.
Bryan Walters/OVP Sports
ASHTON, W.Va. — Another loss in another loss.
The Hannan volleyball team suffered another injury-related setback while dropping its 11th consecutive match of the season Thursday night following a 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 loss to visiting Covenant Christian in a non-conference contest in Mason County.
The Lady Wildcats (0-11) suffered their fourth personal setback in the last 10 days as senior Taylor Scarbrough suffered a knee injury early in the match.
The hosts were already without regular starters and seniors Kelsey DeVries and Madison Staggs beforehand due to respective head and knee injuries earlier in the week, plus sophomore starter Pam Ochs was also out due to illness.
HHS led 4-1 early in the opening game with its decimated roster, but the Lady Eagles answered with five consecutive points to secure a 6-4 edge through two servers apiece.
The Lady Cats and CCS battled through six ties and seven lead changes en route to a 19-17 Hannan edge, but the guests responded with six straight points to secure a 23-19 cushion. Both teams traded points the rest of the way, allowing the Lady Eagles to secure a 1-0 match lead.
The hosts never led in Game 2 as Covenant stormed out to early leads of 7-3 and 19-13 before rolling to a nine-point win and a 2-0 match edge.
The Lady Eagles never trailed in Game 3, but there were five ties and six lead changes throughout the course of the finale.
CCS and Hannan were tied at two, three, six, 18 and lastly at 19-all, but the guests closed out Game 3 by scoring the final six points for the straight-game decision.
Given the circumstances, HHS coach Kellie Thomas was pleased with the effort from her remaining troops. She noted that it's been rough over the last two weeks, but she is proud that her kids are still putting in a respectable effort.
"We don't have an incredibly deep roster, so losing a fourth player tonight to an injury has made for some difficult times over the last few weeks," Thomas said. "We have a few players that haven't played a lot at this level on the floor, and they are still battling and not giving up. They are gaining a lot of experience and they are fighting through this learning process.
"Honestly, we played well tonight given what we have to work with right now. Hopefully we just keep improving on the court … and in health."
Mackenzie Barker and Josie McCoy both led the Hannan service attack with six points apiece, followed by Hailey White with five points.
Kassidee Bush and Cassidy Duffer were next with four points each, while Scarbrough and Josie Cooper respectively closed things out with two points and one point.
Mackenzie Moir paced CCS with 17 service points, followed by Clara Jones and Karliegh Collins with eight points apiece.
Eden Bumgardner and Tori Blankenship were next with five and four points, respectively. Savannah Scarberry also had three points in the triumph.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2016/09/web1_10.1-HAN-Barker.jpgHannan senior Mackenzie Barker, left, bumps a ball in the air in front of teammate Kassidee Bush during Game 3 of Thursday night's non-conference volleyball match against Covenant Christian in Ashton, W.Va. Bryan Walters/OVP Sports
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: Lady Cats fall to Covenant. Here is a link to that story: http://www.mydailysentinel.com/sports/9136/lady-cats-fall-to-covenant


The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on 21 April, 2014 ramucirumab (Cyramza) to treat patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. It is a fully human monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 class, directed against the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Ramucirumab is intended for patients with unresectable or metastatic disease after treatment with a fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing therapy.
"Although the rates of stomach cancer in the United States have decreased over the past 40 years, patients require new treatment options, particularly when they no longer respond to other therapies," said Dr Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Ramucirumab's safety and effectiveness were evaluated in a clinical trial of 355 participants with unresectable or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer. Two-thirds of trial participants received ramucirumab while the remaining participants received a placebo. The trial was designed to measure overall survival.
The results showed that participants treated with ramucirumab experienced a median overall survival of 5.2 months compared to 3.8 months in participants receiving placebo. Additionally, participants who were treated with ramucirumab experienced a delay in tumour growth (progression-free survival) compared to participants who were given placebo.
The results from a second clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy of ramucirumab plus paclitaxel versus paclitaxel alone also showed an improvement in overall survival.
Common side effects experienced by ramucirumab-treated participants during clinical testing include diarrhoea and hypertension.
The FDA reviewed ramucirumab under its priority review program, which provides an expedited review for drugs that have the potential, at the time the application was submitted, to be a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness in the treatment of a serious condition.
Ramucirumab was also granted orphan product designation because it is intended to treat a rare disease or condition.
It is marketed by Eli Lilly.


