Navarre United Methodist Church invited congregants and community members to the grand re-opening of Hildreth Hall Sunday, Sept. 3. NUMC lead pastor David Morris and children’s pastor Christine Gersic spoke about what went into remodeling the space, which will now serve as a place for children’s and youth ministries.

More than 600,000. That’s how many people go missing in the United States each year, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NamUS) database. While most of those missing persons are recovered, either dead or alive, (89 to 92 percent according to NamUS) there are still plenty of people who remain missing for years. One such missing person is Tiffany Daniels, a then 25 year old woman from the Pensacola area.

Although the new south end high school won’t be in class until 2026, DAG Architects, the firm charged with designing it, unveiled plans for the school’s sports complex at the Santa Rosa County School Board’s Sept. 7 meeting. A sports complex is phase III of the project. The first phase is the early site package to include curbing and groundwork. Phase II is the building of the high school itself.

This summer, a restaurant on Navarre Beach has faced multiple code violations for its use of flags on county right of way. Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement has given Andy D’s, owned by Andrew DeMartin, two citations since the beginning of July.

To say Navarre Beach has had a bad sea turtle nesting season, might be an understatement. Out of eight nests, five have been lost.

With Santa Rosa County schools back in session, there is more school bus traffic on the road. Around 16,000 students are being transported daily across 174 bus routes across the district.

Divisions within a church can happen. Individual churches, or entire denominational affiliations, can splinter for a variety of reasons including irreconcilable differences over ministry, goals of the church and personal relationships.

If you think it’s been hot this summer, imagine what you’d feel like if you were covered in fur. This August in Milton, where the county animal shelter is located, the temperature has hovered in the high 80s and 90s. Santa Rosa County Animal Services’ dog population, of which they have about 86 dogs, has had to deal with those temperatures in the animal shelter, which despite being inside, isn’t closed in. SRCAS has worked hard to keep the dogs in relative comfort, but it has been tough sledding, especially in August. That’s when a local A/C company stepped in to help.

The crowning of Miss Santa Rosa County, Miss Escambia County, Miss Pensacola, Miss Pensacola Beach, Miss Milton, Miss Pace, Miss Navarre, Miss Navarre Beach and Miss Gulf Breeze was held Sunday, Aug. 27, at Gulf Breeze Middle School. 28 young women were crowned in total.

The Fire Commission for Holley Navarre Fire District voted to approve a rate increase for residents’ fire assessments Monday, Aug. 28, during their monthly meeting. The now approved rate structure for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2023-24) is expected to bring in $3 million, a comparable number to last year’s actual assessment revenue ($3,092,209). FY 2023-24 runs from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024.