News Archive

At its May Commission meeting in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) presented Lee Jacobi with the Landowner of the Year award for the Youth Hunting Program of Florida. This program strives to provide every youth in the state with the opportunity to participate in a safe, educational and affordable hunt.

The Land Development Code (LDC) Task Force will hold their next meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 30 in the Administrative Complex, 6495 Caroline Street in Milton. This meeting will be streamed live online. The agenda for this meeting will be published shortly.

The Milton Police Department has arrested Mohamed Bakayoko in connection with a large-scale fraud investigation that resulted in the theft of $852,983.06 from the Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court & Comptroller’s Office. Mr. Bakayoko has been charged with Grand Theft – 1st Degree Felony (Florida Statute 812.014(2)(a)1), a charge punishable by up to 30 years in state prison.

A note left in a bathroom likely saved a woman’s life.

Today, May 27, the University of West Florida Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Manny Diaz Jr. as interim president, pending the Florida Board of Governors’ approval. Diaz, who currently serves as commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, will begin his new role on July 14, 2025, following the resignation of Dr. Martha Saunders. 

A harrowing ordeal took place Wednesday evening, May 21, at Navarre Beach.

A woman driving northbound in a sedan veered off the Navarre Beach Causeway at a high rate of speed, crashing into Santa Rosa Sound. According to Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the incident was an attempted suicide.

People from across Navarre came together Thursday, May 22, to bless Navarre Beach for the upcoming tourist season and beyond.

The annual event, known as Blessing on the Beach, is organized by the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and features a pastor from a church in Navarre as the main speaker. This year’s speaker was Pastor Stacy Clearman of East Bay Church.

At the Board of County Commissioners meeting May 22, local middle school students and one high school student received awards for their essays about the American government.

(By Jim Turner) Amid support from hunters and warnings of a “slaughter” from animal-rights advocates, state wildlife officials Wednesday moved forward with Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade. Before a crowd that spread into at least four extra rooms at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted 4-1 for staff members to return with rules for a December hunt that would be held in four parts of the state and could lead to as many as 187 bears being killed.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is proud to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail website. To explore the new website and plan your next wildlife adventure, visit FloridaBirdingTrail.com.