Renee Johnmeyer says she did not go looking for a career in politics. Politics, she says, came to her.

State Rep. Nathan Boyles, R-Baker, is wrapping up what he calls his first full legislative session in Tallahassee, and the freshman Republican said the biggest adjustment has been learning how to move policy in a chamber with far more colleagues — and competing interests — than the Okaloosa County Commission he came from.

The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on March 26 to approve the Agricultural Legacy Lands Protection Program; a voluntary conservation initiative aimed at preserving the county’s farmland and the roughly $100 million agricultural industry it supports.

A Pace High School environmental science teacher has been awarded a $50,000 classroom makeover grant from Florida Power & Light and the NextEra Foundation, school and district officials announced Wednesday.

A 24-year-old Milton woman was arrested Monday on charges of having sexual contact with her dog and possessing child pornography, according to an arrest report from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Matthew Taylor, a candidate for Florida commissioner of agriculture who goes by “Matt the Welder” on social media, made a campaign stop in Pace on March 23, where he said the political establishment, including his own party, is working to keep him off the ballot.

Milton City Council members voiced broad support at a March 19 work session for a proposed luxury hotel and event space, though one member cautioned that any public-private partnership would need to justify the cost to taxpayers.

A Jacksonville man with 49 prior convictions has been sentenced to 81 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of using drones to smuggle drugs, cell phones, and razor blades into multiple Florida correctional facilities.

Doug Chico didn’t plan to run for Congress. The 35-year-old Navy veteran and sixth-generation Northwest Florida native said he’d rather spend more time with his family. But a local surveillance camera rollout last fall set him on a path to challenge incumbent Rep. Jimmy Patronis in the August Republican primary for Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

Nearly one year into leading the Milton Police Department, Chief Jennifer Frank says the agency has moved quickly by filling vacancies, boosting training, expanding community programs and beginning to address resource gaps that predated her arrival.