Discussion on social media about data centers potentially coming to Santa Rosa County has increased in recent weeks, with one county commissioner seeking to introduce a 12-month moratorium on such projects at the County Commission meeting June 22.

With a flash flood watch in effect until late Friday, Santa Rosa County’s public works department is making sand available at four locations on a first-come, first-served basis as the effects of Tropical Storm Arthur head our way.

Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Colten Wright says that a proposed amendment on the November ballot that would eliminate property taxes on certain homesteaded properties would guarantee cuts to public safety, infrastructure and other core county services.

The Santa Rosa County Commission has a packed agenda for this week, where board members will hear from the public on the renewal of the half-cent sales tax, advocate for improvements to NAS Whiting Field and look to enhance Benny Russell Park and the West Florida Railroad Museum.
Here is what you need to know.

Before every performance, Pamela Strecker made one final walk.
She moved through the backstage area from one side to the other, checking on every actor, calling out final cues, making sure nothing had been missed. Then, just before heading up to the booth, she would turn around, look out at the cast and raise a hand in the air.
“Be brilliant.”
It caught on. Cast members started saying it to each other.
Strecker,61, who served as stage manager and eight-year president of Stage Crafters Community Theater in Fort Walton Beach, died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. She had been part of the organization for more than two decades, arriving as a shy backstage helper in 1999 and becoming the heartbeat of one of Northwest Florida’s most beloved volunteer arts organizations.

Local base commanders and Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL1) made the case on May 27 that the area’s congested roadways are not just a quality-of-life problem, it is also a threat to national security.

The scenario: A news flash comes across about reports of something falling out of the sky over Santa Rosa County.

Early reports say there is heavy damage to the Blackwater River Bridge. Interstate 10 in that area shuts down, traffic is diverted to Highway 90.

A Navarre man was arrested on May 14 after a warrant was executed because he allegedly trespassed on a neighbor’s property nude and removed a security camera mounted outside her home.

Next week, the Santa Rosa County Commission will begin to deliberate whether to approve a contract that will bring speed enforcement programs to three school zones in the south end of the county.

An Okaloosa County judge on May 11 denied a request from a former Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy charged in the 2024 shooting death of Senior Airman Roger Fortson to travel outside the bounds of his pretrial release, after Fortson’s mother delivered an emotional plea asking the court to keep him in the area.