THIS WAS the scene at Blue Mountain Beach Regional Beach Access following impacts from a vehicle that ended up near the base of the dune walkover. (Photo credit: Walton County Beach Operations) By DOTTY NIST Blue Mountain Beach Regional Beach Access has been closed until further notice in the wake of a SUV having hit part of the beach access structure and run down the slope to the beach. According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) report, the SUV, driven by a 34-year-old man from Aurora, Ill., had been traveling down CR-83 toward Blue Mountain Road at a high rate of speed at approximately 5:10 a.m. on Oct. 30 during inclement (damp) weather, when the vehicle collided with the beach access walkway and then proceeded down the slope, coming to rest at the bottom of the dune walkover, facing south. The driver of the SUV stated that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, according to the report. He was not injured and the report does not indicate that there were any passengers in the SUV. The name of the driver has not been released. According to a report by NewsChannel 7, FHP indicated that field sobriety exercises had been conducted on the driver, he was not determined to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and he was issued a citation for careless driving. The Herald/Breeze was not able to confirm these details independently with FHP. Contacted by the Herald/Breeze on Oct. 31, Walton County Beach Operations Director... Read More

In celebration of Coastal Dune Lake Month in October, three experts from the University of Florida ( Read More

By RUBY KEARCE The Paxton City Council met Tuesday, June 21 at Paxton City Hall. The meeting started by electing a separate cemetery board. The cemetery board will have their own meeting within 30 days. Latilda Hughes – Neel then approached the board to discuss Grit and Grace, a stage-play drama depicting the life of Paxton native Bobby Kemp, as told by Bobby Charles and Brendan Roberta. The show is nearing completion, and it will be the second in a lineup of 11 stories about Walton County History. Hughes- Neel, with permission from Charles, read an excerpt from the play: “Mama and Daddy were a team. Mama went to city council meetings with Daddy. If he got overly excited about something, all she had to do was say ‘Bobby.’ And at home when she calmed him down, she would just quietly say ‘Bobby I’ve heard all I want to hear’ and if he’d kept on she would say ‘Bobby I said I have heard all I want to hear.’” The Council was invited to the performance of Grit and Grace. Patrick O’Neal, developer of the future Black Lake RV Park, then approached the board regarding utilities for the park. The project is projected to have 35 spaces and needs sewer services in order to move forward. O’Neal is asking the board for a letter of availability and a time frame in order to know if the project will need to be done in multiple phases or if it can be... Read More

Director Brenda Hunt and Environmental Manager Scott Caraway. Story by Adrianne Walline Campbell The North Walton Mosquito Control was created in 1987 and is governed by the Walton County Board of County Commissioners. It is located at 581 Triple G Road, DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433. Their website is https://www.co.walton.fl.us/192/Mosquito-Control. Their coverage area is from the north side of the Choctawhatchee Bay to the Alabama line, excluding the Eglin reservation, 745 square miles. This includes the city of Freeport, DeFuniak, and Paxton. There are 7 full-time and 2 part-time employees, 8 spray trucks, 1 service truck, and 1 SUV. They receive funding from the county ad valorem tax of .4912, and state aid funds. This year’s budget is $948,298. The methods used are: • Larviciding – BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) – Naturally occurring bacteria used as a larvicide to kill larvae before they can grow into adults. They check various locations of standing water for larvae and spray as needed. • Adulticiding – Permethrin, used to kill adult mosquitoes. • They have 22 light traps to count how many mosquitoes are in what section. It also lets them know what kind of species exist and where. Currently there are about 40 different types, 10 are the most common. They have 2 individuals who can identify the types. The state provides training classes. • They have 8 Sentinel chicken coops, each with 6 chickens, scattered throughout the area. They do blood tests weekly to determine whether viruses are present. These samples are... Read More

Stories [ October 19, 2022 ] Former assistant county attorney sues Walton County over firing [PREMIUM] Uncategorized [ October 19, 2022 ] Community turns out for Town Hall meeting on future of DeFuniak Springs [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] WCEDA discusses new positions and hears city updates News [ October 19, 2022 ] Ponce de Leon City Council discusses warehouse lease [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] Officials approve branding for promotion of “Beyond the Beach” visitation News [ October 19, 2022 ] Proposed 79-unit unit residential development and two amendments get Planning Commission nods [PREMIUM] News By DOTTY NIST A former assistant attorney for the Walton County Board of County Commissioners ( Subscribe or log in to read the rest of this content. © Copyright, Defuniak Herald-Breeze — All Rights Reserved | Designed @ Beach Web Design & IT Read More

Stories [ October 19, 2022 ] Former assistant county attorney sues Walton County over firing [PREMIUM] Uncategorized [ October 19, 2022 ] Community turns out for Town Hall meeting on future of DeFuniak Springs [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] WCEDA discusses new positions and hears city updates News [ October 19, 2022 ] Ponce de Leon City Council discusses warehouse lease [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] Officials approve branding for promotion of “Beyond the Beach” visitation News [ October 19, 2022 ] Proposed 79-unit unit residential development and two amendments get Planning Commission nods [PREMIUM] News Story by ADRIANNE WALLINE CAMPBELL  DeFuniak Springs (DFS) held a town hall meeting at the Subscribe or log in to read the rest of this content. © Copyright, Defuniak Herald-Breeze — All Rights Reserved | Designed @ Beach Web Design & IT Read More