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10 of the Fastest Compound Bows Released For 2018
Published by kh on November 21, 2018 November 21, 2018
The compound bow industry continues to advance with technological advancements helping to not only increase the speeds but also make them smoother at the same time. The result is an increasing number of bows that are capable of incredible speeds and the bows are even more accurate than ever.
We take a look at 10 of the fastest compound bows released for the 2018 season based on their advertised IBO ratings. Not only are they listed together for comparison but we will also go a little deeper with each bow to work out which ones provide the best combination of power, precision and comfort.
The bows have been presented below in order of their advertised IBO speeds. To get a quick picture of the capabilities of each bow you should take the time to go over the provided bow specifications for each entry.
PSE Full Throttle
The Full Throttle has been the industry leader when it comes to fast bows for a number of years now and it sits at the top again in 2018. According to PSE Archery it is a feat of precision engineering because it not only has a top speed of 270 fps but it is also incredibly accurate.
The bow uses the company's X-Technology which reduces the poundage that is being pulled when drawing the bow. It also has pre-loaded parallel limbs for a more forgiving shot which works very nicely with the very short brace height of only 5.25 inches.
The bow is powered by the large Full Throttle Cams which are typically aggressive and are draw-length specific in order to provide every last bit of speed possible.
The bow has been equipped with a number of pieces of technology such as the FlexCable Slide, Vibracheck Limb Damper Bands and the Backstop 2 micro-adjustable string stop. Each component designed to help keep the bow as smooth as possible through the entire draw cycle.
There is going to be some cost of producing these speeds and it comes during the draw with the shooter experiencing some weight but it is an even pull that won't give the arm any bumps during the process.
For the full on speed freak, the Full Throttle remains the leader of the pack and will give you a flat trajectory shot with tremendous penetration.
Find out more about the company by visiting the PSE Archery website.
Full Throttle Specs
Axle-to-
Let Off
(IBO)
50, 60, 65, 70 lbs
362-370 fps
APA King Cobra TF 2
As has been the case for the last year or so, APA Archery has made a run at producing the fastest compound bow in the market and the King Cobra TF 2 is capable of just about matching the Full Throttle. The bow has an advertised IBO rating of up to 370 fps.
The bow has been given a bit of an upgrade from the previous season and the brace height has been increased slightly to 5-5/16 inches.
The bow is powered by the MX True Dual Cam System that feature Dual Sealed Ball Bearing to give it added stability and speed. The bow is adjustable in half-inch increments and includes the APA Cam Lock that allows the strings or cables to be changed in the field without the need of a bow press.
The Twin Flex Limbs have been designed so that the energy is stored among two separate areas which allows greater levels to be stored. This is done thanks to the flex in the forked section. The way in which these limbs are designed reduces noise at the shot, smooths the draw cycle while increasing the possible speed of the bow.
The bow is a high performance bow that will provide short draw shooters as well as larger framed shooters to feel comfortable drawing it back.
Find out more about the company by visiting the APA Archery website.
King Cobra TF 2 Specs
up to 370 fps
Obsession Huracon
The Huracon by Obsession is a long draw bow that has been designed to fit suit the frame of the larger shooter. With a draw length range that is limited to 30 to 32 inches with half inch increments, the bow will only fit a small proportion of people. However, it has also been designed to offer those people extreme speeds.
The bow has been designed around a significant platform with an axle to axle length of 34 inches. The power comes from the Obsession two-track DS Cam system and with draw weights ranging from 40 pounds up to 70 pounds and 80% let off, it is capable of reaching up to 366 feet per second.
The bow also features the Anti Torque Roller Guard to reduce cam lean during the bow's draw cycle and this also adds to the ability to generate extra speed.
To go with the high speeds the bow has been created with a smooth draw that ends with a solid back wall and a forgiving release. This is the choice for the long draw archer who is looking for something with high end power and speed.
Find out more about the company by visiting the Obsession Bows website.
Huracon Specs
40, 50, 60, 65, 70 lbs
Xpedition Xcursion 6
The Xcursion 6 was released by Xpedition Archery as another high power hunting bow that provides the shooter with a combination of precision comfort and speed.
The bow is available with the PX3 and XS Plus cams to not only provide an IBO rating of up to 358 fps but also a smooth draw cycle. The cam systems provide you with a draw range of either 27 – 30 inches with the XS Plus or 25 – 26.5 inches with the PX3.
