News Archive

Organizers of a Halloween haunted trail are seeking a variance to the noise ordinance for an event held Friday and Saturday evenings beginning in late September and ending just before Halloween.

The Halloween-themed trail is in Jay and proceeds support the Santa Rosa Kids House and various high school programs, the application states.

A Saturday afternoon wreck on U.S. Highway 98 sent two women to the hospital in serious condition, one by air ambulance.

The accident happened at around 4:30 at the highway’s intersection with Blue Tip Drive.

The 36^th Annual Navarre Mardi Gras Parade is on the calendar for Feb. 19, pending Tuesday’s approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

The parade, which was cancelled this year due to concerns about crowding during the ongoing pandemic, draws about 40,000 spectators, according to the letter submitted to the BOCC with the application.

Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties had a positivity rate last week higher than all but three other Florida counties.

Of the COVID tests issued, 35.2% were positive from Aug. 14 to Aug. 20 in these two counties. Three other counties – Hamilton, Hardee and Union – had higher rates. Those counties have a total population of less than 60,000 – one third that of Santa Rosa’s population.