Get The Coast

08/25/2025

The Mayor has an idea for the sign…

With over 500 votes cast, the locals have decided… WELCOME TO DESTIN‼️

08/23/2025

CHOCTAW TO IRELAND: Choctawhatchee High School alum Jayce Brown helped kick off the 2025 college football season today as his Kansas State Wildcats took on Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland.

The Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium marked the first-ever Big 12 game played in Ireland, giving the Fort Walton Beach native a chance to compete on an international stage.

Brown starred for the Indians under Head Coach Frank Beasley and earned first-team all-state honors during high school.

08/23/2025

OKALOOSA PIER UNDERWATER CAMERA: The underwater live-stream camera at the Okaloosa Island Pier is installed and soon-to-be online, offering the public a unique view of marine life off the Destin-Fort Walton Beach coast.

Mike Norberg, Coastal Resources Coordinator for Okaloosa County, said the project originated from efforts to place a camera at the Beasley Snorkel Reef in early 2020. However, high installation costs and potential maintenance challenges led officials to choose the pier as an alternate location.

The camera system, developed by Fathom Ocean, features a 1080p, 360-degree pan-tilt-zoom camera housed in a self-cleaning underwater casing. It includes an automated mechanical wiper to remove sediment or algae growth on the viewing dome.

“We are excited about this opportunity with the Okaloosa Island Pier,” said Norberg. “This will provide a unique opportunity for locals and visitors to see the diversity of marine life around Destin-Fort Walton Beach from a different perspective.”

Live-feed link below..

08/22/2025

EGLIN GOLF: The Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the 96th Test Wing are seeking a public or private partner to lease and enhance Eglin’s golf course and surrounding property.

Through the Enhanced Use Lease Program, the Eglin proposal includes all or part of a 603-acre parcel for a golf course improvement project that includes financing, permitting, development, construction, ownership, maintenance and operations.

08/22/2025

BEAL PARKWAY WASHOUT: Crews are currently on-site at Beal Parkway and Water Street in Fort Walton Beach. The washout that closed northbound lanes on Beal near Gap Creek bridge resulted from a collapsed pipe that's part of the state road system, Okaloosa County District 4 Commissioner Trey Goodwin said Friday.

In a statement Friday morning, Goodwin said the pipe was installed by private contractors working for the state, not the county.

"There is no indication any county work contributed to this failure," Goodwin said. "We have verified that our sanitary sewer lines are intact, working properly, and are not breached. We have also verified that the county has not performed any boring or trenching in that immediate area in at least a decade."

The road closure has affected thousands of residents and strained law enforcement and public safety resources, Goodwin said.

"It put a strain on law-enforcement and public safety resources, taking away critical personnel from other important life-safety tasks," he said.

Goodwin said the county is communicating with state officials about the issue and has been assured the state takes the problem seriously.

"This is in district 4, but it affects residents far beyond district 4," Goodwin said. "Not only will we work together to fix this immediate problem, we will also make certain to heed the lessons from this failure to help us improve for the future."

08/22/2025

LOCAL WORD PUZZLE: WordroW is Get The Coast's daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community.

You have six guesses to find the mystery 5-letter word. Green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren't in the word at all.

Can you guess today's word? Post in the comments how long it took!

WordroW is Get The Coast's daily word puzzle featuring local words, places, and phrases from our community. You have six guesses to find the mystery word – green letters are correct and in the right spot, yellow letters are in the word but wrong position, and gray letters aren't in the word at all...

08/22/2025

BOAT DAYS: Meet Jonathan Brown, Fort Walton Beach native, married to another local FWB native, Samantha Brown. For Jonathan, the water has been a calling since childhood — from fishing trips with his dad to managing the local surf shop and later serving as a Navy Aviation Rescue Swimmer. Samantha has been right by his side, building a business with The Salty Hut while raising their three children, Oakley, Otto, and Ocean.

