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.

Two Santa Rosa County teens are back in custody after they escaped July 23 from the Okaloosa Youth Academy in Crestview. According to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, 14-year-old Kurtis Lee Canning and 15-year-old Joseph Timothy Enfinger, both from Milton, are now charged with escape from a residential commitment facility, resisting an officer without violence and criminal mischief of over $1,000.

Navarre and the surrounding area make for a beautiful place to run and exercise outdoors. Dozens of races mark the calendar throughout the year, including the McGuire’s 5K that had more than 9,000 runners this year. Local races like the Sunset Stampede and Flag Day 5k at St. Sylvester mark the end of the spring racing season as temperatures and humidity begin to climb.

Gulf Breeze Police Chief Robert Randle admitted July 21 that he jinxed himself when he told a local reporter July 4 than not much happens in the city during the holiday. But July 4, 2014, was different. Randle said that due to the efforts of a local citizen and three police officers, a man wanted in connection to a murder in Alabama was apprehended and taken off the streets.