A former Uber driver is appealing a decision last week by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration that drivers for the app-based transportation company should be considered independent contractors instead of employees. Darrin McGillis…
Category: News
White Christmas comes to Pensacola
Press release: Pensacola is going to have a white Christmas this year and we’re not talking about snow or the sandy white beaches. Pensacola Little Theatre is closing out the 2015 calendar…
Environmental group set to report on EPA Superfund mismanagement
On the 35th anniversary of Superfund, the environmental group Citizens Against Toxic Exposure (CATE) plans to release a new study of Superfund activity and what they call mismanagement of the program. CATE…
County Corrections Director fired
County Administrator Jack Brown has fired his Director of Corrections, Mike Tidwell. Starting today, jail command, community corrections and road prison staff will report directly to Assistant County Administrator Chip Simmons until…
Medical marijuana bill moves thru Florida Senate
A measure that would allow terminally ill patients to use full-strength marijuana has just one more committee stop before going to the Senate floor for a vote during the 2016 legislative session….
State DEO determines Uber drivers are independent contractors
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director, Jesse Panuccio, has issued a final order on the employment classification for Uber drivers in the state. The Department has determined Uber drivers are classified…
New HAAS Center announced
The University of West Florida Center for Research and Economic Opportunity recently announced Zachary Jenkins as the new director of the Haas Center. Jenkins will lead the research and consulting office beginning…
State lawmaker look to divert mentally ill from criminal justice system
A House panel on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill aimed at keeping Floridians with mental illnesses out of the criminal-justice system. The House Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee supported the measure (HB…
Broxson speaks in favor of fracking bill as it gains House support
House Republicans continued moving forward Wednesday with a bill that would create a new regulatory structure for oil and natural-gas drilling in Florida, with most of the attention focused on the controversial…
Breaking News: Supreme Court signs off on Congressional districts
The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling about the state’s congressional districts, ending at least one phase of a nearly four-year legal battle over the map. The ruling…
Wells to be reassigned
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward has notified the City Council that he will retain and reassign Rusty Wells, effective Jan. 1, 2016. Wells was the city attorney from 2008-2011. Hayward let him go…
Dannheisser and Dickey moved up to First Judicial Circuit Court bench
Yesterday, Gov. Rick Scott announced the appointments of Judge Thomas V. Dannheisser and Judge Darlene F. Dickey to the First Judicial Circuit Court. Judge Dannheisser, 59, of Pensacola, has served as an…
Escambia RESTORE invitations go out this week
Knee-deep in the final stages of its work, the Escambia County RESTORE Advisory Committee continued Monday afternoon to wade through potential projects in line for the millions of dollars in oil spill…
Locals named to Florida’s Influence 100 list
The Saint Peters Blog published today its first-ever Influence 100, a list for the most powerful, non-politicians in the state of Florida. Pensacola has three on the list: Lewis Bear, Collier Merrill…
Jail infirmary is not the same under county
When you ask Escambia County Administrator Jack Brown and some of the county commissioners about the rise of suicides and other deaths in the county jail, the standard reply has been that…
Legal Opinion 2: Divine Word lease and building permits null and void
In light of his legal opinion that the radio tower violates Florida Statutes, the City of Pensacola Land Development Code and its Comprehensive Plan, Inweekly asked attorney John Asmar for a second…
Florida Trend gives four Pensacola restaurants ‘Golden Spoon’ awards
Global Grill, Jackson’s Steakhouse, McGuire’s Irish Pub, and Restaurant Iron have been given 2016 Golden Spoon awards by Florida Trend magazine. According to its website, Florida Trend’s Golden Spoons are the oldest…
WSRE seeks questions for lawmakers
Press release: WSRE, PBS for the Gulf Coast, is now collecting questions from Northwest Florida residents for the live broadcast of “Legislative Review: Dialogue with the Delegation.†Moderated by Jeff Weeks, the…
Valentino strikes out again
A circuit court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Escambia County Commissioner Gene Valentino against Inweekly, publisher Rick Outzen, reporter Jeremy Morrison and Doug Underhill. On April 10, Valentino filed…
May 2015 death points to problems with jail infirmary
Since Nov. 1, 2014, the Escambia Board of County Commissioners has had six deaths in its county jail, three of which were suicides. Nationally, around 80 percent of all local jails have…