Chronic Wasting Disease claims first Florida deer
June 15, 2023
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has confirmed that a road-killed 4.5-year-old female white-tailed deer in Holmes County sampled during routine surveillance activities has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). It is the first known case of CWD in Florida, a contagious disease of the brain and central nervous system that is fatal to deer. The first case of CWD in North America was described in mule deer in Colorado in 1967. Florida is the most recent of 31 states to detect the disease, which also has been confirmed in four Canadian provinces, Finland, Norway, Sweden and South Korea.
Mayor proclaims Juneteenth in Milton
June 14, 2023
The Fellowship of Churches Santa Rosa County is planning a day of music, food and fun for its first Juneteenth National Independence Day celebration Monday, June 19, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milton.
Churches plan ‘Celebration of Freedom’ on Juneteenth
June 12, 2023
The Fellowship of Churches Santa Rosa County is planning a day of music, food and fun for its first Juneteenth National Independence Day celebration Monday, June 19, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milton.
‘You are the problem, Mr. Calkins’: Commissioner doubles down amid calls for resignation
June 12, 2023
Residents called for Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins’ resignation last week after comments he made May 25 about the Democratic Party.
‘A perfect collaboration’: Sheep to help manage solar farm’s vegetation
June 12, 2023
Converting sunshine into clean, low-cost electricity requires modern technology, but Florida Power & Light hopes it’s found an old way to maintain its new solar energy center in East Milton.
“Sometimes, innovation is about trying something new and different,” said J.T. Young, vice president and general manager of Florida Power & Light Northwest Florida, June 7 at FPL’s ceremony commissioning its Blackwater River Solar Energy Center. “Sometimes, it’s about trying something tried and true in new ways.”
BREAKING: Seven victims in incident at Nikko Japanese Restaurant in Pace
June 10, 2023
UPDATE AS OF JUNE 12: The Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office public information officer, Jillian Durkin, confirmed this morning that the victims were poisoned by a narcotic and one suspect has been interviewed. More to come as details are released.
Farrow: Don’t spend city funds for charitable causes
June 7, 2023
Don’t “do unto others” using taxpayer money, Councilwoman Marilynn Farrow told her colleague’s Monday.
Pond Creek eyesore helps pinpoint pollution sources
June 6, 2023
Sometimes, progress isn’t pretty.
The Pensacola Perdido Bays Estuary Program installed “litter booms” across Pond Creek in October 2021 to stop debris from flowing into the Blackwater River and, eventually, Blackwater and East bays and the Gulf of Mexico. Volunteers collect and catalog the debris each month, but the volume of litter and natural debris that builds up at the booms creates an unsightly mess.
Family hopes Santa Rosa County will find space for pump tracks
June 6, 2023
Hannah Schopmeyer – and her seven kids – are pumped about pump tracks and hope Santa Rosa County has one soon.
‘I stand by my statements’
June 5, 2023
James Calkins on Monday refused to apologize for remarks he made last month calling the Democratic Party “evil” and said he stands by his statements, despite residents calling for him to resign from the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners.