Escambia County Commissioner Wilson Robertson will be speaking on the year in review at Jan. 15 meeting of the Gulf Coast Economics Club. From the press release: Hard work and good business…
Music: Jazz Jam on Monday, Jan. 6
Roger Villines, trumpeter and director of the Pensacola State College Jazz Ensemble, leads the session (Roger will be absent, however, during this January 6th Jam), with a great professional “house band”: Burt…
DEO doubling staff for unemployment cases after website snafu
By Jim Turner, News Service of Florida The state Department of Economic Opportunity is hiring 330 workers to help process unemployment assistance applications due to troubles with a new $62.8 million online…
Physician arrested in sex predator investigation
On Thursday Jan. 2, deputies arrested Brian Mitchell Lee, 43, of Pensacola, for traveling to meet a juvenile for sex and using a 2-way device to facilitate a felony. In December of…
State owes Escambia County $1.7 million, says it cannot pay it
We keep hearing how much money the state of Florida has, thanks to the leadership of Rick Scott. In September, Florida had a projected surplus of $845 million in fiscal year 2014…
Evers has bill regarding utility vehicles
State Sen. Greg Evers (R-Okaloosa) is sponsoring a bill (SB 478) that will require drivers to slow down or move over a lane when approaching a utility vehicle parked on the side…
National Flag Football Championship begins today
Over 700 Collegiate Flag Football Players in Town for 3-Day tournament this weekend. The 2014 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Flag Football Championship is being held at Escambia County’s Ashton Brosnaham Park…
City Manager memo shows City knew that there was no assignment of Pitt Slip lease to The Fish House
It took some digging through the City of Pensacola archives on Fortis but we found a memorandum by City Manager Tom Bonfield to the city council, dated Dec. 15, 2000, that informs…
Benefit for homeless veterans and their families
What: Wine Tasting, Music & Art To Support the Home for the Holidays program for homeless veteran families When: 5-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 Where: Open Books, 1040 N. Guillemard St….
House of Sticks: Where have all the retirement savings gone
By Kent Lyndon Inside Wall Street and the world of stocks, bonds and banking with someone who knows where the skeletons are: When stock markets are rising, people tend to forget the…
Hate crimes double in Pensacola
The Pensacola area saw the number of its reported hate crimes double in 2012 from the prior year, according to a report released Tuesday by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office. Overall Florida…
Judge Johnson resigns
The Honorable Thomas E. Johnson, Escambia County Judge, has tendered his resignation from office for retirement to be effective Monday, March 31, 2014. Judge Johnson graduated from the University of West Florida…
PNJ source for stories against former public defender and war hero suspended from practicing law
On Dec. 31, the Florida Supreme Court announced it has suspended Pensacola attorney Gene Polk for 90 days, followed by a three-year probation. He was disciplined because for his failures to communicate…
Outtakes #1: UCF Nightmare Too Close to Home
The phone call was one I never thought I would get from my youngest daughter. “Dad, I’m okay. The campus security has the gunman. He’s dead,†my daughter Claney, a coed at…
Carmen Meet the Artists Luncheon RSVP deadline tomorrow
Carmen Meet the Artists Luncheon on Tuesday, January 7th at 11:30 a.m. Pensacola Opera and the University of West Florida’s Leisure Learning Society will co-host on Tuesday, January 7th at 11:30 a.m….
News story #1: Satoshi Forest
The Independent News has covered homelessness in this area for years. Jesse Farthing touched the hearts of many locals with this article on this unique sanctuary for Pensacola’s growing homeless population. Read…
News story #2: Failure to Serve
At September Escambia County Commission meeting, a half-dozen disabled citizens and bus drivers appeared before the commissioners to speak against the extension of the ADA contract with Pensacola Bay Transportation (PBT), the…
News story #3: Talking Trash
Escambia County and Emerald Coast Utility Authority have squared off over the future of solid waste collection, recycling and disposal in the county. The battle is even really begun, but we can…
IN cover #3: Not Invisible Anymore, The Reality of Rape in the Military
Sexual assaults in the military and how poorly the military command has handled them were big national stories. We found that the rapes were also happening closer to home on bases in…
Outtakes #4: Sucker USA
Despite concerns about what might eventually be developed on the site, the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority voted this afternoon to take the next step toward selling its 19-acres of prime downtown…