When Vincent Therrien turned 17, he spent much of that year trying to serve during World War II.

With U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis taking 71 percent of the vote districtwide in the Aug. 18 Florida primary, the first-term congressman from Panama City will face off against Democratic challenger Gay Valimont in the November general election

Santa Rosa County voters ousted both sitting commissioners on the ballot during the Florida primary on Aug. 18, completing a turnover of four of the board’s five seats in four years.

Santa Rosa County commissioners approved 28 items on their consent agenda during their meeting Aug. 13.

Here is what you need to know.

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Colten Wright said the county paid for his airfare and hotel during a July trade mission to the United Kingdom, defending the trip as economic development rather than a taxpayer-funded vacation critics have described online.

Residents of the city of Milton will cast votes in two races this November, as most of the races have already been decided after the candidate qualifying period came to a close Aug. 10.

The Milton Police Department announced Aug. 12 a second arrest in a November 2025 shooting death of a man at Lucille Johnson Park, saying forensic testing on two recovered firearms linked a suspect to the killing.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis has asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to study establishing a national veterans cemetery in Okaloosa County and announced a steering committee to build a case for a roughly 200-acre site in Northwest Florida.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Shane Forsman starts his day with coffee and a walk of the fence line.

He checks the gates. He looks for anyone who shouldn’t be there. Then the buses pull in at Bennett C. Russell Elementary School, the doors open, and for the next several minutes he is handing out high-fives and good mornings to a share of the school’s roughly 900 students.

“They trust me with their lives day in and day out, so I take that very seriously,” he said.

The Santa Rosa County School Board voted unanimously July 28 to eliminate the public committee that decided whether challenged library books stayed on school shelves, handing that decision to the superintendent.