DEVELOPING: Freeport Football Player’s Backplate Message Raises Concerns
School and law enforcement officials are being asked to review a controversial message displayed on a Freeport High School football player’s backplate before Friday night’s rivalry game.
Local Seniors: Here’s how to get a $1,000 scholarship.
The Emerald Coast Public Relations Foundation announced it is offering several $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors in Okaloosa, Walton, and Santa Rosa counties.
Historic Woman’s Club gets crucial boost for needed repairs.
Eglin Federal Credit Union has donated $23,548 to the DeFuniak Springs Woman’s Club to fund renovations at its historic clubhouse. According to a news release, the credit union presented the check to the club on Oct. 22 to support the preservation of the facility, located at 23 S. Sixth Street.
Local hospital earns five-star rating for spine surgery.
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast announced this week that Healthgrades awarded it a Five-Star rating for Spinal Fusion Surgery for 2027. The rating pertains to the hospital’s specialty care in orthopedics. Healthgrades is a national organization that analyzes hospital performance based on clinical outcome data.
New Exhibit Pairs Surprising Art With Celebrity Chef Pastries.
The Mattie Kelly Arts Center Galleries at Northwest Florida State College will host a new exhibition titled “Phantasmagoria: Dreams and Realities,” featuring the work of artist and professor Victoria Goro-Rapoport. The exhibition opens October 8, 2026, and runs through February 28, 2027, at the college’s Niceville campus.
Lower property taxes or protect local services? Two tax questions face Florida voters
Florida voters face two tax-related decisions in the Nov. 3 midterm election: a proposed constitutional amendment that would increase homestead property tax exemptions and an Okaloosa County referendum to extend a half-cent sales tax. Local officials and a planning expert disagree over the costs, benefits and potential effects on community services.
Fort Walton Beach Felon Faces 40 Years for Drugs, Guns
A Fort Walton Beach man has pleaded guilty to federal drug trafficking and firearm charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. Anthony Bernard Allen, 54, entered a guilty plea to two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
