UWF students claim top prize in engineering competition (VIDEO)
FORT WALTON BEACH — After months of research, engineering, tinkering and writing, a group of local college undergraduates can say they have engineered one of the greatest student-made projects in the...
View ArticleDestin’s Lighthouse Restaurant to close
DESTIN — After 26 years of memories, smiles, friendships and countless half-price specials, the Lighthouse Restaurant in Shoreline Village Mall will close July 31. “The years just flew by,” co-owner...
View ArticleYouth Spotlight: Teen didn’t want ‘wimpy’ Scout project
NICEVILLE — Spencer Mailes is not one to take the easy way out of anything. That’s why he chose to put on a 4K run for his Eagle Scout project to raise money and diapers for the Emerald Coast...
View ArticleLocal artist shares his passion with others
FORT WALTON BEACH — Richard Williams had two opportunities to attend college, but he turned down both to follow a less certain path that he created brush stroke by brush stroke. Just like one of his...
View ArticleFive years ago first Okaloosa deputy was killed in line of duty
Five years ago Monday, Joey Forgione knocked on his mother’s door to tell her that his brother, his best friend, would not be coming home again. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Forgione had...
View ArticleSheriff seeks $4.7 million budget increase
Okaloosa County commissioners will hear details Tuesday from Sheriff Larry Ashley about his 2013-14 budget proposal, which calls for an almost $5 million increase. Ashley will join the county’s four...
View ArticleLETTER: From the bubble
Re: “Two worldviews” (letter, July 15). Again, from the bubble that is Northwest Florida, another person states incorrectly that “our beloved country over 200 years ago was founded by biblically...
View ArticleLETTER: Real patriotism
Republicans and Fox News love nothing more than baseless obsessions. The most recent one has been “White House scandals.” It turns out that Mitt Romney got the president’s words wrong about Benghazi...
View ArticleDEL STONE JR.: Let's hear it, folks, for the old kid on the block
I hear Blockbuster on Mary Esther Cut-Off may be closing its doors — hopefully not before I rent Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and that weird-looking kid from “Children of the Corn” on...
View ArticleEDITORIAL: See? It actually can be done
Seaside, the “planned community” in southern Walton County, has never gone begging for attention. It was the fantasy-come-to-life backdrop for the 1998 Jim Carrey movie “The Truman Show.” It’s been...
View ArticleEDITORIAL: A different outlook for FWB
When politicians and bureaucrats get together to “plan” a community’s future, the key word usually is control: Let’s control signage. Let’s control building heights. Let’s control what kinds of...
View ArticleDeFuniak Springs man charged with sexual battery on child
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A 24-year-old man was arrested July 19 on one count of sexual assault on a victim under 12 years of age. Justin Cody Downing of DeFuniak Springs is accused of sexually battering a...
View ArticleNavarre beach drowning victim identified
NAVARRE — Officials are currently investigating the drowning death of a New Orleans man at Navarre beach this weekend. Jeremy Aaron Johnson, 39, was found in the surf just before sunset Saturday about...
View ArticleMaking a Difference: Edith Bullock sends gift boxes to the troops
Editor's Note: This series recognizes people who make a difference in their communities. To nominate someone, call Wendy Victora at 315-4478 or email wvictora@nwfdailynews.com. For nearly 10 years,...
View ArticleSanta Rosa receives update on proposed judicial center (DOCUMENT)
MILTON — Santa Rosa County Commissioners continue to discuss building a judicial center, but only time will tell if this latest effort will be any more successful than the multiple failed starts of...
View ArticleRenovations planned for burned Taco Bell
NAVARRE — Restaurant officials with Taco Bell say they will be coming back bigger and better in the coming months. Gail Ferres, area coach for the fast food eatery, says plans for a total renovation...
View ArticleCounty to expand legal department
Okaloosa County Commissioners have approved the hiring of an additional county attorney and a paralegal. The move marks the board’s first step in its long-term plan of setting up a full county legal...
View ArticleA rare treat: Blind vet cooks at Manhattan’s busiest steakhouse (GALLERY)
Army Staff Sgt. Aaron Hale stood, somewhat out of place, in the kitchen of the famous Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, the busiest steakhouse in Manhattan. Hale, 35, is at ease in a kitchen — it...
View ArticleTwo men arrested in beat-down at park
FORT WALTON BEACH – Two transients were arrested after they attacked a third man during a disturbance at Liza Jackson Park, lawmen say. On July 11 Fort Walton Beach Police officers were summoned to...
View ArticleMan says he's delivering battery charger to 'Gypsy'
FORT WALTON BEACH – A Crestview man was arrested after he told Fort Walton Beach Police officers he was waiting for his friend “Gypsy” at a local condo boat dock, but nobody – not even the man – knew...
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