Community Archive

Wendell Hall had been sheriff of Santa Rosa County for about eight months when he walked out of a hotel breakfast in Ocala and found a crowd of Florida sheriffs standing around a television.

A jet had hit one of the World Trade Center towers, someone told him. Nobody knew if it was an accident. Hall was still watching when the second plane hit.

On Sept. 11, 2001, former U.S. Marshal Dominic Guadagnoli was in a morning briefing a few blocks from the World Trade Center when the first plane hit.

At that moment, an ordinary September day would be etched forever into Guadagnoli’s memory — and America’s.

Although it’s been 25 years since 9/11, Ricki DeSantis is still dealing with the ramifications of the tragedy.

DeSantis, a Navarre resident, was working in finance in New York City at the time of the attacks. While entering one of the towers, he was blown backward about 20 feet as one of the planes hit. Downtown during the towers’ collapse, DeSantis was also exposed to carcinogenic asbestos, alkaline dust from pulverized concrete, gypsum, cellulose, heavy metals, hydrocarbons and dioxins, just to name a few.

On Sunday, Sept. 6, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered outside St. Sylvester Catholic Church to honor the lives lost during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The attacks, collectively known as 9/11, killed almost 3,000 people and have changed the U.S. in myriad ways, including the emergence of the Department of Homeland Security, tighter airport security and the launch of the war on terror.

The recreational harvest season for snook opened Sept. 1 in all East Coast management regions and most Gulf Coast regions, including the Panhandle.

The season opened in the Southeast, Indian River Lagoon and Northeast regions on the East Coast and the Panhandle, Big Bend, Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay regions on the Gulf Coast.

The largest heavy-lift catamaran vessel ever built in the U.S. is docked in Pensacola Bay. You may have noticed its 250-foot-tall yellow body along the horizon.

The TX-10,000, named for its twin-gantry system rated to lift 10,000 tons, has been at the Port of Pensacola on and off since July. According to the Port of Pensacola, the vessel arrived July 18.

Holley-Navarre Fire District recently promoted five firefighters to new positions.

At the Monday, Aug. 24, meeting of the fire commissioners, Nathan Pfrimmer, Brian Jackson, Austin Schlarb, Justin Kiley and Josh Hurley were all promoted. Pfrimmer is now a captain, while the other four now carry the rank of engineer.

Home Depot may be coming to the Tiger Point area.

This summer, surveyors looked at a 16-acre parcel along Magnolia Manor Drive, just north of Highway 98.

State Sen. Don Gaetz said he will file legislation overhauling the Florida Department of Children and Families in the next legislative session, outlining 10 provisions at a news conference at the Santa Rosa County Courthouse on Sept. 4.

For about two years, Mariah Whitworth was in an abusive relationship.

Hurt, scared and feeling alone, she eventually found her way out with love and support from family, friends and Shelter House, a nonprofit organization that provides resources and shelter to victims of domestic violence. Now, she is working to help women who are in the same situation.