News Archive

Boaters will be taking to the waters around Florida for the busy July 4 holiday weekend, and a conservation group is urging boat operators to be on the lookout for manatees and other wildlife. A Save the Manatee Club spokeswoman said slowing down in wildlife habitat areas and observing all posted boat speed regulations can make a huge difference.

“You will touch the soil of many lands” is a fortune 2nd Lt. Eric Fiel opened 33 years ago from a Chinese fortune cookie. Today, Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel still keeps that fortune in his wallet as he reflects back on his career as an Air Commando and his ultimate job as the head of Air Force Special Operations Command.

Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold will become the 10th commander of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) during a ceremony Thursday at Hurlburt Field. He will assume command from Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel who retired after 33 years of service. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III is scheduled to preside over the ceremony.

Local candidates for county commission and school board seats were required to disclose personal financial information by June 20. The reports reveal interesting facts, including one candidate owns a $30,000 train collection, while another owes seven people promissory notes, totaling almost $100,000. Other candidates disclosed their sources of income and net worth. Only one is a millionaire.

Nearly four months after the release of the final environmental impact document relating to F-35 activities in northwest Florida, the Air Force announced June 27 it had chosen an alternative, which continues to limit F-35 operations in the Valparaiso area. However, an Eglin spokesman said he doesn’t believe the decision will have a significant impact on F-35 operations at Choctaw Field north of Navarre.

A Navarre man remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail on charges stemming from an alleged June 16 incident altercation in which he had to be forcibly detained by a Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s deputy. According to court records, 47-year-old Jerry Leion Barber faces felony charges of battery and obstructing justice and two misdemeanor charges of resisting an officer and probation violation.

The need for more revenue and more personnel took center stage June 23 at the Holley-Navarre Fire District Board of Fire Commissioners monthly meeting. Board members and firefighters weighed-in on the possibility of putting a tax referendum on the November ballot that would garner enough funding to hire three more full time employees and two supervisors for the stations. Fire Commissioners however adjourned the meeting without taking action.

Three local organizations received donations June 30 from fundraisers conducted at Lagerheads on the Gulf on the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier.

A 43-year-old Gulf Breeze man was convicted June 26 on charges of kidnapping and sexual battery relating to an incident on Pensacola Beach. State Attorney Bill Eddins announced that Bret Randall May was convicted by a jury in Escambia County Circuit Court. May faces a life sentence.

If you were impacted by floodwaters from the April 29 storm, you have only until 10 p.m., July 7 to apply for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). All FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers in northwest Florida have closed, but applications can still be made online at disasterassistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362.