The University of West Florida held their annual move-in day Aug. 21, helping fresh faces and returning students to their residence halls and dorm rooms in efficient, welcoming fashion.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection awarded $150 million worth of grants to communities across the state on Thursday, Aug. 14. Nearly $17 million was donated to the City of Milton for the city to build its new wastewater treatment plant.
A 20-acre borrow pit is planned for a 165-acre lot just off of Rainbow Lane in Milton. While a development order hasn’t been issued, the owner of the land and engineers for the project have submitted a number of plans for the proposed site. With the influx of development in the county, it’s possible that the borrow pit will be used to provide materials to small subdivisions or building projects in the area. Materials from borrow pits can be used in large-scale infrastructure projects as well.
When clicking some items on the Santa Rosa County website, you’ll find that instead of just taking you to your requested page, a pop-up appears. It looks inconspicuous—a simple white box with black text, two options pictured at the bottom: DO NOT SHOW AGAIN or CLOSE.
It’s a busy day at Benny Russell Park, as it should be on a warm, beautiful Sunday afternoon, just a day before children begin the school year. The park is loud, filled not just with the laughter and joy of children but also music as a speaker serenades the crowd with Christian music. There are inflatables set up in the open area past the park’s splash pad. Teenagers are tossing a football back and forth. Children are chowing down on burgers and hot dogs and families are lounging in the shade under large white canopies.
At the Aug. 12 Milton City Council meeting, the council officially voted to approve an agreement between the city and Milton Professional Firefighters (I.A.F.F. Local 2994) to give the firefighters an 8.25% pay raise starting Oct. 2025.
The Santa Rosa County Zoning Board approved rezoning 500+ acres of Rural Residential Agricultural (AGGR) land to Single Family Residential (RR1) during their Aug. 14 meeting, following intense debate and amidst community criticism of agenda item 14, Case 2025-2-RLS.
Santa Rosa County hosted a CivicCon event on Aug. 12. The event was held by CivicCon, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the community “a better place to live, play, work, and invest through smart planning and by driving unparalleled and continuing community engagement,” according to their website. The county was responsible for hosting the event, and provided a space for the meeting after the organization reached out expressing interest in a Santa Rosa County event.
The lights are up in the Santa Rosa Community Theatre, the curtains pulled back, actors in plain clothes instead of costumes as they run through their lines. The seats in the theater are empty, not yet ready for an audience but awaiting opening night, when the lights go down and the curtain will open on the theater’s latest play.
