A Milton man is counting more than just his blessings after he won a grand prize from the Florida lottery.

Bernard Waters, 63, claimed the $5 million top prize from the $20 Monopoly Doubler Scratch Off game this month. According to the Florida lottery, Waters chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump-sum payment of $3,994,698.

The Arc of the Emerald Coast announced that on Wednesday, Jan. 31, it received a generous donation of $25,000 from the Fort Walton Beach Rotary. The funds were raised at the North Florida Pickleball Brawl, the Rotary’s annual pickleball tournament.

The sound of rain couldn’t drown out the sound of Santa Rosa’s All County Band Saturday, Jan. 27.

In spite of the gloomy weather, parents, school district employees and the community packed Pace Assembly of God to hear both middle school and high school students perform a variety of tunes from classics such as the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars to more recent compositions such as Tarantella by Carol Brittin Chambers.

Consider the variety of needs in our community: beds for children who are sleeping on floors. food, clothing and care for at-risk foster children, STEM and mentoring programs to spark brighter lives for children and teens, marine and wildlife conservation and protection programs.  

The Krewe of Airship Pirates, organizers of the Milton Mardi Gras Parade, guessed right when they postponed the event from Saturday to Sunday to avoid wet weather.

A state-of-the-art, 200-meter outdoor parabolic speedskating track garnered rave reviews after its competitive debut earlier this month.

At the end of Clearview St. on Garcon Point, you’ll find a gated, 30-acre property with some interesting inhabitants. The property is home to eight horses, a donkey and a litany of pigs. The people who look after these animals, mostly volunteers, are there not only for the animals but for visitors.

More than 400 speedskaters from across the United States and several other nations are in Milton for the 10th Annual Emerald Coast Inline Challenge at Weber’s Skate World, 6056 Stewart St. Plans call for indoor competition, which began this morning, to last through Saturday with outdoor racing on Weber’s new state-of-the-art outdoor track on Saturday and Sunday.

Over the last two years freshwater fisheries researchers and managers with the FWC have successfully released more than 11,000 shoal bass.

It’s part of an ongoing recovery effort for the shoal bass population after Hurricane Michael devastated the Panama City area in 2018 and depleted more than 90% of it.