Tallahassee – From holding down property taxes on homes rebuilt after hurricanes to new post-storm rules for elections supervisors, the Florida House on Mar. 18 started moving forward with a proposal to address issues whipped up during the damaging 2024 hurricane season.
A University of West Florida-Institute for Human Machine & Cognition research team received a $478,000 grant for the acquisition of advanced robotic platforms and equipment from the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program of the Office of Naval Research. The grant was one of only 64 grants awarded in the nation. Dr. Robert Griffin and Dr. Matt Johnson, who both hold dual appointments with IHMC and UWF through the Intelligent Systems and Robotics program, and Dr. Hakki Erhan Sevil, UWF ISR faculty member, worked together to apply for the funding.
Last Monday marked the 10th anniversary of a tragedy Navarre residents won’t soon forget.
On March 10, 2015, a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter carrying seven U.S. Marines and four Louisiana National Guard soldiers crashed into the Santa Rosa Sound approximately 5 miles east of the Navarre Beach Bridge. There were no survivors.
The race for Florida House of Representatives District 3 is heating up. Endorsements are being handed out and final pitches are being made to voters.
With the election just a couple of weeks away, Jamie Wells, one of the candidates, decided to hold a forum with other candidates in Navarre. The event was held Monday, March 10, at Stripes Pub and Grill.
Kathey Barnard (Blankenship) has been a member of Community of Christ Church since 1983, the year it opened on a quiet street in Navarre. Over the years, Presidio Street has grown, as has the church.
In January, Barnard was elected pastor by the congregation. In Community of Christ Church’s denomination, which is an offshoot of the Church of Latter-day Saints, pastors and other positions of authority within local congregations are elected.
If you own an Airbnb on Navarre Beach, you may be getting a knock at your door in the near future.
Navarre Beach Fire Rescue District (NBFRD) is moving forward with a plan to perform fire safety inspections on each short-term rental property on the beach. NBFRD Fire Chief Danny Fureigh estimates there are 1,300 Airbnb type properties on Navarre Beach but will have official numbers once an ordinance is drawn up allowing the district to do the inspections.
Multiple instances have been reported to the Santa Rosa County Animal Services administration wherein scam callers, showing up as the correct SRCAS shelter phone number, elicit payment information from residents to pay fees or fines.
Santa Rosa County Animal Services will never ask anyone to submit payments over the phone. Residents should hang up immediately and call the shelter line to report the fraudulent call if such a request is made.
If residents dial the shelter line (850-983-4680) from their own device, it will connect them to the correct SRCAS front desk number.
The National Weather Service in Mobile is predicting isolated severe weather conditions for our area tonight, Friday, March 14. Santa Rosa County has been placed under a MODERATE risk of severe weather through Saturday, March 15.
Following a season that brought over a million visitors to Navarre Beach, the lifeguards who patrol the shores are back to work.
Navarre Beach Lifeguards started patrolling the beach and water Saturday, March 8 and will be active each day until late October. Even though last year was extremely busy, Beach Safety Division Chief Austin Turnbull expects there to be even more need for lifeguard services in 2025.
