Jay was represented well at a Student Government Association district meeting in Tallahassee 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 city staff are working out details of a fentanyl awareness campaign to explain the drug’s dangers.

Santa Rosa County staff members were preparing a request for proposals about what to do with the old courthouse in downtown Milton, according to County Administrator DeVann Cook.

Leonardo Helicopters broke ground on a new facility at Whiting Aviation Park in Milton, near NAS Whiting Field, on Friday, July 28.

When developers pitched their plans to build the 2,700-acre, 7,000-plus-unit, master-planned Jubilee community northeast of Pace in 2022, they often did so at tense meetings packed with concerned residents and vocal opposition. They tried a more low-key approach on June 29, inviting interested residents to meet with them individually at the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce offices.

The Milton City Council on July 11 voted unanimously to hire Scott Collins to replace the retiring Randy Jorgenson as city manager. On July 15, Collins withdrew from contract negotiations citing concerns about the process and “a coordinated undercurrent effort…to make either this contract negotiation or my initial contract unsuccessful.”

Commissioner James Calkins criticized Democrats and any Republican who doesn’t agree with his political views at last Thursday’s regular Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners meeting.

More than 1,000 students from Escambia, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties participated in the Northwest Florida Construction Career Days program at the Santa Rosa County Fairgrounds in East Milton. More than 80 public and private agencies participated in the event organized by the Florida Department of Transportation to encourage high school students to consider the wide variety of careers available in the construction industry.

Randy Jorgenson, who began his career in the City of Milton Planning Department more than a decade ago and became city manager in 2018, announced that he would retire in September.