At today’s State Board of Education meeting in Boca Raton, the board unanimously voted to grant the appeal of termination by A. A. Dixon Charter School of Excellence in Escambia County. The…
Poll worker almost keeps wife of candidate from voting
Early today, a poll worker at Precinct 56, Escambia County Environmental/Health offices by Legion Field, was aggressively questioning the signatures of African-American voters. The wife of Lumon May, Democratic candidate for Escambia…
Is Romney GOTV more high tech than Obama
A reader called to say that the Romney Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort in Escambia County is more sophisticated than what observers are seeing from the Obama camp. He says that…
John Jerralds uses megaphone to get votes for Hugh King and himself
City Councilman John Jeralds has parked his jeep at Macedonia Baptist Church and is using a megaphone to shout at voters. He is soliciting votes for himself and county commission candidate Hugh…
Gulf Breeze, Fla voting disaster
The Santa Rosa County precinct 22 in the Gulf Breeze Recreation Center is a voting disaster. We have a reporter that the precinct did not have a voting scanner when it opened…
UWF Downtown Lecture looks at security and transparency in digital age
By Shelby Smithey… Jocelyn Evans, chair of the University of West Florida Department of Government, will discuss how technological advances and terrorist attacks have affected political culture in her lecture on Nov….
And Touart may have tried to get Valentino back
In 2010, Commissioner Gene Valentino was indicted for soliciting campaign funds from his commissioner’s office. His supporters believed that his opponent in the GOP primary, George Touart, was behind the allegations. Our…
BTW: Valentino was part of 2007 sting operation to catch Touart
Commissioner Gene Valentino blamed the media for forcing George Touart out as the county administrator. The commissioner has conveniently forgotten that he was part of a Sept. 15, 2007 sting operation to…
There is still a lot of voting to be done today
In 2008, 154,864 votes were cast in Escambia County in the presidential race. John McCain got 59 percent of them; Obama 40 percent. During the early voting period, 42,832 votes were cast…
Tell us what you see at the polls
Voting will be heavy today. In Gulf Breeze at the South Santa Rosa Recreation Center, over 150 voters were in line this morning at 7. One reader texted me that it took…
County Names New Fire Chief
On Friday, November 2, 2012, Acting County Administrator Larry M. Newsom appointed Patrick T. Grace to serve as the new Escambia County Fire Chief. Grace has been serving Escambia County as a…
The facts about 2007 ouster of George Touart
History tends to be rewritten by politicians to fit their current agendas. What really happened in August and September of 2007 when George Touart stepped down as the Escambia County administrator? Touart’s…
DIB to Discuss Gallery Night, MURAC
The Downtown Improvement Board may be having some meaty conversation during its meeting tomorrow morning. The agenda includes a discussion on Gallery Night logistics, as well as the recently approved report from…
Third Party Mystery, or Larkin’s Leftover Leak
Last week, Rob Larkin, Esq., a Tallahassee attorney handling the contract negotiations between the city of Pensacola and local police union, said a city councilman told him over the summer that he…
Keys to voting smoothly
The Florida League of Women Voters offers these tips: First, verify your polling location. Your precinct site may have changed, so check with your local Supervisor of Elections office in advance to…
Romney Robo Calls for Friday, Nov 2
The phone at the house has been ringing. We’ve gotten four calls on four different issues: 1) On Obamacare and how it puts bureaucrats between us and our doctor. We need to…
Bense: Altier has “other opportunitiesâ€
University of West Florida President Judy Bense said this afternoon that the departure of Matt Altier, vice president of administrative services, “wasn’t unexpected.†She said the two had talked about other opportunities…
Does Touart really know the current county staff?
I listened to WUWF’s coverage of the Escambia County Commission hiring George Touart as the interim county administrator until a full-time one is hired. In his motion, Commissioner Gene Valentino cited Touart…
Breaking news: UWF VP Matt Altier is no longer employed by the school
The mastermind behind the University of West Florida’s purchase of Scenic Hill Golf Course, public-private projects that would bring hotels, housing and a football stadium to the main campus, and a $50-million…
Buzz: Valentino wants King to beat May for District 3
I’ve have heard from several sources that Commissioner Gene Valentino has been pushing Hugh King over Lumon May for the District 3. He has tried to discourage people from making campaign contributions…