The University of West Florida is known for its trails as well as its academics.

Much of the trails traverse through longleaf pine forests. The plant, which once spread over 90 million acres across America, is famously fire-resistant and relies on fires to clear out dead underbrush to make room for its seedlings.

Despite being a well-known figure in Northwest Florida in his time, Jackson Morton’s name has fallen into obscurity.

Born in 1794 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Morton moved to Milton in the 1820s and began a successful brickmaking enterprise, selling mainly to those building Pensacola’s Naval fortifications.

He later parlayed his business success into a political career, eventually serving a term in the U.S. Senate from 1849 to 1855. Years later, he served in the Confederacy’s version of the Senate.

Pensacon, the annual pop culture convention held at Pensacola Bay Center, was back in full force Friday, Feb. 20, through Sunday, Feb. 22.

Duane Brewton Jr. has lived a long life. From fighting in World War II to providing for his family to helping found Pensacola’s Brownsville Assembly of God, Brewton has done many things across his 109 years.

Despite his lifetime achievements, he had not been read into the Congressional Record until Feb. 12.

When Southern Raceway in East Milton went up for sale, some in the local racing community feared the property would be sold to a developer and that days at the dirt track would be a thing of the past.

That was also the fear of the Joiner brothers, Jonathan, Joseph and Joshua. As Joshua puts it, the brothers were practically raised at the track.

Caleb Champion is headed to the Super Bowl.


Not as a player, but as a pilot. The Milton High alum is set to be part of a flyover for the NFL’s biggest game Sunday night at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

It was March 6, 2024, when Joy Zuraff returned home from the park with her 5-year-old daughter, Kenlee. The afternoon had been ordinary — swings, sunshine, a brief escape from the medical stress that had shadowed their lives. Then Zuraff’s phone rang. A friend told her the Department of Children and Families planned to stop by, take a quick look at Kenlee and close the case.

What happened next would upend her family’s life.

On Saturday, Jan. 17, people from across Santa Rosa County gathered at Santa Rosa Auditorium in Milton to share a breakfast meal in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Late last month, a Milton resident posted a picture of a river otter swimming through Annie’s Basin near the Blackwater River. The woman was on her dock when a little furry head stuck out of the water.
While not an uncommon sight, river otters are not exactly the poster child for Florida animals. Despite not being as famed as alligators, manatees and Florida panthers, river otters play an important ecological role.

Red clay bluffs that look like they belong in Alabama or Georgia tower over a part of Santa Rosa County’s Juniper Creek.