A 19-year-old Jay teen was critically injured Saturday afternoon when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving when it hit standing water.

The van was eastbound on Old Pollard Road, when the teen drove through the water and lost control. The van rotated , struck a mailbox, hit a drainage ditch and became airborne. The right side of the vehicle struck a tree and came to rest of the driver’s side. The teen was ejected and pinned under the van, according to the Florida Highway Patrol media release.

As a grieving Kentucky family prepares to bury their 5-year-old son, Navarre residents continue to keep them in their thoughts and prayers. Zaten Gabriel Clark, son of Travis and Christina Clark, died Saturday night after he fell from the play structure at a floating water park and drowned.

Services will be held at Smith Funeral Home in Morgantown, Kentucky, one week to the day that Zaten died. He was pulled from the Santa Rosa Sound by Holley-Navarre Fire District rescuers just before 7:30 p.m., which was less than 20 minutes after they were first notified.

Two new board members have been selected for the Holley Navarre Water System.

Votes were cast at a June 1 special meeting.

For the last nine months, I’ve been immersed in the worlds of Navarre and Santa Rosa County.

It’s been fascinating and challenging to understand the smaller community of the area stretched along U.S. Highway 98 and the county, which includes everything from high-rise condominiums to agriculture.

I grew up with snow and ice in the winter, the smell of burning leaves in the fall and tulips popping up in strange places in the spring, along with a sea of mud.

The summers in Illinois were warm enough for swimming and boating, as long as you chose the right day of the year and the right time of the day.