News Archive

With the new Santa Rosa County land development code nearing, Save Our Soundside, an organization dedicated to ensuring quality of life in Santa Rosa, continues to increase awareness against clearcutting.

In a ruling released July 28, the State of Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled against the appeal by Santa Rosa County and the Santa Rosa County School District, which imposed an impact fee on new home construction intended to fund new schools and help with infrastructure needs. 

The ruling states that “the impact fees are, in fact, an unconstitutional tax.”

Discussion of lowering the toll of the Garcon Point Bridge has been taking place for quite some time and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made it official Wednesday morning that the toll will be lowered in the near future.

The Santa Rosa County School District has announced its COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021-22 school year and they include masks being optional in school and on buses.

A motion to establish a policy on personal electronic device use by board members during public meetings died for lack of a second at a long, contentious Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning.

The motion by Commissioner Colten Wright led to an outburst by Commissioner James Calkins. After refusing to stay on topic – which had been the focus of the first five hours of the meeting – Calkins was silenced by the gavel. Chairman Dave Piech put the meeting in recess until Calkins could control himself.

On a recent July morning, Andrew Thompson let Bitty and Bentley, his two Yorkshire terriers outside, just as he had done for years.

They had both been outside for about 5 minutes before Bentley came bolting back in. This behavior wasn’t out of the ordinary for Bentley, who is still a puppy, Andrew said. What was out of the ordinary was the fact that 12-year-old Bitty had not come back with Bentley. 

A pilot who ran out of fuel Sunday evening made a safe landing on the shoulder of Interstate 10 Sunday evening in Santa Rosa County.

Natasha Borneo, former county compliance supervisor over Waste Pro, announced through her resignation letter that she was the whistleblower who filed claims against Waste Pro and Santa Rosa County.

A pilot who ran out of fuel Sunday evening made a safe landing on the shoulder of Interstate 10 Sunday evening in Santa Rosa County.

Critical race theory is still a topic of concern amongst parents, even after superintendent Karen Barber announced in May that Santa Rosa County School District would not be teaching it in public school classrooms.

Local residents stepped up to the microphone during the July 22 school board meeting to voice their continued concerns, saying that the SRC books and instructional materials include critical race theory.