Push Back
Open Books & Prison Book Project and Inweekly have launched a Banned Books Giveaway that will hand out at this year’s PensaPride festival books removed or restricted by the Escambia County School Board. Donate here.
The initial goal was to raise $500. Yesterday Open Books received $1,048 in donations.
PensaPride is 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, June 24 in Cordova Square, 1101 N. 12th Ave.
Why this matters: The Escambia County School District and School Board are being sued for violating the First Amendment.
School Board members recently fired Superintendent Tim Smith. One reason cited was two members became upset he wouldn’t break the law and remove all books that they have been challenged.
Dig Deeper:
At this year’s PensaPride festival, Open Books is partnering with Inweekly to give away, for free, several books that have recently been banned. If you would like to help us giveaway some banned books (“And Tango Makes Three,” “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” “The Bluest Eye,” “When Aiden Became a Brother,” “Lucky,” and “Perks of a Wallflower” (and maybe more), please donate. The more we raise, the more we can give away.
Thanks for liking books enough to support people reading them. …
—Christopher Satterwhite • May 29, 2023
Elephants for Leonard
The executive committee sent out an email: “We need a large Republican presence to tell the school board that Keith Leonard is the best candidate as interim Superintendent.”
Why this matters: The school board meets today at 1 p.m. to work out the details.
Dig Deeper:
GOP reasons for supporting Leonard:
- Worked in the school district for 30 years and is currently the Director of Human Resources (actually Asst. Superintendent),
- One of the four finalists in 2018 for the appointed position, and
- Someone who will uphold our conservative values and implement conservative policy in our school district.
Rumor: Tate High School has added to its Who’s Who’s – “Most Likely to be School Superintendent.” It will save time during future superintendent searches.
Here are the top recommendations made by the search advisory committee in 2020:
Top 10
1) Dr. Earl Johnson -16 votes
2) Dr. Brian Binggeli-15
3) Dr. Vincent Cotter- 15
4) Keith Rittel- 13
5) Marques Stewart-12
6) Keith Leonard- 12
7) Dr. Timothy Smith- 10
8) Dr. John Millay- 9
9) Dr. Robert Schiller- 8
10)Christopher Ruszkowski-8
Johnson, Rittel, Leonard, and Smith were the four finalists interviewed by the board
(Rittel dropped out before decision was made).
EPA Brownfield Grant Community Meeting
The City of Pensacola is hosting an EPA Brownfield Grant Community Meeting on Tuesday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Downtown Pensacola Library, located at 239 N. Spring St.
The target area for this grant includes Pensacola’s Westside, which was designated as a Community Redevelopment Area in 2007. Priority sites include the 1.75-acre former Grotto Hall and three properties in Belmont-DeVilliers.
Why this matters: The City of Pensacola was awarded a $376,000 EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant in 2022, which will be used to conduct environmental site assessments and prepare a cleanup plan for brownfield sites, along with funding community outreach activities.
Dig Deeper: Brownfields are vacant or underutilized properties that may have environmental contamination related to previous industrial or commercial activities on those properties. Often seen as eyesores, these brownfields can stall a community’s progress and development.
The city’s grant funding is designed to pay for environmental assessments on these properties. This is beneficial because these assessments are often the first step in redevelopment and revitalization.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the Brownfield program or learning if a property might be eligible for the program is encouraged to attend the meeting