News Archive

About 75 people attended a judicial facility workshop held at the Tiger Point Community Center May 27. Commissioners heard from numerous citizens about proposed future courthouse sites. Ultimately they decided to add an offer of free property in East Milton to the ballot as a second site option with a parcel the board previously selected for purchase.

Work is expected to begin soon to repair a waterline break under East Bay. The line transports water from wells south of Interstate-10 to south Santa Rosa County and is used by Holley-Navarre Water System, Midway Water System and the City of Gulf Breeze.

A Mary Esther man charged with DUI manslaughter in connection with a fatal one car crash on Highway 98 is scheduled for trial July 7.

Members of the Gulf Breeze City Council discussed May 28 the current emergency repair project underway at Highway 98 and Shoreline Drive, as well as a way to assist homeowners displaced by flooding in April.

The West Florida Regional Planning Council (WFRPC) hosted the Second Annual Transportation Symposium May 29 and 30 at the Pensacola Beach Hilton. The event was targeted to bring together professionals and policymakers to openly discuss ways to adapt the area’s transportation system to economic and environmental realities.

A Milton man, who taught school in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties, was sentenced May 28 to six years in prison on federal charges related to the online receipt of child pornography.

All but one candidate vying to be Santa Rosa County Commissioner for District 2 or District 4 participated May 29 in a candidates forum hosted by Holley By the Sea. Forum moderator Bill Neal said he wasn’t surprised by the turnout based on the importance of the area to those seeking election.

For the second consecutive year, a visitor to Navarre Beach from Louisiana drowned in the Gulf of Mexico. The body of the most recent victim, 19-year-old Nathan Hughey from Pinesville, La., was recovered May 23. Last July, 39-year-old Jeremy Johnson from New Orleans drowned. In both cases, the victims entered the water west of the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier, which does not have lifeguard coverage.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reported a 13-year-old boy was arrested May 20 after taking a loaded handgun onto a school bus and the Crestview High School campus. Jeremiah Murphy of Crestview allegedly fired the pistol after getting off the bus at the end of the school day and was arrested later at his home.

A Navarre man died in a single vehicle motorcycle crash May 20 on Pensacola Beach.