Community Archive

This July, Stuff the Bus, the annual donations drive organized by United Way of West Florida, brought together Escambia and Santa Rosa County residents to support local schools and students for the 2025-26 school year.

Alligator hunting season in Florida began Aug. 15 at midnight. Within just a few hours, what will likely be one of the biggest gators of the season was caught on the Yellow River in Santa Rosa County.

Santa Rosa County residents Chase Salter, Scott Miller and Seth Brayton were the men behind the haul.

It isn’t every day you turn 101 years old.

Mrs. Thelma Taylor, a resident at the Beacon assisted living facility in Gulf Breeze, did just that Wednesday, Aug. 20, surrounded by family, friends and Beacon staff.

Amidst a game of bingo Wednesday, Aug. 13, around 20 players turned their chairs at the Holley-Navarre Seniors Association to acknowledge a generous gift from a local nonprofit.

Pirates on the Panhandle, a nonprofit fraternal organization based in Navarre, recently donated a new laptop to the senior center, which will be used to broadcast Bingo on a new 75-inch TV.

If you walk into your child’s school, there is a chance you might hear they belong to a “house” or have received a “feather.” Don’t be alarmed. They are partaking in their school’s PBIS program. PBIS stands for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support. Around half of Santa Rosa County public schools participate in the state program, which centers on creating a healthy learning environment for all through promotion of positive behavior and other behavior management techniques.

This July, state officials, hunters and curious citizens made their way to the Florida Ever-glades to remove invasive pythons from the region. The 2025 Florida Python Challenge, in its 12th year, took place over 10 days and tasked par-ticipants with removing as many members of the invasive species as they could. Winners were determined by how many pythons were removed and their size.

The parking lot south of Andy D’s Beachside Restaurant and Dock Bar was filled to the brim, not by cars but by people, Thursday, Aug. 14.

Two University of West Florida archaeologists have transformed their passion for public outreach and historical storytelling into a new children’s book inspired by real archaeological discoveries made off the Florida coast.

Dogs can be man’s best friend; they can also help save their lives.

Legacy K-9 Search Team, an all-volunteer 501c3 nonprofit based in Milton, has been helping locate missing persons for law enforcement and emergency response agencies since August 2022. The team, which currently consists of 11 people, was formed when the Pensacola branch of Klaas Kids dissolved.

Kayla Stanford, a teacher at Holley Navarre Intermediate School and Santa Rosa County’s 2026 Teacher of the Year, has been selected as the statewide recipient of the 2025 “Invested in Excellence” Award, presented by the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and Florida Power & Light Company.