News Archive

There will be big events Fourth of July weekend at Gun Creek Lodge in Baker as Country Music star Ryan Daniel will be in concert at 7 p.m. July 2.

The concert is the second part of a fundraiser to help secure money for service dogs for veterans suffering with disabilities. The first part of the day will feature a corn hole tournament.

Okaloosa County schools might have slowed down for summer session.

But while most students and teachers alike are enjoying time away from campus, those in charge of school safety and security continue to look for ways to make campuses as safe as possible.

Crestview’s new land development code, approved last year, is having an unintended effect at some new developments: stranded sidewalks.

The new code requires developers to install sidewalks – whether they exist on adjoining properties or not.

An Okaloosa County Grand Jury has indicted three Crestview Police officers in the Oct. 14, 2021, death of Calvin Wilks, Jr. after law enforcement interaction. Brandon Hardaway, William Johns and Evan Reynolds have been indicted for manslaughter.

A statement issued by the Crestview Police Department says they are aware of the results of the Grand Jury review. “As a law enforcement agency, we must trust the justice system we are charged to enforce,” Police Chief McCosker said. “We will continue to cooperate with all parties involved as we await the outcome of the upcoming trial.”

Sunday night, June 5, Okaloosa Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Baker fire chief Brian Keith Easterling at his home in Holt. Easterling is charged with premeditated homicide for the murder of Mike Evers, a 63-year-old Pensacola businessman, at Evers’s shop on Creighton Road on June 2.

Easterling’s arrest report sheds light on the details of the crime. The Pensacola Police Department was called for a welfare check on Evers who hadn’t been seen or heard from since Thursday, June 2. Police went to his La Jolla Drive property but didn’t find him there. One of the police officers, who is a friend of Evers, went to check the Creighton Road business with a family member of Evers.