Jessica Booher earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology – the study of physical movement – in 2009 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, but after working for several years as a health fitness specialist, she decided to exercise her college minor, psychology. She earned a Master of Education degree in school counseling from Liberty University in 2016.

Not everyone who applies for Immanuel Baptist Church’s Young Leaders program is accepted.

“We intentionally chose to keep the class small,” said Tanner Guidry, IBC’s student and young adult pastor, of the Pace church’s selective initiative for students in ninth through 12th grades. “It’s designed to go deep into building personal relationships while learning more about God’s word and growing in relationship Him. We want to do life together.”

Christian singer/songwriter Michael Wayne Smith – not to be confused with three-time Grammy Award winner Michael W. Smith – will perform a free concert beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Olivet Baptist Church, 5240 Dogwood Drive in Milton.

Officials for three Santa Rosa County fire districts are scrambling to learn as much as they can about a plan to change how they’re funded.

More than 6,000 people visited the Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee’s annual Creek Fest celebration the weekend of Nov. 18-19 to enjoy a celebration of Native American heritage and the opening of the band’s new cultural center.

Donna Tucker has announced that she will retire as the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce president and CEO effective Dec. 29.

“It has truly been an honor and an amazing experience,” she said in a letter to the chamber’s membership. “The engagement, leadership, vision and support I have seen for our chamber during my tenure has been amazing; we have accomplished so much and established an organization I pray will serve our members and community for many generations to come.”

The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences West Florida Research and Education Center, Feeding the Gulf Coast and the Waterfront Rescue Mission distributed meals to 500 Milton-area families – as many as 3,000 people – last week as part of the national Farm-City celebration.

The Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee is hosting its annual Creek Fest celebration of Native American culture until about 6 p.m. today and from 9-dark Sunday at its grounds at 4750 Willard Norris Road.

City Manager Scott Collins told Milton’s city council last week the city needs a “total operational rebuild.”

For several years before Collins’ arrival in October, bitter divisions in the community have influenced city politics, resulting in many long, chaotic and often confrontational meetings. Such meetings became so regular that an area radio talk show host began airing embarrassing clips from Milton meetings in a segment spoofing the “Days of Our Lives” television soap opera.

Santa Rosa County, especially the East Milton and Pace areas, continue to experience high rates of commercial, industrial and residential growth. These are some of the subdivisions and businesses county officials have approved since Aug. 1: