News Archive

Memorial Day will be held Monday, May 25, this year. In recognition of the holiday, there are multiple ceremonies planned in Santa Rosa County.

Kimahri Blevins, 15, and Gabriel Williams, 16, are due back in court this summer.
The pair were charged with first-degree premeditated murder or felony murder for allegedly killing their classmate Danika Troy, 14. The two teens were indicted Dec. 19, 2025.

Citing public safety concerns and costs, a plan to adopt student ID cards for Santa Rosa County students died due to the lack of support from members of the Santa Rosa County School Board, with School Board Chair Carol Boston as the only member to make a motion to approve the item.

David Farrow spent his life helping when he could. From being an Army veteran to helping teachers in need when running an appliance store in Georgia, to sitting on school advisory committees while his son moved through the grades. Now he is eyeing a seat on the Santa Rosa County School Board.

A Navarre man was arrested on May 14 after a warrant was executed because he allegedly trespassed on a neighbor’s property nude and removed a security camera mounted outside her home.

When Erin Nisewonger came back to Santa Rosa County after spending four years in Hawaii, she expected more green space and improved infrastructure. What she got was storage units and car washes

Next week, the Santa Rosa County Commission will begin to deliberate whether or not to approve a contract that will bring speed enforcement programs to twelve school zones in the north end of the county.

For nearly 200 years, Bagdad Methodist Church has been a fixture of Santa Rosa County. The sanctuary has been standing since 1885. The congregation can trace its roots back to 1821, when carpenters and settlers gathered along the Blackwater River for Sunday service.

An Okaloosa County judge on May 11 denied a request from a former Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy charged in the 2024 shooting death of Senior Airman Roger Fortson to travel outside the bounds of his pretrial release, after Fortson’s mother delivered an emotional plea asking the court to keep him in the area.

Four years after narrowly losing to Kerry Smith for the District 2 Santa Rosa County Commission seat, Jeff Ates IV is back. This go round, he is facing seven other candidates, including Smith.
Ates is a lifelong East Milton resident and ran a dirt pit in the area for around 25 years. The pit has supplied dirt and other earthworks for projects across Santa Rosa County. He also managed hunting land in the 1980s and 1990s and currently consults for North American IPS, LLC.