Milton couple buys dream home on HGTV show after winning lottery

The wins just keep coming for a Milton family who won the lottery last year. Bernard Waters, his girlfriend, Madelyn “Peanut” Gonzalez and her son, Kris Long, were featured on HGTV’s “My Lottery Dream Home” on Friday night. Waters won $5 million on a scratch-off ticket last year, and now the family has been featured on a national television show while searching for their new home in Milton. Gonzalez said on the show that she’s been watching it for eight years, so she was super excited to meet Bromstad. Before the new home, the couple was living in a small apartment.

Northwest Florida resident trains pigeons for sport

While most livestock are raised for food or fertilizer, some people in Santa Rosa County are raising animals to race. No, these aren’t horses. They’re pigeons. Renee Neugent, of East Milton, has been involved in the sport on and off again for around a decade. In her backyard, there are around 40 pigeons in a caged enclosure, known as a loft. Approaching the enclosure, you can hear wings flapping, birds cooing and the mad dash toward food when Neugent brings in bird feed. Neugent first got involved in pigeon racing through a friend at church. She didn’t know much about pigeons at the time but began to acquire pigeons and started raising them. Long before her days as a pigeon racer, Neugent earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science production. She said her degree has helped with raising and caring for her flock.

Residents outraged after conceptual map of Pea Ridge connector surfaces on social media, leading to nearly 6-hour commission meeting

A nearly 6-hour Santa Rosa Board of Commissioners meeting April 25 revolved around a four-plus hour public forum session, with dozens of speakers voicing their opposition to a conceptual route that would extend the Pea Ridge Connector to connect to Berryhill Road. Discussion also centered around an agenda item related to a terminus, or end point, for the Pea Ridge Connector, that the county was considering off Berryhill Road. By the end of the meeting, the commission voted 4-0 to call for a public hearing for the Berryhill Property, but it removed terminology related to the Pea Ridge Connector. Instead, the county is considering the Berryhill property as a possible drainage pond in the Berryhill Road widening project.

Eglin Fire and Emergency Services mourns loss of one of their own

Eglin Air Force Base’s Fire and Emergency Services recently lost one of their own in a motor vehicle crash, which occurred Wednesday, March 13. Battalion Chief Matthew Becker, who served with Eglin Fire and Emergency Services for 17 years, left behind a wife, two children and countless loved ones. In response to the death of Becker, Eglin Fire and Emergency Services said that Becker was a “dedicated leader, mentor and friend to all within the Eglin Reservation and the community.” “His commitment to service and his unwavering dedication to the safety of our base will always be remembered,” the Eglin Fire and Emergency Services statement read.

Cloudy morning can’t dim Reimagine Milton’s cheer

The threat of rain didn’t stop the Reimagine Milton event Saturday morning at Jernigan’s Landing. Greg and Linda English of Pensacola started Reimagine Worldwide in 2008 to help not only to provide goods and services to the needy, but to develop community networks of businesses and organizations willing to provide those goods and services. Linda said she expected participating organizations to give away about 20,000 pounds of food between 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, weather permitting. The event also provides free diapers, clothes, laundry detergent and other household goods as well as lunches, smoothies, HIV testing and a variety of services. 

Tucker receives Hall of Fame honor

Donna Tucker, who retired as the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO in 2023, was given the chamber’s Hall of Fame Award at a ceremony in late January.

Dr. Antjuan Marsh urges people to ignore ‘voices of captivity’

The New Year’s Day service at New Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Bagdad celebrated the 161st anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. While the event focused on that landmark proclamation, guest speaker Dr. Antjuan Marsh urged listeners to instead champion ‘spiritual emancipation.’ “No man, no congress, can do what God can do,” Marsh said. “The Emancipation Proclamation could not set you free from sin; there is only one ‘Great Emancipator,’ one God who will deliver you from evil.” During his message, Marsh used the Biblical story of David illustrating how the eventual King of Israel ignored “voices of captivity” from family members, friends and others who explained why he couldn’t or shouldn’t attempt a feat and instead, actively pursued God’s purpose for his life. “If you’re still (living), God has a purpose for you,” Marsh said. “In 2024, don’t hear the voices of captivity, listen to the voices of emancipation. Go for God, who has a purpose for you and a plan for you.” 

Milton’s plans for wastewater treatment plant dies (1/25/24)

Saddled with a wastewater treatment plant below capacity to meet the growing city of Milton’s needs and a deadline to remove effluent from the Blackwater River, the city floundered with funding, expiring grants and inadequate locations to build a new treatment plant and effluent disposal system.

Three individuals were arrested for racist graffiti at Milton High School. The arrest report detailing the graffiti incident on Nov. 27 reveals who did it and how they were caught.

The sheriffs of four counties in Florida’s 1st Congressional District have endorsed Jimmy Patronis in his run for Congress. Sheriff Chip Simmons of Escambia, Sheriff Bob Johnson of Santa Rosa, Sheriff Eric Aden of Okaloosa, and Sheriff Michael Adkinson Jr. of Walton County announced their support for the Florida Chief Financial Officer’s campaign on Dec. 20.