News Archive

No Santa Rosa County department is quite as visible as Public Works. Citizens come face-to-face daily with the roads, drainage and parks managed by this department. And they notice when work needs to be done.

“Public Works is the face of a lot of what happens in the county,” said county commission chairman Dave Piech.

Less than 24 hours after officials announced nearly 5,000 Moderna COVID-19 vaccines would be administered locally, Theresa and Ron Ivie were in the waiting room at the Florida Department of Health in Milton.

The Gulf Breeze couple, who are 73 and 74, met the requirement of being at least age 65.

In the early weeks of the pandemic, there was one item everyone wanted and no one could find – hand sanitizer.

Shelves were empty. Online sales were back-ordered. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer was recommended to help protect individuals from the new virus.

It started as a headline that most people didn’t read. The “novel coronavirus” was first detected overseas and despite officials warning of its likely spread, many Americans were unconcerned. On Jan. 20, the first case was identified in the United States.

Six weeks later, an elderly Santa Rosa man became Florida’s second fatality. He had a history of international travel and preexisting health conditions, according to information released by the governor.

In the season leading up to Christmas, Gary Diamond worked in package delivery to make extra money to buy presents for his family.

Diamond, who had worked his way up to captain at the Navarre Beach Fire Rescue, was that way – always taking care of others.

So it makes sense that when he died early Saturday morning, during a domestic incident in Molino, he was putting other people’s needs ahead of his own, family members  say.

Our community reporter Kaitie Meyer sat down with Santa Claus as he shared some seasonal memories throughout the years.

Although we all know Santa Claus calls the North Pole his home, the big man in red also has a home in Holley by the Sea.

Portraying proposed changes to the Santa Rosa County comprehensive land-use plan as a significant threat to potable water safety and supply, the Holley-Navarre Water System board of directors decided at their December monthly meeting to intensify the utility’s opposition campaign.

]The proposed land-use amendment would permit borrow pit expansion, which was requested by some pit owners.