A local desk for the Emerald Coast

What this is

Emerald Coast Connected reads the bodies that make decisions here and the outlets that cover them: the county, the cities, their boards and commissions, the sheriff, the school district, the utilities, and the newspapers and stations that report on all of it. Every hour, it collects what they have published and turns it into a short briefing you can read in a few seconds.

Every story on the news page carries a link to everyone who reported it. Where something came straight from the body that did the thing -- a city posting its own agenda, a sheriff's office publishing its own release -- it is marked Direct from the source. That distinction is the point: it tells you whether you are reading the institution or someone's account of it.

What it is not

We do not do original reporting. Nobody here sits in the back of a commission meeting. What the desk does is read widely, summarise honestly, and send you to the people who did the work -- which is a different job from theirs, and only useful if we are straight about which one we are doing.

We also do not reproduce anyone else's article. The headline and the briefing on each story are written here; the reporting stays with the publisher, behind their link.

The conditions

Weather and beach conditions come from the National Weather Service, NOAA, NASA and the EPA -- the same public sources the professionals read. Every panel says where its reading came from and when it was taken, and when something cannot be reached the page says so rather than leaving a blank that reads as a calm day.

Who is behind it

Emerald Coast Connected is independent and locally run, out of Fort Walton Beach. It is not owned by a chain, a group, or an investor.

Corrections, and getting in touch

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. If a story about you or your organisation should not be here, say so and it comes down while we look at it. Either way, write to info@emeraldcoastconnected.com, or use the contact page.