News Archive

Ginger Bowden Madden, State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida, announced that a Santa Rosa County Grand Jury indicted Isaiah Jordan McCullers Tuesday on a charge of first degree murder.

This charge originates from the murder of fourteen-year-old Cody Walker on March 14, 2021. Cody Walker was found deceased approximately two weeks after he had gone missing.

The investigation and arrest were conducted by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Isaiah McCullers is set for an arraignment on May 13.

Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field officials have received final results from the sampling of 24 private drinking water wells in the designated sampling area surrounding NAS Whiting Field. An independent contractor conducted the testing in March and an independent laboratory reported the results.

A report of a possible kidnapping sparked a pursuit with OCSO deputies that ended with the arrest of
two individuals in Mary Esther Saturday afternoon.

A request to have a food truck festival in a Navarre Beach public parking lot once a month sparked a discussion at the April 22 Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners monthly work session.

That request was just one of the inquiries the county has received, County Administrator Dan Schebler told commissioners.  The central issue, commissioners said, is whether allowing vendors to use public property would negatively impact small businesses that already have signed agreements with the county.

On a sunny morning early this week, a handful of workers moved concrete blocks around a large pile of fill near the Santa Rosa Sound.

County staff will be meeting individually with county commissioners for their input on increasing the civil penalties for violations of an environmental nature.

Currently, the stiffest penalty is $300 for a first-time violation, even those that have a major environmental impact.

Illegal dumping continues to be a problem in Santa Rosa County.

Santa Rosa County is likely to be paying off-duty Santa Rosa Sheriff’s deputies to patrol a stretch of neighborhood roadway heavily traveled in the months since the Pensacola Bay Bridge closed for repairs.

County commissioners discussed steps to replace the bridge to Navarre Beach at the Thursday morning board workshop.

The first hour of Thursday’s Board of County Commission work session was marked with raised voices and other commissioners telling Commissioner James Calkins that he needs to work on his leadership skills.