With the 2023 legislative session a few weeks away, the Okaloosa County School District has laid out their priorities. The School District’s legislative priorities for 2023 focus on the recruitment and retention of employees and continued funding for safe and secure schools. Superintendent Marcus Chambers is in the process of presenting these items to the Northwest Florida Legislative Delegation with the intention of impacting upcoming legislation in these critical areas for education.

A librarian who has dedicated many years to bringing literature to the readers of Crestview will be retiring on Jan. 31. The City of Crestview and the Parks and Recreation Department recognized Anna Florence for her 36-year service at the Crestview Library during the City Council meeting on Jan. 23.

A Crestview area man who was the subject of an intense search Sunday was tracked Monday to a home on Clover Street in the Auburn community and taken into custody on multiple felony charges and prior active warrants. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputies began looking for 29-year old Joshua Colley Sunday morning in connection to a reported aggravated domestic battery involving a firearm in Laurel Hill.

Tragedy struck the Baker Rodeo this weekend when a participant was thrown from her horse and died. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after a barrel racer was abruptly thrown from her horse and suffered a fatal injury.

The City of Crestview is hoping the second time will be the charm when it comes to finding a contractor to complete the planned multi-phase renovations to Main Street. After receiving no bids from contractors to complete the Main Street improvements last year, the city reopened the bidding process last month. The bidding process closes later this month, with bids scheduled to be open on Jan. 19.

On Saturday, Renee Hamilton should have been celebrating her eighth wedding anniversary to Corporal Ray Hamilton of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Instead, she and others honored the man who was shot and killed on Christmas Eve while responding to a domestic violence call near Fort Walton Beach. Nearly 2,000 people, many of them first responders from around the Southeast, attended the public funeral service for Corp. Hamilton Saturday morning at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center.

A Crestview man has been arrested for murder in the shooting death of his wife. The Crestview Police Department responded to a 911 call that someone had been shot at a residence located at 178 Nun Drive just before 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28.

An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy lost his life Saturday, Dec. 24, when a domestic violence suspect opened fire on responding deputies from inside his residence. Five-year OCSO veteran Corporal Ray Hamilton, a member of the OCSO Special Response Team, succumbed to the shooting injury shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday at Fort Walton Beach – Destin Hospital. The suspect, 43-year old Timothy Price-Williams was hit with return fire from deputies, sustaining a non-life-threatening injury to his arm.

On Dec. 14, “National Treasure: Edge of History” premiered on the Disney+ streaming service. The television series, which is a continuation of the “National Treasure” movie franchise, will have a familiar face in it for some Crestview residents. Alyssa Matthews, 24, a Crestview native, is featured on the show and has recently garnered roles in upcoming movies, acting alongside Hollywood stars like Zac Efron and Nicolas Cage.

An ordinance that the City Council declined to move to action last month was back on the agenda for the meeting on Oct. 24.

A developer, The Grand Reserve Columbus LLC, out of Phenix City, Ala., appeared before the council seeking annexation and a change to the land development code for 13 acres located at 2909 Airport Rd.