Record road spending approved for Northwest Florida
FORT WALTON BEACH — An unprecedented $974 million in state funding is headed for Northwest Florida transportation projects, Sen. Don Gaetz announced Thursday. Gaetz, the Republican from Niceville who...
View ArticleSimulated F-16 crash in Valparaiso offers important training, officials say...
VALPARISO — The scene was appropriately grim Thursday for the simulated jet crash training exercise. Airplane pieces and people lay scattered throughout Valparaiso’s equipment yard. A barrel was on...
View ArticleMan convicted of attempted sexual activity with minor
FORT WALTON BEACH - A Destin man was convicted Wednesday of attempted unlawful sexual activity with certain minors and battery, according to the state attorney’s office. Benito Muniz, 64, would touch...
View ArticleMan sentenced for portable meth lab
MILTON - A Milton man was sentenced Wednesday by Santa Rosa County Circuit Judge David Rimmer to 10 years in prison after being caught with a portable methamphetamine lab in his truck last June,...
View ArticleChild taken to hospital after crash
BLUEWATER BAY - A 6-year-old child was taken to the hospital Wednesday night after a vehicle crash at Bluewater Boulevard and Antiqua Way, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Emad Zachary Wahab,...
View ArticleTwo charged after confrontation
PACE - A man and a teen were arrested Wednesday after they refused to leave a home on Kentwood Drive they entered and threatened the residents with knives, according to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s...
View ArticleDoolittle Raiders to meet for final reunion: 'We’re going to close this mission'
FORT WALTON BEACH — The Doolittle Tokyo Raiders will end their longstanding tradition of reunions this year at the place where it all started. The group of 80 men made famous by their April 18, 1942,...
View ArticleBroxson proposes oil exploration in Blackwater forest (DOCUMENT)
State Rep. Doug Broxson is sponsoring legislation that would allow companies to “develop oil and gas resources” in the Blackwater River State Forest. He said he knows going in that House Bill 431 will...
View ArticleWoman’s body found in Choctawhatchee Bay identified
The Medical Examiner’s Office on Friday positively identified the body of a woman found Jan. 27 on the shore of Choctawhatchee Bay in Destin. Dental records indicate it is 60-year-old Shigeko Freeman...
View ArticleChoctaw edges Fort Walton Beach for state cheerleading title (GALLERY)
The longtime rivalry between Choctawhatchee and Fort Walton Beach high schools heated up again this week during the state cheerleading competition in Kissimmee. When the dust cleared, both schools...
View ArticleResidents vent frustrations with road’s noise, lighting
NICEVILLE — About 40 residents of Chardonnay Estates and White Point Village shared their complaints Thursday with the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority about noise and lighting from the connector road just...
View ArticleBlackshear gets life for first-degree murder
FORT WALTON BEACH — Deaundros Blackshear was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday immediately after he was convicted of first-degree murder. Blackshear shot and killed Junior Ferguson...
View ArticleAfter 45 years, a Silver Star (GALLERY)
CRESTVIEW — In October 1968 in Vietnam, then-1st Lt. Vernon JB Ward Jr.’s team was ambushed after completing a mission to gather intelligence and capture enemy troops. Ward led his men away before he...
View ArticleSemitrailer crosses lanes into ditch
DESTIN - A semitrailer crossed several lanes of traffic went into a ditch along U.S. Highway 98 near Regatta Bay on Friday afternoon, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. No one was...
View Article'ABSOLUTELY AMAZING': 18-wheeler accident leads to big mess, no injuries...
A semitrailer crossed several lanes of U.S. Highway 98 traffic, jumped a drainage ditch, skimmed a palm tree and slammed through a 1-foot-thick concrete wall before crashing into the Tuscany...
View ArticleOkaloosa to start internal probe of TDC scandal (DOCUMENTS)
The Okaloosa County Commission has received a green light from Sheriff Larry Ashley and the state attorney to launch its own investigation of the Tourist Development Council fraud scandal. Ashley sent...
View ArticleAs Ala. standoff drags on, town grieves bus driver
MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) — As the police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the beloved bus driver who was...
View ArticleSeaside Neighborhood School gains title to building
SEASIDE — Seaside Neighborhood School got some more good news recently. During a school assembly, Seaside founders Robert and Daryl Davis ceremoniously handed over the deed for the Seaside...
View ArticlePolice station's Friday opening precedes chief's goal of 24-7 public access
CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Police Department has extended the administration office's hours, opening it 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays. Police constantly patrolled the streets, despite a former office...
View ArticleSansom wins battle for attorney’s fees
The state of Florida has been ordered to pay at least a portion of former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom’s legal fees, and could end up footing the entire $817,000 bill. Leon County Circuit Judge...
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