Kimberly McChesney, a former Gulf Breeze Elementary School assistant principal, has been placed in a new role within the district after an investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing related to events at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
McChesney, who was placed on administrative leave in August 2025 after her son, Matthew McChesney, was arrested in July on a charge of possession of child pornography, has been reassigned to the Blended Academy. She will serve as assistant principal of the school, which offers a hybrid model of online education and in-person support.
The Milton Fire Department entered Tuesday night, Jan. 13, without full staffing but began Jan. 14 with three new firefighters and fully staffed A and C shifts.
During the City Council’s work session, Fire Chief John Reble said the department had vacant positions during the latter half of 2025. He told council members the department was able to hire new firefighters who recently completed training at Northwest Florida State College’s fire academy, as well as one firefighter from George Stone Technical College.
The Milton Police Department has arrested a suspect in connection with an animal cruelty investigation involving a dog at So Pawsh Dog Grooming in Milton located at 6056 Doctor’s Park Rd, Milton, FL 32570.
Kerree J. Patterson, 37, is charged with animal cruelty.
An alleged burglary Friday, Jan. 16, led to the arrest of four people in Milton.
The burglary plot was foiled by a neighbor, who noticed the alleged burglars in action and alerted the homeowner. Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office soon responded and the suspects were apprehended after initially attempting to flee.
Due to network repairs, January utility bills for the City of Milton have not yet been issued. Additionally, some customers did not receive a mailed December utility bill; those charges are available in the billing system
In 2026, Santa Rosa County plans to continue pursuing the expansion of Chumuckla Highway (County Road 197), a major infrastructure project the county hopes can become reality in the next few years.
There were 1,229 crashes in Milton from 2018 to 2022. Five percent of the wrecks were fatal or led to serious injury. Twelve percent of the wrecks involved injury.
Those were some of the figures the Milton City Council heard ahead of a vote on whether to accept a $300,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The council ultimately approved the resolution to accept the funding at their Jan. 13 meeting.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson delivered a forceful rebuttal Thursday after county commissioners invited him to address allegations raised at their Dec. 11 meeting.
“After hearing Rickie Cotton come up here and spew lies, it really got to me,” Johnson said from the podium. “Rickie Cotton is a liar.”
