A motion to establish a policy on personal electronic device use by board members during public meetings died for lack of a second at a long, contentious Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning.

The motion by Commissioner Colten Wright led to an outburst by Commissioner James Calkins. After refusing to stay on topic – which had been the focus of the first five hours of the meeting – Calkins was silenced by the gavel. Chairman Dave Piech put the meeting in recess until Calkins could control himself.

After months of debate and community opposition, the Board of County Commissioners voted to deny the request for a lease amendment during Thursday night’s rezoning meeting that would allow RV park construction on Navarre Beach.

After Col. Randy Tifft of the Santa Rosa Sherriff’s Office presented a need for more staffing to keep the citizens of the county safe, the Board of County Commissioners voted to agreed to approve Sheriff Bob Johnson’s budget request in its entirety.

After Col. Randy Tifft of the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office presented a need for more staffing to keep the citizens of the county safe, the Board of County Commissioners voted to approve Sheriff Johnson’s budget request in its entirety.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is looking for 22-year-old Johnny Ray Kirk of Santa Rosa Beach, who is believed to have been connected to the fatal shooting of an 80-year-old Crestview man.

After a lengthy discussion about rezoning rural residential agriculture land with perturbed Santa Rosa residents, the zoning board obliged the concerned citizens’ request by denying Sterling Fibers’ proposition.