Memorial Day Events Affected by Today's Rain

Santa Rosa County, FL (NewsRadio 92.3) -- Santa Rosa County's Memorial Day ceremonies are still on Monday — but at new locations due to weather. The Milton ceremony moves from Veterans Memorial Plaza to the Clyde L. Gracey Community Center on Byrom Street, beginning at 10 am. Colonel Andrew Kellner of NAS Whiting Field will serve as guest speaker.

In Navarre, the ceremony moves to American Legion Post 382 on Luneta Street at 11 am, with Air Force Colonel Kris Kane delivering the keynote. Both the American Legion and V-F-W will serve lunch following the Navarre ceremony.

In Escambia County, the Pensacola Civic Band's eleventh annual Memorial Day Concert has been canceled today due to weather. The band says significant rainfall has left the Hunter Amphitheater field in unsafe condition for musicians, vendors, and attendees. No makeup date has been announced.

Rare Sea Turtle Spotted on Pensacola Beach Saturday

Escambia County, FL (Newsradio 92.3) -- Pensacola Beach visitors got a rare sighting Saturday — a Kemp's ridley sea turtle came ashore looking for a place to nest. The turtle did not lay eggs, which wildlife officials call a false crawl. Kemp's ridley turtles are the only sea turtle species that nest during the day and are among the rarest in the world. Officials say the turtle will attempt to nest again. Anyone who spots a nesting turtle should call Escambia County Marine Resources at 850-281-5904 and keep their distance.

Gulf Breeze Harbourtown Parking Access Remains Blocked Despite City Removal Order

Gulf Breeze officials say this fence must be removed, or the city will take it down and bill the owner.

Gulf Breeze, FL (Newsradio 92.3) -- If you've tried to park at Harbourtown in Gulf Breeze lately and found yourself blocked by a fence that wasn't there before — you're not imagining things. A property owner recently fenced off a key parking access point serving the popular small business corridor near the Pensacola Beach curve, and as of Sunday evening it was still standing despite a city order to take it down.

City leaders say the fence went up in violation of an approved site plan that showed the ingress and egress point open to the public — cutting off a critical access route for customers trying to reach the shops and businesses that call Harbourtown home.

Gulf Breeze City Manager Sam Abel says the city attorney reviewed the situation and confirmed a legal easement exists at the location — meaning the property owner is legally required to keep that access open. Abel says the owner was formally notified that the fence must come down within 15 days or the city will remove it and send the owner the bill.

Abel says conversations with the property owner have been productive and she expects the matter to be resolved — but made clear the city has both the authority and the intention to act if the deadline passes without compliance.

The issue drew a packed room at a recent Gulf Breeze city council workshop — with nearly every seat filled by Harbourtown business owners demanding the city step in. Abel says the city is also already thinking beyond the immediate dispute — beginning conversations about longer term solutions for the access corridor to make sure the situation doesn't repeat itself even after the fence comes down.