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Inweekly June 11 Issue: Juneteenth, Justice, and Eight Decades of Building Northwest Florida

This week’s issue brings you a Juneteenth festival cover story, an accountability column on a rigged hiring process, and the remarkable 80-year legacy of a Pensacola construction dynasty—plus local wins, setbacks, and an indie band worth knowing.

“In many ways, Juneteenth is about reconnecting with history, culture and each other,” Watson told Inweekly.

Dakota Parks also profiles spoken word poet Kelli Pogue—known as Abena Whasayo Isake—who will debut a new piece at the festival, accompanied by her nephew weaving “Lift Every Voice and Sing” throughout the performance. Her work draws on Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Octavia Butler, and she has been writing since age 12, when gun violence in her community gave her something urgent to say.

“Even in the midst of the struggle, we still have each other. That’s why amongst the celebration, it’s important that we respect and remember.”
— Kelli Pogue (Abena Whasayo Isake)

The short version: they spread false information. Commissioner Ashlee Hofberger texted a city councilmember claiming Vinson had done “terrible” in her interview and taken off her shoes. Deputy County Administrator Debbie Bowers told a commissioner Vinson had “never managed anything except an elementary school library.” HR Director Nikki Powell told Hofberger’s aide that Vinson had “ZERO managerial experience.”

None of it was true. Vinson brought more than two decades of library experience, oversaw school libraries across 50-plus schools, managed catalogers and children’s staff across WFPL branches, and handled $11.2 million in textbook procurement. Bowers sat in the room when Vinson described all of it.

County Administrator Wes Moreno overruled the Library Board and hired someone else. The commissioners who ratified that decision had been primed with fabricated information.

“Escambia County residents should be angry, not only on Vinson’s behalf, but on their own. If this is how county officials treat a candidate they simply don’t want, what does that mean for the integrity of every decision?”

Founded in 1946 by Dudley Greenhut with little more than a handshake ethic and projects ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, the company has grown into one of the region’s most respected firms. Its fingerprints are on Pensacola International Airport, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Eglin Air Force Base, UWF campuses, Sacred Heart Hospital, Maritime Place, the downtown YMCA, the Hilton and Fairfield Inn on Pensacola Beach, Temple Beth El, Booker T. Washington High School, and the American Magic port headquarters—among many others.

Bill Greenhut took over at 27 when his father suffered a heart attack mid-project, with the Florida Legislature’s chambers under construction and a session deadline looming. He swam. Third-generation Ryan Greenhut now leads the company, and the family’s legacy in Pensacola stretches back to 1880 and includes two mayors, a circuit judge who presided over Ted Bundy’s arraignment, and a $15 million Saenger Theater renovation.

“It must be neat to drive by and say, ‘Wow, people are spiritually celebrating because I built that. Wow, kids are getting educated because I built that.'”
— Quint Studer

Winners & Losers

Winner Brandy McGraw, senior director at GE Vernova’s Pensacola wind turbine plant—North America’s largest—is a finalist for the American Clean Power Association’s EmpowHER Leadership Award.

Winner A Mano Panino, the East Hill sandwich shop in the old Sacred Heart Hospital building, earned Pensacola’s first-ever Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction as Michelin expanded its Florida coverage statewide.

Winner Suzanne Wilks was named Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida’s 2026 Beyond School Walls Big of the Year for her mentorship of a Pensacola High School student who earned a scholarship to UNF.

Loser Melanie Luna, Commissioner Hofberger’s former aide, is out of a job and in the news—let go by the commissioner, and Inweekly reported that her nonprofit failed to file tax returns for three years and didn’t pay a promised donation to the school lunch program.

Loser Wes Moreno has left two county seats on the WFPL Board of Governance vacant for over two months with no explanation.

Loser Florida Power & Light is under investigation by the state agriculture commissioner after suspected chemical drift from herbicide applications killed chickens and destroyed beehives near East Milton.

The Buzz

American Magic unveiled a new mural in Pensacola International Airport’s baggage claim on June 2, and Mayor D.C. Reeves announced that Breeze Airways will launch daily nonstop service to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale on July 1—while doubling frequencies to Memphis and Bentonville.

Orange Beach, Alabama apologized for transporting homeless individuals across the state line into Pensacola after Sheriff Chip Simmons went public and County Administrator Moreno requested a face-to-face meeting. Orange Beach City Administrator Ford Hanley pledged to end the practice.

The WFPL Board of Governance chair sent a formal letter to Moreno in May requesting that two vacant county seats be filled. As of publication, he has not received a reply.

Pensacola native Ryan Wiggins and Rick Wilson announced Black Pearl Strategies, a national political consulting and media firm headquartered in Tallahassee, with their first major engagement supporting David Jolly’s Florida gubernatorial campaign.

The band will play an acoustic set on the 309 Acoustic and Poetry Stage at 12:40 p.m., preceded by vocalist Lena Holtzen reading new poetry and saxophonist Yaseen Moftaqir reading from his literary fiction work. Their latest album, Character Study, takes its name from Holtzen’s songwriting approach—intimate portraits of real historical figures (Alex Chilton, the Romanovs) and invented ones alike.

Pick up the June 11 issue of Inweekly at locations throughout Pensacola and Escambia County, or read it online at inweekly.net.