Community Archive

The Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, will host a regional competition for the 2026 National Civics Bee on Tuesday, April 7, at Beachside Church in Fort Walton Beach.

Faculty researchers and archaeology students at the University of West Florida have uncovered artifacts linked to multiple pre-Columbian Native American cultures during a recent archaeological survey on the university’s Pensacola campus.

Jeffrey Bearce, a retired police officer from Maine, is spending his final months with family, including children he isn’t related to by blood. Bearce, first diagnosed with cancer in 2009, plans a special spring vacation at Navarre Beach with three children he considers the grandchildren he never had.

A Gulf Breeze girl’s journey with a rare genetic condition has led to an opportunity for awareness and assistance for others with diseases and conditions.

Born in December 2018, Braylen Lee is living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neurodegenerative disease causing muscle weakness and atrophy. She was diagnosed with the condition at six months old.

The Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County (DOH-Santa Rosa) will host the 3D Mobile Mammography bus to provide free or low-cost mammograms to women Tuesday, April 14, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you have visited Publix or any of the other stores and restaurants in the Shoppes of Navarre Plaza in the past few months, you may have noticed a section of the parking lot roped off. Located in front of Pet Nation, the area cordoned off features a sunken in drainage basin and grate cover. The area is now under construction.

Stage Crafters Community Theatre put on an excellent production of “RENT” with a live band last weekend and the show continues this weekend, March 20-22.

Santa Rosa County School Board recognized two people for their efforts to bring Career and Technical Education into the classroom and to enhance learning opportunities for students.

Navarre United Methodist Church’s Kids Choir hosted an event called “Rising Praise” on Sunday, March 8.

The worship concert featured 12 songs performed by 14 choir members, all between the ages of 3 and 11.

Sandra Williams, a 71-year-old woman died after striking the back of a school bus in the eastbound left lane of Highway 98 Wednesday, March 11. The incident occurred near Sunrise Drive in Navarre.

Holley-Navarre Fire District was dispatched to the scene at 1:50 p.m. and found the woman’s vehicle, a Chevrolet, partially underneath the school bus.

Around 2:05 p.m., a paramedic with HNFD declared the driver deceased.