Before the shock of educators and parents to the dismal FCAT writing scores this year wore off, the State Board of Education moved swiftly to lower the passing grade from 4 to 3.

This year’s grades plummeted from a year ago, according to the Department of Education. That’s because, in an effort to make it tougher, the criteria and the scoring changed the Florida Writes test, given in grades four, eight and 10.

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My name is Trenard Williams. I was born in Palatka in 1971 and was raised in Elkton until I was 18 years old. Cooking has always been a passion of mine since I was a kid. My grandmother was my biggest influence with her country cooking. It seems as though I always go back to my roots when I’m in the kitchen. Granny Mary continues to tell me, even today, at 85 years old: “Cooking comes from the heart.”

In November 2011, I enrolled in First Coast Technical College’s School of Culinary Arts to begin my new career and pursue my professional certification.

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A Master Food and Nutrition Volunteer program is being offered by the Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences designed to provide food and nutrition training for selected individuals in Florida.

Master Food and Nutrition Volunteer is a title given to individuals who receive in-depth food and nutrition training from county extension family and consumer sciences agents and agree in return to give a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service to their local county extension office within the next year.

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Class 5A state semifinals

Clay (21-9) vs.

Ponte Vedra (20-8)

When: 10 a.m. today

Where: Digital Domain Park (Port St. Lucie)

Road here: Clay d. Palatka 5-1, Creekside 1-0, Hernando 4-2; Ponte Vedra d. Paxon 3-2 (9 innings), Bishop Kenny 4-2, West Florida 2-1 (9 innings).

Winner gets: American Heritage-Tampa Jesuit winner in state title game at 7 p.m. Friday.

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The Flagler College softball team opened the NCAA Division II National Championships with a 4-2 loss to Central Oklahoma.

The Saints will now face Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) today at 12:30 p.m. in an elimination game.

Robyn Draper singled twice and scored a run to lead Flagler’s offense. Breezy Collings and Alona Personius added RBI singles for the Saints (39-19).

Donna Munafo (20-7) took the loss from the circle. She gave up eight hits and four runs.

FORT LAUDERDALE — The ability to predict how bad a storm will be has eluded forecasters since Hurricane Andrew made a catastrophic landfall in South Florida two decades ago and it will remain a challenge for the next chief at the National Hurricane Center, the center’s outgoing director said Wednesday.

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FORT LAUDERDALE — Don’t let six hurricane-free years in Florida fool you into thinking the upcoming season will be a cakewalk.

That was the message of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other officials at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. They note that Florida, the most hurricane-battered state in the nation, is bound to run out of luck.

“I hope we don’t have a hurricane,” Scott told about 1,300 conference participants at the Broward Convention Center. “But the odds are not in our favor.”

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Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney endorsed U.S. Rep. Connie Mack in his bid for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

Romney’s campaign issued a short statement today saying Mack should be the party’s choice to take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in the fall.

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A long-stalled Department of Education contract for testing items as part of a Race to the Top grant award has been resolved, and the contract will go to NCS Pearson Inc., according to filings in a protest case.

The process for procuring the testing items was delayed by two different protests by CTB/McGraw-Hill — the first caused the department to re-bid the contract, but the second was dismissed this week after a settlement between the parties.

In a filing with the Division of Administrative Hearings, the Department of Education said it would move ahead with Pearson.

The state Democratic Party said Wednesday that it continues to lead in voter registration, releasing state Division of Elections data showing the Democrats out-registered Republicans in April by 10 percentage points.

New voters have been registering with the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party for a few months in Florida. State data the reporting of which by the state elections office lags that by the parties showed Democrats registered 5,459 more voters in April than did the Republican Party.

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When students in an archaeology field school at Flagler College first started digging, instructor Bill Locascio told them an archaeological truth, “It’s not what you find, it’s what you find out.”

They still started out eager to find things but now “they’ve started to want to find things out about what they’re finding,” Locascio said.

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When Phil McDaniel talks about his latest project — a small liquor distillery in downtown St. Augustine — the enthusiasm in the former marketing executive’s voice is hard to miss. McDaniel said he hopes to have the distillery, which will be located in the historic Ice Plant building on Riberia Street, open by January.

“I guess it would be fair to say I’m pretty fired up about this,” McDaniel, 54, said Wednesday. “I’ve been living and breathing this thing for the past 18 months, and the excitement level just keeps building.”

