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.
Levin Papantonio Law Firm, based in Pensacola, has filed a lawsuit against the Santa Rosa County School Board, alleging the district’s negligence directly led to the assault of a minor students in the boys’ locker room at Gulf Breeze High School.
The assault occurred March 14, 2024. For the purposes of protecting the victim’s identity, they refer to her as S.A.C.
The 2025 recreational bay scallop season for the Gulf County Zone (including all of St. Joseph Bay) opens Aug. 16 and will remain open through Sept. 24. This region includes all state waters from the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County to the westernmost point of St. Vincent Island in Franklin County.
Santa Rosa County is undergoing a PD&E Study in an effort to create a Navarre Community Access Road. A virtual project update is currently available online at www.santarosa.fl.gov/1033/Navarre-Community-Access-Road.
The long wait for the traffic signal at Ortega Street and Highway 98 is over.
Since the second week of August, crews have been working to install a traffic signal at the crowded intersection.
Coastal Connections Academy is in hot water with school board officials after receiving an “F” grade for this past school year.
The online public charter school has contracted with Santa Rosa County for the past four and a half years. CCA is managed through Pearson Virtual Schools, which has two schools in Florida and operates more than 40 across the U.S.
Santa Rosa County hosted a CivicCon event on Aug. 12. The event was held by CivicCon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the community “a better place to live, play, work, and invest through smart planning and by driving unparalleled and continuing com-munity engagement,” according to their website. The county was responsible for hosting the event, and provided a space for the meeting after the organization reached out express-ing interest in a Santa Rosa County event.
A vehicle ran into Ace Hardware in Navarre Monday morning, Aug. 18, prompting a response from Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol.
