Okaloosa County District 5 Commissioner Mel Ponder was recently appointed to serve a third consecutive year as an at-large member on the board of directors for the Florida Association of Counties.

The Okaloosa County School District has announced that the Okaloosa Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical (STEMM) Academy has achieved a remarkable milestone by being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School.

At his family’s new and specially adapted smart home in Crestview, retired U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Ian Prescott will be able to move through wide hallways and spacious rooms in his wheelchair without scraping his knuckles on a doorway or bumping into baseboards.

An amended water and sewer ordinance with a new and higher five-year rate plan was adopted by the Okaloosa County Commission on Sept. 19.
That means county water and sewer customers will see increases in their monthly water and sewer bills that are larger than the ones in the previous plan. The old plan provided for a 3% rate increase per year for five years, from Oct. 1, 2021 to Oct. 1, 2025.

At its second and final public budget hearing on Sept. 19 in Shalimar, the Okaloosa County Commission adopted a countywide millage rate of 3.83 mills and an overall budget of more than $626 million for fiscal year 2024.
The new budget year starts on Oct. 1.

Crestview native, all-around athlete, Grammy Award winner, world-renowned operatic performer and performing arts scholar Glenn “Donovan” Singletary Donovan will have an extra reason to celebrate his birthday on Oct. 23.
To honor Singletary’s many accomplishments, the Okaloosa County Commission on Sept. 19 approved a proclamation designating Oct. 23 as “Donovan Singletary Day” in Okaloosa County.

Okaloosa County District 1 Commissioner Paul Mixon, who is the County Commission’s vice chairman, recently was appointed to the Florida Association of Counties Health, Safety & Justice Policy Committee by the association’s president, Bill Truex of Charlotte County.

After a three-day trial, an Okaloosa County jury on Sept. 13 found 32-year-old Crestview resident Anthony Michael Gabriel guilty as charged for armed burglary of a dwelling with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

On Sept. 9, six members of the Crestview Fire Department participated in this year’s Tunnel to Towers Foundation 9/11 Stair Climb at Margaritaville Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

During its first of two budget hearings, the Crestview City Council on Sept. 12 unanimously agreed to adopt a tentative millage rate of 6.85 mills and a tentative budget of almost $74.4 million for fiscal year 2024.