In early August, local students’ parents were abuzz on Facebook. A post was circulating that administrators at Thomas L. Sims Middle School were refusing to distribute class schedules to students who had an unpaid balance on their school lunch account. While this proved to be untrue, and ultimately a misunderstanding, it brought up the topic of school lunch debt, and what exactly that means for students and schools.
NAS Pensacola is nicknamed the “Cradle of Naval Aviation.”
In the military, it’s recognized as the birthplace of naval aviation—the home of the first formal naval aviation school, established on base in 1914. The base is also home to the National Naval Aviation Museum, which was established in 1962 and displays the rich history of the very profession it’s named for. In the last few years, the museum has hosted an annual event for Girls in Aviation Day on Nov. 1 to teach young women about the profession, cultivate a love for it, and encourage young women to pursue aerospace careers.
At the Sept. 8 Board of County Commissioners meeting, commissioners discussed raising fees across Santa Rosa County—including on boats, parks and facility rental fees and animal services fees. Consensus across these discussions made it clear, such fee costs in the county would be going up. During the Sept. 11 commissioner meeting, the new fees were approved.
Santa Rosa County hosted a CivicCon event on Aug. 12. The event was held by CivicCon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the community “a better place to live, play, work, and invest through smart planning and by driving unparalleled and continuing com-munity engagement,” according to their website. The county was responsible for hosting the event, and provided a space for the meeting after the organization reached out express-ing interest in a Santa Rosa County event.
Between June and July, Holley-Navarre Fire Department responded to 11 separate gas leaks – each caused by fiber optic boring activity. The fiber lines, most owned by Live Oak Fiber, inadvertently struck underground gas lines maintained by Okaloosa Gas District, prompting repeated shelter-in-place orders for local residents.
In January 2017, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office received an over-$12,000 donation to purchase a new K-9 unit. The unit’s police dog, Ziggy, worked with the county until 2022, when he retired with his handler. Now, after three years of retirement, Ziggy has been diagnosed with two different types of cancer: carcinoma in his front nasal cavity, and a transitional-cell carcinoma on his bladder.
STOA Architects, Inc. shared updates on the Navarre Beach Boardwalk Project and new Navarre Beach welcome center with the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners during their biweekly commission committee meeting July 21. The project and plans presented to the board feature an elevated beach walkway, a main boardwalk complex with spaces for around eight vendors or local artisans, a food truck plaza and an open pavilion.
On July 4, President Donald Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, an 870-page piece of legislation designed to make the tax provisions Trump enacted in 2017 with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent.
The Soundside Conservation Project, a movement for Santa Rosa County to purchase a 27-acre plot of land in Gulf Breeze off Soundside Drive and designate it for conservation, has been approved by a unanimous vote of Santa Rosa County Commissioners July 10. The land encompasses 4 acres of uplands and 23 acres of “high quality wetlands” according to an appraisal of the property. The wetlands feed into a creek that empties into the Santa Rosa Sound.
