News Archive

Three Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council (TDC) members have terms expiring next month.  Two of those have chosen not to reapply to serve on the council, which makes marketing decisions and county funding recommendations related to county bed tax revenues.  The Santa Rosa County Commission is expected to name appointees in October. 

Midway Fire District commissioners listened to comments from Gulf Breeze residents at their monthly meeting last Tuesday, before adopting a 2013-2014 tentative budget and setting a 1.75 tentative millage rate.

Santa Rosa County is applying for a state grant to fund proposed improvements to Navarre Park, and is asking residents to help determine which improvements are most important to the community.  More than 15 people attended a community meeting last Thursday to discuss which amenities should be pursued through the grant application.

Holley-Navarre native James Broxson, 30, has joined two other candidates in the race to represent District 4 on the Santa Rosa County Commission.  Ruth Dupont-Esser and Rob Williamson are also vying to fill the seat which will be vacated next year following new district boundaries which were established following the 2010 census. Due to the redistricting, current District 4 Commissioner Jim Melvin will run against Commissioner Bob Cole to represent District 2.  Broxson grew up in the area, where his family has resided for about 150 years.  Broxson hopes to follow in the footsteps of several relatives who have also served in public office.  James’ great-grandfather, William Milton Broxson, served as a school board member and county commissioner in the early 1900s and was instrumental in the development of Hwy. 87 and Yellow River Bridge. 

While much of the attention has been focused on the topics of the Navarre Beach Pier contract vote and pay raises for county employees, some county business has gone relatively unnoticed lately.  However, last week commissioners took several notable actions. 

Car burglaries are becoming a common threat in the Navarre area. However, the majority of these vehicle burglaries are preventable by taking part in a fairly simple task- locking the doors.

A move by three Santa Rosa County Commissioners to revisit the vote on the management contact for the Navarre Beach Pier has been challenged, and an injunction against a re-vote was filed by the team that was selected as the top-ranked proposal in August. 

For nearly ten years, the local unit of the Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) program has been providing a way for Navarre area kids to improve their reading skills with a special kind of partner- a registered therapy dog.

Santa Rosa County Commissioners voted to fund a three percent raise for county employees without increasing property taxes at Monday’s final budget hearing.  The move seemed to satisfy an overflow crowd of not only off-duty deputies and other county employees seeking raises, but also local tea party activists opposing tax hikes.

Navarre resident Shane Rainwater knew that Lily, a 4-year-old Jack Russell terrier, was in a lot of pain after his daughter’s boyfriend found the dog lying on his porch, but he did not know that the pain was from a gunshot wound.