The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners approved changes to the county’s right-of-way rules July 23, giving the county the new ability to deny permits and requiring contractors to document their plans to reduce damage to public property.

Families in Santa Rosa County can begin applying for free and reduced-price school meals for the upcoming school year when the district opens its online portal Friday, July 31.

The Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners adopted a 12-month ban on large-scale data centers and other high-demand users in the county’s unincorporated areas, pausing new applications while county staff study potential effects on the local area.

Crosspoint Church will open its Pace campus on Sunday, Aug. 9, marking the first Santa Rosa County location for a church with roots in Okaloosa and Walton counties.

A gymnastics coach and social media content creator from Navarre who had moved to Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Monday, July 20, in federal court to multiple charges related to the production, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material, as well as money laundering.

Theresa Mitchell, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce and distribute child sexual abuse material, two counts of production of child sexual abuse material, one count of receipt of child sexual abuse material, one count of possession of child sexual abuse material and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

A Santa Rosa County woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison on July 27 after pleading guilty to multiple charges related to stealing more than $1 million from a local electrical company.

A Santa Rosa County man was sentenced to five years in state prison for torturing a kitten to death in December 2025, according to a news release from the state attorney’s office.

One of Santa Rosa County’s oldest schools is getting a breath of new life as the Santa Rosa County School Board approved a $34 million phase one project which will see middle and high school students move into a new two-story building by 2029.

Santa Rosa County commissioners on July 23 recognized the Navarre Rotary Club for its work to prevent drownings on local beaches, adopting a proclamation marking July 19-25 as National Drowning Prevention Week.

A man who fled deputies serving felony warrants and swam into the Blackwater River was found dead July 22, according to a news release from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.