State Senator Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) stopped by the Inweekly offices and reported that the federal government this morning has offered to fund $1 billion for the Low Income Pool for Florida. “However,…
Hospital panel probably will have little impact on session
By BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA With the Legislature set to meet in less than two weeks to begin hammering out a final agreement on health-care disputes that have caused…
FDLE report: State has lowest crime rate in 44 years
Florida Department of Law Enforcement released its 2014 Annual Crime in Florida report today. The report shows Florida’s crime rate dropped 4.9 percent compared to 2013. The total number of crimes fell…
PS Today: Mississippi Blues Trail and B.B. King
On Pensacola Today, Mary Margaret Miller, Bureau Manager, Creative Economy & Culture of Visit Mississippi, will revisit the show. We will talk about the late B.B. King and the Mississippi Blues Trail….
Musing on the Newpoint saga
Carla Lovett presented Newpoint Education Partners’ improvement plan for Newpoint Pensacola High and Newpoint Academy last night. For the Escambia County School Board, the plan was too little, too late. The board…
Escambia County Hungry Games begin June 1
The end of the school year means that 24,000 children in Escambia County will be searching for food over the next two and a half months. Escambia County will help fill the…
Connally named regional chair for Florida Chamber
Stan Connally, president and CEO of Gulf Power Co., is the Florida Chamber’s new Central Panhandle Regional Chairman. He was appointed by Chamber Chairman Steve Knopik, president and CEO of Bealls Inc….
Deepwater Horizon Draft Phase IV Early Restoration Projects released
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (Trustees) released a draft plan today that proposes 10 early restoration projects across the Gulf states at an estimated cost of $134 million. The…
Property appraiser expects assessments to be up (updated)
Next week, Escambia County Property Appraiser Chris Jones will send out his projections on the property assessments to the city of Pensacola and Escambia County. The final numbers won’t come to until…
Newpoint schools get the ax
The Escambia County School Board voted last night to terminate the charter contracts of Newpoint Pensacola High and Newpoint Academy, each by a 4-1 vote. The board unanimously agreed to postpone its…
PS Today: Alachua County Education Compact
Today, we will interview Ian Fletcher, VP of Workforce Development at the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Alachua County Education Compact. We will discuss how Alachua leaders have joined forces to…
Groups file brief in Pensacola to support feds in LIP lawsuit
Pointing to their knowledge about Medicaid-related issues, three Florida groups Monday asked a judge to allow them to file a brief on behalf of the federal government in a lawsuit that centers…
Hiring Our Heroes Job Fair, May 21
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation will host a job fair Thursday, May 21 for service members, veterans and military spouses at the Lou Ross Gymnasium at Pensacola State College, 1000 College…
HCA offers a solution to health care crisis
HCA, the for-profit health care system that Rick Scott once served as its CEO, has sent a letter to the governor offering a solution to replace the Low Income Pool. HCA has…
Alachua County leaders join together for better public education
The Alachua County School District has been a “C” district for the past two years. Yesterday, Alachua County community leaders, educators and elected officials signed an agreement committing to work together to…
Gaetz reports on his bills: what did or did not make it to the governor
From State Sen. Don Gaetz: What happened during the Regular Session: Overall, 1,755 bills were introduced in the Senate this year. Two hundred twenty passed. While it’s certainly not a tragedy that…
Will Newpoint pay its teachers?
Tonight the Escambia County School Board will vote on whether the district should send 90-day termination notices to the three charter schools run by Newpoint Education Partners (NEP). The schools will have…
PS Today: SaintPetersBlog.com
Peter Schorsch, creator of SaintPetersBlog.com, will be on the show today. He has been watching the Jeff Miller situation: If Jeff Miller runs for Senate, North Florida dominoes will begin to fall….
PS Podcast: Charter schools cashing in on kids
On Pensacola Speaks, I spoke with Miami Herald investigative reporter Kathleen McGrory on her coverage on charter schools. She and Scott Hiaasen worked together in September 2011 on the series “Cashing In…
Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic opens today
The Barbara Grice Memorial Spay & Neuter Clinic at the Pensacola Humane Society opened today. Executive Director Sarah Humlie stated that the project was the dream of the late Barbara Grice, former…