News Archive

About 30 people were standing at the Defiance County line on July 18, waiting on a man from Crestview to drive past a sign.

John Vaughn had told them to be there. Or rather, the president of a travel club had, and the club president had gotten carried away with it.

“He said, ‘everybody wants to go out there and see John Vaughn cross the county line and finish his final county,’” Vaughn recalled. “3,143 counties.”

Construction had finished, the doors had been opened, and students were already in class before the ribbon was cut at Pineview School.


However, that didn’t stop the momentous occasion of celebrating the K-8 school this past Friday.

Another award-winning Christian artist will visit Okaloosa County on Aug. 30 as Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church hosts its PraiseFest event.


The night will feature the voices of Pilgrim Rest’s choir, which will be joined by three-time Dove Award-winning artist TaRanda Greene.

The Okaloosa County Commission approved funding for improvements to B&T RC Raceway in March. Now, construction is underway at the track.

A Crestview man died Aug. 12 after injuries sustained in a single-car crash, according to a news release from the Florida Highway Patrol.

Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies fired no shots during a predawn standoff Aug. 8 that ended when an armored vehicle struck and pinned a Crestview man against his house, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said during a press conference Aug. 12.

U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis has asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to study establishing a national veterans cemetery in Okaloosa County and announced a steering committee to build a case for a roughly 200-acre site in Northwest Florida.

Antonio Austin Haner, 29, died Saturday morning after authorities say he opened fire on Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies who were attempting to serve multiple warrants at his Crestview home at 607 Alabama St.

Okaloosa County commissioners voted unanimously on Aug. 4 to spend $600,000 in infrastructure surtax funds on startup costs for a county-run animal control operation after a private shelter that has done the work for more than 20 years rejected the county’s final offer.

Nine people were arrested during a four-day undercover operation targeting people accused of using the internet to solicit children for sexual activity, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.