Crestview Mayor JB Whitten recently received a 2023 Home Rule Hero Award from the Florida League of Cities for his hard work and advocacy efforts during the 2023 state legislative session.

Proudly wearing their recently won medals, Special Olympics athletes from Northwest Florida who competed in the Special Olympics Florida State Summer Games were congratulated by the Okaloosa County Commission on June 6.

Okaloosa County plans to pay a firm about $500,000 to provide construction engineering and inspection services for the roadway portion of the upcoming Live Oak Church Road improvement project. The County Commission on June 6 approved paying Mott MacDonald Florida LLC, of Pensacola, $498,734 in county half-cent sales tax money for its services.

Okaloosa County Water and Sewer Department Director Jeff Littrell, who led the department for more than 25 years, died on June 5.

Keep Okaloosa Beautiful, which recently hosted a popular document-shredding event at the Crestview Library, plans to remove litter from several areas of the Hub City later this year.

The cost of being driven in an Okaloosa County ambulance to a hospital is going up this fall. To help meet rising costs of staffing and medical supplies, the county plans to implement a 2.5% ambulance service fee increase for each of the next three fiscal years.

LAUREL HILL – During the June 1 City Council meeting, freshman District 3 state Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, broke down in tears after summarizing his first legislative session.

“Some walk on the Earth, others on water, still others need clouds to walk on.” — Walter Inglis Anderson

The Chili’s restaurant at the Crestview Commons mixed-use development plans to open on June 26, the nearby Texas Roadhouse restaurant could open by Christmas and a left-hand turn lane for northbound State Road 85 motorists going to the Commons should be built by the end of this year.

Smiling customers have been synonymous with Rainbow Snow Cones during its almost quarter of a century in business. Since 1999, the family-owned snack stand has served tasty frozen treats from its spot on the northwest corner of State Road 85 and PJ Adams Parkway, across from Tom Thumb.