Following complaints that beach chair and umbrella vendors take up too much shoreline on the west side of Navarre Pier, county staff plan to meet with the vendors and members of the community to discuss if an ordinance may be needed to address the matter.
A six-foot drop off has washed out beneath the staircase behind Brent Moore’s residence on Navarre Beach. Moore says less than two years ago four of the steps leading to the Gulf were submerged under sand. That erosion prompted Moore and others to drive Monday to Milton in an effort to convince commissioners beach renourishment must be a priority.
There’s a new partnership on Navarre Beach. The Francis M. Weston Audubon Society and the Northwest Florida Marine Education and Discovery of Gulf Ecosystems (NWFL Marine Edge) have teamed up to place a naturalist educator on station at the Navarre Beach Marine Science Station (NBMSS).
Labor Day weekend was at capacity for rentals on Navarre Beach and the traffic was what one would come to expect for a busy holiday weekend. Two incidents during the weekend dampened what were otherwise festive spirits for tourists and residents alike when they learned of two separate deaths of tourists from Louisiana who were visiting Navarre Beach to relax and enjoy their Labor Day weekend.
The Gulf Breeze Zoo is expanding again, but not in land mass. Two rare Grévy Zebras were born within hours of each other from two different moms, Blitz and Twitch. Both babies are called “colts” because they have been identified as being male. The new Zebra moms and colts are being kept in an area all to themselves, “so they can concentrate on just being moms,” said Zookeeper Christy Barnes. Barnes is responsible for the Zoo’s large mammals to include the rhinos, deer, antelope, hippos, watusi, gorillas, chimps, and kudu. Barnes also said that Zebra moms can be aggressive toward other animals if she feels that the colt is being threatened. Hence the separate area just off of
Holley Navarre Primary School (HNPS) reported that the school was in lockdown for approximately thirty minutes around noon Sept. 2. School staff said an irate parent in the front office caused them to initiate safety protocols that resulted in the 30 minute lockdown procedure. On the same morning, police were dispatched due to a "suspicious trespasser" over the police scanner.
A Craigslist search for a “female companion” apparently turned into a violent robbery in the early hours of Aug. 27 in Gulf Breeze. Steven Carl Struck told Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies that he had been corresponding via e-mail and text messaging with a woman as a result of the ad. The woman, later identified as Holly Caudle, identified herself as “Gloria,” upon arrival at his home at 2 a.m.. She was accompanied by another man, later identified as Robert Fraser. According the report, Struck allowed both into his home after they asked to use the restroom.
Just 11 provisional votes decided whether or not there would be a recount in the tight race between two seated county commissioners. In the end, Bob Cole received enough provisional votes to eliminate the need for a recount against fellow commissioner Jim Melvin, who also had to seek the District 2 seat after redistricting in 2010.
One of the issues in front of voters in Santa Rosa County for the November general election is to decide if a proposed county-wide one cent local option sales tax should be adopted to fund a new judicial center. The option would increase sales tax by one percent, and if approved, would be limited to five years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2015 and ending at midnight on Dec. 31, 2019.
