A year after a vehicle fatally struck a woman on the Navarre Beach bridge, a Midway firefighter turned himself in to Santa Rosa County sheriff’s deputies Aug. 22 after being charged with hit and run. Brayton Cale Secondine, 26, of Milton was identified as the driver of a red Chevrolet Camaro that left the scene […]
Santa Rosa County has proposed replacing the current half-cent local sales tax, set to expire in 2021, with a one-cent sales tax for 10 years. Voters will have a chance to approve or deny the tax on a special ballot Oct. 8. Read the full article in the July 25 issue of Navarre Press. […]
Glove-clad volunteers lined up along the Navarre Beach bridge April 24 intent on protecting the beach’s feathered residents. The nesting birds are back, and local expert Caroline Stahala of Audubon Florida said threatened least terns and black skimmers will be settling into their nesting colonies soon. Read the full article in the May 2 […]
Some of the planned improvements for Gulf Boulevard along Navarre Beach have been put “on the back burner” according to county Tourist Development Director Julie White. White said plans to replace benches and garbage cans while adding shade sails along the high-traffic portion of Gulf Boulevard are not moving forward amid complaints from beach residents. […]
While work crews have appeared outside the closed Helen Back Again restaurant along U.S. Highway 98, Navarre residents are not likely to see a new business opening there anytime soon. Recent sale of the property has only landed it back on the market for a tenant or buyer, but the property’s story paints a much […]
Navarre has always been a destination for its inhabitants. From its first homestead to today’s families and visitors, people have come to Navarre to put their feet up and settle down. But a destination means more than a journey home or a visit to the beach. It means a sense of place, a place where […]
The recommendations for U.S. Highway 98 are in, and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has found that a flyover through the center of Navarre’s business district is the best solution to the roadway’s traffic woes. The search for the best alternative began with the launch of a PD&E (Project Development and Environment) study in […]
Residents of Navarre will get their first chance Thursday evening to see the fruits of a year’s effort of planning and public comment to shape Navarre’s future through the District 4 Master Plan. Last September, the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners approved roughly $150,000 to pay consulting firm Matrix Design Group to create a District 4 […]
One of the iconic Navarre Beach “Florida’s Best Kept Secret” signs has re-emerged at local hot spot Juana’s Pagodas and Sailors’ Grill on the beach. The signs, which have garnered much love from locals, were removed from the foot of the Navarre Beach bridge entrance last year. Juana’s owner Kevin Rudzki said he is not […]
On Valentine’s Day, 17 lives were lost in a horrific act of violence. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, became the center of national attention as the story of yet another mass shooting played out. Read the full article in the Mar. 15 issue of Navarre Press. Visit www.navarrepress.com/subscribe to view subscription options. […]
Shortly after signals that the project was moving forward, a proposed new hotel for Navarre has been put back on hold indefinitely. Temporarily dubbed Navarre Hotel, the planned business on Highway 98 just east of the Navarre Beach Bridge has been in the works for years and has hit multiple holdups. The now-defunct plans filed […]
Maps of miles of U.S. Highway 98 stretched across tables last week at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) public hearings outlining the impacts that widening the road could have on hundreds of property owners and hundreds of thousands more who drive the corridor each day. Among the changes were proposals that would put a […]
The wait is nearly over for a new restaurant at Navarre Beach’s long-vacant property. Broussard’s Bayou Grill and Cajun Specialty Meats will likely open its doors in mid-October, said owner Carl Broussard. He and his brother signed a lease for the spot in July. They currently operate a restaurant of the same name in downtown […]
Lee Majors, television’s “Six Million Dollar Man,” now has something of a financial kinship with Rob Williamson, the Santa Rosa County commissioner with a $6 million plan. Williamson intends to unveil the seven-figure fiscal details about the proposed overhaul of Navarre Park to his commission colleagues in their Sept. 14 meeting. The District 4 commissioner […]
For the second year in a row, shorebird nesting season has produced fewer chicks than initially anticipated, impacting at-risk species such as least terns and black skimmers. This season started with a positive outlook, but weather conditions wreaked havoc on the nests, said Audubon Florida Panhandle Shorebird Program Manager Caroline Stahala. Along Navarre Beach there […]
Tentative plans for local restauranteur Bob Benaquis to sublease the vacant restaurant site on Navarre Beach may have fallen through, but that hasn’t stopped property leaseholder Sylvia Martin from closing in on her goal to find a tenant. Located at the front of the parking area for the Navarre Beach Fishing Pier at the foot […]
After Tropical Storm Cindy battered the Panhandle, Audubon researchers found that the storm wiped out many of the shorebird chicks and eggs along northwest Florida’s coastline, including Navarre Beach. Roughly 230 eggs and chicks were lost to torrential rain and rising seas when the storm lashed the Gulf Coast last month, said Caroline Stahala, shorebird […]
Coming over the bridge onto Navarre Beach, visitors are greeted by nesting shore birds and rolling sand dunes. They are also greeted by a vacant building in need of repair. Once a bustling Italian restaurant, the building has sat empty collecting sand for a year and a half. The vacancy has cost the county an […]
Congestion from U.S. Highway 98 through Navarre might have an alternative route in the future as the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) discussed Monday the approval of a feasibility study for creating an alternative. Read the full article in the April 13 issue of Navarre Press. Subscribe online at navarrepress.com for as little as $38 […]
Voters might have been left with more questions than answers after a presentation by Moving Santa Rosa Forward’s Ed Carson on the half cent local option sales tax (LOST) for capital improvements to the Economic Development and Government Affairs Committee (EDC) Friday, Aug. 19. Though the majority of attendees generally spoke positively about the Aug. […]
Air Force veteran Robert Reyes had the idea to have a Pub Crawl in Navarre to support local businesses and to raise money for the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast. Little did he know then – that six years later, he would be the owner of a local business, O’Connor’s Pub and Grill. Can’t […]
Let me start by saying I am in favor of building a new courthouse. The current courthouse is obsolete and must be replaced. But that doesn’t mean I support the plan to build a $47 million courthouse in Downtown Milton. And no matter how many times Mr. Rob Williamson calls me a knucklehead on his […]
Graffiti has been popping up at various locations in Navarre, and it has Santa Rosa County tourism officials concerned. Sheriff Wendell Hall was asked to attend the April 15 Santa Rosa County Tourism Development Council (TDC) meeting to discuss the matter. “The graffiti is certainly an issue,” Hall said, but he assured TDC members it […]
