The Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee celebrated Native American culture Saturday with Creek Fest, a gathering of artists, craftsmen, dancers, storytellers and vendors from various indigenous cultures sharing their skills and selling their wares at the band’s festival ground west of Milton on Willard Norris Road.

The Santa Rosa Band of the Lower Muscogee will host Creek Fest, presented by Eglin Federal Credit Union, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 4750 Willard Norris Road in Milton.

Rafael Lopez is a self-appointed ambassador of chess. The Cantonment car broker said he plays 10 to 15 games EVERY DAY. He taught his friends’ children to play, and, for the past few years, he’s made it his mission to teach anyone willing to try. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, he’ll bring “Chess Challenge” to East Bay Automotive, 5844 Stewart Street in Milton. Anyone 6 and older, regardless of their knowledge or skill, is invited to the free event, which includes a free snack and an opportunity to win prizes.

One notices the eye contact first, then the handshake and the posture. Men Empowered members meeting Nov. 5 at the Clyde L. Gracey Community Center in Milton displayed confidence and poise not expected from high school students.

Santa Rosa County Commission Chairman Bob Cole, center, presents a plaque to Commissioner Dave Piech this morning commemorating his service on the Board of County Commissioners.

Santa Rosa County officials buried a time capsule Wednesday to help commemorate the opening of its new courthouse on Avalon Boulevard. A plaque marking the capsule’s resting place will instruct future county officials to open the capsule 50 years after its burial, on Nov. 9, 2072.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 8) is election day. The polls will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

The deadline to submit qualifications to manage the City of Milton’s almost $70-million wastewater reclamation project passed last month without response.

“This is a big project; a huge project,” Interim Public Information Officer Jay Conrad said Friday. “Our expectation has been that anyone with the qualifications to do this job already is employed; we knew it might take some time to attract the kind of expertise we need for a project of this magnitude.”

The Santa Rosa County Commission is expected to name the four-lane highway being built through the Pea Ridge community between U.S. Highway 90 and Hamilton Bridge Road at its regular meeting Thursday.

The early favorite? Pea Ridge Connector.

It may be coincidence, but Richard Wood couldn’t have timed the release of his first book – Mayhem in the Florida Panhandle – much better.

Tales of murder and mayhem take center stage during the Halloween season and Wood’s 13 tales have the added attraction of being true – and happened in places readers will recognize.