News Archive

A K9 unit with Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was involved in Dec. 27 crash at the intersection of Edgewood Drive and Highway 98. Deputy D. Hopkins of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was injured in the crash, sustaining a concussion, head laceration, and other minor injuries from the incident. Hopkins’ K9 Partner, K9 Riggs, had no apparent injuries, according to the agency.

Santa Rosa County is growing well past its infrastructure and in the past year has added more than 1,812 lots to its housing base.

A new year is bringing changes to Foxy Boutique, a store which has anchored Alpine Center in Navarre for over a decade.

Florida Power and Light (FPL) has announced new rates are on the horizon for customers. The company, which supplies much of the electricity to homes and businesses in northwest Florida, plans to file a formal request to set new rates once its current base rate agreement concludes at the end of 2025. The agreement is with the Florida Public Service Commission.

Community Health Northwest Florida, a nonprofit healthcare organization which serves Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, has instituted a new program to promote healthy pregnancies for medically underserved people.

Announced in July of last year, the Baby Bucks program is designed to provide educational materials and supplies to expectant mothers, as well as incentivize them to keep up with their prenatal checkups.

The Next Generation Aircrew Protection team performed innovative vapor purge testing on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship at Hurlburt Field, Florida, from June 24 to December 6, 2024.

The 96th Test Wing and local emergency response agencies participated in a large-scale aircraft accident response exercise Dec. 11.

Recreational and commercial blue crab traps in all waters from Franklin County to the Florida/Alabama state line must be removed from the water before Jan. 5, the first day of a 10-day trap closure. This closure will give groups authorized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) the opportunity to identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from the water.

Holley Navarre Middle School Assistant Principal Peter Della Ratta is leaving the school district to become the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at John Melvin Christian College in Pace. The college is only a few years old and is still going through the accreditation process. In his new role, Della Ratta is responsible for tending to the college’s academic affairs, assisting in handling the business of the college, and helping coach the school’s burgeoning baseball program.

Navarre Beach will have a renewed look in 2025 thanks to crews working on the Navarre Beach renourishment project, which is being done to alleviate the effects of erosion on the beach by adding sand on the beachfront.