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Scientists are launching a long-term study on the SS United States artificial reef ecosystem. Tim Gillis is stepping down as Crestview’s baseball coach after 24 years, and Okaloosa students brought home 16 awards from the State Science and Engineering Fair. Jessica Valek balances sea turtle patrols with marine science and coastal adventure, Fort Walton Beach softball defeated Gulf Breeze 3-2 in 10 innings for its seventh straight win, and Elliott Point Elementary’s Career Fair grew for a third year. Also, Ascension Sacred Heart is offering free mammograms to uninsured women in Okaloosa and Walton counties
HOW I WORK
How Jessica Valek blends sea turtle patrols, marine science, and nonstop coastal adventure
“How I Work” is brought to you by the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. Join the most influential organization in Okaloosa. Learn more here.
Jessica Valek followed a passion for marine biology from a small town in Minnesota to Okaloosa County, where she now helps protect and study the natural resources that make this area so special. Since moving to Florida in 2014, she has built a career rooted in science, conservation, and community education.
- Today, Jessica serves as Coastal Resources Manager for the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Natural Resources Team while also leading the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Sea Turtle Patrol.
Her days can begin before sunrise on the beach and end with outreach events, field research, reef projects, or data reporting — proof that no two days in her world are ever the same.
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GAMES
WordroW: April 23, 2026
WordroW is brought to you by Fort Walton Beach Chiropractic – keeping your mind sharp and your spine aligned, one game at a time.
Can you guess today’s 5-letter word in six tries?
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.
SPORTS
A Bulldog for life: Tim Gillis steps down as Crestview baseball coach after 24 years
The overwhelming majority of Tim Gillis’s life has been dedicated to Crestview baseball. A former Bulldogs player and a proud member of the Crestview class of 1985, Gillis went on to play at the University of West Alabama, where he set the school’s home run record and earned All-American honors as a senior.
- From there, it was on to the Atlanta Braves’ farm system, an experience he called a “dream come true” and one that most notably included a matchup against Michael Jordan during Jordan’s baseball experiment.
After that, he returned to Crestview.
Gillis spent three years as an assistant before becoming head baseball coach in 2002, while simultaneously serving as a football assistant. But now, the Bulldogs will have to find a new skipper. Gillis has announced his retirement from the baseball post after 24 years leading the program.
He isn’t leaving the school, though. Gillis will continue teaching at Crestview and serving as an assistant on the football staff.
“To be able to coach and teach so long at my alma mater has been a huge blessing and a tremendous opportunity,” Gillis said. “I truly love Crestview and Crestview High School.”
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GAMES
Jigsaw – “The Landing”
WordroW is brought to you by Fort Walton Beach Chiropractic – keeping your mind sharp and your spine aligned, one game at a time.
Ready for this week’s Jigsaw puzzle?
Each week, we use local pictures from around Okaloosa County as part of our puzzles. They’ll include current dated photos to historical ones. Do you recognize this place?
SCHOOL
Elliott Point Elementary’s Career Fair grows for third year
Elliott Point Elementary hosted its third annual Career Fair on Tuesday, bringing 44 local professionals to speak with students from pre-K through fifth grade.
- Principal Scott Nuss said the event grew from 31 presenters in year one and had to turn some away this year. About 30% of presenters came from the military, with others representing local trades and businesses.
Okaloosa County Superintendent Marcus Chambers spoke to fifth graders, many of whom remembered his visit last year. Chambers shared his path from aspiring baseball player to district leader and outlined three goals for every graduate: college, career or military service.
PROMOTED BY HCA
New ER now open in DeFuniak Springs
The new HCA Florida DeFuniak Springs Emergency is now open, bringing 24/7 emergency care to Walton County. Located at I-10 and U.S. 331, the facility features 10 private patient care rooms, board-certified emergency physicians and on-site diagnostic services including CT scan and digital X-ray.
SPORTS
Fort Walton Beach softball defeats Gulf Breeze 3-2 in 10 innings for seventh straight win
Fort Walton Beach softball outlasted Gulf Breeze 3-2 in 10 innings Tuesday night, capping the regular season with its seventh straight win and getting back to .500 at 12-12.
- Izzy Douglas and Gulf Breeze’s Jessica Jager traded zeros through seven innings before the game broke open in extras.
Elyse Heymann scored the winning run on an error after Kelsie Hearne reached on a bunt in the 10th.
After a 2-10 start, the Lady Vikings have gone 10-2 down the stretch and will likely enter the district tournament as the No. 1 seed.
BUSINESS
Ascension Sacred Heart offers free mammograms to uninsured women in Okaloosa, Walton counties
Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast is offering free breast cancer screenings to uninsured women 40 and older in Okaloosa and Walton counties, funded by donors to the Sacred Heart Foundation. The program recently expanded to remove previous income guidelines, closing a gap for women who didn’t qualify for charity care but still faced cost barriers.
- Nearly 24% of adult women in Okaloosa County and 23% in Walton County are uninsured, and only about 40% of women over 40 in Okaloosa receive their recommended annual mammogram.
Niceville small business owner Jenni Woosley nearly skipped her screening after her insurance dropped her, until Lauren Beauchamp at Sacred Heart called about the program.
“It felt like an answered prayer,” Woosley said. Her results were clear.
SCHOOL
Okaloosa students bring home 16 awards from State Science and Engineering Fair
Two Okaloosa County middle school students captured first-place finishes at the State Science and Engineering Fair held in early April, leading a group of 15 district participants who collectively brought home 16 awards.
- Brantley Lane, an 8th-grade student at Okaloosa STEMM Academy, took first place in his category and was named one of only four recipients of the Ying Scholar Award, a “Best in Show” honor for middle school projects.
- Benjamin Nusimow, an 8th-grader at Ruckel Middle School, won first place in Biomedical and Health Sciences – Junior Division.
The statewide competition drew 716 student projects, with about 430 in the Senior Division. Twelve of the 15 Okaloosa students who competed earned awards, including special recognitions with certificates and cash prizes ranging from $25 to $100.
COASTAL RESOURCES
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution launching long-term study on SS United States artificial reef ecosystem
A team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will be among the first in the water after the SS United States is deployed as an artificial reef off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, launching a long-term study to track how an entirely new ecosystem takes shape from the moment the 990-foot vessel reaches the seafloor.
- The research project, led by WHOI scientist Dr. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser, represents what she describes as a once-in-a-career opportunity. There are roughly 3 million shipwrecks worldwide, but scientists almost never get to study one from the very beginning.
“Every time a ship sinks, it is a brand new habitat falling out of the sky,” Meyer-Kaiser said. “Usually when we do research on those, we find them years, decades, maybe even centuries after they have arrived on the sea floor. So in order to understand how what we observe took shape, there’s a lot of interpolation, there’s a lot of guesswork.”
The SS United States deployment changes that. Meyer-Kaiser and her team will establish what she calls a true baseline, not the ecosystem as they found it, but the ecosystem as it began.
“This is going to be the first time that anyone’s gonna be able to do that at this scale for such a large vessel, to be there right from day one when it’s sinking,” she said. “It’s an incredible opportunity.”
OK, that’s all I have for you this morning! I hope you have a great Thursday. Help us shape the future of local news and make a meaningful impact on your community. Click here to learn how you can support us!
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Jared
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