The bow also features a dual plane riser with the bridging design that is meant to control vibration and harness the harmonics. It also adds more rigidity to the rig without adding any unnecessary weight.
The bow has a good feel in the hand and draws back to a very comfortable valley. When it completes to draw and release cycle you are struck by how quiet it is and shoots with minimal vibration. The overwhelming consensus is that this is a very nice bow that meets all expectations when it comes to speed and smoothness.
Find out more about the company by visiting the Xpedition Archery website.
Xcursion 6 Specs
Obsession Def-Con M6Z
The Def-Con M6Z is the second bow from Obsession Archery to feature on the fastest bows list for 2017 and it is an impressive piece of equipment that should have hunters looking very closely at it.
The bow is equipped with the Def-Con Z cam system and it is this, in part, that is responsible for bow's speed capability of up to 356 fps and the smoothness of the draw. The cams also have the patent pending PerFx System interchangeable mods that allow the draw length to be altered in half-inch increments.
Unlike some other speed bows, the draw cycle is extremely smooth rather than displaying the aggressive that often comes hand in hand with high power.
The bow has a draw length that ranges from 26.5 to 30 inches and the draw weight offers options that start as low as 40 pounds and reaches up to 80 pounds.
This is a compound bow that will provide you with the perfect option for either hunting or if you are hitting the 3D range.
Obsession Def-Con M6Z Specs
40, 50, 60, 65, 70, 80 lbs
APA Mamba 34 TF
The Mamba 34 TF compound bow has been released as a mid-sized bow in the range that is also lightweight. The other significant feature, of course, is its IBO rating which lands it at speeds of up to 355 fps.
The bow is powered by the MX Cam System which is designed to be as smooth as possible. It also makes the bow highly adjustable. This is a dual cam system and that means care must be taken when tuning. The EZ Tune Mods make the tuning process very easy.
The bow is smooth to draw and ends with a solid back wall that allows the shooter to hold for extended periods. At the shot there is little to no hand shock thanks to the low vibration levels.
The limbs are Twin Flex Limbs and they flex all the way through the forks for greater distribution of load. They are held in place by pivoting, machined aluminum pockets and the slim line and past parallel hold helps to keep the entire rig quiet.
Other features to reduce noise and ensure smooth delivery include the Limbsaver string-stop dampener that sits on a vibration-absorbing carbon rod and a carbon roller guide to reduce cable friction. The bow riser is also coated in Soft Touch Armor coating to eliminate contact noise.
APA Mamba 34 TF Specs
50, 60, 70,
80, 90 lbs
Bear Legend LS-6
The Legend LS-6 was released by Bear Archery as the flagship compound bow for the 2017 season. It was built with every piece of high-technology that could be added to a bow. This means that it was created to not only shoot at very high speeds but with as much comfort and control as possible.
The bow is powered by the H17 Hybrid Cams. These cams are large in size and feature the adjustable DrawDial modules that have been present in bows from previous seasons. The draw length adjustment ranges from 27 to 30 inches and can be made in half-inch increments.
Also helping with the high speed capability are the Max-Preload Quad Limbs that have become almost expected from the company. The bow also uses limb pockets with high-strength barrel nuts and a Hinge Guard cable-guard system that helps to reduce torque.
One of the things about the bow that is immediately obvious is its appearance thanks to the bridged riser which makes it look different to all Bear bows released over previous seasons.
The bow has a brace height of only 5 inches yet it still displays a high degree of forgiveness. As a flagship bow and as a speed bow it has proven itself to sit among the finest bows released for the 2017 season.
Find out more about the company by visiting the Bear Archery website.
Bear Legend LS-6 Specs
45-60, 55-70 lbs
Darton DS-3900
The DS-3900 compound bow from Darton has been released as an upgrade on the extremely popular previous model, the DS-3800. The bow is slightly shorter and a little bit lighter than the DS-3800. It is also a faster compound bow too.
The bow is powered by the Darton Dual Sync (DS) cam system. This is the same cam system that has been used in the majority of the high-performance hunting bows that have been released over the years. In this case though, the cam orientation is slightly more aggressive and that could account for the higher speed.
The bow features E.E.T. laminated split limbs that extend past parallel when at full draw as well as rotating limb pockets and dual string suppressors. It also has a P.T.R. cable rod and this works to move the cables toward the centershot of the bow which will reduce torque.
