News Archive

Gary Ellis, owner of Crestview Plumbing and Hardware at 297 N. Main St., plans to close the iconic downtown store for good on Oct. 31, Halloween, after working there for almost half a century.
Ellis, 65, of Baker, said on Aug. 3 that he plans to lease his overall commercial property to 3rd Planet Brewing Co., which plans to open a craft brewery like the one it has in Niceville sometime next year.

Several additions are in store for Crestview’s Brookmeade Park, home of the Eglin Federal Credit Union Skatepark and B&T RC Raceway for remote-controlled cars.

Not long ago, after exploring the clear water of Morrison Springs in Walton County by kayak, I paddled to the adjoining, brown and fast-flowing Choctawhatchee River, which promptly snapped my paddle in two like a toothpick.
Someday, I’d like to return to those waterways with my new paddle. I also need to visit the nearby Ponce De Leon Springs. In the meantime, I recently fulfilled a wish to venture a little farther away by kayaking, swimming and snorkeling at Cypress Spring in Washington County.

Officials of the new Burlington store at Crestview Commons celebrated the store’s grand opening on July 28 by donating $5,000 to Riverside Elementary School.

The newly completed mural on the north exterior brick wall of the Main Street Crestview Association/Crestview Community Redevelopment Agency office building is “just gorgeous,” MSCA Executive Director Deb Gething said.

At her home in north Crestview, 15-year-old Cate Breda’s go-to way of expressing herself is by cooking and sharing tasty meals with loved ones.
“I get to say, ‘I love you,’ ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Congratulations’ with food,” said Cate, who is homeschooled and now in her third season as an Okaloosa County 4-H member.

A 171-acre, long-vacant property next to the Okaloosa/Walton County line and south of U.S. Highway 90 could someday contain up to 723 mobile homes.
The property stands about 10 miles east of downtown Crestview and about 16 miles west of downtown DeFuniak Springs.

During its first budget hearing on July 24, the Okaloosa County School Board unanimously approved a tentative total millage rate of 5.48 for the School District’s 2023-24 budget year.
Although the tentative rate is 1.8% lower than the existing rate, district officials expect to receive more property tax revenue in the new budget year because of higher property values.

A narcotics search warrant executed on July 13 at a home in Crestview resulted in one arrest and the seizure of methamphetamine, fentanyl, crack cocaine and cash, according to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office officials.
The S.O.’s Multi-Agency Drug Task Force and Special Response Team went to a residence at 821 S. Brett St. and ordered out the occupants, officials said in a July 24 news release. The home is just east of the South Main Street/State Road 85 intersection.

At its special meeting on July 24, the Crestview City Council unanimously agreed to set a proposed millage rate of 6.85 for fiscal year 2023-24, which starts on Oct. 1.