Three school districts, three different approaches to one law
While Florida class size requirements are universal, local school districts are taking a different approach to meeting the law. In Okaloosa County, officials are confident they’ll be in compliance....
View ArticleCrestview bypass moves up local priority list (DOCUMENT)
NICEVILLE — The notion of building a bypass around Crestview has leapt from 10th to third on the Okaloosa-Walton Transportation Planning Organization’s list of priorities. Read the priority list....
View ArticleOil Spill Claims Administrator on complaints: 'ridiculous, offensive'
FORT WALTON BEACH — With BP raising the spectre of corruption at some Gulf Coast Deepwater Horizon claims offices, Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau has embarked on a goodwill tour of the offices....
View ArticleDesigning a 'walkable' downtown Fort Walton Beach
FORT WALTON BEACH — Imagine a downtown where locals and tourists alike drive in, park and spend an entire afternoon eating, shopping and meandering through Fort Walton Landing. That’s the vision City...
View ArticleFirefighters construct rescue system, pull man from tank
FORT WALTON BEACH — A construction worker who suffered a medical emergency was rescued Tuesday afternoon from a tank at a pump station under construction near Robinwood Drive and Hollywood Boulevard,...
View ArticleFirefighters called to house fire
NAVARRE - Firefighters were battling a house fire on Molinda Street on Tuesday night. Holley-Navarre, Navarre Beach and Florosa firefighters were called to the scene at about 7:50 p.m. No more...
View ArticleLocal man taken to hospital after truck accident
WESTVILLE - A DeFuniak Springs man was taken to the hospital after his truck blew a tire and caused him crash on Interstate 10 Tuesday afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Gary Lee...
View Article'Our God is greater, our God is stronger'
FORT WALTON BEACH — With the beat of a bongo, the strum of a guitar and the voices of more than three dozen people, See You at the Pole began Wednesday morning. The global initiative to pray for the...
View ArticleLightning destroys home
NAVARRE — A single-wide mobile home on Molina Street was destroyed Tuesday night after it was struck by lightning. Battalion Chief Howie Rounsaville with Holley-Navarre Fire Department said emergency...
View ArticleKenwood Elementary under modified lockdown Wednesday
FORT WALTON BEACH — Kenwood Elementary was under a brief modified lockdown Wednesday afternoon as officials investigated a possible burglary. Michele Nicholson, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office...
View Article'From one veteran to another, thank you'
As a World War II veteran, Robert Rouffelow is often approached by strangers thanking him for his service. Sometimes, when children come up to shake his hand, he is so moved that he cries, said his...
View ArticleMan busted for chair-itable behavior
FORT WALTON BEACH – A homeless man didn’t want to cooperate with deputies when they tried to roust him from a Pocahontas Drive address. For that, he got arrested. An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy...
View ArticleNephew wants TV; uncle doesn't want him to have it; nephew reacts badly
FORT WALTON BEACH – A man caught his nephew trying to steal a flat screen TV from the apartment they shared. His reward was a thrashing from the nephew, according to a report. The two were living at...
View ArticleMan accused of putting wristwatch, shoes, shirts, pants, shorts, tank top in...
CRESTVIEW – A man was arrested after he entered a local department store and hid a wristwatch, shoes, shirts and shorts, among other items, in his pants, lawmen say. The man, 39-year-old Jerry Jerome...
View ArticleEleven potential industrial sites move closer to certification
Eleven potential Industrial sites have been approved to move forward in Gulf Power Company’s site certification program for Northwest Florida. The sites from both public and private owners were...
View ArticleA later early bell in store for high schools? (DOCUMENT)
High school start times across Florida might change as soon as next July if a bill filed by Rep. Matt Gaetz clears the Legislature. If passed in its present form, House Bill 67 would require all...
View ArticlePadgett recuperating from heart bypass surgery
A week after undergoing a quintuple heart bypass, Okaloosa County Administrator Ernie Padgett already is planning his return to work. Padgett had the surgery Sept. 17 at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola....
View ArticleCharges against former Okaloosa commissioner tweaked
The state attorney’s office has tweaked its charges against former Okaloosa County Commissioner James Campbell to add one felony count and drop eight misdemeanor charges from first to second degree....
View ArticleMan avoids homicide charge in fatal wreck
CRESTVIEW — The state attorney’s office will not pursue criminal charges against a man who police say caused a traffic crash on P.J. Adams Parkway in July that killed a state prison inmate. To prove...
View ArticleHelp this hero and his family build their own home
DESTIN — Air Force Master Sgt. Joe Deslauriers and his wife Lisa are looking forward to finally having a home of their own. Two years after the explosion that took Deslauriers’ legs and his left hand,...
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