The countdown to the August 26 primary elections has begun. “We’re ready,” exclaimed an enthusiastic Tappie Villane, Santa Rosa County’s supervisor of elections, who attended the Navarre Beach Area Chamber’s candidate forum Monday night. Roughly 65 people gathered at Holley-Navarre Middle School to hear the seven candidates for District 4 county commissioner.

Only 14.62 percent of Santa Rosa County’s 123,472 voters cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary election. “That’s extremely low,” said Commissioner Lane Lynchard, a member of the county canvassing board.

Picketers stood outside Portofino Island Resort July 12 to protest the decision of the Tower Two Board to trap 12 feral cats that live on the island. Sharon Berg, of Emerald Coast Animal Allies, has worked to have each of the cats that live under and around the Portofino Towers spayed or neutered, micro chipped and vaccinated in order to ensure they were able to remain at the resort.

Longleaf pine restoration efforts in Blackwater River State Forest will continue thanks to a recent multi-million-dollar grant announcement in Washington, D.C. The project includes prescribed fire on 20,000 acres, controlling invasive species on 350 acres, treating 1,100 acres of hardwoods and restoring 330 acres of longleaf pine. The project also aligns with the natural resource and encroachment protection goals of Eglin Air Force Base by expanding potential off-base habitat for protected species, including the flatwoods salamander.

After repeated public outcry against purchasing a $1.44 million parcel of land in Pea Ridge for the future courthouse site, citizens rallied commissioners to remove the option from November’s ballot. Commissioners Jim Melvin and Jayer Williamson supported striking it from consideration but were out-voted July 24.