The Crestview City Council unanimously approved a $143,019 miniature town-themed playground to be built near the public library June 8, while waiving the city’s competitive purchasing policy to move the project forward without a bidding process that could have added 60 days to the timeline.

The Crestview City Council plans to ask the Okaloosa America 250 committee to reconsider the date of a grand parade in the Hub City, with council members expressing concerns that scheduling the event the Saturday before Veterans Day could overshadow the city’s existing Veterans Day parade.

The Crestview City Council will consider multiple items at its Monday meeting, from a $143,000 imaginative playground near the city library to a data-sharing agreement between local law enforcement agencies and a rezoning request from HCA Destin-Fort Walton Medical Center.
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A traffic stop in Crestview on June 3 turned into two arrests after the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office now charges one man with drug trafficking and machine gun charges, according to a news release.

As Gov. Ron DeSantis’s push for property tax cuts heads to the November ballot, local leaders across Okaloosa County are preparing for tightened budgets over the next several years as Rep. Nathan Boyles defends his no vote on the house floor.

The Summer Food Service Program helps to ensure children continue to have access to nutritious meals when school is not in session.


This year, the Okaloosa County School District joins the program for the 2026 summer break.

Lawmakers on Tuesday approved a sweeping tax cut for homestead property owners pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, sending it to the November ballot.

The measure increases the existing $50,000 exemption for homestead properties to $150,000 starting in 2027, and it increases to $250,000 in 2028. The exemption, though, doesn’t apply to school taxes, after lawmakers changed DeSantis’ plan Monday to protect districts from drastic cuts.

While one exhibitor at the Laurel Hill Arts & Heritage Festival sets out a tempting array of homemade jams and jellies, another tunes up his acoustic guitar for a performance while a third loads blank cartridges into a vintage World War II rifle.

An 18-year-old Crestview man died on May 31 after he was struck by lightning while kayaking on the Blackwater River and fell from his vessel, according to a news release from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Before every performance, Pamela Strecker made one final walk.
She moved through the backstage area from one side to the other, checking on every actor, calling out final cues, making sure nothing had been missed. Then, just before heading up to the booth, she would turn around, look out at the cast and raise a hand in the air.
“Be brilliant.”
It caught on. Cast members started saying it to each other.
Strecker,61, who served as stage manager and eight-year president of Stage Crafters Community Theater in Fort Walton Beach, died earlier this month after a battle with cancer. She had been part of the organization for more than two decades, arriving as a shy backstage helper in 1999 and becoming the heartbeat of one of Northwest Florida’s most beloved volunteer arts organizations.