Joseph Michael Sparks, an instructor at Meigs Middle School, was arrested late Wednesday and charged with soliciting/engaging in lewd behavior with a student and failing to report child abuse.

Sparks, 48, of Niceville, was taken into custody at just before 10 p.m. and booked into the Okaloosa County Jail at 2:48 a.m. Thursday, jail records show. He is being held on no bond pending a hearing.

Two area restaurants, were recently shut down after state health inspectors found high priority violations in the establishments.

MILTON—A 41-year-old man sustained serious injuries Wednesday after he was hit by a car, according to a press release from Florida Highway Patrol. At 12:00 a.m. Larry Bass from Milton was struck by a 1994 Ford F-150 while he was walking inside the north fog line of the westbound lane of U.S. Highway 90 near South Airport Road.

DESTIN – Destin High, a tuition-free, public charter school and the first high school in the city’s history, is now taking applications for 9th and 10th graders for its first year.Applications to be part of the first classes in DHS history can be taken online at www.destinhighschool.org, where parents can click on the “apply now” button to submit an application. The school’s enrollment will expand to include 11th and 12th graders for the 2021-22 school year.DHS will offer a “unique style of learning,” according to a press release from the school, with state-mandated core curriculum as well as specialized programs in courses such as marine science, environmental science, cybersecurity and hospitality/tourism.The deadline to apply in the first application window is 5 p.m., Feb. 15, 2020.As the school’s eight-person governing board is in the process of hiring its first principal, there’s also an ongoing campaign for fundraising for the school, with a stated goal of $2 million by the end of 2019.

Two Alabama residents were killed in a collision in Baker on Sunday night.Taylor Willis, 27, of Dozier, Alabama, was traveling north on State Road 189 in a 2012 Kia Rio, approximately a half mile south of Joe Jordan Road in Baker, according to a press release from the Florida Highway Patrol. Jeremy Richardson, 30, of Baker, was traveling south on State Road 189 in a 2007 Dodge 2500, approximately a half mile south of Joe Jordan Road.Willis failed to maintain his lane and drifted into the southbound lane. Willis steered the Kia back into the northbound lane. At the same time, Richardson steered his Dodge truck into the northbound lane while Willis was in the southbound lane in an attempt to avoid a collision, the release said. As a result, the front of Willis’ vehicle collided with the front of Richardson’s truck in the northbound lane.

Listen to an interview between Nick Tomecek and Annie Blanks

Listen to an interview between Nick Tomecek and reporter Annie Blanks about the shootings in NAS Pensacola.

A Hurlburt Field airman charged with mistreating two dogs in his care has been jailed on animal cruelty charges, including a felony count of aggravated animal abuse.Anthony Matthew Ward, 23, appeared for the first time in court Thursday and is being held with no bond pending a mental health evaluation, according to Bill Bishop, the chief assistant state attorney for Okaloosa County.The State Attorney’s Office filed one charge of felony cruelty to animals and one charge of misdemeanor cruelty to animals against Ward on behalf of Okaloosa County’s Panhandle Animal Welfare Society, according to Bishop.