News Archive

The Holley Navarre Water System is looking to rectify past issues with their procedures and policies, as well as mend public trust in the system’s management. To do this, the system’s board of directors considered and approved an implementation schedule for reforms based on findings from the forensic audit, which was presented to the board in September.

Cameron Dain Gillilan, 31, of Navarre, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The sentence was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

The Santa Rosa County school board approved a health insurance program for school district teachers and other employees at a special meeting Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The health insurance program for 2024 was a point of contention at the Oct. 12 board meeting and was tabled until the special meeting. The insurance committee, which comes up with recommendations for the school board when it comes to insurance and risk management, met twice in October to hammer out the details of a plan that would be agreeable to district employees and the district itself.

The Panhandle Butterfly House and Nature Center celebrated the grand opening of its new butterfly vivarium Saturday during its Third Annual Monarch Madness event.

Holley Navarre Middle School, East Bay K-8 and West Navarre Intermediate School held STEAM nights this week. STEAM is short for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Check out some photos from the STEAM nights.

The Santa Rosa County Commission last week voted to change how it tracks Lifeguard Ambulance Service’s contract compliance, going back to a time-on-scene metric but adding fines of up to $20,000 for months that fall below 85 percent compliance.

Preserve Navarre has reached “halftime” of its fight to incorporate southeastern Santa Rosa County, according to its president, Wes Siler.

“Think of it like football,” Siler said at a meeting Monday, Oct. 23, at Best Western. “At halftime, you review tactics, make adjustments, and try to come out with new energy and better effort. That’s what we’ve got to do now.”

IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, a nonprofit organization which raises funds for other local nonprofits, has named their list of recipients for their 2023 grants. For 2023, IMPACT 100 raised $1,192,000 and each grant is worth $108,364.

Eleven nonprofits from five categories were awarded the grants at IMPACT 100’s ‘Million Dollar Sunday’ ceremony held Sunday, Oct. 22.

The Northwest Florida Health Network told church and faith-based nonprofit leaders last week that it can fund their community-based social services without interfering in how those services are provided.

“Governor DeSantis has had his people do all the legal work,” the Rev. Rick Hazelip of First City Church said Thursday, Oct. 19, at a “Faith Summit” at Brownsville Church. “All we have to do is open up our services to anybody, regardless of their beliefs. And then we do what we do.”

Hurlburt Field, Fla. – Extended Reality (XR) is revolutionizing the way Air Force Special Operations Command is approaching training and readiness. XR is an umbrella term that encompasses Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) to create a spectrum of experiences that range from fully virtual environments to overlays of digital content onto the real world. These technologies manipulate our perception of reality, hence the term “extended.” The manipulation of reality is at the core of XR, and it’s transforming the training landscape of AFSOC.