The Florida Department of Health announced 17 new positive cases of coronavirus in Florida Thursday. The ages of the people affected ranged from 24 to 83, with three of the new cases in their 20s. that brings the number 42 positive cases

Most of the newest cases were in South Florida, with four cases in Broward, two in Palm Beach and another in Miami-Dade County. The rest were scattered around the state.

There are no new cases reported in Northwest Florida.

A Mary Esther man was found guilty Wednesday of one count of sexual battery, two counts of lewd or lascivious behavior in the presence of a child and one count of providing obscenity to a minor after he showed a 9-year-old victim photos of child porn. Alex Nathaniel Henson, 32, will face sentencing on April 14, according to a press release from the State Attorney’s OfficeThe conviction for sexual battery carries a mandatory life sentence in prison, the release said. He will also be designated as a sexual predator.

In Fort Walton Beach, gas was $1.98 at Sam's Club (740 N. Beal Parkway), $1.99 at Petro Express (245 Miracle Strip Parkway) and $1.99 at Raceway (312 Miracle Strip Parkway), according to Gasbuddy.com, which gives hourly updates on prices.

The Okaloosa County School District has confirmed that one of its employees “may have possibly been exposed to a person with COVID-19.”The employee, who sources confirmed was an instructor at Lewis School near the Eglin Air Force Base east gate in Valparaiso, has no symptoms and has agreed to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to the district.

Locally an Okaloosa woman is said to be improving after having contracted the virus. The number of confirmed cases in Florida is at 26 with the number of deaths remaining at 2. No new cases have been confirmed in the panhandle as of Thursday morning.Local school districts are monitoring the spread of the virus as most are headed into spring break beginning today through next week. Districts are warning students who travel outside of the country during the break to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon their return.

Arts and craft retailer Michaels appears ready to open a new location locally.The old A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts store at 411 Mary Esther Cut-Off N.W. on Wednesday had a Michaels sign out front and was directing prospective employees to apply for jobs online at Michaels.com.On the Michaels website, if you click on "Work at Michaels" and enter any zip code for Fort Walton Beach, it lists “411 Mary Esther Cut Off NW in Fort Walton Beach” as a store where you can apply for jobs.

DESTIN—Large, black and orange lettering was graffitied onto the bottom of the welcome sign leading into Destin on U.S. Highway 98 sometime Monday night. A library employee noticed the vandalized property while she was on her way into work, said Catherine Card, public information manager for the City of Destin. The city reported the incident to Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers. “We are at a spring break season,” she said. “We don’t know if it’s a local. We don’t know if it’s somebody from out-of-town.”

Cesar Diaz family's new food truck, Tacos El Huracan, which will have a grand opening on Saturday at 2 Eglin Parkway SE from 11 a.m. to whenever the tacos run out or 7 p.m. ... whichever comes first.