As with some of the other bows we have looked at in this line-up, the brace height of the DS-3900 is a very short 5 inches. The draw cycle is not quite as smooth as the DS-3800 but neither is it rough. It ends in a firm back wall and will be able to be handled adequately by experienced bowhunters who are used to handling significantly powered bows.
Find out more about the company by visiting the Darton Archery website.
Darton DS-3900 Specs
350 - 355 fps
Mathews Halon 5
The Halon was first released in 2016 as the flagship compound bow for the season .The bow was part of a series of bows that featured the Crosscentric Cams that offered a semi-concentric string payout. In this case, the bow that we are examining is the halon 5 which features a brace height of 5 inches.
When the bow is set up with a let off of 75% it has an IBO rating of up to 353 fps and it has proven to live up the company's billing of being the hardest hitting flagship bow.
There is little problem in tuning the bow with the cam system providing a draw length range from 24 inches to 32 inches. It is possible to make small modifications to the bow in the field without a great deal of effort in the field.
The bow is quite compact with a measurement of 30 inches from axle to axle. It also features a dual riser bridge and a flat back grip.
The bow is typically a speed bow and the short brace height, combined with the short length of the bow can make it difficult to hold steady at full draw.
Find out more about the company by visiting the Mathews Inc website
Mathews Halon 5 Specs
75, 80%
The Mamba 32 TF is a compound bow that has been designed by APA Archery to be a particularly efficient shooting hunting bow. The TF in the bow's name refers to the Twin Flex limbs that help to provide the impressive top end speed.
The bow is a dual cam bow that is powered by the highly efficient MX cam system. The cam system makes it easy to tune and adjust with the draw length ranging from 25 to 30.5 inches with half inch adjustments available.
This is a lightweight bow that weighs only 3.8lbs and with a relatively long brace height of 6-5/8 inches and up to 80% let off, it is also forgiving and quite an accurate shooter.
This meets the design criteria of the company when it aimed to produce the most efficient, accurate and easy to tune compound bow possible.
Customer feedback has been glowing across the board with shooters backing up the claim as to the accuracy and shootability of the bow. It has an IBO rating of 353 fps and it sits comfortably as one of the best speed bows available anywhere.
What Does the IBO Rating Mean?
When we talk about the IBO rating of a compound bow we are referring to the accepted calculation to test bow speeds by the International Bowhunting Organization. When measuring the speed of a compound bow the IBO standard requires that the bow is set at a 30-inch draw length, the maximum draw weight is set at 70 pounds and it is shooting a 350-grain arrow.
This standard measurement took over from the previously used AMO (Archery Manufacturing Organization, this organization is now known as the ATA, or Archery Trade Association) standard which also requires that the bow's draw length is set at 30 inches. The differences from here are that the bow is set at a 60-pound maximum and the bow is shooting a 540-grain arrow.
Both speed calculation methods provide the consumer with an easily understood and consistent way of measuring bows speeds against each other.
One of the reasons why the IBO standard was more readily accepted over the AMO standard is because when the IBO method is used the speeds are higher. This, of course, impresses bowhunters and customers are more likely to buy the bows that boast the higher speeds.
It Will Be Quick, Just Not That Quick!
What this leads to is a cautionary word about the speeds you are actually going to achieve when you use a bow that has an advertised IBO speed of, say, 355 fps. It is very likely that you will be shooting arrows at significantly slower speeds. This may be because of a number of different factors.
You may have the bow set at a shorter draw length. If your draw length is 29 inches you will lose approximately 10 fps right off the bat. Next, you may be more comfortable pulling a 60 pound draw weight. This will further reduce the possible top speed of the bow. Now you decide to use arrows that are heavier than 350 grains and still more speed is shaved off.
Further to all of that, when manufacturers perform their speed test they will have set up their conditions – bow tuning, arrow composition, removal of all components – to be totally conducive to getting the highest possible speed reading out of the bow.
When you take your bow out hunting, it is going to loaded up with vibration dampening devices, a sight, possibly a shoot-thru rest and other equipment that are designed to increase accuracy and make the bow more comfortable to shoot, both of which are likely going to affect the speed of the bow.
The point is, you will still be equipping yourself with a mightily powerful bow when you buy one advertised with an IBO rating of 355 fps. It's just not going to achieve that speed when you take it out into the field...but it's still going to be bloody fast!