Every year, the Fenner Bike Ride comes to Milton. Bikers line up at their starting lines, helmets on, focused on the trail that lies ahead, whether it’s the 18-, 44-, 64- or 100-mile trail. This year, on Oct. 25, the event is coming around again.

Twenty schools won Florida Power and Light’s $50,000 STEM Classroom Makeover Grant for the 2024-2025 school year, and Avalon Middle School was one of them. As a result, Theresa Yankovoy, who teaches STEM and sixth-grade social studies at Avalon, got a classroom makeover and new gadgets.

Dayna Hood says she gets the question, “Why teaching?” a lot.

The Munson Heritage Festival followed through on everything it promised: food, history, family fun, live music and everything in between. The event took place Oct. 11-12 at the Krul Lake Recreation Area in Blackwater River State Forest and drew a crowd likely into the thousands.

A lawsuit filed against the Santa Rosa County School Board continues to move forward during a time when citizens have expressed discontent over arrests of several school district teachers and other employees. 

The 44th-annual Homemakers’ Holiday Fair, hosted by the UF/IFAS Extension, brought the din of conversation and sales to the Santa Rosa County Auditorium. At the fair, vendors spoke about prices, displayed handmade crafts or home goods on carefully arranged tables and demonstrated why patrons should buy them, with their business cards stacked where everyone could see.

On Sept. 10, the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk shocked the nation. Outpourings of concern spread across social media, met equally with vitriol and celebration from other users.  In the wake of the tragedy, Santa Rosa County resident Heather McIsaac hosted a vigil for Charlie Kirk on Sept. 13, honoring his memory and actions.

Leonardo Helicopters US opened its first Florida facility, the Leonardo Florida Support Center, on Sept. 18, located just off NAS Whiting Field.

At the Sept. 8 Board of County Commissioners meeting, commissioners discussed raising fees across Santa Rosa County—including on boats, parks and facility rental fees. Consensus across these discussions made it clear, such fee costs in the county would be going up. During the Sept. 11 commissioner meeting, the new fees were approved.

On Sept. 10, at 12:23 MT, right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot in the neck and killed in front of roughly 3,000 people on the Utah Valley University campus. The assassination has raised concern about political violence and prompted action across the country, including public forum statements made to Santa Rosa County Commissioners and statements from the commissioners themselves.