SOUTH WALTON FIRE DISTRICT MEETING National Beach Safety Week, property issues discussed. MULTIPLE WALTON COUNTY ACCIDENTS Ranging from minor to fatal. EYES ON BALDWIN AVENUE Mullis Eye Institute to open in DeFuniak Springs. WORKING ON THE GOVERNOR STONE Local woman recalls historical vessel. NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER Local and area observances. DESIGN REVIEW BOARD MEETING [...]

By LEAH STRATMANN Linda Young, director of the Clean Water Network of Florida (CWN-FL) is convinced the construction of the new airport in Panama City has become an ecological disaster and the entire matter is largely being ignored by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Of late, her organization has been calling for an [...]

An accident on the afternoon of May 11 left a Mississippi driver dead and a passenger uninjured. The fatality took place on I-10 at the 68-mile marker in Walton County.

Two motorists were injured in an accident that took place early on the morning of May 10 on CR-30A, south of U.S. 98. Florida Highway patrol (FHP) investigator Tpr. C.L. Alexander reported that a vehicle was traveling north on CR-30A, with two occupants: driver Lisa F. Bonazza, 18, of Santa Rosa Beach, and passenger Kaeli [...]

By ASHLEY AMASON The Walton County School Board (WCSB) voted to lower the purchase order limit from $25,000 to $10,000 at the May 5 meeting. The amendment, which was first suggested by board member Darrell Barnhill at the March 3 meeting, drew fire upon its initial proposal. District employees, including Coordinator of Exceptional Student Education [...]

By DOTTY NIST In an effort to establish “The Beaches of South Walton” as a fly-to destination, in six months Walton County will begin collecting an additional “half- cent” in bed taxes on rental receipts from short-term accommodations in south Walton County. The Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved the tourism tax increase [...]

By PATRICK CASEY Carol Ann Myers, 43, of DeFuniak Springs, won the women’s bodybuilding middleweight championship, the women’s overall championship and took the title of Miss Northwest Florida in April at the NPC Panhandle Showdown in Pensacola. Myers was one of 102 competitors in her first bodybuilding show. Carol weighed in at 137 pounds (at [...]