News Archive

Escambia County is holding up progress on the District One Medical Examiner’s Office relocation to Santa Rosa County, according to Santa Rosa County’s attorney. 

Of the counties – Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties – in the District One coverage area, Escambia, which has opposed moving the office to Santa Rosa County, has been noted as a holdout on approving funding to allow for the construction of the new office.

After more than 90 minutes of often tense – and sometimes angry – debate, Commissioner James Calkins’ motion to approve his proposed “All Lives Matter” ordinance banning abortion clinics in Santa Rosa County died without a second.

Instead, the commission unanimously approved Sam Parker’s motion to ask staff to study developing a Land Development Code amendment prohibiting abortion.

An Aug. 16 lightning storm lit up phones at the Holley-Navarre Fire District.

According to HNFD Fire Chief Ron Norton, HNFD responded to four calls within a 45-minute window — all of which had something to do with lightning strikes.

58 votes and .2 percent of the vote.

That is all that separates Kerry Smith from Jeff Ates in the Santa Rosa County Commission District 2 seat.

That .2 per cent of the vote is significant as an automatic recount is triggered when vote-getters are not separated by more than .5 percent of the vote.

With 41 of 41 precincts reporting and early voting mail ballots counted, the primary election preliminary results are in.

Over a three day period, the major crimes unit in the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office caught 13 men, who were trying to solicit minors through social media.

The 13 men are Anthony Martinez of Pace, Michael Preston of Navarre, Bryan Mejia of Pensacola, Terry Deer of Fairhope, Ala., Trevon Mitchell of Pensacola, Zachary Frantz of Pace, Joshua Prows of Milton, Jose Leonardo-Ramirez of Pensacola, Tristan Thrower of Pensacola, James Lee Ray of Pensacola, Andrew Walters of Gulf Shores, Ala., Eric Menchaca of DeFuniak Springs, and Patrick Bradt of Crestview.

Rebekah Jones is now in the clear for the Aug. 23 primary thanks to a judgement handed down from the Florida Court of Appeals, First District on Aug. 22.

As Navarre Press reported last week, Jones had been involved in a court fight with Peggy Schiller, who is running against her for the Democratic nomination for Congressional district one. The winner of the primary will face incumbent Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

The Tom King Bayou pedestrian bridge in Navarre is set to open at 10 a.m. on Wed., Aug. 24 with a brief ribbon cutting on the east end of the bridge. The pedestrian bridge connects the multi-use path that travels along East Bay Boulevard from Hwy. 98 to Hwy. 87.

Every day, Donald Leavins goes to work at Santa Rosa Correctional Institute, a level six prison facility. Leavins has been warden of the prison since May 2021.

With around 2460 incarcerated men, Santa Rosa Correctional Institute has a lot of needs and responsibilities. Something Leavins does not take lightly.

In a strong Republican area like Northwest Florida, it is rare for a Democratic primary to make headlines, but on Aug. 5, there was an exception.

Rebekah Jones, who has been running for the Democratic ticket against Matt Gaetz, may not get a chance to go to the general election, much less the primary, thanks to a judgement handed down by a Leon Circuit Court Judge John Cooper.