News Archive

Navarre High School has a long tradition of Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) excellence. This past week, a new crop of cadets became initiated into the NJROTC family.

The new cadets are called NS1s, short for Naval Science 1, the class they will be taking this school year. According to Naval Science Instructor Maj. Jeremy Wheeler (Ret.), there are 27 NS1s going through the introductory camp this year.

On Aug. 18, voters will decide whether Holley-Navarre Fire District rates will increase by 42% for residential properties and 11.98% for nonresidential commercial properties.

The referendum was placed on the ballot to help HNFD get ahead of its own financial limitations. The district, which covers 53 square miles in south Santa Rosa, doesn’t have enough annual revenue to adequately staff Station 44. Adequate staffing is four firefighters on an engine per shift.

Angie Nixon, one of two people vying for the Democratic nomination in the 2026 U.S. Senate election, made a campaign stop at Pedro’s Tacos & Tequila Bar in Gulf Breeze Wednesday, July 29. Close to 30 people were in attendance.

Nixon, who has served as a member of the Florida State House of Representatives since 2020, said her top priorities if elected will be to expand the Affordable Care Act, wind down foreign wars and pursue universal childcare for Florida families.

The University of West Florida and Northwest Florida State College are expanding opportunities for students to pursue engineering careers in Northwest Florida through four new Specialized Associate in Arts Transfer, or SAAT, degree pathways that create a seamless route from associate-level coursework at NWFSC to bachelor’s degree completion through UWF.

Sounds of gunfire. Alarms are going off. Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies running down school hallways.

These are the sights and sounds no one wants to hear. Fortunately, on July 29 and 30 at Navarre High School and Soundside High School, respectively, they were part of a training exercise and not a real threat.

A Navarre man was arrested after investigators found obscene material on his electronic devices depicting bestiality.

Jeffrey Mayer, 64, is charged with animal cruelty, using a two-way communication device to commit a felony and possession of obscene material.

A Santa Rosa County man was sentenced to five years in state prison for torturing a kitten to death in December 2025, according to a news release from the state attorney’s office.

A Santa Rosa County woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison on July 27 after pleading guilty to multiple charges related to stealing more than $1 million from a local electrical company.

Baristas at the Starbucks Coffee near Elevate Navarre voted Monday, July 27, to join Starbucks Workers United, a union representing employees of the popular coffee chain.

The move is part of a growing trend of Starbucks baristas organizing. According to Starbucks Worker United, Workers have won, on average, a union election every other day since the campaign began in late 2021.

The Betty J. Pullum YMCA has reopened its newly renovated wellness area, giving members a new space and new equipment to work out.

Completed over a three-month period, the renovations included a 2,122-square-foot expansion of the wellness area. During the renovations, some gym equipment was moved into the multipurpose room, where basketball and volleyball are played.