The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority is broke. The Authority doesn’t have enough money to fund an annual audit required by the Florida Auditor General, much less generate enough revenues to make multi-million dollar, semiannual bond payments. Most of the Authority’s members have quit over the past couple of years, and replacements are hard to find because of the bridge’s troubled history. At an August 14 meeting held at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) office in Milton, the group was left with little choice but to authorize a traffic and revenue study which could lead to yet another toll hike.

Frustrated by the county’s lack of progress in submitting and receiving grants through National Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), the Navarre Beach Leaseholders and Residents Association (NBLRA) hired Sonja Negley, of Green Consulting and Solutions, to represent their interests three months ago. Negley updated the NBLRA on August 17 regarding her efforts and the current status of the NRDA grants.

Holley-Navarre firefighters responded Tuesday morning to reports of the smell of natural gas originating from the former Ciao Bella Italian Bistro on Navarre Parkway.