Today, the Brown’s boat days are a reflection of that shared passion for the local waters: a cooler packed with snacks (and cervezas on ice), a launch from Poquito, and a day that doesn’t end until the sun dips below the horizon.

The family loves mixing it up — some days heading to Redneck Beach or the nearby cold water springs, other days chasing offshore fishing trips. Unforgettable moments include swimming alongside a 30-foot whale shark with their daughter, Oakley, and still stopping to marvel at dolphins no matter how many times they appear. Every outing is about family, adventure, and a deep respect for the coast they call home.

See story below...

08/22/2025

SENTENCED TO 7.5 YEARS: A 49-year-old Navarre woman was sentenced Thursday to 7.5 years in prison for defrauding an elderly woman of more than $582,000 from March 2020 to September 2021.

Sheena Russell received the sentence from Judge William Stone in Okaloosa County court after pleading guilty to elder exploitation. She must serve 22 years of probation following her prison term and pay $707,333.21 in restitution.

Russell knew victim Rita Shuck and her late husband for years, having served them as a waitress at a Fort Walton Beach restaurant. She began doing errands for Shuck after her husband passed away, according to court testimony.

“She befriended my sister, gained her trust, and then stole from her,” said Jerry Peck, Shuck’s brother, who lives near Kansas City, Missouri. Peck said he wanted Russell “to receive the maximum amount of time by law and probation to pay for full restitution.”

The investigation began when Peck contacted authorities after discovering suspicious withdrawals from his sister’s accounts. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Michael Kruger found that Russell used funds to help pay off her mortgage, buy vehicles and fund trips to Walt Disney World, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, Washington, D.C. and a ski trip to Utah.

Audio recordings played in court revealed Russell impersonating Shuck during phone calls with financial institutions to access her accounts. Kruger testified that Russell initially appeared on recordings helping Shuck with legitimate requests, but then began impersonating her entirely.

On one recording from March 23, 2020, Russell’s voice is clearly different from Shuck’s usual pattern of spelling out her name during bank calls. In earlier recordings, Shuck would always spell out “RITA” and then “SHUCK” when asked for her name, but the suspicious recording showed a different pattern.

“The third recording, there’s a voice that comes on that says that she’s Rita, but it’s definitely not Rita,” Kruger testified. “It appears to be a younger person due to the cadence of their voice, the types of language they’re using and the knowledge.”

Kruger said the fraud escalated after initial transactions. From March through May 2020, four transfers from USAA totaled more than $160,000. After that, transfers from Charles Schwab “escalated to $400 and something thousand,” he testified.

Story continues below...

08/21/2025

From FDOT on the sinkhole in Fort Walton Beach...

08/21/2025

BIG WIN FOR DESTIN LITTLE LEAGUE: Destin City Council voted Monday night to partner with Destin Little League on major improvements to Threadgill Park, including new LED lighting and artificial turf for the infields, following a lengthy discussion that initially saw pushback on the project’s scope.

Matt Dahlman, treasurer of the Destin Little League Board, presented the proposal to split costs on roughly $300,000 in upgrades to the youth sports facility that is maintained by the Destin Little League.

The league has raised $100,000 and secured donated LED lighting fixtures from EAG-LED, leaving installation and turf costs to be shared with the city.

Later in the meeting, the council addressed a complementary issue to the Threadgill Park improvements: additional parking for the facility.

Councilman Kevin Schmidt presented a motion to explore purchasing property at 446 Calhoun Avenue, which borders the city park and recently became available again after previous negotiations fell through years ago.

The motion passed unanimously, directing the attorney to negotiate a purchase agreement within reason of the city’s appraisal while having the city manager work with staff on limitations, wetland issues and cost estimates for converting the property to parking.

Full details below…

08/21/2025

SINK HOLE IN FORT WALTON: Both northbound lanes at Beal Parkway and Mary Esther Cutoff are currently closed in Fort Walton Beach due to sink hole.