The Florida Department of Environmental Protection handed out hefty fines July 2 to Avalon Beach developers Kip Walker (Damon Drive) and Thomas Cornelison (Furlong Drive) of $197,250 and $67,500, respectively, for their role in allowing red clay sediment into Mulat Bayou over the past year or more.

On Monday, June 30, Pace High School’s NJROTC was named the Most Outstanding Unit in the Nation. This is the highest honor awarded by the Naval Service Training Command, and consideration included over 600 NJROTC programs nationwide.

A couple has submitted plans to turn three parcels in an East Milton neighborhood into a recreational campground site. The conditional use permit request was submitted to Santa Rosa County May 27.

As smoke engulfed a home’s garage on Holley Court in Navarre May 28, firefighters pulled a rottweiler out from the haze.

Thanks to a specialized mask on board Holley Navarre Fire District Engine 41, the animal was given oxygen, hauled off in an ambulance and able to be given treatment. The dog, named “Sydney,” has reportedly left St. Francis Animal Hospital after a multi-day stay.

Hurricane season officially kicks off on Sunday, June 1, and runs through November 30. Emergency management officials are urging everyone to be One Week Ready.

One Week Ready means having enough supplies on hand to sustain your entire household, including pets, for at least seven days without outside assistance.

A Training Air Wing FIVE helicopter incurred a hard landing at around 2 p.m. Monday, June 2 at Naval Air Station Whiting Field’s Navy Outlying Landing Field Santa Rosa near Milton.

The Milton Police Department has arrested 22-year-old Mohamed Bakayoko in connection with a large-scale fraud investigation that resulted in the theft of $852,983.06 from the Santa Rosa County Clerk of Court & Comptroller. Bakayoko has been charged with grand theft, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in state prison.

Santa Rosa County Animal Shelter gets five new benches thanks to a Milton High School student, Brent Leaver and his Eagle Scout project.

An Eagle Scout project fulfills the Scout Oath “to help other people at all times”. Every year, Eagle Scout projects provide millions of hours of community service making significant impacts in local communities. For Leaver’s project, he built five benches and donated them to the Santa Rosa County Animal Shelter.

Boy Scout Pack 400 hosted a first responder den meeting at Woodbine Church on April 29. The scouts were given a firsthand look inside the careers and lives of first responders.

At the special zoning meeting on March 27, commissioners rejected District 3 Commissioner Rhett Rowell’s proposal to extend the Rural Protection Zone. At the following regular meeting on April 7, Rowell said he was taken aback by the 180 the board had done.