Summer is for relaxing – for pets too. Many pet parents indulge their animal companions with vacations, special meals, hotel stays and trips to the spa. In fact, an estimated $53 billion were spent on pets last year.

Owners of five Santa Rosa properties signed up to participate in Gulf Power’s site certification program by the May 3 deadline imposed by the utility. The goal of the new program, which officially kicked off in April, is to help recruit large industry to the area by certifying there are project-ready sites available.

Two people were killed in a traffic accident that shut down the westbound lanes of U.S. Hwy 98 near the Hurlburt Field main entrance for nearly five hours on Thursday. Seven vehicles were damaged in the crash, in which three Navarre residents and one Gulf Breeze residents were involved.

The Navarre area’s main thoroughfare will be undergoing a facelift beginning this week. Work is scheduled to begin on a resurfacing project of U.S. Highway 98 (also referred to as SR 30) on June 13.  The target area of the project is an 11-mile stretch that will begin at the Gulf Breeze Zoo to the west and will extend to the Santa Rosa – Okaloosa county line to the east, encompassing the communities of Navarre, Midway and Gulf Breeze.