Milton Realtor Pam White bought her first dog, Max, a golden retriever, in 1990, the same year veterinary Dr. Michael Mongue opened his practice in Pace. “He was my first veterinarian and the only veterinarian I’ve used,” White said Thursday, Sept. 28, at a reception celebrating Mongue’s retirement. After Max came Thunder, Tucker, Buddy and Maggie. Why did White remain so loyal? “He’s the only person I know that gets down on the floor and plays with every dog that comes in here,” she said. “We’re certainly going to miss him.”

Stephen Williams, the new music director at New Life Baptist Church in Milton, comes from an accomplished musical family, but he said leading worship music “isn’t a ‘gig,’ it’s a ministry.”

Santa Rosa County has received a $6.4 million grant to help build a taxiway and apron connecting NAS Whiting Field and Whiting Aviation Park.

“Sometimes the right thing to do is nothing at all,” the Rev. William Wright, pastor at Bible Way Baptist Church and, for about 18 months, the director for Share Your Heart’s Northwest Florida Circuit. “Sometimes people just need somebody to talk to; to vent.” According to its website, the Share Your Heart program “recruits, trains […]

A proposed interlocal agreement between the City of Milton and Santa Rosa County would allow the county to pump untreated wastewater from its industrial parks on State Road 87 South into the city’s sewage system, which already is near capacity.

It’s official. Scott Collins has signed a 21-month contract to be Milton’s city manager beginning Oct. 2. But nothing pertaining to Collins’ hiring has been without controversy. “I’m happy that Mr. Collins is now our city manager, but I wasn’t pleased about the process,” Councilmember Marilyn Farrow said at the council’s agenda workshop meeting Sept. 21 after announcing that City Attorney Alex Andrade and Collins had executed a contract.

The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 at its special budget meeting Tuesday, Sept. 19, not to act on impact fees until at least October 2024. Commissioner Sam Parker suggested the moratorium; he said construction costs already are too high and the economy “is becoming a wreck.”

Santa Rosa County commissioners hadn’t officially approved the Fiscal Year 2024 budget before they began discussing possible capital improvement projects for FY25.

The Santa Rosa County Commission unanimously approved keeping the 2024 millage rate at 6.0953 at its special budget meeting Tuesday, Sept. 19, which will generate about $98.4 million in property tax revenue. Commissioners also unanimously adopted a total budget of $251,355,646 for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet approved spending $141 million to buy more than 42,000 acres, including more than 1,500 acres in the Wolfe Creek Forest northeast of Milton in Santa Rosa County.