It happens every year. Student athletes and their family and friends fill cafeterias, gymnasiums, media centers, and sometimes even offsite locations, to sign national letters of intent.
It happened again last Wednesday, here in Santa Rosa County, throughout the state and across the country.
In addition to combating drugs in the community through law enforcement, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office is taking the fight to the elementary school level.
The Santa Rosa County School Board reviewed school district policies for 2024 during their Jan. 16 meeting. The policies pertain to everything from internet safety to school volunteers to the administration of medication. Every policy change was approved.
An excited crowd gathered Friday morning around Kenya, a 16-year-old reticulated giraffe resident at Gulf Breeze Zoo, to watch her predict the future.
Feb. 2, or Groundhog Day as it’s called everywhere else, will now be referred to as Giraffe Day in Santa Rosa County, according to county commissioner Colton Wright who read an official declaration at the celebration Friday morning.
The skeletal remains discovered in the woods off the 4100 block of Popcorn Road in Bagdad Jan. 11 have been identified as Cameron Belanger, 25, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Jan. 30.
Santa Rosa County is undergoing a Project Development and Environmental (PD&E) Study to create a Navarre community access road. A public kick-off meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thur., Feb. 15, located at Tiger Point Community Center, 1370 Tiger Park Lane in Gulf Breeze.
Everyone seems to have New Year’s resolutions, even elected officials.
Santa Rosa County Commissioner Ray Eddington, who represents district four which includes Holley and Navarre, said he is looking forward to 2024 as an important year for expanding and improving south Santa Rosa County’s infrastructure, as well as its recreational opportunities.
“We’re looking (forward) to a good year,” Eddington said.
When the new high school in the south end of Santa Rosa County opens its doors to students for the first time in 2026, it will be three floors, have 74 classrooms, CTE labs, a gym, a sports field house and athletic fields. It will have the capacity for 1,800 students.
What it won’t have are two things that would have benefitted high school athletics in this area in a big-time way. I’m talking about a swimming pool and a track with a rubberized surface.
Let the record reflect, Jay High School in north Santa Rosa County does not have a wrestling team. The district’s county commissioner, James Calkins, shared a post over the weekend on social media and congratulated Jay’s wrestling team – Jay, Oklahoma. He later blamed it on a staff member and removed the post. It is just a suggestion, but if you follow the Santa Rosa Press Gazette sports page on Facebook, and X, you wouldn’t make that mistake. Also, we are sure if our Jay High School had a wrestling team, they would be worthy of congratulations. When you are unsure about your sports teams, just ask Brian Lester – our Santa Rosa County sports reporter. He is the expert on Navarre, Milton, Pace and Jay sports.
