News Archive

A proposed regional utilities authority would have significant powers to manage water and sewer services in northern Santa Rosa County, but it’s unclear how it might affect the City of Milton’s controversial wastewater treatment project.

The cold weather shelter for the homeless and heatless will open on the nights of Tuesday, Oct. 31, and Wednesday., Nov. 1, at Ferris Hill Baptist Church, 6848 Chaffin St. in Milton. Those who want to stay at the shelter must arrive between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Only service animals (with verification of rabies vaccination) are permitted to stay with guests. 

Last week, Florida Sen. Doug Broxson, Gulf Breeze-R, told Santa Rosa County residents that he will sponsor a bill creating an authority to oversee water-related utilities north of the Yellow River and bills to reform how county fire districts are funded.

Milton’s city council and its various appointed boards will soon meet in the Al Brewton Chamber at City Hall. The council at its Oct. 19 agenda workshop unanimously approved renaming the City Council Chamber to memorialize the longtime advocate and activist, who died Aug. 16 at 76.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida announced fiscal year (FY) 2024 (October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024) federal assistance opportunities for agricultural producers, including through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

Jason Vance was expected to attend his last meeting as a member of the City of Milton Council on Monday, Oct. 30.

Vance told the Press Gazette last week that he has reached an agreement to sell his home in Ward 4 and will be moving outside the city limits. He said he would make a formal announcement at the council’s Oct. 30 executive committee meeting.

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Kerry Smith is expected to file a defamation lawsuit against local builder Edwin Henry after learning Henry bankrolled a campaign mailer in 2022 claiming Smith had been convicted of domestic violence “several” times.

“Yes, I want to go after him,” Smith told Navarre Press on Thursday, Oct. 19. “I know Edwin Henry; he knows me. He knew this wasn’t true.”

The Panhandle Butterfly House and Nature Center celebrated the grand opening of its new butterfly vivarium Saturday during its Third Annual Monarch Madness event.

The Santa Rosa County Commission last week voted to change how it tracks Lifeguard Ambulance Service’s contract compliance, going back to a time-on-scene metric but adding fines of up to $20,000 for months that fall below 85 percent compliance.

Santa Rosa County officials joined executives from Hershey’s Ice Cream on Oct. 24 to break ground on the company’s planned 30,000-square-foot distribution center located at the new Northwest Florida Industrial Park @ I-10, just south of the interstate.