May 18, 2023
School district announces library review policies
During the School Board meeting on May 16, Santa Rosa County District Schools Media Services and Instructional Technology Specialist Ruth Witter highlighted the School Board’s policies and procedures related to selecting, reviewing, and challenging school library materials.
These policies and procedures guide the district’s library media specialists in selecting age-appropriate, legally compliant library collections that engage students and provide opportunities for stakeholders to challenge materials they deem objectionable.
May 18, 2023
Fitness court now open at Tiger Point Park
County officials and members of the Tiger Point community braved the humidity Wednesday, May 10, to officially open the Tiger Point Fitness Court.
The fitness court, which is located behind the baseball fields at Tiger Point Park, is associated with the National Fitness Campaign, a nationwide wellness consulting firm that partners with municipalities and schools to plan, build and fund healthy communities.
May 18, 2023
Developer whose RV park the county rejected will build condos instead
Christopher Ferrara apparently plans to do exactly what he said he’d do.
May 17, 2023
Meeting Needs: Linda Sanborn wants to help students with new program
There are 13,600 children who face food insecurity in the county, according to Santa Rosa County District Schools. That doesn’t include those whose families struggle to afford necessities like clothing.
Rather than sitting by and saying too bad, school board member Linda Sanborn has started a new program to address the needs of those students who may not have what they need to be successful in the classroom and in life.
May 16, 2023
School district responds to discussion around library book access
For nearly an hour of the more than three and half-hour school board meeting earlier this month, concerned citizens, most of which were with Moms For Liberty members, spoke on the appropriateness of certain books in Santa Rosa District Schools and questioned the process by which parents can make decisions about the reading material available to their children.
Moms for Liberty claims that there at least 28 books found on the Santa Rosa District Schools website that had sexually explicit or culturally indoctrinating language in them. The group provided three examples including “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas and “Triangles” by Ellen Hopkins, both of which have been targeted by other Moms for Liberty chapters.
May 16, 2023
‘You’re never alone’
No one loves you.
No one cares about you.
If you were to disappear, no one would look for you.
You should give up.
Those were the deep-cutting words spoken many years ago by the voice in the head of Reggie Dabbs, who was wide awake at 3 a.m. crying in his bedroom.
May 15, 2023
Wright shares ‘out of the box’ vision for Tiger Point
Which would be better for Tiger Point’s future, more houses or a passive park, possibly leading to a sound-side tiki bar and pier, with a regular ferry to Portofino Towers on Santa Rosa Island?
May 12, 2023
Recycling Update
Recycling in Santa Rosa County has been on hold since April 14, 2023 due to a staffing shortage at Emerald Coast Utilities Authority’s Materials Recycling Facility.
May 12, 2023
Code enforcement declares murder site nuisance
Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement has publicly declared the structure at 2657 Salamanca St. in Navarre a nuisance and unsafe, unsanitary or unfit for human habitation. The notice was delivered and posted on the property April 18, 2023.
The property is the location of the murder of 43-year-old Toby Hill on April 7, 2023. On that Friday, deputies responded to a reported shooting and found Hill with a gunshot wound. EMS responders later pronounced him dead.
May 9, 2023
Experimental Science class highlights potential of students when they aren’t ‘put in a box’
Emma Wright admits she wasn’t a huge fan of high school as a freshman.
Her enrollment in the Experimental Science class at Navarre last year changed everything.