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St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Chief David Messenger will serve as interim chief of police for the St. Augustine Beach Police Department effective immediately, Sheriff David Shoar announced Wednesday.

Messenger is chief for the southern region of St. Johns County. He will serve until the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concludes its investigation into allegations by members of the beach police department against Police Chief Richard Hedges — allegations that include ethical, legal and procedural violations.

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It could take two weeks or longer before charges are filed in the case where a man drove his pickup into Castillo de San Marcos.

That’s because it will take that long before blood alcohol test results on Michael Harrison Bridges, 27, of St. Augustine are complete, said St. Augustine Police spokesman Mark Samson.

Bridges drove into the fort’s moat Monday around 2:40 a.m., Samson said.

He ran over an aluminum fence and a palm tree before hitting the wall and damaging around 15 feet of it, officials said.

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Andrea Zampatti, the Georgia woman accused of injuring half a dozen people in a Ponte Vedra Beach driving rampage two years ago, is expected to go to trial in September.

Circuit Judge Wendy Berger signed a motion Tuesday to continue the case until a pretrial hearing on Sept. 10, which would mean the trial would begin on Sept. 17.

Zampatti’s attorney, John Trevena of Tampa, filed the motion for continuance with the judge on Monday and the judge signed it the next day.

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A man arrested on child abuse charges in February is set to go to trial in July.

Justin Randolph Demott, 25, of Ponte Vedra Beach, was arrested on three counts of aggravated child abuse on Feb. 20, according to a report from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. Each charge is a first-degree felony.

Demott has been in the St. Johns County Jail since his arrest in lieu of $75,000 bond. He appeared before Circuit Judge Wendy Berger on Wednesday with his attorney, Jeremiah Mulligan, who received a continuance until July 3.

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Bank of St. Augustine has entered into an agreement with federal regulators to increase its capital and reduce the risk in its loans.

Bank President Jeff Bell said Wednesday that the Office of Comptroller of the Currency proposed the agreement, and the board of directors agreed.

The OCC asked that the bank develop a plan to improve its capital position, Bell said.

To get to an eight percent leverage ratio, he said, the bank needs to raise about $2 million in new capital, which it will do through the sale of additional stock as well as anticipated higher earnings.

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Nearly 23.5 million visitors came to Florida during the first three months of 2012, a 2.9-percent increase from the same period a year ago, according to figures released Wednesday by Visit Florida — the states tourism marketing corporation.

Meanwhile, direct travel-related employment in Florida also rose 1.9 percent, adding 19,200 jobs since May 2011 and representing the largest employment total since first quarter 2008.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist told state law enforcement agents last year that he thought former Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer might be trying to extort money from him, based on a long voice mail warning that “hurtful” things might be released about Crist, the Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday.

Greer, who is set to go on trial this summer in a criminal case in which he is charged with essentially defrauding the party in a fundraising scheme, left a voice mail for Crist in June 2011.

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Waves are looking rideable but not so great this afternoon. It’s in the knee to waist high range and weak. A couple guys out on longboards were getting a few so definitely worth a check if you need to surf. Check back in the AM! Share on Facebook

Waves are looking kinda fun this morning. It’s definitely looking a little soft but it’s in the waist high range with semi clean conditions. The Southside had a better peak on it then the Northside but both were breaking. Check back to see what it does today. Share on Facebook

Thigh to waist high surf this morning. Looks mushy and disorganized at first check with a steady wind out of the SE. Maybe we will see a little improvement with the tide push later this morning. Nothing great overall but it is still rideable if you want to give it a check. Share on Facebook

Waves have picked up some since this morning. It’s now in the waist high range with + sets. The wind is blowing strong out of the SE so it’s pretty unorganized. Every once in a while you can luck into a fun section. Might get better as the tide starts to drop out. Share on [...]

Waves are sloppy and choppy this morning at the Pier. The wind is blowing so we should see some size improvement throughout the day. As of now it looks around knee to thigh high on rare sets with nobody out. Share on Facebook

Waves are clean and lined up this morning at the Pier. It’s in the waist high range and with a ton of longboarders on it. Conditions are on the weak side so they are getting the best ones. Definitely worth a surf if you need to get wet! Share on Facebook