The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners held its reorganizational meeting this morning in Milton, seating two new board members and electing the chairman and vice chairman for the coming year. Judge Robert Hilliard, himself a former county commissioner, administered the oaths of office to new District 4 Commissioner Ray Eddington and District 2 Commissioner Kerry Smith. The new board elected District 5 Commissioner Colten Wright to be chairman and District 1 Commissioner Sam Parker to serve as vice chairman until November 2023.

The Florida Highway Patrol responded to two fatal automobile accidents Thursday morning in the Pace area. Neither victim was wearing a seatbelt.

Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Bob Cole, center, presents a plaque to Commissioner Dave Piech this morning commemorating his service on the Board of County Commissioners.

It’s official: The Pea Ridge Connector legally will be known as…Pea Ridge Connector Road.

“Everybody I know calls it the Pea Ridge Connector,” Commissioner Sam Parker, whose district includes Pea Ridge, said at the commission’s Oct. 24 committee meeting.

Adams Sanitation can legally provide trash service in the south end of Santa Rosa County after a judge dismissed a temporary injunction against the Okaloosa County business last week.

Waste Pro, a private waste collection company that has a franchise agreement with Santa Rosa County, asked for the injunction against Adams Sanitation after the county commission voted 3-2 to allow Adams to begin serving customers south of the Yellow River.

In his final act as a member of the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization’s board of directors, Bob Cole asked the TPO to consider his hometown’s plan to save its downtown.

Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections Tappie Villane offered impatient voters this advice: Cast ballots Sunday, Oct. 30, at one of six early voting sites.

“If you want a day when you know there are no lines, go on Sunday,” she said. “There won’t be anybody there.”

The Eagle Group, which owns the 2,700-acre Jubilee property northeast of Pace between Luther Fowler and Willard Norris roads, has withdrawn its request to rezone the property to allow greater housing density.

A divided Santa Rosa County Commission voted 3-2 last week to permit Adams Sanitation to provide trash hauling services south of the Yellow River, despite an “exclusive” franchise agreement with Waste Pro USA.