News Archive

In a first degree murder case, it’s rare for a defendant to plead guilty, according to Mark Alderman at the First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.

The charge carries a mandatory life sentence, with no room for negotiation and therefore, very little incentive to plead guilty, Alderman said. But that’s what Jerry Geisler Odum did Friday.

More than 4,000 people have signed two petitions that oppose expanding borrow pit mining in Santa Rosa County.

One petition is on the national website change.org and the other on the local website sponsored by the three governing bodies, Holley-Navarre Water System, Midway Water System, and the city of Gulf Breeze, comprising the Fairpoint Regional Utility System (FRUS).

After fishermen hooked a 12-foot, 6-inch tiger shark Wednesday, photos shot of the event lit up the internet.

The fishermen, reportedly associated with True Blue – a self-described community of shark fishermen based in Milton – walked the fishing line down the pier and pulled the animal into shallow water, where they measured, tagged and released it, according to spectators.

When the temperature dips below 40 degrees, folks with homes turn on the heat. And a few of them head to Ferris Hill Baptist Church in Milton.

That’s where the county’s only cold weather shelter program opens, offering dinner, a cot, restroom facilities and breakfast for folks who need a place to stay.

Florida on Wednesday topped 27,000 resident deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic started. Here is a breakdown of the counties that have had the fewest resident deaths:

— Franklin County: 10

— Dixie County: 13