NOT-SO-JOLLY BAY BCC denies proposed PUD. COUNTY BUDGET GETS TENTATIVE APPROVAL Final hearing set for Sept. 29. JOHNSON TAKES COST MEASURES Vehicle fee, possible layoffs at  WCSO. MOSQUITO BOARD STILL A TENSE PLACE Controversies remain as budget is approved. LEAH WEIGHS WORDS, IDEAS Shooting the Breeze. PAXTON ELECTION RESULTS Mayor, city council races. THE SAND [...]

  LOOKING MORE LIKE “strange visitors from another planet,” these early diving suits are on display at The Museum of Man In the Sea on U.S. 98 in Bay County. The museum is devoted to man’s underwater exploration. (Photo by Jeffrey Powell)

  THE WALTON COUNTY COMMISSION denied approval of the planned unit development (PUD) for a Jolly Bay high-rise condominium, also seen here as part of an artist’s conceptual rendering. (Photo by Dotty Nist)

    THE WALTON MIDDLE SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY team, led by James Guy, held their first meet at the Lakeyard on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and hold their next meet on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Seaside. Pictured here are (L-R) back row: Jordan Gillis and Kayla Chance. Middle row: Sierra Platt, Keith Pannell, Matthew Majors, Cole Schultz, [...]

By BRUCE COLLIER On Sept. 15, Walton County Sheriff Ralph Johnson sent a representative to the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting on the pending budget for fiscal 2008-09, requesting an increase of $320,000 over the 2007-08 fiscal year budget. The details of that meeting are reported in another article in this issue. [...]

By DOTTY NIST Plans for an RV park and a future 100-plus-foot-tall condominium were derailed on Sept. 22 when the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted unanimously to deny the Jolly Bay PUD, which had been proposed for the Freeport area. The decision followed three separate public hearing sessions, each lasting several hours. [...]

By ALICIA LEONARD In the last public budget meeting the City of DeFuniak Springs finalizes the 2008-2009 budget at $25,872,880 with the millage rate set at 4.5, a lower rate than the the rollback rate by 1.83 percent. After a short recess, the Council moved onto their regularly scheduled meeting. In the first order of [...]

By ASHLEY AMASON Vying for seats on the Paxton Town Council were Jenice Armstrong , Charles Cook, Marie Firestone, Bobby J. Kemp, and Mark Warren. Armstrong received 117 votes, Cook 80, Firestone 30, Kemp 113, and Warren 90. The three candidates with the most votes—Armstrong, Kemp, and Warren—will serve on the Council. In the mayoral [...]

By LEAH STRATMANN Even routine matters at the South Walton Mosquito Control District (SWMCD) meetings are now fraught with tension. At the meeting of the board last week after the invocation and pledge, it was time for approval of the August minutes. Board chairman Jim Crawford asked to table the approval of the minutes stating [...]

By ASHLEY AMASON The Sept. 16, 2008 school board meeting began with Superintendent Anderson presenting a certificate of achievement to director Jerry White and lead teacher Pam Hooks of the Walton Learning Center for receiving an exemplary rating in the Department of Education Quality Assurance Review.