FORT WALTON BEACH — Rex Fitzgerald is only 33 years old, but he has been jailed about five times, or roughly the same number of times that he's been hospitalized.He has lost three of his fingers, suffered a stroke and has battled blood clots and a series of heart infections.Before one of his heart surgeries, doctors told Fitzgerald's mother to start looking into making funeral arrangements for her [...]

BRADENTON — A Florida high school student who didn’t wear a bra one day this week says school administrators told her to cover her nipples because they were distracting her classmates.The Bradenton Herald reported Friday that 17-year-old Lizzy Martinez decided not to wear a bra under her gray long-sleeve shirt on Monday, and school officials in Bradenton felt she became a target of other students’ stares. The school is on Florida’s Gulf Coast. [...]

Several South Florida cities are installing special first-aid kits in public spaces to help prevent gunshot victims from bleeding out

Scott Pruitt makes his case for why he should remain amid a stream of questions about his ethical standing

FORT WALTON BEACH – A couple with a long history of domestic violence were visited by police officers again after the woman picked up a knife and threatened to stab her husband.She told Fort Walton Beach Police Department officers that she was trying to pack her things to leave but her husband got mad. She said he has physically battered her in the past so as the situation escalated, she got a kitchen knife and threatened to kill him. The couple’s two minor [...]

Crash sends shockwaves through the team's small hometown and a country united by the national sport

Fire was in a residential apartment at the tower, Trump's son says

FORT WALTON BEACH — While the 2018 Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival in June will include a massive Mardi Gras-style parade, live music, fireworks and fancy costumes, it won’t feature a treasure chest hunt on the beach, a water-ski show or an exploding pirate fort.Simply put, times have changed.Just ask Tom and Peggy Rice, who own The Magnolia Grill on Brooks Street. They remember attending [...]

The Krystal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the fast-food restaurant, awarded a $750 grant to St. Mary School science teacher Laura McNeill, who intends to purchase a high-intensity digital light microscope to teach students about cells and cell structures.In other St. Mary science news, five students placed at the Florida Science and Engineering Fair: Katie Casey, second, microbiology; Maura Liles, second, physics; Ashleigh Perry and Alysha Miner, fifth, mathematics; and Rachel [...]

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Emergency personnel say one person died in a home fire this morning in Panama City Beach. A fire at a single-wide trailer at 231 Rose Lane was called in just after 6 a.m. Emergency crews said one person was pronounced dead on scene, and another was taken to the hospital with burns and smoke inhalation and remains in critical condition. A third person was uninjured and is being assisted by the Red Cross. One dog and at least two cats also [...]