Politics - Rick's Blog

Catching the CMP javelin, Part 8: ‘An opportunity to discuss an opportunity’

Tamara Fountain, the city’s chief operations officer, sent out a email late yesterday afternoon in response to the daily newspaper’s report on the CBRE new…

Catching CMP javelin, Part 7: Executive director replaced with two persons

The daily newspaper is reporting today that former CMPA Executive Director Ed Spears has been replaced with two persons -Â Mandy Bills and Erick Wortendyke.Â Bills will…

Budget filled out with hometown projects, including $6 million for Navarre Beach

By JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA As the House and Senate prepare to hammer out a $4.2 billion divide in budget proposals released…

Florida Senate may consider Charlotte’s Web regs

By DARA KAM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA Frustrated by delays, legislators are ready to create a regulatory framework for the state’s medical-marijuana industry and…

Catching the CMP javelin, Part 6: Reeves on CBRE

The chairman of the Community Maritime Park Associates Board of Trustees told Inweekly that the board did not have any knowledge of the new fee…

Backroom Briefing: Charlie and Debbie narrow the field

By BRANDON LARRABEE AND JIM SAUNDERS THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA With two big-name potential candidates bowing out, the field is starting to take shape…

Catching the CMP javelin, Part 5: Spears separates

The fallout of the CBRE Bait & Switch appears to be Ed Spears, the executive director of the Community Maritime Park, leaving the city of…

Catching the CMP javelin, Part 4: CMPA was made aware of new CBRE fee structure last November

Let’s add one more wrinkle to this convoluted mess. The CMPA board knew about the new fee structure for CBRE that was set forth in…

CBRE: CMPA did not want to keep catching the javelin

Jim Reeves, chairman of the CMPA Board of Trustees, emailed Inweekly after reading the “CBRE Bait & Switch” post. He reminded me that it was…

RFP with new CBRE fee structure issued without CMPA approval

I asked City COO Tamara Fountain about the RFP for the CMP parcels that changed the fee agreement for the broker CBRE. She said that…

CBRE Bait and Switch

Yesterday, CBRE presented its draft of the Memorandum of Understanding that would make Miami-developer MCM-BAP the master developer of the remaining parcels of the Community…

State and counties still battle over juvenile justice costs

Editor’s Note: The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) owes Florida county governments about $170 million from overcharging them for the costs. Escambia County is…

Gov. Scott no longer uses email for official business

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Gov. Rick Scott has quit using any email for state business. “The governor now only uses email to communicate with…

PS Wednesday, March 18 edition: Gaetz, Wedgewood, Charlie Crist and Cybersecurity

Fordham University has a group of students studying the environmental and health issues in the Wedgwood community. We will have Sarah Baldwin who will talk…

PS podcast: Clay Ingram and battling dinosaurs

Yesterday on Pensacola Speaks, I talked with State Rep. Clay Ingram about the growing friction between the Florida House and Senate. Everyone, Rep. Ingram included,…

LIP money, or lack of it, creating havoc on 2016 budget

The federal government has made it clear that its Low Income Pool program will end this June. LIP provides Florida $2 billion annually for health…

Billings murder documentary on Investigation Discovery channel tonight @ 9 pm

The Investigation Discovery series “See No Evil” covers the July 9, 2009 murders of Bud and Melanie Billings. Here is the synopsis: Mansion Murder Cam…