The year 2024 is a big election year, not only nationally, but also in Santa Rosa County.

We’re guessing everyone is aware of that, unless you sleep under a rock or somehow drive around town with your eyes closed. At this point, we’re not sure you could throw a rock on most major thoroughfares in Santa Rosa County and not hit an election sign.

The April 25 Santa Rosa County Board of Commission meeting was an example of what an informed public can accomplish when it’s paying attention.

For example, when I first moved to LaGrange, Georgia in 2017, I remember looking around at all the city had going for it. An amphitheater. A walking trail. A local college in the heart of downtown. A large lake. Two Chick-fil-As. What else could you want?

Some of my favorite childhood memories are summer days spent running around my grandmother’s yard in DeFuniak Springs. Back then, a “vacation” for our family meant a four-hour drive to Florida to see family for a few days.

After a contentious few months – and a vote that apparently took some of the members by surprise – the Milton City Council decided to set up some parameters for its work sessions.

On April 11, award-winning investigative journalist for CBS News and Fox News prior to that, gave strong and compelling testimony on Capitol Hill regarding the Press Act, and the importance – no, the necessity – in journalists protecting the name and identity of sources.

We listen to the residents who speak at the county commission meetings. Growth is an issue. Maybe growth is THE issue. We want the residents to be informed about development and how it works.

We recently published a story about a situation at Lighthouse Private Christian Academy. Most people are familiar, but if you are not, the school came under scrutiny from the Midway fire marshal and fire chief after an inspection. The inspector determined two campus houses needed a sprinkler system and he shut down the houses immediately, displacing 24 students. Things got a little out of hand in how the chief responded.

For Christians around the world, Easter represents a time of renewal, and a time of remembrance of the death of Jesus and his resurrection. However you choose to celebrate Easter, whether it is in Church or in your backyard hunting for Easter eggs or both, we at Navarre Press wish you a day of renewal. Consider it perhaps a transfiguration of sorts; a shedding of whatever is old and stale and an embrace of new things, habits and ideas.

Residents in the southeast corner of Santa Rosa County regularly debate two evergreen questions: Should some combination of Navarre, Navarre Beach and Holley incorporate? And second, should the county dredge a channel to the Gulf of Mexico?