News Archive

Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners unofficially unanimously committed at their monthly work session to vote against the repeal of some key wellfield protections that many felt would endanger the county’s drinking water.

Community efforts to rename portions of the Navarre Beach Bridge or dedicate portions of the roadway continue. 

During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s Board of County Commission work session, resident Tony Hughes updated commissioners on a local group’s efforts to do a memorial dedication for the Navarre Causeway in honor of Air Commandos in general, and specifically Medal of Honor recipient (posthumous) MSgt. John Chapman, USAF.

Forty-two years ago on Feb. 9, someone gunned down a popular convenience store clerk working on Okaloosa Island. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office investigators are still hoping for a break in the cold case.

When the Santa Rosa County Zoning Board meets Feb. 11, expect Mike Sandler to be in the audience.

Sandler, whose home of 30 years lies 230 feet from a proposed gas station, is very much opposed.

If a proposed initiative plays out, some tourists will come to Navarre Beach to not only enjoy the beach, but to help conserve it.

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.

Let the good times roll… on golf carts. That’s exactly what happened on the streets of Navarre Beach Saturday afternoon at the 1st annual Navarre Beach Mardi Gras Golf Cart Parade.

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.

Santa Rosa County commissioners will not vote Feb. 25 on whether to repeal key wellfield protections as anticipated. Instead, county staff will bring the matter to the board at the Feb. 9 work session to ask for further direction.