Venues, organizations still reeling from hurricane damage, now dealing with COVID-19 restrictions ..read more

TAMPA — In what may turn out to be good news for efforts to keep oil and gas exploration out of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to protect both the environment and a military test range that spans the area, President Donald Trump is on record saying that there won’t be any drilling in the area ..read more

PANAMA CITY — Bay County has reported nine new COVID-19 patient deaths, health officials announced on Wednesday.To date, 45 residents with the virus have died.According to the Florida Department of Health in Bay County, the latest deaths include a 69-year-old man (case confirmed June 23), an 87-year-old woman (case confirmed July 14), a 72-year-old man (case confirmed July 18), a 44-year-old man (case confirmed July 20), an 86-year-old man (case confirmed July 21 ..read more

TALLAHASSEE --- Florida is setting up an advanced training program for people who oversee prescribed burns, with an emphasis on burns in sugar cane fields, in an effort to reduce smoke in surrounding communities.The state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services also Tuesday announced new boundary lines in the Everglades Agricultural Area to further separate growing inland communities around Lake Okeechobee from the potential impacts of burning cane fields.In a ..read more

PANAMA CITY — All of the 14th Judicial Circuit courts have cut in-person proceedings upon returning to phase one of their pandemic protocols following the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.Phase one of the COVID-19 pandemic protocols means that nobody from the general public or attorneys can enter facilities. Everything will be done remotely, but Chief ..read more

PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Commission recently approved a sub-contract agreement with Gulf Coast State College to help the community be compatible with incoming Tyndall Air Force Base missions possibly involving new F-35 squadrons.RELATED: (2019) Air Force proposes two aircraft at Tyndall AFB ..read more

An Associated Press analysis found that the number of tests per day slid 3.6% over the past two weeks to 750,000, with the count falling in 22 states ..read more

Colorado State University revised its seasonal hurricane forecast Wednesday, upping the number of named storms to 24 and calling for five major hurricanes of Cat 3 or stronger.The new forecast, which is updated each August ahead of the peak of hurricane season, includes the nine named storms that have already come and gone, and considers the much warmer than normal sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic ..read more

Progress made on K-8 plans in Springfield area ..read more

PANAMA CITY — Like most residents, the months following Hurricane Michael tossed Hoot Crawford out of his typical profession and into one of volunteered neighborly servitude."I wasn't a lawyer for seven months — I was an excavator operator," Crawford said. " I can't tell you how many trees I threw."The local defense attorney is running against ..read more