CHELCO CEO Steve Rhodes was recently recognized by Northwest Florida State College Foundation 2023-24 Board Chair Alan Wood as the recipient of the Chairman’s Award.

Eglin Air Force Base — “Anyone who’s been stationed or worked at Eglin and spent time in the Fort Walton Beach area knows, it’s a place that always feels like home.”

This week’s Hometown History is a glimpse at one of Crestview’s most colorful and resourceful politicians, Robert Lee Fulton Sikes, who died Sept. 28, 1994, and whose name graces local public facilities including the airport, the public library, an elementary school, a road in east Crestview, and the local campus of Northwest Florida State College.

If the nonprofit Crestview Manor assisted living facility didn’t exist, its 44 current residents would be homeless, Kim Fraley said on Wednesday.

A contract with J&P Construction Co. Inc., of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to build the almost $41.6 million Shoal River Ranch Water Reclamation Facility was unanimously approved by the Okaloosa County Commission on Tuesday.

Baker resident Keri Pitzer, who came in second place in the August primary election’s tight District 3 Okaloosa County Commissioner race, has started a new role.

At its public hearing on Tuesday in Shalimar, the Okaloosa County Commission unanimously agreed to adopt the final countywide tax rate and final budget for fiscal year 2025.

The $6 million purchase of almost 300 acres of land in Baker for tourism and community recreational purposes received the Okaloosa County Commission’s unanimous approval Tuesday.

Eglin Air Force Base — The Eglin Community Library re-opened Aug. 27 after a $230,000 refresh project which began in March 2023. 

KEFLAVIK, Iceland —  A team of Reservists from Duke Field, Florida, demonstrated the versatility of the C-146A Wolfhound aircraft while supporting joint and NATO forces during Exercise Northern Viking 2024 in Keflavik, Iceland, Aug. 26 – Sept. 4, 2024.