Education

Even though I have spent my whole life in Cedar Key and live only minutes away from a beach, as well as dozens of publicly accessible islands, I hardly ever take advantage of these blessings. But when I do, I have nothing but a fun, great time. One recent weekend I did just that! To start things off, I celebrated my cousin's thirteenth birthday. This was when the waterlogged weekend began. My whole family got together for a big birthday pool party, complete with pizza and cake, a universal favorite. The following day, we all caravanned up to Ichetucknee Springs to go tubing.

Many of you can relate to having your inbox full of emails, the greater part of which are usually junk. Others are chain emails that sometimes contain compelling facts and information. But how are we to know if these facts are true? Because all too often, they are not.

Take for instance the widely spread email that depicts the similarities between the lives and deaths of John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. This particular email is made up of numerous interesting "factual" coincidences, of which only a few are actually true.

Plants and core logs were placed on the shoreline of Atsena Otie Key on May 8 and Nov. 15, 2007 and again this year on May 8 where the old Eberhard-Faber pencil factory was in operation back in 1896.

A hurricane destroyed the mill and the town of Cedar Key's infrastructure that year. Cedar Key was re-established at its present location across the channel on Way Key after clean-up was completed at Atsena Otie Key. Unfortunately, construction costs and a sagging market prevented the pencil factory from being rebuilt.

Against a backdrop of budget cuts and skyrocketing costs, the School Board of Levy County heard arguments Tuesday trumpeting Levy County's windows of opportunity. They approved aggressive education programs vital to prepare area students and emerging high-tech job market.