We are hearing that artists and some of the smaller arts groups were using the Arts Council to process credit card payments and those payments had not been passed on to the…
Rev. May: Our work has just begun
Yesterday, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church reached an agreement to purchase the Brownsville Middle School. The church had an anonymous donor contribute $200,000 to met the asking price of Superintendent Malcolm Thomas of…
Story behind the Peoples closure
Peoples First was headquartered in Panama City. The News Herald reported on the closure of the bank and Mississippi-based Hancock Bank winning the FDIC bidding process for the bank. For most of…
PNJ editorial misses the point
The PNJ scolds Rev. May and his church today. Once again the daily newspaper fails to understand the political moves being played. During the city charter debate, the PNJ let itself be…
Arts Council finances are a mess
The problem with the Arts Council of Northwest Florida is not that it “over-allocated” funds. In documents received by the IN, it appears the arts organization was not giving its member organizations,…
McLaughlin contract not renewed
At this morning’s meeting, Escambia County Commission voted 4-1 to not renew County Administrator Bob McLaughlin’s contract. As expected, Marie Young was the sole vote in favor of renewal.
Thomas strongarms church
Without talking with Rev. May, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas goes on television and says that he has made a deal to sell Brownsville Middle School. He was asked by the school board to…
Valentino called for Arts Council audit
Spoke with another source close to the arts community who has given me a fuller picture of the financial issues surrounding the Arts Council of Northwest Florida. Commissioner Valentino had approached several…
Support mounts for sale
From Reid Rushing to Malcolm Thomas: Mr. Thomas, I wanted to let you know as a business owner and resident of Escambia County, I support the Friendship Missionary’s vision for the Brownsville…
Help Restore Brownsville
By Lumon May Few people know that my father, Theophalis May, was a philosopher in addition to restoring some of Pensacola’s most precious historical buildings. One of my father’s often repeated sayings…
Malcolm Thomas blocks Brownsville deal
Brownsville Middle School has sat vacant for three years. One wing has been damaged by fire. The School District has let one its contractors use the former administrative offices. The school is…
Mediacom vs. WEAR round-two
Once again the two corporations are battling for Gulf Breeze and Santa Rosa dollars. And Mediacom is threatening to drop WEAR from its line-up unless Sinclair forks over some money. This happened…
Arts Council busted
For the past few weeks, there have been rumblings about the Arts Council of Northwest Florida. Member organizations were complaining about the lack of grants being distributed. Others wanted to know where…
Buzz: 16 arrests at Escambia public schools
Friday, Dec. 11 was a particularly violent day in the Escambia Public School District. Sixteen students were arrested at four different schools. Two fights at Washington HS at beginning of day Reportedly…
PNJ endorses Bob McLaughlin
As we wrote in the paper a few weeks ago, County Administrator Bob McLaughlin’s job is in jeopardy. His contract is up for renewal and we know of at least three commissioners…
ECUA has worst drinking water
On Saturday, the Environmental Working Group released findings of a multi-year study on tap water for major cities nationwide. The study tested MSAs with a population of over 250,000 people and checked…
Letters to Santa
My daughter Tricia is an elementary school teacher. She sent me these letters to Santa from first graders at her school: “Dear Santa, I have been good. I held open the trash…
Helping children
Who in this community does a good job of helping children? Child are the hapless victims of poverty. They didn’t choose their parents and have little control over the living conditions. A…
Buzz: Park bonds sold (updated)
We have heard that the Community Maritime Park bonds have been sold. Sean Boone is checking with Richard Barker, City Finance Director, to confirm this. The total was for $45,640,000—-so Marty was…
Contrast in concession speeches
Reading Marty Donovan’s comments in the daily newspaper on his failure to force his third referendum in six years I was reminded how differently M. J. Menge handled the defeat of the…
