News Archive

Naval Air Station Whiting Field celebrated its 79th anniversary on July 16. NAS Whiting Field is one of several military installations in Northwest Florida that plays a significant role in military aviation.

Throughout its storied history, NAS Whiting Field has helped train the next generation of naval aviators, from planes to helicopters.

Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Gulf Breeze Area Chamber of Commerce have canceled the in-person Santa Rosa County Candidates Forum on Tues., Aug. 9 and Wed., Aug. 10. The reason for the cancelation is a scheduling conflict.

According to a press release announcing the cancelation, the chambers remain committed to educating residents on public issues and the electoral process. The chambers plan to continue to take questions from the public and deliver them to the candidates.

The Holley-Navarre Water System held its monthly board meeting at the Club at Hidden Creek on Tuesday, July 19.

During the meeting, the board, along with HNWS staff, gave an update on where they stand with the Eglin RIBs project and the right of way acquisitions needed for it.

The Blue Angels announced their 2023 officer selections on Monday, July 18.

There are six new officers, one of which is a historical first. Lt. Amanda Lee, of Mounds View, Minnesota, is the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels in their 76-year history.

The problem is becoming…unbearable.

“I’m quite tired of hearing FWC tell you as a citizen or me as a citizen that you’ve got to rattle pans, or put up fences, or put your garbage out after a certain time or pay for an expensive bear can” to keep Florida black bears from snooping around people’s homes, Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Bob Cole said Monday.

A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor at Flounder’s Chowder House found several pay practice and child labor violations, including the failure to pay sushi chefs overtime wages due and the employment of 15-year-old workers for more hours per week than the law allows.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Fred Flounder Inc., operating as Flounder’s Chowder House, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor, overtime and recordkeeping provisions by permitting seven, 15-year-olds to work beyond legally allowed hours, including working more than eight hours on a non-school day.

Santa Rosa County will move the Florida First Judicial Circuit Court into a $42-million new facility this summer, but it hasn’t decided what the future holds for the 95-year-old downtown Milton courthouse.

“My preference would be to sell it to the public and hope they can do something useful with it,” Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Bob Cole said last week.

With primary elections for Florida’s 2022 races just a month away, candidates and voters alike are looking to exchange more information on themselves and what they want to see done in government.

On July 12, the Greater Navarre Area Chamber of Commerce held a forum to do just that.

There has been quite a bit of controversy over the past couple years surrounding the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially around vaccines.

Earlier this year, unvaccinated service members were forced to separate from the military. One of these people was Jordan Karr.

A developer wants more potential commercial space on a 23-acre parcel between U.S. Highway 98 and Santa Rosa Sound in Navarre without giving up home sites.

“The question for me is, in order to accommodate two more acres of (highway commercial district use), do we go forward with this?” Santa Rosa County Zoning Board member Ed Carson asked at the board’s July 14 meeting.