Story by RUBY KEARCE  The Walton County Economic Development Alliance (WCEDA) met for their monthly meeting Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the conference room at the Walton County Administration Building.  Walton County Human Resource Director Nathan Kervin approached the board with a job description for the Economic Development Alliance (EDA) Executive Director’s position. This description will be posted on Walton County’s website until the position has been filled. Kervin will review the applications to highlight candidates with proper qualifications and bring applicants forward for further review at the next meeting. A motion was made to approve of the job description with the added verbiage of “Certified Economic Developer.”  Paxton Mayor Ann Sexton was first in rotation for city updates, and she announced that Paxton has received the sub-grant agreement for the Senior Citizens’ Center and was scheduled to meet with the team on Tuesday, Oct. 18, to kick off the project. Paxton also received a $135,000 grant from Northwest Florida Water Management District for water meter replacements. Funding for the health clinic was obtained, and the project should be started soon. Sexton also thanked the alliance for their help with the Bobby Kemp Day Festival.  Freeport Mayor Russ Barley began his update by stating that land has been cleared near Owl’s Head Farms for approximately 300 apartments and crews are almost ready to start building, Otto’s Carwash has also cleared land, obtained a permit and will start building soon. The Mayor’s Ball, on Oct. 15, was sold out, with over 250 tickets... Read More

Stories [ October 19, 2022 ] Former assistant county attorney sues Walton County over firing [PREMIUM] Uncategorized [ October 19, 2022 ] Community turns out for Town Hall meeting on future of DeFuniak Springs [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] WCEDA discusses new positions and hears city updates News [ October 19, 2022 ] Ponce de Leon City Council discusses warehouse lease [PREMIUM] News [ October 19, 2022 ] Officials approve branding for promotion of “Beyond the Beach” visitation News [ October 19, 2022 ] Proposed 79-unit unit residential development and two amendments get Planning Commission nods [PREMIUM] News THE PONCE DE LEON CITY COUNCIL Story by RUBY KEARCE  The Ponce De Leon (PDL) City Council met for its regular meetin Subscribe or log in to read the rest of this content. © Copyright, Defuniak Herald-Breeze — All Rights Reserved | Designed @ Beach Web Design & IT Read More

NEW LOGO approved for Walton County’s “Beyond the Beach” tourism promotion effort. By DOTTY NIST “Sister branding” has been approved for promotion of visitation to Walton County, with the new branding highlighting Walton County’s offerings away from the beach. The approval took place at the Oct. 11 Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting at the Walton County Courthouse. Kelli Carter, marketing director for the Walton County Tourism Department, introduced the proposed branding to the county commissioners. Carter explained that the sister branding would be an addition rather than a replacement for the existing “South Walton” branding that “has years of equity and recognition.” She discussed that in a 2020 referendum the voters had approved a two-percent tourist development tax that is now being collected on short-term rentals in the area north of the bay. This tax for tourism promotion purposes had previously been collected only south of the bay (at a five-percent rate in that area). Carter said this voter approval resulted in tourism department staff immersing themselves in finding out everything Walton County has to offer “from the Alabama state line to the Gulf of Mexico,” which is an ongoing effort. She also explained that research is ongoing on visitors who come to stay in other parts of the county than the beach. “We know that it’s a different visitor than probably the visitor that comes to the beach,” Carter said, adding that beach visitors might also visit other areas of the county if more information was... Read More

CREWS DEPLOY to help Hurricane Ian victims. (Photo courtesy of SWFD) From RUBY KEARCE  South Walton Fire District’s (SWFD) Board of Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday, Oct. 10, at SWFD headquarters. Rene Youell, attorney at law, informed the commissioners of a lawsuit brought to SWFD regarding an accident caused by an oil spill, claiming SWFD did not properly clean the area. Youell assured the commissioners of the insurance coverage for this particular issue and stated that the matter is in the insurance company’s hands. If details of the lawsuit need to be discussed further, there will be an executive meeting scheduled to do so. Youell went on to present her invoice for services during the month of September, which totaled $1,295.00, and a motion was passed to approve the invoice.  Carole Martin, Fiscal Officer, approached the board to explain that in previous years Warren Averett Accounting has presented the annual audit report at the SWFD Board of Commissioners’ January meeting. However, this year’s presentation has been postponed until March and the date has not yet been set.  Daniel LaTour, District Chief, then approached the board, starting with a resolution for surplus property. Among the equipment identified as obsolete and/or no longer useful were ATV’s, off road trucks, drones, lifeguard towers, and a typewriter. A motion was passed to declare the property as surplus and to dispose of, recycle, sell, or donate the items while reserving the right to turn down any and all bids.  LaTour then moved on... Read More